part of Me PV
 

Hi, does anyone know if the beautiful PV for part of Me has any symbolism to it?

In particular, I'm curious to why a(n)

1) butterfly
2) praying mantis
3) snake
4) horse

were chosen to represent the "circle of life" along with her crazy geisha hair becoming roots for a new tree.

Is there actual symbolism in traditional Japanese culture that uses these 4 animals?

Wow... I wanna know too.. ever have curiosity about!

buterfly -http://hubpages.com/hub/japanese-butterfly-art

horse - click

praying mantis - In eastern countries, the praying mantis has always been a symbol of courage and cruelty. In medieval Japan, they were depicted on the handles of Samurai swords. Modern Japanese believe that if a person sees a mantis, it foreshadows his death. (according to this article -http://mysteries24.com/n4-29999-Superstitions_about_praying_mantises)

snake -In Japan, the serpent is especially associated with the syncretic Benzaiten, the goddess of everything that flows: water, words, and music. She is the main deity of the shrines on islands as Enoshima and Chikubushima and is often represented with a snake coiled around the rock on which she is seated. In Japanese legend, the snake is also a symbol of a woman's jealousy: in the famous story about Kiyohime, the jealous woman transforms herself into a serpent and coils around the temple bell in which her fugitive lover has hidden, literally "frying" him with her passion.

Perhaps because of the "Naga treasures," the snake is also associated with money and profit - on New year cards we often find it accompanied by gold coins. (according to this - http://www.japannavigator.com/2013/0...e-customs.html )

you can just google each and it will give you more stuff to read up.

I think it does have some meaning but ayu doesn't put secret hidden meanings in her PV's to which hold some overwhelming meaning, and also the PV would reflect what the director wants to show with ayu agreeing to it. So what we see in her PV's don't actually fully represent what the 'true' meaning is, but if we had director notes or talks about their shoots, then we would probably get a better idea of what the inspiration was. Her PV meanings are like people interpreting the bible. Everyone will see something different

Artcika's post is a very very useful summary of what these things all mean. douggn makes a good point that director's notes would definitely help to see how much of this is Ayu's influence and how much is the director's ideas. I wish I knew that about a good chunk of her videos!

I think the traditional, obvious sort of symbolism that's in the "part of Me" video certainly applies. A mantis foreshadowing death - indeed, the butterfly becomes a mantis just as Ayu's character dies. The snake could be symbolic of Ayu (a goddess of music) "cheating" death (eating the mantis) and being reborn.

Ayu herself growing into roots for a tree is a very basic symbol of rebirth/reincarnation that's seen even in western media (like the movie "The Fountain" for instance). Butterflies, in Asia in particular, are very commonly associated with reincarnation because of its complex life cycle.

The art direction matters here too, I think - red being a color of passion, luck, and beauty; white being a color to symbolize death and give the "afterlife" side of the video a heavenly look.

It's certainly an artistic video, but Ayu doesn't often use symbolism that you really have to reach to "get", none of the symbolism in this video is especially esoteric.

yeah some parts were pretty obvious like the butterfly and mantis, also her turning into a tree. I'm most confused about the horse though like lol what why is it there

Well, you only really see it before her "death" if i remember correctly... perhaps it's symbolic that she's going on a journey and has to be strong/resilient for it?

maybe the director is a MLP:FiM fan :P

damn I wish we had director's notes for this. it's such a beautiful PV, possibly one of my favorites from her

I myself thought the only symbolysm with the animals is the butterfly, I've seen it as a symbol of changing in MANY kinds of Japanese media, and as the song is about other lifes, I guess it stands for reincarnation ayu would face. Then the other animals would be there just to complete the circle of predators, I don't think they would go THAT deep on giving each animal a meaning. But maybe they could, I just don't find it likely hahahaha

And I could also never understand the horse also lol

I see the animals representing the "Circle of Life"...

- butterfly emerges from cocoon; maturity, adulthood
- eaten by the mantis; death
- mantis eaten by the snake; more death, the predators get preyed on too
- Ayu "dying", turns into a tree, gives life to the land (blooming flowers).. so even if she's dead she's still present in the forest and fauna
- Horse: ???

personally I love how even if the praying mantis was a predator it still became a prey to the snake.