Скачать или смотреть A Japanese proverb behind the Magikarp→Gyarados evolution 及ばぬ鯉の滝登り

If you play Pokémon, you might have wondered why a useless fish Pokémon called Magikarp, which just hops around instead of inflicting any damage on the opponent, suddenly turns into a monstrous dragon called Gyarados at Level 20.

The gimmick is a reference to the Japanese proverb 及ばぬ鯉の滝登り (Oyobanu Koi no Takinobori) which I would translate to “A feeble koi’s scale up a waterfall.”

In ancient Chinese belief, koi fish were thought to turn into a dragon upon successfully swimming up a waterfall. But the belief was localized with a twist.

In Japanese, the word 鯉 Koi for “Koi fish” is a homonym with the word 恋 Koi for “crush.” So “A feeble koi’s scale up a waterfall” refers to unrequited love where a person is trying to win the heart of a person totally out of his league 🥺.

Classism was real in samurai-ruled Japan up until the late 19th century, and there were countless cases of men and women falling in love with a person belonging to a different class.

Let us celebrate the freedom of love we enjoy today by making sure to evolve every single Magikarp we catch into a Gyarados 🥹.

Hi, I’m Kyota, the author of Amazon Best Sellers [Folk Tales of Japan] and [Underdogs of Japanese History].

Please check out my books at ☺️: https://kyotako.myportfolio.com/