/jp/ - Otaku Culture

>>18560525
Yukari's ultimate endgame is anyone's guess at this point, but it is clear as day that she has no intention of letting youkai cower in the reservation known as Gensokyo forever. There's the continuation to the picture i posted here >>18560364 in pic related, where Yukari hints that the current situation is unsustainable. It also hints that there are different factions, perhaps even among the youkai, with different ultimate goals for Gensokyo's future. Kasen is not keen on Yukari's apparent plans for youkai re-emergence, and in a later chapter she makes it very clear that she's not on Yukari's side, perhaps having changed her mind since her sage days.

In the latest WaHH discussion thread, people theorized that Kasen now feels that youkai should just accept their fate as a thing of the past, and simply fade into history along with Gensokyo. This was strengthened by her statement that her loyalty now lies with "the law of heaven", which can be interpreted as "the natural order of things". Maybe this is why Kasen started befriending Reimu and the others, with the explicit goal of taking control over the Hakurei shrine, perhaps to help this process (it does not seem like it was of any help in her search for her missing arm).

However, unless it is a VERY convincing cover-up, Kasen is planning to save herself by becoming a celestial through the hermit route. This would make Kasen look like a huge, selfish hypocrite next to Yukari's caretaker role for all of youkai-kind. However, kasen has taken a liking to humans, and maybe she is even trying to save all of mankind from a much more cruel future at the hands of Yukari, should her plans succeed?

>>18562155
I don't really think that Yakumo Yukari IS Maribel Hearn, but there is clearly a very strong connection between them, we just don't know exactly what it is yet. While many details almost make them seem like the very same person, how and why would Yukari appear as a physically normal (disregarding the crazy boundary-manipulation abilities) human without any of her own memories in the near future?

Maribel states that her linage has been able to see the boundaries between everything since ancient times, but it was only recently that she powered up and became able to manipulate them at will. So far, she has manipulated boundaries for the purpose of transporting herself, and eventually also Renko, through time and space. In PMiSS, a note found several hundred years ago in the bamboo forest, obviously left by Maribel during her explorations, was mentioned. But why would "human Yukari" regain her abilities only now? I'm more inclined to believe that Yukari and Maribel have common ancestry of some sort, perhaps among ancient Shinto gods.

But then we have the eerie similarities. Maribel looks just like Yukari, same hair color and everything. She dresses in the same colors, with a similar albeit less gaudy style, complete with the mob-cap. Maribel's ability seems to be the exact same as Yukari's, although it is still much weaker, and she hasn't explored its full potential yet. Her given name follows a logic very similar to that of Yukari's. In addition, she just happens to be a member of the Secret Sealing Club, with a keen interest in Gensokyo in particular. Conveniently, she also happens to be a foreigner with no relatives living in Japan, and has told Renko very little about her background, but still has a perfect grasp of the Japanese language.

So if they indeed are the same person, in what manner would they even be it, if Maribel is physically still a normal human, has none of Yukari's memories, and only recently gained her powers? If she is a re-incarnation with the same soul (most plausible explanation), that means Yukari would have to pass away (for some reason) relatively soon in the near future, but those things work very differently for youkai and humans. And wouldn't that be unnecessary considering Maribel's lineage, since it implies Yukari isn't the only boundary watcher/manipulator around? Or is it some kind of convoluted, yet unexplained method/relation? There are theories (even in canon) that Yukari is in fact messing around in the outside world all the time she spends sleeping, utilizing dream transportation just like Sumireko, but this method still preserves your entire being, body, abilities, memories and all.

ZUN is actually better at constructing an intriguing narrative than I gave him credit for in my previous post, without giving almost anything away, now that I think about it. I just hope that we get to see the story about his universe going anywhere interesting before he passes away from old age.

I spent 2 hours writing this post, but then accidentally hit Ctrl+W, so I had to write it all from memory again.