Shinigami (死神? literally "death god" or "God of Death") is the personification of death that evolved in Japan, having been imported to Japan from Europe during the Meiji period. In English Death is often given the name the " Grim Reaper " and shown as a skeletal figure carrying a large Scythe, and wearing a midnight black gown robe For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. The, or Meiji era, denotes the 45-year reign of the Meiji Emperor, running in the Gregorian calendar, from 23 October 1868 to 30 July This image of death was quickly adopted and featured in such works as the rakugo play Shinigami and in Shunsen Takehara's Ehon Hyaku Monogatari (One-hundred Story Picture-Book). Rakugo (落語 literally "fallen words" is a Japanese verbal entertainment The, also called the is a book of images by Japanese artist Takehara Shunsen, published ca [1]
The term shinigami may also be used more loosely to refer to any death deity. It seems to be a recent term, however, as it belongs to no specific Shinto deity and is rarely used in folklore. is the native religion of Japan and was once its State religion.
Today shinigami frequently appear in original Japanese works of fiction (anime and manga most often).
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In popular culture
Perhaps the first appearance of shinigami in Japan was in a rakugo play titled Shinigami. Rakugo (落語 literally "fallen words" is a Japanese verbal entertainment It is thought that this play was based on the Italian opera Crispino e la Comare, which was in turn based on Der Gevatter Tod, a German fairy tale recorded by the Brothers Grimm. Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest Opera is an art form in which Singers and Musicians perform a Dramatic work (called an opera which combines a text (called a Libretto Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. A fairy tale or fairy story is a fictional Story that may feature folkloric characters (such as fairies, enchantments]] often involving The Brothers Grimm ( German: Die Gebrüder Grimm) Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm,
Shinigami characters often appear in modern Japanese popular culture. These characters are typically employed as psychopomps, bringing deceased souls to the world of the dead. Many religious belief systems have a particular spirit, Angel, or Deity whose responsibility is to escort newly-deceased souls to the Afterlife Shinigami appear in the following fictional works:
- In Bleach, shinigami, or Soul Reapers, are souls that protect the human world from Hollows and that lead to people to Soul Society, a place reigned by souls in another dimension.
- In Death Note, there is also another dimension where shinigami live, however those instead of protecting humans, they kill them in order to extend their own life. is a Manga series created by writer Tsugumi Ohba and illustrator Takeshi Obata. In the series manga and anime series Death Note, are a race of extra-dimensional beings who survive by killing humans to extend their own lives To murder someone, they (the shinigami) have to write the name of the human in a notebook (know as Death Note) and they must have the face of that person clearly in their mind.
- In the anime and manga Ginga Densetsu Weed, one of the three chosen elites of Hougen and Genba, Buruge, proclaims during his fight with Kyoushiro that he's a Shinigami. is an ongoing Adventure Manga series by Yoshihiro Takahashi. It has been published by Nihon Bungeisha in the magazine Manga Goraku Genba (現場 is a "place where something actually happens appears or is made" The term in Japanese is written with characters for "to appear"(現 gen and
- In Soul Eater, shinigami are people with spirit companions who turn into soul devouring weapons. is a Japanese Manga written and illustrated by Atsushi Okubo. The shinigami's work is to catch 99 evil souls and 1 witch's soul so that the soul companion can become a death weapon. However, if the final caught soul is not that of a witch, but rather of someone with powers similar to one, then the shinigami who made this mistake must start over by catching 99 souls again.
- In Descendants of Darkness, the main characters are shinigami who work in a place called Meifu; their job is to make sure that everything goes well when human souls die and are reborn. is a fantasy Manga series created by Yoko Matsushita. The story revolves around Shinigami.
- In Nephilim (manga), one of the main characters, Abel, is a shinigami. is a Josei Manga by Anna Hanamaki. It was licensed in the United Stated by Aurora Publishing, with an expected release date of April 2008 She is part of the race of people called Nephilim. They are rumored to possess unimaginable beauty at night, and are said to be shape-shifters/gender-benders.
- In Full Moon o Sagashite, shinigami ensure that a person dies at the moment they are fated to die by interfering with circumstances and events that would cause a death earlier or later than fate deems; they then act as a psychopomp. is a Japanese Shōjo Manga by Arina Tanemura. According to the Furigana, the Kanji in the title are read furu mūn Many religious belief systems have a particular spirit, Angel, or Deity whose responsibility is to escort newly-deceased souls to the Afterlife These shinigami were once people who committed suicide and now must collect souls as punishment.
