#shin megami tensei ii
KANEKO’S CRIB NOTES XLVI: JAPANESE “POP”
Kaneko is no stranger to swinging wide when it comes to contemporary popular culture, and while the man shares a particular fondness for the western variety, it should come as no surprise that some targets skew closer to home. Here are a few of the more relevant cases, in honor of the holiday season, or something.
- TATTOOED MAN: Even when you have a roster of 400+ demons in an SMT game, fellows like Tattooed Man make you question if his spot couldn’t have been better represented. But you can’t say he’s not inspired: Kaneko admitted as much in a 1999 interview when he said he loves the image of Japanese actor Ken Takakura in yazuka flicks. Sure enough, Tattooed Man and his slick crew cut are a match for Takakura in the movie Brutal Tales of Chivalry 2: The Chinese Lion and Peony Tattoo, with or without a certain cool customer on his back.
- GHOST Q: Not-so-subtle hints in artbooks confirm that SMTII’s Ghost Q is based on the incorporeal Q-tarō from the manga series Obake no Q-tarō, but, other than the comically large kissers, the only other clue is in the name itself.
- OKAMOTO: Aleph’s one-time trainer is pulling inspiration in both character and design from Danpei of Tomorrow’s Joe fame, another bummy but driven fight coach in the grand tradition of underdog boxing narratives. In fact, his design is practically just a sleek, nominally futuristic take on Tetsuya Chiba’s more beleaguered original - a Kaneko trademark!
- RAIDOU KUZUNOHA XIV: Raidou is channeling a no less appropriate source for his iconic design: Yasunori Kato of Teito Monogatari, one of the more notable pieces of occult pulp to influence the series. Kaneko manages to bend Kato’s Lieutenant attire into that of a Taishou era school uniform, and with his cloak down he’s a dead ringer for Amano’s original design.
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KANEKO’S CRIB NOTES XLIV: SPOO*Y SKELETONS
Today’s the day! Our third annual Halloween spookfest is here, with even fewer cumbersome fleshy bits than ever. Cuz they’re all skeletons and shit! And you better believe they’re aping other successful career skeletons! HAPPY HALLOWEEN
- HELL BIKER: Hey. You know it. We know it. Hell Biker is just Ghost Rider. It’s shameless, but we don’t need to spend a minute more of our lives ruminating on it once we nod in its general direction with the acknowledgement that, yes, it is indeed something that happened over two decades ago now. There, that wasn’t so bad.
- SPARTOI:Sown from dragon’s teeth in Greek myth, the Spartoi were known as fierce warriors. However, they tended to be of the fleshytype. So why is Kaneko’s a skeleton? One need look no further than what is probably the most famous appearance of the Spartoi in pop culture, the Ray Harryhausen stop-motion skeletons from 1963’s Jason and the Argonauts.
- GASHADOKURO:He may be sporting a bit of a dye-job in his SH design, but otherwise we’re looking at some prime Gashadokuro here, right down to the obscured lower section. He’s even got a friendly reminder on his forehead in case he forgets!
Halloween ‘14: (1) Betelgeuse(2)Baphomet
Halloween ‘15: (1) Season of the Crib, (2) Arachne
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KANEKO’S CRIB NOTES XLI: ACTIVECONTINUITY
Cribs can originate from anywhere…even Kaneko’s own designs! Here’s a handful of examples of preceding designs influencing subsequent ones, whether in full or just certain elements. It’s exactly this kind of internal continuity that makes Kaneko so missed!
- NANDI/DEMI-NANDI:Shiva’s cheerful mount may not seem to have much in common with his mass-produced counterpart from Shin Megami Tensei II, but a closer look reveals a behavior passed on by the divine genes: A predilection for blowing raspberries.
- CYCLOPS/MAMEDANUKI:Shin Megami Tensei′s Cyclops is about as forgotten as they come, but his head was to find greater fame as the shape-shifting display of Mamedanuki’s magic scrotum.
- LAKSHMI: Kaneko often gave his SFC-era designs new palettes and shading in the Saturn era, but Lakshmi here is one of the few to be completely redrawn with a new pose, using the exact same wardrobe and likeness from her SMTI original. It’s especially apparent with the nigh-identical Devil Summoner version colors.
- T-93/JUNK:This little guy’s a trooper, having apparently weathered the turbulent interval between SMTI and II in one piece, albeit acquiring the unfortunate moniker of “Junk” and an appearance to match in the process.
