Just a quick note: I'd like to bid a fond farewell to the The Gaming Intelligence Agency, one of the best video game sites on the Internet. I wish their staff members the best of luck on their new site, and am quite sad to see them go.

With that being said, let's hear what's to be said about Castlevania artist Ayami Kojima...

If you want to check out more art by the lovely Miss Kojima, check out the Kelesis Home Page, which has a respectable gallery of both Castlevania and non-Castlevania.

Hey there, I've been a fan of your site for some time, since before COTM came out here in the States. This game is the reason I bought my GBA. Well of course everyone who's played it knows that the screen can be very difficult to see if you don't have some really bright external light... most all the commercialy sold lighting accesories suck big time. Well I found two awesome websites that have really good solutions to this problem... and right in time for the next castlevania game. I dunno if you'd want to link to them or just post this in updates or what, but here they are. http://www.geocities.com/gbalight/walkthrough.html This sight actually only sells a little LED bulb, instead of a full product. It has some great walkthroughs on how to modify existing lighting accesories with this LED. The LED sells for $8 and is frigging BRIGHT!!! I bought one of these and modified a pelican light shield accesorie and now I can play CV in ANY conditions with ease and it looks great. The mod was also easy to do and the guy that runs the site is very responsive... I sent him quite a few emails with questions and he always responded quickly. With this mod my GBA also gets great battery life, about 9 hours with the light constantly on. I think this mod is the easiest and cheapest way to get really good light to play CV or any GBA game. second http://www.portablemonopoly.com/?page=faq this site will soon be selling a product most people have most likely already seen shots of by now. It's a light that you actually install inside your GBA. It looks great in the screenshots but they haven't been released yet so no one knows how well they really work. They cost in the range of $40, and look like they're gonna be a pain to install, though I'm probably going to get one if some people try them and say they're good. For most people though The first mod is probably the way to go unless they either don't mind taking their GBA apart and messing around with it's insides or dont' mind paying the extra $20 to have someone install it. Anyways... these mods were pretty much made for CV in my opinion, and since this is the best site about Castlevania I know of I figured I'd let you know (if you didn't already) and hopefully spread the news to other castlevania fans who are tired of squinting their eyes for COTM.

This is more in reference to last week's mailbag, but I figured I'd toss it up in case anyone's interested in the alternatives. I really wish the GBA TV were cheaper - maybe it'll be released officially here in America for a decent price (by decent, I mean in the $20-$30 range.)

