Sora no Woto Otaku Makes Pilgrimage from Japan to Spain
- Categories: Anime, News
- Date: Feb 14, 2010 05:02 JST
- Tags: 2D vs 3D, Comparison, Otaku, Sora no Woto, Spain, Tourism
A 2ch otaku has seemingly undergone one of the more devout sacrifices possible by the breed by making a pilgrimage from Japan to the historic city of Cuenca, Spain to pay homage to scenery of the town used as reference material for the sublime Sora no Woto.
The otaku originally made a post on 2ch, linking to his barebones homepage which details the time of his photoshoot (Feb. 9’s afternoon) and a brief description of the 3D scene backdrop ‘s relationship to certain scenes from the anime.
As is usually the case with such things online (especially with something from 2ch), there must be an element of doubt involved, but the amount of effort involved with acquiring such anime-accurate photographs of the ancient town, creating a webpage, and accurately modifying the EXIF data does suggest our otaku friend is telling the truth…
Here is his introduction at the top of his site:
Afternoon of Feb. 09, 2010.
There’s 413 (total images.) They’re all pretty rough. I would’ve liked to have made comparison images, but I forgot to bring the source material, so this was the best I could do. I don’t take photos very often, so I’m not too used to this. Please forgive the pictures for being somewhat crude.
Here are all but one of the photos he has posted at his site, along with the best comparison images from the show we could find right underneath the pertinent 3D photos:
The above images of the red bridge come from Episode 01.
This impressive comparison comes from Episode 04, when Noel and Kanata went out to the town for some shopping.
“I sort of felt reminded of Ep. 1’s ‘Move Forward!’ moment, but I’m not sure.”
The anime scene above comes from the scene the photographer refers to in the above quote.
It does take a bit of imagination to match the images up…
This comes from the show’s ED, and is again an impressively close match-up.
Again, this comes from the ED.
It is not hard at all the make the comparison in this one, another excellent shot.
“This is from when Kanata seemed she was about to fall.”
This last comparison involves another scene from Episode 01, just after Kanata had taken her bath and ran to the balcony to gaze at the scenery outdoors.
Truly, if the otaku-photographer is telling the truth here (something which might be confirmed if he uploads the rest of his photos), his otaku power level would indeed be something of legend…
The photos can be viewed in their full sized glory at the original webpage.





















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I'm Spanish and what is this...
Holy similarity !
I wonder if they hide Takemikazuchi in there.... and delicious Noel..
I wonder if he bothered to visit the deserts in the south of the country where they filmed the Sergio Leon westerns.
Nah. Probably not.
ive been to cuenca a couple times,since i live like 200km away. didnt know sora no woto took place there. i guess ill just go watch the show and then visit cuenca again for the lulz.
Spain? I thought it was the Alps? Wah!
OK so Military K-On is set in Southern Europe....
Is there any forum post that compares 3D to 2D places? It will be kinda nice for me to pick my choice of destination.
Guess this could be part of an explanation for that "Any resemblance to people, parties or situations is purely coincidental" warning that goes along with each episode.
To be fair he didn't just gain otaku points for these, he also got to see some of the most beautiful scenery of Spain, and for that I am a bit jealous.
So Ra No Wo To made me want to travel to Spain to see these sights I just don't have the time or money. Kudos to the photographer.
Juas, ¡parece que hay bastantes españoles en Sankaku! :)
¡Saludos desde Andalucía!
curioso cuanto menos....
I guess we now know where most of Kyo-Ani's budget went.
KyoAni is NOT producing this anime.
Making Endless Eight Blu-rays and DVDs???
so on pictures 7 + 8, did he like take the picture from the wrong side of that archway or something?
Please excuse some of my images being slightly out of my intended order.
Apologies.
Beautiful scenery. It makes me want to go visit Spain.
