She's just like; "look I'm just trying to find my dad and get out of here ok?" Before the Dead Parent curse could catch up with her and make her into even more of an anime protagonist. And I respect the hell out of that
Jesus Christ died for our sins, rose from the dead, and gives salvation to everyone who has faith in him. True faith in Jesus will have you bear good fruit and *drastically* change for the better! Those led by the Holy Spirit do not abide in wickedness. 👍🏾 *God is ONE manifesting himself as THREE;* the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit! Bless him! *For these three are one.* As I am led by the Holy Spirit, nothing I state is a lie, but the truth of God. Anyone who tells you differently is misinformed or a liar. They do not know God, nor led by him. Anyone who *claims* to be a Christian and is against what I am doing, and where I am doing it; the Holy Spirit does not dwell within them, they lack understanding. They know not God, read his word, and their religion is in vain. Do not hear them, they will mislead you, the lost cannot guide the lost.
When you trust in God and cast your cares (worries, anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts) upon him, they will be NO MORE! Know that there is power in the name Jesus Christ! His name casts out demons and heals! The world is wicked, evil, and of the devil. I too, was a wicked sinner of the world before I opened my heart to God. I am living proof of God's work and fruitfulness! He is an active God who hears the prayers of his! God's children are set apart (holy) and righteous. The devil is a liar that comes to steal, to kill, and to destroy; that includes your relationship with God!
Tokoyo’s dad in the after life w/ other relatives: My daughter never caused such trouble she slayed a sea monster! Relative: Well we can’t all slay sea monsters!! Tokoyo’s Dad: No your daughter had to be a CROSS DRESSER!!!!
I love the genre of folktale that goes _'And here is a terrible monster, so dangerous and deadly that it has been terrorising the locals for years - nay, generations! Anyways, here's our hero, who's going to beat it in 2.5 seconds with their hands tied behind their back and then go home.'_ They show up everywhere and I love them all.
Stranger saves the village is one of the old stories, like villager needs to bring the medicine. It’s a component of human storytelling in the same way a gene is a component of your genetic code.
Nice to see the "unnamed damsel in distress with no agency that is only characterized by their relationship to the badass hero that saves them" being a man for a change (the dad in this case)
I'd say poor dude is even worse than the average damsel in distress. They are at least directly saved by the hero's badassery. He? He was a bonus payment for a completely unrelated feat!
Greek tragedies primed me for her to have the horrible realization that the sea serpent was actually her father and then she’d be chased by the furries for six more chapters until she finally got forgiveness from one of the gods or died tragically. But not before doing a lot more stuff way more messed up than killing her sea serpent dad, that the narrative doesn’t feel the need to punish her for.
I appreciate Red's character development from someone who accidentally repeated fake folklore to someone cautious enough to admit the weaknesses in her sources ahead of time.
@@danielf.7151 her Icarus video is too reductive and even she admitted it was bad (i don't remember in which video), in the Edda video she committed some minor mistakes (the only one I remember now is calling Loki a Fire Giant, and she corrected it in the Loki video) and in the story of Ishtar leaving the underworld, she said stuff about the deity created to save Ishtar that i couldn't find anywhere else. Keep in mind, I'm not shitting on her work. She made mistakes, and that's natural. Many when she started, but less and less as time went on, and her content is currently top notch as a result of that gradual improvement.
She also accidentally mentioned the fact that Orion was the only person Artemis ever loved, but as she mentioned in her Orion video, that’s just misinformation
If I had a nickel for every time a hero killed a sea monster that ate young girls while on a quest to save one of their parents from the fate consigned to them by a figure of authority, I'd have two nickels which isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice
If you simplified it to "Hero kills sea monster to save a bunch of people, including a member of the regional royalty and gets a bunch of praise and fame" you'd have three.
1:14 I thought he looked familiar! _I have that book!_ I read it, like, 27 years ago! It's actually nowhere near as bad as you would expect. R.G. Smith really went out of his way to understand Japanese culture _on its own terms_ - absolutely unbelievable for a man from the Edwardian British Emipre! - and then, even more unbelievable, tried to explain Japanese culture as accurately as possible, in a way that British people would understand.
Wow, okay, props to the guy for that. I mean, I know we have something of a (deserved) reputation for nicking cultural treasures, putting them in a museum out of context and sitting back all, "My work here is done," but it's nice to see that at least a few of those imperial adventurers were genuinely interested in making sure they put in solid work to understand all the places Britain could throw its weight around.
@@Archris17 You'd be surprised to find that quite a lot of fascination with other cultures of late 19th-early 20th century Western Europeans was a genuine wish to know more about the other cultures. There was still a slumbering idea of superiority of culture of course, but I'd say at least 40% of the Europeans going abroad were NOT mainly focused on getting rich (mostly because they already were rich, or in the case of Livingstone, because they were sponsored by an institution or person that would not have approved of robbery even if they wanted it). Now only a few of them were actually interested in native culture, but a lot more of them were at the very least interested in understanding customs and social rules of native people, albeit from a very western lens. After WWII the image of the West being civilized was shattered due to causing 2 world wide wars, and Christianity was rapidly retreating from prominence in the public mind, so together with the decolonization and emancipation of non-western scientists, the established science expanded its scope to also include the origin of cultures outside of the West. Still, in a weird roundabout way, just like with the Norse mythology, Western influence and colonization both jeopardized local culture by eradicating cultures like the Native Americans, and allowed a growth bed for modern cultural science to preserve these stories in text, allowing everyone to learn about each other's culture and save those cultures in jeopardy of dying out.
“English gentleman who left his wife for 18 years to tour the east, which means he would probably be really impressed with advancements in body-pillow technology”
@@legomaniac213 Probably don’t have much to worry about on that front. Taking a tour usually requires getting on a plane or boat, and most JoJo fans would be absolutely paranoid about that.
i've said it once before, but I would kill for Red to just do a playlist of her just doing full versions of her acoustic endings. You've got such an amazing voice red!
Honestly, the thing that make me suspect thw most this story is made up is the fact that ifnit was real, characters based on Tokoyo would be all over anime.
