#chireikiden disc.

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Melonbooks bonus image card for Cheating Detective Satori vol. 6

#touhou #komeiji satori #flandre scarlet #akimaki yuu #cheating detective satori #foul detective satori #chireikiden disc.

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I briefly had a mostly-joke theory that a shot to the heart would deal direct damage to a possessing spirit because by fantasy logic, the kokoro (heart, mind - same word in Japanese) is where it would reside.

Guess it's just very good at staggering a youkai body too, even if they don't care about organ damage per se.

Without leaning too hard into youkai running entirely on kayfabe, I do generally have the mental image that the same damage can be harmless or lethal to the same youkai based more or less on the drama of the situation ("meaning-based attacks"). And, for example, despite not having biological functions per se, it would be very possible for most youkai to choke or drown (be choked or be drowned) simply because the general idea of youkai still treats them as living beings that breathe and need to breathe. At the same time that they don't care about the lack of oxygen in a cave, because breathing has been a trait attributed to them long before anyone knew what oxygen was. They need to perform the act of breathing, despite no actual chemistry occurring. Having a metabolism based on vibes creates weird loopholes like that.

#chireikiden disc. #general disc.

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#touhou #miyadeguchi mizuchi #chireikiden disc.

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I get the feeling Detective Satori is gonna end on a sour note regardless of who wins. Either Reimu exterminates Mizuchi and her ancestors' crimes are swept under the rug, or Mizuchi "saves humanity from the youkai" or something like that by basically continuing her rampage indefinitely.

Perhaps a "banquet at the shrine" ending would be the best outcome?

While her claim that she didn't really expect to succeed and was just causing a mess to vent some steam somewhat undermines the tension of the manga thus far, that tension was always kind of a weird point, so I consider this a net positive. It brings her more in line with a not-completely-delusional Touhou character and means that in the end, she and Reimu may both be decently content if they just get some catharsis out of it.

I'm not sure what option there is for the Hakurei Shrine's history to not be swept under the rug: it can be revealed to the reader and a select few characters, and I sure freaking hope it will, but it's not like Gensokyo was ever going to be destroyed or really reformed, so the most she's really gonna get is acknowledgment and maybe some sympathy. And it seems like she's already getting both from Yuugi, so, halfway there.

I don't know if Reimu herself can manage to be openly or even quietly sympathetic, or even tolerant; though there is an alternative reading of the previous chapter that she's going after Mizuchi not only because "it's personal", but because she feels some need to address things. Satori also makes it sound like she was just reverse-psyching Reimu to go after Mizuchi, which is kind of tired to be honest, but makes you wonder whether her desired outcome is to just get this over with or if she also has some sympathy for Mimi and wants to force the Reimu-Mimi confrontation or something. Wouldn't gel with everything thus far, I'm sure, but what does, really?

Regardless, in that sense, I think the reveals and interactions in this chapter made a "happy ending" far more likely than it ever was. I'm also glad to see her having more (or any) interactions with people "as herself", as connections like that are probably her best hope to survive in the fandom for any time after this manga ends.

#ask #anueutsuho #chireikiden disc.

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This might be strange to ask, or there might not actually be enough context in the original material but- When Reimu says the Miyadeguchis "served" the Hakurei Shrine, does she imply as priests themselves? Or in some other sense, like assistance to the actual priests of the Shrine? Does the original Japanese text hold any context for that, or is it vague?

Was gonna make a post about this in a bit, but eh, I'll do it now.

The line that the Miyadeguchi "used to serve Hakurei Shrine" (博麗神社に仕えていた) is probably open-ended and teasing on purpose. It does imply, to my ear, service under the people running the shrine rather than running it yourself, but I wouldn't/couldn't completely shut out the possibility of serving the shrine itself as an institution or entity.

And in any case, Hakurei Shrine and arguably Moriya Shrine being run by shrine maidens is an oddity in itself (ignoring that this is Touhou for a second). Not only is the position of shrine maiden usually a lower one, there aren't a lot of other positions for women at shrines; so whether the Miyadeguchi ran the shrine or only "served" it, the dream of Mizuchi being a former "Hakurei shrine maiden" is more alive than ever, though with this being pre-barrier, it'd likely mean something very different than in the present day. Shrine maidens were traditionally considered shaman priestesses, not unlike Reimu, but clearly she didn't work for the youkai or at least wasn't aware of it. (Assuming she had an actual shrine position and didn't just fetch water or something, anyway.)

