We are, first off, going to assume that your've read this article or, if not, at least this chapter of that article. A lot of our starting points for the research of *this* article started there.

How, you ask? A good place to start is with one of our favorites: the Shugendo, a religious sect that Kaosu is supposed to have come from.

"The mountains and rivers of this moment are the actualization of the way of the ancient Buddhas. Each, abiding in its own phenomenal expression, realizes completeness. Because mountains and waters have been active since before the eon of emptiness, they are alive at this moment. Because they have been the self since before form arose, they are liberated and realized." ~Mountains and Rivers Sutra

One of the things you learn about the Japanese and their religion is that it is as much of a melting pot as America strives to be. The original religion of Japan is Shintoism; it has well over 2,000 gods/spirits and, basically, says "bath every day and worship life." Buddhism, Taoism, and other eastern philosphies filtered into the mix, mostly from China and Korea over the course of time. Buddhism, in particular, is very important to Samurai, as Mirror explained in Kokoro wa Hitotsu, because it gave an outlet, a way, of honoring and understanding and respecting death. Taoism is more of a philosophy than a religion, because Taoists can also be of other religions (we're not making this up, we know a guy who's a Taoist).

Somewhere in all of this religious mingling, some of the precepts and beliefs merged - in a lot of different ways. The one we're looking at, however, is called the Shugendo, and as the author of the Ronin FAQ.txt explains, it's a very literal merger. They combined both Shinto and Buddhist concepts: Kaos wears Buddhist clothes, but has a Shintoist's long hair and medicine bag. He uses Buddhist tantric chants (that filtered just about everywhere, but it's worth noting) and Shintoist hand gestures (well, another thing that's done everywhere, but it *looks* so cool!).

Shugendo was started, near as we can tell, by one En no Gyoja, a wanderer in the Nara period (7th century) who lived near Kyoto. His name means En the Ascetic. In 699 he was banished from society for "misusing his magical powers to control people" (no joke), and he found a new home in Mount Katsuragi. He mixed Esoteric Buddhistm, Shintoism, Confusionism, and Taoism; and word began to spread, making him something of a Messiah or Ghandi; the surrounding mountain ascetics quickly flocked to him in order to find his attainable truth, and word got out. Mind you, there were a *lot* of people wandering the mountains at the time, and as En no Gyoja started to get around, his practices and beliefs became firmer and more distinct and unique. By the 9th century it drew the attraction of the nobility (they're about the only other ones with the free time to try out different religions and things of that nature). This brought about a more official organization and authentication by the Shingon and Tendai sects. After being thrown around for a few years, boom! Shugendo is opened to the populace and the mountain retreats are accesible to the general public. Let me say now, it flourished.

There were a few famous Shugendo practitioners in Japanese history. As near as I can tell, Shugendo and Yamabushi ("mountain warriors," "mountain ascetics," "those who sleep in the mountains," and a few other "mountain" translations. I think it must depend on the kanji used...) are terms used interchangably. Shugendo is the actual religion and Shugenja or Yamabushi are the practitioners of Shugendo. Anyway, one of the most famous Yamabushi is Benki, who is the premiere sidekick of Minamoto no Yoshitsune (famous name! famous name! did you read the ancestor section yet?). He and his master are immortalized in a lot of paintings, and even a Noh play. Another famous Yamabushi is one Mikao Usui (1865-1926) who, thorugh his rigorous training, developed the discipline of Reiki.

Shugendo translates roughly to "the way of cultivating psychic and spiritual powers," and it is divvied up into two sects - Honzan-ha and Tozan-ha, which take after the respective Shingon and Tendai Buddhist sects that legitimized them. Shugendo beliefs are based on a profound respect of the life and vitality of nature. It is what it is, and it always will be. It is about earth and streams and trees, seen in a way I can only begin to imagine. They had this ability to, instinctively, see what the real situation was. En no Gyoja may have had it naturally, but not everyone did, and to have this "sight" was a big deal.

