Hmm. Can't say I'm not a little disappointed it's a setup chapter after such a long break, but I suspect the break was really to get ahead in the coming fights so Tatsu doesn't burn himself out or leave us hanging mid action. One hopes so, anyway.
And now the three groups on the date are all 'ready to start', Vamola is confirmed to have her suit, Mr Mantis-Shrimp is in the area (specifically near Jiji&Momo), and there's 5 potential threats that may or may not have some alliances: barber, dino, Serpo, Dragon Knights and the ?selkie?
We already had Nessie, selkies are only a wee bit further north, and not sure what else we're to think of a man appearing from a pinniped.
Though, I wonder if the selkie is actually going to be a badguy. There have been a few instances of things 'not being as they seem' - with the barber (hopefully), with Momo/Jiji and Okarun/Aira catching each other holding hands, hell Mr Dris being a space-whale before this. I could even argue it's a core aspect of Dandadan itself with all the conspiracy theories/cryptids/supernatural/10 genres in a trench coat.
So, 'I may seem like a sea creature, but I have the heart of a water flea'. First thought was that one resides in saltwater in the vast ocean and one in freshwater (and brackish?), typically ponds, so thus quite bluntly 'I'm not what I seem' (a threat? A man?).
Selkies are more likely to be vengeful than initially hostile, and it's bad luck to kill a seal so kinda hoping they don't fight him…
Considering the good that water fleas do for their eco-system as filter feeders and water cleaners, I'm not sure why the comparison would be at all threatening. They thrive in still water rather than flowing, due to energy expenditure to swim around outweighing calorie intake even with plenty of food. They can even eat all of the available food and as a result starve to death because of their 'gluttony'. Not that a dear little water flea could conceptualise this to show restraint, but you get the idea.
Metaphorically, the 'heart of a water flea' could refer to being transparent about intent or honesty (as they are physically), instead of a 'creature of the murky depths'.
Maybe it's 'I might seem like a creature that goes with the flow/swims against the current, but I prefer things to remain the same/still/stagnant' (as above, water fleas struggle with strong currents), or 'I might seem like a predator/aggressor, but I am in fact the prey/not a threat/a sacrifice'. Seals and sea lions are active hunting carnivores, water fleas are filter feeders on algae and detritus, and a common food source for anything bigger.
Also, most selkie stories involve the selkies being taken advantage of in some way with their skin stolen and taken as sometimes unwilling wives, always yearning for the sea. On that thought, perhaps it's 'I may seem like I would yearn for the sea, but I prefer a pond/captivity' as he is a captive seal at this park? Odd way to introduce oneself, though.
Oho, new fear: 'this is Pinocchio because he is 'inside' a sea creature and at a 'play land' and lying about his true nature and not a real boy and 'heart of a water flea' is ref to taking it easy therefore Sloth and also x thing the reader had no way of knowing beforehand'.
I would settle for Pinocchio = Okarun over a new person we had no way of guessing. Okarun's father being suddenly revealed to be a carpenter would similarly tick me off, fwiw.
edit: stared at the Japanese version and it could be translated as 'my heart is LIKE a water flea', which in English are named so because of the 'jumping' way they move to swim. So, maybe it's nothing more than 'I may seem like just a calmly swimming sea lion, but my heart is jumping like a water flea'?? But that's not as fun :p
Given Tatsu's previous obscure references, maybe it's little more than a throwaway ref to a band he likes...
I do hope Rin and Kouki are okay. Maybe they'll meet up with Zuma at Ayase shrine. There's not much they can do to come help right now, and I don't really want Zuma at a theme park... but all three of them deserve some tea and commiseration at least :( Taking Mai was bad enough, but taking Fuuta felt especially cruel.
*very vague manga spoilers*
Tatsu may be content to leave the boy in dino drool for a month, but I am not. Save him. He just thought he'd made a new friend and was enthralled by it's...majesty.
brachiosaurjumpscare.jpeg
Still gotta to work on the AU!outfits, but needed to rescue the Jiji. Armour is 99% vibes. So is the pointed stick. I'll fix it later :p
Aaaanyway...'bout that brachiosaur...
Given Okarun's comments about the initial depictions of therapods, I just think it's interesting that Jiji is getting eaten by a dinosaur that was once thought to be at least semi-aquatic, so it had to surface to breathe, like a certain Il Terribile Pescecane. And also happened to be around five storeys tall.
Alsoalso, given the religious themes going on, wondering if there will be any ref to Jonah and the 'whale' (again another 'big fish/shark' popularised as a whale), and leviathan. Maybe the brachy's head gets eaten by another dinosaur lol
And no! I will not let it go! Even if Tatsu his-fried-egg-self materialises in my living room to say "drop it, Okarun is Pinocchio", then it's just my headcanon now. Jiji even fits Tiphareth too well!
Unjiji having The Lovers tarot card would be so funny even if you don't ship it, come on.
tagging Unjiji because the AU is 100% Unjiji :p
The fairytale core themes and links to Dandagang (+RB)
Spoilers up to chapter 228.
I’ve been struggling to see the consistent theme for the fairytales, and the reasoning I’ve seen so far hasn’t really satisfied me. There’s been a fair bit of Disney or cultural osmosis level links, or traits that aren’t even unique to the character.
Pinocchio is Okarun because he lies? Sure, but Aira’s introduction involved taking back a nasty lie about Momo, her entire school persona was an act to fit in and be liked, and Kinta lies all the time to bolster himself (please be kinder to Kinta, he’s just a kid too). Don’t even get me started on Jiji’s ‘smiling on the outside’ masking to distract himself as much as anyone else. Him acting a fool to distract the class while the teacher mentions his parents being in hospital (for the attempted suicide that he had to cut them down from) feels very deliberate.
