She's from some manga I can't find any information about. Given how horribly she sucks, I have to wonder about ZUN's true feelings
White Mage with a Twist
Ellen forgets things, I wonder if she knows that. Is it possible for her to know that she forgets things? or would she just forget that she forgets?
Given the latter I suppose it makes sense that she'd work hard to achieve her dream. She may already have done so in a dozen locations by now, so many "Fluffy Ellen's Magic Shop"s that she just leaves behind one morning for a walk and doesn't remember to go back to.
On the subject of her manga: It's out of print but I think still available on amazon.jp. Japanese wikipedia doesn't have a page for it but does for the author Izumi/Ken Takemoto so I'm not sure if there's any information there. I think it's an 80s manga though so I'm not really suprised.
edited 1st Jan '14 2:05:49 AM by shiroimahotsukai
The eyes are the windows that let us gaze upon the soul.
Warning!
Someone has scanned the manga she comes from, so we can at least look at her original artwork. http://voile.gensokyo.org/res/52053.html
>Edo, as you know, is the Edo era's capital city, a center of commerce. The commoners of Shimomachi are adventurous, roguish and tough, a fact touched upon in Retrospective 53 minutes. One of Komachi's main motif is that of the Edokko: a boisterous urban dweller who blows all their earnings on entertainment, sparing nothing for tomorrow.
Interesting! So has that stereotype survived the city's renaming, or do they call such savings-challenged individuals Tokyokko now?
This is relevant to the earlier topic about how to dub Komachi's voice. What's the Western equivalent of boisterous urban poor who gets into brothel fights with people of higher social ranking? I think from this angle, Edo maps to Paris better than London, or any city in America or Germany.
edited 1st Jan '14 2:06:42 AM by atrican
Stop atrican from crawling out of the dumpster! Touhou status updates
Ellen appeared in a fan vid recently. I guess that's a thing.
Ellen is a person from a whole different world entirely, brought over due to ZUN not giving two carps about copyrightfactors which she has probably forgotten.
Ellen has lived for a long time, but has the memory of a goldfish, and thus has the temperament and persona of a child experiencing the world for the first time every time. Despite this, she retains her knowledge of magic and thus still holds a reputation as a credible witch.
She opened a magic shop in her PoDD ending, and then was forgotten about. How ironic.
She has a cat named Sokrates. (Or Archimedes, if idle ZUN comments should be taken as canon)
Don't PM me. We don't like being PMed.
Rainy Echoes
Ellen:
An eternal child mage who hails from the Outrealms. Very amnesiac.
The Mage Who Forgets:
Ellen is a child blessed with an abundance of magic. She also never ages. Sadly, she has a crippling case of amnesia. Outside of magic, she'll forget stuff at the drop of a hat. Since she's very amnesiac, she should write important things down in a notebook, like Ryouko Otanashi's Notebook for example. Unless she easily forgets doing that too.
She could be a business tycoon, or the richest mage ever. If only her memory loss wasn't an issue...
Speaking of opening shops in different places, this may have happened to her:
While traveling to another realm, Ellen was assailed by time travel shenanigans, and the result was her being so amnesiac of everything outside of magic.
Thanks to Purplequest, I think Ellen and Patchy can be friends. Though its gonna be hard to maintain a lasting friendship since...you know...
This. Cannot. Continue.
Well, I'd hate to suggest ZUN engaged in something that irritated the regular Touhou thread a while back, but... isn't it nice how well Ellen and Kana complement each other? One forgets things constantly, the other is searching for a new roommate after her old one grew too accustomed to her. It's almost as though they were made for each other.
Her dialogue seems really bubbly, so I'd guess she's either unaware of her condition or wholly at peace with it.
Oooh, good find! Shame WinZip expects me to pay money if I want to read them...
I can't think of an expression that encapsulates the scenario you're describing. As far as I know, the upper or lower classes rarely bump shoulders while patronizing prostitutes, as the former tend to favor callgirls while it's the latter that has to commute to a bordello.
Even a brief cameo has done its job if it gets people interested in the older characters. We need more fanworks about these people so we have more to talk about in the Compendiums!
I'm not sure what to do with those comments. Am I missing information about the brainy dead guys, or is this a reference to the manga the cat and his owner came from?
