Kensuke Tanaka Interview: Comptiq Magazine May 2018

Introduction

Comptiq's May 2018 Interview with Tanaka

The following interview comes from Comptiq Magazine's April's issue, which was released on April 10th, 2018.

In the article, Comptiq's T-ko interviews Kancolle's main producer, Kensuke Tanaka, talks about the details of the plans following after the Winter 2018 Event involving the upcoming Zuiun Festival at Yomiuri Land, and all the collaboration that will be coming with it.

In addition, he talks about plans for Phase 2 Migration plans, the upcoming Kagerou-class and Yuugumo-class Destroyer remodels, and notes about the upcoming USN Escort Destroyer coming with the game's 5th Anniversary along with plans to introduce Fletcher-Class Destroyers.

Leyte, Sasebo, and even Yomizuiland! And on to Phase 2...

Interviewer (I): Thanks for the hard work! Comptiq here, as always! Seriously, thanks for all the work with the Winter Event and Sasebo! It feels like lots of things suddenly got serious! It was a lot of fun!

Tanaka (T): Thank you! Especially for Sasebo, I'm really glad even Comptiq's squadron came over! We really put a lot of energy into it. Still a bit tired, but in satisfied way, I think! As for the Winter event, yes - it was Operation Shō I, after all, so we did our best to make it a landmark event! In the end there were a lot of things we wanted to try, but we didn't want to just jam things in either. What resulted was the Leyte we saw this winter!

I: But you guys still seem pretty busy, even though Leyte's over. Did you have time for hanami this spring?

T: I wanted to but couldn't! I'm sure the sakura are beautiful this year too. I saw some from the street but haven't had the chance to sit down under the sakura and drink sake in real life yet, although I've done it in KanColle! I mean, just look at my desk...

I: Yeah, those are some pretty thick piles of documents and plans. What's this?

T: Plans for the Second Zuiun Festival.

I: Zuiun Festival! A second one? Are you really going to!?

T: We are. We've got the Zuiun, after all!

I: I don't know how you always have so much going on! Crazy! [While looking at the plans]

T: Yeah, things are constantly changing, even on a daily basis, but we'll have it ready next month!

I: Eh!? You're starting it in April!?

T: Yeah. It'll be at Yomiuriland this time, starting on April 21, two days before the fifth anniversary next month. As of now we plan to go till May 27, so Golden Week in May will fall in the middle of the event. We plan to expand things in the last half with Later Operations... well, here are the plans for it...

I: Pretty impressive...

T: We plan on exhibiting the Zuiun on water this time around, but we'd like to put it behind a 1/20 scale full hull replica of aviation battleship Hyuuga - if we can finish it in time. How do I put this, we're going for something Instagram-worthy... Oh, and while you're looking at that - we're collaborating with the park's restaurants as well. What would you think of something like this curry and beer?

I: Jeez, I don't even know what you're saying anymore. But it is written down here though!

T: Well, it's still in the planning stages right now, but I hope we can get things prepared in a month. Everyone's plugging away at this very moment. Just the other day I went to Yomiurland to discuss this with them directly, but it turned out they were already Admirals and knew about KanColle, so talks went by quickly! I was really grateful.

I: That was a stroke of good luck, huh.

T: A 1/1 life sized Zuiun; a 1/20 full hull replica of aviation battleship Hyuuga; the customary collab curry, of course; and even Agano's shrimpless fried rice onigiri and special collab takoyaki are all under discussion. There'll also be a Zuiun Festival Special Stage, as well as the usual Anchorage stamp rally, plus collabs with the attractions, a Skilled Zuiun Crew Training collab, and more. That way there's always plenty of fun to be had, even without the stages... I hope we can do all that. Preparations are moving along, at least!

I: O-Ooohh.

T: While we're setting up the KanColle Naval District's Second Zuiun Festival at Yomiuri Land Anchorage, we're preparing to progressively implement Phase 2 of KanColle.

T: The transfer to HTML5, right!?

T: Not only that, but tuning the servers throughout the coming year or so. We'll be making various changes to work and improve on the server connections. There'll also be a multi-stage process in which we reorganize the server cluster. First will be taking requests from Admirals who wish to transfer servers, as I've mentioned previously, although it'll be by lottery. That will already be starting this spring.

I: Oh, that's pretty early!

T: Once that first stage is over, we'll be making the switch to HTML5. At that point we plan to increase the resolution... or should I say, the game's display resolution.

I: Ohh! So the shipgirls will show up larger then, right?

T: That's right. We're hoping to let players see things in forms closer to the original art. There are several other big changes coming with Phase 2 besides that. So as to avoid any potential trouble from rolling them all out at once, we'll be progressing cautiously in stages. I expect the full transition of KanColle to Phase 2 to take about a year.

I: I see, I see.

T: We're already going into our sixth year. KanColle's development has really taken us places we wouldn't have thought possible from just that initial project we set out in the early days. We hope to continue steadily progressing, so as to be able to continue to bring KanColle to the players in the sixth and even seventh years. For the sake of that, we've gone over the gist of our plans at the KanColle Management Naval District (C2 Preparat) with our site partner DMM. We've also discussed this with Inoue-san (Kadokawa's Senior Vice President), who's been a faithful supporter of KanColle at Kadokawa. I believe we'll be able to move forward step by step into the next phase.

I: Talking pretty seriously all of a sudden!

T: I-I have my moments!

I: How about developments coming soon?

T: Right, well, before we start to focus on the Kagerou- and Yuugumo-classes, we'll be adding an Asashio-class Kai Ni. It'll be in the range of Kasumi Kai Ni. We also plan to add a shipgirl with a bit of a spring outfit.

I: And after that?

T: Consecutive Kagerou-class Kai Ni remodels, starting with the first of the class, although there are still some bits that need looking into. Through summer we're looking at three Kai Ni remodels, for just the Kagerou-class. Following that, at long last, and perhaps long-desired, a certain illustrator whom I discussed quite a long time ago will be joining us in time for the fifth anniversary. We're aiming to add a new shipgirl on April 23. I myself am greatly looking forward to this!

I: More hints, please!

T: Firstly, a hard-fighting ship from the American side of the setting from this winter, Leyte. As a destroyer escort, she valiantly challenged the main power of the Kurita Fleet in order to protect her escort carrier group, including Gambier Bay. Then it's that - finally, a Fletcher-class. We'll start by introducing one of them, and there'll be more to come.

I: I'll be on the look out! Ohh, we're out of space for this issue! Next month will be the KanColle Fifth Anniversary all-out special feature! I'll be questioning you real in-depth then too! See ya later!

(Late March 2018, KanColle Management Naval District)

Special thanks to User:-a-nonymous for his translation work