#King saru | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

yamayuandadu · 1 year

Text

The real life inspirations behind new characters in Touhou 19 (Unfinished Dream of All Living Ghost) While I haven’t been posting much about Touhou as of late, I felt obliged to put together the customary post about the inspirations behind the new characters. The new game genuinely renewed my interest. In contrast with similar write-ups pertaining to previous games the research is not entirely mine - some of the sections are a result of cooperation between me and @just9art. Without further ado, let’s delve into the secrets of the new cast. Find out if Biten is the first “Wukong impersonator” ever, when a tanuki is actually a badger, and why Hisami both is and isn’t an oni. Naturally, the post is full of spoilers. Also, fair warning, it's long.

1. Biten Son - sarugami + Sun Wukong

Sarugami means “monkey kami”, the monkey in mention being the Japanese macaque.To my best knowledge, the term is actually not used commonly in English - the results on jstor and De Gruyter are in the low single digits, Brill outright has nothing to offer. Translations are much more common.

Sarugami are particularly strongly associated with Mount Hiei. You might have heard of it because of its association with Matarajin, though in this case he’s not exactly relevant. Instead, it is believed the monkeys act as messengers of Sanno (the “mountain king”), Sekizan Myojin and Juzenji. Sanno himself could take the form of a monkey according to medieval texts, while Juzenji can be accompanied by a deity depicted as a man with a monkey’s head, Daigyoji, known from the Hie mandala. Sarutahiko is also associated with monkeys based on the similarity between his name and the word saru. Bernard Faure notes that despite the clearly positive portrayal of monkeys as semi-divine beings in service of these deities, their perception in folklore and mythology can nonetheless be considered ambivalent, because they could be viewed as aggressive. There are even examples of sarugami being portrayed as monstrous antagonists to be defeated by a hero. The best known tale of this variety is known simply as Sarugami taiji. It is preserved in the Konjaku monogatari. Here the sarugami is a fearsome monster who terrorizes a village and demands the offering of one young woman each year.

In contrast with the sarugami, I do not think Sun Wukong, one of the protagonists of the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West, needs much of an introduction. We reached the point where even in the west he is recognizable enough to warrant toys based on him (there’s a Lego Wukong on my desk right now). Biten's design has many callbacks to traditional portrayals of Wukong, including the staff (which in the novel is a pillar stolen from the undersea palace of a dragon emperor) and a very distinctive diadem (in the novel making it possible to pressure the unruly Wukong into obeying the monk he is meant to protect). As a curiosity it’s worth noting that “fake Wukong” is not a brand new idea - in the novel itself, one of the enemies of the heroes, Six-Eared Macaque, actually impersonates him for a time. Wukong is effectively himself a “divine monkey”, seeing as despite his origin as a literary character he actually came to be worshiped as a deity in mainland China, Taiwan and various areas with a large Chinese diaspora. The topic of Wukong worship itself came to be an inspiration for literature, starting with the excellent The Great Sage, Heaven’s Equal by Pu Songling, a writer active during the reign of the Qing dynasty, in the early eighteenth century.

2. Enoko Mitsugashira - “immortal yamainu” + Cerberus

Enoko gets the least coverage here, because there really isn’t much to say. Yamainu, “mountain dog”, isn’t really a supernatural creature, it’s an old term for either the extinct Japanese wolf, a type of feral dog, or a hybrid between these. It can also be used as a synonym of okuri-inu, a youkai wolf believed to accompany travelers at night.

There’s actually a distinctly Journey to the West-esque component to Enoko’s backstory, but I have no clue if this is intentional. In the aforementioned novel, many of the antagonists, who are generally demonic animals, are motivated by the desire to devour the flesh of the protagonist, the Buddhist monk Tang Sanzang, because it is said to grant immortality. Granted, given the obscurity of the figure Zanmu is based on - more on that later - perhaps this is an allusion to something else we have yet to uncover. Cerberus, being probably one of the most famous mythical monsters in the world, does not really need to be discussed here. The illustration is included mostly because I like Edmund Dulac and any opportunity is suitable for sharing his illustrations. I do not think it needs to be pointed out that Enoko's bear trap weapons are meant to evoke Cerberus' extra heads.

3. Chiyari Tenkajin - tenkaijin (+ mujina) + chupacabra

While my favorite animal youkai not yet featured in Touhou is easily the kawauso (otter), I was very pleased to learn we sort of got a mujina since I wanted to cover this topic since forever, but never got much of a chance. Technically Chiyari is actually meant to be a tenkaijin, which is not a mujina but a slightly different youkai (a will-o-wisp or St. Elmo’s fire-like creature, specifically) who in the single tale dealing with it takes the form of a mujina after dying, but as there is not much to say about it beyond that you will get a crash course in mujina folklore instead.

Today the word mujina is pretty firmly a synonym of anaguma - in other words, the Japanese badger. The animal does not substantially differ from other badgers, so I do not think much needs to be said about its ecology. However, historically the term could be used to refer to the tanuki regionally, or interchangeably to both animals, so in some cases if insufficient detail is provided it is hard to tell which one is meant. This ambiguity extends to the folklore surrounding them, and generally if you know what to expect from tanuki tales, which I’m sure most people reading this do, you will instantly recognize many of the plot elements typical for mujina ones. In other words, it is yet another yokai which typically takes the role of a shapeshifting trickster. Some supernatural phenomena could be basically interchangeably attributed to mujina, tanuki, kitsune or kawauso. Mujina are commonly described taking the form of Buddhist monks, which is one of the many similarities between them and tanuki.

