old Masa theories

I'm just gonna archive all my very long blog posts from amino.

[shishikusas]

Masa’s Blog Summary!

Happy New Year, lovely people! As a gift to all of you, I made a Google Doc with detailed summaries of every single entry in Masa’s Onibi Series blog. It took me a very long time to make, so I hope you all use it ^ ^

If you’re looking for information regarding a specific character or event, CTRL+F allows you to search for keywords on a computer! I don’t think there’s an alternative for mobile, sorry :(

The doc is here.

Enjoy!!

(PS: The text in my doc isn’t word for word, barring a couple parts that I left verbatim intentionally.)

(PSS: The link has been changed so you don’t have to request permission to see it. Sorry bout that and thank you Yoot for telling me!)

[emitheplushy]

Archived blog: Star Lily Dank Performance (Mai on LSD)

A theories mood bored

A lot of my take on Demon's March's story has been indirectly covered in my other posts by now. Going back to the original post, lets think about the altars, and Beautiful Shadow.

(Demon's March first mention on Twitter)

(Sisters Story altar)

(Fox’s Wedding 2011)

(Japanese gravestones)

Keep in mind: gravestones sit above coffins.

"They go to pray to Tsukuyomi and Shikyou. They both kneel at the altar, and once Akari sees that her mother is praying, she drips some blood from her cut finger onto the altar. She licks the blood from her hand, and concentrates."

(Just like Akari does)

(Sisters Story altar zoomed in at the top)

("Through the fox’s wedding, I devote myself to the altar and stand before the gate for the first time.")

("What are you looking at, grasping that blade of yours?")

"There’s an altar in the middle, where contracts are made. Above it, people killed the gods’ messenger as if it were an Oborokitsune."

("Will you talk to your irrecoverable past self?")

"I saw Shikyou.

They asked.

I could not answer.

So I returned the remains of my borrowed life here."

("Not knowing and not speaking is forbidden.")

“In the world of the Kitsune, what is called Shikyou the Amanojaku is quite a key. Well, she’s like God. The beginning of Headless Dancing Frenzy is the key to the whole story.”

-March 26, 2013 tweet

"I kicked up my geta straps, imitating a dancing girl.

Not knowing and not speaking is forbidden.

The songstress was bloodstained, and the dancing girl was headless."

"Now, welcome! Welcome to the pit of savages.

The brutish audience has their eyes wide open.

It begins, and they bathe in spurts of blood."

"“KAKAKAKAKKAKAKAKAKAKA! Come, Come, welcome to the brute’s nadir!”

“Come on, you useless pigs! It’s your turn! KAKAKAKAKAKAKAKA!”

Who are these guys? What the hell do they think they’re doing? Ugh, I guess I have no other option. It will be nice to kill them.

What… what are they even doing? Is that… my body? Why are they taking only my body?"

("The underworld swamp in the fifth month is a dance floor for the corpses.")

"The second half of May: Finally, Shikyou’s procession has come to our village. Another half was taken in one day. The next one to go is surely me. If I go to that procession, I’ll surely take my own life. Toki, little Kaoru, I’m so, so sorry."

The Onigumo clan, abducted by the fox, has endured all sorts of agony for a long, long time.

"Soon, the curtain will raise on tonight’s spectacle.

One, two, I line the slaves up.

When the curtain rises, you’ll forget everything.

Now, welcome! Welcome to the pit of savages."

"The beggar hag begs in the beggars’ settlement

But not a single coin is on the corpses at the gate.

Left to the crows, they’re crushed where they lie.

Be frightened and live! It’s as simple as that."

"Tomonari comes in, startling Ryou. Tomonari tells her that the rain outside was a sun shower, also known as a Fox’s Wedding."

-May 14th

("Through the fox’s wedding, I devote myself to the altar and stand before the gate for the first time.")

"When she opens her eyes, she’s in a completely different place - outside, with rough stone roads, and many torii that continue along it to a cliff.

...

She goes through the last torii and comes to an old, black mansion. A woman was standing in front of it. She approaches.

