Nintendo's First Samurai: Takamaru for SSB4 (Final Request: Ask the US HW devs to add Takamaru)

[Spazzy_D]

Sal's leak seems likely to me for various reasons, but I still don't doubt Takamaru's chances.

 

[Morbi]

I honestly still believe that Takamaru has the most favorable chance out of all of the retro characters; especially if Sakurai wants to revive another series and move on from Smash, Takamaru would be that platform.

 

[Chaosmaster8753]

I brought up Brawl and Captain Rainbow since I don't think the references in those two are as commonly acknowledged as the ones in SW3 and NintendoLand. The Ninja Castle in the latter was more surprising to me seeing Nintendo reference a Japanese only game in such a major international release of theirs. Still, I'd like to hope that even with the last game only having so much as a music track and sticker that these coming games have something in store for Takamaru with the bigger acknowledgements of other Nintendo series we've seen. Weird how I'm so interested in this character even though I've never played his game. I guess there's just something that intrigues me about what I've heard his game is like.

 

[Pacack]

So, with Shashboard's recent transformation into Crashboards, I spent the day finding and saving images of various Nazo no Murasame jo guides and manga(s?). I have decided to share my spoils with my brethren here.

Behold, my findings:
[collapse=Guide A]

[/collapse]
[collapse=Guide B]

[/collapse]
[collapse=Guide C]

(If anyone could find some more of this one, I'd really appreciate it.)[/collapse]
[collapse=Guide D]

(If anyone can find a better angle of the third picture, that would be great, but I didn't have any luck there.)[/collapse]
[collapse=Guide E]

(Seems like this one is rare, since I could only find the front and back. No pages.)[/collapse]
[collapse=Manga "Journey of Wonder Era - Nazo no Murasame jo"]

[/collapse]
[Collapse=Manga "Nazo no Murasame jo by Yamato Rainbow One"]

[/collapse]
[collapse=Other]

[/collapse]

I think that's officially the most thorough collection of Nazo no Murasame jo merchandise that we non-Japanese have. If you have anything that I don't have here, I'd love to have it.

 

[AndreaAC]

So, with Shashboard's recent transformation into Crashboards, I spent the day finding and saving images of various Nazo no Murasame jo guides and manga(s?). I have decided to share my spoils with my brethren here.

Behold, my findings:
[collapse=Guide A]

[/collapse]
[collapse=Guide B]

[/collapse]
[collapse=Guide C]

(If anyone could find some more of this one, I'd really appreciate it.)[/collapse]
[collapse=Guide D]

(If anyone can find a better angle of the third picture, that would be great, but I didn't have any luck there.)[/collapse]
[collapse=Guide E]

(Seems like this one is rare, since I could only find the front and back. No pages.)[/collapse]
[collapse=Manga "Journey of Wonder Era - Nazo no Murasame jo"]

[/collapse]
[Collapse=Manga "Nazo no Murasame jo by Yamato Rainbow One"]

[/collapse]
[collapse=Other]

[/collapse]

I think that's officially the most thorough collection of Nazo no Murasame jo merchandise that we non-Japanese have. If you have anything that I don't have here, I'd love to have it.

:D AWESOME FINDINGS!

 

[Marakatu]

So, with Shashboard's recent transformation into Crashboards, I spent the day finding and saving images of various Nazo no Murasame jo guides and manga(s?). I have decided to share my spoils with my brethren here.

Behold, my findings:
[collapse=Guide A]

[/collapse]
[collapse=Guide B]

[/collapse]
[collapse=Guide C]

(If anyone could find some more of this one, I'd really appreciate it.)[/collapse]
[collapse=Guide D]

(If anyone can find a better angle of the third picture, that would be great, but I didn't have any luck there.)[/collapse]
[collapse=Guide E]

(Seems like this one is rare, since I could only find the front and back. No pages.)[/collapse]
[collapse=Manga "Journey of Wonder Era - Nazo no Murasame jo"]

[/collapse]
[Collapse=Manga "Nazo no Murasame jo by Yamato Rainbow One"]

[/collapse]
[collapse=Other]

[/collapse]

I think that's officially the most thorough collection of Nazo no Murasame jo merchandise that we non-Japanese have. If you have anything that I don't have here, I'd love to have it.

If they redesign Takamaru, I hope they keep his sideburns. They remind me of Go Nagai.

 

[Pacack]

If they redesign Takamaru, I hope they keep his sideburns. They remind me of Go Nagai.

