It's not everyday you see senior citizens talking role-playing games. It's not everyday you see them thrashing one of them on Japanese television. In primetime.
Famed Japanese actress Keiko Awaji, with credits in movies like Akira Kurosawa's Stray Dog, is a huge Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy fan. Did I say "huge"? I meant HUGE.
Back in 2009, the then 73 year-old Awaji said she wanted to play Dragon Quest IX before she died. She got that wish and has made it to see Dragon Quest X: Online—a game she hates. Did I say "hates"? I meant HATES.
Last summer, she complained about Dragon Quest X during a televised interview, saying how she did not enjoy the online portion of the game. "Playing video games by yourself is fine!" she said at the time. "What do you need someone else for?"
While on recent primetime variety show, Awaji once again put Dragon Quest X firmly in her sights, while talking to a celeb named Daigo.
"I don't think there are 80 year-old grannies who said 'shit' when Dragon Quest X became an online game," said Awaji.
After Daigo asked her about DQX going online, she replied, "I hate it so much. It's no good." She followed that up, with a, "It definitely won't sell."
What's amusing is that the show put a little asterisk up after she said that text noting that it was her own personal opinion! Though, it does seem to be the opinion of enough fellow gamers in Japan, where the game hasn't met sales expectations. Having people go on TV and talk about why they hate the game doesn't help!
To Awaji's credit, she did gush about how great Dragon Quest VIII was for about fifteen minutes. And after that, she talked about Final Fantasy's Chocobos for another ten minutes. She's only hating on Dragon Quest X: Online because she cares!
淡路恵子さん、ゴールデン番組でドラクエ・FFを語る『ドラクエ8が一番いい』 [へちま速報]
Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from 4am to 8am.