Of course, leave it up to the Japanese! The original story was one penned in the later half of the Edo era, and believed to be the largest classical novel of its time. Today I had the pleasure of watching the first two episodes of the anime OVA series that was based off of said novel. I can't say I'm a very enthusiastic fan of anime, but knowing a little history behind the Hakkenden, and finding it on sale on Best Buy, I had decided to snag it on a whim some months ago. The animation style is not so bad, and rather artistic at points (though strangely weird and disjointed at others--hard to tell if this was intentional or not. There are instances of graphic violence, starvation, allusions to bestiality and attempted rape, so this show obviously isn't for the faint of heart. Oh well, at least they didn't get into too much detail over Yatsufusa and Princess Fuse's (following link NSFW) sex life. Haha. Below is a quote from the original Wikipedia article on the Hakkenden (novel and anime):
The story takes place during the beginning of the Sengoku Jidai in Awa, a tiny province that is currently a part of modern-day Chiba Prefecture. Fuse, princess of the Awa-based Satomi clan, spiritually gives birth to eight warriors who are scattered across different areas of the region. Because the spiritual father of these warriors was a demonically-possessed dog, these warriors came to be known as the Hakkenshi (八犬士), with hak (八), or hachi, meaning "eight", the ken (犬) meaning "dog", and the shi (士) meaning "warrior". (The word "den" (伝) at the end of the title means "legend", so the title of the series translates out to "The Legend of the Eight Dog Warriors".)
Throughout the series, each dog warrior recognizes the other through three distinguishing features: a last name starting with the word "inu" (meaning dog), a birthmark in the shape of a peony (the emblem of the Satomi clan) and a bead containing a kanji character that reflects eight of the fundamental virtues of Confucianism. They are:
kō (孝) - filial piety; devotion
gi (義) - duty and obligation, but it can also be translated as righteousness
chū (忠) - loyalty
shin (信) - faith
tei (悌) - brotherhood; brotherly affection
jin (仁) - sympathy and benevolence, but note that, according to Confucianism, "jin" is also the greatest and most perfect virtue of all. It should come as no surprise that the bearer of this bead also happens to be the most powerful warrior of the eight.
chi (知) - wisdom
rei (礼) - courtesy, but this can also be translated as proper form, i.e. an extensive knowledge and proper observation of tradition and manners
Note that this is the order in which the beads appear in the story. The hierarchy of these virtues in order of importance to Confucian philosophy are: jin, gi, rei, chi, chū, shin, kō, tei.
Plotwise, the series can be divided into three parts: the Prologue, the Search, and the Resolution. The Prologue presents events that occur before the birth of the dog warriors and encompasses the majority of episode 1, although numerous Prologue events are also shown throughout the series in flashback. The Search consists of the episodes prior to the warriors' final assembly (episodes 2-11), and the Resolution shows the final climactic battle fought by the Hakkenshi in the name of the Satomi clan.
Even in the first two episodes it covered dogs/dog-spirits incarnating into human bodies, and a possible case of kitsune possession. It was very awesome to see a case of canine otherkin/cynanthropy depicted in popular media, and I was much enthused by it. And hey, even if you're simply a fan of Japanese mythology, the series could prove to be quite interesting, let alone its original novel. Definitely a must-watch if you're interested in the mythological or historical aspects of cynanthropy and canine otherkin in general.
More posts later. Things have gotten very interesting lately on multiple fronts, which have provided much fodder for future rants. My only trouble is finding the time to write all this crap down! At this moment I am gearing up to leave for Germany in two weeks, and I will be gone for a whole month. My goal while there, aside from spending some quality time with my lifepartner (top priority) and seeing some awesome sights is, hopefully, checking out the European Grey Wolves in the local zoos. Wolves in Germany are making a comeback and groups like The German Wolf Association are aiding in conservation efforts and educating the public on their new canine neighbors.
And, on the American conservation-front, a victory has been scored for the wolves in the Northern Rockies region, as a federal judge has reinstated endangered species protections. This is excellent news, but there is still plenty of work to be done to ensure their protections and conservation.
Off I go for now! Maybe I'll have something interesting to put in here before I take off in two weeks!
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