History Headscratchers / HarvestMoon

* Running water: Yes. Television: Yes. Denim: Yes Phone: At least one game. Combine Harvester: No. [[JustForPun Fridge: yes]].

* How come you never get any income from your spouse? I can understand it if it's one of the marriage candidates that don't have paying jobs, but seriously. They didn't need to quit work just because the married you.

* How old is Calvin supposed to be, anyway? His in-game bio in ''Parade'' explicitly refers to him as a ''young'' man, which would put him no higher than thirty and probably somewhere around 21-26. But if you court him as a girl player, he suddenly starts making references to an age difference between you! What's up with that? (My sort-of theory is that he's proven to be very shy around people he likes, and, being a traveler, he's not used to long relationships with people... So he's paranoid about anything that could drive him apart from someone he really cares about, even if it's a comparative molehill.)
** It could just be a personality quirk of his. This troper's boyfriend is that way, despite there being hardly an age gap.

** [[{{Timber}} This troper]] personally believes he's a former member of a visual kei band who realized he liked the fashion more than the music, and old habits are hard to break.

*** Probably this. 28 is still "young" by [[ChristmasCake most standards]], and if the protagonist is 18, that's a full decade between them. If she's 21 (legal US drinking age), that's still seven years. Some people get freaked out by an age difference of only five years, or even less in some cases. His face is also older-looking than most other bachelors, so perhaps he feels his age more because he actually looks it instead of being a fresh-faced {{Bishounen}} like most of the other young men in town.

* What's Julius'... ''deal,'' exactly? You really can't ''deny'' that he's meant to be [[AmbiguouslyGay camp.]] I mean, he wears ''lipstick'' and ''eye shadow.'' But he's... still a bachelor? Is it like the male version of BaitAndSwitchLesbians? Or is there some Japanese "campiness-loving" subculture I'm unaware of? (And I ain't talkin' 'bout YaoiGuys. There are more than a few {{Seme}}[=/=]{{Uke}} types in the series already.) If he's just a straight man in touch with his inner fabulousness, or a bi guy who doesn't care how he's percieved, hey, more power to him... But from a character design standpoint, it confuses me.

** That's always bugged me, too. [[ComicBookTime Trying to estimate age]] is just plain old brain-busting in Harvest Moon - like in ToT and Animal Parade, you can get married, have children, and watch those children go from babies to school-age... and the other, pre-existing children in the neighbourhood become their peers and playmates, despite having been like ten or something when you first moved to town! Poor Gill keeps wearing his schoolboy-esque shorts even after he becomes a father, which would either imply that he is either disturbingly young, or else just kind of disturbing in general. I suppose the best case one can make is that the legal age for adulthood is pretty low in most Harvest Moons. [[WildMassGuessing Either that or everyone is a Highlander.]]

* What's Julius'... ''deal,'' exactly? You really can't ''deny'' that he's meant to be [[AmbiguouslyGay camp.]] I mean, he wears ''lipstick'' and ''eye shadow.'' But he's... still a bachelor? Is it like the male version of BaitAndSwitchLesbians? Or is there some Japanese "campiness-loving" subculture I'm unaware of? (And I ain't talkin' 'bout YaoiGuys. There are more than a few {{Seme}}[=/=]{{Uke}} types in the series already.) If he's just a straight man in touch with his inner fabulousness, or a [[BiTheWay bi guy]] who doesn't care how he's percieved, hey, more power to him... But from a character design standpoint, it confuses me.

!The Series In General

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!!Tree of Tranquility/Animal Parade

!! The Tale of Two Towns

!!The Series In General

!!DS/DS Cute
* Why didn't Natsume change the names of the characters in DS/Cute? Too lazy?
** Personally, I'm glad they didn't. It always makes me mad when translation companies feel like they need to change character names to make them seem more "American".
*** Actually, I prefer Skye's English name. "Steiner" kinda sounds like a hot dog company...
** Maybe it was because the whole GenerationXerox thing in the Japanese versions was pretty pointless and confusing.
*** But the problem is that they kept the Generation Xerox in the American version, too. For example, talking to Gustafa while he's in his house causes this confusion:
--> '''Gustafa''': A man named Gustafa built this yurt. He lived his days wandering and singing songs.
** No it wasn't. It made sense to me, much more sense then a bunch of people naming their children after their grandparents.
*** Why would they need to be different people to begin with? Their relationships are all ''exactly'' the same, their jobs '''exactly''' the same, their homes '''exactly''' the same, their '''appearances...''' You get the idea.
** It makes the games more interesting and lets them somewhat expand the plot..In a confusing manner.