- In The World Ends With You, Neku Sakuraba and his friends must win a week-long "Shinigami Game" administrated by a group calling themselves Shinigami under the threat of being removed from existence. The World Ends with You, released in Japan as, is an Action role-playing game developed by Square Enix 's Kingdom Hearts The Shinigami use a stylized skull and crossbones as their insignia. A skull and crossbones is a Symbol consisting of a human Skull and two bones crossed together under the skull The english version of the game refers to them as "Reapers".
- A shinigami character appears in Shigeru Mizuki's comic series Ge Ge Ge no Kitaro and Kappa no Sanpei. born March 8, 1922 in Sakaiminato Tottori, is a Japanese manga author, most known for his Shōnen Japanese horror manga is a Manga series created in 1959 by Manga artist Shigeru Mizuki. He has a skull-like head and likes watermelon.
- In the Murder Princess manga, the character Dominikov is a shinigami. is a Manga by Sekihiko Inui. An OVA series was later produced by Marvelous Entertainment and Bee Train based on the manga
- In Naruto, the shinigami is a monster-like deity clad in a flowing white robe which can be invoked using a technique known as the Dead Demon Consuming Seal. is an ongoing Japanese Manga series written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto with an Anime adaptation In the Anime and Manga series Naruto by Masashi Kishimoto, a is a general term referring to any technique a Ninja might use that
- In Omishi Magical Theater: Risky Safety, shinigami resemble small, cute versions of Death, and try to convince their victims to commit suicide. is an anime created by Rei Omishi, and it follows the journeys of an apprentice Shinigami, or death god named Risky and an apprentice Angel named Safety who In English Death is often given the name the " Grim Reaper " and shown as a skeletal figure carrying a large Scythe, and wearing a midnight black gown robe The title character, Risky, is a shinigami who attempts to use a miniature scythe to send the female protagonist to the land of the dead.
- In Ballad of a Shinigami, the main character is a shinigami whose job is to collect the souls of people at the moment of their death. subtitled momo the god girl of death, is a Japanese Light novel series written by K-Ske Hasegawa, with illustrations by Nanakusa However, she attempts to make a positive impact on the lives of the people who encounter death.
- The Shin Megami Tensei games and their Persona spinoffs, a shinigami class of demons includes many death-related gods borrowed from mythology, such as Chernobog, Persephone, Ankou, Hades, Mot, and Thanatos. is a Console role playing game by Atlus that was released on October 30 1992 on several platforms Revelations Persona, known in Japan as, is the first in a series of role-playing games for PlayStation consoles – one of several Spin-off Chernobog (also spelled Crnobog, Czernobóg, Černobog or Zernebog from the Russian Чернобог, each name meaning "black In Greek mythology, Persephone ( Kore or Cora) was the embodiment of the Earth's fertility at the same time that she was the Queen of the Underworld Ankou is a personification of death in Breton Mythology. Background It is said that he is the one who collects the Souls of the Hades (from Greek, Hadēs, originally, Haidēs or, Aidēs, probably from Indo-European *n̥-wid- 'unseen' refers both to the ancient In Greek mythology, Thanatos (in Ancient Greek, θάνατος &ndash " Death " was the Daemon personification
- In YuYu Hakusho, the character Botan and other shinigami are represented as kimono-wearing girls that ride on oars. is a Japanese Manga series written and illustrated by Yoshihiro Togashi with an Anime adaptation The following is a list of characters from the Manga and Anime series YuYu Hakusho. These girls guide departed souls to the Spirit World (Reikai), where they are judged by the deity Koenma. The following is a list of characters from the Manga and Anime series YuYu Hakusho.
- In Zombie-Loan the main character, Michiru Kita, has what is called "Shinigami Eyes". is a Japanese Manga series created by Peach-Pit; Banri Sendo and Shibuko Ebara These allow her to see a faint ring around a person's neck, when this ring becomes completely black that person's death is near or that person is a zombie.
- In Princess Mononoke the Shishigami (The Forest Spirit which resembles a great stag during day) turned into a Shinigami when his head was cut off. is a 1997 Japanese Anime film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki of Studio Ghibli. It resembled a humanoid made of tar-like liquid that towered over the forest and trees, killing anything that touched it.
