Komainu
Congratulations to everyone who figured out that Jin is, in fact, a komainu 😀
Sorry that I didn’t reply to everyone last week, but there were a staggering amount of comments this time. Rest assured, I read all of them. I just didn’t have the time to go and reply to all of them.
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I’m back I’ve finally was able to click the cookie button on my phone so hopefully my name and email will stay in the comments area
Oof, was the cookie button that much of a problem? I tried to have the least invasive one possible that would still make me obey these stupid european rules xD
The “share this comic” buttons show up along the bottom of the screen on the mobile site, which is also where the cookie button appears. You either have to catch it before the share options appear or view the desktop site.
Take a hug, little one, you’ve got no choice,
it’s the true Kaya way of saying ‘hi’.
Her actions speak louder than her voice
and she’s saying she likes you, guy.
He’s not quite used to the touch, it seems,
even from one quite as sweet as Kaya.
But, showing off the home of his dreams,
with Kai I think he’s off to a flyer.
Explaining his truth as best he knows,
Jin’s letting them both in upon his dream
little knowing that, if he asked Kaya,
the answer would involve Chocolate cream.
Are they eastern or western dragons
No wiskers and kai is short of a basketball player
Deffenetivly western
No wings either plus their hair goes from head to tail still might be eastern
It’s a big mix of concepts. I personally think the Portuguese Coco is the closest to them, but as far as canon goes they’re Robinian drakes.
Scale color could give a hint towards western. I know its not definitive but you definitely see much more green western dragon types than eastern.
Lol I’m nearly a carbon copy of kai except that i’m better than him at basketball. same height age and weight too XD
Size might also be tied with age, if they follow dragon age logic they are still just babies…..
That in mind, I fear Kaya at “adult green dragon” age. o_o
I think I have a new biggest fear and greatest dream from imagining that. Just imagine if they were immortal until killed but always growing. Now that would be terrifying/ Sadly the mostly human rule means that its probably impossible, but still fun to imagine.
I believe (correct me if I’m wrong) that hybrids are from the location of the creature they are a hybrid of. Perfect example in the comic above.
They’re just dragons. I didn’t base them on any particular species ^^
They seem to be getting along just fine.
And what’s a Kaya greeting without a tight hug, and the prying off of Kaya after said hug, even by the recipient./?
Jin: “Hi Kai, nice to meetcha. By the way, got a crowbar?”
By this point, the Kaya-hug is tradition xD
Kaya’s goes blep.
She sure does 😀
aw you not gonna point out how she a is decendant of ghosts kai?
;p
He is no descendant of ghosts xD
(unless you mean his descendants are now ghosts, in which case you’re right xD )
I think you mean ancestors
Could environmental variables affect what hybrid types are born? Jin’s family is closely connected to a temple, and the twins seem more European dragon then Chinese dragon (only the fur down the back). Maybe the zebra hybrid (I forgot the name) has ties to Africa? Would panda hybrids only be born in families with Asian ties? So many questions.
Zebra is “Zuri” and she is an occasional cameo guest. (A really cute cameo guest! ;-))
they are not tied to a geographical region ^^
Good girl Kaya, you are down from tiger pounce attacks to aggressive hugging, that is a step in the right direction when meeting new people ^^
She’s learning :3
Waffles!: “full on” and “steel melting” should both be hyphenated.
Thank you for spotting that ^^
Meanwhile in an other universe: Prior to Kaya bear-hugging Jin he says- “Omae Wa Mou Shindeiru!”
and the result stays the same xD
I called it. Kaya’s hugs are like a black hole for cuteness: Nothing can escape! (Please no Hawking Radiation comments.) I’m glad to see she seems to be developing just a little bit more control over the whole tackling people with hugs thing. Here’s my real question from this week’s comic though: Is Jin actually strong enough to pry Kaya off of himself? He IS a mythical hybrid modeled after an ancient guardian. Then again, the one hugging him IS a dragon and also in a position with better leverage. Oh well. Either way Jin seems like a rather interesting new addition to the cast, and I hope we’ll get to see quite a bit more of him! Keep up the good work Robin! It can’t be easy drawing all of those curls. xD As always, stay awesome!
But hawking radiation isn’t cute
Good point. I guess that makes Kaya’s hugs more like a PERFECT black hole. If there is cuteness around, it will be hugged without even the smallest chance of failure.
Actually no. Kaya herself is cute and THAT is equivalent of hawking radiation.
There we go! Now everything checks out. I can’t believe we didn’t think of this before.
Maybe she’s more careful if they’re little xD
Good question. Epic battle between a dragon and a komainu xD Might be a bit unfair as Jin is noticeably smaller.
