EXPLORING DIVINITY THROUGH THE CATS OF SUZUME

RAHM JETHANI - Editor-In-Chief, 2nd Year, English & Japanese

TLDR: yin-yang is cool

SPOILERS FOR SUZUME NO TOJIMARI!

One of Suzume no Tojimari’s strongest aspects, in my opinion, is the decision the film makes to not explain certain details. Aspects like the history of the Munakata family, Suzume’s strange affinity with closing the magical doors, and the nature of time and reality in the Ever-After are all important elements needed to make the plot work, and yet the lack of explanation works to enhance the feeling of mysticism this movie is going for. While I personally would have liked to know more about these details, there will almost certainly be no explanation for them unless a direct sequel is produced (which is something I doubt Makoto Shinkai will do). This is fine with me though, as the lack of explanation never hampered my ability to enjoy Suzume no Tojimari. But, there is one lacking element that has left me and other viewers more confused than was probably intended. As you can surmise from the title, it is in fact the cats of Suzume no Tojimari, Daijin and Sadaijin.

Within the film, there is plenty of screen time focused on Daijin, and the audience gets to see its carefree and playful, yet seemingly-destructive behavior. We learn that Daijin is quite powerful (given the chair-ification of Souta), and that Daijin wants Suzume to love it as much as it loves her. As it travels across Japan, many people become magically enraptured by it, and Daijin quickly gains internet fame. It leads Suzume and Souta to follow it to different dangerous locations, leading Souta to become sealed as a keystone (and essentially dead), yet it is confused and upset when Suzume states that she hates it. Later it is revealed that Daijin was doing these actions to help Suzume and Souta seal the various magical doors left open across Japan, but Daijin never reveals this outright to anyone. Only when Suzume directly asks Daijin if it was helping them seal the doors is when it says so, and its response was suggestive as though it thought this answer was obvious.

Although we don’t get much characterization for Sadaijin, this cat seems to be the opposite of Daijin in almost every way. Whereas Daijin is a small, white cat, Sadajin is an unnaturally tall, black cat. Furthermore, it has no playfulness in its actions, and doesn’t seek the love of Suzume nor any other character. In fact, where Daijin seems to thrive off of people’s attention and love, Sadaijin’s only unique power that it showcases is the ability to amplify people’s negativity. Lastly, Daijin’s transformed state is shown as a small black cat, and Sadaijin’s transformed state is an enormous white cat. It is quite an obvious comparison to make, but Daijin and Sadaijin seem to be referencing the concepts of yin and yang.

Daijin and Sadaijin have been stated to be representative of nature itself. Not only is this choice shown through their appearance as cats (which are commonly ascribed to be beautiful yet unpredictable), but also in what affects the states they are in. After Daijin is freed from its seal, it is unhealthily thin and scrawny, but after Suzume shows it care and love by feeding it (representing the harmony between humanity and nature), Daijin immediately becomes healthy in appearance. This idea is conversely communicated when Suzume screams at Daijin that she hates it (which represents humanity harming or neglecting nature), and it reverts back to its unhealthy deprived state.

There are other comparisons to draw between the cats of Suzume no Tojimari and the ideas or themes they represent, but the explanations I’ve laid out here are the ones I think give the most meaningful context to their presence. Regardless of how simple the concept of Daijin’s and Sadaijin’s opposite existences is, the execution of this idea was done in a way that gave much more depth to the film’s themes of humanity, nature, opposites, and bonds.