Resident Evil Requiem's director, Koshi Nakanishi, says that the team at Capcom, in particular the women at the company, are to thank for Leon Kennedy's new "hot uncle" design in the upcoming ninth entry in the long-running survival horror series. He describes how Leon has a lot of fans inside the company who were "pretty strict" with his sexy older look.
In an interview with Automaton, Nakanishi describes the recurring Resident Evil protagonist as not "just handsome" but "cool personality-wise too." In order to realize this vision he says, "the designers worked really hard… we took a lot of care in refining him to be an 'ikeoji'." Ikeoji is a contraction of two words: ikemen, itself a contraction, meaning an attractive guy, and ojisan meaning middle-aged man.
Aside from his sexy stubble and chin dimple, the team made sure to give him a spicy older man personality. "I hope you’ll also look forward to the dry wit and subtle sarcasm that only an older guy can bring," Nakanishi says. Capcom appears to have completely nailed this design; "the reactions to the trailer on that front have made us happy," he adds.
Further comments to Automation explain how the women on the team were "strict" with how Leon was designed. “We’ve spent quite a lot of time polishing Leon’s visuals," Nakanishi says. "Leon has many fans among Capcom employees, and women in particular were pretty strict when reviewing his design. They would point out and comment on even the finest details like the wrinkles on his neck."
Reactions to Leon's design have been wholly positive and it seems Capcom is pretty smug with how it all worked out. “Throughout the development process, Leon was thoroughly refined," Nakanishi says. "I think we managed to come through with a design that would make anyone’s heart throb."
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