She's got an honest friend who handles her magical mercantile empire, so that every month or so a very dedicated mailman tracks Ellen down and hands her a big check. She's never sure what she's done to earn the money, but she's happy to have it.
Well, Ellen remembers magic, and Patchy's like 85% magic, so...
Maybe Ellen gets along best with her fellow witches. She knows her magic inside and out, but she can also recognize others' magic, so while she may not be able to hold on to Patchouli being the mage of the Scarlet Devil Mansion too well, she could quickly remember the woman with the elemental-themed spell repertoire that changes depending on the day of the week. By that logic, Marisa would be profoundly confusing, maybe even frightening, a smirking chimera of a bunch of other mages Ellen knows.
edited 1st Jan '14 10:47:26 PM by Tacitus
Current earworm: "Awe of the Unknown"
Well, I'd hate to suggest ZUN engaged in something that irritated the regular Touhou thread a while back, but... isn't it nice how well Ellen and Kana complement each other? One forgets things constantly, the other is searching for a new roommate after her old one grew too accustomed to her. It's almost as though they were made for each other.
? I was talking about Ellen's value as a playable character. She's pretty much the worst in the game
And, uh, while I suppose that's a decent reason to ship them, this isn't exactly pushed in-game
Well, she does seem pleased to have met Kana.
Also, both have a habit of calling folks weird.
edited 2nd Jan '14 4:14:56 PM by Otherarrow
Don't PM me. We don't like being PMed.
Formerly G.G.
Ellen is a little similar to Kana. Ellen keeps reminding me of those absent minded blonde haired heroines that we see in the West. Not even Cirno is that dull.
Edit: Also, Ellen looks similar to Windows!Marisa. I wonder if Marisa hsould ask her about how to become immortal althoug I am not sure even Ellen knows how she achieved.
edited 2nd Jan '14 7:32:27 PM by GAP
"Thanos is a happy guy! Just look at the smile in his face!"
Rainy Echoes
Tunes Ellen will forget. Yes, as fast as the wind.
Rocking Girl.
Silky White Girl.
Fantastic Rasa.
The Girl's Echoing, Faraway Memories.
Piano Rasa.
Breakdance Rasa.
HOLIC Rasa.
Rolling Girl- Pure Malice.
Powerhouse Rasa.
edited 3rd Jan '14 3:30:59 PM by Diamite
So here we have damn near every picture that focuses on Ellen:
Blank girl
Kana and Ellen
Fluffy Ellen
Tabula Rasa ~Blank Girl
Ellen
Ellen and Rikako
Ellen
Fluffy fluffy, blink blink
Ellen_scribble
Fluffy
fluffy fluffy, sparkle sparkle
Ellen
Little witch Ellen
Fluffy * Gyu~ 1.0
Ellen fuwawan
Ellen
Ellen-chan
KanaEllen
VISION Ellen
Witches' kiss
What we learned here:
- Ellen isn't popular
- Shipping her with Kana is a thing
- No one really associates her with her original manga (wonder how the author feels about that...)
This. Cannot. Continue.
Oh, cool, thankye! Which means it's time for
~ Tactius Reviews a Manga He Can't Read! ~
Right, there's an annoyed cat, and a girl - presumably Ellen - dusting a house with a lot of books in it. Charming cottage, has a heart on it. But it also has a hanging sign, so maybe it's a business too? Bird attacks girl, presumably for something the cat did. Can the cat speak, or is this a Garfield scenario? Guy fell off a horse, gets bird nest for her, lots of blushing. Cat remains annoyed; father figure, or just a typical cat? Exposition with smoky castle turret, Ellen gets book, rides into town with guy. Meet with king, ends up with a doll? Reading a book while riding with the guy. Cat's annoyance increases along with fluffiness. Crawl through woods, reach field of flowers. Giant shadow cat! Guy draws sword, Ellen does Mikuru Beam pose, dispels shadow, reveals tiny cat! It's the guy's cat? Cannot guess the gender of the character that appears. NPC bonks other NPC, walk off. Wind down with Ellen sitting on porch with chin in hands, notices bird nest in chimney has hatched. Good end?
