Hmmm... Parts ?

Discuss about anything related to the Twelve Kingdoms, also known as 十二国記, Juuni Kokki or Jūni Kokuki. Talk about the novels, the anime, the writer Fuyumi Ono or illustrator Akihiro Yamada, but beware for spoilers!

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Gormodoth
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Hmmm... Parts ?

Post by Gormodoth »

First off, if any of the translators/enconding team reads this I'd just like to say thank you for the great work so far.

Now how to put this.. I understand that all of the children in 12 Kingdoms are born from trees. So I was wondering.. do the adults... have the.. umm.. parts?

Some people say I have too much time on my hands..... I wonder why that is.
Ostsol
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Post by Ostsol »

Well, if we assume that the inn where Yoko and Yuka were almost sold to was a brothel. . . I guess the answer is yes. :)
Shadowbard
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Post by Shadowbard »

I would also assume that they do, but that for some reason they're all sterile or something. Not entirely sure how that works, but we have to just trust in the fact that the creator knows what's going on, ne?

Somehow, it works. We'll leave it at that. ^_^

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rakucho
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Post by rakucho »

You're a very sick god, Tentei. Creating a person with a "pleasure" organ that has nothing to do with the survival of the species... tsk tsk tsk...
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Mazoku
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Post by Mazoku »

LOL....I love the title of the topic! :mrgreen:
SNeptun
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Post by SNeptun »

Well, as in our modern world women can become pregnant without having a partner with the essential "parts", anyone has an idea if a single person in the 12K-World can wish for a baby on that tree? eventually even men?
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TenAJs
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Post by TenAJs »

not really... you have to be a married couple to wish for one.
Jinx999
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Parts

Post by Jinx999 »

If people in the 12 kingdoms are missing important body parts, then a Taika would lose them when they return to their "true form". :twisted: As we didn't see Youko COMPLETELY :P freak out, I don't think they do.
However, I am wondering if people in the Twelve Kingdoms have navels or if menstruation occurs.
ZyreX
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Post by ZyreX »

LOL! I don't think they lose them....
maybe those guys just don't know "HOW" to do it the normal way!
and that those trees are actually cloning machines scanning the ribbons for DNA (the girls and the guys and then mixing them together)
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Xanthe
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Post by Xanthe »

ZyreX wrote: those trees are actually cloning machines scanning the ribbons for DNA (the girls and the guys and then mixing them together)
Wow, now that's an interesting theory! :-P I'd really hate to see JK take a technological twist; that would kind of ruin the whole allure of the series. I doubt that'll ever happen though. If Spielberg ever got his hands on the series, however, we might be in some trouble :lol:
Lannie
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Re: Parts

Post by Lannie »

I can definitely understand some of the confusion, but I think if we think look over the facts it make sense. ^_~

Firstly, 12K is built on the premise that Tentei was dissastified with the world as it was, detroyed it and remade it. For the purpose of our arguement we'll assume that the world before Tentei remade it was identical to anicient China. People are now born from the land, eliminating the need for sexual intercourse that leads to reproduction. Ergo, eliminating the need for more than one gender. However, it is clear that there are different genders in the world of 12K. So we then assume that Tentei left gender intact just because variety is the spice of life. We know that sexual intercourse occurs because the world of 12K has brothels and people can enter into romantic relationships.

Even though taika are in some sort of "shell" in our world, there are limits. No taika undergoes extreme/radical changes when back in 12K. As my science teacher used to say, "Nature generally does what's easiest." So if its convenient for Tentei to alter taika just a bit, we can assume it's just a bit and no more than necessary. There are a good many people in this world who are sterile, so we'll assume that all taika are born sterile to begin with therefore no radical change once they get back to home base. No missing "parts."

As for navels, the answer is yes. We can clearly see in the opening sequense, that the fetus in the ranka indeed has an umbilical cord connecting it to the riboku. Ranka get their nutrition through the riboku, just as a fetus gets its nutrition through its mother. As for menstration, I would have to say no. A woman menstrates when the uterus (womb) is not carrying child, so its protective lining breaks down. If women are not carrying children in 12K, they do not have a uterus. In fact there are women in the real world who aren't born with a uterus to begin with. Again, we can assume that female taika are also born without a uterus. One less thing for Tentei to alter. It would also cut down on trauma to the taika's body.

