i'm crushed. my heart is heavy. tomonobu itagaki, the father of dead or alive and ninja gaiden, the man who shaped my childhood, influenced 2000s culture, and brought joy to millions of others, is gone. he was the most censored japanese man in the west. just for being himself. just for having desire, just for celebrating female beauty. just for loving girls. just for expressing his artistic vision without fear. just for making games that felt sexy, alive, and fun. the world just lost immense talent. lost a huge part of the 2000s. a chunk of that bold, electric energy just died. dead or alive was everything to me and my girlfriends. we played it constantly. me and my sorority girls would stay up late, screaming over matches, crushing on the girls, losing it over the madness. it was part of our rhythm growing up, right alongside halo. i loved everything about it, the gameplay, the characters. the whole vibe. i even used to draw fanart of the girls all the time. to this day, our bedrooms are full of posters of doa babes. we still play it at sleepovers and get-togethers. it was more than a game for us. always has been. dead or alive was y2k babecore to the max. it had super fun combat, iconic moves, and the hottest baddies. every character had depth, danger, and a killer backstory. they were sexy, sultry, powerful, and unforgettable. they shaped a generation of gaming. they became cultural icons. and it was all because of itagaki, a man who created out of passion and loved his art. what made me love him even more was that he loved halo. he played halo 2 with his daughter. it was the only fps he ever touched. he had such deep respect for game design and technical excellence. he believed in skill, challenge, tight controls, and immersion, traits that overlap with halo's appeal. he loved creating dynamic stages. he pioneered multi-tiered arenas where players could knock opponents through walls, off ledges, into hazards. he loved environmental storytelling too. and the most important thing he ever said, and he said it often, was that games should make players feel like they're truly inside the world. he believed interactivity and responsiveness were everything. not just flashy graphics, but feeling. the industry lost a legend. it was only three days ago that i talked about him. every creator has a uniqueness that can't be replicated. that kind of talent is gone forever, but not forgotten. reading your final words hurts so much. i feel depressed. and so do my friends. thank you for everything, itagaki-san. you made my childhood so fun. your art, your passion, your love of games, even your love of women, changed my life. you were bold, fearless, and totally unforgettable. your legacy will live on ♡ may god have mercy on your soul~ with love, ~hailey