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true-halloween-tales · 6 years

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2018: #10-YOKAI

Previously we have examined monsters from the East: the rakshasha, the kaiju and the oni. The oni can be grouped under another entire classification of Japanese monsters, yokai (see 2012: #11-ONI). Yokai started appearing in folklore and art in Japan during the Middle Ages. Yokai are supernatural monsters and spirits, usually with powers, especially shapeshifting. Some yokai are evil and some are not. Most are mischievous, and a few may bring good luck. Yokai became popular for blaming on accidents, especially when households ran out of lamp oil; that’s because “the yokai stole it overnight.” Yokai are very much personifications of animistic supernatural phenomenon. According to Japanese animism, spirit-like entities called mononoke were believed to reside in all things, very much like the midichlorians that create the Force in the Star Wars films. Some mononoke are evil, vengeful ghosts; some may be souls from yesteryear basking in the sunlight and fermenting. These mononoke supposed to have minds, feelings, and individual personalities. Good spirits are nigi-mitama, bringing good fortune. Bad spirits, ara-mitama, bring misfortune, including violence, illness and disasters. These mononoke are the basis of the yokai.

Yokai have many different external appearances: demons such as oni, human-appearing yokai, animal yokai, object yokai, and miscellaneous yokai. Some consider the general classification of yokai to have a sub-classification, also named yokai, referring to those that are not oni, often the more playful and less harmful yokai. Another sub-classification are bakemono, any yokai who have the ability to shapeshift. Since there are so many types of yokai, the easiest way to classify them is by appearance. Oni have been previously covered, so how about the rest of the yokai classifications?

Human-appearing yokai are common and usually dangerous. A sub-classification of human-appearing yokai are the yamauba. Yamauba tend to be old, disheveled women who live deep in the wilderness. They appear to be friendly and nice. Then they reveal a mouth with fangs on top of or in back of their head and they try to kill you! Rokurokubi appear as normal women or men with surprise attack necks that elongate ten to twenty feet often with surprise super sharp teeth. Sometimes rokurokubi have the power of a penanggalan, aka the Tchaikovsky delusion, of the head separating from the body and flying around surveying the surrounding countryside. Other human-appearing yokai include the yuki-onna, women dressed in white who are ice ghosts. The shirime are yokai who make no physical attack and appear as normal respectable people. They usually want to lead you to see something nearby, like in an alley. As you look around the seedy location, the shirime bends over, drops their pants and underwear, and reveals a large eye looking at you in the place of any anuses. That’s all the shirime do. Aren’t yokai fun?

Another classification of yokai are animal yokai. They tend to have recognizable specific animal features. The kappa is the most popular animal yokai. Kappa are similar to humanoid turtle-men with flat heads. Kappa folktales may have emerged due to sightings of Japanese giant salamanders. They are certainly mischievous, occasionally helpful, and often dangerous. They have powers over water and are known for drowning people in rivers. Parents would dissuade their children from swimming by telling them that if they swim alone a kappa would get them. There was a custom to throw a cucumber in a river to placate a kappa when having a picnic nearby. Kappa were known to speak Japanese, enjoy wrestling, and make deals with people. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are similar to kappa. A second animal yokai are the tengu shapechanging bird-men, often with ridiculously large noses when appearing as humans. Some tengu may be evil corrupters of humanity whereas other tengu may be druidical protectors of forests or mountains. A third animal yokai is the kitsune. Kitsune are shapechanging fox-men who may be wise and good or may be malevolent tricksters. Kitsune may have multiple tails, up to nine. The more tails they have, the stronger the kitsune are. Kitsune have a strong supernatural significance due to having a mythical connection to Inari, the rice god.

The next classification of yokai are yokai that are inanimate objects. Tsukumogami are objects that reached their one-hundredth birthday and thus became intelligent and self-animated. Tsukumogami include normal items such as umbrellas, sandals, furniture, and kitchen utensils. They are believed to be ghost-like and can shapeshift into human form. Umbrella yokai are the most well-known object yokai and go under several names: kasa-obake or karakasa-obake or kasa-bake or karakasa kozō. Another object yokai are morinji-no-kama, tea kettles. A very large object yokai are the nurikabe, large walls that appear at night, blocking roads to confuse travelers, getting them lost. The object yokai are usually comical and harmless.

