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Sega’s New PS4 Game Shows A Different Side Of A Japanese Superstar

Brian Ashcraft Avatar
Brian Ashcraft
Sega’s New PS4 Game Shows A Different Side Of A Japanese Superstar

Previously Kotaku mentioned how Judgment, the PS4 game with Japanese superstar Takuya Kimura, lets players beat up enemies with a sex toy. That was just the beginning.

Takuya Kimura is one of the most famous celebrities in Japan. He was a member of the boy band SMAP, he appeared in some of the highest rated Japanese TV dramas ever and he even voiced Howl in Howl’s Moving Castle. Fans refer to him simply as “Kimutaku.”

(In case you missed it, you can check out our own Tim Roger’s translation of the demo as well as his Takuya Kimura explainer.)

For many Japanese players, the appeal of Judgment is going bananas with Kimutaku. And that, you can most certainly do.

https://twitter.com/a/status/1073171287952941056

You can destroy a yakuza office.

https://twitter.com/a/status/1073166074777100289

You can make a dramatic exit.

You can destroy a convenience store, among other establishments.

https://twitter.com/a/status/1073019161213689856

Even though you are playing a character that Kimura brings to life, you’re really just playing his celebrity persona.

For example, in Judgment, his character says, “Chotte mateyo” (Hey, wait a minute!), which the character he played in the 1997 TV drama Love Generation said. It’s since become a famous Kimutaku catchphrase.

In Judgment, that’s not all you can do with this Japanese icon.

As in Yakuza 6, you can take selfies.

https://twitter.com/a/status/1070269635583299585

Lots of selfies.

https://twitter.com/a/status/1073011005964267520

You can buy panties and tell the clerk that they’re not a gift and will be used asap.

https://twitter.com/a/status/1073057366893969408

https://twitter.com/a/status/1073062979644485632

You can visit a place of prostitution.

https://twitter.com/a/status/1073414941791510528

The establishment lists options, which in-game are tongue-in-cheek puns on sexual services. Those listed, for example, include “Dave” (デイブ or deibu) in Japanese instead of “vibe” (バイブ or baibu), which is short for “vibrator.” Many of the other words stand for much more explicit things.(Obviously, the game won’t show explicit sex!)

https://twitter.com/a/status/1072475377300398080

Kimutaku’s persona has always seemed carefully managed. As with boy band members in Japan, his image has been largely clean and fairly tame by American celebrity standards.

On Japanese TV, he’s been presented as a fantasy male, able to sing, act, dance, cook—do anything well, really. Granted, in SMAP comedy skits, Kimutaku wasn’t afraid of dressing up in silly costumes (like a dog or in outrageous Shibuya fashion) and act ridiculous. Even though he might be investigating things in Judgment, the possibilities play against his cool guy image.

For fans, just putting Kimutaku, at one time Japan’s biggest boy band singer, in these kinds of situations is unreal!

Judgment will be released in the West next winter.

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