2004 was a year defined in the news largely by strife;
the war in Iraq was in full swing, as was the Israeli-Palestine conflict and
the fight for Chechen independence. Terrorists attacked places all over the
world, several major natural disasters occurred and so did numerous human
accidents, such as the disastrous Ryongchon train collision in North Korea.
Under such negative circumstances, it is interesting to see how various media
producers reacted with the content they released. Nintendo, a company famous
for child-friendly video games, broke the mould with the release of Paper
Mario: The Thousand Year Door (developed by Intelligent Systems), a comparatively dark Mario title with an unusual
emphasis on storytelling and environmental visuals. Around the same time,
Linkin Park released the music video for Breaking the Habit, animated by Studio
Gonzo, which is a gritty, sombre affair full of miserable themes like suicide
and substance abuse. Though Paper Mario seems almost totally divided from the
terrifying real-world problems dealt with by Breaking the Habit, there are some
subtle similarities that, when explored, show that the two pieces are not so
entirely different as they may seem.
Paper Mario: The titular hero pictured alongside some of the cast of villains encountered throughout the game.
The first immediate apparent difference between the two
pieces is noticed visually; on first glance, Paper Mario appears very bright,
clean and cutesy, with bright colours, as per the regular Nintendo ethos of
marketing towards young children. In contrast, Breaking the Habit is made up of
very rough lines, subdued, violent colours and portrays far more graphic images,
befitting the song’s troubling subject matter. However, the art styles
themselves are not so divorced from each other as they might appear; for one, both draw a great deal of inspiration from the Japanese "anime" convention that was - and remains - so popular. Studio Gonzo were supervised by Kazuto Nakazawa (artist and character designer for acclaimed anime Samurai Champloo, as well as much other work) and Nakazawa actually drew many of the individual frames himself [1]. Nintendo, being a Japanese company, are obviously exposed to a great deal of anime-type art, and the large eyes and cute proportions shown in many of the characters make it clear that the influence is definitely there. It is worth noting that anime art is now so ubiquitous and diverse that many different substyles have emerged, and though Breaking the Habit and Paper Mario fit under separate subgenres they can both unquestionably be identified as anime in nature. This is unsurprising, from a commercial or artistic standpoint; as mentioned earlier, anime has been incredibly popular in the west since the mid-90s and shows no sign of slowing down, and remains as successful as ever in Japan. Choosing a well-established style with an existing audience makes sense as an artist trying to sell your work, and its popularity may well mean that the artist enjoys working with it as much as the audience enjoys consuming it.
To further link the two pieces, Paper Mario is not as light-hearted and cutesy as it may initially appear. The game's central location, Rogueport, is a hive of villainy, which - while dressed up in the bright, cheerful atmosphere created by the art - contains some themes that appear very much out of place in a Mario game. As you progress through the game you get pickpocketed, get involved in gang turf wars and act as a threatening debt-collector for a disgruntled theft victim. Even concepts like death and lost loved ones are dealt, as one character in chapter five must be persuaded to leave his self-imposed solitude after blaming himself for the death of his wife. Again, though these are usually fairly watered down and spruced up with some witty writing, such ideas being addressed in a Mario game is far from ordinary, and relates fairly closely to the issues addressed in Breaking the Habit. The video portrays family difficulties, death, substance abuse and other such harrowing imagery, and does so from the perspective of someone dealing with such issues. This resonated well with the teen/ young adult audience of Linkin Park in 2004, echoing the negativity in the air and providing an expressive outlet for many young people unsure of how to approach such difficulties. Paper Mario does a similar thing, but for a much younger or more easygoing audience; the harsh realities of the world are certainly acknowledged, in far more depth than any previous Mario game, but they are reduced in intensity and written to amuse more than to confront reality, as laughter is a coping mechanism much more accessible to children than emotional discussion.
In conclusion, I think Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door and the music video for Breaking the Habit are similar in more ways than it appears on the surface. Though their respective art direction is very different in terms of tone, they share a point of origin in anime, one of the most popular and widely-used art styles of the 21st century. They also both reflect the times they were released in, albeit in different ways for different audiences; Paper Mario downsizes and adjusts concepts too mature for young children to approach normally to enable them to be understood through laughter, while Breaking the Habit provides emotional catharsis for an older audience looking for an outlet to deal with the unfortunate realities we face day-to-day. Though I personally prefer Paper Mario's outlook as a cheerier and more fun way of dealing with such things, I certainly recognise the value in both and continue to enjoy both pieces of work in their own context.
[1] Anime finds its match in Linkin Park.
Breaking the Habit: Despite the clearly gritty, ominous tone, notice the large eyes and coloured hair.
To further link the two pieces, Paper Mario is not as light-hearted and cutesy as it may initially appear. The game's central location, Rogueport, is a hive of villainy, which - while dressed up in the bright, cheerful atmosphere created by the art - contains some themes that appear very much out of place in a Mario game. As you progress through the game you get pickpocketed, get involved in gang turf wars and act as a threatening debt-collector for a disgruntled theft victim. Even concepts like death and lost loved ones are dealt, as one character in chapter five must be persuaded to leave his self-imposed solitude after blaming himself for the death of his wife. Again, though these are usually fairly watered down and spruced up with some witty writing, such ideas being addressed in a Mario game is far from ordinary, and relates fairly closely to the issues addressed in Breaking the Habit. The video portrays family difficulties, death, substance abuse and other such harrowing imagery, and does so from the perspective of someone dealing with such issues. This resonated well with the teen/ young adult audience of Linkin Park in 2004, echoing the negativity in the air and providing an expressive outlet for many young people unsure of how to approach such difficulties. Paper Mario does a similar thing, but for a much younger or more easygoing audience; the harsh realities of the world are certainly acknowledged, in far more depth than any previous Mario game, but they are reduced in intensity and written to amuse more than to confront reality, as laughter is a coping mechanism much more accessible to children than emotional discussion.
Paper Mario: Don Pianta, colourful tree-person and ruthless mob boss. "You got some nerve askin' me for dat. I'm Don Pianta! I make cryin' babies weep!"
In conclusion, I think Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door and the music video for Breaking the Habit are similar in more ways than it appears on the surface. Though their respective art direction is very different in terms of tone, they share a point of origin in anime, one of the most popular and widely-used art styles of the 21st century. They also both reflect the times they were released in, albeit in different ways for different audiences; Paper Mario downsizes and adjusts concepts too mature for young children to approach normally to enable them to be understood through laughter, while Breaking the Habit provides emotional catharsis for an older audience looking for an outlet to deal with the unfortunate realities we face day-to-day. Though I personally prefer Paper Mario's outlook as a cheerier and more fun way of dealing with such things, I certainly recognise the value in both and continue to enjoy both pieces of work in their own context.
[1] Anime finds its match in Linkin Park.
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