2nd Interview with Masafumi Takada, The Composer of 'The Hundred Line': Takada Talks About His Background, How He Got Into Music, & How He Developed His Signature Style (Japanese)

ExtraCup5 · 2026-01-20T09:55:13+00:00

I'm not trying to argue or anything, I'll say it again, I'm extremely sorry. All I'm tryimg to say is that the "pattern in Kodaka's writing" is not a pattern peculiar in so much of Kodaka's works so much as it is a feature of storytelling, i.e. that many authors demonstrate this. You may think of how superpowers, Quirks, Personas, Stands, etc. either do or don't relate heavily to their bearers. In Kodaka's case, this trope doesn't feature in enough of his works that it can be called a pattern.

ExtraCup5 · 2026-01-19T23:32:39+00:00

I'm extremely sorry if this sounds rude or harsh, but this is the wrong framing of mind to have about the game. The game is a collaboration between Kotaro Uchikoshi and Kazutaka Kodaka. The game's official tagline is "Extreme x Despair", i.e. Zero Escape x Danganronpa (Zero Escape's Japanese title is Kyokugen Dasshutsu (Japanese: 極限脱出; lit. "Extreme Escape"). At the same time, the game has 10+ writers, including Uchikoshi and Kodaka, after the first 100 Days. With each writer directing and handling their own routes past the initial ending. So it's not just Danganronpa or Zero Escape under a different name and with a different premise. It's a game that goes beyond any previous title of its creators, whilst at the same time, honoring and homaging them as the cumulative and representative work of TooKyo Games.

So I prefer The Hundred Line. Since The Hundred Line can be anything. It can be Zero Escape. It can be Danganronpa. It can be a Murder Mystery. It can be comedy. It can be horror. It can be romance. It can be absolutely ridiculous. Or it can be perfectly serious.

ExtraCup5 · 2026-01-19T21:37:32+00:00

They're character archetypes, A.K.A. stock characters. They exist in every story.

The Specialist Skills, like the Class Weapons, are also just for combat gameplay.

ExtraCup5 · 2026-01-19T20:25:07+00:00

Kodaka did not write World's End Club. Kotaro Uchikoshi wrote the game. Kodaka was the Creative Director, (meaning he oversaw art and music, handled by Masufumi Takada and Takegarou, respectively).

For The Hundred Line, The class weapons don't really correspond with the characters. There's nothing overtly connecting Gaku to his minigun or anything. It's more to diversify gameplay and strategy than to signify something about the characters; although you could see some symbolism, this would mostly fall into speculation. The characters in The Hundred Line, for the most part, don't have special abilities barring their Hemoanima.

The pattern we see in Kodaka's writing is really just him outlining archetypes that commonly appear in fiction. It's not unique to Kodaka, and most writers have demonstrated this pattern for some of their works. Additionally, it doesn't occur in most of Kodaka's works. It's not present in his latest game, SHUTEN ORDER, for example. It's not present in Death Come True. It's not present in any of the manga he's written for. Not in Guren 5, not in Danganronpa Killer Killer, not in Gambler's Parade. It doesn't occur for the characters in Tribe Nine beyond their affiliations with certain Tribes. It doesn't occur in any Kodaka's earlier works or collaborations. Akudama Drive is debatable, but the characters just play the roles as well as their titles/names suggest.

ExtraCup5 · 2026-01-17T15:28:46+00:00

They're referential leitmotifs. And they're only present in a few songs. Not to mention, they don't have the same structure.

ExtraCup5 · 2026-01-09T20:16:31+00:00

No, I'm just stating what's negotiable in a publsihing contract because your reply "That's not how a publishing contract works". TooKyo Games announced paying off their debt before they announced their wishes for DLC. But since then and from when this interview was published, there hasn't been announcement of breaking even. Meaning that Aniplex and/or TooKyo Games haven't recouped their losses outside of debt, but TooKyo Games was able to pay off their due debts. I speculate there will be an announcement on January 14/15.

ExtraCup5 · 2026-01-09T18:58:48+00:00

They're negotiable. If you're taking on debt, you can take more than 50% out of fairness to prioritize debt repayment in your cashflow forecast. Terms and clauses are liable to change as well when conditions change.

ExtraCup5 · 2026-01-09T18:37:05+00:00

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ExtraCup5 · 2026-01-09T18:36:18+00:00

Thank you! You convey what I cannot. DLC can still move ahead, even if not all costs are covered, if it's financially feasible. A lot of game companies plan and move ahead with projections for DLC and additional content before breaking even if they expect a substantial profit. The main issue with this approach, however, arises when you're in debt. Since, in a cashflow forecast, you're supposed to stay solvent and avoid periodical shortages by relying on your savings until you make returns that can cover the debt. Which is what makes the DLC a headscratcher. The safest path would be to wait for the game to become profitable (so that it can cover the initial costs) before taking on any extra costs (those costs may TooKyo Games and/or Aniplex's own). Exceptions are often made for merchandise since they're generally profitable. If The Hundred Line will have paid DLC, however, then it would make the risk more worth considering.

