Aliya Z

This pose?

No? He just wants to imitate her, for her to experience her own betrayal.

If Nana herself were an esper, her ability definitely wouldn’t be something openly destructive like fire manipulation or teleportation. Nana is far too, let's call it, “quiet” of a character for that. Her power would be psychological type.

Her ability would probably be called something like “False Reflection” or “White Noise.”

She would be able to subtly influence people’s perception. Not full mind control, but more like gentle manipulation: making people doubt their memories, confusing their sense of time, causing them to overlook small details, amplifying fears or suspicions.

The longer someone stayed around her, the stronger the effect became. Because of that, people would start trusting her almost automatically without understanding why.

She would hate her own ability. Because she’d never know whether someone genuinely cared about her or if it was just her power affecting them.

As a child, she probably accidentally manipulated the emotions of people around her, which made her grow up extremely cautious about relationships. Despite that, outwardly she would still remain sweet, friendly, and “safe-looking.” Nana understands perfectly well how others see her, and she uses that as a weapon.

Her power would be almost useless in direct combat. If someone cornered her physically, she’d be done for. That’s why she would rely even more heavily on analysis, traps, and psychological tactics.

She would immediately get along with calm and observant people. The kind who don’t pressure her or constantly demand emotional attention from her. She’d probably like quiet introverts, intelligent but emotional people, people who can sit in silence comfortably, people with dark humor.

( She would slowly become friends with Nanao and only on her own initiative get to know him better, he was hardly the first on her list, but nevertheless, she still liked him. She would have become friends with Michiru almost like in canon, because she attributed her behavior to the action of her ability. She would find Kyouya strange, but nice. Maybe they would just be buddies. She most likely got along just as well with Fuuko.)

On the other hand, loud, impulsive, and aggressively dominant people would drain her very quickly. Especially controlling people. She would be extremely wary of telepaths or empaths. Almost paranoid around them.

(She would dislike Kaori and Kirara not only because she bullies her friend, but also because she finds them disgusting. She might have avoided Koharu. Moguo, his gang, and Kori too. Without knowing about Rentarou's true nature, she would most likely have liked him. Shinji and Sasaki would have given her strange feelings, so they'd be out of the question. But Tsunekichi would have evoked nothing but disgust.)

(+ if her character is the same then if someone ever saw the “real” her exhausted, angry, scared, Nana would either start avoiding that person or become deeply attached to them.)

She’d most likely fall in love not with a “perfect” person, but with someone who noticed her lies understood she was manipulative and still stayed by her side. With her superpower she only wishes to be seen.

(Potential with Kyouya and Koharu ,yeah)

At first, she would probably see that person as a threat.

Her love would be very anxious. She’d constantly analyze her partner’s tone, pauses, expressions, and behavior for reassurance. At the same time, Nana would show affection through acts of care like memorizing habits, helping quietly behind the scenes, making sure they’ve eaten, protecting them even when it hurts her.

She’s jealous, but in a hidden way. She wouldn’t make scenes, instead, she’d grow colder and more observant, paying attention to every little detail.

If someone truly became precious to her, it would be the first time she used her ability not for survival or manipulation, but for protection and that would become her greatest weakness.

A brief recap

First one shown is his "worldly desires", animal trio vs Seiryuu.

Second is his "freak athleticism", that Kurahashi's team and Ebisu just ran into.

With just these two he runs off to find Sano

Third is his "cowardice", found by Sano's team and Byakko, which gets away and hides in Sano's pocket.

Fourth is his "memory", originally found by Hijita's team and Genbu, which gets picked up by Genbu and then the whole Heian flashback happens.

And last is his "intelligence", which for some reason is also the one that can use his exorcism power.

So immediately a couple details stood out to me.

Why is "memory" here?? I wouldn't call that a trait exactly??

Also, when it first broke apart and flew off in five directions, it's specifically pointed out that it's "like a five pointed star" (even though it's not really if you look at the actual locations on a map lol)

And the sticking point, if it was as clean and simple a split as “Haruaki’s traits”, why do the traits bleed into each other? “Athleticism” is into sailor uniforms too, and “Cowardice” and “Intelligence” are pretty quick by themselves. Also, even without his “Memory” at the time, he remembered that conversation with Seimei in ch87.

The five pointed star detail, considering everything in the arc heavily relates to the Four Gods and Seimei's star, which relates to Wuxing, almost begs to be referencing that too.

What is Wuxing?

Wuxing, five elements, five phases, gogyo, whatever other name for it: I’ve talked about it briefly in my Kyoto arc analysis

(Wait. Is this actually all I mentioned regarding Wuxing in that analysis???? This tells you nothing!!)

(Tbh I think I had a longer explanation about it but I cut it because I thought it was irrelevant)

Wuxing 五行, roughly translated as five elements or phases, is a concept that comes from Taoism. The five elements are Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water and describes the interactions between them. Here’s the wikipedia page if you really want to get into the details.