This may be a stupid question, but who's Go Nagai?

 

[leprechaunlink727]

I brought up Brawl and Captain Rainbow since I don't think the references in those two are as commonly acknowledged as the ones in SW3 and NintendoLand. The Ninja Castle in the latter was more surprising to me seeing Nintendo reference a Japanese only game in such a major international release of theirs. Still, I'd like to hope that even with the last game only having so much as a music track and sticker that these coming games have something in store for Takamaru with the bigger acknowledgements of other Nintendo series we've seen. Weird how I'm so interested in this character even though I've never played his game. I guess there's just something that intrigues me about what I've heard his game is like.

You should definitely play his game. It's easy to find a ROM for, although if you're using an NES/Famicom emulator you might need a plugin for the Famicom disk drive. It's a very fun, very difficult, fast-paced game. It's much more simple and arcadey than Zelda, but it has its own kind of depth. If the series were to get a reboot, Platinum really would be perfect for it. Nazo no Murasame Jou is very much an 8-bit ancestor to modern third person action games like Bayonetta and Metal Gear Rising.

 

[NonSpecificGuy]

If they redesign Takamaru, I hope they keep his sideburns. They remind me of Go Nagai.

Also those armguards need to stay.
They make him look more battle ready in my opinion.

 

[Marakatu]

This may be a stupid question, but who's Go Nagai?

Go Nagai is the mangaka who created Devilman, Mazinger Z and other cool stuff. Most of the protagonists of his works had manly, old-school styled sideburns.

 

[Pacack]

Also those armguards need to stay.
They make him look more battle ready in my opinion.

Definitely agree.

Go Nagai is the mangaka who created Devilman, Mazinger Z and other cool stuff. Most of the protagonists of his works had manly, old-school styled sideburns.

Thanks. I'm not the biggest fan of that stuff, so I wasn't aware

 

[Yomi's Biggest Fan]

I actually agree with bringing back his arm guards because the lack of them was one of the main things I've hated about Koei's design for him. It's as if they wanted to make him Kenshin 2.0.

 

[NonSpecificGuy]

So if there is a Direct next month do you guys think that Takamaru will be revealed then?
Or is he definitely a Secret Character?

 

[Pacack]

So if there is a Direct next month do you guys think that Takamaru will be revealed then?
Or is he definitely a Secret Character?

Definitely a secret character.

 

[Marakatu]

I expect Takamaru to be revealed at E3, along with other characters. I don't think he would be revealed by himself. I don't think they would wait until the game release to reveal him either.

 

[Yomi's Biggest Fan]

Any time would be fine: whether it's E3 or post release. IF Kamiya is truly making a Nazo no Murasame-Jo sequel instead of something different like Star Fox (he's known for being a troll after all) for E3, then an E3 reveal would be likely. If it's something else completely different, then unlockable would be the best option since Americans would be whining about "Who the bloody hell is this, I want mah Mewtwo or K. Rool!" and so on. XD

 

[NonSpecificGuy]

Any time would be fine: whether it's E3 or post release. IF Kamiya is truly making a Nazo no Murasame-Jo sequel instead of something different like Star Fox (he's known for being a troll after all) for E3, then an E3 reveal would be likely. If it's something else completely different, then unlockable would be the best option since Americans would be whining about "Who the bloody hell is this, I want mah Mewtwo or K. Rool!" and so on. XD

If he does end up making a Murasame game I'm so praying it's more Okami'ish than Bayonetta/Rising'ish if you get me?
But I don't think it's likely he's making a new Murasame game it seems like Nintendo has already payed attention to what he said about Star Fox.
And while I think Murasame Castle is ready for a revival it seems like Star Fox is "Due" for one but that's my opinion.
And on the reveal date I never thought about it but E3 may be perfect for his reveal as it is a very shocking character to the casual crowd.
I think Takamaru will be revealed on the show floor like Wii Fit Trainer was.
Now all we need is a killer trailer idea...

 

[Pacack]

If he does end up making a Murasame game I'm so praying it's more Okami'ish than Bayonetta/Rising'ish if you get me?
But I don't think it's likely he's making a new Murasame game it seems like Nintendo has already payed attention to what he said about Star Fox.
And while I think Murasame Castle is ready for a revival it seems like Star Fox is "Due" for one but that's my opinion.
And on the reveal date I never thought about it but E3 may be perfect for his reveal as it is a very shocking character to the casual crowd.
I think Takamaru will be revealed on the show floor like Wii Fit Trainer was.
Now all we need is a killer trailer idea...

