| Behind the super-awesome second-self that the Medicine Seller turns into once the sword is activated? ^o^ I always wondered if it was an ayakashi or a mononoke also! Plot twist~ Either that or our dear main character has some serious multiple personality issues. X3; Let's see .. Ayakashi doesn't show it, but Mononoke does: how interesting is it that on more than one occasion, they were definitely represented as two different entities? Or maybe that was all in his head and for the sake of making the anime really pretty? Also, one has to consider the extreme time-jump the series did from the Edo era to the late 1800s when Japan was becoming more technologically advanced with trains and such. How does he manage to stay the same?! What do you think? >w< |
| Well, considering the heavy spiritual influence of the show, his whole 'dual personality' sort of reminded me of a Shinto concept. The Japanese names escape me, but the rough translation is something like "rough divine spirit" and "calm divine spirit." Even though it sounds dualistic in nature, the thing to remember about Shinto (or at least Shinto back in the day) is that it didn't see the world dualistically (no good evil, spirit world physical world, humans gods; their orientation of the world was more unified). So even though it was said that everyone possessed/exhibited a 'rough divine spirit' and a 'calm divine spirit,' they were the same being. Anyway, what I'm getting at is that perhaps we are seeing the 'rough' and 'calm' manifestations of the Medicine Seller's spirit in a very explicit way. They are both him, and not actually separate (a split would be a dualistic view), but are drawn more obviously different/seemingly separate for our viewing benefit. As for how he managed to stay the same... Well, all I can say is that he doesn't look entirely human. |
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| Aye I doubt he's human but then again I'm not sure what he is. He must be something immortal to remain the same age from early Japan to the later Japan. Perhaps he himself is the sword, takes on that form when the Katachi, Makoto and Kotowari are not present and the golden self is to represent he's unsheathed himself like the sword, to go with the above sentence a sword also does not age. If there is a second season (which I seriously hope, nay pray that there is) I hope it isn't revealed. A mysterious character isn't so mysterious when his secrets are out. |
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OmegaJudgement said: Perhaps he himself is the sword, takes on that form when the Katachi, Makoto and Kotowari are not present and the golden self is to represent he's unsheathed himself like the sword, to go with the above sentence a sword also does not age. That's what I think, he is the physical manifestation of the sword that allows the interaction required to discover the Katachi, Makoto and Kotowari. The golden warrior is the manifestation of the swords desire to destroy demons and even a magical sword may not be able to wield itself. |
_edge_Oct 18, 2007 11:46 AM
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url_elf said: Well, considering the heavy spiritual influence of the show, his whole 'dual personality' sort of reminded me of a Shinto concept. The Japanese names escape me, but the rough translation is something like "rough divine spirit" and "calm divine spirit." Even though it sounds dualistic in nature, the thing to remember about Shinto (or at least Shinto back in the day) is that it didn't see the world dualistically (no good evil, spirit world physical world, humans gods; their orientation of the world was more unified). So even though it was said that everyone possessed/exhibited a 'rough divine spirit' and a 'calm divine spirit,' they were the same being. Anyway, what I'm getting at is that perhaps we are seeing the 'rough' and 'calm' manifestations of the Medicine Seller's spirit in a very explicit way. They are both him, and not actually separate (a split would be a dualistic view), but are drawn more obviously different/seemingly separate for our viewing benefit. As for how he managed to stay the same... Well, all I can say is that he doesn't look entirely human. If you remember the name of this, I'm interested! I've always loved Shinto practices, they're fascinating, and I always like learning more. ^w^ It does definitely sound like it could fit into the Mononoke world, since it deals with so much spiritual stuff. The sword concepts are plausible as well .. Like Omega, I hope they don't ever really explain it; I like speculating on it. X3; |
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