This story actually does show up in one other place that I know of! It's in a book called "The Serpent Slayer and Other Stories of Strong Women", and it used to be one of my favorite books growing up. Super happy to see it made into a video like this! Thank you, Red!
I think she means in the historical record. I'm guessing that book you mentioned probably just cites the British dude from the early 1900s as the source of the story and no actual Japanese old sources.
@@roflcopterIII You're probably right, now that I've checked. The source section of the book says it's *based on* "The Tale of the Oki Islands", from Folk and Fairy Tales of Far-Off Lands, published by Eric and Nancy Protter in 1965. I don't have that book, though, so it's probably safe to assume they got it from an equally dubious source.
Oh yeah! I remember coming across this story a few times! I seem to recall that the general opinion of most Japanese folklorists is that this tale is _most likely_ "fake-lore," a story written more recently using the trappings of older folklore... but it's still super badass!
“Wakes up soon after to find a praying priest and a crying little girl at the water’s edge, which is never a good combination!” Ooooh boy, I was not expecting that kind of humor from an OSP video.
As soon as you made the Beowolf reference, I was like 'You know what? She sounds like his perfect waifu'. The God's be wary of whatever OP kids those two have.
The gods are far too fearful to ever let them meet. Even in the afterlife, beings are assigned to assure two protagonist souls of that magnitude don't get to close to each other.
@@orikarru7877 So *thats* why the vikings never reached japan... Odin, Izanagi, Hel and Izanami all had some kind of pact to prevent those two from becoming god hunters
So many folk tales in Japan have lost their original versions but somehow survived to today due to some foreigner loving it and writing it down! Another example is the Boy who drew Cats
That's how many of North American Indigenous stories (at least in Canada) survived. There were anthropologists or enthusiastic "gentlemen amateurs" who recorded everything they could in the years before the full force of colonisation arrived. There are broad ranging samples of Indigenous languages, some of them practically or almost extinct, that have been found on gramophone cylinders in museums. These allowed the holes in the language known by single digit speakers of it to be filled, and for the language to be codified to be taught to others who never knew it in their lifetime.
Adventure RomCom idea where Beowulf and Tokoyo find themselves in a strange new world plagued by evil monsters, team up to save it, and fall in love due to the respect they have for each other and the trust that grows. Together, they fight monsters, and the hijinx ensues. Also, you gotta love stories like this. The hero is just passing through for unrelated reasons, learns about the local "monster is eating people and we need to let it because things will be infinitely worse if we don't", and goes "watch my stuff for a second, I'm gonna do some pest control". It's just because it is the right thing to do.
We already have a doujin where anime Marie Antoinette got herself into a romcom situation with Che Guevara when they got Isekai'd to modern day Tokyo living with teenage Jeanne du Arc as roommates in a very specific hostel...
You know, comparing the beowolf we see in the last frame, to the one in the original video, is a good way off looking at how the style has changed over the years. The bodies are taller and heads just a bit smaller, and the hair has become a lot less big and puffy, now falling more naturally. The big plot twist being, that as someone who has been watching their videos for years, it’s only now I have noticed this. It’s a good example of an artist evolving their style slowly over time, and after manny hours of work. Nice work red. Keep on improving.
On the podcast she's talked about how she chose to shrink the heads due to an early video whose name I don't remember where the characters needed to carry something over their heads, but their arms wouldn't reach over the huge heads.
@@lady_sir_knight3713 I think that was just refering to the initial jump away from Chibi heads (see iliad video), I think the gradual evolution is separate
Sea monster: Swimin around, eating shorks, cursing the emperor, waiting for human food Tokoyo: Shows up, stabs in eye Elaborates by stabbing in heart Leaves
Clearly the real reason the Vikings never arrived upon the shores of the land of the rising sun Odin and Izanagi didn't need those two monsterhunting badasses to turn their sights to god hunting
“We’ve all known an anime fan who was like ‘Oh, I’d love to visit Japan! I’ve watched so much Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure!’” To be fair, most of the parts don’t actually take place in Japan. The first was in England, the second and third were sort of a global thing, the fifth was in Italy, and the sixth was in Florida.
And even part 4, the part that took place exclusively in Japan didn’t feel particularly Japanese, Moriya was a pretty heavily Americanized suburban town. They never go anywhere traditionally Japanese like a Shrine or a traditionally Japanese restaurant.
Isn't that the _joke?_ "Sure, it's an anime, but otherwise it _barely_ has anything to do with Japan itself. A bit odd for _that_ to be the seed of your interest in the country."
That's because the creator is a fan of western culture Which creates the opposite effect as western audiences want to learn more about the east while the east wants to learn about the west
0:21 funnily enough, the majority of JJBA happens outside of japan (as others have mentioned) but also sometimes the show even happens in it's own fictional places placed in the real world, like Italy!
I forget if I posted this on an earlier video, but related to the opening: back in 1st grade we had a monthly event where students would have a parental figure come and entertain the class for the day. I had a classmate named Quan who was first generation African American and for one of those days he brought in his grandmother. She was native African and recanted the story of a spider, who I would later learn through my own research was Anansi (which I remember y'all covering years back). Ever since then I've been enamored by folk tales, folklore, and mythology ever since, and it's one of the reasons I want to visit Africa someday, either Nairobi or Cairo.
The knife that Tokoyo put in her mouth whilst swimming to the bottom of the sea was actually a respiratory device capable of feeding her oxygen and additional anime-like strength to inevitably slay that sea monster.
Let's see...Seasonal migrane has died down, various recent health problems have finally calmed down, rest of my life is going ok...Yeah! I'm doing good, thanks for your concern! I hope you and everyone else in the comments is doing good too!
It does make sense that this video came out eventually. Japanese girls and Sea Monsters do have quite the history. Edit: More accurately sea monsters with tentacles but my point still stands.
I hope in October we'll see a video on Hades and Persephone's kids One is the goddess of ghosts after all. Plus I would LOVE to see an osp style family moment of Hades with his kids and a "weekend at grandma's" scene with Demeter
@@theanimeunderworld8338 i would say thats kind of implausible since halloween videos are usually about big pillars of the holiday, but considering that Dracula, Werewolves, Franky's monster, Edgar Allan Poe and Lovecraft have all been covered, and theres not much to talk about now, its entirely plausible. Or we'll get a video about Nessie, who knows.