...

“Good evening, Tsukuyomi-sama.”"

"Akari is back in the Black Sun Palace. She knows Shikyou doesn’t know about this, or she wouldn’t have lied. She finds Tsukuyomi and immediately tells her that she met Shikyou. Tsukuyomi is shocked and disturbed.

...

Tsukuyomi: “... Akari, you are being targeted by Shikyou. There is no way I’ll go directly to you.”

Tsukuyomi starts walking towards her mansion, beckoning Akari to follow. She will tell Akari everything."

"Come, let's talk about everything. You've been here many times, but ...

This is the last of the Demon and Fox's Story."

-Niconico description for Beautiful Shadow

("She’s in a completely different place - outside, with rough stone roads, and many torii that continue along it to a cliff.")

("The lonely bride lost her umbrella. She hides, acting as if all was stripped away. Who’s next? Who’s next, I wonder?")

"Someone should inherit the lead of the demon's [procession?]"

*Note: the way 頭　and 引き継ぐ are used in this song are in reference to whoever is the leader of the procession, suggesting that someone new is being pulled to the front to lead the Demon's March.

-Sorane Yorumi, Demon's March comments section

(”Dance and dance.”)

(Lets all, me included, take a moment to gather our thoughts.)

We're halfway there. (goddamn it)

"There’s also another altar beneath Tsukuyomi’s, but Akari doesn’t know what it’s for. It’s never been discussed, not even with her mother."

(Secret of the Goldfish, Blessing of the Secret End, Beautiful Shadow)

“(Sister’s Story Part 1) The family was very close and the children were the pride of the parents. The sisters are very good friends, sister to sister, sister to her sister. The older sister was very blind and the younger sister compensated for it. The younger sister couldn’t talk very well so the older sister compensated for it. The sisters were always close together."

“(Sister’s Story Part 2) The younger sister was murdered by someone in her room on the sisters’ seventh birthday. The sister who was sleeping in the next room was safe. The police’s report said that it was a suspicious person invading from the window. The mother asked if the older sister heard or saw anything, but the older sister said she didn’t know anything. The older sister gradually became more sociable and her friends increased.”

-December 19, 2014 tweet

"On my Seventh Birthday is a song about the truth, about what happened “that night”. The answer will come to you when you see the PV. The hint is “contradiction”."

-December 20, 2014 tweet

(Contradiction)

“Well, now that the album is released, I will talk about the contents of the sister’s story.

On the night of her seventh birthday, because of something petty, the younger sister planned to kill her older sister. She felt resentment and hatred, and didn’t love her older sister anymore. As a result, she wanted her older sister to feel her pain, and she took it upon herself to pierce through her right there and then to kill her. After a few hours, the younger sister got up.”

-March 14 2016

Got up from...

"If he hadn’t been there, there would’ve been ten times the victims. When he sealed Tsukuyomi away, he felt incredible loneliness and decided to seal himself with her. Akari is surprised to find that they were sealed together"

(hard to discern, but...)

(This took way too long.)

(Shish kebab)

"On the night of her seventh birthday, because of something petty, the younger sister planned to kill her older sister. She felt resentment and hatred, and didn’t love her older sister anymore. As a result, she wanted her older sister to feel her pain, and she took it upon herself to pierce through her right there and then to kill her."

-March 14 2016 tweet

“(Sister’s Story) The opportunity was just a trivial thing. It resulted from their affection for each other being too strong. They wanted to share everything. My younger sister and older sister were thinking the same thing. I want you to be mine forever.

And my younger sister skewered my older sister to share their final moment."

-June 24, 2015 tweet

"At that moment, a man stabbed Tsukuyomi from behind with a sword.

But Tsukuyomi was immortal and calm.

The man who stabbed her from behind was Tsukuyomi's younger brother.

As expected, Tsukuyomi-sama couldn't attack her brother.

Her younger brother still slashed his sister, Tsukuyomi, many times. While crying and crying for her to stop.

Tsukuyomi fell down, knocked out. The place where she landed was the altar of the example(?).

