Scalding sake: Itagaki charged with sexual harassment (by real woman)
"Hey baby, can I buy you a drink?"
"I don't think so."
"You just performed a ten-hit combo ... on my heart."
"Oh dear lord."
"I wanna put you in a counter hold of love."
"Physical violence. I'm strongly considering it."
"Do you kick high?"
The lead developer of the Dead or Alive series and the forthcoming ball jostling, highbrow-raising epic, Dead or Alive Xtreme 2, has been charged with sexual harassment. This one practically writes itself. In the interest of readability and undeniably smug tone, however, rest assured that a human being (more or less) has written all the text that follows. As if drinking on the job and speaking ill of competitors wasn't enough to convince you that Tomonobu Itagaki was a complete failure at being a Japanese stereotype, you may now append "allegedly harasses female ex-employees" to the list (and then note how much better that is than "harasses ex-female employees").
According to Japan's ZakZak and Gamebrink, the Dead or Alive mastermind has been slapped with a 10 million yen ($85,000) sexual harassment charge by a woman claiming to have endured and dodged his wily hands for the duration of her employment between 2003 and September 2006. Itagaki has admitted to having the relationship (much to the chagrin of his wife and kids, no doubt) but insists that the supposed mammary molestation was completely consensual. The reports also imply that Itagaki has been demoted within Team Ninja, a move which could be interpreted as a slap on the wrist or a swift shove out of the spotlight.
It looks like the latter tactic hasn't been very effective thus far.
[Via Xbox 360 Fanboy]
