Tekken 8 Director Slams Fan Over Anna Williams' New Look: 'Your Criticism is Unconstructive and Pointless'

Tekken 8 veteran Anna Williams is making a comeback, and while her new look has been warmly received by the majority of fans, a vocal minority has been less enthusiastic, even drawing comparisons to Santa Claus due to her outfit.

When a fan reached out to Tekken game director and chief producer Katsuhiro Harada, requesting the return of Anna's "old design," Harada responded robustly. He stated, "If you prefer the old design, I am not taking those away from you." He continued, "While 98% of the fans are welcoming this, there will always be people like you. I understand and sympathize that it may not suit your personal taste, but if you prefer the old design, past works already exist. I am not taking those away from you."

Harada also addressed the fan's claim to represent all Anna fans, urging them to express their opinions as individuals. He criticized the fan's approach, saying, "You threaten to quit if she isn’t brought back. You complain the moment she is brought back. You demand that she be reverted after she has been completely redesigned from scratch, including her model and framework. And if she actually were reverted, you’d just say, 'That’s recycling!' Either way, your method of expressing your opinion and the content of your argument are entirely unconstructive, utterly pointless, and, above all, disrespectful to the other Anna fans who are genuinely looking forward to her."

In response to another comment criticizing the lack of re-released older Tekken games with modern netcode, Harada retorted, "Thank you for POINTLESS reply. You yourself are the joke. MUTED."

Despite some negative feedback, the majority of fans have embraced Anna's new design. Redditor AngryBreadRevolution expressed satisfaction with the redesign, saying, "Before she was announced I was hoping for an edgier, angry, violent Anna out for revenge for her fiance's death and so I'm quite happy with this design! The hair is growing on me. It really suits the outfit and personality well. It won't look good on all her outfits naturally, but her original bob will still be available. Coat was ruined for me when it was pointed out the resemblance to Christmas. The leotard, tights, boots, and gloves all look fantastic though, so looking forward to being able to take off the coat."

Other fans had mixed feelings. Troonpins commented, "Love everything but the white feathers. It’s giving Santa Claus." Cheap_Ad4756 noted, "Aside from looking like Santa Claus, she looks a lot younger than she did in Tekken 7 and before. She looks like less of a 'woman' now and more like a girl. I don't get the dominatrix vibe from her at all anymore." Spiralqq was more critical, stating, "Horrible. It’s another overdesigned T8 look, feels like almost every costume in this game lacks a real focal point and everyone is just decked out in 100 bulky accessories from head to toe. I’d like it a lot more without the coat, or at the very least if the whole outfit didn’t look like Santa cosplay. You can’t have a bright red coat with white fur trims and a black belt and read as anything other than Santa."

What do you think of Anna's the new outfit coming from Tekken 7?
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Tekken 8 has achieved impressive sales, reaching 3 million copies sold within a year of release, outpacing Tekken 7, which took 10 years to sell 12 million copies worldwide.

In IGN's Tekken 8 review, the game was praised for its innovations and received a score of 9/10. The review highlighted, "Tekken 8 is an amazing new entry in the long-running series. Interesting tweaks to its classic fighting systems, a full suite of fun offline modes, great new characters, incredible training tools, and a vastly improved online experience all add up to a fighting game I will be playing for many years to come. By honoring its legacy, but continuing to move forward, Tekken 8 manages to stand out as something special."