* Why didn't they make Cody a special bachelor in ''DS Cute?'' He's single, he's probably younger than Carter and Griffin (two ''legit'' bachelors), and ''he even laments being a bachelor.'' The boys got four special gals, so why not a measly two? Did they not want to sprite "different" kids for him because he's AmbiguouslyBrown or something? (Well, unlike ''most'' of the men in the valley, he doesn't even ''consider'' the possibility that you're proposing to him if you show him the Blue Feather... [[HardGay Maybe...?]])
** For that matter, why didn't they make Daryll a bachelor and have Leia be the rival for him?
*** They probably didn't have Daryl and Leia as a rival couple because Leia is a special bachelorette in ''Harvest Moon DS'' (and also [[HideYourLesbians in the Japanese version of]] ''[[HideYourLesbians Cute]]''), and special marriage candidates don't have rivals for their affections in the first place (most likely because special bachelor/ettes tend to have a ton of extra requirements to marry them, so including a rival would just add to the work). I don't know about Cody, though.

* What's the deal with the whole GenerationXerox thing in the first place? It doesn't really make any difference whether the ''DS''/''Cute'' characters are the ancestors of the ''A/nother Wonderful Life'' characters, since the series loves to [[{{Expy}} recycle characters]] anyway. It's pretty easy to play through the game without ever knowing they're supposed to be descendants of the original characters. Since all the ''DS''/''Cute'' characters look exactly the same as they did in ''A/nother Wonderful Life'', changing the names and calling them descendants doesn't really make sense to me...
** The GenerationXerox doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me, either, [[FridgeLogic especially if you consider]] [[IncestIsRelative that there's most likely some inbreeding going on]]. I prefer to think of ''DS'' as being an AlternateUniverse of ''A Wonderful Life''.
** Are certain supposed to be cousins or something? I'm not getting how this all works.

* I don't have that many issues with the amount of special bachelors in ''DS Cute'', since the Mineral Town boys are marriageable in ''Cute'' where the MT girls weren't in ''DS'' (...well, they were, but it ended the game), but they went through the trouble of making daughter graphics, so why didn't they edit the colors and patterns on the kid sprites for the bachelors? They already had designs for Rock's, Marlin's, and Gustafa's kids from ''Another Wonderful Life''. It would make a lot more sense if Marlin's, Carter's, and Gustafa's kids actually looked like them...
** IIRC, the ''Another Wonderful'' kids were just recycled from the boy version. It ''is'' weird, but in the case of Gustafa and Carter, you can chalk it up to recessive genes. Blonde and red are recessive colors, and they both have dominant black/brown hair, so if they have blonde/redhead genes buried in there, makes sense. Of course, if Claire (who'd have to have all blonde genes) marries Gustafa, it falls apart... and that has weird implications for Pony, whose recessive genes would be determined by ''who she marries.'' But if Pony marries either, or Claire just marries Carter, it still makes a kind of sense! Take it from someone whose self and whose sister had platinum hair as children, but two blackish brown-haired parents. (Now our hair's darkened to goldish brown so we look more like them.)
*** No, the ''Another Wonderful Life'' kids actually did get [[http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/6862/anwlkids.jpg different designs]] than the kids from the boy version. Although this troper admits how they worked around Gustafa's OpaqueLenses was creepy (though fixed for the kid's character model, where he simply had purple irises instead of the concept art's big gaping purple circles of nothingness...).

* Does anyone besides me wonder about shopping over the telephone? Whenever you buy something from Karen's store, for instance, she says, "Thanks, I'll put it in your rucksack!" (or something similar, at least) and bam there it is... but you're... buying over the phone. How...?
** Since Teleport Stones have been made easily available (they're a mere 1000 Sprite Coins each at the Sprite Game Center, and that's not a lot), they're probably using those. They send the stuff by stone.