There are two parts to this message; one (the first) is in reference to some comments made in the last column; the second is in reference to Ayami Kojima's "artistic stylings".   Anyway, Part One:   I've seen quite a few people express frustration with Nintendo over the GBA, either over the screen, features, or the date system's launch. Most of these basically point to the GBA and say "This is why competition is a good thing".   But the GBA is a product of competition, past and future if not present.   History has shown that the public simply will not buy a handheld system that costs significantly more than $100. The Game Gear, Nomad, TG-16 - all of these were technically more impressive than the Gameboy. With the exception of the Game Gear (and even this is debatable), each had a game library that, at the time, was comparable to or better than that of the GameBoy. And all were considerably more expensive. All of them failed in the end to capture the marketplace.   The NeoGeo Pocket backs that up for the most part. SNK never attempted to directly compete with Nintendo; the NGPC was a niche system both in Japan and the US. Within that niche, though, it sold very well; our local retailers couldn't keep either the system or the games in stock. Had SNK been healthier financially the Neo Geo Pocket would still be here.   I've owned all of these systems - I still own most of them. They were all good, solid systems, though they did each have their own drawbacks. But price is what killed them. Nintendo knows this. Even their own Gameboy didn't take off to its current heights until its price was lowered. They knew that their next portable would take a long time to catch on, even if it wouldn't flop, if it was sold at a price point much more than $100-$150. They were also forced to this price point by the very real threat that Microsoft or Sony might enter the handheld market.   Until the last two years, that simply wasn't possible. The sort of volume production of reflective TFTs, not to mention the massive price drops on RAM and ARM processors, didn't happen until about a year and a half ago.   Yes, the GBA could have come out earlier. But not at anywhere near the price Nintendo set. Hardcore gamers, sure, would have paid more, but the general public would not.   In a sense, you can thank the USA's rather late blooming cellular phone craze for the GBA's release date; it directly affected the component pricing that led to the final release date. This is also related to the type of screen Nintendo chose - had the GBA been released 6 months later, it probably would have had a transflective (backlit and reflective, switchable) or frontlit screen. Presently, a GBA could be built with either a tranflective screen or frontlighting (see Portable Monopoly for an example there; it works quite well) and still be less than $100. But at the time the GBA came out, the optical guide material required for frontlighting was new, available in limited quantities and at considerable expense. And transflective screens were considerably more expensive, while having some contrast issues (that have since been dealt with for the mostpart). If I were to fault Nintendo at all, it would be for not yet releasing a lit version of the GBA - I myself have no problem with installing a cold cathode light and optical guide in my system, but most people simply aren't equipped. Prices on materials have come down to such a point that the GBA could be sold lit for $99 and Nintendo would have the same - or greater - profit margin than they do now. The light can be switched off when it's not needed - the difference in brightness with the optical guide installed and with a factory GBA is negligible - and the battery life is good, about 10 hours as opposed to the GBA's normal 13-15, with no difference whatsoever if the light is switched off. And now, Part Two:   I've grown quite fond of Ayami Kojima's Castlevania Artwork, though I must say that it did take a period of adjustment. Her characters have a sense of style that most games simply can't touch. I can see how some might consider them to be a bit too effeminate, but tell me that her Dracula and Richter (or even the new Maxim Quishin) don't still look powerful. Certainly, it adds some distinction to the series.   I would, though, stay away from alabaster hair for characters other than vampires. Dracula is specifically described in Bram Stoker's novel as having white hair (and a mustache, which she also got right!), so it seems reasonable for Alucard and Dracula to have alabaster hair. Jeust Belmont, though...well, it's just not that common.   Overall, I find her style to be original and distinctive - and hers to be the best artwork yet seen in Castlevania. Jonathan Kerls jkerls@hotmail.com

As for the GBA - the low price is definitely a good point to bring up. $70 is a price that's too low to resist. The original Gameboy was what...$200 when it came out back in 1989? I don't even remember how much the Lynx or Game Gear were, but they were pretty expensive too. But I still can't help but think that MAYBE if some other company had a portable system with a title with as much clout as Pokemon, and we would've seen something sooner, and cheaper. Nintendo was thus allowed to take a more dilly-dally approach to it all. Even if the GBA had come out, say, three years ago at a higher price point, the library now would be much stronger.

What I'm even more irritated about is the high price of games. The average GBA title currents runs between $35-$40. That's absurd. New games, made on DVD, with much higher production values (and cost) can be bought for ten dollars more, as compared to a 2D cartridge. Granted, I was still irritated by the cost of Gameboy Color games too - $30 for glorified NES games was unacceptable. That's STILL the retail price of Super Mario Bros. Deluxe, despite you being able to buy the NES version (along with Duck Hunt) for what? 30 cents at Funcoland? Jeez.

To me, the games in the Castlevania series have always been more than just great video games; they have been works of art. This is evident in the graphics and the music, and even in the precise controls (well, at least in some titles). Take the chapel in SotN for example. As sunlight streams in through elaborately detailed church windows, lighting the pews below, we are enchanted by the haunting melodies of a church organ echoing throughout the breathtaking tower. The spinning Spectral Sword who inhabits the area is as graceful and elegant as it is deadly. The vaulted hallways of CotM's Eternal Corridor, as well as CV IV's glittering Treasury stage, are more examples. Castlevania's music is intricate and perfected to a tee, whether it be the Gameboy titles or the masterful Symphony of the Night. Ayami Kojima's artwork is a wonderful complement to a series that is already stunning in its beauty. True, Alucard is not the most masculine looking vampire-man (I'm sick of being told that my favorite game has a girly-looking hero). Still, his character design, as well as that of Richter, Simon in Chronicles, and Dracula, is perfect for the nature of the Castlevania series. The dark, gothic, strange beauty of Kojima's characters is ideal for the games. And then there's the female characters--Kojima depicts them with a look of such incredible grace and innocense! Maria and Lady Erlanger are stunning, to say the least. Even the succubus is striking in her beauty. I have very few complaints concerning the character designs of past Castlevania games. Though the port of Dracula X was a bit cartoony, it was still Castlevania. Rondo's anime-style characters were a nice change of pace for the series. Circle of the Moon's character illustrations were fantastic, but some of the in-game enemies (the bears, skeletons, brain-floats, and such) were far too cartoonish for a game so dark in mood. The N64 games could have used a little work. The box art on both titles leaves much to be desired, though the in-game characters are fairly well done. I believe the best character designs and illustrations are Symphony's, by far. Ayami Kojima's work is simply extraordinary. I recently was lucky enough to find the Japanese PSX version of Nocturne in the Moonlight, and the beauty of the painted disc still knocks me off my feet. Though I mainly play video games solely for the Castlevania series, I have yet to see a game more beautiful than Symphony of the Night. I hope Kojima continues to illustrate the series. Her contributions to Castlevania are priceless. Richard Meves

