The Ashes of Rage was the second part of the Mononoke feature film trilogy. Set one month after the events of The Phantom of the Rain, the narrative focused on the politics that Councilor Otomo was playing regarding the next heir to the throne. On one hand, Emperor Tenshi and Lady Yukiko had given birth to a princess. Despite Yukiko’s express disapproval, the child was handed over to Lady Matsu so that she could be brought up as a consort instead of a three-dimensional human being. On the other hand, Lady Fuki was pregnant with Tenshi’s child. As there was a chance she’d give birth to a male child, thereby ending centuries of anti-lower-caste practice, Otomo wanted Fuki to undergo a forced abortion and plant his own daughter, Lady Botan, as Tenshi’s number one concubine. Since that had happened before with Lady Suzu, her spirit manifested in the form of the titular Hinezumi and protected Fuki, killing Sayo, Choju, Gentaku, Katsunuma, and Otomo in the process. Once her work was done, the humble Medicine Seller used the supernatural powers vested in him to peacefully banish the Hinezumi and restore some form of normalcy in the Ooku. Although it seemed like the Medicine Seller would finally get to move on, the serpent painted all across the walls of the brothel subtly announced its presence, hinting at yet another unresolved mystery. The third and final installment of this series is titled The Curse of the Serpent. So, allow me to speculate what it might entail.
Spoiler Alert
Suikoin and Lady Yukiko
The Phantom in the Rain explored the parallels between Lady Asa and Lady Kitagawa’s time in the Ooku under Madam Utayama’s leadership and how Kitagawa manifested herself as the Karakasa in order to kill Utayama and all those who were negatively influenced by her in order to save Asa and Kame’s lives. The Ashes of Rage showed that there was a history of forced abortion in the Ooku that was being perpetuated by Councilor Otomo, thereby prompting the spirit of Lady Suzu to appear in the form of the Hinezumi to save Lady Fuki from the same fate she’d had to suffer. Based on this trend, I’m assuming that The Curse of the Serpent will have something to do with Suikoin and Yukiko. Suikoin is the mother of the Emperor Tenshi, and Yukiko is the current empress. Yukiko is being ridiculed for giving birth to a girl child. She is not being allowed to bring up her own child because, as per tradition, that’ll be the role of a guardian. She has been tolerating all the discourse around whether Fuki deserves to give birth to a male heir or if Tenshi should try with Lady Matsu or Lady Botan so that the custom of having an upper-caste emperor is maintained. And it seems like she has reached the end of her rope. Since such feelings of rage, confusion, and helplessness are what lead to the rise of a Mononoke, I am guessing someone who has been wronged in the same way as Yukiko will manifest herself in the form of a Hebigami. Given how Suikoin is the only woman in power who has gone untouched by the trend of righteous violence that’s been going on in the Ooku, I think that she is going to be the target of that Mononoke. Hopefully, at the end of this ordeal, Yukiko will get to leave this life of hollow aristocracy behind and live with her child the way she wants to.
Lady Fuki and Emperor Tenshi
I had assumed that Lady Kitagawa and Asa’s story would be furthered in the second installment, but the one-month time jump sort of negated the need for that. Other than Botan replacing Utayama as the new head of the Ooku, there wasn’t a lot of spillover from the first film. But I don’t think the same will happen with Fuki and the child that she’s bearing because they are very integral to the political landscape of the whole country. If Otomo had survived the ordeal and Fuki was killed, then the third installment could have started afresh. With Otomo gone and Botan fighting for the birth of Fuki’s baby, even if there’s a time jump of nine months, I suppose it’ll be a major plot point in the larger narrative, especially if it’s a male child. Of course there’s a 50-50 chance that she might give it to a girl child, in which case, it won’t be as controversial. However, if it’s a boy, all those who want to keep the bloodline “pure,” which is just another term for “upper caste,” will be all up in arms about it. I have a feeling that Suikoin will protest against making Fuki and Tenshi’s child the heir to the throne. What will Tenshi do, though? Despite being the emperor, the man has hardly uttered more than a few words. Other than fornicating with Fuki and sitting in the royal chambers of the Ooku, he doesn’t really do anything. That said, it’s clear that he loves Fuki more than Yukiko, and maybe that’ll compel him to finally take a stand and put an end to a casteist custom. I suppose Yukiko will support that because, as mentioned before, she is pretty much done with all this nonsense. If Tenshi chooses to make Fuki his empress and their son the next emperor, Yukiko will definitely see that as her cue to go for the exit door. If Tenshi chooses otherwise, well, then he needs to die. Either way, I hope for Tenshi to play a proactive role in the Mononoke Movie 3: Hebigami.
