Muramasa Gets Cover Story in Play Magazine

Ignition Entertainment yesterday revealed that Play Magazine would be getting a cover story for the upcoming Muramasa the Demon Blade. The issue will have as its cover a pretty shocking piece of all new original art for the game by its director.

An image of Muramasa’s female protagonist battling the game’s secret octopus boss that entangles her will cover the September issue of Play Magazine. Ignition producer Shane Bettenhausen revealed the art on his blog Thursday while pointing indicating it to clearly take after the famous Japanese print “The Dream of the Fisherman’s Wife” by Hokusai. The issue will arrive to subscribers this week and hits newsstands next week.

According to Bettenhausen, game director George Kamitani had no guidelines to follow from Play Magazine on what to do for the art. “We wanted his creativity to flow freely,” said Bettenhausen.

“Kamitani’s creation dares to be edgy and outrageous,” he said. “It’s unquestionably lovely and fits the game’s themes perfectly.”

Some may worry about reactions to the cover when it’s seen on newsstands. Bettenhausen doesn’t share those concerns. “Luckily, the appearance of Hokusai’s print on last week’s Mad Men premiere seems to have greased the wheels for Shokushu Goukan [tentacle porn] appreciation,” he said. At the same time, Bettenhausen and the people at Play Magazine had a laugh at Ms. Kamitani’s reaction to the painting.

According to Bettenhausen, Play Magazine’s 13-page interview will extensively cover developer Vanillaware’s creative process. “The resulting interview reveals tons of astonishing details about the immense amount of research that Kamitani performed in order to ensure that Muramasa accurately reflected Japanese art, culture, and history,” he said.