You know, I honestly have to wonder where some designers thought that the 3D rendered look as seen in CV64 was "cool". Granted, they look fine when they're cartoony, but unless the designers really go into detail (like any of the Final Fantasy games), they end up looking rather boring.

Now for some more kinds words for Kojima...there's not much to add to any of the respones below, but there's some good insight.

Although I usually don't have the urge to write in to the Castlevania Dungeon column, I must confess that I've been waiting for the topic of Ayami Kojima to come up. Her work is a blessing for Castlevania! Who else could transform the stupid and frilly Rondeau of Blood Maria Renard into a chic and sexy heroine? (Take some time to compare Rondeau Maria versus Symphony Maria in the Dungeon's art section.) Ayami's characters have an aura about them, whether it's the seductive Succubus from SotN or the emperor-like Dracula from Chronicles. To put it bluntly, Castlevania's art has been mediocre (at best) before Miss Kojima came along. No past Castlevania artwork can hold a candle to her style. Her work has a distinctive and stylish elegance that gives the characters an identity all their own. -Marie

I have to say, Kurt, I LOVE Kojima's style. her CV art is sexy, modern-goth, and downright AWESOME. I'd personally love to see her take on Sonia and Trevor Belmont, as well as Sypha and Grant. I hope she continues her work for Konami. Lord Thanatos, long time reader of CV Dungeon, first time writer, love Kojima's Succubus art

One thing that has always been a part of video games is the art. If you don't have the right art the game may not be enjoyable. Konami throughout the Castlevania series has been searching for the right art to complient Castlevania and it seems Kojima-sama's style is what they are looking for. Kojima-sama's style is apporiate for the time peroid of Castlvania. First game she did was SotN. The style of clothes had to be considered, near 19th century. The way the charaters looked and the gloomy atmoshpere of the castle mixed toghether. Throw in the music and you have a wonderful blend of music and power. Its quite rare to have a game where the music, backdgrounds and characters come togther. Next job for Kojima-sama was to give Chronicles a makeover. Well th etime peroid is a little earlier so Kojima-sama has to make the artwork work. Once again she does a great job, to make sure the characters work. Konami has to work to match her drawings and we got Chronicles a amazing piece of work on a aging system. Kojima-sama newest challenge is White Night Concerto. What we see from screenshots is a good mix of Kojima's art with the background that make SotN and Chronicles famous. In my opion the artwork matches what we except to see in Catlevania. Powerful art apporiate, backgrounds that make us think we are in a decaying castle on the verge of falling apart or coming togther, and music that we would except from a full orchestra (not to mention titles that match the tone of the music). Now i am a manga artist in my own right and i would like to see a anime style for Castlevania, but we wold need to find a manga artist to do character designs to invoke the mood, but that is a whole complete topic and take several E-mails as we have to examine at least 3 types of manga designs, so lets not worry. A comic book feel would be all wrong, when has the US ever put out a comic book worth reading in the last 5 years? I believe Kojima-sama should remain on the Castlevania staff as the artist from now on. Her art is what many have come to except since SotN. This artist has given us a new look at Castlevania that was sorely needed. Granted her style looks incredibly like modern goth, but the vampire movies have been following this look in recent years as well so when we think vmpire that is what we see. A bunch of goths. Well i think that should cover it. Belmont to the end, Cruel Angel's Thesis

