Forum - View topicHell's Paradise: Jigokuraku (TV) (w/ index).
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Tony K.
 SubscriberModerator  Posts: 11301 Location: Frisco, TX |
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Episode 09: Gods and People
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Harleyquin
Posts: 2857 |
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#10
After last week, this is one of the quieter episodes with more conceptual elaboration. This episode also confirms that those familiar with the Chinese mainland's concept of Daoism and immortality will find a lot of this familiar ground being reinterpreted for a Japanese audience. The whole episode focuses on Tao (道), the circulation of Yin and Yang to generate the energy that forms all living things. Mei can manifest these powers, but a side effect of her utilisation appears to be ageing, which grants her the ability of basic speech. She's the worst teacher of those explaining the concept, but what's fun about this episode is the different approaches taken to explaining what is probably the most fundamental concept in this franchise. Mei is trying to explain it in a way a child would who doesn't fully understand what the concept is but knows how to work it, Houko explains it in a way adults can understand, but not necessarily wield it. Shion actually uses the Tao to see despite his blindness, because the Doushi (道士) serving the Tensen sense their surroundings in the exact same way. He could probably teach everyone best, provided he can meet up with Sagiri and the others as Yuzuriha would hope for. Gabimaru actually choosing diplomacy instead of conflict is another sign he's changing for the better. He actually repeated what Sagiri told him way back in episode three, and this course of action (although the most logical given his physical state) is not something he would have done if this happened right after the groups initial landing on the island. Now we know how Sagiri was able to parry Rokurouta's attacks. The 中道 she pursues and her state of mind threading the needle between emotion and logic is exactly what is required to generate Tao. Although it was only temporary, if she can somehow recreate that physical and mental state she'll be capable of much more if she can sustain it. Aza Choubei is an absolute monster. Not only is he physically strong and durable, his ability to adapt better than anyone else amongst the cast actually gives him the instinctual insight into the weakness of the Tensen. 丹田 is indeed just below the navel, and many Chinese martial arts principles expound on generating energy from it. As far as this franchise is concerned, Gabimaru's critical hit on Zhujin coincidentally hit that very spot just before Zhujin transformed. If the Gabimaru trio can meet up with the others and pool their knowledge, they will have the groundwork required to formulate a plan to finally destroy the immortals for good. Although mostly expository, there's some action towards the end and Senta's comedy segment as he shows off his intelligence and how much it makes up for his utter lack of action sequences to date. After last week, just what the animators needed to have a breather and tune the audience in on what's in store. I'm looking forward to the episode when Shion, Gabimaru and Sagiri teams finally reassemble and share their knowledge. I reckon Shion will make the best teacher for what the main cast needs to know, while the Aza brothers will mostly make their own way as the older brother is a fiend and his younger sibling will chop up mundane enemies standing in their way. |
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smurky turkey
Posts: 1955 |
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In a way it makes sense, instead of finding the enemies' weakpoint they power themselves up in the same way. Whether that will be easy is a another matter entirely though.
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minamikaze
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That the Gabimaru hit that point accidentally makes sense. I was thrown off by the fact that at the moment of impact his foot had the golden glow that seemed to be associated with the use of Tao by Mei and the Tensen (Ju Jin). I guess that could have been just to show that spot was the source of the Tensen's power, but I still think that perhaps his foot glowed because Gabimaru might have used Tao unconsciously in that kick. I guess we'll find out, since I'm sure he is going to have to master the use of Tao at some point.
In the previous episode, Ju Fa seemed to say that Ju Jin's severely advanced aging was due to overusing Tao as well. |
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Edjwald
 Posts: 1143 |
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It does sound like Gabimaru, the blind swordsman, and the elder Aza brother all use Tao/Chi/Qi/ in different ways, toward different ends. Maybe sword moustache does too for that matter. I kind of like the way that guy's developing by the way. A martial arts version of a muscle head, but he's got his own bottom lines worked out . As far as the midriff/weak point goes, it does sound like the show's leaning toward some chakra influences. That's where the navel and the root chakras are, and they're both pretty key in most Eastern systems as I understand it. By the way, I'm typing this while holding a mountain pose. (Okay, more of a half fetal, couch pilot pose...) |
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Harleyquin
Posts: 2857 |
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This statement brings up two questions with regards to Mei: 1. The punch she threw at Sagiri which Gabimaru parried used Tao, but she didn't age. Defensive globes apparently use much more than simple punches. 2. Unlike Zhujin, she can't drink what the Seven do to regain her youth. I've not seen her change genders either, so if she keeps up her expenditure that's going to accelerate her ageing. Can it be reversed like the others? Gantetsusai's aim is what we here would consider immortality: making a name for oneself in history to such an extent that the memory endures for however long the story remains to be passed down to future generations. Alexander the Great died young, but we still know about him today worldwide because of his achievements. If he does succeed in killing the Seven (obviously with help from the others), he'll have an achievement but not necessarily the fame as the authorities back home won't be too keen on seeing such a tale propagate. |
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Tony K.
Subscriber Moderator Posts: 11301 Location: Frisco, TX |
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Episode 10: Yin and Yang
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smurky turkey
Posts: 1955 |
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Ya know, being able to learn a new power in a speedy fashion is great and all, but maybe you should not think that you can take on the final boss just like that. That said, the insect bros were taken out, so no more butterflies and centipides I guess. As for the other teams, that one brother is surely to turn into something nasty sooner or later and flower head showing up probably means more death.
