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The Legends Behind Noragami


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Greed1914



Joined: 28 Oct 2007
Posts: 4410
PostPosted: Wed Dec 09, 2015 12:30 pm Reply with quote
Very interesting. I could tell there were things about Noragami I was missing, though not necessarily anything crucial. This also helped me understand parts of Persona 4 a bit better, too.
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mangamuscle



Joined: 23 Apr 2006
Posts: 2658
Location: Mexico
PostPosted: Wed Dec 09, 2015 12:47 pm Reply with quote
Kofuku wasn't invented, she was re-imagined just like Bishamon(ten), albeit I dunno if a God of poverty are to be classified as kami or youkai (in hell teacher numbe they were the later), albeit if someone made a shrine for Kofuku to placate her "anger" then she could also have pestered a celestial bureaucrat to have access to heaven.
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albanian



Joined: 18 Nov 2005
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 09, 2015 12:48 pm Reply with quote
For me, one of the most enjoyable - and informative - anime on a Shinto theme has to be Natsume's Book of Friends. But there has been a regular stream of Shinto-based shows over the years that have helped one build up a real understanding of Shintoism itself, and of the way in which it is so closely woven into the Japanese psyche, individually and collectively. One can cite such varied depictions as Gingitsune, Kamichu! and Someday's Dreamers - even, dare one mention it, the hilarious but cringeworthy Gugure Kokkuri-san!
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Barbobot



Joined: 06 Feb 2007
Posts: 460
PostPosted: Wed Dec 09, 2015 1:04 pm Reply with quote
mangamuscle wrote:
Kofuku wasn't invented, she was re-imagined just like Bishamon(ten), albeit I dunno if a God of poverty are to be classified as kami or youkai (in hell teacher numbe they were the later), albeit if someone made a shrine for Kofuku to placate her "anger" then she could also have pestered a celestial bureaucrat to have access to heaven.


She was probably referring to the idea that Kofuku as a specific character was created for Noragami. Binbougami is just a type of kami, a poverty god. She's not like Tenjin, Ebisu or Bishamonten who are very specific figures in Japanese mythology.
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Spleen



Joined: 29 Jun 2012
Posts: 56
PostPosted: Wed Dec 09, 2015 1:33 pm Reply with quote
Very interesting article. I didn't know anything about Shintoism until I read it, but the parallels between Shinto and Greek/Roman religion are so strong that it all felt very familiar, yet interesting and new. Probably something that describes animé as a whole to many of us Smile. In particular how gods are absorbed from other cultures, gods vary in significance from ancestral gods worshiped by individual families to the overarching Zeus / Hera figures, how humans can become gods,

And in the remarkable similarities between some of the myths. The Izanami story has so many echoes of Persephone it was quite striking. I don't think there's any kind of folkloric link, it probably has more to do with the fact that there are only so many different plotlines in the world.

It was great to have some of the bits that I'm unable to guess for myself filled in, like the significance of 5 yen to Yato.
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mangamuscle



Joined: 23 Apr 2006
Posts: 2658
Location: Mexico
PostPosted: Wed Dec 09, 2015 1:57 pm Reply with quote
Barbobot wrote:
Binbougami is just a type of kami, a poverty god. She's not like Tenjin, Ebisu or Bishamonten who are very specific figures in Japanese mythology.


That is why it makes sense to classify binbougami as a youkai, since youkai in folklore do not have a name, only a species identifier; yet even lesser deities in shinto have at least one unique name.
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BrianRuh



Joined: 17 Dec 2003
Posts: 162
Location: West Lafayette, IN, USA
PostPosted: Wed Dec 09, 2015 5:07 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
I remember watching My Neighbor Totoro as a little kid and not understanding why there was a tiny building on the side of the road. This was probably a shrine for Totoro, who is a kami himself!

