I Was Foolish Enough To Remind Myself About Thata Gentler Version Of Myself Would Suit Him Better Frame,

I was foolish enough to remind myself about that “a gentler version of myself would suit him better” frame, and this is the result.

Goryoujin: what’s the deal with Father? (89-2 edition) - Part 2

(Part 1) (Part 2 here)

Split into two posts because it was breaking Tumblr for me lol. Continued from Part 1 here.

Some Actual Thoughts After The Chapter™

➞ On Father’s grave

BOY OH BOY do I have some things to say about this.

First things first, these several lines of dialogue got an entire page dedicated to them, with “then his grave must still exist” having the biggest bubble AND biggest panel. It’s inevitable - we’re gonna get to see Father’s grave and it’s gonna be important in some way… just probably not in the way that the god squad thinks it will be on the next page.

If you’ve ever watched any movie or played any game that deals with an onryo (The Grudge, Kuon, Fatal Frame/Project Zero, to name a few), the most effective way to deal with such a spirit is to get down to what caused their grudge and at least find information that would resolve the curse (Fatal Frame is a really good example of this), if turning them back into a benevolent spirit won’t work. I want to take a second to go back to the story of Okiku, one of Japan’s greatest ghost stories, as an example of this (retelling from yokai.com):

“Long ago, there was a woman named Okiku who worked as a dishwashing servant at Himeji Castle. Okiku was very beautiful, and it was not long before she caught the eye of one of her master’s retainers, a samurai named Aoyama. Aoyama tried many times to seduce Okiku, but each time she rejected his advances.

Eventually, Aoyama grew impatient with Okiku and decided to trick her into becoming his lover. In the castle there was a set of ten very expensive dishes. Aoyama hid one of the them, and then called for Okiku. He told her one of his master’s fine dishes was missing, and demanded to know where it was. Okiku became frightened. Losing one of her lord’s prized dishes was a crime punishable by death. She counted the dishes, “One… two… three… four… five… six… seven… eight… nine…” She recounted them against and again. Each time she came up one short. Okiku was distraught.

Aoyama told Okiku that he would overlook her mistake, and tell his master that it wasn’t Okiku who lost the dish—but only if she would become his mistress. Though Okiku wanted to live, she once again refused Aoyama. This time the samurai became furious. He ordered his servants to beat Okiku with a wooden sword. Afterwards, he had her tied up and suspended over the castle well. He tortured Okiku, repeatedly dunking her into the well, only to pull her back out of the water and beat her himself. Aoyama demanded one last time that Okiku become his mistress. She refused. So Aoyama struck her violently with his sword and dropped her body down into the well.

Not long after, Okiku’s ghost was seen wandering the castle grounds. Night after night, she would rise from the well and enter her master’s house, searching for the missing dish. She would count the plates: “One… two… three… four… five… six… seven… eight… nine…” After counting the ninth plate, she would let out a blood curdling scream that could be heard throughout the castle. She tormented Aoyama in this way, every night, robbing him of his rest. Those who heard part of Okiku’s counting became very sick. Those unlucky enough to hear her count all the way to nine died shortly after.

Finally, the lord of the castle decided that something had to be done about Okiku’s ghost. He called a priest, and asked him to pray for her and exorcise her spirit. The priest waited in the garden all night, chanting suttras. Once again, Okiku’s ghost rose out of the well. She began to count the dishes: “One… two… three… four… five… six… seven… eight… nine…” As soon as Okiku counted the ninth dish, and before she could scream, the priest shouted out: “TEN!” Okiku’s ghost appeared relieved that someone had found the missing dish. From then on, she never haunted the castle again.”

I’ve never, ever heard of any story where destroying a spirit’s grave does anything but make them ten times more pissed in the end. I know in my little monkey brain that the reason destroying his grave came up is probably because they think it would destroy his connection to the Near Shore and stop him from reincarnating but… in the end, I do think they’ll find something that is much more valuable than just going ham on his resting place - and that thing, of course, is information on who he was and what happened to him that’s so crucial to defeating him.

However, finding Father’s grave presents its own set of challenges and I’ve honestly no idea how they even plan to locate it.

This grave is going to be over 1000 years old. And it’s not really set-in-stone confirmed yet but so far, things are pointing to Father being an “ordinary” Buddhist priest (at least, ordinary in the sense that he didn’t make appearances in the Imperial Palace) so he wouldn’t have any grand memorial, either, even if people thought he had the potential to turn into an onryo and honored him as a goryō.