So. I’ve had a refresher read through the original tales (well, Grimm versions, with a little research into variations/translations, and Anderson’s and Carroll’s stories), and I’ve decided that even if I’m gloriously wrong and my own readings into the source material are completely different from Tatsu sensei’s, this was still rather fun to mull over and serves for headcanon fodder if nothing else :)
Of course, the current alignment of character/fairytale could also all be a ruse and CSG is screwing it up on purpose/doesn’t actually know in order to make Vlad explode or use him as a guinea pig. Or the people picked are actually something to do with bacteria resonating harmony as he was telling Okarun… but irregardless---
(beware, it's just over 4k words :u I'm sorry! I have a lot to say-!)
Hansel and Gretel core themes: protecting one’s family/bond of siblings, effects of poverty and resilience in times of hardship*, losing one’s way/guidance, leaving the nest (by force)/growing up too fast, returning home changed and ‘wealthier’ (in life experience, outlook, etc. rather than treasure), reunion (both between the siblings and with father).
*(fairytale is likely based on real events during The Great Famine in early 14th century Europe, the mother being a ‘cruel stepmother’ actually came in later iterations. People were forced to resort to child abandonment, infanticide and cannibalism to survive.)
I don't think I really need to belabour the core theme here of losing one’s way or Bega as the guidance, causing FTC's possession to falter and Unji resisting repossession when Bega was with him. The white stones and bread crumbs on the path at night in H&G being like guiding stars, and Bega likely named after the star Vega, once the guiding star before Polaris, and will again eventually replace it. Fits quite cleanly.
I also don’t think it’s happenstance Unji has returned to live in his childhood home, forever changed, after being imprisoned like Hansel was with his resentment fed every day in the confinement and drudgery of juvie. Imprisoned, more specifically, in his own mindset, in his own anger and hateful view of the world and the society that turned its back on him and the kids he looks out for at the apartments, which is what FTC latched onto. He’s trapped in that tragic cycle of being rejected by society and therefore rejecting it right back, being violent, fighting the authorities – and thus only reinforcing how society views ‘people like him’ and affirming them in their rejecting. Even though we know that even then he was still kind to his friends, and looking out for others, I feel that's kinda Tatsu's point here. He's the delinquent with a heart of gold archetype.
Unji only escapes it when he has a reunion with his lost sibling, as when Gretel frees Hansel from his cell. Fuuta reappears to save him from his helplessness in reliving a moment of trauma (/survivor’s guilt), because as patient as Bega may be and try as he may, that door was shut tight.
And just in case it needs stating: no, I don’t think Unji’s mother’s suicide correlates with ‘abandonment’, nor does H&G even linger on it in the first place. It’s not the point of H&G, only an inciting event.
FTC tried to play into that cruel angle, but as we saw and as Unji himself said, his mother tried desperately to protect them. She broke when they lost Fuuta and gave Unji one last day of happiness before trying to free them both from a painful world she could see no other way out of. The desperation and darkness that drives a person to that point is horrific. She didn’t abandon him, the 'system' and society abandoned them both.
Huge tangent on Unji re ‘growing up too young’: I don’t think he CAN be younger than the others, even ignoring the chin fuzz and bigger build. Japan does keep kids back a year in school, though I understand rarely or only in special cases – like missing 6-8 years of crucial school learning due to homelessness and juvenile detention, for example.
I’m no good with guessing kids ages, let alone in a manga, but by the stereotypical elementary-school-kid backpacks they both wear, they’re between 6 and 10. Unji could be at an older school and just using his old backpack due to cost for new (and therefore not initially walking home with Fuuta), but I think 2-3 years is a safe bet between them.
Unji cannot be enrolled in a younger school to catch up missed learning because he’d be too old even if he was 15, and probably deemed not worth the effort to re-educate due to history of gang violence and homelessness, so the best the ?city authorities? can do is put him in an age-appropriate school in the lowest grade to just age out of the system. Which Renjaku certainly seems like the kind of school for.
For GBH with intent on a cop, which I believe in Japan just falls under ‘injury’, Unji could easily have had the full 2 years max sentence for juvie. The guy Bega talks to specifically mentions they only take up to 18yrs old, and that ‘he’ll probably be back’, so he’ll definitely still be under 18 when released.
If he was 15-16 currently as his grade year implies, even assuming a shorter sentence of 19 months to make it a Les Mis reference, then he would have been around 13-14 beating up a full-grown adult man. I don't care if this is shounen; 13yr olds are 90% awkward angles by volume (Unji was homeless, so he wasn’t exactly getting a good diet either), and that gang of very evidently older boys would not be listening to an angry 13-14yr old ‘gang leader’ getting voice cracks every other sentence.
(If the anime gives him a 'boyish' or too 'sweet' kind of voice I will Expire. He needs to be able to say 'oi' like a threat, you know? I want Brella Boy to sound kinda scary.)
However, a 15-16yr old is usually very close to their adult height, and despite the poor nutrition potentially throughout Unji’s entire life, his father was also a pretty broad guy. 15-16yr olds can certainly stand up to an adult (though adults are of course usually still stronger and heavier) and are more likely to gain the respect of older teen peers.
This would make Unji the oldest of Dandagang at around/nearing 17 by series start (assuming a few months with Bega as the calendar shows at least September and October during the flashback). Unji being the oldest but in the youngest grade thematically fits with ‘growing up too fast’ present in Hansel and Gretel and in his own backstory. Providing Tatsu doesn’t outright state otherwise, ofc.
I’m not going to be going into all the more tangential ties for everyone because this is fast becoming an essay…I must control The Yap.
