The New New Touhou Character Alternate Interpretation Compendium

Might be more accurate to say that Keine's human most of the time, but occasionally becomes something else.

Inflated sense of self-importance, thinks he's got everything figured out but is kind of a dope... however old he is physically, in terms of accumulated wisdom he's still a whippersnapper.

Has he been a merchant that long, though? If so, it'd be weird for him to take up an apprenticeship recently enough to know Marisa as a child. My guess is that he was doing something else before he settled down in Gensokyo, but what would leave him with little to no memory of his time outside it? Rinnosuke's a bit young for the whole "fog of ages" trope... so maybe he was really young before arriving?

Alternatively, he was an amazingly badass half-human sellsword who took a nasty blow to the head in the dying days of the shogunate and retired to Gensokyo with next to no memory of his past life. But again, that would mean that Rinnosuke was actually good at something, which would be weird.

edited 28th Sep '16 10:45:33 PM by Tacitus

Keine was born human, and bitten by a hakutaku at some point.

@Tacitus Immortality Begins at Twenty. Makes sense for a half youkai.

Rinnosuke's ability would be very useful to have if you are an item collector and for research but it doesn't seem as though that he is all that knowledgeable on some items from the outside world.

I wonder if his ability might be tied to his fuzzy memories of his past. Like, maybe Rinnosuke is being bombarded with information about construct's purposes, and his meat-computer's data storage gets taken up by that stuff. Sort of like how Ellen is a talented mage but has a memory like a whatsit, the thing sand goes through.

He was probably just too little to remember much of his life outside Gensokyo (raising the question of which family members, if any, brought him there), but there's story potential there. Well, there's story potential either way you go.

Anyway, picdump. There's not much Rinnosuke art, and not much that isn't pairing him with someone or a page from a comic, but here's what stood out.

In his element
Scavving run
Kourindou exterior
Graphite interior
Interior in color
Might get in trouble if you tried to sell that
Our rightful emperor
He'll take a book, and read it!
He has to lean back to counterbalance all the moolah in his fannypack
We should remember that he can make these
Half-human swordsman
Chompin' cigar
So could we make an Ex-Kourin running on the same logic as Ex-Rumia?
Adjusting glasses
Ruining glasses
Preposterous amounts of testosterone
An interesting concept
Feeling of being watched
Kourin, Tokiko, and Nuka-Cola
Just when you thought it was safe to close shop early
Always be nice to the gap-monster's kitty
Console the umbrella left there forever
Caw?
Surgery
Staking her claim
He just cleaned that window
A little helper
Probably his most common pairing
A little comic
What's that on the stump?
It's spring!
Looks neat, but where the hell are they?
Staring contest
Back in the day
Unhappy returns
Hey, the book's blank
Slap-fighting rugrats
Gensokyo's video game technology is decades behind the outside world's
What friends are for
Never keep a cauldron in your business

edited 1st Oct '16 9:42:54 PM by Tacitus

Welp, any final thoughts on Rinnosuke before we move on to Kyouko tomorrow?

I wonder if Rinnosuke was a friend with Marisa's dad and met up with Marisa later in life?

It'd be nice to see more of Rinnosuke's days apprenticed to Marisa's Dad, if only because then we'd see Little Marisa. But it feels like ZUN is content to keep Mr. Kirisame out of the spotlight, so that probably won't be happening. Plus, that'd be getting dangerously close to PC-98 territory.

Well, if we're not going to buy anything then we'd better stop loitering. Coming up will be Seiran, the Netherworld, and an entire organization. But first, don your earmuffs, it's

Kyouko Kasodani

Stage: The Youkai Before the Gate, Reading an Unlearnable Sutra ~ The Road to Myouren Temple
Heading towards Myouren Temple Cemetery under the strange guidance of that ghost...
Might the ones there be related to the divine spirits?
BGM: "Welcome to the Youkai Temple"^note The second stage theme. Normally a temple is nice and quiet in the morning. But in a temple that Youkai live in, it’s noisier from night to daybreak. Youkai that live in the temple... Doesn't that bring up all sorts of images? Using that image, I made it my own sort of Japanese song.
Theme: "Youkai Girl at the Gate"^note Kyouko Kasodani's theme. Do people still shout “Yahoo” when they go to the mountains? Or do you feel embarrassed all of a sudden and can’t find the courage to shout? Well of course the Yamabiko get bored, it's understandable for them to go in to Buddhism from the boredom. By the way, if you try to relieve stress by shouting "Idiot!" out toward the open sea, you'll startle the fishermen.

Spellcard Motif: Echoes and Loud Noises
Sample Spellcards: TD, ISC
Echo Sign "Mountain Echo Scramble,"Mountain Echo "Amplify Echo," Great Voice "Charged Yahoo!", Mountain Echo "Yamabiko's Specialty Echo Demonstration," Scream "Primal Scream," Piercing Sound "Piercing Circle," Sutra "Infinite Nianfo"

Write-up:
A novice at Myouren Temple, and one of its rare youkai members without a personal relationship with Byakuren Hijiri. Kyouko is a yamabiko, a youkai who provides the echo when you make an idiot of yourself and shout into a mountain valley, but due to a growing belief that this answering "Yahoo!" is due to sound waves bouncing around, she's looking for a career change to "sutra-reciting voice coming from a mountain where no one is present."