Practitioners underwent rigorous training (and I mean RIGOROUS!), including fasting, abstaining from drinking water, sutra recitation, meditation, and sitting in misogi (spiritual purification under waterfalls - remember the episode where Seiji was frozen in a waterfall? Taking after Kaosu?). Through this, they developed spiritual powers, mostly healing, clairsentience, and the ability to exorsize demons - abilities that Kaosu displays many times. While he never actually heals anyone, he often points out ways to healing and resolution; the fact that he often projects himself mentally and is always aware of the Troopers attests to his clairsentience; and he did exorcize Arago. Shugendo also focused on travelling around mountains (with the yama kanji running round so much, I'm not surprised), specifically holy mountains and their shrines. It wasn't uncommon to have a Yamabushi being allied to a specific mountain and it's power. Mountains themselves are or can be places of great power, where the veil between this world and the other is very thin.

Shugendo focuses on a collection of Buddhist sutras, one of which being the Sutra of Unlimited Life of the Threefold Body. There are other sutras mentioned while I was doing my research, and if any of you are lucky enough to find the actual sutras, you'll get an inside look at what the Yamabushi viewed and held as sacred. In the Sutra of Unlimited Life, it begins by posing questions on Buddhist teaching and authority. The answers to the questions walk through the 41 stages of enlightenment and hearing lessons from the "beginningless and endless Buddha who is one mind and thought," which is then reread as the "beginningless and endless Buddha of NO mind and NO thought;" it is believed that this is the ultimate Buddha.

The introduction of the Meiji Era, however brought it's own problems. Shugendo often favored the Shogun - making them a natural "I-don't-like-you" organization for the new emporer. Tack on the kind of power they held and Meiji liked them even less. Meiji ordered the official religion to be stated as "state Shinto" - a pure Shinto with him as head. Buddhists, were sepereated totally and then severly downgraded; and Shugendo was stamped out with extreme prejudice because of its mixing of religions.

It wasn't until 1948 that Shugendo was officially recognized as an independant religion, and clearly it has never regained its height. Poor Kaosu. I can only hope Kayura can improve things.

Inherant in all this religious philosophy, including Shugendo, is the concept of the five elements - fire, wind, water, earth, and spirit. Obviously, these elements are represented in the yoroi of the Troopers. The five elements run rampant in Japanse culture and are very important to any number of things, from martial arts to feng shui.

"Many Eastern philosophies, and in particular Buddhism, speak of five elements: earth, water, fire, air and space. The first four are supported by the element of space which enables them to exist and to function. Space, or 'ether,' then, serves as the basis for the functioning of all of the other elements." ~Dali Llama

The idea of five elements came, like a lot of things, from China, Buddhism specifically. Each element had it's own representation and meaning and associations, and the five together were cyclic.

Let's look at the elements individually, first. Ryo's element, clearly, is fire. Fire is assosciated with such emotions as passion, unstoppableness, agression, and thermal energy. Ryo, as anyone who's watched the series knows, it very passionate about everything - his friends, his battles, his feelings, etc. These emotions "feul" him, and his strength of heart is second to none - making him downright unstoppable when he sets his mind to something. Agression is also something associated with Ryo well, though not in the way one might think. His agression is more internal than external, getting angry at himself than at others. This may be why he is perpetually blaming himself for his friends' suffering and pain. Fire is also associated with joy - a feeling that Ryo does feel a lot since he's a happy character by nature. Fire is energy in its purest form - and it's Ryo that gives energy and the strength to keep going to the rest of the Troopers. He's the heart of the team, and everyone looks to him for strength; appropriate because fire is physically embodied in the heart. People who have heart transplants have been known to take on certain characteristics of the donor after the operation. Very interesting. Fire is heat and heat is transforming; it's a small wonder that he's the one who transforms into the Kikoutei.

This is also an interesting generality for a lot of sentai anime/TV shows. The one in red is the alpha character (sometimes the "leader") because of these representations, all that energy almost naturally makes him/her the center of attention.

