Kanji Clash

Problem

Traditional game input systems are not designed around IME workflows. In a Japanese typing-based combat system, the player may need to open composition, select candidate text, confirm input, submit the word, and transition back into combat state.

That process has to coexist with focus management, input locking/unlocking, combat state transitions, UI updates, and game timing.

Why IME Input Is Hard in Games

What looks simple at the idea level — type a word, press enter, attack — becomes much harder when the actual sequence involves IME selection, composition confirmation, focus retention, and battle transitions.

Standard Unity input expectations break down for Japanese composition workflows. The composition lifecycle does not map cleanly onto Unity’s UI/input flows.

Input Flow Design

IME behavior was treated as the central system constraint rather than an implementation detail. The design was evaluated around enable/disable/refocus timing instead of only validating text correctness. The interaction between battle state and input state was treated as a single design problem.

Battle State Coordination

The prototype explored where standard Unity input expectations break down for Japanese composition workflows. Key challenges included managing IME lifecycle correctly inside Unity UI/input flows, handling composition without breaking combat rhythm, and keeping focus stable when enabling/disabling input fields.

Current Limitations

This is an experimental prototype. It demonstrates the core input challenge but does not represent a complete game. The value is in the input-system and state-management exploration, not in gameplay polish.

Lessons Learned

This project exposes how quickly UX breaks when text composition, focus handling, and gameplay state are not designed together. It forced careful thinking around UI ownership, timing, input state machines, scene/battle transitions, and what “responsive” means in an IME-driven game.