Strictly speaking, the Japanese gamebook boom was already starting to cool by the time Warlock JP got into full gear - Yasuda and Yutaka were therefore relatively quick to pivot the magazine to broader RPG coverage, initially focusing on Tunnels & Trolls.

I am very much in favor of sort of vague rules that D&D (and, better, Tunnels & Trolls) have for combat, because it doesn't bog the game down when you get into a fight.

Tunnels & Trolls didn't use polyhedral die only d6s, women weren't expected to be breasting boobily in boob-plate, they were expected to be as strong or stronger than men, there are kindreds instead of race, and you could play it solitaire.

Then we get Tunnels & Trolls and it completely flips that onto its back. You can be an adult dragon, a living skeleton, or even a fairy from the jump if you wanted to. Neither of those is expected to be one class because you can move your score around.

It is!

Isn’t T&T also big in Japan?