That ring...

[telophase]

... the bootleg Sanzo ring from this post? Still hasn't turned my finger green, so that's all good. I was looking at the pattern a little more closely now that I've given up doing anything more useful this evening. I'm still undecide whether it's a bootleg of an actual item produced in Japan or something made by someone who saw the picture and reproduced it (I haven't seen the original calendar, and the printout in the packages is way too small to see anything, of course), or a ring unrelated to Saiyuki that was packaged like this to sell.




Here's a couple of close-ups. There's a stem or vine with four leaves, a four-petaled flower, and some sort of blob that's probably some flower.



That repeats once more on the otehr side of the ring. And between them, one on one side of the ring and one on the other, is what is either a lotus or some sort of half-eaten mutant strawberry.




I'm somewhat inclined to dismiss the third option, that it's unrelated to Saiyuki, because the lotus is associated with Buddha (The Lotus Sutra - disciples asked the Buddha for a lesson, and he simply showed them a lotus, and they were enlightened) and is the sort of thing that might appear on items like the official Sanzo outfit. But I can't say for sure unless I run across an official version at a con or online. Wish I had a good pic of that calendar print to see. Hm.

And still no green finger!

Comments

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

Hee. Cool. I see tha ring all the time on Ebay, and I've always been curious about it. So, uh, yay for keeping me from wondering!

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Every so often I've just gotta get me some swag. :D

[greenapple2004.livejournal.com]

And according to the manga translators, Sanzo summons the Makkai Tenjo by reciting the Japanese version of the beginning of the Lotus Sutra. :-) (Om mani padme um=> on ma ni hatsu un)

*jealous of shiny*

[greenapple2004.livejournal.com]

Sorry, that would be "on ma ni hatsu *mei* un."

[telophase.livejournal.com]

OH, thatr's interesting! And makes the ring even more appropriate for him.

I wonder why I haven't seen it at any cons or online? That's the weirdest part - it's just the eBay sellers flogging bootlegs that carry it, as far as I can tell.

[greenapple2004.livejournal.com]

As much merchandise as you can get at cons, having been to Animate in Tokyo before, I can say that there's even more stuff out there that never makes it across the ocean. Our company prez picked up a bootleg Trinity Blood mini artbook and pendant in Hong Kong that I've never seen elsewhere.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Huh. Well, at any rate it's provided entertainment for over 12 hours, which is more than you can say for just about anything else I've bought recently. :D


*holds lotus ring up*
*waits for people to be enlightened*