Wait, I'm confused about Ebisu stating that she drowned. She's a mizuki kuyo, or water child, meaning a baby that died before being born. Is the idea that she "drowned" in the womb, or is there some parallel being drawn?
Wait, I'm confused about Ebisu stating that she drowned. She's a mizuki kuyo, or water child, meaning a baby that died before being born. Is the idea that she "drowned" in the womb, or is there some parallel being drawn?
Mizuko kuyou refers to a memorial service for a "water child" (i.e. mizuko). A mizuko in modern times generally refers to a spirit of an unborn child (who died before being born via miscarriage, stillbirth or abortion), but in older times it can also refer to the spirit of dead babies and toddlers (in addition to the died-before-childbirth examples).
Etymologically, the word was originally 見ず子, "unseen child". It was later changed to the phonetically identical 水子 ("water child") because the 'standard' practice of getting rid of unwanted children (間引きし, "thinning out" mouths to feed, to use the term) was to drown them in a river.
I am not exactly sure about the circumstances of Ebisu's death, and IIRC canon is sparse on details about this, but this comic may be implying that this particular Ebisu (within the 'canon' of this fancomic) has been drowned by her parents. Or abandoned in a floating basket on a river, another common trope (also present in other cultures).
Mizuko kuyou refers to a memorial service for a "water child" (i.e. mizuko). A mizuko in modern times generally refers to a spirit of an unborn child (who died before being born via miscarriage, stillbirth or abortion), but in older times it can also refer to the spirit of dead babies and toddlers (in addition to the died-before-childbirth examples).
Etymologically, the word was originally 見ず子, "unseen child". It was later changed to the phonetically identical 水子 ("water child") because the 'standard' practice of getting rid of unwanted children (間引きし, "thinning out" mouths to feed, to use the term) was to drown them in a river.
I am not exactly sure about the circumstances of Ebisu's death, and IIRC canon is sparse on details about this, but this comic may be implying that this particular Ebisu (within the 'canon' of this fancomic) has been drowned by her parents. Or abandoned in a floating basket on a river, another common trope (also present in other cultures).
Woops, got a bit mixed up because the wiki article isn't very good imo
