Recaps

Nakayama Takuya warned Nakayama Hayao that the Bank of Japan’s interest-rate hike signaled a coming financial crisis and urged Sega to withdraw from stocks and real estate. Hayao agreed to investigate the next central bank governor and Sega’s investments before deciding how to act.

• Nakayama Takuya and Nakayama Hayao discussed Konami’s success with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Sega’s plans for the North American market.
• Nakayama Takuya stopped talking when the news reported that Satoshi Sumita had raised the Bank of Japan’s discount rate from 2.5% to 3.25%.
• Nakayama Takuya asked Nakayama Hayao to discuss Sega’s investments and urged him to pull all of Sega’s capital out of stocks and real estate.
• Nakayama Takuya warned that the rate increase could begin harsher monetary tightening and that major conglomerates might leave newer companies to bear the losses of a bursting bubble.
• Nakayama Hayao agreed to review Sega’s investments, investigate possible successors to Satoshi Sumita and their policies, and consider removing troublesome board members.

Nakayama Takuya persuaded his father, Nakayama Hayao, that Sega’s heavy borrowing and investments put the company at risk from an impending financial crackdown. At a board meeting, Hayao used risk figures and intelligence about Mieno Yasushi’s likely appointment to win approval to sell Sega’s most leveraged assets.

• Nakayama Hayao reviewed Sega’s financial risks and intelligence about Mieno Yasushi, then agreed with Nakayama Takuya that the company needed to act.
• Nakayama Hayao called a board meeting to discuss Tom Kalinske’s North American expansion plan and proposed selling stocks and real estate to fund it.
• Directors Hoshino and Sugiura opposed selling assets, arguing that financial investments offered better returns than Sega’s games business.
• Director Hattori presented an assessment showing that over sixty percent of Sega’s portfolio was highly leveraged and that recent rate increases had halved nominal returns.
• Nakayama Hayao revealed that Mieno Yasushi was set to succeed Governor Satoshi Sumita and intended to suppress speculation, silencing the opposition.
• The board approved liquidating high-risk assets first, and Nakayama Hayao recognized that Sega’s preparations for the coming financial storm had only begun.

Nakayama Takuya tried to overcome the Asset Management Department’s resistance to selling Sega’s real-estate holdings by proposing investments in emerging technology and American blue-chip stocks. He left Nakayama Hayao with a plan to redirect the argument from whether to cash out to where the money should go.

• Director Hoshino and Director Sugiura agreed to delay selling Sega’s property holdings while pretending to seek the optimal timing.
• Nakayama Hayao read the Asset Management Department’s report recommending delay, and Takuya advised him that forcing the sale could prompt further sabotage.
• Takuya presented a report urging Sega to invest in 3D graphics technology and take a stake in Britain’s Argonaut Software.
• Hoshino and Sugiura rejected Takuya’s funding request, preferring the profits from their real-estate and financial investments.
• Takuya gave Hayao reports on Warren Buffett’s value-investing approach and the yen’s outlook, proposing that Sega invest the proceeds from selling its assets in American blue-chip stocks.

Nakayama Takuya persuaded Hoshino and Sugiura to establish an overseas investment fund and liquidate risky Japanese assets, framing the plan as a chance for Hoshino to prove himself. After investigating his claims and finding Wall Street funds already selling yen assets, Hoshino and Sugiura realized the danger and decided to begin liquidating immediately.

• Nakayama Hayao summoned Hoshino and Sugiura, and Nakayama Takuya argued that Japan's overheated market and weakening yen made overseas investment safer.
• Nakayama Takuya proposed converting the first recovered funds into U.S. dollars for a Sega Overseas Value Investment Fund, with Hoshino in charge.
• Nakayama Hayao ordered Hoshino to liquidate the first batch of high-risk assets within a week and added Britain's Argonaut Software as an early investment target.
• Angry at Nakayama Takuya, Hoshino and Sugiura gathered overseas financial data to challenge his analysis.
• Sugiura found that Tiger Fund and other major Wall Street firms had begun selling yen assets, while Hoshino reconsidered Berkshire Hathaway's long-term growth.
• Hoshino and Sugiura agreed to start quietly liquidating their highly leveraged assets in batches.