The last yokai classifications are miscellaneous yokai. A popular miscellaneous yokai is the wanyudo. Wanyudo are flying heads surrounded by fire, usually attached to an oxcart wheel. Wanyudo yokai started appearing in folktales in the 800’s A.D. The wanyudo can be traced to a particular evil Japanese feudal lord who had his victims drawn to oxcart wheels. As punishment, the wanyudo flys about guarding the road and gate to Hell. The nuppeppo is a man-sized droopy fleshed human head with legs and arms sticking out of it. Nuppeppo are harmless and don’t do much except emitting a sickeningly sour smell. However, eating their foul flesh brings eternal life. Keukegen are furry creatures, either brown or black, resembling very furry dogs. They may only be composed of fur and have no substance beyond that, quite similar to some politicians. Keukegen look cute but are known to bring disease. Sagari are grotesque heads of horses, without bodies, that drop down from hackleberry trees at passers by and howl out a dreadful wail that could cause a deadly fever. Sagari are created when a dead horse is abandoned on the road and its soul becomes caught on a tree branch. The miscellaneous yokai are quite strange.

Yokai have appeared in Japanese art, films, television, and even in games. Yokai started appearing in manga, Japanese comic books, in the 1960’s. Yokai were first featured in the cartoon tv series, GeGeGe no Kitaro, created by Shigeru Mizuki. GeGeGe no Kitaro is about a boy, Kitaro, who has one eye and has a companion of his dead father reincarnated in his other eye which creeps about and jumps with a squish. Together they fight bad yokai... Again: a boy with one eye travels with his other eye which is animated – jumps around – and the eye has his father’s soul possessing it, and they fight evil yokai… Nope, there is no simple way to describe GeGeGe no Kitaro. GeGeGe no Kitaro has had six different tv series since the 1960’s and the latest series started in the Spring of 2018. Shigeru Mizuki also created the popular manga, Kappa no Sanpei, also featuring yokai.

Yokai feature films started with 1964’s beautiful, Kwaidan, a series of folktales including yokai. Yokai Monsters are a trio of films released in the 1960’s written by Tetsuro Yoshida, starting with 1968’s Yokai Monsters: One Hundred Monsters. My favorite in the series is Yokai Monsters: Spook Warfare, also from 1968, featuring a vampire shapeshifter. The final film in the series is 1969’s Yokai Monsters: Along With Ghosts. In 2005 Takashi Miike directed a remake of Spook Warfare titled The Great Yokai War which is a wonderful cornucopia of craziness. A live-action film of GeGeGe no Kitaro was released in 2008, Kitaro and the Millennium Curse, and it is pretty good - and the disembodied eye pops about and talks in a funny voice! Yokai-Watch is a 2013 Japanese Video Game and the popular Pokémon game includes many monsters based on yokai: shiftry are based on tengu and electibuzz are based on oni.

As new unban legends are formed, so are new yokai created to explain them. One new yokai based on an urban legend is the jinmenken, a dog with a human face. Teke teke is another new urban legend inspired yokai which is a ghost woman with no lower half of her body, so she crawls about on her hands. The 2007 film, A Slit-Mouthed Woman, focuses on the the kuchisake-onna yokai, an evil and violent slit-mouthed female serial killer wielding a large scissors. A peculiar new urban legend is that of the aka manto. They are only found in restrooms in the last stall at the end which is usually dark, old, and shunned. It turns out there is no toilet paper, so when you start looking for it you hear a creepy voice offer “red or blue” toilet paper. If you select red, you are sliced up dead and so bloody that you are entirely covered in red blood. If you select blue, the blood is drained from you are you appear blue. The aka manto may be a serial killer, or a ghost, but sometimes it is identified to be a kainade, a furry creature that just wants to rub your backside in the dark restroom…

I tend to think of yokai as being fun, harmless beings. There are quite a few of them, and they are very different from each other. Since they are asian monsters, they would logically fit into an asian-themed Dungeons & Dragons adventure, as we shall see… (on Friday see 2018: #11-THE ADVENTURE CONTINUES 6).

