Dead by Daylight Sadako Rising: ‘Ringu’ Film Producer on Bringing Sadako to a New Audience
With Dead by Daylight Chapter 23, Sadako Rising, shining the spotlight on Ringu’s iconic film franchise, we sat down with Kadokawa Producer Reiko Imayasu to discuss the possibility of bringing the survivor, the killer, and the movies themselves to a whole new audience.
Dead by Daylight’s list of fan-favorite horror movie icons continues to grow, with Sadako flipping the game’s typical slasher style as a killer with a deeper focus on psychological horror.
As the newest survivor, Yoichi, and his story continues years since we last saw him in the movies, this crossover is a perfect opportunity to give Ringu’s new and unfamiliar audiences a whole new gaming lore. in which to bite one’s teeth.
Sadako’s playstyle adds more psychological elements to Dead by Daylight.
The 24-year curse of Sadako
Reiko Imayasu, who is no stranger to Dead by Daylight as it includes some of her favorite horror characters (especially Ash J. Williams and The Ghost Face), is a producer at Kadokawa, the film rights holders Ringu . It’s been a while since we’ve seen an episode of Ringu, with the story and the characters themselves having undoubtedly become one of horror’s most iconic franchises.
“It’s been 24 years since the original film adaptation of Ringu came out. Sadako, with her iconic long black hair and white dress, has been loved by many over the years through movies, TV, games and goods,” Imayasu said.
“The series is unique in that it has evolved flexibly with time and media. This gives the opportunity to compare it to the original and hopefully will provide a chance to pick up the novel and film. .
Of course, one of the most interesting things about this new chapter of DBD is the story of new survivor Yoichi, who longtime fans will remember as just a kid in the movies. . This is especially true due to the fact that her story as an adult is all-new, tying the two mediums together in an incredibly fresh and interesting way.
“When the Dead by Daylight team first came up with the idea, I immediately said, ‘That’s so interesting!’ The scene where Yoichi watches the cursed video alone in the middle of the night and his mother discovers it is one of the scariest and most symbolic scenes in the movie.
“The boy’s story is now being told for the first time in 24 years through Dead by Daylight [and] makes me feel like it’s kinda meant to be.
Yoichi Asakawa’s benefits, looks, and personality in DBD are a mix of his now-iconic mother and father.
Respect the character of Sadako
The process of creating this new chapter is undoubtedly something both teams are passionate about, with Ringu rights holders wanting Behavior Interactive to represent Sadako accurately and respectfully.
“I had been thinking for a long time about having Sadako in Dead by Daylight. We made a proposal, [and] Shortly after, Behavior’s Head of Partnerships, Mathieu Côté, gave us very positive feedback and we started talking.
“I was convinced that they were going to take up a new challenge with the theme of Sadako. In fact, I think it opened up a whole new world of appeal for the show. They were very sincere about finding ways to perform the “hook” effect without using Sadako’s own hands.
For Reiko, Sadako always seemed to fit Dead by Daylight Killer’s roster perfectly, adding, “The presence of a virus that curses an indefinite number of people (you never know who might get caught in it) to Ringu is akin to to the psychological horror of Dead by Daylight.
As such, players will be able to step into the shoes (or in this case, the feet) as Sadako, using TVs to teleport throughout a trial to crawl and curse survivors with a condition.” doomed”, while using her psychic powers to maim and hook her enemies, while never putting her finger on them herself.
Dead by Daylight: Sadako Rising will be released on March 8, 2022.