After Sega’s financial crisis passed, Nakayama Takuya brought his completed game to Miyazaki Hayao, who approved of its warmth and accessibility. Takuya described future possibilities for games and computer-assisted animation, leaving Miyazaki eager to learn more once the technology matured.

• Hoshino and Sugiura began liquidating their leveraged assets, easing the financial threat to Sega.
• Nakayama Takuya finished Harvest Moon: Forest Encounter and brought a Mega Drive and the game to Ghibli Studio.
• Miyazaki Hayao played the game and praised its chance encounters, warm moments, and ease of play.
• Nakayama Takuya described three-dimensional, immersive games that could let players walk through worlds and experience them firsthand.
• Nakayama Takuya explained how computers and 3D technology could assist animation, and Miyazaki asked him to share the developments once the technology matured.

Nakayama Takuya launched Harvest Moon: Forest Encounter with minimal advertising and a small first shipment, and its early sales were poor. Miyazaki Hayao then praised the game on television, drawing public attention to it and expressing excitement about Nakayama’s vision for 3D.

• Nakayama Takuya defended the game’s plain packaging and conservative fifty-thousand-unit shipment, saying he wanted the right players to discover it.
• Harvest Moon went on sale with little promotion, and its first-week sales were negligible, prompting doubts within Sega and concern from Nakayama Toshio.
• On TV Asahi, Miyazaki Hayao told viewers that he had enjoyed Harvest Moon and praised its peaceful pace and artistic sensibility.
• Viewers reacted with surprise to Miyazaki’s recommendation and began reconsidering the overlooked game.
• Miyazaki spoke of Nakayama Takuya’s vision for 3D and said he hoped to see more works like Harvest Moon.

After Harvest Moon’s unexpected sales surge, Nakayama Takuya was sent on a blind date with Nakagawa Eri. Their shared interest in games and his offer to help her build TV Tokyo’s animation business brought them closer, and they toasted to a new beginning.

• Harvest Moon sold out, prompting Sega to order thirty thousand more copies, while players debated its artistic merit and gameplay.
• Nakayama Miyuki ordered Takuya to attend a blind date with Nakagawa Eri, the daughter of TV Tokyo’s president.
• Takuya and Eri eased their initial awkwardness by discussing his work and her rare Mew virtual pet, Xiao Meng.
• Eri described her frustration at being excluded from important work at TV Tokyo, and Takuya offered to introduce her to animation studios as a friend.
• Eri teased Takuya about seeking business favors, then raised her glass to a brand-new beginning, and he clinked his glass against hers.

Nakayama Takuya and Nakagawa Eri grew closer during their dates, and the Sumida River Fireworks Festival brought Takuya to realize he liked her. They ended the night holding hands, with Eri returning his feelings through her smile.

• Nakayama Miyuki called Nakayama Takuya after his matchmaking date with Nakagawa Eri and demanded that he keep dating her during his vacation.
• Nakayama Takuya and Nakagawa Eri attended the Sumida River Fireworks Festival after several dates, including a classical concert and a visit to Disneyland.
• Nakayama Takuya told Nakagawa Eri about his ambitions for game music and a future Sega theme park, and she admired his vision.
• As fireworks lit the sky, Nakayama Takuya realized he liked Nakagawa Eri, called her by her first name, and took her hand.
• Nakagawa Eri clasped Nakayama Takuya's hand in return as the fireworks filled the night sky.

Nakayama Takuya invited Nakagawa Eri to the premiere of Kiki's Delivery Service as his date, and the film and evening helped her feel understood and welcomed into the animation industry. At the banquet, Eri recognized Takuya's genuine passion and saw him opening his professional circle to her.