I hope in October we'll see a video on Hades and Persephone's kids One is the goddess of ghosts after all. Plus I would LOVE to see an osp style family moment of Hades with his kids and a "weekend at grandma's" scene with Demeter
There's no known Hades and Persephone kids except for someone named Macaria from Christian sources. Melinoe was Persephone and Zeus' daughter (although we definitely need a video on her)
if you mean Hekate, she's not really the daughter of Hades and Persephone, 1st of all she's not originally greek and second most Greek myths, or incantations invoking her if that's more your speed, actually refer to her as the daughter of 2 titans, specifically perses and astra.
@@georgeuferov1497 there's Zagreus who had older fragmentary myths of how he's Hades' son rather than Zeus. Its probably likely the orphic cult did a retelling of Melinoe like Zagreus as a Zeus kid. Besides: HADES FAMILY PICTURE!!
now i cant stop thinking about Beowulf and Yokoyo being beefcakes and going around the early world smashing things and taking notes of eachother's methods. And pity the monsters of the world if they ever had children 😂
@@michaeliv284 Cut to Beowulf and Tokoyo standing utop the corpses of Jourmungandr and Yamata no Orochi with a confused look on their face wondering why the fight was so easy. Meanwhile Odin, Thor, Izanagi and I forget the japanese fire deity who threw a dead horse at amaterasu, all stare in shock and horror with their jaws agape.
I'll be honest: I was expecting a twist. I was like 70% sure the monster was her father or something like that. At least an explanation as to why the sea monster was cursing the emperor.
3:50 Aha! I literally just made that comparison when she pulled the monster from the water! Also isn’t it kind of ironic that Tokoyo actually reunited with her father by saving the very man who took him from her?
I passed up some fascinating-looking OSP videos to hear Red's well-researched take on a story I read in a Time-Life illustrated anthology of mythology. Red did not disappoint, either with the fact that we have no provenance for this as a genuine folktale, or with her illustrated account of the story.
This is a good story. I like the way she involuntarily saved the emperor, but it cause him to set things right with the father. Also little side not, it's awesome how u do songs relevant to the story at the end
When I saw this video I read it as "Tokyo & the sea monster" & I thought it was going to be a trope talk about how in a lot of folklore the Japanese would come into conflict with sea monsters & that inspired modern day stories such as Godzilla
Wow so much to unpack in this story; fought a monster for strangers, while carrying a burden directly linked to her father and saved the innocent! Great vid as always!!
It's always fun hearing about new myths from this channel, but it was great hearing a summary of a story I already knew about. I always thought of the statue as a serious sombre figure decaying under the sea. I genuinely laughed when I saw his tounge sticking out.
"Oh, we are beset by a horrid monster, our ruler is gravely ill, and we must sacrifice our young maidens to save ourselves! Whatever shall we do?!" "Well, you can start by holding my beer, then sit back on your lazy asses whilst _I,_ a _A COMPLETE AND TOTAL STRANGER, JUST PASSING BY,_ do all the hard work."
This reminds me of the Sunshine girls and Rainy Girls. Where it's beloved that certain girls were born with the power to bring rain or bring sunshine. But for the sunshine girls, it would end up being at the cost of their life. Could this possibly be a spin on that seeing how the sea serpent, (Something that looks close to depiction of eastern dragons) brought storms and rains, only for a sacrifice of a girl to stop it? Then it'll be mixed with another myth letting that girl live in the telling and getting Tokoyo get 1000 badass points
i'd been listening to the song you covered at the end a lot lately, and also thought the "where the mountains meet the heavens above, where the lightning splits the sea" part is fucking badass, so it warmed my heart to hear you sing it haha
Smith standing there in a Kimono still somehow looking *extremely* British despite the outfit. Like, you're not going to mistake him for French, or American, or Polish or something. He radiates Britishness and somehow this is hilarious.
I managed to visit Tokyo for a week in 2004 It was Amazing, but a bit scary. I was supposed to meet a friend who lived their and spoke the language, but he had a business trip at the last minute so I was alone not speaking the language. I also love stories of badass women, can we please have some more. :)
I remember reading this story before. I am loving your version of it because the version I read doesn't really make it clear how absolutely bad ass Tokoyo is.
Yeah, you most definitely got a point. I can pinpoint the series Yo-kai Watch as the origin of my fascination with Japanese mythos, which led to me looking into other fassets of Japanese culture from fashion, to architecture, to food. Generally, the more I looked the more cool stuff I found.
Wonderful video red loved it but also red I have to complement you on your art and how much it has improved!!! Like seriously I've been watching you for more then 2 years now and man it's been so cool to watch your artl style evolv and change through the years . You're a very big inspiration to me because of how you are able to convey so much emotion and movement in just a couple of frames. That's all I have to say , keep up the great work
I guess that's what you get from a bunch of small-ish islands with a lot of seismic activity, to the point that both English and Spanish (and, I believe, a lot of languages) use the Japanese word for "giant sea wave"
This really is my favorite channel. I'm a biologist and did classical world studies in my honors program because I had to 18 years ago, yet my interest stuck and lead me to your channel on your very early videos. Since then I have seen a lot of TH-cam channels on science, stories and history, yet yours is the king of both stories and history (scishow wins science)... So well done. Not only do you offer up multiple views from the start and issue corrections when new information comes to light, but you bridge the importance of how cultural bias impacts retelling of stories and it's just great. You are doing a great job. Sometimes we viewers need to say thanks and recognize the content creators that go above and beyond. So thanks.
The only issue I have with this tale is that there aren’t MORE tales of Tokoyo doing even more badass things.
She was so DONE with all the hassle that she decided "One heroic deed is enough, I'm going to retire". Like a smart person. XD
She's just like; "look I'm just trying to find my dad and get out of here ok?" Before the Dead Parent curse could catch up with her and make her into even more of an anime protagonist. And I respect the hell out of that
She said this series has ONE episode, fuck your inciting incident
The universe was so terrified of her badassery that it wasn't willing to go through with a round two.
