#baki-dou

"Baki-Dou: The Invencible Samurai" anime ukiyo-e visual by KOJIMAN

In his famous treatise, The Book of Five Rings, he formally registered his full name and title as Shinmen Musashi-no-Kami Fujiwara no Harunobu.

Shinmen Musashi-no-Kami Fujiwara no Harunobu breaks down into specific regional titles, clan names, and given names.

Breakdown of the full name

Shinmen: The surname. This is his family's actual clan name. His father was Shinmen Munisai, a martial artist who served the Shinmen lord of Takeshima Castle.

Musashi-no-Kami: An honorary title. It translates literally to Governor of Musashi Province. Samurai often adopted prestigious province titles to denote authority or high social standing, even if they did not physically rule that specific territory.

Fujiwara: The lineage name. This indicates his family's ancestral claim of descent from the Fujiwara, one of the four legendary noble clans of classical Japan.

Harunobu: The formal given name. Also known as his imina (true name), this was the personal name used strictly for formal registries, legal signatures, and official documents.

The origin of Miyamoto Musashi

The name he is most famous for today consists of two elements:

Miyamoto: The village name. He adopted this from Miyamoto Village in Mimasaka Province, which was his birthplace.

Musashi: The common name. This is a shorter, daily nickname derived directly from his formal title, Musashi-no-Kami.

Later when I went into a rabbit hole about sugawara michizane (Gojo clans ancestor) and the fujiwara being enemies. Also finding out that Musashi's baseline Musashi's family belonged to the Shinmen clan, which was a cadet branch of the powerful Akamatsu clan. Genealogically, the Akamatsu clan was directly descended from Minamoto no Morifusa, a prominent member of the Murakami Genji (a major branch of the royal Minamoto clan). Therefore, Musashi's baseline warrior bloodline traced back to the Minamoto.

The historical rivalry between the Sugawara and Fujiwara clans is a classic tale of political backstabbing. In Japanese folklore and the Jujutsu Kaisen universe, the remaining two entities making up Japan's Big Three Vengeful Spirits (日本三大怨霊, Nihon Sandai Onryō) are Taira no Masakado and Emperor Sutoku.

The Sugawara vs. Fujiwara rivalry

During the late 9th century, the Fujiwara clan held a virtual monopoly on power in the imperial court by marrying their daughters into the royal family. Seeking to break this monopoly, Emperor Uda promoted a brilliant, non-Fujiwara scholar and politician: Sugawara no Michizane.

Michizane quickly rose through the ranks to become the Minister of the Right. Threatened by his immense talent and political influence, the rival Minister of the Left, Fujiwara no Tokihira, fabricated treason charges against Michizane. Emperor Daigo believed the lies and exiled Michizane to Kyushu in 901 CE, where he died of a broken heart and starvation two years later.

Upon his death, Michizane's spirit morphed into a massive vengeful entity. A series of plagues, droughts, and horrific lightning storms struck Kyoto, directly killing Tokihira and several other Fujiwara conspirators.

The other two big vengeful spirits

Taira no Masakado (d. 940 CE): A powerful Heian-period warlord who staged an uprising against the central government and declared himself the "New Emperor" of the eastern provinces. He was eventually killed in battle, and his severed head was taken to Kyoto to be displayed. According to legend, his head did not rot; instead, its eyes rolled, it shrieked night after night, and it eventually flew through the air back to Tokyo to find its body. His burial site in Tokyo is considered one of the most heavily cursed and protected spots in Japan.

musashi in chiikawaverse + renshi (baki insert) ☺️

Baki-Dou: The Invincible Samurai on the screen

I’m sitting here about to cry watching Pickle run away from Musashi like that.

I mean c'mon it really is insane that his first set of actions post his friend suffering a brutal death in front of his eyes was go to Motobe with the direct intention to beat his ass, which Motobe literally knew and had to prepare for bc c'mon he has no chance unarmed (who fucking does?). And while it's funny on a surface level bc what's his problem I feel it's also just really telling on who Baki is in general. Especially bc this scene is not too later followed by another attempt at coping with the grief of having lost Retsu but this time by a more emotionally regulated and normal (gestures vaguely) man, Gouki. Who still had an arguably pretty immature and impulsive reaction just tricking Musashi and decking him in the face before going haha sorry :) like nothing happened (and literally thank god Musashi's lust for life is so great he didn't gaf) but it's better than going to take it out on a random person but it's just... It makes some sense I guess. From Baki's perspective.

Baki just isn't a person who's... Skilled at dealing with grief. He has only lost 3 people close to him: his mom, Yashazaru, and now Retsu. Retsu comically enough is the first death his dad didn't cause which, I have to give kudos to him for that. But generally, it's been something more traumatic than it should be for him, that has shaped most of his life. But he's not a kid anymore and just like many pointed out in regards to Musashi, getting revenge isn't something clever or viable. But what can he do but take it out on someone?

I'm unsure on why he picked Motobe out or everyone. I mean, I guess if you have to pick someone he's probably the best option. Everyone else was way closer to Retsu, and also you can see his dad's genes kick in in that scene. Though it's extra sad how even past the fact he lost picking Motobe was such a stupid choice because, well, there was no emotional satisfaction either from Anything.

After all anything Baki tried with being prideful or being humble, old man just parried. When he tried to admit defeat in shame Motobe just dismissed it, and when he wanted to get violent because Motobe wanted to protect him, he proved himself right. And at no point does Baki stop looking livid. And I get it.

Everything since Retsu's death to now has put him in such a helpless state. He's helpless to stop Musashi, he was helpless to save Retsu, and now he's even helpless to defend himself or be in control of his own match. Just like he was helpless when his mom and ape friend died.

But it was truly a doomed endeavor, right? Like that's my point here. Its not just sad he's helpless, it's sad he put himself in this situation at all. I obviously am glad Motobe didn't get his shit kicked in bc of his concerning and consistent and beyond disrespectful bloodlust but it's like, it was a miserable attempt to try cope with such a massive loss in his life, and it backfired. Because he knows nothing about emotional regulation, or emotional processing skills, and much less about showing vulnerability of any kind. And that's what's saddest to me.

Society if Baki could stop being his father's son and maybe go to therapy

刃牙道

BAKI-DOU: The Invincible Samurai