The “xing” means movements/moving, and the entire concept of Wuxing comes from the five classical planets’ (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn) movements affecting… things? In general? (It’s horoscopes)

In fact, the names of those five planets in Chinese and Japanese are tied with the Wuxing:

Mercury = 水星 water star

Venus = 金星 metal/gold star

Mars = 火星 fire star

Jupiter = 木星 wood star

Saturn = 土星 earth star

You’re taught these as a kid but not the reasoning behind it (because it’s hella irrelevant lmao) but I guess it kinda makes instinctual sense? (Venus = yellow, Mars = red, Jupiter = stripes, like tree rings?? Saturn = brown. Mercury = it looks like there’s rivers? idk how much detail they were seeing in the BC times)

And just to sate curiosity, the planets that were discovered after telescopes were invented are just based off the English names

Uranus = 天王星 sky god star

Neptune = 海王星 sea god star

Pluto = 冥王星 underworld god star

By the way, this is also why the days of the week are named after elements in Japanese; it’s not actually the elements, rather it’s referring to the celestial bodies: those 5 planets + the moon and the sun. It’s the classical Chinese system that Japan adopted around the 5th century AD, and they haven’t changed it since then. (Chinese uses stuff like “weekday 1” for monday now.) And China itself adopted the Greco-Roman system of the 7 day week, days named after celestial bodies around the 4th century AD, which is also why the planets and days line up if you look at the English and Japanese names now.

Would be crazy if they independently decided to have 7 days in a week and name days after celestial bodies and assigned the same planets to the days huh.

(Also, TIL from looking at this chart that the sun (taiyang) is indeed called that because it’s the “great yang star”, and the moon is called the “great yin star”, you know, like yin-yang)

I’m remembering why it’s so hard to research and write about this stuff now. Everything is so inextricably connected to everything else its hard to talk about one thing in isolation. Thanks for indulging my astronomy tangent I love astronomy.

(I always got saturn on da mind when I think about Seimei cus of this art…)

The only useful part of this essay

So. Wuxing. Here’s a pretty standard diagram of it so it’s easier to visualise

There are five types of processes Wuxing describes:

Generating: Wood feeds fire

The reverse side of generating: Fire burns wood

Regulating: Wood grasps earth

Excessive regulating (destruction): Wood depletes earth

The reverse side of regulation (exhaustion): Earth rots wood

And here’s a full list of it, from wikipedia

With this in mind, you’ll notice that it pops up all over the place in Kyoto arc!

If we take lightning as aligned with metal (because Byakko = metal = lightning user), this is the regulating interaction of metal -> wood

Metal cuts wood, but wood also dulls metal

Water… nourishing wood….???

Water destabilizes earth

(“This is just pokemon lol” WRONG!! Pokemon types and every other element system in videogames came from Wuxing!! (Or Godai))

Back to the soul pieces

So you see, it’s incredibly tempting to connect the five soul pieces with the five elements of Wuxing. It’s basically begging for it. The Wuxing has been associated with lots of things that come in sets of five, including things like senses, tastes, smells, emotions, mental qualities, periods of one’s life, body parts. It has applications in divination and traditional chinese medicine after all. If there was a clear, 1-to-1 match between the soul pieces and the elements, you bet I would have talked about it more by now. But the connections are tenuous at best, and even I don’t really believe it. They might, probably, just be the traits we’re told they are. So this really is just to humor myself, and maybe someone can glean something more from this.

Let’s lay out the things surrounding the soul pieces:

“Desires” was at Arashiyama (a bamboo forest) and Seiryuu was present, both associated with Wood

“Athleticism” was at Ginkaku-ji (silver pavilion), none of the four gods were present, no obvious element associations here.

“Cowardice” was at Mount Kurama (mountain = earth?), Byakko was present (metal?)

“Memory” was at Kiyomizu-dera (clear water temple), and Genbu was present, water association

“Intelligence” was at Kinkaku-ji (gold pavilion), and none of the four gods were present initially. (gold = metal?)

The other thing I’ve yet to mention is all the soul pieces seem to be of different points in Haruaki’s life. (Well. Four of them at least.)

“Desires” and “Athletics” seem to look and act younger (as much as you can tell with chibis…), both wearing simple t-shirts, and “Athletics” t-shirt and shorts look like what Haruaki wore as a kid in the Miki arc flashback. Adding on to that, we’re constantly told how into sailor uniforms Haruaki was as a little kid (literally whenever his childhood gets brought up: Mamaaki talking about it in ch8, him saying his first cry as a newborn was “sailor uniform” in ch43, the ch51.5 extra) (ok to be fair. his sailor uniform fetish gets brought up at every opportunity. but i feel like it’s Pretty emphasized here) Also I feel like “Desires” especially talks like a kid.

Meanwhile “Cowardice” and “Memory” are dressed the way he currently does, and “Cowardice” seems to parallel the way Haruaki was at the start of the series. It’s Sano’s team that runs into him, he acts like how Haruaki did early on just amped way up, and he ends up hiding on Sano.

IQ-kun… still don’t know what to make of him and how he fits into this lol

Put like this, doesn’t it almost seem like, in the order they appear, they represent points in Haruaki’s life too?