The most famous depiction of a shapeshifting mujina comes from Toriyama Sekien’s Konjaku Gazu Zoku Hyakki (The Illustrated One Hundred Demons from the Present and the Past). The accompanying text compares the creature to the supernatural versions of kitsune and tanuki, and states that the artist relied on a tale according to which a mujina was able to successfully impersonate a Buddhist monk until accidentally revealing its tail.

What makes the mujina special is that it is actually the oldest recorded example of a youkai of this sort. A mujina tale already appears in the early Japanese chronicle Nihon Shoki, dated to 627. It reports an incident of a mujina transforming into a human and singing somewhere in the Michinoku Province. I feel like this alone is a good example of why you should be wary of people who seek to present Nihon Shoki or Kojiki as historical truth. Western audiences as far as I know were first introduced to mujina by Lafcadio Hearn. To my best knowledge, the fabulous shapeshifting badgers however failed to gain the popcultural recognition enjoyed by tanuki and kitsune. They did appear in Shigeru Mizuki's stories every now and then, and I found a mascot character based on them, but overall there isn't all that much beyond that.

Naturally, there isn't much mujina in Chiyari's design, and she instead most likely owes her distinctly spiky appearance to the other inspiration behind her character, the chupacabra. Mujina are not really portrayed as bloodthirsty, but the poorly documented tenkajin apparently is, which is presumably why ZUN decided to connect Chiyari with the chupacabra, the best known modern blood-drinking creature, who first appeared in tall tales from 1995 and subsequently took popculture by storm after spreading from Puerto Rico to mainland USA and Mexico. I am not a chupacabra aficionado so I have little to offer here, sadly.

4. Hisami Yomotsu - yomotsu-shikome

Judging from what I’ve seen on social media and on pixiv, Hisami is shaping up to be one of the most popular new characters (she’s my fave too). In sharp contrast with that, her basis is pretty obscure. So obscure that there isn’t even any historical art to showcase, as far as I can tell (note that this blog claims night parade scrolls might have something to offer, though - I was unable to verify this claim for now, sadly). As we learn from her bio, she is supposed to be a yomotsu-shikome. They’re called the “hags of Yomi” of Yomi in Donald L. Philippi’s Kojiki translation. The term shikome can be literally translated as “ugly woman”. Nothing about them really implies femme fatale leanings we are evidently seeing in Touhou but I’m not going to complain about that. Yomotsu-shikome appear only in the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki, and in both of these early chronicles they are portrayed as servants of Izanami after she died and came to reside in Yomi, the land of the dead. Nihon Shoki states there are only eight of them. The distinct grape vine motif present on Hisami’s clothes seems like an obvious reference to Izanagi’s escape from Yomi following his meeting with Izanami, portrayed in the myth recorded in both of these sources. When the yomotsu-shikome started to pursue him, he threw a vine he used to hold his hair at them. The plant instantly bore fruit, which the entities started to eat. They later resumed the chase, but were once again held back, this time by a bamboo shot. According to the Nihon Shoki, they eventually give up after he creates a river from his piss (sic) to keep them away.

Yomotsu-shikome are sometimes compared to oni by modern researchers. Noriko T. Reider in her monograph about oni argues that alongside hashihime and yamanba (pictured above) they can be effectively grouped with them. Another researcher, Michael D. Foster, is more cautious, and states that despite clear similarities it’s best to avoid conflating oni-like female demons with female oni proper, especially since the latter have a distinct iconography and a distinct set of traits. Norinaga Motoori, the founder of kokugaku or “national learning”, a nationalist intellectual movement in Edo and Meiji period Japan, claimed that oni were based on yomotsu-shikome, which is a pretty dubious claim. It is ultimately not certain when the term oni started to be used, but it is safe to say it has continental origin. And, of course, oni permeate Japanese culture in a way yomotsu-shikome do not.

5. Zanmu Nippaku - Zanmu

This was the toughest mystery to solve, and I am fully indebted to 9 here, since they figured it out, I am merely depending on what they directed me to. Research is still ongoing, and it feels like we just started to untangle this mystery, so you can safely expect further updates. Zanmu appears to be based on the Buddhist monk… well, Zanmu. You can learn a bit about him here or on Japanese wikipedia; it seems there are quite literally 0 sources pertaining to him in English, and even in Japanese there is actually very little. Their names are not written the same, ZUN swapped the sign for “dream” from the original name for one which can be read as “nothingness”. If the unsourced quote on wikipedia is genuine, the reason might be tied to the personal views of the irl Zanmu. What little we’ve been able to gather about him is that he was active in the Sengoku period, and apparently was regarded as unorthodox and eccentric. This lines up with Zanmu’s omake bio pretty well. Seems the real Zanmu was also unusually long lived, and was able to recall events from distant past in great detail, though obviously the figure of 139 years attributed to him in a few places online has to be an exaggeration.

Yet more puzzling is the reference to Zanmu’s familiarity with Ikkyo you might spot in the linked article. Whether the famous Ikkyo who you may know from the tale of Jigoku Dayu is meant is difficult to determine. The chronology does not really add up; on the other hand the logic behind associating one eccentric semi-legendary monk with another in later legends isn’t particularly convoluted. As 9 pointed out to me, if ZUN was aware of this link, and the same Ikkyo really was meant, it is not impossible the connection between Zanmu and Hisami is meant to in some way mirror that between Ikkyo and Jigoku Dayu. As you can easily notice, it’s pretty clear the historical Zanmu was male. It does not seem his Touhou counterpart is, obviously. I would say we should wait for more info until declaring that we have a second Miko situation on our hands, with a male historical figure directly reimagined as a female character without any indication we are dealing with a relative rather than the real deal. There’s still relatively little info to go by so I would remain cautious (though naturally this is not meant to discourage you from having headcanons).