The brothers and relatives immediately surrounded the altar and decided to seal Tsukuyomi-sama in the altar.

The younger brother went up on the altar and tore his belly with a sword.

A great deal of blood hung on the altar and Tsukuyomi.

"I'm sorry, sister,"

The altar plate collapsed, and Tsukuyomi and her brother fell into the altar.

The altar plate returned automatically as if nothing had happened."

...and they loved eachother very much down there.

(Impalement before the altar)

(Same thing)

(Hint: their use of floriography)

not to mention:

(I'm not the first person to notice the connection.)

(”The hint”)

(”is”)

(”contradiction”)

"The older sister was very blind and the younger sister compensated for it. The younger sister couldn’t talk very well so the older sister compensated for it. The sisters were always close together."

-December 19, 2014 tweet

(eyesight)

(social skills)

(I don't care if she didn't actually want to do it. Fuck Echidna.)

...

“This is where it gets difficult. Mai already walks in the world of the dead due to living with Akari’s curse. At this time, Mai looks crazy in reality."

-The Great Beheading Dance Thread (April 3, 2017)

"Ryou is preparing the tools for torture. She feels sick that these tools will be used to dismantle someone. She hears yelling and goes down to the prison grid downstairs, where a woman named Sachiko is shaking and yelling. She pleads for water and is given drugged water so she’ll be quiet. Sachiko isn’t her real name; she’s an Onigumo woman and it’s a lot easier to call her Sachiko.

After she drinks the water, she is very polite and nothing like the rabid prisoner she is otherwise. She seems to forget what she does while her sanity is gone, as she asks Ryou if she wants to see her dance despite having asked that many times before.

...

They make her perform anyways. This performance is on par with the Star Lily Dance Performance (not the song), apparently. This performance is called the Headless Dance."

(”a hateful and fun dance”)

(A recurring theme?)

("A happy dream that never wakes up. An unfortunate reality that never ends")

...

Yet another failed attempt at being brief. I'm sorry if this "mood board" is just confusing.

Forgot to "mention"

[emitheplushy]

Archived blog: I found Shikyou

(She’s right here roflmao)

No I haven't found the old Shikyou PV. No I haven't found out if it even exists. Yes that's Skyrim.

This isn't purely a shitpost I swear. I've been wrapping my head around something major in the Onibi story.

So somewhat recently, Yoot and Nate did a podcast together where they discussed random Masa stuff (a lot of lore). Nate (ahem, Decent Artist, sry) brought up an important lore tweet from Masa that has something to do with Shikyou's true identity. He was relying on memory and described the tweet as "something about how when we find out Shikyou's name, it would be the endgame of the Onibi series." I think he's referring to this tweet:

March 26, 2013

狐の世界では死凶天邪鬼というものがかなり鍵になっています。まぁ、神様のようなものです。首無演舞狂の出だしが全体の話の鍵になっています。

“In the world of the Kitsune, what is called Shikyou the Amanojaku is quite a key. Well, she’s like God. The beginning of Headless Dancing Frenzy is the key to the whole story.”

^^^From Shishikusa's compilation of Masa's lore-related tweets

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MbXoVDwgX26aFMhl3TtsBhig63pZRbdwYQFIWdGTVac/edit?pli=1

I believe she was just using google translate, as that's how she made the blog summary. Pretty much the same message- however! I have a different understanding of what exactly this is saying. But we'll get to that after I tell you who I'm pretty certain Shikyou is.

Akari's grandma explains how there were all these gods and goddesses in the old ancestry of the Oborodzukas in the third act of the blog. She says that Izanagi and Izanami created the world. These original gods had three children: Amaterasu, Mikoto, and The Terrible Tsukuyomi.

If anyone wants to delve into theories about this aspect of the lore, it's time to get yourself a copy of the Kojiki. These names are Shinto gods and goddesses in real life. We can learn a lot about the happenings in the Onibiverse by theorizing which pieces of the real legends apply to the story.

