I just noticed this while looking at the all-too-familiar grinning visage of the reaper who appears when you lose a game. Seeing as the Cardhunter community is composed of erudite and perceptive individuals, I thought others might also enjoy the trivial observation. So, when you lose, the reaper appears holding a floating die. You know the image: What you might not have noticed is that orientation of that die is not possible on most all (Western made) dice. Go look at any dice you have laying around, orient the 1 face to the top as he does, and you'll see the two on the left and the four on the right. That's because most Western made dice have what is called a right-handed or clockwise chirality, where the 1-2-3 faces and 4-5-6 faces are arranged clockwise when viewed from their common vertex. However most dice made in Asia have a left-handed or counterclockwise chirality, with the arrangement in reverse. You can learn all about it on Wikipedia! So, I conclude the reaper is either holding a non-Western die, or more troublingly, is a mirror image of the player. Just thought I'd share!
What you don't realize is the other side of the die also has a 1, 2 and 4... that's why you lost! (If the Reaper is going to use a cheating die, why a 4 you ask, instead of a 3? Just so he can make you discard Altruism. )
Did you know the number 4 is considered ominous in japanese culture? In fact, some of its possible pronunciations (shi) also means "death".
^ In fact, it gets so bad [Japanese culture's attention to superstitions], that many buildings and building structures skip the number 4 altogether- despite, you know, not changing anything but what the areas are called. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetraphobia
4 is actually considered bad luck throughout much of eastern Asia. Many passenger aircraft I've ridden there didn't have a seat row 4.
Yep, and the wiki article I linked makes that pretty clear. Japan is widely considered to be the most intense about it, though: While Korea, China, etc, tend to avoid 4s in things they deem risk-worthy (like airplane rows), Japanese culture makes a point of avoiding 4s in even the smallest things. Of course, not having lived in any of the countries, I'm just quoting hearsay; In any case, Japan is definitely the best known for it- though that certainly could also be due to how influential Japanese culture has become in western cultures. [Anime, anyone?] Meanwhile, I interact with 4s regularly an have thus far had slightly better than average results with them. Of course, when a big neon 4 falls off of a store's building lettering and lands on my head, killing me, that's when I'll known how right they were to be concerned.
