Nyaruko Triggers Lovecraft Boom
- Categories: Anime, News
- Date: Apr 14, 2012 03:20 JST
- Tags: Adaptations, Haiyore! Nyaruko-san, Horror, Light Novels, Marketing, Moe, Otaku, Translation
The popularity of Haiyore! Nyaruko-san has apparently triggered a Cthulhu Mythos boom amongst otaku, with sales of Japanese editions of Lovecrafts’ works soaring the instant the anime aired.
For those as yet unaware, Nyaruko is actually a moefied anthropomorphisation of Nyarlathotep, the Crawling Chaos and one of the Outer Gods from legendary American horror writer H.P. Lovecraft’s hugely influential Cthulhu Mythos.
Lovecraft’s cheerful introduction of the entity might just be considered at odds with her presentation in the anime (although the chaotic nature of both portrayals do at least match):
And through this revolting graveyard of the universe the muffled, maddening beating of drums, and thin, monotonous whine of blasphemous flutes from inconceivable, unlighted chambers beyond Time; the detestable pounding and piping whereunto dance slowly, awkwardly, and absurdly the gigantic, tenebrous ultimate gods — the blind, voiceless, mindless gargoyles whose soul is Nyarlathotep.
To preserve the viewer’s sanity at least until the comments begin, only images of the dread entity in its guise as Nyaruko may be shown here:
The Amazon salesrank of H.P. Lovecraft’s Complete Works Vol. 1 (in Japanese and first published in 1974) boomed massively the instant the anime aired, although how one of his works got into the “light novel” category in the first place is likely something known only to the fungi from Yuggoth:
How well Lovecraft’s stultifying prose actually translates into Japanese is probably rather less relevant to this performance than the popularity of Nyaruko in her chaos love comedy incarnation.
The total mismatch between the impassively grim darkness of Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos and the consumer banality of otaku culture is puzzling many, although given the (still ongoing) boom in guitar sales prompted by K-ON! it is probably not surprising them:
“I can’t but think a lot of these anime influenced buyers will not be reading their copies…”
“Volume 6 is good. The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath and similar are great fun.”
“I expect a lot of the people will be making sanity checks as a result of the huge disparity in content between the anime and the books…”
“Will the Cthulhu Mythos spread amongst anime otaku now? At least they might read something apart from manga and light novels.”
“I love The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, in volume 2.”
“She actually introduces herself as Nyarlathotep on the classroom blackboard, but says ‘please call me Nyaruko, nyan.'”
“How many people picked that up I wonder…”
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Just another day in Japan.
Worshiping yet another crazy God.
Keep Haruhi out of this!!
Cthulhu fhtagn IÄ IÄ...
They just need something to replace their previous god since that anime is over >.>
Bluebeard would be proud.
Well, technically she's an alien and not a god -_-
I'm just suprised how japanese hentai industry hasn't picked up ctulhu before... I mean all the tentacles, driving people into madness(or "breaking" them in other words) and stuff.
There are several eroge based off of Lovecraft's works (or at least Lovecraftian themes). Zanma Taisei Demonbane and Cthulhu: Otome no Fureru, Tenshi no Yubisaki are two that immediately come to mind.
I think i best not to ever look at those, I am guessing they are gonna be pretty pretty pretty messed UP!
Not at all. Demonbane easily passes as mainstream mecha sans the ero. The VN is also officially available in English for some time now.
I'd put links to some of the past SanCon articles on the English release, but for some reason the spam protection won't let me. Just enter "demonbane" in the search bar if you're interested.
Don't forget Saya no Uta. Oho, how I'd like to be raped by Saya... even though it wouldn't be real rape (if I were insane).
I don't really know..
It's just the usual type of comedy these shows have and it isn't hiding its "surprises" like naming a cutesy blond haired character "Hasuta" for Hastur (the king in yellow) to use an example..
Happened to me with Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex and The Catcher in the Rye.