Counting from the third picture, I couldn't tell which of the fifth or sixth picture was real! The animation's so realistic~
Очент классная анимеха! И нефиг её равнять с K-OH - она горазжо круче 8-)
I Found some interesting http://www.panoramio.com/photo/2436112 < yeah it's the "true" Cuenca of Spain.
07-08
Isn't the reason it 'needs a bit of imagination' because the photo is actually from the other side? You can even see the same types of trees.
Preparaos los de Cuenca este verano, porque tendreis
invasion de Japos haciendo en vez del Camino de Santiago, "El Camino de Sora no Woto".
Para flipar, jajaja.
That's pretty impressive.
Almost reminds me of Higurashi and Umineko, where there are actually real places used for the setting.
God to see you here Mechta.
Hope you enjoyed my article. ^^
Someone had done the same in his blog some weeks ago:
http://seriousmoe.wordpress.com/2010/01/21/de-paseo-por-cuenca-con-kanata/
It's in Spanish, and the author didn't travel to Cuenca, but it has more comparisons.
hmmmm notice something here...
since its sora no woto...instead of sora no oto...wo is sort of used to "indicate" a deeper meaning and emphasis on the word oto i guess
similarly...'serious' otakus call themselves 'wotaku' as mentioned in the shoko-tan lesson. ヲタク instead of the normal オタク, which is more popular in recent years
this guy is a true WOTAKU, salutes! XD
That's some effort - taking photos somewhere halfway around the globe just to post it on an anonymous board. :\
I'm Spanish and I can confirm that those photos are indeed from Cuenca.
I adore the efforts of our honourable otaku brother; Now I will watch Sora no Woto. It's my little tribute
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA I WONDER WHAT THE BITCH OF "NIN" WILL HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THIS IF SPAIN HAS AN ARCANE LANGUAGE!!!!1
my goodness it really is a sublimely beautiful scenery. It makes me proud that my family was knighted by Queen Isabella Catholico de Castillo
Exactry this.
You mean Isabel la Católica de Castilla right?
Don't be so picky. Spanish genders are difficult as hell for english-spoken people.
Estos japoneses estan todos majaretas! XD
That is very cool. Love the scenery in Sora no Woto.
Take that! Mwahahahaha!
Well, I prefer the anime version of the city.
Yeah fruck irl
This guy is awesome.
What? "Otaku power"?
Try otaku 'passion', or a notch higher, 'obsession
But good comparison nonetheless
his otaku power is over 9000!!
Obsession with a Passion! It's the Otaku way of life. No merchandise is to expensive and no scenic pilgrimage is to far out of reach... well... unless you're broke :(
Otaku is never broke for anime. He just starves to death.
The Passion of the Otaku! :P
Sora no Woto...must watch
wait..I think I am going backwards
Don't. The show is actually pretty boring.
Pilgrimage to Spain? Color me amazed.
Attaining a little bit of worldliness through anime. That is amazing indeed.
I wonder if he visited other regions of Spain while he was there. The mixture of Roman and Gothic architecture in Catalonia makes the place very beautiful.
I'm from Catalonia.
Someone, translate these comments
Benutze doch Google Übersetzer lol Deutschland ist ein starkes Land GERMAN
Dios... Ya tenemos nazis descerebrados hasta en sankaku.
O.o de que hablas?, siempre los hemos tenido.
Note to self: Start learning spanish again. I still know enough to understand the lyrics of Ska-P or Panteón Rococó but not enough to strike a conversation ^^
Estos catalanes dominarán el planeta, por el amor de dios. Por cierto, me sorprende que hayan tantos españoles aquí. FC?
Spain's just a pile of dust, nothing to see here. Any likeness with the anime is just coincidental. Spaniard visiting Japan right now, btw.
Ore wa.. Gundam!
bones
parla sense vergonya, parla amb llibertat!
Y yo soy de Cuenca, y cada vez que veo las comparaciones me parto.
Wait... Seriously?!
I've been living in Spain for years, and didn't know about it!
I parles català?
With a few K-on moe
Spain is indeed beautiful and I can see why it inspired the animators.