Bayonetta creator insisted on keeping glasses despite publisher removal requests

Bayonetta’s glasses are an iconic part of the character’s look, but if things had gone in a different direction, they could have been removed.

That information comes from series creator Hideki Kamiya. Kamiya was responding to one fan asking about an older interview quote that stated “Bayonetta’s glasses are just like her underwear”. He confirmed that someone else said that – specifically animation director Yuji Shimomura. However, Kamiya also did say that there were publisher requests to have Bayonetta’s glasses removed.

Kamiya stated on social media:

“When I was designing Bayonetta, clients requested that I remove her glasses, and it’s true that I kept refusing to do so… Apart from that, it’s also true that Shimomura-san, who directed the cutscene, said the famous line, ‘Bayonetta’s glasses are practically her underwear, so don’t ever take them off.'”

Bayonetta character designer Mari Shimazaki shared some words as well. As for how the whole glasses thing started, Shimazaki revealed:

“During the development of Bayonetta 1, I was drawing rough designs when, out of nowhere, Kamiya-san was standing behind me and muttered, ‘I want you to add glasses to that design.’ That’s how it all started. After that, no matter which rough draft I drew, he would say, ‘Shall we try adding glasses?’ So I started preparing a glasses layer. There were a lot of ups and downs until we decided on the final design, but the glasses layer was always on standby. However, even that one moment when she took off her glasses was a Bayonetta moment, and I think that’s what makes her so Bayonetta.”

The entire Bayonetta trilogy can be played on Nintendo Switch. During the summer, Kamiya reflected on the voice actor change controversy that happened with Bayonetta 3. We covered that here.