The Mysterious Mystery of Metalman
Wait, there's a mystery to Metalman? And it is "mysterious"? Isn't that just being redundant? And why in the world is the avatar art of professional composer Kenichi Maeyamada AKA Fan Remix Extraordinaire Hyadain the first image here? While I'll admit that this seems like a total mess from the start, I guarantee I'm going somewhere with all of this. Hyadain is getting featured in the beginning because it was through one of his musical remix videos that tipped me off to the mystery originally, although not explicitly nor was it his intention.
This is "Made of Metal", Hyadain's fifth Rockman related remix released back in August 2008. Accompanying the catchy remix and clever lyrics, is a montage of Metalman fan art and animations from the Mixi Community. Now my question to you is, Were you able to catch an inconsistency on Metalman's that's spread among the video's visuals? I have laid out 10 different images from the above video below for your careful inspection. Let's see if you can not catch the irregularity that I did 3 years ago. A hint: this difference separates the images into two groups of five.
If you answer is "Metalman's pelvis", then you are a winner, winner, a chicken dinner! Apparently, the various fan artists could not agree on whether or not Metalman has those red,...um,...over-underwear things over his black leggings. Thinking this maybe just be a phenomenon that only occurring with this video, I decided to do a quick search on art site Pixiv,... just find the same problem.
BY: たえ |
BY: Cooga |
BY: ミサキ |
BY: やなぎ |
BY: し ゃ け 弁 |
BY: あや |
BY: ふうと@明日から本気出す |
BY: やなぎ |
BY: インドリアン |
So apparently, unbeknownst to all the Metalman artists, there is a giant divide on an unlikely topic: Metalman choice of pants. At this point, I had a bit of a epiphany of my own clueless-ness about Metalman's design. Even my own memory have vague recollections of him both with and without the red,..um,...codpiece. Of course, this isn't some great imponderable, I have a nice ready stock collection of Rockman related images on this computer of mine, I just need to source the image of Metalman that debuted with the release of Rockman 2 and this mystery is solved:
And we find the culprit to this whole problem! In a bid for a dynamic pose, Art Designer and "God of all things Rockman" Kenji Inafune had decided on a picture of Metalman he drew with his pelvis covered by his arm and a Metal Blade for Rockman 2's public release. Interesting enough, this vague aspect has carried over to discrepancy in Metalman's in game depictions as well. Truly, this mystery is indeed mysterious. No one seems to know it even exists, and even Capcom staff works can not seem to agree on the answer.
So is there an definitive answer to this question? As it turns out, Inafune did eventually release reference art for all Rockman series characters internally for Capcom staff to work with. They feature a four sided view of the characters, as well as a color guide for them. Among them of course, is Metalman who is surely sporting red "Superman underpants". Us fans never got a chance to completely see these pictures until the release of R20 Rockman Complete Works in 2008
And although it does not look like it was always referred to, the majority of Capcom art does side with the crotch dressing. At last, our mystery is solved, and I hope this will set the fan artists among you readers straight on Metalman, so that you won't make the same mistake as Capcom art staffer Ryuji Higurashi.
It's okay Higurashi, even without a red crotch guard, your Metalman art for Rockman Complete works still looks awesome |