Neither me nor 9 were able to find any connection between the historical Zanmu and oni… so far, at least. Therefore, what motivated ZUN to make Zanmu an oni remains to be discovered. As a final curiosity, on a semi-related note it might be worth pointing out that while not as common as their male peers, female oni are not a modern invention, and already appear in setsuwa from the 13th century. A particularly common motif are tales describing a woman turning into oni due to jealousy or anger. Further reading:

Jason Colavito, The Secret Prehistory of El Chupacabra (2011)

Bernard Faure, Gods of Medieval Japan vol. 1-3 (2015-2022)

Michael Daniel Foster, The Book of Yokai. Mysterious Creatures of Japanese Folklore (2015)

John Knight, Waiting for Wolves in Japan. An Anthropological Study of People-wildlife Relations (2003)

Noriko T. Reider, Japanese Demon Lore (2010)

#touhou #touhou spoilers #unfinished dream of all living ghost #udoalg #touhou 19

274 notes · View notes

al-hekima-madara-blog · 3 months

Text

Tobirama birth chart (headcanon)

Tobirama is a headcanon I've procrastinated a lot because as a Madara hardcore fan, of course I'm not enthusiast about the Second hokage. But hey! I need to conclude the cycle of founders birth's chart. And I swear, I'll be fair play !

I strongly advise you to read Madara and Hashirama's chart. For this birth chart, I'll go a little bit more technical in astrology. We will talk briefly about rulerships, aspects and synastry. I'll try to explain as simple as possible but if you don't understand don't hesitate to ask me more precision in comments. Ok let's go:

Based on the official databook, Tobirama Senju is born the 19th of february which made him a 0° pisces. At first glance, it's an intriguing choice. Pisces is the last sign of the zodiac traditionally described as encompassing all the previous ones. Pisces is compassionate, creative, mystical. It talks about total acceptance, the dissolution of the ego. The drop of water reaching the ocean and merging with the divine before moving to a new cycle : a new aries. Actually in the beginning of Christianity it's not a mistake that Jesus was associate with Pisces symbol. It's the same self-sacrificing figure for a transcendent cause. We agree that it seems far... far away from the rational and composed Tobirama...

It seems that I need to articulate a coherent idea between his sun (ego), his rising sign( body) and his mars (action). Say in a different way, this triptych talks about public image. The king comes with a vision (sun), he shows himself to the public wearing a formal dress, an etiquette, a way to behave in public (ascendant/rising sign) and defend its vision with the help of a general (mars).

☉ Sun : Ego – Branding to the world

♓ Pisces

Some clues shows an association of Tobirama with pisces : his element is suiton. His blue charadesign, he's also one of the strongest sensor of the verse capable of recognising chakra kilometres around, determine their ancestry ect... and what is a sensor? but a shinobi using his empathy as a tool? More trivial he's favourite dish is fresh fish from the river. But I think what shows the most his affinity with this sign is his self-sacrifice nature for this new entity that was the village in a time when people were strongly clan-oriented. It's something no one could believes possible, it only existed inside Hashirama's mind. You truly needed to have faith on him to invest all your energy on it. If we go back to Tobirama's speeches, he always justify his actions for the village. We can almost say that he had a religious devotion for his brother's dream and he gave his life for it. He's never seen coming with a vision different from Hashirama's (contrary to Madara), actually like a zealous servant to a higher cause he's ready to kill immediately anyone threatening this village when he clashed with Sasuke for suggesting he might destroy Konoha depending on the answers he got to his questions. But I'll talk deeper about the Uchiha's obsession later in the moon part. The moment when Hashirama strongly forbid his brother to attack Sasuke was also the moment when everybody knew who's actually the boss and who obey. Tobirama was a faithful follower of Hashirama's will and dedicated his life to translate it into a realistic project (using his mercury and mars).

In a more positive light, anyone accepting the will of fire are nurtured and loved even if they are Uchiha like Kagami. Tobirama had a strong attachment to his students, much more that his brother. I know it seems strange but from the first time he appeared, Tobirama was the one always calling Hiruzen Sarutobi by his pet name "Saru" meaning monkey in japanese, or his other student "my dear Danzo". Hashirama is a goofy character, but doesn't seem to have such proximity with them even if he loved Tsunade, he immediately doubted her ability as a hokage. Later during the war, Tobirama is also the one always complimenting or supporting the new generation : He acknowledged Minato as being faster than him, Naruto for having the potential to be a stronger hokage than his older brother.

Ascendant/Rising Sign : Social personality – Physical Body

♍Virgo

the image that come to my mind when I think of Tobirama is an ocean surrounded with a giant dam. The mass of water is controlled, accurately measured, divided and distributed only when necessary. But, you might ask, can we really controlled the immensity of an ocean with a river dam? Of course not! but what matter in a rising sign is to display the illusion of control.

Virgo is the sign coming to correct the extravagant of Leo. End of august, mid September is the period of the year in the northern hemisphere with the best natural light. Not too hot , not too bright. Soft and round with million nuances of gold, orange and red. Traditionally it's also the time of harvest when you need to select and separate the wheat from the chaff. It's a sign that excel in precision, expertise, high fashion but in the bad side can tends to be narrow-minded because the devil is in the detail.

Rising virgo also talk about his physical appearance. Virgo is concerned about good health, best routine. Usually they are in good shape, average height unless the ruler of Virgo which is mercury is place in a sign with difficult aspect. And what set appart Tobirama from all the other founders is his charadesign flattering his albino's appearance. The cool colours of grey and blue, the fluffiness, it shows a natural sense of elegance without being extravagant for a shinobi.

And also the Senju are filthy rich, Hashirama have a strange (Madara would say ugly) sense of style, but Tobirama was like : "I may not be the most powerful in this house but I'm wealthy and smart, so does my style. And I will die on this hill."