• Nakayama Takuya invited Nakagawa Eri to the Kiki's Delivery Service premiere as his date, and she accepted.
• Nakayama Takuya and Nakagawa Eri arrived at the Tokyo Imperial Theatre, where Suzuki Toshio greeted them and Miyazaki Hayao teased Takuya and complimented his taste.
• During the film, Nakagawa Eri identified with Kiki's struggles, and Nakayama Takuya comforted her by holding her hand.
• At the celebratory banquet, Nakayama Takuya introduced Nakagawa Eri as his girlfriend and guided their conversations toward animation.
• Nakagawa Eri observed the industry's respect for Nakayama Takuya and realized he was welcoming her into its circle.

After Miyazaki Tsutomu confessed to abducting and murdering young girls, the media blamed animation, manga, and games, sending Nakayama Takuya’s industries into crisis. Takuya rallied Yoshita’s executives to establish industry rating and self-regulatory systems, leaving the room applauding his plan.

• Nakayama Takuya learned that Miyazaki Tsutomu had confessed to the crimes and that the media had linked his videotapes to animation and manga.
• Suzuki Toshio told Nakayama Takuya that Kiki's Delivery Service had lost box office momentum and that Miyazaki had locked himself in his studio; Takuya urged him to avoid public statements.
• Nakagawa Eri told Nakayama Takuya that her network was cutting animated programming and reviewing its content.
• Nakayama Atsuo and Yoshita’s executives confronted Takuya as the company’s stock fell and urged him to suspend projects tied to anime and manga.
• Nakayama Takuya rejected the call to retreat and proposed review boards, age ratings, and a joint condemnation of works depicting children in erotic contexts.
• Yoshita’s executives applauded Nakayama Takuya’s plan.

Nakayama Hayao urged Japan’s subculture companies to create independent review associations and rating systems to protect their industries from outside regulation. Nakayama Takuya won Bandai president Yamashina Makoto’s support for age ratings on model kits and secretly passed him a folded note.

• Nakayama Hayao called for anime, manga, games, and toy companies to establish self-regulatory associations and public rating systems.
• Nakayama Hayao proposed condemning pornography depicting child protagonists, inviting public figures to supervise, and involving political allies.
• Industry executives applauded and began discussing countermeasures in groups.
• Nakayama Takuya warned Yamashina Makoto that complex Gundam model kits posed risks for young children and suggested age recommendations alongside simpler products for younger buyers.
• Yamashina Makoto agreed to advance the proposal in the toy industry, and Nakayama Takuya slipped a folded note into his palm.

Yamashina Makoto accepted Nakayama Takuya’s plan for Bandai to lead toy-industry age-rating standards, while the media attacked industry self-regulation and public opinion began to shift after Miyazaki Hayao defended creators. Sega and other industries established public self-regulatory associations, but Nakayama Takuya’s larger plan remained unfinished.

• Yamashina Makoto received ASTM toy-safety standards from Nakayama Takuya and ordered Bandai to lead the creation of industry age ratings.
• Major broadcasters aired a joint statement from industry leaders condemning child pornography and announcing self-regulatory organizations and rating systems.
• The Yomiuri Shimbun and Fuji TV attacked self-regulation, prompting Nakayama Atsuo to ask Nakayama Takuya about the next steps.
• Nakayama Takuya explained that the attacks had amplified public attention and revealed that Miyazaki Hayao’s interview would air on NHK.
• Miyazaki Hayao condemned the criminal’s actions and urged the public not to judge all creators by one offender, drawing widespread viewer support.
• Industry self-regulatory associations formed, and Bandai proposed preliminary toy-rating standards based on ASTM F963-86.

Nakayama Takuya redirected public scrutiny away from the anime and game industries by stirring controversy over a Metropolitan Police Department conspiracy, then used the lull to launch Sega’s Taiko no Tatsujin at Tokushima’s Awa Dance Festival. The game’s warm reception and favorable press coverage began shifting public opinion toward games as a positive way to share traditional culture.

