Nue[]
Nue is the fourth arc of Mononoke (2007) spanning two episodes, beginning from episode 8, and coming to a conclusion in episode 9. To find out more about the Mononoke of the same name, visit Nue (Being).
Characters[]
- Ōsawa Rōbo (澤廬房) (voiced by Takeshi Aono): One of Lady Ruri's suitors. A courtier.
- Muromachi Tomoyoshi (室町具慶) (voiced by Eiji Takemoto): One of Lady Ruri's suitors. A samurai.
- Nakarai Tansui (半井淡澄) (voiced by Masashi Hirose): One of Lady Ruri's suitors. A fishmonger.
- Jissonji Konari (実尊寺惟勢) (voiced by Naoya Uchida): One of Lady Ruri's suitors, horribly murdered prior to the competition.
- Lady Ruri (瑠璃姫, Ruri-hime) (voiced by Wakana Yamazaki): The incense school founder who owns the Tōdaiji. She was murdered during the competition.
- Old woman (老いた尼僧) (voiced by Yuri Kobayashi): A servant of Lady Ruri.
- Girl (童女) (voiced by Kamada Kozue): A mysterious girl who appears and disappears whenever Muromachi is alone.
- Nue (鵺): A murderous, shape-shifting mononoke born from the spirit of the Tōdaiji.
Plot[]
Three men seeking to marry Lady Ruri, the sole heir to the Fuenokouji school of incense (kōdō), arrive at her mansion to participate in a competition of incense only to find that the fourth suitor is missing and that the Medicine Seller has taken his place. During the competition, Lady Ruri is murdered. When the Medicine Seller inquires as to why the three suitors are so desperate to inherit the school even after Lady Ruri's death, the suitors reveal that the competition is not actually over the school of incense, but the Toudaiji, a piece of wood rumored to grant its owner great power.
Although Medicine Seller presides over a second incense contest, none of the three suitors win the Toudaiji, as all are killed. It is revealed that the suitors had already been killed by the Toudaiji, and that the Medicine Seller put on this act to make them realize their deaths. The Medicine Seller then asks the Toudaiji, the true mononoke, to reveal itself. The Toudaiji draws its sense of self-esteem from the fact that people value it so highly, yet in truth, it is nothing but a rotting piece of wood. The Toudaiji kills those who seek it, including Lady Ruri's suitors, perpetuating the bloodshed for its sake. The Medicine Seller destroys the Toudaiji, appeasing the souls of its victims, including Lady Ruri's suitors.
This chapter makes a reference to the Rannatai (the type of wood described above) that once existed in the Shōsōin (Great Treasure Room) of the Tōdai-ji temple in Nara, Japan.