Forum › Posts by riverFlower
In all honesty, I feel Remilia isn't in character here. Or if she is in character, it's by blowing up one aspect of her and forgetting the rest. She reminds me more of Yuyuko, with the somber, calm attitude, no childishness, and ability to show fondness to others. Going along those lines, Sakuya reminds me more of Youmu. Following Remi around instead of taking care of her. Which is... strange to say the least.
That being said, it's still a nice story. I like the atmosphere it creates. The snow fall all throughout cements the feeling of this cathedral(?) and site of graves as being a lost and forgotten world. Not that many works explore Remi's past beyond hypothetical encounters with vampire hunters/Sakuya. For Remi to have been constantly encountering odd humans who she could get along with over the past 500 years- I wouldn't mind making that a headcanon in an alternate universe. It shows a different side of her which I like.
Interesting art style, not typical. Liked the atypical character designs. I mean when do we ever get to see Remilia without her mob hat? XD Sakuya with her braids untied was cute.
It's actually nice this doujin isn't exactly yuri. There's no explicit romantic feelings of any sort, but the closeness they share near the very end suggests a bond stronger than could be described. The type that's everlasting; where Sakuya would be remembered for eternity if she ever died, just like the other humans who Remilia honors every winter. Strangely enough that aspect of the story didn't feel morbid at all; it felt powerful actually. Beautiful, that this immortal youkai would honor these humans enough to visit them every single year. But regardless of what the future brings, these two are together now, two pairs of footprints traveling together.
Dawwwwh that ending was so cute. I didn't realize it was Ryuunosuke until the very end, but it wasn't surprising considering how much I liked this story. I don't see enough stories about Kyouko and being a sister. Also liked the different hair styles. Usually they just keep their standard ones all the way through; that little detail gave a nice touch of realism.
[Sayaka things]
[More things said about Sayaka]
Thing is Sayaka has repeatedly shown and even voiced her jealousy over Yuu being close to Touko and having acted passive aggressive bordering on straight aggressive towards Yuu. When Maki ask her about Touko giving Yuu so much attention after he caught the two kissing. Her basically telling Yuu to back off that she was all Touko needs when Yuu kept from them she knew someone who could write the play to protect Touko. When she question Touko about her being close to Yuu and Touko plays it off. When Sayaka is at her home thinking about it trying convince herself nothing could happen. When they are playing volleyball. When Touko ask Sayaka for advice about turning down a girl. When Touko says Yuu's first name infront them. The whole build up to the sports festival. I think there was more but I kind of got lost in listing them.
I guess you could say Sayaka is really rather possessive of Touko but she plays it off because she hasn't fully perceived anyone ever being able get close to Touko to be a threat but Yuu is starting fall more and more into her radar.
Sayaka knows she does not own Touko. If there is anything that she always sees clearly in front of her, it is that Touko does not belong to her. This is important to keep in mind, because I think it defines everything about how she feels and how she acts.
Yuu hasn't been falling into her radar; she's already been on her radar since Touko wanted her as a campaign manager. But just knowing that, it's clear how little Sayaka can do about it and how little she is willing to risk. Any possessiveness she displays is without teeth. It is born of the knowledge that she does not mean as much to Touko and only acts to reassure herself of the nature of their relationship.
She may have acted possessive before, but what does that really show about how she might react in the future? That she'll hate Yuu and want to make her life a living hell, because she dared to love Touko and became the closest to her? She's not that petty. She got lunch with Yuu after their baton race practice, and afterwards they passed/received the baton perfectly. Very symbolic of how they had come to an understanding of each other. Also as mentioned before, I recall that she has never struck out at somebody else, as in react purely emotionally with a desire to hurt someone/prove something.
Or maybe she'll become extremely desperate and confess to Touko? What on Earth would she gain from doing so? Unless Touko suddenly decides being with Sayaka would help her become somebody else, assuming she continues not wanting to be herself, and she no longer feels that love shackles, this would amount to the greatest betrayal she could receive. It would already be bad enough with Yuu, who at least Touko is gradually becoming more and more attached to.
And I think most of all, Sayaka really does want what is best for Touko. She also knows her role and standing with Touko with crystal clarity. She will not throw everything away for the sake of her jealousy. She would not try to make Touko her own, knowing full well that Touko belongs to no one and especially not her. I just can't see her as someone who would do that.
WOoaAhh. That was intense. I need to finish playing the rest of the series. Haven't gotten far enough to truly know who some of the characters are, so there's subtleties I'm missing.
But woah. Not sure how much of this is supported by canon, but I love doujins which explore the darker side of Gensokyo. I'm going to fangirl over it a bit longer and then re-read it later. XD
Can somebody check who are the VAs for this PV?