And by looking up the names of these gods granny named, there is a big revelation right off the bat! Ok so Akari's grandma says that Shikyou rules the land of the dead (known as Yomi in the Shinto religion) but that she was not always a god of death. Keep this next detail in mind for later: anyone who learns Shikyou's real name is killed by her "messenger".

Look up the rocky relationship between Izanagi and his wife. What does it say?!? Oh yes, that IZANAMI CAME TO RULE THE LAND OF THE DEAD! She died giving birth to a certain fire god named Kagutsuchi, which happens to be the name of the demon that was sealed by the Kitsune clan (act 2 chapter 4). As a result, she went to the underworld (Yomi) and ate the food there, an act which bound her there forever (I have an unrelated theory about this). When Izanagi comes to rescue her (and fails), she says she'll go persuade some unnamed lord(s) of the realm to let her go. She tells him not to come see her until she returns to the land of the living. He does it anyway, and sees her hideous, decayed form. Shit goes sideways, one thing led to another, and his wife now rules the land of the dead and promises to cause a thousand deaths every year. Shikyou has that power by the way; to cause "death and misfortune" (her namesake), in order to return borrowed lives to the gods (or so she says).

There's of course a lot more to explore about how the Shinto stories relate to the Onibiverse. It's not a 1:1 copy of the religion obviously; there are going to be elements borrowed but changed perhaps drastically, many others left out. Do you know how many gods there are? How many stories about them?

Here's one other interesting connection. In the podcast on Yootna Marketing's channel they also brought up another tweet about how Shikyou is actually 8 different gods or something. This one here:

June 17, 2014

【死凶天邪鬼】

八人居る死凶の神様の中の一人、朧の化け狐。大昔唯一現世に生まれてしまった神様。恐ろしい力を持っていたがそれは本来三途の川で魂を引き抜くための力だが現世では命を奪ってしまうものだったため人々は恐れた。死凶様にも現世では人の様な名前があった。それはたしか、ツクヨミ。

“(Shikyou, the Amanojaku)

One of eight gods of Shikyou, the ‘fake obscene fox’. Only one other god like this has been born in the past. She had a terrible power, that was the power to take souls from the River Styx, but people feared her because she robbed life from the world. There was only one other person with a name like Shikyou-sama in the world. That’s certainly Tsukuyomi.”

Here's a little something to contemplate: the birth of Kagutsuchi and the ensuing death of Izanami is said to be the beginning of death in the world. His father Izanagi cuts off Kagutsuchi's head out of anger for "killing" his wife. From the spewed blood of Kagutsuchi are born...

8 gods.

And this is the exact same event that began the cycle of death in the world. Maybe "one of eight gods of Shikyou" means "one of eight gods of death and misfortune". I'm confused about this though, as it's describing Shikyou the Amanojaku in the tweet. Is an Amanojaku her chosen new form? Does this have to do with what Shikyou said to Akari, that she's "not the Shikyou you're thinking of"? Lots to wrap your head around.

You might be wondering. "How is this 'the endgame' of the Onibi series roflmfao".

I think what's meant by Masa's tweet is that this all has to do with how the story of Onibi itself actually ends. GG I'm never gonna find the willpower to write that >30 page essay on Demon's March and Beautiful Shadow. For now, just look at this from act 2 chapter 4:

I came to the fox’s altar.

[...]

I touched a demon’s skin for the first time. It’s hard, and tinged with heat.

She said that everything on the way home from hell is different.

I saw Shikyou’s gates.

[...]

Through the fox’s wedding, I devote myself to the altar and stand before the gate for the first time.

I saw the gatekeeper.

[...]

This is Shikyou’s gate. The demon was talking. Everyone thinks differently.

I saw Shikyou.

They asked.

I could not answer.

So I returned the remains of my borrowed life here.

Remember how Shikyou returns life to the gods? Yep she does it by killing people! She killed that poor bastard! And why did she do that?

(Act 3 chapter 2) In the beginning Shikyou was not the god of death. Those who knew her true form then were killed by her messenger.

(Act 2 chapter 5) Three, ancient, the name of the evil spirit will only be shown if you continue to hell.

