our feathered friends

i've been watching this particular anime titled tactics, right, and there are three characters. the three main characters are a ghostbuster (ish), a fox spirit and a demon-eating tengu - which is japanese for heavenly dog. all three appear in human form.

tengus tend to be creatures of good and this particular one in the anime is no exception, only he's the stereotypical cool guy of the group: tall, fair of face and possesses a strong silent aura about him. absolutely yummy.

and to add a touch of mystery to him, the chap who'd written the original script's made it such that the yummy tengu is amnesiac.

but i digress...


so the tengu, right, has wings and he can sprout them when he needs some aerial mode of transportation or just for theatrical kicks (kicks as in "just fer kicks", not the literal *atchaaa* kick). here's the thing: i noticed the feathered characters in this anime have a tendency of dropping feathers each time they spread their wings to fly. i mean, i know feathers are romantic. sprinkled about, they can be very, very, er, shall we say - feathery? it's about pillowfights and good, cheeky fun.


i can't help but notice, however, that his wings aren't bald yet at the rate he's dropping them. just look at the birds around you - pigeons, sparrows - hell, ostriches if you live in afrique - just how many feathers do you see them dropping each time they decide to flap their wings? chances are: not many.

if they're dropping feathers by the score then you can be pretty sure that it's shedding season, like how the peacock's backside discards its pretty decorations after the time to impress the ladies had past. truth be told, the amount of feathers left drifting down to the ground whenever that tengu decides to take a flight - i'm surprised his wings are still covered in feathers.


do you suppose he plucks them our of nervousness when he wonders about his past? or maybe he thinks that THAT's distasteful and therefore only tweaks them so they won't fall out?

hmm. well. that man's got some serious stress; what with him having to defend his less-capable friends, having to deal with being a sidekick despite his charming package and, from how the story's presented, the possibilities of being a homo.


man, that chap's got some serious issues. maybe the feathers are indicative of something after all.