Koyori

Last updated

Koyori Togashi
Sengoku character
Psikyo-Koyori artwork.png
Koyori in Tengai (1996)
First game Samurai Aces (1993)
Created byAkifumi Yamada [1]
Designed by
  • Hirofumi Nakamura [2]
  • Jun Tsukasa (Tengai) [3]
Voiced by

Koyori Togashi (Japanese: 富樫こより, Hepburn: Togashi Koyori), called Miko in some western releases, is a shrine maiden in Psikyo's Sengoku series of shoot 'em up games, first appearing in the 1993 arcade game Samurai Aces (released in Japan as Sengoku Ace). Created by Akifumi Yamada and initially designed by Hirofumi Nakamura, Koyori is a bounty hunter and is characterized as a greedy schemer, often emotional. She since went on to appear in later games, now redesigned by artist Jun Tsukasa. While in the original game she flew a biplane, in later titles she was able to fly on her own and is accompanied by a blue shapeshifting shikigami. She has been voiced by multiple actresses across all appearances, including Hiroko Emori, Maria Kawamura, and Asuka Ito.

Contents

Koyori has been regarded as the unofficial protagonist of the Sengoku series and a mascot for Psikyo, as well as cited as an example of the importance of unique characters in the shoot 'em up genre. While her original design was well received, her redesign in later games saw a significant increase in popularity, attributed to the developers putting a heavy emphasis on fanservice and contrasted in discussion to its original counterpart. However some such as Kurt Kalata of Hardcore Gaming 101 have questioned this emphasis on fanservice as it has extended to merchandise of the character as well, particularly figures with removable attire.

Development and design

From left to right: Koyori's design as it evolved during Samurai Aces' development. In addition to her hair, focus was put on her eyes as it changed between versions. This version would later be reused in Battle Net Gimmick: Capcom & Psikyo Allstars. Psikyo-Koyori-Concept art.png
From left to right: Koyori's design as it evolved during Samurai Aces ' development. In addition to her hair, focus was put on her eyes as it changed between versions. This version would later be reused in Battle Net Gimmick: Capcom & Psikyo Allstars.

Koyori was created by Psikyo writer Akifumi Yamada for the game Samurai Aces , released in Japan as Sengoku Ace, a scrolling shoot 'em up, set in Japan's Sengoku period with sci-fi elements and fantasy characters. [1] She was designed by artist Hirofumi Nakumura after Yamada gave him a brief outline of the character. A shrine maiden, she was given a biplane to use in-game as he felt it fit her personality and design. While her initial version was created to be a more mysterious character, her design was refined to give her shorter hair and a more tomboyish personality. In a retrospective interview with Gamest magazine, he stated he wasn't particularly satisfied with the character designs, feeling he hadn't cleaned up his rough drafts enough. [2]

When work began on Tengai, known in Japan as Sengoku Blade, artist Jun Tsukasa was given fairly free range to redesign her as he saw fit. One significant change they decided to do between games was to give her a updated appearance to indicate the passage of time between games, particular a significantly enlarged bust to show that she was now two years older. When asked about why he increased it as much as he did, Tsukasa joked that "he received an order from the universe to draw them that way". [5] Most of her design stayed consistent through the game's development, with the most significant change being to decide to tie her hair back. The biplane was removed as characters flew in this title, and she was given a blue shapeshifting shikigami instead to support her in combat. [3] Particular attention was paid to the upper part of her outfit, with development notes insisting to give her flowing loose sleeves and to appear ready to fall off at a moment's notice while simultaneously appearing to firmly secure her chest. [9]