I think he found out who she was when he reached hell. I think the endgame of the Onibi series takes place there, at Shikyou's gate.

{Edit}

I was mistaken about Shishikusas using google translate. I thought I remembered her stating that but it turns out I just assumed. She appears to know a fair bit of Japanese, so she's probably more reliable than machine translators.

(I don’t even understand what katakana is but seems legit!)

{Edit}

I was mistaken again. Knowing katakana doesn't mean you know Japanese.

{Edit}

Decent artist actually wasn't referring to that tweet. It was a dm. But it said something pretty similar.

[emitheplushy]

Archived blog: Redrum

A few things about the "new" song give me the spooks and a couple other things are downright horrifying.

The whole vibe I get from watching it is this mix of disturbing and innocent. It's like those creepy children's drawings of imaginary friends that show monsters, know what I'm talking about?

It's the black static Masa uses for his horror PVs. It's the distorted metal playing in the background. It's that moment things go greyscale followed by earrape.

And it's shit like this.

This is the description of the original deleted niconico video, run through google translate:

A happy dream that never wakes up.

An unfortunate reality that never ends.

This is a story that chose "dreams". Let me tell you the truth.

It sounds to me to be implying escapism through (possibly lucid) dreams.

(and she's crying)

Well, Masa was planning to create a song about a "dreamwalker" before, and you know what a dreamwalker is? Several things! Mainly it's the type in the scrapped song "Sally's Dreamwalker" where it clearly has to do with a person visiting Sally in her own damned dreams without permission. But it can also mean a lucid dreamer. (according to urban goddamn dictionary you think you learn this stuff at university no sirree you learn this on the streets bro)

So if masa knows about dreamwalkers, the term "dream player" is probably a creative way of saying lucid dreamer (AKA dreamwalker). And if Masa really looked into the horror aspect of lucid dreaming he might've heard of shadow beings that act as dreamwalkers (the visiting kind), or otherwise some other evil being. I don't remember everything I read in the past 5 years so maybe those were just isolated, obscure accounts. I'm not suggesting they were telling the truth but even if they're just an urban legend Masa could've used them as inspiration for a horror song.

At first they seem to be just silhouette background characters but at the end it's just out of place and creepy because it's now in the forefront and standing next to her.

About the vid's deletion. I've been digging around the wayback machine for some time now (if you read theories chat you may know why. damn shikyou...) and I personally don't think Masa deletes PVs he doesn't like. If I'm right, I can only imagine what super edgy lyrics could've convinced niconico to delete a PV that (almost) looks like a complete 180 from The Spider and the Kitsune-Like Lion (which released less than a month earlier). Actually, I will imagine what the lyrics were like. I'm gonna guess they were about child abuse. Like, in vivid detail apparently.

We'll see what they really mean soon enough I'm sure.

[emitheplushy]

Archived blog: It’s not Akari.

(Hair on the side goes down to just above her chin)

(Side hair never goes higher than her chin)

You're thinking she just cut her hair, fine. Except no. I can't explain why I just don't think it'd be ok in any author's mind to change a character's hairstyle enough to confuse the audience- that PV had "special edition" in the name if it was just an unexplained reupload of Fox's Wedding then you could make a point with it.

More importantly! From the old (presumably ancient) book Tonomari shows Ryou upon capturing Akari:

I came to the fox’s altar.

Everyone in the Kitsune clan is beautiful.

Deep eyes like a cat’s, beautiful gray hair, I want to have one as a bride.

I exchanged a drink with the demon.

[...]

I saw Shikyou’s gates.

It’s a place that is beyond description, unlike anything else in this world.

Through the fox’s wedding, I devote myself to the altar and stand before the gate for the first time. blah blah blah it doesn't end well.

What you need to understand from that is there's a gray-haired "kitsune" clan that inhabits Shikyou's realm (well, sort of her realm). Ain't nobody got time for that explanation rn but lets assume for argumant's sake this realm is the setting for Demon's March. If this is true, then Not Akari's white hair and kitsune mask make perfect sense. It's a member of this obscure mythical clan.