Or, this could all be nothing, because they’re all wearing the same thing in the jacket for Volume 14.

So anyway, from this angle, it seems like Desires and Athletics line up fairly cleanly with Wood and Fire respectively, but Cowardice, Memory and Intelligence are a little murkier. Cowardice only somewhat lines up with Earth, and both Memory and Intelligence could align with Water, while Memory could also be Metal. (I dropped the quotation marks bc they were getting distracting)

Here’s a diagram to illustrate.

(See it’s kinda, pick-and-choosey, horoscope-type shit)

Immediately a couple problems arise. First and most majorly is the horoscopey-ness of it all. And then there’s the matter that, if the four gods represent four out of five of the elements and earth is the outlier, wouldn’t it also make sense if IQ-kun as the outlier would be assigned that?

There’s also the possibility that the first four are a set, and IQ-kun makes up the “yin” to the rest of Haruaki’s “yang” (But then what would the first four correspond to individually? idk….)

We’re getting nowhere with this analogy, so let’s look at some adjacent philosophies in sets of five, just for fun, and see if they line up any better.

Traditional Chinese Medicine

This one is the most related to Wuxing, there are five main “organs” in TCM that have associated Wuxing elements. They might be called the same names as the anatomical organs, but they’re actually more like concepts only roughly correlated with locations on the body. This is stuff codified thousands of years ago before modern knowledge of the human body, mind you.

Heart (fire): stores the “aggregate soul” (the mind)

Spleen (earth): governs transportation of qi and blood, and governs muscles and limbs

Lung (metal): stores the “po 魄” (physical soul)

Kidney (water): responsible for willpower or fear

Liver (wood): governs free flow of qi, blood and emotions. Stores blood, which stores the “hun 魂” (ethereal soul)

(The wikipedia page I linked has more in depth descriptions)

And if we sorta line up the attributes…

Desires = Liver/wood

Athleticism = Spleen/earth

Cowardice = Kidney/water

Memory = Lung/metal

Intelligence = Heart/fire

Something like this? It doesn’t line up particularly nicely either, and certainly doesn’t line up with the first theory…

But reading up on this actually brought something useful to my attention: the concept of “hun” and “po”

See, there’s this Chinese compound word “hun po 魂魄” that generally just means “soul”, but if you get really semantic they’re two different types of souls?

The “hun” is the yang-aligned “ethereal soul” typically understood as the wits/mind of a person, whatever constitutes the personality, and is the part of the soul that leaves the body on death.

The “po” is the yin-aligned “physical soul”, sometimes described as the “baser animal spirit” of a person, and is attached to the body.

This could explain why Haruaki’s soul is also Seimei’s soul, but also Seimei is in the underworld?

This scene I got real hung up about in my Kyoto arc post?

It lining up and being a reasonable explanation is one thing, but whether sensei is deliberately referencing a property of Chinese linguistics that doesn’t have an equivalent in Japanese kanji is another thing. And honestly, I could see Tanaka “I’ll have to read up on Chinese history, but off the top of my head Byakko and Seiryuu are from 4000BC and Suzaku and Genbu are younger” Mai could and would do it. (Good god, what I wouldn’t give to see sensei’s notes. Yohaji fanbook explaining every cultural reference PLEASEEEE IM BEGGINGGG)

Godai

Godai (“the five great (elements)”), while also a thing with five elements that features prominently in Japanese culture, differs from Wuxing in that it originates from the concept of Mahābhūta in Indian Buddhism, and features Fire, Water, Earth, Wind and Void. It’s a more inert definition and describes the elements as building blocks, contrasting with Wuxing which is more concerned with the balancing and interaction between the elements and the changes they cause in each other.

Godai also isn’t ever depicted as a star (and Wuxing is only depicted as a star as a byproduct of all the arrows denoting the interactions, sometimes the 5 elements are arranged like the 5 side of a dice with lines connecting everything) and is typically depicted as a Gorinto, a stone structure.

In order from top to bottom, it goes Void, Wind, Fire, Water, Earth, and represents the structure of the universe in Buddhism.

So. Attributes and if they line up any better.

Earth: unmoving, stability

Water: fluidity, adaptability, motion

Fire: passion, power, energy

Wind: growth, freedom

Void: the spirit? thought? there’s not really a clear description of this one. To begin with, originally in Buddhism, it’s just said that “from void emerged air, from air emerged fire, (etc)”

I could see wind = Memory and void = Intelligence, but the rest… I dunno man

The five aggregates in Buddhism

And now, following the thread back from Godai, to the Buddhist concept of Skandhas, or the “five aggregates of clinging”, described as the five factors that make up a sentient being’s personality. (Hey, this sounds like it could be onto something here!)

The five aggregates are:

Form or matter: the material form of a person

Sensation or feeling: the five senses + intellectual sensation, and the feelings that occur whether pleasant, unpleasant or neutral

Perception: cognition and recognizing what has been previously noted

Mental formations: dispositions, or something that motivates a person to take action (or sometimes described as the influences of a previous life?!)

