MIK s2e2: MĀORI CULTURE: Sam recalls some poignant moments when he gets a Māori "moko"
After reading a post about a TV Line recap of MIK episode 202, I decided to watch this episode about Māori culture for myself. I was touched by the scenes where Sam and Graham each tell their stories in the process of getting a nonpermanent version of a "moko" (or tā moko), a deeply meaningful form of tattoo in the Māori culture.
Tā moko artist Hohua Mohi explains that someone who wants a moko will "sit down for a good hour" and start talking about some part of their life that is meaningful, like their family, where they came from, etc. As they are talking, the moko artist is drawing, and consequently, every moko is unique and very personal.
The Story Behind Sam's Moko
SAM: Well my dad left, when I was, uh, very young, three years old, so I didn't--I didn't know him at all.
HOHUA: Yeah.
SAM: I actually didn't know his name.
SAM: And uh, my mum brought me up with my elder brother in the south of Scotland. She's--she's been very, very strong my whole life. And she struggled, I think, to look after two young boys.
SAM: Um, and it probably wasn't until I was… mid-20s that I finally, uh, met my dad. And, actually, very recently, I got to see him just before he died, which was uh, incredible, just to learn about him and his life.
SAM: And, uh, we spent a few days together.
I work a lot, and I'm very fortunate. But I always put it first. So I guess, uh, relationships are difficult.
Sam's Moko Explained and Revealed
HOHUA: So, if you look at it, it talks about your--your father. It talks about your dad and then your brother in here. This manaia here represents your mum. And so it's obviously facing upwards.
SAM: Yeah.
HOHUA: I've been giving you advice.
SAM: Ah, so she's been giving me advice, mm.
HOHUA: And if you look at it, rather than just follow a single line, all of these colors, they branch off, they branch off, they branch off.
SAM: Yeah, yeah.
HOHUA: And it was-- They came from you talking about how you wanted-- ultimately, you know, you don't know whether or not you're gonna settle down there, but you- you want to go and see the world.
SAM: Somewhere else, yeah, yeah.
HOHUA: So that's what--that's what this will remind you of. You know?
SAM: Different branches.
HOHUA: Yeah, but also, no matter which way you branch off, never forget where... [speaking native language]
SAM: Wow.
HOHUA: Hmm.
SAM: My friend. [shakes hand] So beautiful.
GRAHAM: That is really--
SAM: Thank you so much.
GRAHAM: It's pretty.
SAM: Isn't that awesome?
SAM: A strange experience as well.
GRAHAM: A unique experience.
SAM: Yeah, just also very personal. It felt like going to therapy a little bit.
GRAHAM: Yeah.
SAM: But, uh, very, very honored.
GRAHAM: Yeah. Yeah. Really, thank you so much.
Being a therapist myself, it seemed to me that the process of getting a moko is very much a therapeutic experience. The person getting a moko focuses inwardly and shares important parts of their past that define who they are. The moko artist appears not to be judgmental and listens at a deep level. Then the artist presents the moko, which is a visual symbol of something very unique about the person. And they also give verbal feedback to the person about what they have understood to be the essence of their story.
Sounds like a "therapeutic" encounter to me!
[edited]
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NOTE: Images of Sam's moko were enhanced for clarity and to accentuate the colors.
Thanks @thetruthwilloutsworld for making the TV Line Recap post. I'd never watched any episode of MIK before. I'm glad I watched this episode. I enjoyed learning about Māori culture, as well as finding out more about Sam's and Graham's personal backgrounds.
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P5X Tomoko Noge/Moko Gameplay Details
Role: Support
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Stats (Level 1):
Health: 207
Attack: 60
Defense: 48
Speed: 101
Persona Trait (Awareness Level 0):
The Gift of the Forest:
At the beginning of her turn, Tomoko gains a number of [Green Leaves] corresponding to the number of enemies on the field. Each [Green Leaf] increases Effect Hit Rate of the party by 13%, with a Max of 3 Stacks. Every 3 [Green Leaf] Tomoko gets, will give her a [Ye Ming Minor] state, which powers up her skills.