It also wasn't normal even in the days when many shrine positions were hereditary for the family to be named the same as the shrine (that I'm aware - correct me if I'm wrong). So it would make a lot of sense for the present setup of Hakurei Shrine being run by someone named Hakurei to be the sages' making entirely, leaving open the option that it was run by the Miyadeguchi. It's stretching the word "serve" a little bit, but again, in my opinion it's within the bounds of the wording being vague on purpose.

Exciting times. While I expect/hope this to be clarified, there is still the possibility of the details ending up as another bit of free headcanon space left hanging.

#ask #anonymous #chireikiden disc. #translation meta

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Has Chireikiden changed your impression of Flandre? More/less sane, more/less violent, etc?

(Happy Flanday.)

Since 17.5 came out during CDS, it's hard to fully separate its influence from CDS's. So I won't.

My impression before was (in my opinion) mostly in line with EoSD and BAiJR, i.e. her only real appearances, where she's mostly a snarky and somewhat ominous brat. I believed, and guess I still do, that the fan idea of her violent nature was more or less entirely based on her EoSD profile, while her actual appearances made her seem a lot more level-headed. I vaguely enjoyed that depiction, but there wasn't too much to say about her, except to protest when fanon was mistaken for canon. I tended to have a negative kneejerk reaction to either doujins or discussions involving her simply due to overexposure/how tiresome much of that fanon was. On average, though, I considered newer Flan doujins a lot better than old ones.

CDS and 17.5 have made her swing a lot harder both ways. She's proven to be pretty prone to wanton explosions and violence after all, but neither in the "innocent baby who doesn't understand" way nor some omnicidal maniac way; she's fully aware of how strong she is, and enjoys getting excuses to fight and blow stuff up, but is fully in control of herself and doesn't just do it at random. She can be pretty eloquent or even suave, yet that doesn't stop her from doing something completely unhinged right after with the exact same smile. While I think she's "sane", she's also thoroughly unserious. Pretty fun archetype, honestly.

I can't help but think that unless I've completely missed something in the older works, either ZUN or the other people involved with CDS and 17.5 ended up adjusting Flan's characterization to be somewhat closer to the fan version. We know ZUN hadn't really thought about Flandre for a long time and kinda dug her back up recently. But I don't mind the end result. (If there's one bit I choose to ignore in my head, it's her casual cruelty towards Meiling, because Meiling being Flandre's "Sakuya" and favorite person is one of my favorite completely unfounded fan concepts involving them.)

Somehow manages to be chuunibyou even in the context of how strong she actually is. Guess it runs in the family.

Very sweet of her to at least explore the option of not destroying Marisa. Not enough to actually stop, though.

#ask #anonymous #general disc. #chireikiden disc. #flandre scarlet

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I do say, I love the off-hand implication that Byakuren's main thought of Satori is as "Koishi's big sister", in a direct reversal of how most people only recognize Koishi as "Satori's little sister".

Well. That might already have changed somewhat since SoPM when it was mentioned, since Koishi shows up above ground a fair bit while Satori very notably doesn't. Depends on how well her ability to make people not remember her still actually functions.

#chireikiden disc. #hijiri byakuren #komeiji koishi

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If you've come across the CDS covers, you may have noticed that since Akimaki Yuu took over as artist, they've had 迷宮編 (Labyrinth Volume/Saga/Arc) appended to the title and "Labyrinth" written in big letters. When they first started I was unsure what to make of it, but after three books, it seems to have been just a less extreme alternative to changing the whole title as they did when the fairy manga changed artists. Notice how they reset the book numbering too.

Whether or not the "Labyrinth" has some more specific meaning we don't know yet, it's thematically fitting for a mystery series full of confusion and dead ends (furthermore, 迷宮入り means a case going cold). And unlike with "Foul Detective" there's nothing wrong with the translation either. However, even officially, it's only really used on the covers and bookstore pages and not anywhere else when the series is discussed or even published online; and regardless, you can probably forgive me for not caring to call it "Cheating Detective Satori Labyrinth".

I don't know if I'll ever see much reason to say Labyrinth rather than "Akimaki's run" even when there is a need to specify (especially since I'd probably just need to clarify what that means anyway).