For that you'll have to tune in to One Piece and see what Yamato's up to.
Love that her lost poster for her dad lists him as “30 or 40 years old”
He is 30 or 40 years old and DOES NOT NEED THIS.
@@multigrandmarquis I understood that reference
His name is Thirtyish... *pause to scan the landscape* Camellia. But he's almost 40.
Jesus Christ died for our sins, rose from the dead, and gives salvation to everyone who has faith in him. True faith in Jesus will have you bear good fruit and *drastically* change for the better! Those led by the Holy Spirit do not abide in wickedness. 👍🏾
*God is ONE manifesting himself as THREE;* the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit! Bless him! *For these three are one.*
As I am led by the Holy Spirit, nothing I state is a lie, but the truth of God. Anyone who tells you differently is misinformed or a liar. They do not know God, nor led by him.
Anyone who *claims* to be a Christian and is against what I am doing, and where I am doing it; the Holy Spirit does not dwell within them, they lack understanding. They know not God, read his word, and their religion is in vain. Do not hear them, they will mislead you, the lost cannot guide the lost.
When you trust in God and cast your cares (worries, anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts) upon him, they will be NO MORE!
Know that there is power in the name Jesus Christ! His name casts out demons and heals!
The world is wicked, evil, and of the devil.
I too, was a wicked sinner of the world before I opened my heart to God. I am living proof of God's work and fruitfulness! He is an active God who hears the prayers of his! God's children are set apart (holy) and righteous. The devil is a liar that comes to steal, to kill, and to destroy; that includes your relationship with God!
Tokoyo's dad is going to be the best/worst at parties. "Your kid became a doctor? Oh how cute. Lemme tell you about MY kid..."
LMAO 😂
What if he lived next to Jonas Salk’s mother?
that's how the story spread in the first place
we found chuck norris, he turned out to be a she
Tokoyo’s dad in the after life w/ other relatives: My daughter never caused such trouble she slayed a sea monster!
Relative: Well we can’t all slay sea monsters!!
Tokoyo’s Dad: No your daughter had to be a CROSS DRESSER!!!!
I love how this random girl just happens to be an epic badass for no reason whatsoever.
Hey, if a bunch of random guys could do it..!!
@@canislupus9208 That's not quite what I meant.
Well, her dad's a samurai... Is that a good reason?
Anime
protagonist powers
I love the genre of folktale that goes _'And here is a terrible monster, so dangerous and deadly that it has been terrorising the locals for years - nay, generations! Anyways, here's our hero, who's going to beat it in 2.5 seconds with their hands tied behind their back and then go home.'_ They show up everywhere and I love them all.
Japan seems to have a few of these, if I'm remembering Momotaro correctly.
Most cultures do. Major heroic figures like Herakles and Maui often have several.
The Jabberwocky poem is a good example too.
Stranger saves the village is one of the old stories, like villager needs to bring the medicine. It’s a component of human storytelling in the same way a gene is a component of your genetic code.
A questing DND party stops at a random village and solves its generational monster issue overnight because they had nothing else to do
Nice to see the "unnamed damsel in distress with no agency that is only characterized by their relationship to the badass hero that saves them" being a man for a change (the dad in this case)
I'd say poor dude is even worse than the average damsel in distress. They are at least directly saved by the hero's badassery. He? He was a bonus payment for a completely unrelated feat!
To be fair to the dad, I'd say receiving criminal charges is pretty debilitating. You can kill a sea monster, but you can't kill the justice system.
@@Chrokosaur The true enemy is bureaucracy?
@@Chrokosaur maybe you just haven't tried hard enough.
@@eclipserepeater2466 Well, first you'd have to find the source of its power...
Tokoyo is way more badass than I expected. I love this girl.
Yeah no kidding! She’s just a girl who just wanted to find her dad and end slaying a giant, ‘FUCK YOU’ dragon!
I don’t know if killing nature is badass but whatever
Behold, the power of Being So Done, You Guys.
We talking comic She-Hulk or MCU She-Hulk? Because Tokoyo is WAY cooler than the latter.
@@GoldLight73 ooh, someone likes circle-jerking.
Tokoyo, about to be attacked by the sea monster: Agh, call an ambulance, call an ambulance!
*BUT NOT FOR ME*
So badass
Greek tragedies primed me for her to have the horrible realization that the sea serpent was actually her father and then she’d be chased by the furries for six more chapters until she finally got forgiveness from one of the gods or died tragically. But not before doing a lot more stuff way more messed up than killing her sea serpent dad, that the narrative doesn’t feel the need to punish her for.
> furries
I guess?
Hey the furries are really nice folks! The Furies though are bad mama jammas. XD
Same here 😂 I was waiting for THE revelation !
@@SonicRooncoPrime I guess it's furies as in fury plural
I was expecting that the sea monster was a really good-looking dude that will marry her XD
I appreciate Red's character development from someone who accidentally repeated fake folklore to someone cautious enough to admit the weaknesses in her sources ahead of time.
wait, what video had the fake folklore?
Which one was that?
@@danielf.7151 Rainbow Bird.
@@danielf.7151 her Icarus video is too reductive and even she admitted it was bad (i don't remember in which video), in the Edda video she committed some minor mistakes (the only one I remember now is calling Loki a Fire Giant, and she corrected it in the Loki video) and in the story of Ishtar leaving the underworld, she said stuff about the deity created to save Ishtar that i couldn't find anywhere else.
Keep in mind, I'm not shitting on her work. She made mistakes, and that's natural. Many when she started, but less and less as time went on, and her content is currently top notch as a result of that gradual improvement.
She also accidentally mentioned the fact that Orion was the only person Artemis ever loved, but as she mentioned in her Orion video, that’s just misinformation
If I had a nickel for every time a hero killed a sea monster that ate young girls while on a quest to save one of their parents from the fate consigned to them by a figure of authority, I'd have two nickels which isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice
Weird
If you simplified it to "Hero kills sea monster to save a bunch of people, including a member of the regional royalty and gets a bunch of praise and fame" you'd have three.
I read this in Dr. Doofs voice. And i love it.
