April 19, 2025

【Making】「PLAYERS」 Episode 1: The Game I’d Want to Erase My Memory to Play Again

Recently, PlayStation Japan celebrated its 30th anniversary by releasing a song titled “PLAYERS” in collaboration with the iconic Japanese J-POP artist duo “YOASOBI,” unveiling a large-scale project.

This project brought together 30 creators from around the world, each showcasing their own games to create a single music video. All 30 creators were a diverse group, including graphic artists, animators, and others deeply inspired by gaming culture.

The nostalgic game graphic works and the lyrics of “One More Time! (mou ittkai ! )” resonated deeply with players who never gave up despite countless game overs, as well as gamers who have spent 30 years with PlayStation, filling their hearts with emotion.

Among them was the Korean creative group “Azikazin Magic World,”

which has recently gained attention in Korea for its unique approach, blending games, characters, and music videos, as well as combining live music performance videos with games.

Text/Photos by Azikazin Editorial Team

——

“PLAYERS” Making Interview

Episode 1: “The Game I’d Want to Erase My Memory to Play Again”

Editorial Team

Azikazin Magic World, please introduce yourselves briefly along with your roles.

Lionclad

Hello, I’m Lionclad. I was in charge of character and monster design, as well as art direction.

Kiho

Hello, I’m Kiho. I took on the role of setting the overall direction and concept for the project. I worked on refining ideas and leading the team.

Lee Sungmoon

Hello, I’m Lee Sungmoon. I was responsible for 3D modeling and animation. I focused on bringing movement and depth to the game.

Moogia

Hello, I’m Moogia. I’m the singer-songwriter of Azikazin Magic World. To briefly introduce our team, we’re a four-member creative group from South Korea that produces music and video content inspired by gaming culture.

Editorial Team

We’re curious about the situation when you received the offer to collaborate with PlayStation for its 30th anniversary and with YOASOBI.

Lionclad

Actually, right before we got the call, we were in a planning meeting for our next music video with the theme “the sadness and beauty of fading memories.” So when we heard about this project’s theme, we thought it was perfect timing and felt confident we could do it well.

Moogia

I’m a fan of YOASOBI’s music and have been listening to them regularly, and I’m also a PlayStation fan who owns everything from the PS2 to the PS5, so I couldn’t help but be thrilled when we got the call.

Editorial Team

With 30 teams of creators participating in one video, the task assigned to Azikazin must have been quite different from usual. How did you start the initial planning?

Lee Sungmoon

Our goal was to create a short PlayStation game-concept video to be inserted into the “PLAYERS” music video. The storyboard shown to us by producer Inagaki included our work *Keeper’s Wish along with a reference guide labeled “PlayStation 1 game.” We were grateful that they liked Keeper’s Wish, so we decided to create a similar 2.5D side-scrolling game.

We were among the 30 creators, and the format was that each artist would create a 3-second game graphic video, which would then transition into the main music video part.

*Keeper’s Wish: The second Game-nimation music video produced by Azikazin Magic World. A charming 2D side-scrolling action game that depicts the adventures of Azikazin’s signature character, ‘Jujubee.’

Kiho

To talk about it, since this was a project commemorating PlayStation’s 30th anniversary, we thought a lot about how even a short video could evoke nostalgia for people who love PlayStation.

So we started playing Klonoa on the PS1 ourselves, studying how the camera moves, how the character moves, how the monsters attack, and how the background and terrain differ in their movements—we dove deep into researching Klonoa.

Then, with the first storyboard, we began working with the keyword “the first dungeon boss in the early stage.”

Editorial Team

The game you paid homage to was Klonoa—why is that?

Kiho

My house is full of books, catalogs, guidebooks, and materials about PlayStation and Sony. I’ve always collected them and had a huge interest in them. When we got the call, I flipped through those catalogs, looking for interesting things one by one, thinking about which game we should make.

When we got the call and were choosing the game to homage for our part, Klonoa stood out to me because of its emotional resonance. It was also a character I referenced when I first started studying 3D game development. The ending of that game is so sad—I even teared up watching it. I realized it wasn’t just cute and fun; it had depth. It felt perfect for “a game I’d want to erase my memory to play again.”

At the same time, I saw PlayStation’s survey under the hashtag “Memory of Play” about which games people wanted to replay, and Klonoa came up a lot. That reinforced my desire to use it and create something great.

Editorial Team

We’re curious about what this collaboration means to the Azikazin team, who have consistently worked with game-related visuals.

Lee Sungmoon

I was full of admiration for the other creators in the lineup, so just being part of the same group was incredibly moving. It gave me confidence, realizing that we could work with such amazing people in Korea and that our team is pretty cool too.

Lionclad

I was really happy and amazed because there were so many people I’d been following with interest on Instagram and YouTube. It felt like we naturally became part of a community, which made this project feel meaningful.

Gaki, Watakemi, Kairi in Azikazin Studio (2025)

Moogia

On a different note, after we got the call, Takemi Inagaki, the producer of “PLAYERS,” along with *Watakemi and Kairi Sato from the Tsuchifumazu team, came to Korea for a visit and stopped by the Azikazin studio. Watching the Tsuchifumazu team’s live production VJ works and CG art was fantastic. I learned a lot about Japan’s CG art culture and live production culture, which was really inspiring. I also found out for the first time that, unlike Korea, most venues in Japan have screens. While online communication was great, having them come across the sea to talk in person was truly enjoyable.

*Watakemi is one of the creators participating in “PLAYERS.”

Episode 2, <Characters and Monsters> to be continued.

April 21, 2025
【Making】「PLAYERS」 Episode 3: Development for 3 Seconds

April 20, 2025
【Making】「PLAYERS」 Episode 2: Characters and Monsters

April 19, 2025
【Making】「PLAYERS」 Episode 1: The Game I’d Want to Erase My Memory to Play Again

April 17, 2025
News of Participation in the PlayStation® 30th Anniversary YOASOBI Collaboration Project

7 comments

A Rookie Observer of Dorephin Village

Making behind-the-scenes content on a homepage these days? That's rare lol

April 19, 2025 at 5:05 pm Reply
A Zonkie Bug Expert of Dorephin Village

❤️❤️❤️

April 19, 2025 at 7:45 pm Reply
A Map Lover of Dorephin Village

The game selection was so good......

April 21, 2025 at 7:17 pm Reply
A Sleepyhead of Dorephin Village

A heartwarming behind-the-scenes story...

April 21, 2025 at 8:02 pm Reply
A Leaf Admirer of Dorephin Village

I like it because there's romance in it here.

April 21, 2025 at 8:08 pm Reply
A Hungry Observer of Dorephin Village

Keeper's wish!❤️

May 7, 2025 at 12:32 am Reply
A Milk Lover of Dorephin Village

This is so moving... I'm so touched...

May 20, 2025 at 5:42 pm Reply