Vanillaware and the studio Ashinaga Oji-san. Shigetake, who was a member of both developers, handled both direction and character design. The lead character is based on Habanero-tan, a mascot character of his design. It was produced by Nobuhiro Takagaki from publisher Dimple Entertainment. It was part of an attempt by Vanillaware to develop two games at the same time; Kumatanchi was in production alongside Muramasa: The Demon Blade. However, there were little to no staff for Kumatanchi, forcing Shigetake to act as both director and art designer. Due to this and the tight production schedule, development was tiring and discouraged Shigetake from taking on a directorial role again. It also prompted Vanillaware to abandon parallel game production at the time. Speaking about the potential broad appeal of Kuma-tan, Shigetake commented that while the game was intended to be a family-friendly experience for all ages, he admitted that the character and gameplay was comparable to an adult-oriented edgy style. To research the game's zoo setting, three of the staff members went to Tennōji Zoo, with many of the game's props and activities based on their observations of the animal pens and zoo activities. The game's opening cinematic was inspired by anime openings, with Shigetake taking specific cues from the opening of Pani Poni Dash!. The team considered several titles for the game, including one based on an earlier product of Ashinaga Oji-san before settling on Kumatanchi. The music was composed by Kimihiro Abe and Mitsuhiro Kaneda of Basiscape, a music company founded by Hitoshi Sakimoto which frequently collaborates with Vanillaware. The aim for the music was to break away from Basiscape's traditional musical image, commemorating the company's launch of its self-titled commercial label. The score combined toy drums, melodica, recorder and ukulele to create a homely and comforting sound. The game's opening and ending themes were performed by Ryouki Ruou. The opening theme was intended to convey the energy of an anime opening. A soundtrack album was released on December 16, 2009 by Basiscape and Sweep Records. For the soundtrack version, a different sound source was used, creating an alternate sound from the in-game score. The game was announced in June 2008, after Vanillaware earlier hinted that they were working on a game for the Nintendo DS. When announced, it was 70% complete. It released on September 25, 2008. A drama CD was published by Dimple Entertainment, first as a promotional