World Details
So if the plane is named after a river, where is this magical river? “It doesn’t really show up on cards much,” Brady lamented. “The river started out very literally from a creative standpoint. It was supposed to be very important in the world—it is the source of the Kamitaki Falls that flow around the Minamo School. But because it doesn’t show up very often, ’river of the gods’ became more figurative in the way the set is perceived.” He was quick to point out the Betrayers card Slumbering Tora as having the Kamigawa river in its art.
One prominent feature of the world of Kamigawa is its Legendary Dragon Spirits, headlined by the fearsome Kokusho, the Evening Star. These dragons proved difficult to tackle creatively. “’Magic’s dragons are typically red,” explained Brady, “chaos, and passion, and fire. But Japanese dragons are typically blue; they’re wise, they can change shape, they’re the gods of rivers and seas. We weren’t sure where we were supposed to put dragons in this world, but by making them legendary, we had a good reason to break the rules and put them in every color. Now they each embody one aspect of each color above all others.”
What about the artifacts in Kamigawa? If you remember back to the artifacts in Mirrodin, they were crazy contraptions built for warfare—Goblin Cannon, Spellbombs, Soul Foundry. In Kamigawa, we get things like a Journeyer’s Kite, Hair-Strung Koto, and Ornate Kanzashi. What gives? Brady chuckled. “The introduction of ’equipment’ complicates things. Most of the cool things from Japanese history and folklore that want to be artifacts are weapons, and those need to be equipment. But there weren’t enough equipment cards in the set to use all the cool ideas, so I had to come up with other stuff, like the kite. I wanted to show the trappings of feudal Japan that most players would recognize. But there is a line we wouldn’t cross,” he assured me, “Brandon [Bozzi, another member of the creative team] wouldn’t let me do a kimono card. He said, ’No robes on cards.’”
What about the artifacts in Kamigawa? If you remember back to the artifacts in Mirrodin, they were crazy contraptions built for warfare—Goblin Cannon, Spellbombs, Soul Foundry. In Kamigawa, we get things like a Journeyer’s Kite, Hair-Strung Koto, and Ornate Kanzashi. What gives? Brady chuckled. “The introduction of ’equipment’ complicates things. Most of the cool things from Japanese history and folklore that want to be artifacts are weapons, and those need to be equipment. But there weren’t enough equipment cards in the set to use all the cool ideas, so I had to come up with other stuff, like the kite. I wanted to show the trappings of feudal Japan that most players would recognize. But there is a line we wouldn’t cross,” he assured me, “Brandon [Bozzi, another member of the creative team] wouldn’t let me do a kimono card. He said, ’No robes on cards.’”
Some of the artifacts in the block do have some religious significance, Brady pointed out. The Shaku and the Gohei are both trappings of Shinto (as are special ropes called “shimenawa,” visible in the art for Boseiju, Who Shelters All). Each of these artifacts is decorated with nusa paper, which is used by Shinto priests to designate the presence of kami.
引用元
THE CREATIVE SIDE OF KAMIGAWA Posted in NEWS on February 18, 2005
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/creative-side-kamigawa-2005-02-18
昨日の記事の続きです。
神河という次元名についてですが、河はどこにあるのか？
元々は水面院の周りを流れる滝の源流で、重要な役割のはずでしたが、あまり描かれることがありませんでした。
一応、《まどろむ虎の像/Slumbering Tora》のアートに描かれているのがその河であり、名前もそのまま神河だそうです。
MTGではドラゴンは赤である一方、日本における龍は、賢く、姿を変え、川や海の神であるため、MTGで言う青のイメージが近いものです。
そこで、伝説の５色クリーチャーサイクルにすることで、例外的に赤以外にも作ることを正当化した、とのことです。
古くは、エルダー・ドラゴンサイクルも、赤を含まないドラゴンが混じっていたので、それと同様でしょう。
また、日本神話などに出てくるものでアーティファクトにしたいものは殆どが武器であったため、それらを全てカードにすると装備品ばかりになってしまいます。
したがって、それ以外の和風なものとして、《旅行者の凧/Journeyer’s Kite》《髪張りの琴/Hair-Strung Koto》《華麗なる簪/Ornate Kanzashi》などが神河のアーティファクトとして収録されるようになりました。特に、《名誉に磨り減った笏/Honor-Worn Shaku》《遥か忘れられし御幣/Long-Forgotten Gohei》などは神道の要素もあり、ピッタリでしょう。ただ、着物は没にされてしまったようですが。
神河を再訪するにあたって、ここで採用できなかったアイデアがまた登場することはあるのでしょうか。
コメント