Next up is Touma's element: air. Called metal in the Chinese system, it aligned with Will. A natural extension of this is elusiveness and evasion, as well as wisdom. Belying Touma's kanji of wisdom, the other descriptions suit him well. Touma is perhaps, next to Ryo, the most willful character in the series. He sets his mind to something and then does it - never mind that an entire army of youja is following and attacking him. Touma also has an inate tendency to try and bully the Troopers, particularly Ryo, to his way of thinking - "bending them to his will." He can also control conversation, "evading" certain topics, of just bypassing the whole thing and locking himself up with his computer, often giving him the apperance of being "elusive." This also applies in battle; with the ability to fly, Touma can elude and evade whatever is heading his way, as well as making his point with dozens of arrows. Benevolance and compassion also appear under wind, two traits that again align with Touma. Touma has such great compassion for his friends that he often doesn't know how to handle it, forcing him to almost ignore it and look at it from the wisdom end of things.

Colored white, air is movement, and as a result is physcially represented by the lungs. Touma, by extension of this, is the one that gives everyone direction. It also, interestingly, is associated with the tiger, although I think it is more because of the metal than the air. Metal is a substance of strength, it can attack and defend as a tiger does; it springs into action whenever it is faced with a threat, and Touma certainly does this. Wind is resiliency, the ability to bounce back as a tiger does; and Touma certainly takes his fair share of punishment and still manages to come back for more.

Shin, like the others is an excellent embodiment of his elements. Water is associated with emotion and, of all of the Troopers, Shin is the most connected to his emotions; he understands what he's feeling a lot better than the others do. Water is also a very feminine element; this comes from the Yang of Yinyang (water is also align with suppleness. !! Poor Shin...). In a sentai team, generally women or efeminate men will most often get either water or air (air represents grace - a feminine quality). An alternate color for water is black, and it also is associated with the moon - understandable considering the tides. Water is also defense - a natural for Shin who doesn't want to fight in the first place. He will almost never make the first move and focus on protecting his friends or Nasutei and Jun or the fish. Water is also flexible and adaptable, it can move and flow and take on any shape. While not blatant, it is evident throughout the series. For one, he is one of the few characters that has multiple (read: different) weapons - a yari and a tanto. He never used the tanto, but the fact that it's tere implies that he can adapt to use it if he needs to, and that does require a kind of flexibility. Shin is also the type to arrange events and things for his friends and set blocks of time instead of specific times to allow for when everyone will show up.

Water represents power - not something that comes to mind immediately, but is actually very true. A lot of people associate power with strength, but that is not the case. Torrents and tsunamis often have no source of strength behind them, but hey have build up to much that they are nothing more than pure power. Physically, I couldn't find an organ representation, but water is associated with the tortoise, a natural choice. It is the element that is security and longevity (fountain of youth and all that); it, like Shin, is the element that holds everything together.

Earth once again is personified in Shuu. The more obvious associations include stubborness, stability, and physicality. Shuu is a fighter first and a thinker second. He has a huge stubborn streak about what he thinks is right, and it can sometimes take a while to convice him otherwise. One emotion that represents earth is gravity. Ignoring Newton and his apple, Shuu is actually a grave person. It's not something that you notice first off, because he keeps things like that internal, and frankly it takes a lot to bother Shuu. But when you finally bother him, and really bother him, he takes it very seriously. The possibility of the yoroi being evil and the possibility in Kikoutei Densetsu of the Troopers breaking up are both prime examples of this. The color of earth is, of course, earth tones: yellow, orange, brown, etc. Earth is the center of life, the rock on which everything lives and grows. Where Ryo is the Troopers' heart, Touma their direction, and Shin their togetherness, Shuu is their life and vitality - he's always cracking jokes and smiling and being, well, alive. The Troopers learn to live around him and enjoy life and have fun with it.

Earth is represented by the stomach - picturing Shuu and this makes me smile :) Interestingly, earth is also represented by the snake, a creature that lives it's life on it's stomach. I wonder how much of this would cross over to Naaza... hm...

Finally, Seiji, whose yoroi is Spirit/Wood/Void/Sky/Ether/Space/Emptiness. A lot of words for the same thing: the mysterious fifth element that doesn't have a form to it, but is just *there*. It is represented by things like spontaneity, creativity, and inventiveness. Not something obvious, it does appear throughout the series. Seiji is known for making spur of the moment comments ("I BELIEVE in you!"), and observes and sees things that others can't or don't. Wood is a good repesentation for Seiji, a strong base of roots and branches that spread everywhere, gathering and diseminating energy. Wood is the epicenter of communication. Seiji's communication is mostly internal and with himself, but there are a couple of instances where he and Ryo seem to reach each other mentally, or at least through the yoroi. He also senses Touma's arrow before it appears. His golor is green, a good color for wood and trees, and it is also the color of healing.

