Zetsubou: Nexus of a Lost Civilization?

[anonymous]

Nan Madol is a ruined, partly overflooded city on the island of Pohnpei "upon (pohn) a stone altar (pei)", around the tropical equator in the Pacific. The site core with its stone walls encloses an area approximately 1.5 km long by 0.5 km wide and it contains nearly 100 artificial islets, stone and coral fill platforms, bordered by tidal canals. The original name of Nan Madol was Soun Nan-leng (Reef of Heaven), and it was the capital of the Saudeleur Dynasty until 1928.

Nan Madol functioned as an inspiration for Lovecraft's lost city R'lyeh, and both locations are close to the Pacific pole of inaccessibility (48°52.6′S 123°23.6′W), a point in the ocean farthest from any land mass. 

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"The nightmare corpse-city of R'lyeh…was built in measureless eons behind history by the vast, loathsome shapes that seeped down from the dark stars. There lay great Cthulhu and his hordes, hidden in green slimy vaults."

It is generally believed that Lovecraft was inspired for choosing this location for his novel by another, older book, the Moon Pool, by Abraham Meritt. The plot of this book concerns an advanced race which has developed within the Earth's core. Eventually their most intelligent members create an offspring. This created entity encompasses both great good and great evil, but it slowly turns away from its creators and towards evil. The entity is called either the Dweller or the Shining One. On the island of Pohnpei in the South Pacific, the cold light of a full moon washes over the crumbling ruins of an ancient, vanished civilization. Unleashed from the depths is the Dweller, a glittering, enigmatic force of monstrous terror and radiant beauty that stalks the South Pacific, claiming all in its path.

@PINNAZ found a third story, an autobiography of Herbert Rittlinger, a writer, photographer and explorer who spent 2 years sailing around the Pacific. He discovered that Pohnpei was a "brilliant and splendid center of a Pacific kingdom that had existed there untold millennia ago". The reports of this fabulous wealth had enticed pearl divers and merchants to investigate the seabed secretly and the divers had all risen from the depths with incredible tales. Now this well is not a well, but the way down to the beginning or end of a tunnel, deep into the unknown. The fact that today the opening is full of water to barely six feet below the edge proves nothing, for the buildings of Nan Madol continue over the edge of the island and can be followed with the naked eye below sea level until they disappear in the depths. "Down below," there were countless stone vaults, pillars and monoliths. Carved stone tablets hung on the remains of what seemed to be houses or temples. But many divers didn't return to the surface of the sea, and the place was considered cursed as the 'House of the Dead'.

 

So what is this tunnel doing on this tiny island? Is there a lost underwater city off Nan Madol? Several modern day writers theorized that the ruined city on the land and the supposed drowned continuation of it are remnants of a lost continent: The Empire of Lemuria. The tunnel could be a gateway to Hollow Earth, a word metaphorically used for Agartha.

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"They visited many places in the Universe, with their first stop at planet named Marduk, in what is now the asteroid belt, followed by Mars, and shortly after that, they came to Earth and settled in Sumeria. (...)  Eventually, they created the subterranean world known as Agartha, with the capital city of Shambhala, in the Earth’s Core, Hollow Earth.  As the center of intellectual progress and enlightenment, and is powered by the Black Sun, or Schwarze Sonne, a black star located within the Earth itself said to contain and radiate immense power, called Vril Energy.  It’s been said that there many entrances to Agartha, including Antarctica, the Pyramids of Giza, and the city of Shangri-La in the Himalayas."

Okay so, Zetsubou no Shima, set on Pohnpei, features a lot of Keeper influences, right? The skulls, the altar, the hidden undercroft and the hieroglyphics. Does this have ties with Lemuria and with the power and size this supposed empire had, of which Pohnpei was the nexus? Actually, Nan Madol and Lemuria have a prominent role in Ancient Astronaut theories. The writer Devaneya Pavanar associated Lemuria with Kumari Kandam, a legendary sunken landmass mentioned in the Tamil literature which is claimed to be the cradle of civilization for mankind. This civilization thrived because of their contact with those from above which they referred to as 'Gods'. These gods are said to have taught mankind things like language (remember how similar the Keeper language is to Sumerian language?), agriculture (think about the Shangri-La water system), architecture (pyramids), etc. 

 

So goes the story: The gods came and taught our ancestors everything. Mankind thrived. But what is this story we see in the hieroglyphics in Zetsubou? Using @caljitsu's translation guide in Keeperese, I've translated the readings and this is what it says:

Evil rises, the Keeper(s?) protect(s?), seal up and venture (?)

 

Basically what the pictures already implied, this is the story of Nan Sapwe. One of the Ancient Astronauts that descended upon Earth and helped humanity not merely with learning, but also with fighting the evil. The Apothicans. But who exactly was Nan Sapwe?

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"Originally associated with the Dipwinpahnmei clan, Nah Sapwe, the thunder god, became the most prominent of the many gods and spirits on Pohnpei. As the “god above the land,” the voice of Nahn Sapwe could be heard by all Pohnpeians. He existed as an indigenous unifying force in an otherwise divided land. For a time, the Saudeleurs and their god Nahnisohnsapw had imposed themselves upon the island. Pohnpeians, however, had begun to grow restive and contemptuous under Saudeleur rule; they now offered token homage to Nahnisohnsapw, while maintaining steadfast belief in their own gods. The Saudeleur’s attack on Nahn Sapwe, a desperate, self-destructive act, constituted a total break with the island. Though dominating the people of the island, the Saudeleur, ultimately, could not subjugate the divine forces that provided the life of the land." (found by @Tac)

Summarizing it, the ancient room we see in Zetsubou no Shima is merely a glimpse of what lays ahead. An alien-influenced stronghold full of otherworldly treasures. In this thread I wrote how the Chtulu statues seen in Shadows of Evil might originate from this area, and looking at how that Japanese officer looks to the Summoning Key in the intro cutscene of Zetsubou, he might've been searching for this artifact in the dark waters around Pohnpei as well. The Apothican monster appearing at round 50 proves that whatever enlightened nexus this city once was, it has now fallen victim to the Darkness. Or perhaps, like in Lovecraft's novel, the place functions as a portal to the House of Cthulhu, the prison of the Apothicans: the Aether.