Consciousness: cognizance, or the base that supports experience, sometimes translated as mind, intelligence or life force

Wait… This kinda… lines up…? No way…?

Form = Athleticism

Sensation = Cowardice

Perception = Memory

Mental formations = Desires

Consciousness = Intelligence

This… kinda works? They all basically line up and it’s not too tenuous, and there’s enough matching details in the descriptions of the five aggregates that it’s kinda scary…?

I’ll be real, prior to writing this section I hadn’t actually read the descriptions of each of them too carefully (I had the tab open and roughly noted the descriptions kinda worked) and I entirely expected to end this essay with a “in conclusion: no conclusion i learned nothing lol” but there’s actually something here????

And Tanaka Mai is known to reference Buddhism a lot, so this could entirely be intentional…??? I’m kinda shaken rn tbh

I mean, I guess I should have looked to Buddhism first considering sensei’s track record, what with how the arc opened with Haruaki getting put under a waterfall to get rid of his worldly desires, and how 3 out of 5 locations were Buddhist temples, but Buddhism concepts usually use their Sanskrit names and I don’t know how to google for that… (making excuses. classic)

Um. Hope you enjoyed reading this and that you learned something? Here’s all the relevant wikipedia pages if you want to go down your own rabbit hole:

Wuxing (Chinese five elements)

Godai (Japanese Buddhism five elements)

Mahābhūta (Indian Buddhism five elements)

Hun and po (two concepts of souls)

Skandha (five aggregates that make up a person)

Twelve Nidanas (didn’t mention this one, but it’s related to skandhas)

☆Chapter 38｡.｡:+* ﾟ ゜ﾟ *+:｡.｡:+* ﾟ ゜ﾟ *+:｡.｡.｡:+*ﾟ

The return of mii-kun!

Past Sano saves Haru, showing that even when not around Haru physically he still is looking out for haru.

And this is very different from what their relationship was earlier. Before I wouldn't believe Sano trying to help or save Haru because he truly wants to see him safe (maybe to not get into trouble or because Mame wants to help him).

He is the FIRST one Haru calls for help (both times!) and also the one who organizes rescuing him. Sano is the first one to get to him, the one to grab, and even lightly insults him. Sano is so afraid and worried for our pathetic boy!

☆Chapter 43｡.｡:+* ﾟ ゜ﾟ *+:｡.｡:+* ﾟ ゜ﾟ *+:｡.｡.｡:+*ﾟ

Ah yes...the chapter that has my "shoujo moment".

This scene is probably my favorite scene of them in the whole manga.

The way Sano sees himself as an outcast from the others (and probably now the other gods) and looks like he trying not to crumble in front of his teacher. How haru reassures him of who he is, that he is apart of their class, their makeshift family. How haru offers a shoulder to lean on while not pushing sano to tell him more info than he's comfortable with. Sano smiling (and not trying to pretend it didn't happen!) at Haru. You can tell how at ease and relieved Sano is when he's with Haru (and admits it!). How they both trust each other with their secrets and understand that when the other will tell the rest of the class is something only they can decide on.

I love this scene (this was also the scene that made me realize that this manga was going to a part of my "manga I've read and will keep up to date cause I actually like it" list...I read a lot of random manga for the sake of read manga so that's a HIGH honor!)

☆Chapter 52｡.｡:+* ﾟ ゜ﾟ *+:｡.｡:+* ﾟ ゜ﾟ *+:｡.｡.｡:+*ﾟ

I know that this chapter isn't that remarkable but this is my post and i get to decide what dumb little moments we focus on!

To be honest ever since I first read this chapter, I haven't really understood the root of Sano's emotions here (and trust me I know this is a me problem, please someone else explain this chapter also) BUT I WILL TRY!

Sano is a bit jealous of haru intruding at first. And that seems to play a part of his overall frustrations, but i think it mainly lies with two more reasons why.

1-Haru is getting treated like a dangerous madman by the other teacher. He is annoyed at this and from the context of the previous chapters it probably is because he, and many others, don't. Class 2-3 treats Haru generally like a normal teacher, maybe a bit more (a lot more actually) familiar than most people would but still! Sano also knows and has spent so much one on one time with Haru that he understand that any worries are not really valid. He knows who haru is and he decided that to him he isn't a bad guy. He knows how much Haru wants to be treated normal and not like an outcast. He, even up to chapter more current chapters I say, knows the most about Haru. Not even just about his past, the seimei situation, but also about stuff that only applies to Haru.

(and in the next chapter I talk about, he actually shows that he doesn't like people thinking bad about Haru when they don't even get to know him. Very "if you're gonna dislike Haru at least dislike him for real reasons and not because iof misunderstandings cause you didn't try to understand him")

And 2- He seems upset at the effect that Haru has over him. Haru has this aura that makes Sano feel so relaxed around him that has been growing along side their relationship. The manga really shows that when Sano opens up to Haru he acts more like a regular goofy awkward teen and less like a cool guy that only gets involved when he has to, something he most likely pick up after transferring to our favorite little youkai school.

