Miscellaneous Questions 5: Ask Question, Receive Answer

[CyberAngel]

She's a shrine maiden, donations is her only source of income. And given that people don't visit her shrine (and those that do practically never donate), not a steady one. Big events are her only chance to get any serious amount, but those are few and far between. And given that she's not all that good at her job and suffers failures frequently, she has to try even harder. So she tries to grab whatever chance she can (although never to outright "scam" levels). Since it's pretty much her own SURVIVAL that depends on her success, of course her approach would be aggressive about these things.

Also, do keep in mind that the chapters come out slowly, with two months in between, and stories depicted there usually take place around the time they come out. WaHH focuses on times when she needs to act, not on idle everyday life. She's probably her usual carefree self all that time off-screen.

Well, there's also a theory that WaHH is shown from Kasen's perspective, and as chapter 5 shows she doesn't have an accurate and unbiased opinion on Reimu.

[Clarste]

I think "from Kasen's perspective" makes the most sense, although it's less unreliable narrator and more that Kasen notices Reimu's childish side more, while other stories like Sangetsusei and FS see her more as an adult.

[CaptainAbsurder]

OK, so this is a very  stupid question but, is it canon that Maribel is in a asylum? If is canon, where is that stated?

[cuc]

A "sanatorium", not in the sense of "asylum" or mental hospital, but in the sense of health resort for the recovery of long-term illness.

It's located in the mountains of Nagano, likely inspired by the real-life Fujimi Plateau Hospital in Suwa (because when you search for the relevant key words, this is the only place that comes up, and it actually played a small part in history).

It's part of the current music CD storyline in Vol. 6 and 7; I suggest you to just read them to find out what has happened.

[Tiamat]

I think "from Kasen's perspective" makes the most sense, although it's less unreliable narrator and more that Kasen notices Reimu's childish side more, while other stories like Sangetsusei and FS see her more as an adult.

Going off of that, it might be because Wild and Horned Hermit is a series about Kasen, and Kasen's the type of girl who gets involved in Reimu's life when she feels Reimu is doing something wrong.  Thus, it's logical for any event where Kasen gets involved, and thus any event that Wild and Horned Hermit is presenting to us, would be about Reimu doing something wrong.  Meanwhile, on the various days where Kasen is not involved, and thus the various days that Wild and Horned Hermit is not showing us, Reimu is more well-behaved (as shown by other Touhou works where Reimu isn't doing that league of stuff that she does in WaHH)

It's kinda like how a series of stories about a bounty hunter or police officer would involve lots of criminals while not showing the aspects of the world where criminal behavior isn't involved, but that doesn't mean the entire world is all about criminals.  In this case, a story about Kasen (the morality police girl) would involve lots of morality issues (Reimu's increased jerkassedness) while not showing the times Reimu isn't acting like that.

[Shiina Tamai]

What would happen to the gods, fairies, celestials, youkai, and other supernatural creatures if humans went extinct?

[CyberAngel]

With noone to believe in them, so would they. It might look like some don't depend on human faith (like Kappa and Tengu, having their own closed societies), but if that was the case they wouldn't have needed to leave the Outside World and enter Gensokyo.

[Tiamat]

I imagine they'd probably just dissappear.

[Shiina Tamai]

I imagine they'd probably just dissappear.

I don't think that fairies would disappear because IIRC, their power doesn't come from faith, but from nature itself.

[Clarste]

Their power doesn't depend on faith, but the belief that "nature manifests itself as fairies" may allow their existence. Essentially it requires people to believe in the spiritual power of nature. In SoPM Kanako makes a distinction between faith, which gives gods power, and belief which lets them exist at all. Presumably the same applies to youkai and fear. Just acknowledging that these things exist is enough for them to exist, but that also means it's a necessary step.

[Colticide]

Not only that but many youkai need fear from humans in order to live, that's why they cant live in the outside world, if no ones believes in you then they have no reason to fear you.

[Kaizaki]

Mokou stated in her chapter in CiLR that Keine is one of the few people who understand her. That said, does the latter approve of the former fighting Kaguya (the act of which is the immortal's purpose/anchor in life) or not?