• A tabloid accused the Metropolitan Police Department of framing the anime and game industries, drawing media attention and opposition-party inquiries toward the alleged conspiracy.
• Nakayama Hayao praised Nakayama Takuya’s move but warned him that political figures would be harder to deal with than the media.
• Yamashina Makoto told Takuya that the toy industry’s self-regulatory association had been established, and Takuya confirmed the timing of Sega’s announcement with his marketing department.
• At the Awa Dance Festival, festivalgoers tried Sega’s Taiko no Tatsujin machines and enjoyed drumming together to familiar music.
• An Asahi Shimbun reporter who had criticized electronic entertainment witnessed the game bringing people together and wrote a positive article about it.
• Local television covered the Ezo Taiko edition at Hokkaido’s Kiri no Naka Festival, and public opinion began to view games as a positive cultural product.

Nakayama Takuya pushed Sega to sell its Japanese real estate before the bubble burst, then proposed a two-track plan to save Bandai and Sunrise’s Gundam reboot while Yoshiyuki Tomino recovered. He ended the meeting by claiming he could design glue-free Gundam models using Bandai’s existing production methods.

• Nakayama Hayao ordered Hoshino and Sugiura to rapidly sell Sega’s domestic real estate and shift the proceeds into American blue-chip stocks and high-quality bonds.
• At a Sunrise meeting, Takuya learned that Yoshiyuki Tomino opposed Bandai’s proposed changes to Newtype and was too exhausted to lead a new TV anime.
• Takuya argued that the Universal Century needed a story to bridge the decades before the Cosmo Babylonia Founding War and that Tomino should rest before returning to its main storyline.
• Takuya proposed preserving Tomino’s Universal Century plans while developing a separate, non-Universal Century Gundam series with a family narrative for new viewers.
• When Mitsui Chuta raised the need to sell models during Bandai’s technology gap, Takuya claimed he could design glue-free models without changes to existing production lines.

Nakayama Takuya pitched Sunrise a new Gundam anime built around an international fighting tournament, and the executives enthusiastically approved the concept. The story left the creative team ready to develop the project.

• Mitsui Chuta lost his composure and rushed toward Nakayama Takuya, but President Ito stopped him and urged him to listen.
• President Ito asked Takuya to present the draft behind his proposal for a Gundam series outside the Universal Century.
• Takuya outlined the Gundam Fight Tournament, where nations sent Gundam pilots to battle for the right to govern the Earth Sphere.
• Takuya described a Neo Japan protagonist seeking his missing brother and trying to clear his scientist father's name after the Devil Gundam went out of control.
• Takuya explained how international rivals, episodic country-based battles, and varied Gundam designs could support the story and model sales.
• President Ito approved Takuya's proposal and ordered the team to begin developing it.

Nakayama Takuya presented Bandai’s designers and Shizuoka engineers with a joint design that compensated for manufacturing tolerances, giving the company a practical transitional model plan before its new Gundam TV anime. Mitsui Chuta decided to mark Gundam’s tenth anniversary with three RX-78 releases, while the engineers confirmed that an arm-section mold design was ready for trials.

• Nakayama Takuya asked Mitsui Chuta to bring experienced Shizuoka factory engineers to Bandai’s Tokyo headquarters so design and production teams could review his plan together.
• Nakayama Takuya proposed a Nested Locking Structure and PE liner that could compensate for part errors, strengthen joints, and allow repeated assembly and disassembly.
• Bandai’s designers and engineers embraced the proposal and rushed to adapt the design for a Zaku arm set.
• Nakayama Takuya suggested a Gundam tenth-anniversary campaign featuring RX-78-1, RX-78-2, and RX-78-3 color versions made from one set of molds.
• A designer reported that the arm-section mold drawings were complete and feasible, and a production engineer said mold trials would begin the next day.

Nakayama Takuya heard that Bandai’s new Gundam model mold had succeeded, then used a date with Nakagawa Eri to help her solve TV Tokyo’s programming problems. Eri left with ideas for a quiz show and a low-cost Chinese cuisine documentary to pitch at the station.

