BLUE SEED: 

Ancient Japan has left us many legends, which have inspired a great number of artists in the fields of animation and manga. Works like Masamune Shirow's ORION, Kei Kuzunoki's OGRE SLAYER or Hayao Miyazaki's KAZE NO TANI NO NAUSICAA are well documented examples of the extent of this inspiration.


Shown on TV a little more than one year ago, BLUE SEED, by Yuzo Takada (3X3 EYES, SUPER CATGIRL NUKU NUKU, EVERYDAY IS SUNDAY) is one of the more recent works to draw inspiration from Japan's immense wealth of legends. A 25-episode series produced by the BS Project, BLUE SEED was based on one of Takada's own manga works, named COMICS GAMMA. He directed the whole project himself and the result was Takada's own brand of romance, action and comedy in its purest form. Basically, BLUE SEED recounts the battle between the forces that ruled ancient Japan and the ones that rule the Japan of today; the war of the spirit world against the formidable industrial power of today's Japan; magic against science and technology.


However, the Legend began eons ago, when Japan was still a young land and the gods were still living amongst humans. Susano-O, the storm god, had been traveling through Japan and, one day, his wandering led him to the Hi river, in Izumo. This is where he met Ashi-na-zuki, the earth god, and his wife Te-na-zuki. Both of them were very sad, for each year, Yamata-no-orochi, the eight-headed dragon, would come and devour one of their eight daughters. Now, it was the time of the dragon's return and he would take away their last daughter, princess Kushinada. Susano-O listened to their story and proposed to slay the monster if they gave him their daughter's hand. The parents gladly accepted and Susano-O prepared for battle. Under his supervision, the old couple prepared an enormous quantity of sake (rice wine) and divided it in eight gigantic bowls. Then Susano-O transformed the princess into a comb and stuck her in his hair. When the dragon appeared, even Susano-O was impressed. It was as long as the eye could see, trees grew on its back and each of its eight heads had eyes like burning amber. When it saw the bowls of sake, the monster devoured them and became drunk. Susano-O, waiting for that moment, drew his sword and killed it. Then he took the sword that was in the dragon's tail (that sword later became part of the imperial regalia) and restored the princess to her true form. They married in Suga and their children became mythological heroes.


In BLUE SEED, thousands of years have passed and the Aragami have been asleep for all this time, thanks to the legendary power of princess Kushinada and Susano-O's female descendants. It was said that this mysterious power consisted in a kind of energy, which was liberated by its owner's death and could contain the Aragami. However, fifteen years ago, the birth of the Fujimiya twins, Kaede and Momiji, split the power of the Kushinada in two and the Aragami woke up, starting the Aragami war. The Aragami is much like a plant and uses "Mitama's" (blue seeds) to take control of any living creature and transform it into a monster that only serves the Aragami's cause.


To thwart the plans of the Aragami, the Japanese government created the NLMB (National Land Management Bureau). Headed by Daitetsu Kunikida, the NLMB fought the Aragami on all fronts and even kidnapped Kaede, the oldest Kushinada twin, to study and develop weaponry based on the legendary Kushinada energy. The NLMB's scientists also discovered a new ceramic that could contain that energy. Even if Kunikida had adopted Kaede, that did not stop him to use her as a weapon. With time, Kaede started to feel the need to discover this "destiny" her adopted father was always talking about. One night, she went to the Aragami and disappeared, leaving Kunikida in grief. However, he knew that the monster had not won yet, for there was another Kushinada, an ordinary girl named Momiji Fujimiya. The only question was: would she be able to stand up and face the storm?