If she succeeds, Kyouko could prove that Byakuren's training can indeed rehabilitate youkai to some extent, though for now she's fairly low in the Myouren Temple hierarchy. When she isn't reciting sutras, she can be found sweeping the temple entrance, greeting visitors, and getting into gratuitous danmaku duels. Or you might hear her in the middle of the night, venting her frustrations in a guerilla punk rock concert as part of Choujuu Gigaku, the "Dance of Bird and Beast." Even if you'd rather not.

Relations:

• Byakuren Hijiri (spiritual leader)
• Mamizou Futatsuiwa (good listener)
• Mystia Lorelei (bandmate)

See also the previous compendium.

edited 4th Oct '16 7:15:37 PM by Tacitus

It is interesting that Kyouko has a rock band in Gensokyo.

I'd say bizarre. What, punk is so out of style in the outside world that it's passed into Gensokyo? Does that mean there was a youkai disco phase at some point? Ohhhh noooo brain stop please I guess Rinnosuke could have found some records or CDs or something at one point and introduced them to Gensokyan society that way, but that raises questions of where someone got the equipment and electricity to listen to them.

Then again, the PC-98 games' music apparently exists as records that Akyuu listens to, so maybe we shouldn't examine this development too closely.

PMiSS says it's punk rock, but I keep imagining Kyouko screaming along to gutteral death metal instead. Maybe because it's funnier that way.

edited 6th Oct '16 8:53:31 PM by Tacitus

I like to HC that the ULiL version of Emotional Skyscraper ~ Cosmic Mind was composed and played by Kyouko and Mystia in-universe.

edited 4th Oct '16 9:34:01 PM by rmctagg09

Akyu describes it as "the roar of the soul". Also you mean SoPM.

Honestly though, now that you mention it I'm not entirely sure that that Punk means the same thing in Japanese as it does in English. They obviously use borrowed words for a lot of these modern musical terms, but that doesn't mean they carry the same nuance. I'm reminded of their constant use of "Live" as short for "Live Concert", and I recall at least one work I've seen where they (correctly) translated every use of the word "Rock" to "Metal" because of how it was used.

edited 5th Oct '16 12:51:52 AM by Clarste

Electricity in Gensokyo is used for two things-hot springs and music.

And danmaku, if you're a magician or an oarfish.

Or a taiko drum tsukumogami.

Echoes are the ripples of the soul.

A Temple's Festival
Answer the Echoes
Paralyzing Echo
The Disappearing World
Echo Temple
Crushing Voice
Echo Echo
Forlorn Echo
Galaxy Contact

edited 6th Oct '16 11:12:18 PM by Diamite

Good musicdump, though the second and third links go to the same place. Youki's is probably my favorite - I don't know if it's "punk," but to me it sounds like something that could be played at a guerilla concert. Though ziki_7's is quite listenable too.

Back to Kyouko thoughts: it's kind of impressive that the "oppressed frustration" she expresses through her music is all related to her temple duties. Given her background, you'd expect some existential angst and uncertainty, but instead it's the cleaning and sutras and lotus position that annoy her the most. Or at least, that's what she's willing to mention to a tengu with a notepad.

Also having trouble pinning down her age. Fanart likes to make her childish and cutesy, and some of the official stuff is drawn the same way, but going by ZUN's profile picture Kyouko doesn't look younger than any other character, and then there's the whole punk rock band. Maybe it's because she's a temple novice and thus the littlest member of the Myouren cast herd? Or something about being the type of person who shouts a lot and has "Yahoo-!" as a catchphrase?

Oh yeah, on the subject of Kyouko being little: "Echoes in Front of the Temple," a cute comic series about a very small Kyouko. And sometimes an even smaller Lily White.

Trying to jump-start the conversation with a picdump, rather than by yelling "Hello!" into a mountain valley.

Good morning!
Yoohoo!
Slip of a girl
Looks a bit more mature here
Lots of green
Jumping for joy
Why would you give her those?
Some terrifying AU where she isn't a morning person
Sweeper with dreams of stardom
There ya go
Little punk
Not-so-little punk
Two punks\\ Performing at the SDM?
Show's over
Looking for a fight
See the echo
Through sound and motion, she can break the sound barrier, rupture ear drums, and shatter mountains
Persona!
Speaking of creepy
Her story as presented by koto inari
By night
Colorful fabrics
The path and the flowers
The snow and the mountains
The forest and the beasts
Dramatic pose atop a lantern
Punks in non-punk outfits
Songwriting break
A more traditional sound
Welcomed
Little sleepy Kyouko
Learning scripture by osmosis
This isn't even her final form
Sleepy sweeper
A cycle of revenge begins
No one at the temple has slept in since her arrival
The Myouren Temple Air Band
Embrace the fluffy
Become a hat
Incognito village visit
Much more efficient than Lily's normal method
Broom buddies
A mental echo
Two canine moon
The artist remembered her arms
They busted that, though
Conflicting standards to maintain
That's not how you do it
Not quite it either
No, that's not right either
Peer pressure
How to train your yamabiko
Little moeblob Kyouko\\ Alarm clock and teddy bear
Minigirl and a hot cuppa
Chibi punks (animated)
Deal with it
Some say they're dancing to this day (animated)
Curtsy at the end of the show

I wonder what is her relationship with the Myouren crew?

