/jp/ - Otaku Culture

Once again, let's look at what we actually know, to avoid powerlevel discussions based on conjecture and character preference.

If the youkai really wanted to end Reimu, it would be surprisingly easy: they could simply just sneak up on her and kill her in her sleep. Aya sneaked up to the shrine while Reimu was asleep in daytime, and took this picture for Bunbunharu Shinpou in AFiEU. Back in the day when youkai were not as friendly with the Hakurei shrine maiden, and the Hakurei God still had its full powers, youkai did not even dare getting close to the shrine, thus protecting the shrine maiden from getting attacked in her sleep. We saw in OSP how Kasen got her magic, prosthetic arm evaporated when she accidentally touched the shrine's goshintai (the Yin-Yang orb), commenting how "that was a close one". Imagine the entire shrine area blessed with the same kind of power.

The article itself on Reimu (also Yukari and a few others) in AFiEU was finally translated to English only 2 days ago, but it IS a spoof of a right-wing tabloid after all, so the contents should be taken with a healthy grain of salt. If we choose to interpret them as heavy exaggerations of actual opinions and feelings, however, as is often the case with tabloids, some interesting stuff can be learned. If it isn't all made up by Aya herself, it provides a rare insight into the gossip and worries of the Youkai of Gensokyo.

Reimu's article in AFiEU gives more credence to what we already knew: the youkai of Gensokyo are heavily reliant on her to retain the balance of their "secluded paradise". So not only are they not allowed to actually hurt her, they most certainly don't want to. Some of the Youkai even really like Reimu, Aya mockingly refers to the regulars at the shrine as the "Shrine Banquet Alliance".

But the article also mentions indignation over how almost nobody is able to oppose Reimu, once she takes active action. Take a look at these parts:

"It's true that there are rumors that, whenever an incident occurs, she is surrounded by an indescribable intimidating aura, but the people who testify as such are few and far between."

"For the substantial amount of us youkai that carry on the farce of being unable to oppose the Hakurei shrine maiden, it seems that it won't be long before our meaning of existence becomes questioned."

I do not think this should be taken as Reimu being all-powerful, however. For all we know, it could just mean that Reimu by far is the most skilled danmaku player around, and that nobody stands a chance in a fair fight. And since everybody is so reliant on (and even like) Reimu, nobody is going to break the rules and oppose her for real. There are many parallells to how things work in real-world political/social systems here, and we know that ZUN takes great interest in these things (I mean, he even used the title "Alternative Facts in Eastern Utopia").

>>17817899
You didn't solve the incident, Reimu.
Jokes aside, for gameplay purposes it definitely counts as a clear. The player data and replay data does not differentiate between the two finals.

Lazy Reimu