Kyoto’s changed a loooot since 900-whenever. I’m tempted to say that the grave might be lying in ruins already but from an authorial standpoint, I don’t think Adachitoka would mention it and then take back such a statement by pulling the “actually it’s already destroyed” card. I’m very intrigued as to how this is gonna turn out.

I’ve got a few ideas on its location that are definitely a shot in the dark...

1. Toribe/Toribeno

Source: thetaleofgenji.org

Toribe (or Toribeno) is an ancient cremation ground (and an extensive graveyard near Kiyomizudera today) east of Kyoto that dates back to the Heian period. Bodies were left there to decompose until the 8th century, supposedly, after which point they started being buried instead. There are two more old burial grounds that I know of - Adashino and Rendaino - but I’m going to rule “very unlikely” on those two.

Source: @CrystalynH on Twitter

What makes Toribeno particularly noteworthy is that it shares borders with a temple called Rokudo Chinno-ji which houses a peculiar well (pictured above) said to be the entrance to the Underworld. The border of Toribeno and Rokudo Chinno-ji is called the Rokudo-no-Tsuji, believed to be the boundary between the world of the living and world of the dead. I’m not sure if this is relevant but Ono no Takamura (806 - 852), a poet and scholar, was said to be able to go back and forth between this world and the Underworld through that well.

2. Wherever this is from the Chapter 60 flashback

This is probably a stretch but everything’s possible with Adachitoka. They sure seem to be loving the theme of dead people with trees (looking at you Suzuha, Yukine’s body, Yato meeting Sakura under a cherry tree) and that skeleton sure did have a suspicious zoom on it a little further down the page. My main guesses before this chapter were that it’s either Pockmarks’ bones or a skeleton of some poor fool that died to god-related causes but… who knows?

Realistically, it’s probably not going to be either of these locations but it’s fun to speculate. Whatever it ends up being I’m just… incredibly excited to see what this grave is gonna be and what information it provides us with. I just hope it won’t take another 5 years lol...

➞ A lot of questions and not a lot of answers

“...The sorcerer was a human who died 1100 years ago and carried a grudge with him to the grave - a goryoujin. If he’s a human who became a god, then his grave must still exist…”

Honestly, I’m still reeling at the implications of that tiny bit of dialogue because… it’s very curious that Adachitoka specifically chose the term goryoujin instead of something like onryo. Is this implying that people around Father had cause to worry that upon his passing, he could become a vengeful spirit and tried to placate him? Suddenly this line from 80-2 (oh god almost 10 chapters ago) starts making a lot more sense if this is indeed the case.

“I was called everything from a god to a buddha to a monster.”

And also, this:

(Chapter 84-2, page 15)

And this:

(Chapter 87-1, page 10-11)

Maybe it’s a reach but these lines… they always stank strongly of double meaning to me. It certainly wouldn’t be the first time Adachitoka pulled the stunt of putting Father’s own motivations and feelings into a compare/contrast with the actions and motivations of other characters - they did this exact thing with Bishamon in Chapter 64 with the “you’re starting to remind me of me” line I singled out in the first review section way in the beginning, to name just one example.

“Don’t hold back anymore… what is it that you wanted to do…?” “Why did that make him look so happy…? Is he still hoping for something else? Even though he’s dead?” Remember, onryo are usually the spirits of those who died unfairly, who died young, who died tragically or unnaturally, who carried a grudge or strong regrets with them to the grave… Their entire afterlife is consumed with revenge and vengeance on those who had wronged them while they were still alive. I’m not saying that Father is genuinely confused as to why Yukine would look so happy to find out about his past life even when he’s dead because Father’s own afterlife has been consumed by the desire for revenge, wrath about his own death, and the things he held dear being taken from him while he was still alive - thus him prodding Yukine about what he really wanted to do and saying “that’s true” when he does - but yeah, um, that’s exactly what I’m saying.

These are the only intelligent-sounding things I have to say about this, honestly, because from here everything devolves into a boatload of questions that we just don’t have enough information to answer.

1. First off, Ebisu explicitly says that Father was likely a human who took a grudge to his grave. Does this mean Pockmarks died before him?

2. If she did die before he did, who called him out of Yomi? THE fandom consensus on this (mine included) was that Pockmarks was the one who called him out with a soul call but if she was already dead… is there someone important we have yet to see? A Sorcerer before Father, maybe?

3. If Pockmarks was still alive, then… What was this grudge he took to the grave? I’ve long theorized that Pockmarks was not the sole alpha and omega cause of his hatred for gods but simply the final nail in the coffin… could his hatred for the broken system have been that strong to turn him into a vengeful spirit after death even when she was still alive?

