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Hey everybody! Welcome to the start of 13 days of Otakutober 2023! This year, I’ll be talking about a very familiar trope anime. Now, it would be ridiculous if I were to list all the anime that involves curses So I’m going to do my best to list a few that help explain the kind of curses you can find in anime.

Curses. Not to be confused with contracts, are vastly different but widely used themes in a lot of anime all throughout time. This trope has never been retired. Honestly, because it’s a great plot device! But here’s a few major differences between the curses that you’ll find. Some of these, date back to the feudal era explaining how one person can find themselves in a particularly sticky yet cursed situation.

This can go back to the very beginning of exorcisms in Japan. There was a ton of reasons how one person could get cursed by: an item, a place, person, death, or negative feeling. Most of these stories were made to scare the audience into behaving a certain way. It also brought forth a different perspective which sometimes deterred people from entering particular spaces. A good example of this would be, Inuyasha. In this show alone, there is a multitude of curses used to trap, hinder, punish and threaten various characters throughout the show. Inuyasha himself was cursed by kiko’s arrow to stay asleep against the tree. Meanwhile, the hatred caused by Oniguml created the demon we know as Naraku. Another good example of this, can be the origin of how demons are created.

A good cursed item example would be, any story that involves a item that drains your life/ energy/ common sense / compassion. This particular concept crosses a lot of eastern mythology. One of my favorites being Mo Dao Zu Shi’s Nie Clan, where the swords made in from their land will overpower it’s users and cause insanity. In the same show, the tied to a certain land they say is cursed because it sits on a mound of buried bodies. Since this isn’t your average ghost story, a whole group of people are able to move in with no problems really. While, the other clans refuse to enter due to fear of a cursed place.

The modern take on curses may include things that involve Satan. A lot of these sort of curses, come from the western influence of Christianity and Catholicism. Shows like, blue exorcist is a good example of what I mean. Here we’re taking a western concept and mashing it with an eastern one. The specific reference to Satan is not to be confused with any mention of devils when listening to dub or things in english. There is a very clear distinction between the Japanese Oni, Akuma, Yasha and so on. Although there is a lot of anime about vampires and werewolves those don’t count for this blog post since they are not of Asian origin.

Anywho, there you have it! Some examples of curses in anime, it’s up to you to find more! Be careful of what you touch and happy hunting!

AishiteLOVEru,

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