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Rabbit to Roses
Ragnarok
In Ayashi no Ceres, it is translated as the "Twilight of the Gods," but according to the Encyclopedia Mythica this is a popular mistranslation and should be "doom or destruction of the powers" (ie gods). Ragnarok is the Norse apocalypse, after which a utopian world will be born, with men and gods living in peace. In the anime, those funding the C-Project are after creating a perfect race and are in preparation for their Ragnarok as it were.
Rain
From ep. 11 of Kakyuusei. Both Ai and Miyuki are in love with Tsuushi, but Ai is on a Christmas Eve date with him. Miyuki in her loneliness agrees to dinner with another, but the night turns out
heartbreaking for her. A steady rain is falling when he's walking home and finds her crying and alone. The rain serves as a symbol for Miyuki's heart and tears. For Juri in the Utena series
the rain showed both a cleansing and relief for what the duel may have meant to her inside.
Kuramitsu Rena is the heroine of Naoko Takeuchi's short story Miss Rain. Wherever she goes it is said rain is sure to follow, and thus she's earned her name. Her hair is blue, and she's lonely so
the images of rain and water fit the mood of her heart, and the tears that are shed or held inside. The rain is also a symbol of romance and love at the same time. In her notes for the story,
Takeuchi relates how she loves the rain and it makes her think of the things she loves, so the rain becomes a comforting and relaxing symbol as well as one of anticipation. Takeuchi says some
rainy afternoons she'd watch the water fall outside and think of the one she loved and want to see him. So too Kei tells
Rena their meeting is destined and each subsequent meeting frequently is set under the rain. But he tells her he loves the rain (and this is probably because it reminds him of her, so the rain
becomes a romantic symbol by the end as the two lovers dance a the last waltz in the rain at the story's end).
Rainbow
In OVA 2 of Licca: Wondrous Yunia Story the group has to run up a rainbow to get to a floating garden/palace. Sometimes rainbows are thought as a bridge between the earth and heaven. Floating gardens/palaces show up in Gulliver's Travels and in Castle in the Sky. Crossing a rainbow to cross also into another land is used in the My Little Pony series.
Ramayana's Arrow of Indra
In Castle in the Sky, Muska says of the fire power he sends down on the troops that it is Ramayana's Arrow of Indra, the thunder that destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. Sodom and Gomorrah are the two cities of the Bible where the inhabitants were so wicked that God destroyed the cities utterly. The Ramayana is an epic poem of the 3rd century that tells the story of Rama's life. Rama comes from the Hindu tradition, as does Indra. As a deity of storms Indra's arrow refers to his thunderbolts he could bring down upon anyone he chose.
Rapunzel
From the Grimm's version, a mother was greedy for the vegetables of a neighboring garden and would have no peace until her husband brought them to her. The witch who
owned the garden caught him in the act of stealing, but said he could take as much as he wished except when the child was born to the woman she would take and raise the baby
herself. The man agreed and finally at her birth, Rapunzel was given over to the witch who raised her and placed her in a high tower when she turned 12 years old, away from the world. Rapunzel grew to be beautiful with long, gold hair.
To enter the tower, the witch would call to her to let her hair down and the witch would climb up to the girl. This went on for several years until one day a prince passed and fell in love with the voice of the maiden. He returned each day and
finally spied the witch and the means to enter the tower. So when Rapunzel was all alone he called to her to let down her hair, and she did. At first she was afraid when the prince and not the witch entered her chamber, but she too soon
fell in love and agreed to marry him. They concocted a plan, but one day Rapunzel let slip about her prince and in her fury, the witch cut off Rapunzel's hair and banished her to a lonely desert. The prince on arriving to the tower was tricked and
when he fell his eyes were gouged by the thorns, making him blind. He too wandered lonely until he heard Rapunzel's voice. He made his way to her and she wept over her. The two tears that fell into his eyes made them clear again and they
rode to his castle and lived happily.
Yume Kui Annai Nin
Manga by Megumi Tachikawa. In one tale, a girl is given Rapunzel Shampoo as she wants to have beautiful hair so the boy she likes will notice her and return her affections. She uses it
and it makes her hair long and pretty but then it doesn't stop growing. Finally, the boy finds her and tells her he likes her just as she is and her hair returns to normal. This of course reflects the most well-known and popular
aspect of the tale, Rapunzel's long hair which was known for it's beauty and unusual length.
Other
Rapunzel by Sakamoto Mimei
Red Flowers
In Mermaid's Promise (Takahashi's Mermaid Saga), Red Valley, a field of red flowers, is Nae's favorite place as a girl. She had scattered mermaid's ashes over the field and the flowers bloomed thereafter year round, never fading. But it turns out to also be the place she is killed, and she made her promise to Yuta to wait for him there. The red flowers can be a symbol for Nae, a young girl who's beauty is unfading because of the immortality given her by the ashes. They may also symbolize love (her love for Yuta) or resurrection (as she is resurrected from death in that field). In the end, these flowers are the happy blossoms of Nae's youth, but also the funerary flowers that cover her in death and share a tragic fate with her.
Red Thread
In ancient China, the legend says, the Old Man in the Moon would tie the legs of a boy and girl together with a red thread, and when they grew up, felt attracted to each other and married. This shows up constantly in anime and manga.
Red or White Kimono
At the end of the Vampire Princess TV series, Miyu is asked which kimono she wants, they represent the choice she must make over and over, and how she will face her destiny. "A red kimono is for a prisoner and a white kimono is for a dead person. It means either be captured or die."