According to this Facebook page ( https://www.facebook.com/yagakimi/ ), which has a source link to a news release article, they're:
Cast:
:: Hisako Kanemoto (Akuma no Riddle's Haru Ichinose, Kokoro Connect's Yui Kiriyama, Rakudai Kishi no Cavalry's Toka Todou) as Yuu Koito.
:: Minako Kotobuki (Hibike! Euphonium's Asuka Tanaka, K-On!'s Tsumugi Kotobuki, Nanatsu no Taizai's Viviann) as Touko Nanami.
I looooooove this story. It's the doujin that finally made me go off and play Touhou, just to see if this ship was canon. That's such a shipper thing to say, but honestly I was struck by the intensity of emotion Remi and Sakuya showed.
Sakuya's resistance, her defying Remilia to prove her own autonomy, is also something I have yet to see in any other RemiSaku fanwork. Stories where Remi is just dominant while Sakuya adores her as a submissive servant leave me frowning. Their relationship, especially once romantic feelings hypothetically become involved, is complicated and intriguing because in the Touhou canon, Sakuya freely speaks her own mind, is snarky, and yet unquestionably serves Remilia. This maid role is not one she seems inclined to leave, and one wonders what binds her so willingly to the SDM. Conversely one wonders why Remilia keeps her so close by; I'm pretty sure Sakuya is the person she spends the most time with, a great deal more than anyone else.
I felt Nakatani explored their dynamic well. The doujin's lacking in some things like background context, character past, and relationship development, but it's spot-on in seeing them through to the natural end of this tension, as they act in ways which fit them. Bonus points for cheerful, oblivious Meiling; showing Patchy and Remi being friends and talking about feelings; childish, even innocent, not-just-insane-axe-murderer Flandre; immature, yet trying to act mature Remilia; and Sakuya being something more than perfect, being vulnerable in a way which doesn't break character. One of my favorite scenes: Sakuya flushing as she says she's not okay with having no say in how things will go, right after giving a list of reasons for why it wasn't possible. Felt like a great depiction of her typical reservedness strained by uncontrollable emotions.
The re-occurring mentions of human mortality vs. youkai immortality provided a nice backdrop. I think its biggest contribution comes in highlighting the significance of Sakuya pledging her life (literally) to Remilia.
One of my absolute favorites on this site. :) For something so simple and short it still made a big impression on me and ran deep. I've already returned to read it about once a week (on average over two months). XD
[Sayaka] is the number one enabler of Touko's obsession with becoming someone else.
That's true, but while there is something self-serving about Sayaka's strategy of pretending to be fooled by Touko's public persona, there's no indication that she's doing anything but supporting what she thinks Touko wants. And she has indeed been snippy when she thinks Yuu is overstepping her kouhai bounds, but that seems like simple low-level former-#1-friend jealousy.
If Touko's initial reaction to [whatever falls out because of the play/Yuu's hypothetical confession] is distress and rejection, Sayaka very well could turn out to be fiercely protective of the "old" Touko. But I don't think she's an inherently toxic person, (rather the opposite, in fact), and even though I'm not particularly fond of the character, I'd be disappointed if we get a full-on Dark Sayaka emotional meltdown.
I don't think we'll get a Dark Sayaka meltdown either, or that she is inherently toxic. I'll admit I don't read her character closely and I haven't read the older chapters in a while, but how I see it is that even though she does think she has Touko's best interests at heart, the current state of affairs also fills one of her insecurities. My general impression of her has always been that she is content to stay as they are because it is what feels safest. She can love Touko without being rejected, and without fearing she'll lose her due to other reasons either.
I can definitely see the first scenario you postulated happening, with her becoming protective of the old Touko, but what I imagine would happen eventually, assuming Touko chooses to step in a new direction, is that Sayaka would be/feel left in the dust. From my foggy memories of the entire manga, I do do not recall feeling Sayaka wanted to change, her relationships or herself. I do distinctly remember an instance when she was thinking to herself that she would always be there for Touko in her weak moments or something like that, as if Touko would always remain the same. The bulk of Touko's deepest feelings are unknown to her, and so if it all comes out and Touko choose to change in such a dramatic way, it's going to throw her off. She might be mature about it and take some time to digest before moving on with her own life while staying friends with Touko, or she might be more emotionally vicious. Based on what we have seen so far, I think the former is more likely. I don't recall her ever striking out at anyone, the most snubbing she ever did being grabbing onto Touko pointedly when her ex asked her if she was "normal" again. But to an extent, I think she will be quietly devastated at least momentarily.