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KANEKO’S CRIB NOTES XXXII: BUDDHIST BONANZA
It’s Buddhism Month at KCN! In celebration of Miroku’s upcoming appearance in Shin Megami Tensei IV: Final, every day for the rest of November will feature a Buddhist-inspired Crib. And that’s no lie!
- VAIROCANA:Whether or not he actually has a relationship to Hindu Asura or the supreme god of Zoroastrianism, one thing that’s particularly iconic of Vairocana is his particular mudra, called the “chiken-in,” or mudra of the six elements. Both the sculpture and Kaneko’s design sport it.
- ASURA-OU:The king of the Asuras, he is counted among the Hachi Bushu classification of Buddhist guardians, ones who still maintain a fierce disposition after their conversion to Buddhism, but is not above displaying the anjali, or gasshou, mudra of respect. Kaneko Works lists the Kofukuji Asura sculpture seen above as the most impactful on Kaneko’s design; no wonder, as its antiquity (from the 8th century) has made it one of the most famous examples of Buddhist art in Japan.
- ACALA:Acala/Fudou Myou-ou is one of the most iconic figures in Buddhist iconography, so it comes as no surprise that Kaneko played a close game once it was his shot at bat. The results are admittedly underwhelming, especially for a figure with such distinct and powerful imagery associated, but all the major points are on display. The vajra-sword, lariat, braid, and perennially grumpy countenance are hard at work, while even some lesser details such as the ornate necklace manage an appearance.
- ZAOU GONGEN: While Acala is a bit of a tired frump, Zaou Gongen is quite the opposite: a striking mix of source material and stylistic embellishment, showcasing some of the best of a more mature design sensibility. Like Acala, the general pose and design are closely replicated, right down to the appropriate mudra. In addition to a serious boost in the quotient of luxurious, flowing cloth, Kaneko includes a garment of chains that hardly seem up to the task of containing his furious aspect, and a demonic codpiece for good measure.
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KANEKO’S CRIB NOTES XXXI: SEASON OF THE CRIB
It’s the 31st Kaneko’s Crib Notes! And today is the 31st of October! That could only mean…
HAPPY, HAPPY HALLOWEEN, HALLOWEEN, HALLOWEEN!
HAPPY, HAPPY HALLOWEEN, KANEKO’S CRIB NOTES!
It’s time! It’s time! Time for the BIG GIVEAWAY! HALLOWEEN has come! All you lucky kids with Shin Megami Tensei games, gather ‘round your internet device and WATCH the big HALLOWEEN FOUR. That’s right, FOUR horrific Kaneko Cribs to choose from. They’re fun, they’re frightening, and they GLOW IN THE DARK*! WATCH the MAGIC CRIB. WATCH!
- VAMPIRE:Might as well kick things off with a tried-and-true classic! Vampire, as he appears in SMTII, takes quite a few cues from Max Schreck’s legendary portrayal of Count Orlok in the 1922 classic Nosferatu,albeit adding a more exaggerated aspect to the costume and boasting a pose that one might label as “indescribably sassy”. Meanwhile, his original design attempts to capture some of the disconcerting charm of Schreck’s iconic performance.
- WEREWOLF:Though he hasn’t seen much action since the heyday of the SNES, this erstwhile lycanthrope, apparently caught mid-transformation, has nevertheless left an indelible mark on the greater compendium. Kaneko’s spin is more The Monster SquadthanThe Wolf Man, ferociously bursting through his jacket but with mind enough to leave his jeans in immaculate condition.
- AUDREY:Shin Megami Tensei IIhas a bevy of pop-culture references, but not only that, it makes very littleor no effort to mask their origins (see: the Betelgeuse link below). SMTII’s Audrey is one such obvious pull from the pop culture milieu of the late 80s/early 90s with Little Shop of Horrors’ giant, crooning, perpetually hungry man-eating plant Audrey II.
- FRIDAY:This obscure design of chainsaw maniac Friday, from Megami Tensei II, couldn’t be anything but inspired by Jason Voorhees of Friday the 13th fame (particularly Part III, where he first dons the hockey mask) and maybe a little Leatherface thrown in for good measure. However, it may also be an oblique reference to the fact that Atlus developed the infamous LJN Friday the 13th NES game released in 1989, a year prior to Megami Tensei II. Truly horrifying!
Halloween ‘14: (1) Betelgeuse(2)Baphomet
*Kaneko art does not actually glow in the dark.
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KANEKO’S CRIB NOTES XXVI: BODYCONIAN
TheBodyconiansare one of the more peculiar demon types from Shin Megami Tensei and Shin Megami Tensei II, as they seem to represent more than what they’re leading on. They also appear inextricably tied to the era they originated from. Zombie women in short, one-piece dresses who dance crazy? If it seems dated, it’s because it definitely is–precisely dated, in fact.