Shoutouts to the equally strangely common "Storm God vs giant snake monster" story
What's the other example?
I absolutely LOVE at 2:21 that she moves faster than her eye glare can keep up.
Oh my goodness! 🤣🤣🤣
I've been scrolling to see if anyone else noticed that! Its hilarious!!!
Moving at the speed of DONE
Good catch!
Thanks for sharing
Possibly an animation error, but I _love_ the idea that, among all her other badassery, Tokoyo is apparently a speedster
I don't care if this is fanfic from a British guy, Tokoyo is a monster slaying badass and you cannot take this away from me!!!
You took the words from my mouth
Right there with ya
Now I'm curious about what a native Japanese opinions are on this story.
Hell yeah!!!!
@@carlosroo5460 Honestly, same
1:14 I thought he looked familiar! _I have that book!_ I read it, like, 27 years ago!
It's actually nowhere near as bad as you would expect. R.G. Smith really went out of his way to understand Japanese culture _on its own terms_ - absolutely unbelievable for a man from the Edwardian British Emipre! - and then, even more unbelievable, tried to explain Japanese culture as accurately as possible, in a way that British people would understand.
I can respect that. He tried to give the culture the respect it deserves
Wow, okay, props to the guy for that. I mean, I know we have something of a (deserved) reputation for nicking cultural treasures, putting them in a museum out of context and sitting back all, "My work here is done," but it's nice to see that at least a few of those imperial adventurers were genuinely interested in making sure they put in solid work to understand all the places Britain could throw its weight around.
@@Archris17 You'd be surprised to find that quite a lot of fascination with other cultures of late 19th-early 20th century Western Europeans was a genuine wish to know more about the other cultures. There was still a slumbering idea of superiority of culture of course, but I'd say at least 40% of the Europeans going abroad were NOT mainly focused on getting rich (mostly because they already were rich, or in the case of Livingstone, because they were sponsored by an institution or person that would not have approved of robbery even if they wanted it). Now only a few of them were actually interested in native culture, but a lot more of them were at the very least interested in understanding customs and social rules of native people, albeit from a very western lens. After WWII the image of the West being civilized was shattered due to causing 2 world wide wars, and Christianity was rapidly retreating from prominence in the public mind, so together with the decolonization and emancipation of non-western scientists, the established science expanded its scope to also include the origin of cultures outside of the West. Still, in a weird roundabout way, just like with the Norse mythology, Western influence and colonization both jeopardized local culture by eradicating cultures like the Native Americans, and allowed a growth bed for modern cultural science to preserve these stories in text, allowing everyone to learn about each other's culture and save those cultures in jeopardy of dying out.
I like to think in like 400 years there'll be a reincarnation of Red making classics summarised videos about JoJo and other campy anime
in the future there is magenta
@@gasmaskerade3172 Vermilion?
Pretty please, future Red!
that implies red will ever die, and that she doesent already talk about jojo
@@gasmaskerade3172 there actually is a magenta as far as I know. It's Red's brother.
I like how Tokoyo apparently moves so fast swiping the girl from the priest that she leaves her eye-shines in the rocks behind her
The sheer amount of doneness that Tokoyo radiated. You can feel that.
"People like stories and good stories make people want to learn more" my exact reason for falling in love with this channel
“English gentleman who left his wife for 18 years to tour the east, which means he would probably be really impressed with advancements in body-pillow technology”
2:20 damn, she rushed to save the girl so fast that her glowing eyes stayed behind
Jokes aside, another amazing video as always
“I’d love to go to Japan, I’ve watched so much JoJo Bizarre Adventure”. That line made me laugh.
Ironic, since only one Jojo series actually takes place in Japan. JJBA is more likely to inspire a trip across Europe than one across Japan.
@@legomaniac213 I really hope that people don't try to explore Florida because of Part VI.
@@legomaniac213 Probably don’t have much to worry about on that front. Taking a tour usually requires getting on a plane or boat, and most JoJo fans would be absolutely paranoid about that.
@@legomaniac213 Two and part of 3.
Is it weird that JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Part 5 also motivates me to visit Italy? I swear I also want to see it for the historical value of Rome!
i've said it once before, but I would kill for Red to just do a playlist of her just doing full versions of her acoustic endings. You've got such an amazing voice red!
Seriously why isn't this a thing yet
Signal boost this to infinity
@@ravennightshade4152 Royalties. She'd be expected to pay to use the full songs.
So, anyone up for a crowdfunding?
do any of you know the name of the song? if so, can you please tell me
@@alpha_wolf220 I need a Hero by Bonnie Tyler; its a 80's classic
Tokoyo is definitely gonna be the badass female lead in the upcoming Beowulf anime that one of you is eventually gonna release, isn’t she?
Honestly, the thing that make me suspect thw most this story is made up is the fact that ifnit was real, characters based on Tokoyo would be all over anime.
@@noukan42 All stories are made up haha
@@noukan42 There are very few characters based on the Ainu or their gods in anime and I doubt they're made up.
Tokoyo:hold this this silk is too good to ruin. Priest:huh. Tokoyo:*jumps in ocean to fight a monster*
This woman sounds AWESOME and now I want her and Atalanta to form an all girls badass squad
I'd read the fuck out of those comics!
That sounds awesome
Girlboss superteam?
Add in Sitonai of Ainu myth to the team and you get a trio of female badasses. Team Girl Squad!
...yes, that was a slight Homestar Runner reference.
@@KamenracerX Tell us more about Sitonai?!?
This story actually does show up in one other place that I know of! It's in a book called "The Serpent Slayer and Other Stories of Strong Women", and it used to be one of my favorite books growing up. Super happy to see it made into a video like this! Thank you, Red!
I loved that book too!
I think she means in the historical record. I'm guessing that book you mentioned probably just cites the British dude from the early 1900s as the source of the story and no actual Japanese old sources.
@@roflcopterIII You're probably right, now that I've checked. The source section of the book says it's *based on* "The Tale of the Oki Islands", from Folk and Fairy Tales of Far-Off Lands, published by Eric and Nancy Protter in 1965. I don't have that book, though, so it's probably safe to assume they got it from an equally dubious source.