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!!Island of Happiness
* Why are you so stunned that the Witch Princess and Harvest Goddess know your name, but don't bat an eye when the Harvest Sprites reveal the same knowledge?
** Possibly because if you do something wrong they could kill you. What's the worst a Harvest Sprite could do? Get stuck in your shoe when you step on it?
*** Perhaps the Harvest Goddess and the Witch Princess are modifying your memory?
* You can't make boiled eggs or steamed milk without being told how first? Really?
** You lost a lot of brain cells while being battered around by the storm. Not to mention you don't have a T.V. or computer, so you might go a little loopy.
* Why are you the one who has to pay for bridge and road repair? Does no one else in town use them?
** They're all lazy jerks and know you're going to be the one to do it, so why bother when someone else will do all the work?
** Maybe the roads and bridges are built because you finally paid your part, while everyone else paid their part some time ago.
*** Which creates more FridgeLogic. Why doesn't anyone bug me to pay my part so the bridge/road can finally be repaired?
* People will leave the island if ''you'' ignore them, regardless of their relationship to other people? (Temporarily, in most cases, but still)
** Because thy're really self-conscious and beg for your approval.
*** And because you're the one with all the money and crops and jewels so you're the only one worth knowing.
* (No FridgeLogic here, just bile): Okay, weeds are a part of the Harvest Moon series since forever. But where the screaming blue hell do those sticks and rocks keep coming from?!
** My guess is that, since you're so close to water, any huricane or heavy rain washes them on land.
* Why ''did'' the original island population leave? Even when some of the old residents pop back up, they don't say.
** This one does get answered by unlocking Annabelle: They were chased away by bad weather. Of course that begs the question of why they didn't come back when things stabilized.
** Supposedly, Shea was one of the residents, or whatever.
*** They probably settled elsewhere and were happy enough. It's only normal that they wouldn't return.
* In sunshine islands, there is not one married couple. Usually every game has at least one or two happy couples along side the single parets, but all of them are single in this game for some reason, maybe the islands attract single people?
** Yep, like those cruise ships for desperate people in their 30's.
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!!Grand Bazaar
* What's the point of having rivals, if they won't get married?; honestly.
** Magical Melody had the same thing; it's probably to not delete the rival system all together and make fans mad, plus it'd seem odd for everyone else to stay single. Not everyone gets married in real life, and not everyone gets married quickly, so it's realistic.
* Regarding the Pumpkin Festival, how come the kids don't think chocolate is candy, but are willing to consider things that obviously aren't (pudding, cookies, etc.) candy? This is especially strange because chocolate was the go-to gift in Mineral Town...
** Probably a cultural thing. In Japan, Halloween is more about the costumes than it is the candy ("Amature Night of Cosplay" is all the more true across the Pacific), and adding this holiday was clearly for the benefit of the Western audiences (though why they chose to call it the Pumpkin Festival in the first place makes little sense when it's not much to do with pumpkins; call it Children's Day or something, though I realize that's an actual, unrelated holiday in Japan). So, any sweet item could be seen as good enough through the lens of another culture. As to why chocolate no longer counts, the only reason I could possibly think of is that chocolate is connected to Valentine's Day, so maybe some Japanese MoralGuardians thought giving "romantic" chocolate to prepubescent children had UnfortunateImplications even they didn't like?

!! A Wonderful Life
* How does Galen, the guy who looks about 70 from the start, OUTLIVE THE PLAYER? I was thinking he died between years 3 and four (after his wife Nina), and the Galen you talk to after that is a ghost, but...
** The game takes place over the span of thirty years or so. It's sane to say he can live to be 90 - 100.
* Am I the only one who thinks Marlin's crush on Celia in ''Another Wonderful Life'' is a little {{squick}}y? I mean, Vesta describes Celia as "like a daughter" to her in ''A Wonderful Life'', and Marlin is Vesta's brother. I realize Celia doesn't have any biological relation to Vesta and Marlin, but the notion of the latter having a crush on Celia kind of rubs me the wrong way.
** ''Vesta'' sees Celia as a daughter. But Marlin is young and closer to Celia's age. It's not like they adopted her, they just let her live with them while she works there.
* How is it that Celia's heart events can be viewed out of order? In my first game file, I ended up seeing Celia's ''third'' heart event (the one where she has to go shopping) first, and this was when she only had one red heart in her diary (even though [[http://www.gamefaqs.com/gamecube/582288-harvest-moon-a-wonderful-life/faqs/43423 the marriage guide on GameFAQs]] says that Celia needs two or three red hearts for that heart event to be triggered). Is this some kind of harmless glitch or something (I've noticed that neither Muffy nor Nami seem to have this problem)?

I'm not really factoring in drinking ages, ages of majority, and ages of consent here since those can vary a lot by location (though modern-era drinking ages are usually relatively high barring religious exception). (It's not something long since relegated to the "[[{{Fandom}} We]] [[InternetBackdraft Do Not Speak Of]] Such Things" file, is it?)

* So you start out the game and meet Dale, and he says he's worried about his son, who is in the Fugue Forest. So the time comes to go into the Fugue Forest, but first you need to get the key that has the only way into the forest from... Dale! Who states once again that he's worried about his son, who is in the forest. But the door's locked, with Dale as the only one who has the key. You locked your own son in the forest, [[{{Peanuts}} you Blockhead!]]

