Ferrum Sure Looks A Lot Like South Jeolla
Hello. I'm just mentioning here that Ferrum looks quite a bit like the South Jeolla Province of South Korea. I think of that because of the islands that are next to Ferrum make more sense to be based on South Jeolla than Iriomote Island. Plus, the area looks quite a bit like Ferrum. I know it may seem a bit Farfetch'd, considering how 'friendly' Japan and the Koreas are to each other, but I personally think that it makes a great match. What do you guys think?
CrazyMew37 (talk) 02:22, 26 February 2020 (UTC)
- As the guy who first proposed Iriomote=Ferrum, I'm afraid I must disagree. On a surface level, sure, Gangjin County in particular has a few similarities to Ferrum, but when you really take a look, Iriomote Island has more in common with Ferrum. Ferrum is descibed as "a huge island surrounded by nothing but the ocean itself." Iriomote matches this description almost to a T, since the only island bigger than it in Okinawa Prefecture is Okinawa Island. A map of Ferrum shows that its population is comprised of solitary settlements, with no clear roads or pathways connecting them. Again, this matches with Iriomote, where there's only one road along the coast, unlike South Jeolla. One of Ferrum's islands is the location for Local Battles, implying that the island has some sort of notability. As it turns out, one of Iriomote's neighboring islands has a tourist information center. Iriomote may not line up perfectly with Ferrum, but there are definite connections between the two, more so than with South Jeolla. --Knowitall (talk) 03:05, 26 February 2020 (UTC)
- I don't buy the parallel to Iriomote Island, for a variety of reasons. First, at less than 300 square kilometers, the real Iriomote is not a "huge island" by any definition. It's not even in the top 10 for Japan. Second, Iriomote Island is barely-inhabited, apart from seasonal nature tourism. The entire Yaeyama archipelago only has a population of about 4,000 people (approx. 12 people per square km; compare to Okinawa with over 1000 per square km). Yet Ferrum is shown to have a massive metropolis, Neos City, as well as extensive high-tech infrastructure, including stadiums that seat thousands of people. The implied parallel of Neos and Ohara doesn't work at all; Ohara is barely more than a village. Third, Iriomote has a tropical rainforest climate and is covered in mangrove swamps, while Ferrum displays a continental climate with four distinct seasons and a variety of biomes. Now, I don't think the case for South Korea is that solid either, but it's no more problematic than the case for Iriomote. If anything, the evidence suggests Bandai-Namco didn't base Ferrum on any real world-location. Until one of the developers speaks out, I think it's better to be silent on the issue. ThuribleOD (talk) 18:08, 7 April 2020 (UTC)
Japanese theory for Ferrum's real-world equivalent.
While perusing through Japanese Pokemon wikis, I came across a theory that Ferrum was inspired by Sardinia, Italy. I can see geographical similarities, but I also saw similarities with Iriomote Island, so I'd rather leave the research to someone who actually knows what they're doing. Who knows, maybe it'd be better to just say there's no real-world inspiration for Ferrum, just like Ransei.--Knowitall (talk) 20:42, 24 February 2021 (UTC)
Reasoning for Iriomote as Ferrum's inspiration?
I'm curious to know what that could be aside from the lack of roads or being an island. As a matter of fact, I would be very interested to hear what the idea behind Ferrum being based on any Japanese region could be. This is a subject I'm very interested in, as someone who did a lot of research into Okinawa's history working under the assumption Ferrum was indeed meant to be Iriomote for a fan project I was wanting to put together... KikiAsh (talk) 06:55, 13 December 2022 (UTC)
- I'm the person who first made the theory about Iriomote. My only reference for Ferrum was the photo found on this very page, and I scoured Google Earth for any sort of area that looked similar, even tangentially. I didn't know that there's actually a screenshot that shows a lot more of Ferrum. Really, had I done better research, I never would've mentioned Iriomote in the first place, and I now believe that Ferrum is based off Sardinia, because various Sardinian landmarks/settlements line up better with Ferrum than Iriomote ever did. I'll probably just remove any and all references to Iriomote, assuming the mods don't mind.--Knowitall (talk) 04:34, 14 December 2022 (UTC)
- I actually did a bit more research today and I think I'd like to suggest that Ferrum's basis might not be that far removed from Iriomote, that basis being Okinawa. What has me thinking this is how distinctly Japanese a lot of Ferrum's landmarks are (though there is some undeniable European influence as well), specifically Neos City. If we look at images of Nara, the capital of Okinawa, and it's streets, there is more resemblance there than there is to Neos City and Teulada, the city in Sardinia suggested to be Neos' basis in the page on the Pokemon world in relation to our own. Of course it could be just as possible that Ferrum is indeed based on no particular region as well though I'm still willing to make a case for Okinawa until we get official word, if ever. KikiAsh (talk) 05:08, 14 December 2022 (UTC)