Koyori stands 165 cm (5 ft 5 in) tall, and while her bust size is listed as "unmeasurable", her waist and hip measurements are given as 60 and 90 cm (24 and 35 in) accordingly. [5] She has black hair and raised aviator goggles atop her head, with her hair originally cut into a bob cut for Samurai Aces and changed to a ponytail and bang combination for Tengai onward. Her shrine maiden outfit features a white robe that has plunging neckline that exposes her cleavage. In Tengai, a red trim was added to this part of her outfit. A red hakama skirt covers her legs, while she wears socks and sandals on her feet. She wields a gohei wand, and has a blue magatama on a string around her neck. [2] [3] In mobile phone releases of Tengai, her design was altered by adding a white undershirt to her artwork. [10]

Appearances

Koyori first appeared in the 1993 video game Samurai Aces, introduced as an outcast shrine maiden characterized as highly emotional and obsessed with money. [5] Flying a biplane, she works alongside other characters in the game to rescue a shogun's daughter from an evil cult. She returned in the follow-up title Tengai, which featured a similar plot of rescuing a princess from the cult, but in this game the characters were given the ability to fly without needing a vehicle, [11] and she was now accompanied by a shapeshifting shikigami named Basaro. [3] Koyori is also playable in the last game in the trilogy, Sengoku Cannon , fighting the cult again who has now decided to use normal humans to achieve their goals. [11] She was voiced by Hiroko Emori Samurai Aces and Maria Kawamura in Tengai, while her voice actress in Sengoku Cannon was uncredited. [4] [5]

Outside of the Sengoku series, Koyori was also featured in Mahjong Hot Trick Integral, a strip poker-style mahjong for arcades, later re-released as Taisen Hot Gimmick Mix Party, [12] as well as the game Taisen Hot Gimmick: Cosplay-Jan. [13] She additionally appears as a character in mahjong title Battle Net Gimmick: Capcom & Psikyo Allstars for the Dreamcast, as part of a crossover between the two companies and using both her Samurai Aces and Tengai designs. [8] [14] In crossovers with other company's games, she and several other characters from the Sengoku and Gunbird series appeared in Joycity's mobile game "Hero Ball Z". [15] She also appeared in the game "Last Origin" as part of a collaboration event with Studio Valkyrie, featuring a slightly modified appearance that added a sash around her chest. She was voiced by Asuka Ito for this appearance, [6] [7] while Tsukasa provided additional art for the title. [16]

Promotion and reception

To promote the sale of Tengai arcade cabinets, company Worldwide Video focused on Koyori and fellow character Katana's presence in the game as selling points. [17] In merchandise, several Koyori figures have been released over the years by companies such as Enterbrain, [18] Daiki Kougyou, [19] Cerberus Project, [20] and MegaHouse, [21] some of which feature removable clothing. [22] Other items have included phone cards produced in partnership with Gamest, as well as desktop wallpapers to promote Capcom & Psikyo All-Stars. [23] [24] Meanwhile, the special edition of Psikyo Collection Vol. 3 featured a box and artbook with artwork showcasing the character, as well as a 3D mousepad which utilized the character's breasts for the wrist rest. [25]

Koyori was well received upon debut, quickly becoming popular regardless of region and seen as an unofficial mascot for Psikyo as a company. [26] [27] The Japanese Sega Saturn magazine named her one of the best characters on the Saturn, praising her chest and describing her as a rare character "who can cater to even the most niche of customers". [28] Meanwhile, Chinese magazine Gamer and Touhou Project creator ZUN cited her as an example of the importance of unique characters in the shoot 'em up genre. [29] [30] Heiwajima Michiro writing for Japanese magazine Game Hihyou praised the character designs in Tengai, feeling their visibility in-game made it easier to empathize with the cast, but also considered Koyori large breasts a signature aspect of Psikyo's design style. [31]

Ultra Console Game magazine stated that despite her young appearance in the first game, the combination of the shrine maiden outfit and aviator goggles left a striking impression on players who quickly saw her as the game's protagonist. They further stated that while side-scrolling shoot 'em up titles were not popular in China, they felt Tengai's success was entirely because of her, stating that her own popularity rose exponentially thanks to Tsukasa's redesign. However, they also found it humorous that while her design was alluring, players would quickly discover she was one of the more difficult characters to play as. [32] [33]

