Akira Kitamura:

His magnum opus was Cocoron on the NES but the PC Engine sequel was never released despite being finished.

>>4040041

I don't read Japanese, so I'm relying on Google Translate, so the whole thing could be wildly off. But it's enough for me to look into.

>>4040041
Here's a pretty long interview with him and Hitoshi Ariga, who made several Megaman manga. It's a great interview, Ariga discusses things like how development and and levels were designed, inspirations and early elements later removed, and he even touches on the story he had originally wished to tell with Megaman.

http://shmuplations.com/megaman/

>>4040049
Oops, meant to say Kitamura discusses that stuff, Ariga does give some cool info about the manga though.

>>4040049
>story he had originally wished to tell with Megaman.
It wasn't always an Astroboy ripoff?

>>4040049

Yeah, that's why I started digging into Ariga's twitter account to see if he had anything else to say. This is definitely a clue to look into.

>>4040052

Other than heroic "boy robot", it doesn't take that much from Astro Boy. It "borrows" more from Cashern and Toku series. Toku was never huge in America, so people didn't pick up on it.

>>4040052
Eh, kinda. In the interview Kitamura discusses how their was story details he wished to use in the game but decided not to as he felt it would clash with the action. It seemed he wanted to go for a more "morality of a robot" angle, Astroboy does that as well but is more of a "humans/robots living in society together" series. When asked about inspirations he does cite Astroboy and Tezuka.

>>4040056
Obviously our hero.
Megaman = Astro Boy
Their similarities are pretty obvious. Pull some blue tights over astro and slap a helmet on his head and you've got the exact same design. Whereas Astro uses finger lasers, Megaman fired energy bullets. Ironically while later Megaman would get a charge shot, turnabout was fair play and Astro got a charge shot too in the 2000 anime likely influenced by Megaman.

Roll = Uran
This one is a bit of a stretch. Looking at the original names of the characters both have a thematic naming scheme with their brother. Astro's original name being Atom in japan, and Megaman's being Rock.
Rock and Roll and Atom and Uranium. Personality wise these two are quite different, with Roll being the helpful sweet kind, while Uran is a bit of a brat.

Rush = Jump
The faithful canine companion. Of course Jump was a real dog as opposed to a robot.

Bass = Atlas
Their origins are almost identical. Both are based on stolen plans for the original hero, both are convinced they're the most powerful robot in existence, and both are obsessed with beating the hero. Bass is more angry, while Atlas is more arrogant though.

Dr. Light = Dr. Ochanamizu
While Ochanamizu did not actually create Astro, he did become the guiding father figure for the hero, and much seems to hold the same role as Dr. Light.

Dr. Wily = Shadow
The scientist behind the scenes throwing the world into chaos with his creations. Their motivations are much the same, trying to prove themselves against a greater and more respected scientist.

The Megaman Killers = Pluto
Pretty clear here, though I think Ballade takes after Pluto the most, being the heel whom ultimately reforms at the last minute.

Protoman is based on a number of characters, most notably Racer X, but also the Kikaider villain Hakaider, who announces his presence with a whistle, and supposedly Kamen Rider or any of the 009 Cyborgs (for the scarf). protoman could have been like atlas if he had been used properly

>Dr. Wily = Shadow
I think this one is a bit of a stretch. If anythinghe would be Dr. Tenma and even then that is a bit of a stretch as Tenma was never truly evil, just kind of a selfish and lonely person.

>>4040063
>Roll = Uran

Sure, her role in the story is very similar. Kitamura based her design on Candy Candy.

>Rush = Jump

More similar to Cashern's dog.

http://megalodon.jp/2015-0118-1712-17/kurobedata.hatenablog.com/

Magalodon has one page archived. Google translate mentions it's a post saying the blog will be shut down.

Anyone else have any luck with archive sites?

http://aknote.hatenablog.com/entry/gameplanning.002

This appears to be the remade blog. This post seems to confirm it:

http://aknote.hatenablog.com/entry/gameplanning.002

File: 1b6e0afbe16301165f672580cf571f3e.jpg (55KB, 506x365px) Image search: [Google]

55KB, 506x365px

>ARIGA Hitoshi

Damn, I've actually started reading his MM Manga, started with Mega Man Gigamix, and I'm having a blast.

They're great stuff.