/jp/ - Otaku Culture

Eh, as long as I'm still here, might as well go on a bit more about the Grand War setting.

When it comes to sensha, fairies see tanks differently then a human would. To them, a tank isn't just a fuel guzzling lump of steel that shoots things and crushes stuff: It's a living embodiment of technology, in the same way that a tree is a living part of nature, and it's just as fantastical as any other particularly strong mōjū or youkai, more so since they're from the outside world. They're large, seemingly impossibly thick castles of metal that move, and from an outside view, would appear to function on their own initiative (it doesn't help that some tanks in Gensokyo actually DO seem to work on their own like the Shrine Tank), but what's more, the fact that they willingly submit to their crews, be they humans or fairies, rather then use their strength to dominate their "weaker" occupants, is something that baffles them with curiosity. A steel beast with immersive destructive power that would let itself be controlled by something as weak as a fairy is something that enamors them, and hence some of them show great interest in the vehicles and encourage their production. Even the leprechauns aren't a 100% sure that the tanks aren't just tools when they crew them: After a few dozen battles in the same vehicle, they usually grow a bond with the machine and treat it like a companion, in the way a human knight would treat his horse. They'll risk their lives in order to save a knocked-out hulk in hopes of repairing it later.

Evidently, many tank tsukumogami rise up over the years in the setting: Most of them reprise their roles as guardians of the fey, and have become practically overgrown with plants to the point of resembling, small, mobile continents, while others serve independently. As detailed in the Chicken entry, some of them act more like poltergeists, and spend their days reacting their role in the Grand War on a daily basis.