Segata Sanshirō

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With an advertising campaign for the fictional judo master Segata Sanshirō ( Japanese せ が た 三四郎 Segata Sanshirō ) the game console Sega Saturn was marketed in Japan in 1997/98 . The name and character are a parody of Sugata Sanshirō from the novel of the same name by Tsuneo Tomita . Akira Kurosawa filmed the material in his directorial debut Judo Saga - The Legend of the Great Judo from 1943.

The role of Segata Sanshirō was played by Hiroshi Fujioka , who became popular in Japan through the television series Kamen Rider (1971).

Due to the unusual commercials, the figure of the Segata Sanshirō quickly became popular and helped the Sega Saturn to be more successful in Japan than in other sales regions. In the commercials, Segata Sanshirō physically punishes people who prefer other leisure activities to playing with the Saturn console. A three-track CD single was released based on the song from the commercials.

Also unusual is the end of the advertising campaign that was required by the successor model Dreamcast (sales started in November 1998): In his last appearance, Segata Sanshirō saves Sega's company headquarters from a rocket attack and dies in the detonation.

SEGA has released a video game about Segata Sanshirō:

  • Segata Sanshirō Shinkenyūgi ( せ が た 三四郎 真 剣 遊戯 ) for Saturn (October 29, 1998) - also the last game published by SEGA for the console

Guest appearances and other appearances

In the Japanese version of Virtua Fighter 4 , an AI profile for the character Akira Yuki is called "Segata".

There are also guest appearances in the Japanese game Rent A Hero No. 1 (Katakana: レ ン タ ヒ ー ロ ー NO.1 ) for Dreamcast and Xbox and "Sonic and Sega all Stars racing transformed" for PC and consoles.

Segata Sanshiro also appeared as a supporting character in the Project X Zone 2 game for the 3DS.

Notes and individual references

  1. ↑ Sega Saturn, shiro! ( セ ガ サ タ ー ン 、 シ ロ! Sega Satān, shiro! ) / Segata Sanshirō. Released February 15, 1998, Warner Music Japan, # WPDV-7138.

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