Anju and Kafei
The Legend of Zelda characters
Kafei (left) and Anju (right), as they appear in The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
First appearance	The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask

Anju and Kafei are a romantic couple in The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask. They are the subject of the sidequest Testament of Love, which involves the protagonist Link investigating the disappearance of Kafei on the request of his mother and Anju, his fiancée. Kafei went into hiding due to losing a mask meant to be given to Anju at their marriage ceremony and being turned into a child, not wanting to see Anju until he could recover it and return to an adult. The quest is on a time limit, just like all content in Majora's Mask, and spans all three days in the game that take place before the moon crashes, destroying the country Termina. Link can only retrieve the mask and reunite the couple on the final day.

This quest was added by the development team after going to a wedding of a staff member during a North Korean missile test, which prompted director Eiji Aonuma to discuss how strange it was to attend a wedding when missiles may strike. He also thought it would be interesting to include a wedding, since weddings were not common in games like The Legend of Zelda. He also wanted to make it more complicated for adult players, though noted that he appreciated Majora's Mask 3D making it easier to solve the quest. The couple and their quest received positive reception from players, regarded as one of the best quests in both The Legend of Zelda and video games as a whole by multiple critics. The reunion was considered rewarding in and of itself, and their romance was considered one of the best in gaming.

Concept and creation

Anju uses the model of a character from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time as her basis.^[1] The wedding between Anju and Kafei was first conceived after members of the Majora's Mask development team attended a wedding of a staff member's shortly after Ocarina of Time's release. At the time, they were trying to figure out what events to include in Majora's Mask.^[2] The wedding occurred during the Taepodong-1 missile test by North Korea. Director Eiji Aonuma found the idea of attending a wedding when missiles may strike strange. The discussion eventually evolved into how such a setting would make sense for a setting with a falling moon. They also considered that a wedding is not a usual setting for a video game like The Legend of Zelda, and that it would be "really impactful" to include.^[2][3] Aonuma noted that their sidequest could be complicated, which he said was the result of them trying to "age up the themes" and provide a "slightly more adult feeling drama moment here and there." He explained that they were accounting for the fact that their target audience was slightly older now, aiming it towards adults, and assumed that adults would be able to understand the quest more easily. He felt that limitations in the original Majora's Mask made this more complicated than he would have liked, and was glad to be able to make it easier in the 3DS re-release of Majora's Mask 3D.^[2]

Appearances

Anju and Kafei first appeared in the 2000 video game The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, a game that operates on a three-day time limit (52 minutes real-time without speeding up or slowing down in-game time). Their actions are on a schedule, meaning that players, while controlling Link, must complete their quest - the Testament of Love - on their schedule, and thus can fail the quest if they miss a part of the schedule. Their quest takes place across the entire three days span of time. Anju is a worker at the Stock Pot Inn in Clock Town in Termina, while Kafei is the son of the mayor. They were slated to get married, but Kafei had the mask he was going to give to Anju as part of a marriage ceremony stolen and was then turned into a child. Ashamed, Kafei went into hiding until he could retrieve the mask from the thief Sakon. Meanwhile, Anju continued working at the Stock Pot Inn, worried about Kafei while her mother insisted that he ran away with the farmer Cremia and that she should move on. Link becomes involved after agreeing to help search for Kafei, receiving the Kafei Mask, which he uses to ask around about him. When shown to Anju, she asks Link to meet her later at night. She gives Link a letter to send to Kafei, which he puts in the mail. Link waits at a Laundry Pool where a boy with similar hair wearing a Keaton Mask was located, until the Postman arrives and draws the boy out of the building he is in. When Kafei exits, Link sneaks in, where he discovers that this boy is actually Kafei, receiving the Pendant of Memories and giving it to Anju, which makes Anju decide to wait for him. If she does not receive the pendant, she will go to Romani Ranch with her mother to flee the falling moon.

On the third day, when Link goes back to the building he was in, he finds a man, who gives him a letter from Kafei to his mother and the Keaton Mask, before telling Link that Kafei went to Ikana Canyon. Link finds Kafei in hiding while waiting for the thief Sakon; if Link stopped Sakon from stealing from an old woman on the first day, the quest cannot progress further. If he did not, Sakon will open the door to his hideout, and Link and Kafei follow. Kafei attempts to take the Sun Mask, but a mechanism turns on as a result. This causes the mask to become sealed, going down a conveyor belt towards a pit, and Link and Kafei go through two separate paths, Link defeating enemies and Kafei solving puzzles. They eventually make it through, intercepting the mask. Kafei makes his way back to the Stock Pot Inn, where Anju was waiting, arriving shortly before the moon was about to crash into Termina. Anju recognizes him despite him being a child, and they hug one another before exchanging Kafei's Sun Mask and Anju's Moon Mask, becoming a couple. The two masks form the Couple's Mask, and Anju presents it to Link, who served as a witness to their coupling. They decide to stay in their room together to greet the morning together. Once Link defeats Majora at the end of the game, the wedding will be shown in the end credits on the day after the moon was expected to crash. It is from the point of view of Kafei, who is now an adult, but who goes unseen.

