Since the “fuji” 「藤」 in Nozomi Kirifuji 「霧藤希」 is for wisteria, I thought I’d look to see if wisteria had any special meaning in Japanese culture.
Beyond being a common kanji used in names, I found that wisteria has long held significance as a symbol of luck, longevity, kindness, and loyalty.
There were a few very interesting myths I found, but decent sources were scarce in both English and Japanese. The best I could find was a brief mention in a paper by two Asian studies professors about the potential for anime as a teaching tool. The claims weren’t supported by native materials, nor could I find any of my own, so I'm uncertain of their cultural prevalence:
Since ancient times in Japan, it has been customary to plant wisteria with pine trees, in which case the wisteria is compared to women and the pine to men. [...] It is said that a wisteria wrapping around a pine tree is associated with a terrifying obsession, and once caught, one will never be released. For this reason, wisteria has been known as kesshite hanarenai ("never leave")
The association with men and women makes me curious about any implications regarding Takumi, Nozomi, and Karua. Particularly in the sense that Karua has been set up as "generic heroine/love interest" to a degree that I'm inclined to call parody. It reminds me a lot of Akane in the early parts of 999. I wonder if the relationship between Takumi and Nozomi will have the opportunity to develop into a dark distortion of the Takumi/Karua relationship?
This also stood out to me:
It is unlucky to send wisteria to a sick person because [a] double-entendre with fuji is “incurable disease” (fuji no yamai).
What I'm saying is that I want Nozomi to kill Eito just by standing next to him. I'm really curious to see how they'll interact. I think Nozomi's dedication toward the SDU's mission could serve as an interesting contrast to Eito's skepticism in the demo. I'd love to see them "compete" for the spot of deuteragonist—the role one would initially expect to have been Karua's.
