SARAZANMAI: DESIRE, LOVE, CIRCLES, AND BUDDHISM.

 

Since Yurikuma Arashi is one of my favorite yuri anime and Kunihiko

Ikuhara is one of my favorite directors, I had to watch Sarazanmai when I heard about it. Needless to say, I loved all of its surrealism, quirkiness,

and… gayness. Ambiguous and metaphor-laced anime series always inspire me to write, forcing me to stretch the outer edges of my

imagination. And while I could talk about all of the show’s imagery and double meanings, I found myself focusing on something else while watching it: one of its main theme. Throughout its 11 episodes, Sarazanmai’s characters repeatedly ask the question “Desire or love?”  At first, this theme had me perplexed. I wasn’t quite sure what it was trying to convey. Then, it hit me… Buddhism! I don’t talk about it

much on here, but I am very interesting in different religious theologies, especially Buddhism. In my interpretation, the idea of “desire vs. love”

relates back to a famous Buddhist philosophy. In Buddhism, there are Four

Noble Truths that are meant to help you achieve enlightenment and reach

Nirvana. In particular, Sarazanmai’s theme reminded me of the Second

Noble Truth. There are different variations, but the version I learned about first is: “THE ROOT OF SUFFERING IS ATTACHMENT.”

Before I go any further, I want to explain something. This Noble Truth isn’t saying you can’t have any attachments. Instead, you should be

pragmatic about the attachments you hold on to (more about this later).In some versions of the Second Noble Truth, “attachment” is translated as

“ignorance” or “aversion.” But since “attachment” is the one I’m most familiar with and it relates the most to Sarazanmai, I’m going to focus on

this term.I personally likened “attachment” to the series’ constant theme of connecting and love. Basically, attachment = connections =

love (whether platonic or romantic). They’re one in the same in my mind. Also, when I think of “enlightenment,” I imagine general happiness, not Buddha-level Nirvana.