Seiji's organ is the liver, the center and collector and dispenser of ki. Interestingly, I believe it's the liver that a samurai aim for when they commit seppuku. Seiji is also associated with the dragon, a creature as ethereal as the element he wears.

Ryo is everyone's inspiration; Shuu is everyones strength of living; Touma is everyone's direction; Shin keeps everyone together; and Seiji walks between all the elements, keeps them talking. If one were lost, the group would suffer horribly, their minds, bodies, and ki would all disrupt because they would then be out of balance. The five elements are cyclic. Fire is over earth is over air is over water is over wood is over fire. The elements are not inactive pieces of a puzzle, each ebb and flow and interconnect with each other. They are processes, stages of transofrmation and affirmation that make up the natural world. Similarly, while the five are perfect embodiments of their elements, they are not locked in these positions. Touma can take on earth like qualities, strength and stability, if Ryo is having trouble dealing with the missing Troopers. Seiji takes on Touma's characteristics, keeping Shin and Shuu focused on their escape while they were captive. It is no wonder that the Troopers had so much power when they were fighting, they were literally representing the world.

"Martial arts are the warriors' way of life. Let us illustrate the idea of a way of life. Buddhism is a way of helping people; Confucianism is a way of refining culture. For the physician, healing is a way of life. . . few people are fond of the martial way of life. The way of the warriors means familiarity with both cultural and martial arts. Even if they are clumsy at this, individual warriors should strengthen their own martial arts." ~Musashi Miyamoto, Earth Scroll of the Book of the Five Rings

Because of all the power running around with the combination of these elements, five is a very lucky number. There are five stone monuments around Himiko-hime (more on her below), and pentagrams run rampant throughout symbols and trademarks, kimonos, sword hilts (tsuka), etc. Musashi Miyamoto (famous name! famous name! Have you read your history yet?) wrote the "Book of the Five Rings," or the "Book of the Five Spheres," as it is sometimes translated. As to be expected, the text is divided into five sections - each element represented - and covers the five styles of defense: upper, middle, and lower position, left, and right guard; he also writes about the five formal styles of swordsmanship.

By converse, four is an unlucky number. While I didn't find any direct explanation, one of the kanji used for four is "Shi," which can also translate to "death." I also wonder if it represents imbalance, that one of the five elements is missing. It might imply why the Masho have such a hard time during the series. Which element are they missing? Naaza is earth, Shuten is closest to spirit, Rajura wind, and Anubisu I think represents water. Of course, fire is the one missing. That's actually kind of cool.

Eight is another number that figures promiently; though for the Troopers is more in the background. There is a book by Nanso Satomi, Hakkenden, written in the Tokugawa Era. In this story, a lord promises to marry his daughter off to whoever could bring him the head of his enemy. He was non-plused when a *dog* did just that. Still, a promise is a promise and he marries his daughter off. The woman goes off to the mountains with her canine companion, and very clearly explains that if the dog even hints towards sexual desires, she will commit seppuku. They live together platonically, but she still manages to get pregnant. A spirit proclaimed that she would give birth to a litter of eight warriors. These warriors each represented one of the eight faces of honor: jin, chi, rei, shin, gi, chu, tei, and ko. Each is a kanji associated with each of the Troopers/Masho, sans Rajura's, nin. Each kanji is personified by their respective wearer. That Rajura isn't included is because there are many, many, many other aspects of bushido - the way of the warrior; such as makoto, charity.

Nine is another lucky number, because it is a combination of not only the five elements, but the four seasons. It is the supreme spiritual, celestial number. If the Troopers and Masho ever get together on something, look out world. I think the best example of this is actually a fanfic, Sionna Klassen's Nine. Read and be amazed.

Another huge connection to Japanese history/mythology are the "Three Gifts:" the mirror, the sword, and the jewel. In the series, they are represented as Kikoutei, the Go Retsu Ken, and the Inochi no Madatama, respectively. These gifts are of huge signifigance in Japanese culture and each have their own representations and meanings.

