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Fate/Grand Order Shows Off Hokusai's Noble Phantasm in Odaiba Water Show
posted on by Kim Morrissy
The artist Hokusai is famous for his ukiyo-e prints. He's also a character in Fate/Grand Order. Observe this cute girl with a giant calligraphy brush - that's Hokusai's third daughter, Katsushika Oi, who also once got her own anime movie called Miss Hokusai.
“But where's Katsuhika Hokusai?” you might ask. “You know, the guy who made The Great Wave off Kanagawa?”
Well, if you recall some of Hokusai's other work, you may remember that the guy also made The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife, that classic print of tentacle porn. Fittingly, Hokusai is the octopus flying around his daughter.
Hokusai was added to the Japanese version of Fate/Grand Order at the start of 2018 as a “Foreigner” class servant. To celebrate his inclusion in the game, an eight-minute film featuring his character was screened via a water projection mapping at Odaiba Seaside Park on the 17th of March.
This film showed off Hokusai's Noble Phantasm “Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji,” which depicts the giant tidal wave shown in The Great Wave Off Kanagawa. Other fan-favorite characters appeared in the film as well, including Mash Kyrielight, Shuten Dōji, Kiyohime, and Miyamoto Musashi.
The animations themselves were lifted from the game. The first scene starts off fairly slow, with the same visual novel-style presentation of the characters that players will be used to. Then Hokusai makes a dramatic entrance and shows off his Noble Phantasm. As far as I could see, this animation was also taken from the game, although it was also extended and featured more of Hokusai's iconic art motifs than just the Great Wave Off Kanagawa and the view of Mount Fuji shown in Fine Wind, Clear Morning.
The most interesting part of the show came after the battle was done, when the footage showed Odaiba at night - mirroring the exact location where the film was being shown. The film also showed a 360-degree angle view of the Minato City where Odaiba is located, which included a prominent shot of the Tokyo Tower. That touch of reality was a nice way of wrapping up the show.
Unfortunately, there appeared to be some technical issues before the first show started, as it started roughly ten minutes late, and there were problems at first with calibrating the footage on the water screen. But once the show actually got started, the audience seemed satisfied.
The show was held as part of the Hokusai & Tokyo: Colorful waterside Edo festival in Odaiba. The festival featured authentic street food stalls and Edo-style decorations.
The various stalls attracted a lot of regular tourists and families during the day, although Fate fans had their own merchandise and food stalls to line up for. The projection mapping screenings didn't happen until after 6pm, but many fans chose to line up for food and merch hours before the main event.
Even if you're not a Fate fan there's never a bad excuse to spend a day in Odaiba. My only issue with attending this event was that it was so cold! I'm amazed by all those dedicated fans who waited for over an hour in the cold just to get a good view of the screening.
Additional images from Animate Times
