Sailor Scouts, Japanese Planet Names and their Greco-Roman counterparts

Sailor Mercury is the Sailor Scout who’s elemental association is most likely to seem pretty random to western fans.  The Planet Mercury is quite probably the driest rock in the solar system, and Hermes wasn’t particularly associated with water either.  However when you dig into Sailor Moon more you learn that for most of the Senshi their Civilian surnames reference the Japanese names of their Planets. 

Sailor Mercury is Ami Mizuno.  Mizuno means “of water” the Kanji Mizu also pronounced Sui depending on context, means Water, and Suisei is the Japanese name of Mercury which means Water Star.  This is perhaps based on ancient Japanese beliefs about the planet from long before they were exposed to Western Astronomy.

However what I feel like drawing attention to is that there is at least one ancient Gaijin precedent for associating the planet Mercury with Water.  The Sumerian deity associated with the planet we call Mercury was Enki, and Enki was also associated with Water and the Seas, his Temple in Eridu being called the Abzu, he was in a lot of ways arguably the Poseidon/Neptune figure of the Mesopotamian pantheon, and was also conflated with the Canaanite Yam.

However he was also associated with some of the same things Hermes and Thoth were associated with, Knowledge and Learning and Intelligence.  And those traits are also why Ami Mizuno is still considered justifiably a Hermes type personality.

While Sailor Mercury might be the first one we think of as odd, Sailor Mars who's civilian name is Rei Hino is not what I’d expect a western writer to do with that planet either.  Her color is Red so that fits, but she’s not really the most Soldier or Warlike of the group, the 90s Anime does give her those Tsundere traits but I don’t see that as actually making someone good at War.  And I don’t know of many other contexts where Ares is associated with Fire.  

Oracles/Prophetesses in Greek Mythology tend to be associated with Apollo like Cassandra and the Pythia of Delphi, but the implied vow of Chastity in her status as a Miko could make one think of his twin Artemis, as well as one of her attacks taking the shape of a Bow and Arrow.

But as you might have guessed by now, Hino means “of fire” and the Japanese name for Mars is Kasei which means Fire Star.  

Interestingly associating a Prophetess with Fire actually makes sense to me Biblically.  In The Bible Prophets are vessels of The Holy Spirit, and the Baptism of The Holy Spirit is with Fire (Luke 3:16-17 and Matthew 2:10-11).  A Fire that purges one of Sin (Malachi 3:3) because God’s punishments are for correction (Habakkuk 1:12 and Proverbs 3:11).  Hence “in the name of Mars I will chastise you”.

Sailor Jupiter/Makoto Kino is where things start to make more sense, since she can call down Thunder to smite her foes.  But most of her attacks are actually more Grass type making it difficult to find a good Pokémon to represent her, there are no Electric/Grass hybrids yet that I’m aware of. As far as analyzing her personality traits go, she’s almost more like Hera than Zeus. 

Kino means “of Wood” and the Japanese name for Jupiter is Mokusei which means Wood Star. 

Now I know many might jump to saying she’s the actual Mars of the group since she’s the one with a reputation for kicking @$$ even when a normal human.  However that is something that is far more stressed in the 90s Anime than it is in the original Manga, the Manga does indeed introduce her with a Sukeban vibe, but it’s more interested in how that outward appearance is misleading.

Sailor Venus is the only one of the four Inner Senshi where her Greco-Roman namesake is explicitly evoked with her quite often calling herself the Goddess of Love.  And her surname isn’t a reference to Kinsei the Japanese name for Venus but instead is Aino meaning “of Love”.  However Kinsei means “Gold Star” and Sailor Venus is definitely associated with Gold in terms of her color palate and her weapons.

And yet, Minako is in fact the most Soldier minded of the group, as a result of being the first who’s Moon Kingdom memories returned.  However this is most stressed in the Manga and almost completely ignored by the 90s Anime where her Sword is removed from the story.  Minako is Aphrodite, but she is Aphrodite Areia.

