Saruta’s name contains the Chinese character for “monkey” (“saru”; 猿). In premodern
Japan, a monkey was viewed as “a clever animal, similar to but not wise
enough to qualify as a full-fledged human” (Ohnuki-Tierney 1987:34). Mellow
Maromi’s production manager continually addresses Saruta as a type of sub-human,
going so far as to claim he has the “pride of a human being, but the brain of a
monkey.”76 It seems that Saruta is like a monkey that is simulating being a human