Snow White: Dangers of envy, objectification and coveting of beauty (and loss thereof), chasing outside validation.
I must admit this one was initially more difficult to theme. Yes, Snow White is beloved by all the ‘small creatures’, but that’s because they’re charmed by her beauty and goodness, and is more the narrative beating us over the head with how beautiful the (7yr old) child is, and beauty = Good.
Which put me on the thought of the nasty ‘older woman envying younger woman for her beauty’ trope, and the modern obsession with the beauty of youth (often to a concerning degree…). Kouki is the older sister, and her younger sister is getting praised in the scene right before she goes up to her room, looks at her past accolades, and then takes the photo to post online. She stares into her own mirror to seek her validation, because Kouki was Snow White the golden child, but now she is the queen.
At the end of the fairytale, Snow White becomes the new queen of the kingdom, and though she is framed as virtuous and ‘good’…what if the queen was too, once upon a time?
Thinking more on the apple in the card – while yes, it is instant ‘brand recognition’, apples also symbolise wisdom/knowledge and temptation in Western mythos. Mostly due to the Bible, but also from the Greek myths that inspired the originally unnamed fruit to be translated as an apple. The place on the Kabbalah tree of life that Snow White is in is Chokmah - Wisdom.
The other characters do more or less fit with their sefirot, and/or the angels associated with them, and Tarot card readings can be mapped onto it, which is quite compelling for it being more than a cool background.
There are a number of other variants of Snow White all across Europe, some of which directly refer to the influence over the wicked queen as a demon (either in the mirror or separate entity to it) which would tie with Lord of the Flies possibly referring to the Biblical Beezelbub, so it may be that Tatsu is drawing from more than one literary retelling. Also, Lord of the Flies, the novel, has a lot of id/ego/superego conflict, so wondering if linked to Momo’s ‘ID Cosmos’…?
Little Red Riding Hood: Don’t stray from the path/always obey instructions lest you be ‘consumed’ by a ‘wolf’, don’t trust strangers/misplaced trust, consequences for carelessness (in not running in case the bottle breaks and grandmother will get nothing, and in telling the wolf where grandmother lives).
From actually seeing Red Baron be declared as LRRH, it does look as though the connections are likely not predetermined/predestined, as he only really embodied LRRH leading up to the betrayal, which is what lead to me to wondering the consistent ‘core aspect’ for each fairytale.
For RB, it seems apparent that the link is 'don't trust a wolf'/misplaced trust, which I feel was directly a result of his arrogance in believing himself above ‘the peasants’, that he was worthy of standing with the 'nobles', and through that arrogant carelessness he trusted apex predators. Pride before a fall, and all that (more on pride later).
Unless. The link is from or is also CSG’s previous remark about not precisely following his orders, therefore having deviating from the path, which CSG could still have predicted/set up. Perhaps multiple qualifiers are needed to make someone a candidate?
The events leading up to him being declared LRRH could be a subtle ref to the start of the tale, too. Little Red Cap was denoted so by her grandmother, who of course would later be replaced by the wolf. RB reacts to being acknowledged as ‘Red Baron’ specifically by his own wolf, when CSG refuses to call him so - to avoid becoming the wolf himself...?
LRRH is tempted from the path by the wolf to take flowers to her grandmother as an extra gift, like the two powers returned.
As mentioned, CSG admonishes him for this, though I suspect he meant to not be so dangerous in nearly drowning Kouki and Rin, contrary to his instructions to befriend Dandagang? Either way, RB ‘strayed’.
It also doesn’t escape me that LRRH remarks on most of the features in grandma-wolf as on FTC’s cards: ears, eyes, hands, mouth (perhaps grandma’s usual feet and nose were best left without remark…).
Maybe we will yet see him cut out of this wolf?
The Little Mermaid: Unhealthy/unequal but undying love and resulting self-sacrifice, sacrifice to achieve one’s dream, a sheltered life wishing for adventure (to experience the world and live a life like ‘the people’), and so much agonising gay yearning good grief man
The Mermaid dreams of seeing the surface BEFORE even seeing the prince, and ultimately sacrifices her voice for her dream and suffers for it - NOT as in Rin's case: sacrificing her voice and suppressing her dream out of existing love for her mother and grandmother.
FTC tried to play into Rin’s very understandable jealousy of the other kids’ freedom and possible resentment of her situation, though I don’t feel jealousy was at all the intention with the Mermaid's story, nor does Rin herself express jealousy/resentment. Instead her family comes first, and she gets angry at Mai and her friends for calling her mother lazy.
While I respect Rin's mother and grandmother's situation and do not blame them, it undeniably is still not at all fair to Rin. She was and is just a kid, with far too much responsibility (as also class rep). She never complained, she kindly reassured her grandmother she was okay and yearned for her dream alone. Rin is self-sacrificing love.
She even gave up Mai and her powers to save Kouki, which yes, does overlap with simply being compassionate, but she specifically sacrificed her ‘voice’ in losing Mai and her powers.
Alice in Wonderland: Loss of innocence (as in childhood), growing up and the relentless march of time/mortality, finding one's place in the world, knowing oneself including loss of self.
The shrinking and growing in Alice is representative of growing pains, of not fitting your body (body changes during puberty, dysmorphia, new awareness of the body) to pair with the mental ‘out-of-mind’ state of Wonderland. The story even begins with a poem that at the end of which the ‘childish tale’ is to be lain like a ‘withered wreath’ – a vision of a cenotaph to childhood.
At the end of the book, as an awakened Alice runs off, her adult sister sits for a little while and imagines some of Wonderland into the real world, reminiscing about her own childhood through Alice, which is quite wistful. She knows it’s a place you can’t go back to.
