Katamari
(2004-Present, E For Everyone)
3/3/17
This may come as no surprise, but I was one of the many kids in the late 90’s and early 2000’s that faithfully watched the Cartoon Network block known as Toonami. Some of my fondest childhood memories include the times my sister and I would come home after school and immerse ourselves in the action and humor of such classic anime as Voltron, Sailor Moon, Yu Yu Hakusho, Tenchi Muyo!, and, of course, the Dragonball franchise. Another reason I enjoyed the block is that sometimes, in between shows and commercials, Toonami would show a quick review of a newly-released video game. That is how I found this game, and I think I can honestly say that it is one of the few that I’ve bought almost completely blind. The T.V. review gave an extremely brief synopsis and showed less than a minute’s worth of footage. But aside from the bright colors, random visuals, and downright weird gameplay, I was thinking: Cutest. Main character. EVAR.
The main collection is comprised of six games, plus some spin-offs, but I will be referring to just the first two since they were the ones I grew up with. The word Katamari translates in English to “mass”, “cluster”, or “clump”; the first game, Katamari Damacy, roughly means “clump of souls”. Why? It all begins when the King of All Cosmos has a little too much fun one night. His mind swimming in a drunken stupor as he soars with unabashed glee across the sky, he crashes into and knocks out every star in the universe as if they were lightbulbs! On top of that, he even obliterates the moon! After finally sobering up and seeing the colossal mess he’s made, the King vows to take responsibility for his actions . . . by charging his son, the Prince, to fix the problem. As the Prince, the player is ordered to take a highly adhesive ball called a Katamari down to Earth and roll up literally every single thing that he can find until the Katamari is one giant ball of stuff. The King can then turn these balls of stuff into new stars, and thereby restore the light in the heavens— taking the credit for himself, of course. A side story focuses on the Hoshino family on Earth, with the children noticing the subtle—and not-so-subtle—evidence of the Prince’s work while the parents remain densely unaware.
In the aptly entitled sequel, We ♥ Katamari, the King has become so popular following the events of the first game, that he orders the Prince to appease his fans by rolling up katamaris with whatever they request, however they request it—no matter how ridiculous or stupid it sounds. In another side story, players witness the untold history of the King, presented with all the melodramatic clichés of a “classic” coming-of-age tale.
The series was developed by NAMCO, the company behind the 80’s classic, Pac-Man. And like Pac-Man, according to lead developer, Keita Takahashi, Katamari was made with four key elements in mind: novelty, ease of understanding, enjoyment, and humor. The end result has all of these in spades.
Here is a quote from the first game’s back cover: “Play is controlled with the analog sticks, with no buttons to press or combos to cause distress.” I’ve always found the phrasing of this statement both amusing and fascinating. There are many who avoid video games due to the intricacies of controller coordination; I can certainly imagine how this would be difficult for those who didn’t grow up playing video games and get the necessary practice on the controller. These games, however, are to be meant to be highly user-friendly without easing up on the challenge. As the levels and overall games progress, you use increasingly larger katamaris in order to roll up increasingly larger objects: from tiny things like thumbtacks, erasers, and silverware, to small animals like mice, cats, and dogs, to larger objects and creatures like furniture, livestock, and people, to huge objects like buildings and islands. The general objective of most levels is to get your katamari to a designated diameter within a given time limit. Other levels may have different objectives, like rolling up a great amount of a particular object or bringing your enlarged katamari to a specified location in the level before time runs out. I especially like the fact that even if the tiny Prince is invisible next to a comparatively huge katamari, an image of the Prince is always shown in the lower right corner of the screen, moving according the katamari’s maneuvering; here, we can really appreciate what a little trooper he is by the way he runs as if in a marathon, moves sideways with arms outstretched like a traffic cop or construction worker, or nearly drops to his knees when slowing a speeding katamari down, his adorably determined face scrunched up and red as he strains under the effort.
Now, I’m sure at this point many of you are thinking that age-old question: “What were they smoking?” But just you wait, it gets better :)
The King of All Cosmos looks like a stereotypically gay version of the Burger King mascot: a muscular, cleft-chinned humanoid with a gold crown, purple tights, and a large Elizabethan collar, as well as, like all his kind, a vibrant, cylinder-shaped head. A major show-off and a hero in his own mind, he also unbelievably passive-aggressive toward his son, always lamenting about his puny size of 5 cm—no, seriously, the prince is only 5 cm tall!—and supposed lack of sense compared to the King’s own. Moreover—and again, I’m not kidding here—the King’s in-game speaking voice is the scratching sound of a DJ’s record, but you wouldn’t know from that that his dialogue consists mostly of just over-the-top ranting:
[Beginning of the first level of Game 1]
KING OF ALL COSMOS:
- Here We are. Earth. Full of things as usual. Hmm? HMM!? Aack, so . . . so . . . s-small . . . You’re as small as ever. We didn’t notice, not one jot, what with the stars and all. What is that? That body, that physique. Could you really be Our son? Ah-hah! I’ve got it! Build yourself up while you roll the katamari. Work out and get bigger. Yes indeed. Don’t presume to take the escalator up to the throne just because you’re the Prince. Woo, tangent. [. . .]
