The New Touhou Character Alternate Interpretation Compendium!

Even a beating from Yukari wasn't sufficient. Even a beating from Yukari followed immediately by a beating from Reisen wasn't sufficient.

Actually, if boredom is her main complaint, then maybe boredom should be her punishment. Surely Yukari could whip up a sensory deprivation tank or chain her to something heavy.

Forever liveblogging the Avengers

That would be an idea. Only one I've seen executing that one was Yuka in this comic, where she basically grows a tree through/around Tenshi.

I don't think the Celestials even intend anything bad with their "nonsense". What they say is probably genuine wisdom, which they simply don't convey in a way that is at all understandable to a normal person. Which I think shows a way for them to be arrogant that makes more sense than the alternative: They're enlightened and all, but that also means that they have no investment in anything worldly. This means that while they may be very enlightened, they don't care enough to make their lessons understandable to the random people they happen to preach it to... and it might very well mean that they don't care enough about the possible death of several hundred people to intervene with Iku's game.

Oooh... time for a quick of note

Heaven is above the Netherworld, and can only be reached so easily from Gensokyo because Yukari doesn't mind leaving the PCB stuff unfixed.

In other words, Gensokyo and Heaven have little to do with each other.

EDIT: Though Bhava-Agra is above Youkai mountain.

edited 6th Jul '11 11:00:14 AM by Horselesshorseman

I have no horse, and I must ride. I accomplish unlockments.

I wonder if the (non-Tenshi) Celestials are ever actually helpful. After all, it's possible that Akyuu's just being bitter.

The afterlife Heaven is different from the Celestial's heaven, isn't it?

edited 6th Jul '11 11:01:31 AM by Durazno

Dammit Yukari, leaving death's door wide open like that.

The Kanji for Celestial World and the word Heaven in Perfect Memento are the exact same so it's hard to make a distinction.

I have no horse, and I must ride. I accomplish unlockments.

Akyuu said something about the Celestial's heaven being for the enlightened only. If you don't ascend to heaven or reach Nirvana, you're probably going to the other side of Komachi's river.

you'll then have a grave in the clouds where you won't lie too cramped

Speaking of that, the whole sequence of death in Touhou is something I've honestly never understood.

From what I can get, when you die a shinigami takes you across the river, and your local Yama judges you. If you are good (enough), you get to either go to Heaven or to the Netherworld (or something. I assume only those who reached enlightenment go to Heaven. But more on that later), but if you are bad, you get thrown into Hell to be tortured, either forever, or for a time and then you get let into the Netherworld anyway (or something like that) I want to say after hanging in the Netherworld for a few centruies, you get reincarnated, but Perfect Memento later has Akyuu mentioning having to do a ritual before her death so that she can reincarnate later.

And then Scarlet Weather Rhapsody reveals that Celestials aren't actually "dead and passed on" but rather they use their divine magic whatso powers to avoid/beat up the shinigamis.

Of course, part of this confusion may come from, in universe, Akyuu not having the full story (which is odd, as she does mention that between incarnations, the Child of Miare works for the Yama in Hell.)

MORE ON TOPIC: Tenshi needs a good spanking. Not like that.

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Perhaps Akyu's ritual is so that she can retain her memories between incarnations.

According to Akyuu, if you are neither enlightened or evil, it's off to the Netherworld with you. If you're killed by Yuyuko you go straight to Hakugyoukurou without any other options.

edited 6th Jul '11 11:40:45 AM by asterism

Heart of Stone

I figured as much, but I was not 100% sure.

But what about Celestials? It seems that they ascend (and get their wicked antiYoukai bodies) as soon as they hit enlightenment (or in Tenshi's case, something something. I am still not sure how she became one aside from her parents becoming Celestials, who in turn only got in due to service in protecting that magic rock) and technically aren't "dead", as they avoid being "reaped". What I am getting at is, what would happen if a Celestial was somehow caught/defeated by a shinigami? They would get taken to the yama and...be allowed right back into Heaven? Afterwards, would the shinigami ignore that Celestial, or would it go in a infinite loop?