Personally, I find the character design of Ayami Kojima to be perfect for Castlevania. (Simon looks very cool.) Rondo of Blood had nice artwork but overall it was too simple for my tastes. Castlevania needs heavy detail and realism added to the characters. The bright, happy go lucky look of Rondo's characters wasn't bad, but its doesn't deliver the Castlevania personality as well as Ayami Kojima. As for the "girly" men: Most men actually do have full lips. Like I said before, the detail is important. And the long hair works for some of the characters. Although I do think that a few more of them should have short hair. My viewpoint: Ayami's a keeper. At least for Castlevania. Tony T. Tiger

~Ah, what more can be said about Ayami Kojima? This person's artwork shows nothing less than stellar masterpieces. From Symphony to Chronicles and now to Harmony Dissonance, it creates the Castlevania world exactly as it should be to a tee. It's dark and mysterious, yet historically apt and classy... Although there must be people who think the syle is too reminicent of Yoshitaka Amano's less "manly" works, I can find few flaws. ~Perhaps Richter and Simon did not have to look as beautiful, (or as chiseled) as Alucard. This would make sense if Konami is actually unwinding the link between Alucard, Sonia Belmont and the infamous "Legends" baby, but otherwise the contrast of Alucard's beauty to a Belmont's that even our lovely Succubus can't resist is meaningless. Other than that there is nothing, all of the females look enticing and dazzling. Perhaps Death's near pirate look and the Master Librarian's never-ending beard and oversized hat were a bit of overkill however. ~I think that the comic book look of the old Castlevania's is too nostalgic and too He-Man or Conan-ish. A huge muscular guy is no longer viewed as a hero as much as a dim bulb loaded up with steriods, who thinks that strength is the answer to every problem. That might explain why Simon Belmont from the Captain N series was made out to be such a loser. ~And as for anime,... I will always love that style. Circle of the Moon and Legends are good examples of well drawn anime characters. Of course it doesn't hurt to see Sonia Belmont in little more than a swimsuit and some loose off the sleeve top, (another reason why Resurrection should have seen the light of day). But this is Castlevania, not Secret of Mana. Perhaps somewhere in between this anime style and Ayami Kojima's bold romantic statements will all Castlevania fans be appeased. D

I'm also glad they dropped the barbarian look from the Castlevania games. It definitely seems too comic book inspired. It's nice to see a series grow with the times instead of being mired in the past...*coughDragonWarriorcough*

Ayama Kojima, in my opinion is a very good designer/artist. I think the art book for SOTN was really a sight to see. The feminine characteristics for the designs are a righteous touch. In some lore, the vampire is meant to be the perfect human form. Pristine white skin and seductive eyes. Its all very appropriate I think. Of course there is a line to be drawn for Ayama Kojima. I mean seeing the design concepts for "White Night. . ." made me think if that was the limit to the designer's creativity. The drawings for the lead vampire hunter are basically a rehash of Alucard. And Chronicles with the pink haired Simon was at first glance very punk. But now that I think about it, it might have been too feminine. Overall I hope to see more variety in Ayama Kojima's designs, but they are as is very appropriate to me. Speaking of the artwork in SOTN. Did anybody but me think that the wolf and bat artwork for Alucard, was a bit off? Was it some sort of ode to 18th or 19th century artwork depicting these animals? Cos if you've seen antique drawings of wolves and bats they sometimes wind up looking like they did in that game.  Not that the artbook/conceptual drawings were off. Just the in-game graphics of Alucard's 2 animal forms. I always thought it very stange. anyone?   cough!   alwaysinit

The bat looked fine, I thought, but the wolf is kinda weird. What are those sticky out of its neck? Snakes? Worms? Plants?

