Hasty morning thought on Saiyuki, volumes 1-9. No Reload spoilers, please.
So, the Sanko ikkou and the Kougaiji ikkou (and someone please tell me how you actually pronounce those in Japanese, because now I have "ikou ikou inay" stuck in my head). Four each, in opposition, pairs among them carefully set up.
Gojyo and Jien? Brothers.
Hakkai and Yaone? Similar roles and personalities (at least superficially); intertwined backstories.
Goku and Kou? Zen moments of challenge and understanding; once and future prisoners.
Which leaves us with . . . Sanzo and Lirin.
Just comic relief, or something else I'm not seeing?
And while I get somewhat annoyed at Lirin's child-like-ness, I think she's got an innocence and a lack of damage that parallels that of Goku's. And she's the one in the group who loves openly and unabashedly.
Lirin & Goku are also once-and-future prisoners. (Possibly everybody in _Saiyuki_ is in a way. Or maybe it's the cold pills talking.)
Is there anything to be expanded on WRT this?
I mean, it reminds me of the way that I love how all four of them have relationshps with each other, it's not just two + two, but my knowledge of Confucianism is limited to Master Li's complaints about it in _Bridge of Birds_ and sequels.
As an Asian American, I exhibit both stereotypical Western thinking and stereotypical Asian thinking. I very much doubt that I would have paired the cow with grass! But I have noticed a certain amount of this Asian thinking in my writing (see my past post on characters and relationships) and I think it plays heavily into how I read too: I understand characters primarily through how they relate with the other characters around them, whether juniors or seniors or peers.
Minekura's writing certainly encourages us to read Saiyuki this way. In volumes 1-9, we're introduced to the characters, then the backstory, then the obvious pairs, and then the less obvious pairs. But I wonder--is Minekura at some level assuming that we're reading this way even before her mini-arcs start looking at the inter-relationships? That of course her readers would understand Hakkai not in isolation, but as Gojyo's friend, as Sanzo's friend, as Goku's friend?
And to go back to your original query, I've stated a few reasons (or at least alluded to them) why I'm inclined to see the pairs between the Sanzo-ikkou and Kou-tachi as Sanzo-Kou and Goku-Lirin. Certainly there is a connection between Goku and Kou in that fight. But I can't get past the argument made by the pattern of relationships because I'm so inclined to give that particular argument primary--and I think that's because it plays to the Asian aspects of my ways of thinking and reading.
IOW, I happen to see relationships because I love character in art, but the relationships are one aspect of character that may be more or less important depending on the work, not what I automatically look for to understanding character.
Does the theme of taboo have much to do with Confucianism, do you think, or is it a more general idea?
Gosh, I really don't know enough to say.
The wiki does have some interesting thoughts on ritualism versus legalism--namely that ritualistic societies (Eastern) emphasizes the internalization of what is right while legalistic societies (Western) depend more on external enforcement. It's the shame vs. guilt split. I wonder if taboos have greater weight in the shame context, but that's just a wild guess.
Apparently the "kun" (Japanese reading) of the "go" in "Goku" is "satori--" enlightenment.
Tachi means group. But I get things mixed up and say the Konzen-ikkou or the Kou-tachi or whatnot.
On a side note, oooo, I totally missed the imagery of Lirin with a giant vat of liquid and wires! (relates to another post of mine)
Man, I took a class in college on cyborgs. Not that Saiyuki was available then, but still, it would've been so much fun to write on it.
Before my trip to Japan, a Japanese friend of mine taught me a few words and phrases. But she warned me to try to speak in a monotone, with no stresses. She stresses were hard, and if I tried, I'd just sound wacky/strange.
A forget accents. I pretty much don't notice different Japanese accents. I showed a friend an episode or two of Abenobashi, and he turned to me laughing in disbelief, "Why are they talking like that!?" Huh? I intelligently responded.
Unfortunately, you can't really tell with spelling, but in general, I've found that three-syllable words tend to be accented or stressed or whatnot on the first syllable instead of the second, as in English. Ex. SA-ku-ra instead of sa-KU-ra, YA-ku-za instead of ya-KU-za.
But beyond those obvious pairs I love how there are so many other ways to view them in light of their other relationships:
Gojyo and Kougaiji - linked by their physical similarity and relationships with Doku.
Sanzo and Kougaiji - one openly adored as a leader and one decidely *not* openly adored, and yet they somehow inspire the same amounts of loyalty.
Hakkai and Kougaji - one able to save a victim from Hykaougan Maoh, the other not.
Hakkai and Doku - through their relationship with Gojyo, as Hakkai in effect becomes Gojyo's family.