#true halloween tales #halloween #yokai #kappa #oni #gegege no kitaro

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drink-n-watch · 4 years

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Genre: Supernatural, romance, comedy yokai

Episodes: 12

Studio: David Production

You know what’s tough? Having a defence mechanism that makes you lash out and be rude or mean to people whenever you feel shy or awkward even though you would really like to be friendly. Oh no wait, you know what’s worse than that? Having everyone think you lead the perfect life just because you come from a super rich family when in reality you’ve been isolated your whole life and most people just want to get something out of you. But that might not be as bad as having been separated from and ignored by your parents your whole life just because you are a little different from your sister. I mean it’s no wonder you’re having a tough time connecting with others. Wait wait, there’s more! As if all of that wasn’t bad enough, what if you are a half human descendent of an ancient and powerful Yokai, granting you all kinds of amazing powers with all kinds of strings attached. Actually that last part sounds not too bad. You can even go live in a mention full of half Yokai. Really attractive half Yokai. With your own amazingly loyal bodyguard! Things are looking up!

A little while ago I watched Blast of Tempest. Some of you may recall that I had picked up the series because In/Spectre had just finished and I wanted something in the same vein so AniList suggested Blast of Tempest. It was a fine series and I’m glad I watched it but it turns out that what I actually wanted to see was Inu x Boku SS. Why didn’t AniList suggest that??? Why isn’t the website psychic?

apology accepted

I’m not quite sure how to describe the production of Inu x Boku SS. I would call is flashy maybe? Here’s the thing, it a well made anime. A really well made anime. But I have a feeling it was on a budget. It’s super pretty, with really nice character designs, good backgrounds and very consistent art and animation. But at the same time there isn’t that much animation, the backgrounds repeat a lot and although nice enough aren’t very intricate, and the colours lack a certain depth. But it looks great! Am I making any sense? Wait, this was made in 2012? So maybe it’s just a little aged. It looks great!

Fine, let’s get to the important part, I drooled over most of the characters which was a little uncomfortable cause some of them seem very young…

Also the cast is amazing. One of my favourite ensemble casts in a while. Individually, most of the actors are worth noting but together they are even better. Great chemistry!

I’m over it, Karuta is adorable

Inu x Boku does one thing that I usually don’t care for at all. I has a plot relevant end scene after the closing credits. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that but it does mean I can’t simply skip the end credits and go on to the next episode when I’m binging a series. And I did finish this one in just a couple of days.

However, this was heavily mitigated by the fact that Inu x Boku has an entirely different ED almost every episode. That means a new song (often sung by one of the characters) and completely new visuals and style. Even the few repeat EDs have some differences here and there to keep things fresh. I can’t quite explain why this impressed me so much but it really made a mark and I felt like I really needed to mention it in the review. You know, I might just want some more of this show.

I guess that’s good too….

When I say this is what I wanted to watch to quench my In/Spectre thirst, it might give you a good idea of the story. It reminded me of a mix of In/Spectre and Pandora Hearts. Which sounds pretty weird but it seems I really like that!

Structurally, Inu x Boku SS is closest to a Slice of Life, surprisingly. It follows Ririchiyo, a very socially awkward girl, as she slowly learns how to come out of her shell and make friends in her new living arrangement and at school. There is some big complicated back story of ancient Yokai and powerful families but that’s merely a backdrop. It does give you the impression that the series is just a tiny part of a much larger adventure. I may cave and get the manga eventually but I still really enjoyed it for what it was.

And what it was was a surprisingly light hearted and occasionally really funny comedy that got super romantic at the end. Like the last episode may have been a bit too romantic for my tastes but by then I liked the characters enough to just go with it.

I *might* have awwwed

Which is the crutch of it all. Like most SoL shows… I have a feeling some readers might feel cheated if I don’t clarify this a bit. I wouldn’t say it’s an actual Slice of Life. There is a very loose connecting thread that goes over the entire season but the action of each episode is fairly stand alone and a lot of it is just Ririchiyo and friends having fun at school or the people at the Ayakashi house playing pranks on each other or having little competitions. One episode is them burying a time capsule, another is Ririchiyo’s long lost fiancee reappearing out of nowhere to classify everything around as either a Masochist or a Sadist (a running gag I really liked). So let’s say it’s Slice of Life like.