#chireikiden disc.

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Do you think Mizuchi could get away with doing the same trick she did with Patchouli (Just sleeping for a while and waking up possessed)? It doesn't seem like something Reimu is considering.

I'm not sure anyone other than Satori (by cheating via mind-reading, or possibly the "fight everyone" plan if it had a kernel of truth to it and wasn't purely a ploy to make Mizuchi fall into the actual trap) has shown any ability to actually deduce who Mizuchi is possessing, with or without any special tricks on her part.

So yes, she can get away with it so long as the Satori radar isn't around. But if (when) they somehow manage to split up again now, I'm going to go stare at a wall.

#ask #anonymous #chireikiden disc.

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A few of the SCoOW manga have one or more tags over on ComicWalker (not counting the “Touhou” tag). They’re inconsistently applied, I don’t know who chose them and they can’t be taken too seriously, but there’s something I wanted to share.

Starving Marisa’s Blessed Meal: Comedy.

Go For It Gensokyo: 4-koma.

The Tiles That I Cannot Cut Are Next to None: Mahjong.

The Magician Who Loved a Fake: Serious, Action.

Cheating Detective Satori: Comedy.

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Fascinated by the implication on the recent Mizuchi design sheet that the shikigami paper dolls are a complete red herring and she just collects curse items as a hobby. Truly the great mastermind becomes dorkier by the day.

(Text on the top left literally says "Curse Implement Collector". Pictured are paper dolls, a straw doll, and a "kodoku plate". Dunno how you do kodoku with a plate; typically you'd use a jar. Could be a long-shot pun on the food series Kodoku no Gourmet.)

#chireikiden disc. #mizuchi miyadeguchi #miyadeguchi mizuchi

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For what its worth on the "Reimu calling Flandre by just Flan" stuff from earlier, she also did that in 17.5/Sunken Fossil World when they meet Im pretty sure she just refers to Remilia normally, so I wonder why nicknames for Flandre?

Because she likes Flan more, obviously.

#ask #anonymous #chireikiden disc.

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Funnily, compared to the MoF arc where she kept extremely busy and a couple steps ahead of everyone, or the IN arc where she was possessing a major character, at the moment it kinda looks like Mizuchi didn't do literally anything this whole arc, barely interacted with anyone, and just swept the yard while everybody else went insane around her.

#chireikiden disc.

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Did you notice anything interesting about Remilia's "Something" conversation?

It is (they are) just being difficult about it on purpose.

#ask #anonymous #chireikiden disc.

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In one of the more recent Lotus Eaters chapters, Orin, in a conversation with Aya, directly references the events of CDS, mentioning how Mizuchi is causing issues. At what point of the CDS plot would you say this chapter takes place in, and do you think this points to any more future overlap between the manga?

It doesn't fit anywhere very well, but the path of least resistance is right before the events of CDS, simply because no time overlap means the fewest contradictions. A distant second is in between the EoSD and PCB cases, if we assume there a was a break just long enough for the LE chapter to happen, but that seems pretty clunky. It can't be between the PCB and IN cases (because there was no time skip there), and between IN and MoF cuts too close to Aya actually joining the team in CDS.

If we say the LE chapter where Orin and Aya meet takes place before CDS, that mostly leaves one (two-part?) main contradiction: Aya having heard rumors about the Mizuchi case in the LE chapter, but seeming completely ignorant about it when she appears later in CDS. At that point, she's even been investigating the recent crimes, yet doesn't seem to realize there could be a vengeful spirit involved even she gets a photo of one.

The former simply means there were already some rumors about Mizuchi's breakout before the EoSD case that CDS didn't show. And the latter, if you want, can be unironically be handwaved as:

Aya forgot.

(For the record, I think "in reality" the stories simply weren't written to fit together properly, there's not really supposed to be a fixed timeline, and this trying to find the least problematic spot is just an exercise in apologetics.)

And I don't really expect any more overlap, nah. Even this was kind of an oddball, and it's not like the Touhou manga usually stretch out their crossover events past a single chapter or so.

#ask #o-urie #chireikiden disc.

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Still working on the tankoubon, apparently.

#chireikiden disc. #release meta #kaenbyou rin #komeiji satori #miyadeguchi mizuchi