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> Another characteristic feature of Okamoto’s work is the large, stylised eye, incarnated by his “alien named PAIRA” of 1956, which inspired the eye on the Shei
by Izkata 2y ago
> Another characteristic feature of Okamoto’s work is the large, stylised eye, incarnated by his “alien named PAIRA” of 1956, which inspired the eye on the Sheikah slate, the player’s tool for altering the environment and interacting with gameplay elements (Fig. 5).
Little nitpick: it's not exactly right to say the design on the Sheikah slate was inspired by this artwork, the eye symbol has long been established as Sheikah, first appearing in 1998 in Ocarina of Time. Though it didn't always have the bright blue color, the shape is basically unchanged.
- nlawalker 2y agoThe eye goes further back than that; the top comment on https://www.reddit.com/r/zeldaconspiracies/comments/c5e8h1/agahnim_and_his_possible_connection_to_sheikah/ https://www.reddit.com/r/zeldaconspiracies/comments/c5e8h1/a... has a link to the Link to the Past illustration of Agahnim and the similar eye symbol on his robes. The poster makes the case that they’re not connected lore-wise (I mean, it’s on r/zeldaconspiracies so I imagine there’s a healthy dose of reading a little too much into everything), but in my opinion at least the similarity is strong enough to make a case for an inspiration drawn from the same source that far back.
- bitwize 2y agoI wonder if the Paira alien sculpture inspired Starro from DC Comics (who first appeared in 1960). It certainly inspired a race known as the Pairans who appear in the kaiju film Warning from Space. I'm not sure that I believe in the author's conclusion that these Japanese cultural inspirations represent a pivot for the Zelda series towards more focus on Japanese cultural heritage in line with the "Cool Japan" policy. Nintendo's works have always been rooted in Japanese culture with Western elements mixed in for universal appeal. Both the Mario and Zelda franchises draw heavily from that titan of the East Asian canon, Journey to the West -- with Bowser being modelled on the Ox King and Ganon being based on the pig demon Zhu Bajie. Some of Mario's transformations are based on Japanese folklore about trickster animals -- the tanuki suit, the use of the leaf, and so forth. The Jōmon artifact inspiration really serves to add that next level of mystery in a manner that would be instantly evocative of "ancient precursors" to a Japanese audience.