D&D's influence on eastern fantasy [Archive] - Wizards Community

D&D's influence on eastern fantasy [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Prime32
02-21-08, 03:15 PM There's plenty of examples of how D&D has influenced Japanese stuff, etc. I'd like people to point them out. This thread can become a centralised place to refer to as a response to the absurd "D&D is getting too anime" statements :rolleyes:

I'm keeping the list in the second post.
Prime32
02-21-08, 03:15 PM The whole oversized sword thing started when Japanese artists found Western miniatures with BFSes (made that size because they were hard to see otherwise), and assumed it was a standard element of medieval fantasy.

There is a mahwa (Korean manga) known as "id_Entity" or "Yureka". Set in a fictional MMO called Lost Saga, not only is it highly entertaining, but it quickly becomes apparent that LS uses the D&D ruleset. Almost every spell has it's name taken from D&D, and clerics are shown casting spells in armour. Bahamut and Tiamat exist, but they are one of the most copied things from D&D (yes, I know D&D didn't invent them, but it did invent their image as dragons). A monster army includes both basilisks and cockatrice as distinct creatures and elicits the comment "They're throwing out everything in the Monster Manual!".

You could say that these names were introduced by a D&D-loving translator... until you get to volume 8. A party with two sorcerers is fighting an enemy with the power to duplicate himself. Even when they are sure that they have found the real one, it turns out to be a copy. A sorcerer tries damaging all of them at once with chain lightning, but this is inefficient. The other sorcerer figures out that their foe is transferring his mind between bodies, so what does he do? He summons a sandstorm to block his line of sight and line of effect to the clones. When the enemy shouts that he will not be able to hit him while he is in the sandstorm, he casts magic missile at him. He goes on to explain that while the magic missile spell is weak, it overcomes all defences, automatically hits, and has such a low cost that he can "cast it all day". And then the other sorcerer shouts "LIGHTNING BOLT! MAXIMUM POWER!", firing at the point the missiles are travelling to. Yep, he just used maximised spell, and lightning bolt affects an area rather than being targeted.

As mentioned above, Bahamut and Tiamat are often copied. Final Fantasy is the most well-known example, but even Yu-Gi-Oh has done it - see these two cards, along with pictures of the dragon gods
http://www.yugioh-cards.net/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/promo/huge/SD09-ENSS1.jpghttp://www.geocities.com/TelevisionCity/Stage/5132/Tiamat2.JPGhttp://www.mikeloda.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/BlueEyesWhiteDragon.jpghttp://paizo.com/image/product/catalog/TSR/TSR95052-02_500.jpeg

Final Fantasy has too many similarities to mention, given that it used the 1e D&D rules with a few changes to class names. It has beholders and mind flayers, creatures which aren't even in the SRD because WotC views them as "product identity". Just look at this (http://www.ffcompendium.com/h/espmon/mindflayer.shtml) page

Record of Lodoss War (see intro 1 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQFHFsql3yE) and intro 2 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKZb8n5fv-c) [which features Tiamat again]) and The Slayers (intro) are two anime based on D&D campaigns. Try watching them - they've gotten many D&D fans into anime.
Namer_and_Shaper
02-21-08, 03:19 PM If we're talking RPGs, have a look at all of the monsters. Even the Outsider-ish monsters, if the heroes go to Hell to fight, they'll be fighting balors and pit fiends, not yama kings and oni.

Oh, they even have colour coded dragons. Often, nay, as close as they can get, to the way D&D has them. Fire=Red ect.
Escef
02-21-08, 03:23 PM Off the top of my head I can think of The Record of Lodoss War, The Slayers, Bastard, Dragon Warrior/Quest games, early Final Fantasy games, Fortune Quest, Castlevania games, and I know there are probably so many more that if I retired now at the age of 32 to watch them all I'd be dead before I finished.

Mind you, the Japanese will always put their own cultural twist on things. For example, guys getting nosebleeds upon sighting a girl's undergarments.

Honestly, my limited exposure to Japanese culture leads me to the belief that the Japanese are a passionate and dedicated people. Unfortunately, what they choose to passionately dedicate themselves to often makes no sense whatsoever.
Toran_A_Sunder
02-21-08, 03:29 PM Unfortunately, what they choose to passionately dedicate themselves to often makes no sense whatsoever.

