Katsuhiro Harada (原田 勝弘, Harada Katsuhiro, born June 10, 1970) is a Japanese game director and producer for Bandai Namco Entertainment. He is best known for his work with the fighting game series Tekken.
Katsuhiro Harada | |
|---|---|
 Harada in 2013 | |
| Born | June 10, 1970 |
| Alma mater | Waseda University |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1994–present |
| Employer | Bandai Namco Entertainment |
| Notable work | Tekken series |
| Title | General Manager |
Biography
editHarada was born in Osaka, Japan, and grew up within the Nara Prefecture region.[1] He later moved to Tokyo, Japan. During his childhood, video games were viewed with a great deal of suspicion in Japan. His parents would not buy him a home console, and as a result often sneaked into arcade centres, where he would occasionally be discovered and dragged out. He worked hard and ended up securing a place at Waseda University. He has studied judo, karate and a little bit of taekwondo in the past.[2] He attended Waseda University along with Dead or Alive creator Tomonobu Itagaki[3] and holds a degree in psychology. During his university studies, he took a few Chinese language courses, albeit finding it very difficult.[4] After graduating from university, he joined Namco to become a promoter. His parents were initially unhappy with his pursuit in a career with the video game industry, but have since accepted him in his work.[5]
During his first year working in the Namco arcade, Harada surpassed the sales record two months in a row, and subsequently received an award of commendation from the president of Namco. Thanks to the award, Harada now had a platform to approach the management and request that they move him into game development. Towards the end of the first year at Namco, they gave him a position on the first Tekken title.[6]
He voiced Forest Law in Tekken 3 and Tekken Tag Tournament, Marshall Law from Tekken until Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection, Yoshimitsu from Tekken until Tekken Tag Tournament and Kunimitsu in Tekken. He is known within the fanbase for his sense of humor, such as his comical rivalry with former Street Fighter producer (producer from 2008-2020), Yoshinori Ono, jokes around the character Leo Kliesen in Tekken 6 because of their ambiguous gender, and for attending EVO 2017 in a shirt that read "Don't Ask Me for Shit". Harada is also a member of Project Soul (the team behind the Soulcalibur franchise) and makes an appearance in Soulcalibur V as a bonus character.[citation needed]
By 2019, Harada had been promoted to lead the fighting game esports division of Bandai Namco, as well as to being a general manager at the company overall.[7][8]
Works
edit| Year | Title | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Tekken | Voice actor (Marshall Law, Yoshimitsu, Kunimitsu) |
| 1995 | Tekken 2 | Voice actor (Marshall Law, Yoshimitsu) |
| 1997 | Tekken 3 | Director, voice actor (Yoshimitsu, Forest Law) |
| 1999 | Tekken Tag Tournament | |
| 2001 | Tekken Advance | Director |
| Tekken 4 | Director, voice actor (Marshall Law) | |
| 2004 | Tekken 5 | |
| 2005 | Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection | Project supervisor, voice actor (Marshall Law) |
| 2007 | Soulcalibur Legends | Contributor |
| Tekken 6 | Executive producer | |
| 2008 | Tekken 6: Bloodline Rebellion | |
| Soulcalibur IV | Co-director | |
| 2011 | Ace Combat: Assault Horizon | Game concept supervisor |
| Tekken Tag Tournament 2 | Executive producer | |
| 2012 | Project X Zone | Supervisor |
| Street Fighter X Tekken | Director | |
| Tekken 3D: Prime Edition | Executive producer | |
| Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory | Voice actor (Kuma) | |
| PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale | Supervisor | |
| 2013 | Tekken Revolution | Executive producer |
| 2014 | Ace Combat Infinity | Project leader |
| 2015 | Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth | Supervisor |
| Tekken 7 | Director | |
| Pokkén Tournament | Producer | |
| Lost Reavers | Executive producer | |
| 2016 | Tekken 7: Fated Retribution | Director |
| Summer Lesson | Chief producer | |
| Project X Zone 2 | Supervisor, global marketing general manager | |
| Dark Souls III | Global marketing general manager | |
| 2017 | Pokkén Tournament DX | Producer |
| 2018 | Katamari Damacy Reroll | General producer |
| Soulcalibur VI | Executive advisor | |
| Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom | General manager, worldwide marketing department | |
| Naruto to Boruto: Shinobi Striker | Global marketing general manager | |
| My Hero Academia: One's Justice | ||
| God Eater 3 | Global marketing | |
| Dark Souls: Remastered | Global marketing general manager | |
| Black Clover: Quartet Knights | ||
| 11-11: Memories Retold | General manager of marketing | |
| 2019 | The Dark Pictures: Man of Medan | General producer |
| Code Vein | ||
| Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown | Marketing general manager | |
| 2021 | Tales of Arise | General producer |
| 2022 | Tekken: Bloodline | Executive producer |
| 2024 | Tekken 8 |
References
edit- ^ "Overview - Katsuhiro Harada". Archived from the original on 2019-02-19. Retrieved 2015-07-01.
- ^ Michael Murray [@mykeryu] (10 May 2019). "Woke up this morning and reached 10,000 followers! Also, officially from April I am the main producer on the Tekken franchise (including Japan, merchandising, everything related to the IP) so I look forward to further interactions with you all :)" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ Katsuhiro Harada [@Harada_TEKKEN] (27 April 2012). "ワシ、大阪生まれの奈良育ち。DoAの板垣氏と早稲田に入学して以来、ずっと東京だけど、寝言はいまだに関西弁らしい。ハギーさんはカプコン広報だってば！（笑） RT@harakubashi 原田さん関東の人じゃなかったんですか(笑) ちなみにハギー氏ってお笑い芸人の方なんですか！？" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ Katsuhiro Harada [@Harada_TEKKEN] (6 April 2013). "大学の頃第二外国語に中国語を選択していましたが、難しくて無理でした・・・。海外出張が多いので各国言語の必要最低限は覚えるようにしていますが。 RT@AirSlicer1986 原田さんの語学力にびっくりしていますわ。一体、何ヶ国語できますと？ちなみに、中国語は？？？？？？" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ Grey, Jonathan 'Catalyst' (23 September 2013). "Harada's parents broke into tears when he initially got involved with video games - he used psychology background to boost sales". EventHubs. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
- ^ "Harada was interviewed by the video game magazine Edge". Edge Online Magazine. 2013-09-23. Archived from the original on 2013-09-26. Retrieved 2015-07-11.
- ^ Harada, Katsuhiro (26 December 2018). "To everyone in the "DRAGON BALL FighterZ", "TEKKEN", and "SoulCalibur" community. Please read & refer to the following link. Thanks!!!". Retrieved 16 June 2019.
- ^ Harada, Katsuhiro (26 December 2018). "I'm the general manager of develop & produce of Bandai Namco original titles from this term (ex: TEKKEN, Ace Combat, Tales of, Dark Soul, Soul Calibur, etc..). I'll also continue with eSports' strategy leader. Sometimes I might Tweet something unrelated to TEKKEN, but forgive me". Retrieved 16 June 2019.