Yesterday, the Internet went wild when, during an interview as part of the digital Comic-Con@Home event, popular horror manga author Junji Ito mentioned that he had been approached by game director Hideo Kojima to potentially collaborate on a horror project. Kojima, who infamously worked on the terrifying looking (but cancelled) Silent Hills, has recently indicated an interest in returning to the horror genre following the release of the more action and survival-themed Death Stranding in 2019.
However, following the interview being posted online, Ito took to Twitter to clarify his statement. In a lengthy Tweet, he explained that the expression of interest from Kojima had come in the form of a casual conversation at a party, rather than a formal offer to collaborate on any defined project. While this Tweet was made in Japanese, I have translated Kojima’s statement to Ito to read: “I may ask for your help if an opportunity comes up,” meaning that the director is not currently working on a game with Ito.
海外向けのインタビューで小島秀夫監督からお仕事のお声がけを頂いたと、私は軽々しく答えてしまいましたが、実際はパーティーの立ち話の中での「もし機会があれば協力をお願いするかもしれない」という程度のものです。小島秀夫監督をはじめ、過度に期待させてしまった方々にお詫び申し上げます。
— 伊藤潤二 (@junjiitofficial) July 27, 2020
In the same Tweet, Ito apologized for giving any “false hope” to fans who had seen the interview. Interestingly, he also apologized to Kojima, which may indicate that additional communication has occurred between the two of them since the interview was posted. Officially, Kojima has not made a statement on his social media, instead primarily using his Twitter to retweet screenshots taken by fans in Death Stranding’s Photo Mode.
While the Kojima-Ito collaboration is still only a hypothetical future possibility, it could be that the attention it has recently received from fans could inspire the two men to make a solid commitment to working together. Kojima has recently said on Twitter that he is interested in making “the scariest horror game,” and Junji Ito would certainly be the perfect partner for such a project.