But the Prince isn’t entirely alone: he also has cousins, the number of which keeps increasing with each game—not unlike the species of another Japanese game franchise I could name ;) Like the King, they speak in noises rather than words, these sounding like bits of alien gibberish spoken in severely distorted chipmunk voices. Though they all share the same basic size—and cuteness—as the Prince, each have different shapes, colorings, and personalities. And like any other collected objects, once the cousins have been rolled up in a katamari—yes, you can do that, and I swear that in itself is a major treat—the player can access the “Collection” menu and read their descriptions—made all the funnier because they are in the King’s own words, and their supposed interests and quirks have next to nothing to do with the game proper.
Just to name a few of my favorites:
- The Prince, of course, with a solid green body and purple legs.
Description (Katamari Damacy):
“The Prince is growing stronger and more mature every day. Still very small though.”
Lalala, said to be naked due to her solid tanned-flesh color.
Description (Katamari Damacy):
“A true free spirit, hating even the confines of clothing. Some call it exhibitionism.”
Dipp, black but covered in flashing strobe lights.
Description (We ♥ Katamari):
“A cousin who sparkles a lot and gets carried away with things. We wish he knew the difference between sticking out and just being a nuisance.”
Opeo, chronically mummified in bandages and a leg cast.
Description (Katamari Damacy):
“He looks ill all the time, but contrary to his sickly appearance, he has an intense vitality.”
Miso, red with a bowl-shaped head which is empty in game 1, but filled with soup in game 2.
Description (We ♥ Katamari):
“A cousin with a smell We find very relaxing. She isn't very good at strenuous exercise though.”
Kinoko, basically a mushroom with limbs.
Description (We ♥ Katamari):
“A slightly annoying second cousin who kicks up lots of dust whenever she moves. So she doesn't move much, out of courtesy.”
Twinkle, very pointy due to his star-shaped figure.
Description (We ♥ Katamari):
“A second cousin who damages things just by walking around, including himself. But he's still a nice guy.”
Nutsuo, who looks like a blue-striped peanut.
Description (We ♥ Katamari):
“This second cousin's hands could never, ever reach his face. We wonder how he eats his food.”
Ironically, the Cosmic beings are pretty natural-looking compared to the Lego-like creatures of Earth, their bodies sharply angular, their heads like cubes with creepy, doll-like faces painted on them. One of the few times they really show any life is when they run away, screaming in terror, before a massive katamari charges at them like a hilariously bad B-movie monster.
And all of this seen and done to a soundtrack that’s as nonsensical, disjointed, and kaleidoscopic as everything else in the game. There is the smooth Sinatra-esque “Que Sera Sera”; the frantic ecstasy of “Katamari Mambo”; the calm, innocent charm of “Cherry Tree Times”; the head-banging joy of “Everlasting Love”; the wistful and surprisingly somber-sounding “Blue Orb”; and whatever the heck “Kuru Kuru Rock” is :/
This is without a doubt one of the most absurd pieces of fiction of any medium ever conceived, never mind that I personally have ever seen. But that’s what makes them such “feel-good” games, addictive, charming, and almost guaranteed to put a smile on the faces of players and observers alike. Whether you consider it the acid trip it appears to be or simply a refreshing change from the American norm of interactive experiences, as for me, I think Katamari is living proof of how, in art and storytelling, it is sometimes better to ask “Why not?” rather than “Why?”
CREDITS:
All images, audio, and links belong to their respective owners; no copyright infringement is intended.
MAIN THEME:
“The Call” – Briand Morrison and Roxann Berglund
The main collection is comprised of six games, plus some spin-offs, but I will be referring to just the first two since they were the ones I grew up with. The word Katamari translates in English to “mass”, “cluster”, or “clump”; the first game, Katamari Damacy, roughly means “clump of souls”. Why? It all begins when the King of All Cosmos has a little too much fun one night. His mind swimming in a drunken stupor as he soars with unabashed glee across the sky, he crashes into and knocks out every star in the universe as if they were lightbulbs! On top of that, he even obliterates the moon! After finally sobering up and seeing the colossal mess he’s made, the King vows to take responsibility for his actions . . . by charging his son, the Prince, to fix the problem. As the Prince, the player is ordered to take a highly adhesive ball called a Katamari down to Earth and roll up literally every single thing that he can find until the Katamari is one giant ball of stuff. The King can then turn these balls of stuff into new stars, and thereby restore the light in the heavens— taking the credit for himself, of course. A side story focuses on the Hoshino family on Earth, with the children noticing the subtle—and not-so-subtle—evidence of the Prince’s work while the parents remain densely unaware.