4. Father implied pretty strongly that he died and came back to life with his return from Yomi sooo… at what point could he have become a goryō if he came back to life? I don’t see how he could have had a gravestone that could be honored if there was no body for people to bury. Unless his gravestone was made after his original body died and he reincarnated for the first time.

5. Is the Father we see in the Sakura flashbacks even a physical person... or is he a ghost? It seems doubtful but I guess this little bit with the bird getting its head cut off and the “spirits of the dead” bubble could have been a hint all along.

(Chapter 46, official translation - page 19)

At this point I’m honestly on my knees begging missus Adachitoka to give us even a tiny little flashback because these questions are kinda killing me. Father backstory arc when?

➞ On Father’s one powerful wish  

Going back to Chapter 64 and the notion that Father’s grudge goes way beyond Pockmarks’s death…

“I want one thing: a cull.” (Chapter 64, official translation - page 9 & 10 quote)

I’ve got two (marginally) chapter-related thoughts on this:

1. It has been reiterated time and time again that Yato was born from Father’s wish and.. well… a person who harbored a grudge so powerful that it turned him into a vengeful spirit after death and his “haunting” has been going on for ~1100 years… yeah, it’s honestly more than believable that he could have had a single wish strong enough to create a god. That’s terrifying.

2. “The only wish I’ve ever been able to wish in my entire life”, huh? It really does sound like the thing Father has going on with his hatred for gods and Heaven has been stewing on his mind long before Pockmarks died. But still, something… doesn’t quite add up. The concept of praying for a good harvest or praying for good luck in an endeavor is intrinsically ingrained in Japanese culture even today when most Japanese people don’t consider themselves “religious” yet go to New Year’s shrine visits and observe religious practices and superstitions - this was even more prevalent back in ancient times when most things were believed to be caused and dictated by things not of this world.

It’s incredibly hard to believe that the literal extinction of humanity is the one and only thing Father has ever been able to wish… and Adachitoka is very clever in the way that they’ll write one thing and it is the truth but it’s not the entire truth, just a part. I’ve no doubt that Father does want to cull the herd, as he says, but is that really all of his wish or is it just what he consciously manifests, if we’re thinking about this in the mindframe of a vengeful spirit? If we wanna really think in Adachitoka terms: Yes, culling the herd is Father’s wish. But why does he want to cull the herd? To get rid of the gods, since it’s impossible to do so as long as faith in them exists. But why does he want to get rid of the gods? Because of the broken system that enables gods to take and destroy with little care or responsibility - and because of the forgiveness and willingness of people to overlook these things and put up with the misdeeds. What is the thing that Father wants deep down, the wish behind his wish…? 

I’m going to leave this particular thought with an excerpt from the always galaxy-brained Noragami meta god @echodrops​​, from their “A Lot of Thoughts on Yato and Father” because this entire excerpt has been living in my mind rent free since at least 2016:

“In particular, I wonder if Yato really was born from a wish to eliminate humanity. All the gods seem to align more fully with their primary purpose than Yato does: Tenjin is indeed a scholar, Bishamon remains focused on combat, Kofuku fakes being a different god to get business, but she remains unfortunate without fail, while Ebisu keeps his eye on commerce. Yato is the only god in the series who seems to be working contrary to his supposed nature–he is supposed to be a god of calamity, yet from the very start, the only thing we have seen him do is try to please others. His sole motivation as a child was earning his father’s praise; while he does have “fun” killing people with Hiiro, this is because he doesn’t initially understand the act as a bad thing and has no other outlet to entertain himself as a child. The moment he comes into contact with Sakura, he loses all enjoyment from killing and immediately begins to seek praise by doing “good” things for people, like saving them and making them shoes. There really isn’t a single malicious bone in this kid’s body, and his only driving force, from the beginning of the series to the present, is making others happy.

So is it possible that (either intentionally or not), Yato was born from a very different wish than the one Father is saying out loud? Maybe Yato was simply born from a scumbaggy wish of Father’s to have a completely subservient god at the beck and call of him, a human. Or maybeeeee, really really deep down, Father’s wish isn’t to watch the world burn, but to live in a world where there is no violence between gods and men, and the heavens are as dedicated to the peace and well-being of humanity as they pretend to be? Maybe the fact that Yato took the form of a god who cares for humanity, instead of Father’s superficial desire for revenge, deeply infuriates Father and fuels his need to control every one of Yato’s actions, so he can corrupt Yato into actually becoming the vengeful god Father wanted him to be. In that case, Yato would literally be a manifestation of everything Father hates and loathes–both a god and symbol of the important relationship between gods and humans, of the constant hope and deep faith that continues to spring up between them, no matter how many times it is crushed by reality.”