Overly Sarcastic Productions has a video on Aphrodite going over how she descends from Astarte, Ishtar and Inanna.  One of the topics discussed is how Ishtar was a Goddess of both Love and War but how Aphrodite in Greece only kept that aspect in Sparta.  There are some important things left out.  The role Cyprus plays is Astarte’s journey to the west (which also hindered their Pygmalion video).  And I feel an argument can be made that this separating the War Goddess from the Love Goddess was already starting in the Middle East and was not solely a result of Greek gender norms.  In Canaanite/West Semitic texts like those found at Ugarite, Astarte does not still have any Warlike characteristics if Anath exists as a separate distinct Goddess.  And while no Anath equivalent exists in Mesopotamia, I would argue in Greece she exists as Enyo, a War Goddess consort of Ares. I was going to also mention Adrestia, an alleged daughter of Ares and Aphrodite, but I’ve found no primary source evidence that she existed in Ancient Greece, it seems she’s a modern invention of the Internet like the Time Traveling Goatfish.

Sparta allowing Aphrodite to be a War Goddess didn’t stop them from viewing Human Warfare as strictly for men.  But they did think their women should be Fit, Athletic and capable of defending the home while their husbands are away.  The only Women to ever compete in the Ancient Olympics were from Sparta.  So Minako being the one who does sports kind of fits that.

Ya know those Ancient Greece themed Sexy Halloween Costumes designed to keep the woman's Legs fully visible?  Well in actual Ancient Greece that was only acceptable in Sparta.

Ultimately though my ideal Aesthetic for Aphrodite Areia isn’t quite anyone from Sailor Moon but the Magical Girl Warrior costumes from Ai Tenshi Wedding Peach, who’s Anime had the same character designer as the first 2 seasons of the 90s Sailor Moon Anime and the Promise of The Rose movie and now the Eternal films.

This is a Post about Higurashi/When They Cry

The very nature of what I want to discuss here is a spoiler.  Higurashi is one of the few shows where I think it’s important to not be spoiled.  As I already explained when I declared season 1 the ideal Horror Anime.

This post will even spoil season 2.  In fact it's more so about season 2.  Though some important hints at the themes I'm discussing here are in season 1.  October just started so it's as good a time as any to watch it.

Endymion & Selene compared to Inanna & Tammuz

That Endymion is called both a Shepherd and a King for awhile had me thinking David is the only other "mythological" figure he could viably be compared to.  And while that connection is still one I'm perusing.  I eventually remembered that on the Sumerian Kings List the Antedeluvian Dumuzi/Dumuzid (from which the name Tammuz comes) was called a Shepherd.

En is a Sumerian honorary prefix usually translated "lord".  Also an -on often winds up added at the end of Greek transliterations of foreign names (this Greek feature is the only reason we call Babylon that, in the Hebrew/Aramaic text of the Old Testament it's always Babel/BBL, it's also traditionally viewed as why we spell Solomon that way).  For those two reasons, I could see Lord Dumuzi being corrupted to Endymion in Greek.  Also Damu is another form the name of Dumuzi used in a text titled In the Desert by the Early Grass.

The genealogy of Inanna/Ishtar is contradictory in various Sumerian/Akkadian and other Mesopotamian sources.  Sometimes she's the daughter of Anu directly, sometimes of Enlil.  But in one of the oldest Sumerian poems about her relationship with Dumuzid called Inana and Bilulu: an Ulila to Inana she is specifically depicted as the daughter of Nanna aka Suen/Sin (The Moon god) and his wife Ningal.  Which gives a pretty strong basis for seeing her as a Lunar Goddess.

So basically, Inanna=Selene and Dumuzid/Tammuz=Endymion.

This is not the only Greek version of this Sumerian myth, as it's usually more commonly compared to Adonis, the Adonia happens the same time of year the Women wept for Tammuz.  But remember Greece also had multiple Flood legends.  In the Adonis tradition Inanna is Aphrodite, so that's the version that came through Cyrpus.  I also believe Eos and other Indo-European Dawn Goddess (plus Uzume in Japan) are also an aspect of Inanna/Ishtar.

What's interesting is how I could stretch this analogy beyond just the original Greek Myth and make it match even more by comparing it to the Lore of the Manga/Anime franchise Sailor Moon, starting with Ningal as Queen Serenity.

Bilulu could be compared to either Beryl or Queen Metaria.  Metaria could also perhaps be compared to Ereshkigal, though that basically becomes a female version of the turning Hades into Satan trope.

The loyal Maid-Servants of Inanna like Ninshubur could perhaps be the other Sailor Senshi in this analogy, and I'm oddly attracted to Makoto as Geshtinanna.  It's also theorized that Inanna and Ishtar were originally separate deities later merged together with Ishtar being originally mainly a name for the Planet Venus, so that makes Ishtar as Sailor Venus an interesting option since Sailor Venus was sometimes a body double for the Princess.