We begin with how the gifts came to be, as they are very interrelated. It starts with, of course, gods. Two gods, in fact, named Izanagi no Mikoto and Izanami no Mikoto. They were brother and sister, respectively, and also husband and wife. The pair leaned over the Floating Bridge of Heaven and stirred the seas with a jeweled spear. Barnicles fell off the spear, creating the eight-island country of Japan (there's that eight again). They had children, of course; Amaterasu, Susanoo, and Tsukiyomi. Izanagi placed his children in charge of three realms: Amaterasu, the Heavans; Tsukiyomi, the Seas; and Susanoo, the land. Susanoo, the baby brother, wasn't very happy at all. In fact, he threw something of a tantrum.

Hearing that her brother was coming, Amaterasu prepared for battle (smart move), tying her hair back and gathering a bow and arrows. Susanoo tricks her, however. He offers a sword and she accepted it gratefully. She broke it into three pieces and chewed on them (I sure hope she had a good dental plan). She spit them out and each piece became one of the eight million kami that roam around Japan. They exchanged jewels and Amaterasu acknowlegded he wouldn't cause any trouble. Successfully duped, Susanoo barged into Heaven and made a mess - messed up the rice fields, ruining irrigations ditches, relieving himself in her castle and throwing around dead animals. Amaterasu did love her brother, however, and tried to excuse his behavior, convincing herself that he was just drunk. She could not turn a blind eye, however, when Susanoo threw a dead colt inter her weaving room, the resulting crash killing one of her hand maidens.

Humiliated and furious, she flees in tears to a cave. Putting a large boulder behind it, the sun goddess shut away all light from heaven and earth. The world is in peril of death without her light, and the recently created kami came together at the dry river bed of Heaven (the Milky Way) and hatched a plan to bring her out of her self-imposed exile. The plan came from Omoikane - the Thought Gatherer. They assembled all the roosters and let them crow at the mouth of her cave, grabbing her attention. The gods gathered rocks from the bed of Heaven and gave them to Amatsu Mara - the smith god - and he made a sun spear. Meanwhile, other gods made and eight-foot-long mirror, and eight-foot-long string of five hundred jewels, and 160 combs (half made from sakaki trees and half made out of tall grass). A sakaki tree with 500 branches was taken and rerooted at the cave. The string of jewels were placed around the upper half, the mirror in the middle, and white and blue sashed on the lowest branches.

Now the party could begin. They prayed and chanted, the cocks crowed, and sacrifices were made. Amaterasu's curiosity was aroused, but she would not come out. The gods would not be swayed, however; and the party really go under way. Ame no Uzume (Uzume of the Rain...?), got up on a drum and danced, getting so into it that she "became possessed" and started to strip. Well, the gods laughed so hard that Heaven shook, and Amaterasu could resist her curiosity no longer. She peeked out.

"Why is everyone so merry, when it should be dark out?" she called out.

Ame no Uzume very happily replied, "We rejoice because there is a god greater than you!" Nothing like pushing the buttons of narcissism. Amaterasu peeked out further and saw herself in the mirror. She saw how radiant she was (literally, she is the sun goddess) and the light she shined. Enraptured, the gods took her distraction to pull her out of her cave and tied a rope behind her to prevent her from going back. Light was restored to Heavan and earth.

And what of Susanoo? He was aptly punished for his crimes; he paid a fine and had his hair and finger nailed pulled out (Ouch!) and was banished to hell. He has a great series of adventures and misadventures, and one of them brings the third gift into being. See, while wandering around, our god of seas and storms came across an elderly couple as the stroked the hands an feet of their young daughter. The pair explained that they had had eight daughters (that number again), and that the Eight Forked snake Orochi of Koshi had come every year to eat one. Kushinada was their last daughter and they were about to loose her. Orochi was a fearsome creature, with eight heads and tails, spaning over eight hills and valleys. It had eyes the color of blood and trees growing out of its back, not to mention a belly swollen and bloody of all those daughters he'd eaten. Susanoo, either touched or shrewd (I lean towards the latter, personally), says that he will happily get rid of Orochi if the elderly couple allow him to marry Kushinada.