I lol'd.

Off topic, does making "lol" into a verb, and then using it in the past tense, sound rather dirty to anyone else?
Escef
02-21-08, 03:37 PM I lol'd.

Off topic, does making "lol" into a verb, and then using it in the past tense, sound rather dirty to anyone else?

Yes, it does. Mistress Sonja says she book you for a spanking this Monday at 8:00.
Namer_and_Shaper
02-21-08, 03:45 PM Yes, it does. Mistress Sonja says she book you for a spanking this Monday at 8:00.

Hurray!

:confused:
Toran_A_Sunder
02-21-08, 07:21 PM Yes, it does. Mistress Sonja says she book you for a spanking this Monday at 8:00.

AM or PM?
calronmoonflower
02-21-08, 09:32 PM There's plenty of examples of how D&D has influenced Japanese stuff, etc. I'd like people to point them out. This thread can become a centralised place to refer to as a response to the absurd "D&D is getting too anime" statements :rolleyes:

Well I put this forth Reductio ad WoW.

One variation that I listed of the same is Reductio ad Anime. Basically the existence of something in anime or similarities to something in shouldn't impact whether it should(n't) be in Dungeon's & Dragons. Instead it should be shown on it's own to belong or not.

From the Psionic Motivators thread.

http://www.badongo.com/t/640/2974300.jpg (http://www.badongo.com/pic/2974300)

http://www.badongo.com/t/640/2967425.jpg (http://www.badongo.com/pic/2967425)
MrPiskie
02-21-08, 10:36 PM Off the top of my head I can think of The Record of Lodoss War, The Slayers, Bastard, Dragon Warrior/Quest games, early Final Fantasy games, Fortune Quest, Castlevania games, and I know there are probably so many more that if I retired now at the age of 32 to watch them all I'd be dead before I finished.

Yeah, Escef beat me to it, but the first Final Fantasy game was so close to D&D that I'm almost surprised there weren't lawsuits about copyright infringement. Vancian casting, a class system with similar classes, monsters like goblins, mindflayers, gas-breathing green dragons, fire-breathing red dragons, and "eyes" that look a heck of a lot like beholders and can turn you to stone or disintegrate you....

And I think I heard somewhere that Record of Lodoss War was based on someone's D&D campaign.
Enigmis
02-21-08, 11:57 PM DnD obviously created ancient mythology. There was no such things as goblins, dragons, and magic prior to the invention of dnd.
/end sarcasm rant.
Toran_A_Sunder
02-22-08, 01:18 AM DnD obviously created ancient mythology. There was no such things as goblins, dragons, and magic prior to the invention of dnd.
/end sarcasm rant.

:rolleyes:
Drackthor
02-22-08, 04:19 AM This thread can become a centralised place to refer to as a response to the absurd "D&D is getting too anime" statements :rolleyes:

Hey, other people think things that aren't what I think. I think I'll mock them.

Gee, life sure is swell.
Pudge_is_cute
02-22-08, 04:27 AM Uber powerfull wizards(Zelretch from the right, Elminster, left.), notice the difference.
http://img47.imageshack.us/img47/1713/1202623629160ge5.jpg

Both of them are brushed-up and smiling for Gods sake
Prime32
02-22-08, 10:20 AM Hey, other people think things that aren't what I think. I think I'll mock them.

Gee, life sure is swell.
The point is that the statement doesn't make sense. Anime is a medium. Someone said "that's like complaining about a book for not having enough live-action". If D&D was getting "too anime", we would watch it, not play it.
1 ton ghost
02-22-08, 02:57 PM sad.
too many are looking at only the illustrations and going, "hmm, i guess that's how it is." they are visual aids to the text and mechanics, not rules and such to support the artist's career. one supports the other...

like my sclupture prof would say, "jeff, i'm revoking your artistic license." ;) he was joking of course, but the point was made. some ppl just aren't ready to experience someone else's expression rendered physically. don't read into it too much. sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

it's one guy's interpretation on event/concept/character 'x'. it ain't gospel ppl. the popularity of eastern style animation has simply led to a new advent of visual media in pop-culture, that's all. alot of ppl dig it in some aspects; i love most of the Adult Swim stuff. however, in a more formalized, decidely Western mythoi based game, ppl feel that cultural friction. take it as an afront, whatever. it's just a picture.
i prefer the old oil masters from back in the day (Elmore, Parkinson, Easley) to the modern photo-shop hacks i see now. it's like anyone w/ a batch of filters and an "Undo" feature thinks they're the sh-t w/out a modicum of formal training. there's something to be said for raw talent and exploration, but there's also something to be said for letting the machine do all the work...