I would love a story where Beowulf and Tokoyo team up as sea monster fighters
Me too
Let's not forget Perseus 🙂
@@taylor_green_9 correct me if im wrong, but that just sounds like the mythological version "Of Into The Spider-verse".
@@maks-tldr56 I- yes it does but it would need a few more myths thrown in it
@@maks-tldr56 maybe make it the premise of the next god of war
Oh yeah! I remember coming across this story a few times! I seem to recall that the general opinion of most Japanese folklorists is that this tale is _most likely_ "fake-lore," a story written more recently using the trappings of older folklore... but it's still super badass!
Yeah but did the English guy write it or was he told it by someone who themselves had made it up? That's what's unknown I suppose
Made up or not it's still cool
“Wakes up soon after to find a praying priest and a crying little girl at the water’s edge, which is never a good combination!”
Ooooh boy, I was not expecting that kind of humor from an OSP video.
It took me a moment to get it.
My humour is not nearly as warped as I thought, I suppose.
Explanation Please?
@@ndf0715 id love an explanations too.
@@ndf0715 well, when you see a man restraining a crying young girl, what would YOUR first thought be?
Is it a pedophilia joke?
As soon as you made the Beowolf reference, I was like 'You know what? She sounds like his perfect waifu'. The God's be wary of whatever OP kids those two have.
The gods are far too fearful to ever let them meet. Even in the afterlife, beings are assigned to assure two protagonist souls of that magnitude don't get to close to each other.
I ship them
@@orikarru7877 So *thats* why the vikings never reached japan...
Odin, Izanagi, Hel and Izanami all had some kind of pact to prevent those two from becoming god hunters
So many folk tales in Japan have lost their original versions but somehow survived to today due to some foreigner loving it and writing it down! Another example is the Boy who drew Cats
My friend did a TH-cam video on that for a school assignment.
That's how many of North American Indigenous stories (at least in Canada) survived. There were anthropologists or enthusiastic "gentlemen amateurs" who recorded everything they could in the years before the full force of colonisation arrived. There are broad ranging samples of Indigenous languages, some of them practically or almost extinct, that have been found on gramophone cylinders in museums. These allowed the holes in the language known by single digit speakers of it to be filled, and for the language to be codified to be taught to others who never knew it in their lifetime.
Adventure RomCom idea where Beowulf and Tokoyo find themselves in a strange new world plagued by evil monsters, team up to save it, and fall in love due to the respect they have for each other and the trust that grows. Together, they fight monsters, and the hijinx ensues.
Also, you gotta love stories like this. The hero is just passing through for unrelated reasons, learns about the local "monster is eating people and we need to let it because things will be infinitely worse if we don't", and goes "watch my stuff for a second, I'm gonna do some pest control". It's just because it is the right thing to do.
We already have a doujin where anime Marie Antoinette got herself into a romcom situation with Che Guevara when they got Isekai'd to modern day Tokyo living with teenage Jeanne du Arc as roommates in a very specific hostel...
@@theotherohlourdespadua1131 I'm sorry- WHAT STORY IS THAT?!
@@theotherohlourdespadua1131 *what*.
@@helendocherty6324 Title is "Sharehouse Nile"...
When Norse and Shinto cultures collide
(A anime is born)
(they proceed to slay Jourmungand and Orochi together without even realizing)
Red that intro is speaking straight to my soul and I feel INCREDIBLY called out
Good job great video as per usual
Be it a forgotten story or a folklore fanfiction, it doesn’t matter. Tokoyo one badass Dragon slayer who deserves her own modern Manga-Style story.
I'd pay for Crunchyroll premium if she got a series
You know, comparing the beowolf we see in the last frame, to the one in the original video, is a good way off looking at how the style has changed over the years. The bodies are taller and heads just a bit smaller, and the hair has become a lot less big and puffy, now falling more naturally. The big plot twist being, that as someone who has been watching their videos for years, it’s only now I have noticed this. It’s a good example of an artist evolving their style slowly over time, and after manny hours of work. Nice work red. Keep on improving.
Oh man, I never even noticed that. Good eye!! It’s like seeing a character come back two seasons later with an outfit change.
On the podcast she's talked about how she chose to shrink the heads due to an early video whose name I don't remember where the characters needed to carry something over their heads, but their arms wouldn't reach over the huge heads.
@@lady_sir_knight3713 I think that was just refering to the initial jump away from Chibi heads (see iliad video), I think the gradual evolution is separate
@@1224chrisng Oh for sure Red's art has changed and improved over time, I meant there was one instance of deliberate major change.
This is shortest and the most badass story I've ever heard from this channel
and I've binge watched every single one of Red's videos.
2:07 That perfectly drawn expression of, "What the hell do I have to do to catch a freaking break around here? "
Sea monster: Swimin around, eating shorks, cursing the emperor, waiting for human food
Tokoyo: Shows up, stabs in eye
Elaborates by stabbing in heart
Leaves
The story is great but FINALLY RED’S COVER OF I NEED A HERO IS HERE!!
Hildegard Von Blingin’ has a nice bardcore cover of the song as well!
As soon as Tokoyo made it to the bottom of the sea with no ill effects instantly reminded me of Beowulf. She also has lungs the size of train cars.
Clearly the real reason the Vikings never arrived upon the shores of the land of the rising sun
Odin and Izanagi didn't need those two monsterhunting badasses to turn their sights to god hunting
“We’ve all known an anime fan who was like ‘Oh, I’d love to visit Japan! I’ve watched so much Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure!’”
To be fair, most of the parts don’t actually take place in Japan. The first was in England, the second and third were sort of a global thing, the fifth was in Italy, and the sixth was in Florida.
That's right, I'm living the JoJo life in Florida...minus the whole prison thing.
And even part 4, the part that took place exclusively in Japan didn’t feel particularly Japanese, Moriya was a pretty heavily Americanized suburban town. They never go anywhere traditionally Japanese like a Shrine or a traditionally Japanese restaurant.
Isn't that the _joke?_ "Sure, it's an anime, but otherwise it _barely_ has anything to do with Japan itself. A bit odd for _that_ to be the seed of your interest in the country."
