manga-anime symbolism

[Timotheus]

This posting will start a small collection of anime and manga symbolic depictions I've looked up to help the non-Japanese interpret the nuances of what's being shown. Please feel free to add to or correct any you know of to this list for the edification of the masses.

SHARING AN UMBRELLA

Being under the same umbrella with one's lover is a traditional metaphor in Japanese poetry to symbolize deep emotion. Walking together under the same umbrella in the rain is considered the epitome of a romantic mood to the average Japanese and not something you do with anyone you aren't willing to be considered deeply in love with by everyone who sees you. (There is a graphic method of depicting this situation, similar to the custom of doodling initials in a heart, where a couple's names are written on either side of the handle of a umbrella, called an ai-ai-gasa, together with umbrella or love love umbrella in Japanese.) For a girl to be depicted alone under an umbrella could also be consider symbolic of her searching for someone to share it with, hence those anime music videos of the girl characters strolling along with their parasols singing of looking for love.

As an example, in My Neighbor Totoro there's a scene where the two sisters have been caught in the rain and the neighbor boy gives them his umbrella and then runs away. He can't share the umbella with them as he isn't her boyfriend but he cares about her too much to just ignore the situation, so all he can do is give it to her and get wet himself. Symbolically, giving her his umbrella could imply that someday they might be lovers when they're older, but not now.

This sort of symbolism is used throughout the anime and manga I've seen to add emphasis to scenes of a couple's romantic involvement developing, Sailormoon being a prime example (i.e. the music scene in Sailor Jupitor's lost love episode). And it's been used in Oh/Ah My Goddess too (you knew I'd mention that eventually).

There have been several depictions (both in the rain and out) of Belldandy waiting with an umbrella (for Keiichi, perhaps?) and their being caught in the rain initially in the first episodes could also be implying they will be lovers later (get an umbrella) along with the possible meaning of Keiichi making an umbrella for her out of his coat and finding her shelter. Mr. Fujishima and his crew used it very subtly in the OAV's when they had Keiichi sharing a beach umbrella with Belldandy in the second episode, which added emphasis to the theme of them coming together romantically.

And of course it will show up as an important plot element in a recent chapter, which is what got me looking into this in the first place.

[Timotheus]

Another example of anime and manga symbolic depictions I've looked up to help the non-Japanese interpret the nuances of what's being shown.

Please feel free to add to or correct anything you know is missing or wrong. It's not like I'm some expert.


"But you know, such tactics won't work on her.
No matter how many thousands of people you may hide him amongst...
Or what far ends of the earth you go to, she'll find him.
She's that kind of girl."

Urd to Peorth, on why she'll never get Keiichi alone by herself ....

Kodansha - This Is A Real Date, chapt. 69, Vol. 12, May, 1994 release
Dark Horse - The Dating Game, issue VII-5, TPB-12, Sept. 1999 release
Slightly edited for clarity

While looking up the significance of sharing an umbrella, I ran across another Japanese cultural concept that might be behind Urd's confidence that Belldandy will always find Keiichi - The Red String Of Fate.

This is a belief common to the Chinese, Japanese, and other Asian cultures, that two people who are destined to be together are connected by a red string, cord, or ribbon. This bond exists between soulmates from the moment of their birth and lasts as long as they're alive, and sometimes beyond. It's often considered to be attached at their feet so it can unconsciously draw the couple toward each other, or at least try to.

It's invisible to humans, of course, but spirits and gods can observe these connections between fated pairs and get involved in the fun of bringing them together or keeping them apart if they feel like it. Any marriage or other romantic relationship between two people who aren't bound by this string is doomed to failure (although one might last until the other soulmate shows up) and couples that are connected will eventually meet.

This bond is not an absolute guarantee of happily ever after however, death, magic, greater destiny, the gods, or technical dificulties beyond their control can all disrupt the connection, leaving one or the other person alone and rather devestated. (A common phrase used to describe a couple's breaking up is "to cut the thread".)

Based on this concept, I'm considering that one possible reason for Belldandy's reluctance to push things with Keiichi is that while she can normally see these threads between mortals (it could be how she knows when people like each other) she can't detect a thread between them. It might be because she can't see her own thread, so she isn't sure if she's his soulmate (although she'd like to think so). So rather than hurt Keiichi by leading him on too far or possibly screwing up his chances to meet his real true love (if it isn't her), she's waiting until their destiny together is assured.

