| [size=200][WARNING: SPOILERS][/size] Thought I would share... I actually wrote this a while ago, but never actually came to me that it would be nice uploading here. Anyway, not that anyone browsers this animu's forum section anymore. Please note: This is entirely based on my supposition. I do have a basis for what I wrote, as seen on the references bellow, but the anime/manga/LN never explains anything related to this. So it's not canon and may not be correct. inb4: For this, I'm also considering that the author and/or GAINAX had a misconception or didn't even take in consideration the original myths and demonology surrounding it. Mind the appendix after the explanation for the reasons. The Analysis: So, while Huey was reading "Crastinus Dies Nunquam Sciat" on the final episode, we get a bit of flashback scenes of what might be the main characters pasts. I do know this is GAINAX'ed as hell, but from my interpretation I got: -The girl trapped inside the "library" is Pandora. Yes, Pandora, the box girl. It's the reasonable conclusion, given that she's seen running with a Greek-like friend, in a Greek-like city, standing before Greek-like architecture and wearing Greek-like robes. Therefore, she's the one who opens "the box" releasing the evil spirits all over the world. This explains why our MCs must run around collecting phantom books -newly born ones aside- these books belonged originally inside the box. However, before opening the box, she had her share of adventures, as implied by her 2 scenes in the flashback [see spoiler tag above]. The first when she's running with a friend and the second when she appears before a Minotaur-like thing and stops it from doing Minotaur-stuff. Maybe it's an analogy to Hercules jobs, meaning that she was/is special for enduring all this for a greater good, who knows. The box was property of Dantalion, seeing that Pandora opened it, she accepts his punishment of being trapped inside the box/library/world/whatever. This is the only explanation for that giant-smoking-bull-like demon [see spoiler bellow] that appears before her and Huey when they try to leave the library. No way it's the Minotaur, so it must be a representation of Dantalion. Moreover, it's his library, so it makes sense. While this covers up the white-pink-haired girl it doesn't explain her relationship with Dalian, neither what Dalian is. - We can infer that Dalian isn't human (obviously), therefore we might suppose that she's a kind of doll which was granted life. This really makes sense if we consider the amount of dolls turned to life we saw on the series and how touched Dalian got whenever someone mentioned human/inhumane relationships (e.g: when they meet the magician). She also speaks to Huey and others always referring them as "kid" or "younglings" or "human". Besides, when she and Raziel meets, Raziel says "You still alive, you good-for-nothing doll". Worthwhile to note that she and Raziel are very alike. So it's possible they were created together. Raziel, "Keeper of Secrets", is the name for an archangel responsible for the heaven's wisdom, which if we allow the imagination to run loose, is a christian/theological equivalent for Dantalian. This also helps prove that they are NOT gateways to the same library. Moreover, the three vessels are vessels to different libraries, and, as shown, they have their different objectives towards the phantom books: One wants to seal them away, other wants to destroy them and other wants to release them. - Dalian lived for more than 500 years ...considering those flashback scenes when Huey is reading the book as evidence. As far as I can tell, this is supposed to be Jeanne d'Arc: -Joan d'Arc played her historic role in the Hundred Years' War at late 1428 and the anime takes place in post-WWI England (~1920)- She was probably more outgoing and was present on world-changing events, but slowly regretted and realized how the world really works, starting to read only. Interesting to notice that when Huey pronounces the contract and reads the sentences on the key "I ask of thee, art thou mankind?", she replies "Nay. I'm the world". In the original Pandora mith, Pandora was said to be created out of earth and soil, so it kind of makes sense. Compiling and summarizing everything: Pandora opened Dantalian's box and set the phantom books and evil around the world. She was trapped inside it as a form of punishment. Like in the original Pandora's myth, it's said that only "hope" remained inside the box (in this situation: the girl). In the final episode when she says to Huey he gave her "something very precious" is her hope of getting out of there back. Someone [citation needed] created a vessel, out of raw materials, for this underworld, therefore moving it form the box and trapping it inside the vessel's body, Dalian. The same happened to Raziel and Flanberge. Like a box, for it to be accessed a Key is needed. Dalian lived for years, and had different key-keepers. Whenever a key-keeper passes away, the key itself vanishes, since it's attached to its holder (see: the mark on Huey's right hand). Huey somewhere in his childhood reads a particular phantom book and meets Pandora. She gives him the key. He then meets Dalian and the anime begins. The said book that Huey read is most likely the book about Dalian/Pandora's life, "Crastinus Dies Nunquam Sciat", Latin for: the tomorrow is never known. It's the same book he reads to get out of the "limbo" and reassure himself, before blasting away the zombies. It's also the book Pandora is reading at the final scene in the destroyed library. Important to note that when she closes the book, it wasn't on the final pages, meaning that that wasn't the end of their story, and leaving open-ended if she ever leaves the library someday, like hinted by this random scene with a white-haired girl with a "genki" smile standing before a GITS-like futuristic city. Conflicts with the original myths: Pandora never opened a