Final Fantasy XIV will be represented at the Awa Odori this year, Square Enix has revealed.
The Awa Dance Festival is the largest annual dance festival in Japan. It is held during the Obon Festival in Tokushima City in Shikoku. It’s known for its many groups of dancers twirling through the streets. It attracts giant crowds of tourists.
Square Enix has announced that it will be recruiting dancers for this festival. But there’s a condition; only active Final Fantasy XIV players are allowed to enter. To ensure that this condition is followed, the application requires you to log in with your game account. These dancers will be called the Warriors of Light.
Participants will need to be 20 years old or older. Fifty will be selected via lottery (dancing skills don’t matter). They will perform on the August 14 in Tokushima City at 6:00 p.m. This will be preceded by only a following a few hours of group practice. The bold warriors of light will be provided the traditional happi coat to wear while dancing.
This seems to be part of Square Enix’s drive to hype up the Final Fantasy 7 remake. With the Resident Evil 2 remake hitting all the perfect notes, there’s a lot of pressure on Square Enix to deliver. The Final Fantasy 7 remake will focus more on character development and exploration than the original. The game will be divided into episodes to accomplish this. The developers themselves don’t know how many episodes they will end up releasing.
The Awa Dance festival ( Awa Odori in Japanese) is a festival that had its origins in medieval “Bon” festivities. “Bon” festivities are events in Buddhism to honor dead spirits. The Awa Odori has been happening in Tokushima City since before the 1600s.
But the name, Awa Odori is quite recent. It dates from the end of the 19th Century. The event is known for its anarchist spirit. The festival often winds up with many people hungover and countless more who have blacked out. Basically, it’s like a party in Final fantasy. So it makes perfect sense that Square Enix would want it to be represented there.
If you happen to be in Japan around August 14 you may want to plan a trip to Shikoku. There are also awesome moogle fans that are distributed for free.
