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Okina Matara

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摩多羅 (またら) 隠岐奈 (おきな)
Okina Matara
Matara Okina
Okina Matara as the Extra Stage Boss of Hidden Star in Four Seasons
The Ultimate, Absolute Secret God
More Character Titles
Species

Secret God

Abilities

Creating doors on the back of anything
Manipulation of life energy
Manipulation of mental energy

Age

Older than Gensokyo itself

Occupation

Sage; maintains Gensokyo's balance

Location

Land of the Back Door

Music Themes
Appearances
Official Games
Print Works

Okina Matara (摩多羅 隠岐奈 Matara Okina) is the main antagonist of Hidden Star in Four Seasons. She is a secret god and one of the Sages of Gensokyo.

General Information

Okina first appears as both the final boss and extra stage boss in Hidden Star in Four Seasons.

A hidden god of multiple faces and roles, she has remained out of sight for some time until the events of Hidden Star in Four Seasons. As one of the Sages, she has helped to create the Gensokyo of today. Currently, she maintains its balance and protects it from the Outside World.

Personality

She is said to be a the spitting image of a classic god, having no mercy for those who disrespect her and graciously blessing those who revere her. Though described as "hidden", her true form is the same as the face she shows publicly, a chaotic mashup of the aspects of several gods. During and after the Four Seasons Incident, her personality is shown to be that of an ostentatious, confident, and prideful person, making magnificent displays of her power in order to bring attention to herself. Okina seems to somewhat pity her servants, wishing to release them from their position (although it's unknown whether she actually feels this way, as it's revealed in Hidden Star in Four Seasons that she may not have even intended to replace them at all).

Abilities

Creating doors on the backs of anything

Okina can create doors back of anything, even living beings. The back doors act like portals and allow her to travel wherever she wishes, or to send something to somewhere else. Creating a back door on a living being allows her access to the energy of said living being. The Four Seasons Incident started when Okina powered up the denizens of Gensokyo by pouring life energy into the doors on their back. The effect was particularly pronounced when Okina powered up fairies, beings who are intrinsically tied to nature. Those with Okina's back doors on their bodies are able to further power themselves up by collecting seasonal energy. Okina can take away the seasonal energy from those using her doors and expell them from the Land of the Back Door. She is unable to collect the energy of doyou, the period between seasons, as it would harm her. Each being in Gensokyo has a corresponding seasonal door. For example, fairies like Cirno and Eternity Larva should have summer doors (though, in the case of Eternity, her door actually corresponded to doyou, implying that she may not be a fairy at all). It may be that seasonal doors are interpersonal even within species, however, as Reimu and Marisa (both human), have different seasonal doors in the forms of spring and winter respectively.

The doors can act as portals and connect to the extradimensional Land of the Back Door, through which a number of other doors of Okina's creation are accessible. These doors all connect to various places in Gensokyo and it seems anyone can go through them. It's currently unknown if Okina can control who can go through her doors, however it's implied that she can as she is able to cut off access to them at any point according to Aya Shameimaru's Extra Scenario in Hidden Star in Four Seasons.

Manipulating life energy and mental energy

Okina possesses the abillty to manipulate both life energy and mental energy. She lends this power to her servants Satono Nishida (mental energy) and Mai Teireida (life energy). The two are described as "extensions" of Okina's power. Okina's profile states that she suddenly gained these abilities at some point in the past, likely before the creation of Gensokyo.

Life energy is primarily used by Okina to tamper with nature. In Hidden Star in Four Seasons, she poured life energy into the backs of Gensokyo's residents, powering them up temporarily. When Gensokyo's fairies were powered up, the seasons began to wildly fluctuate throughout the land. The seasonal energy that this created can also be manipulated by Okina. In Chapter 42 of Wild and Horned Hermit, Okina was revealed to be able to create youkai by using life energy. She created Aunn by opening a back door on a komainu statue and pouring life energy into it, turning the divine spirit of the statue into an actual living being. In the same chapter she offers to make it spring so that the flowers could bloom, affirming that she has direct control over the seasons. She also boastfully states that she can recreate the entirety of Gensokyo if she so pleases. In this light, it appears Okina's manipulation of life energy allows her to create life or take life at will.