In manga and anime, this connection is symbolized by a character wearing a ribbon, usually in her hair, and usually red or an associated color like pink. (The primary meaning of colors in Japanese symbolism seems to be based on their primary hue (red, green, blue, black, white, etc.). Varients of these primaries (such as pink, pastels, greys, etc.) may be important for putting a spin on the color's meaning as used, but doesn't change the main intent of the color.) If you see a anime or manga heroine with a red ribbon in her hair, chances are she's going to turn out to be some other character's destined love. (Of course, sometimes a ribbon IS just a ribbon.)

If for some reason (death, the other person has emotional problems, or must choose to sacrifice their hope of love for the common good) the destined pairing cannot occur, this is symbolized by the ribbon being lost from her hair and (usually) blown away in the breeze.

While Belldandy doesn't wear a ribbon in hair in the normal manga school girl way, her goddess outfits all seem to involve scarves and ribbons binding up her hair in various styles, so this may apply to her.

Asian folklore says that individuals who are connected by this string, ribbon, or thread are not only drawn to each other by fate, but are in some ways in actual real contact with their soulmate, enabling them to know when one of them is in trouble or to hear their voice or see their figure at a distance. And that's where the quote at the start of this post comes in.

Belldandy's sixth sense as far as Keiichi is concerned can be considered an aspect of her being connected to him by this ribbon of fate. As a goddess she must be far better aware of such a string's existence than a mortal woman, although she may not be able to see it. But it would explain HOW she can so easily find Keiichi or sense if he's in trouble whenever she makes the effort and the other goddesses can't. (Terrible Master Urd arc, Peorth arc, Sora Unleashed arc, the OAVs, Queen Sayoko arc, etc.)

(Although Mr. Fujishima seems to conveniently forget this when he feels like it. ie - The Secrets Out!)

[keiichichan]

Very,VERY informative as always! Good Work!
Gives me something to think about when doing my own fanfics and manga!

[Timotheus]

The following is all taken from a number of websites and forum postings. I apologize if you already know all this and welcome any corrections.

Funerals and Burials in Japan.

Well this started out as a rather small examination of what certain death practices meant as depicted in manga and anime and then grew out of control. I kept finding additional bits that just demanded to be added on here and there and before I knew it ...

Oh my.

And strangely, this topic has wound up having little to do with Oh/Ah My Goddess, but it does involve story elements found in a great deal of other anime and manga so I've left it all together. Most of what's included here are traditional, by the book funeral and burial practices, which currently are changing rapidly in Japan along with changes in family make-up and economics. But it's these traditional practices that get represented in anime and manga, so the fact that some of this is already dated is immaterial.


The aftermath of death is handled from a different perspective in Japan. Displays of grief and mourning are to be kept to a minimum, usually restricted to talking about how one feels over the loss of someone near and dear with only one or two relatives (or sometimes close friends), usually female. If anyone comes to pay a visit soon after a death, the loss and how everyone's handling it can be only touched on and the conversation quickly turned to other things. ("Oh, we're doing all right. How's your garden?") As for the wake and funeral service, discreet weeping with a small smile breaking through when someone addresses you is okay, but sobbing is never acceptable. Even amongst relatives, excessive signs of outward emotion at a wake or funeral can actually result in the other guests making discreet fun of the person who's broken down.

There are cultural reasons why one shouldn't show any overt signs of grief after the death of a loved one. Death is to be seen as a time of liberation and not sorrow. Misfortune should be born with strength and acceptance and you should never do anything to make someone else uncomfortable (including crying). Any emotions of loss must be dealt with inside the family, to include outsiders would indicate that the family is not strong enough to take care of it on its own.

The main reason for excessive emotional displays being frowned apon is that the focus of the wake and funeral is supposed to be on how the deceased has moved on to another, better world where they can be of help to those still living. It's understood that they are now perfect, having joined the other ancestors, and are now almost a semi-god. They can receive prayers and be of great assistance to the living. Clearly these are beliefs that should offer great comfort to the bereaved and not be a cause for sadness.

In manga and anime, this is reflected in how the characters, while sad, rarely get very worked up when someone dies and can just walk away and continue their mission. They haven't lost a friend, he or she has just relocated to a higher plane and will probably show up later to lend a hand in the final crisis. (ie Sailormoon, first series)


A Japanese funeral consists of three elements, a wake, the funeral, and internment or cremation. The arrangements are usually the responsibility of the eldest son, though any family member (or even a close friend) can do it. A temple is contacted to schedule a priest for the wake and funeral, a funeral permit obtained, a site for the wake and funeral determined, and then friends and relatives are informed of the date. Certain days are better for a funeral than others. For example, some days are known as tomobiki ("Friend pulling") which are great for weddings, but to be avoided for funerals, as nobody wants to follow a dead person into the grave.

