禍神魔・夜殺卜

That one set of Noragami artworks by Adachitoka

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Because artists don’t draw great art of characters with flowers without having it mean something

I noticed that nobody’s talked about these breathtakingly beautiful artworks done by Adachitoka (or maybe someone’s written a similar post about this which got swallowed up by tumblr in the passage of time, in which case please forgive me), so I’ve done some research to find out why these flowers are drawn with their respective characters!

1. Yato and the Queen of the Night 

The Queen of the Night is a special flower that blooms very rarely (it’s said to only bloom once a year) and only ever blooms at night for a few hours before withering away. 

In Japanese flower language, the flower is associated with fleeting love (and beauty), joy, delicateness, seeing someone only once, and a strong will.

(In the context of Chapter 75′s ending, these aren’t exactly comforting implications .-.)

Bonus: the Japanese name for the flower (as written on the artwork) is called Gekka Bijin, which means the Beautiful One under the Moon. Probably Adachitoka hinting at something (cough* Tsukuyomi theory)?

2. Ebisu and Yudzuriha

(I would have used a better English alternative but unfortunately, there is no accurate common name for this plant apart from its scientific name Daphniphyllum macropodum, which is kind of a mouthful so)

The Yudzuriha in Japanese literally means ‘the plant which gives way’, referring to the fact that the plant is effectively kept evergreen by its older leaves withering away to make way for new leaves, without interrupting its foliage.

While the meaning of the flower itself symbolises the good relationship between old and new generations, I’d interpret Adachitoka’s use of this to be most likely a reference to Ebisu’s constant reincarnation.

3. Bishamon and Pomegranates

In Japanese (originating from Buddhist) mythology, pomegranates are a symbol of fertility, often depicted with the goddess Kariteimo (訶梨帝母) or Kishibojin (鬼子母神), who is the protector of children.

As an extra nugget of information, Kariteimo hadn’t always been a benign goddess. In fact, she was said to start off as an evil deity who captured children and fed them to her own. Her name Kishibojin means ‘Mother of Demon Children’ because she symbolizes the selfish nature of mothers whose love for their children is so extreme they become devils. Wanting to punish her for her cruelty, the Buddha hid away one of her children. Even though she had hundreds (some retellings say thousands) of them, she loved all her children the same and noticed when one was missing. Eventually, her child was returned to her after her anxious search for them, and Kariteimo reformed to become a more benevolent deity, having understood the pain of a parent who has lost a child.

To me, at least, Kariteimo’s story does give off vibes similar to that of Bishamon’s arc, though this is probably just my own thoughts running wild. The pomegranate could just as well be a simple reference to Bishamon having a lot of shinki, whom she see as her own children.

An afternote

So here’s the end of my contribution now to the fandom. Hope you all enjoy!