It has all the charm you would expect from the legendary singer
A dark horse series from 2016, Thunderbolt Fantasy uses traditional Chinese and Taiwanese puppetry to capture the imagination of anime fans around the world. An indispensable person in the production process was Takanori Nishikawa. Not only did he provide the theme songs for all three seasons, but he also provided the voice of the red-haired pipa-playing young man from Wū Yáo Village. To celebrate the singer's birthday, the puppetry company behind Thunderbolt Fantasy, Pili Puppetry, imagined a Nishikawa “puppet.”
Image via x.com
© Thunderbolt Fantasy Project 2016-2024
Pili Puppetry's X (formerly Twitter) account posted an image of “puppet” Nishikawa on the singer's birthday, September 19. In the post, Pili Puppetry also urged fans to reminisce about Nishikawa's 1998 song “Hot Limit.”
[東離｜西川貴教生日快樂]
Today is September 19, Takanori Nishikawa's birthday. Let's reminisce about the classic'HOT LIMIT'~
這次第四季主題曲〈天叢雲劍-SKYBREAKER-〉，為西川貴教獻唱，由Benjamin + cAnON.作詞、澤野弘之作曲。#一起祝教主生日快樂 #西川貴教 #HOTLIMIT pic.twitter.com/Y3mu9z8Pna— 霹靂布袋戲 PILI Puppetry (@epilinet) September 19, 2024
Although the photo in the Pili Puppetry X/Twitter post appears to be of a Nishikawa puppet, astute fans of both Nishikawa and Thunderbolt Fantasy will notice something a bit unusual. That's because the account grafted the puppet head of Wū Yáo Village onto Nishikawa's real body. It's also quite a convincing job as at first glance it appears to be an original puppet with all the charm one would expect from Nishikawa.
Now, if only he appeared on stage wearing a Wū Yáo Village mask when performing “Hot Limit.”
Source: Pili Puppetry's X/Twitter account