At every turn in Wonderland, Alice is faced with challenges from the denizens that she finds frustratingly nonsensical, like a child trying to navigate the adult world's weird social rules. They defy her expectations of the world, perhaps much like Momo’s initial lack of belief in aliens and ‘read on the internet’/’because Seiko does’ belief in ghosts. Perhaps even the awkward uncertainty of the dance of friendship-courtship with Okarun.
Additionally, Alice has a bit of a risk taker streak, which has been noted by the fandom in Momo - taking potentially deadly risks to herself to save the day. The 'reality' of Wonderland is absurd and nonsense, and so the risks are mostly nonsense to Alice, until of course she's facing a beheading from the Queen of Hearts (…Reiko?) just before she wakes up.
Alice does try to understand the ridiculous inhabitants of Wonderland, even though they often frustrate her, which could be read in Momo's gyaru exterior over her genuinely compassionate nature. No, of course I am not suggesting gyaru aren't nice girls, I'm just noting that Tatsu wrote her as a 'tough girl with a soft heart' on purpose.
What’s more curious to me than Danmara=Wonderland and the shrinking, is that the aftereffects of Momo’s power being taken have left her missing a huge chunk of her ‘self’ with her memories and specifically ID Cosmos absent.
I think this is the main link with Alice, as this parallels the beginning of Through the Looking Glass (again another possible Reiko tie-in) where Alice begins to lose her sense of self when talking with the fawn, suggesting the events of the series so far are ‘Alice in Wonderland’ that Alice has already awoken from.
The rebirth in the pool could well symbolise Alice crossing through the mirror, though Alice is initially invisible after passing through the glass, so it’s not 1:1 of events – though even then I want to mention that everything in Looking Glass world is backwards to how Alice (and we) expect things to work.
Perhaps going forward, we will see more events from Through the Looking Glass (eagerly awaiting the Jabberwocky), starting with another poem with the lines:
‘We are but older children, dear,
who fret to find our bedtime near.’
Which sounds like a farewell to childhood (and encroaching mortality in general), in a ‘happy summer days gone by’/farewell to Wonderland kind of nostalgia.
Sidenote, I don’t recall any exact dates given for when the series so far takes place, the September/October calendar seen in Unji’s flashback could have been last month or last year, but the weather seems to have been at least mild/late summer and turned cooler since.
Alice in Wonderland takes place on a warm May afternoon, hence Alice falling asleep under a tree, and Through the Looking Glass begins in the snow towards the end of the year (I think the day before Bonfire Night (UK) on 4th November).
While I appreciate people's frustrations, for me the amnesia arc is Momo’s ‘growing up’ arc. She is losing/has lost a part of herself in the process, and even though I’m sure she’ll get it back as Okarun did, she is still changed by the experience.
I do also wonder if ID Comsos is a ref to either ‘identity’ or the Freudian id, ego, superego triumvirate of the human psyche. Both could fit, though her identity/self missing since she unlocked ID Cosmos does fit better, I think. We haven’t seen Unji (enough), Rin or Kouki after powers were taken to determine if this is the result though.
If Unji immediately gets lost on a level only matched by Zoro (One Piece), we may have our answer to the curses…(Rin becomes selfish and Kouki becomes an ice queen!? RB is going to be humbled even without a curse...)
Which brings us, finally, to Pinocchio.
I have to preface this by saying I will be legitimately disappointed if Okarun is not a red herring.
Not because I will be wrong in my suspicions, but because there are the more shallow, cultural osmosis level connections to the characters too, and all the things I've read into above might be completely unintentional.
What if these stories that are deeply beloved to me as a lore nerd and avid lover of language and literary analysis are more set dressing than something to get my teeth into? What if the tree of the life is just 'that cool thing from Eva lol'? In the manga about cryptozoology and conspiracy theories, and being something that is used in Tarot card readings in the (2nd) arc about Fairy Tale Card(s)!?
I have far better faith in Tatsu sensei than that.
What is throwing me though is the inclusion of the whale motif on the card, because it was not a whale in the original story. It was a dogfish with multiple rows of teeth, a kilometer long and could swallow a train. It also had asthma, and had to surface from the water to breathe when sleeping...
Okay okay no more Pinocchio = JIji/EE propaganda for now
It is odd that Tatsu would specify 'The Adventures of Pinocchio' and yet put the whale. Like with Alice's rabbit and Snow's apple, perhaps it's just for recognisability, but the figure already looks like a strange boy with a long nose - I would think that more of a giveaway to even unfamiliar audiences than a whale. Though the space-whale was rather out of nowhere if Pinocchio isn't Okarun, unless it's also a red herring... What are you doing to me Tatsu sensei.
Just to be absolutely clear, I am not suggesting my reading into the sources is in any way 'better' than the author or any other fans. I'm saying that I will be disappointed if Tatsu pulls an 'it's not that deep bro lol', especially when the links for everyone else can be so much deeper than surface level 'siblings', 'voice', 'Yukishiro', 'wears red' and 'went to Danmara' (Unji should be Alice then - at least he followed someone in!). I want some symbolism and deeper loreshit to chew on, damnit.
The Adventures of Pinocchio: Obedience to/love of one’s parents, importance of education (so as not to become a ‘donkey’), temptation, importance of money, dangers of naivety/trusting strangers, greed, choosing to be good, doing the hard thing when it is easy to be lazy/have fun instead, being rewarded for ‘goodness’ (keeping his promise to perform well in school and compassion for the fairy at the end, but also showing the fish in the dogfish’s stomach how to escape).