in another time, when Gothic art (not the modern hijacking thereof) came out, a great many couldn't stand it like the "anime argument". all that stained glass, every nook and cranny jammed w/ as many bells and whistles as you could get, gargoyles, etc. they liked, and/or grew up w/ Romanesque; decidely more plain and monumental. Hell, they even named it "gothic" after said barbarians, the Goths...nobody liked them and the new school of art/architecture reflected that in its namesake.

anyway, they got used to it, things evolved, and like all schools of art, something replaced it. same thing these days, just on a much faster scale given the proliferation of mass media, changing education standards, and attention spans, etc.

ie)this rampant anime craze will pass. the art will change...again, and another batch of complaints will surface from conservatives.
what we're seeing now is more an emphasis on pop-art in game pics, not the more Romanticized fantasy art from a few years back. they will cross over, blur, mutate, etc. something else will come along...
JSorenson1979
02-23-08, 04:12 AM Yeah, Escef beat me to it, but the first Final Fantasy game was so close to D&D that I'm almost surprised there weren't lawsuits about copyright infringement. Vancian casting, a class system with similar classes, monsters like goblins, mindflayers, gas-breathing green dragons, fire-breathing red dragons, and "eyes" that look a heck of a lot like beholders and can turn you to stone or disintegrate you....

And I think I heard somewhere that Record of Lodoss War was based on someone's D&D campaign.

Record of Lodoss War is based on a Japanese RPG called "Sword World" that is similar in setting, but mechanically uses 2d6 for challenge resolution rather than a d20.

The Legend of Crystania and Rune Soldier are also based on this game.
RedWizard
02-23-08, 04:16 PM Record of Lodoss War is based on a Japanese RPG called "Sword World" that is similar in setting, but mechanically uses 2d6 for challenge resolution rather than a d20.

The Legend of Crystania and Rune Soldier are also based on this game.

You beat me to it. I was just going to mention Sword World. Popular fantasy setting RPG in Japan.
MrPiskie
02-26-08, 10:13 PM Record of Lodoss War is based on a Japanese RPG called "Sword World" that is similar in setting, but mechanically uses 2d6 for challenge resolution rather than a d20.

The Legend of Crystania and Rune Soldier are also based on this game.

Ah. Thanks for setting me straight.
RPJesus
02-26-08, 10:30 PM In the Yugioh manga they played a game called "Monster world" where they decided everything with percentage dice.
And I don't know if its D&D specifically, but I swear Escaflowne was supposed to be an RPG but somehow ended up being made into an anime :D.
Dreamstryder
02-26-08, 10:35 PM Wikipedia on Lodoss (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lodoss_War) & Sword World (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sword_World), for what it's worth. MIZUNO Ryo (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryo_Mizuno) was a designer (http://www.kadokawa.co.jp/bunko/bk_detail.php?pcd=199998404231) for Sword World (probably moving from D&D to that system later) and storywriter for Rune Soldier Louie & Legend of Crystania. Lodoss is part of the Sword World setting.

Where'd you get that info on buster swords coming from Western minis?
boozerker
02-27-08, 12:58 AM I lol'd.

Off topic, does making "lol" into a verb, and then using it in the past tense, sound rather dirty to anyone else?
Only if you had said "I lol'd myself" ;)
Prime32
02-27-08, 12:32 PM About the Sword World thing, while Wikipedia isn't always accurate...
Replays