Heh. I actually had to read Catcher in the Rye for English class (as foreign language) about 2 years before being able to see GitS SAC. SAC let me appreciate CitR a tiny bit more afterwards.
Yeah, I could just imagine another one of those polls/lists.
"Top anime deities of the new century:
1. Nyarlathotep
2. Madoka
3. Haruhi
4. Nagi
5. Yurie
... etc."
Belldandy is always #1 in my list anyway.
Tita from Plastic Little is an embodement of my pehophilic dreams
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH MY Goddess.
Great show..
triti
Do you suppose Lain counts as a goddess?
I could dig it.
Somewhere, someplace in some time, Nyarlathotep will be clasping its extremities, or what passes for them, and wearing what look like an approximate of a smirk and say, in what sounded like words, something equivalent to 'Just as planned!', as it watches the otaku population descend into madness.
see madoka would've been first, if the forsaken gods of the abyss didn't scream out a mobile suit name from gundam EVERY TIME SHE IS HIT!
You 4got the K-on gods.
Not gods but always on top ten
my god needs about an entire civilization worth of courage powered warheads to destroy, how bout yours?
My goddess kyouka is both omnipotent and omniscient
As a long-time fan of Lovecraft, I thought the anime was cute. Anything that exposes more people to Lovecraft is a good thing.
Digimon Adventure exposed me to Lovecraft some 10 years ago. First season ist btw pure awesomeness. (Watch japanese version, not the changed english dub.)
>Digimon Adventure exposed me to Lovecraft some 10 years ago.
Care to explain? Don't remember anything like that...
He's referring to episode 13 of 02, The Call of Dagomon (Or His Master's Voice in the English version). It's where Hikari is called to the Dark Ocean so its inhabitants may mate with her (or become their queen in the english version). The episode is famous amongst Digimon fans for a variety of reasons--some because of it's awesomely dark and well written setup (which was ultimately abandoned by other writers of the show), some because its writer, Konaka, would eventually go on to do the equally dark Tamers series, and some because the dub changed a lot of dialogue to make Hikari and Takeru look like they were all head over heels for each other, even though the Japanese version had her calling for her "onii-chan" most of the time, not stupid hat boy.
Hikari is especially cute in one of the last episodes from season one (japanese version). The one were she is sick and Taichi has to find some medicine. And of course the legendary 21. episode (season 01) :3
I also like how the kids first land und file-island, move on to continent server and finally defeat some evil that came from behind the wall of fire.
Very interesting professor oak. I do remember seeing that episode in Chinese and was confused... I better rewatch it in Japanese I suppose.
Huh... Onii-chan, unexpectedly cute of her
like your mum tits
OOHHHHH OWNED!!!!
lool that was a grat one XD
AH...I remember the first time my parents let me use the internet unsupervised. Good times...good times.
Unfunny samefag.
ahahha well done vile smile :P
(」・ω・)」うー！(／・ω・)／にゃー！
(」・ω・)」うー！(／・ω・)／にゃー！
(」・ω・)」うー！(／・ω・)／にゃー！
Japan can turn anything into a sexualized little girl can't it?
.....Except Nyaruko Isn't a little girl. I don't remember how old she appeared in the novel, but I think she was around 16yo.
She's still pretty...small.
She sure doesn't look small in the Anime.
Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn.
Reminds me of that scene in CLANNAD when Kotomi recites a chant to Shub-Niggurath, the Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young...
Bali Jal Hobin
Bali Magdhi Kali-Ma
Shakti Degi Kali-Ma
Kali-Ma... Kali-Ma... KALI-MA Shakti De
Bali Jadhao teia de... oopps wrong referrence.
Casters chant in fate/zero by any change?
Yes and no, Caster actually uses chants from the Lovecraft Mythos like the above one :p
And so he shall rise and eat Japan, Sinking it down and eating its people there to grow. FOR HE IS NOT DEAD BU SLEEPING.
That is not dead which can eternal lie.
And with strange aeons even death may die.