Snow

Until I came to Japan, I had never seen it snow.

Well, actually, I had been on one snow trip with my family. And one time, on a road trip, we made a stop at a rest area where there was snow piled up, and we played with it, but I had never actually seen snow fall from the sky.

Perhaps this is why I was freaked out when I first saw it snow.

It was back in the winter of 2006. I was sitting at the office of the school where I worked, when a teacher pointed out the fact that it was snowing outside. "Snow?" I thought to my self. "This I gotta see."

And there, as if it were materializing out of nowhere, were floating strands of cotton-like snow. I was seriously freaked out. It took me a while to get used to it.

I had seen it snow in movies, and I had seen snow be depicted in video games, but it's quite a different experience to actually be there present and watch it snow.

I was riding on my bike that same winter. I must have been on my way home from buying groceries or running some errand, when I noticed the wind was blowing around what seemed like bits of fluff. I could have sworn the wind had picked up dust bunnies, the kind that accumulate behind your couch or furniture that hadn't been moved in a while.

But upon closer inspection, it was snow again!

It was cold enough to snow. That would explain why my hands felt like they were frozen solid as I rode my bike down the sidewalk.

Snow is strange to me...

I associate stuff falling out of the sky with clouds.

If it's raining, there have to be clouds.

Logically, if it's snowing, there have got to be clouds also.

But for whatever reason, snow can materialize out of thin air, and fall to the ground and pile up, and this freaks the hell out of me!

I continue to be mystified by snow.

I hope one day to experience what they call a "White Christmas."

In Osaka, it snows, but it rarely piles up.

They say that once every 10 years or so, it actually snows in Osaka enough to pile up, make snow men and have snowball fights.

The last time I saw it snow like that was in fact that year of 2006.

We're long overdue.

Snow in Video Games
Some of the most memorable games for me had snow in them. In fact, oftentimes, the snow levels stood out in my mind for whatever reason. Either the scenery was visually appealing, or the level had interesting music.

I think the very first time I saw snow in a video game had to be in Megaman, Ice Man's world.

Ice Man's Stage, Megaman I

Fighting Ice Man

After that it had to be Super Mario 3, World 6.

After that it had to have been the snow level in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 for the original NES.

One of the biggest reasons I remember this level is because it had some very memorable music. I've included a link to it here.

But one of my most favorite snow levels was the one in Super Ghouls 'n' Ghosts. Aside from being visually appealing, I really liked the music which was set to 5/4 time.

 Listen to this level's music here.

The snow levels in Adventure Island II also had great visuals and music.

Snow and ice were a recurring theme in Megaman games. Ice Man in the very first game, then Blizzard Man in the 6th game, Freeze Man in the 7th game, and Cold Man in Megaman & Bass. Not to mention Chill Penguin and Blizzard Buffalo in the X series.

Blizzard Man Stage

Fight with Blizzard Man

Freeze Man Stage

Blizzard Man

OK, Cloud Man wasn't an ice or snow character, but it did snow in his stage...

Cold Man Stage

Cold Man Battle

Chill Penguin Stage

Battle with Chill Penguin

Blizzard Buffalo Stage

Fight with Blizzard Buffalo

I never really saw it snow in a Zelda game, but then again, I didn't really play anything further than A Link to the Past. I do remember one of the dungeons in the Dark World in A Link to the Past had ice and snow in it however...

Snow appears in the very first Samurai Shodown game in Nakoruru's stage.

Her sister would later on appear in the third game in the series, with the element of snow and ice at her side.

Snow also appears in Samurai Shodown 2, in Jubei's stage.

The Phendrana Drifts level in Metroid Prime was visually beautiful, and it had memorable music I can still recall today...

Listen to the beautiful music of this stage here.

In the game Metroid Fusion, there is a scene where Ridley's remains were frozen stiff in an artificial snowing environment. The music was eerie and strange. The slow, lullaby-like music seemed to personify the ice and falling snow. I'll never forget it.

Listen to the music of this stage here.

Tsuyu Series: A Tribute to Frogs in Video Games

I can't believe how many posts I've done on the rainy season in Japan! I started off with just a post on the rainy season and how the Japanese deal with it, which led to Japanese symbolism for the rainy season, which led to Japanese symbolism in video games. We segwayed into the realm of hydrangeas, and now were back again with video games.

But this time I'm going to keep it simple.

For this post I'm going pay a tribute to frogs in video games.

I hope you like it! :-)

 In Super Mario RPG, Mallow the cloud *thinks* he's a frog.

 When he is told by his adoptive father, Frogfucius, that he is not a frog, he cries.

And when he cries, it rains. Coincidence?

 In Mario 3, Mario wears a frog suit. That counts, right?

In Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, you encounter many frogs.

One frog in particular swallows you whole, and you have to fight to get out.

Yoshi and Baby Mario vs. Prince Froggy's uvula.

The frogs from Super Mario 2: Yoshi's Island have a cameo in

Tetris Attack, a Yoshi's Island-themed puzzle game.

 In Zelda: A Link to the Past, Link helps a frog,

who turns out to be a sword-smith.

In Zelda: Link's Awakening, Mamu the frog, teaches link the Song of Life.

 In Zelda: Ocarina of Time, link helps the Fabulous Five Froggish Tenors.

 Frog from Chrono Trigger.

 One of the first enemies Megaman encounters in Bubbleman's stage (Megaman 2)
is a mechanical frog.

One of the main bosses in Megaman 4 is Toad Man.

 Jason and his frog, from Blaster Master.

In Ironsword: Wizards and Warriors 2, one of the quests

is to find a golden fly for a gi-normous frog prince.

