(Article in progress, please pardon the mess!)
Nogeyuki Zoo (based on the real life Nogeyama Zoo) is a zoo within bus and train travel distance from Kamakura. The site is incredibly important to Lucy, as it is the site of her happiest moments from her childhood.
In the manga[]
(Coming Soon)
In the anime[]
(Coming Soon)
Real Life[]
The author based Nogeyuki Zoo on the real life Kanazawa Zoo in the southern part of the city of Yokohama, Japan. It is a branch of the Nogeyama Zoo, located in the central part of Yokohama until 1988. Kanazawa Zoo became independent around that time, notable for its elephants and giraffes.
It's not clear why Lynn Okamoto changed the zoo's name from Nogeyama to Nogeyuki, but the most likely reason is to avoid possible copyright infringement claims by the zoo. This legal consideration could also explain why the series calls it Nogeyuki and not Kanazawa as well.
In the manga, Kouta and Lucy reach the zoo by train, but there isn't a railway connecting Gokurakuji Station and the Zoo. Using the train would mean they would have to take three separate trains to get there, which is rather unreasonable for a child's monetary allowance depending on the rates. The anime circumvents this by having the pair take a bus to the zoo.
Trivia[]
- While part of the same prefecture and region, the real world Yokohama is a separate city from Kamakura. So one possibility is that the Nogeyuki is meant to be a completely fictionalized location with heavy real world inspiration, but given how the distance between the two cities is not too far away, it is not impossible for the two kids to have gone to two different cities but not explicitly mentioned either.
- Yokohama is also the second most populated city in Japan.
- Funny enough one of the things Yokohama has a strong economic base for is biotechnology which is a huge part of Elfen Lied.
- There is a city called Kanazawa which is the capital of the Ishikawa Prefecture.
- The “yuki” part of Nogeyuki is Japanese for snow.
- Lucy’s visit here shows that she is rather uneducated, not knowing what a elephant or giraffe is despite being at an age where most kids would learn about such creatures.
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