Thursday, July 19, 2012

The meaning of crows flying overhead... Aho, Aho!

As stated in my introduction, I am not Japanese and do not understand some simple references that are used commonly in Anime.  I once read as an author's note while I was watching an anime (don't remember which), when the animators have crows flying overhead saying 'Aho, aho,' it had a certain meaning.  I wasn't able to remember the meaning, so I had to look it up.  See the following explanation below taken from the following site... (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/IdiotCrows):

Idiot Crows

When a boke (silly or idiotic character) says something stupid or foolish, one or more crows may be seen flying past, crying "aho! aho!" or "ba-ka, ba-ka". Aho is Japanese for "idiot". It's also the kansai-ben equivalent to the all-purpose insult baka (one functional translation of aho is "dumbass"); kansai-ben is used by both the Boke and Tsukkomi Routine and The Idiot from Osaka.

Much more common in comedy series than serious dramatic anime, but sometimes found at lighter moments in serious series, too.

Ravens and Crows also have a more serious purpose in anime — as in Western mythology, crows are seen as heralds of death in Japanese folklore. The Idiot Crows are not usually meant to symbolize this darker meaning.

Not to be confused with, the idiocy of Crow T. Robot or a particular nuclear powered raven who is an idiot.

Also note that "aho" is a pun; it's also Japanese onomatopoeia for a crow's call, hence why it's used so often in comedic situations.

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