The cover to issue 101

tayocham · Post by **tayocham** » Fri Oct 20, 2006 9:44 -0700

Very interesting arguments, to be sure. But I still find myself in the "Jei is pure Evil" camp. Keep in mind that in most polytheisitic societies, there were malevolent gods trying to wreak havoc and such.

Heh, that is a cool sig! And from my all time favorite Usagi story to boot! Good on yer!

Thomas Froehling · Sun Oct 22, 2006 13:30 -0700

tayocham wrote:But I still find myself in the "Jei is pure Evil" camp. Keep in mind that in most polytheisitic societies, there were malevolent gods trying to wreak havoc and such.

You'll surely find me in that camp, too....

If you believe in evil gods, then there could naturally be emissaries of these gods as well...and what else could they (the emissaries) be if not evil in nature?

Fanfan · Post by **Fanfan** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 5:16 -0700

Steve, your new signature image is cool !

tayocham wrote:Very interesting arguments, to be sure. But I still find myself in the "Jei is pure Evil" camp.

I hesitate between 2 positions about Jei : Yokai or obakemono
- Jei is a true spirit or a pure monster (yokai) that regularly reappears
- Jei was a man with so much anger that at his violent death he became obakemono (transformational thing), his tormented soul could not find peace.
Perhaps Jei was a good guy with a cruel end, and he became evil spirit, but at first he was a good samurai, and perhaps now he cannot bare Usagi that recalls himself when he was a good guy...
(or indirectly Usagi is responsible of something that happened to Jei, and he does'nt remember, so their meetings are due to fate.)

And perhaps the answer is in Keiko, not in Jei (why he cannot disappear), Keiko could be some kind of psychopomp...

Thomas Froehling · Post by **Thomas Froehling** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 5:35 -0700

Fanfan wrote:...Keiko could be some kind of psychopomp...

What does that mean?? I have never heard that word, but I'm willing to learn...

Dr5trange · Post by **Dr5trange** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 6:15 -0700

Fanfan wrote:or indirectly Usagi is responsible of something that happened to Jei, and he does'nt remember, so their meetings are due to fate.

That's like that old planescape game, where the hero reincarnates over and over, but every time he kind of kicks a soul out of it's body, then eventually they come back for revenge!

It's also kinda like Agrajag from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, where that one guy keeps reincarnating, only to be accidentally killed by arthur dent.

Cosmo · Post by **Cosmo** » Tue Oct 24, 2006 13:46 -0700

Thomas Froehling wrote:
Fanfan wrote:...Keiko could be some kind of psychopomp...
What does that mean?? I have never heard that word, but I'm willing to learn...

A psychopomp is someone who leads the souls, like Charon in Greek mythology, but I'm not sure that this term applies to Keiko. Does Keiko really "leads" Jei ? It's rather the contrary !

Dr5trange wrote:It's also kinda like Agrajag from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, where that one guy keeps reincarnating, only to be accidentally killed by arthur dent.

The difference is that Usagi, unlike Arthur Dent, can't have killed the same person repeatedly... unless his universe is considerably more complex than expected....

Fanfan · Post by **Fanfan** » Tue Oct 24, 2006 15:00 -0700

Psychopompos appear in several mythologies, a young man (symbolic explanation) leader of the soul to the land of the dead, or a crow leading souls in upper paradise...
Psychopomp have fascinated some poets and gothic writer (Poe, Lovecraft, The Crow, Stephen King 's The Dark Half...) and have even appear in psychological articles.
Firstly it has appears (long ago) as a leader, but psychopomps are often regarded as a link, between two worlds, and somekind of psychic/spiritual catalyst.

In that way, when Jei disappeared, Keiko, a young woman could have been a link that anchors Jei in our world (and that's why she knows Jei's spirit was in Inazuma, she has psychic abilities), and with time i find Jei unhuman, at the beginning he was able to live with brigands, now all he could have of human is Keiko, he is only a black soul.

Thomas Froehling · Wed Oct 25, 2006 12:26 -0700

Hello,
thank you for your kind explanations about psychpompos; I have never heard that word before; but there's a German saying: "You'll grow old like a cow, but you'll still learn something new!" It rhymes in German, of course....
Here's a link for all those (like me...

), who want to go deeper into psychopomp lore

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychopomp

kchishol1970 · Post by **kchishol1970** » Sun Nov 26, 2006 19:27 -0700

Ben wrote:
Stan Sakai wrote:It is a very nicely designed cover. I like the mood projected by the light fog.

A large part of UY 101's cover is seeing Usagi's face.
Stan, I think I can safely say without exaggerating that #101's cover is among the coolest you've ever done for the entire series. The entire UY fandom released a collective "OH. MY. GOD." upon seeing Usagi's Jei-ified features.

Never has the anticipation for an upcoming issue been so nerve-wracking.

Yes, and there is only one good thing here; If this cover is accurate, then Inazuma will be free of Jei.

If so and if that is Usagi's doing, then I hope she has one vow afterward: find Usagi and save him in return.