/jp/ - Otaku Culture

>>36157941
Excellent thread, I feel the same way. I think it's threefold for me.

For one, I'm interested in religious studies. I think studying religions for their own sake is extremely interesting, and it gives you an insight into various cultural and ethnographic values. Of course, Touhou is based largely around religion, so I think the tension between the Shinto, the Buddhists and the Taoists provide an interesting setup for the conflict of many of the games. I enjoy studying these religions on their own from time to time and thinking how their doctrines affect the characters.

Secondly, I'm Catholic. This sounds like a bizarre way to intrude on this subject, but a large portion of Catholicism is recognizing the special qualities of patron saints, who are saints associated with prayers for certain qualities. In a similar way, Touhou characters are associated with certain qualities, substances, etc based on their canonical roles. This personification of qualities stemmed from my religious experiences and I think it gave me another perspective on my appreciation for the cast of characters.

Finally, I live in a historic area and I place a great emphasis on living history on a day-to-day basis. Although I'm in the US, I live in one of the oldest states. In my local area are many venerable houses, businesses and places of worship that date to before the American Revolution. They have a certain majesty to them, knowing that someone constructed these structures ages ago, back when we were but a colonial outpost of England, let alone the UK. Touhou has a similar connection, where its setting is a version of mythological preserved Japan stuck-in-time before the Meiji era and the advent of modernism.

Beyond all this, ZUN's passion and soul behind the series is the real driving force. Touhou is an expansion of one man's spirit for the past 24 years, and it is as honest as anyone could have written. I have immense respect for that. One day before I die, I would like to shake his hand and honestly thank him for all he has done.

>>36160037
>>36183831
>>36299970
Good posts