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Platinum Games Designs PR Characters for JMSDF's New Submarine
posted on by Lynzee Loveridge
NieR:Automata and Bayonetta game developer Platinum Games announced its artists teamed up with Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force to create the official logo and PR characters for the JS Shoryu submarine.
The sub was commissioned by the JMSDF on Monday and is the force's 10th Soryu-class diesel-electric attack submarine (SSK).
Platinum Games' Kenichi Satō, Yuuki Suda, Naoki Tsuta, and Rui Onishi held a meeting on Monday to introduce the submarine's promotional characters. Suda provided the conceptual art for the "Ocean Salamander" character. The pink salamander represents the submarine with its bridge and pennant number "510" worn on its head. The idea for the salamander is from a play on the sub's name Shoryu and the word Sanshōo meaning "salamander."
Ocean Salamander fills the "yuru chara" role but Platinum Games also designed a moe character for the submarine. Visual effects artist Naoki Tsuta designed the Miu Kawakami character based on the submarine's status as a "ninja of the sea." Miu's bathing suit has a sailor motif and her cape features the red sun of the Japanese flag. A sword is sheathed at her waist. The character's name is taken from kanji elements in Kawasaki Heavy Industries' own name and the Kobe-based factory where submarine was constructed as well as Shoryu.
The staff revealed artwork of both promotional characters together.
The final piece of art is Onishi's logo design. The logo depicts a silver dragon wielding a spear from above. The image was inspired by the name Shoryu which means "A decisive dragon that views things from above and acts quickly." The logo will be placed on official military merchandise including squadron caps, challenge coins, and squadron plates.
Onishi went as far as creating an animation of the logo inspired by Transformers, a franchise Onishi loves. She worked on Platinum Games Transformers: Devastation video games series. The Shoryu transformation animation is viewable on Platinum Games' blog post.
The Shoryu crew is currently undergoing training at the Kure submarine base in Hiroshima. You can check out its ceremony from Monday via the video courtesy of Sankei News below.
Source: Plantinum Games' official blog via Otakomu, Jane's Defence Weekly (Kōsuke Takahashi)
