I only just saw the end of the ninja scroll series and wondered at the end when Mufu and Anden are fighting in the volcano they stop and their bodies are showen to be shells hiding a little man in each. Are they brothers?? and did they plan all of what happened to happen, cos they seemed to stop fighting and have a chuckle with each other, in a Hannibal from A-team style "I love it when a plan comes together" way.
Any idea?
Yes, I'm assuming they are brothers. But I don't think the proceedings were planned at all. I think they just both accepted Shigure's decision and that their battle had become meaningless.
It could be that Mufu and Yamidoro's sibling rivalry helped cause the friction between the Hiruko and Kimon in the first place.
I also find it interesting in Episode 10 when Jubei briefly fights Yamidoro who tells him he wishes to be a real man like him. It makes you think because Yamidoro is just a mechanical creature but really it's because he is a shrunken little man.
Thanks for posting your thoughts, I only got round to watching the whole series through the other day, and that bit was really bugging me. Yeah i think they must be brothers, and i like your point in ep10. I can't help get the feeling though that they did know it was all gonna end that way, plus why would they stay in the volcano as it burst, dying (i assume they die) as if thier job was complete, destiny achieved?
shareNice to have you here. I'm pretty deprived of people to talk to about this series, even though for me the original film surpasses it easily.
But I still say that Mufu and Yamidoro in particular weren't aware of their fates from the start. Yamidoro is accompanying Yamikubo so that they can grasp the Maiden of Light's treasure.
I think Mufu and Yamidoro probably welcomed their deaths because they were tired of fighting one another and perhaps thought the only release would be through death, perhaps?
Just theorizing here.
Renya and Yamidoro are not men. They are actually magical beings (which is no surprise). They use dolls to make people believe they're men, however, did their possession of magical abilities not intrigue you at all?
They are actually (very powerful) trickster spirits, and their entire purpouse is to have fun. Which is why in the end, they survive, despite the volcano blast.
How'd you know they survived?
shareInteresting way of putting it, though I do not think their magical powers went so far beyond the rest of the demihumans. Spirits or not, they are certainly very powerful, and by my theory as well, tricksters of a sort. But I would like to extend the theory to a contest. I haven't sufficient evidence to support this theory, but it fits and is fun.
Imagine them as, at least, powerful and long-lived beings that were around at the time the dynasty was lost, and with it, the power of the ancients was lost until the light maiden could be awakened. I suspect they proposed a contest to see who could sway the light maiden, once awakened, to use the power for good or evil. They each took up opposing clans and perhaps had stipulations, such as never revealing their true forms. In the end, they cheerfully discard their shells and have a good laugh at the outcome, because after all those years, it had been a draw. The light maiden hadn't chosen to use the power of the ancients for good nor evil, but renounced her powers entirely.
I'd like to think they were spirits, if only so that Mufu's death was simply part of the game, rather than an actual attempt by Yamidoro to murder his own brother. His "resurrection" might have just been a part of the game as well, though probably bordered on cheating.
Is all this too far fetched? Did I miss any details that would contradict this theory?
I go with the trickster spirits theory, which is a little disturbing in itself since lots of 'people' died for them to play out their game. Similar to many stories that have similar themes of Gods using us humans as pawns for their sick chess games.
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