Otaku USA Magazine
Blue Reflection: Second Light’s Mel Kishida Talks Fanservice and Uniforms
by Danica Davidson October 22, 2021

Blue Reflection: Second Light came out yesterday in Japan and will come out in America next month. The Gamer interviewed illustrator Mel Kishida about it, seeing as how he supervised and designed the characters for the game. He ended up talking about the meaning of school uniforms and the topic of fanservice.

“With the first Blue Reflection we weren’t trying to be blatantly sexy, we just wanted the girls to show a little more character, like you’d take a second glance and your heart would flutter when you saw them,” he said.

He also talked about the use of high school uniforms in the game, which he feels represent nostalgia.

“I think anyone who has spent their school years in Japan will have memories that involve the school uniform. You might have had a crush on a girl or something like that, and it brings back a memory of being back in school when everyone was wearing them. This way I’m able to bring back those memories and share common ones with a lot of people.”

He continued, “I’m not really into school uniforms, or the students wearing them – there’s nothing about them I particularly find attractive. It’s really just the memories that are linked to them and the feeling of reliving what it was like to be in school. That’s where I find the attraction – it’s not so much the outfit itself, but what it represents.”

He feels that games that have fanservice as the centerpiece are changing. “Not just myself, but the dev team are really feeling that. Compared to the first game, we’re taking a different approach in terms of showing how appealing these characters are without having to rely on fan service. For Blue Reflection and other titles I’ve worked on, I’m seeing a change in how things are being perceived and the attitudes towards them. If you asked me, ‘Well, you’ve drawn a lot of sexy illustrations’ I would have to say that it isn’t because I like or dislike them, it’s that I’m creating things that fans and consumers enjoy looking at.”

Source: The Gamer

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Danica Davidson is the author of the bestselling Manga Art for Beginners with artist Melanie Westin, and its sequel, Manga Art for Intermediates, with professional Japanese mangaka Rena Saiya. Check out her other comics and books at www.danicadavidson.com.

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