I loved the character design for Symphony, although I haven't played the game itself. As a matter of fact, I think Dracula has never looked better. Kojima managed to capture both the noble side (his expression, the clothes) and his bestiary side (the cold yellow eyes). If they make another Dracula-movie (God forbid, there have been too many already) I would like Dracula to look like that. His face also seems inspired by Vlad Tepes, the real Dracula, rather than Bela Lugosi or Christopher Lee. Richter looks really cool, not at all as japanese as in Dracula X. All of the clothes also seem to blend historically correct details with interesting gothicpunk influences. The only thing that really bothers me is Maria Renard. She would have been arrested if she had walked around dressed like that in the eighteenth century. I can live with that, though. With all that in mind, I was excited to read that Kojima would design the remake of Dracula X68000. She seemed to have a lot of cool ideas. However, I was dissapointed. Simon looked exactly like Richter, had a manga-inspired hair colour, and a costume that simply seemed too detailed to belong to a warrior of his kind. Although his muscles did look a little more real than in earlier game designs. I could have gotten past that as well, but the Dracula design was absolutely unacceptable. He had been made into something that looked like an arabian prince. Although he did fight the turks, I don't think he would dress like that. After creating the coolest Dracula design ever, that was a major turn off. So, seeing the designs for Harmony of Dissonance, it seems like Kojima didn't have all the imagination that I thought. Jeust looks like a blend between Richter and Alucard, right down to the coat, the hair the and pale face. Maxim looks like a pirate, even though he doesn't seem to be an adventurer or fighter or anything. You could accept all the attributes of the earlier designs because they were holy fighters for justice, but this just will not do. And you simply don't walk around in Romania without a shirt, that would be freezing. Well, at least Jeust looks cool, and I could accept the designs for Maxim. What really strikes me as puzzling is the design given to Liddy. She looks like a crossover between Maria and a waitress. The designs for Dracula X, although they seemed like something out of a kid-anime, were realistic, and the designs for SotN, being less realistic, were cool. The designs for Harmony of Dissonance just seem overdone. They don't please me at all. Finally, although one might get to have a favourite designer in a game, I think it's a mistake to use the same designers for more than one Castlevania game. As a matter of fact, the many shifting designs that we've seen throughout the series helps to create an indiviualistic feel to a game. I think this is the first time the fans actually expressed thier liking to a specific character designer, and so Konami used that designer again, hoping to get a similar result. The problem is, it's too similar. I want variation, and several different character designers will provide that, although one may not like all the designs. The same designer could be used for games using the same characters as the last game, but that's it. PS. About the 2D/3D debate: I'd like to see a Castlevania game based on the same game engine as Konami's Mystical Ninja 2 for N64. For those of you unfamiliar with the game, it features 3D graphics, but it's displayed like a 2D game, meaning that you watch the character from the side and run to the right or left. The graphics made it possible to create super cool effects, like things coming at you from the background. -Van Hellswing

If I've learned anything from movies, anime, video games, or whatnot, is that attire rarely reflects what's practical in a given situation, but what looks cool. For example, would woman realistically want to fight in high heels? Sure, that spike can be painful, but have you ever tried to run in those things? (Please don't ask how I know this.) The same can be said with the lack of clothing - both on male and female characters.

I've seen the 2.5D look done successfully a few times, but in most cases, they're cartoonish games (Goemon, Klonoa, etc.) The only game I can think of right now that tried a more serious look was C: The Contra Adventure...something we should never, ever talk about in the presence of Castlevania ever again. It might be ashamed that it was published by the same company.