Some may wonder where ‘lying’ was on that list. Pinocchio’s nose only grows twice in the entire book, and immediately after he has taken back the lie on the second occasion, which is the only time it makes it shrink, he tells another lie with no repercussion, and continues to lie without his nose growing for the rest of the story. Pinocchio is disobedient first and lies to avoid punishment (and work) second.
Even if you wanted to reduce Pinocchio down to 'immature' and 'lies', those still fit Kinta and Aira better than Okarun (and still fits Jiji!). The 'adventures' are about him struggling to be good when it's ‘not in the nature of boys’ (book's implication, not mine).
And get away from me with that 'Okarun getting his balls back made him a real boy' bs. Pinocchio doesn't even want to be a real boy until near the end when he reunites with Fairy, and sees she has grown up and becomes his mother figure. She tells him he must deserve it.
It’s rashness and disrespecting/ignoring Gepetto that has him run out into the street and ends up with Gepetto in jail and Pinocchio starving, wet and miserable, burning off his feet on the stove. When he does try to be good and go to school, he is easily tempted away and ends up nearly used as firewood by Fire Eater, being blamed for hurting another kid, and right before he was about to become a real boy and get his wish, is still tempted away to the Land of Toys.
Pinocchio is naïve and foolish in trusting Fox and Cat and thinking the coins he got from Fire Eater would grow, and they later try to kill him by hanging.
We have seen Okarun be evasive and shy, but not naïve. He's deeply insecure, worried about screwing up and depressed when Yokairun, not disobedient, foolish or lazy. We've actually seen him be very mature in how he's handled conflicts and undertaking his self improvement.
Yes, Okarun was 'puppeted' by TG at first - but the entire fallout of the Cursed House arc was about Jiji being puppeted by EE, which only happened because of Jiji's compassionate, trusting nature. He was even encased in Taro to resemble a rather gruesome puppet (sorry Taro...).
I lied I'm never done with the Jiji/EE are both Pinocchio propaganda.
Pinocchio only earns his wish to become real after he gives away his honestly earned coins to take care of Fairy, who is hospital, in an act of compassion (and ongoing good behaviour). And he earned that coin by working to take care of Gepetto.
Okarun does earn money with his paper round to repay Seiko, perhps his own Blue Fairy, but there's none of the character arc Pinocchio goes through to get there. He's never expressed unwillingness to work, he has acutally shown the opposite both in improving his fitness and getting the job unprompted.
I'll concede we haven't seen Okarun's backstory yet and he may have been that way, but it's still not an act of compassion. He feels indebted to her.
The kanji for Jin Enjouji is 'compassion' 'coin' 'castle' 'temple'. We have watched EE soften on the Dandagang to the point he has now protected/avenged an ailing Seiko, because he's a superpowered, hurting, lonely kid who wants to play (dangerously) and the Dandagang have accepted him anyway. He is now willingly working with Jiji and they seem to have developed an amicable relationship (gimme EE and Mr & Mrs Enjouji interactions Tatsu I beg).
And this is all without going into Jiji's masking which makes him the most consistent 'liar' of the cast.
Quickfire 'ehhhh I guess' tangential links:
I know Byakuja is based on a real place but it is built into a steep hillside like Collodi, where Pinocchio is set.
Pinocchio literally means 'pine eye'. In Japanese: 'matsu me' which is close to 'mitsu me', meaning three eyes.
In Unji's imagination, Jiji was the only one with a prominent nose.
As a real boy, Pinocchio was described as having 'chestnut' hair and large, bright eyes.
Jiji tends to wear stripes on both arms and legs, plus the X on his shoes, like strings. EE's long hair all over the room and Jiji also looked a lot like strings.
If Jiji points out a shark or specifically a dogfish at the aquarium they're heading to---
Of course, Tatsu sensei could throw us a curveball and have Pinocchio be someone competely different - and I'd be okay with that! As long as it's more than just 'yeah because they lie'. It not being Okarun also would give a good opportunity for TG to give Okarun the powers back willingly - to save everyone else/takedown CSG and the ultimate yokai. Which considering how she looks down on 'newbies' is probably a pretty insulting idea to her.
One last note: it's a shame we only have 6 fairytales because we have 4 of the 7 deadly sins:
Kouki – envy
Unji – wrath
RB – pride
Rin – lust (yes, for the vampire fics lol, but also lust for life/her dream)
Which leaves sloth, gluttony and greed. Pinocchio did misbehave and lie to get out of work; he could easily be sloth. Not sure I’d label Momo with gluttony or greed though? Well, when there isn’t crab on the table…
So, a) that's the Sefirot/Tree of Life, and b) if Unji is Hansel and Gretel/Binah and Jiji is Pinocchio/Tiphareth, that line between them usually has the Hebrew letter 'zain' and is represented by The Lovers tarot card.
See also: http://www.thelemapedia.org/index.php/The_Lovers_%28tarot%29
Not to give anyone hope (I have been in shounen for...so long...) but uh- there's no way Tatsu DOESN'T know, right??
Edit: Found the original he referenced
jiji is probably red riding hood, okarun is most likely pinocchio
(sorry to respond with a reblog like this but it turned into a little essay)
Either way it remains to be seen for certain, but I am curious what you're seeing to make that link? I am never the type to say 'no. wrong.' or trying to persuade, but I'd at least like to explain why I'm not just putting Jiji/EE there for 'lol Unjiji real'. I have been in fandom far too long to ever expect such a thing.
The fairy tales seem to relate to the yokai/power more than the person, going by the mermaid's voice, Snow White's alliance with 'little creatures', and finding your way home/guidance/bond between sibings (especially if Brella Boy and Fuuta are separate beings, hence 2 umbrellas + Unji, and Tatsu's translated comment on BB: 'long ago he was known as the Umbrella Boy ghost').
