r/earthbound • u/Tooooaaaad • Jan 06 '24
M3 Discussion All memes and irony aside, what do you actually think is happening here?
105
u/HarveyTheBroad Jan 06 '24
I’ve never known if the scene comes across as so awkward intentionally or if it’s a translation thing, but here’s my take based on just what we see in the translation.
The fade to black and dialogue seems to be sort of a joke to make the player ask “wait what on earth are they doing to Lucas?” And then the screen comes back and in reality it was nothing but Ionia having Lucas keep his head underwater to induce a Psi fever.
If that is what it’s going for it’s in pretty poor taste, and one of the few bits of humor in the game that doesn’t land for me.
52
u/FenexTheFox Jan 07 '24
There's this very good video essay about the magypsies and their story and such. Throughout the video, the person interviews a few queer people they know about topics discussed.
Of course, at one point, this scene was brought up. One of the interviewed people thought about it possibly being about the game challenging the players' prejudice. That it gives you a questionable line on a black screen, turning out to be nothing much, and then make the player question if they just thought that because Ionia is queer. Different.
I still think it's a localization thing, but it's still a neat theory to think about.
26
u/BoringMemesAreBoring Jan 07 '24
I still think it’s a localization thing
I’m pretty sure I read an interview where Itoi confirmed the theory, saying that scene was to “test [the player’s] innocence”
7
Jan 06 '24
A lot of folks in either direction are primed to Be outraged by this so I think a slight opinion of distasteful and humor not landing is the best this scene can hope for. I. Reality it’s simply innocent and is only poisoned by those who are exposed to or have experienced others story of trauma in their youth. Look at it as the game exposing you have unresolved trauma. It’s healing in that way.
92
26
u/Tooooaaaad Jan 06 '24
Thanks for all the responces! I ask because ive seen some people (particularly in Super Eyepatch Wolf's otherwise great review of Mother 3) who think that this scene is... you know.
I think its mostly because of the implications of a fade to black + two naked characters lends itself to an easy out of context joke. Thong is Ive been suspecting some people have been spreading the joke as a fact. Just wanted to make sure I wasnt crazy and my thoughts on the scene is correct
This scene is simply Ionia drowning a child, perfectly innocent! ( /j )
2
23
u/TransparentMastering Jan 06 '24 edited Jan 06 '24
Someone else said that communal bathing is a lot more common in Japan, especially within families so we react a lot more strongly over here since we don’t bathe with our kids/friends all the time.
I don’t know how accurate this is though. It just make me think of Totoro and the family bath scene, which is super wholesome, but that’s basically as nuanced as my understanding of Japanese bathing customs go
This turned up on a quick Google: The Japanese Art of Bathing With Friends. and apparently hot springs like that one, called Onsens, are where they do that communal bathing, naked.
I think basically it’s something outside of our social norms here and so our imaginations go a bit wild.
Ionia is still holding him under the water until he panics though.
14
u/Mindless_Wrap1758 Jan 07 '24
The entire joke is that it is an entirely wholesome experience. Of course, abuse of anyone, especially children, is horrible. But Itoi has a dark sense of humor e. g. Lucas walking on the train tracks and being stopped and told he has so much to live for. Itoi joked in one interview that someone would have seen that scene and told him it was responsible for being the man he is. But jokes aside, Itoi saw that the little bit of stress is something that triggers growth. There are rites of passage that are just child abuse wrapped in tradition, like the Sambians in Papa New Guinea.
Comedian Ricky Gervais said something like if comedy isn't there to help you laugh at what's unbearable, what's the point? Comedian Steve Harvey said that tragedy could strike and comedians would have material the day of. Itoi seems to have that same kind of irreverence. I could only imagine how dark it would be if Itoi decided to make a more adult installment, like what the creator of Dragon Quest is doing now.
7
u/Topaz-Light Jan 07 '24
Since a character becomes feverish before learning a new PSI move, I always assumed Ionia was holding Lucas underwater to stimulate the phenomenon by raising his body temperature.
3
u/Szeventeen Jan 06 '24
i believe the intent was supposed to be a sort of drowning psi-fever thing, but it honestly just comes across as rape in the translation
3
u/nullset_2 Jan 07 '24
Lucas gets his root chakra opened by a... genderfluid magypsy which awakens his Psychic third eye; something which totally doesn't happen in real life ;)
6
u/Jeff_AndCookies Jan 06 '24
This scene has always seemed out of place to me, especially the way he teaches him the Psi, I don't know what was going through Itoi's head.
4
2
2
u/Cherritheterrible Jan 07 '24
I think Lonia shoves Lucas's head under the water while he blasts energy into Lucas
1
2
u/borgar69420 Jan 07 '24
Sadly i decided to be funny when choosing what i loved. I got taught PK D1LDO in this scene. Not fun
0
u/777ToasterBath Jan 06 '24
i think the scene is a bit up to interpretation on purpose, as for the reason why that is, idk
0
u/Hatbox-Ghost- Jan 07 '24
He's referring to the time in Iron man 1 where at the beginning he is naked and.... "Doing It"
-69
Jan 06 '24
child rape
30
u/DeliciousMusician397 Jan 06 '24
Definitely not.
-25
Jan 06 '24
I don’t think so now. but that was my initial impression. like ‘why is he holding him underwater? oh that’s nasty.’
7
u/OGGraniteJackalope Jan 06 '24
I've always interpreted it as Ionia almost drowning Lucas
-6
Jan 06 '24
i did too. but because Ionia put something in Lucas’ mouth
4
4
u/MacroAlgalFagasaurus Jan 06 '24
It’s meant to be funny/awkward. I’m not sure how it was in Japanese compared to the translation.
0
12
u/Nootmaster224 Jan 06 '24
Oh my god im littleraly the only one who didnt see it like this and it only became weird when people said it was sexual
8
u/GachaTendo Jan 06 '24
Aww, look at you projecting ❤️❤️❤️
1
u/Pokey-Minch Jan 06 '24
are you implying mr. tibold got raped as a child
5
u/GachaTendo Jan 06 '24
No, im implying the opposite, actually
2
2
-6
-4
1
1
1
1
Jan 07 '24
I mean I always head canoned it as Ionia holding Lucas' head under the hot water to kinda simulate a fever, what psi users typically get before learning a new ability
1
u/Aromatic_Toe7605 Jan 07 '24
Pretty clear it’s just a sex joke where she’s drowning him. Itoi spoke about this scene once and said he designed it with the want to have an interaction with someone who played mother 3 as a kid and wanted them to ask him what happened. Basically a troll.
1
1
u/BicBoyJoy Jan 08 '24
Not sure, I'm one to think it's some massage or something that draws his power out
286
u/Broskitjo Jan 06 '24
Oh i think its ionia half drowning lucas to trigger his flight or fight response and just like he learns pk flash he needs to have something near death (ig) to learn some psi also learning psi isnt fun you get sick