The bargain made, Susanoo turned Kusinada into a comb (he *is* a god, after all) and put her in his top knot for safe keeping. He then gathered eight barrels of sake, one for each head, and proceeded to get the demon completely smashed. In a drunken stupor, Susanoo had no problems killing Orochi of Koshi, making the river Hii red with its blood. While decimating the corpse, Susanoo found a sword in the creatures tail. After his marraige to Kushinada, when he was finally allowed back into Heaven, he gave the sword, named Murakumo no Tsurugi, to Amaterasu as an apology and a peace offering. Life was good again.

The story now shifts back to Amaterasu. She had been having her own problems. For one, she had asked her sister Tsukiyomi to go to the food kami Ukemoshi. Tsukiyomi comes and, by way of greeting, spits out fish, birds, and other foodstuffs. Ukemoshi is shocked by her behavior, so much so that he kills her (this doesn't, however, interupt his job of spewing out foodstuffs of his own so that he can keep the world eating hearty). This insult made Amaterasu so mad that she refused to see her sister face to face again. This is why the sun and moon are seperate, one appears during the day and the other at night. Ukemochi, as an apology, puts silkworms in Amaterasu's mouth and, as she unwinds the threads, discovers weaving.

Another pressing matter for our sun goddess is the earth. Susanoo is no longer in charge of it, and things are generally looking pretty bleak for them. With no other answer in site, she sends her grandson, Ninigi, down to earth to take the reigns, as it were. Ninigi worked at it, and *his* grandson, Jinmu, was the first of (so far) 125 emporers of Japan in the spring of 660 b.c., and the family is still in charge. When Amaterasu sent down her grandson, she gave him three gifts - the mirror that made her see herself, the jewels adorning it, and the sword that her brother gave her as an apology.

The mirror, sword, and jewel exsist today and are kept at Ise Jingu - one of the many shrines dedicated to Amaterasu. Even without their powerful ties to the gods, they each hold their own significance. The sword is symbolic as strength, wisdom, and resolution. It also is a peace offering; displaying the many facets and ways a sword can be used. The Go Retsu Ken are sometimes called the Swords of Passion, and Amaterasu and Susanoo in particular are very passionate gods. Look at the temper tantrum and the drama that came about as a result of it. The sword is a symbol that the emporer (all 125 of them) are defenders of Amaterasu and her role as the nation's guardian. I also think that the sword is a sign of forgiveness, and Amaterasu's ability to still love her brother despite his... nonconformities. These kind of qualities are imbued with Ryo, as he is strong and resolute, a defender of earth, and a big hearted person.

Where the sword is a representation of men, the mirror is a representation of women and spirits. It is believed that if a mirror is dirty or rusty, then the soul must also be as such. The mirror is representative of Amaterasu's nature, bright and honest and reflective, showing one's true inner self. They say that she still resides in her mirror at Ise Jungu. Only the purest of people can weild power like that, so Ryo wearing the Kikoutei - the Sun Emporer's - yoroi suddenly seems like a natural choice. That he's wearing Rekka - the yoroi of fire and that Amaterasu is the sun goddess might also have some implied meaning. Can only someone with the properties of fire, mentioned above, be pure enough to be close to Amaterasu, who rules that fireball called the sun? Hmm...

While the jewels aren't as famous, they are just as important. The jewels are shaped like a tear-drop, perhaps a seed. That is a representation of life (inochi), growth, and nature. It characterizes gentleness and compassion, perhaps even youth. It makes sense then, that Jun (gaki!) weilds the Inochi no Madatama, because unlike the Troopers, he is gentle. It's not to say that the Troopers aren't; far from it, but they are forced to fight and generally be anything but gentle. I'm sure Jun's innocence has a lot to do with it to. The purity and simplicity of a child's emotions can be profound - even to we adults who are so muddled and complex, we forget that sometimes simplicity is the best answer. This is told throughout anime of all forms.

The Shinto gods are far from perfect; they're in fact quite entertaining. But the message they and their gifts to us contain are timeless: making a mistake, correcting it, and receiving forgiveness for it. Amaterasu recognized her mistake of hiding, and was able to bring light back to heaven and earth. Susanoo was punished for his mistake, and later offered an aopology gift. Both were forgiven for their transgressions. Can we, as humans, do any less?

