Tao Master Special Investigation Troop

I have this fandom. The main character is not human and kind of immortal; when they die in canon, they regenerate/reborn again. They go around, saving people with out-of-this-world artifacts. There are time travel paradoxes. There are extraterrestrial monsters. People from the main character's world are pretty much dead now. Each reincarnation of the main character keeps one or two (usually mortal) companions with them for a short time. Oh, and there's a pretty flirty alien boy, captain of an useless governmental organization, chasing them around.

And it's NOT Doctor Who XD

I say that, by the way.

But anyway, what I want to talk about is not the prettiness of the mental image of Jack Harkness/Ushiwaka because Jack? he so WOULD hit that -then again, he'd hit practically anything. It's something I just noticed about IC romance in Okami.

It's the fact I see Amaterasu and romance just like I see the Doctor. I'm not a huge DW fan, and I'm only familiar with the new series, and I haven't really watched a lot with Ten. However, for me it's really hard to imagine the Doctor truly falling in love with anyone. Getting attached to a companion or any friend, sure, but romantic love? Is it really IC to have Ammy waking up one day, and realizing she's nuts for Waka/Oki/Issun/Rao's boobs/whoever?

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Okay, so I was rewatching Zero Punctuation's Phantom Hourglass review. And some silly ideas came to me.

So if in Okami, as a Zelda kind of game, Amaterasu is the Link...

Sure, the Issun-Navi comparison is kind of obvious, with some of Midna. Also, I'm convinced Yami is Majora's Mask, and anyone who has played that Zelda game can understand why I say this. Jesus, the Ark as a dungeon is pretty much like the moon! Yes, I see the irony!

I'm not sure who the fuck would Ganon be. Maybe Orochi because you have to fight it all the frigging time. Or Ninetails. They both would love to own a Triforce of Power.

But, who is Princess Zelda?! You could say it's Himiko as Nippon's ruler, sure, and for some Zelda incarnations it fits, but I have another cracky idea. ( Collapse )

And now I'm wondering if there are cracky postgame!Midna/Issun fanarts in existence. Har.

Well, I was reading the first volume of Aria this morning (yeah, this has nothing to do with Okami itself), and there was this link at the translation notes to an article at one of the Japanese mythology/religion websites I keep going back to.

Here it is: Color Red. Its Symbolism in Japanese Buddhism and Japanese Shintoism

It's a bit borderline tl;dr and filled with kami I had never heard about. It's not entirely relevant to Okamiverse, but it's interesting. Although Fudo's flames are really similar to the ones on the first reflector. And a photo of one of the monkey statues at Mt. Hiei is eerily similar to the Hanagami trio.

I googled some more on that, mostly to find the symbolism of white. Here are some discoveries.

Red/White

According to Henry Dreyfus, the word for red and white, Kohaku, is pronounced as one word in Japanese. Ko means red, while haku translates as white. Their use together immediately signifies happiness and celebration to the Japanese viewer. The combination of red and white in the decorative ornaments used on wedding or engagement presents -noshi or kaishi- has a compelling quality that suggests man's urge to create a bond between his own life and that of the gods. Red and white are also the colors of the uniforms that shrine maidens wear (denoting these colors divine nature.)

Red and white are the colors of the Japanese flag; the red signifies the sun.

Red

Red can symbolize many things; from blood, to love, to infatuation. Basically red symbolizes strong emotions, or things of strong emotions rather than intellectual ideas. For example, red can symbolize excitement, energy, speed, strength, danger, passion, and aggression.

According to Henry Dreyfus, it is popularly felt that red, the color of blood and fire, represents life and vitality. Red also signifies the color of the sun: a symbol of energy, radiating its vitalizing life-force into human beings. Red is also looked upon as a sensual color, and can be associated with man's most profound urges and impulses. Ironically, red cats symbolize bad luck.

White

White is a sacred and pure color. It's the color of angles and gods, as the color reflects that which is sacred and pure. It is also the color of doctors, nurses, and others in the health profession, as well as cleanliness. In fact, the Japanese refer to nurses as "Angels in White".

White can also represent reverence, purity, simplicity, peach, humility, youth, winter, snow, good, cold, clinical, and sterile.

Source. Interestingly, this website doesn't mention the red as an evil or disease ward like the one above, but goes on about the sun and vitality. The white part made me think of the Celestials and their white togas robes. (By the way, the website mentions that gold is a color associated with heavens.) I had no idea about the wedding thing, myself, or that a word such as kohaku existed. I will NOT mention Wish by CLAMP; that's another kind of kohaku.