That's a Jizō statue, so we're talking Buddhism rather than Shinto. (More Jizō statues appear later in the film as well.)
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relyat08



Joined: 20 Mar 2013
Posts: 4125
Location: Northern Virginia
PostPosted: Wed Dec 09, 2015 6:28 pm Reply with quote
Wow, this was very informative. I was wondering if we were going to be treated to a Feature about this after some of this stuff was brought up in the Noragami streaming reviews. Thanks a lot Gabrielle!
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phia_one



Joined: 15 Jan 2012
Posts: 1654
Location: Pennsylvania
PostPosted: Wed Dec 09, 2015 7:57 pm Reply with quote
This was an interesting read. Despite seeing aspects of Shinto popping up in other series, I never took it upon myself to research it to get a better understanding of it.

This article also reminds me that I need to get back to watching Noragami.
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EricJ2



Joined: 01 Feb 2014
Posts: 4016
PostPosted: Wed Dec 09, 2015 8:04 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
Every town has a shrine, and mini-shrines often litter the roadside. I remember watching My Neighbor Totoro as a little kid and not understanding why there was a tiny building on the side of the road. This was probably a shrine for Totoro, who is a kami himself!


I don't know much about Shinto outside of anime references, but if it was along a road, wouldn't that be a Jizo shrine, to watch over travelers?
(Which is why Satsuki asks "Let us stay here a while...")

Or is Jizo the fox statues? I get confused. Confused


Last edited by EricJ2 on Fri Dec 11, 2015 6:18 pm; edited 1 time in total
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AnimeMaine



Joined: 11 May 2009
Posts: 123
PostPosted: Wed Dec 09, 2015 8:59 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
You can't make a show about schoolchildren summoning Jesus to fight demons over here.


Not sure where "over here" is, but South Park did have Jesus fighting Satan and Jesus and the Super Best Friends fighting David Blaine (Scientology).
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yaki-udon



Joined: 05 May 2015
Posts: 83
PostPosted: Wed Dec 09, 2015 9:04 pm Reply with quote
The author of this article knows way more about Shinto than me. I literally can't tell the difference between Shinto and Buddhism. If I was religious, I would believe she/he was the reincarnation of Koizumi Yakumo.
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GlassesMan



Joined: 19 Jun 2015
Posts: 217
PostPosted: Wed Dec 09, 2015 9:33 pm Reply with quote
This was super interesting. Religion mixes with daily life far better in Japan than it does in the states. I feel like a show incorporating religion would still be excepted over here though. For example, Supernatural deals with angels and demons and no religious groups have made controversies over it.
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mangamuscle



Joined: 23 Apr 2006
Posts: 2658
Location: Mexico
PostPosted: Wed Dec 09, 2015 10:02 pm Reply with quote
AnimeMaine wrote:
Quote:
You can't make a show about schoolchildren summoning Jesus to fight demons over here.


Not sure where "over here" is, but South Park did have Jesus fighting Satan and Jesus and the Super Best Friends fighting David Blaine (Scientology).


GlassesMan wrote:
This was super interesting. Religion mixes with daily life far better in Japan than it does in the states. I feel like a show incorporating religion would still be excepted over here though. For example, Supernatural deals with angels and demons and no religious groups have made controversies over it.


@AnimeMaine Since South Park is a parody that holds nothing sacred, it barely registers on the radar. But if in a noncomical series like Supernatural you had an episode where THE Jesus appeared and start fighting demons, well, that shitstorm would be seen from the moon without the need of a telescope Anime hyper
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Angel M Cazares



Joined: 23 Sep 2010
Posts: 5407
Location: Iscandar
PostPosted: Wed Dec 09, 2015 10:53 pm Reply with quote
Well written and very informative piece. Thank you for writing it. If I had to choose a favorite god from Noragami it would be Bishamon because she is a strong warrior and a sexy character.

I have watched very few Shinto inspired anime, but Gingitsune is one of my favorite anime series ever. It touches the Shinto stuff in a marginal level, but it has strong character building and nice emotive moments.
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