Group SNE pioneered a new book genre called replay. Replays are RPG session logs arranged for reading, similar in style to light novels. The first replay, Record of Lodoss War, is a replay of Dungeons and Dragons. From that time, replays became popular in Japan, and not only with RPG gamers; several characters and parties in replays are as popular as characters of anime. For example, the beautiful female elf Deedlit in Record of Lodoss War who is played by the (male) science fiction novelist Hiroshi Yamamoto.) Sword World's replays are popular, too. 43 books of Sword World's replays were published until July 2007.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Prime32 02-21-08, 03:15 PM	There's plenty of examples of how D&D has influenced Japanese stuff, etc. I'd like people to point them out. This thread can become a centralised place to refer to as a response to the absurd "D&D is getting too anime" statements :rolleyes: I'm keeping the list in the second post.
Prime32 02-21-08, 03:15 PM	The whole oversized sword thing started when Japanese artists found Western miniatures with BFSes (made that size because they were hard to see otherwise), and assumed it was a standard element of medieval fantasy. There is a mahwa (Korean manga) known as "id_Entity" or "Yureka". Set in a fictional MMO called Lost Saga, not only is it highly entertaining, but it quickly becomes apparent that LS uses the D&D ruleset. Almost every spell has it's name taken from D&D, and clerics are shown casting spells in armour. Bahamut and Tiamat exist, but they are one of the most copied things from D&D (yes, I know D&D didn't invent them, but it did invent their image as dragons). A monster army includes both basilisks and cockatrice as distinct creatures and elicits the comment "They're throwing out everything in the Monster Manual!". You could say that these names were introduced by a D&D-loving translator... until you get to volume 8. A party with two sorcerers is fighting an enemy with the power to duplicate himself. Even when they are sure that they have found the real one, it turns out to be a copy. A sorcerer tries damaging all of them at once with chain lightning, but this is inefficient. The other sorcerer figures out that their foe is transferring his mind between bodies, so what does he do? He summons a sandstorm to block his line of sight and line of effect to the clones. When the enemy shouts that he will not be able to hit him while he is in the sandstorm, he casts magic missile at him. He goes on to explain that while the magic missile spell is weak, it overcomes all defences, automatically hits, and has such a low cost that he can "cast it all day". And then the other sorcerer shouts "LIGHTNING BOLT! MAXIMUM POWER!", firing at the point the missiles are travelling to. Yep, he just used maximised spell, and lightning bolt affects an area rather than being targeted. As mentioned above, Bahamut and Tiamat are often copied. Final Fantasy is the most well-known example, but even Yu-Gi-Oh has done it - see these two cards, along with pictures of the dragon gods http://www.yugioh-cards.net/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/promo/huge/SD09-ENSS1.jpghttp://www.geocities.com/TelevisionCity/Stage/5132/Tiamat2.JPGhttp://www.mikeloda.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/BlueEyesWhiteDragon.jpghttp://paizo.com/image/product/catalog/TSR/TSR95052-02_500.jpeg Final Fantasy has too many similarities to mention, given that it used the 1e D&D rules with a few changes to class names. It has beholders and mind flayers, creatures which aren't even in the SRD because WotC views them as "product identity". Just look at this (http://www.ffcompendium.com/h/espmon/mindflayer.shtml) page Record of Lodoss War (see intro 1 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQFHFsql3yE) and intro 2 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKZb8n5fv-c) [which features Tiamat again]) and The Slayers (intro) are two anime based on D&D campaigns. Try watching them - they've gotten many D&D fans into anime.
Namer_and_Shaper 02-21-08, 03:19 PM	If we're talking RPGs, have a look at all of the monsters. Even the Outsider-ish monsters, if the heroes go to Hell to fight, they'll be fighting balors and pit fiends, not yama kings and oni. Oh, they even have colour coded dragons. Often, nay, as close as they can get, to the way D&D has them. Fire=Red ect.
Escef 02-21-08, 03:23 PM	Off the top of my head I can think of The Record of Lodoss War, The Slayers, Bastard, Dragon Warrior/Quest games, early Final Fantasy games, Fortune Quest, Castlevania games, and I know there are probably so many more that if I retired now at the age of 32 to watch them all I'd be dead before I finished. Mind you, the Japanese will always put their own cultural twist on things. For example, guys getting nosebleeds upon sighting a girl's undergarments. Honestly, my limited exposure to Japanese culture leads me to the belief that the Japanese are a passionate and dedicated people. Unfortunately, what they choose to passionately dedicate themselves to often makes no sense whatsoever.