Back to what I was saying, like most SoL like shows, your enjoyment of Inu x Boku is probably going to hinge entirely on how much you like the characters. There’s a pretty big spread of archetypes so most people should find at least one to their taste but I won’t deny a certain shoujo sensibility in the characterizations. Still, I’m going to venture that if you liked In/Spectre or Pandora Hearts, you’ll likely enjoy Inu x Boku SS. If you liked both, then you definitely will enjoy it!

everyone loves Zange…almost

Favourite character: Zange

What this anime taught me: Yoshimasa Hosoya is an amazing actor!

“You’re riding a horse full speed.. there’s a giraffe beside you.. and you’re being chased by a lion .. what do you do?.. get your drunk ass off the carousel”

Suggested drink: A Last Love Letter (isn’t that a lovely cocktail name?)

Every time we see falling sakura petals – take a breath, there are a lot

Every time Ririchiyo is in her Yokai form – take a sip

Every time Sou (Inu) is being clingy – take a very small sip

Every time we see chibi Ririchiyo – awwww take a sip

Every time Sou sparkles – Sparkle too!

Every time anyone other than Yuki wears glasses – take a sip

Every time Yuki flirts with any of the girls – raise your glass

Every time Ririchiyo gets dressed – take a sip

Every time Ririchiyo talks about her family – take a sip

Every time Karuta is eating – get a snack

Every time Sou says good morning – say good morning

Every time Ririchiyo collapses in bed – stretch

Every time anyone mentions the letters – take a suspicious sip

Every time anyone swoons over Sou – agree

Every time Watanuki gets yanked by the tail – feel bad for him

Every time Watanuki is a delinquent – take a sip

Every time Kage comes bearing gifts – be jealous that you aren’t getting any

I would not have minded a bit more of Renshou either…

I filled up a pinterest board and I have enjoyed revisiting it! I hope I didn’t give you the impression that Ririchiyo isn’t great… She is! I have the pics to prove it!

Inu x Boku SS -Why did it take me this long to watch this? Genre: Supernatural, romance, comedy yokai Episodes: 12 Studio: David Production You know what's tough? Having a defence mechanism that makes you lash out and be rude or mean to people whenever you feel shy or awkward even though you would really like to be friendly.

#anime #blonde bishie #comedy #Inu x Boku SS #romance #supernatural #yokai

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100wordanime · 6 years

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This is a great week to be blogging with Scott from Mechanical Anime Reviews having organised a week for us to write about, explore and celebrate the beauty that is the Natsume Yuujinchou anime. And I’m really, really glad because I don’t get to talk about this anime enough, though my current read through the manga has given me another excuse to make Natsume themed posts.

If you want the schedule we have:

Monday = Scott

Tuesday = Keiko

Wednesday = Me

Thursday = Irina

Friday = Arthifis

Saturday = Biblionyan

On Feeling Alone

For anyone who has watched Natsume Yuujinchou the theme of loneliness and isolation is one that you will be very familiar with. However, unlike so many other shows that isolate their protagonist, Natsume isn’t trying to be edgy or to sensationalise an issue. Instead, Natsume seeks to explore the many reasons people (and yokai) feel alone and how loneliness can shape their life.

Natsume is isolated because he has walked in between worlds his whole life with no one who understands what he is going through. As a child who could see yokai that no one else around him could see, and with no parents or stable home environment, he had no immediate familial connection to ground him. Afraid of the yokai or angry with them for being the essential cause of the taunts he endured from others, Natsume couldn’t make friends with either humans (who believed him to be a liar or unhinged) or with yokai.

Even the light wishes to separate Natsume from others.

And again, where this becomes different from other stories is that Natsume is not bitter or resentful toward the people in his life who have isolated him. Despite knowing how he’s been treated, he speaks of past families as being ‘good people’ or ‘nice to begin with’. He blames his own actions and strangeness for their distance. He isn’t desperate to connect with other but still longs for it. He builds a wall to protect himself but he keeps hoping someone will find a way inside or that he will meet someone like him that he won’t need to keep the wall between.

