The Legendary Musings of Professor Munakata

Well, Hoshino Yukinobu was originally a SF mangaka, but that Daidara chapter just ruins the whole thing. WTF? Did his editor go on strike or ate the magic 'shrooms with him? 

From what I've gathered, the Daidara chapter was the first Munakata story that Hoshino wrote, and he wrote it five years before the rest of the series. So that may explain why it has more of a sci-fi vibe than the other stories.

Aw, they ruined it. I really liked the idea of a professor travelling around end explaining the origins of ancient myths, and now suddenly it's all true and there's giants walking the earth. What a shame.

I agree. Especially with the notion of re-sealing of another sentient race. (Taking immediate hostile action against them was also idiotic.) I bet they won't erect any research stations or pursue the topic further in any form.

AWH ;p I was interested in anthropology manga.

Well, Hoshino Yukinobu was originally a SF mangaka, but that Daidara chapter just ruins the whole thing. WTF? Did his editor go on strike or ate the magic 'shrooms with him? 

... WTF

Shingeki no Kyojin? 

Aw, they ruined it. I really liked the idea of a professor travelling around end explaining the origins of ancient myths, and now suddenly it's all true and there's giants walking the earth. What a shame.

YES! I'm a graduate student in social anthropology and ALWAYS wanted to read this manga.

Dunno for you, but around here, we call that ethnology.

Still ain't quite convinced by the Daidara one... =/

YES! I'm a graduate student in social anthropology and ALWAYS wanted to read this manga. Awesome! Thank you so much for picking this up. 

Next mystery: Why hunt birds with buckshot?

Probably should have been birdshot (which also helps explain why the stray shot didn't permanently injure Taeko).  Toss up as to whether the mistake was the original author's or the translator's.

Dang! This is really a great read! It is a refreshing change from all those stereotypes.

Manliest protag ever. Interesting stories too. Followed.

This guy is like a manga detective!

...in the sense that something bad will happen to the people he makes contact with while on field work.

My opinions on this manga are mixed. It's got a great plot and great background for anthropology, but what it really lacks is any character development. Munakata seems just like a device to initiate speculation on traditional folklore. 

But that's exactly what he is. This manga isn't about people at all. It's about the nature of folklore itself. 

My opinions on this manga are mixed. It's got a great plot and great background for anthropology, but what it really lacks is any character development. Munakata seems just like a device to initiate speculation on traditional folklore. 

Interesting read. And a classy mc, like a sir XD

I doubt it'll be covered, but if we're talking about global folklore stuff, I wish we knew a bit more about dragons and spirits. =/ Those are about the only things I've noticed that are quite universal within humanity (bit less for dragons, but they're still mentionned in some places under one form or another).

oh wow, this manga is great!! 

Really great read, i'm happy to have given this a look, i was pleasantly surprised by how good it is.

wowowowow!!! great timing! i was just looking for new one to read and poof!! there it appears a very interesting one... 

thanks for the upload...

My point was that global folklores often times are masked/rewritten (usually for the worse) for the sake of simply surviving. As such, tracing back some mythologies can be a hopeless/circular endeavor.

 

You mention the Flood Myth and thats a perfect example, it stands to reason that "all sedentary cultures that formed near rivers would have been flooded catastrophically at some point in their history." So why are European cultures so fixated on Noah's Ark as the de facto Flood Myth? Because European governments/religions/organizations squelched/destroyed the old/local Flood Myth versions and transplanted it with the Christian version.

This is true, but so incredibly narrow. Folklore can serve to hide history just as easily as it can keep it alive. I notice you focus exclusively on Europe and Catholicism. Take a look at Japan, on the other hand, and a lot of the folklore was started, or altered, to legitimize the Imperial Family and the Yamato tribe, perhaps hiding what may have been a brutal conquest and repression of the other native peoples of Japan. And as a result, the Japanese people believed the Emperor was descended from the sun goddess Amaterasu until 1945. The same goes for other cultures' myths and legends, such as the Romans; what is the Aenid but a legitimization of the Julio-Claudian dynasty? Folklore cuts both ways; it can pass down history, or it can cover up history.

But it's not a pointless/hopeless endeavor. The very point of this manga is that while all these legends have their differences in different places around the world, these differences can be studied and put into their historical contexts, and from there we can find patterns and extrapolate how the myths may have began, how and why it spread, and what changed along the way. The prototype doesn't have to exist in its original form today for us to search for it. That's what anthropology is all about. The very fact that you are able to recognize the presence of flood myths that may have been stamped out by Catholicism proves that tracing back mythologies is not a pointless endeavor.

Besides, I think it's pretty commonly held now that Noah's Ark can be traced back to the Epic of Gilgamesh and other such Mesopotamian flood myths, so while it may be at the forefront of the popular consciousness in evangelical America, you'd have a hard time finding an educated anthropologist anywhere in the world that considers Noah's Ark the prototype flood myth. It's very likely, however, that the Hindu and American flood myths developed independently of the Mesopotamian myths.

That's not what the manga is about, though. This manga is talking about a phenomenon known as "global folklores", in which many cultures seem to share very similar folklores that can be traced historically to an originating point. The case example of this is the tale of Cinderella, which has been scientifically traced back to China. 

 

The other famous example is the Flood Myth, which Middle East version can be traced back to the age of Sumer and Akkad. In this case, though, it's probable that practically every culture has a flood myth simply because all sedentary cultures that formed near rivers would have been flooded catastrophically at some point in their history. 

 

The current arc of the manga talks about the Myth of the Seven Sisters, and posits a historical background for it. The Myth of the Seven Sisters is very interesting because it is extremely widespread amongst very divergent cultures (Australian Aborigines, for instance, share it with the Greeks) and almost always connected to the Pleiades constellation. 

My point was that global folklores often times are masked/rewritten (usually for the worse) for the sake of simply surviving. As such, tracing back some mythologies can be a hopeless/circular endeavor.

You mention the Flood Myth and thats a perfect example, it stands to reason that "all sedentary cultures that formed near rivers would have been flooded catastrophically at some point in their history." So why are European cultures so fixated on Noah's Ark as the de facto Flood Myth? Because European governments/religions/organizations squelched/destroyed the old/local Flood Myth versions and transplanted it with the Christian version.

One of my favorite artist. Instant follow!

Thank you for picking this up.