Gamest in their Gals Island series of magazines state that while Samurai Aces became popular for its storylines and characters, they felt Koyori carried the title due to her in-game dialogue and abilities, [5] and further praised her interactions with fellow character Jane. [34] However, they expressed confusion as to why her breasts had been made larger in the game's sequel, yet felt her additional physical exposure was in-line with her characterization as an outcast shrine maiden and felt it helped her popularity expontentially, though jokingly called her obsession with money problematic. Additional praise was given to voice actress Maria Kawamura, who they were pleased to see continued to voice her in Tengai's Saturn version. [5]

David DiRienzo of Hardcore Gaming 101 stated that while Koyori was not the protagonist of the Sengoku series, but was the most popular character due to her large breasts. He further noted that while the shoot 'em up genre was not one they expected to see large breasts be a factor, "Psikyo found a way, though, and God bless them for that". DiRienzo further praised how the company utilized such characters to bring an identifiable element to their shooter games, something they felt gave the titles a bit of personality. [35] He described her redesign for Tengai as shifting away from a spunky tomboy into "one of the most blatant examples of fanservice ever seen in a non-hentai shoot-em-up". [36] Kurt Kalata meanwhile questioned her Sengoku Cannon merchandise, namely the figures that featured fully removable clothing. While he acknowledged that this wasn't unusual in Japan as part of otaku culture, he felt it was odd to see such officially sanctioned by the developers. [22]

Lei Ling of Tencent.com felt that her name and character design were initially meant to be homages to Sayo-chan, the female protagonist of the game Pocky & Rocky . However, he noted that was where the similarities ended, as while Sayo was seen as "pure and kind", he described Koyori as a "hot, extremely greedy", scheming character, pointing at the moment she betrays fellow character Ayin in both Samurai Aces and Tengai solely to keep the bounties to herself. He overall enjoyed the comedic aspects of some of her Tengai endings, but was surprised when the game gave her yuri overtones, in how several of her endings resulted in her being paired with a female character, such as the princess, through her own volition. [37]

