Muhahahaa! I just made myself one too! Gah love that picture so much.
Ooo, I'm glad there is something useful in this post besides: Kenren+Tenpou=OMG TEH SEX
That's so interesting, re: Nataku! I have no idea why I just leapt to "robot." I think it may have to do with Nataku from X and Nataku from Gundam Wing (that's what one of the Gundam pilots nicknamed his giant mecha because his wife used to aspire to be like Nataku). Also, the room with the blood and the wires remind me of the human-robot hybrids so often seen in anime (Nataku from X pops up again), particularly wrt to Ghost in the Shell and that image of the protagonist rising naked out of a tank filled with fluid with wires attached everywhere. But I like the image of Li Touten as some arcane sorcerer or alchemist.
I totally didn't catch Tenpou's constant risking of his life until I scanned the translations! Ditto with Konzen and Tenpou disliking Heaven. Tenpou's still got Hakkai's killing streak, just closer to the surface and more reckless, maybe because he hasn't loved and lost like Hakkai has.
I wish I knew more about Buddhism! It does map closely to the social activism branch of Buddhism, in which people claim that even though suffering is part of life and attachment is bad, that there should still be steps taken to relieve suffering, ergo Buddhist monks protesting the Vietnam War. I also tend to think of Saiyuki and Journey to the West not so much as Buddhist stories, which is sort of odd, now that I remember. I think it was just the combination of the Jade Emperor and Buddha and demons and sutras and obviously Chinese mythologies all together. Ergo Kanzeon Bosatsu and the Jade Emperor can exist in one heaven and one story.
So mostly I was thinking of Goku/Monkey as a force of chaos that can only be restrained/constrained by Buddha (or a Buddhist priest), but not before wreaking havoc in Heaven and upsetting the careful hierarchy of things -- Monkey by eating the fruit of immortality and Goku by being sunny and loving and hungry for affection.
Must think more about the Buddhism thing!
Also also... Eeeeeee to the Kenren always finding Tenpou lying prostrate thing! EEEEEEE!! And I'm so taken by the new dynamic between them, with Tenpou being the superior officer but still more restrained, personality-wise, and the whole way the protection of his general makes sense from a beauracracy point of view but is also just... guh. Yes, no more words.
no subject
Ooo, I'm glad there is something useful in this post besides: Kenren+Tenpou=OMG TEH SEX
That's so interesting, re: Nataku! I have no idea why I just leapt to "robot." I think it may have to do with Nataku from X and Nataku from Gundam Wing (that's what one of the Gundam pilots nicknamed his giant mecha because his wife used to aspire to be like Nataku). Also, the room with the blood and the wires remind me of the human-robot hybrids so often seen in anime (Nataku from X pops up again), particularly wrt to Ghost in the Shell and that image of the protagonist rising naked out of a tank filled with fluid with wires attached everywhere. But I like the image of Li Touten as some arcane sorcerer or alchemist.
I totally didn't catch Tenpou's constant risking of his life until I scanned the translations! Ditto with Konzen and Tenpou disliking Heaven. Tenpou's still got Hakkai's killing streak, just closer to the surface and more reckless, maybe because he hasn't loved and lost like Hakkai has.
I wish I knew more about Buddhism! It does map closely to the social activism branch of Buddhism, in which people claim that even though suffering is part of life and attachment is bad, that there should still be steps taken to relieve suffering, ergo Buddhist monks protesting the Vietnam War. I also tend to think of Saiyuki and Journey to the West not so much as Buddhist stories, which is sort of odd, now that I remember. I think it was just the combination of the Jade Emperor and Buddha and demons and sutras and obviously Chinese mythologies all together. Ergo Kanzeon Bosatsu and the Jade Emperor can exist in one heaven and one story.
So mostly I was thinking of Goku/Monkey as a force of chaos that can only be restrained/constrained by Buddha (or a Buddhist priest), but not before wreaking havoc in Heaven and upsetting the careful hierarchy of things -- Monkey by eating the fruit of immortality and Goku by being sunny and loving and hungry for affection.
Must think more about the Buddhism thing!
Also also... Eeeeeee to the Kenren always finding Tenpou lying prostrate thing! EEEEEEE!! And I'm so taken by the new dynamic between them, with Tenpou being the superior officer but still more restrained, personality-wise, and the whole way the protection of his general makes sense from a beauracracy point of view but is also just... guh. Yes, no more words.