I’ve been trying to lose weight by controlling my daily intake and exercising. So, I was inspired to go forward with the kitchen boss: the Amazake Hag. Legend says that she goes around at night asking for sweet sake (thus the name). Anyone who answers to her summons will fall ill.

I tried giving her white hair, but it just doesn’t seem to work as well as gray or black hair, so I’ll just knock a few centuries off her. The specific ukiyo-e reference I used for this rendition was actually the portrait of a ghost who happened to be a blind shamisen player in a previous life. I find her very alluring and sad but, quite frankly, it would be impossible to use her specific character in this instance of the game, so I repurposed that portrait to work as a drunken lady who spreads smallpox. I have half a heart to make this section of the game a bit of a dialectic puzzle. Who knows?

At some point, I’d like to revisit the original reference. The story of the blind shamisen player is as sad as it is romantic. I think it’s worth its own game… or at least its own movie.