Another interesting source of analysis are the women of Samurai Troopers - Nasutei and Kayura. Japan is one of the few countries that seems to have a role for women (keep in mind I'm coming from a lot of "world history" classes - ie Europe - in school and some broad generlizations) that extends beyond the stereotype. If you want a woman to have powers of any kind, you make them a miko - a priestess.

To begin with - look at the stories of the gods and goddesses. Amaterasu has a *lot* of legend surrounding her, and she's the beginning of the emporer's rule. Ame no Uzume also, does in effect a strip tease for the gods to get things done. There are also historical figures, women who were in charge and made a great impression when they do so. Himiko is one such woman; she reigned somewhere in the 1^st century with 1000 women and 1 male servants. She was rumored to be a magician and a shaman (perhaps the first miko?). When she died, a man tried to take her place. It didn't take long for a revolt to be staged and for Himiko's niece, Iyo, to take over. Later, in the third century, there was an empress named Jinguu. She warned her husband that if he partook in an upcoming battle, he would die. He ignored her. Then he died. Jinguu took this in stride, however. She donned a man's clothes and lead her people to victory. She also used her mystical powers to hold off her pregnancy for a year (I wonder about that, but it does sound cool).

Miko's are priestesses - usually Shinto - who are believed to be endowed with untold spiritual ability. If she dances she can enter a trance and speak to the gods (Ame no Uzume...?). She is a channel of communication of the spirits around her. Looking from this light, Nasutei and Kayura are two types of miko - one for the past and one for the present day.

Kayura is the miko of the past. It is mentioned and displayed several times throughout the series that she has much more powers than the Troopers do. She is a Shugendo - a powerfully magical sect to begin with, a rumored relation to Kaosu who displayed a hefty collection of spiritual skills, and she's a girl. It's no wonder she can throw the Troopers around like soccer balls. This girl can even withstand an all out attack of the Kikoutei and only come out with a cracked necklace. And she's only *twelve*. Imagine what would happen after the series, when she has a holy relic like the shakujo in her hands? Then imagine what would happen when she enters puberty - a time that seems to have great affect on a young miko's powers.

Nasutei, by contrast, is the "new-age" miko. Her powers come from her computer. She "channels" knowledge and secrets through her laptop. Note in the first episode that *she* was the one on the computer and that when she entered in the yoroi names the screen started to glow. Similarly, when she was back as the university - her shrine, if you will - she had a vision of her late grandfather that allowed her to gain access to where the Troopers were located. This is not a coincidence. She is also able to hold and slightly wield the shakujo; leastwise it protects her and Jun and understands that Nasutei wants it to release the Troopers from Rajura's webbing when she throws it. Nasutei also gathers information, in a way. She makes the conscious decision to follow the Troopers at the end of the first season and witness the battle with Arago - that is curcial information to be passed on, a moral to tell her kids and grandkids: stay close to your virtues or this will happen. Wisdom is acquired through experience, and Nasutei certainly gains experience throughout the series. She is something of a miko-in-training, learning to use the magic of the modern world. Kayura is also in training, of the old ways; something I assume the Masho, or hopefully Kaosu, will help her with.

Naria also, possesses some miko-like qualities. She seems to be the only one with any understanding of what's *truly* going on in Kikoutei Densetsu; her eyes are glassy and reflective, taking in everything. She doesn't have any powers that I remember, but she did have a level of control over Mukara. He would stop for her - if only for a moment - perhaps because she was trying to call forth his spirit over that of the Kuroi Kikoutei. I wonder what would have happened if she had proper training. Kikoutei never harmed her directly (I'm not including when she ran into the battle, that was her choice, not Kikoutei's), perhaps because it's spirit couldn't hurt a miko.

These women are powerful in their own rights. They don't fight, and often people mistake that for being weak. But the role they play is actually much more pivotal. When Nasutei makes a discovery, the Troopers benefit. When Kayura is freed from her mind control, she gains the powers of the Oni yoroi and the shakujo. When Naria makes a stand, Mukara stops. They don't fight because they don't need to fight. They take care of the boys (a warrior's woman, not a warrior woman), and supports and helps them in ways that far more beneficial.