In short, even though reproduction via intercourse does not exist in 12K, separate genders do. Therefore, sex organs' primary function of reproduction and things pertaining to are eradicated, however their other function the defining of secondary sex characteristics (the things that define gender, deeper/higher voices, facial hair/lack thereof, developed/undeveloped mammary glands, et cetera) are left intact.

I hope this clears up any confusion. Although, it may traumatize those scarred by high school science class. ^_~ Dissection never was a pretty thang.

-Lannie
Jinx999
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Re: Parts

Post by Jinx999 »

We know that sexual intercourse occurs because the world of 12K has brothels and people can enter into romantic relationships.
Agreed.
Even though taika are in some sort of "shell" in our world, there are limits. No taika undergoes extreme/radical changes when back in 12K. As my science teacher used to say, "Nature generally does what's easiest." So if its convenient for Tentei to alter taika just a bit, we can assume it's just a bit and no more than necessary. There are a good many people in this world who are sterile, so we'll assume that all taika are born sterile to begin with therefore no radical change once they get back to home base. No missing "parts."
It will depend on the source of sterility. If they lacked testes or ovaries, people would look seriously different since these organs produce hormones necessary for the development of secondary sexual characteristics.

As for navels, oops. I just noticed that. You're right. I'll ask a doctor about menstruation.
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Re: Parts...again

Post by Lannie »

Jinx999 wrote:

>It will depend on the source of sterility. If they lacked testes or ovaries, >people would look seriously different since these organs produce >hormones necessary for the development of secondary sexual >characteristics.
>
>As for navels, oops. I just noticed that. You're right. I'll ask a doctor >about menstruation.

One does not need to lack testes or ovaries to be infertile/sterile. Men are capable of producing semen without sperm. Or their sperm can be damaged (usually overheating) to the point rendering them incapable impregnating an egg. Or as KOTH fans know, a narrow uretha can be a culprit of infertility in men. Likewise in women, damage to the ovaries can render a women infertile/sterile. Or the eggs damaged to the point where they will not accept a sperm. And some women have ovaries that don't produce eggs. So the purposes of 12K, one can assume that men's semen lacks sperm and that a women's ovaries do not produce eggs.

I'm not sure what you need to ask a doctor about. Menstruation is pure and simple, the shedding of the lining of a women's uterus. Basic high school biology, children. In a fertile woman, the ovaries produce an egg, it's released into the fallopian tubes, if it is not impregnated, the egg disintegrates and the lining of the uterus breaks down. We're done, you're done, it's over. What else is there to ask?
Jinx999
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Menstruation

Post by Jinx999 »

I asked if there was any types of infertilty that did not cause any other effects, so that the people of the twelve kingdoms would otherwise develop normally without being eunuchs or something.

She suggested Androgen insensitivity which is when, although you have XY chromosones, your body cannot recognise tetosterone and therefore develop as a female. This causes sterility and IIRC, the sufferer lacks a womb.

However, Youko has got enough of an identity crisis already. :)
rakucho
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Post by rakucho »

-__-;;; man... I was pretty sure we got this topic covered a while ago. Guess ppl just can't get enough discussion about sex and sex-related topics. I'll leave this dicussion to Tentei, he's more well educated in this area than I. He's got a larger pr0n collection. :D
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Lannie
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Post by Lannie »

In your previous posts you said ask a doctor about menstruation, not androgens and infertility. Most causes of infertility/sterility usually do not impact the body other than the initial sterility itself, so I'm not quite sure what you were talking about when you mentioned eunuchs.

Androgen insensitivity is possible, but it implies that there are no XX women in 12K and that it is unreasonable to believe so. That drags in the idea that there are no "real women" in 12K, which is a bit much. Definition of gender both biologically and socially is a tricky thing, but I will say this, infertility/sterility and/or lacking a womb whether in real life or in literature does not make a woman less of a woman. Also, nature tends to do what's easiest. Androgen insensitivity is due to conditions faced by the fetus in the mother's womb. 12K has no wombs. Logically, wombs would just not exist in the female body to begin with. The leap to androgen insensitivity doesn't even have to be made.
Seravy
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Post by Seravy »

a little random and not sure if someone had already brought this up but if reproduction through sexual intercourse is not an issue, does that mean homosexuality is not condemned in JK? and anywhere in the novel/anime mention the situation about children for same sex couples? (like, will they receive a child if they tied their ribbons on the riboku?)
rakucho
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Post by rakucho »

hmmm... interesting question indeed....

*looks at tentei and shinkun*

what say you on this matter, oh mighty lords?
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