Hideo Kojima Makes Cameo In My Chemical Romance's Animated Short

Hideo Kojima, one of the gaming industry's most unique creative minds, has been a longtime My Chemical Romance fan and has never hidden his love for the band, attending their live shows and collecting their merchandise over the years. The Black Parade era is clearly his favorite, so it's fitting that he joined a pretty wild voice cast for My Chemical Romance's new seven-minute stop-motion animated short, made with visual artist Lauren Tsai.

The short, titled Prelude to the End, features The Black Parade track The End and follows Astrid, a student at a peculiar boarding school who enters a world of forgotten ideas after her beloved sketchbook is thrown in the garbage by authority figures. Tsai voices Astrid herself, while Billie Eilish plays her close friend and Phoebe Bridgers voices her sister. Hideo Kojima takes on the role of a strict Japanese teacher, while John C. McGinley portrays the school's dean.

The short film coincides with the 20th anniversary of The Black Parade. My Chemical Romance will screen Prelude to the End during the final two shows of The Black Parade Tour, taking place on October 30 and 31 at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles.

Actually, Kojima has recently collaborated with Lauren Tsai on Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, where she portrays a character known as The Artist, modeled after her likeness. As her name suggests, the character is an artist, and connecting with her unlocks several suit color schemes.

Hideo Kojima and Kojima Productions are currently working on two major upcoming projects: OD and PHYSINT in partnership with Xbox Game Studios. OD is often described as a spiritual successor to P.T., while Physint is being referred to as a spiritual successor to the Metal Gear Solid series.