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Tenshi ~ Shanghaied

Discontent and boredom are distinctly human concepts. They aren’t exclusive to humanity, but they serves as its backbone. If humans were content with what they had, they wouldn’t work to improve themselves. If humans were always occupied, they wouldn’t look for new things to discover, new ideas to explore. There would be no light because we would be content with darkness. There would be no art or games because we wouldn’t stop working.

Celestials are less human than youkai. They lack the motivation of discontent or the curiosity caused by boredom. Though many humans dream of the life of a celestial, they dream in foolishness. Imagine that you're on a boat, listening to music, waiting for a fish to bite the line. Imagine doing this every day. Eventually, one grows weary of such shiftlessness and begs to do anything, if only for a change of pace. This reason is why heaven is usually kept from humans; they would be dissatisfied with it due to their human nature.

Enter Chiko Hinanawi, a human shanghaied into the body of a celestial.

Brought into heaven solely through divine graft, Chiko was not suited for the life of a celestial. In her human life, she was constantly spoiled. Every moment of discontent, every thought of boredom, was whisked away by her overly doting parents. She thrived on this cycle of discontent and resolution. She needed discontent and boredom so they could be resolved. This makes here even less suited for the garb of a celestial than the average humans. Yet, she went, taking the name Tenshi.

Imagine that you're on a boat, listening to music, waiting for something to stop the boredom. Imagine doing that every day, forever.

---

In the end, the whole problem with the Hinanawis falls on the head of the unnamed official who let them ascend to heaven.

you'll then have a grave in the clouds where you won't lie too cramped

The problem with Tenshi is where she tries to alleviate her boredom: by creating a potentially catastrophic incident. She couldn't have tried taking up the guitar?

More lightheartedly, Tenshi apparently didn't consider going down to Gensokyo to enjoy the casual conflict. This makes me think she couldn't leave heaven for some reason. Conclusion: she was grounded*

.

Heart of Stone

Tenshi playing the guitar does sound pretty rad. Touhou needs more guitars.

I always assumed that Tenshi not leaving Heaven herself had less to do with any physical limiations and more to do with Tenshi feeling she is too great to personally bless that inferior Gensoukyou with her Celestial presence. Why go to them when it is much more ego stroking to have them come to you?

(Also, I corrected part of my rant from earlier. Hope no one gets mad or anything)

edited 6th Jul '11 12:12:29 PM by Otherarrow

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I support more guitar in Gensokyo.

Maybe Tenshi's Genre Savvy enough to know that she's the final boss and should stay in the final dungeon, aka heaven, and wait for the others to find and fight her.

edited 6th Jul '11 12:20:19 PM by raigakuren

That awkward moment where Kyoro is one of Satan's Generals.

Temperamental Neighbor

---

That damned oni. She just had to go scare off everyone in this plot of land, and she just had to use it to grow those damned hops. They reeked. It sucks to be stuck with a bunch of passive idiots who won't stand up for themselves.

I wonder if we keep any fried beans around the kitchens?..., the young-looking celestial girl did what she did whenever she was frustrated about something but didn't feel like doing anything about it; she took a peach off of her hat, and took a few bites. Or rather, she took the same bite a few times, the peach regenerating each time.

"I'll never get tired of that." Tenshi muttered to herself.

"Heya, neighbor! Hops needed some watering done, so here I am!"

Tenshi groaned and turned her head to find the source of the childish yet kinda drunken sounding voice. She knew who it was, of course, but she detested her, what with all of her coarseness and her drunkenness and... honesty. Brutal, injuring, painful honesty. Damn.

"What'sa matter, Tennnn~ko? Ya jus' wanna pretennnnn~ed I never set up here?"

Dammit. It was that little oni who got everyone to come and beat her up. Ow. She'd already had her time as the villain, so that was totally uncalled for. Uncalled for! UNCALLED FOR!

