Many of us are making our way through Tears of the Kingdom right now, but it’s too soon for me to think too deeply about the game. But as I play, I can’t help but compare the experience to playing Majora’s Mask for the first time.
The world of Majora’s Mask is considerably smaller than Tears of the Kingdom, but it’s the small details that keep me coming back to it. And when I think of compelling sidequests, Anju and Kafei’s is the one that has had the biggest grip on me.
To call Kafei’s Bedroom a bedroom might be a little generous. Unfortunately for poor Kafei, it’s a tiny partitioned-off area in the room he shares with his parents.
It’s strange that the Mayor and his family have such restricted living quarters. However, Mayor Dotour has his office, Madame Aroma has her drawing room, and Kafei has almost nothing for himself.
Behind the curtain is the sum of Kafei’s possessions — a single bed, a red rug, a leafy plant, and a desk with a chair. There is little personality here and very little for us initially to go on when it comes to investigating Kafei’s disappearance.
The only real distinguishing features are the two items on the desk. The first is Kafei’s Diary, and the second is a small picture of Anju. These are the only hints of personality in this sparse room, and they’re all about Anju and how much he loves her.
Beyond this, there is little to tell us about Kafei or his life. We don’t really know anything about him beyond his relationships. We know all about his parents and his betrothed, what they do all day, and who they are as people, but he is still a mystery. Did he have a job or any goals beyond being married? Or was he a little lost, like so many in Termina?
His room leaves me a little sad. Here he was, a grown man living in his childhood room, just on the cusp of some sort of independence. He already was stuck between boyhood and manhood before Skull Kid turned his internal crisis into an external one. I wonder if that was Skull Kid’s exact design — to change Kafei into a child — or if the Mask hooked onto Kafei’s anxieties and made them manifest.
Kafei’s bedroom tells us everything and nothing about his story. Maybe he’d stayed in the back of the Curiosity Shop many times before. After all, he’s clearly used to cramped spaces. And I bet his parents snore.
