In this manga, kami are preexistent beings that humans summoned into our world. Their power was not granted by humans but carried over from the beyond from whence they came. That's the problem. The humans grew afraid of the powers of the kami and of their sentience ("memory") and this fear became the malediction that in turn brought down the kami and sent most of them to the realm of the dead. It wasn't human corruption that brought about the malediction but instead humans growing up and recognizing the kami for what they really were. As for the oni, according to hitokotonushi, oni were already there together with the first humans, which means the oni themselves predated the summoning of the kami by the humans.So kami is granted their power by humans, and when human corrupted, she too become corrupted. And oni was personification of those corruption, hence why even kami cursed by it? Is that it? Can someone correct me if i am wrong?
Without spoiling anything, I chose the word "mantra" for its specific, somewhat obscure connotations that are very much relevant to the subject the next chapter explores. "Invocation" wouldn't work very well.Thanks for continuing the scanlation.
If I may contribute a bit, I understand why the term "mantra" is now used to translate 呪 (shuu), but this may not fully reflect the original meaning of the term. 呪 is the Japanese way to write the Chinese term 咒 (zhòu), and the real meaning of this term is much clearer in Chinese. It roughly equates conceptually to "words of power used to engage the supernatural in order to manipulate natural phenomenon". If this is how the manga uses the term in the next chapter, then probably the term is better translated as "invocation"?
The formal definitions of invocation are:
- the action of invoking something or someone for assistance or as an authority.
- the summoning of a deity or the supernatural. (which I think matches the concept described by hitokotonushi)
- an incantation used to invoke a deity or the supernatural.
- (in the Christian Church) a form of words such as “In the name of the Father” introducing a prayer, sermon, etc.