Forum - View topicINTEREST: We Could Have Had Akira and Mario at the Olympics Opening Ceremony
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Abraham Omosun
Posts: 158 |
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Kaneda's red bike making an appearance would have been the coolest thing ever. The only thing I think that could have topped that is if they had also done the slide too. Also on athletes using anime song, there was a gymnast who used a theme from Demon slayer (I think it was Zenitsu's theme) during their routine.
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RockSplash
Posts: 502 |
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While the original plans sound crazy, I do agree that Japan is leaning on the Anime and gaming angle way too much. Not enough is focused on the culture aspects. London had James Bond drop in and showcase their various British hits. How come music was not in the ceremony other than anisongs or games? It just seems like Japan used this as marketing, rather than fully showing the culture as much as possible.
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getumbuck
Posts: 198 |
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Yea, I could tell this was put together at the last minute. It really did feel very boring and bland. I get that the pandemic is still going strong in Japan, but you'd think they could have done something more fun; the ceremony literally opens up with people on workout equipment, which was just boring.
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SHD
Posts: 1759 |
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Because the guy who made the music they had planned to use had to step down in the very last moment due to a scandal? (Note: the ANN article refers to him as if he was an anime music composer but he's not.) Anyway, personally I would've loved to see/hear at least some nods to Japan's great musical history, but I guess references to '70s-'90s JPop/JRock/hip-hop would've been a bit too obscure for most international viewers. |
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TsukasaElkKite
 Posts: 4028 |
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Hearing a Haikyu song while watching volleyball made me very happy.
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jdnation
Posts: 2125 |
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Such a shame... I was really looking forward to the Tokyo Olympics and what they'd do at the opening ceremonies.
I'd already pictured in my mind a scene from Akira with everyone riding in on motorcycles to the theme from Akira and it would've been the coolest shit ever! It's fine if they push the recognizable influence of manga/anime. I'm sure like other country's opening ceremonies there'd be a range of things showing what their nation is all about and their cultural exports recognized around the world, of which manga/anime is undeniably Japanese, and that the organizers were smart enough to balance everything with other Japanese cultural things and heritages. If Mr. Bean and James Bond can show up, then so can Mario and Kaneda. Well, maybe when everything is all said and done, they can use the empty stadium and the post-lockdown fiasco economic disaster and ruin that's sure to follow to film the live-action Hollywood Akira. |
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MarshalBanana
 Posts: 5520 |
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Another victim of COVID
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JoelBurger
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Japan using games and anime as its main avenue of soft power is nothing new. |
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Bonham
 Posts: 424 Location: NYC |
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It's even more transparent as a means to smooth over and distract people from any negative press about the Olympics. The vast majority of Japanese people apparently wanted the games either cancelled or further postponed, but those feelings and negative incidents popping up can be ignored by appealing to nerd culture in asking the audience to give more attention to video game and anime music. It's very frustrating. |
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Hellsoldier
 Posts: 815 Location: Porto,Portugal,Europe,Earth,Sol |
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Sadly, only the IOC had the power to cancel or delay the Olympics. I would prefer the Olympics be delayed to 2024, and all the others delayed in sequence. 2024; 2028; 2032; etc. |
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Silver Kirin
Posts: 1249 |
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I have to agree that it seems that the only cultural elements that got represented and reported by the media were manga/anime and video game related, haven't heard or saw any references to Tokusatsu, which is a shame because Japan has a very rich culture, but it seems that people only care about pop-culture these days. I know, as others pointed out, that the games had been criticised by the Japanese, but I wonder how things would turned out if the pandemic haven't occurred. |
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dragonquiz
Posts: 72 |
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Well what about all of the athletes who were waiting anxiously to hear the bearer of bad news about the postponement of the olympics from 20 to 21, and then had to train for a little while longer all the while waiting to see if the opportunities for them were available after the olympics on whatever they were gonna do if it happened in 2020. Further, the athletes who were gonna debut or end their athletic careers at the olympics would've either had wait an extra three years for their debut (only to crush or get beaten by any up-and-comers for the '24 olympics) or retire early. And not only that, a lot of the national/world championships/qualification events that are scheduled based on the olympic schedule would be completely upheaved and would be scratched. And what about the naming? Like Paris '24 would be Paris '28 and Los Angeles '28 be Los Angeles '32, I'm not too sure about how the host cities would feel about the new naming and year movement just to reschedule this event to the the left. |
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AiddonValentine
 Posts: 2354 |
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Olympics have been canceled before; the 1916, 1940, and 1944 games were all canceled due to events called the World Wars. Having to redo some posters is no biggy and I very much doubt any athletes worth taking seriously would mind the delay considering what we're going through. Anyway, the ideas they had were kinda neat, but also tonedeaf. Seriously, Akira? A manga about how the current government are all a bunch of out of touch twits who were more interested in lining their pockets then dealing with poverty and crime, which they left to corrupt police forces? And you can tell the Olympics are a mess considering that Toyota pulled all advertising and a conspicuous absence is anything Nintendo. All in all, the LDP staked their reputation on the Olympics and all that's happened is their ineptitude is just even more on display. |
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El Hermano
 Posts: 450 Location: Texas |
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Anime and video games are huge industries. Japan is pretty much the king of animation and video game songs like Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest are incredibly iconic. Dragon Quest's theme pops up in a lot of Japanese events already so it's pretty much a given. It'd seem more weird to not include obvious things like anime and video games While there was surely some last minute changes due to people stepping down and overall limitations due to the virus, I don't really see the issue with a focus on Japan's biggest cultural exports. I don't see how this as any different than London using James Bond, or how Korea used BTS at the Tokyo Olympics as their national icon. It makes sense countries will use things, mostly pop culture icons, to represent them. |
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zztop
Posts: 650 |
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Perhaps the Japanese can make up for it at the 2026 Asian Games in Nagoya. Granted it isn't the Olympics, but it is "...recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and are described as the second largest multi-sport event after the Olympic Games." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_Games |
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