Discuss Anime and Mang

[Sahaqiel 1232]

Teto, explain yourself!! And I will explain myself:

My personal theory is that the medicine seller is a kind of universal constant. He exists to slay Mononoke if they exist. Like, if evil spirits exist, so will an exorcist that will banish them. The ending made sense to me because the medicine seller always hints at just always being there. He'll kill mononoke as long as they exist, he can't kill all of them but he'll certainly try, etc. That's why he lived from early periods to more modern ones, and why the ending was appropriate. Since the story never ends for him, the most appropriate ending is one that shows how far he's come as a mononoke exorcist by having a reoccurring villain that makes the series come full circle. The series begins with a ghost cat and ends with one, only by the end, he's already so experienced that he can destroy them with the slightest of ease.

The only problem I have with the theory is how long mononoke have existed if it's true that he's always been there. Evil spirits supposedly existed as long as people have, so the medicine seller would have had to existed far back into the past. Or perhaps a solid grudge against mononoke happened later on in human history. But it fits the medicine seller's mysterious nature. I kind of complained about how he had no origin/story or anything, and you don't know what happens to him after the end. This way, it works really well. He doesn't have an origin story because he was just willed into existence by unknown powers. The guy clearly isn't very human anyway. He's got unnaturally sharp canines and large, pointed ears, and he can do that crazy transformation sequence. I think I once asserted that he might be a mononoke himself, bred on the human hatred of evil spirits or evil happenings, or by a stretch, fear of the unknown. That's why he can't die or age, his job never ends, and why he's so shrouded in mystery. He is driven by the human grudge against evil spirits (if he himself is a mononoke).

He's inherently a guardian of human interest anyway. He appears in the form of an apothecary-- someone who tries to heal people through medicine. (And in a sense, medicines tend to be bitter, just like the lessons learned by the people who are attacked) And he exposes the evils of human nature, yet takes the side of the humans despite the mononoke being rightfully angry, for the good of the people and to put the mononoke to rest. The medicine seller tells people that mononoke's reasoning can't be discerned despite their motives and want for retribution clearly being justifiable, almost to protect the victims from the guilt of retribution. His normal form might just be a kind of "ambassador". A form meant to be attractive and understandable to people, until he can divulge their injustices, then he goes into his slayer form. A mononoke will attack the people involved in the situation that caused it, to any degree of specificity. With the wood thing, its grudge was against all that tried to obtain it, with the second ghost cat, it was pretty much everybody involved, etc. So the medicine seller attacks all mononoke it comes across (if he is a mononoke).

I think I've started to try to prove that the medicine seller is a mononoke lol. Anyway, point is, I thought the ending was great because it really connected the dots for me. It really showed me what they were going for with the medicine seller. (If I am right) Whether or not he's a mononoke or some other kind of supernatural incarnation, his story never ends, because he can never kill all the mononoke, and it never began, because mononoke have always been there, and it's possible he was there for as long as they were as well. There isn't a point to having a definitive solid ending, because if he can live indefinitely, it would pretty much just be about the last person ever dying and the medicine seller along with him or her. As far as an ending can go with an immortal protagonist, I thought it was a classy and satisfying way to exit, rather than throwing in random doomsday antagonists in the mix. How else could they have ended the series? I can't think of a better way really. It's a collection of arcs-- short stories. So there's no overarching plot other than an exorcist finding and disposing of evil spirits. So I thought it was a good ending, and I can't ask much more of it.

Unless all that stuff I explained wasn't even why you thought it was a bad ending lol.

And I don't think Mononoke tried to be artsy. It's certainly stylistic, but it's not trying to convey some kind of underlying meaning or anything. The art style was meant to just be reminiscent of older Japanese artworks to fit the atmosphere. The series, after all, began in a different anime, called Ayakashi: Traditional Japanese Horror. The dialogue driven action and the beautiful artwork in conjunction with those sexy perspective changes really set an atmosphere, but I don't think it carried itself like it was a big deal. It was mysterious, whimsical, and tragic in a sense, but most of its value isn't to send some kind of underlying message to the audience. They're great stories, and that's its strong point. It showed us what we already knew of human nature and twisted it into a tangible form. Not as a reminder, or an eye-opener, but just as an antagonist.

And the ending was p. cool I thought.

Sahaqiel

[Teto 2609]

Yeah I didn't have a problem with the resolution of the series. I didn't really specify that >:

I just didn't like how the bakeneko arc ended. Sorry about that.

Felt the same way though. That a 'demon slayer' would always be around. Calling them demons just for my own convenience.

I also kind of felt from the beginning that he would be a mononoke of some sort, but at that point it was just baseless speculation, because I like that kind of stuff. Theory was strengthened by the fact that the mononoke of arc three had a body resembling that of the form he takes when he unleashes the sword, in skin tone, height, and hair length. Although their body structure is pretty normal, so it could easily just be coincidence. And their hair is different.

That's all I have to support the mononoke apothecary theory.

