Nowadays, anime opening and ending themes, alongside most Japanese video games, are the domain of young female vocalists and idol groups. Yet, those of my generation will remember a time in which the heroic deeds of giant robots and space pirates were accompanied by the much deeper voices of a handful of male singers. While now we have J-Pop-like rhytms, back then the songs were much closer to traditional Japanese music, evoking completely different feelings for a different era.
One of the most prominent of those singers is Ichirou Mizuki. Nicknamed the “Emperor of Anime Songs,” he holds a special place in the hearts of many fans of anime series like Mazinger Z, Kotetsu Jeeg, Captain Harlock and many, many more, on top of quite a few tokusatsu series.
Turns out that the Emperor is also a big fan of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, which he plays on his Nintendo Switch. Just yesterday he cleared the last of the 120 shrines, bringing home the coveted Armor of the Wild set. For someone with a busy schedule like his, that’s quite the deed, and probably the portability of the Switch helped quite a bit.
He revealed the feat on Twitter:
任天堂switchのゲーム「ゼルダの伝説」の全120ヶ所の祠と祠チャレンジを全てクリア。やっと最後の入手防具の「息吹の勇者」シリーズをゲット！これでマスターソードをもっと強化出来るZ! プレイしていない人にはチンプンカンプンな話でごめんなさい。 #ゼルダの伝説 #ストレス解消 pic.twitter.com/VQ9rnsaFMz
— Ichiro Mizuki (@aniki_z) July 8, 2017
“Cleared the challenges of all the 120 shrines in the Nintendo Switch game “The Legend of Zelda.” I finally got the “Armor of the Wild” set! With this, I can further strengthen the Master Sword Z!
I’m sorry for the strange story to those who aren’t playing. #TheLegendOfZelda #StressRelief”
Now, if only the Emperor lent his voice more to video game songs, I’d definitely be a happy man, since I’ve been a fan since when I was ten years old or so, and consider his style much more fitting to certain genres than what we get today… Or maybe I’m just old.
If you aren’t familiar with his songs, you can listen to a few iconic examples below.