Fractale

The Garda car isn't the only thing about that's distinctly Irish:

1. The Gardai shown have fairly accurate uniforms, particularly the hat has the Garda coat of arms on it
2. The father says he lives in Luimnigh (IE Limerick), why they went with the Irish and not the English I don't know. Rule of Cool I guess.
3. The house is fairly typical of houses out west.
4. Clein doesn't remove his shoes when he enters the house, and the house has no entry area like a Japanese home (this is more indicative it's outside Japan)
5. The aforementioned Searbh on his drink.
6. The scenery is a pretty accurate representation of the west coast, like around the cliffs of moher, even down to the stone walls.
7. The church is a copy of an Irish Church, see this image, The graves are slightly different, but the main building itself is identical, which is pretty nifty. The church in question is in the Aran Islands

It might be fun to come up with a list of everything "Irish" about this series. Given the fact that the church in this episode is an exact copy of a real church, I wonder if any of the other buildings, shots are likewise copies of real life locations? Kyoto Animation famously did that with several of their series, and many of those locations started to draw otaku tourists. Will Inishmore see a sudden jump in tourists from Japan? Will Clein and Phrynne dolls be sold alongside shilelaghs and plaid in small cottages across the west? I suppose it depends on whether or not it does well...

Still, it can only be good advertising, Noitamina gets pretty good ratings, usually.

Anyone up for spotting more "Irish stuff" as the series progresses, if anyone actually lives out west, investigating whether or not the locations depicted are real or not would also be pretty cool.

I watched episode 01 of Fractale last night, very promising. I used to spend a lot of time on Inishmore as I have family there. The old church in the anime looks exactly like the one I used to play in as a kid

Then it's Galway, I thought as much, the clock tower is kinda similiar.

i was wondering when this tread would get started

Hmm, perhaps we should get these images into the general Anime blogosphere...

yermanoffthetv wrote: »

Dublins in there too. Nowhere near as accurate as Galway but you can notice a few landmarks such as the national conference center and the grand canal theatre. I threw in a few captures so you can have a gawk.

You're right, that is the new docklands redevelopment!

the 3rd one really clinches it, the checkerboard pattern is very distinctive.

It's pretty impressive that they were aware of it. The docklands is quite new.

Konata wrote: »

Ooooh I know another one! The "Geass" in Code Geass comes from the Irish word "geis":

I have a feeling that the Geass in code Geass probably came from "Geas" in D&D, but of course D&D probably got it from Ireland so...

@Butterscotch: I was aware of those, perhaps it's me being biased, but I've always had a feeling that Anime got more from Ireland then, say, from Britain. That said the number of references to Germany dwarfs everyone.

EDIT: How bout this guy?

Konata wrote: »

From the Code Geass wiki (I've read it in a few other places too):

Geass originates in Gaelic mythology and is in many ways analogous to the Greek and Roman concept of the tragic flaw. One of the first and best known heroes subject to a Geass is the central character of an Irish mythology Ulster Cycle, Cú Chulainn. He was subject to a 'Geis' of being forbidden to eat dog meat by his enemies. But in early Ireland there was a powerful general taboo against refusing hospitality, so when an old crone offers him a meal of dog meat, he has no choice to break his Geis. In this way he is spiritually weakened for the fight ahead of him.
In Code Geass, Geass is a power given to Lelouch by the mysterious C.C., it allows him to force others to do his will to certain limitations. The similiarity to the Geis concept is evident and presumably the reason behind its name.

Dunno anything about D&D though :P

Geas is a spell in D&D which allows you to force someone to do anything you want. I say this only because I heard of the term "Geas" from there first too, and I'd say within these Anime production companies there are enough nerds who would be familiar with D&D.

I could be entirely wrong though. Anime tends to also demonstrate a knowledge of world mythology too so...

Fractile was very good, loved the outro. Unfortunatly alot of Japanese people don't know Ireland exists (Some people just see ireland and england as 'The UK')