Fanon vary on this, with some works showing Keine not wanting Mokou to get hurt, to actually aiding her in battle. Canonically, the teacher doesn't want harm to befall on the phoenix (IN EX stage) and is also concerned with her health and general well-being (Inaba & Inaba), but there doesn't seem to be anything in canon which touches on this particular point. (Kindly point me to it, if there is. )

I can interpret Keine's care to extend only up to Mokou's domestic comfort, hence my confusion. I tend to see it as a "you can do your extreme sports all you like, but you still have to eat your vegetables" sort of thing.

Note: I understand that the immortals don't really hate each other, but it's not clear if the were-hakutaku knows that.

[Koneko]

If people make up their desires, can they bypass Miko's power ?

[Shiina Tamai]

If people make up their desires, can they bypass Miko's power ?

I think she looks into their heart, not their head, so I don't think that one could consciously fool her.

[sekibanki]

16th century Rumia

[Tengukami]

16th century Rumia

Is there a question in here somewhere?

Maybe you meant this for another thread.

[Kaizaki]

I can't speak for sekibanki, but I'd like to point out mine a few posts back. (Sorry, can't tell if my question went unnoticed or no one simply has an answer for it. :derp: )

[Drake]

Approve? Hard to say, but in IN they say that Kaguya apparently sends "assassins" to kill Mokou semi-regularly (not that this is ever even hinted at again), and given Keine's defense in Extra, she had already figured out you were sent by Kaguya for Mokou. Mokou also claims to be annoyed at this, however, her later descriptions of their fights as enjoyment (and her readiness to fight) betrays that claim. Considering Mokou and Kaguya killing each other is a mutual thing, and frequent, it makes little sense for Keine to be waiting for you to defend Mokou in the first place. This could just due to Keine befriending Mokou and wanting to protect humans, or it could just be a light inconsistency.

Keine understanding Mokou's tendency to fight with Kaguya and neglect her own body, but not really approving of it (not that she can do anything about it), is the interpretation that makes the most sense to me.

[sekibanki]

Is there a question in here somewhere?

Maybe you meant this for another thread.

Well, there's no "silly stuff that doesn't justify a new thread" topic.

[Tengukami]

Well, there's no "silly stuff that doesn't justify a new thread" topic.

That's not a great reason to post irrelevant stuff in whatever thread you please. Otherwise it comes across as kinda disrespectful and disruptive.

For example, you could post your image in the "You know you're addicted to Touhou when..." thread. Try and post content in threads that actually fit said content, thanks.

[Colticide]

Well, there's no "silly stuff that doesn't justify a new thread" topic.

If I can't figure out where something goes I usually pm some in a higher position, once you spend some time around the different threads you'll know what goes where.

OK I'm done on the off topicness, sorry!

[Tiamat]

Approve? Hard to say, but in IN they say that Kaguya apparently sends "assassins" to kill Mokou semi-regularly (not that this is ever even hinted at again), and given Keine's defense in Extra, she had already figured out you were sent by Kaguya for Mokou. Mokou also claims to be annoyed at this, however, her later descriptions of their fights as enjoyment (and her readiness to fight) betrays that claim. Considering Mokou and Kaguya killing each other is a mutual thing, and frequent, it makes little sense for Keine to be waiting for you to defend Mokou in the first place. This could just due to Keine befriending Mokou and wanting to protect humans, or it could just be a light inconsistency.

Keine understanding Mokou's tendency to fight with Kaguya and neglect her own body, but not really approving of it (not that she can do anything about it), is the interpretation that makes the most sense to me.

As we all know, the pre-battle dialogue in Touhou is purposefully exaggerated by the characters a la pro-wrestling.  This could mean that neither Mokou nor Keine were really that serious in their dialogues.  After all, why should Keine worry that much about you hurting Mokou?  Mokou's friggin' immortal, yet Keine's dialogue is as if her friend is depending on her to protect her.  Likewise, Mokou's dialogue with Mokou being pissed at Kaguya is also possibly just Mokou acting in order to hype up the drama.

