Behold! Daddy-Eyeball of GeGeGe no Kitaro, the protagonist of a Japanese manga TV series, has just found his missing twin siblings. They also happen to be the mascots of London’s 2012 Summer Games. No biggy. Doubtful that Daddy-Eyeball will receive the same sort of limelight, unfortunately. Their resemblance is uncanny, all that’s left is a DNA test…and maybe a lawsuit.
But seriously, wow! Could the creators of the two latest mascots be more inspired by GeGeGe no Kitaro? At least it was smarter for Daddy-Eyeball to be seen nearly naked than to be sporting a space suit.
And who are the new mascots? Well, their names are Wenlock and Mandeville, the Olympic and Paralympic mascots, respectively. Hmmm, at least their names sound like they could be Hogwart students or Death Eaters (yes, I am a Harry Potter fan). This is the one thing “London” about them.
Of course, I should not judge so quickly. Remember when the Vancouver mascots were first unveiled? People bashed them right away. Maybe Wenlock and Mandeville will become a hit…one can hope, right? And one needs to hope real hard.
I’m not going to lie though. After being surrounded by the cuteness of Vancouver’s Winter Games mascots (and sidekick) these two Summer Games mascots just don’t do it for me.
Sincerely disappointed,
Angela
PS. Check out an oldie — but goodie — post about how the 2010 mascots are a ripe off of Sanrio. Goodness, what ever happened to originality and innovation? Judge for yourself, have the past couple of mascots been influenced by Japanese characters?
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