Additionally, unless its referring to 'destined individuals' it would make more sense for the rules/layout of the Dandadan to correspond to these 'species' or specific yokai that have been around for potentially hundreds of years that they would know about. BB himself could be from as early as the 1600s.
While I can see Jiji as Red for 'being deceived' by EE, I'd argue TG is still a much better fit for Red Riding hood, both for the obvious of being a grandma, and the 'wolfish' feral way she/Okarun are sometimes drawn, as well as the 'wolf in sheep's clothing' of a harmless old lady being the…ah, 'devourer'. The gobbler, if you will. She even wears a red hanten/haori jacket.
Some of the suggested inspirations for Red Riding Hood involve SA/virgin sacrifice, as well as the remaining overall message of 'don't talk to strangers (lest they 'devour' you)' in the Grimm tale, and would link with how TG seems to be a protector for girls (Momo) and watch over the souls of those who had been attacked by a beast.
I'm not seeing Okarun or TG as Pinocchio at all, I'm afraid. Because he lost his dick/balls and the overarching theme of him recovering them being him 'becoming a man/real boy' and maturing? I don't think he lies so much as talks himself out of hoping for too much, and he doesn't need to learn the humility and respectfulness Pinocchio does.
Pinocchio wanted to be a real (normal) boy and go outside to play with the other children, but he also had to grow out of his childish michievousness and rashness as it hurt/endangered those around him, and he was rewarded for good behaviour and kindness by ultimately getting his wish.
I have also read a very well put together post, I think on Reddit that I can't put my hand to rn, about Jiji being a liar - being the most covered up/baggy clothes vs EE being bare, always acting the clown as a mask, and his narrative foil -shipping entirely aside- being Unji who is honest and more direct. Hence them clashing in a way that felt surprising for Jiji, even with his jealousy and overprotectiveness towards Momo.
I also think the sephirah in those positions fit a bit too well for Jiji and Okarun.
The angel correlated with Tiphareth, Raphael, is an archangel of healing, and Tiphareth itself associated with: "Spirituality", "Balance", "Integration", "Beauty", "Miracles", and "Compassion". The kanji for Jin's name is 'compassion'.
Tiphareth is a harmonising/balancing force between conflicting give/take forces in Gevurah and Chesed from which comes creation, mirroring his chi training with spirals and EE, as well as him being a bit of a peacekeeper or trying to dispel/being uncomfortable with conflict in the Dandagang.
I don't think I need to draw the obvious line between it's association with the sun and Jiji's sunshine-puppy-energy nature, though that's more subjective perception, I suppose.
A weaker link, but Gevurah, also known as Din (judgement), is associated with awe (a stretch, but Okarun's UMA obsession?) and the element of fire - given his firey looking collar. Additionally, Gevurah is associated with red which is established as Okarun's colour to compliment Momo's green.
The associated archangel is Khamiel/Camael, angel of justice, protection, and, most notably for Okarun, inner strength. He is always protecting Miss Ayase (though, ofc, the Dandagang always look out for eachother), and one could see him, as part of the protag duo with Momo/deutaroganist, as casting down or passing judgement on the 'demons'/monster of the arc - who do often look the demonic part.
I'll grant you EE fits the association with Mars/War, but it's more 'I'm going to kill all humans'/retribution/revenge than judgement or real war.
I'm not any flavour of religious, nor practice tarot, so my understanding is from passing interest for fandom symbolism over the years. To reiterate, I do not mean this as a slapdown if you read the characters/fairytales differently; I earnestly would like to hear other takes, and Tatsu may yet prove us all wrong (EE does feel like a bit of a wildcard to be on the list…).
So, a) that's the Sefirot/Tree of Life, and b) if Unji is Hansel and Gretel/Binah and Jiji is Pinocchio/Tiphareth, that line between them usually has the Hebrew letter 'zain' and is represented by The Lovers tarot card.
See also: http://www.thelemapedia.org/index.php/The_Lovers_%28tarot%29
Not to give anyone hope (I have been in shounen for...so long...) but uh- there's no way Tatsu DOESN'T know, right??
Edit: Found the original he referenced
Thank you Hanako-san, beat them up Hanako-san, flush them down the drain Hanako-san!!! She was just introduced and she's the best thing to happen in this manga lmao. Hanako-san is perhaps the most infamous yokai in Japanese urban legends, so it makes sense that she would be very powerful. She's also super cute while beating up these bad guys 🥹
Also, here are some other yokai friends who Turbo Granny asked to help. Granny is always behind the scenes protecting the kids 😭
First we have the owl-looking yokai, and there is one yokai who takes the appearance of an owl, the Tatarimokke. A tatarimokke is the spirit of a dead baby who lives in an owl, and stays close to the family who they once came from. Other than appearance, there doesn't feel like there's too much in common with this character and a tatarimokke. I could have sworn there's a yokai who kept you warm or gave you blankets but I couldn't find anything so far.
The guy sitting on the toilet I have no clue 😅 The owl called him "Kamikure", and when I looked that up, there's a yokai called Kamikiri, the haircutter. There's nothing about kamikiri being on toilets though, and "kure" usually means "to give", which is quite different from "to cut".
Anyways, all of them seem like allies that Turbo Granny sent, so I think they're quite neat. I look forward to seeing what abilities they all have! And I'm glad Kouki and Rin are safe!!!
I think the bird guy could be Ijū (literally: 'strange beast'), which carried a guys pack over the mountains in return for him splitting his lunch with it, which fits with carrying Rin and Kouki.
