Re: Mermaid Images in Anime Openings?
- From: "Dave Baranyi" <david_baranyi@xxxxxxxx>
- Date: 30 Aug 2006 17:34:40 -0700
Phil Yff wrote:
On 29 Aug 2006 18:07:17 -0700, Dave Baranyi wrote:
I'm planning to start to re-watch "Tenshina Konomaiki" again for the
first time since it came out four years ago. I bought the R2 DVDs while
the series was still being broadcast, but I've never watched them.
One thing that stuck in my mind about the series was the image in the
opening animation of Megumi as a mermaid. Recently, the opening
animation of "Kamisama Kazoku" also used mermaid images of the two main
girls in the series, Tenko and Kumiko. But in both series, the mermaid
images had nothing to do with the actual situation or characters. I
also have a vague memory of seeing mermaid images in the openings of
other series which also had nothing actually to do with mermaids.
Does anyone have any ideas as to what the mermaid images are supposed
to symbolize?
In Tenshi na Konamaiki (天使な小生意気 - Cheeky Angel), I believe that the
mermaids are supposed to depict Megumi's dual nature (is he/she a boy or a
girl?)
Now that I've actually had a chance to watch the first two episodes
again, I noticed that my memory was a bit faulty - the mermaid in the
beginning is not your "standard" mermaid. She also has wings, which
make her look a bit like a flying fish. Never-the-less, that's the
first time that I've heard of dual nature being associated with
mermaids, but I guess that it makes sense since the mermaid is half
human and half fish.
In Kamisama Kazoku, I believe the image is supposed to evoke a
Little Mermaid scenario where the mermaid leaves the ocean to live among
humans. In Kamisama Kazoku, Samatarou must leave his divine household to
live among humans.
That seems to be stretching things a bit to me. Overall I see the
images of Tenko and Kumiko in the opening as more of a yin/yang type of
symbolism. But when they are two mermaids jumping out of the water and
transforming into girls I'm at a bit of a loss to understand "why
mermaids". So while your speculation is interesting, it's not
intuitively convincing. But thanks none-the-less.
Dave Baranyi
Wait, you might say, isn't "The Little Mermaid" a western fairy tale. Sure
it is, but it is one that has had considerable influence in Japan. In
fact, in the seventies, it was made into an anime that is more faithful to
the Hans Christian Andersen version than the Disney adaptation. There have
been at least two other anime versions that I know of and the recent series
Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch (マーメイドメロディーぴちぴちピッチ - Maameido merodii
pichi pichi pitchi) very much shows the western influence.
Mermaids often appear in anime drawing on both western and Japanese myths.
Takahashi Rumiko's "Mermaid Saga", Vampire Princess Miyu TV series episode
15, and Blue Seed Episode 16 all relate to the Japanese legend of Yaobikuni
where a girl partakes of the flesh of a mermaid and lives hundreds of
years.
Mata ato de,
Phil Yff
.
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- From: Dave Baranyi
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