This idea hangs mostly on a theory about where Demon's March takes place that I'll cover later instead, BUT! It seems appropriate to cover a couple things visible in the pv itself right here and now.

Another part of the blog:

Ryou is pondering this when a book catches her eye. It’s called “The Spider and the Kitsune-Like Lion”, and it looks old. Ryou reads it:

One, ancient, a golden lion flew down from heaven.

Two, ancient, in the case of the evil spirit, the ark of Kyuubi appeared.

Three, ancient, the name of the evil spirit will only be shown if you continue to hell.

The Onigumo clan, abducted by the fox, has endured all sorts of agony for a long, long time.

This event happened ages ago. It must correspond with what the other old book describes:

The middle of April: It seems that everyone was eaten yesterday. The Oborodzuka man doesn’t always seem to have a human figure. Even though the girls are so beautiful. This time, Yorozuya’s master seems to have been eaten. Poor thing. I feel bad that they were eaten alive.

The second half of May: Finally, Shikyou’s procession has come to our village. Another half was taken in one day. The next one to go is surely me. If I go to that procession, I’ll surely take my own life. Toki, little Kaoru, I’m so, so sorry.

Late May: My wife and daughter were taken away. I couldn’t take my life. Help me. There’s only a few villagers left. Bunjiro from the liquor store was taken early this morning. He was crying until his head was lost. Truly this place is hell. No, it really is. This is hell. People can’t live in this heavenly prison. Everything about the Pure Land is a downright lie. It’s terrifying.

It was only me and my neighbor’s wife that remained. Her husband was taken late at night and she ran to my house out of fear. People are afraid to die alone. So I loved her until morning. I held my best friend’s wife. And I ate. I ate her from her head down.

Ever heard of that village Shikyou brought to cannibalize itself? It can be hard to see how a town eating itself constitutes an abduction but there's a few connections I've found about this and it seems to be a very important part of the story. The passage did mention people being taken so.... We'll think about that later though so for the sake of argument, lets assume these two books are referring to the same event. Considering the emboldened bit and the age of the books, this is a really old legend.

These yokai fall under the category of "Tsukumogami", When an inanimate object exists for a really long time, it becomes sentient. The wikipedia page says only 100 years but the claim is unsourced. Lets just agree that it must age for a very long time. These specific living objects are called "chochin-obake" (the paper lantern), and "kasa-obake" (the umbrella).

The Onigumo clan was abducted by the fox a long, long time ago. Long enough for these yokai to form.

And long enough for this mask to become cracked. Look I know irl you should be taking better care of your halloween masks, but it's to give that ancient aesthetic, yea?

Besides the whole ancient setting deal, there's an aspect of this Kitsune clan that's important to this dual theory (both that the setting of the pv is the same realm as the village that ate itself, and that the white-haired kitsune clan exists there). They are considered an evil clan associated with yokai.

“You have the rope?”

“Yeah.”

“Oi, wait just a minute.”

“What is it?”

“Look at that girl’s hair.”

“It’s white, what about it?”

“You damn fool, do you have white hair at such an age?”

“Ah… You’re right.”

“Oh, she must be part of that kitsune clan.”

“Really?!”

The man at the back hid the rope he had in his hands.

“That clan’s blood is rumored to be connected to that of youkai!”

“The same one that’s touched by gods?!”

“Oi, let’s get out of here!”

“Wait up!”

Go back and reread the passages from the old books if you have to. I'd think those are the stories they're associating with the Kitsune clan, even if the village one never called them by name. Because it's in the same bloody book. And from reading that one you'd realize what abduction The Spider and the Kitsune-Like Lion is talking about. I can see why they'd be terrified of a clan which has a mysterious central role in these legends. Especially the one with the settlement, but the other one also involves making a deal with a demon and his death is implied. The Spider and the Kitsune-Like Lion is really disturbing when it tells you the abducted village is now suffering eternally

So when you combine their connection to this "heavenly prison" with the presence of yokai in the pv (gashadokuro, kasa-obake, chochin-obake), you get a Kitsune girl in her natural habitat, the otherworldly realm riddled with yokai and eh "possibly" the influence of a certain goddess of death, considering that one orally-decapitating yokai back there. Which is heard chattering KAKAKAKAKA in beheading dance and the first act of the blog. It's a gashadokuro. It does those two things. Chomps people's heads off and chatters it's teeth.