From: https://hyakumonogatari.com/2013/06/04/ijuu-the-strange-beast/
'There is only one story of the Ijuu, and it comes from Suzuki Bokushi’s Edo period book Hokuetsuseppu (北越雪譜; Snow Stories of North Etsu Province, 1837).'
It's that, or/possibly crossed with Namahage based purely because it's fur looks a bit like straw, and it reminded me of the traditional straw raincoats, or 'mino', but I think Ijū is more likely. Namahage do come down from the mountains to punish people though...
Edit: TG called it 'abura' in the bonus where it first appeared, so most likely Abura Sumashi then.
Idk how it's written in Japanese, but Kamikure could be the 'give me toilet paper' ghost if it's written as kami: paper, kure: to give. If you've played Zelda: Majora's Mask, Skyward Sword or Oracle of Ages, it pops up in a few of those as a spooky withered hand sticking out of the toilet, begging for paper.
The Zelda 'ghost hand' itself possibly stems from tales of kappa reaching up while you're doing your business to steal your shirikodama or 'soul ball' right out of your butt (unpleasant, and also deadly!), which wooooould fit in DDD lol
There is also Aka Manto ('red cloak'), as someone else mentioned, but he only has a loincloth/fundoshi on by the look of it. Although, I think there's a lot of overlap with some tales/myths and Tatsu-san's artistic spin ofc, so as with owl-guy it could be a mix.
*light manga spoilers I dun wanna tag. Go read it :p *
'Yeah my big bro is currently blind, but he'll be fine. This idiot though-'
Fuuta protecting Jiji (from Kitos especially) means a lot to me. Wasn't just a 'protect the powerless human' thing - he stayed by this guy who had just been picking (losing) a spat with his brother even as Unji was directly under attack and after EE sent someone flying. Maybe he knows Jiji is a good person, really :) Sunshine recognise sunshine.
And tbf, Unji really was doing just fine...
Fuuta: Sooo...Tough Girl and Big Guy just went through the roof.
Unji: tf you mean 'through the roof'? Of the PLANE?!
(gonna watch that entire episode with my eyes closed for the true Zuma Unji Experience (tm)) (In season 6 :'))
Edit: Ah gdi I just realised his boot is on the wrong foot. fffffffffff-
A lil KnightxPrince AU WIP because I have to go away and figure out a) Unji's armor b) royalish looking clothes c) architecture, and. like. rendering generally. How do people concentrate for that long seriously-
POV your empathetic royal ass got possessed by a 'dangerous' yokai you were trying to help, and the High Council insist they need to wait for an auspicious date to sacrifice exorcise it, so you gotta be locked away in ye olde classic tower for yours and everyone elses safety. The knight captain's adoptive son is appointed your guard dog/executioner, and he kinda looks like he bites.
Oh heck yeah they're gonna fall in love and save Evil Eye and fight Kitos
*vaguest of manga spoilers I'm not even gonna tag*
While I would of course like the girls to save themselves, guys I really miss Zuma I would not be adverse to the Dandagang intervening :d
If only for more Thrilling Rin-O-Vision, featuring Vampire!Okarun, Ghost!Jiji, and Werewolf!Zuma (Tatsu-san plz, you know I'm right--)
I might come back to this at some point and redo lighting because there is A Reason I usually just block colour and leave it (cries), but NY resolution is to seriously work on clearing WIP backlog so kicking my own ass into just posting the thing.
Comfy Unjijis. Because it's cold af and I want a kotatsu.
So. That official art with the sweets... Momokarun matching with lollipops, Aira with something numerous and small (muuu!), and Jiji with that heel kick something dark, sometimes a little bitter but ultimately sweet (complex, even)...
yeahyeahyeah 'hope you limbered up for that one', but it's fun to hmmmm at these things :p this is what ship interaction drought does to a person (tatsu-san plz)
Another quick Unjiji because I'm going away and in limbo until leave time.
The Ghost re-enactment is, of course, best configuration for their combo attack (...Evil Cannon?) but consider - mobility. Unji insists on one rule: "just keep your damn pants on".
Spoiler tags for EEji/hybrid Jiji/whatever we're calling him I guess...(seriously though go read the manga)
I knowwww it says uzumaki, but this made me double-take:
And they're best bros now, right? I mean, Fuuta saved Jiji, Unji saved Momo, Jiji saved Unji, combo attack...that's a bonding experience speedrun. Tatsu-san current events are fascinating and agonising but please where is my son--
Bonus: Unji's weakness - this absolute goober direct displays of affection:
("hey where did Vamola's taiyaki go-" girl inhales her food, you leave her be)
Soooooo I might have some remastered Kuris mesh rambling below the cut:
File format didn't change, so the old methods to extract models still works >:D I'm having issues with textures but I can brute force that another day. Until then, have some real quick Kurtis mesh comparisons.
First up, his head. It's literally a work of art. His fucking NOSE??? I really love the new definition on his cheekbones, his jaw, the tendons in his neck and his adam's apple. But the overall shape is incredibly faithful to the original while massively increasing the poly count to something more modern (not fully modern standards mind you, for example Johnny from Cyberpunk 2077 has about double the polygons in his head than Kurtis does, so they're still aiming for the style over realism).
His hair looks fantastic, I really love how the hair looks in this remaster. Strangely enough, they opted to follow the original model's example and not have the back of his scalp actually modelled at all - his hairline literally meets the jagged end of his forehead, rather than opting to have a full scalp like most modern games.
Another neat little feature is that his scar is physically embedded into the topology which is... honestly kinda wild. Scars are usually all texture work, as doing it in polygons is more expensive on render times, but it's so tiny and the polycount is already low enough that they could spare some here for his scar, and I LOVE it. By having physical depth in the mesh where his scar sits, it looks more believable than simply using a normal map and creating fake depth. Also! Eyelashes!