Toran_A_Sunder 02-21-08, 03:29 PM	Unfortunately, what they choose to passionately dedicate themselves to often makes no sense whatsoever. I lol'd. Off topic, does making "lol" into a verb, and then using it in the past tense, sound rather dirty to anyone else?
Escef 02-21-08, 03:37 PM	I lol'd. Off topic, does making "lol" into a verb, and then using it in the past tense, sound rather dirty to anyone else? Yes, it does. Mistress Sonja says she book you for a spanking this Monday at 8:00.
Namer_and_Shaper 02-21-08, 03:45 PM	Yes, it does. Mistress Sonja says she book you for a spanking this Monday at 8:00. Hurray! :confused:
Toran_A_Sunder 02-21-08, 07:21 PM	Yes, it does. Mistress Sonja says she book you for a spanking this Monday at 8:00. AM or PM?
calronmoonflower 02-21-08, 09:32 PM	There's plenty of examples of how D&D has influenced Japanese stuff, etc. I'd like people to point them out. This thread can become a centralised place to refer to as a response to the absurd "D&D is getting too anime" statements :rolleyes: Well I put this forth Reductio ad WoW. One variation that I listed of the same is Reductio ad Anime. Basically the existence of something in anime or similarities to something in shouldn't impact whether it should(n't) be in Dungeon's & Dragons. Instead it should be shown on it's own to belong or not. From the Psionic Motivators thread. http://www.badongo.com/t/640/2974300.jpg (http://www.badongo.com/pic/2974300) http://www.badongo.com/t/640/2967425.jpg (http://www.badongo.com/pic/2967425)
MrPiskie 02-21-08, 10:36 PM	Off the top of my head I can think of The Record of Lodoss War, The Slayers, Bastard, Dragon Warrior/Quest games, early Final Fantasy games, Fortune Quest, Castlevania games, and I know there are probably so many more that if I retired now at the age of 32 to watch them all I'd be dead before I finished. Yeah, Escef beat me to it, but the first Final Fantasy game was so close to D&D that I'm almost surprised there weren't lawsuits about copyright infringement. Vancian casting, a class system with similar classes, monsters like goblins, mindflayers, gas-breathing green dragons, fire-breathing red dragons, and "eyes" that look a heck of a lot like beholders and can turn you to stone or disintegrate you.... And I think I heard somewhere that Record of Lodoss War was based on someone's D&D campaign.
Enigmis 02-21-08, 11:57 PM	DnD obviously created ancient mythology. There was no such things as goblins, dragons, and magic prior to the invention of dnd. /end sarcasm rant.
Toran_A_Sunder 02-22-08, 01:18 AM	DnD obviously created ancient mythology. There was no such things as goblins, dragons, and magic prior to the invention of dnd. /end sarcasm rant. :rolleyes:
Drackthor 02-22-08, 04:19 AM	This thread can become a centralised place to refer to as a response to the absurd "D&D is getting too anime" statements :rolleyes: Hey, other people think things that aren't what I think. I think I'll mock them. Gee, life sure is swell.
Pudge_is_cute 02-22-08, 04:27 AM	Uber powerfull wizards(Zelretch from the right, Elminster, left.), notice the difference. http://img47.imageshack.us/img47/1713/1202623629160ge5.jpg Both of them are brushed-up and smiling for Gods sake
Prime32 02-22-08, 10:20 AM	Hey, other people think things that aren't what I think. I think I'll mock them. Gee, life sure is swell. The point is that the statement doesn't make sense. Anime is a medium. Someone said "that's like complaining about a book for not having enough live-action". If D&D was getting "too anime", we would watch it, not play it.
1 ton ghost 02-22-08, 02:57 PM	sad. too many are looking at only the illustrations and going, "hmm, i guess that's how it is." they are visual aids to the text and mechanics, not rules and such to support the artist's career. one supports the other... like my sclupture prof would say, "jeff, i'm revoking your artistic license." ;) he was joking of course, but the point was made. some ppl just aren't ready to experience someone else's expression rendered physically. don't read into it too much. sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. it's one guy's interpretation on event/concept/character 'x'. it ain't gospel ppl. the popularity of eastern style animation has simply led to a new advent of visual media in pop-culture, that's all. alot of ppl dig it in some aspects; i love most of the Adult Swim stuff. however, in a more formalized, decidely Western