I vote swordplay trailer. Gotta see some Eastern vs Western swordplay.

 

[Yomi's Biggest Fan]

I vote swordplay trailer. Gotta see some Eastern vs Western swordplay.

Link x Takamaru x Marth x Greninja.

 

[NonSpecificGuy]

Link x Takamaru x Marth x Pit.

Fixed.

 

[Marakatu]

Link x Takamaru x Samus x Pit

Fixed'd.

 

[Yomi's Biggest Fan]

Fixed'd.

The Famicom Four, how clever and nostalgic.

 

[IntelliHeath1]

I wonder which hair colors they would go with for Takamaru's model? I know it's more likely that we would get both colors through alternative colors, but I can't helped but want to know which color is actually canon. My feeling is telling me that it's blue.

 

[Yomi's Biggest Fan]

I wonder which hair colors they would go with for Takamaru's model? I know it's more likely that we would get both colors through alternative colors, but I can't helped but want to know which color is actually canon. My feeling is telling me that it's blue.

If Pit's hair was brown in the old days, then it wouldn't hurt if Takamaru get the blue hair as opposed to the black from SW3. Inb4 people whine about too many blue haired swordsman.

 

[RhymesWithEmpty]

I think it'd be cool if they gave him black hair with a blue tint that showed in the light. Or perhaps just really, really dark blue hair XD

 

[JamesDNaux]

Definitely a secret character.

The token retro tends to be a starter, I'm betting the same for Takamaru.

 

[TeenGirlSquad]

The token retro tends to be a starter, I'm betting the same for Takamaru.

I think that Little Mac will be a starter and Takamaru will be hidden.

 

[Chauzu]

I really hope for Takamaru and I'm being hopeful.

Has there been any discussion here about the possibility of utilizing Takamaru's Fire Ball power-up from Nazo no Murasame Jou? I read the moveset in the op and the idea of utilizing the Windmill Sword as recovery is interesting. In-game though, windmill sword sucks and fire balls are op.

Overall, what I feel could distinguish Takamaru from the rest of the sword crew is that he really is a projectile user. Nazo no Murasame Jou is mostly about not getting hit, so keeping away from enemies are basic and getting into enemy battles when you don't need to is dangerous, since the screen gets crowded by ninjas pretty fast the longer you stay. He also has three power-ups to his Shuriken (which can be changed to the windmill sword or fire ball depending on pick-ups) - King, Bishop and Castle. I don't know if this has been discussed before, but I've been thinking about how you could utilize them in Smash.

The most powerful of them is King, that lets you shoot three projectiles at once close to each other, basically letting you hit three projectiles at once. In Smash, this could let you put good offensive pressure on the opponent, and maybe straining their shields quite a bit. There is moveset potential for the other two as well though. Bishop fires three projectiles ahead of you, like King, but one is in front and the other two are aimed diagonally left and right. In Smash, Bishop could be an utility move, letting you cover all areas ahead of you, both on ground and in air, making it harder for enemies to approach and easier for Takamaru, as well as putting pressure on characters trying to get back on stage. Finally, we have Castle. In-game, this fires the projectile in four angles - up, down, left, right. In Smash, it would be the same, and thus be a good defensive move in that it covers all four broad angles, making it easier to get back on stage or just general spacing.

These could all be assigned different special buttons, or simply all share the same (like Special or Foward Special) and then have some way to switch between them. Again, sorry if this has been brought up before, didn't feel like reading through 36 pages, lol.

Just putting it out there. I speedrun Nazo no Murasame Jou and the projectiles are just used more than the sword in general really. So if we're doing Nazo no Murasame Jou justice, I'd like it to be a big part of his moveset if he makes it into Smash 4.

Edit: if anyone want example images of how these power-ups look in-game I can get screens or something later.

 

[JamesDNaux]

I think that Little Mac will be a starter and Takamaru will be hidden.

...And what exactly does Little Mac have to do with anything?

 

[Yomi's Biggest Fan]

I really hope for Takamaru and I'm being hopeful.

Has there been any discussion here about the possibility of utilizing Takamaru's Fire Ball power-up from Nazo no Murasame Jou? I read the moveset in the op and the idea of utilizing the Windmill Sword as recovery is interesting. In-game though, windmill sword sucks and fire balls are op.

