The New Touhou Character Alternate Interpretation Compendium!

CURSE MY FATHER FOR NOT BEING THE JAPANESE SIDE OF MY FAMILY!!!!!!!

I would like to note that Mary has always looked, at least to me, like sorta a "Yukari lite" She wears purple, but the outfits are less fancy, she has the same type of hat, but it's not as "big", she has blond hair, but it's not as long, etc. Not sure if this truly means anything.

My observations on Renko's design is that I like her design as of Magical Astronomy. Stylish. Then again, I always did think that Renko seemed pretty "cool".

An observation I forgot to note earlier: Renko and Mary are "officially" necromancers, and get odd looks for not being, well, necromancers (among other things). This is never elaborated on, but does this mean there is actual necromancy in the otherwise science-ruled future?

I would make a "On Topic" joke, but I am not sure what the topic was. I think we were between topics. Or Heaven. Sorry.

We're between topics. Feel free to discuss Maribel Hearn and Renko Whateverhersecondnameis all you want. FOR NOW.

EDIT: No seriously, what IS Renko's second name?

edited 11th Jul '11 9:07:06 AM by asterism

Usami. I hear the Japanese people like making rabbit jokes about it.

Interesting detail about Mary: Given that she lives in the future, her old-fashioned attire seems really out-of-place. I think it's a nice indication of how she might fit better into Gensokyo than into the world she lives in.

Or in the future we will all have fancy outfits.

Renko doesn't exactly have a futuristic outfit either

It's not futuristic, but it's pretty timeless and cool.

Zeerust? Future clothing trends in the year Whenever (I don't think we are given a exact date or any sort) resemble old fashioned styles? ZUN not wanting to be bothered to draw "future clothes"?

Not that I am complaining...

EDIT: The fact that it is never commented on seems to imply to me that their outfits aren't considered out of place.

edited 11th Jul '11 11:22:46 AM by Otherarrow

In the time that Maribel and Renko live in, retro is in.

Nyrrrrrrr I like my take on it, though!

I just like the idea of Mari and Renko being very up-to-date and stylish.

In all honesty, I can see Mary dressing in out of date clothing. I always considered Mary to be at least a bit of a Cloud Cuckoo Lander.

Of course, maybe the reason their clothing is never commented on is because everyone thinks of them as strange already...

edited 11th Jul '11 11:37:15 AM by Otherarrow

They might think she's a member of some subculture, too.

Mary and Renko could just wear what they wear because they investigate strange phenomena. Their clothes always seemed kind of detective-like to me.

A VERY STYLISH subculture.

Maribel Hearn is the alias Yukari uses when she has a soujurn in reality.

Basically, she spends her holidays pretending to be a teenager. I'll bet she can travel through time as well (border between then and now?).

My theory is that the rate of time in Gensokyo and the real world is completely different. The real world moves at a much faster pace in this case modern day Japan, while Gensokyo is still stuck in the times of Feudal Japan.

The way time behaves is a veritable mess because of the very little evidence we have. Mainly, a note Maribel accidentally left behind on one of her escapades and Gensokyo's date of creation

• Centuries ago, in Gensokyo, a note written by Maribel was found.
• Maribel lives in our near future.
• Gensokyo was found near the end of the 19th century yet has existed for several hundred years.
• Sanae and the Moriya shrine come from the same time as Maribel (supposedly), yet exist in Gensokyo's present.

Conclusion:....I have no clue what the hell I'm trying to say. Though it would seem time in Gensokyo moves much faster than in the outside world I guess. And Maribel most likely accidentally traveled in space AND time...

....Damn it, I'm derailing this, aren't I? Sorry! What was the subject again?

edited 11th Jul '11 2:21:22 PM by hassanico

All an elaborate practical joke by Yukari, set up for her own amusement.

EDIT: The subject is, apparently, Maribel and Renko. Again.

edited 11th Jul '11 2:22:08 PM by asterism

Or was the note left in a place that would later be sealed off and become Gensokyo? Because I didn't think that Gensokyo was old enough for Akyuu to make reference to something happening there "hundreds of years ago."

"This was discovered several hundred years ago in the Bamboo Forest of Lost."

Maribel also points out that the place would be nicer if there weren't so many monsters. So it could work either way, since the bamboo forest could have gotten its name before or after Gensokyo was made.

Like a Medieval Stasis, or like it's literally frozen in time or something?

I wonder if Renko and Mary have friends other than each other. Depending on how I look, I can see both being loners (outside each other of course), but for different reasons.

...I also want to know how they met anyway. We need a Ghostly Field Club origin story.

EDIT YO: I never got the impression that the Sanae and the Moriya Shrine came from the same "era" as Renko and Mary, instead from the present day.

Also, if her note does predate Gensoukyou (or at least, it's sealing), then it does add evidence to her traveling to many different time periods as she dreams. (Again, I note that she went to Maybe!Scarlet Devil Mansion once)

edited 11th Jul '11 2:36:38 PM by Otherarrow

That makes absolutely no sense. Not only was Gensokyo not even created until the Meiji period, the articles in Bohemian Archive in Japanese Red are given explicit in-universe dates of publication about 120 years after the creation of the Great Hakurei Border.

Maybe the "time traveling" she's doing when she dreams is just living Yukari's memories. That is, if she is related to Yukari somehow. The splinter subconsciously yearning to rejoin the whole?

Also, there are several doujins that detail how Maribel and Renko joined forces for great justice. Some of them don't even have lesbian shenanigans at all if you can believe it.

If she is just reliving Yukari's memories, then how did she leave the note behind? (Unless Yukari wrote the note, but in character as Mary, who is living her memories for some reason and ow my head hurts)

Also, fanworks are nice, but I want a canon Ghostly Field Club origin story.