Tags
Lord of the Rings, Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Sailor Moon, Sailor Moon Crystal, The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter
Faery tales are funny things that never quite die in the collective consciousness. The same applies to folk tales and classic mythologies.
They may get reimagined, reworked, rebadged, but the common core remains in the foundations of a culture.
You can see this in Lord of the Rings with acknowledged influences from Nordic, Germanic, and Finnish mythology[1] (among others)[2].
You see it in the way that the Arthurian mythos never quite dies, and see it in me by how I saw Puella Magi Madoka Magica.
This is not to accuse anyone of plagiarism, or even of unoriginality, only to acknowledge that there are cultural influences that may manifest in unexpected places.
I’m starting to think that The Tale of the Princess Kaguya, or rather The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, is one such influence on Sailor Moon.
It isn’t something I would have noticed before[3], but watching Sailor Moon Crystal with friends has suddenly brought the similarities to mind. E.g. Kaguya-hime is a princess from a moon kingdom and the tale contains elements of lost memories, and forbidden (or at least discouraged) romances.
Sound familiar? Having seen the first 8 or so episodes of Sailor Moon Crystal it is certainly sounding familiar to me.
Given that Kaguya-Hime is considered the oldest extant Japanese narrative[4] it doesn’t surprise me in the slightest that it, or aspects of it, manifest in odd or unexpected places in anime.
I’m left wondering how many other anime have had elements of The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter. More interestingly, how many have had elements that I did not recognise out of cultural ignorance?
I’m betting that the answer to that question is: a lot.
Feel free to sound off in the comments with suggestions.
[1] See this Wikipedia article on J.R.R. Tolkien’s influences
[2] There are many other examples in Western literature. Some I could comment on more snarkily than others but I’ll mostly let them lie. ***COUGH*** David Eddings ***COUGH***. (Hey, I said mostly).
[3] I still haven’t seen much of the original Sailor Moon. I mostly skipped it at JAFWA.
[4] See the Tale of the Bamboo Cutter Wikipedia link.
Pirates of the Burley Griffin 
Reblogged this on Medieval Otaku and commented:
I’m a fan of allusions to folktales, mythology, and literature in anime. John Samuel notices an interesting connection between Sailor Moon and Kaguya-hime. Hmm….Now I’m wondering if Kurage-hime (Princess Jellyfish) also played with that folktale? At least, the names almost sound similar, don’t they?
I’ve been meaning to take a look at Princess Jellyfish, but haven’t sourced it yet (I also have a To Watch Pile of Doom to deal with already).
I know what you mean. According to Anime Planet, there are 193 shows and movies I want to watch! I suppose when current anime starts to bore me, I’ll hit that list.
I am still trying to finish Nadia: Secret of the Blue Water by the way. Those Lincoln Island episodes were murder!
I WARNED you about the Island Episodes.
You sure did! They’ve been relegated to the episodes of anime which I shall never watch again along with the four recap episodes of Wolf’s Rain. 🙂
Wait, Wolf’s Rain is only 26 episodes right? How the hell did they fit FOUR recaps into a run that short?
It’s worse than you might imagine: it’s four recap episodes in a row–each one retelling the prior events from a different perspective. One of the discs in the Wolf’s Rain boxed set is titled “Recollections,” which is essentially all episodes 15-18 are. xD
But, Wolf’s Rain is now thirty episodes in total. It was originally 26 episodes long and episode twenty-six gives us a decent ending; but, some fans felt that ending incomplete and so another four episodes were added to provide a “better” ending, which I originally hated but have since made peace with.
YES, LET US TALK ABOUT FOLKLORE.
There definitely seems to be a connection between Sailor Moon and the Taketori. The bit you mentioned about romance makes me wonder how much the Ghibli film changed, though, since the closest you get to that in the text is a close friendship and some unrequited feelings. Still, there is an (eventual) close bond between the moon princess and the earthly emperor, for whom she defies rules of her home to the best of her ability.
There’s another tale that Sailor Moon draws from even more explicitly, at least in the backstory: Selene, the moon goddess and Endymion, her mortal lover. Even the names Selene and Serenity sound similar, especially with their Japanese pronunciations.
Also, the more I think about it, the more the title of “Kurage-hime” really does seem like a reference to Kaguya, especially since “kurage” has the character for moon in it. I can’t see any connection between it’s story and that of the Taketori, but the title definitely seems intentional. And there is a bit of a fairy tale vibe in the series…
…wait, Tsukimi sees Kuranosuke as shining. Which is what Kaguya is. And as from a different world. Which is what Kaguya is. Oh lord. How did I never make this connection?
Very good point regarding Selene and Endymion, and that one IS rather more explicit.
A quick bit of googling reveals that your last paragraph is another Princess Jellyfish reference that is otherwise sailing over my head. So I shall leave you to contemplate that particular epiphany in peace. 🙂