Anime
Kurenai 11 Notes: The Hina Doll, Souju’s Death, Tales of Genji and Other Randomness
One of the things I like most about Kure-nai, aside from the adorable Murasaki, is its slice-of-Japanese-life elements, a topic which has already been discussed to no end by other bloggers. It’s a [gaijin's] window to the Japanese culture, providing insights on the characters’ Japanese way of life like no other animes I’ve watched.
That said, I find it surprising that despite the number of people who mentioned the Japan-esque aspect of Kure-nai, no one seemed to have bothered looking into the significance of the Hina-doll and why the Kuhouins found it detestable that Souju died while holding onto this doll. Oh wait, there’s someone who discussed it (a little), Teeif. Even Japanese blogs never seemed to have mentioned anything about this, I guess this was no longer a mystery to them since they’re, well, Japanese o.O Nonetheless, I found this subject fascinating enough to take a plunge into the Hina festival, to find out what the Hina doll really symbolizes.
From what I learned way back our Japanese class in college, the Hina doll is associated with the Hinamatsuri (Hina festival), also known as Japanese Doll Festival or Girl’s Day. As the name implies, this day is dedicated for praying for a young girl’s growth and happiness, where families display their Hina doll set during this momentous event, signifying a wish for marriage for the daughter as well. These dolls are only taken out on the day of Hinamatsuri, otherwise it’s just kept safely inside a box throughout the year. That’s how sacred and precious these dolls are.
[Now here are some more insights I got from various sources on the web] The Hina dolls were also used in the olden times for purification purposes. People rub these dolls against their bodies, to transfer their impurities to the said scapegoat. They will then throw these impure dolls into the river to be carried away together with their sins and impurities. This purification rite was also mentioned in the Tale of Genji, which dates back a thousand years ago. Allow me to quote something from the Goshiki site, which describes Hinamatsuri so eloquently as “the day when a family wishes for the happiness of the daughter by making some dolls undertake the lifetime misfortune as the scapegoat for the daughter,” explaining the suicidal sacrifice Souju did for her Murasaki.
And take note, Souju did not just take any doll with her, but the Empress, the one that’s placed on top of the Hina doll set, seated beside the Emperor. Mere common sense is enough to infer that this doll signifies nobility and high stature, considering that she’s THE sole wife of the Emperor. Souju, in this sense, regards Murasaki to be of the same level as the Empress, not a court lady, a woman from the Inner Sanctuary, or any such people from the lower class stratification.
In her death, Souju took with her all the impurities of being an Inner Sanctuary woman. She regarded this Kuhouin practice as vile and crooked, and she became the ultimate scapegoat for her daughter, so as to not allow her to suffer the same fate. Part of her dying message was for Murasaki to look highly of herself, not as woman of the Inner Sanctuary, but as an Empress, filled with pride, dignity, and most importantly, her own identity.
From the Tale of Genji-esque paintings on the walls of the Kuhouin household, the pseudo-polygamous and incestuous nature of the males in this family (taking one (or more?) Kuhouin woman as a baby maker, then another [outsider] to be the wife, for plutocratic reasons), to the way the young [lady] Murasaki came into Shinkurou’s life (and how the novel author also made a Tale of Genji reference in volume 2, with Murasaki seeing herself in lady Murasaki’s shoes, and Shinkurou in Genji), there’s no doubt that the similarities we’re seeing are intended to be references to the Heian epic of Genji. While the novel was more subtle in hinting these references, the anime made it all the more… vivid.
Random Stuff
HIGH HEELS CATFIGHT BATORU, LOCK ON!!
On a totally random and unrelated note, Benika and Lin Chenshin teaches us the art of fighting with style (literally) in this episode. Ever seen a GAR catfight involving girls with makeup and stiletto shoes? Even the cool girls in Kill Bill never had such a stylish sexy femme getup. And those are some amazing cosmetics, for it to remain as smudge-free as ever throughout that vicious fight lol.
Shinkurou: Hurrah! I finally gotz to bitchslap her! I’ve been waiting yearss for this moment to arrive!!1!!!!
