The New New Touhou Character Alternate Interpretation Compendium

Hatate seems more a like paparazzi person rather than journalist but the same can be said about Aya.

I'm sure their parents are very disappointed in them

Aya: paparazzi. Hatate: clickbait aggregator?

I think Hatate's one of those countless bloggers who comments on current events, but only current events they've seen in other new outlets, so they're not as current as they could be. She's never the first to break some news, and there's enough other commentators out there that her opinions aren't even that unique.

Or rather she was, but then she learned the true meaning of journalism - leaving the damn house to do interviews.

Have to say, after Alternate Facts in Eastern Utopia, Hatate may be a better reporter than Aya at the moment.

But can she photograph speech bubbles?

Well, her ability is also known as "thoughtography" because it supposedly captured things from people's mind on film. So maybe her photos could come with thought bubbles?

Wait, this is confusing. The wiki has translated nensha as both "thoughtography" or "spirit photography," except according to Wikipedia the two are different things - the latter is specifically trying to get ghosts on film, not thoughts. And while I can kinda see how this equates to Google Image Search, since I guess it'd be capturing the thoughts of other photographers about what they've looked at, I'm not sure how it would let Hatate see through Nue's power.

And could Nue photograph her own thoughts while taking a picture? Do the captured thoughts have to be of something that actually existed, or could she start a career as a professional photographer making art of phantasmal and fantastical images that can only exist in the mind?

That sounds like a possibility for Hatate if journalism doesn't work out.

I think Hatate's problem is that she already had her little character arc over the course of Double Spoiler, where she learned how to be a better journalist. While this does give her the opportunity to make reappearances as "that other crow tengu," and as a foil to Aya, it does mean that she doesn't have as much narrative potential energy as some of the other characters. With the likes of Murasa we have the question of whether she can transcend her predatory youkai nature as Byakuren hopes, or we can wonder whether Koishi will ever fix her mind. But Hatate's journey, narratively speaking, is more or less over, even if she keeps doing what she's doing.

Her other problem is that she doesn't have a lot of good fanart, since so much of it is fanservicey stuff I won't link, or of her "Hata-tan" persona, some of which is just cruel. Further complicating things is that Safebooru is being weird about showing pages during a search right now. Anyway, here's what I found.

Looks like she's ready to battle
Sleep-deprived sketch
Feels like she's depicted wingless more often than other tengu
Quite bubbly
Strutting sketch
Sassy
Selfie
Coup de grace
In profile, on phone
60% leg
Contemporary molting
Have we ever gotten an explanation for what those are?
Getting distracted by where her shoes went
Beneath swirling stars
Getting a landscape for her background
She's got hair from dawn to midnight
One of those days
When the phone goes dark
Slightly goth but not full Hata-tan
How much of your life plays out on a glowing screen?
Sure the pills are bad, but at least she doesn't have scarred arms
Two can play at that game, Aya
She ends up in the "Kourindou tengu costume" too
In which Hatate learns that some fish will go after birds on the shoreline
The challenger appears
I think the tag should be "pantyshooting," not "pantyshot"
Chamaji eyes with "awwooo" behind
Symmetrical rivalry
The gloves mean it's time to get serious
Girl loves a girl with a big, shiny sword
So do they follow a designated flier home afterward?
A gray take on tengu town
Cheer up, butterflies love you
I know she's not the focus of the pic, but that's some cool scenery
We can only speculate
Impact
I'm reminded of the mating habits of eagles
(Animated) much adorbs
Circle of tengu
When you use your power to learn what your rival's been taking pictures of
When are we getting a penguin youkai?

Oh yeah, Hatate stars in a whole series of gensoukoumuten stuff, mainly as a commentary on modern teenagers. But it's got all sorts of good stuff, worldbuilding, Charismatic Okuu, and so on.

Hatate needs more personality but she seems that she is just Aya's counterpart.

What are the limits of Hatates power? Does she see to the outside world? Does she see heaven and hell? Does she sometimes find herself peaking at your most personal moments, then suddenly look away? Think about it - shes as big a threat to privacy as a satori. This is true even if she keeps to the highest ethical standard.

She is Google Image Search on wings, yes. So her power probably doesn't extend into afterlives, which aren't known for their photography, but whether it works across the Boundary is an unanswered question. It's hard to tell how much Hatate knows of things outside Gensokyo - she knows what a UFO is, at least, but that could be something that filtered into the country after the incident with the flying saucers.

On the other hand, her power only works when she's looking for particular words, so if she doesn't have the vocabulary to describe the things in the Outside World, that will limit her ability to learn about them through pictures. And unless she knows enough to investigate a person by name, it'll be hard for her to dredge up things about them by accident. "Human villager" or whatever is pretty vague.