Once the permit is issued, the body is prepared for the ceremony. It's washed and the orifices are blocked with cotton or gauze, then dressed in its last clothes. These are usually a suit for males and a kimono for females, but kimonos for men are also used if desired. Make-up may be applied to improve the appearance of the body, then the body is put on dry ice in a casket. Finally, a white kimono, sandals, 6 coins for the crossing of the River of three hells, and burnable items the deceased was fond of (for example, cigarettes and candy) are placed with the body. The casket is then put on an altar for the wake, with the head placed towards the north or, as a second choice, towards the west.

The blocking of the corpse's orifices seems to be equal parts not letting the soul leave until it's heard the sutras telling it where to go (To Hell, I say, to HELL!) and to prevent evil spirits and entities from getting into the corpse and possessing it. Tradition has it that a person's spirit energy lingers in their body for awhile, mostly getting orientated to the fact that they're dead, and then leaves through the corpses mouth. In possession, the invading spirit gains entrance through the mouth. (Remember how it was implied that Mara possessed Megumi by kissing her?)

[Timotheus]

Embalming is a relatively new concept in Japan. Shinto tradition forbids mutilation of the corpse (which the process of embalming could certainly be considered) and Buddhism (which actual controls most death rites as Shintoism tries to ignore death and burial when it happens) is mostly concerned with freeing the soul from its mortal clay and not in preserving the body. So for most of the restoration period (19th & first 2/3s of the 20th centuries) it was an outlawed practice. Not that it really mattered, even for those who were aware of the concept it didn't seem necessary in a country where burial or cremation traditionally took place in a matter of three or four days after death. The laws against it remained in effect until the late 90s when the government of Japan finally decriminalized the practice and even started promoting it as necessary for public health.

Since embalming hasn't been a part of the Japanese funeral pantheon until just recently, it doesn't seem to play any part in anime or manga depictions of death ceremonies. Thus the dead coming back to life with their hearts beating and blood flowing is considered both possible and acceptable as the body has not been pumped full of preservatives. This also makes posession and/or reanimation of a corpse by various forms of entities, both evil and not, to be more plausable.

While most Japanese follow a mixture of Shintoism and Buddhism as their religeous beliefs, funerals are almost always Buddhist ceremonies, and 90% of the funerals are Buddhist style. Still a number of Shinto elements have been incorporated into the standard Buddhist ceremony. Compare the following Shinto rites to the Buddhist rites described later.

When a Shinto follower dies, his spirit is considered to live forever under the protection of the ancestral spirits and Kami, or Shinto divinities. The Shinto perform daily rituals at shrines in their homes to bring the spirits of the dead back to earth. They offer food, drink, and burn incense, all to ensure that the dead are always remembered.

Each stage of a Shinto burial is performed according to ancient rituals. A burial contains over 20 procedures, of which the kich-fuda, koden and bunkotsu are three. The kich-fuda is a time of serious mourning where close family and friends wear all black (previously white) and carry stringed prayer beads, the koden procedure involves friends and family offer monetary gifts to the immediate family to help with funeral expenses, and the bunkotsu is one of the final steps, where the ashes are given to close family members to put in their home shrines.

Back to the standard Buddhist ceremony . . .

After death, the deceased's lips are moisted with water, in a ceremony called "Water of the last moment" Matsugo-no-mizu. The household shrine is closed and covered with a white paper, to keep out the impure spirits of the dead. This is called Kamidana-fuji. A small table decorated with flowers, incense, and a candle are placed next to the deceased's bed. A knife may be put on the chest of the deceased to help ward off evil spirits. A picture of the deceased is placed at or near the family altar in the household, and displayed over the coffin and during the funeral and later at the memorial services.

While in former times white clothes were worn for wakes and funerals, nowadays all guests for a funeral wear black. There's even a special pitch-black shade of black reserved just for these clothes. Men wear a black suit with a white shirt and a black tie, and women wear either a black dress or a black kimono. A Buddhist prayer bead called Juzu may be carried by the guests. Condolence money in a special black and silver decorated envelope is given to the immediate family. Depending on the relation to the deceased and the wealth of the guest, this may be of a value equivalent to between $30 and $300, US.

The guests are seated, with the next of kin closest to the front, then a Buddhist priest will read a sutra during which the family members will each in turn offer incense three times to the incense urn in front of the deceased. The wake ends once the priest has completed the sutra. Each departing guest is then given a gift, which has a value of about half or one quarter of the condolence money received from this guest. The closest relatives may stay with the deceased overnight in the same room, originally to guard the soul still trapped within the body from harm and, since determining death wasn't an exact science in early times, to see if the "deceased" might come back to life.

