Sundown tonight marks the start of 5769 according to the Jewish lunar calender (endorsed by werewolves everywhere). Become an honourary Jew and take the day off work to eat apples and honey. Everyone around me is doing it. Hell, any day is a good day to eff off and eat apples and honey. And by "apples and honey" I mean "wine" and by "eat" I mean "drink."
In August 2005, I got to attend Otakon in Baltimore and schmoose with Rabbi Wolfwood. Rabbi Wolfwood is a widely popular cosplayer who dresses as Wolfwood, the travelling priest from the Trigun anime--but he makes a few necessary alterations to his costume, of course. Good Jewish boys don't carry Cross Punishers; they carry Star Of David...Punishers.
The Rebbe and I talked briefly about a missing presence in games: Jewish characters. Though they tend to appear in big-name games developed in the West (Bioshock had its delightfully batshit Sander Cohen), Japan's roster of Jewish characters hovers somewhere around -0.1%.
Of course, we're talking about Japan, a country not traditionally known for its diversity. That, however, is changing with these thrilling times of globalisation. Besides which, Japan has put together a couple of excellent animated adapations of The Diary of Anne Frank, as well as (get ready) this adorable adaptation of Fiddler on the Roof.
(When am I going to see a Fidder on the Roof anime?)
I can think of one possible instance of a Jewish family making itself known in a videogame, and that would be the Silverburgs from Suikoden I and II. There's also Metal Gear Solid and Meryl...Silverberg.
Good job on the Silverbergs, Japan. Try a few Goldbergs, now! A nice Wolfe, maybe?
I feel obligated to bring up the Kabbalah here, since Japanese game developers/manga-ka are completely insane for the myths and magic associated with that particular bit of Judaism. It's something else to see these spikey-haired teenagers throw around fire spells that have been penned in perfect Hebrew calligraphy. I wasn't in Hebrew school for long, but my penmanship had this curious habit of falling on a gentle incline. It drove my elders out of their minds.
Have you seen some religious diversity in games that I've missed? I think we can at least all agree that Link, regardless of his religion, is a mensch.
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