The artwork for "Castlevania: Symphony of the Night" was excellent.  It was something new that brought life to the series.  Alucard and Dracula looked great in the long, flowing capes and robes that made them appear as if they stepped out of the 18th century.  Richter looked awesome too, if not a bit like a lackey-stoner; plus it was nice to see a character wear something new, as opposed to the same red overalls or green tunic in every adventure.  "Symphony of the Night" had great artwork to accompany the game and the characters were pretty well designed to fit the era in which they lived. When reports said that the same artist would cover the art in "Castlevania: Chronicles," people were happy due to the wonders they saw in "Symphony of the Night."  However, what they got was something unexpected.  Instead of a cool, vampire-killing, heroic, armored legend that Simon Belmont has been known to be, a cross-dressing leather fetish with Richter's face and pink hair was presented.  This "Simon," if you can even call him . . . *it* that, is better suited to being a perverted enemy in "Symphony of the Night."  The hideous clothes, high-heeled boots, and leather straps just almost might be forgivable had "Simon's" face not been identical to Richter's and had the same hair style as everyone else in "Symphony of the Night."  There was nothing new accomplished here.  Now let us put this transsexual transvestite from Transylvania "Simon" wherever we put the Simon from "Captain N: The Game Master." With the return of Castlevania to the Game Boy Advance, the artist once again shows an absence of diversity.  The hero Jeust Belmont looks exactly like Alucard from his face, hair, and to those girly eyes and lips.  Maxim Quishin isn't an original character either.  If one were to take Dracula from "Chronicles," add color to his face, shave the goatee, and remove his shirt, we would have Maxim.  There is another similarity that ties Alucard, Richter, Dracula, Simon, Jeust, and Maxim together: they all have the same nose.  But the similarities do not end there.  There was a huge age difference between Alucard and Maria (300 years, was it?).  If we assume that Liddy is Jeust's love interest, we can see just as big an age gap.  If the two want to live happily ever after, Jeust will need to wait a decade before it won't be considered pedophilia.   The other similarities lie in fashion.  Liddy and Maria shares the same low-cut on their coats, both with short-sleeves.  The collars, cuffs, frills, and high-heeled boots worn by Alucard, Dracula, Richter, Jeust, Maxim, and even Simon all are from the same western European era.  And speaking of which, the man who the Dracula legend is based on (Prince Vlad Tepes II of Wallachia) lived in the Balkans, where Russia meets Turkey and Europe.  I've yet to see a Castlevania done in a Slavic style. The artist who designed and painted these characters is not a bad artist; it is not skill that is being criticized.  The artist simply lacks creativity.  The characters have become cookie-cutter clones.  Art is constantly changing.  It would be wrong for Konami to pick one style and stick to it, be it for visual or auditory arts.  If I wanted to see the old artwork, listen to the old music, or play the old games, I will return to the original because it was novel then.  It was new.  And that is what many sequels are lacking these days: that newness, that innovation.  Nobody wants to play a stagnant, stale game.

As much as Kojima's character's all look very similar, that's something many people seem to depend on, actually. Look at Akira Toryiama and his Dragon Ball series (and even his Dragon Quest/Warrior character designs.) The guy seems to have a small handful of character templates and then builds any of his new characters around them. Kojima is a much better artist than Toriyama is, but people like that feeling of identity. Ask any Chrono Trigger fanboy what they disliked about Chrono Cross, and one of the biggest reasons will probably be the lack of Toriyama artwork...despite that his replacement, Noboteru Yuuki, was arguably much better.

While I really wish she'd show a little bit of diversity in facial styles - Jeust does basically look a little too much like Alucard with straight hair - she does at least show quite a bit of imagination with the outfits. And that, unfortunately, is a bit of a hit or miss affair, as shown by the reactions to Simon's Chronicles outfit.

Hey, Kurt, this is somethin' I've been wondering myself.. I gotta say.. STOP MAKING THE CHARACTERS LOOK ASIAN! I don't have anything against Asians, but damn, we're talking about Transylvania here! You know.. Romania! EUROPE! If Castlevania were set in ... Japan or something... then I'd understand. I think CV chars need to look more manly. My sister walked by the room while I was playing SOTN and wondered if Alucard was female. Perfect example of Hermaphroditic occurances would have to be in Guilty Gear. Testament was called a hermaphrodite by everybody.. yet he is male.. I don't wanna have to see the next CV char look half male-half female..

They don't look really look Asian, necessarily, so much as heavy stylized, but I can see where you're getting it.

The bishounen look is obviously quite popular in video games - another example is the last boss Kain in Fatal Fury: Mark of the Wolves. But hey - the ladies seem to dig them, and that's at least some members of the female population that aren't disgusted by my favorite hobby, so it's all good. I always figured that if the guys can have scantily clad babes, then the girls should have their brooding pretty boys.

Having a bit of time to update parts of the site that sorely need updating, I went back and revamped the Storyline section, after many e-mails and complaints about "errors" in the timeline. Other than the fact these comments are all rather silly - Castlevania has never really kept an accurate timeline - it does bring up an interesting point: apparently, storyline is very important to Castlevania fans.

Does it make a difference to you? Even when not focusing on a timeline that links games together, does a story actually matter to a Castlevania game? Or can they exist as simple side-scrollers, with "Kill Dracula!" being the only semblance of a plot?

-Kurt, who was going to sign-off with some goofy non-sequitar, but nobody would've understood it