Okina's manipulation of mental energy has never been demonstrated or mentioned so far, so its mechanics are unknown. It may, however, have to do with the slave-like devotion her servants have for her as well as the protagonists having slight amnesia about what happened during their first battle with Okina.

Background Information

Name

Her full name is Okina Matara (摩多羅 隠岐奈). The first kanji in Okina, 隠 (o), means "hidden". 岐 (ki) could mean either "crossroads" or "theatre". 奈 (na) can refer to Naraka (Naraku 奈落), the Hindu and Buddhist version of hell (also known as Jigoku 地獄 in Japan), or to "the basement of a theatre". Altogether, Okina (隠岐奈) translates to something like "hidden hell theatre" or "hidden crossroads [in] hell/a theatre's basement". Of note is that 隠岐 (oki) sounds similar to 奥 (oku lit. "backside"). Additionally, Okina (隠岐奈) is homophonous to Okina (翁 lit. "old man"), the name of a mask, used in Noh, Kyogen, and Sarugaku performance. In Japanese Buddhist religious performances the mask represents a god of the same name often conflated with Matarajin. Matara (摩多羅) comes from the first three kanji of Matarajin (摩多羅神 lit. "god of matara") and is the Japanese transcription of the Sanskrit plural for "mother", "mā́taraḥ" (मातर). Thus, the kanji in Matara/Matarajin have no real meaning besides to mimic the sounds of the foreign "mā́taraḥ". Matarajin contains the Sanskrit plural for mother in his name due to his association with several female deities including, but not limited to: the dakini, Dakiniten, Benzaiten, Ena-Tenjin, Hariti (Kishimojin), Mahakali, Kenro Jijin/Kenro Jiten (Prithvi), and, mainly, the Saptamatara/Saptamatrika (Shichimoten).[1][2][3]

Okina's name in relation to the Oki Islands

The first two kanji in Okina, 隠岐 (oki), make up the name of the Oki Islands (隠岐諸島). The Oki islands is where the story of the White Hare of Inaba supposedly took place. In said story, the god Okuninushi helps direct the hare to heal himself after noticing the hare was flayed. Okuninushi is said to be one in the same with the god Daikokuten, who is the Japanized version of Indian god Shiva's ultimate form, Mahakala.[3] Early on, Mahakala/Daikokuten was associated with a retinue of demonesses including the dakini and the seven mothers (Saptamatara/Shichimoten). The first time the name "Matarajin" appears in Japanese records it was used to describe a demonic three-headed yashajin (夜叉神 lit. "yaksha god") of Toji, who appears to be modeled after Mahakala. Several Buddhist texts identify Mahakala/Daikokuten and Matarajin to be one in the same.[2] Interestingly, Lafcadio Hearn (who is related to another character) wrote part of Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan while visiting the Oki Islands. The islands also contain Myokensan (妙見山 lit. "Myoken Mountain") and two of its places of worship, 妙見神社 (Myoken-jinja lit. "Myoken Shrine") and 妙見堂 (Myoken-ji lit. "Myoken Temple"). Myoken is another deification of the Big Dipper with connections to Matarajin.

Okina's name in relation to Kunado no Kami and Dosojin

The 岐 (ki) in Okina may derive from Kunado no Kami (岐の神 lit. "god[s] of crossroads") and its derivative, Dosojin (道祖神 lit. "ancestral road god[s]"), also called Chimata no Kami (岐の神). Both types of gods are associated and identified with Matarajin because their purpose is to ward off pestilence and to remove hindrances, something that Matarajin is also responsible for. Dosojin also share the title of Shukujin (宿神 lit. "indwelling god", "god of destiny") with Matarajin. Additionally, both Kunado no Kami and Dosojin and are tied in with the Koshin (庚申) ritual, something practiced heavily by the monks of the temples and shrines of Mount Hiei, the center of Tendai Buddhism and birthplace of the modern image of Matarajin.

Origin

She is based on Matara-jin (摩多羅神), an obscure, multifaceted God primarily of the esoteric Tendai Buddhism sect, introduced by Ennin. Commonly seen with two servants, Teireita and Nishita, Matara-jin came to be called many names, conflated with other deities, or associated with or became the patron of multiple things.

Design

She has long, blonde hair and yellow eyes. She wears a yellow tabard adorned with a constellation pattern of stars representing the Big Dipper. She wears a green skirt and black boots, and on her head is a three-point hat.