That's because the creator is a fan of western culture
Which creates the opposite effect as western audiences want to learn more about the east while the east wants to learn about the west
Today I learned that Florida Man is possibly a Jojo.
0:21 funnily enough, the majority of JJBA happens outside of japan (as others have mentioned) but also sometimes the show even happens in it's own fictional places placed in the real world, like Italy!
I’m convinced not having parents manifest super powers and wagons of badassery in a person
I'm living proof of that. XD
It’s symbolic of the person becoming an adult and not having to rely on their parents to fix their problems, I guess.
Ah, yes. The Batman effect.
I forget if I posted this on an earlier video, but related to the opening: back in 1st grade we had a monthly event where students would have a parental figure come and entertain the class for the day. I had a classmate named Quan who was first generation African American and for one of those days he brought in his grandmother. She was native African and recanted the story of a spider, who I would later learn through my own research was Anansi (which I remember y'all covering years back). Ever since then I've been enamored by folk tales, folklore, and mythology ever since, and it's one of the reasons I want to visit Africa someday, either Nairobi or Cairo.
The knife that Tokoyo put in her mouth whilst swimming to the bottom of the sea was actually a respiratory device capable of feeding her oxygen and additional anime-like strength to inevitably slay that sea monster.
She got it from some Jedi she ran into.... >_>
@@eshbena the force is a pathway to many abilities... You get the idea
Nah, she was using water breathing.
@@zoro115-s6b Nah, that would run out in 8 minutes
@@1224chrisng maybe she can just hold her breath under water for ten minutes? (give or take two minutes)
3:57 I would totally listen to you sing full versions of the songs that you play at the end of the videos.
Yeah, for real. Red's renditions of certain songs are amazing and I would love to have the whole song. XD
Hope y’all are doing good
unfortunately no
I havent died yet, so overall, doing pretty good.
Let's see...Seasonal migrane has died down, various recent health problems have finally calmed down, rest of my life is going ok...Yeah! I'm doing good, thanks for your concern!
I hope you and everyone else in the comments is doing good too!
Tokoyo’s casual badassery is both really cool and hilarious.
It does make sense that this video came out eventually. Japanese girls and Sea Monsters do have quite the history.
Edit: More accurately sea monsters with tentacles but my point still stands.
Well you're not wrong
I hope in October we'll see a video on Hades and Persephone's kids
One is the goddess of ghosts after all. Plus I would LOVE to see an osp style family moment of Hades with his kids and a "weekend at grandma's" scene with Demeter
😖
@@theanimeunderworld8338 i would say thats kind of implausible since halloween videos are usually about big pillars of the holiday, but considering that Dracula, Werewolves, Franky's monster, Edgar Allan Poe and Lovecraft have all been covered, and theres not much to talk about now, its entirely plausible. Or we'll get a video about Nessie, who knows.
disgusting. take my like
I really want this turned into a movie/OVA now. This story just sounds so incredibly fun and badass. Thanks for bringing attention to it, Red.
OMG yesssssss!
I hope in October we'll see a video on Hades and Persephone's kids
One is the goddess of ghosts after all. Plus I would LOVE to see an osp style family moment of Hades with his kids and a "weekend at grandma's" scene with Demeter
There's no known Hades and Persephone kids except for someone named Macaria from Christian sources. Melinoe was Persephone and Zeus' daughter (although we definitely need a video on her)
if you mean Hekate, she's not really the daughter of Hades and Persephone, 1st of all she's not originally greek and second most Greek myths, or incantations invoking her if that's more your speed, actually refer to her as the daughter of 2 titans, specifically perses and astra.
@@yamiyomizuki no I mean Melinoe who a lot say is the daughter of Hades and Persephone.
@@georgeuferov1497 there's Zagreus who had older fragmentary myths of how he's Hades' son rather than Zeus. Its probably likely the orphic cult did a retelling of Melinoe like Zagreus as a Zeus kid.
Besides: HADES FAMILY PICTURE!!
@@theanimeunderworld8338 well, yeah, but OSP already covered that
0:18 I feel called out
A famous line from jojos is "i will never forgive the japanese" idk if they wanna go to japan
I mean, that dude did have a son out of wedlock with a Japanese woman, so maybe he’s not as opposed to Japanese people as he said he was. . .
now i cant stop thinking about Beowulf and Yokoyo being beefcakes and going around the early world smashing things and taking notes of eachother's methods.
And pity the monsters of the world if they ever had children 😂
If they made a series of that, I would watch
We need an entire series about a group of mythological monster slayers now, going around the world and destroying monsters
This is one of the most beautiful episodes Red has ever done.
Lmao Tokoyo's abilities just kept escalating that was intense.
Hmmm... Percy and Beowulf but female Japanese protagonist... Definitely want to hear more myths like this. She's awesome!
Beowulf furiously taking notes in the corner straight took me out 😂😂😂
If Beowulf was the one to take you out, I worry for your monster status lol
Nope, he swam there to ask if she'd like to join him in kicking monster ass.
...this needs to be a cartoon or some shit.
@@michaeliv284
Cut to Beowulf and Tokoyo standing utop the corpses of Jourmungandr and Yamata no Orochi with a confused look on their face wondering why the fight was so easy. Meanwhile Odin, Thor, Izanagi and I forget the japanese fire deity who threw a dead horse at amaterasu, all stare in shock and horror with their jaws agape.
@@craytherlaygaming2852 "What manner of god are you?" "We're just awesome"
Can we please get a Trope Talk on Himbos?
Yes!! We need this!
They did a livestream on himbo's, if that interests you
@@auraknight1770 I mean an actual Trope Talk
@@auraknight1770 but that was merely classifying several characters
I've never heard of Tokoyo before, but I'm immediately a massive fan.
same
I'll be honest: I was expecting a twist. I was like 70% sure the monster was her father or something like that. At least an explanation as to why the sea monster was cursing the emperor.
can honestly say i love Red's facial animations, they always make me crack up.
plus, just that "hold my beer" moment XD
3:50 Aha! I literally just made that comparison when she pulled the monster from the water!
Also isn’t it kind of ironic that Tokoyo actually reunited with her father by saving the very man who took him from her?