☿ Mercure : Intellect – Communication

♒ Aquarius

I must find an explanation of the over analytical aspect of Tobirama. He's to Hashirama what Shikamaru would be later to Naruto : his brain.

Mercury in Aquarius is a big thinker, able to make atypical discovery, out of the norm and also subversive. Tobirama is the inventor of Edo Tensei which I remind you need to make a human sacrifice. In which condition Tobirama came to the creation of this forbidden jutsu ? And even during the 4th Shinobi war, he learned nothing from his past mistakes and proposed to sacrifice again someone else to bring back Madara and extort from him intels about Kaguya.

Aquarius as a fix air sign has the tendency to be stubborn and certain of their philosophy. Many people believe that the sign of Aquarius is humanitarian then nice by nature. Not always... Aquarius avoids emotional approach. It rather privileges logic, rationality to dissect human society. And it doesn't shy away from experimentation. The long lists of jutsu created by Tobirama is a proof of his brilliant mind.

♂ Mars : Action - Desire

Mars : Gemini

Reading again the 4th shinobi war and trying to focus on The Second Hokage rather than Madara was a difficult exercise but it helps me see his role in the war differently. He's one of the most important support character. If you remember my analysis of Hashirama's mars in taurus, the first hokage is a powerhouse ( a bit like Gojo in JJK) and thus tends to fight alone or one-on-one with Madara. Hashirama strength is to resist prolonged attacks and controlled someone else chakra. Yet his power is tremendous and can change the geography.

Tobirama has a different style. Although a powerful shinobi who can fight alone, he rarely does. He immediately fits with any partners he's close too. Hashirama, Minato, Naruto, Sasuke. He's often the one observing, testing and explaining a jutsu and reminding that HE created most of them 😂. On the spot, he also invented a way to save Sasuke's life with Kabuto.

Reason why I choose mercury in aquarius and mars in gemini is that he thinks as fast as he moves. in his chart mercury and mars form a trine which is considered a favourable aspect. being in the same air element, his mind and his action are flowing smoothly. Before Minato, he was considered the fastest of his generation.

Madara noted that his favourite way was to strike last moment when his opponent lower his guard. This cunning strategy is befitting mars in Gemini . This is traditionally represented as twins both crafty and fickle. Tobirama adapts to any situation, any war companions even those from the new generation he barely knows and immediately comes up with a new tactic.

I believe this adaptability is a direct consequence of fighting Izuna for years. We know that the sharingan can copy any technique except kekkei genkai. Hashirama can protect himself behind the mokuton but not Tobirama. If a technique is used once in front of an Uchiha he can't use it anymore and lost the surprise effect. Also the Sharingan can predict a movement. Tobirama found a way to outperform the sharingan by blizz speed with the Flying Thunder God Technique. Fighting Tobirama must be a terrifying experience, rest in peace Izuna😭. Imagine, he's there... then disappeared. then strikes and you only notice him when you know it's too late.

☾Moon : Emotion – Comfort zone

♒ Aquarius

If you remember in my previous HC charts, moon is easily guessed by childhood because children tend to be more lead by their emotions than adults. In volume 65, Tobirama was shown to be already a serious child, ready to defend his older brother from his father. Maybe the violent outburst of his father taught him early in life that the best way to deal with people is self-control, and strict procedures. And that's something that he often admonished his brother or his students. It's not that you shouldn't feel, but to him you have to keep your emotions in check.

Moon in Aquarius intellectualises emotions, and sometimes distance themselves from them. They can treat friends like family member since they believe in brotherhood beyond blood relative. Tobirama did everything to distance from the Senju heritage, he suggested a democratic election for choosing the first hokage and after his death the Senju ceased to hold power in Konoha, it diluted into the will of fire. In Aquarius there is this idea of giving privilege to the people rather than some monarchy (which is the leo's way).

Remember when I've talked about an ocean falsely controlled by a dam ? If the weather is nice it works but what will happened if one day a (red) full moon provoke a super tide able to engulf the dam and flood the world ? Nothing can control the chaos of emotion, it always moves somewhere and erupts somewhere else.

Moon talks about your emotion but also your irrational fear. And paradoxically Tobirama never checked his obsession of the Uchiha and this blindness caused many of the darkness that befall the Konoha he cared so much.

I said earlier that his fear of the sharingan was a driving force behind many of his inventions. Also Tobirama had an epidermic detestation for Madara. And the funny part is that it's not really reciprocal. Yet Madara had got all reason to be obsessed by vengeance since Tobirama killed his last brother but after he accepted the truce and created Konoha, he was willing to « tolerate » Tobirama's presence, but the younger Senju was unwilling to do the same gesture and kept his obsession to control Madara or any Uchiha willingly to follow his path. The databook says also that Anbu was specially created by Tobirama to put the Uchiha under surveillance.

We need to ask ourselves what an aquarius moon would hate the most ? As an air moon, this sign is unease with strong display of emotion, narcissism, drama... something typical of its opposite sign leo. An opposition is annoying but you can deal with it more or less. Aquarius also square 90° to scorpio. A square is considered as a strong source of tension than an opposition. Scorpio is ruled by mars. This sign thrives in passion, struggles, crisis, war, violence and transformation throught strong emotional turmoil. All those energies are challenging, and exhausting for an aloof, etheral and conceptual moon in aquarius.

Taurus is also a square to Aquarius, the lazy nature of this steady sign, rooted in tradition, is hard for an Aquarius interested by innovations and futuristic perceptive.

Now let's introduce a little bit of synastry. The art of synastry is to compare two charts and to gauge their compatibility. It's often use for couple or parent/children but what if we apply it to enemies?

