TV-Series
Description
Onasia, also spelled Onashia in some romanizations, is a secondary character in the anime Simoun. She is the High Priestess of the Tempus Spatium, the temple that houses the holy Spring where the people of Daikūriku travel at the age of seventeen to choose a permanent sex. Onasia presides over this selection ceremony, and as head of Simulacrum's High Council she also serves as head of state of the theocratic nation that governs the world of the story.
Onasia was not always a priestess. In her youth she was a Simoun Sibylla, a girl qualified to pilot one of the sacred aircraft of the temple, and she belonged to the chor known as Chor Dextra. When the time came for her to choose a sex at the Spring, she refused to make a choice. She wished to remain a girl forever rather than become an adult, and the story treats this refusal as the origin of a burden she describes as a sin. The price of her choice is physical and visible: if another person touches her body, or if she receives a strong impact, her form crumbles into golden powder. Because of this condition she must keep a certain distance from others and lives apart from ordinary life.
After her own experience, Onasia took on the role of guardian of the Spring. Her stated motivation is to keep others from committing the same mistake she did, and she quietly watches over the young people who come to the temple to make their choice. In this capacity she appears before the sibyllae of Chor Tempest during the war, offering them guidance about the meaning of the ceremony and the choice it represents.
In appearance, Onasia is an adult woman with very long green hair that reaches past her hips and gray eyes.
Her most significant relationship is with Yun, a young sibylla of Chor Tempest. Onasia gives Yun golden flakes during their meetings, and the recurring imagery of gold connects the two characters. The series further hints that Onasia may actually be Dominura, the Chor Tempest sibylla who vanished with her partner Limone after performing the Emerald Ri Mājon. Supporting this reading, gold flakes appear on the ground in Dominura's final moments, and when Onasia disappears from the story, Yun calls out Dominura's name while peering into the Spring. The connection is implied rather than confirmed, leaving the full truth of Onasia's identity open to interpretation.
Onasia's backstory illustrates the cost of refusing adulthood, and her guardianship of the Spring gives emotional weight to the ceremony for the sibyllae who pass through the temple. Her abilities are rooted in her former training as a Simoun pilot, and her supernatural condition ties her existence to the golden powder that marks her presence. Through her, the story explores themes of time, identity, and the meaning of remaining a girl forever.
Onasia was not always a priestess. In her youth she was a Simoun Sibylla, a girl qualified to pilot one of the sacred aircraft of the temple, and she belonged to the chor known as Chor Dextra. When the time came for her to choose a sex at the Spring, she refused to make a choice. She wished to remain a girl forever rather than become an adult, and the story treats this refusal as the origin of a burden she describes as a sin. The price of her choice is physical and visible: if another person touches her body, or if she receives a strong impact, her form crumbles into golden powder. Because of this condition she must keep a certain distance from others and lives apart from ordinary life.
After her own experience, Onasia took on the role of guardian of the Spring. Her stated motivation is to keep others from committing the same mistake she did, and she quietly watches over the young people who come to the temple to make their choice. In this capacity she appears before the sibyllae of Chor Tempest during the war, offering them guidance about the meaning of the ceremony and the choice it represents.
In appearance, Onasia is an adult woman with very long green hair that reaches past her hips and gray eyes.
Her most significant relationship is with Yun, a young sibylla of Chor Tempest. Onasia gives Yun golden flakes during their meetings, and the recurring imagery of gold connects the two characters. The series further hints that Onasia may actually be Dominura, the Chor Tempest sibylla who vanished with her partner Limone after performing the Emerald Ri Mājon. Supporting this reading, gold flakes appear on the ground in Dominura's final moments, and when Onasia disappears from the story, Yun calls out Dominura's name while peering into the Spring. The connection is implied rather than confirmed, leaving the full truth of Onasia's identity open to interpretation.
Onasia's backstory illustrates the cost of refusing adulthood, and her guardianship of the Spring gives emotional weight to the ceremony for the sibyllae who pass through the temple. Her abilities are rooted in her former training as a Simoun pilot, and her supernatural condition ties her existence to the golden powder that marks her presence. Through her, the story explores themes of time, identity, and the meaning of remaining a girl forever.