Parents & Children: Sacrifice, Love, and Complexity
In recent years, I’ve watched and read anime stories with my children. Most recently, I watched the show Dororo centered around a character named Hyakkimaru who is on a quest to regain all the parts of his body which had been sacrificed by his father to demons at his birth.
The story of Dororo delves into profound themes related to family, identity, sacrifice, and the human condition.
Parental Sacrifice and Ambition:
The central premise revolves around Lord Kagemitsu Daigō, who sacrifices his newborn son’s organs and limbs to demons in exchange for prosperity for his people. His ambition blinds him to the consequences of his actions, leading to immense suffering for his child, Hyakkimaru.
This theme highlights how parental decisions can impact their children’s lives profoundly. It prompts us to consider the balance between personal ambition and the well-being of our offspring.
Hyakkimaru’s Struggle for Identity:
Hyakkimaru grows up without limbs, facial features, or internal organs. His journey to reclaim his stolen body parts becomes a metaphor for self-discovery and identity.
As children grow, they seek to understand their place in the world and their own identity. Hyakkimaru’s quest mirrors this universal struggle.
Jukai’s Role as a Surrogate Parent:
Jukai, the medicine man who adopts Hyakkimaru, represents the nurturing and protective side of parenthood. He provides prosthetic limbs and healing magic, enabling Hyakkimaru to survive and fight back.
Jukai’s actions demonstrate how parental figures can shape a child’s life, offering care, guidance, and love. Additionally, it shows how a parental figure can shape a child. You need not be the “father” to be the father. In this case, Hyakkimaru identified Jukai as “mother.”
Dororo’s Influence on Hyakkimaru:
Dororo, the young, orphaned thief, becomes Hyakkimaru’s companion. Their bond evolves into a surrogate sibling relationship.
Dororo teaches Hyakkimaru about survival, empathy, and shared experiences. Their interactions highlight the importance of companionship and emotional support.
Themes of Forgiveness and Empathy:
Hyakkimaru’s rage and desire for revenge drive him to kill those who wronged him. However, Dororo’s presence tempers his anger.
The story emphasizes forgiveness and empathy—essential qualities in parent-child relationships. Understanding and compassion can break cycles of violence.
Exploration of Morality and Priorities:
The demons’ pact with Lord Kagemitsu raises questions about individual rights versus societal well-being. Sacrificing a child for prosperity challenges our ethical boundaries.
Parents often face difficult choices that impact their children. Dororo invites reflection on the balance between personal desires and communal welfare.
As I think about the “debt” or burden of the child or a parent, it is interesting to think about the perception of “who owes” something to someone. For example, some children say, “I didn’t have a choice to be born, it was your choice, it was your decision to put me here, this is why I exist and so, you owe me.”
The parent may say “I put you on this earth, I raised you, I gave you life, and knowledge and shelter. I cleared your tears, I made you laugh, I made you feel, you owe me.”
In this story, Hyakkimaru’s mother Lady Nui no Kata had no knowledge of her husband sacrificing their son for what he perceived to be the greater good. When she discovered what happened, she tried to take her own life to break the curse. She couldn’t do it as this was a burden placed squarely on the child.
Hyakkimaru started with most of his body parts (48) and senses gone, traded to 48 demons. With no real knowledge of the world around him, blind, deaf, mute and without feeling, somehow his motivation to live and the help of Jukai he could find way. If you are wondering how he could see anything, he saw a person’s energy. I think about as a parent, wanting to sacrifice everything to help my children but coming to terms and understanding that they are on their own journey.
When you give love freely, it is not about what one “owes” another, it is about the choice and the act of giving. Some people may not realize that being a parent in the physical form does not mean that you are a parent in any other way. Society in some places like the United States makes a person pay for their physical act of creating a child but no person can force another person to be a parent.
The father Lord Kagemitsu Daigo, made a pact with 48 demons, sacrificing these body parts to fulfill his own ambitions. The last remnants of his son were abandoned and thrown into a river. As Hyakkimaru becomes more human in physical form, he also loses strength, ability and his killing of demons and others that stood in his way, stained his soul. I think of this in the same vein as getting older and becoming stubborn or less tolerant. Losing parts of what we were in youth and losing our connection with our parents to some extent. Maybe there is place (a realization) where the “super” man or “super” woman who is/was our parent, became human. What a tragic time for a person to discover my father is a human being with flaws. It is obvious that for some people, these human flaws are expressed immediately, and many children suffer as they journey to adulthood fighting demons along the way to discover themselves. In some cases, hating their parents or being angry at them for stealing something from them.
While I believe there are other variations of this story where Hyakkimaru ended in different ways, the version I watched had sacrifice, heavy burdens on all and individual self-discovery. In many ways, when something is lost, it is gone. In the wake of loss, there may be something else to discover. I can share with you that for a cartoon, I was very surprised that both my son and I felt both emotional and empathetic to characters through this story.
I think about my own journey with my parents. I have had more than one Jukai character seek to stitch on an arm or leg as I felt shredded by demons. What is clear to me is that my parents always had the ability to hurt me the most and to help me the most. Looking through the lens of a child, I wanted approval and to be loved unconditionally. The problem with being a child is that we can’t possibly understand the depth of complexity when it comes to the differences between the individual needs of oneself and the ability or need to extend oneself towards or for another human being. Regardless of the fact that you may have created this other person. Sacrifice and self-preservation are not the same thing. It is an interesting dynamic and something to think about.
For my children, I realize that they may be Hyakkimaru or feel that way at times.
For my parents, I realize that I have been Hyakkimaru and now that all the pieces are returned, it doesn’t mean the story is over.
Spoiler alert*** If you plan on watching the show.. do NOT read on ..~~~~!!!!
At the end of the day, Lord Kagemitsu Daigo sat in the temple where he had made a deal with the demons. His son who had been sacrificed, lost his mother, his brother, and suffered from the moment he entered the world, had walked in the door and approached slowly. Lord Daigo had his back to Hyakkimaru and comments about sacrifice, and the realization that he could have had his son by his side and together they could have saved the land. Instead of killing his father, he let him live. Not for the sake of his father but for the sake of his humanity. There are variations of the story where he kills his father and for some people, that works. As for me, I appreciate the idea that it isn’t the act of my father to determine the choices I make. It is always my choice to be who I choose to be and not dwell on what might have been.