Originally, Amaterasu Was The Main Character Of Okamiden

The adorable Chibiterasu wasn’t always the lead character in Okamiden. Before Kuniomi Matsushita, the director, brought a prototype to Motohide Eshiro, Amaterasu was in the game. Programmers were moving forward with this plan until the lead character designer made a suggestion.

As a joke, the designer made Amaterasu’s child and that’s how Chibiterasu was born. After seeing the drawing, Matsushita raced on with complementary ideas like giving the young sun god a partner and later a moving farewell. The plan was set and Okamiden moved forward, still as a volunteer project in this stage.

The concept art on the right is from Endo-san, the main designer.