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Eyes
Ghosts & Monsters
From Leticia: "Traditionally, one-eyed-creatures are monsters, ghosts,
demons,... To have only one eye is usually associated to the absence
of humanity and the domination of the dark forces and dark passions
(as revenge or destruction), with the titanical dark side of the
cosmos. As well, three-eyed-creatures are relegated to superior
virtuous forces. I think that could be all right for Subaru and
Seishiro (X and Tokyo Babylon)."
The same is
usually true for multiple eyes, even three eyes
sometimes. Just depends on the context used. For
example, the crow demon in Inu-Yasha with three eyes
would fall under a multiple-eyed=demon motif.
The Evas in Evangelion are interesting as they come out as monsters
but were originally created by humans to be humans.
And are meant as a bit of a parallel as God created
Man in his image and then Man turned around and made
the Evas in Man's image. But then we see the results
of trying to do this. So one is left with the
question, did humans succeed and the Evas reveal
something about humanity we wouldn't like to be true,
or did they fail and the Evas really are but monsters,
or are they inbetween?
Shamanic Princess is the same way, Tiara in her youth
and still growing in her own maturity as a person not
just a shaman summons a companion, but he has an
imperfect body, versus one she summons later and is
able to form a perfect body for. And again, the
appearance of the eyes in the first summoning also
indicate that physical imperfection.
In these cases because they are still
evolving, what the creators create or contribute to is a
reflection in both anime cases. In Evangelion I'd say the eyes either are
for imperfection or for something
shadowlike/primordial psychologically as there is that
side where the Evas are meant to be humans but they
exhibit mostly instincts (protection of young,
violence, eating) and not the qualities we think of
when we think of humanity (compassion, intellect, etc.). In Shamanic Princess, Graham is very loyal and passionate, and in some ways he acts as a bit of the psychological shadow for Tiara.
He represents intensity where emotions are concerned (even repression of these, which is a quality Tiara herself battles with) and he is a magical/primordial spirit to a degree which contrasts to
Tiara herself and the nature of her own magic.
Glasses
Many times glasses are worn by an anime character to suggest the stereotypical intelligent one of a group, such as Fuu in Rayearth or Ami in Sailor Moon. But this is not always the case,
they may also serve to denote a second personality or that something is being hidden by the person who wears them habitually. The eyes are the windows to the soul it is said,
and so a character may wear glasses or shades to show that they are hiding something of themselves. Ikari in Evangelion doesn't wear glasses in the flashbacks
when the audience sees him, but he does in the present. His character hides his plans and motives, and is very secretive, and this is denoted by his tinted glasses that do not always allow
his eyes to be seen. Anthy in Utena wears her glasses, just as she pins her hair up, both of which are symbols of herself as the Rose Bride and a surface personality. Lady Une in
Gundam Wing wears her glasses when she is in her commander and military persona, the side of herself that is ruthless in obtaining the dream for Treize whom she loves. Her side that is
her true self, and gentle and peace-minded is the one that does not wear glasses and wears her hair down instead of two buns. The militaristic Une is the second personality she created in
herself. Vash in Trigun wears tinted glasses as well, sometimes to hide his eyes and his thoughts behind them.
Scars
For scars or a lost eye... I'd say one common motif would be it adds to the sense
of warrior. Jet in Cowboy Bebop while he doesn't have
a lost eye does have a scar through it. It helps give
the audience that impression he's been through a lot
and survived tough battles. Perhaps with some
characters also a symbol to reflect a deeper scar
(like in Kenshin-across his cheek) or Chichiri in Fushigi Yuugi who bears a scar across one eye and usually hides it with a mask. But too like in
the case of pirate cliches, it adds the air of danger and
rascality.
Wisdom & Insight
There's the aspect the loss of an eye is a
sacrifice or for wisdom. Don't know if this plays into
the Loki manga, but in Norse myth Odin gave up one of
his eyes in exchange for a drink from the Well of
Wisdom.
It also stands for the spirit or light, and
for mental vision. The eye is a symbol of Yord in Shamanic Princess.
In Yu-Gi-Oh, Pegasus' eye is taken over by the Millenium
Eye. While it's the lunar eye from Egyptian mythology,
I'd say it could go into the motif of sacrifice or
gaining of knowledge as Pegasus uses it to see every
move of his opponents. Plus, it seems to have a couple
other magical uses such as the ability to send someone
to the Shadow Realm. So a connection to the
"otherworld" or whatever one might want to term it.
The Eye of Horus, the right represented the sun and the left the moon. Horus lost his left eye to his brother Seth but managed to recover it later. The eye became a symbol of protection
against evil or darkness It was also known as the "all-seeing eye."
Eyes on palms seem to be symbols of seers or magic.
Tiara in Shamanic Princess will open the symbol of the
eye on her palm for that reason. I have read you see this in
Tibetan bodhisattvas as well as other cultures. An eye on the forehead is almost always
some kind of insight link, or supernatural. Aizenmyo,
a young queen who sold her soul to the demons in
loneliness in RG Veda, had a third eye that was a
demon eye.
From Joanna: Rikugou, a shinkingami, from Yami no Matsuei is an astrologer
with two ordinary eyes, two on his forehead, and one on each palm.
The series 3X3 Eyes combines both elements of the third eye as wisdom or insight and also as an element of the divine or demon. The Sanjiyan Unkara are a race of immortals or demons who bear a
third eye and have powers over lower demons, healing, and over the soul (they can take a soul to create a Wu or immortal servant bound to them). They were a supior race over both humans and other
supernatural creatures, but in the end were all destroyed in a great confrontation with one of their own.
Misc.
In a case like Ayashi no Ceres, the eye is an
extension of a needed element for later in the series.
It makes good drama when Wei loses his eye in a fight
with Touya while Touya's trying to get Aki out of the
compound. But at the series end, it adds that
something extra by being used as a demonstration of
how Touya as a creation of the hagoromo is neither
mortal nor divine, but skirting between. He restores
Wei's eye right after he's just appeared out of the
ocean (newly resurrected from death), so Touya
essentially performs a miracle and it helps in the final
revelation of Touya's nature.
In Inu-Yasha, his eye has another supernatural
element as it's discovered one of Inu-Yasha's eyes is
a black pearl and the grave of his father. It contains
an entire tomb. So like Pegasus above it's a link to
the "otherworld."
All the above probably links in with the fact the eye
is an old symbol of both enlightenment and seeing into
the spiritual realm. Think of the symbol of the third eye
for instance. And one can see the symbol of the eye in old
civilizations in their iconography. Plus, "the eyes
are the windows to the soul." So while not just
revealing the truth through one's eyes, it might also
be taken in a few of the above contexts as a link to a
metaphysical plain.
The eye Hinoto and Kanae have on their forehead can be a symbol for spiritual sight in CLAMP's X. Very appropriate as Dream Watchers.