box, in fact. It was an urn, a jar (pithos). We say "box" nowadays due to mistranslation over the years. Pandora obviously never met the Minotaur. Dantalian doesn't have a canon bull-like form. It's said to have "multiple faces" and that he can appear as men and woman. It's a great duke of hell and said that he "teaches all arts and sciences". There's no connection between Dantalion/Dantalian and a library of any kind. Pandora never had twin-tails and her hair wasn't pink (duh). Neither it's possible that she lived in such a large city with modern architecture since she is said to be the first woman created. That said, the girl could be Pandora's daughter, Pyrrha, who had red-hair, but then it doesn't make sense she opening the box. [size=150]References:[/size] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pandora http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_of_Arc http://archive.joan-of-arc.org/joanofarc_short_biography.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrrha http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dantalion http://www.deliriumsrealm.com/dantalion/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mystic_Archives_of_Dantalian http://dantaliannoshoka.wikia.com/wiki/Dantalian_no_Shoka_Wiki |
xbobxSep 15, 2014 3:25 PM
| Wow! You are amazing! ^^ |
| Dub = fake crap. Always. |
| Indeed, amazing. :) |
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| Amazing. ☺ |
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| Thank you for compiling all of this information!! I just finished the series and when I saw the ending I had the same impression that the writers were referencing Pandora and Joan of Arc. I'm glad I'm not the only one and someone took the time to compare the anime's ending to the LN and manga :) Quick note about the following: xbobx said: Conflicts with the original myths: Pandora never opened a box, in fact. It was an urn, a jar (pithos). We say "box" nowadays due to mistranslation over the years. Pandora obviously never met the Minotaur. Dantalian doesn't have a canon bull-like form. It's said to have "multiple faces" and that he can appear as men and woman. It's a great duke of hell and said that he "teaches all arts and sciences". There's no connection between Dantalion/Dantalian and a library of any kind. Pandora never had twin-tails and her hair wasn't pink (duh). Neither it's possible that she lived in such a large city with modern architecture since she is said to be the first woman created. That said, the girl could be Pandora's daughter, Pyrrha, who had red-hair, but then it doesn't make sense she opening the box. I'm guessing the writers may have taken some liberties with the box and minotaur as well as some other elements of Western culture for an extra "cool" factor and to make it clear what culture and myth they were referencing without explaining it further in dialogue, etc. Although the box and minotaur may be inaccurate, my assumption is that in end we the audience was supposed to come away with the general idea that the girl in the library is thousands of years old and the source of the mythical tomes. On another note, in the fan subbed episodes I watched Dalian was refered to as "Heaven in a teapot" to explain how a small girl could be the archive that holds 900k + mystical tomes. If you go with that line of reasoning perhaps it was intended to be a fusion of myths from different cultures -- The Eastern myth of the teapot and the Greek myth of Pandora opening a vessel capable of containing all of the world's evils. |
SpiritedSarah said: I'm guessing the writers may have taken some liberties with the box and minotaur as well as some other elements of Western culture for an extra "cool" factor and to make it clear what culture and myth they were referencing without explaining it further in dialogue, etc. Although the box and minotaur may be inaccurate, my assumption is that in end we the audience was supposed to come away with the general idea that the girl in the library is thousands of years old and the source of the mythical tomes. On another note, in the fan subbed episodes I watched Dalian was refered to as "Heaven in a teapot" to explain how a small girl could be the archive that holds 900k + mystical tomes. If you go with that line of reasoning perhaps it was intended to be a fusion of myths from different cultures -- The Eastern myth of the teapot and the Greek myth of Pandora opening a vessel capable of containing all of the world's evils. Woah, good thing I set a email reminder for posts on this thread. Thanks for your input! :D Yeah, the slight inaccuracy with the real world counterparts doesn't really bothers me. You're likely correct on the "cool" factor as well. If they were to stay faithful to the original source or even use a pithos instead of a box for Pandora, for example, a lot of people might just miss the reference all together, and so a part of the magic and beauty of this series is lost. I'd expect 100% accuracy from a historical series or stuff that heavily relies on real historical objects (see Girls und Panzer) to tell a story but Dantalian is more of a fantasy with scenarios and references that hint real world happenings/places instead. I started a hobby-research on the books they mention during the series and many of them indeed existed. Too bad I lost the notepad with all the info :/ It's interesting that you bring up the idea of a fusion of beliefs/myths! I considered that but didn't put much thought on it. Now that I stop to think about it, we indeed see a lot of mixture during the series. Out of the blue, I can think of Huey's family crest that says "Ask, Seek, Knock" which is biblical Matthew 7:7-12 and also "mors spectatum omnes quisque" which is Latin (very frequent during the series) for "Death, who regarded all". While it's possible that's just for the cool factor, it also hints a Roman/Italian influence. |
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