The funeral is usually on the day after the wake. The procedure is similar to the wake, and incense is again offered while a priest chants a sutra. The ceremony differs slightly as the deceased is given a new Buddhist name (a kaimyo). This name change supposedly prevents the return of the deceased if their name is called. The length and prestige of the name often depends on the size of the donation of the relatives to the temple, which may range from a cheap and free name to the most elaborate names for $10,000 US or more. The high prices charged by the temples are a controversial issue in Japan, especially since some temples put pressure on families to buy a more expensive name. The kanji for these kaimyo are usually very old and rarely used ones, and few people nowadays can read them.

At the end of the funeral ceremony, flowers may be placed in the casket before it is sealed and transported in an elaborately decorated hearse to the crematorium or burial site. In some regions of Japan, the coffin is nailed shut by the mourners using a stone.

People choose cremation for a variety of reasons, including religious beliefs, personal choice, environmental concerns, and (mostly) cost. Burial was the method originally favored by Shinto beliefs, it being tied into the whole fusion of body and spirit as one unity thing. Buddhism favored cremation, the fire purifying the soul and releasing it from the evils of the body. Ever since Buddhism introduced cremation to Japan in the 6th century there was a conflict between these two means of body disposal that mirrored the political conflict between the two faiths. After a long period of back and forth, the Buddhists gained the upper hand and cremation became the norm for upper class funerals for several centuries. Then the restorationists took over in the mid 1800s, made Shintoism the state religion, and burial became the law.

However, it quickly became apparent that there weren't enough burial plots in the big urban areas (it's almost impossible to buy a grave in Tokyo today), and poor people were discovered to be dumping corpses in the countryside where they were rotting. So only two years after outlawing it the government caved in and restored cremation as an option, and as a sanitary and economic move eventually began promoting it. Nowadays only the emperor and very rich people can afford to be buried and 98% of all deaths now end up with a cremation, even in rural areas.

As an example of this conflict, when Kikiyo decides to be cremated with the shikon jewel in Inuyasha, she's taking a radical step as a Shinto priestess in an effort to rid her world of the evil potential of the stone. She's following the Buddhist belief that the fire will purify the shikon jewel and by destroying its physical form along with her own release its spiritual energy back into the world in general were it can't hurt anyone. However, from a Shinto point of view she is cutting her afterlife short as well, since with her body destroyed her spirit form will be less able to maintain itself in the next world before being reabsorbed into the general spirit energy. But it's a sacrafice she's willing to make. Hence the trouble in reclaiming Kikiyo's when she's reanimated.

Nowadays, Shintoists believe as long as some aspect of the body remains (the bones and ashes) then the unity of body and soul remains intact and cremation is acceptable with proper ceremonies.

[Timotheus]

Once at the crematorium, the coffin is placed on a tray and with a final round of prayers pushed into the furnace. The family witnesses the sliding of the body into the cremation chamber, then leave for refreshments and socializing while the actual cremation takes place, usually about two hours. When the cremation is completed, the family returns to watch or participate in picking the bones out of the ashes and transfering them to the urn. This is done with chopsticks, with two family members holding the same bone at the same time with their chopsticks (or, according to some sources, passing the bones from chopsticks to chopsticks).

In Japan, this is the only time when it is proper for two people to hold the same item at the same time with chopsticks. At all other times, holding anything with chopsticks by two people at the same time, or passing an item from chopsticks to chopsticks will remind all bystanders of the funeral of a close relative and is considered to be a major social faux pas. The bones of the feet are picked up first, and the bones of the head last. This is to ensure that the deceased is not upside down in the urn. The Adam's apple is the most significant bone to be put in the urn. In some cases, the ashes may be divided beween more than one urn, for example if part of the ashes are to go to a family grave, and another part to the temple, or even to a company grave.

Depending on local custom, the urn may stay at the family home for a number of days, or be taken directly to the graveyard for internment or some other site for scattering (not technically legal). In some cases the urn remains in the home for quite some time and is taken out on special occasions so the deceased can enjoy the event with the family. But eventually the ashes must be placed somewhere.

A typical Japanese grave is usually a family grave (Japanese: haka) consisting of a stone monument, with a place for flowers, incense, and water in front of the monument and a chamber or crypt underneath for the ashes. The date of the erection of the grave and the name of the person who purchased it may be engraved on the side of the monument. The names of other family members whose bodies or ashes are intered there may also be engraved on the front or left side of the monument, or on a small marker stone nearby. Some graves may also have a box for business cards, where friends and relatives visiting the grave can leave their business card, informing the caretakers of the grave that the visitors have paid their respects to the deceased.

