Akihiko Ureshino

Akihiko Ureshino (Japanese: 嬉野うれしの 秋彦あきひこ, Hepburn: Ureshino Akihiko) is a light novel author and game designer, born April 19, 1971 in the Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. He wrote his first novel while he was attending Yokohama National University for a degree in Liberal Arts. He is known to Japanese SNK fans for his game novelizations of The King of Fighters series and other games. He also partakes in the story development for the series, and is the one who usually writes the online novels found on the games' websites. Akihiko Ureshino's other works include The Black Steel Demon Crest Repairer, She is a War Fairy, and Mephisto's Magic Bullet.

Works and commentary

Ureshino is known for writing several The King of Fighters works based on SNK games he also oversees. After working in 10 KOF novelizations, Ureshino noted that SNK used leads Kyo Kusanagi and Iori Yagami too much and believed they should be given a rest after The King of Fighters '97. Ureshino has mixed feelings with the two GameBoy Advance The King of Fighters spin-off EX. Since SNK went bankrupt in April 2001, EX was a difficult time for both the old SNK and the new company Playmore. It may be a somewhat cynical view, but it may have been the financial situation on the verge of bankruptcy that allowed the old SNK, who at the time had a strong impression of being a character game maker that borrowed content from other companies, to develop a spin-off work of KOF that was not a simple port. While he was still excited, when the main visual of the new character was presented to him, which was no longer even a rough draft, but was already solid. What was more, when reading the specs, Iori Yagami was the mid-boss and Geese Howard was the final boss. Ureshino was bothered with these choices as the staff explained the data was based on the DC version of The King of Fighters '99 and put into the The King of Fighters 2000 system. However, they said that they wouldn't be able to touch deeply on the characters or story from the NESTS arc. The reclutance to touch the NESTS cast and instead focus on Orochi bothered Ureshino. The following year, on New Year's Day 2002, EX was released without any problems. However, the game's quality was terrible. He was also a member of the staff, but was only in charge of the text. He would never recommend it to anyone, and it was a terrible game that feels like a joke. However, he was proud of opposing the setting that Moe was Kyo's half-sister, whom Shibafune had created in America during his time as a warrior.

During the early stages of development for The King of Fighters '99, SNK planned to exclude Kyo and Iori from the game because its story was centered on new protagonist K', but they reversed this decision because "they couldn't leave these popular characters in limbo". Kyo and Iori were supposed to disappear due to business reasons or the requests of enthusiastic fans, but in the end they have continued to appear ever since. After taking a step back in the "Nests Saga" they are then playing important roles in the "Ash Saga" in The King of Fighters 2003. The rival's relationship stood out early in the 1990s because it was weird to see characters interacting before a fight started. While Kyo and Iori are always arguing with each other, Ureshino was careful with how writing them to the point their introduction in The King of Fighters '99 added a subtext of happiness of teh two rivals meeting again, believing they had died in KOF '97. The relationship develops over later games until the latest KOF XV from 2022 where Ureshino noted fighting Kyo was Iori's only desire in life and always wanted to join him to prevent his death.

The problem is the positioning of these two within the KOF: Maximum Impact series. Ureshino noted that while Kyo was relegated to a more comical and minor role in the first game, the Meira siblings did not stand out as strong protagonists and wanted the original net animation Another Day and Maximum Impact 2 give them a better portrayal. SNK said that Terry's great popularity among players made him one of the most used characters for every installment of the series. In the "Ash Saga" Kyo, Iori, and Chizuru's Three Sacred Treasures play a major role in the "Orochi demon Returns" type story, and in the previous "Nests Saga," Kyo was involved in the story to some extent, but not Iori, in terms of the connections with the new protagonist K'. However, the Miera brothers were the main focus of the Maximum Impact spin-offs relegating Kyo and Iori for the first time to minor characters. Both the Ash arc and Maximum Impact games were developed at the same time which resulted in Kyo and Iori still playing a major role in the Another Day original video animation that promotes Maximum Impact 2. In an interview, Ureshino stated that after he wrote The King of Fighters '96 until 2001 light novels, he was asked by a production company to write a novel on The King of Fighters 2003. However, the project ended due to a loss of communication with him.

Ureshino is also involved in the Fatal Fury characters which he also oversees in The King of Fighters. He oversees a similar relationship in rivals but more brutal between hero Terry Bogard who seeks to avenge his father Jeff murderered at the hands of Geese Howard. However, for upcoming installments, Terry only wishes to defeat Geese for his father's honor which accidentally leads to Geese's death in Real Bout Fatal Fury when Geese rejects salvation and dies, abandoning all connections he had and wanted to disolve. Though Ureshino has not talked about working in the upcoming Fatal Fury sequel Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves, he sees the older Terry from Garou: Mark of the Wolves as a more fatherly character having issues adopting Rock Howard and trying his best to write them together in KOF: Maximum Impact which takes place before Garou under his own request.