‘Thank you Sakurai!’ – Smash Bros creator teaches cosplayer how to properly unsheathe Link’s sword
Smash Bros’ creator reveals animation trick used to make Link’s sword unsheathing possible
Kirby and Smash Bros creator Masahiro Sakurai recently helped a cosplayer who was struggling to use Link’s sword properly.
As reported by Automaton, Japanese cosplayer Sakigake posted a video of himself dressed as Link in Breath of the Wild.
In the video, Sakigake attempts to unsheathe his sword, but because of the length of the sword and the position of the scabbard on his back, he can’t stretch his arm out far enough to take the sword out.
“I can’t do it,” Sakigake wrote on X. “I will practice”.
無理でした練習します https://t.co/JbTdol8F5g pic.twitter.com/I2W1Ka0UXq
— サキガケ (@sakigake_cos) November 11, 2024
Noticing the video, Sakurai offered his advice by sharing a tip that he noticed Sakigake wasn’t doing.
Sakurai explained that in Super Smash Bros Ultimate, the development team added an animation where Link pulls the scabbard down with his other hand, giving him enough room to sheathe the sword in it.
“In Super Smash Bros Ultimate, Link pulls the scabbard down when sheathing his sword,” Sakurai explained. “That alone wasn’t quite enough to reach the desired position, but I think that’s about as far as we can go when it comes to matching the action and equipment from the original.”
“Thank you Sakurai-san”, Sakigake replied. “I’ll use Smash Bros Ultimate as a reference next time and try to make it look cool.”
“I reacted to your post because of my experience considering a solution to the same problem,” Sakurai added. “Great cosplay!”
Sakurai recently ended his YouTube channel after two years of publishing in-depth videos explaining how game development works.
In the final normal episode of his YouTube series, Sakurai posted a tribute to his former boss, the late Nintendo president Satoru Iwata.
