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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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