“KAKAKAKAKKAKAKAKAKAKA! Come, Come, welcome to the brute’s nadir!”

“Come on, you useless pigs! It’s your turn! KAKAKAKAKAKAKAKA!”

Who are these guys? What the hell do they think they’re doing? Ugh, I guess I have no other option.

It will be nice to kill them..

What… what are they even doing? Is that… my body? Why are they taking only my body? Ha… Ha… Ha…

One strange thing I noticed is Akari belongs to the Oborodzuka clan, but has the traits of the Kitsune clan. Her "family" (who beat her and I think also did worse to her) consists entirely of horribly mutated people, some even being born as human-animal hybrids. But she is beautiful with white hair. There's some sort of vital connection between those two clans.

With that in mind, remember this line from the village story:

"The Oborodzuka man doesn’t always seem to have a human figure. Even though the girls are so beautiful"

(yea she's probably beautiful under that mask. no doubt.)

And yes this means I was wrong about those two yokai but the theory is still relevant; to the ghost. Futakuchi-onna just rings a bell about her.

Many relevant comments under this one.

bunny fou fou

plus like, it wouldn't make sense to include a canon-looking akari in a video with the green-haired mai and the blue haired amatsuku.

i'm excited to see who this character is though!

JMRMD

Yeah, I don't think Masa would make such an amateur mistake as forgetting to design Akari's hair the right size, and I think the skin of this kitsune being paler is a tip from Masa that it's not Akari..

John Graham Author

especially considering the attention to detail when he dropped hints in the first tweet that it was amaterasu standing there.

Decent_Artist_

Oo yeah yeah some of that could be plasuable!! And there's also this for why it isn't akari as it just says "kitsune" and masa would probably of written "fox girl" "akari" "miku 2" etc if it actually was her

KFOX

NOOOOOOOO But honestly that probably proves that it isn't Akari. Oh well, she still looks cool though.

[emitheplushy]

Archived blog: Story behind Demon’s March in blog (to be cont)

Abridged

Here's a TL;DR that gives you the main points with less analysis and fine details.

Masa writes an Onibi blog that goes in depth about the story of the whole series: https://shishikusas.tumblr.com/post/169205896076/masas-blog-summary. A chapter specifically for Demons March hasn't been posted yet and may not be for quite some time. But the onibi blog has some subtle details that point towards the meaning of Demons March.

There's a place mentioned throughout the blog called "the land of the dead". It's where Akari draws her power from. The area beyond the torii looks deserving of that name. It has an evil yokai called a Gashadokuro and an ominous black aura.

Tsukuyomi resides in the Black Sun Palace, the only place safe from Shikyou. The Black Sun itself is seen in the realm Mai and Amaterasu are standing in.

Complete explanation

For those who are unaware, the Onibi Series has a blog that Masa continually updates with new information on the story. A lot of information. It's even been referred to as a novel. 80% of the meaning of the songs is found in these blog posts. The thing started up in late 2012 and it still has more to go; Masa left us with a cliffhanger at the end of act 3 chapter 3, as well as confirmation that there will be a fourth chapter in that act. So is Demons March gonna be the next chapter? Well, the blog and the songs aren't necessarily "in sync" and the most recent chapter left off with Tsukuyomi becoming upset towards Akari and getting ready to explain some very important things to her o_o. So I don't think it's gonna be chapter 4. I have reason to believe Demons March actually happens around the same time as Beautiful Shadow of the Demon's Frenzied Dance. I'm just guessing here but I'd infer there will be one more act written into the blog that includes these two songs.

