Of Sharks and Mermaids--
Now that my webcomic The Groom of the Shark (a sequel of The Bride of the Shark) is almost reaching its conclusion, I feel like babbling a bit about sharks and mermaids and ukiyo-e.
As you should know, I live in a town by the sea, and even if I can't really swim and drowning is one of the deaths I fear the most, I feel a strong bond with this element.
I was amused by the idea of making a comic set in a seaside place. My pick went to the mysterious city of Onjuku, in Japan, because I watched a documentary about an Italian photographer documenting the daily life of pearl divers, known as ama.
The report of Maraini was about the ama of Hekura, but Google wasn't my friend and he deflected me to a pitiful copy of Miami with some Mexican and Arabian bits that made no sense but for the surfers community there.
But when I looked at those pictures the only thing that came to my mind was the novel The Sound of Waves by Yukio Mishima and its healthy, rough portrayal of a genuine life by the sea.
The names of the characters Natsue and Shinji from Samuyome come from this novel.
The location and general vibe was set, I just needed some hot shark guy, hopefully out of some cool mythologic story.
I picked a shark as the other half of my mermen because I wanted to use a powerful, voracious being to emphatize its role as a seme character.
I was disappointed to see that all the legends concerning sharks had a negative acceptation in the most of folklores, but when I stumbled over Hawaiian mithology I felt like I found the best nationality ever for my shark boys.
The whole concept of the Shark Gods used in Sameyome came from the legend of Nanaue.
I know that the whole thing has a strong The Little Mermaid vibe, but the ban of Shark Gods to meet and mate with humans because of human persecution, their shapeshifting skills and also the "feathered cape" that 'Ehukai wore in the last part of the story, they all came from this legend.
I loved myths about sharks of those islands because they are the only one where sharks are described as positive deities.
For more about the issue I suggest you to read this interesting article.
In a vision that may seem absurd to us, sharks are seen as protectors of fishermen, swimmers and even shipwreck survivors.
I think that it's amazing, and I can totally relate to this, as someone who feels an empathy towards marine creatures-- Someone who grew with such beautiful beings is not afraid of them, all they could feel is sincere awe. I can see how this awe turned into religious fervor.
Anyway, the deal with Japanese sirens kept bugging me.
In Europe, expecially in Italy, we have a good amount of cool stories and rappresentations featuring mermaids.
One of my favourite is that also used in heraldry (and Starbucks LOL) and alchemic symbology, the twin-tailed siren, usually connected with the legend of Melusine.
In Japan, these charming figures are instead treated as mere monsters, grotesque beings with a fish body and a human face, or unlawful ladies turned into monsters by some shinto god... According to this interpretation, one of the rare rappresentations of sirens that got my attention is that of Lake Biwa's mermaid:
It surprised me expecially because the actual siren that the story is about is a horrible thing XD --Instead in this depiction she looks almost like a deity.
Another similar portrait is this one, coming from an ukiyo-e for kids
I talked about children's ukiyo-e in this post of mine, and I was a bit surprised because these things are supposed to hold "educational" purposes... It's strange to see there an element of fantasy.
...Speaking of Japanese prints about mermaids, I also find one where a mermaid is sexually assaulted by an octopus, but I leave that to your Google skills to find XD
Originally posted at http://daeva-neesan.dreamwidth.org/554544.html
If you want, please comment there :3
As you should know, I live in a town by the sea, and even if I can't really swim and drowning is one of the deaths I fear the most, I feel a strong bond with this element.
I was amused by the idea of making a comic set in a seaside place. My pick went to the mysterious city of Onjuku, in Japan, because I watched a documentary about an Italian photographer documenting the daily life of pearl divers, known as ama.
The report of Maraini was about the ama of Hekura, but Google wasn't my friend and he deflected me to a pitiful copy of Miami with some Mexican and Arabian bits that made no sense but for the surfers community there.
But when I looked at those pictures the only thing that came to my mind was the novel The Sound of Waves by Yukio Mishima and its healthy, rough portrayal of a genuine life by the sea.
The names of the characters Natsue and Shinji from Samuyome come from this novel.
The location and general vibe was set, I just needed some hot shark guy, hopefully out of some cool mythologic story.
I picked a shark as the other half of my mermen because I wanted to use a powerful, voracious being to emphatize its role as a seme character.
I was disappointed to see that all the legends concerning sharks had a negative acceptation in the most of folklores, but when I stumbled over Hawaiian mithology I felt like I found the best nationality ever for my shark boys.
The whole concept of the Shark Gods used in Sameyome came from the legend of Nanaue.
I know that the whole thing has a strong The Little Mermaid vibe, but the ban of Shark Gods to meet and mate with humans because of human persecution, their shapeshifting skills and also the "feathered cape" that 'Ehukai wore in the last part of the story, they all came from this legend.
I loved myths about sharks of those islands because they are the only one where sharks are described as positive deities.
For more about the issue I suggest you to read this interesting article.
In a vision that may seem absurd to us, sharks are seen as protectors of fishermen, swimmers and even shipwreck survivors.
I think that it's amazing, and I can totally relate to this, as someone who feels an empathy towards marine creatures-- Someone who grew with such beautiful beings is not afraid of them, all they could feel is sincere awe. I can see how this awe turned into religious fervor.
Anyway, the deal with Japanese sirens kept bugging me.
In Europe, expecially in Italy, we have a good amount of cool stories and rappresentations featuring mermaids.
One of my favourite is that also used in heraldry (and Starbucks LOL) and alchemic symbology, the twin-tailed siren, usually connected with the legend of Melusine.
In Japan, these charming figures are instead treated as mere monsters, grotesque beings with a fish body and a human face, or unlawful ladies turned into monsters by some shinto god... According to this interpretation, one of the rare rappresentations of sirens that got my attention is that of Lake Biwa's mermaid:
It surprised me expecially because the actual siren that the story is about is a horrible thing XD --Instead in this depiction she looks almost like a deity.
Another similar portrait is this one, coming from an ukiyo-e for kids
I talked about children's ukiyo-e in this post of mine, and I was a bit surprised because these things are supposed to hold "educational" purposes... It's strange to see there an element of fantasy.
...Speaking of Japanese prints about mermaids, I also find one where a mermaid is sexually assaulted by an octopus, but I leave that to your Google skills to find XD
Originally posted at http://daeva-neesan.dreamwidth.org/554544.html
If you want, please comment there :3