Now remember my Madara's chart? His mars in leo is in the 8th house, conjunt his jupiter and square his pluton in scorpio. In other words : The expansive actions of Madara illuminate the house related to death and crisis. Madara's violence reach its peak in the house of destruction. In the positive side, it means Madara is built for battle and he loves that. Better to have him in your team than against you. And this tremendous tension can be source of transformation for the world and himself. In the negative side he is a natural disaster. He's a menace and unless your name is Hashirama he's impossible to stop and will create massive disturbance in the world. He transform and impact deeply the life of many characters in the verse like : Obito, Kurama, Onoki and obviously Tobirama.

So for Tobirama, his moon in aquarius opposes Madara's mars, and his moon also square Madara's pluto. So for the second hokage, any action (good or bad) made by Madara is source of concerned and suspicion. also the plutonic nature of Madara leads Tobirama to irrational fear and paranoia. On top of that he explains himself very well: The Uchiha clans is wired on everything he detest. Their power needs strong uncontrolled emotions to thrive. The deeper the feeling the higher the power, and the sleepless are Tobirama's night.

And yes Tobirama admits that Madara is the biggest sentimental of the verse😅.

♃ Jupiter : Infinite Expansion – House of wisdom

♍ Virgo

Considering that Tobirama is Hashirama's younger brother, jupiter spend in average one year in a sign. Depending how big is there age gap. His jupiter could be either in Leo, virgo or Libra

I choose virgo because it amplifies his uptight attitude. Jupiter is on his ascendant. His very procedural approach to life can outshine his sun in pisces. He likes precision and proper etiquette. He admonished Hashirama for not showing a proper dignified position during the hokage meeting. He reminds Naruto to respect his actual title, and correct anyone forgetting he owns the copyright of 80% of Konoha's jutsu!

♄ Saturne : Restriction – Time - Enlightenment

♑ Capricorn

Saturn in capricorn talks about authority and power. Time and stability. Here, Saturn is the ruler of capricorn. which means it express itself at the fullest in its quality and its flaw.

In positive Tobirama is the creator of all the institutions we know in modern Konoha. The ANBU, the chuunin exams, the academy, the military police forces. It's as if Hashirama was the spirit and Tobirama the architect. After him, Konoha was more powerful, stable and don't need anymore to rely too much in charismatic leaders in order to survive.

Again if we apply synastry between him and Madara, Tobirama's saturn conjunct Madara's sun. A conjunction is when planets come together and influence one and other. Saturn being strong in capricorn than the sun, it tends to have a highter toll on Madara.

If this saturn is close to Madara's ego, it would tend to exert a hold over him, a slow pressure to contain his sun. The big institutions of the village, Tobirama's political influence, the Uchiha under close surveillance. From Madara's perpective, he knows Tobirama can't fight him directly in close combat but he's building a system resembling a prison for him: he can't fight anymore his ally, he can't change his reputation, he can't have any political power (here I don't know if the Uchiha went to the military police force before or after the Valley of the end but anyway Madara wasn't included in discussion considering the nomination of the Hokage), and even his clan doesn't trust him anymore. And without a surprise even after Tobirama's passing those institutions and policies against the Uchiha ended up being their final downfall. And it took 8o years.

For saturn, times is always its ally.

♀ Venus : Attraction – Seduction

♓Pisces

Hard choice because we don't know if he had a flirt, or was married but it seems not. And we don't know anything about his personal dream. He's almost married to Konoha at this point. So by simplification I'll say venus in pisces. Which is an excellent place for venus based on rulership it's exalted in this position. Here she can expresses her most creative side. It would be funny if Tobirama is low key an artist but as practical as he is he probably brings all his imagination into his scientific researches and maybe his fashion tastes.

To conclude : Tobirama was a character more complex than I initially thought. Dedicated, efficient and caring for his village. I still don't like him though but now I precisely know why😂. Although I respect his steady strategy to destroy the powerful clan of the Uchiha, he really fooled them all. It was methodical and well planned. Compared to the other founders, Tobirama is more down to earth than his big brother, but also more patient and attentionate to the new generation than Madara. And if you love the will of fire (which I don't), yes Tobirama was probably one of the best hokage!

39 notes · View notes

metalandmagi · 8 months

Text

The Real Anime Awards of 2023 part 2

Every year, I become increasingly disappointed in the Crunchyroll Anime Awards, so I started making my own Anime Award lists THAT ARE FOR THE ACTUAL YEAR IN ANIME! IF CRUNCHYROLL WON'T INCLUDE FALL SHOWS THEN I WILL! I've already done my silly version for 2023, so now it's time for my serious picks. But it's still just for fun, so don't take any of my nominees too seriously or get offended that I didn't include your favorites. Even I can't watch everything.

Full disclosure, I don't include all the same categories that Crunchyroll does (just most of them). These are also only for television shows, so I didn't include any movies (and I really don't watch enough anime movies on a yearly basis to include a movie category).

Anime of the Year

Vinland Saga season 2

Zom 100 Bucket List of the Dead

Oshi no Ko

Frieren Beyond Journey’s End

Pluto

Scott Pilgrim Takes Off (I don’t care what MyAnimeList says. It’s made by Science Saru, so I'm counting it.)

Best Continuing Series

Vinland Saga season 2

Dr. Stone New World

Horimiya: The Missing Pieces

Jujutsu Kaisen season 2

Spy x Family season 2

Attack on Titan the final season (just assume I mean the last special from here on out)

Best New Series

Buddy Daddies

Oshi no Ko

Tengoku Daimakyou

Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead

Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End

Migi to Dali

Best Animation

Tsurune season 2

Trigun Stampede

Demon Slayer: Swordsmith Village arc

My Happy Marriage

Jujutsu Kaisen season 2

Attack on Titan the final season

Best Character Design

Overtake!

