/jp/ - Otaku Culture

>>42461073
I'll repost one of my theories for the start of this thread

Theory: Reimu has been manipulated by the youkai all her life (or at least ever since she became a shrine maiden) and her god is helpless to do anything about it, as it's kind of in the same boat.

Let's look at the facts: the Hakurei God isn't being worshipped and is angry as a result, as said in one of Reimu's UFO endings. Reimu doesn't know a single thing about her god, not even it's name or blessings, as stated in many works such as Oriental Sacred Place (in Chapter 17). The Hakurei God's blessing is youkai extermination, as stated by Kasen in Oriental Sacred Place (also Chapter 17), yet Reimu is very buddy-buddy with all kinds of powerful youkai (some like Suika even outright live on the shrine grounds), and Kasen says this is a reason why she "can't gather faith". To add on to this, Kasen did some sneaky shit to ensure Reimu didn't figure out the Yin-Yang Orb she uses is the Hakurei God's go-shintai. Then you got Yukari and one of the meanings of her name, "A strong fortress to keep the gods(shrine maidens) trapped inside", as discussed in Curiosities of Lotus Asia Chapter 22. Furthermore, as stated in MoF's prologue, the Hakurei God's power has "steadily diminished" due to a lack of faith. Now this is a little more assumptive, but presumably the Hakurei God also had a hand in Gensokyo's creation, after all the barrier is named after it and Hakurei shrine maidens have a number of powers relating to the barrier (like being able to send outsiders back home), plus PMiSS states that "The Hakurei shrine maidens manage the Great Hakurei Barrier."

Piecing all of this together, the Hakurei God was at one point more powerful and prominent than it is now, likely having assisted in the Great Hakurei Barrier's creation, and in a land teeming with youkai humans should have been clamoring for it's blessing of youkai extermination. This is obviously a bad thing for youkai and Gensokyo's balance in general, as the creation of Gensokyo was aided by the youkai so they could not only have a place to live but a place to thrive. By weakening the Hakurei God's influence and power, and keeping Reimu in the dark about it all, the youkai have deprived humans of one of the greatest weapons they have against them. Kasen's behavior in OSP heavily supports this. The Hakurei God has no faith, no worshipers, it's own shrine maiden doesn't even know it's name or how to worship it, and it's probably slowly dying of faith deprivation in a land where it should have no shortage of followers. The youkai probably won't ever let it die given how useful it's blessings and artifact have been for Reimu, but they'll always keep it too weak to fight back or even inform it's shrine maiden of it's situation, because a strong and influential Hakurei God is a threat to Gensokyo's current balance and the dominance of youkai.

Slay youkai. The bitch maiden refuses to do it herself so you have to take matters into your own hands.

>>41327025
Some extra pics as supporting evidence because why not

>>39285625
>And neither we nor she even know what that duty is supposed to be
its to exterminate youkai. kasen outright says the hakurei god's blessing is youkai extermination in oriental sacred place chapter 17, and mizuchi's statements in CDS chapter 17 prove that's what used to be expected of hakurei shrine maidens.
>I doubt the hakurei god would be made happy if Reimu just went around bonking youkai.
the god of youkai extermination doesn't want it's shrine maiden to exterminate youkai? literally nothing supports that
>Why?
to remove these misbegotten apparitions born from human thought from existence. reimu's friendliness towards youkai is also stated to be the reason why the hakurei god cannot collect faith, once again stated by kasen in oriental sacred place, and given its status as the god of youkai extermination it isnt hard to see why. through reimu's amicability towards her god's enemies she weakens her own god and prevents it from gathering faith. what type of shrine maiden shamelessly sabotages her own god while playing nice with its human eating adversaries?
>Actually she'd just be an old fogey having a temper tantrum because the times have moved on.
no, she clearly sees how the hakurei shrine has been manipulated and how its current shrine maiden remains consistently oblivious and negligent to her own, frankly obvious, duties. if reimu has been using the hakurei god's blessing almost her entire life and has yet to realize that its blessing is youkai extermination, shes dumb as fucking rocks