Anju later appears in The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap as a different incarnation of the character.^[4]

Reception

Anju and Kafei's relationship has received generally positive reception, considered one of the best couples in both The Legend of Zelda and video games in general. It has also been praised as one of the best stories in Majora's Mask. Game Informer writer Blake Woog considered it one of the most famous and "heart-wrenching" sidequests in The Legend of Zelda,^[5] Den of Geek writer Matthew Byrd called it the best quest in the series and possibly one of the most complicated quests in any video game. He drew comparisons between it and past trading quests in Ocarina of Time and Link's Awakening; however, he noted that it was less about trading items than it was trading items to progress a story. He felt that, despite it being too frustrating or convoluted for some, but the reward of finally getting them back together after so much effort is worth it. He said that the fact that you get a moment that sticks with you instead of something in-game makes it stand out among other quests.^[6] Writer Taylor Yust felt Anju and Kafei's quest was a good example of synergy between gameplay and story. They felt similarly to Byrd that the real reward was reuniting the couple, feeling that the gameplay enhanced the quest's thematic significance to the player.^[7] Buzz Feed News writer Alanna Okun called the plot between Anju and Kafei the most "poignant subplot" in video games, disappointed that there hasn't been more material made about them.^[8] When considering the greatest couples in Nintendo games, Game Rant writer Michael Sriqui noted that while the rest of the list had at least one major character, he had to include Anju and Kafei, calling it the best sidequest in video games. He felt it was a beautiful story, saying that it could only work in video games.^[9]

Screen Rant writer Ross Griffin considered it a more rewarding story than the main story, noting how failing a step in solving their issues makes it one of the darkest in the series.^[10] GamesRadar writer Connor Sheridan similarly felt that Anju and Kafei's quest was more enjoyable than the main story, He felt that doing this quest did not take away from the main quest, instead making it more intimate. He felt that despite it being a bittersweet story to have them be together at the end.^[11] The Gamer writer Bella Blondeau regarded it as her favorite romantic couple in The Legend of Zelda and a "narrative highlight" of Majora's Mask, stating that they are always coming to mind when discussing it. She felt it seemed bleak, but it actually seemed hopeful in some way, feeling like the happiness of Anju and Kafei is one of the driving forces behind Link's quest to stop the moon from crashing. She also felt it was hopeful in its depiction of "love overcoming all obstacles," including the impending destruction and Kafei's transformation.^[12] A writer for Game Developer discussed how Anju's unconditional love for Kafei despite Kafei's perceived failures teaches players that if someone truly loves them, that person will come to terms.^[13]

Anju and Kafei's reunion was particularly well-received. Nintendojo writer Katharine Byrne discussed it as a quality example of romance in video games. She talked about how hopeless it could be, particularly if their quest is completed without having first awoken all four of the Giants, as it would mean that they were only reunited so that they could die together since Link cannot stop the moon and must return to the past. She also discussed how Anju and Kafei are too afraid to confront each other, mentioning Anju's reluctance to mail her letter to Kafei herself and Kafei being unable to return to Anju without the Sun Mask. She called the reunion between the two of them one of the most heartfelt moment in The Legend of Zelda.^[14] Destructoid writer Daniel Starkey spoke of how their reunion made him cry, calling the quote "We shall greet the morning... together" pure, also commenting on how their love is "completely mutual and elegantly expressed." He used this as an example of the "Lover's Reunion," disagreeing with Roger Ebert's skepticism of video games as art because of the interactivity of this scene.^[15] Fellow Destructoid writer Ben Davis felt it was likely a favorite sidequest for many, stating that the reunion scene is one of the most memorable and emotional. He said that reuniting them and then beating the game right after is the only way to play the game.^[16] Nintendo World Report writer Pedro Hernandez felt that it was a standout moment in the game, saying it "pulled [his] heartstrings." He felt that the ending was the best part of their story, saying it was the most "romantic and bittersweet moments" in the game due to them reuniting only to have a small amount of time together before the end.^[17]

References