#1 rachel FFVI akgae

I. Wood As An Element

In Taoist thought wood (or "tree", more directly translated) is it's own element. All of these elements have their own associations with emotions, weather, parts of the body, etc. based on behavior rather than literal elemental traits.

(I'd also like to note that I'm not an expert on this subject and therefore my analysis is based on a very rudimentary understanding of the concept from what reading I have done so take it with a grain of salt.)

Some things I'd like to draw attention to with wood is it's associations with anger, wind, and the virtue benevolence. What exactly is meant by benevolence is a little more complicated, with the most common translations of ren (仁), the virtue in question, being "co-humanity" and "humaneness". It doesn't have a simple definition, but to quote Confucius himself:

"The man of perfect humaneness, wishing to be established himself, seeks to establish others; wishing to enlarge himself, he seeks to enlarge others. To be able to judge others by what is nearby in ourselves, that is what we might call humaneness." [Analects VI.28]

Outside of the Wuxing interpretation of wood and it's connection to humanity, yoiiyoii's post makes a good point about trees having roots and branches. Or, symbolically, a past and a future. The futures that trees represent are not necessarily the ones that we ourselves have, however. But that will bring us into another symbol that trees can become:

II. Bonsai

All trees are associated with longevity and resilience due to their long lifespans and adaptability, however bonsai emphasizes this symbolism in a unique way by directly involving a human artist in the process. As explained by Aarin Packard in the Pacific Bonsai Museum's World War Bonsai exhibit:

"...[I]nevitably, every tree gives way to the natural cycles of death, decomposition, and renewal. The art of bonsai so celebrates these cycles that even dead bonsai are exhibited; so great is the reverence for the accumulation of daily care by each devoted artist whose lives intertwine with the tree."

Rather than just being a symbol of the tree's long life, bonsai become a symbol of the artist's legacy. They are something made to be changed and touched by many lives, and become the result of multiple generations making their mark on one living thing. They're the entire opposite of demon's attempt to hold onto life by abandoning their identities and connections.

III. Upper Moon One

Much of Upper Moon One's screentime during his battle is centered around his struggle to hold onto living without significant purpose to back it, and the fact that he still struggles to entirely accept what he is losing in giving up his humanity.

In his flashbacks we see that UM1 cut his brother down as one would a tree in an attempt to cut the humanity out of himself and his life. This attack seems to be something he continues to favor as he kills the last person with a demon-eating ability, Genya, and Muichirou all in this same way.

As a side note connected to his choice to attack this way, Muichirou's own family is noted to be woodcutters.

This connection aside, when UM1 interacts with Muichirou he is incredibly focused on the fact that he has remaining descendants. However, he's cut himself off from this connection by his own decision to abandon his family to sever his ties with humanity and become a demon.

His attempt to convince Muichirou to become a demon may be a struggle to have a legacy and reckoning with the fact that this is a benefit of being human that he cannot have. The only way he can manage to conceptualize having it now is by bringing Muichirou down to his level. However, all of the past references to Muichirou's ancestry have always been around Yoriichi, despite him not being as directly related to him. His legacy is strong enough that even after all of this time and without any children of his own he is still the one whose memory survives.

As he is nearly decapitated after being rooted to the ground, UM1 has a flashback to his last confrontation with his brother. Here, he reflects on the fact that all of his purpose as a demon is tied to winning. He breaks through Genya's BDA after this through something like a tree of his own -- sprouting blades from his body.

Branches represent the future, as the second part of our analogy. So here it's a representation of UM1 trying desperately to preserve his own life, or future, that he can only have if he stays alive. Notably, his "tree" is also entirely offensive, aiming to cause as much damage as possible. Meanwhile, Genya's is more defensive, focusing on keeping UM1 in place so that he can't attack more than it is doing any significant damage to him. (More on Genya's BDA later, though).

IV. Yoriichi

Yoriichi's mindset stands in stark contrast to his brother's, embodying many of the ideas I mentioned earlier about humaneness, but also the act of entrusting your work to future generations.

Unlike his brother, he is focused on the act of uplifting others, and in doing so uplifted not only himself in life but his memory, as well. Breathing styles is quite literally a concept with branches of it's own, all sourced from Sun Breathing. By caring for others he has created something that has outlived him.

Part of Yoriichi's more direct tree symbolism is the fact that even in death, similar to a tree, he stayed standing. This could also be representative of the way that even though he had died, all that he worked for stayed alive.

This is a concept that UM1 still can't understand even up to his final moments where he says:

"After your death, lord Muzan and I made sure... to kill all swordsmen who knew sun breathing and it's forms. So why do your breathing techniques remain? Why could I not leave anything behind? Why could I not become someone? Why are we so different? Why in the world was I ever born?"

This entire dichotomy reminded me of a sign that is up in the Pacific Bonsai Museum's World War Bonsai exhibit:

"What kind of ancestor do you want to be?"

V. Genya

Genya has the most heavy-handed wood associations out of anyone in KNY. His eventual Blood Demon Art, his bonsai hobby, his crow (Hashibami) being named after hazel trees, etc. all being part of this. It's fitting, then, that out of all of the characters mentioned here he aligns with trees symbolism the most, as well.

Let's return to wood as an element and the things that it can represent. Of course, the wind association can be used to tie his character back to Sanemi again. It also, however, represents adaptability, such as how bamboo bends but does not break in the wind. Being someone who can't fight in the standard way, a lot of Genya's character revolves around adaptability. His approaches change, but his goals stay the same.

When related to the other elements, wood controls/overcomes earth by breaking it up and constricting it through it's roots. Earth is represented by the color yellow/gold, the stomach and the mouth. All of these can be directly related to Genya's demon-eating ability, with it relying on his bite strength and digestive system, as well as his eyes and hair turning yellow.

Genya's blood demon art is an accumulation of all of the symbolism that trees and bonsai have. It's a spur-of-the-moment adaptation to the circumstances he's under. It's fueled by anger and frustration, all directed at himself for not being good enough. But more than that, it is a manifestation of his want to help and support everyone else in this battle. It is his want for his brother and Himejima to survive. Because while he doesn't mention being afraid of dying he does mention being afraid of failing.

"The more I want to help, the more my body stiffens up... Making it difficult for me to move. I'm scared... that I'm of no use and can't protect my comrades."

His switch to offense is made knowing that he will be trading his potential to heal later in the battle. He stops prioritizing his own life and fully accepts that he will not live to see the end of demons, but that doesn't mean his brother can't.

In the same way that a bonsai tree can be the accumulation of an artists skills and daily efforts that they finally pass on to be cared for by others when they die, Genya's BDA is the culmination of all of his training and hard work, his dreams and hopes, that he is passing on to his brother. For an ability that's source is demonic, it's entirely rooted in his humanity.

To bring back the concept of humaneness with another quote:

"To love a thing is to want it to live..." [Analects XII.10]

It's fitting that UM1 died (in part) not only to the embodiment of humanity and someone who accepted their death in hopes of uplifting others. It also seems fitting that Genya, like Yoriichi, is a younger brother who has great reverence for his older brother, and that his BDA was a culmination of that love. This isn't the only time that a parallel is drawn between the two of them, either.