Y’know about NanaOn-Sha, right? The creators of PaRappa The Rapper?
Yeah, NanaOn-Sha did make some great games that were remembered fondly by many people, and were brought over to other countries due to their great reception. Then there was Mojib-Ribbon.
For the uninformed, Mojib-Ribbon is a spin-off game to Vib-Ribbon. Like Vib-Ribbon, it’s a rhythm game with cute lil characters, but like Vib-Ribbon’s sequel, Vib-Ripple, Mojib-Ribbon never saw a release in any other language than Japanese, and it was only ever released in Japan. It makes sense, though; NanaOn-Sha’s previous titles were mostly understood in other languages and countries, safe from the scene in PaRappa The Rapper where Katy, PJ and PaRappa play janken together.
Mojib-Ribbon, though? Well, it’s a game about Japanese calligraphy. I don’t think I need to explain why it wouldn’t have worked.
I’ll make this brief. Mojib-Ribbon sees you taking control of 3 different characters, each with a different brush and way of holding that brush, way of writing characters, end-of-level quote, and different Vocaloid-esque synth voice.
Levels see your character(s) walking around a circular plain covered in fog (I think), that they have to clear by writing stuff. They say this stuff out loud as they do this, in their weird vocal-synth voices, and it’s meant to sound like rapping.
Honestly, this game is really difficult to describe, so just watch some gameplay of it, and maybe the translated tutorial, I don’t know.
Anyway, I love all 3 of the characters. There’s Mojibri, he’s pretty cool. There’s also Mojiko, absolutely adorable (I love her victory phrase, “Mojiko Kyun ♡”). And there’s Osorezan 1999 (Read one-nine-nine-nine, not nineteen-ninety-nine).
I don’t know why I love this guy so much. He’s a robot who transforms into a U.F.O. whenever you’re doing bad at the game. He has mismatched eyes, one that’s circular and one that’s a hash-tag. He writes stuff while standing on his brush like it’s a jackhammer. He apparently lives inside a volcano, and that's why his name means "Horrible Mountain".
And then there’s his voice.
This stupid robot sounds so awkward whenever he’s rapping. I can’t begin to imagine how they got his voice to sound so strange, but it’s great. I love it so much. He even pronounces his own name wrong in his introductory stage.
Perhaps i do know why I love him so much after all!
I also really enjoy all of the victory cutscenes/messages including Osorezan. His stand-alone one translates to “Osorezan 1999, The best in the world!”, which is pretty normal, but it’s written and spoken in a fun way. And, in all the ones where he’s with other characters, he’s always really huge compared to Mojibri and Mojiko, which makes a lot of sense. He also makes a whole lot of weird robotic noises (mostly ones that sound like they come from a printer??) while he writes these ending messages. Super awesome.
By the way, I haven't even played this game before! i don't plan to, either. I'm awful at rhythm games, and i don't own a ps2 either. i just really like this funny robot guy lmao