Onmyoji are depicted in various anime works, including this work "The Strongest Onmyoji in Another World Reincarnation", but do you know what kind of people they were? Onmyoji are often thought of as wizards in the West, using various magic spells and controlling monsters, but when we analyze their original role, they are actually quite different from our image. In this article, we will explain in more detail the differences between the original role of onmyoji, who have been active in various works in recent years, and the wizards depicted in this work. This is the perfect content for fans who have become interested in the difference between onmyoji and wizards after watching this work, so be sure to check it out.
What are onmyoji? ?
In the first place, onmyoji are people who have the ability to handle magic and fortune-telling that existed in Asia, including Japan. In an era when fortune-telling and curses were more believed in than they are today, the position of onmyoji was that of a professional who handled them.
Position in charge of Onmyodo
In order to handle these fortune-telling and curses, it was essential to master the specialized knowledge called Onmyodo. Since Onmyodo is basically a concept that originated in China, many people who were active as Onmyoji were people who were familiar with the cutting-edge Chinese thought and curse rituals at the time.
Actual presence in the past
As you can see, onmyoji are a position that actually existed in Japan. If you think of them as people who actually played an active role and existed throughout Japan's long history, like samurai and ninjas, you will be able to feel a greater sense of familiarity when watching the onmyoji that appear in various works.
Observe the stars and tell fortunes
The job of an onmyoji is basically to tell fortunes by observing the stars. If you studied classical Japanese for exams, you may know this, but aristocrats in the Heian period placed great importance on the results of fortune-telling in their daily lives, such as avoiding facing inauspicious directions when going out. These actions were not done by each aristocrat who was fortune-telling on his own, but reflected the results of fortune-telling by onmyoji and others who had solid expertise.
Did they create a calendar? ?
Also, onmyoji had a very advanced knowledge of astronomy, as they regularly observed various celestial bodies to tell fortunes. Therefore, they were responsible for creating calendars actually used in Japan and correcting calendar discrepancies, and they performed various tasks through the observation of celestial bodies.
Exorcising evil spirits is secondary
In this way, the original role of the onmyoji was to predict good and bad fortune and create calendars through the observation of celestial bodies, like a doctor of astronomy, and was not the kind of entity that would perform exorcisms, as we usually encounter in various works. Of course, they also played various magical roles, but these roles were not only performed by onmyoji, but also by Buddhist monks and shrine priests, so it cannot be said that they were the sole role of onmyoji.
What is magical power? ?
So, where does the image of an onmyoji that we usually have of an onmyoji, using magical power to perform various techniques, come from? From here, I would like to explain the magical power that is the energy source for the various abilities used by the onmyoji depicted in this work.
Originally a political tool
The situation in which an onmyoji's power causes a special situation is thought to have derived from the role that onmyoji were originally expected to play in the political field. Perhaps because onmyoji had the image of being able to predict good and bad fortune through observation of celestial bodies, they gradually came to be used by aristocrats to use technical attacks to bring down other aristocrats. In this way, the image of onmyoji using special magic to fight someone originated from the fact that aristocrats originally used onmyoji as a political tool.
Japanese history is the history of curses
The onmyoji, who took on the role of driving someone away with sorcery, dramatically expanded the scope of their activities. Onmyoji became indispensable to the nobles who fought each other not by force but by bringing each other down. In this way, it can be said that the activities of onmyoji have always been behind the events of history.
What does "Are these abilities specialized for human-to-human combat?" mean?
If you think about it this way, onmyoji are not the kind of people who use magic to fight enemies face-to-face. In this work, there was a scene where Seika saw a wizard and complained, "Is this an ability specialized for human-to-human combat?", but for onmyoji, magic is something used to curse and kill someone in hiding, not a way to fight directly by chanting in front of them like a wizard.
If a wizard and an onmyoji fought, who would win? ?