So she's got some potential to invade privacy, but Hatate's hardly alone, she's sharing a mountain with Momiji "I can peep on you from over two thousand miles away" Inubashiri.

edited 20th Nov '17 5:22:22 PM by Tacitus

Hatate Himekaidou:

One of many tengu info gatherers. Publishes the Kakashi Spirit News. Tries her best to outperform Aya.

Hmmm...should the time come for Hatate to switch phones, I bet that a smartphone would be quite the boon for her ability.

But until then, here's a special report from the Kakashi Spirit News: The Sounds and Vibes of Tengu Village.

A Town Full of Trickery
Mysterious Happenings
Majestic Town ~ Hidden Secrets
Town of Awakening
Unshrouded Mystery

I believe that Kappa tech is about a decade in advance of the best human tech, so Hatate aleady has a smart phone.

There have been many inspired artists over the centuries who have provided us glimpses of the afterlife, (often without knowing it). Hatate can begin by searching for afterlife art. Also, the heavenly beurocracy will occasionally put out for bids for punishment of the not so faithful. Various hells will compete for each contract. Hatate can simply do an image search for "hell sales literature". (This raises the question: would you want a faith that settles for low-bid torment, or would you insist on the most exquisite agony for your sinners?)

Most importantly, can Hatate watch youtube videos on her phone? I'm thinking specifically of a video of an industrious Kiwi that yearns to fly. In my probably never to be written fanfic, Hatate shows this video to Aya .They both have a great cry over it,then drink themselves under to table. (Hatates head hits to floor first.)

In her article quoted in AFiEU, Hatate mentions that Sumireko's cell phone camera is "exceedingly superior" to local video recorders and has made the kappa and tengu both eager to make some of these newfangled "cell phones."

Which suggests that the cell-phone looking thing Hatate uses is thought of us a spirit photography camera or whatever. Divergent evolution? Local tinkers imitating something that fell through the Boundary? Or is Hatate using a device so supernatural that our puny minds can only see it as a cell phone?

Either way, I doubt it gets YouTube. I'm sure Yukari's phone does, though, she's special like that. Ran probably loves all those cat videos, Chen not so much.

"The proud ways of my people are not for laughing at!"
"Aww someone's in a mood. Want some catnip?"
"STOP ENABLING MY ADDICTION but yes"

Well, any final/first/middle thoughts about Hatate before we move on to Reisen Classic?

Mine's that it would be hilarious if in the background of the next few Touhou entries, the Kakashi Spirit News keeps growing in readership and prestige while Aya's still being Aya. Could be commentary on how journalism needs to adapt and adopt new technology (like spirit cameras shaped like extra-Boundary cell phones) to thrive, and maybe an important lesson to the kids about what you can achieve if you leave your damn room and get off the phone.

Also, I really hate the "Hata-tan" concept. It's just really unhealthy.

Well, let's leave Hatate to her work, with the hope that she doesn't see anything scarring during an ill-fated image search. Coming up will be Ran, Koishi, and not-Koishi. But first, a useless little bunny only good for her sex appeal. Or is she?

Reisen Udongein Inaba

Stage: A Pure Cage in the Filthy World
"Why have you lingered so long in such a filthy place?"
Then, all the locked doors opened, untouched...
BGM:"Cinderella Cage ~ Kagome-Kagome"^note This is the Stage 5 theme. Asian, Western, old, new - This song isn't one or the other. The boss seems that way, too, but the stage itself is based in Japanese horror. Each song has a theme, and this one's is based on the song "Kagome, Kagome". It's not an arrangement, just composed with a similar theme. I didn't want to get caged in on a theme for this one.
Theme: "Lunatic Eyes ~ Invisible Full Moon"^note This is Reisen U. Inaba's theme. When you think of a boss in the final stages of Touhou, this is what comes to mind. Guess some things never change. (Haha) After the wild intro, there's a mournful melody in the middle before the hook breaks through. Ah, all the characters look like they're having so much fun.

Spellcard Motif: Insanity, Illusion, the Moon Sample Spellcards: IN, GoM, SWR, PoFV, StB, 'soku, LoLK, ULiL
Wave Sign "Mind Shaker," Lunatic Gaze "Illusion Seeker," "Lunatic Red Eyes," Mad Dream "Dream World," Illusion Bomb "Mind Starmine," Life Elixir "Peerless Patriot's Elixir," Illusion Bullet "Bluff Barrage," Red Eye "Lunatic Blast," "Evil Undulation," *You've Already Gone Mad!*

Write-up:
A refugee by some measures, and a deserter by others, Reisen is a Lunar Rabbit who fled from the moon following the conflict that erupted when some humans arrogantly planted a flag on its surface. She wound up in the fantastical land of Gensokyo, and by extreme good fortune fell in with some other Lunar criminals, the princess Kaguya Houraisan and genius Eirin Yagokoro. Reisen joined their household, and after decades living in an impure world she considers herself "an earth rabbit that came from the moon," and is even willing to fight against her former masters to protect her new homeland.

