Storybook Favorites: Asian Mythologies
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| Map of the world in the Avatar universe. Source: Wikimedia |
This story immediately caught my attention because I love this show. It is old but in 2020, it became viral and popular again because it was added on Netflix. The introduction is clear in its explanation about what the story is about. I like the design because it looks clean and each picture correlates with the location of the story. Avatar Aang and his friends found Wan Shi Tong's library in the desert and Aang meets Koh the Face Stealer in the forest in the Spirit World. I found that it is creative that the writer used the show to talk about Asian mythologies that have similar stories.
Goddess of the Rising Sun: Amaterasu
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| Amaterasu Cave. Source: Wikimedia |
As you can see, I like Asian mythologies. Particularly, I like Japanese mythology the best and I have been researching Shintoism for awhile now. I like the introduction because it add pictures of Susanoo, Amaterasu, and Tsukoyomi, which helps me visualize the characters in the story. The design is similar to Lost Tales of the Avatar but the added pictures while reading the story is a bonus. It is written as a story with dialogues and different point of view.
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| Son Tinh vs Thuy Tinh. Source: Vietnam Myth |
The stories resonated with me mostly because I am Vietnamese. I did not like the introduction that much because I feel like something is missing. Maybe there needs to be a brief explanation of each stories of the Four Immortals. I did not like the design either and I think that it's because I need pictures of the characters so I could visualize the stories.
All of these stories gave me some ideas of what to write about for my story. Although I like Asian mythologies, my other idea would be to write about the Wendigo and the Skinwalker. Another one would be about Japanese ghosts but I don't know if that counts as a mythology.
Hi Tony! Just a quick note to say that Japanese ghosts are a fantastic topic too, along with Japanese mythology (gods, goddesses, and all the yokai, oni, etc.), plus there are also wonderful Japanese fairy tales and folktales too... and the same also in Vietnam, so many great storytelling traditions. When you get to the Project brainstorming assignment in Week 2, you can explore those different options and see what you like best. You can also do a project that draws on stories from different cultures, like something about yokai and oni in Japan, along with stories of supernatural beings from different Native American traditions. There's a great Native American ghost story coming up in the Anthology reading for next week too, plus Susanoo! :-)
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