And here's another one shorter:

Japan's flag is a graphical representation of its title as "The Land of the Rising Sun." The sun disk at the flag's center is so recognizable and simple that it has become a symbol for Japan the world round.

The use of red in the flag represents life and vitality. Symbolically, the color is also regarded to have the power to ward off evil.

Red is probably the most meaningful color in Japan. The "hi-no-maru," the red sun disk at the center of the flag, is the strongest color symbol: Set in a field of white, it is immediately identifiable as the emblem of Japan.

White is the color of the gods. It is sacred and can represent purity; death and rebirth. It is used at weddings and funerals. White is also the color of mourning.

Red represents life and vitality. It can indicate unexpected beauty, but is also recognized as unstable, capable of swinging to areas of vulgarity or excess. Some Japanese believe that red can ward off evil.

The combination of red and white speaks of celebration and happiness. It links power and rebirth, signifying the life force.

Source (LOL WTF XEROX?) Again, nothing we haven't heard, but it does confirm what we knew. Power and rebirth does seem to fit Amaterasu in the game quite well.

Because, otherwise? I'd be doing a generic crack video for the Gummi Bears theme song. And a Waka-centric piece for the Darkwing Duck song.

Because:

I AM THE TERROR THAT FLAPS IN THE NIGHT.
I AM THE MOCHI DOUGH THAT GETS STICKY OVER YOUR MORTAR.
I AM DARKWING DUCK THE GIFT FROM THE GODS, USHIWAKA!
LET'S GET DANGEROUS, BABY!

...Clearly, a childhood of Disney rotted my brain.

I just posted the text to metacanon on Travel Guides here!

Meanwhile, a couple of interesting things about the background drawings on the guides:
a) On the first one, there's Ammy and a poncle. However, I'm pretty sure it's not Issun but Ishaku himself! The reason is because the glow on the poncle isn't green, but yellowish, almost amber. It is a bit strange considering Ammy has the first reflector (Divine Retribution) on her in the drawing instead of Shiranui's Solar Flare. Still, considering that family has such an ego, why shouldn't he draw himself...?
b) On #27, "Another civilization", the background is that portal to Kamui on Shinshu field! Is this the way for canon to confirm us -besides the fucking MOON on it- that it's as LOL!alien as the Tablets, and the spaceships, and the Tao Troopers' computers, and the junk Gen collects to invent electricity?
c) On #15, the Celestial Envoy at the background is painting Amaterasu.

One day, I'll make a post about how this all fits in what we know about Ishaku, and all the Ushiwaka stuff on the guides. Actually, I have a really neat theory involving those two, but it probably makes more sense to explain it in fanfiction than as a rant. (What? I've done it before in CLAMP fandom!)

Re: this post's stupidity.

Well guess what. I poked around Nicovideo. And it exists.

IT EXISTS. IT EXISTS! Check it out.



Thank you, Japanese fandom, for doing something my heart really desired to see months before I knew it existed ♥ This made my day like you wouldn't believe! *_*

I recently got addicted to this damned song. I found it in a Mononoke AMV I saw plugged on my flistflist. Looks like in Japan it became an Internet fad some months ago.

I'm appalled and shocked, with the crack that is the Japanese Okami fandom, that no one made an Okami video with "Let's go! Onmyouji"! I mean, the music alone sounds like a dance remix of the soundtrack. Then there's the title and the lyrics. Um, hello? This fandom has onmyoujis (translated as Tao masters)! And a priestess that uses ofuda! And a miko queen for whom all those weirdos work for! Hell, a parody fanart with the mentioned people dancing this song's choreography would be win. (Maybe it exists somewhere?)

I'm also going to point at the random Engrish. Onmyouji + Engrish + dorky dancing. Oh, I wonder who that reminds me of! Hell, if he knew that song, it'd end up as the Tao Troopers' anthem or something.

Yesterday's post on okamigame about human!Amaterasu fanarts left me thinking. I'm not a fanartist (in the drawing/painting sense), but I've poked enough fanarts (Western and Eastern, equally) to know certain trends. I've seen both extremes; there's

a) Cutesy, doe-eyed, usually childlike Ammy. Always blushing. Always making Issun/Waka/Oki/whoever blush. Lots of moe and lolicon going on.

b) Dumb bimbo Ammy. Huge boobs and perfect curves; tiny or tight kimono/clothes. Usually retarded or animal-like. Could fulfill Issun's wet dreams.

And then there's c) Bishounen!Ammy, with both a girl face and a six pack, but that's rare.

