In Season 3, Episode 15 of No Reservations (2007), there are many references to Dante and Inferno.
Contributed by Brendan Keefe
Lou’s Inferno – Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock
“Lou’s Inferno is located in the Rock Underworld (revealed after you play through Story Mode) and is a very large room with Thick Izzy sitting on a throne behind the drummer. During a song, he will hit his hammer against the floor if your Rock Meter is in the green level as if rocking out to the music. To the left of the band (the right side of the stage from the crowd’s point of view) is a relatively small fire in a chimney. On the opposite side of the stage is a much larger fire. In front of the stage, a large crowd of people, possibly demons (in this case meaning people who have died and been sentenced to Hell, or, possibly, souls of people collected by Lou or Grim Ripper) has gathered to watch the show. All around the venue, there are red, horned women dancing. It’s basically the Guitar Hero version of Hell.” —WikiHero, February 19, 2018
Learn more about Neversoft’s 2007 video game Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock here.
“Vagabonds”
“Lacouture, having known Belano since he was a teen-ager, gives the novel’s most detailed account of his imprisonment in Chile; in her view, his efforts against the Pinochet regime were noble but tainted him, as he returned to Mexico a preening radical who looked down on his old friends ‘as if he were Dante and he’d just returned from hell.'” –Daniel Zalewski, The New Yorker, March 19, 2007
The Nine Circles of Libertarian Hell
“First Circle—The Virtuous Heathens: Those who care strongly about liberty in one particular sphere (e.g. freedom of speech, freedom of religious practice, the drug war, etc.) but don’t care much about it other spheres. These people are infuriating for their lack of general theory underlying their politics, but at least they’ve sorta got the right idea and can make themselves somewhat useful. This circle contains members of the NRA, ACLU & other such single-issue organizations, and is guarded by John Stuart Mill.
“Second Circle—The Lustful: Those who fall madly in love with a dim vision they have of a more egalitarian society and then hastily rush off to elope with it, without giving much thought about just how much promise there really is in the relationship. These people’s hearts are often in the right place but they show a frightening lack of concern for whether or not the policies they endorse are actually likely to accomplish the goals they desire. This circle is filled with innumerable bleeding-hearts and is guarded by Thomas Sowell. [. . .] –Matt McIntosh, The Distributed Republic, June 30, 2007.
Read the full list of the “Libertarian circles of Hell” on the Distributed Republic.
When Seagulls Cry (2007)
Umineko no Naku Koro ni is a Japanese visual novel developed by 07th Expansion. The title translates to When Seagulls Cry in English. The series was released in Japan from 2007-2011, and globally through 2016-2017.
“The story focuses on a group of eighteen people on a secluded island for a period of two days, and the mysterious murders that befall them. Readers are challenged to discern whether the murders were committed by a human or of some other supernatural source, as well as the method and motive behind them.” [. . .] —Umineko When They Cry, Wikipedia, 2018.
Fans of the series have pointed out several references to Dante’s work in the series, such as these found by readers on MyAnimeList:
“I’ve started reading Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy few days ago and I found several analogies with Umineko.
- “Names:
Beatrice – name of deceased Dante’s love, his guide through Heaven
Virgil – name of Dante’s guide through Hell and Purgatorio - “Structure of Mt. Purgatorio is of the form 2+7+1=9+1=10, with one of the ten regions different in nature from the other nine ( last – Earthly Paradise). It may resemble 10 twilights of the Witch’s Epitaph.
- “Dante meets Beatrice at 10th floor, Battler meets Beato at 10th twilight
- “Seven Stakes resemble floors 3rd- 9th of Mt. Purgatorio (each floor represents 1 of 7 deadly sins.)
- “Magic circles in Umineko have a same names as the Spheres of Heaven:
First Sphere of the Moon –> First Circle of the Moon” [. . .] —Azakus, MyAnimeList, October 11, 2009.
To see more of the Dante references fans of When Seagulls Cry have found, check out the full forum discussion on MyAnimeList.
You can buy When Seagulls Cry and check out other games in the series on Steam.
Contributed by Philip Smith (University of the Bahamas)
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