I like it almost as much as its normal look
After being silent for over a year, SNK does well to continuously release smaller bits of information about King of Fighters 15, even outside of the trailers.
The game’s character designer and lead illustrator, Tomohiro Nakata, is releasing small developer insights into the cast’s appearance, with a focus on Benimaru this week. It’s also a bit different from the others we’ve seen so far, given it’s a new portrait of the pretty boy with his hair down.
While we’ve seen him without the electric hair in many intros over the years, it’s rarer to get an official work of art that portrays him this way.
Nakata notes that the team had a strict policy of not removing features that make Benimaru who he is at his core, and he assures fans that he is still as sweet as ever.
【KOF XV】
SNK dev for [KOF XV] shares their views on BENIMARU NIKAIDO.
The character designer for BENIMARU NIKAIDO goes a little deeper into his design process!#SNK #KOF # KOF15 pic.twitter.com/SwbhFNGnyv– SNK GLOBAL (@SNKPofficial) January 29, 2021
Benimaru this time serves on a new team with Shun’ei and Meitenkun to fight with the main heroes where he’s set up as their protector and mentor – although some joke that Kyo made him a babysitter too.
Instead of the tight belly shirts or jackets he wore in previous games, the KOF veteran seems to be wearing more of a Chinese shirt this time.
It’s interesting to see how only a change in hair can change a character’s tone, as Benimaru looks a lot more serious in this artwork than what we saw in the trailer.
With how big the roster of King of Fighters 15 is likely to be, these weekly drops could go on for many months, although most fans don’t seem to have a problem with that yet.