Her stage 6 portraits depicts her sitting on a "throne" and bearing a mirror-like Tsuzumi drum. The throne has a backdoor installed in it, out of which flames in four colors emerge, each representing one of the four seasons.

Her extra stage portrait no longer has the throne and mirror, but the flames are still present. Instead, she has a wireframe-like door in front of her that she is looking through. Her eyes turn orange, her hair becomes longer and smoother and less pale colored, as well as having bigger sleeves.

Story

Games

Hidden Star in Four Seasons
Okina's final stage boss sprite in HSiFS
Okina's extra stage boss sprite in HSiFS

Okina emerges from obscurity, wanting to find new replacements for her servants, Satono and Mai. She orders her servants to plant doors on the backs of others and empower them, with the purpose of bringing out their best to see if they are worthy of being Okina's servant. Empowered fairies cause the seasons to go haywire, which causes the player characters to act. Deeming the player characters unworthy, she defeats them by taking the power they've gathered and expelling them to the beginning using the "door of seasons" planted on their backs. After gathering the lifeless boundary between seasons instead, preventing Okina from ejecting them again, the player returns and manages to defeat her. However, Okina's true goal is simply to stand out and make a show of her power, to engrave herself in the hearts and minds of everyone in Gensokyo once again.

Violet Detector

Okina confronts Sumireko Usami in the Dream World. She is fascinated by her struggle and decides to help her through her ordeal by lending some power. When the Sumireko she helped finally meet with her other self, the real Sumireko, Okina takes back the power she lent her to make the fight fair.

Literature

Wild and Horned Hermit

Okina makes her manga debut in chapter 42, directly following the events of Hidden Star in Four Seasons. After revealing that she created Aunn, she joins Reimu and Marisa in one of the Hakurei Shrine's regular flower-viewing parties. There, she boasts about her power over life energy, bragging that she could create youkai with a snap of her fingers, make the flowers bloom and seasons change at her will and even recreate Gensokyo if she so pleased.

Visionary Fairies in Shrine

In chapter 14, Cirno and the other fairies make their way into the Land of the Back Door, having decided that Okina was responsible for turning some other fairies into pure crystalized life force. Okina, nonchalantly sitting in a wheelchair-like seat, neither confirms nor denies the accusation. Rather, she is amused by Cirno and her friends and the prospect of battling them. The chapter ends with the fairies charging at Okina, still lounging in her chair.

Relationships

Satono Nishida and Mai Teireida

Loyal servants of Okina. Vessels of her power, they act as extensions of her and unflinchingly obey her orders. They seemingly lack the free will to question otherwise. They are becoming less human due to Okina's influence and have little memory of their past, yet maintain their personalities. Whether because they're no longer useful or she pities them, Okina seeks to replace them, which she has periodically. However, after failing to find any, she says she is fine with retaining them. Satono and Mai do not know they are even searching for their own successors.

Sages of Gensokyo

Yukari Yakumo

It's implied in Reimu's extra stage in Hidden Star in Four Seasons that the two are familiar with each other, and that Yukari helped Reimu defeating Okina by suggesting her to use the "boundary between seasons" to fight her. Okina recognized Yukari's modus operandi, while Reimu said she didn't understand the logic behind the countermeasure method she was using. During the fire works festival that Usami wrote about in The Grimoire of Usami, the two banter about things as equals.

Kasen Ibaraki

In chapter 42 of Wild and Horned Hermit, Kasen reveals to Aya Shameimaru that Okina is one of her old acquaintances, and commented how it was a misfortune that she had known her.

