/jp/ - Otaku Culture

[Anonymous No.]

I found this book, "The Youkai Blood Libel," in Patchouli's library. Here's the introduction.

I am writing this to a future audience--probably human--in a world without Youkai. My contemporaries may ask me why I do this, but this is because that is the inevitability I see, the end result of the events already happening today. Perhaps one day humans will not hate Youkai, rather, they will dismiss such stories as legends and myths, having long forgotten the stories of ages past.

I will start from the beginning. Youkai have existed for a long time. Our own records don't go back more than a few thousand years, so even we know little about our origin beyond legends. However, we do know that in large part Youkai have existed peacefully with humans. They called us spirits of the forest, elves, monsters, what have you. Some Youkai communicated with humans, some ignored humans, some avoided humans. Some particularly brave Youkai posed as humans themselves, pretending to be wanderers and taking part in human society out of their own curiosity. At first, there was little animosity: humans and Youkai did not compete for the same resources. However, humans eventually became jealous of the long life span and greater abilities of Youkai, particularly the most powerful ones.

Thus came the blood libel. It happened around the world, though often in different ages in different regions. A human was murdered or disappeared in the forest and the humans, finding no one else to blame, decided a Youkai must have been at fault. One case led to another, and within a few centuries, Youkai were no longer seen as mysterious forest creatures but rather rabid man-eaters bent on the destruction of all that is good. The claims were completely illogical--Youkai were blamed for abducting small children to eat, for example, despite the fact that the same Youkai would have been quite capable of killing an adult human had she wanted to.

[Anonymous No.]

And so the lynchings began. The weakest Youkai quickly fell to the spears and bows of humans. The stronger Youkai had few worries, but greater and greater Youkai were put into danger as humans developed more powerful weapons: bronze, then iron. Armies grew in size, and soon many Youkai who considered themselves safe had to worry. The situation grew even worse as a few Youkai, maddened by the deaths of their friends, began murdering humans in response, giving credit to the humans' claims.

And so I sit here today among the few Youkai left. Most of those left have incredible powers, such as the manipulation of boundaries. Some weaker ones are in regions that have had less effective Youkai extermination attempts by humans. In the end, though, I suspect we will all fall. The greatest Youkai among us still doubt this: how could humans compete against such power, even with technology? But as history has shown us, humans will continue to improve their weapons and one by one we will fall.

You may be asking at this point--why don't we fight back? As I mentioned earlier, some do, but most Youkai think the idea is unreasonable. Many believe that fighting back is hopeless, since as long as humans exist, humans will hate Youkai; if they didn't before, they will after such a war. And most refuse on principle the concept of genocide, even if it becomes the only option to avoid the total extinction of Youkai.

Some Youkai live among humans even to this day, hiding their status as Youkai by never staying in the same place too long. I have in the past predicted their demise, but have been proven wrong repeatedly, so I suspect that if any Youkai survive, it will be those who disguise themselves. Perhaps this is the correct path. To me, it seems as if it is denying our basic nature.

[Anonymous No.]

Proceed.

[Anonymous No.]

I write this book anonymously. Though those around me know who wrote this book, if I am correct about the future, my name will be meaningless on such a document.

--Anonymous Youkai, Republic of Venice, 1257

[Anonymous No.]

ADDENDUM (written in the margin at the end of the introduction):

It seems I am still alive to continue this book. How fortunate I have been to survive! Humans have practically eliminated Youkai at this point, though a large number survived in hiding and among the populace. The rest of this book still applies, and much of its predictions were surprisingly accurate.

We recently held a covert meeting to discuss the future of Youkai civilization. One interesting proposal was made by a group of Youkai attending from Japan: to create a magically-shielded santuary in the heart of the Japanese countryside where Youkai and humans could live together in harmony. This time, Youkai would have numbers so great relative to humans that a war would be impossible.

The idea has already been proposed to the human tribes in the area and there doesn't seem to be much dissent. I will bring this book with me--if we succeed, perhaps a Youkai may read this in the far future after all. Perhaps that may even be more likely than a human reading it; with what the humans are currently doing, I would not be surprised if they destroy themselves completely within a few generations. Fortunately, the magical barrier should be sufficient to protect us from their stupidity.

With that in mind, I will sign my name to this book.

--Patchouli Knowledge, Berlin, 1881

[Anonymous No.]

>>2632473

Our livelihood as Youkai is threatened. Our very existence conveys fear and dread in humans, skewing their views about our wishes to peacefully coexist. So I write to any youkai who has a shred of pride as a youkai, to rise up and quell the upstart braggarts we call humans. Pike up danmaku, pike and saber and turn back the human horde!

[Anonymous No.]

cool story bro

[Anonymous No.]

>>2632486

[Anonymous No.]

I endorse this.