However, there are some references to what little we know of Demons March buried within these blog posts already! Which is crazy cause we know nothing! But I assure you the hints are there. Now, it won't be necessary for you to read the entire blog in order to understand these clues. The blog somewhat retraces its steps with each act, presenting the story from a different character's point of view. Deep story information tends to come in self-contained little secrets and events rather than everything being part of a single sequence that ties into itself (requiring you to read the whole thing). Essentially what I'm saying is it's more like a puzzle than a linear story. Crucial elements of the lore might for example be a book Ryou finds or a place Akari visits. These events don't have to tie into each other to be connected. But if you're interested, you should go ahead and read a detailed summary of the entire blog here:

https://shishikusas.tumblr.com/post/169205896076/masas-blog-summary

...whenever you get around to it.

There's still finer details of the Onibi series we can't read about because of the language barrier. The summary is a skimming of the main points as salvaged from google translate. Fortunately, Gomi has promised to eventually have the whole thing translated from top to bottom. She does a much better job than google translate even if she isn't a certified expert. As of right now only the first chapter is finished so it'll take a very long time but look forward to that in the future.

(That's Gomi underneath Contributor. Her name translates to garbage apparently but maybe don't call her that.)

Ok so first I'll get into what the actual f*ck this place even is:

(Masa's teaser on Twitter)

It's clearly hell right? Well... yea it pretty much is. There is a plane of existence mentioned in the blog called "the land of the dead". It is the place Akari has the power to open up at will. That is the nature of her power. How exactly that works is beyond me, but it's how Shikyou explains to Akari her power upon her asking. She basically kills people by summoning up the forces of death itself. (So hot...)

Now I'm not saying this place is explicitly stated in the blog to be the land of the dead, but it goes without saying, it sure as HELL looks like it, right? Well not the side Amaterasu is on; I'm talking about whatever lies beyond that torii. I can identify an evil yokai right off the bat: that giant skeleton is a Gashadokuro. They'll bite off your head and drink the blood spraying from your neck. And the whole area is smothered in this dark aura. It's all ominous AF and looks exactly how one would envision a land of death. Towards the end of the novel/blog, Shikyou says that she rules the land of the dead. And how exactly is the gate to Shikyou's domain described? "I saw Shikyou's gate. It's a place that is beyond description, unlike anything else in this world." Not to mention both these characters are dead.

Another thing about this place. Akari had at one point taken her usual praying session for Tsukuyomi a step further and actually visited her. She had to project her consciousness into another realm in order to get to her. According to Akari's grandma, who is very knowledgeable on the history of the Oborodzuka Clan, Tsukuyomi is in a place called the Black Sun Palace, the one place Shikyou cannot get to. Now look at the Demons March photo again. Hey, what's up with that sun up there? It seems a bit BLACK. HUH. Now, the place Akari describes when entering the Black Sun Palace is different from what's seen in the teaser. But that Black Sun is what the palace gets its name from. And it happens to be the only place safe from Shikyou. Just what is the Black Sun? What does it have to do with Shikyou? We can only guess.

So they're both dead and this song is about them spending time in a hellish nightmare, right? Like a reverse Star Lily Dance Performance? Mai is seen beheaded in the sneak peak image Masa posted on Twitter and Amaterasu stabbed herself, so yes they are dead. But the blog and songs have so many details that come together and suggest a complicated backstory to this otherworldly land. They all point towards this: they are going to confront Shikyou in the land of the dead.

These aforementioned details have to do with The Beautiful Shadow of the Demon's Frenzied Dance, the altar behind Amaterasu, and some old books Ryou learned about including one called "The Spider and the Kitsune-like Lion".

(Also our little friend here.)

But I'll continue this later as it's becoming a pretty long post. I also have an idea about the Black Sun but it's pure speculation and I'll keep it separate from this. I'm focusing on apparent mentions of Demons March in the novel-like blog first. Of course, any talk of an unreleased song is technically speculation but I'm trying to only point out connections that I consider highly likely to be meaningful.

P.S. Sorry for the clickbait if you thought the blog was recently updated.