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Harleyquin
Posts: 2857 |
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#11
This episode feels like a follow-up of last week's expository episode, but the animators realised it would bore the audience to have too much talking two weeks in a row, so they threw in quite a few actions sequences to keep the audience occupied while the Tao concept is further elaborated upon. Also, this week's episode is one bombshell after another. Mei's background is for better or worse made clear to Gabimaru and the others, and it's a good thing Gabimaru has acted against his former instincts and is willing to save her. Gabimaru acquired his skills through life-threatening training which stripped his humanity, yet even he couldn't figure out the secret behind the Doushi's powers as instinctively as Aza Choubei did. Whatever he did to incorporate the vines into his body, it's certainly working as he's acquired the same sight the Doushi did in literally a few minutes of airtime. For the two brothers, they probably got a lucky break as their opponent didn't take them seriously until it was too late. Regardless, they have their victory and their captive. How much information they can squeeze out of it will determine their future successes. On the other hand, the Gabimaru trio struggled immensely to comprehend Mei's speech. The episode title encapsulates it all, and were it not for Fuchi and his encyclopaedic knowledge of foreign works the pair of them could have killed for hours without improving. Gabimaru and Sagiri have somehow arrived at the same point through widely differing paths, so I'm eagerly anticipating what will happen when the disparate groups finally reunite and pool their knowledge. First thing for Sagiri and Yuzuriha: survive the Tensen who has apparently decapitated Houko. This week's action sequences are longer but slightly inferior in quality to the Gabimaru fight two weeks ago. Not to say it isn't good, but it feels somewhat off because of the nature of the fights (lots of small fry enemies being summoned and killed by our main cast). Good thing the animators are weaving in the expository parts with lots of action though, it looks there's no break for a while until our visitors can escape or kill their way out of their encounters. |
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Edjwald
Posts: 1143 |
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I'm kind of wondering if the humanity stripping part of his training is why Gabimaru struggled as much as he did - how that corresponds to the "weakness" he was having so much trouble accepting. Mei shook her head pretty vehemently (for her) when that dude said that Gabimaru was no longer human too. And I'm definitely thinking that Aza chewing down on Monster Meat in the previous episode is at least partly responsible for his quick transformation/mutation/possession/what-have-you. The one thing that keeps the guy human is his bond to his brother, and there were a couple of small signs that it was starting to fray a little bit. |
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smurky turkey
Posts: 1955 |
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Yeah, I fully expect his insanely fast increase in power/tao to come with a hefty downside. Right now he only has a few vine marks, but he will probably turn into something worse.
As for Gabimaru, I think it was more that he has a battle trained/hardened mindset, only power and strength matter to win. Thinking of weakness or being vulnerable does not come into that and once he realised that and accepted those feelings he got control of tao near instantly. That said, his aptitude and superhuman traits probably also make it easier to use tao since I think he was already somewhat using it with his flames. |
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Harleyquin
Posts: 2857 |
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You sure about that? Might want to rewatch that part as there's enough in this episode to disprove your assertion. 1. The camera literally stops short of showing Choubei biting into the Soushin flesh. 2. The Doushi overcome by the two brothers specifically attributes Choubei's improvement to the pit vines he was freed from by Touma. 3. The Doushi specifically interrupted the two brothers just as Choubei was about to eat. There's enough to suggest despite his sight mechanic that he can see what others are doing and he was already in position to interrupt the two brothers before Choubei could eat. If Choubei had eaten the Soushin chunk, the Doushi would have mentioned this explicitly as the reason for the increase in power, and not the vines. 4. Even Touma attributes the powers to the vines, and he would know best of all people if his brother did eat the flesh. So far Aza Choubei has consumed blood fluids from the monsters to quench his thirst, and incorporated the pit vines through unknown means into his body. The former didn't seem to do much to him prior to fighting the Tensen, but the latter took effect almost immediately after he hauled his brother out of the pit. |
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Edjwald
Posts: 1143 |
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Am I sure that I'm thinking about it? Um...let me check. Yes? Am I willing to reconsider it? Sure. 
But to clarify, I wasn't excluding eating the vines. Nor was I saying that the vines weren't important and the monster flesh had to be the real deciding factor - which you seemed to get from my post if I'm reading your response correctly. I was trying to use "chomping on monster flesh" to characterize Aza whole heartedly taking foreign substances into his body at a rate and in a way that made his brother queasy. . Whether Aza actually bit into flesh or just talked about it while drinking blood from a hunk of flesh and waving the amputated limb around like a drum stick while his brother made a reference to Aza consuming monsters and so on...I'm not that invested in it as long as we agree that Aza is taking foreign substances connected to mutation into his body. Aza's mental state of being willing to embrace change is obviously key too. The show keeps bringing up this idea of "losing humanity" on multiple fronts, and the connection between vines/and elixir and channeling Tao and being immortal and being inhuman and being human is a little murky, but there should be one since the Tensen are all about turning humans into magic nectar. It kind of reminds me of the Norse and Greek gods. The Aesir had to eat golden apples tended by Idun to keep from aging, and the Olympians had to drink ambrosia. |
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Tony K.
Subscriber Moderator Posts: 11301 Location: Frisco, TX |
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Episode 11: Weak and Strong
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Edjwald
Posts: 1143 |
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Just saw episode 12 and am still loving this show. Normally, when a show has multiple episodes in a row that are basically all fight scenes, or worse, one fight scene with tons of exposition explaining the implications of every minute move in detail, I get bored. Depending on the quality of the show, I either drop it, or I put it on hold and wait until the season is over, then go back and binge it so I don't have to go week to week waiting for some actual plot or character development.
But this show hasn't bored me at all. And in fact, it manages to balance character development and action pretty seamlessly in my opinion. I will say this...even after they spoiler[left the "dead" tensen behind, I was sitting there thinking that I wouldn't have stopped until I'd burnt the corpse into a pile of ashes and peed on it ] |
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