Nana MarfoA student with a passion for game development and all things Japan. Archives
September 2020
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Hey all! This is another deep dive post. This may seem a little bottom of the Barrel, but I have wanted to do a post based another From Soy Sauce video for a while. So, as the title suggests, I have been heavenly inspired by Japan. This is going to get a bit personal, so I make you cry, sorry? Anyways, as most of you know, my favourite franchise is Sonic the Hedgehog, a series of games created by SEGA. A common sterotype of Sonic fan is that they are autistic... which in my case is semi-true. While with me, you might not be able to tell at first, sometime it kicks in randomly, and I hate that(also hence why I say semi-true). Because of this(and the fact that I take things to heart a lot), I became an easy target for bullies. This honestly continued up until I was 14, but I began to play games more and more, and now, as I have just turned 17, I realised now that Japan has influenced me more than I thought. Now I don't think I'm a full weeb... yet, but every game series and game that I hold close to my heart I can think of that is not a Indie game has Japanese links to it. Even Life is Strange and the Tomb Raider Series, games that seemly has no ties to Japan, are published by Square Enix, a Japanese company. A lot of you probably know that I am a black man living in London. However, the only real European things I think define me are cycling and Formula 1, and even then they are becoming more are more global, plus the only things I can take from them are designs. However, if you recall my first games works post, I only had Glass Wing Retold as a non Japanese developed game. This is not to say I am fully out of touch with my culture. I love playing music that is "from my motherland" as my parents say, and London has a lot great architecture I want to reflect in my games. However, instead of playing Call of Duty on a PS4 and watching The Flash, I would play Sonic Lost World on my Wii U, and watch a show called Kamen Rider. For those of you that don't know(which I assume is everyone) Kamen Rider is a Henshin(Transforming) Heroes show that revolves the concept of a single(well, usually with one or two other) fighting an evil force. This is what gave me the idea for Different Spirits, among other game ideas I have to talk about. It only got worse as I grew up. Towards the end of secondary school, I began to get into anime, and it one of the reasons I made this blog, as well as wanted to share my game ideas. Even then, I watched Pokemon when I was younger, and I didn't know that was anime. Man, I hate how dumb I can be some times. So, why the comforted part? Well, I don't have many people that I can talk to this about, combined with the fact that I am not really good at talking to people and making friends... yea I think you get the idea. While I am getting better, this is why I the people I meet online are so important to me. Just being to share my thoughts with people are important. That's something I have to cherish. Also, and I know this is REALLY stupid and cheesy,but sometimes it's good to imagine myself in that world and think about the hardships they face, it helps take my mind off the real world. I think you guys get the idea by this point. Japan has changed my life, but I feel the most I have show for it is Unity-Chan Dash, and anyone could make that game if they knew Unity well enough. I understand there is still a lot I have to learn about this country, and yes I know off all the bad things that Japan did in the war,and the country has a lot of problems, but in the end, their art has inspired me, and sometimes, isn't that all that matters? As such, I'll end with a quote from Sayuri-Sensei: Unvetted Art from the heart is the truest form of human honesty. Thanks for reading, have a great day/night, share if you enjoyed it and take care.
Written by Nana Marfo Tomb Raider/Life is Strange/Kingdom Hearts(C)Square Enix Full Metal Alacamist(C) Aniplex/Square Enix Aho Girl(C)Kodansha Comics Kamen Rider(C) TOEI
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I was bullied as a kid too. I grew up in a violent school/neighborhood and since I was the small kid with long, curly hair I was an easy target. I had anger issues throughout my teens and early adult life. It got me in trouble with the law and out in the streets. So I created a blog, started writing since that's what I was always really good at, and met my wife of almost 8 years. I can totally relate to you on bullying and it sucks that you had to go through that.
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