Gallery

Spell Cards

Spell Cards
Name Translated Comments Games Stage
Total: 36
後符「秘神の後光」 Back Sign "Halo of the Secret God" HSiFS St. 6: E/N/H
後符「絶対秘神の後光」 Back Sign "Halo of the Absolute Secret God" HSiFS
VD
St. 6: L
Wrong Saturday - 3
裏夏「スコーチ・バイ・ホットサマー」 Hidden Summer "Scorch By Hot Summer" HSiFS St. 6: E/N
裏夏「異常猛暑の焦土」 Hidden Summer "Scorched Earth of Abnormal Intense Heat" HSiFS St. 6: H/L
裏秋「ダイ・オブ・ファミン」 Hidden Fall "Die of Famine" HSiFS St. 6: E/N
裏秋「異常枯死の餓鬼」 Hidden Fall "Preta of Abnormal Blight" HSiFS St. 6: H/L
裏冬「ブラックスノーマン」 Hidden Winter "Black Snowman" HSiFS St. 6: E/N
裏冬「異常降雪の雪だるま」 Hidden Winter "Snowman of Abnormal Snowfall" HSiFS St. 6: H/L
裏春「エイプリルウィザード」 Hidden Spring "April Wizard" HSiFS St. 6: E/N
裏春「異常落花の魔術使い」 Hidden Spring "Black Magician of Abnormal Falling Petals" HSiFS St. 6: H/L
「裏・ブリージーチェリーブロッサム」 "Hidden Breezy Cherry Blossom" HSiFS St. 6: E/N/H/L
「裏・パーフェクトサマーアイス」 "Hidden Perfect Summer Ice" HSiFS St. 6: E/N/H/L
「裏・クレイジーフォールウィンド」 "Hidden Crazy Fall Wind" HSiFS St. 6: E/N/H/L
「裏・エクストリームウィンター」 "Hidden Extreme Winter" HSiFS St. 6: E/N/H/L
秘儀「リバースインヴォーカー」 Secret Ceremony "Reverse Invoker" HSiFS St. Ex
秘儀「裏切りの後方射撃」 Secret Ceremony "Rear Shots of Betrayal" HSiFS St. Ex
秘儀「弾幕の玉繭」 Secret Ceremony "Danmaku Dupion" HSiFS
GoU
St. Ex
秘儀「穢那の火」 Secret Ceremony "Fire of Ena" HSiFS St. Ex
秘儀「後戸の狂言」 Secret Ceremony "Kyogen of the Back Door" HSiFS St. Ex
秘儀「マターラドゥッカ」 Secret Ceremony "Matarah Dukkha" HSiFS St. Ex
秘儀「七星の剣」 Secret Ceremony "Sword of the Seven Stars" HSiFS
GoU
St. Ex
秘儀「無縁の芸能者」 Secret Ceremony "Performers Unattached to Society" HSiFS St. Ex
「背面の暗黒猿楽」 "The Back Face's Dark Sarugaku" HSiFS St. Ex
「アナーキーバレットヘル」 "Anarchy Bullet Hell" HSiFS St. Ex
秘儀「マターラスッカ」 Secret Ceremony "Matarah Sukkha" VD
GoU
Wrong Saturday - 1
秘儀「背面の邪炎」 Secret Ceremony "The Rear Face's Wicked Flames" VD Wrong Saturday - 2
秘儀「秘神の暗曜弾幕」 Secret Ceremony "Secret God's Behind-the-Scenes Danmaku" VD Wrong Saturday - 4
秘儀「神秘の玉繭」 Secret Ceremony "Arcane Dupion" VD Wrong Saturday - 5
「秘神結界」 "Secret God Barrier" Co-owner with Yukari VD Nightmare Saturday - 1
「背後からの盗撮者調伏」 "Sneak-Photographer's Exorcism from the Back" Co-owner with Reimu VD Nightmare Saturday - 3
「卑怯者マスタースパーク」 "Coward's Master Spark" Co-owner with Marisa VD Nightmare Saturday - 5
扉符「温泉客の安らぐ背中」 Door Sign "Relaxed Backs of Hot-Spring Bathers" SFW Story
扉符「太古に失われた背中」 Door Sign "Backs Lost in Ancient Times" SFW Story
扉符「咎人達の血生臭い背中」 Door Sign "Backs of Sinners, Reeking of Blood" SFW Story
「秘匿された時空幻想ツアー」 "Concealed Spacetime Fantasy Tour" SFW Story
「秘められし弾幕界への扉」 "Door to the Hidden World of Danmaku" SFW Story

