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Blue Seed Background Japanese Mythology
If you understand Japanese mythological background, Blue Seed becomes more interesting. I'm not an authority on the subject, but since misconceptions about the background seems to abound, I thought I'll put up a digest version of the relevant myths. In part 1, I'll talk mainly about the Susanooh/Kushinada/Orochi legend, in part 2, I'll talk about the myths surrounding specific Aragami that have parallels in Japanese legends.
The Story of Su-sa-no-oh:
Susanooh-no-mikoto, or Susanooh, is a younger brother of the Sun Goddess Amaterasu-oh-mi-no-kami. Both are children of Izanagi and Izanami, so in Japanese mythology, they are the great dieties. Susanooh is entrusted with the governance of the seas, but was infamous for his wild behavior in Takaamagahara (heaven), frequently wrecking things and causing general mayhem. This at one point leads to Amaterasu hiding in a cave in despair, causing the world to plunge to utter darkness, but that's another story. Anyway, due to his wild behavior, he is vanished from the heavens and descends to earth in Izumo region.
When he lands in Izumo, he meets an old couple (Ashinazuchi and Tenazuchi) and their daughter (Kushinada-hime). According to them, they used to have eight daughters, but every year, a monster known as Yamata-no-Orochi comes and swallows a daughter, and the last daughter will soon be swallowed also. This Yamata-no-Orochi is a monster with 8 heads and 8 tails whose huge body can cover 8 valleys and 8 mountains. Susanooh volunteers to get rid of the Orochi in return for marrying Kushinada. He transforms Kushinada to a comb ("Kushi" = comb, though I don't know why exactly this happened) and prepares strong sake in 8 containers. When Orochi becomes drunk, he cuts up the Orochi, thus winning Kushinada's hand (presumably now transformed back to human form). While he is cutting the Orochi's tail, something notches the blade of his sword. Surprised, he cuts open the tail and finds a fine sword which he donates to the gods. After this episode, Susanooh builds a palace in nearby Suga, marries Kushinada and has three children. Later he desends underground to "Ne"'s kingdom (where the dead go), which is governed by his mother.
The nature of Susanooh:
Susanooh is a strange god in that he is regarded as a barbaric god out of control while in Takaamagahara (heaven), but when he descends to earth, he is regarded as a hero and a peaceful god who governs mountain and water. I'm not sure what this means for Blue Seed, but anthropologically, this is sometimes regarded as a technique used by the Yamato dynasty to subjugate all of Japan; Susanooh is thought to be a god of the natives, among whom he was regarded as a hero, but from Yamato dynasty's point of view (more civilized), this probably appeared barbaric indeed. It is thought that the crafty Yamato dynasty folk incorporated an already established native god-figure to their imperial view and used him as a legitimate reason to subjugate rest of Japan.
The Sword:
The sword Susanooh discovered and gave to the gods was eventually given to a grandson of Amaterasu (Ninigi, great grandfather of Emperor Jinmu, the first emperor, but of course, after WWII, this was revoked) the sun goddess when he came down to earth. The sword is one of the three divine articles that are part of the Japanese Imperial regalia, but lost in 12th century. The sword's name is "Ama-no-Murakumo-no-tsurugi" (heavenly gathering of clouds sword), and it is also known as "Kusanagi-no-tsurugi" (grass cutting sword) when it was used by Yamato Takeru to cut grass to make an escape route when he was surrounded by fire in one of the Ainu subjugation campaigns. (2nd to 3rd century I think. Speaking of which, the new Miyazaki movie, Mononoke-hime is supposed to be from around that time, should be interesting.) So, both Murakumo and Kusanagi refer to the same thing, the sword of Orochi. This will make sense when you see the whole series.
The nature of Yamata-no-Orochi:
"Yamata-no-Orochi" literally means "Big snake with eight forks." I always wondered, if there are eight forks, shouldn't there be 9 heads?? Anyway, anthropological interpretation of orochi legend equates orochi with the rivers and the orochi legend with Kushinada is thought to represent a sacrifice of a girl to appease the gods to prevent floods and hope for a prosperous harvest. Snakes/dragons are often associated with rivers in oriental legends. There are other interpretations also.
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