KANEKO'S CRIB NOTES LXVIII: X-CaliBR8ting the Divine
🎃 HAPPY HALLOWEEN! 🎃
Here's something spookier than scary October mummies and ghouls: waiting until the last minute to begin the annual KCN post. Like, I had the whole year to finish it, but still waited until the last week to start the write-up. "Oh, I have plenty of time," I said to myself sometime around July. [scream] I guess I can partially blame 2025 being "a year," but that's just an excuse; on top of all its trash, Kaneko achieved the impossible and resurrected himself--only to associate his art with slop.
But he did some good new art, too, a few examples of which are included here!
COMP: Megaten's demon-summoning device.
A comment hidden within Digital Devil Apocalypse revealed that the classic forearm-mounted COMP is inspired by the similar "X-CaliBR8" from The Dungeonmaster (1984).
MEDJED: Minor Egyptian deity that became a Japanese meme.
Kaneko's Medjed follows most Japanese pop culture depictions in cribbing the deity's appearance from the Greenfield Papyrus.
BALAM: 51st demon of the Goetia; a king.
Tsukuyomi's Balam is interesting in that it doesn't much resemble the Dictionnaire Infernal illustration like most of Kaneko's Goetia demons do (although his sleek form is right at home with "later" designs such as Orias or Morax); instead, he seems to be cribbing himself, namely the Balam sprite from SMT If... . But it's likely more complicated: If...'s design has the most in common with the written description; further, If...'s is a refinement of the multi-headed Balam from MT2. We're satisfied calling it a refinement of a refinement.
AILLEN: Fiery foe of Fionn mac Cumhaill.
Aillen as a tall, horned, fire-emanating entity appears to stem from this Beatrice Elvery illustration from 1914--one easily found on Wikimedia Commons. Is this the first known instance of Kaneko pulling a Doi and using Wikipedia as a source?
METATRON: The angel known as the "lesser YHVH."
In a promo for Tsukuyomi, Kaneko divulged that Metatron's shining facade is inspired by the armor of Mordred from 1981's Excalibur.
Thanks to PSI Guy, Vesk, Kid Capes, and the rest of the Stealing Knowledge Discord for ideas and assistance!
And finally, let's end the crib year with some optimism: I think we currently have enough cribs to last until 2027!
