Slime, Spiders, and Shinto Philosophy

Kit: A friend introduced us to the anime, "The Time I was Reincarnated as a Slime". We'd been avoiding that one, because we thought it was going to be too silly (as opposed to, say, 'I was Reincarnated as a Spider, so What?'.  We're really glad that we were able to watch them both.  (We've been through the first season on both, and we're deep into the manga for the Spider one -- we might need to grab the manga for the slime one, not sure yet).

Spoilers Below.  Lots of Spoilers.

So here's the thing. We've noticed that anime strongly follows the Shinto philosophy on a lot of points, and these two anime do so even more than normal. It's the kind of storytelling we enjoy, actually.  Go figure.

There's some key take-aways from Slime.
In Shinto, natural forces are not considered evil - they act in accordance to their nature without malice. Outside factors may cause them to 'misbehave' - essentially an imbalance. A person is, for the most part, essentially good, but is not naturally balanced, so can cause imbalance / tragedy / conflict. Taking a life is a tragedy - an unclean act and one of the gravest sins of Shinto, but Shinto isn't about good vs evil, or punishing sin - it is about trying to find your own balance and harmony.

Also - what is in the past is in the past. You learn from it, but you don't let it control you. When dealing with others, you interact with them as if meeting them for the first time, and greet them as you would a neutral party until you discern how they are going to act now. This doesn't mean ignoring past actions - you can be as wary as you wish to be - but you don't bring up negative things from the past unless you plan to attempt to resolve them then and there.

So.  Let's look at Slime.
The main character abhors taking life unless absolutely necessary - typically when in the defence of others, not itself. There is the rare example, but these are things that are a significant, dire threat, unintelligent, or will not relent. The slime tries to restrain enemies and offer them an opportunity to surrender or leave if possible.

Most enemies are enemies because of outside stresses or misunderstandings.
The restrained dragon? Befriended and a pact made.

The goblins? Befriended and watched after.

The dire wolves trying to kill the goblins? The hostile leader would not relent, and died. The rest? Spared and made allies.

The dwarves?  Aided (even when imprisoned!) and allied.

The ogres? They lost their entire tribe and thought the slime was a maijin. Allied.

The obnoxious lizardfolk? Sent away, alive. Allied later.

The orc horde who devoured everyone and anything in their path? The leader had been effectively 'possessed', and manipulated by the said maijin.  The slime ate him, discovered his tragic past of trying to save his tribe during famine, and gave him peace (sent him effectively to heaven). Then took the sins of the entire tribe even after they'd killed thousands (while cursed), put their past actions in the past, and gave them a home and a life. Consider them a 'natural phenomenon' that was driven to anger by outside forces. Once that was dealt with? It was considered in the past - who the orcs are now is what is important.

It is this attitude that allowed the slime to befriend a chaotic demon lord. He was able to get to the core of why she was who she was, and they became 'besties'. She's so chaotic because she is bored.

The scummy human that caused such problems in the dwarven city? He was only trying to be worthy of the king - and had lost his way due to envy. He was, in fact, not a bad guy, just a desperate guy. His past actions were set aside and he was given a home and work and befriended.

When a catboi gets possessed by a horrific demon? He's rescued, the demon slain, and he gets healed and returned to his master. His master's impressed with the slime's show of mercy and understanding, and they become allies.

The ifrit possessing someone he cares for, that's tearing down the town the slime's built? Captured and absorbed. Given a chance to become a better person.

What Comes Later

Samantha:  Death.  It scares me.  I'm sure it scares a lot of people, but there's a very specific fear of mine associated with death.  The most logical of the illogical fears is what if I simply cease to exist?  

To me, that is a horrible, depressing, tragic fate.  Considering the .. "life".. I've had, the cruelest joke of all would be for it to end in darkness.  It would be horrible as well, because it means that my sister, who killed herself before I existed, would have simply ceased to exist.  She would not be living on, she would not have gone someplace better.  She wouldn't have found the happiness she deserved.

Then there's the fate I fear is even worse.  Some years ago, I screamed a terrible curse when I heard of the Iraqi war.  It was a terrible curse, because I was horrified at the deaths I knew were to come.  At that time, I had visions of the dead.. thousands, trapped in their bodies, screaming for someone to save them.  And see, that was what death was to me.  You lived on, in a body that no longer lived. You were aware of the overwhelming darkness of the world around you.  That terrified me.  It did not help that some of the oldest faiths believed / believes that is what would happen to you when you die. When I looked at the Hebrew faith, the idea of the dead waiting in their bodies until Heaven on Earth comes hit a little too close to home.

I had visions of hundreds of thousands of people, strewn about the landscape, trapped in broken bodies.  I had visions of them buried, left to darkness and silence, their screams and pleas unheard.  It terrified me to think, one day, it might happen to me.