If a married person dies before his or her spouse, the name of the spouse may also be engraved on the stone, with the letters painted red. After the death and the burial of the spouse the red ink is removed from the stone. Often, this is done for financial reasons, as it is cheaper to engrave two names at the same time than to engrave the second name when the second spouse dies. It can also be seen as a sign that a widow is waiting to follow her husband into the grave. While common in the past, this practice currently seems to be fading away.

A name may also be written on a sotoba, a separate wooden board on a stand behind or next to the grave. These sotoba are erected shortly after death, with new ones being added at certain memorial services. They were originally the only grave markers for poorer people and their use has continued to the present day. These are often seen in manga and anime to symbolize death and graveyards.

Weekly visits to the grave to talk to the deceased while burning incense and placing flowers and other favorite foods and drinks are common in some families, while for others they're limited to special occasions or personally important dates. But all such visits are treated as a trip to a living person, not the memory of that person.

Helping the dead find their way to the afterlife is the reason behind the wake, funeral, and burial ceremonies and the memorial services that follow them. That's the purpose of having a priest recite all those sutras to the deceased, they're a sort of guide list to the dead person explaining the steps they need to take to move from level to level of afterlife so that they'll not be lost in a sort of limbo.

The memorial services after the burial are held on a given schedual following the death, usually mandated by local or family custom. (for example, daily for the first seven days, or a number of services within the first 49 days, or on the 7th, 49th, 30th, and 90th days or more after the death) Once again the picture of the deceased is placed at or near the family altar in the household and guests gather to repeat a modified version of the earlier funeral ceremony.

These memorials aren't limited to the immediate family and can be quite large gatherings, and, of course, require large quantities of the proper foods for the guests. The number and cost of these ceremonies, both burial and memorial, is one of the reasons Japanese funerals are the most expensive in the world (average cost $40,000 US) and funeral insurance is a good thing if you can afford it. It also explains why the gifts of funeral money are important and the amounts mandated by custom.

In the first year after a death, no traditional New Year's Day Postcard is sent or received by the deceased immediate family. Friends and relatives have to be informed of this beforehand so as not to inadvertantly send a card. (New Year's is a time when the boundaries between the worlds of the living and dead are especially thin and one wouldn't want to give the recently deceased directions to someplace they might go other than their proper destination.)

After the first year these memorial services are held during during o-Bon, a traditional Japanese Buddhist feast and dance festival ("Dance for the Dead"), that has existed for more than 500 years. It is held from the 13th to the 16th of July ("Welcoming o-Bon" and "Farewell o-Bon" respectively) in the eastern part of Japan (Kanto), and in August in the western part (Kansai) and is comparable to the Day of the Dead or Halloween. It is a time of community dancing, feasting and processions through the cemetaries. The dead are actually considered to return to visit with the living at this time and as well as welcoming them there are many rituals to assure that they go back to their own plane of existence after the visit. (This festival has been featured in Mahoromatic and in Your Under Arrest.)

Memorial services during o-Bon for a specific dead person are held according to local custom, usually starting with the 1st year, and then sometimes in the 3rd and 5th, 7th and 13th years, and a number of times afterwards up to either the 39th or the 50th year (or one generation after the death).

[Timotheus]

Hey all, just found this neat compendium of Japanese manga sound effects. Thought others might enjoy it. (Doesn't mention Baaato though.)

Japanese Sound Effects and what they mean, Link...

www.oop-ack.com/manga/soundfx.html

As an example of what I just figured out from this site, I'm sure everyone who's watched the OAVs remembers Urd's "tanning oil" that was going to make Belldandy all "melo-melo", a term not found in the Japanese dictionaries I've located. Most people could probably guess the general meaning based on the illustration, but it was still a little unclear what the exact intention was.

Well, since "L"s and "R"s are pretty much interchangable in Japanese phonetics, when I saw an entry for "mero-mero" ( to go limp or floppy), I realized that this might be what the script for that scene actually had written down and it was subtitled "melo-melo" as a understandable mistake. It would certainly make sense to say that Belldandy would just go limp (as in unresisting and compliant) if Keiichi rubbed Urd's oil all over her body, which is what the illustration shows.

(Note - Bell might go mero-mero if K-1 rubbed anything warm and lubricating all over her body, whether Urd had mixed it up or not.)

[Aragon]

Very informitive!