Kinda like how in Pro-wrestling the wrestlers will pretend it's all personal and everything is on the line when... it's not.

The assassin thing was actually shown again in Inaba, for what it's worth (which isn't much).  Kaguya sends a whole bunch of assassins after Mokou in one strip. 

Spoiler:

Reisen, Reisen, Reisen, and Reisen!

[Drake]

As we all know, the pre-battle dialogue in Touhou is purposefully exaggerated by the characters a la pro-wrestling

Well yeah, but my point was that it doesn't make too much sense for Keine to pop in to fight regardless, if Mokou is in no danger.

[Clarste]

Even if she's immortal, that doesn't mean Mokou can't feel pain. And she's pretty much the only boss in the series that actually explodes after each spellcard, implying that she's actually dying (whether that's through her overexerting herself or the danmaku rules suddenly not applying to that fight is a decision left to the reader). While Mokou herself has a macho enough mentality to be perfectly fine with enduring pain, that doesn't mean her friends are willing to sit back and watch her suffer.

[Tiamat]

Well yeah, but my point was that it doesn't make too much sense for Keine to pop in to fight regardless, if Mokou is in no danger.

The point possibly was to have a fun spell card battle.    Hypothetically, Keine and Mokou saw the heroes and decided to play along, being all super melodramatic and everything because being melodramatic is what you're supposed to be with spell card duels, because it's fun.

That's how I saw it, anyways.  Regardless of whether or not Mokou would actually be hurt, Keine's dialogue was insanely dramatic to the point where I found it hard to imagine she was actually being serious.

I could be wrong, of course. It's not like it's ever been explicitly stated, but them being melodramatic just for fun seems to jive with how they're later presented. And how every Touhou game is presented, honestly.  Almost all Touhou characters are always insanely melodramatic in-game in the pre-battle dialogue but then are amazingly chill in the endings, post-battle dialogue, and other story materials.  If you don't stop to realize that it's all pro-wrestling posturing, you'd think the characters in-game pre-battle and the characters in the endings, post-battle, and other materials are completely separate characters, sometimes, and this goes for tons of Touhou characters, not just Mokou and Keine.

[Goomba98]

Why do people want Mima back? She brought much of her personality to Marisa.

[Clarste]

My impression is that it's more of a running gag in the fandom than an actual desire, but she does have a few diehard fans. Those same people would probably prefer to bring everything from PC-98 era back though, although maybe not with the same fervor.

[sekibanki]

Well yeah, but my point was that it doesn't make too much sense for Keine to pop in to fight regardless, if Mokou is in no danger.

Maybe Keine fears that the player that the player will defeat Mokou and eat her guts, creating another Hourai person. Obviously this would not be a risk when Mokou fights Kaguya so Keine wouldn't intervene in those situations.

[cuc]

Why do people want Mima back? She brought much of her personality to Marisa.

My personal observation: perhaps partially due to its roots in serial novel and TV series fandom, the Western fan culture tend to prefer have a concrete web of character relationships they can work on. They value having a universe full of characters that have known relationships to each other. Mima is a protagonist's mentor, this is a big deal, and her absence is an important lack. So while "bring Mima back" is just a running joke, it does reflect what Western fans expect from a story.

By comparison, most Japanese Touhou fans have a much more fragmented, "I pick only things I like" view of Touhou. They care only about what they choose to care, and are content with spinning tales using only these materials. This is a reflection of Japanese culture where a person lives two highly separate lives, inhabiting both a public space full of rules and manners, and a private world consisting of their own dreams and hobbies.

Of course, this is just my two cents as an outside observer to both cultures. Please criticize if you think I got anything wrong.

[Prime32]

I think part of it is people being more familiar with descriptions of her in doujins than with her in-game appearances. If all you have to go on about Mima is "Evil spirit wizard who mentored Marisa" then it's easy to construct a mental image of her that's far more awesome and relevant than the actual thing. Touhou Soccer didn't help with this.