Zelda Wii U taking inspiration from Princess Mononoke?

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Kapra wrote on 2015-06-06 08:15

I'm really late to the game but I just noticed this, then I did some research and others seem to have come to the same conclusion too.

Just watch this:
[video=youtube;_oYDVLhnXh0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oYDVLhnXh0[/video]

Also it is easy to miss but there's also humans in the Zelda Wii U snippet we saw:

[Image: http://ft.trillian.im/d8946682d6c7da7bef24121282783a3ada1b2a88/6z4VQij0C8zt022ajZz11nMvk42rF.jpg]

In addition, a quote from Eiji Aonuma:

"I thought about various ways to make the graphical style fit the vast new Zelda world; imitating the real world attached an important feeling of realism, and making it look different to the past [Zelda titles], this was done by drawing inspiration from Japanese animations."

To be honest, I'm kind of impressed. I've heard allegations of people saying Nintendo is plagiarizing Princess Mononoke, but I think its more of a sign of honor.

What do you guys think? And what are your general thoughts and desires from Zelda Wii U?
Chiyuri wrote on 2015-06-06 11:45

horse back archery isnt exactly new and being chased by ennemies is a pretty often recuring theme in many games and some animes.

As for the little humans with round hat.. It wouldnt be the first time a character in a zelda gave has one, through the only one I remember was from windwaker, that goron traveler.
Shanghai wrote on 2015-06-06 13:15

There's a phrase passed around the Internet with some folks: "Good artists copy, great artists steal." Obviously it doesn't mean it in the literal sense; more about applying and taking what you like/derive inspiration from and placing it in the giant mixing pot of other ideas to create something new and original, yet similar to the reference/initial concept. It's another form of derivative work which we see all the time. Nintendo wanted to make the shift to an art style a bit more realistic but still cartoony; animations are in the broad range of that ability to display high fantasy and semi-realism where other forms of media like movies wouldn't help inspire the look they want because too much realism.

The scenes are similar, but they're not carbon copies of one another. You can easily fit another horse-riding protagonist in a similar scenario running and repositioning himself against a giant beast to plunge an arrow into it's weak-point. The composition of the animation and it's significant awe-breaking frames are being used to draw people into the trailer much like how it did with the same scene in Princess Mononoke because of the intensity those shots provide.

Zelda itself has a large founding on mysticism and spirits(Kokiri, Fairies, Golden Power, etc.); I don't see this as plagiarism at all. If we're looking at it this way, then the Koroks in Windwaker could be seen as "blatantly" plagarizing Princess Mononoke's kodama/forest spirits. Same as with Bard in League of Legends whose meeps are directly inspired from them as well. In turn, they all are inspired by Japanese folklore as the base concept. Different ways of portraying the same concept in different mediums/settings.
Kapra wrote on 2015-06-06 21:59

Quote from Shanghai;1277474:
Nintendo wanted to make the shift to an art style a bit more realistic but still cartoony; animations are in the broad range of that ability to display high fantasy and semi-realism where other forms of media like movies wouldn't help inspire the look they want because too much realism.

Should also be noted that, I forgot if it was Miyamoto or Aonuma, said that the art style also drastically changed since the last two times we saw the game.