If we dig deeper into the onmyoji in this way, we can see that they are people with completely different characteristics from wizards. From here on, we will independently analyze who would win if an onmyoji and a wizard were to actually fight, which is also the theme of this work.
Would the wizard win in a PvP battle? ?
As I have mentioned before, onmyoji are not people who fight face-to-face using magic, so if they were to fight against wizards who actually used various magic and were active on the battlefield, they would be defeated without a fight.
Maybe the battle will be decided before the fight even begins? ?
However, the advantage of the Onmyoji's ability is that he can curse and kill his opponent without facing them. The original strength of the Onmyoji is that he can curse the person of his choice through various techniques without actually going to the scene himself. If an Onmyoji and a wizard faced each other one-on-one, there would be no chance of winning, but if the battle began without knowing where the other person was, the Onmyoji might have a chance of winning.
In the first place, an Onmyoji might be able to foresee and avoid the "worst case scenario of fighting a wizard"? ?
In the first place, if a real onmyoji had a future where he would fight a wizard and be killed, he would foresee it in advance and choose to change the route he takes when going out or not leave the house to prevent that from happening. The original role of an onmyoji is to avoid such risks in the first place, rather than taking on a challenge where it is unclear whether he will win or lose.
The essence of an onmyoji is to win without fighting
In this way, an onmyoji is a position that thinks about winning without fighting. The original onmyoji is the person that an aristocrat who is targeted by many enemies consults thoroughly about how to live in order to protect himself from the clutches of evil that are creeping up on him, so it can be said that the original role of an onmyoji is to act in a way that does not lead to a situation where he has to fight one-on-one in the first place.
Introducing works that will help you understand onmyoji well! !
I would like to introduce some works that allow you to understand the unique onmyoji in more detail. Before watching an easy-to-understand anime about onmyoji, let's learn more about onmyoji through works that allow you to gain a deeper understanding of what kind of people onmyoji are.
Onmyoji
If you want to know more about onmyoji, I recommend reading "Onmyoji" by Baku Yumemakura. This work is a full-length novel that was created based on thorough research into what kind of people onmyoji were, so you can understand without any mistakes what kind of people onmyoji were in the first place. In addition, in order not to deviate too much from the image of onmyoji that we originally have, there are plenty of scenes depicting them fighting various ayakashi, so it is a work that does not destroy the image of onmyoji that we originally have.
Tenchi Meisatsu
If you want to know about onmyoji as a role that creates calendars, as introduced this time, I recommend reading "Tenchi Meisatsu" by Ubukata Tou. Although onmyoji do not play an active role as the main character of this work, it is a work that clearly depicts the role that onmyoji originally played, so if you want to experience more realistic onmyoji, please read this work.
Disappointing points of this work from the perspective of Onmyoji fans
The more you know about Onmyoji, the more you will be captivated by its unique atmosphere, but this work seems to lack some of the depictions that are unique to Onmyoji. From here, I would like to explain some of the disappointing points of this work from the perspective of Onmyoji fans.
It's far from the original image of an onmyoji.
First of all, the onmyoji depicted in this work is far from the original onmyoji. Of course, it is an onmyoji as we imagine it, but it feels like they are too focused on the image and there is too little depiction of the original onmyoji.
An "easy to understand" onmyoji with many battle scenes
It's unfortunate that onmyoji are depicted as beings with the same characteristics as Western wizards. Although it may be a bit of a geeky depiction, I think that if there was a depiction of the protagonist observing celestial bodies before acting, or of the protagonist no longer fulfilling his original role due to the difference in how the stars look in the past and present worlds, he would be portrayed as a more realistic onmyoji. Since the work's selling point is the introduction of a unique setting called onmyoji, it's a bit unfortunate that the setting of onmyoji is neglected.
Summary
What did you think? This time, we have explained in detail about the onmyoji who appear in this work. They are also active in many other works besides this one, so be sure to take a closer look at what kind of people onmyoji were originally!