• Mitsui Chuta told Nakayama Takuya that Bandai’s experimental mold had succeeded and that the Original Gundam 10th Anniversary Edition design was scheduled.
• Nakagawa Eri told Takuya that her father had assigned her to develop a fresh, high-profile variety program for TV Tokyo.
• Takuya proposed a quiz show called Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, with a ten-million-yen prize, lifelines, and safeguards for contestants.
• Takuya suggested filling daytime slots with a Chinese cuisine documentary made cheaply in China, with home-cooking tutorials and advertising opportunities.
• Eri was impressed by Takuya’s detailed plans and felt renewed affection and pride in him.

Nakagawa Eri presented Takuya’s cooking show proposal to her father, who approved it and put her in charge. At Sega, Takuya persuaded the board to cut the Mega Drive’s North American price and pair the move with Sonic the Hedgehog, then was assigned to coordinate the plan with Tom Kalinske.

• Eri organized Takuya’s ideas for Cooking Master Boy into a proposal and presented it to Nakagawa Jun.
• Nakagawa Jun approved the project, appointed Eri to lead it, and asked her to bring Takuya home for a meal.
• Sony’s acquisition of Columbia Pictures stirred controversy in Japan and the United States as Sega’s directors debated Tom Kalinske’s proposed Mega Drive price cut.
• Takuya argued that lowering the Mega Drive’s price to $149 and launching a bundled Sonic the Hedgehog model would build a North American lead before Nintendo released the Super Famicom.
• Sega’s board unanimously approved the plan and assigned Takuya to coordinate it with Tom Kalinske.

Sega’s Mega Drive and Sonic the Hedgehog surged in North America, while Japan’s overseas acquisition boom reinforced Sega executives’ confidence in holding cash. At Sony, Norio Ohga approved Nobuyuki Idei’s plan to lure Nintendo into a CD-ROM agreement that would let Sony build and profit from its own PlayStation, and Ken Kutaragi prepared to take the proposal to Kyoto.

• Tom Kalinske told Nakayama Takuya that Mega Drive had sold 1.03 million units in North America during the first week after its price cut, while Sonic the Hedgehog sold even more.
• Hoshino and Sugiura discussed Mitsubishi Estate’s purchase of an eighty-percent stake in Rockefeller Center and praised Nakayama Takuya’s decision to turn Sega’s domestic assets into cash.
• Ken Kutaragi reported to Norio Ohga that Sony could not copy the Super Famicom CPU because Ricoh designed its core architecture.
• Nobuyuki Idei proposed that Sony offer Nintendo a Super Famicom CD-ROM drive in exchange for an agreement allowing Sony to release a cartridge- and CD-compatible PlayStation.
• Idei and Ryoji Chubachi outlined terms giving Sony control over PlayStation CD-game publishing, third-party royalties, and the console’s unspecified compatibility hardware.
• Norio Ohga ordered Ken Kutaragi to take the Trojan-horse proposal to Nintendo, with Idei and Chubachi supporting the plan.

After the Berlin Wall fell, Nakayama Takuya proposed a plan to enter Eastern Europe by selling inexpensive Sega hardware, localizing games, and controlling the supply of key components. Nakayama Hayao approved the plan and put Takuya in charge of coordinating it, leaving Sega’s directors with roles in the new venture.

• As Sega’s directors celebrated strong North American sales, Nakayama Takuya watched news of the Berlin Wall’s fall and identified Eastern Europe as a new market.
• Takuya argued that the Soviet Union’s weakening control would open Eastern Europe to goods from the free world, despite residents’ limited purchasing power.
• Takuya proposed clearing out old SG-1000 and secondhand consoles, localizing software, and exporting semiconductor components while authorizing local assembly.
• Takuya assigned parts of the Eastern European strategy to directors and their associated sales, arcade, factory, finance, and legal operations.
• Nakayama Hayao approved Takuya’s plan and made him responsible for coordinating its execution.

Nakayama Takuya helped Eri rethink how to manage the stalled Cooking Master Boy production in Beijing, advising her to focus on getting usable footage on schedule rather than fixing the local team’s procedures. Eri regained her confidence and prepared to put his advice into practice.