In the aptly entitled sequel, We ♥ Katamari, the King has become so popular following the events of the first game, that he orders the Prince to appease his fans by rolling up katamaris with whatever they request, however they request it—no matter how ridiculous or stupid it sounds. In another side story, players witness the untold history of the King, presented with all the melodramatic clichés of a “classic” coming-of-age tale.
The series was developed by NAMCO, the company behind the 80’s classic, Pac-Man. And like Pac-Man, according to lead developer, Keita Takahashi, Katamari was made with four key elements in mind: novelty, ease of understanding, enjoyment, and humor. The end result has all of these in spades.
Here is a quote from the first game’s back cover: “Play is controlled with the analog sticks, with no buttons to press or combos to cause distress.” I’ve always found the phrasing of this statement both amusing and fascinating. There are many who avoid video games due to the intricacies of controller coordination; I can certainly imagine how this would be difficult for those who didn’t grow up playing video games and get the necessary practice on the controller. These games, however, are to be meant to be highly user-friendly without easing up on the challenge. As the levels and overall games progress, you use increasingly larger katamaris in order to roll up increasingly larger objects: from tiny things like thumbtacks, erasers, and silverware, to small animals like mice, cats, and dogs, to larger objects and creatures like furniture, livestock, and people, to huge objects like buildings and islands. The general objective of most levels is to get your katamari to a designated diameter within a given time limit. Other levels may have different objectives, like rolling up a great amount of a particular object or bringing your enlarged katamari to a specified location in the level before time runs out. I especially like the fact that even if the tiny Prince is invisible next to a comparatively huge katamari, an image of the Prince is always shown in the lower right corner of the screen, moving according the katamari’s maneuvering; here, we can really appreciate what a little trooper he is by the way he runs as if in a marathon, moves sideways with arms outstretched like a traffic cop or construction worker, or nearly drops to his knees when slowing a speeding katamari down, his adorably determined face scrunched up and red as he strains under the effort.
Now, I’m sure at this point many of you are thinking that age-old question: “What were they smoking?” But just you wait, it gets better :)
The King of All Cosmos looks like a stereotypically gay version of the Burger King mascot: a muscular, cleft-chinned humanoid with a gold crown, purple tights, and a large Elizabethan collar, as well as, like all his kind, a vibrant, cylinder-shaped head. A major show-off and a hero in his own mind, he also unbelievably passive-aggressive toward his son, always lamenting about his puny size of 5 cm—no, seriously, the prince is only 5 cm tall!—and supposed lack of sense compared to the King’s own. Moreover—and again, I’m not kidding here—the King’s in-game speaking voice is the scratching sound of a DJ’s record, but you wouldn’t know from that that his dialogue consists mostly of just over-the-top ranting:
[Beginning of the first level of Game 1]
KING OF ALL COSMOS:
- Here We are. Earth. Full of things as usual. Hmm? HMM!? Aack, so . . . so . . . s-small . . . You’re as small as ever. We didn’t notice, not one jot, what with the stars and all. What is that? That body, that physique. Could you really be Our son? Ah-hah! I’ve got it! Build yourself up while you roll the katamari. Work out and get bigger. Yes indeed. Don’t presume to take the escalator up to the throne just because you’re the Prince. Woo, tangent. [. . .]
But the Prince isn’t entirely alone: he also has cousins, the number of which keeps increasing with each game—not unlike the species of another Japanese game franchise I could name ;) Like the King, they speak in noises rather than words, these sounding like bits of alien gibberish spoken in severely distorted chipmunk voices. Though they all share the same basic size—and cuteness—as the Prince, each have different shapes, colorings, and personalities. And like any other collected objects, once the cousins have been rolled up in a katamari—yes, you can do that, and I swear that in itself is a major treat—the player can access the “Collection” menu and read their descriptions—made all the funnier because they are in the King’s own words, and their supposed interests and quirks have next to nothing to do with the game proper.
Just to name a few of my favorites:
- The Prince, of course, with a solid green body and purple legs.
Description (Katamari Damacy):
“The Prince is growing stronger and more mature every day. Still very small though.”
Lalala, said to be naked due to her solid tanned-flesh color.
Description (Katamari Damacy):
“A true free spirit, hating even the confines of clothing. Some call it exhibitionism.”
Dipp, black but covered in flashing strobe lights.