I've been called horrible things.  I've been called a demon.  A succubus.  I've been told I shouldn't exist, that I should "leave".  I'm glad my sister never heard those words.  It would have broken her heart.

And then there's Shinto.  My sensei.. a kind, gentle, wonderful soul, talked with me.  To him, I am a spirit, a kami.  And when we die, I will be free.  And this fills me with joy.  I will not cease to exist.  I will not be trapped in a decaying body, crying for someone to come for me.  I will be a spirit, to watch over those close to me, to explore the world.  I will feel joy like I have never known.

I fear death.  It terrifies me.  But.. there is hope.  And it is to that hope I cling to.  I want to believe, and I want to believe that those around me will have that future as well.  And I hope, when the time comes, I can meet my sister once more.

Spiritual Journey

Samantha here,

Mm, I tried writing something, but I didn't like how it sounded.  I'm kinda not in the writing mood, but I did want to say my thoughts on a matter.  So I deleted the whole thing, to start over.

Kit's registered with a Shinto shrine.. specifically, the one in Seattle that's got a shrine to Ame no Uzume no Mikoto.. the goddess of the dawn and celebration.  Kinda a funny story here.. my friend Paul was running a Scion game - this is a game where you play the offspring of gods.  I decided to make a daughter of Ame no Uzume.. who takes her role as a shrine maiden / priestess of her mother quite seriously (and is also a doctor, but that's not entirely relevant to this story).  Paul set his game in Seattle, because he kinda likes the place, and I thought that was cool.  Then I found out there's a Shinto shrine just north of Seattle.  Then I find out it's a shrine to Ame no Uzume. Then I found out she was, essentially, the first shrine maiden.  Isn't that cool?

Anyway.. after all that, I've felt a bond with Ame no Uzume no Mikoto.  I want to go to Seattle, and I want to kneel in front of her shrine, and pray to her.  I want to feel.. something.. a part of something.  Kit's now an actual, official Shinto follower, and I want to be too.  He's hoping to visit Seattle - and I've been pushing for that extra hard.  I want to go there, I want to talk with the high priest .. he seems an awesome fellow.. and I want to see if there's anything he can do for me.

And I want a shrine to Ame no Uzume to bring home, so I can talk with her, too.  And hopefully, I can be enshrined myself.. not as a part of Kit, but as me, myself.  It feels important.

Kit had an argument with mom about this kind of thing, actually.  She doesn't understand, and Kit couldn't really tell her that a part of it is my needs, either.  She doesn't understand what I go through, and the doubts and the worries I experience.  Kit's got a bit of a worry about his impending mortality, but it's worse for me.. what happens to me, to Legion, to my brothers and my sister when he dies?

It's something I'm not comfortable with.. and I'm hoping, maybe, somehow, visiting the shrine and talking with the high priest, may give me some answers.. let's hope, right?

Yeah, I think this sounds a lot better than what I was saying before.

Mark:  This isn't something I've really thought about myself.  I'm not a spiritual person, not like Kit, who takes religion Very Seriously, or Samantha, who feels aimless and needs some sort of assurance that she's not doomed to simply vanishing upon death.  In some ways, I find the concept of death as something that I may welcome - a release from my duties, you might say.  At death, I'm free.  Will I have an afterlife?  Will I simply cease to be?  I don't know, and it doesn't bother me that much.  Do I get upset when someone I care for passes?  No, strangely enough, I don't.  I mean Chris was broken up when Minou died, he gets upset when a family member dies, and he still is sad about the loss of Kitty, and Samantha was upset herself, and gets scared and antsy any time there's a death, and the loss of Minou caused Daryl to completely lose his shit, but I don't really feel these things.  Death isn't something I'm worried about.  I don't know why, but there you have it.  I guess, perhaps, because I don't get much of a sense of living, I'm in a waiting state of sorts, so perhaps that's what it is.  I don't have, I feel, much to lose in death, because there's not much that I have gained.  When I die, those who know me may be upset, but I think it will be upset at the total loss, not of me, myself.  After all, when Chris dies, so does Legion.  And I think most people will be more in mourning about losing Chris, than of Samantha, or Daryl, or myself.  This is worse for some of the others, because they don't have the connections that Chris or Samantha has - who will mourn Bard?  Or Dark?  Shawn, or Sonic?  Guardian, or Claudia?  We exist, some stronger than others, but there will not really be anyone to mourn us, because nobody truly tried to get to know us as individuals.  Instead, it was more a matter of knowing Chris, then knowing us through him.  And I'm willing to accept that.  When the time comes, I will go, and that will be it.  I don't see a reason to fear death.  I have so little to lose.