If I have any qualms in this episode, it’s that despite the jabs and kicks Shinkurou sustained from Chenshin’s attacks, all he manages to do was… give her a bitchslap 
And he was real proud of it too~!
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11 comments for “Kurenai 11 Notes: The Hina Doll, Souju’s Death, Tales of Genji and Other Randomness”
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Nice informative post. I don’t know anything about Japanese history /culture so the whole doll/suicide thing makes more sense now. Although I was never actually “reading” Kure-nai more so than just enjoying the hell out of it.
I’m starting to think that all the raeg against the terribleness of the plot will soon be justified and countered.
So if Shinkurou is Genji and Murasaki is . . . Murasaki, does that mean Shinkurou is raising her to be his perfect woman/wife the way Genji did? ^_~
And as my memory recalls (I haven’t read Genji in ages), didn’t Genji take Murasaki’s virginity at age 13!?
Hmm, good job pointing out the significance of the Hina Doll. I was wondering for a while why they made such a fuss over that, though I never thought of looking it up -_-’
LOL, heels – in reality they probably hurt the wearer more than whatever damage they could inflict on an opponent.
I thought the bitchslap was somewhat significant, in that despite her zest for fighting and getting into scrapes, a ’simple’ slap to the face managed to jar Lin for at least a moment. I’ve always found that a slap, despite it’s lack of physical ferocity, is really one of the more hurtful actions you could inflict on a person for some reason, perhaps because it is more ‘emotionally’ rooted than say a punch or a kick.
@lelangir: looks like I haven’t been reading enough entries on people’s sentiments regarding Kure-nai’s endings, since most of the ones I’ve read are all positive. Must read up more.
Perhaps many of the novel readers are also dissatisfied with how the series turned out?
@L-chan: Genji did that to Murasaki at age 13?! wtf
I’m sure that’s not going to be the case in Kure-nai, and Shinkurou’s a much better guy than Genji.
@issa: heels are a painnn, those girls are masochists
and a slap is indeed more insulting than any jabs, but taken out of context, it’s really amusing lol.
How I love posts such as these.
: doll=prisoner/toyperson whose wishes were crushed ).
*
Thanks for the insight into a Japanese tradition and the meaning behind Soujou’s gesture.
My guess before reading this was a tad different (and very simple
Well, now Ryuji’s remark about his mom feels even more unsympathetic … *kicks pedo brother’s butt straight into frozen lake
@elianthos: don’t look down on your deduction now, that still made quite some sense!
and you’ll HATE Ryuji even more when you get to know him in the novel… total PEDO RAEGG.
Wow, thanks for the background about the paintings and the Hina doll. Learn something every day!
I really loved it when Shinkuro was celebrating his slap, and then Lin grabbed the plum and delivered a vicious knee to his face.
@usagijen:
*is a spoiler hunter 
* .
ah, I know about novel-verse Ryuji already
SPOILER TAG IS NOT WORKING, SO… BEWARE OF SPOILER
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If I remeber correctly Shinkourou goes all out against him in the novel too – and rightly so – . Something like catching him in the -attempted – act and throwing him out of a skyscraper window
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END SPOILER
@Kabitzin: poor Shinkurou…
@elianthos: weird that the spoiler tag is not working, hmm…
I haven’t read that part in the novel yet, it seems… but serves Ryuji right! /me kicks him more
ok, I checked the spoiler tag and it works, it just doesn’t reflect in the comment preview, but it will once you submit the comment.
@usagijen: *sweatdrop* the spoiler tag didn’t show in the posted comment either… I edited it twice and still was not working. But I have my web-klutz moments sometimes
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– . I’m waiting forward to read tour impressions when you can watch the actual episode ;p )
Totally out of topic here but… : kyaah! I’ve read the spoilers for Toshoakn Sensou #12 on animesuki (and I’m still having Sailor Moon dej-v flashes – it’s SM-reference week this one , or what?
@elianthos: ooohh, I am sooo gonna watch the last ep ASAP.