Desperate for a friend and someone to talk to.

Because ultimately, Natsume Yuujinchou is not a story about an isolated boy feeling sorry himself or struggling to come to terms with loneliness. Natsume’s Book of Friends is a story that celebrates those new encounters that allow us to open ourselves up again, sometimes leaving ourselves open to new pain but sometimes finding new family and friends and people that will leave a lasting impression. It is also the story of a boy who understands what it means to be alone and so has empathy for others who are ostracised even if the reason for their isolation is vastly different from his own.

Fortunately, it also doesn’t become a story where everything can be beaten with teamwork and the power of friendship either. Natsume is still one of only a few characters who can even see yokai and is regularly at odds ideologically with others who see them. This means he often acts alone and is forced to overcome quite dangerous situations by himself. The bonds he makes give him a reason to not give in or be too reckless but individualism isn’t totally taken away by the idea of working with others which also makes this story feel quite unique in its take on the theme of loneliness.

Where the story excels is that we begin in the middle, with Natsume already having been taken in by the Fujiwaras. It is their kindness that allows Natsume to begin lowering his walls, though not yet dismantling them. We see Natsume’s childhood and incidents that have constructed his reticent personality as we meet him in the first season only in flash backs that come spaced throughout the series. And in every flash back of Natsume we see him standing alone or being isolated from others. The few times people have reached out to him in flash backs they are normally torn away again, or Natsume pushes them away, by the time the flash back ends.

The Fujiwaras – Best anime parents ever.

However, the Fujiwaras, as lovely as they are, do not know Natsume’s secret so as much as Natsume has built a family with them, and one he wants to protect, they alone wouldn’t have been enough to lower all the walls he has constructed. It is Natsume’s encounter with Madara/Nyanko Sensei that truly allows transformation to occur. Nyanko Sensei knew Reiko, Natsume’s grandmother, and acts as a bridge between Natsume and other yokai. So the Fujiwaras and the friends Natsume make at school start drawing him back into human relationships, at the same time that Natsume and Nyanko Sensei make a pact and begin working together drawing Natsume back into yokai relationships.

Though despite her protests, Reiko did still get involved in quite a few yokai problems.

The parallels drawn between Reiko and Natsume are quite deliberate. As Natsume works to return the names Reiko collected in the book of friends, Natsume learns more of her life as he sees a vision of her when he returns a name. Natsume himself has said that Reiko is always alone when he sees her. She lived a short and seemingly mostly isolated life from humans and one where her relationship with yokai was combative. She never found that middle path to walk that Natsume seems to so desperately want to find. While in season one, Natsume and Reiko were nearly mirrors of each other, it is Natsume’s kindness and willingness to get involved with others, despite past wounds, that begins to build a community around himself. By season six, Natsume can no longer be thought of as alone. While there are still scenes where he and Nyanko are apart from others, there is almost always someone or some group waiting for him.

The yokai certainly learn to love him.

This is a story of hope and one of never giving up or giving in to self pity. One of doing what you can do and trying again even when it feels like it is pointless. Certainly Natsume had given up at various points in his life and it did take the catalyst of meeting those who would stand by him to get him moving again, but ultimately it is Natsume who has used those opportunities to forge lasting connections with others.

In case you haven’t noticed, I love Natsume Yuujinchou as a story. I love how it explores this theme and so many others. I love how multilayered the idea of loneliness is as we explore it from multiple character perspectives. And I love that the scars of loneliness are still visible even six seasons even though so much character growth and progress has been made. This is an unmissable anime and one that is truly an emotional journey worth taking.

Thanks for reading.

Karandi James

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Natsume Week: On Feeling Alone This is a great week to be blogging with Scott from Mechanical Anime Reviews having organised a week for us to write about, explore and celebrate the beauty that is the Natsume Yuujinchou anime.

#alone #anime #collaboration #isolation #lonely #Natsume #Natsume Yuujinchou #Natsume&039;s Book of Friends

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