Kirby helps a momma frog find her baby.

 Nohoho is a character from the Puyo Puyo puzzle game series.
He uses technique where he stacks Puyos to one side.

In Samurai Shodown 2, Genjuro has an amphibian admirer.

In Samurai Shodown 3, Kyoshiro sends his frog after you.

Tsuyu Series: Rain in Videogames

Touched off by my last post on Japanese cultural symbolism and the rainy season in Japan, I started thinking about the many ways in which rain has been depicted in Japanese video games. Since I started learning the Japanese language, and consequently, about Japanese culture, I've had so many "ah-hah!" moments while playing some of my favorite games. One of my reasons for starting this blog is so that I could share these moments on the interwebs.

Since I started playing video games, there have been so many instances where I thought "WTF???" I mean a lot of the time it was mostly good. Strange, but good. Why does Tanooki Mario turn into a statue?

What, indeed, is a "Tanooki?"

What's with the coin boat that appears with the strange Chinese character on it in Mario 3?

Why do Japanese and Chinese script look similar? Why does the truck in Turbo Man's stage (Megaman 7) look like some sort of red dog?

That green and white design on that truck reminds me a lot of the green and white bags the strange "TAC" thieves in Kirby Superstar.

Why?

What does it all mean???

After I began learning about Japanese language and culture, it all started to make sense. I learned that a lot of the nonsense we see in video games isn't entirely arbitrary, and much of it has roots in Japanese culture and the symbolism that exists within it. What seems a lot like crazy randomness to foreigners, actually has reason and purpose; it's just not immediately obvious to people who aren't familiar with Japanese culture.

Now, I like to retrace old video games in search of hidden cultural references and clues. They are like Easter eggs that were hidden in plain sight. Knowing now what I didn't know then, I play my old favorite games, seeing them in an entirely new light. It's as if they have been rejuvenated, and I along with them. As I play my old games with new eyes, the games are new to me once again. I begin to see a world that was always in front of me, but I just never knew.

Frog/Toads and Rain
In Japanese culture, frogs and toads have the same name; kaeru (蛙). They are associated with rain and, strangely enough, with bad singing.

In Zelda: Link's Awakening, Link learns an important song from Mamu, the frog.

My earliest recollection of a frog/toad and rain in video games has got to be Toad Man, from Megaman 4. My first thought when I saw this was "WTF? Toad Man? What is he going to do? Throw toads at me? Some sort of tongue attack? Some super-sonic croak?" No. Of all things, he makes it RAIN. Rain?! I as seriously at a loss for words. I just accepted it as part of the game. It's "Toad Man," and he makes it rain... OK...

Now, it all makes sense! He's a toad, and he makes it rain, because he's a toad, and in Japan, toads/frogs = rain. Oh, I get it! Hah hah! That would explain the rain in his stage too.

Why there would be a flock of birds in the rain is beyond me.

Which brings me to another recollection of amphibians in video games; frog from Chrono Trigger.

Not surprisingly enough, this character's attacks center around water.

But one of my favorite cultural references to frogs and rain in video games is Genjuro from one of my favorite video game series of all time, Samurai Shodown.

Genjuro Kibagami, Samurai Shodown II

It can be said that this is the game that started it all for me regarding my quest to understanding Japanese language and culture. This game is rich in Japanese cultural references, from language, to traditional music, to history, to folklore.

Genjuro is a character whose theme is Hanafuda, a Japanese card game that is strongly associated with traditional gangs and outlaws. His signature moves all include depictions of hanafuda, and even his stage is a reference to one of the hanafuda cards.

 Genjuro's Stage

A Hanafuda card from the August suit

But the ultimate reference to the hanafuda cards a personification of the "Rain Man" card, one of the cards in the November suit, which depicts a man with an umbrella, looking at a frog through the willows.

NeoGeo characters tend to have some sort of after-fight sequence, and Genjuro's sequences reference the hanafuda cards in one way or the other.

In Kirby's Dreamland 3, you encounter a frog that needs help in stage 2-4. In order to help the frog, and thus gain a heart-star from it, you must find its child. Once you do, the parent-child pair become happy and yields the heart-star to Kirby, which will help him on his quest.

At first this will not seem terribly peculiar, until you realize that there is a Japanese saying that goes "Kaeru no ko wa kaeru." (蛙の子は蛙) Translated, it means "Frogs breed little froggies." A saying in English with a similar meaning is "Like father, like son."

And just for the heck of it, I include another memorable frog scene from one of my favorite video games of all times. I wonder if readers can tell where it's from... :-)

Other Depictions of Rain in Video Games
I love the sound of the rain at night... I'm listening to the rain sing its song to me right now as I type. For whatever reason, rain scenes in video games have always left an impression in me. They add to the dramatic effect.

In Samurai Shodown, WanFu's stage is set in a thunder storm.

In Samurai Shodown 3, when you kill Zankuro, it begins to rain.

During Megaman 2's end sequence, it begins to rain also.

What is it about rain that can make life seem both peaceful, yet sad at the same time? And yet, when the sound of thunder and flash of lightning is added, it can imply a deciding moment? Rain can signal a dramatic beginning, or a tragic end. Or even a dramatic middle. Such is the diversity of rain.

In Zelda: Link's Awakening, the scene opens with Link caught in a thunderstorm

Zelda: A Link to the Past also begins in the middle of a storm.

The accompanying music is actually an excerpt from the story after the title screen.

At the beginning of Super Metroid, Samus returns to Zebes in the middle of a storm.

In Megaman and Bass, players encounter rain early on.

Well, that about does it for frogs and rain in video games. Until the next time!