Description (We ♥ Katamari):
“A cousin who sparkles a lot and gets carried away with things. We wish he knew the difference between sticking out and just being a nuisance.”
Opeo, chronically mummified in bandages and a leg cast.
Description (Katamari Damacy):
“He looks ill all the time, but contrary to his sickly appearance, he has an intense vitality.”
Miso, red with a bowl-shaped head which is empty in game 1, but filled with soup in game 2.
Description (We ♥ Katamari):
“A cousin with a smell We find very relaxing. She isn't very good at strenuous exercise though.”
Kinoko, basically a mushroom with limbs.
Description (We ♥ Katamari):
“A slightly annoying second cousin who kicks up lots of dust whenever she moves. So she doesn't move much, out of courtesy.”
Twinkle, very pointy due to his star-shaped figure.
Description (We ♥ Katamari):
“A second cousin who damages things just by walking around, including himself. But he's still a nice guy.”
Nutsuo, who looks like a blue-striped peanut.
Description (We ♥ Katamari):
“This second cousin's hands could never, ever reach his face. We wonder how he eats his food.”
Ironically, the Cosmic beings are pretty natural-looking compared to the Lego-like creatures of Earth, their bodies sharply angular, their heads like cubes with creepy, doll-like faces painted on them. One of the few times they really show any life is when they run away, screaming in terror, before a massive katamari charges at them like a hilariously bad B-movie monster.
And all of this seen and done to a soundtrack that’s as nonsensical, disjointed, and kaleidoscopic as everything else in the game. There is the smooth Sinatra-esque “Que Sera Sera”; the frantic ecstasy of “Katamari Mambo”; the calm, innocent charm of “Cherry Tree Times”; the head-banging joy of “Everlasting Love”; the wistful and surprisingly somber-sounding “Blue Orb”; and whatever the heck “Kuru Kuru Rock” is :/
This is without a doubt one of the most absurd pieces of fiction of any medium ever conceived, never mind that I personally have ever seen. But that’s what makes them such “feel-good” games, addictive, charming, and almost guaranteed to put a smile on the faces of players and observers alike. Whether you consider it the acid trip it appears to be or simply a refreshing change from the American norm of interactive experiences, as for me, I think Katamari is living proof of how, in art and storytelling, it is sometimes better to ask “Why not?” rather than “Why?”
CREDITS:
All images, audio, and links belong to their respective owners; no copyright infringement is intended.
MAIN THEME:
“The Call” – Briand Morrison and Roxann Berglund
EPISODE SONG:
“Build the Sky” - Sean Zarn
“Build the Sky” - Sean Zarn
All other music and sound clips are from Katamari Damacy and We ♥ Katamari (directed by Keita Takahashi; developed and published by Namco).
OST SONGS:
- “WANDA WANDA” (from Katamari Damacy)
- “Que Sera Sera” (from Katamari Damacy)
- “Katamari Mambo [Katamari Syndrome Re-mix]” (from Katamari Damacy)
- “Cherry Tree Times” (from Katamari Damacy)
- “Everlasting Love” (from We ♥ Katamari)
- “Blue Orb” (from We ♥ Katamari)
- “Kuru Kuru Rock” (from We ♥ Katamari)
Download the full 15-minute episode here!
Katamari on Wikipedia
Keita Takahashi on Wikipedia
Namco on Wikipedia
Katamari's Official Website
Katamari on Fandom
Katamari on Common Sense Media
Katamari on Tv Tropes
Buy Katamari on Playstaton Network
Buy Katamari at Gamestop
Buy Katamari on Google Play
Buy Katamari at Itunes
Buy Katamari on EBay
Buy Katamari on Amazon
^^ Back to Video Games, Simulations, and Other Interactive Experiences
OST SONGS:
- “WANDA WANDA” (from Katamari Damacy)
- “Que Sera Sera” (from Katamari Damacy)
- “Katamari Mambo [Katamari Syndrome Re-mix]” (from Katamari Damacy)
- “Cherry Tree Times” (from Katamari Damacy)
- “Everlasting Love” (from We ♥ Katamari)
- “Blue Orb” (from We ♥ Katamari)
- “Kuru Kuru Rock” (from We ♥ Katamari)
Download the full 15-minute episode here!
Katamari on Wikipedia
Keita Takahashi on Wikipedia
Namco on Wikipedia
Katamari's Official Website
Katamari on Fandom
Katamari on Common Sense Media
Katamari on Tv Tropes
Buy Katamari on Playstaton Network
Buy Katamari at Gamestop
Buy Katamari on Google Play
Buy Katamari at Itunes
Buy Katamari on EBay
Buy Katamari on Amazon
^^ Back to Video Games, Simulations, and Other Interactive Experiences