DEFEND THE WATAS OR SUFFER ETERNALLY
Challenge accepted.
1. Why the Watatsukis are actually not Mary Sues, but have relatable flaws and imperfections
Yorihime can pretty visibly crush anyone in the series in a straight fight---she can dissolve and reassemble matter, create miniature stars, and deflect a Master Spark with little but her sword. Naturally she apparently places a huge amount of pride on her combat skills---she had Reimu, Marisa, Remi and Sakuya trapped with her abilities and could have diced them at her leisure, but when our heroines explained the concept of spell card duels to her, she released them and fought them one at a time, presumably not wanting to turn down a chance to beat the dissolute Earth-dwellers at their own game. It stands to reason that our heroines may have only kept their heads because of Yorihime not being able to turn down a good fight.
In the political arena? Yorihime isn't invincible. Are the charges leveled at her simple misunderstanding and caution, or someone conveniently trying to get Yorihime out of the way? Either way, she realizes that something is amiss and that she needs two heads to solve this problem, so she keeps Reimu with her at the Lunar capital for an extended visit---ostensibly because Reimu was walking proof that Yorihime wasn't the only one who could channel divine power, but also because it's possible Yorihime wanted a second person to be in-the-know and on her side. Why else would she have let Reimu go back home unharmed after taking her there, besides possibly some grudging respect for the only human in the rocket group to give her any worry? Who's to say Yori didn't bring her to the Moon to confide something with Reimu she couldn't share with anything else? Nobody would worry about a stupid, dumb, short-lived, short-sighted human being able to remember any details, right?
Also, Reisen II was in a pickle for heading to Earth and Yorihime went out of her way to "pardon" Reisen II's crime. As she also is the sister responsible for training the rest of the moon rabbits, she apparently has at least some sort of soft spot for her troops.
I imagine that also has something to do with the blame laid on Yorihime---for a bunch of folks obsessed with purity, Lunarians can fight really, really dirty.
As for Toyohime---she brags about being able to wield a weapon capable of casually levelling the entire Bamboo Forest, and seems to care little about the possibility of mass casualties amongst youkai and other creatures living in the Bamboo Forest, and furthermore considers the earth-dwellers to be subhuman scum by virtue of nothing more than being born mortal.
That is not the mindset of a smug jerk---that is the mindset of a
certifiable psychopath.Also, she doesn't personally tend to the moon rabbit troopers like her sister, though she has a soft spot for Reisen and Reisen II---I suspect Yorihime's is more genuine concern whereas Toyo thinks of them as pets, though. Which raises some disturbing questions as how well she empathizes with others.
2. Why Toyo in particular actually has a personality beyond "boy do I love peaches".
Let me talk to you about peaches.
It's been said that both the Watas are married, and to men at that.
Has it ever been said that Toyo is HAPPY with her marriage?
These people can and will live effectively forever barring death by disease, gunshot, blunt force, drowning, etc. So why would they need such formal marriage arrangements?
Simple. New DNA is needed. Even if they have cloning of some sorts (possible origin of moon rabbits? Must investigate further) they've gotta get new DNA SOMEhow, and the easiest way is the one already in place---nature. How far did YOU think the Moon Nazi jokes were going to go?
My theory is that Toyo is not happy with her marriage because she swings
that way, and the rest of the Moon cannot take that for an answer.
So how does she vent? Peaches. Peaches here, peaches there, peaches everywhere. We all know what peaches are used as a metaphor for sometimes, right? And no one catches on because peaches already have a cleaner, more mundane connotation in Asian-derived cultures.
Also, part of her job involves maintaining the boundary between the scientific, airless-ball-of-rock moon and the whimsical, mythological moon. Presumably without her they would be in some danger of suddenly suffocating within minutes and dying a horrible death.
One imagines she would feel kinda sorta maybe a little bit under pressure for this.
With all THAT in mind, her comparatively callous attitude takes on a different, more tragic dimension.
Danmaku. Danmaku never changes.~Fin
That was tiring as Hell and depressing as fuck to write. I'mma shower and sleep now.