follow me into the rain

Part 21 brings us to the Red Bullet of the Kiheitai. She gets the Rosa rugosa!

Also known as "beach rose" "Ramanas rose", "Japanese rose", and "wild rose", is native to Japan and other parts of East Asia.

It's a very tough and hardy bush plant with beautiful flowers, which grows well even on poor soil, and in salty air close to the sea.

Symbolism-wise, it's associated with love and adoration. It has prickles rather than thorns.

For a while I considered giving Otsu roses, since the promised gift of roses figure in her introduction episode and backstory with her convict father.

But while Otsu might enjoy roses, ultimately I wanted to give her the marigold instead. More precisely the field marigold, Calendula arvensis. A popular, widely spread, hard-working, adaptable, beautiful and glamourous flower with perhaps just a bit more brashness to it than the much-courted rose, it's associated with creativity, optimism, good luck, cheer and so on.

Chrysanthemums, especially yellow ones, are associated with the emperor in Japanese flower symbolism. But we never see the emperor in canon, so let's give these flowers to Sho-chan and Soyo instead!

Certainly the majestic aura of the yellow ones fits Shigeshige well, and by changing the hue to a youthful pink you get a serene flower with a both dutiful and hopeful air that I like for Soyo.

Foxgloves for Catherine and Tama both!

Why give Catherine and Tama the same flower, when they are quite different people? Let me explain!
I wanted to give Catherine the foxglove for two reasons: foxgloves are associated with secrets and deception, and foxes are seen as cunning, sneaky, unreliable figures in both European and Japanese traditions.
As for Tama, at first I was unsure whether to give her any flower at all - she is proud of being a machine, and needs no biological plant to express herself.
But then I found out that the scientific name for the foxglove genus is Digitalis... which made me go 'hmmm'.

Now, Digitalis simply derives from the Latin word for 'finger', but still! I just couldn't resist it.
Here Tama is holding an artificial imitation of a foxglove, all in angles like pixel art.

Gintama Flower Suite, part 11: Okita and yellow rose

Yellow roses symbolize envy in Japanese flower symbolism. It's also a pretty, cool-looking flower!
I think it looks good for Sougo.

For Hijikata I picked the harebell a.k.a Scottish bluebell (Campanula rotifundia, Swedish “blåklocka”), which is tough and resilient and associated with constancy and gratitude. Though it has darker associations too, like the underworld (Demonic Vice Commander)… However, it doesn’t have thorns, and Hijikata is a Thorny, so that was an oversight on my part! I didn’t realize this until I was almost done painting, and I confess I like the harebells a bit too much after all to do it all over again. But in retrospect, maybe a thistle or a blue rose would have suited him even better, because of the thorns...

In my defence, he is gazing at his beloved mayo here, so he is sure to be in a softer mood than usual!

Wisteria for Katsura!



I could have gone with hydrangea too, a popular choice with Japanese fan artist, and for good reasons - it’s associated with Japan and the month of June, and fits well symbolically. Wisteria also fits well though, I think, being associated with nobility and constancy; and the very shape of those hanging blossoms, looking gentle and flowing. make me think of the rainy season. Plus, the Swedish name for wisteria is “blåregn” (lit. ‘bluerain’). It just gives me a Katsura-like feeling. ❤❤❤

Honeysuckle is associated with generosity in Japanese flower symbolism. Otose is surely the most generous character in all of Gintama, so it seems like the right flower for her!

2. Kagura and dahlias

This one I chose because of looks! There are many types of dahlias, but I was thinking of varieties with large circular flowers with a lot of red in them. They look so proud and vibrant, like Kagura, and make me think of her with her round hairbuns and signature colour red.