Cicadas in Japanese video games and anime

Abstract

If you ever watched an anime, chances are at some point you have heard an incessant buzzing sound in the background. Those are cicadas, the sound of summer in Japan. Summer only truly arrives when the cicadas start singing (Kendall, 2014).<p>

<p>Whenever it is summer in an anime, TV series, movie, or game, you can be almost sure to hear cicadas on the background. Their sound is an easy and straightforward way to set the atmosphere and impart the feel of a Japanese summer (McKirdy, 2019).<p>

<p>Many people don’t pay much attention to nature, be it the real thing or in fiction, so if you think you have never heard cicadas, just go back to one of the almost-mandatory episodes in your favorite anime (summer holidays, festival/fireworks, beach trip) and check it out. They are so prominent that, as a Redditor put it, they are the best supporting character in every anime.