So...I have this idea for a story that's been mulling around in my head for the last...oh, 15 years or so. I would have made a comic book of it already, if I had any artistic ability whatsoever, which I don't. My 4-year old draws far better than I do.
Here's the gist:
In a remote village in early medieval Japan (deliberately ambiguous time period, though probably late Heian period), a young man is sent off to a Buddhist monastery in China to learn his father's trade -- that of a Shingon sect priest, as his father is the village's resident priest. Unfortunately, after just several months, his father dies unexpectedly and he is forced to return home to take over the care of the village shrine with only partial training. He returns having taken the Buddhist name "Bai Shan" (Hakusan in Japanese), or "White Mountain".
It just so happens that this village is being beset by a kitsune, or fox spirit, named Youko. The interplay of the priest character and the fox character is the real core of the story. After several run-ins (including at least one attempt to seduce him), he eventually corners her and uses the esoteric magic taught to him (Shingon is noted for a tradition of "hidden" teachings to banish demons, heal the sick, etc.) to threaten her with banishment. She begs for mercy, and he decides to spare her but makes her swear an oath not to harm any of the people of the village, to which she assents.
Eventually, Youko settles into the woods around the shrine and becomes a companion to Hakusan and sort of a mystical protector of the village. She is very powerful, but is....immature isn't quite the right word. It's more that she doesn't comprehend the full consequences of her actions, like a child. I imagined a scene where she helps defend the village from bandits by killing them in some incredibly gruesome way and animating the corpses like puppets because she finds it amusing, and doesn't understand why Hakusan is horrified.
The setup would be good for a "Monster of the Week" run of stories, as a good way to dredge up and use obscure monsters from Japanese folk tales, but these would really be a vehicle for character development. I imagine other story arcs that would explore the character of life in rural Japan, the role of Buddhism in village life, and elements of Buddhist theology itself. The big thing is that I would strive as much as possible to be historically and theologically accurate.
Another character element I'd like to explore is that Hakusan's training is woefully incomplete. The kickass, demon-exorcising Buddhist priest (who usually doesn't act very Buddhist at all) is a staple character in anime and HK film, so I thought it would be interesting to have a priest who is forced to be a monster-fighting badass, but really isn't an ideal candidate for the job.
The biggest hurdle, for me, is the artwork. I have this very distinct idea of what I want it to look like, but lack any ability to make it happen. I'm not too concerned with how most of it is drawn, but I'm locked into this notion that Youko, when in fox form, would be this hazy, indistinct figure drawn in a sumi-e style, with just a few brush strokes suggesting a fox, to underscore her "otherness" compared to the mundane world she inhabits.
Any thoughts? Comments? Offers to draw? I'm also not very well-versed in manga, so I'd be very curious to know if there's already something out there like this.
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Topic: idea for a graphic novel/webcomic -- comments? (Read 1293 times)