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Old 2006-05-17, 02:46   Link #42
Sushi-Y
湯音カワユス~
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Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Canada
Age: 38
Scrapbook X (Ep. 07)

<About the hidden 「Demon」>

Within the village of Hinamizawa, whose residents believe that the blood of demons flow within themselves, the word 「demon (鬼)」 is considered to be sacred.

For example, the usage of the word 「demon (鬼)」 in first names is a privilege given only to the heads of the Kimiyoshi and Sonozaki family.

As an example, for the current head of the Sonozaki family, Sonozaki Oryou (園崎お魎), we can see that the 「ryou 魎」 in her name has a 「鬼」 in it.
This is the proof showing her to be the legitimate head of the Sonozaki family. The same goes for her successor, Sonozaki Mion (園崎魅音), we can see that the 「mi 魅」 has a 「鬼」 in it. Oryou's own daughter, who didn't succeed the family and is also the mother of Mion, Sonozaki Akane (園崎茜) also had the name of 「蒐 (Akane)」 before she was disinherited.




By the way, for the name of the village chief 「Kiichirou (喜一郎)」, the 「Ki」 in it can also be interpreted to mean 「鬼 (Ki)」.

Also, names that makes use of 「demon (鬼)」 in them are not restricted to only the successors of the Sonozaki family. We can also find 「demon (鬼)」 within the surnames of the gosanke. For example, the 「Kimiyoshi (公由)」 of the Kimiyoshi family was probably created by taking the word 「鬼」 apart. If we were to write out the strokes "由" and then "公" in order, the word 「鬼」 can be written out nicely.




For the continuing Furude (古手) family, since they were a family working the sacred Shinto posts throughout generations, and were the 「fortune tellers (占い手)」, we can take the name 「占手」, add a demon's horn onto it so that 「占」 → 「古」.




As for the Sonozaki (園崎) family, perhaps because the demons have already been included in their first names, we can't find the word for demon (鬼) in the surname. Since they were a family who were responsible for running the ceremony of Watanagashi, it is believed that their surname came directly from the contents of the ceremony. Swap out the word 「崎 (saki)」 for 「裂き (saki, to tear)」. As for 「Sono 園」, since its shape suggests a square wrapping up a complex content (organs), it's probably suggesting 「a human body」. In other words, it's possible to interpret 「those who tear stomaches」 → 「Sonozaki」.


Last edited by kj1980; 2006-05-18 at 01:49. Reason: added visual explanations for clarity
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