we all know animes/mangas are based on japanese myths and legends, but what are these legends??
1)what's with the monkeys?? Dragonball is all about the monkeys, and i think there's an anime called "Monkey King"
2)elongating staffs. Goku, from Dragonball, has one as a kid. the Third Hokage, from Naruto, summons a monkey that turns into one. Ikkaku, from Bleach, has a shikai which goes from a spear to a three section staff, also, its release command is elongate.
3)controlling small particles. Gaara(Naruto) controls sand, also the puppet of the third Kazekage controls small metal particles. Matsumoto and Byakuya(Bleach) both turn their swords into small particles.
izanagi myth, the jap trinity amaterasu/tsukiyomi/susano, the three treasures of japan yasakani no magatama{jewl}, kusanagi no tsurugi{sword}, yata no murakumo{mirror}, yamata no urochi{hydra/serpeant}, the kyuubi{nine tailed fox}, inugami{dog demons}, tree spirits/kodama, yin yang{actually chinese}, dragon folklore, reiki/dragon gate and kundalani gate meditation, the phoenix{firy bird of rebirth}, myth of the great swordsman musashi, shinigami{grim reapers}, tales of the galant jiraya{jiraya/tsunade/urochimaru} tanukis, enma the kind of death/monkey, the journey to the west fables{tipitei monk and his three heavenly animal guardians}, buddhahood, the 6 lower worlds, 3 higher worlds and nirvana, actually they are FAR too many to name.
Number one and two are from "Journey to the West", a 500 year old Chinese novel. One of the main characters was a monkey king with an elongating iron staff, called Sun Wukong (or Sun Goku in Japanese.)
Number three isn't a legend, I think it was just a cool ability and so people often use it.
KMC Community Forums
Japanese Myths, Legends and Anime
Mar 7th, 2008 08:43 AM