Some other neat bits, starting with hands:
Really good topology for... what essentially hardly ever bends, which is massive overkill, but also very impressive. There's so many polys on each of those joints, my head spins just trying to think about the process of building this mesh. I noticed the nails on Lara while playing, but I love the actually defined nails. I also really love how his fingers are chunky, but are sorta knobbly and really have nice detail (those thumbs are great). Also, his accessories are now proper models all their own with 3D depth and detail - love to see it!
His guns, harness and clothes in general look SO good, I think clothes might be one of the nicest parts of this remaster. Also CHECK OUT THEM PECS. The definition on his chest is really nice, it looks tight around his chest but loose and comfy at his belt which is a nice touch, definitely helps exaggerate the folds the original texture tried to imply. Each of the little fastenings on his harness too are meshes all on their own. His double belt situation might still be in effect? I won't be able to tell until I see the model with textures, but for now it looks as though they redesigned the belt situation to let his discus be held on by a separate belt that clasps onto the main belt? I'll report back on the infamous double belting when I nab the new textures.
(The original double belt for context.)
I also just thought his new boots were cool as hell, and the remastered discus looks clean. As someone currently deep in retopology hell for an assignment, I love admiring how nicely done all of this is.
Mind if I ask what texture troubles you're having? If you're trying to get the textures into ...Blender?, they're DXT1 DDS, which Blender doesn't seem to like. Save as in Paint.Net to DXT3 DDS and they'll load fine.
UVs are all flipped on Y, at least they are for me. I could not get his trousers to map properly, as you can see below (ehehehe). No idea what's going on there, maybe something went squiggly in the model on export, though I've redone a few times with no change...
If you're familiar with the OG tools, animations also work, but I can't get the .POS (position) in to actually move around as it needs converting to something readable. I think it was intended for the 1.2 version of TRAODAE that hasn't been released yet. Maybe the remasters will reinvigorate the project :)
It wasn't getting the textures into Blender that was the issue, but the textures themselves. I have the 1.1 version of TRAODAE that was forcefully outputting the textures as .bmps (that were 1x1 pixels :')) with a conversion going on behind the scenes. Is there a way to circumvent this?
Ahh, I got you. The HD textures are floating freely in [game directory]/6/TEX, though they are only 512x512.
The .bmps TRAODAE spits out I think are just dummy files - maybe pointers/placeholders for the materials? I've had it with a few other game exporters before.
Soooooo I might have some remastered Kuris mesh rambling below the cut:
File format didn't change, so the old methods to extract models still works >:D I'm having issues with textures but I can brute force that another day. Until then, have some real quick Kurtis mesh comparisons.
First up, his head. It's literally a work of art. His fucking NOSE??? I really love the new definition on his cheekbones, his jaw, the tendons in his neck and his adam's apple. But the overall shape is incredibly faithful to the original while massively increasing the poly count to something more modern (not fully modern standards mind you, for example Johnny from Cyberpunk 2077 has about double the polygons in his head than Kurtis does, so they're still aiming for the style over realism).
His hair looks fantastic, I really love how the hair looks in this remaster. Strangely enough, they opted to follow the original model's example and not have the back of his scalp actually modelled at all - his hairline literally meets the jagged end of his forehead, rather than opting to have a full scalp like most modern games.
Another neat little feature is that his scar is physically embedded into the topology which is... honestly kinda wild. Scars are usually all texture work, as doing it in polygons is more expensive on render times, but it's so tiny and the polycount is already low enough that they could spare some here for his scar, and I LOVE it. By having physical depth in the mesh where his scar sits, it looks more believable than simply using a normal map and creating fake depth. Also! Eyelashes!
Some other neat bits, starting with hands:
Really good topology for... what essentially hardly ever bends, which is massive overkill, but also very impressive. There's so many polys on each of those joints, my head spins just trying to think about the process of building this mesh. I noticed the nails on Lara while playing, but I love the actually defined nails. I also really love how his fingers are chunky, but are sorta knobbly and really have nice detail (those thumbs are great). Also, his accessories are now proper models all their own with 3D depth and detail - love to see it!
His guns, harness and clothes in general look SO good, I think clothes might be one of the nicest parts of this remaster. Also CHECK OUT THEM PECS. The definition on his chest is really nice, it looks tight around his chest but loose and comfy at his belt which is a nice touch, definitely helps exaggerate the folds the original texture tried to imply. Each of the little fastenings on his harness too are meshes all on their own. His double belt situation might still be in effect? I won't be able to tell until I see the model with textures, but for now it looks as though they redesigned the belt situation to let his discus be held on by a separate belt that clasps onto the main belt? I'll report back on the infamous double belting when I nab the new textures.
(The original double belt for context.)
I also just thought his new boots were cool as hell, and the remastered discus looks clean. As someone currently deep in retopology hell for an assignment, I love admiring how nicely done all of this is.
Mind if I ask what texture troubles you're having? If you're trying to get the textures into ...Blender?, they're DXT1 DDS, which Blender doesn't seem to like. Save as in Paint.Net to DXT3 DDS and they'll load fine.
UVs are all flipped on Y, at least they are for me. I could not get his trousers to map properly, as you can see below (ehehehe). No idea what's going on there, maybe something went squiggly in the model on export, though I've redone a few times with no change...
If you're familiar with the OG tools, animations also work, but I can't get the .POS (position) in to actually move around as it needs converting to something readable. I think it was intended for the 1.2 version of TRAODAE that hasn't been released yet. Maybe the remasters will reinvigorate the project :)