I find refreshing to see a serious approach to Amaterasu, of course. a) and b) normally smile too much or look perplex because they're usually portrayed naive -not like canon!Ammy doesn't have her moronic or oblivious moments, but if you're drawing precanon I like to think Shiranui/Celestial Plain!Amaterasu was a wise person and wouldn't be pulling that shit. So, a serious or a warrior-like, predatory, won't-take-shit-from-you Ammy is good to have.

But I like balance. I think there are moments in which Amaterasu is happy-go-lucky and cute, and there are moments in which she's serious or aggressive. So no, it's not fair her face is in fanart either stuck like this or like that. But then, it might be my image of Ammy mixed with canon. I find Ama-kou to be, most of the time, very Zen. But there's also a passionated, violent part of her -particularly when she's defending something or competing with anyone. Because well, she's both a god and a hero(ine?), and heroes in this game are proud and arrogant even when they have pure intentions. Not saying that Amaterasu is teh aggressive, but I've always find her proud and having a taste for fights of all kind, whether for others or her own honor. I mean, there's a fucking reason she's a wolf!

That's how I interpret Amaterasu. So fetish-driven blissful doesn't completely do it for me, but a mature woman with a serious face all the time doesn't either. Because there's some playfulness in my idea of her. I'd love to see a smirking Ammy in battle mode. I think she'd smirk dangerously while fighting if she had lips, but that might be just me. So, happy fanarts are sometimes good, and serious fanarts are appreciated in their rarity. But I see them as facets in the character's global personality.

**********

As for my mental, physical image... First of all, it lacks dog ears, which is odd itself. Maybe because I'm on inverse Oina logic, and they have no ears. Also, it makes me think of the Gintama jokes about nekomimi. Her height is average, and looks on her late twenties (in our patterns, that is, not her human Nippon).

Most of the times I imagine her with shortish hair, which is strange as well. But sometimes I like to think she has a braid/ponytail falling over her shoulder, and that itself is the Celestial Brush. Otherwise, I imagine her using an actual brush that floats along with her.

I've never thought too much about the clothing because I can't draw. Something she could move easily in, I think, because she likes movement. Or she could have several kinds of clothes for all occasions, since she IS the lord of the Plain and shit.

My Ammy has no breasts. My Ammy acts like a female (girls CAN be feminine and aggressive at the same time), and looks like one, but lacks a gender like she's supposed to be. Think of it as... I doubt any of you is into CLAMP, my main fandom, but there's lot of genderless/asexual characters over there. My mental Ammy could perfectly be drawn by Tsubaki Nekoi with the Wish style. CLAMP asexual beings are pretty shit.

I think that if I drew, my Amaterasu wouldn't be popular.

Who was the fucktard who edited the Wikipedia entry?!

Waka appears and reveals himself as the last of the Celestial Beings, a race that had found the Ark and used it to sail the heavens, unaware of the evil spirits imprisoned on the Ark which attacked and killed all but himself, resulting in the Ark crashing to arth.

[...]

[insert image of Waka here]
A rendition of the Celestial Being, Waka

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOES *facepalms a lot*

*breathes*

Of course, the old profile is still there, but in the character subpage. We all know which one people are gonna read *eyeroll*

And now something more lulz:

While there is not main singular antagonist within the game, two characters reappear several times within the quest. Waka appears as a young, feminine, flute-playing man to Amaterasu several times in the series, aware of the goddess in the form of the white wolf and foretelling of her future and at times battling with her; his dialog, dropping French affectionate terms at times, conveys a sense of familiarity with Amaterasu, as it turns out that Waka is much older than he appears and has walked with Amaterasu on the Celestial Plains hundreds of years ago.

1) Yes, Waka is everywhere.
2) ...Feminine? XD This person hasn't read a manga with bishounen, has him/her? I've seen way more girly guys than Waka. Starting with half the Fruits Basket cast :D Let's not start with the Square-Enix games. I don't know, I think even Samurai Dandy from Sei-an City is more feminine than Waka.
3) Walked with? Er well, he uses the verb "fight". As a sort-of-shipper, I think I'd remember if he had said that he "walked with" Ammy. Actually, the verb is just a bad choice. Remove the preposition, and you get that Waka walked Amaterasu XDDD So just imagine him holding the leash while Ammy pees on a random tree... Yeah.

The point is, I need to learn how to edit the Wiki. I can't fight the "Waka is a Celestial" school of thought with contradictions on the Wiki entries.

...I shouldn't read RSS feeds when I just wake up. Then I see this headline on NG news:

'Lunar Ark' Proposed in Case of Deadly Impact on Earth

...and in my sleepiness I only catch the first two and the last three words. Mind-boggling and much blinking ensues XD