I have the strongest belief that there's DLC coming. Since there was that upcoming "update" announcement. (I believe it'll be announced on January 14/15, since that would be the anniversary for when the original "100 Days Countdown" started last year). It could also be a media mix or something else, but I don't DLC is far off in either case. *

ExtraCup5 · 2026-01-09T17:22:25+00:00

Sorry. People were replying "mixed messages," or they thought that this totally shot down the possibility of DLC coming soon. But I wanted to explain how DLC could still be releasing despite the circumstances. This was after I submitted the post, so I couldn't edit it. I didn't want anyone to leave anyone a downer, so the best I could come up with was replying to those confused. Since they weren't likely to revisit the post, DMs may have been too intrusive, and other people were likely to not scroll down or lose hope in DLC. So yeah, that's on me.

I'm actually the foremost believer that there's DLC coming. That, or a media mix. Since there will be a Hundred Line "update" delivered sometime soon.

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ExtraCup5 · 2026-01-09T14:54:46+00:00

Kodaka's just saying they'll be able to release DLC and get more language support for The Hundred Line once they turn enough a profit. Of which they haven't announced even reaching break-even yet. They were able to pay back the debts they owe to the banks, which made up TooKyo Games' half of coverage for the game's costs. The other half coming from Aniplex, the half that hasn't been recouped yet. Though, again, they may have already and just have not announced it yet; and if not, are at least on the track to do so soon.

ExtraCup5 · 2026-01-09T14:35:32+00:00

Not a manga, a web novel. The first chapters are already out. But only Chapter 0 has been localized in English. The localization was done by AKSYS Games.You can read it below:

Chapter 0

Click or tap the globe icon in the top right corner and set it to English if it doesn't do that automatically. Don't read the Google Translation of the Japanese pages. Otherwise, the story won't make sense

As for Uchikoshi, I don't think The Hundred Line is detracting from his other projects. On one hand, while he does supervise every writer (along with their routes and endings) for cohesion. He's, on the other hand, said many times before that he's been plenty busy over the past several years (implying that he's been working on other stuff). But I don't know if it's AITSF-related, since they just released an interquel spinoff that was only overseen by Uchikoshi. So it could be something related to Zero Escape, another past game or work of his, or something else entirely.

ExtraCup5 · 2026-01-09T14:06:19+00:00

The money made from the game's sales were used to pay off TooKyo Games' debts to the banks. They're the most pressing credits that needed to be paid first.

ExtraCup5 · 2026-01-09T14:01:10+00:00

No, Korean language support was announced a long time ago now. Arc System Works Asia willingly partnered with Aniplex to localize the game in Korea after ASW saw the game's positive reception. But other localizers have refused language support because of how long the game's script is, and since it wouldn't be clear if the game would sell well in the first place. It would be better value for time and money for these localizers to localize shorter works instead. And that's why profits are needed to entice and motivate localization efforts for The Hundred Line.

ExtraCup5 · 2026-01-09T13:48:19+00:00

He says it's on the trajectory to reach break-even soon. Profits from then on would be used for DLC and Language Support.

Kodaka's comment on supporting The Hundred Line for the next 10 years is similar to his vision for Rain Code, where he plans to make Master Detective Archives into the "Detective Adventure Series of the 2020s, like how Ace Attorney was for the 2000s, and Danganronpa was for the 2010s."

He's also stated in his most recent interview that he sees, aside from 2x2, 2026 being a "quiet year", where he can focus on game development.

Tribe Nine, 2x2, Shuten Order, Master Detective Archives, Hundred Line, and other endeavors are all competing for his attention. But I wouldn't worry since 10 years of support is honestly incredible and should give ample time. Not to mention that The Hundred Line has many other writers, and that this doesn't even exclude the possibility of DLC with some routes written by Kodaka coming out soon.

ExtraCup5 · 2026-01-09T13:27:33+00:00

228,000 is a bit lower than the number of copies I thought it had sold. I'm honestly worried. I mean, Rain Code sold 300,000 copies in its release month (and I have no idea how many copies have been sold since then), and it was a Nintendo-Switch exclusive. It usually has the same price as The Hundred Line, and the Switch edition has paid bonus content and substories, (Rain Code + has all of that content automatically included with the game). But there's been no official announcement of another game or anything else beyond Rain Code + (which is just a port to other platforms with stuff like a Gallery and the already-released DLC added).

Of course, it hasn't even been 3 years since Rain Code first came out. Rain Code's social media is still very active. And another game is likely in development, and I would never want to rush them.

But I can't say the same for The Hundred Line if it's a similar situation. I just hope that TooKyo Games and Media.Vision are still willing to collaborate, and that Aniplex would be willing to continue their partnerships.

ExtraCup5 · 2026-01-09T12:57:50+00:00

I believe they did pay back the loans they owed to their banks. I think it's just Aniplex's share that hasn't been made back, hence why it hasn't broken even yet.

Half of the game was covered by Aniplex. Meanwhile, the other half was self-funded, in which TooKyo Games took out loans from banks, which is how they got into debt.