Bleach Thousand Year Blood War part 2

Oshi no Ko

Blue Lock cour 2

Tokyo Revengers season 2

Mou Ippon! (Yes I'm 100% serious. I actually respect this show’s character design a lot, considering the artists were able to make realistic, distinct, varied female characters of all shapes and sizes without making them into moe blobs. So that's why this is on here instead of another shounen of the week.)

Best Romance

Tomo-chan Is A Girl

My Love Story With Yamada-kun at Lv999

Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts

Skip to Loafer

Insomniacs After School

Horimiya: The Missing Pieces

Best Comedy

Buddy Daddies

Cool Doji Danshi cour 2

Skip to Loafer

My Love Story with Yamada-kun at Lv999

My New Boss is Goofy

The Hundred Girlfriends Who Really Really Really Really Really Love You

Best Action

Trigun Stampede

Demon Slayer Swordsmith Village arc

Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead

Jujutsu Kaisen season 2

Attack on Titan the final season

Hell’s Paradise

Honorable mention: Bleach Thousand Year Blood War season 2 (sorry, I just wasn’t as impressed with the action in this season, but it still deserves a shout out)

Best Fantasy

To Your Eternity season 2 cour 2 (is it cheating if it's only counting the last cour of the season 😅)

Ousama Ranking: Yuuki no Takarabako

Hell’s Paradise

Mononogatari season 2

Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End

Mushoku Tensei season 2

Honorable mention: Hikari no Ou (I never finished it but the vibe was there.)

Best Drama

Vinland Saga season 2

Oshi no Ko

Pluto

Ooku: The Inner Chambers

Tengoku Daimakyou

Migi and Dali

Honorable mention: Undead Girl Murder Farce- it's more of a mystery than a drama, but I still wanted to include it somewhere.

Best Slice of Life

Horimiya: The Missing Pieces

Kubo Won’t Let Me Be Invisible

Cool Doji Danshi cour 2

My New Boss is Goofy

Insomniacs After School

My Clueless First Friend

Best Protagonist

Thorfinn (Vinland Saga season 2)

Mitsumi Iwakura (Skip to Loafer)

Maomao (The Apothecary Diaries)

Arikoto Madenokoji (Ooku: The Inner Chambers)

Frieren (Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End)

Kouya Madoka (Overtake!)

Best Antagonist

Eisuke Nikaido (Tsurune season 2)

Canute (Vinland Saga season 2)

Millions Knives (Trigun Stampede)

Taiju (Tokyo Revengers season 2)

Ibara (Dr. Stone New World part 2)

Reiko Ichijou (Migi to Dali)

Honorable mention: *SPOILERS* The Bureau of Traditional Music (Mononogatari season 2). These guys were squad goals, not gonna lie.

Best Boy

Vash the Stampede (Trigun Stampede)

Every Single Boy from Cool Doji Danshi cour 2- THEY’RE ALL GOOD BOYS OKAY!?

Sousuke Shima (Skip to Loafer)

Taiyou Takada (My Clueless First Friend)

Einar (Vinland Saga)- Yes Einar instead of Snake. Snake is a lovable antihero, but Einar is best boy material

Yukichi (The Masterful Cat Is Depressed Again Today)

Best Girl

Tomo (Tomo-chan Is A Girl)

Runa Shirakawa (You Were Experienced, I Was Not: Our Dating Story)

Kana Arima (Oshi no Ko)

Amit (Niehime to Kemono no Ou)

Akane Kinoshita (My Love Story with Yamada-kun at Lv999)

Mitsuri Kanroji (Demon Slayer: Swordsmith Village arc)

Best Score

Trigun Stampede

Vinland Saga season 2

Insomniacs After School

Bleach Thousand Year Blood War part 2

Jujutsu Kaisen season 2

Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End

Best OP (yes there are 8 nominations, I couldn't decide 😭)

Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 (“Specialz” King Gnu)- I really think this season’s OPs should be taken as a pair, but when it comes down to which OP will stand the test of time, I think this one will be more iconic.

Vinland Saga season 2 OP2 (“Paradox” Survive Said the Prophet)

Oshi no Ko (“Idol” YOASOBI)

High Card (“Trickster” Five New Old)

Hell’s Paradise (“Work” Millennium Parade)

Tengoku Daimakyou (“Innocent Arrogance” BiSH)

Bleach Thousand Year Blood War part 2 (“Stars” w.o.d.)

The Legendary Hero is Dead (“Shinda” Masayoshi Ōishi)

Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead (“Song of the Dead” Kana-Boon)

Honorable mention: Link Click season 2 (honestly this is probably the best OP of the year, but since the show isn’t Japanese, I have to exclude it 😣)

Best ED

Tengoku Daimakyou (“Dare mo Kare mo Doko mo Nani mo Shiranai” ASOBI Doumei)

Oshi no Ko (“Mephisto” Ziyoou-vachi)

Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End (“Anytime Anywhere” milet)

Dr. Stone New World part 2 (“Suki ni Shinayo” Anly)

Spy x Family season 2 (“Todome no Ichigeki” Vaundy ft. Cory Wong)

Migi to Dali (“Skyline” Nulbarich)

Best VA Performance Japanese

Uemura, Yuuto As Thorfinn (Vinland Saga season 2)

Takahashi, Rei as Tomo (Tomo-chan is a Girl)

Satao, Gen as Ganta Nakami (Insomniacs After School) His laugh is so pure and genuine, I could listen to it forever!

