Japanese Culture as Reflected in Final Fantasy / Kingdom Hearts

[HighwindPilot]

Can anyone here identify any themes or elements of the Final Fantasy / Kingdom Hearts series that reflect Japanese culture?

In other words, does the series properly represent the beliefs, ideology, or values of the Japanese?

 

[Razberry Knight]

Can anyone here identify any themes or elements of the Final Fantasy / Kingdom Hearts series that reflect Japanese culture?

In other words, does the series properly represent the beliefs, ideology, or values of the Japanese?

Personally Kingdom hearts started off with more of a western interpretation. It was until Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, things began to be more eastern. The naming the elements all got complicated.

Final fantasy used to he more of a universal series until 13. Now people believe its tye most refined JRPG out there while others believe it lacks everythng a JRPG should have

 

[Martel]

Hmm...I guess this would depend on your interpretation of the games, really. Culture is a fickle bitch that is difficult to quantify; it's something that is experienced more than it is observed...or so some would say. I would say that the Final Fantasy series (I'm ignoring Kingdom Hearts, because it's crap) as a whole is too shallow and basic to really reflect a culture properly, but there are probably elements of it, particularly in the earlier FF games.

Japanese culture is a difficult thing to pin down, but on the whole it can be said to be individualistic (like the West) with a more collectivist ideology (like China); the element of personal uniqueness in individualism is played down for a focus on group consensus. If you consider that in the context of Final Fantasy, there are some characters - Cloud and Squall, to name but two - who blatantly go against this; their behaviour is more than grounds for social exclusion, but they don't really care, that's not a very Japanese attitude. But characters like Yuna and Ashe have a more Japanese attitude, I guess you could say - both adhere to the concept of giri, traditional duty, rigidly, both to themselves and to those around them.

I'm going to randomly say that the conflict between the gardens in FFVIII reflects Japanese work culture, as well: individualism in that reflects the desire to be a part of the best group; it manifests itself in competitiveness, rather than the individual pursuit of happiness that characterizes the West. So the rivalry between gardens, even before all hell breaks loose, could be said to have a deeper meaning in a cultural context, rather than just rivalry in the sense that we in the West might understand it. But two businesses that join together are expected to enter a familial relationship, which explains the instant acceptance of Irvine into the party. In a Western context, there would almost certainly be lingering elements of distrust, given the rivalry between the two gardens, and a constant game of one-upmanship going on. In FFVIII, Irvine is accepted as a part of the team without question.

That's actually a part of all FF games, as party members frequently join and are instantly accepted without any thought of their origins or past actions...I mean, look at Kain in FFIV, and all the shit he goes through. In a Western culture, there would be an element of distrust, or at least a process of gaining acceptance. This is something that is very prominent in Japanese culture - it takes a long time to gain acceptance - but if you look at it as more of a business relationship with the long-term goal of defeating the antagonist, then it's very Japanese indeed. JRPGs themselves are always focused on the long-term goal of defeating the antagonist as well, which makes them Japanese: short-term losses don't matter in the face of a long term goal. FF characters frequently shrug off setbacks they face in the story with what people in the West might consider alarming alacrity.

Who knows, the earlier success of Final Fantasy might actually be due to how very Japanese it is: the West has been fascinated by Japanese culture since the aftermath of the war, so perhaps there are some elements of it in there that make it so appealing. Really, it's difficult to say without making a comprehensive study of it, and even then it's down to your interpretation and your understanding of the concepts, which will always be limited if you're not from that culture...which I'm guessing nobody here is.

Just a few things to think about. Personally, I think that's overanalysing it, but perhaps part of it has some merit.

 

[The Welsh Paddy]

Only cultures I really noticed throughout the games were the various Norse, Babylonian, Aztec and Jewish mythology. (No doubt there are many more references, but these are the ones I can identify off the top of my head.)

I'm afraid I don't know much on Japanese culture or their mythology, so I wouldn't know if any of that is evident within the games. Only thing "Japanese" I see in these games is the looks of the characters. It just seems to reflect a lot on their anime culture. =\

 

[black_eclipse]

I guess it's the art, particularly FFVII and FFVIII and Kingdom Hearts. VII and KH got those anime style artwork.

And the Balamb Garden of FFVIII reminds of Japanese High Schools especially their uniforms. Same goes for Type-0 where the characters looks like high school students.