Infused with Japanese Culture
Tanuki: Pon’s Summer, a cosy-looking indie game, has a setting in the Japanese countryside and anime aesthetic, but it’s not ripping off the beloved animation studio. Instead, it’s a game that has been created in collaboration with other talented Japanese artists and takes its inspirations directly from the country itself.
The Inspiration
The game’s director, Liam Edwards, explains that the inspiration for Tanuki came from his own firsthand experience of Japan’s huge festival, or matsuri, when he first lived in the countryside near a smaller city called Okayama. "We’re super lucky that we live in Japan," says Liam. "We don’t need any reference point from any other media, we don’t need to look at other games or anime, we just look outside and we take lots of photos."
Anime Character Design
The game’s character design is also inspired by classic manga tropes. The studio collaborated with a Japanese artist called Mongy, who had the ability to understand the simplicity and charm of the game’s characters. "We wanted normal characters with small memorable details about them, and one of the best artists for that is Eiichiro Oda (creator of One Piece)," Liam says. "So we found Mongy, who had the ability to understand that kind of simplicity. We worked with him to define our whole character list because he was just so good at faces and remarkable shapes."
Photography Inspiration
When it came to creating the tones of a rural Japanese summer, the inspiration actually came from photography, or rather anime-inspired photography. Specifically, Liam had found a book by Japanese photographer Akine Coco called ‘Like a Scene from an Anime’, which contains hundreds of her photographs of scenery that look as if they’re lifted from a Ghibli film.
Game Development
Tanuki is DenkiWorks’ debut game, and for Liam, a step up to 3D after his previous 2D physics-based golfing roguelike Cursed to Golf. The small studio has been using Unity, but they’ve had to build a lot of their own custom tools. "We’ve had to be very custom in the way we design everything, whether it’s cutscene managing, quest building, or how we build our environments," he says.
Conclusion
Tanuki: Pon’s Summer is set to release in late 2025 for PC, Xbox Series X/S (including day one on Xbox Game Pass), and Nintendo Switch. The game’s unique blend of Japanese culture, anime-inspired design, and photography-inspired visuals make it a standout title in the indie gaming scene.
FAQs
Q: What inspired the game’s setting and characters?
A: The game’s setting and characters were inspired by the director’s firsthand experience of Japan’s huge festival, or matsuri, and classic manga tropes.
Q: How did the game’s character design come about?
A: The game’s character design was collaborated with a Japanese artist called Mongy, who had the ability to understand the simplicity and charm of the game’s characters.
Q: What inspired the game’s visuals?
A: The game’s visuals were inspired by anime-inspired photography, specifically a book by Japanese photographer Akine Coco called ‘Like a Scene from an Anime’.
Q: What platform will the game be released on?
A: Tanuki: Pon’s Summer will be released on PC, Xbox Series X/S (including day one on Xbox Game Pass), and Nintendo Switch.
