Hideki Kamiya, Platinum Games’s current vice president and the executive director of upcoming Bayonetta 3 is no longer available on Twitter. His account disappeared shortly after Bayonetta’s original voice actor, Hellena Taylor took to the same platform to discuss a perceived unjustified payment offer made by Platinum Games in a series of published video messages. Kamiya responded later with his own tweet, angering many fans in the process.
There is some nuance when it comes to interpreting Japanese tweets, as the Japanese language is often abstract, and relies heavily on context to determine the subject or topic of any sentence. Kamiya expressed his displeasure about the situation yesterday in a tweet, saying he is sad about the attitude of “untruth” or Kyogi 虚偽 (Untruth, Falsehood, Misinformation) in Japanese. From an objective lens, the word could be interpreted as a comment on voice actor Hellena Taylor herself and her recent claims, or the misinformation that has spread around, with each Netizen saying or believing their own version of the story.
Kamiya also addressed the rules of engaging with his Twitter account abrasively, in an all caps message imploring others to respect the rules that he had pinned on his account before its inevitable closure. He was known to be a sarcastic character online, with some devilishly harsh comebacks that he lobbed at fans before throwing them under the guillotine of his infamous block policy. He had a reputation for blocking those who engaged with him in any sort of conversation he deemed inappropriate, such as asking questions repeatedly, mentioning him in useless conversations, or outright harassing him for any reason, as Youtuber Nick Robinson has already explained.
Bayonetta 3’s director Yusuke Miyata spoke to Game Informer recently about the reason for Hellena Taylor not reprising her iconic role as the titular character Bayonetta, adding another layer to the conflict of truths and misinformation that Kamiya has hinted about. According to Miyata, “Various overlapping circumstances” made it impossible for them to match their timing with Taylor’s tight schedule, making the truth of the situation even more ambiguous, as Taylor has clarified herself in another one of her videos that she had “nothing but time” and that their claims are outrageous.
Bayonetta 3 will be available exclusively on Nintendo Switch on October 28 this year, and voice actor Jennifer Hale is set to take on the role of Bayonetta following the departure of the original performer. Platinum Games has yet to address the situation or comment on Taylor’s plea for the fans to Boycott the upcoming Bayonetta 3.
