Masahiro Ito, the creator of Silent Hill's most iconic monsters, Pyramid Head and the nurses from the second game, has unexpectedly been dragged into a controversy in recent months. The opponent of this legendary Japanese designer and illustrator was not picky players or jealous developer peers, but rather the fans of American pop singer Madonna.
This absurd story started with a comment Masahiro Ito made a long time ago. Back in 2019, Ito discussed the inspiration behind the eerie, distorted movements he designed for these famous monsters. He pointed out that he referenced the choreography from Madonna's 1999 music video for "Nothing Really Matters." In this video, the dancers utilized the aesthetics of "Butoh," a Japanese avant-garde dance characterized by twisted, slow movements and white facial makeup.
This was originally just an interesting piece of trivia from behind the scenes of Silent Hill, but recently a Madonna fan brought up this claim in a slightly distorted way. The fan wrote on social media: "Madonna basically became the main inspiration for the overall atmosphere of Silent Hill 2!" Known for his attention to detail, Masahiro Ito decided to correct this fan. "I said I was inspired by the 'Nothing Really Matters' video. But I was referring to the Japanese Butoh performed by the dancers in the background, not Madonna herself or her music at all. It was just one reference when creating the animations. That's all. Please don't jump to conclusions," the game designer explained.
Unfortunately, this clarification angered the singer's fans. People accused the developers of disrespect. Madonna's fanbase attacked Ito, calling him "arrogant" and trying to deliberately distance themselves from any influence on their idol: "The video concept was Madonna's own, so why are you acting so rude now?" fans angrily stated in the comments.
This conflict began back in May and has continued for months. Even now in August, Ito continues to receive aggressive direct messages from obsessive fans and trolls. The Japanese horror game author had to choose the easiest solution, permanently blocking all aggressive commenters. He sharply described these attackers as "typical low-IQ fanatics who start conflicts and then play the victim."