Inoue, Marina as Armin Arlert (Attack on Titan the final season)

Tanezaki, Atsumi as Anya Forger (Spy Family season 2)

Nakamura, Yuuichi as Satoru Gojo (Jujutsu Kaisen season 2)

So there you have it! My picks for the real anime awards of 2023. Like I said, don't take this seriously at all, it's just something fun I like to put together every year. I always try not to nominate the same things, but it's easy to end up playing favorites. It's so hard to try to include a variety!

46 notes · View notes

thebuhonerodazorrow · 2 years

Photo

Monkey Meat #3

Image

#Image comics #comics #Monkey Meat #Monkey Meat Multinational #troll #King saru #216 compoud #Juni Ba

2 notes · View notes

journeytothewestresearch · 1 year

Text

Japanese Monkey God

User @red-lights-burning asked if there was a connection between Sun Wukong and the monkey gods of Japan. They provided lovely info, which was split between two asks, but I decided to put everything together into a single post.

@red-lights-burning asked: Japan has their own monkey protector named Masaru AKA Sannō Gongen, who was created back in the early 9th century by Tendai Buddhist sect founder Saichō shortly after he returned from China. So it makes me think if Monkey King was already a thing in the 800’s and if he was one of the inspirations for Masaru. A description from onmarkproductions (a really great site for anyone curious about Japanese Buddhism and Shintō) MASARU 神猿 Literally “Kami Monkey.” Masaru is the sacred monkey and protector of the Hie Shrine (aka Hie Jinja 日吉神社, Hiyoshi Taisha 日吉大社). The term “Masura” is often translated as “excel,” reflecting the belief that this sacred monkey can overcome all obstacles and prevail against all evil. Masaru is thus considered a demon queller par excellence (魔が去る・何よりも勝る). In the Heian era, Masaru (also translated “Great Monkey”) was invoked in Kōshin rituals to stop the three worms from escaping the body. Masaru also appears in Japanese scrolls used in Koushin rites. Here’s a couple other descriptions SANNŌ GONGEN 山王権現 SARUGAMI 猿神 Fertility, Childbirth & Marriage Monkeys are patrons of harmonious marriage and safe childbirth at some of the 3,800 Hie Jinja shrines in Japan. These shrines are often dedicated to Sannō Gongen 山王権現 (lit. = mountain king avatar), who is a monkey. Sannō is the central deity of Japan’s Tendai Shinto-Buddhist multiplex on Mt. Hiei (Shiga Prefecture, near Kyoto). The monkey is Sannou’s Shinto messenger (tsukai 使い) and Buddhist avatar (gongen 権現). The monkey messenger is also known as Sarugami (猿神; literally “monkey kami”). Sarugami is the Shinto deity to whom the three monkeys (hear, speak, see no evil) are reportedly faithful. The monkey shrine at Nakayama Shrine 中山神社 in Tsuyama City, Okayama Prefecture, is dedicated to a red monkey named Sarugami, who blesses couples with children. According to shrine legends, the local people at one time offered human sacrifices (using females) to this deity. The shrine is mentioned in the Konjaku Monogatari-shu (今昔物語集), a collection of over 1000 tales from India, China, and Japan written during the late Heian Period (794-1192 AD). Sarugami, like Sannou Gongen, is also worshipped as the deity of easy delivery and child rearing. At such shrines, statues of the monkey deity are often decked in red bibs -- a color closely associated with fertility, children, and protection against evil forces and diseases like smallpox.

My answer:

I've read only a little bit about Japanese monkey gods. I previously referenced Sarugami in my article about the possible shamanic origins of primate-based boxing in China. Part of footnote #14 reads:

In Japan, monkeys were also associated with horses and healing via the warding of evil. Apart from monkeys being kept in stables like their Chinese counterparts, their fur was applied to the harnesses and quivers of Samurai because the warriors believed it gave them more control over their mounts. Furthermore, monkey body parts have been consumed for centuries as curative medicines, and their hides have even been stuffed to make protective amulets (kukurizaru) to ward off illness. Likewise, a genre of painting depicts divine monkeys (saru gami), messengers of the mountain deity, performing Da Nuo-like dances to ensure a good rice harvest (Ohnuki-Tierney, 1987, pp. 43-50)

The aforementioned article suggests a connection between monkeys and the Shang-Zhou Da Nuo (大儺 / 難; Jp: Tsuina, 追儺) ritual, an ancient, war-like, shamanic animal dance designed to drive away demonic illness and influences. The pertinent section reads:

It’s possible that the “twelve animals” of the Da Nuo exorcism refer to some precursor of the Chinese zodiacal animals (rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig). If true, monkey fur could have been among the animal products worn by the ritual army. After all, monkeys have long been associated with curing illness and expelling evil in East Asia. [14] A modern example of exorcists who don monkey fur are the shamans of the Qiang ethnic group of Sichuan. The Qiang worship monkeys as the source and savior of their sacred knowledge, as well as the progenitor of their people, the latter being a myth cycle common among ethnic groups of Tibet and southwestern China.

This is the only relevant info that comes to mind. But based on what I know, I would guess that Sun Wukong and the monkey gods of Japan draw upon the same cultural sources. I hope this helps.

Source:

Ohnuki-Tierney, E. (1987). The Monkey as Mirror: Symbolic Transformations in Japanese History and Ritual. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

#asks #Sun Wukong #Monkey King #Journey to the West #JTTW #Japanese Buddhism #Shinto #Buddhism #monkey god #shamanism #Lego Monkie Kid #LMK

75 notes · View notes

gingergofastboatsmojito · 2 months

Text

The Fairest Creatures Cranes that represent Sydcarmy

Cranes are birds that symbolize "The love of a lifetime" according to a Buddhist legend - Sydcarmy love according to me.

Context: Fairest Creatures

As the legend goes, one morning a young Prince Siddhartha, many years before he would become the Buddha, was sitting in the garden of his father's palace. Suddenly a wounded Sarus crane fell from the sky and onto his feet. It had been shot by an arrow.

