“Anime Everywhere” could be the catchphrase of the day.
Wizards of the Coast released a new trailer for Kamigawa: Neon Dynasties, their newest set for Magic: the Gathering. The expansion for their popular collectible card game (CCG) will hit stores on February 18th. What makes it interesting, though, is that this trailer’s animation was produced by WIT Studio (Attack on Titan, Vinland Saga, and the upcoming Onipan!).
That’s right, anime everywhere.
Welcome to the Show
Welcome to the Pickle and Daweeb Show, where we talk about anime and manga flavored tabletop gaming. There’s so much to talk about each week that we usually go all over the place, but today, when the new trailer dropped, I realized it was time to talk about something very close to my heart: Wizards of the Coast’s love for Japan.
Roll the Video Already!
Sit back, relax, crank up the speakers, then give this a watch:
The music, “As long as I love” is by TK from Ling tosite sigure, with Koshi Inaba. As mentioned, the animation was produced by Wit Studio, with maxilla handling production.
What a ride, right? Tell us what you thought in the comments, below. I’m very keen to hear what anime lovers like you think about this promotional piece. Is it brilliant marketing? Has Magic killed anime? I’ll leave that for you to decide. Let us know!
Let’s break the video down quickly.
In the animation, we see many characters from the set and worlds beyond, some of which long-time MtG players might be familiar with. The guy with the weird arm, Tezzeret, is the big bad of the piece. He’s a bad apple who was once a henchman of the uber-bad dragon, Nicol “But that’s a girl’s name” Bolas. We also see Kaito Shizuki, another Planeswalker like Tezz, taking on Tezzeret, presumably for the love of a girl. Things get confusing, but we see ominous experiments, falling cherry blossoms, fireworks, some close-but-not-touching hands, monsters, and Jin-Gitaxias.
What they don’t show, unless I missed it, is mechs!
That’s right, Magic: the Gathering has given nerd otaku the thing they’ve always wanted: mechs and magic. I’m going to imagine Jin-Gitaxias is a stand-in for the mechs that are in the set and say that this is Magic giving a nod to Evangelion.
If the trailer doesn’t make much sense, don’t worry. It’s probably not intended to. It’s a fevered montage designed to get you to buy cards or play MTG Arena, ultimately. Still, Wizards of the Coast knows that the Internet will pick it apart, so there’s certainly more to dive into than we have space for.
WotC, D&D, and Love for Japan
TSR, which published Dungeons & Dragons, had a lot of love for East Asia, including Japan. Oriental Adventures (1985) was its first supplement for AD&D that wasn’t influenced by European myth and folklore. It was a big hit and went on to influence the publication of a second Oriental Adventures (2001), this time for their third edition of the rules. By then, TSR had disappeared and Wizards of the Coast (WotC) had picked up the torch when it bought TSR in 1997.
Unfortunately, the OA books would go on to gain a reputation for gross cultural appropriation and an inappropriate blending of cultures. Perhaps the writers had been more focused on creating an interesting fantasy than a historically and culturally accurate work, or they simply didn’t know to tread respectfully. Certainly, in the case of the first OA book, tabletop roleplaying was still relatively young and naive, and the designers might not have anticipated that their works would be scrutinized by an ever-growing legion of D&D fans.
The water, once tainted, remained bitter. Wizards of the Coast still comes under fire for these books, even today, 37 years after the first OA book was published.
“We’ve been here before, and it usually ends with people being blocked or banned… are you sure you want to talk about OA? Really? Really really?” — Paraphrased reaction from a moderator on EN World, the popular RPG forum, when someone started a new thread related to Oriental Adventures.
It might seem surprising, then, that WotC would revisit Japan with MtG, their cash cow. Will Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty prove their ability to handle other cultures respectfully? Is this WotC trying to right wrongs of the past?
I suspect that, for most of their fan base, people just don’t care about some age-old controversy and just want to play fun games involving magic and mechs. Personally, I get tired of the virtue signaling and woke-ism that’s so prevalent on the Internet. I do believe we should treat other cultures with respect, and it’s also time to forgive those old OA books — who plays them anyway?
As anime and manga fans, we know Japan has a lot to offer, so let’s be glad that Western game publishers are willing to go there and fill our cups. If authentic Japanese creatives are a part of that, so much the better for everyone.
Till Next Time
Be sure to check out the J-List Store for the best artifacts to express your love for anime and manga. You can also hang out and chat about anime figures, manga plot holes, or the best way to destroy an onahole, by joining us on Discord.
