Nige Jouzu no Wakagimi – Episode 03 Review

「神の住む森」 (Kami no Sumu Mori)
“A Forest Inhabited by a God”

Coming right off of his first battle, Tokiyuki learns a thing or two. According to Yorishige, the conditions to warfare waged through tag are but two. 1. Become a VIP on the war grounds, a big shot whose head everybody wants. 2. Gather loyal followers who will fight to the death for you. Tokiyuki is already starting work on the second, at the priest’s behest.

Yorishige’s self-proclaimed foresight comically becomes more of a hindsight sometimes, as when Tokiyuki pegs a hapless, angry beast with his sword. I don’t think any special foresight was needed to predict bad things can happen when you throw swords. LOL. Yorishige is such an imp, it can be hard to tell when/where he crosses the line of deviousness, threateningness, or mischievousness. The whole scene with the shrine maidens ordered to comfort him, which led into trapping the young lord in a whole, then uttering the threat “I know your every move” given with such a happy go lucky smile was off the wall crazy. I don’t know if Tokiyuki should be freaked out, comforted, or a combination of both.

Tokiyuki running into a hole and Yorishige’s tongue in cheek comment on a “running joke” was entertaining. In English, the “running joke” is doubly hilarious given Tokiyuki’s penchant for well, running. I’m sad that the original Japanese term for such gags “天丼ten don” doesn’t have a fleet-footed pun attached to it (and yes, that is the same word as the tempura rice dish, for those of you who love Japanese food).

Yorishige’s remark that Tokiyuki “never understood the importance of study because he was raised to be a puppet ruler” was poignant. One that I also think speaks to an educational system today (at least in Japan), where students are taught to memorize and spit out answers from the educational authorities, rather than critically think for themselves. Merely performing a prescribed dance to a tune rather than creating the dance or the music oneself does certainly get boring and pointless- anyone can do that. Which, well, is the point of a puppet government and part of what landed the Hojo clan in this hole in the first place.

I think this can also be viewed as a broader metaphor for growing up. The transition from being a child who simply does what one is told to then (hopefully) differentiating oneself from that and forming one’s own thoughts, plans, and ideals. Which is certainly a profound parallel. Tokiyuki is not so different from children today- the time period, family station, and social situation may be drastically different, but he still shares the fundamental challenges and joys of growing up common to everyone. I mean, what child doesn’t love playing tag and dislike responsibility?

One of my favorite art moments in this episode was the elegant classical painting of the crew’s journey to Suwa. That style is one of my most loved genres of paintings and the section I often make a beeline for in museums. The animation during the scene in the pouring rain was also gorgeous- Yorishige and Tokiyuki’s fluid gestures, Tokiyuki’s hidden expression, attention drawn to the rain gently dripping from his hair. The movement of individual raindrops was no less than exquisite. Art at its finest.

It finally takes a miracle in the form of our bold priest stopping the rain and eliciting a rousing cry from Suwa Grand Shrine’s followers to convince the young lad to buckle down and study (I mean, I don’t think anyone could argue with that). Makes me wish I could conjure up the power of rain and sunshine to reign in unruly classes of schoolchildren. The comedic timing for that ending and the warriors rapidly switching off fight mode and Yorishige falling into his own hole was so perfect.

The warriors in question follow Suwa Myojin, a war deity revered by the Hojo and their followers. The name of this deity is listed as Takeminakata-no-Kami, amongst other names in ancient Japanese legends. There are many different theories on what the different pieces to the name might mean and where the name came from. One of the many theories is close to my heart, as it poses a connection to “Munakata”, a region not too far from me. The shrine there reveres goddesses, which leads some scholars to think that Myojin/Takeminakata may have originally been female, then somewhere along the way was turned into a male god, Myojin. None of this is super relevant to the topic that was at hand, but rabbit trails, especially ones with historical/folkloric roots, are my specialty.

We get a retroactive introduction to the young lord’s new followers. Kojiro (Hino Mari), a skilled swordsman. Ayako (Suzushiro Sayumi), an artistic strongwoman. Shizuku (Yano Hinaki), a specialist in mystic arts. The retainer’s ideas for playtime are exhibit A of show don’t tell, informing us of their respective personalities. Tokiyuki’s proposition gets shot down immediately- no point in playing tag when no-one can catch up to him. Kojiro is as unrefined as they come, suggesting they take a spiteful dump in their enemies’ houses (what are they, animals?). Ayako proposes push up until you give up for their free time activity- also not a fun idea (though arguable better than Kojiro’s option). Tokiyuki’s last hope, Shizuku, comes up with putting marbles in an ant’s nest, which is…well…at least a little better than the other two, but not by much. What happened to normal things like board games from the future or playing ball or something like that?

It’s a good thing Suwa Myojin is also a deity of hunting, so the young’uns can put their time and energies towards something more practical, like hunting. A fun fact about Shintoism and hunting- from ancient times, hunting has been connected with Shinto ritual, hunted animals offered periodically to the deities of the shrines. To this day, there are still some shrines who have a celebration during the year in which wild boars’ heads or other hunted game are offered to the deities, then eaten in a community feast afterwards.

Another fun tidbit- the skewered meat that Yorishige was eating was one of the common ways in which non-aristocratic classes would consume meat- typically drying or grilling fish or boar/deer meat, then eating them on a stick. There are actually picture scrolls dating from the late 12th century onwards that show people preparing food in this way. Of course, this has persisted to the present day, now as a popular (and very tasty) bar/festival snack, if you’ve ever had yakitori or the like. Kind of cool to think that we eat some of the same foods people from centuries ago did.

The kids’ attempts at hunting is laughably poor. Shizuku’s attempts at intimidating a rabbit fall flat, and Tokiyuki misses his mark by a long shot. If you can’t see the forest through the trees, I suppose one way of solving that is to remove the trees, an approach that Kojiro takes. Ayako’s tactic of stoning the rabbit also goes unrewarded. This all takes a more serious turn when the group runs into a ferocious wild boar god. We get to see their teamwork in action and get a taste of just how successful they could be on the battlefield with their combined powers. Shizuku the strategist, Tokiyuki the bait, and Ayako and Kojiro as the brute force. It really goes to show that practical, on the job training can teach you far more than theories alone (though there is benefit to that too).

This whole hunting scene was a reference to a tale in Japanese mythology of a boar possessed by evil who was taken down by the prince Yamato Takeru. Similar to Tokiyuki and his party, the prince’s initial efforts fail, but he achieved success by pushing the beast off of a cliff under a tree and onto a group of sharp rocks below. As for Shizuku’s line about a sword in the rocks- that is in reference to the legendary sword that Prince Yamato used in attempting to defeat the boar. This, of course, equates our party of fledgling warriors on the level of a hero, quite fitting given their destiny.

I appreciate how the hunting scene was handled- not simply a “yay! Pork bowls for dinner” ending (though only Yorishige got to indulge lol). There was also a philosophical bent to it, with the concept of the beast as something to be pitied, falling into evil for being the last of it’s kind, gone crazy from the solitude. It hits home just how important it is for Tokiyuki to have his comrades so he doesn’t become the angry, vengeful last of his kind.

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