- In The Dark One Saga, a horror tetralogy. Shinigami watch over a person their entire life, serving the dual purpose of guiding them to limbo once deceased, as well as being a guardian angel. A guardian angel is an Angel who protects and guides a particular person
- In Dragon Warrior II and a clear data file of Dragon Warrior Monsters, the evil priest Hargon wishes to summon a shinigami named Sidoh (called Malroth in the original NES version of Dragon Warrior II). Dragon Warrior II, known as in Japan, is a role-playing Video game developed by Chunsoft and published by Enix (now The Nintendo Entertainment System (often abbreviated as NES or simply Nintendo) is an 8-bit Video game console that was released by It is unknown whether or not Hargon wants Sidoh to help him rule the world, or destroy it.
Characters associated with death are also commonly named or nicknamed "Shinigami":
- In Rozen Maiden, Suigintou's medium(Megu Kakizaki) prays to Shinigami-sama in the episode where they first meet. is a Manga by the group Peach-Pit, with an Anime series of the same name The following lists the characters from the anime series Rozen Maiden.
- In the Akumajō Dracula/Castlevania series (video games), a character named "Shinigami" (Death in the US games) is a loyal servant to Dracula, working to hasten his master's revival and assisting him in creating a world of darkness. Castlevania is a Video game series created and developed by Konami. Dracula is an 1897 novel by Irish author Bram Stoker, featuring as its primary Antagonist the vampire Count Dracula.
- At least three characters from the multiple Gundam universes are called "Shinigami" as a nickname. is a Metaseries of English Anime, featuring tiny robots or " Kounans " created by Sunrise studios These include, Kyral Mekirel from G Gundam, Duo Maxwell from Gundam Wing, and Terry Sanders Jr. from Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team. is a Japanese animated Television series directed by Yasuhiro Imagawa ( Giant Robo, Getter Robo Armageddon is a fictional character from the Anime series Mobile Suit Gundam Wing. Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, known in Japan as, was an anime series in the Mecha genre and is one of the alternate universe Gundam series is a fictional character in the Anime OVA Mobile Suit Gundam The 08th MS Team. The Anime series is a twelve-episode Gundam OVA series that takes place during the One-Year War, and depicts the point of view of the common soldier
- In the manga Hellsing, character Walter Dornez, has the nickname "Shinigami". is a Japanese Manga series written and illustrated by Kouta Hirano. is a Fictional character in the ''Hellsing'' anime and manga series created by Kouta Hirano.
- The protagonist of the anime Darker Than Black, codename Hei, is known by the nickname "Black Shinigami" for his skills at killing opponents during a war in South America ten years prior. is an Anime television series by Tensai Okamura and Bones. It premiered across Japan from April 5 2007 on MBS,
- In the manga Zombie Powder, the main character, Gamma Akutabi, is nicknamed the "black-armed shinigami", referring to the black armor he has grafted to one of his arms. is an unfinished action Manga and the first serialized work of Tite Kubo, author of the popular manga series Bleach.
- A character in the Klonoa games goes by "Shinigami Guntz" from his job as a mercenary. Most of his moves has 'Shinigami' in front of them.
- In the Japanese manga "Shinigami Lovers" the character Sei is a shinigami who is chained to Mika's soul by the Thantos Lovers chains.
- In the manga "As the Death God Dictates" by Mimori Ao the main character Ayumi is told she had one month left to live by the shinigami Shiro.
- In Death Note there is a Shinigami world. is a Manga series created by writer Tsugumi Ohba and illustrator Takeshi Obata.
- Shinigami believed to be the "God of Death".
Related deities
The following are Japanese death deities but are usually not referred to as shinigami:
- Enma ( -ō, -daiō)
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- Enma, also known as Yama, is a Buddhist deity who judges the dead with either reward or punishment in Jigoku (the afterlife). is the Japanese name for Yama, the ruler of the underworld in Buddhist mythology Yama is the name of the Buddhist Dharmapala and judge of the dead who presides over the Buddhist Narakas ( Pāli: Nirayas "Hells" Buddhism is a family of beliefs and practices Diyu ( literally "earth prison" is the realm of the dead or " Hell " in Chinese mythology.
-
- A goddess in Shintoism, wife of Izanagi. In Japanese mythology, is a Goddess of both creation and death as well as the former wife of the god Izanagi. is the native religion of Japan and was once its State religion. is a deity born of the seven divine generations in Japanese mythology and Shintoism, and is also referred to in the roughly translated Kojiki as "male who invites" Izanami is a goddess of creation who later became a goddess of death.
References
- ^ From Japan: "Grim Reaper" Boom in Novels & Manga. Retrieved on 2007-10-02. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1187 - Siege of Jerusalem: Saladin captures Jerusalem after 88 years of Crusader rule
External links
- Article on the Grim Reaper (Japanese)
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