The four Shitennou could perhaps be compared to people like Lulal and Shara who were governing other cities under the sway of Uruk.  Also Ningishzida who was a brother in-law of Dumuzi and sometimes paired with him.

I simply lack a Sailor Moon character to compare Girgire/Jirgire to, besides that maybe in a different way he also plays the role of the Shitennou.

Puella Magi Madoka Magica and Faust

It is pretty well known that Madoka drew on Faust, but typically analysis of Madoka has been more about how it relates to the Magical Girl genre and Anime trends in general.  However there are some things about how Madoka uses Faust that I think are worth discussing.  This is based on just the original stand alone series, I’m ignoring all the spin off Manga and Rebellion.

But first allow me to give a brief overview of the history of the Faust legend.  Before the name of Faust appears.similar themes are seen in the stories about St Cyprian and Justina or Theophilus of Adana.  (And sometimes comparisons to Simon Magus are made. ) The legend of Faust first emerged in Germany in the 1500s.  Possibly partly inspired by the historical Alchemist Johann Georg Faust who lived about 1480-1540. 

One of the first major dramatizations of the story was the English Language Elizabethan Stage Play written by Christopher Marlowe which has two contradictory versions.  I watched a performance of it on YouTube.  It might have been intended to be a commentary on Calvinism, since the key differences between the two versions come down to whether Faust had Free Will or not.  This is one of the versions where there is no Salvation for Faust in the end.

Johann Wolfgang Goethe’s version of the story is clearly the primary influence on Madoka.  For example Walpurgisnacht is a plot point in Goethe.

Then came George Reynolds' Penny Dreadful Faust saga which competed with Varney The Vampire, and then had a spin off called Wagner the Werewolf.  And a famous puppet show.  The perhaps most obscure treatment of the legend is in the first chapter of Paul Feval's La Vampire translated into English by Brian Stableford for BlackCoatPress as The Vampire Countess.  But as a fan of theirs I feel compelled to mention it.

Not all of Madoka’s characters line up to characters in Faust even vaguely.  There are three that to some extent do.

Kyubey is obviously Mephistopheles, that’s a no brainer.

Faust in this story is not the title character.  All the other Magical Girls are to an extent, but chiefly it's Akemi Homura who is Faust.

The role Kaname Madoka fills is given away by the name of her Witch form, Gretchen.  The character named Gretchen in Goethe's Faust is also known as Margurite or Margret.  It’s possible to see Madoka as the closest thing to a similar sounding Japanese name.

The legend of Faust usually goes that he makes a deal with Mephistopheles selling his soul.  They spend time being popular celebrities in Europe using their Magical Powers.  Faust falls in love with Gretchen but Gretchen suffers a tragic fate because of Mephistopheles.  Faust goes on being unrepentant.  Many versions however have Faust saved in the end in-spite of his lack of Repentance, giving the story a Universalist tone.

Here is the thing about Goethe’s Faust that I feel is sadly overlooked in the context of its relationship to Madoka. 

Faust is saved at the end when Gretchen who has become an Angel takes his Soul to Heaven snatching him away from The Devil.  Yes, that’s right, even the Apotheosis of Madoka has a basis in Goethe.

Now Madoka has more agency then Gretchen in her Apotheosis, since Gretchen is just made an Angel as a reward for being Virtuous.  But it’s somewhat subversive that Goethe considers Gretchen virtuous since she basically had an Abortion.

This aspect of the story descends from Theophilus being saved by the Virgin Mary.  The Virgin Mary connection is also echoed by Ava Maria being played on the violin in the last episode of Madoka.  I’ve commented elsewhere on how I think Fantasia may have also been an influence, Knight on Bald Mountain is depicting Walpurgisnacht.

 "Virgin, Mother, Queen, ... Goddess kind forever... Eternal Womanhood. The Goddess is thus victorious over Mephistopheles, who had insisted at Faust's death that he would be consigned to "The Eternal Empty."- Goethe, Faust, Part Two, lines 12101–12110, translation: David Luke, Oxford World Classics.

That quote has the ability to seem both Feminist and Patriarchal in the same way that has made Feminists feel conflicted towards the Magical Girl Warrior genre since back when it was just Sailor Moon.  So perhaps Faust was a more logical choice for a commentary on the Magical Girl genre than anyone originally thought.