One tweet about a mecha Sylvanian Family doll inspired an acclaimed anime writer to make a Metroidvania starring a "sh**ty father" rabbit

gamesradar.com:

Acclaimed anime and manga writer Gen Urobuchi is tackling something very different for his next project - because eight years ago he saw a tweet about a mecha Sylvanian Family doll. 

Urobuchi is famed the world over for manga and anime series like Fate/Zero, Psycho Pass, and the Puella Magi Madoka Magica series. For his next trick, though, Urobuchi is doing something extremely different, and making a platforming video game where you play as a rabbit who's also a bit of a shitty father. 

This game is called Rusty Rabbit, and it's split into two parts. In one section, Stamp the bunny chats to villagers in a town aboveground, while chomping on a carrot like it's a cigar. In the second part, our protagonist ventures belowground, where Rusty Rabbit becomes a side-scrolling Metroidvania where you fight machines with your own ever-evolving mech.

The question is: why the sudden change in direction from Urobuchi? "On Twitter, a user called [@]almighty0404 would make different vignettes using Sylvanian Family dolls," Urobuchi explained to PLAY Magazine in the latest issue. You can see the tweet from 2015 which Urobuchi is referencing just below, featuring a Sylvanian Family doll armed to the teeth in a big mech. 

[完成]シルバニアファミリー＋ジャンクロボ　かむかむレモンの容器、懐中電灯の部品、ｶﾞﾝﾌﾟﾗ部品でシルバニアが乗れるメカ作成。どうせならということでウサギも自分好みに改造！_(:3 」∠)_　#シルバニアファミリー　#創作メカ pic.twitter.com/M8la02IDQkDecember 26, 2015

"I was so fascinated by it that I made it my wallpaper on my phone. Slowly I began to imagine a backstory for this character and a story and what it would look like in motion, so I ended up creating that myself in Unity," Urobuchi continues. From one Twitter user's experimentation with a doll came about a new game from an acclaimed anime and manga author. Go figure.