About

Masahiro Sakurai (桜井 政博 Sakurai Masahiro) is a Japanese video game developer, director and designer, who is known for creating the Kirby and Super Smash Bros games. Online, he has gained a reputation for being a troll and has inspired several memes within the Super Smash Bros. community.

History

Career

In 1989, Sakurai joined HAL Laboratory and at age of 19, where he created the Kirby series and directed the game Kirby's Dream Land for the Game Boy. He subsequently directed the game Super Smash Bros. for the Nintendo 64 as well as its sequel Super Smash Bros. Melee. On August 3rd, 2003, Sakurai left the HAL Laboratory for more autonomy and to work on fewer sequel games. In 2005, Sakurai founded his own video game company Sora Ltd. He was soon contacted by Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata to be the director of Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Wii. Sakurai accepted and began work in October that year. During development, Sakurai updated the official Super Smash Bros. Brawl website on a weekly basis. Super Smash Bros. Brawl was released on January 31st, 2008 in Japan to critical acclaim. After finishing the game, Sakurai directed Kid Icarus: Uprising for the Nintendo 3DS, ending the franchise's 21 years long hiatus. Sakurai then began working on Super Smash Bros. for Wii U & 3DS set for released in 2014.

Online Presence

Online, Masahiro Sakurai has developed a fan following due to the popularity of his games, specifically his work on the Super Smash Bros. Series. He has a page on TVtropes^[1] and a Twitter^[2] feed with over 78,000 followers as of June 2014.

Reputation

Among fans of the Super Smash Bros. series, Sakurai has earned a reputation as a troll due to his tendency to prank the community with misinformation regarding playable characters in the games. On TVTropes,^[3] he is listed as an example under the "Trolling Creator" entry.

Related Memes

Sakurai: (Laughs)

"Sakurai: (Laughs)" is an expression originating from an interview on Iwata Asks^[4] in which Sakarai's laughter was transcribed each time as "Sakurai: (Laughs)." Online, it is often used as a patronizing reaction on discussion forums.

Parody Account Mix-Up

The Sakurai Parody Account Mix-Up refers to the Google search results of "masahiro sakurai" showing an unrelated image of a disappointed man. The image is from a Twitter post on May 2, 2014 by Sakurai parody account @SmashBros_Nin, with the caption "When people think Playstation All Stars: Battle Royale is better than Smash Bros. #SmashBros."^[5] This was noted by numerous Twitter users, including the parody account itself. As of March 9, 2018, Google has not removed the image from the search results.^[6]

A tweet from my account from ages ago caused this picture to become the main photo on the Google Search page for Masahiro Sakurai, I've reached god status. pic.twitter.com/ESsEzpIWnz

— Masahiro Sakurai (@SmashBros_Nin) March 5, 2018

Search Interest

External References