"I thought you agreed with me that I would never, ever have to see your dumb mug around here ever again. Ever. You made your damn point and ran your damn line. You won! You won! And I got beaten halfway across Bhava-Agra for it!"

"That was months ago! Let it slide, girl! Or are you not enough of a celestial to do so, huh? Not willing to let things go?

Tenshi felt a twinge of sadness, unable to deny the things Suika just said. Anyone who made her feel this way, of course, had to share the same sort of fate.

"Scarlet Weather Rapture!" the girl of heaven shouted, her ray of temperamental power sending Suika flying far, far away.

... I'll never get tired of that, either. Tenshi resumed eating that one bite of peach.

---

Somehow I doubt that Suika and Tenshi would get along.

edited 6th Jul '11 1:37:41 PM by Pulse

I sure said that!

She's kinda like those Sim City players who keep hitting the Earthquake button for giggles.

Tenshi does spend a bit of time in Gensoukyou. Rebuilding the shrine, mostly

Indeed, Akyuu's reincarnation is anything but normal. However, that doesn't mean that reincarnation itself is abnormal, simply that her method and circumstances are.

In Japan, it is said that everyone lives as a Shintoist and dies as a Buddhist. Basically, despite the existence of Shinto gods, shrines and casual worship, when it comes to death, funerals and the afterlife it all comes back to Buddhism. Gensokyo seems to be no exception given that Youmu and Eiki both have Buddhist themes in their spellcards. While there's certainly some local flavor (Buddhism is heavily syncretic), ultimately it's all about people being stuck in the cycle of reincarnation until they reach enlightenment. All stages before that are by definition transient.

A Celestial is not a dead human though. It's not the ultimate fate of anyone who reaches enlightenment. While apparently it's possible for humans to become them, it's not the normal state of things. They're more like angels than anything else, semi-divine beings that hang out with the gods and do their busywork.

edited 6th Jul '11 12:45:40 PM by Clarste

She probably hangs out outside of heaven quite often considering that she's bored with life there.

That awkward moment where Kyoro is one of Satan's Generals.

So, you're sympathetic towards Tenshi, then? Is it right to not make her hold responsibility for the decay of her own personality? Since she remained basically human, she must've still kept her own will, so she could've done all sorts of things instead of letting herself get carried away by her position in life.

Awesome.

That was kind of a fun read. I liked the punchline in particular. Also not a bad job at making them sound natural. One little thing: Would Celestials have such a thing as kitchens? Honest question here. I mean, they might as well, but since we're dealing with such otherworldly people in such an otherworldly place, it'd be a good exercise in imagination to picture how different their living conditions must be. They pretty much live with peaches and ambrosia growing right into their mouths, so a mundane kitchen seems pretty unnecessary.

Man, I really do wonder why Tenshi doesn't just go for walks on earth sometimes. Maybe she should take that up as a hobby. As an added bonus, given her reputation after the events of SWR, she'll have plenty of people willing to lay the smackdown on her, too!

Thanks, Faw! As for the issues with kitchens... Maybe only the Hinanawis? I really didn't focus on it to much, yet I also really wanted a setsubun reference.

I sure said that!

@Hylarn: Tenshi, despite being grounded, had to go and rebuild the shrine because she broke it in the first place, just like how grounded kids still have to go to school.

edited 6th Jul '11 1:59:09 PM by asterism

Heart of Stone

Y'know, Tenshi's actually been pretty Genre Savvy during SWR's events. Standard Touhou plot: newcomer causes some incident for a rather selfish reason, Reimu lays smackdown on said newcomer, newcomer then joins Gensokyo's casual brawling club. Tenshi deliberately engineered an event so she could join the danmaku community. The issue is with her disregard for safety*

, and her rather arrogant attitude.

Tenshi's presence in Double Spoiler and Hisoutensoku would indicate that, on the whole, her plan was a success. I imagine that she must be thoroughly enjoying herself.

edited 6th Jul '11 2:21:28 PM by asterism

Heart of Stone