He is annoyed by this (maybe because he doesn't have the same effect to Haru?). Annoyed that Haru just so purely cares about him being his best. That Haru can do this so effortlessly and genuinely it effects him. That it reminds him of what his brother used to be like...Or maybe he (and me) dont know why he feels this way!

For haru's part, he wants to see Sano being his best self and trying hard! He believes in him and knows that Sano can do better! And he wants to push Sano, and all his students, to succeed and be their best. If he has to compete against them or cheer them on, then he will do it!

(Also this panel...just look at it..)

☆Chapter 54｡.｡:+* ﾟ ゜ﾟ *+:｡.｡:+* ﾟ ゜ﾟ *+:｡.｡.｡:+*ﾟ

(I chose this chapter/scene instead of 53 because that moment felt more about Sano distancing himself from his brother than his relationship with Haru.)

Like I previously stated, He doesn't like when others treat Haru badly, or like an outcast, when they don't even know Haru.

When he gets to Haru, he takes charge of situation. He the one that get him to open up to why he under the desk ( DEJECTED-AKI!?!?!?! THEY HAVE A DESIGNATED NAME FOR THIS?!?!?!). He's the one who gets him out, though by force. He even kinda references to chapter 52 with how he know that Haru doesn't need to be babied. He sees Haru for what he is, an amazing teacher who works hard to all his students can achieve their goals.

And he tells this to him! Sano us now so open to Haru. Before he would go full tsundere about how he sees Haru as a great teacher, dismissing and lying about it. But now he embarrassingly tells him to his face. He throws the words that he use to comfort Sano when he was feeling down about himself back at Haru.

He see Haru as someone who doesn't need to be coddled, not because he's loser adult (ok, maybe a bit because of that), but because Sano has seen how far Haru has come and believes and knows he is also a great person.

☆Chapter 80｡.｡:+* ﾟ ゜ﾟ *+:｡.｡:+* ﾟ ゜ﾟ *+:｡.｡.｡:+*ﾟ

Now to end this part on a more light hearted note, Haru and Sano hugs! Haru initiates most of the hugs between the to of them, but sano has been slowly started to get more comfortable with them. First chapter to this chapter Sano has started to allow Haru to full on hug him with backlash. I just thought that it was a neat observation.

AUGHHHHHHHH HARUSANO IS SO EVERYTHING TO ME

For them to have ended up at hyakki at the same time was probably the best coincidence to happen

haru i think he genuinely enjoys sano ribbing him and roughing him up and not just for masochist reasons

im ame's number 1 fan but for sure he is at least 80% the reason why haru is the way he is at the start

as much as its easy to treat haru as aww scrungly meow meow bc hes just so cute, as pathetic as he is, he hates being brushed off/taken advantage of and he will make it known, its just early on he will also give in at the slightest sign of resistance

and he also wants to be relied on but tying in with the first point, its not going to happen if people keep brushing him off

and it certainly wasnt going to happen with his family so i think the principal trusting him with the job was a big thing for him

rather than other students respecting the hierarchy with him and sano being more like equals with him, i feel like it's a matter of sano places exactly the right amount of trust in him, whereas most of the class, while they're friendly with him, don't actually think he's reliable for a good while (explicitly stated with renren, but probably true for a lot of the class, its just that situations as dire hasn't come up for it to matter)

the fact they're both strangers in a strange land plays a huge part for sano, that haru doesn't have any preconceived notions of him being a "problem student" like the rest of the teachers, nor know anything about his past.

the 3 biggest reasons he reached out to haru in chapter 1, i imagine, would be

he saw himself in him, in an unfamiliar place surrounded by unfamiliar people by the whims of others

he'd been friends with mame for a while, giving him the confidence to take action to help someone at all

what ive only just realised ch43 makes clear, that sano gets to pretend to be someone he's not. possibly up until that chapter, he's been operating under the assumption that haru doesn't know anything about his past (which is why he gets so mad about it) he gets to just be sano the yakubyougami, who belongs here just as much as any other student, who doesn't have all his baggage and insecurities. and even in that reveal in ch43, the only reason he revealed it was because he was sure haru already figured it out, its just he wanted to have the agency to come clean on his own terms (and then haru reciprocates by not pressing him for more)

in a world with schemers like seimei and the principal its kinda amazing haru and sano meeting was happenstance (until its revealed its not) (but until then!)

Color page

The one with purple hair is Akira LOL I think everyone got got by it for at least a second because we’ve been seeing Douman so much, especially with that half the face blacked out, but look at the hair part. Also I only realised because of this art that Kurai and Akira have a mole by the mouth in the exact same spot, makes sense why he wants to cover it up now. (Irrelevant but I also have a mole in that same spot)

Also, the red string of fate…

Hey remember what happens in Makuragaeshi arc. yeahhhhh hahaha just stab that knife right into me hahaha sensei you would do this to them? to me?

A lot of the original folklore for the red string of fate is pretty mean, but the important common thread (heh) is that the two people meet long ago briefly and part ways, until they eventually get married while not remembering that first encounter, then they find out they knew each other from that first encounter. (Hey why does this sound like almost all the things that happen pre-main story in yohaji. Who is making spiderwebs with the threads of fate up there.)

