Rayman 2: Why is Rayman Blue in Japan?

[@teapotcutie]

0:29 Small correction but I mispronounced Dasshutsu as 'Daisshutsu' for some reason. Idk why I added the i for some reason. Feel free to correct any other mistakes and I'll add them to the pinned message here. Edit: Had a few people comment that the lack of Kanji for the games here is more than likely a case of technical compromising rather than accessibility. So gonna go ahead and add that to this.

[@JomasterTheSecond]

"Blue Rayman isn't real, he can't hurt you" Blue Rayman:

[@Sage_the_Turt]

wow i just googled "why is japanese rayman blue" after seeing someone mention it in the comments of a decade old video, and the first result is a whole video essay about this specific thing uploaded yesterday? that's such a weird and cool coincidence. gonna watch this later!

[@Javeton]

Algorithms are working 10x faster than they used to as well your phone mic eavesdropping. There's time I see specific stuff in less than 5 minutes of talking about it. Nothing is a coincidence in the virtual world.

[@RootVegetabIe]

​​@@JavetonThey're saying that the video being uploaded right before they search for it is the coincidence. Which it is.

[@Wenjo936]

Right!? Discovered a game from PS1 and then this beat maker made a song based off it. And divers dream isn't exactly a big game

[@GoodSmile3]

Man I know how it feels, happened to me multiple times already. One of the most bizarre occurrence was me coming up with an extremely specific and random idea, and a couple of hours later a video gets uploaded that executes it. The video got in my recommendations having less than 10 views, and I never wrote down or spoke out loud the idea itself, it was purely in my mind.

[@AdvancePlays]

Something I heard long ago was that it wasn't just the association of purple with disease and poison and therefore death, but because the colour was on a character who's whole gimmick is his disembodied limbs. As you get at with the Yakuza pinky stuff, Japan is generally more strict with any reference to dismemberment, so someone might have just thought that was a bad mix. I reckon one guy in the Japanese localisation team brought it up offhandedly once and the western guys really took it to heart lol.

[@PocketDeerBoy]

i kind of assumed it was common for kid's games to not have kanji in them because a lot of younger kids can't read them that well yet, as well as tiny resolutions making it hard to make kanji clearly readable in older games.

[@troopsushi]

Amazing video and super in-depth! Really interesting reasons behind some of the cultural differences/changes that I wouldn't have expected. Keep up the great work!

[@thekasmos]

Your essay was really interesting to watch ngl. Would love to see more in the future :)

[@N3Selina]

that kinda blew my mind, since i got my hands on a japanese Rayman 1 copy and his torso still being purple very cool info~

[@nargaman261]

I think the reason undertale doesnt use any kanji has to do with it's ties to traditional jrpgs. The mother series barely uses kanji and undertale is in a lot of ways a loveletter to that series in particular, so it makes sense to copy the kana-only approach of games of that era.

[@Skehrcros]

Great video, localisation is such an interesting process.

[@thepuzzlemaster64]

Finally, someone who actually gave a more concrete answer other than the usual "purple = bad"! It's well explained too. Never thought the Japanese version of Rayman 2 was "censored" like most people say. At most I just thought it was a weird change that only really effected a person's taste. I guess people just default to the word "censor" because there isn't really a word to describe a sort of "neutral change that doesn't effect anything major".

[@BUGHUNTER6]

I really like your voice! That's pretty much the first thing i thought when the video started. I saw you mentioned in a comment you wanted to make it less irritating, but it isn't irritating at all. Don't feel bad about it 🙏

[@CleaveTheDragon]

I feel like it was an overcorrection on Ubisoft's part. I wasn't there obviously but I have to figure that if you're in a feedback group, you play something, and you're asked specifically for notes, you're going to pull in whatever comes to your head. I think someone singled out rayman's purple body as standing out, and then associated with the poison thing. But I don't think this is really how colors work. Do you look at apples and go "ah yes, the *rage fruit*"? Or throw away grapes as soon as you see them because they're green/purple, the poison colors? While colors may have some inherent symbology to them that differs from culture to culture, their true meaning is derived from context. Red is as much an indicator of energy and health (collectible hearts) as it could be anger/aggression (enemy units show on a minimap). If Rayman had green accents and a skull on his chest and a pale head, then yeah a purple body would connect better with a poison theme. As he is though, nothing really indicates that.... as a kid I just associated his body being purple like those plums you find in Rayman 1's first stages. It contrasts with his head, hair, and shoes, and helps the "O" on his chest pop out more. It's usually a bright purple anyway, and the rest of him is fairly friendly. I don't think a person would seriously confuse it with that.

[@LetsPlayKeldeo]

As somebody who works in translation / localization amazing video !

[@mrhumbuck_]

Really good video! Loved the comedic timing of pointing out that Rayman's French. I noticed in one of your comments it sounds like you feel your voice is annoying because of being so high pitched, but I don't think you should worry about it too much. It's VERY common for people (myself included) to hate their own voice, and while the pitch did startle me when I first heard it I got used to it before the video ended. In fact, I'd say your voice sounds pretty nice. I imagine it'd be less startling if you used a very chibi avatar on your thumbnails to set expectations. Ofc this is just how I feel, I can't exactly claim to know what makes for a successful channel 😅

[@sonicfreak1111]

Interesting, didn't even know there were these localization differences.