Overall, what I feel could distinguish Takamaru from the rest of the sword crew is that he really is a projectile user. Nazo no Murasame Jou is mostly about not getting hit, so keeping away from enemies are basic and getting into enemy battles when you don't need to is dangerous, since the screen gets crowded by ninjas pretty fast the longer you stay. He also has three power-ups to his Shuriken (which can be changed to the windmill sword or fire ball depending on pick-ups) - King, Bishop and Castle. I don't know if this has been discussed before, but I've been thinking about how you could utilize them in Smash.

The most powerful of them is King, that lets you shoot three projectiles at once close to each other, basically letting you hit three projectiles at once. In Smash, this could let you put good offensive pressure on the opponent, and maybe straining their shields quite a bit. There is moveset potential for the other two as well though. Bishop fires three projectiles ahead of you, like King, but one is in front and the other two are aimed diagonally left and right. In Smash, Bishop could be an utility move, letting you cover all areas ahead of you, both on ground and in air, making it harder for enemies to approach and easier for Takamaru, as well as putting pressure on characters trying to get back on stage. Finally, we have Castle. In-game, this fires the projectile in four angles - up, down, left, right. In Smash, it would be the same, and thus be a good defensive move in that it covers all four broad angles, making it easier to get back on stage or just general spacing.

These could all be assigned different special buttons, or simply all share the same (like Special or Foward Special) and then have some way to switch between them. Again, sorry if this has been brought up before, didn't feel like reading through 36 pages, lol.

Just putting it out there. I speedrun Nazo no Murasame Jou and the projectiles are just used more than the sword in general really. So if we're doing Nazo no Murasame Jou justice, I'd like it to be a big part of his moveset if he makes it into Smash 4.

Edit: if anyone want example images of how these power-ups look in-game I can get screens or something later.

@Xenoblaze needs to check this out since it seems like an excellent idea.

As for my input, incorporating such a playstyle and gimmick would be a great way of making him unique. If Mac can have his OP KO Power Meter, then Takamaru can be bullet hell in the form of a fighter.

...And what exactly does Little Mac have to do with anything?

I guess it could be a small chance that Sakurai may consider Mac a stated retro, especially due to Punch Out Wii's situation in Japan. But either way, I highly doubt he would be that stupid to think of it like that.

 

[Speculator]

The token retro tends to be a starter, I'm betting the same for Takamaru.

Takamaru's level of obscurity seems more in-line with ROB and G&W to me.

 

[JamesDNaux]

Takamaru's level of obscurity seems more in-line with ROB and G&W to me.

Ice Climbers had a single game, Takamaru had a single game, Pit had two games, R.O.B. had two games, G&W had more games than you can shake a stick at.

The obscurity means nothing, G&W and R.O.B. weren't retro characters in the same way as Ice Climbers and Pit, but Takamaru is.

 

[MAGMIS]

...And what exactly does Little Mac have to do with anything?

everything

 

[LF2K]

80's anime and manga has such a nice, unique look to it. Shame it's pretty much gone now.

 

[Yomi's Biggest Fan]

80's anime and manga has such a nice, unique look to it. Shame it's pretty much gone now.

Nowadays, it's moe and bishies for everyone!

Good thing I only follow media by Kondasha and Shueisha. No little sisters or fangirl bait.

 

[Marakatu]

If Pit's hair was brown in the old days, then it wouldn't hurt if Takamaru get the blue hair as opposed to the black from SW3. Inb4 people whine about too many blue haired swordsman.

Wait, isn't his hair blue in Samurai Warriors 3? o.0

 

[Yomi's Biggest Fan]

Wait, isn't his hair blue in Samurai Warriors 3? o.0

It's more of a mix of dark blue and black.

 

[Pacack]

The token retro tends to be a starter, I'm betting the same for Takamaru.

Those retros were also revealed before release, though. Since I don't see Takamaru being revealed at E3, it seems like he would be kept secret.

 

[Deleted member]

And here I am thinking Takamaru would be looked at because Sakurai has expressed interest in him as well as the increased relevancy with Captain Rainbow, Samurai Warriors 3, and Nintendo Land as opposed to following the bull**** "retro" logic.

 

[JamesDNaux]

everything

...Is this your idea of a joke?

Those retros were also revealed before release, though. Since I don't see Takamaru being revealed at E3, it seems like he would be kept secret.

Pit was revealed during E3, I don't see why Takamaru can't follow him. I don't recall every starter having the be revealed first either.
When exactly were the Ice Climbers revealed anyway? My memory of pre-Melee is rather fuzzy and we didn't have (an English) Dojo.