Red string… Hatanaka’s red scarf, which Ibara knitted for him… His scarf, which isn’t present in the Makuragaeshi world… Tanaka Mai you are fucked up and evil for this. I am going to lie in the sand now.

The scarf… which she knitted for him maybe because she saw him with it 100 years ago…

Divine Magic

Ok I’ll be real I hate translating it as “divine magic” because it’s so vague but translating it as the actual Buddhism term is too specific and technical, when the word in Japanese and Chinese uses very common characters so it’s vague enough while still being the actual Buddhism term.

This chapter specifically calls back to chapter 22, and I totally didn’t recall any mention of anything divine so I had to double check with the JP. Sure enough, it’s used here, translated as “divine youkai magic”. But the thing is, in this situation “divine” just sounded like an adjective for “youkai magic”, rather than the whole phrase being a proper noun which is obvious in JP. (This is sort of why I’m going with “divine magic” instead, and that there’s nothing in the JP word that says “youkai” anyway) (By the way, it’s also on the blackboard in Miki’s class in chapter 96. I translated it as “divine power” then because there was no context)

The word is “神通力 jin-tsuu-riki”, and the Buddhism concept it’s referring to is Abhijñā, or the “six types of higher knowledge”.

Breaking down the word,

神 jin: god/divine

通 tsuu: connection/understanding/knowledge

力 riki: power

Exactly as Hatanaka explains it, in the most literal sense, it means “power that has connection to the gods”. “Jintsuuriki” is also another word for psychic powers in general, but it’s definitely this Buddhism concept because of the names of the six types.

Hatanaka just summarized it, so I think it’s safe to assume there’s more to all of them, and also I want to explain what each of them does anyway, even if they definitely won’t end up being the exact same in the manga.

^ Putting this here so it’s easy to refer to.

1. 神足通 Jin-soku-tsuu (Divine step)

Literally translated, it is “god step connection” (all of them end in “tsuu”). The specific name for it is Iddhi, and is generally called “higher powers”, or “powers of transformation”? I went with a name that’s almost a literal translation of the JP.

The specific abilities attributed to it include:

Replicating and projecting images of oneself

Becoming invisible

Passing through solid objects

Going through solid ground

Walking on water

Flying

Touching the sun and moon

Chinese and Japanese descriptions of it also mention “teleportation” or “being anywhere at will”, though strangely English descriptions of it almost never have this part.

The principal uses this one, and Hatanaka thinks Tamao used it (spoiler: he was wrong).

2. 天耳通 Ten-ni-tsuu (Clairaudience)

Literally translated, it is “divine ear connection”. Fairly self explanatory. Also described as “god-like hearing”, it’s the ability to “hear gods or humans, near or far”.

Interestingly, Hatanaka uses “地獄耳 jigoku-mimi” to describe “having sharp ears”, which itself is a fun phrase. It means “hell’s ears”, referring to King Enma, who hears of everything you’ve done in life and judges you accordingly. Though, in everyday speech it just means “someone who hears all the gossip”, but rarely it also means “someone who remembers everything they’ve heard”.

3. 他心通 Ta-shin-tsuu (Telepathy)

Literally translated, it is “others’ hearts connection”. Also fairly straightforward. The concept of “reading minds” in English is “reading hearts” in Japanese and Chinese. There’s probably a separate essay here about the West’s scientific and medical advancements and how with it, the core of what defined a human was shifted from the heart to the brain, changing the sort of words people use with it. Oh hey wait there IS a video essay about this. (ah shit this is getting off topic)

Anyway. It’s also described as being able to “understand others’ minds/hearts as if they were your own”. I feel this is the one the karasu tengu troupe used in chapter 21/22 to conjure up the illusions of Miki, Sano and Haru’s fears. (But the “conjuring illusions” part could also be the first one.)

4. 宿命通 Shuku-myou-tsuu (Memory of abodes)

Literally translated, it is “abode lives connection”, which… means what exactly? So, “宿命 shuku-mei” together means “karma” or “fate”, and it’s described as the “knowledge of oneself and others’ past existence”, referring to memory of past lives, but also refers to knowledge of karma, cause and effect and the past in general.

(Honestly I don’t like my name for it, but every other name for it I’ve seen is too long and unrepresentative, I’ll probably come up with a new translation if it comes up again and there’s more info given about it. Also I almost went with “remembrance”, which tbh is a better sounding name but I would be exposing that I’ve been playing too much honkai star rail)

I think this is the one Tamao actually used, and I’ve seen some CN comments come to the same conclusion. By the way, remember Yoseito chapter 1?

Unbelievable! Everything really is “haha jk…unless” with this manga!

5. 天眼通 Ten-gen-tsuu (Clairvoyance)

Literally translated, it is “divine eye connection”. Also pretty self explanatory. It is described as seeing the karmic destinations of others, and knowing how they’ll be reborn. It’s also called “死生通”, or “knowledge of life and death”. Sort of a set with the previous one, knowing cause vs knowing effect.

