Date Masamune: the samurai who inspired Darth Vader (2016)(nipponrama.com)
nipponrama.com
Date Masamune: the samurai who inspired Darth Vader (2016)
https://nipponrama.com/date-masamune-samurai-darth-vader/
23 comments
> Junk article that does not cite any real reference between Masamune's helmet and Darth Vader's design.
Agreed. There are similarities, but nothing to directly tie them together.
If you get The Making of Star Wars[1] book there's tons of detail on the development of the characters, including Darth Vader.
I think this connection is largely coincidental.
[1] https://www.amazon.com/Making-Star-Wars-Definitive-Original/...
Agreed. There are similarities, but nothing to directly tie them together.
If you get The Making of Star Wars[1] book there's tons of detail on the development of the characters, including Darth Vader.
I think this connection is largely coincidental.
[1] https://www.amazon.com/Making-Star-Wars-Definitive-Original/...
> Date Masamune’s helmet is famous in Japan as its crescent moon-shaped central ornament (the “maedate”) distinguish it from other samurais’ hard hats. Strangely, this device is not included in the Darth Vader design while it is one of the elements that have forged the legend of this warlord from Tohoku.
Strangely? You are the one who brought this whole subject up…
Strangely? You are the one who brought this whole subject up…
> crescent moon-shaped central ornament
"That's no moon"
"That's no moon"
“The American illustrator Ralph McQuarrie and British sculptor Brian Muir are the two guys who made this character design in 1976 for the Episode IV of this famous space saga.”
Minor nit. At the time of writing, Lucas had no intention of making Star Wars more than a single film. That came after production started. I forget my source for this but I think it’s either Robert McKee or Blake Snyder. And there’s some confusion around this due to a backdated screenplay with the Episode IV title.
Minor nit. At the time of writing, Lucas had no intention of making Star Wars more than a single film. That came after production started. I forget my source for this but I think it’s either Robert McKee or Blake Snyder. And there’s some confusion around this due to a backdated screenplay with the Episode IV title.
George Lucas was an admirer of the works of Akira Kurosawa, and "Jedi" was said to be derived from "Jidaigeki". which the name of Samurai soap operas popular in Japan.
Huh, interesting. I always assumed the helmet was based on the german WW2 helmets seeing how so much of the weaponry is taken from there. Compare for example the Stormtrooper heavy blaster with the German MG-34. And even the name "Stormtrooper" compared to "Sturmabteilung" (Storm detachment) based on the earlier "Sturmtruppen" (literally Storm trooper).
Wiki says [1] that the heavy blasters were Lewis guns, the main Stormtrooper weapons were Sterling submachine guns.
Light sabres were the battery holder for a photographic flash gun.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blaster_(Star_Wars)
Light sabres were the battery holder for a photographic flash gun.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blaster_(Star_Wars)
There are definitely Nazi vibes to the Galactic Empire, but Darth Vader's helmet has indisputable Samurai inspiration. Maybe some Stahlhelm in there too, sure, but the main DNA is samurai. I mean, these are sword fighters with a mystical warrior-poet philosophy and a casual disregard for death.
And Star Wars' plot is, of course, heavily drawn from Kurosawa's "Hidden Fortress".
I wonder what other Japanese culture influences on Lucas are yet to be uncovered.
I wonder what other Japanese culture influences on Lucas are yet to be uncovered.
I've watched a bunch of the films said to influence Star Wars, and I'd say the main influence of Hidden Fortress was the R2-D2 and C-3PO characters. There are some plot similarities and of course Lucas has a character almost say the words "hidden fortress" but the only part that made me go "oh, wow, that's exactly where that came from" was the two sidekick buddy-characters.
One of my favorite pop-culture samurai helmet stories involves Super Mario Odyssey. In Bowser's Kingdom (modelled after a feudal Japanese castle), Mario can buy a samurai outfit set, of which the helmet has antlers and six Mario coins in front.
It turns out to have been modelled after the samurai armor of the Sanada clan, whose battle-crest was the rokumonsen, or six mon coins. The Japanese at the time had a Greek-like burial practice of burying coins with their dead so their spirits can pay passage to the afterlife -- one coin to pass through each of the six Buddhist afterlife realms to get to heaven. So when the Sanada clan rode into your territory and you saw that six-coin crest, the message was: death is coming for you.
It turns out to have been modelled after the samurai armor of the Sanada clan, whose battle-crest was the rokumonsen, or six mon coins. The Japanese at the time had a Greek-like burial practice of burying coins with their dead so their spirits can pay passage to the afterlife -- one coin to pass through each of the six Buddhist afterlife realms to get to heaven. So when the Sanada clan rode into your territory and you saw that six-coin crest, the message was: death is coming for you.
Looks to me like Darth Vader was directly ripped from Doctor Who.