** He could also be a ''really'' [[{{Otaku}} dedicated]] [[{{Cosplay}} fan]] of VisualKei, or [[ThisExists a straight drag queen]], or [[EpilepticTrees a very flamboyant]] PerkyGoth. His spring/summer outfit actually isn't very flamboyant at all when you consider the clothing teens [[CrackIsCheaper with money]] wear these days, especially among the Japanese subcultures that ''try'' to dress with offensive flamboyance. In my opinion, his winter outfit really makes him look more like a crossdresser than anything, [[SarcasmMode and we all know that crossdressing males are never of a sexual or gender orientation that encourages them to sleep with and/or marry women]]. Just ask [[Creator/EddieIzzard Eddie "Male Tomboy" Izzard]], [[InsistentTerminology Executive Transvestite]], why Julius might be more into metalworking and things like [[RunningGag running, jumping, climbing trees]] than singing in a modern burlesque and sleeping with men.

I'm not really factoring in drinking ages, ages of majority, and ages of consent here since those can vary a lot by location (though modern-era drinking ages are usually relatively high barring religious exception). (It's not something long since relegated to the "[[{{Fandom}} We]] [[InternetBackdraft Do Not Speak Of]] [[FandomBerserkButton Such Things]]" file, is it?)

** He could also be a ''really'' [[{{Otaku}} dedicated]] [[{{Cosplay}} fan]] of VisualKei, or [[ThisExists a straight drag queen]], or [[EpilepticTrees a very flamboyant]] PerkyGoth. His spring/summer outfit actually isn't very flamboyant at all when you consider the clothing teens [[CrackIsCheaper with money]] wear these days, especially among the Japanese subcultures that ''try'' to dress with offensive flamboyance. In my opinion, his winter outfit really makes him look more like a crossdresser than anything, [[SarcasmMode and we all know that crossdressing males are never of a sexual or gender orientation that encourages them to sleep with and/or marry women]]. Just ask [[EddieIzzard Eddie "Male Tomboy" Izzard]], [[InsistentTerminology Executive Transvestite]], why Julius might be more into metalworking and things like [[RunningGag running, jumping, climbing trees]] than singing in a modern burlesque and sleeping with men.

** He's [[TheRockyHorrorPictureShow Frank N. Furter's]] son.

** Tree of Tranquility and Animal March fixed this. Calvin, who is marriageable in both, has PermaStubble.

** It's ''heavily'' implied she's adopted, and he makes a few comments wondering why she doesn't look like them...

** It's ''heavily'' implied she's adopted, and she makes a few comments wondering why she doesn't look like them...

** It's ''heavily'' implied he's adopted, and he makes a few comments wondering why he doesn't look like them..

** Tree of Tranquility and Animal March fixed this. Calvin, who is marriageable in both, has PermaStubble. [[{{Timber}} This troper]] was pleased.

*** And Steiner.

*** For the first generation, that is. Since the second generation starts shortly after marriage, you hardly get time to enjoy any benefits. In addition... you'd THINK that your mother would offer you discounts on services like she did to her husband, but ''noooooo''. The fact you're their son/daughter doesn't mean ''anything'', even still starting you at 0 friendship with them.

*** Hm, might be thinking of the wrong game.
*** On that note, how can you eat those eggs and milk without getting sick?!
**** The CountryMouse and the CityMouse have different sets of antibodies.
***** Except sometimes you ARE a CityMouse...
**** Raw Egg and Raw Milk should be digestible as long as it is fresh, and time freezes inside your rucksack (which lead to another question...)

** My guess is that the Harvest Goddess's religion has dietary laws prohibiting people from eating land-dwelling animals.
** Possibly there is, but your farmer is too attached to their animals to slaughter them. It'd certainly be... grim.
*** There's an old farmer's saying that you should never name your livestock. Once you do, the animal goes from "food source" to "pet".
**** This troper always numbered his animals anyway, since keeping track of twenty-some names would be bothersome.

** And in Animal Parade, there's the Harvest King, who is (no offense to Kappa) much better looking, at least having the benefit of being ''humanoid''.
*** And the Wizard.

** The same reason Rock's parents seem native Hawaiian and he's white and blond?
*** ...This troper assumed he was adopted...
*** If Rock is adopted his parents never told him, he makes a few comments wondering why he doesn't look like them.
** I thought they were Asian, plus it's ''heavily'' implied he's adopted.
** I assume the stick in their asses made them infertile, so they adopted their child from [[RosemarysBaby Rosemary.]]