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Kid’s mom says video games are pointless, kid grows up to be part of new Zelda game’s soundtrack

Casey Baseel Sep 23, 2019
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26 years after having to hide under his bed sheets to play Link’s Awakening, this musician is part of the game’s remake.

Like a lot of kids who were born in the 1980s, Junichiro Taku (@magnumtriored on Twitter) was a big fan of Nintendo’s Legend of Zelda video game franchise. As a matter of fact, he liked it so much that he figured out how to play the series’ iconic four-note treasure chest leitmotif on the flute.

▼ Zelda treasure sound effect

When Taku proudly told his mom about his accomplishment, though, she scoffed at him for wasting time on such frivolous things as playing video games, and told him to spend more time studying instead. Saddened by his mother’s disapproval, Taku ended up playing the 1993 Game Boy title The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening in secret, hiding under his bed sheets while completing the quest.

However, now that Taku is a grown-up, he doesn’t need anyone’s permission to play games, and so he quickly picked up a copy of the just-released Link’s Awakening for the Nintendo Switch, even though the responsibilities of adult life meant it was after midnight before he got to sit down and start playing it.

https://twitter.com/magnumtriored/status/1174702554921328640

And as it turns out, the Link’s Awakening remake, which comes more than two decades after the original game’s release, has brought things full circle for Taku, as he explains in this tweet.

『♪ラ#ラシド〜』

「はっ！お母さーん、笛でゼルダの宝箱の音が吹けた！」

と報告にしに行ったら

「またゲーム？そんな役に立たないものまだやってるの！？勉強しなさい‼︎」

と言われてショボンとしていた小学生の僕に教えてあげたい。
26年後のリメイク作品ではお前がフルートを担当するぞと。 https://t.co/VXVpZbnJHZ

— 多久潤一朗（たくじゅんいちろう） (@magnumtriored) September 20, 2019

“<♪ La # la ti do>
I told my mom ‘Wow! Listen, mom, I figured out how to play the Zelda treasure sound on my flute!’, and she said ‘Were you playing video games again? You’re still wasting your time on those pointless things!? Go study!!’

I wish I could go back in time and tell my elementary school-age self, who was so sad, ‘In 26 years, when they remake this game, you’ll be the person playing the flute for the soundtrack.’

Those adult responsibilities of Taku’s mentioned earlier? He’s now a professional flutist (and leader of three-person flute ensemble Magnum Trio) who’s performed in concerts around the world, and his skills earned him the respect of Nintendo, which then hired him to work on the Link’s Awakening remake soundtrack.

▼ Taku was so overcome with emotion upon playing the game that he had to stop for a few moments to take it all in before he could take a single step away from the hero’s starting house.

https://twitter.com/magnumtriored/status/1174709475317411841

▼ Taku (right) with fellow Magnum Trio members Yuya Kanda and Kazuhiro Kajihara

So apparently despite his mom’s worries, Taku’s lifelong love of games hasn’t prevented him from making progress in other fields, and hopefully his story will help other parents to be a little more open-minded regarding their kids’ hobbies too.

Source: Twitter/@magnumtriored via Jin
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