Well, art's pretty simple but charming enough. Looks to be a generic European fantasy setting. Ellen seems to be protagonist material, helping others and defeating the monster and whatnot, though a bit of a romantic given the hearts and blushing going on. Not a lot of flashy magic though, most I saw was either a wind spell or a dispelling. And Sokrates (Archimedes?) is definitely a sourpuss. Maybe I'll check out the other issues later.
I was responding under the logic that you were operating under the logic that the more the game's creator liked a character, the more powerful he or she would be in game, so I was offering the alternative theory that the game creator included another creator's character in his game so she could be shipped with a character that he created.
Yeah, they could bond on their shared pot-ness.
Liked the fourth and last ones the most, but... I know I plug this one every time, but I really like it.
I want a scene where Ellen and Marisa kick ass together and Marisa lets her try on her hat. 
But not quite all of them! There's also Ellen's profile pic, Ellen among the stars, Ellen preparing to rock, Ellen livin' the dream, and Ellen in her natural habitat.
Yeah, it's kinda surprising that Ellen doesn't even get the crossover tag on Danbooru, and only a whopping 12 out of 110 posts with her in it have hatarakimono listed up there next to touhou. As for her original creator's feelings, well, he can at least take solace in the fact that "she's from that guy's manga" is right up there with "she forgets everything" when it comes to what the fandom remembers about Ellen, assuming they remember Ellen.
Current earworm: "Awe of the Unknown"
The Voile thread has translations. Semi-broken, but all you have to do is save them to your computer and take off the '.unknown'
And Pixiv is worse
This. Cannot. Continue.
I just opened the link to the translation text in a new tab and Firefox displayed it just fine.
Readread. Ha! 'kay, the "Fluffy-Headed" thing isn't just due to her memory situation, evidently using magic causes static electricity that messes up her hair. Which explains scruffy Socrates.
Part 2... different cat, Plato. And wait, suddenly she's in a modern apartment. Trouble connecting the TV, loves radio, the wonders of anti-static hairspray, yay science! Apollo 14 on TV, oh god she wants to visit the moon nooooooo. Trying to help a guy with stage fright, he doesn't like the potion, cast a spell on him but he still messed up. Well that was quite different.
Part 3, we're on a train! And we've got an Archimedes! Looks like we're going to Germany. Locomotives make Ellen's hair staticy too. Revisiting a village she ran a shop in - she remembers! Dusting the house, bird nest in chimney, deja vu. Village afflicted with plague through which sneezes cause explosive beard growth. Again, Ellen has a nose for when it "stinks of magic~" Crushing on the guy trying to explain the magic called "Shy'uhns." Cursed jewels! Dragon with a cough! Gnomes! Everything works out, but Ellen still wants a sweetheart.
But according to the author's notes, the place with the German-sounding town names like Reethoffen and Ach is the American West circa the early 19th century. Which was either the setting of the first volume, with the castle and king and princes, or else Ellen had a nigh-identical cottage set up in America two generations earlier.
Also,
Ellen is a magician who does not grow older. So, in exchange of her longevity, her memory is not too good. She will keep forgetting things again and again, one after another.
And so, that's why she will always stay as a kid forever.
(handwritten) The cats are ordinary cats, so they are replaced one after another. (sweat)
Fluffy fluff!
Current earworm: "Awe of the Unknown"
Rainy Echoes
So Ellen's prone to having static hair, and she swaps out cats on a daily basis.
Heh.
Can't help but think that Ellen has potential of being a magic detective. Any case that involves nefarious use of magic, call on her and she'll solve the mystery. And her Watson will be the cat of the mystery or something.
Baring hearts for years
Hi I'm back.
Ah, Ellen. I suspect she was the inspiration behind the "eternal children" characteristic of Touhou Vampires.
Even among the PC-98ers, I find Ellen and Kana particularly... forgettable. If there are two characters in the entirety of Touhou that I forget exist, its these gals (Not counting stuff like unnamed random kappa #2) Which makes me feel a bit bad but such is how it is. Kinda odd, too, considering she's the sole Touhou character pulled from another work of fiction (rather than mythology in general). You'd think it'd make her more memorable, but instead it cloaks her in a field of "she's not a native Touhou so I don't care" or something stupid like that.
I write some fanfiction. Satori's Tale is done... but I'm not.
This. Cannot. Continue.
Ah, good. We had an even number of eyes in the thread for a moment.