Reisen is a dangerous opponent due to her ability to manipulate waves, which can involve affecting brain waves to drive people mad, or she can tweak light waves to become invisible. Despite this trademark power of insanity, Reisen is usually easy-going and level-headed, though her SWR profile describes her as "both carefree and crazed" and warns that her personality can completely flip to fit her current circumstances. She has undergone some character development in that she's not as arrogant about Lunar superiority these days, but Reisen's status as Tewi's perennial prank victim remains unchanged.

Relations

• Kaguya Houraisan (princess)
• Eirin Yagokoro (master)
• Tewi Inaba ("helper")
• The Watatsuki Sisters (former masters)

See also the previous compendiums.

Hate to triple-post, but anyway...

If Marisa's special because of how far she's come, from a one-dimensional lackey of an early boss to Touhou's co-star with hidden depths, Reisen's unique for undergoing something the vast majority of the cast has not. Yes, she's had actual honest-to-Shinki character development, and I don't mean like Nitori's personality switch from shy engineer to scammer, or Hatate learning a valuable lesson about journalism over the course of the game. While we can speculate over where other characters might be headed, assuming they get any metaphorical screentime, we've actually seen Reisen evolve over her various appearances, losing some of her lunar arrogance and changing how she identifies herself.

So that's neat. I'd love to say that this means that Reisen is more likely to be a protagonist in the future, but unfortunately she's like Youmu and Sanae and Sakuya in that she's likely to sally forth once more only if her corner of Gensokyo is threatened. Or there's another Phantasmagoria game and a bunch of wildly different characters are running around shooting at each other. Or it's a fighting game spin-off.

But if the Lunarians are involved in a future Incident, Reisen's your go-to gal. They'll probably show up again sooner than later, since they've already had their pristine, cratered hands in two Incidents, and arcs like that tend to come in threes.

Reisen has gotten mire yumble hasn't she? Reisen seems to have adapted to the zany world of Gensokyo as well.

Though she hasn't figured out she's also living in an episode of Looney Tunes, if her propensity to fall into Tewi's pits is any indication.

I'm still curious about the Lunar War that Reisen fled from. I'd like to play it straight for drama's sake, have Reisen as a recovering war veteran that means Tewi has to be very careful that the pranks she pulls don't trigger Reisen's PTSD. But it's hard to reconcile this violent action on the moon with established history, and it sounds like canon now is that the lunar rabbits' tendency to gossip just really exaggerated the whole "the humans planted a flag" thing. Which makes Reisen look a bit silly for fleeing the moon based on lurid rumors.

Alternatively, we can split the difference, say that the Lunar War was a non-event, but Reisen believes otherwise. Whether because of an overactive imagination or the consequence of her training, Reisen remembers a desperate struggle for the fate of the moon that left the gray dust soaked with the blood of her sisters-in-arms, something so horrifying that she had to abandon her homeland to get away from it. She still has PTSD, just over things that never actually happened.

Not sure if that would make her more or less silly than a rabbit running away from rumors. Probably makes her crazy, though.

edited 1st Dec '17 6:49:33 PM by Tacitus

The Private War of Neil Armstrong

Reisens wave power is very flexible. It lets her influence light waves, sound waves, and brain waves. But quantum physics teaches us that all matter and energy consists of waves. Can Reisen control all quantum waves? Reisen wonders about this. Eirin knows, but shes not saying. Quantum Reisen, if she ever comes to be, would be very powerful, essentially controlling every aspect of the physical world.

To insure that Reisen learns to use her power wisely and well, Eirin has devised a tough love program. This program includes practical lessons in humiliy and in the dignity of labor. And also the occasional beating that leaves Reisen unconscious for days. To gauge the severity of these beatings, consider that in Silent Sinner in Blue ch. 1 the other Reisen fell to Earth from halfway to the moon. She recovered after a good nights sleep. (Okay, the lunar veil may have helped to break her fall. But those beatings are more dire than a collision with space debris.)

Reisen is conflicted about being a military deserter. Eirin does not want Reisen to suppose that she can freely break the rules, and this affects her tough love. Clever Tewi has duplicated much of Eirins reasoning and she is tireless in her efforts to keep Reisen humble. Even Kaguya is in on the plan to some extent. So for Reisen, it's tough love all around.

Eirin does seem tough on Reisen, I wouldn't be surprised if Eirin acted like Dr. Cox or Dr. House to Reisen.

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.pngDr. Cox is tough on JD because he has such high expectations for him. Does Eirin have high expectations for Reisen?

Could be. Eirin does seem a little harsh on Reisen because she expects more from her.