References

  1. 1 2 "Psikyo Illustrations". Gamest . Gamest Mook. Vol. 113. Shinseisha. p. 109. ISBN   4881994166.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Sengoku Ace". Gamest (in Japanese). No. 203. Shinseisha. October 30, 1997. pp. 189–190. T1122445100561.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Sengoku Blade". Gamest (in Japanese). No. 203. Shinseisha. October 30, 1997. pp. 190–191. T1122445100561.
  4. 1 2 "Psikyo Illustrations". Gamest . Gamest Mook. Vol. 113. Shinseisha. p. 102. ISBN   4881994166.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Koyori". Gamest . ギャルズアイランド (Gals Island Sweet Memory) (in Japanese). No. 4. Shinseisha. June 26, 1996. pp. 8–9. T1063381471288.
  6. 1 2 「ラストオリジン」に富樫こより（CV：伊藤あすか）が登場！「戦国ブレード」とのコラボイベントが開催 [Koyori Togashi (CV: Asuka Ito) appears in "Last Origin"! Collaboration event with "Sengoku Blade" held]. Online Gamer (in Japanese). November 24, 2023. Archived from the original on July 9, 2025. Retrieved December 11, 2025.
  7. 1 2 Ito, Asuka [@itoasuka0218] (November 23, 2023). #ラストオリジン 初のコラボ！ #戦国ブレード のヒロイン 富樫こより役を担当させて頂くことになりました！ とっても嬉しいよー！(；Д；)『ゲーム内ではこう言っていました！』とお伝えしたり、こうしてみたら？とアドバイスを頂いたり、いつもより時間をかけて収録をしました [#LastOrigin First collab! #SengokuBlade's heroine I'll be voicing the role of Koyori Togashi! I'm so thrilled—! (；Д；) "I said it like this in the game!" and getting advice like "How about trying it this way?"—we took even more time than usual for the recording] (Tweet). Archived from the original on December 15, 2025 – via Twitter.
  8. 1 2 秋葉原にジャンボーイと春麗出現！『対戦ネットギミック』イベント開催！ [Jumpboy and Chunli appear in Akihabara! "Battle Net Gimmick" event held!]. Dengeki Online (in Japanese). June 25, 2001. Retrieved December 11, 2025.
  9. ↑ アーケード・ゲーム・ギャラリー戦国ブレード[Arcade Game Gallery Sengoku Blade]. マイコン BASIC Magazine[Mycom BASIC Magazine] (in Japanese). Vol. 15, no. 6. Denpa Shimbun. June 1996. p. 245. T1018361060501.
  10. ↑ Eugene (June 14, 2014). "Arcade Shoot-Em-Up Tengai Reappears For Smartphones". Siliconera . Archived from the original on October 26, 2020. Retrieved December 11, 2025.
  11. 1 2 Lada, Jenni (February 13, 2020). "Psikyo Shooting Stars Bravo Is Filled With Characters With Personality". Siliconera . Archived from the original on October 9, 2025. Retrieved December 15, 2025.
  12. ↑ "Mahjong Hot Gimmick Integral". Kotaku . Retrieved December 11, 2025.
  13. ↑ "Taisen Hot Gimmick: Cosplay-Jan (2004)". GOG.com . Retrieved December 11, 2025.
  14. ↑ メーカー、ジャンルの垣根を越え、ファイター[A fighter that transcends the boundaries of manufacturers and genres]. ドリマガ[Dorimaga] (in Japanese). No. 1. Softbank. May 25, 2001. p. 124. T1126424050557.
  15. ↑ Wook, Kim Dong (October 14, 2020). 「Hero Ball Z」がシューティングゲーム「戦国ブレード」「ガンバード」とコラボ。アップデートにより新機能も登場 ["Hero Ball Z" collaborates with the shooting games "Sengoku Blade" and "Gunbird". Updates also bring new features]. 4Gamer.net (in Japanese). Archived from the original on November 12, 2021. Retrieved December 11, 2025.
  16. ↑ Tsukasa, Jun (April 27, 2024). 「ラストオリジン」コラボ こより ["Last Origin" collaboration Koyori]. cocolog-nifty.com. Archived from the original on February 6, 2025. Retrieved December 11, 2025.
  17. ↑ "Tengai Advertisement". Play Meter . Vol. 22, no. 10. September 1996. p. 193. ISSN   1529-8736.
  18. ↑ お徳感に重要なのは量や金額に加えて「作品の鮮度」？　アキバ福袋【ホビー・萌え系】 [In addition to the amount and amount, what is important for a sense of virtue is the freshness of the work? Akiba Lucky Bag [Hobby/Moe system]]. Ascii.jp (in Japanese). January 2, 2017. p. 2. Archived from the original on August 9, 2025. Retrieved December 11, 2025.