Nnnot daily, no. It's more like she doesn't age, so... well, at least she knows they're distinct cats. Last time we wondered whether "Socrates" was whichever animal she was carrying around.
She's definitely got a nose for it, and it's usually a big deal when she senses something that nobody else knew was supernatural. On the other hand, she calls the locomotive and television magic too, but didn't make as big a fuss about them. Which is... kinda childish and endearing, actually, she's simultaneously a magician and somebody who will shrug off what she doesn't fully understand as magic.
Or possibly it's a sign of enlightenment, that she knows any sufficiently analyzed magic is indistinguishable from science and vice versa. She gets staticy from the locomotive too, after all. I wanna work some The Dresden Files "wizards' effect on modern technology" stuff into this but aren't sure now.
Hmm, I'm not so sure. Ellen comes across as quite different from Remilia, and even Flandre. She's got a bonna fide innocence to her that sets her apart from the rest of the cast, I'd say, regardless of whether they're youkai or other. Windows era cast, that is.
Irony!
I was the same way, until I figured that if I accepted Daiyousei and Koakuma, I could probably do the same to someone with actual dialogue and a profile, even if she's a Guest Fighter.
edited 5th Jan '14 10:08:01 PM by Tacitus
Current earworm: "Awe of the Unknown"
Baring hearts for years
"Inpsired by", meaning here less than what I usually do by that term. "sparked the idea for" perhaps. Like, basically, ZUN maybe saw it and was like "Oh, hey, eternal youth to an extreme. I should work that in somewhere."
Her brand of innocence is certainly unique, though there are others I'd call 'innocent'. Ellen's innocence oddly doesn't seem naive... just... accepting. She's childish, but... argh... tough to explain.
Ok, so I often talk about how kids are stupid and they do stupid things because they're stupid. Ellen doesn't give me that impression, yet still retains other elements of childishness. The youthful enthusiasm is there, but so is the impression of an experienced magician. It's an odd blend, kind of like Marisa, but even more childish, and even more experienced.
I guess she'd come across as a sort of idiot savant or something to someone who didn't know her whole 'shedding memories' issue.
"How did you learn to use that sort magic? It takes centuries to learn to manipulate it properly."
"Uh... I dunno, I guess I probably put that time in somewhere. Must've been boring though 'cause I don't remember it at all."
This. Cannot. Continue.
From her manga, mostly it seems that she comes across as a kid, until magic enters the picture, when suddenly she becomes authoritative and active. Ellen doesn't seem to have the Vague Age effect the Touhous sport - her neighbors in the modern apartment are quite surprised she's living by herself, and more to the point the art has her consistently smaller than all the adults.
Last thoughts on Ellen: having read her manga, it's somewhat odd that her wish is for a magical shop. It could be a case of her being "locked" into that desire due to her condition and forgetting all the times she's realized it, but she's evidently capable of remembering her former home-businesses. So I guess she was so pleased with her visit to Gensokyo that she was willing to put down roots for a while, even if they happened to be on someone else's property.
Other than that, we'll probably move on to the yama early tomorrow, so now's the time for any last Ellen comments.
...Hey, wait. ZUN's comment about how the cat should be Archimedes - going by the comic's timeline, does that mean he considered PoDD's Gensokyo contemporary with the American Wild West? Railroads, gold rushes and dragons?
Current earworm: "Awe of the Unknown"
Gensoukyou is lawless and filled with disaster enough to be the wild west at least.
Baring hearts for years
Reminds me of Okuu's 'Soku personality. Maybe Ellen swallowed a god of magic and.... naaaaah.
I write some fanfiction. Satori's Tale is done... but I'm not.
Rainy Echoes
Dumb question, but what would Ellen be selling in her magic shop? I'm guessing magic tonics, magic artifacts, heck, perhaps a magic tool kit for starting mages. Also, if you give her some loot, she'll forge awesome magic stuff. Kinda like Tactics A2's bazaar.
Final thoughts: Ellen's forgetful, and she gives off a aura of natural innocence.
I don't know what say about this character but I learned in the other compendiums that she is a parody of the main heroine in that manga. I wonder if ZUN was paying tribute to that manga as he did with Konngara.... She also looks like Marisa.....
"Thanos is a happy guy! Just look at the smile in his face!"