Either way, the impact she could have on Touko's choice would be before all of that has any chance to happen, during Touko's initial reaction to the play/Yuu's confession/whatever catalyst blows everything up. She has an investment in the current Touko, one that goes beyond merely thinking it's best for her. So for as long as she can believe this is what Touko wants or needs, her conviction could influence Touko, just as she has always propped up Touko in the past.
No idea how Sayaka will affect things. She loves a Touko which isn't real. I hope she finds a way to break out of her stasis too.
Sayaka is very perceptive so she'll probably get suspicious that Yuu is up to something when Koyomi tells everyone about the revised script. I imagine that she might confront Yuu before Touko does & maybe even start getting protective of Touko? & then we'll get to witness the catfight of the century. Maybe.
Don't forget that Yuu and Touko have matching phone pendants too, but maybe they won't use them at school to avoid suspicions.
Bitchfight between Yuu and Sayaka would be awesome, all that tension in chapter 22...let it explodeI said this last chapter. There is no way between Sayaka, Maki, and the other guy noone notices it. I could see the other guy just blurting it out same as with the first name thing. Maki might be subtle about it but Sayaka would definitely become passive aggressive about it with questioning and upset over it. It would be kind of a shame though if it gets over looked completely.
What I'm most worried about is that Sayaka will hold Touko back from trying to became anything other than what she is now. She is the number one enabler of Touko's obsession with becoming someone else. It's true there's no way she's not going to react, and it's going to influence how Touko feels about everything. I'm sort of just hoping by the time everything blows up, Touko will find Yuu is more important to her, or something. I want a happy ending damn it.
I am so excited for the play to start. There's no guarantee of how things will end, but the one certainty is that shit is going to go down. It's really, really impressive how complex Nakatani has made all of the characters, Yuu and Touko especially, how real they feel. They make choices which aren't always expected and which don't follow standard routes. That's not true for many characters, who are defined not by who they can be but by their designated role in pre-set circumstances.
Wasn't expecting a chapter on Koyomi, but it was cute. The plot twist could be seen a mile away, however. :p Seems like they're all growing up. What Koyomi said about proving her admiration was more than a childish crush stuck out to me for that reason.
In regard to ending speculation, the one thing I'm sure of is a full resolution will take time. Because the play's contents haven't been revealed, it's hard to say how everybody will react to it. But I expect anything which forces Touko to confront the emptiness inside her will receive backlash. Actually have no idea what the time line is for the beginning of the second semester to the school festival, haven't paid enough attention to that oops. If there's still a decent amount of time before the play is performed, I imagine Touko may come to accept the idea of being herself. If there isn't much time, things will probably get messy. Yuu stands at the center of all this as the person who pushed this change on to Touko, accepted her weaknesses, and brings out the one aspect of Touko which she believes is fully her own. Touko's third confrontation with Yuu (the first being the river scene, the second at Yuu's house) will show just how far along she can go in accepting herself and Yuu's love. I feel like the climax is going to be that third confrontation, initiated either by the revised play or by Yuu confessing. Or maybe that's just how I want everything to go. :p I am hopeful in the end for a more mature Touko and a healthier, re-built relationship between the two.
No idea how Sayaka will affect things. She loves a Touko which isn't real. I hope she finds a way to break out of her stasis too.
One of my favorites. Mizuho and Ena had exquisitely dysfunctional communication skills, and were attempting to get the other to understand/soothe their fears without actually having to talk about it. I liked how they were equally at fault and not at fault in causing and not working out the issues in their relationship. I think what I appreciated the most was the fact that neither of them were purposefully trying to hurt the other, but it happened anyway due to their insecurities. (Well except for one part, when Ena slapped Mizuho. >.>) It feels more realistic this way.
I give major kudos for having Kanae be unequivocally straight and trying to repair her own relationship. Kudo one for including a straight relationship that's not about the girl figuring out her latent homosexuality (straight girls exist and they can be fine that way...). Kudo two because it's heart-warming seeing Kanae take inspiration from her sister's relationship; just shows straight romance isn't any better or worse than the gay one.
Kanae hitting her boyfriend just because he lost the charm was over the top though... >.> But I liked that we got to see her at worst and best. And I liked that there was a happy ending. :) Everything can turn out well!
This was actually a very good series. I'm sad it was cancelled. I liked the characters, the concept, the dynamic between Youko and Shuu. Also one of the few yuri mangas I've seen that doesn't devolve into pure angst or have a focus on building sexual tension at the expense of all else. Wish it could be revived, or the mangaka could talk about what their future plans for the story were.