<story><title>Japanese Retrofuturism and Chrono Trigger</title><url>http://theappendix.net/issues/2014/7/party-like-its-1999-japanese-retrofuturism-and-chrono-trigger</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>PaulHoule</author><text>I think &amp;quot;Japanese Retrofuturism&amp;quot; might be as much a symptom of Western culture rather than Japanese culture.&lt;p&gt;It seems most JRPGs are set in a world that combines science fiction (advanced gadgets) and fantasy (magic, swords) whereas the western world keeps the two entirely separate.&lt;p&gt;I don&amp;#x27;t know if this represents anything fundamental,  or just the influence of a few people like Tolkien and Gygax and how people responded to their works initially.  Certainly in real life there was a period where guns and swords competed that lasted 500 or so years in the west and east.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>mratzloff</author><text>&amp;gt; &lt;i&gt;It seems most JRPGs are set in a world that combines science fiction (advanced gadgets) and fantasy (magic, swords) whereas the western world keeps the two entirely separate.&lt;/i&gt;&lt;p&gt;One of the two most directly influential series for early JRPGs is &lt;i&gt;Ultima&lt;/i&gt;, which for its first three incarnations (especially the first two) liberally combined science fiction with fantasy.&lt;p&gt;In America, the early &amp;#x27;80s was a time where mixing fantasy and science fiction was popular. You had products like He-Man and the Masters of the Universe and Thundarr the Barbarian, for example. Perhaps these influenced Richard Garriott (creator of &lt;i&gt;Ultima&lt;/i&gt;).</text></comment>
<story><title>Japanese Retrofuturism and Chrono Trigger</title><url>http://theappendix.net/issues/2014/7/party-like-its-1999-japanese-retrofuturism-and-chrono-trigger</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>PaulHoule</author><text>I think &amp;quot;Japanese Retrofuturism&amp;quot; might be as much a symptom of Western culture rather than Japanese culture.&lt;p&gt;It seems most JRPGs are set in a world that combines science fiction (advanced gadgets) and fantasy (magic, swords) whereas the western world keeps the two entirely separate.&lt;p&gt;I don&amp;#x27;t know if this represents anything fundamental,  or just the influence of a few people like Tolkien and Gygax and how people responded to their works initially.  Certainly in real life there was a period where guns and swords competed that lasted 500 or so years in the west and east.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>dragonwriter</author><text>&amp;gt; It seems most JRPGs are set in a world that combines science fiction (advanced gadgets) and fantasy (magic, swords) whereas the western world keeps the two entirely separate.&lt;p&gt;Neither western fiction nor western RPGs universally keep technological advanced gadgets and magic&amp;#x2F;swords &amp;quot;entirely separate&amp;quot;.&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt; I don&amp;#x27;t know if this represents anything fundamental, or just the influence of a few people like Tolkien and Gygax and how people responded to their works initially.&lt;p&gt;Gygax (and Gygax-era TSR) actually did quite a lot of mixing of these things, perhaps the most well-known example being Dungeon Module S3: &lt;i&gt;Expedition to the Barrier Peaks&lt;/i&gt;.</text></comment>