I posted a shot for shot comparison on my Twitter:
https://twitter.com/bootrino/status/1304949615578345474
I posted a shot for shot comparison on my Twitter:
https://twitter.com/bootrino/status/1304949615578345474
Valerian, too: https://screenrant.com/star-wars-valerian-series-inspiration....
But that scene is too similar to be an accident and it wouldn't be the only lookalike scene in SW.
But that scene is too similar to be an accident and it wouldn't be the only lookalike scene in SW.
You mean both have a medieval-looking helm?
The samurai from the article looks much more similar. But still, it was normal enough that it's not easy to guess.
The samurai from the article looks much more similar. But still, it was normal enough that it's not easy to guess.
Anyone else recognize a couple of these from Ghost of Tsushima? I wonder if this character is one of their inspirations. See the Date Masamune one with the crescent, it's similar to the fully-upgraded "Samurai Armor" helmet you get from finishing Masako's missions:
https://ghostoftsushima.fandom.com/wiki/Samurai_Clan_Armor?f...
https://nipponrama.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/date-masam...
and the "Feudal Japan Darth Vader" figurine isn't too dissimilar from the un-upgraded version of the same helmet from Ghost: https://ghostoftsushima.fandom.com/wiki/Samurai_Clan_Armor?f...
https://ghostoftsushima.fandom.com/wiki/Samurai_Clan_Armor?f...
https://nipponrama.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/date-masam...
and the "Feudal Japan Darth Vader" figurine isn't too dissimilar from the un-upgraded version of the same helmet from Ghost: https://ghostoftsushima.fandom.com/wiki/Samurai_Clan_Armor?f...
Good LORD, the random bolding of certain WORDS is extremely ANNOYING....and was this written by (and for) an 8th grader?
"DID YOU KNOW that Vader's helmet is styled after samurai helmets?"
I mean jesus christ, you'd have to be born under a rock to not know that Star Wars is a cross between a spaghetti western and a samurai flick. The "light saber" is the ultimate version of the "samura swords can cut through anything and slice bullets!" weeb trope.
"DID YOU KNOW that Vader's helmet is styled after samurai helmets?"
I mean jesus christ, you'd have to be born under a rock to not know that Star Wars is a cross between a spaghetti western and a samurai flick. The "light saber" is the ultimate version of the "samura swords can cut through anything and slice bullets!" weeb trope.
> I mean jesus christ, you'd have to be born under a rock to not know that Star Wars is a cross between a spaghetti western and a samurai flick.
And WWII movies (633 Squadron and The Dam Busters, most prominently) and a splash of sword-and-sorcery fiction (the "magic exists but is rare to the point of being near-mythical and not really thaaaaat powerful" thing is some straight Conan shit, as are some other elements and flavors in the setting—from the stories, that is, not the movies, which came too late to influence Star Wars, though, fittingly, James Earl Jones is in both).
Star Wars' greatest contribution to cinema—and it's a big one—is pioneering the multi-genre pastiche. That thing Tarantino does? Like, his whole career basically? Star Wars cleared the way for that. Proved it could work and result in a good film, proved it could make money. The most successful later entries understand that formula and lean hard into the genre-mashup and freely ripping off other works thing. Mandalorian's full of that, for instance (to the point that you can make a meta-game of watching it, playing "name what they ripped off")
And WWII movies (633 Squadron and The Dam Busters, most prominently) and a splash of sword-and-sorcery fiction (the "magic exists but is rare to the point of being near-mythical and not really thaaaaat powerful" thing is some straight Conan shit, as are some other elements and flavors in the setting—from the stories, that is, not the movies, which came too late to influence Star Wars, though, fittingly, James Earl Jones is in both).
Star Wars' greatest contribution to cinema—and it's a big one—is pioneering the multi-genre pastiche. That thing Tarantino does? Like, his whole career basically? Star Wars cleared the way for that. Proved it could work and result in a good film, proved it could make money. The most successful later entries understand that formula and lean hard into the genre-mashup and freely ripping off other works thing. Mandalorian's full of that, for instance (to the point that you can make a meta-game of watching it, playing "name what they ripped off")
On a related note: the Buddhist monk that was used as inspiration for Yoda...
https://www.lionsroar.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/yoda-ri...
https://www.lionsroar.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/yoda-ri...
Somewhat related fun fact: Miss World Japan 2018, Date Kanako[1], is a direct descendant of the article's namesake.
[1] https://nextshark.com/kanako-date-miss-world-samurai/
[1] https://nextshark.com/kanako-date-miss-world-samurai/
Not very surprising. The Vader-Obi Wan light saber fight in the Episode IV is also very closely modeled after Kendo [1].
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kendo
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kendo
"George Lucas in Love" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZ49Smi2SLQ
You just sentenced the death of my wallet
And it sounds like a product placement piece to advertise Bandai figurines...
> A complex character who has experienced many tragedies that have brought him into a spiral of revenge, much like Anakin Skywalker actually.
Lol but seriously this guy sees connections everywhere