Agatsuma Entertainment
| Agatsuma Entertainment | |
 | |
| Founded | February 12th, 1997 |
| Current State | Closed |
| Headquarters | Tokyo, Japan 🇯🇵 |
| Type | Publisher |
| Worked On |  (JPN)Shadow Bashing |
| Website | 2015 Website |
Agatsuma Entertainment (アガツマ・エンタテインメント) was a Japanese video game developer and publisher, best known for publishing Anpanman games, and later on the Umihara Kawase series. They localized Drawn to Life for Japan, with this translation releasing in December 2008.
History[edit]
Agatsuma Entertainment was initialized as a subsidiary of the toys and games manufacturer Agatsuma Co., Ltd. by game and toy industry veterans on February 12th, 1997 in Tokyo, Japan. As well as a game developer, they also acted as a video game agency business, collaborating with developers and publishers worldwide on business development.[1] The company would release it's first game, the Game Boy Color title Oide Rascal, in 2001, and gain much more success with games based on the Anpanman franchise.
In 2008, after the success of the original Drawn to Life, THQ reached out to Agatsuma for a potential Japanese release of the game. Agatsuma would agree to translate it for Japan, along with publishing the game for said region. This localization, under the name Drawn to Life: God's Marionette (ドローン トゥ ライフ 〜神様のマリオネット〜, Dorōn tu Raifu: 〜Kami-sama no Marionetto〜), would release on December 8th, 2008 to positive reviews from Japanese critics, particularly Famitsu.[2]
Agatsuma Entertainent would face financial ruin in their later years. An issue that's often cited is deterioration of administrative conditions, making it impossible to reach the same level of success.[3] Agatsuma would see minor success with Sayonara Umihara Kawase and the Steam re-releases of the previous two games, however on December 11th, 2015, the company was dissolved before being liquidated entirely on March 31st, 2016.
Notable Games[edit]
- Oide Rascal (2001)
- Pocket Dogs (2004)
- Soreike! Anpanman: Baikinman no Daisakusen (2005)
- Animal Paradise (2007)
- Let's Draw! (2008)
- NyxQuest: Kindred Spirits (2008)
- Drawn to Life (2008)
- Shadow Bashing (2008)
- Code of Princess (2012)
- Sayonara Umihara Kawase (2013)
- Umihara Kawase (2015)
- Umihara Kawase Shun (2015)
- IronFall: Invasion (2015)
Trivia[edit]
- Agatsuma is one of only two publishers to localize a game in the Drawn to Life series in a single region, the other being H2 Interactive.
- Despite the first Drawn to Life being well-received in Japan, Agatsuma was not contracted to localize Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter for a Japanese release.
- Agatsuma developed a promotional Flash game on the Japanese Drawn to Life website, titled Shadow Bashing. You can read more about it here.
Media[edit]
The Agatsuma and THQ logos seen upon startup of the Japanese version of Drawn to Life.
The company website's front page.
The website's "Games" page, which includes Drawn to Life.
The website for Drawn to Life's Japan release.
The Adventure section of the Japanese website.
The Draw Mode section of the Japanese website.
The Hero section of the Japanese website.
The Character section of the Japanese website.
The title screen of Shadow Bashing.
References[edit]
| Nintendo DS | 5th Cell • THQ • Agatsuma Entertainment |
|---|---|
| iOS | 505 Games • WayForward |
|
| |
| Altron • Nickelodeon • THQ | |
|
| |
| Planet Moon Studios • THQ | |
| 5th Cell • THQ | |
| Most Regions | 505 Games • Digital Continue |
| South Korean Release | H2 Interactive |
Directory: Drawn to Life → Agatsuma Entertainment | |