mythoi based game, ppl feel that cultural friction. take it as an afront, whatever. it's just a picture. i prefer the old oil masters from back in the day (Elmore, Parkinson, Easley) to the modern photo-shop hacks i see now. it's like anyone w/ a batch of filters and an "Undo" feature thinks they're the sh-t w/out a modicum of formal training. there's something to be said for raw talent and exploration, but there's also something to be said for letting the machine do all the work... in another time, when Gothic art (not the modern hijacking thereof) came out, a great many couldn't stand it like the "anime argument". all that stained glass, every nook and cranny jammed w/ as many bells and whistles as you could get, gargoyles, etc. they liked, and/or grew up w/ Romanesque; decidely more plain and monumental. Hell, they even named it "gothic" after said barbarians, the Goths...nobody liked them and the new school of art/architecture reflected that in its namesake. anyway, they got used to it, things evolved, and like all schools of art, something replaced it. same thing these days, just on a much faster scale given the proliferation of mass media, changing education standards, and attention spans, etc. ie)this rampant anime craze will pass. the art will change...again, and another batch of complaints will surface from conservatives. what we're seeing now is more an emphasis on pop-art in game pics, not the more Romanticized fantasy art from a few years back. they will cross over, blur, mutate, etc. something else will come along...
JSorenson1979 02-23-08, 04:12 AM	Yeah, Escef beat me to it, but the first Final Fantasy game was so close to D&D that I'm almost surprised there weren't lawsuits about copyright infringement. Vancian casting, a class system with similar classes, monsters like goblins, mindflayers, gas-breathing green dragons, fire-breathing red dragons, and "eyes" that look a heck of a lot like beholders and can turn you to stone or disintegrate you.... And I think I heard somewhere that Record of Lodoss War was based on someone's D&D campaign. Record of Lodoss War is based on a Japanese RPG called "Sword World" that is similar in setting, but mechanically uses 2d6 for challenge resolution rather than a d20. The Legend of Crystania and Rune Soldier are also based on this game.
RedWizard 02-23-08, 04:16 PM	Record of Lodoss War is based on a Japanese RPG called "Sword World" that is similar in setting, but mechanically uses 2d6 for challenge resolution rather than a d20. The Legend of Crystania and Rune Soldier are also based on this game. You beat me to it. I was just going to mention Sword World. Popular fantasy setting RPG in Japan.
MrPiskie 02-26-08, 10:13 PM	Record of Lodoss War is based on a Japanese RPG called "Sword World" that is similar in setting, but mechanically uses 2d6 for challenge resolution rather than a d20. The Legend of Crystania and Rune Soldier are also based on this game. Ah. Thanks for setting me straight.
RPJesus 02-26-08, 10:30 PM	In the Yugioh manga they played a game called "Monster world" where they decided everything with percentage dice. And I don't know if its D&D specifically, but I swear Escaflowne was supposed to be an RPG but somehow ended up being made into an anime :D.
Dreamstryder 02-26-08, 10:35 PM	Wikipedia on Lodoss (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lodoss_War) & Sword World (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sword_World), for what it's worth. MIZUNO Ryo (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryo_Mizuno) was a designer (http://www.kadokawa.co.jp/bunko/bk_detail.php?pcd=199998404231) for Sword World (probably moving from D&D to that system later) and storywriter for Rune Soldier Louie & Legend of Crystania. Lodoss is part of the Sword World setting. Where'd you get that info on buster swords coming from Western minis?
boozerker 02-27-08, 12:58 AM	I lol'd. Off topic, does making "lol" into a verb, and then using it in the past tense, sound rather dirty to anyone else? Only if you had said "I lol'd myself" ;)
Prime32 02-27-08, 12:32 PM	About the Sword World thing, while Wikipedia isn't always accurate... Replays Group SNE pioneered a new book genre called replay. Replays are RPG session logs arranged for reading, similar in style to light novels. The first replay, Record of Lodoss War, is a replay of Dungeons and Dragons. From that time, replays became popular in Japan, and not only with RPG gamers; several characters and parties in replays are as popular as characters of anime. For example, the beautiful female elf Deedlit in Record of Lodoss War who is played by the (male) science fiction novelist Hiroshi Yamamoto.) Sword World's replays are popular, too. 43 books of Sword World's replays were published until July 2007.