I'll probably write a final overview of SoPM in due time, but for right now I'll give my initial thoughts on some of the characters and some things I read in the interview:
Shinto in general: Pretty much what I expected from it, though Kanako's aspect suggested she she can go wider with it. So it seems to be understandable coming from her.
Hina: She struck me as a depressing individual and yet when Akyuu says she is actually nice and cheerful, that kinda perplex me. Especially with the picture of choice, since she looked so.....melancholy. Otherwise most things I viewed about Hina seem to make sense. Though the fact she's the type of god that could double as a youkai was kind of a nice surprise, yet it made sense to me since she's the type of god that didn't require worshiping....
Nitori: Kappa are kappa so I kinda expect them to display their old habits. Nitori is no surprise to me either. You could say her relationship with humans is shaky at most. Course since she did work with Marisa in SA, assuming you play that route. It seems to suggest that she can actually be on good terms. But only if she can actually trust you. But like I said, on most occasions, it's shaky. Also DON'T GO NEAR KAPPA HQ UNLESS YOU WANNA DROWN.
Sanae: Sanae turned out pretty much as I expected. Though her lack of outside world knowledge suggests she's only limited on what she knows (probably because duty comes first). But even the games suggest she knows some stuff. But I guess it's stuff Gensokyo already knows about?.... Other than that her miracle abilities strike me with no surprise either and the fact it's questionable make her seem believable.
Kanako: She's one shrewd business individual. She struck me as one to attempt to find ways to gather faith, but I didn't know HOW heavily involved she was. Apparently all that dealing with the Tengu and Kappa are paying off I see. Course the fact her and Suwako work together when performing god like fates also interested me. Also the fact she starts a business with youkai selling outside good to them tickled my interest. And from what I've seen in the interview, she seems like she stands on the natural ground of things.
Suwako: Once again what I have learned is never underestimate this goddess. She's surprinsing more dangerous and powerful than I usually expect her to be especially since she harnesses the cursed god within her. It almost gives me this vibe that her and Kanako work together to perform strange feats to drum up business in a yakuza like fashion. But it's made a bit vauge for me to make sure. Either way, she's still amusing with her powers....
The underground folks: Obviously we've learn that some are more dangerous than we expect. But then again, it may be misconception too. Though some ideas about them and WHY they live underground do make sense....
Kisume: This one literally swept me off my feet. Completely different from how I expected Kisume. She may of not had a profile, but my god ZUN.... I'm guessing this means feral youkai still exists within Gensokyo and Kisume is one of them.
Yamane: The tidbits that were given did not surprise me.... waiting for official translation....
Parsee: Most of it seems to be obvious. Parsee hates everyone. Simple.... keep conversations to a minimum and don't let her get to you. But yeah nothing too unexpected...
Yuugi: Now that we known the her phenomenon mainly comes from her sake cup. Because it can upgrade the quality of any alcoholic beverage poured into it. I'm pretty tickled with Yuugi now. She at least has something that makes her notably stick out now other than the fact she's an oni. Course Suika's comments about her being stonger than her didn't really surpirse me, her build kinda gave it away.
Satori: A complete hikkimori, something I wasn't expecting, but I guess when your hated for reading people's minds, you sometimes gotta do something to keep yourself away from those that hate you. Sad really, but on the other hand, her desire to write love stories makes her interesting.
Orin: Nothing new, everything about Kasha myths proved to exists here.
Utsuho: Nothing confirmed yet, even a summary someone pointed to me too suggest that little is known about Okuu by Akyuu at this time.... Still waiting for official translation though....
Koishi: Super depressing.... I didn't think she would sink to that point. But then again, she's really seems to be hurting herself even though she can't feel a thing about it all even if her sister doesn't know she exsist. Being Koishi is suffering....
About the Buddhist: Byakuren's crew seem to be a very interesting group, and yet now that I've seen some of her views.... I question her stance. She seems to suggest she support youkai and care for humans, but yet she seems to STRONGLY show a stance for youkais and in some ways a bitter hatred to humans. Also the groups themeselves after reading thier profile even add more shadiness to the group....
Nazrin: She's pretty much what I expected. Though being the smallest of the crew was also an interesting thing too. Understandable as well.... also the fact she mainly runs around Gensokoy and only answers to Shou...
