Fans spent decades claiming that Hideo Kojima is a creative genius who's being held back by the studio system, and then the first time a production gave him free rein to do whatever he wanted he promptly made a game where you have to play out using the bathroom in real time so the protagonist can collect his own urine to craft magic piss grenades. It's unclear whether this confirms the fandom's hypothesis.
I believe pretty strongly that art doesn't need an audience. Plenty of art is political or provocative just for its own sake, without any relevant discourse or target demographic in mind. As a writer on tumblr I write things that I know I will enjoy writing and with very little stakes attached--if anyone decides they wanna engage with my work, that's fine.
Most larger entities, collectives, and labels though--they create art with the intention to sell it. This is not a bad thing or a detraction of that art, it is simply a reality that even the weirdest corporate media has a hook by design. The marketing alone for a new movie, game, or series can tell you right away who the product is for.
However.
Who in the fuck did Hideo Kojima make Death Stranding for
If you want answers, you’re gonna have to find ‘em yourself. But… the ones you do find — well that pain you nurse… will only get worse. Sam the man — in the dark. About everything.
DEATH STRANDING 2 ON THE BEACH (2025)