Fandom-wise Kyouko's treated as the baby of the bunch I've noticed.

Reposting:

Remember Aya? When I said youkai had purposes in life? Remember that confidence, cheerfulness, and drive that I respected so much? Kyouko has that too. Or at least she did. She lost her job. She lost her purpose.

Kyouko was an echo. She took pride in her enthusiasm and her personalized service. It’s what she lived for, and she could have happily spent the rest of eternity shouting away. But you know how these things go: markets change, technology moves on, and a basic understanding of acoustics is achieved. Suddenly the world doesn’t need goat-cats to shout on mountaintops anymore.

So she joined a temple. To find a new purpose in life, or at least to come to terms with a life without purpose. And she tries. She brings as much of her old enthusiasm as she can muster, and approaches her new duties at the temple with suitable aplomb. She knows she can do it.

But… it’s hard. She knows the people at the temple mean well, but the teachings are confusing, and the more she asks the stupider she feels. This was supposed to be her salvation, but she can’t feel herself making any progress. The head monks makes it sound so simple, so easy, but every time she gets a handle on the previous step they introduce a new twist.

Plus, they make her sweep all the time. She knows taking care of the temple grounds is part of her training, but aren’t they just using her as a janitor? Even worse, visitors often see her as only a janitor. She wasn’t born with a broom in her hands! She was born to shout! They don’t let her shout here, not often. It disturbs people.

So she went elsewhere to shout. She found a friend with a similar need to sing, and they started a band. They don’t practice much, but they don’t need to, because they’re not singing for other people. They’re singing for themselves. Kyouko shouts because she’s frustrated, she’s bored, she’s lonely, she’s desperate, and because she needs to shout.

She needs to shout because she lost her purpose, because the broom gives her calluses, and because sitting in the lotus position is uncomfortable. She needs to shout because she doesn’t understand the sutras and reading them makes her feel faint. She needs to shout because the head monk doesn’t approve of her band and punished her friend for it.

She needs to shout because people keep giving her easy answers, but it’s not easy! She needs to shout because if it were easy she wouldn’t be trying so hard! Maybe these answers worked for someone else, but they’re not working for her! Is that really so hard to understand?! Kyouko needs to shout because she’s not some random youkai who lost her purpose who you can generalize and universalize and use to prove a thematic point! She needs to shout because she’s KYOUKO KASODANI and she needs to shout!!!

And someone else needs to shout back. I hear you. You exist. Yaho~!

edited 11th Oct '16 4:51:35 AM by Clarste

Kyouko Kasodani:

A yamabiko that is one of many youkai learning the ways of Buddhism. Very cheerful, if a bit troubled.

I wonder what sold Kyouko on learning Buddhism from the Myouren Temple. I guess she heard some sutra-chanting and it was music to her ears. She enjoys chanting those sutras, but fully understanding what they really mean is a trying task for her.

Kyouko formed a duet with Mystia to shout some stress away. It seems like doing the same work everyday without any signs of improvement must've gotten to her. I wonder if the thought of leaving the temple crosses her mind at times...

You know, Kyouko's a very effective home security system. Her Hyper Voice is sure to rile the residents into action and cause potential interlopers to flee.

Kyouko is an echo who has an existienial crisis, huh?

Well, aren't we all? We only exist because of other people, and reciprocating others' attention is how many of us feel validated. A person without anyone to say "Hello!" back to or "Yahoo!" with tends to be an unhappy person indeed.

Though in Kyouko's case, it'd be more accurate to say she isn't an echo anymore. She's not the monster who yells back when you make an ass of yourself in a quiet valley, according to her profile Kyouko is now a spooky "sutra-reciting voice coming from a mountain where no one is present." Which goes to show that Byakuren's teachings can work, though it does raise the potential that eventually Kyouko will end up conflated with an invisible monk or something.

She still has that urge to shout, though. Old habits and all that. Maybe she could get advice from Shou about how long it took her to shake off her not-tiger-y habits after becoming an avatar of Bishamonten.

I was actually curious how a Buddhist sutra compared to the pipe organs and hymns I'm more familiar with, and this was the first thing YouTube gave me. A pleasant surprise. Even other recordings of people droning the words without musical accompaniment turned out to be quite listenable.

So yeah, it'd be appropriate if Kyouko got into Buddhism because of its music. But it'd be just as satisfying if she joined for the same reason so many people look to religion, because she was unsure of her purpose and wanted to find meaning in her life. Depends if you want to emphasize Kyouko the youkai or Kyouko the person.

@Clarste: I like that. I like that a lot.