Tekken boss deeply mourns the loss of his friend, Tomonobu Itagaki

Losing someone close to you, especially if it was something you didn't expect, can be a blow that takes a long time to come to terms with and leaves a deep impression on you. If you are young and lucky, you may not have had to deal with it yet, but as time and life goes on, there will be difficult days when you will have to say a hurried goodbye (how could it be otherwise?) to loved ones, family members, and work colleagues. Also, to people you admire, even when you were "rivals". That's what happened today to Tekken series boss Katsuhiro Harada when he learned of the passing of Dead or Alive creator Tomonobu Itagaki, his friend.

Initial reactions of near disbelief have been followed by Harada's sadness, recalling his last conversations with Igataki, as well as the message the late DOA creator and 2004 reboot of the Ninja Gaiden franchise left on his Facebook profile this morning:

"It's hard to believe, but Itagaki-san...my senior from university and my rival as a creator has passed away.

"The last message I ever received from him was,
Let's go drinking. Let's make some noise soon!"

To think that he's gone at just 58 years old...

Yes, everyone dies eventually ...that's inevitable.
But you... isn't it a bit too soon?

Didn't you say you were going to defeat me someday?
Didn't you come to my wedding, wearing your usual black leather jacket and sunglasses,
and call me your comrade-in-arms?
Didn't you tell me to come to you whenever I was in trouble?

I never even got the chance to consult you about anything.

Honestly... I'm really depressed.

—Itagaki's final message (English translation)—

Words I Leave Behind
The flame of my life is finally about to go out.
If this message has been posted, it means that the time has come. I am no longer in this world.
(This final post has been entrusted to someone dear to me.)
My life was a series of battles. And I kept on winning.
I know I caused trouble for many along the way.
But I followed my convictions and fought to the very end.
I have no regrets.
Only one thing weighs on me — I'm deeply sorry to all my fans that I couldn't bring you a new work. I truly am.
That's just how it is.
So it goes.

Tomonobu Itagaki"

Harada and Itagaki met for the first time in the early 1990s, when they coincidentally met at the same table for dinner at a Shinjuku restaurant after a gaming event. It seems like a minor anecdote, but it seems that night could have been the seed for the development of what would become Bandai Namco's later action titles. That friendship evolved, went through ups and downs, and finally recovered in 2008. Since then, the two developers have maintained a long-lasting friendship that has been cut short today. Honestly, and aside from the emotional message Harada has left on social media, it's worth reading his extensive article published on X, which gives us a good insight into what promotional and game design strategies were like in Japan in the 90s and 2000s.