This is the one Haruaki thinks Seimei has, and he’s probably right (somewhat). I’ll elaborate in a sec.

6. 漏尽通 Ro-jin-tsuu (Affliction riddance)

Literally translated, it is… honestly idk this name itself means nothing. But translations have put it as “extinction of mental intoxicants” or “knowing the end of suffering”. Tbh this is also one that I’m not super happy with and would retranslate if it comes up again. Hatanaka couldn’t be bothered to actually summarize it LMAO it’s probably because this is a very VERY Buddhist concept. It’s described as “knowing the four truths; suffering, the cause of suffering, the end of suffering, and the way to end suffering”.

The thing you have to know about Buddhism is it’s really obsessed with suffering, the idea of reincarnation and that it comes from worldly impurities (including suffering), and getting out of the cycle of reincarnation by getting rid of worldly impurities. Like, that’s the thesis statement of Buddhism. Reincarnation exists but the world sucks so you want to get out of it. (gets torn to shreds by my Buddhist relatives for badmouthing it) (so far from all my reading and personal experience with my Buddhist grandparents there is nothing forbidding you from tearing someone to shreds) Anyway. This has been my bitching about Buddhism tangent.

These last three are sometimes considered as a set, and collectively called the “three wisdoms/knowledges”

Hey did you fall asleep (throws chalk at you) wake up!

If you’ve been paying attention to both this essay and the manga itself, you may have noticed that Seimei has demonstrated almost all of these to some degree. Whether this is intentionally something the story is implying and wants the reader to figure out or if it’s pure coincidence, I’m not sure, but it’s something to think about. Also, the “seeing the future” one could totally be applied to Kurahashi. Eyebrow raise?

Also, here’s this ask I answered about the ramifications of Seimei having divine magic.

Intermission

This is something I’ve only come to realise with Yohaji, it’s really so fascinating to see the author in a work (in moderation of course). When viewing a piece of work, especially something framed as lighthearted like a manga, it’s so easy to forget the author behind it and treat the work as if it came into existence by itself. Perhaps because Yohaji contains so many references to real-life mythologies and stories, or perhaps because I’ve been poring over every detail, reading about every reference, reading sensei’s tweets and experiences, that what sorts of topics Tanaka Mai is interested in has become apparent and Yohaji is all the more fascinating for it.

Every one of her previous oneshot/short-serialization works before Yohaji has either made mention of Buddhist terms, or is entirely based on it.

Karma Karma, a 3-shot from 2014 (a year before the start of Yohaji), is about the Buddhist concept of hell and a king of hell who accidentally brought sinners from hell back to the living world.

Gokuraku Joudou no Hotoke-san, a oneshot from 2013, besides obviously referencing the Buddhist pure land in the title has wisdom king Acala and Yakushi Nyorai be its protagonists.

Unfortunately, I don’t think I’ll ever get to read any of these, since they’re from 10 years ago and I’d have to contact a collector about it or something.

In any case, this is clearly something she’s interested in and knows a lot about, and it’s always so interesting to see. It’s always been present in Yohaji too, from the early drafts being more Buddhism-themed, to Sano’s magic circles featuring sanskrit and resembling a mandala in early chapters, to busting out a sutra excerpt in chapter 85.

Maybe it’s a fiction faux pas to pull back the curtain and look at the inner workings of a work like this, but I think I get to decide how I interact with a work.

Time Travel

YEAHHHH I CALLED IT IVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS!! ITS SO OBVIOUS IT WOULD HAPPEN ITS BEEN SO OBVIOUS FOR A YEAR I SHOULDN’T HAVE LET PEOPLE TALK AUGUST 2022 ME INTO THINKING ITS STUPID!! ITS SO REAL!!! IM A GENIUSSS yeah anyway had to get that out of my system

First of all, we get a good look at the schoolhouse. This is probably the old schoolhouse, or at least in the location of the old schoolhouse. Architecturally it does look different from both times we’ve seen it, in volume 5 and Yoseito’s Izuna flashback arc. It’s entirely possible that the principal had it rebuilt and more floors added in the 100 years he was using it. By the way, based on the turtle map and being able to see the mountain behind the school, it’s likely that this is where it is.

The beam of light on the mountain opposite the school is almost certainly because the gang ended up at the location of the current schoolhouse, which is still just forest at that point. And there is not a single doubt in my mind that the teacher is Ranmaru.

Ok tbh I don’t have that much to say about the time travel half of the chapter mostly because it was just establishing the premise for what’s about to happen for the rest of the arc, so here’s some disjointed thoughts.

First off, even if it’s not obvious, Haruaki does indirectly cause this to happen. Besides nudging the world into the situation at the start of the chapter in a million cumulative little ways, he’s the one who brings up whether Tamao can use any other type of magic.

