Miscellaneous Myths: Momotarō

He's heroic! He's legendary! He's bland as bread! It's everyone's favorite folk hero, Momotarō! For this one I cranked up the historical context a little, in an effort to answer the age-old question - "why the heck is this so popular?"

Sure, Moses might LOOK like an instance of the "magic baby from nowhere" trope, but HE wasn't born from a flowering plant and/or secretly alien moon-royalty.

MERCH LINKS:

[OneColdRepublican]

You telling me your Boi Peaches was the first Pokemon trainer? Sweet.

[LeifMaelstrom]

I feel like the fact that characters know who he is before he even does something suggests that Momotoro is a much older character than this surviving myth.

[leonmercury]

"Mom looks like I'm an unlikely hero"
"I'll go get the ancestral weapons"
How every story I make will be handled from now on. Massive lampshading.

[arcticdino]

Momotaro: Ok guys, we need a pla-
Pheasant: Alright let's do this! JENKINS!

[kylarirons]

The pheasant flies in first, announces their presence, and starts taking on the oni single handedly and no, I have no idea how he pulled that off either"
I assume you've never fought a goose before? or more accurately, been prey to a goose?

[kerentan]

"Impressively strong, most impressively fluffy"
"Has thumbs"
"Keeps itself the in the air through sheer anger"

[fusel]

“Pretend like we never tried to kill each other” ... laughs in European and it’s thousands years of war history

[justanotherartchannel]

“They encounter a monkey-“
Me: OMG YES I-
“No not that one.”
Me: oh

[juanmanuelpenaloza]

USA: Hey, remember that time we tried to kill each other?
Japan: Remember? Have you seen our cartoons?! We turned the whole thing into an anime trope: Old rivals becoming best buds.
USA: Huh...cool bruh.

[beepboop]

There’s an item in animal crossing new horizons called a peach surprise and I was so confused when a baby popped out of it and now it makes so much sense!

[yo-im-soup]

"There's a myth where the god of thunder throws a skinned pony at the sun goddess and she responds by hiding in a cave for months"

And now we finally know the full story. That foreshadowing is on point.

[MegaTang]

Samurai jack had a episode where jack tells a sick child this story.

[purplehaze]

“The pheasant flies in, announces their presence, and takes on the oni single-handedly. And no, I don’t know how it did that.”
Ever been attacked by a cassowary?

[giomancyy]

“Anime is bizarre”

*JOJO INTENSIFIES*

[Erine]

“Suck it mammals” i laughed way harder then I should have

[redgallo]

"Power of Friendship"

One of the many cliche things about anime.

[redarrow]

"This isn't China"-Sun Wukong

[LordPenguin-qxtd]

"It's all anime?"
"Always had been."

[prastarkeepers]

Six years later, between Donbrothers and the Pokemon Scarlet & Violet DLC, this video seems a lot more relevant now.

[fabiomorandi]

The pheasant managed to channel the power of all of his ancestors in that occasion. As for how that battle turned into an oni massacre, remember what creatures lurk in the genetic heritage of that fine piece of poultry.