Those are the only theories I have to share relating to anything though. Otherwise my thoughts were along the same lines as yours, though not quite as developed.

Yeah I made the "bad ending" post after watching it. Hadn't really stepped back to consider it like you have. I didn't really think of the post-credits ending as a series conclusion when I'd just finished.

Stylistic is a better word for it yeah, but I wasn't sure I understood the meaning when writing. So I kind of just went with artsy. Probably in part because I was a bit peeved at the ending, again. So I talked a bit negatively of it. Impressions and such.

[T1g 1503]

One theory i like is the one where

The Medicine Seller himself actually became a Mononoke at some point (hence the immortality), or was one from the beginning. So yeah Teto's thing basically

[Sahaqiel 1232]

I just said that, T1G.

Also, Teto,

I did not draw the comparison between mononoke dude and the medicine seller's appearance. That's definitely a bolster there. They're similar right down to the ears.

[Teto 2609]

Hadn't really put any thought into how he came to be. The way he's dressed, and for as long as he remains the same over such a long time suggests to me that he both doesn't change, and also comes from a certain time.

He probably represents the style of apothecaries from a certain time. And it wouldn't make sense that he was eternal if he looked that style before it came around. And to argue that he might have changed his form up until that point is a bit silly, since you would also assume that he would change his form with the times since then as well.

So I'm thinking he was just an apothecary that somehow got roped into all this demon slayer business by some force or another. A demon slayer must exist, and they all expire eventually. Maybe they go bad and get purified or something. Or maybe they just die eventually, or get killed. And so they get replaced by someone of the current time. And the last time a new one came into being was the time he's from.

You might have gone over that Saha and I didn't pick up on it. Maybe.

Also, Teto,

I did not draw the comparison between mononoke dude and the medicine seller's appearance. That's definitely a bolster there.

Yeah I figured that, since if you thought it was a valid argument you probably would have mentioned that in your post as well.

And it wasn't a particularly hard thing to spot, and I'd have assumed that if you'd put this much thought into it, you wouldn't have overlooked something so simple.

I have faith in you Saha.

[T1g 1503]

so now that i am sufficiently decked out with all of this unwatched anime

i think i will have some work to do come spring break

saha did you want in on any of this

i am certainly doing cowboy bebop (dubbed) first

[Sahaqiel 1232]

I would say he transformed into an immortal demon slayer at some point, but his clothing is already pretty strange. Perhaps the Taima sword he carries is a mononoke artifact that transformed its owner over time? idk. I wouldn't put too much thought into his clothing. And like I said, he might have come around after humanity had a defined fear and/or hatred of mononoke, which didn't occur until people were more self-aware and cultured. The mononoke didn't always exist, they always existed for as long as people have existed, but even that had to have occurred at a pivotal point. People didn't just become self aware and start hating each other. Society started to build itself, and once it got too complicated, so did the interactions between its people. Mononoke in the arcs we saw didn't come about for primitive reasons like lust or territorial defense. They tended to happen because of some great injustice caused by the nature of modern society or the people in it. So if we define a starting point, I would say it's in an area where his clothing would be still accepted, even if they're a bit embellished.

I say that him becoming an immortal demon slayer could have happened some time in his possible regular human life, but I would lean towards him just spawning into existence as a regular mononoke a bit more. That being said, I would like to see what event caused him to spawn. With the mononoke that resembled medicine seller, he tried to save a woman under the guise of a perfect husband. Maybe the medicine seller spawned as a tumultuous event in someone's life caused by a mononoke killing someone important to him or her and the medicine seller never left the earth. In a sense, if the medicine seller is a mononoke who kills mononoke, his mission is inherently not only to kill as many mononoke as he can, but also put himself in risk of death, because he's also a mononoke that eventually needs killing.

Now that you've helped me draw the comparison between husbandMononoke and the medicine seller, I'm pretty sure it's just a fact that he was meant all along to imply that he was a mononoke under the guise of a medicine seller. So ya.

Also, T1G, I still retain that it is entirely uncool to have read something directed at you and not respond to it at all. :/

[T1g 1503]

was i supposed to respond to that

i thought it was a rhetorical thing

in fact what was i even supposed to type in response to that

[Sahaqiel 1232]

"Oh, sorry, yeah, you did just say that" proving you actually read what I say.

[T1g 1503]

also note i had typed "So yeah Teto's thing basically"

so whereas your post was predominately about why you thought

universal constant

except for a single sentence in your 3 paragraphs. i thought it would be more important to acknowledge what i said was what teto typed in his single paragraph

[Sahaqiel 1232]

But you said it was Teto's idea, when he was actually backing up what I said in the previous post. :/ Meaning you did not read my post at all.

[T1g 1503]

so what are we not watching anime together during spring break then?

because i would like to know that before i go to sleep

oh well squid it i am going to bed

[Sahaqiel 1232]

So Rika, want to watch animu over my break?

[T1g 1503]

you are breaking my heart saha

you are breaking my heart so badly

[Teto 2609]

Penguindrum is finished downloading. Official starting time.