#nue arc

[dragonkeeper19600]

I was rewatching the Mononoke series (again), and I just noticed this.

They establish at the very beginning of the arc that Nakarai, who, like the other men, is trying to marry Princess Ruri, has been married before, but his previous wife died.

Later, it’s revealed that Nakarai is the one who “killed” Princess Ruri.

Did his wife just happen to pass away, or…?

[the-pink-tree]

I mean I know the medicine seller had to make them realize they were all dead from the start but... their "deaths" were so scary for no reason--

The camera angles changing intensely as he says "water", the intense "bamm" at his fall and then a popping sound- jesus christ, this show knows how to make psychological horror

[dragonkeeper19600]

After Jissonji is killed in the Nue arc, the monstrous, goopy form he adopts looks a lot like a kind of yokai called a “dorotabō.” Literally translated as “muddy rice field monk,” dorotabō are mud-covered ghosts that haunt neglected rice fields. 

Jissonji post-transformation doesn’t have all the traits of a typical dorotabō. Dorotabō, for example, traditionally have three fingers on each hand and are said to be the restless ghosts of farmers who see their beloved fields neglected after their deaths. Jissonji still has all his fingers (I counted them) and isn’t really associated with rice fields or farming. However, Mononoke has kind of a lax attitude when it comes to depicting yokai. Most likely, Jissonji transformation is meant to be some kind of joke relating to his bald head. Many yokai that have nothing to do with the clergy are referred to as monks because of their bald-headed appearance, presumably reminiscent of a monk’s shaved head. The umi bozu (“sea monk”) is another example of this naming scheme.