Kogasa: Kogasa is now more cute and amusing than before. The fact that she is liked by people (children in paticular) is a big plus. Even if she doesn't exactly like the idea of that. Otherwise most info was what I expected...
Ichirin and Unzan: The back story and how Ichirin became a youkai is probably the most interesting thing about them. I didn't expect Ichirin would single handedly defeat Unzan with a simple chant and would end up serving her. But it seems to me this will lead to a sweet if not sad story when doujin stories begin poping up....
Murasa: Comfirmed for absolute jerk who will drown people that she dislikes. Surprising twist from what I was hoping to know, but at least she's not bounded to the Myouren temple like I was thinking she would be. (Since it was her ship orginally) Course now that she's running around cauing harm she's become a strange individual in my book.
Shou: Japanese Hobbes....end of story and I LOVE IT!
Byakuren: When you compile all the information of her crew, her stance on some issues in the interview and her background info. Byakuren really does become an extremely shady person. In fact you may question if she really follows the code of Buddhism at times. I guess they're right, being caged up in houkai for 1000 years really can make you grow hatred towards humans.... Course the bits about her scroll and magic really caught my interest. Regardless of these though, Byakuren really does stand in that shady gray area especially with Miko....
About the Taoist: This crew was what caught my interest the most. And as I pressed on looking at the characters and their religion itself. I found that it may not be the characters themselves that are just gray in thier feild... but the religion itself! Especially when Miko mentions about that anyone can pursue the truth and how they use it is up to them. This means pretty much good and evil humans can pursue hermitdom and cause serious issues depending on who masters it. Seiga herself being more of a bad nature individual is just a small sample of what a person with ill intentions can do. While Miko is probably more closer to what a more good nature individual can do (though she has her grey fields as well...)
Kyouko: It's funny how Akyuu recorded some of her echos. It was a funny treat. Also the fact she's bad at math makes her funny. Course like everyone else pointed out..... Kyouko and Mystia's punk rock band....BEST THING EVER!
Yoshika: Oddly found this one amusing. Mainly knowing why her body is well preserved. But what really caught my eye was how she behaves when Seiga ofuda comes off.... it's depressing and scary all at the same time. And also suggests to me Yoshika is THE Miyako no Yoshika most likely.
Seiga: While the information I wanted didn't come to be. What I learned about her character was astonishing because of one reason....Everything thing I had envisioned about Seiga in almost came out perfect! She stuck me as a very cruel dark individual who tends to look around for anything that gets her attention. And the fact she stalks people makes her stand out. Also the fact her wall passing skills have a weakness proves she does have limits... yet most of everything else was stuff I confirmed long ago... The only true surprise coming from her is the fact she doesn't really work directly with Miko's group following her resurrection...but then again, this may bring her out more (almost anticipate she'll reutrn in some way... considering her behavior) Also waiting for Seiga Claus article!
Tojiko: Pretty much what shocked me here (pun intended) was that Futo really got the last laugh with Tojiko and screwed her Shikansen process up. That was kinda of a big ouch, other than that most of what I invision of her seems accurate. awaiting complete translation.
Futo: Paranoid, timid, and out of place. Futo really does stand out to be very interesting. And because of this, she tends to get scared alot. This is especially amusing since I now view her as paranoid arsonist. XD Also the Shikansen process gave me some light on how it's done.
Miko: Pretty much alot of things about her came out to be as I expected. High royalty and friendly, seems saintly to the point it may be hard to associate with. The fact she lives in a secluded location suggest she is definitely living the way of the hermit. Otherwise, probably the big thing about her that stood out was her extreme stance against youkai and wanting to establish a political system of sorts in the human village (or at least become a leader to them). She has this polotician vibe about her. Which makes me like her and dislike her at the same time. Again, she has a grey field about her because of her strong political influence. If she happens to raise the people's moral high enough, it may cause some serious bad vibes in Gensokyo in the long run..... we'll just have to wait and see though.
Mamizou: Being a foreigner to Gensokyo must be tough, especially since she must content with the other tanukis that are locals here. Makes me kinda curious how her role will play out. We know she's been busy hang around Reimu and the crew in WaHH so she's probably starting to adapt. I'm still awaiting for additional info though....
But yeah this is my impression so far of SoPM. Really I'm impressed and has given me some intersting vibes about the characters and Gensokyo's future in general... I wonder where ZUN will take the series as of this point....