Rei
From Karura Mau movie fansub endnote: A spirit, soul, or ghost.
Reinoh Ryokusha
From Karura Mau movie fansub endnote: A medium of spirit exorcist; some resemble psychics.
Ribbons
Ribbons do have a significance of their own when talking about the magical girl genre. Since that genre is aimed at young girls it's going to be sprinkled with symbols and images
that are particularly considered feminine, example ribbons. They also evoke a sense of girlhood. When we think of ribbons many of us think of elementary-age
and younger with ribbons in their hair (like the heroine in Hime-chan's Ribbon) or very feminine girls' clothing. Since the genre deals with that age between being a girl and
entering adolescence, then it's fitting that ribbons appear in transformations that symbolize that mental and physical shift. But whether ribbons appear on the outfit or hair of
a heroine from the mahou shoujo genre or a shounen series, it definitely is probably meant to evoke that idea of innocence of girlhood or a very feminine side to the character.
Miyu (Vampire Princess) wears a ribbon in her hair and around her foot, both connotating an ironic childlike image since due to her
fate of being born as the next guardian of the shinma and a vampire, her childhood is quickly taken from her.
Floating ribbons are seen sometimes in Eastern artwork, and in anime such as: Sierra (MKR) when helping Hikaru revive her sword, Nataku (X movie), and Madoushi (CCS movie). In these
instances the floating ribbons probably show the channeling of energy, or symbolize magical or supernatural powers in the cases of the latter two characters, and the concentration of a great
deal of life force or energy in the case of Sierra.
In the opening of the X OVA episode, Kakyou dreams of the two Divine Swords wrapped in floating red ribbons as two Kamui's take hold of them for battle. The flowing red ribbons
appear again in the opening credit animation of the TV series. Floating ribbons are seen sometimes in Eastern artwork. They may show the channeling of energy, or symbolize magical
or supernatural powers, or the concentration of a great deal of life force or energy. Also, perhaps in this instance, the red ribbons are indicate the divine.
Rig Veda
The Rig Veda is the oldest of the four Vedas (Hindu
texts). It is a collection of hymns praising the gods
and was set in writing at about 900 BCE. Rig is
Sanskrit for praise.
The RG Veda anime is loosely drawn from the
deities of the Rig Veda (and from Buddhism).
Rind
A wife of Odin and a giant goddess. In the Ah! My Goddess manga she is a Valkyrie. The Valkyries rode for Odin and brought the slain heroes to the halls of Valhalla.
Ring
It is a symbol for eternity, and also betrothal and marriage. Signet rings, with their heraldic symbols, certified documents and deeds. The ring has also been a sign of nobility and honor; to receive a ring from a prince was a sign of very high favor. The ring can stand for "a consciously chosen obligation toward some divine power, that is, toward the Self" (Franz, 91). But it can also mean to be caught in one's emotions or complexes. The Rose Signets worn by the duelists in Utena encompass all these things.
Rokurokubi
This spirit looks like a normal woman but at night her neck stretches and with it she drains the life of humans.** The Mask of Flesh in Inu-Yasha after taking over a woman exhibits traits of the rokurokubi.
It looks like a normal albeit creepy faced woman when Kagome and her brother first pass her, but later, the possessed woman can stretch her neck and will eventually consume the spirits of
several women and become bloated with them.
**liquid2k.net/lhadatto/r.html (Online Asian Horror Encyclopedia)
Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet is a theme in Wedding Peach. Yousuke and Momoko parallel the two Shakespeare lovers as Momoko was born an angel and Yousuke with devil blood. Their
parents fought in the wars between tenshi and akuma until they fell to earth and married humans. The opening theme from the first season is called Romeo and Juliet in the 21st Century.
From Chris: Episode 25 is called The Dying Swan: Romeo and Juliet.
Room of Guf
From Judaism, it is a place in Heaven where souls are kept before they are born on Earth. The Room of Guf is alluded to in Neon Genesis Evangelion.
Runes
From Old English for secret. The alphabets are known as Futharks from the first six runes. The Elder Futhark has 24 runes, but other runic alphabets vary in number. They were commonly found in parts of Northern
Europe, Scandinavia, and the British Isles. Each rune might have a magical value attributed to it. They could be used in poetry, divination, as charms, or in writing. The knowledge of the use of runes was said to originate
with Odin who speared himself to the World Tree for nine nights, and in return was granted the power and wisdom of the runes.
In the Alice 19th manga, a symbol or rune is engraved on the stones of the bracelets carried by the Lotis Masters. Each rune represents a lotis.
*Some information on runes gathered from this site: http://www.sunnyway.com/runes/
Ruslan and Ludmila
Russian fairy tale. Ruslan is one of Ludmila, a princess', suitors. On their wedding night, she's kidnapped and the marriage is annuled until someone returns her to the kingdom. Each suitor
meets a different fate but finally it is down to Ruslan aided by a wizard and Farlaf aided by an evil witch. Unbeknownst to the suitors the witch and wizard were once betrothed themselves, but
was not to be and the maiden turned evil and became a witch by the time he was ready to wed her. Ruslan rescues Ludmila from the sorcerer who abducted her, wanting her for himself, but is
stabbed near death by Farlaf. Farlaf returns with her to the castle, but she is unconscious and cannot be woken. Ruslan returns meanwhile, having been saved by the wizard and places a
magic ring on Ludmila and the two live happily ever after.
Princess Tutu
From Chris: Episode 23 is titled Marionettes: Ruslan and Ludmila.