Jei

[takematsu]

Based on my shaky knowledge of Japanese, I suggest a hard "g" rather than a soft one for Gennosuke-- normal latinization of Japanese would have a "j" there otherwise. Since I don't have a keyboard that does Japanese characters, I'll explain with crappy examples:

The Japanese character which looks like lt sounds like "keh".
To get "geh" it's written lt"
For ANYTHING starting with a "j" sound, needs the character for "shi" (which looks like J backwards) and add the little " after it, making "ji". For anything other than "ji", you add "ya", "yu", or "yo", making "ja", "ju", and "jo". Anything else would be foreign (Jei's name got explained here), which Gen definitely isn't.
Therefore, ge-n-no-su-ke starts with lt"

I'm helpless on the kanji, of course

[ziritrion]

Here comes ziritrion to save the day...!!

(NOTE: you'll need japanese character support in your computer to read this post)

The syllabe "ke" (or "keh") is written け　in hiragana and ケ in katakana. In order to get "ge" or "geh" you just add those 2 thingies at the top right (called "dakuon"), like this: げ　ゲ

Getting the "J" sound like in "Jei" can be pretty difficult in Japanese. You first need the "shi" syllabe ( し　シ ) and add the dakuon to get "ji" ( じ　ジ ). However, the sounds "ja", "ju" and "jo" are complex syllabes that need 2 kana (syllabe symbols), and the sound "je" simply doesn't exist in japanese (although you can "build" it with katakana).

ja (or jya) = じゃ　ジャ

ju (or jyu) = じゅ　ジュ

jo (or jyo) = じょ　ジョ

je (made up, you need a "ji" character and a little "e" next to it) = ジェ

takematsu: you don't need a japanese keyboard to write kana or kanji. If you're using windows, send me a PM or email me and I'll gladly teach you .

[miyamoto musashi]

WOW! Its a bird, its a plane, no, no its just ziritrion jumping off a cliff.

thanks for the lesson

[ziritrion]

You're welcome . And yes, it did hurt when I got to the bottom of the cliff. I knew that buying that cape that were sold on that infomomercial on late night TV wouldn't be a good idea...

[miyamoto musashi]

HAHHAHAHAHAHAH!!!

always coca-cola

[Guest]

With so much mystery about him, one really won't know unless Stan lets us know I suppose.

However, I am not without ideas or theories.

I was begining to turn away from the paranormal theory but, am convinced to go with it. After all, its that coldness that seems not natural where ever he goes. Wasn't there a scene where his body turned into a flock of crows or ravens after defeat, the more recent death of Jei?

I am not one to believe he is the messenger of any god or gods. There is no evidence of that, only maddness.

In regards to this wandering of his. Perhapse it is not random. Perhapse there is a pattern he is directed to follow, by default. And his one track mind will only deviate when interfered with by say, oh....I don't know....defeat by Miyamato Usagi.

[Indiana Usagi]

Actually, I think you are referring to where the Conspiracy of the Eight's witch turned into crow feathers. That DID involve Jei, because he ripped out her soul with his spear, leaving only those remnants behind...perhaps he is infested by a lesser deity or demon, who can say?

But one thing is for sure...Usagi is in for a BIG confrontation with him (her?) up the road...

[miyamoto musashi]

well im convinced jei is paranormal, i mean he got hit by lightning, his spear does strange things to peoples souls, and its not like nothing in usagi has been paranormal *cough* sasuke *cough*. and those sandal wearing umbrella monsters, what are hey called again..uh..meh, there still really strange.

[JoeK]

I wonder whether Jei was the 'original'.

If his soul now inhabits Inazuma's body, who's to say that the previous body is merely another shell that this 'spirit' has used.

It'd be interesting to see his origins really.

[miyamoto musashi]

yes, maybe jei is...oh my god!! a sandal wearing umbrealla monster!!!

[Redwall Templar]

Could Jei be a sort of equivilent of Saint of Killers. Going back to a basic story, making a deal with some devil to return back to the land of the living. A sort of classic ghost story.

[Todd Shogun]

I really think this thing with Jei is going to finally come to a head and it will involve Sasuke (the reason why Stan introduced him perhaps?) and quite possibly the Lord of Owls.

So far Stan has revealed nothing certain about Jei other than he was created initially as a parody of Jason (Jei-san) from the Friday the 13th films. His role in Grasscutter was not fully explained (was he a demon-possessed person or simply a madman?). Everything points to the deities of ancient Japanese mythology. Ever since this board was first put up way back in '96 there has been tons of discussion on Jei's origins. Stan already has a story in the works for that.

Personally I think Stan will pull a fast one on us and Jei's origin story will turn out to be something completely unexpected, something straight out from left field. Sure, it could reaffirm what many think, that he's a demon who possesses "hosts" (like Inazuma) with links to the gods from the Grasscutter storyline. But that would be too easy. I honestly think he's something else. What that may be I have no idea.

Obviously he's able to go from one body to the next, like a ghost or demon possessing someone. But is that exactly what is happening? What about Keiko? What is her involvement in all this? I think the answers will be quite shocking when we do get to read it all....