To get to the bottom of what the Bodyconians represent, we need to return back to the late 80s, in the years preceding the burst of the Japanese economic bubble. Around this time, French fashion house Hervé Leger introduced a new type of revealing dress, dubbed the “bodycon,” short for “body-conscious.” Indeed, this is the very skin-tight dress worn by Kaneko’s Bodyconians, who derive their names from it. The provocative nature of the bodycon and its wearers garnered enough attention during this period that the Bodyconians would actually first appear in 1990′s Megami Tensei II:
But there’s more to the Bodyconian lifestyle than just a dress. On May 15, 1991, Tokyo’s nightlife was hit with a seismic shock: the opening of Juliana’s Tokyo, a discotheque in the city’s Minato ward. Replete with all the laser lights and smoky atmosphere you’d expect from a quality dance club, Juliana’s played non-stop, DJ-hosted dance music, like this mix, which begins with the truly evocative song “Yum Yum” (warning: hilariously explicit lyrics). By all accounts, crowds flocked to the club–and so did the bodyconians, many of whom were normal “office ladies” by day, who danced free of inhibitions in their transformative dresses by night. (One particularly notable Juliana’s patron is Kumiko Araki, pictured above.) Particularly iconic of Juliana’s bodyconians was augmenting their style with feather fans and boas, two accessories also seen on Kaneko’s SMTII Bodyconian.
Unfortunately for the bodyconians, Juliana’s time on the Tokyo stage was short: the club played its last set on August 31, 1994. This video purports to be from Juliana’s last day. However, Juliana’s revivals seem to happen on a regular basis, attended by some of the original bodyconians. Similar to SMT’s own Bodyconians, the instinctual desire to dance until daybreak must be difficult to abandon.
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KANEKO’S CRIB NOTES XXIV: MERCURIUS
Alchemy is as complex as it is fascinating. Much more than the pursuit of transforming base metals into gold, alchemy possesses an enormously rich symbology with a huge body of texts and illustrations that offer deliberately cryptic hints at its processes. Needless to say, alchemy can also be quite befuddling even if you’ve familiarized yourself with it.
That brings us to Mercurius, who appears early in Shin Megami Tensei II. Kaneko’s Mercurius is surely based on that of the illustration above, which first appeared in a German alchemical manuscript of the 17th century. But this demon is more than just another name for Mercury, the Roman god; the alchemical imagery connects primarily to the element Mercury, aka quicksilver. The element Mercury was considered “prime matter” to alchemists, owing to its unusual properties such as being a metal that was a liquid at room temperature.
But that doesn’t explain everything that’s happening within the original illustration or Kaneko’s version. Firstly, why is the original named “Python”? A description of the illustration has this to say:
Python [Mercurius as three-headed dragon]: symbolic representation of an alchemical process within a flask.
Mercurius’ dragon form is very deliberate, as dragons (or serpents, hence “Python”) represent the volatile, chaotic early stages of alchemy. Clearly something violent or transformative is happening in this representation of Mercurius. In his Alchemical Studies, psychoanalyst Carl Gustav Jung interprets the “Python” illustration:
The spiritus mercurialis and his transformations represented as a monstrous dragon. It is a quaternity, in which the fourth is at the same time the unity of the three, the unity being symbolized by the mystagogue Hermes. The three (above) are (left to right); Luna, Sol, and coniunctioSolis et Lunae in Taurus, the House of Venus. Together they form ☿= Mercurius.
In simpler terms, the “coniunctio” (conjunction or, in this case, coitus) represents the alchemical “sacred marriage” or union of opposites: the female moon with the male sun, as seen in the first two heads. Combined with the horned Taurus(♉), whom astrologers considered to be ruled by Venus, this results in Mercury/Mercurius (☿) itself, the third head. These heads represent the element, but because they are attached yet to the volatile dragon, they are still as one. This complete figure is thus the quaternity, which symbolizes the reactions of Mercury in the alchemical flask.
Ultimately, Mercurius represents a single step of the alchemist’s journey, but is nevertheless a potent symbol in its own right. For more of Kaneko and alchemy, check out the very first Crib: Ouroboros!
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AH YEAH, REAL PROTAGS COMING THROUGH!!
A preview of all my Megaten keychains! Black is doing nearly every other Megaten character but WE ALL KNOW that I drew only the best.
And also some other guys who aren’t Demifiend.
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