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Awareness Levels:
When "Hymm of the Leaf Flute" is used, every [Green Leaf] consumed increases the target's Effect Hit Rate by (20% Tomoko's Effect Hit Rate), for 1 round.
Skill Levels of "Melody of Thought" and "Good Night Song" are increased by 2 Levels.
After "Hymm of the Leaf Flute" is used, gain 1 [Green Leaf].
Skill Levels of "Hymm of the Leaf Flute" and "Combat Skills" are increased by 2 Levels.
After using Highlight, increases damage received by enemies by an additional 25% for 1 round.
After an enemy is affected by Tomoko's Sleep effect, the next damage it receives will be increased by 30%.
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Active Skills:
Melody of Thought(Level 1): Deals (48% Attack Power) Psi damage to all enemies, and increases damage to enemies suffering mental abnormalities by 50%. Gain 1 [Green Leaf]. [20 SP]
Good Night Song(Level 1): Inflicts (32% Chance) Sleep on a foe for 1 round. When using this skill, if Tomoko has [Ye Ming Minor], the probability of sleep increases by 48%. [20 SP]
Hymm of the Leaf Flute(Level 1): Increases damage caused by an ally by 15%, and consume all [Green Leaves] on Tomoko. Each [Green Leaf] consumed increases the damage by an additional (0.23% for every 10% of Tomoko's Effect Hit Rate; Max: 4.5%) [22 SP]
HIGHLIGHT(Level 1): Inflicts (51.2% Chance) Sleep on all enemies for 2 turns and increases damage they receive by 10.9% for 1 turn.
Passive Skills:
Fantasy(Level 1): Increases the damage mentally abnormal enemies receive by 8%.
Pursue(Level 1): When using "Hymm of the Leaf Flute", if there are 3 [Green Leaves] on Tomoko, there is a fixed 33% chance to to dispel a random negative on the target.
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Weapons(Base Level/Transformation):
Double Dagger (2 Star):
Health: 82
Attack: 24
Defense: 19
Attack increased by 11.3%.
Ode to the Double Blade (3 Star):
Health: 98
Attack: 28
Defense: 23
When inflicting Sleep, Effect Hit Rate is increased by 27.1%
Shadow Dance Double Crown (4 Star):
Health: 131
Attack: 38
Defense: 30
Attack increased by 12.0%. After inflicting Sleep, the defense of the sleeping enemy is reduced by 10.8% for 1 round.
Dream Weaver (5 Star):
Health: 164
Attack: 48
Defense: 38
Effect Hit Rate increased by 36.0%. When [Green Leaf] is consumed, the target ally's Attack will be increased by 26.0% for 2 rounds. When [Ye Ming Minor] is consumed, the Attack of all allies will be increased by 38.0% for 1 round.
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Analysis
Tomoko is in a weird place, being an alright Support, but with a niche in increasing the Effect Hit Rate of allies. For the allies, that do care about getting effects inflicted on allies, this can greatly help consistentcy, however, they are also giving up much more pottentially useful support such as Bui's much better Attack buffs and Critical Hit rate boosts, or Leo's Shields. She can still be very useful, she's just a bit more niche than Leo or Bui, who's niches are much more generally useful and applicable to most characters in a way that helps push damage or protecting benchmark, which will be seen as more important and trackable than consistency.
Good Teams to use Kotomo in are:
Kotomo - Riddle - Haru:
A very powerful Mono-Psi team. Kotomo helps Haru inflict her [Special Treatment] on foes, which sets up her gameplan to deal major enemies to foes with her Firearm. She also sets up Sleep, which will further increases Haru's damage due to the foe having a mental abnormality. Riddle's effect resistance debuffs on foe's makes Kotomo and Haru work extremely well together, with Kotomo's Attack buffs and Riddles wide variety of debuffs lets Haru shine. Probably one of her best teams.
Kotomo - Riddle - Closer:
Kotomo buffs up Closer with Attack and Effect Hit increases, while Riddle applys many debuffs on the enemy, including Effect Resistance . This allows her to get off consistently strong damage with her [Conductive] spreading to many foes. May prove frail without a dedicated tank to help them out, or a healer.
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