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Polynesian/Islander culture in the media

tecnowraith

First Post
Does anyone know any anime, movies, video game or novels that is set in the Polynesian/Islander culture? Looking for fantasy or horror elements in the anime. I could have sworn that I have seen several anime like this can not remember.
 

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The anime Neo Ranga (AKA Strange Secret of the South Seas Neo Ranga) is about the only thing that comes to mind. A trio of women inherit their very own god.
 



tecnowraith said:
Does anyone know any anime, movies, video game or novels that is set in the Polynesian/Islander culture? Looking for fantasy or horror elements in the anime. I could have sworn that I have seen several anime like this can not remember.


Whale Rider and Once Were Warriors come to mind. They're both pretty good flicks, but not really fantasy related. Not sure if I've ever seen a Polynesian fantasy movie or such.
 

The most accessible is Garry Kilworths 'The Navigator Kings' trilogy (The Roof of Voyaging, The Princely Flower, Land-of-Mist) which is set in an alternate Polynesia (mostly Tahiti) and has as a plot point the Polynesian discovery of Celtic Ireland

Carol Severance has a trilogy - Demon Drums, Storm Caller and Sorcerous Sea about Iuti Mano a veteran warrior who turned her back on the destruction caused by her ancestral 'shark clan' and now fights to fprotect her peace.

Maui the Novel by Steven Goldsberry is a book I haven't read but do want to get a hold of one day. Apparently it retells the Hawaiian legends of Maui and reviews look good

There are other short stories and obscure novels too...

THE ROOF OF VOYAGING
The Navigator Kings (Book I)

When Kupe, one of the great Polynesian voyagers, chases a huge octopus across the ocean, he discovers the strange octopus And mysterious Land of Mists And rescues a man And a woman from the wild sea. He carries them back to the island of Raiatea where the pale strangers witness the momentous events that follow the death of the king And the struggle For the succession.

But the gods are watching also, And when Prince Tangiia And his followers secretly flee the island in search of a new home, their intervention becomes inevitable.

Delighting in the rich And colourful detail And myth of Polynesian life, The Roof of Voyaging is the first part of a wonderful tale which will become a landmark in fantastic fiction.

An absolute delight, based on the myths and legends of the Polynesian peoples. (Mark Morris-SFX Magazine)
 


The original Dream Park by Larry Niven and Steven Barns has a good chunk of the plot devoted to south pacific Cargo Cults.

The Chronicle's of Burne SH in my sig has had a couple of encounters with Polynietzscheans.
 

In terms of video games, there's The Mark Of Kri and its sequel (Rise of the Kasai). I've only played the first, and it's a beautiful game. I'd love to own a book of the designs. However, I really can't recommend it. For the most part, the gameplay isn't bad, but the experience was ruined by the final level. There's no final boss fight. You fight wave after wave of regenerating zombies and then are "treated" to a cutscene of your confrontation with the bad guy. What the hell is that? It made me feel like all the time I spent playing was wasted since there was no payoff.
 

Tonguez said:
Maui the Novel by Steven Goldsberry is a book I haven't read but do want to get a hold of one day. Apparently it retells the Hawaiian legends of Maui and reviews look good
If you want to know the legend of Maui (a Hawaiian version of "Hercules"), you should go here.

http://www.sacred-texts.com/pac/maui/index.htm

For other Polynesian-themed movies, try Rapa Nui starring Jason Scott Lee (part-Hawaiian). It tells the story of the culture on Easter Island.
 

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