/jp/ - Otaku Culture

>>20332848
cont.
Right, now let's move on to Eiki's spell cards.
>徳の説示 (Charge of Virtue)
This is Eiki's charge attack in PoFV. 説示 (setsuji) is a term used in Japanese courts to describe the action of a judge explaining or instructing a case to a jury in terms of its legal implications. It literally means "instructions" or "explanations". It also, in religious (Buddhist) terms, means the explanation, demonstration, or teaching of a religious practice. "Charge" in English has many definitions, but in this case that Japanese term perfectly applies to definition of "an official instruction, especially one given by a judge to a jury regarding points of law". 徳 (literally just "virtue") probably refers to a judge's (and yama's) ability to discern right from wrong and make the right, benevolent decision.
>弾幕裁判 (Danmaku Trial)
Eiki's EX attack in PoFV. Touhou wiki translates 裁判 as "judgement" for some reason even though it's more analogous to "trial". Danmaku has obvious connotations. Trial in this sense refers to a court trial. The name is also likely wordplay on 弾劾裁判 (Dangai Saibansho lit. "Court/Trial of Impeachment"), a Japanese court that impeaches the position of a judge if they are found guilty of corruption or any other wrongdoing (it sounds like Danmaku Saibansho, the name of the card pronounced in Japanese).
>罪符「彷徨える大罪」(Punishment Sign "Wandering Mortal Sin")
This spell card is self explanatory and doesn't really have any lore to it. 罪 by itself can be translated as "guilt", "crime"/"sin", or "punishment/conviction" and it isn't clear which the card refers to. Since Eiki is a yama (judge) I decided that "punishment" fits best. 大罪 (taizai lit. "great sin") is used to refer to terrible sins and is most close to the Western concept of a grave or mortal sin. 彷徨 (wandering) probably refers to sinful souls making its way across the Sanzu towards Higan, particularly those who didn't have the money to pay for a ferry across the river. Or it refers to the lost souls who poured over into Gensokyo, inhabiting flowers and making them bloom.
>審判「ラストジャッジメント」(Judgement "Last Judgment")
"Last Judgement" is in katakana, meaning it refers to the paiting "The Last Judgment" by Michael Angelo. The painting references the apocalypse and the Second Coming of Christ, which is considered by some Christian denominations to be the final and eternal judgement of humans by God. Eiki, being a yama, similarly makes a "last judgement" when deciding if a soul is to be sent to the realm of hell, realm of gaki, realm of animals, realm of humans, realm of asura, or realm of heaven. Eiki also has that specific painting by Michael Angelo for her spell card backgrounds in StB. This isn't the first time ZUN used "The Last Judgement" as a motif. It was also the name of the stage 5 theme in MS probably because that game had heavy influence from the SMT series, which deals with themes from Christianity a lot. The danmaku in this card consists of Eiki sending copious amounts of wooden rods towards you while firing seven lasers. Three red ones to the left, three blue ones to the right, and one giant purple one in the middle. Red=Guilty, Blue=Innocent, and Purple=The Judgement.
>虚言「タン・オブ・ウルフ」(Lie "Tongue of Wolf")
This spell card references the story "The Boy Who Cried Wolf", arguably Greek storyteller Aesop's most famous tale. The tale concerns a shepherd boy who repeatedly tricks nearby villagers into thinking wolves are attacking his flock. When a wolf actually does appear and the boy again calls for help, the villagers believe that it is another false alarm and the sheep are eaten by the wolf. This gave rise of the idiom "to cry wolf" which means to give a false alarm or to lie. A common thing Japanese parents tell to children who they suspect are lying is that "if you tell a lie, the yama of hell will pull out your tongue".