Taika

DimensionW · Post by **DimensionW** » Sat Apr 19, 2008 9:29 pm

For those of you who aren't particularly up and up on the lingo, taika refers to people like Yoko and Taiki... people from either Japan or China who were born in both worlds.

Apparently, when it comes to higher ups, you can barely throw a rock without hitting one. Of 24 rulers and kirin, at least 4 (more likely 5 or more) are Taika. Considering the probability of any given person in the twelve kingdoms being a Taika, it obviously isn't a coincidence, and the heavens are noted to be colluding on that point somewhere along the line...

That said, I'm wondering just how common they really are... it seems to me that the likelihood of any Taika actually managing to return to the Twelve Kingdoms should be extremely low. Only particularly notable people (again, kings and kirin) and demons can be easily picked out from normal people, so it stands to reason that very few people would return to the Twelve Kingdoms...

That aside, it seems any ranka can be made to be cross over.

It strikes me as a little odd that they are so well documented and known to the people in the Twelve Kingdoms when their ability to return is so minimal. And I'm also wondering why it is that there haven't been any hanjuu noted as being taika.

Eh, I guess this topic is just for musings in general on the whole Taika concept. Feel free to throw in your thoughts.

DimensionW · Post by **DimensionW** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 1:11 am

Yeah, but you'd think if it were so rare for people to be Taika that it wouldn't be such a well-known phenomenon to every scholar on the planet.

DimensionW · Post by **DimensionW** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 7:47 am

En-ho, the guy from Horai who was a scholar and fairly skilled at the language near the end of Sea of Shadows, and plenty of others also have knowledge of what Taika are and even seem capable of identifying them. Also, in order to find Enki in the first place, the concept of the Taika would probably have to have been known wouldn't it?

I think there is more to it than what has been suggested. Perhaps a little less rarity than what is mentioned really.

DimensionW · Post by **DimensionW** » Wed Apr 23, 2008 7:38 pm

I think its more likely that there are a fare amount of shoku that create Taika without a great deal of back-trafficking. That much would explain the plausibility of just about everyone having been aware of them since before Taika rulers really existed and it also fits the concept of Taika being rare at the same time.

I imagine to say the least that there are more blown out of the Twelve Kingdoms than there are blown in by a substantial number and there are definitely a number that are brought back through some means.

I will say that it is probably more likely for a taika to be brought over than it is for a normal to be brought over, but it seems normals outnumber taika by quite a bit, obviously the likely reason for that being that normals outnumber taika in Hourai by extremely high numbers.

DimensionW · Post by **DimensionW** » Fri May 09, 2008 12:26 am

Yeah, Risai is a sennin. Kantai of course is also a sennin owing to his esteemed connection to Kokan (Marquis/Provincial Lord of Baku)

It should be noted though... there isn't any direct statement of that in the books. Instead, it's a hint of his rank given only within the animation.