Thanks Alpha 😀 The curls have a method to them, so it’s not that bad to draw them xD
Personally I think the argumentation behind hawking radiation is kinda wierd. If it’s possible for the negative particle to fall in while the one with positive mass to fly away, why not the opposite, where the positive one falls in while the negative one flies away? Is there any reason for one to be more common than the other beyond “our theories need a way for black holes to lose mass”? What kind of autistic lunatic would discuss this in the comments of a webcomic with only tenuos ties to science?
We were making a joke dude. There are a bunch of science needs in the audience who both enjoy the story Robin has to tell and overanalyzing the theoretical science behind it.
Science *nerds*
I know that typo was my autocorrect
On the one hand, I knew that.
On the other hand, see the line about the autistic lunatic.
Cliff beat me to it. Thank you.
No broken ribs on that squeeze, good hug!
Father owns a temple eh? I wonder then if his parents believe there is a link to his being a Komainu hybrid.
Kai’s doing well in helping this get off to a good start. Let’s hope things keep going well!
But what’s the mythical power? I mean the twins have fire, what does Jin have?
Other than being a hybrid version of Inuyasha’s father…
Is supreme cuteness a mythical superpower?
Kaya may have met her match when it comes to weaponised cuteness.
Has Kaya ever -weaponized- her cuteness? I feel like she’s more likely been on the receiving end of the weapon.
she kinda did earlier in the chapter. Right before setting doctor Fern’s hair on fire
Ah, right. The ‘can I please use the stethoscope’ plead. I guess that’s fair.
Komainu. So that’s what those temple canines are called. Now I’ve got “Open and Close, Demons and the Dead” stuck in my head.
…I don’t think that song is terribly appropriate to this page.
And Kai is absolutely right, a two-story building of those proportions (going by the double-doors up front for scale) is a bit bigger than is really necessary as a home.
What exactly makes a komainu mythical. As near as I can tell from what I found they are just stylized lions statues, some think they look like hybrid lion dogs but nothing about them is mythical “occurring in or characteristic of myths or folk tales” I can find no tales or myths involving them they are just there as guardians.
I would assume their status as guardian spirits make them a mythical subtype of lion. Like the nemian lion from Hercules’ labors. Iust realized a functionally bulletproof nemian hybrid would be awesome. Just imagine the parents when they take their nkid to the barber and they wind up destroying half the equipment with the mane of steel.
“The Mane of Steel” LOL 🙂 Super Pony!!
Just noticed the tpos everywhere.
I even misspelled typo.
Hopefully it’s not literally steel. MRI’s would get quite…hairy.
If you go by the name then Komainu are dogs; ‘inu’ is Japanese for dog. That said, they were originally lions. I don’t think it’s particularly clear which one of the two they’re considered to be now; probably something inbetween. A quick glance at wikipedia suggests that their history is:
– Guardian lions first appeared in Tang Dynasty China, possibly inspired by lion pelts coming from the Silk road,
– They first appeared in Japan as a pair of lion statues,
– By the ninth century they had gradually changed to two different statues – one a lion with its mouth open (shishi) and the other a dog with its mouth closed (komainu),
– By modern times they had gradually changed again to identical statues – except for the open/closed mouth – both called komainu.
It’s pretty common for real-life animals to be given mythical properties in folklore. Is a kitsune just a fox* with a story or is it a mythological creature distinct from Vulpes vulpes? What about a black cat? Lions are frequently believed to have the power to repel evil. Is that enough to consider it ‘mythical’? Depends on who you ask, I suppose.
*’Kitsune’ literally just means ‘fox’ in Japanese, after all, a todd rummaging through your rubbish bins at night is as much a kitsune as a multi-tailed being from myths and legends.
Wait, Komainu are mouth closed? And Reiniger wants help in getting Jin to open up and socialize more, not be so isolated? Robin was that a bit of subtle play on your part?
a really good bit on komainu and the open closed mouth and a bit of history is this site, https://www.tofugu.com/japan/komainu/
We haven’t seen him with his mouth closed yet. Even in panels he wasn’t talking in. He is also male. Shishi is more accurate.
I was referring to the fact that their is no folklore or myths about these creatures they just are. I was curious how they would then be considered mythical. The Kitsune has many stories about how they interacted with people, a leprechaun is more than a little man it has stories and mythology. No one I know considers the lions outside the library to be mythical they are artistic. (please don’t take this as criticism I am just curious on why the author considered them mythical in general, was it because they themselves are kind of hybrid like the people in his story or is it they are guardians of some kind)
Nah, I get you, you’re not being too critical : ) Whether komainu are truly ‘mythical’ is a tricky question because there is no right answer; different people will have different opinions. The statues themselves are more religious symbolism than anything; lions to symbolise protection against evil, open and closed mouths to symbolise the sacred syllable Aum, etc.