[@SrLipetorrada]

I got jumpscared with Stretch panic music coming out of nowhere at 3:41

[@muchossaugus9927]

What game is the music from? Sounds catchy, probably some JRPG but not sure.

[@LongcrierInProgress]

​@@muchossaugus9927Stretch Panic is the game. Its a PS2 boss rush game made by Treasure who made Dynamite Headdy and Ikaruga.

[@Wenjo936]

Mom bought it with my PS2 what a start

[@Hey.This.Is.Stuart]

Great video. I like the in depth detail about purple in Japan

[@Nyorane]

Awesome vid! Very informative and well-presented. Subbed! :D 🏆

[@Cloxer]

Huh I am glad i learned about this through the vid, good stuff!

[@taonyaanzu]

Good vid!

[@TomTheyy]

Both Spyro and Rayman really had bad luck in trying to appeal to Japanese audiences in localisation that Crash succeeded at, only to still not catch on and specifically miss out on the 3rd entry and beyond. Fast forward decades later and for as wild as Smash's guest stars have gotten with Ultimate, they've still barely dipped their toes into Western guest stars (French is Western, right?) actually being part of the roster with only the two Microsoft-acquired cases of Banjo-Kazooie and Steve that both had some kind of recognisability over there. And Nintendo history in the former's case. No one's forcing them per se to do more Western guests that Japan aren't as familiar with, they can just keep celebrating mostly Japanese-adjacent gaming culture for what was originally a celebration of that. It is their game after all and they're not exactly running out of options to work with and such.

[@TwisterTH]

That thumbnail tho, I love it already! 👏

[@SarahWestCrazyTaxiQueen]

Nice work

[@romanloev5376]

He's blue dabadee dabadaay

[@Moon-Drop93]

neat video!

[@Diwasho]

They almost never forgo kanji in favor of kana just to make it easy for kids to read, all Sanrio and modern Pokémon games have texts and dialogues using the full range of jouyou kanji, no furigana aid, and that's for an even younger audience than Rayman. If there's ever a reason they don't use kanji it's almost always a technical compromise, not accessibility concerns.

[@teapotcutie]

Went ahead and added an addendum to the pinned comment. Thank you for the info.

[@ThisIsNotMyRealSelf]

Leaving a comment here to appease the algorithm gods.

[@andthatswhyidontlike]

Didn’t know this was a thing. Blue Rayman is just straight up wrong.

[@Sil3ntLynx]

I never thought of this version as censorship, it's not like they particularly change anything other than visuals. Just figured it was for appeal, as it seems to be. Although what the heck are those bug eyed Teensies oh my goodness I only ever saw the different eyes on Ly and she still looked fine. And some of the responses to the fake Rayman leak being angry that they don't know who he is is... Just kinda funny to me. Couldn't imagine that ever happening with a character in a Smash game lol Fun video! Actually informative past vague "misfortune" claims.

[@fluury]

well made video! I now know why he blue.

[@filgaia1]

Why is Pikachu yellow?

[@teapotcutie]

Electric rat ⚡

[@muchossaugus9927]

Yellow fever

[@t4tz3lwurm]

because he doesnt drink enough water

[@toheee1234]

because purple evil

[@soursquad2]

RAYMANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN

[@Commodorr]

why is he blue da ba de da ba die da ba de da ba die

[@muchossaugus9927]

Unpopular opinion but I prefer the Japanese re-designs.

[@seasonembrace3624]

Any particular reasons 🤔?

[@muchossaugus9927]

@@seasonembrace3624 Looks better and more pleasing to the eye.

[@AdvancePlays]

I think it's a really pleasant version to play too, it's much more mellow.

[@BUMP0H]

Why rayman blue?

[@t4tz3lwurm]

he sad

[@Ractorstr]

And why no Rayman 3? Let guess, the adult humor?

[@teapotcutie]

That one I am unaware as to why they didn't. I know there was a rare Korean version, but not sure about other Asian countries. Adult humor I don't think would be an issue as the English version changed the dialogue for example. Plus shonen jump comics having plenty of adult jokes snuck in. I don't believe Rayman M/Rayman Arena was released there either, but would have to fact check that.

[@Ractorstr]

@@teapotcutie -Talking about Rayman 3, the Spanish version is funny and really out of context.

[@X2011racer]

Nobody wanted to localize it after Rayman 2, I guess...

[@MissLouva]

Why Mario is red

[@AeternumInferis]

Why is everything I see red

[@teapotcutie]

If the video isn't playing correctly, it may be a glitch from KZbin cookies as I have confirmed it works fine on PC, mobile, and iPad. Edit: Wait realized after sending this you're probably making a joke. Apologies lolol.

[@based980]

why is your voice so high pitched

[@teapotcutie]

Ngl I wish I had an answer to that. I didn't pitch it up. In fact, I tried to lower it digitally to make it less high and irritating. Looking at my older vids and seems to have risen somehow despite me being an adult. If I do another vid like this, I will see if I can lower it better.

[@based980]

@@teapotcutie cool

[@Sanjiluv]

wjhat?

[@Sanjiluv]

what?