I passed up some fascinating-looking OSP videos to hear Red's well-researched take on a story I read in a Time-Life illustrated anthology of mythology. Red did not disappoint, either with the fact that we have no provenance for this as a genuine folktale, or with her illustrated account of the story.
I absolutely love the transition of 3:08 to 3:09. That dragon has so many regrets in that moment.
Red has gotten so good at guitar!! I remember when she was just doing her best, but she's really slinging it out now!! What a queen!
This is now one of my favorite myths
This is a good story. I like the way she involuntarily saved the emperor, but it cause him to set things right with the father. Also little side not, it's awesome how u do songs relevant to the story at the end
When I saw this video I read it as "Tokyo & the sea monster" & I thought it was going to be a trope talk about how in a lot of folklore the Japanese would come into conflict with sea monsters & that inspired modern day stories such as Godzilla
I misread it the same way, but I thought it was gonna be a city founding myth kinda like the one for Athens.
I literally just said to myself "Oh god, which one is destroying Tokyo this time?"
Wow so much to unpack in this story; fought a monster for strangers, while carrying a burden directly linked to her father and saved the innocent!
Great vid as always!!
1:05 FYI the ancient version of bodypillows were 'bamboo wives' (竹夫人) which were basically a big cylinder shaped basket that you could hug.
3:41 THE REAL FOLK BLUUUUES~
i wonder if red's gonna cover korean fables and folktales someday
One that comes to mind is the tale about how the Korean royal family is descended from bears because a bear and a tiger wanted to become human.
It's always fun hearing about new myths from this channel, but it was great hearing a summary of a story I already knew about.
I always thought of the statue as a serious sombre figure decaying under the sea. I genuinely laughed when I saw his tounge sticking out.
"Oh, we are beset by a horrid monster, our ruler is gravely ill, and we must sacrifice our young maidens to save ourselves! Whatever shall we do?!"
"Well, you can start by holding my beer, then sit back on your lazy asses whilst _I,_ a _A COMPLETE AND TOTAL STRANGER, JUST PASSING BY,_ do all the hard work."
This reminds me of the Sunshine girls and Rainy Girls. Where it's beloved that certain girls were born with the power to bring rain or bring sunshine. But for the sunshine girls, it would end up being at the cost of their life. Could this possibly be a spin on that seeing how the sea serpent, (Something that looks close to depiction of eastern dragons) brought storms and rains, only for a sacrifice of a girl to stop it? Then it'll be mixed with another myth letting that girl live in the telling and getting Tokoyo get 1000 badass points
0:11 I mean, for me it’s Samurai, sword fighting, and martial arts history.
Japanese car culture for me...
Just sword fighting for me.
Omg so different and unique 😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮
My introduction to anime came in 1963 when I started watching "Astro Boy," so thanks for that image of Tetsuwan Atom.
Red, your cartooning skill are top notch. I hope you never doubt yourself.
The eye glow even after Tokoyo leaves the shrine implies she moved so fast the light didn't have the time to catch up.
Stabbing it through the heart. She somehow knew the sea monster's weakness. How?
generally things which have hearts don't wanna be stabbed in 'em.
Sea Monster, “My only weakness, dying!”
I had "I need a hero" stuck in my head ALL WEEK and just got it out this morning. Then the credits, and wHAM --
Sounds wonderful as always though!
This folktale sounds like something straight out of Inuyasha and I love it
i'd been listening to the song you covered at the end a lot lately, and also thought the "where the mountains meet the heavens above, where the lightning splits the sea" part is fucking badass, so it warmed my heart to hear you sing it haha
Smith standing there in a Kimono still somehow looking *extremely* British despite the outfit. Like, you're not going to mistake him for French, or American, or Polish or something. He radiates Britishness and somehow this is hilarious.
i love that at 2:20 she saves the child but the light is still by the rocks implying that she's faster than light
I managed to visit Tokyo for a week in 2004 It was Amazing, but a bit scary. I was supposed to meet a friend who lived their and spoke the language, but he had a business trip at the last minute so I was alone not speaking the language. I also love stories of badass women, can we please have some more. :)
I love when you put another character in the corner looking/comenting or taking notes.
"I really want to visit Japan, I watch so much Jojo's Bizarre Adventure"
how dare you call me out
I remember reading this story before. I am loving your version of it because the version I read doesn't really make it clear how absolutely bad ass Tokoyo is.
“Tokyo and a sea monster” name a more iconic duo
Edit: whoops misread title alert
2:22
I love how the little sparkles just stay
I love this myth SO MUCH, I hope Japan makes an *actual* anime based off of it in future!!!
AGREED!!!
Sometimes everything a story needs is a badass hero doing something badass and getting rewarded for it because hell yeah
Yeah, you most definitely got a point. I can pinpoint the series Yo-kai Watch as the origin of my fascination with Japanese mythos, which led to me looking into other fassets of Japanese culture from fashion, to architecture, to food. Generally, the more I looked the more cool stuff I found.
This might be my favorite part of the channel now. Great video
Okay but… this WOULD make a great anime.
Wonderful video red loved it but also red I have to complement you on your art and how much it has improved!!! Like seriously I've been watching you for more then 2 years now and man it's been so cool to watch your artl style evolv and change through the years . You're a very big inspiration to me because of how you are able to convey so much emotion and movement in just a couple of frames. That's all I have to say , keep up the great work
Ah Japan and sea monsters, what a combo
I guess that's what you get from a bunch of small-ish islands with a lot of seismic activity, to the point that both English and Spanish (and, I believe, a lot of languages) use the Japanese word for "giant sea wave"
This really is my favorite channel. I'm a biologist and did classical world studies in my honors program because I had to 18 years ago, yet my interest stuck and lead me to your channel on your very early videos. Since then I have seen a lot of TH-cam channels on science, stories and history, yet yours is the king of both stories and history (scishow wins science)... So well done. Not only do you offer up multiple views from the start and issue corrections when new information comes to light, but you bridge the importance of how cultural bias impacts retelling of stories and it's just great. You are doing a great job. Sometimes we viewers need to say thanks and recognize the content creators that go above and beyond. So thanks.