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It’s clear that the Empress tarot was intended to serve as the shorthand for Irisu’s character, just as Orecki, Eru, Mayaka and Satoshi are handily thumbnailed by their respective tarot symbols. So IMHO, any discussion of what makes Irisu’s character tick should start with whatever’s written in Tomoe’s tarot book about the Empress, whose page was painstakingly animated in detail by KyoAni.
We may quibble over the accuracy of my translation (let me know what you think about it), but here’s what the book says about the Empress/Irisu
母性愛 - bosei ai - motherly love or maternal instinct
豊穣な心 - houjou na kokoro - fertile spirit or attitude
感性 – kansei – sensitivity to others’ feelings
収穫 - shiyuukaku - harvest
女性的豊かさ - joseiteki yutakasa – the ideal of femininity
成熟した女性 - seijukushita josei – mature or “ripe” woman
I have a lot of thoughts about Irisu swirling inside my head, but for now I’ll limit my comments to my immediate impressions about the Empress tarot.
1. These attributes, individually or as a whole, do not convey any hint of malice or villainy. Actually, they create the opposite impression –success, wealth, productivity, benevolence.
2. Some people may have thought I invented the whole undercurrent of sexual tension and seduction during the Houtaro vs Irisu confrontasi. Actually all of that came from the last two entries above, which are pregnant with implied sexuality. However, there is no taint of the smutty or impure. The terms used connote a wholesome female sexuality.
3. I have my own thoughts about how these attributes should color any examination of Irisu’s actions or her motivation for carrying them out. But I’m curious to see if any of the attributes of the Empress tarot changed anybody’s initial impressions of Irisu or the things she did.
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