Also, this chapter made me realise something about Yoseito chapter 28. It makes sense that Yamazaki wouldn’t have recognized Hatanaka before that moment when he made the connection, because for all intents and purposes he knew Hatanaka as just this delinquent kid who even dyed his hair. Even the name “Hatanaka” doesn’t help, mind you, since he’s got dozens of siblings and extended family whose surnames are all “Hatanaka”. Unless they specifically told the Meiji trio the exact situation, and even then, this is probably just “that weird story from when we were in school” to Takahashi and Yamazaki. (a la teacher trio not making the connection that they met years ago until it was specifically pointed out) It was only at that moment that he started to resemble the version of him a year from then, when the time travel would happen.

Anyway, what in the world could possibly happen to Takahashi that he ends up like he does on the color page and looking so shaken in chapter 98… I sure hope the stuff on his face is actually just shading and not blood…. We do have precedent of that half of the face being covered in blood….

And one last thing that might be addressed, something in this arc will probably cause Ranmaru to quit being a teacher (based on makuragaeshi arc), though like the Takahashi thing, I couldn’t even begin to guess what. I can’t see the future, after all! (I feel like I've made this joke before)

The True Nature of Haruaki/Seimei’s Exorcism Power

(sounds like a clickbait title lol)

This is something I realised while answering this ask, but it’s a realisation that could have come way sooner because it doesn’t really hinge on info from chapter 102.

Here’s the parts to this theory: (anything that’s directly quoted has been double checked against the Japanese in case the nuance is slightly different)

Youkai magic is powered by spirit energy (no shit sherlock)

Clarification addendum: spirit energy is called “you-ryoku 妖力” and youkai magic is “you-jutsu 妖術”. both use the same “you” as in “youkai”, and the word on its own kinda means magic-y creature-y things (its usually used with another word to clarify what exactly is magic-y). Literally translated, “you-ryoku” is “youkai energy/power”, and “you-jutsu” is “youkai technique”. its very no shit sherlock.

This exorcism power exorcises spirit energy, and also works on gods to a lesser degree.

This implies the exorcism power has broader spanning effects than is stated, or “spirit energy” isn’t as specific of a concept as previously thought.

Spirit energy is basically interchangeable with “human life force” which is also interchangeable with “human souls”

In chapter 76, Takahashi reveals that if the mother is human, the spirit energy a half-youkai baby needs will be substituted by her life force. Also of note, he reveals that youkai can produce spirit energy and humans can’t.

When talking about youkai that eat spirit energy, “souls” are almost always brought up alongside it. Miki’s mom is said to eat both spirit energy and souls, the makuragaeshi eats both spirit energy and souls. The kasha did throw out the pure youkai Takahashi, Hatanaka and Marshmallow to leave only those with non-youkai blood or souls, but it also didn’t seem to be against attacking them.

In chapter 74, Takahashi says he sensed spirit energy in the hospital, but he examines the gashadokuro and finds it’s formed from human souls. Also in chapter 70, the ability to see spirit energy and souls is lumped together.

And now, one of the loose ends from Kyoto arc: Suzaku saying that “humans shouldn’t overuse powers like that” and was about to say something about life force.

Do you see what I’m getting at here? It sounds likely that “spirit energy” and “life force” are the same thing but in different forms, and assuming there’s not an entirely separate power system that has nothing to do with spirit energy, there’s a possibility that Haruaki/Seimei’s exorcism power runs off life force instead.

This has a few fucked up implications, namely there’s a possibility that Seimei was going to die anyway even without being (debatably) murdered, and also obviously Haruaki… um….

“Souls are equivalent to life force” and “exorcism power runs off life force” would also help explain why his intelligence soul piece could also use it: it just happened to be the biggest piece of his soul (also explaining why it’s physically bigger than the other 4), and it could be that all the pieces had the ability, just that the biggest piece had the “battery” to actually use it.

(I have Many Thoughts about the soul pieces btw, that may never get elaborated on in the story. No not just that white hair Haru is hot! I feel like there’s something more to it than just being 5 parts of his personality. Like, they say there’s a piece that’s the manifestation of his desires, but the athletic piece is into sailor uniforms too? That’s a conclusion the students came up with, after all, and it’s not like anyone present was an expert on this stuff, and anyone who might have known more aren’t saying anything (Ranmaru, Douman, SEIMEI???). Do you get this feeling? That there’s something purposely left unexplained there…)

He also calls out the similarity between his powers and the students’ powers often (off the top of my head, there’s at least a few times with Sano, also with Nyuudou, and now with Tamao). It’s probably his efforts to show he relates to them, but also… yknow…

Of course, there’s details that this theory doesn’t fully address. Both times Miki’s mom ate Haruaki’s soul, she immediately noted it tasted bad, so it’s probably not because of Seimei taking control and actively fighting his way out, rather something inherent about his soul that makes it different from regular human souls or even youkai souls.

This is all pretty fucked up and I don’t necessarily think Tanaka Mai would actually go this route….? I hope…..? But there’s nothing definitive right now that says it DOESN’T work like this, and there’s enough of these little details littered throughout the whole series that if it’s true, this would be the biggest long con sensei has pulled yet.

Haruaki’s exorcism power could also be one of those “lol he can just do this, don’t question it” things, but that’s also what I thought about Seimei’s ability to see the future, and GUESS WHAT.