  19. ↑ 2F 大小こより揃いました！『PVC製フィギュア ダイキ工業こより』 [2F 大小こより揃いました！『PVC製フィギュア ダイキ工業こより』]. Mandarake. Archived from the original on December 11, 2025. Retrieved December 11, 2025.
  20. ↑ 1/6 戦国ブレード　こより [1/6 Sengoku Blade Koyori]. Cerberus Project (in Japanese). Archived from the original on September 21, 2023. Retrieved December 11, 2025.
  21. ↑ エクセレントモデルCORE 戦国キャノン 巨乳暴れん坊巫女 こより [Excellent Model Core Sengoku Cannon Big Breasts Rampage Miko Koyori]. MegaHouse (in Japanese). Archived from the original on August 12, 2025. Retrieved December 11, 2025.
  22. 1 2 Kalata, Kurt (April 10, 2007). "Sengoku Cannon". Hardcore Gaming 101. Archived from the original on May 15, 2025. Retrieved December 11, 2025.
  23. ↑ "Psikyo Illustrations". Gamest . Gamest Mook. Vol. 113. Shinseisha. p. 48. ISBN   4881994166.
  24. ↑ 格闘キャラが麻雀で激突！『ネットギミック』壁紙3点 [Fighting characters clash in mahjong! 3 "Net Gimmick" wallpapers]. Gpara.com. July 1, 2001. Archived from the original on December 21, 2013. Retrieved December 11, 2025.
  25. ↑ 《彩京精选 Vol.3》Nintendo Switch™繁体中文版将于5月30日正式发售 [Psikyo Collection Vol. 3 for Nintendo Switch™ (Traditional Chinese version) will be officially released on May 30th.]. 3DM (in Chinese). April 19, 2019. Retrieved January 23, 2026.
  26. ↑ Ryu, Jong-hwa (May 10, 2021). [90년대 게임광고] 텐가이, 오락실서 이 무녀 모르면 간첩 [[90's Game Commercial] Tengai, if you don't know this shrine maiden at the arcade, you will be a spy]. Gamemeca (in Korean). Archived from the original on August 9, 2025. Retrieved December 11, 2025.
  27. ↑ Lopez, Goncalo (April 6, 2018). "Tengai Review (Switch eShop)". Nintendo Life . Archived from the original on June 18, 2025. Retrieved December 11, 2025.
  28. ↑ サタマガ選定委員会 ゲーム美少女50名ベストランキング!![Satamaga Selection Committee Top 50 gaming beauties!!]. Sega Saturn Magazine . No. 25. SoftBank. July 25, 1997. p. 129. T1123404070352.
  29. ↑ 不灭的回忆—没落皇族STG回忆录[Immortal Memories—Memoirs of a Fallen Royal Family in STG]. Gamer (in Chinese). No. 22. UCG Media. March 8, 2007. p. 112. ISBN   7-88578-057-0.
  30. ↑ Clark, Brian (July 16, 2018). "Talking with ZUN from the Touhou Series! A Conversation Hell". OneMillionPower. Archived from the original on February 13, 2024. Retrieved December 12, 2025.
  31. ↑ "Shooting Mortar". ゲーム批評[Game Hihyou] (in Japanese). Vol. 13. Micro Magazine. February 1997. p. 76. ISBN   4-944000-52-9.
  32. ↑ 人气女主角—巫女 Koyori[Popular female protagonist—Koyori, the shrine maiden]. 游戏机 实用技术[Ultra Console Game] (in Chinese). No. 62. September 1, 2002. p. 57. ISSN   1008-0600.
  33. ↑ "Sengoku Cannon". 游戏机 实用技术[Ultra Console Game] (in Chinese). No. 125. June 2005. p. 45. ISSN   1008-0600.
  34. ↑ 嗚呼!麗しの シューティングギャル[Ah! Beautiful shooting gal]. Gamest . ギャルズアイランド (Gals Island) (in Japanese). No. 3. Shinseisha. April 1994. p. 53. T1063381471288.
  35. ↑ DiRienzo, David (September 12, 2010). "Sengoku Ace". Hardcore Gaming 101. Archived from the original on August 11, 2025. Retrieved December 11, 2025.
  36. ↑ DiRienzo, David (April 21, 2007). "Sengoku Blade". Hardcore Gaming 101. Archived from the original on August 11, 2025. Retrieved December 11, 2025.
  37. ↑ Ling, Lei (July 19, 2023). Xiao Lei (ed.). 街机游戏《战国之刃》那些离谱结局：美女飞行员的归宿都是百合？ [The absurd endings of the arcade game Sengoku Blade: all the beautiful female pilots end up in yuri (lesbian) relationships?]. Tencent.com (in Chinese). Retrieved December 11, 2025.
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