I tried to look up what defined a mythological creature, and it can vary a bit. Sometimes it’s a supernatural animal that people once genuinely believed existed – I don’t think komainu would count under this definition. Other times, however, the mythological creature is more allegorical in nature – even in ancient times people didn’t always consider their myths and legends to be true historical accounts. Sometimes symbolism and metaphor is more important. Komainu may count under this definition of mythological creature.
He’s a “Lion Dog” so cat+dog. I guess he could have canine and feline traits that are supposed to be mutually exclusive in hybrids.
But I’m not an expert in zoology, biology, hybribology or whatever other -ologies would be applicable so I don’t know how realistic this would be.
Did some research and found out that komainu mainly had the ability to ward off evil spirits and are guardians of temples and houses. So if he has powers not sure what they may be.
Unusually good luck? Ghost whispering? Maybe some protective guardian mode if he gets provoked?
I did some as well, because I swore he was a shisa.
http://www.iromegane.com/japan/culture/shishi-and-komainu-whats-the-difference/
Apparently the two used to be differenct creatures. But over time they became the same one. Interesting.
That’s like the biggest flex, being able to say “My dad owns a temple! :D”
While the twins live in an apartment above their dad’s restaurant, Kai’s probably going to make a remark about that.
I really like Jin in the secong panel, fighting off Kaya while conversing with Kai. 🙂
NANI!?!?!?
Damn you Robin, my niece is now all googly over Jin…….
Do the twins parents own either a cave or hoard of gold?
Jin’s mouth has been open in every panel thus far, was that intentional?
So has Kai’s. They’re just talking.
Trying to figure out if this or the lollipop made Kaya look happier. I love how right after we see a larger image of a Komainu there’s a model one in front of the model temple. Are they the only mythical hybrids in hybrid city, or is it just that Jin happened to be there and they may eventually meet others? As for my unrelated question, will romance ever play any significant role in this story? I’m guessing not.
Never underestimate the ability of romance to appear in a work. Love can manifest -anywhere-. Children younger than Kai and Kaya have initiated puppy love. And if they’re old enough to have school lockers, they’re old enough to be considering outright romantic attractions. That being said, I’m willing to bet that won’t happen for another couple chapters at least. There’s still a LOT of worldbuilding to be done.
In this case I think Kaya’s enough older than Jin (percentage-wise) that it would be more a matter of making him a ‘pet’ or “mothering” Jim to distraction. 🙂
Caimy sounds like and looks pretty similar to one of my old D&D characters. The main difference i see is that while her heat isn’t necessarily visible my character literally set on fire every time he got angry or scared(or just if he wanted to). It’s fun when I find coincidences like that.
The third panel reminds me when Benji and the twins were talking about how would Benji look like with poodle fur/hair 😀
If a Temple owner gave birth to a Komainu child, what does Marco own that he gave birth to Dragons?
Very spicy meatballs!
He owns a few flamethrowers, you know… for home defense 😛
“Who sold YOU a flamethrower?” “The internet.”
HEAVENS, where did my innocently meant comment lead to?!?!?!
It led right here: http://www.sandraandwoo.com/2015/01/26/0653-persuasiveness/
I actually saw a flamethrower in the store at a shooting range. It was packaged as “gardening equipment” for destroying weeds or controlled burns (some forestry services use them for such controlled burns, particularly in forest ecosystems where seeds are activated by fire).
Actually I found it a little odd that there’d be a flamethrower at a shooting range, particularly since ammunition and propellant (for reloads and muzzle loaders) don’t react well to random fire.
Apparentlythere were Dragons in the Whiteboard yesterday.
http://www.the-whiteboard.com/autotwb3068.html
Why do I mention this? Because that’s the reason there WEREN’T two Dragons appearing today!
http://www.the-whiteboard.com/autotwb3069.png
Yep. You always have to keep your goggles on when in the active play area. It becomes difficult when a sneeze melts your safety gear.
Nice to see you got a reference over on The Whiteboard
But not a cameo(!)
I am soooo glad you pointed that out! Thanks!!
Now I wonder who over at The Whiteboard is reading TwinDragons. 🙂
Doc’s work with DARPA probably keeps him in on all the secrets… (And he may have gotten to know about it either at his own forums or via the crosstimecafe, where he’s also located)
She is more like Aunn from Touhou at least they are both Komainu.