➞ ”If he’s a human who became a god…” - closing statements

Honestly, I’ve got little doubt that Father is a goryō or something similar. When it comes to Father, Adachitoka has been building on the statement of “Father is a human who somehow transcended his humanity” for a very long time. We’ve went from “Father is a human who somehow lived centuries by doing something like divine possession” to “(All that and) Father is a human who came back from Yomi” to “Father is a human who came back from Yomi through a loophole, got god-like powers, and has lived centuries by possessing someone’s soul every time he dies” - they’ve has been building on those scraps of information and this is just one more thing that further clarifies what exactly is the deal with Father. We’re getting closer to the truth with each passing chapter.

However, I don’t think that Ebisu’s statement of Father “becoming” a god is quite correct. It has been established many times that Father is something that Heaven can’t categorize, that he’s really neither of those things but something else entirely - which is what makes his powers, his story, and his very being in the Noragami universe something we have never seen before. 

Where exactly Adachitoka-sensei is going with this plot thread of goryoujin and grave-hunting… Well, we’ll just have to wait and see for ourselves!

In conclusion,

This is Local Dumbass, signing out. See you all next time!

Dated: 08/07/2020

Can we skip the angst and have them forgive each other, thanks

Unofficial vs. official translation of the line about the girl Father saw Izanami as in the Underworld

Two translations with two wildly different meanings with way different connotations 🤔🤔🤔🤔

takekiun

Masuume’s Enduring Little Flower

She will be remembered as one of the Maiko who braved through the unprecedented hardship of the Corona Pandemic of 2020 to become a great Geiko. Kohana has all the assets and the allure to become an elite Geiko, one of those who, with much hope and optimism, can contribute to the success of Gion Kobu’s kagai for many years to come.

Kohana, the little Flower, debuted pretty much unannounced from an unlikely okiya: Masuume. The legendary okiya is well known even to outsiders through its iconic, intricately cobbled entrance that leads through an elegant Japanese garden but it had not brought forth Maiko in some time. The date of her debut was May 26th 2016. Had anyone been asked about how the world would look like just 4 years later, never would they have imagined a scenario like the one we are currently living though on a global scale.

From the start Kohana made herself quite rare for photos. I remember how finding decent pictures was a struggle, specially since she indeed has such a lovely smile, a very sophisticated look and an incredible wardrobe and resources at her fingertips through her okiya. Of course hopes were high for her. Oftentimes observers speculate over retirements when there are few pictures of Maiko and with Kohana, the discourse drew its circles around this too. She was elusive and exclusive from the start, a great feat for Gion Kobu’s Maiko. But it also describes best how people saw her cards. She had a great advantage debuting from such a prestigious okiya but she was always seen as quite solitary. Nonetheless she drew her strength from her sisters from the whole kagai.

I must also remark that when going through her threads on the forums, there seems to be some mix ups happening with other Maiko-san. Many other girls have been mistaken for Kohana and vice versa. She seems to have this incredible talent to blend in, to make herself invisible, all to contribute to the best scenario for her sisters and patrons. This had greatly contributed to her unique success during her apprenticeship.

Here at last we get to admire her triumph as a Maiko, and it’s unmistakeble: Her Sakkou.

And indeed it is one of the most gorgeous, most luxurious we have seen: From her expert appearance with her flawless nihongami and perfect makeup that make her look so elegant and mature, to her exquisite hiki, the epitome of Japanese art. We see feathery pine in lush green, and the play of her kanzashi, the crane which seems not only to be an enduring motif for sakkou kanzashi in general, but also specially beloved by the graduation year 2020. But Kohana’s crane was filigree and delicate while Mitsuki and Mamekinu went with more fleshed out versions. Here, for once, Kohana stood out to me. She was the star among stars. In the midst of a crucial trial for the Karyukai, she went beyond her graduation and her iconic look, i believe, will go down as one of the most beautiful Sakkou ever.

Maybe i’m overreacting. But can’t this be understood when looking at the above photo? Even a few months ago, were we certain that this Maiko would see a Sakkou?

It is an exalted hoorah, a celebration of life and the continuity that makes up the water that travels though the floating world. It reminds us that life is ever evolving and that great things cannot be held back. Like Kohana, life will go on. Like Kohana, life will find a way to succeed and like Kohana, we will endure and become better than ever.

Source: Kichirobi on Instagram