Additional Information

Fandom

Official Profiles

Hidden Star in Four Seasons - omake.txt (Stage 6)
name  ○6面ボス  究極の絶対秘神

  摩多羅 隠岐奈
  Matara Okina

  種族:秘神
  能力:あらゆるものの背中に扉を作る程度の能力

  万物の背中に潜む秘神。
  表の顔は、地母神、能楽の神、星の神、養蚕の神、障碍の神、被差別民の神、等多岐にわたる。

  本当の正体は誰も知らない。
  その正体を見てはいけない、聞いてはいけない、語ってはいけない、究極の秘神である。

  しかし、秘神とはいえ隠れている訳では無い。
  時として大々的に表に出てきて、存在を誇示するのである。

  今回の目的は、里乃と舞の後継者を探すためと言っているが、後継者など、見つから
  なければそのまま二人にやらせれば良いのだ。

  本当の目的は目立つことである。
  目立って、幻想郷の人間、妖怪、そして賢者達の記憶に刻み込むのである。
  後継者は見つからなかったようだが、そちらの目的は達成されたように見える。

  そして彼女は今の幻想郷を作った賢者の一人でもある。
  幻想郷を外の世界から守り、その何処にでも移動出来て、気付かないうちに生命力も
  精神力もコントロールしてしまう不思議な能力で、幻想郷のバランスを取る役目を
  負っている。
  普段の雑用は手足となる二童子(里乃と舞)に任せている。

  ぞんざいに扱うものには容赦無く、うやうやしく扱ってくれるものには恩恵を授ける。
  敵にすると恐ろしく、味方にすると頼もしい典型的な神様である。

Stage 6 Boss: The Ultimate, Absolute Secret God

Okina Matara

Species: Secret God
Ability: Capable of creating doors on the back of anything

A hidden god who lurks behind all things in creation.
She has a wide range of public faces-- an Earth mother goddess, a god of noh, a god of stars, a god of silkworm breeding, a god of hindrances, a god of discriminated peoples, et cetera.

Nobody knows what her true nature really is.
She's the ultimate secret god, whose true form must never be seen, heard, or spoken of.

Her status as a "secret god" doesn't mean she's hiding or anything, though.
At times, she makes ostentatious public appearances to show off her grand presence.

She claims that her objective was to find successors for Satono and Mai, but if she ended up unable to find any suitable successors, she'd be fine making the two servants continue to work for her.

Her true goal was to stand out.
To make a big show of herself, and engrave herself into the memories of every human, youkai, and sage in Gensokyo.
It seems she didn't find any successor servants in the end, but it appears that her latter goal was well and truly achieved.

She is also one of the sages who created the Gensokyo of today.
She protects Gensokyo from the outside world, can move anywhere she likes, and at some point without realizing it at first, she gained a mysterious power to control both vitality and mental energy, which she uses for her duty of keeping Gensokyo's balance intact.
Her menial tasks are usually entrusted to her two douji servants that wait upon her (ie. Satono and Mai).

She shows no mercy to those who act rudely to her, and grants blessings to those who treat her with reverence.
Fearsome as an enemy and reliable as an ally, she's the classic example of a god.

Hidden Star in Four Seasons - omake.txt (Extra Stage)
name  ○エキストラボス  究極の絶対秘神

  摩多羅 隠岐奈
  Matara Okina

  背中の季節は彼女の用意した罠であった。
  主人公は隠岐奈の用意した季節の罠を逆に利用して再戦に挑む。

  その事態に、季節の魔力で追い返すことは諦め、究極の秘神は真の正体を現した。
  それはまさに表の顔のままの、混沌とした神の姿の集合体であった。

  そういえば、秘神ではあるが彼女は隠れているわけでは無いのだ。
  最初から、全てを見せている秘神なのだ。

Extra Boss: The Ultimate, Absolute Secret God

Okina Matara

The seasons on our heroines' backs were a trap that Okina had arranged.
Our protagonist used Okina's season trap to her own advantage, and challenged her for a rematch.

At this, the ultimate secret god agreed to refrain from chasing the protagonist off with the seasons' magic power, and revealed her true form.
It was a chaotic fusion of many gods' forms, every bit the same as the face she shows publicly.

Speaking of which, she may be a "secret god," but she's not hiding.
From the very beginning, she was a secret god who put everything she has out in plain sight.

Official Sources

Official sources

References

  1. [1] "闇の摩多羅神/Yami no Matarajin" by Minato Kawamura
  2. 2.0 2.1 [2] "Protectors and Predators: Medieval Gods of Japan Volume 2" by Bernard Faure
  3. 3.0 3.1 [3] "Daikokuten Iconography" by Mark Schumacher