When Lords of Shadow was revealed to be a Castlevania game with Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima attached, I was admittedly a little uneasy, mostly due to the series long having been the baby of Koji "IGA" Igarashi. But over time and with new interviews lending insight into the creative end of the game, my fears were more or less laid to rest.

And then today, I learned that Hideo Kojima is a "huge fan" of Stephanie Meyer's "Twilight," and threw up in my mouth a little.

Okay, so I exaggerate, but found it alarming nonetheless that such a connection could possibly exist where it feels that none should. And yet, here we are, with the man behind Solid Snake judging an art contest based on vampires who "sparkle."

Maybe this is just a punishment for yesterday.

Okay, in all seriousness, I doubt-- or at least hope-- that Kojima's fondness for the series will do anything to contaminate Castlevania, though when one considers the art for Judgment and some of Ayami Kojima's work, one might wonder if the series wasn't headed in that direction anyway.

But I digress; the facts, as they are given by the Anime News Network (via GameSetWatch, via Kotaku, via the voices in my head), state that Kojima will serve as one of a panel of three judges of a Twilight: New Moon contest hosted by Japanese deviantArt equivalent Pixiv. For those wondering, the other two panelists are Japanese Twilight book illustrator Ryuji Gotsubo and Neon Genesis Evangelion character designer Yoshiyuki Sadamoto.

What a trinity those three must make. Pixiv's press release notes that all three are "huge fans" of the series.

Ten winners (bite my tongue, bite my tongue) will be selected from pixiv's premium members to receive two tickets each to the film's Japanese debut on November 28th, with other prizes including an autographed painting set from Sadamoto, a set of the first three Twilight novels autographed by Gotsubo, and a copy of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots autographed by Kojima.

Go figure.

And with that, there's really little more to say, except that I don't think I will ever view Hideo Kojima in the same way again. I'll try not to judge, but I refuse to be held responsible for any "sparkle" jokes that make their way into future Metal Gear or Castlevania articles on this site.

[Image from GameSetWatch; click to see full version]