Siddhartha, feeling sorry for the beautiful bird, took it into the palace. He treated the wound and started to nurse the bird back to good health.

Shapiro or Luca Devadatta, a cousin of Prince Siddhartha came to the palace and claimed that the Sarus crane was his and he had been the one who shot it with an arrow. Siddhartha refused to hand it over and they fought over the beautiful bird.

The dispute over the fallen bird was brought to the court of the King. After listening to both of them, the king decided that the bird would be kept by Carmy Siddhartha, not Devadatta, as the bird belonged to the boy who had saved its life, not the one who had tried to kill it.

Source: Behance.net

Then the Chinese poet Po Chu-i wrote poems about these lovebirds because in the Chinese tradition, cranes symbolize longevity.

The Japanese then gradually modified their meaning into becoming a symbol of joy. The symbolism in Japanese is also to hope you do well, without noise, and longevity, happiness, and loyalty. These birds are associated with loyalty and happiness known as Tsuru.

Other meanings that can vary depending on the philosophy on which they are based are:

Source: HelloFearless.com

According to African culture, cranes symbolize love, long marriages, and peace.

Source: Allbirdsmag.com

Remember to follow my tag #Gingerpovs 💋

#sydcarmy #sydcarmy lovebirds #gingerpovs #the bear #the bear hulu #the bear fx #love story #lovers #romance #true love #unconditional love #cranes mean long lasting love #the bear meta #sydcarmy meta

15 notes · View notes

whovianwatchingstartrek · 10 months

Text

A Whovian Watches Star Trek for the First Time: Part 098 -The Secret Project

Star Trek: Discovery - Season 1 Episode 3 - Context is for Kings

After that last episode put the entire direction the series into question, I am really excited to see where we're going.

We open on a prison shuttle with a "6 Months later", and some small organism is feeding on the shuttle's power. Not a good situation if you're in the vacuum of space, and the pilot ends up dead, leaving the prisoners in a panic over their lives. Luckily though, a Federation ship called the Discovery comes and picks up the shuttlepod. Our prisoners note that this ship is brand new, and completely undamaged by the ongoing war with the Klingons, and that the staff make-up with this ship is unusual. Apparently a lot of Science-staff and groups of soldiers with Black Starfleet Badges that our group of prisoners don't recognise, but I'm assuming are Discovery's version of Enterprise's MACOs. There are also a few people from the Shenzhou on this ship too, although none of them seem willing to talk to Michael. Notablly Saru, who seems to be first officer, but also the ginger woman who Piloted the Shenzhou, who's name I'm now learning is Keyla. She seems to have gained some cybernetics since we last saw her though, and I'm interested over what that's about.

Michael is taken to the captain, Gabriel Lorca, of the ship separate from the other prisoners, and he impresses Michael into the crew until the prison shuttlepod can be repaired. Michael is then escorted to quarters, and we meet her bunk mate, Sylvia Tilly, Who I absolutely love! She is an absolute ray of sunshine! Absolutely here for this Neurodivergent rep!

Unfortunately introductions are cut short, as the ship goes to a Black alert. We don't get any explanation as to what's happening, so we're left as confused as Michael over what's happening. And I love how the mystery of what the alert was over is built. We briefly see some liquid defy gravity, and then Sylvia explains that she cant tell Michael about it if she hasn't been briefed.

We then cut to the next day, as Saru escorts Michael to where she will be working, and we get more detail about Discovery work on classified scientific missions, and that Michael will be working in Engineering. Apparently, there is something top secret about the Ship's engines, and Michael decide to try and figure out what's going on. She uses her Sylvia's Saliva to gain unauthorised access to the engines, and she finds that it's absolutely filled with plants.

Apparently however, the next day, the Discovery's sister ship, The USS Glenn, which is apparently working on the same classified engine project, suffers failure and the crew is killed. So, Discovery is sending it's engineering team to go and recover the project and ensure it remains classified, and the captain is ordered to take Michael on his team.

On the shuttle towards the USS Glenn, we get a bit of explanation of what the project is, but still no details, and apparently there is a lot of resentment between the chief engineer and Captain Lorca for how the the project is being used for war, which is great character stuff, and I can't wait for that to be explored.

The party board the Glenn, and there is some creature lurking in the ships hallways. The horror elements here are fantastic, both the suspense about what happened and the body horror in the various ways that the bodies on the ship are twisted and deformed. And it seems the Klingons weren't spared either, their bodies are equally strewn about the place.

Eventually, we're find the creature that did this, it's a giant tardigrade looking alien, and the mission becomes a race to extract the equipment while being chased by the creature. And fortunately, they manage to succeed.

After the mission, Lorca extends an offer for Michael to join the crew properly, and Michael finally gets explained what the project is. It's a project to produce a new Fungi Powered engine, that's much much faster than the warp drive. Almost instant, in fact. And I love how this is presented, I love how it looks! It's the kind of thing that would be explored in one episode of Doctor Who, then moved on from, but here it gets to be a core part of the series! And since this is new technology, I can't for the show to explore what problems can happen with it! Also, Saru mentioned that Discover can have up to 300 secret projects running, so I can't wait to find out what the other 299 projects are! Michael accepts the offer, and now is a member of Discovery's crew proper.

We're then left with a cliffhanger that Lorca is keeping the Tardigrade creature on Discovery, and it's only a matter of time until it gets out, I guess.

#whovian watching star trek #star trek #star trek Discovery #Star Trek DIS #Star Trek DISCO #ST DIS #ST DISCO #DIS #st: disco #DISCO #st: discovery #Discovery #ST: DIS

22 notes · View notes