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Tree
The tree can be the feminine, the sheltering of the Great Mother. Trees were once thought to be home to supernatural beings, and about which the cosmos is
organized. In Japan, some trees are thought to be be living beings, and inhabited by spirits who can speak.
"In 'The Philosophical Tree' in Alchemical Studies, Jung shows that the tree symbolizes
human life and development and the inner process of becoming conscious. One could
say that it symbolizes in the psyche that something which grows and develops undisturbed
within us, irrespective of what the ego does; it is the urge towards individuation which
unfolds and continues, independent of our consciousness" (Franz, 43). I think this sums
up well the symbol of the tree growing into Anthy's uniform as she and Utena ascend to
the arena in Shoujo Kakumei Utena. It symbolizes the change in Anthy, her inner growth towards Self.
The tree is a prominent symbol in the Karura Mau OVA. In the opening of the first episode there is a profile of a leafless tree against the full moon. Shii dreams of that same tree later and of Mihuyu. Shii's hand
becomes part of the tree in the dream while around it children and Mihuyu try to kill her. This tree is learned to be an important place for Mihuyu. She used to play there and it is under this
tree that her sister dies in her arms and her body rests. In the flashback after Yuuki, Mihuyu's sister, is murdered Mihuyu cries out and roots come through the earth, impaling the villagers who
killed her sister and father, turning the men to wood.
In the last OVA the tree, perhaps a second one, is important as spirit energy is being gathered into it; most likely for the purpose of resurrecting Yuuki. Faces of those killed by Mihuyu are
trapped in the tree and in episode 6 the priest takes his own life and his blood flows to the tree, indicating the tree by the temple must be part of a ritual of some kind with life or blood energy
needed for the sister perhaps. In ep. 3 after the kokeshi doll maker is killed by Mihuyu buds appear on a branch of the tree, perhaps signifying that her life energy is now within it.
The above kind of transferring of life energy bears a bit of similarity to the second season of Sailor Moon where the children of the Makaiju try to renew its life by transferring life energy from humans
to their mother tree.
One last note is there may be a tie between the tree/s and the kokeshi dolls.
The willow tree in ep. 8 of Blue Seed simply wants its spirit enshrined next to the tree it's always stood beside. And the persimmon tree in ep. 15 is thought to be trying to protect the tiny shrine beneath it.
In Japan, some trees are thought to be be living beings, and inhabited by spirits who can speak.
Go-Shinboku God Tree is on the shrine grounds in Kagome's time. The tree is 500 years old, and the one Kikyo shot Inu-Yasha to, where he was pinned under a spell, dead.
In Green Legend Ran, there's a bit of a take on Earth Mother goddess mythology. The Great or Holy Mother seeks to return the planet to green (at present it is almost all desert). To do this she sent out several silver
haired maidens twelve years before and with their return plans to finally do this. The Green, places close to where the maidens landed or where the Holy Mother is, are patches of life where
there is still plant life and water springing from the earth. The maidens themselves seem to be a human-plant hybrd in that they bear the form of humans but their blood is water and they have the
power to transform humans to trees or plants through their channel with the Mother. The Archbishop who has the closest connection to her in the name of humanity has himself turned to a plant
by most purposes because he has lived so near her. But because she sees humans as the cause of the evil to the planet, she seeks not just to turn the planet green again but also to transform
all humans to plants. So she is both a life giving but destructive goddess to be feared.
The inverted tree or tree of life is seen in the opening credits of Neon Genesis Evangelion. The Tree of Ages appears in the first Inu-Yasha movie.