Ooo, cool back story!
Thanks for translating! (Nice Halloween release!)

Woah, that was intense. I really enjoyed the premise behind it. Helps that this is one of my favorite Touhou ships.

last edited at Nov 1, 2016 1:30AM

Not as coherent as it might be, but certainly an interesting concept

I love love love me some YukaReimu, but this felt a little...under cooked. They were too busy trying to be cool, and they didn't really dedicate enough time to make the mechanics of whatever was going on make any kind of sense. Yukari basically set up all of Gensokyo as...what, a fantasy world for Reimu? She likes Reimu but kind of just because, what, Reimu told her to? And Reimu doesn't remember her? And Reimu didn't have a name before?

Why though?

This was cute and with great art but honestly I didn't understand a damn about the plot.

ARt is great af. Well, according to the lore the Hakurei family separated the human world from the "youkai" world aka Gensokyo. It's implied that Yukari had a great importance is this conjuncture since shes the one that control borders and was always close to the Hakurei family through generations. Maybe the author changed that up a little bit and put all the work on Yukari's shoulders, creating a new backstory for Reimu since she's obviously not the first Hakurei miko.

EDIT with some infos: "The barrier was first created by humans in Meiji 18 (CE 1885), and later reinforced by youkai. While the idea was at first highly controversial among youkai, and led to much infighting between them, it is now almost universally accepted. Yukari Yakumo is widely acknowledged as the architect of the barrier, and is said to have first motioned for it around 400 years before its actual creation, though Yuyuko Saigyouji has speculated that not even Yukari could create a barrier of this level by herself."

last edited at Nov 1, 2016 11:00AM

Whaaaaaaa all Touhou universe exists because of Yukari??!!... :O

Kinda wish this artist's works were a bit more coherent but I guess you could call that part of her aesthetic. As usual the art is amazing!

For reference this is a prequel to Kayako's RE series (or at least its implied to be by the RE in the title I don't remember anything stating it flat out). So far there are 5 books in the main series and 2 side stories including this and another involving Yuuka. Only RE 1-2 and the two side stories have been scanned and only this has been translated.

Eeehhhh... I would've liked this doujin a lot more if only it coincided with actual Touhou lore. Since Yukari apparently created Gensokyo generations ago, way before Reimu was born, with the help of the Hakurei clan...
Is this a new continuity?

ARt is great af. Well, according to the lore the Hakurei family separated the human world from the "youkai" world aka Gensokyo. It's implied that Yukari had a great importance is this conjuncture since shes the one that control borders and was always close to the Hakurei family through generations. Maybe the author changed that up a little bit and put all the work on Yukari's shoulders, creating a new backstory for Reimu since she's obviously not the first Hakurei miko.

EDIT with some infos: "The barrier was first created by humans in Meiji 18 (CE 1885), and later reinforced by youkai. While the idea was at first highly controversial among youkai, and led to much infighting between them, it is now almost universally accepted. Yukari Yakumo is widely acknowledged as the architect of the barrier, and is said to have first motioned for it around 400 years before its actual creation, though Yuyuko Saigyouji has speculated that not even Yukari could create a barrier of this level by herself."

Thanks for the backstory, that does add something to it, knowing it's a twist of an existing story and not completely new.

ARt is great af. Well, according to the lore the Hakurei family separated the human world from the "youkai" world aka Gensokyo. It's implied that Yukari had a great importance is this conjuncture since shes the one that control borders and was always close to the Hakurei family through generations. Maybe the author changed that up a little bit and put all the work on Yukari's shoulders, creating a new backstory for Reimu since she's obviously not the first Hakurei miko.

EDIT with some infos: "The barrier was first created by humans in Meiji 18 (CE 1885), and later reinforced by youkai. While the idea was at first highly controversial among youkai, and led to much infighting between them, it is now almost universally accepted. Yukari Yakumo is widely acknowledged as the architect of the barrier, and is said to have first motioned for it around 400 years before its actual creation, though Yuyuko Saigyouji has speculated that not even Yukari could create a barrier of this level by herself."

She might be the first as in reincarnation. Gensokyo runs on old time laws. One very specific law for shrine maidens they had to be virgins. Although Gensokyo might not have that rule, but i doubt it.

I also highly doubt Yukari would allow her something as RNG as genetics to determin the Hakurei. You know since genetic defects can happen and all that. They could die at a young age, ect.

And it would partially explain why the hell Reimu is so OP. And since she could lose her memory it would make sense as well. But who knows.

As for the story it was kind of confusing but i like it.

This is such a fascinating take on Reimu's (and Gensokyo's) origin story. I love how the author used the play in the beginning to blur the lines between fantasy and reality, and the idea of the shrine maiden's origin being enacted as a ritual feels a lot like a renewal tradition. It also really brings out the dual nature of Yukari's powers- yes, she can create boundaries and separate things, but she's also capable of dissolving boundaries and creating liminal spaces, of shattering the lines between people and allowing them to come together. In this story, she gives a 'boundary' to Reimu by instituting her as the Hakurei shrine maiden, whilst also dissolving the divide between Reimu, humans and the yokai by creating a world where they could coexist. Yukari's final lines about loving everything are also quite insightful, because as someone who can see where everything in the world begins and ends, and how life is defined by connections, she's best suited to understand the ripple effects that led to her meeting with Reimu. Boundaries offer meaning and also destroy ambiguity, so she's redefined Reimu in every sense, and also defined herself as someone who'll always protect Reimu's unique boundary, personality and existence.

This is just a bunch of one liners stitched together. Disappointing.