In episode 30 of Grendizer, after Dr Umon found out that a radio-toxic wound was threatening the life of his adopted son, Daisuke (as if the war with Veghan troops was not a big enough threat), his tears fell on a yellow daffodil in the middle of a vase of other yellow and white daffodils.
The choice of daffodils for this scene puzzled me for sometime for several reasons. Mainly because this episode was aired in Japan for the first time on 25th April 1976 which means that it was towards the end of its season. Daffodils are usually among the first flowers that emerge in late winter announcing the arrival of spring. They bloom abundantly in March and by the end of April/early May, most of them are gone leaving only leaves that look like garlic chives.
It is as if the daffodil in late season is symbolic of Duke Fleed himself who survived longer than expected with his deadly wound since he contracted it on Planet Fleed.
As usual, my curiosity made me research daffodils further especially that I know that the daffodil is the logo of the Cancer Council which funds medical research and treatment of all cancerous illnesses. Therefore, to my knowledge it is a symbol of hope and rebirth not death. My research yielded some very interesting information.
Daffodils belong to a huge botanical family called Amaryllidaceae which has 13,000 varieties and more than 50 species. The genus of daffodils in this botanical family is called Narcissus, and the ones shown in episode 30 most likely belong to a species called Narcissus tazetta. In English they are are known by many names such as daffodils, jonquils, yellow maidens and many others. They originated in the Mediterranean region and reached Asia and China via trade and the Silk Road. From China it is thought to have reached Japan between the 10th and 13th century where it became naturalised. Today daffodils bloom abundantly in Spring in Japan.
In Japan, daffodils are called suisen and written in Kanji as such
水仙
where the symbol 水 means water and 仙 means hermit or wizard.
I think its Japanese name may be related to the fact that daffodils grow near water and perhaps it is also linked to the origin of its name narcissus in Greek mythology. The myth states that the river god Cephissus had a very handsome son called Narcissus. One day while Narcissus was walking in the woods, he saw his reflection upon the river and was so mesmerised by his beauty that he could not move away from gazing at his image for several days. He eventually became very tired and exhausted that he fell into the river and drowned. The myth continues that where Narcissus used to sit on the river bank, beautiful flowers gazing towards the river, like he did, grew. Hence, they were named after him, narcissus. So in the myth Narcissus was the “hermit” who sat by “water” “bewitched” by his beauty.
Even though, the term “narcissus” is also attributed to the description of narcissism and narcissistic traits in psychology, the meaning and symbolism of narcissus flowers (daffodils) in the various cultures of the world are faraway from conceitedness and vanity. People’s views of this flower have also changed dramatically throughout time.
In Medieval times, it was considered to be a very bad omen of pending death if someone gazed at a daffodil and it drooped. Also, gifting a single daffodil is thought to bring misfortune that’s why until today some prefer to gift daffodils in a bouquet rather than single flowers. However, nowadays in the Western world, daffodils are symbolic of hope, joy, happiness, rebirth, revival, cheerfulness, energy and vitality. Gifting daffodils on the 10th wedding anniversary symbolises joy, happiness and renewal of the love oaths.
In China, daffodils are symbolic of good fortune. It is thought that if a daffodil blooms in one’s garden on New Year’s Day, one will have good luck and great fortune for the rest of the year. Similarly, in Wales, where daffodils are the national flowers, it is said that if someone spots the first daffodil of the season, he/she will have wealth for the next 12 months. In Japan, daffodils mean respect.
Other older meanings of daffodils in western culture included unrequited love. Having to fight the cold winter and bloom successfully they also symbolised bravery, chivalry, overcoming obstacles and success.
I also found a website that the colour of the daffodil also determined its meaning.
Yellow daffodils which are the commonest mean rebirth, hope, strength, resistance and overcoming obstacles, while white daffodils symbolise purity and a desire for transformation and moving away from vanity and selfishness.
The rare purple daffodils are the ones that are linked to myth of Narcissus and are symbolic of selfishness, vanity and self-obsession.
The vase in episode 30 had both yellow and white daffodils.
Dr Umon’s tears were received by a yellow one in the centre, as if the flower that symbolised the joy, happiness and revival of his fatherly emotions that Daisuke brought to his life was about to wither. For death has stealthily crept to threaten his son’s life and he could not do much other than watch helplessly while trying his best to support him emotionally and attempt to control his pain using a limited device.
That central yellow daffodil that also resembled Daisuke’s bravery and strength defeating death when he crash landed on Earth with Grendizer years earlier, was the same that received Dr Umon’s tears, as he now faces a new struggle with death. In this Daisuke deserved all respect for he has promised to do all he could to protect Earth until his last breath. The nearby white daffodils indicated Dr Umon’s desire to shift his focus from his own pain and threatened fatherhood to concentrate all his efforts to help his son as much as possible. While the other yellow daffodil in the bottom of the vast gleamed with hope.
Episode 30 ends with a sad song whose lyrics describe the tragedy of Planet Fleed and how it painfully traumatised Duke Fleed. It also encourages him to rise with all his might to prevent a recurrence of Fleed’s tragedy in order to never experience that type of agony again.
end of episode 30 in Arabic and Japanese versions
And so the daffodils remain a symbol of hope, strength, resistance, overcoming obstacles, revival, rebirth, success, respect and joy.
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