Hokuto Mizorogi and His Twins
Hokuto and his twins continue to be the most mysterious aspects of the Mononoke franchise. They didn’t have any scenes in the first film, but they still got enough screentime to generate intrigue amongst the viewers. I assumed that the second film would flesh out their characters, but it only addressed the reason why Hokuto was allowed to walk in and out of the Ooku without a pass. As per Sakashita, Hokuto and his twin daughters protect a water goddess that resides in the underground well. The prayer that the daughters recite while serving water to the women in the Ooku talks about purity and cleansing. Based on that, I can assume that they are there to use religion as a means to have some hold over the girls coming in there and indoctrinate them through the ritual of drinking the “holy water” that’s given to them. However, in the first film, Utayama polluted the waters of the Ooku by dumping bodies into it, and in the second film, Choju and Gentaku were directed by Otomo to give Fuki poisoned water to force an abortion. So, I am assuming that the Mizorogis must be at their limit because they have been watching the foundation of their religion being misused time and again by the people they serve. I don’t know if they have the will to protest against all that wrongdoing. I am not sure if their departure from the Ooku, or even the threat of them leaving the Ooku, will spark change in this tradition of oppressing women. But, much like every silent spectator in that establishment, they have to do something. They can’t just stand on the sidelines and watch some of the most unholy things happening within the walls of the building where they pray on a daily basis. So, yeah, I expect that the Mizorogis will play a significant role in the final installment in this trilogy. That said, if they continue to be as mysterious as they have been so far, I won’t be surprised because maybe a franchise as wild as this doesn’t need to explain everything. Some things should be left up to the audience’s imagination.
The Curse Of The Serpent And ‘Hebigami’
“Hebi” means snake, and “gami” can mean “god.” Based on my internet-centric research on the association between Japanese culture and serpents, I have found two things: Yamata no Orochi and Omononushi. Yamata no Orochi translates to “Eight-Forked Serpent,” and the earliest chronicles of Japanese mythology report that it was killed by Susanoo, a god, in order to save the life of Kushinada-hime, a goddess. In doing so, he found the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi, a sword of legendary status, in the serpent’s tail. That’s just one version of the story; there are several more. In most of them, Yamata no Orochi is slain; in some it gets to flee, and in others it is reincarnated as an emperor. The conflict between Yamata no Orochi and Susanoo has been interpreted as a clash between nature and culture, and why there’s a need to find a middle ground so that life can prosper. How does that apply to the story of Mononoke 3? Well, I don’t know about nature, but there’s certainly a clash between the old and the new that’s happening. As per the old customs, the next emperor should be an upper-caste male, but the youngsters want to pave the way for an emperor born to a lower-caste mother. So, I suppose that’ll lead to the rise of a serpent god who will force both the generations to find some kind of middle ground before being banished by the Medicine Seller? Alright, coming to Omononushi, he was a god whose official symbol was that of the snake or serpent. Again, the dude has a bunch of stories to his name, and they get progressively wilder. The one that seems relevant to me is the one where the deity of an Omiwa shrine had a romantic affair with the daughter of a Takeichihara dainagon, and the latter gave birth to a male child. There was a lot of talk about whether the father was upper caste or lower caste. To put an end to the confusion, the deity manifested itself as a snake and labeled the child as somebody who would go on to great things. While there’s no confusion about the caste status of the child that Fuki will give birth to, there’s bound to be a lot of controversy about whether or not he (assuming that it’ll be a male child) should be the next emperor because his mother is lower caste. When the conflict reaches its peak, it’s possible that a serpent god will arrive and deem the child worthy of ruling over Japan? If the movie wants to really swing for the fences, I hope that Fuki ends up giving birth to a daughter, who then gets the serpent god’s blessing to be the leader of the country. Anyway, those are just my theories about what’ll happen in Mononoke Movie 3: Hebigami. What do you expect to see in the trilogy capper? Let me know in the comments section below.
