Forum - View topicYaobikuni in manga and anime
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dormcat
Encyclopedia Editor
 Posts: 9902 Location: New Taipei City, Taiwan, ROC |
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Yaobikuni (八百比丘尼, literally "800-years-old Buddist nun") is a famous person in Japanese folklore. Legends said she ate a piece of mermaid meat and became (almost) immortal (Rumiko Takahashi's Mermaid series...). She appears in several manga/anime, notably Hi no Tori (Strange Beings chapter) and Blade of the Immortal. I've got two questions:
1. After she became immortal, what had she done and what had become of her? Why is she so famous? 2. Are there other manga/anime with her, besides aforementioned ones? I tried to look up for more info on the web, but most results are tourist info, such as the cave she (might) have stayed.  If you know more about her legend please let me know. Thanks in advance.
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calros
 Posts: 75 Location: Barcelona |
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I don't know much about the story, but it was converted in a live-action movie called "Seibo Kannon Daibosatsu" (Holy Mather, Goddess of Mercy, Big Bodhisat, 1977) directed by Koji Wakamatsu.
I tried to translate the plot with Babelfish in http://movie.goo.ne.jp/movies/PMVWKPD18688/story.html but I ended  ...
Gore cult mangaka Hideshi Hino did his personal version in "Manhole no Naka no Ningyo" and in 1988 he directed a live-action videofilm based on his manga, called "Guinea Pig 4: Mermaid in a Manhole". It's relatively easy to find, but I think it's a very-very-very personal vision of the story, as you can expect of Hino... 
CENSORED Last edited by calros on Mon Oct 18, 2004 5:54 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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che_guevara
Posts: 102 Location: Near Boston |
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Whatever else I could find regarding the legend (copied from a Japanese site, that's why the grammar's so bad):
This story is an old folk tale at Wakasa beach. Yaohime, daughter of a rich man, she has fear of getting old. She eats mermaids’ flesh, which allows her to be young and live forever. However, she finds immortality a very hard thing to have. Over hundreds of years, she marries to many men only to see their deaths. She suffers from a sin against eating the flesh. She becomes a nun and goes on a pilgrimage to remove her sin. The legend of Yaobikuni was spread from Wakasa through Hokuriku to Tohoku Nihonkai side while camellias and a woman divers’ fishing method were spread toward the same direction. Eight hundred years later, Yaobikuni meets a mermaid fairy and begs forgiveness. Finally Yaobikuni is able to die with Buddhism power. Life is short. This tale teaches us how we should live with our limited time and how precious our life is in a paradoxical way. The story has been passed down from generation to generation. And I found 2 more manga/anime in which she appears: - The Pheonix: Strange Beings - by Osamu Tezuka (manga) - Blue Seed (anime) |
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calros
Posts: 75 Location: Barcelona |
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Oh!
Congratulations, Mr. Guevara... sometimes the simplest search is the best of them all! Also found another manga based on the story: "Yaobikuni" by Ryoko Yamagishi. Serialized in the magazine "Petit Flower" (Shogakukan) in 1982. In 1993 was compiled, with other 5 stories by other authors, in the book "Horror Stories: Manga Masterpiece Selection": 
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