• Eri called Takuya and described how delays and bureaucratic procedures had stalled filming and equipment clearance in Beijing.
• Takuya told Eri to focus on delivering footage on time and within budget instead of trying to manage or reform the Chinese team.
• Takuya advised Eri to empower a capable local collaborator, provide flexible funding, and allow the station to use copies of the finished footage.
• Eri understood Takuya’s advice, felt reassured by his support, and resolved to move forward with the production.

Eri reported that Takuya’s logistics support plan had resolved production obstacles in China, and Sega’s November games and Game Pocket were performing strongly. Takuya pushed new development plans while preparing Sega to profit before he expected Japan’s economic bubble to burst.

• Eri told Takuya that the Chinese producer had used the logistics budget to speed up filming, secure locations and cooperation, and complete the first batch of master tapes for shipment to Tokyo.
• Takuya’s assistant reported strong sales for Golden Sun: The Lost Age, Grand Strategy, and Shinobi 2, while Game Pocket had pushed Nintendo’s Game Boy below twenty percent market share.
• Takuya ordered the Shinobi 2 team to develop an action game for Sega’s new arcade board, Group Eight to prepare a Game Pocket port of Grand Strategy, and Group Three to accelerate Pokémon Gold/Silver.
• Takuya reflected that he had scheduled Sega’s major releases for November to earn players’ money before the bubble burst, leaving December’s sales opportunity to third parties.

At the Gundam 10th Anniversary press conference, Yoshiyuki Tomino explained that he was stepping back to recover and credited Sega’s Nakayama Takuya with inspiring the new Mobile Fighter G Gundam and its model technology. A report cataloging Takuya’s many hit-game contributions made him a sensation among players, who hailed him as Sega’s counterpart to Shigeru Miyamoto.

• Bandai president Yamashina Makoto unveiled a glue-free snap-fit commemorative model, and Sunrise announced Mobile Fighter G Gundam.
• A reporter challenged Yoshiyuki Tomino about not directing the new series, and Tomino said health issues had led him to rest while he entrusted the project to a new team.
• Tomino credited Nakayama Takuya with advising him to recover and with providing the creative idea behind the new Gundam work.
• A Bandai executive said Nakayama had also inspired the snap-fit model technology, prompting reporters to publicize his role.
• A report listed Nakayama’s many games and industry contributions, leading players to call him Sega’s answer to Shigeru Miyamoto.

As Sega’s November game releases lost momentum and third-party hits dominated December, Nakayama Takuya worried that Japan’s economic bubble was about to burst. He urged Director Hattori to pursue affordable-brand partnerships, beginning with Uniqlo, so Sega’s licensed characters would reach consumers as spending tightened.

• Takuya reviewed strong December sales for Konami’s Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse and discussed the varied fortunes of other third-party games with his assistant.
• Takuya reflected that the coming economic downturn could devastate companies and considered how Sega could prepare beyond shifting domestic assets.
• Takuya went to Sega Galaxy and praised Director Hattori’s licensing business, which was generating substantial revenue from Sega characters such as Sonic.
• Takuya told Hattori that Mieno Yasushi had replaced Satoshi Sumita as central bank governor and warned that rising interest rates would end Japan’s economic frenzy.
• Takuya proposed partnering with affordable brands such as Uniqlo and offering favorable licensing terms to expand Sega’s reach as consumers cut spending.
• Hattori agreed to pursue the plan, and Takuya urged him to start with Uniqlo.

Takuya watched the premiere of Eri’s cooking program, Cooking Master Boy, and praised its presentation and home-cooking segment. His mother, Nakayama Miyuki, approved of the show and warmly spoke with Eri, leaving Takuya under orders to treat her well.

• Takuya stayed home to watch Cooking Master Boy’s premiere because Eri had asked him to see it.
• The program showcased a master preparing Steamed Qilin Fish, then demonstrated a simplified version using ingredients available in Japanese supermarkets.
• Nakayama Miyuki watched the show and said she wanted to try making the dish herself.
• Takuya called Eri in Guangzhou and told her that his mother had enjoyed the program.
• Nakayama Miyuki spoke with Eri, invited her to visit, and told Takuya to treat his future fiancée properly.