Touhou Fridge Brilliance

[BB]

Fridge brilliance is the name TV Tropes gave to that sensation when something you were wondering about or something you didn't understand suddenly clicks into place; that realisation that sheds a new light on something, giving it significance you hadn't noticed before.

I have often wondered why Devil?s Recitation isn?t Byakuren?s final spellcard despite being a REALLY COOL ATTACK and also its status as a well-known established final boss attack (I believe it?s Shinki?s final pattern but I?m not certain?). Flying Fantastica is a fun spell but it doesn?t match the spectacle of Devil?s Recitation. Launching herself up the screen with the lasers, the way it builds up over the spell?s duration, it?s one of my favourite spells in the series and it feels like it would have been a much flashier end to the game. A bit of fridge brilliance happened to me on the bus, and I think I know why it wasn?t- or at least, an in-character explanation that, if not established in canon, is certainly headcanon fodder.

First of all, it?s important to note that for Byakuren, the fight in Makai is very real. She doesn?t know how much the world has changed, she doesn?t know about Gensokyo, or why spell cards exist, or how Reimu?s approach to youkai causing trouble is little more than a magical slap on the wrist followed by a tea party. The first thing Byakuren sees upon release is a shrine maiden flying at her, and Byakuren is used to shrine maidens being the enemy. In her time, youkai were being actively hunted down and destroyed by the shrine maidens and were dwindling rapidly, hence her gradual development of sympathy for the youkai she covertly helped. Reimu flippantly says she?s come to seal Byakuren away again, but Byakuren can only assume she means it. She knows her youkai friends have worked for a thousand years to free her, and now the shrine maiden is here threatening to undo all of their work. Since Reimu knows about their plot, Byakuren probably thinks she?s already exorcised all of them. Calmly, and powerfully, she delivers this line:

"I will resist you with all of my strength."

I think she genuinely, truly does.

It?s not outright stated in canon, but it?s a reasonable assumption that Byakuren probably received her youkai powers from Shinki, or that Shinki was at least involved at some point. Byakuren?s descent into black magic would naturally have turned her gaze towards Makai (it?s known that humans often go there to train their abilities) and Shinki would not likely turn down such a prize as a corrupted monk. Shinki is an immensely powerful youkai, probably one of the most powerful that exists- creating an entire parallel world is no small task. It?s very unlikely that Byakuren encountered any youkai even close to the power Shinki has that would need her help- a youkai that powerful would be able to fend for themselves. What I?m implying here is, Shinki?s probably the most powerful youkai Byakuren ever met, and therefore her magic is the greatest magic Byakuren has ever witnessed.

When Byakuren uses Devil?s Recitation against Reimu, she is playing her trump card. She is using the most powerful magic she can conceive in a last ditch attempt to beat the shrine maiden- if that spell can?t do it, nothing will. Of course, Reimu?s already dealt with the original version, and besides which the spellcard system neuters it, and she can turn it away with little fuss (or three bombs and two careless clipdeaths if you?re me). And when her final attack is defeated?

Byakuren keeps fighting anyway.

She knows now that this isn?t a fight she can win, but she will not let the sacrifices her friends made for her be in vain, no matter the cost to her, and she keeps fighting even though she already knows she?s lost. The next spell after Devil?s Recitation doesn?t have the lotus flower projection behind her to assist with the attack- she is spent, completely spent, but she won?t let the fight go while she can still move. The lotus flower projection returns for Flying Fantastica as she pulls the very last dregs of her strength to put one last wall in front of the shrine maiden- as the final spell of the game it has protection against bombs, so Reimu HAS to endure it until it?s beaten, there?s no ending it quickly with a counter-spell. Byakuren?s buying every last second she can to stall the shrine maiden in case her friends have managed to escape.

After this spell is broken she?s as close to death as it?s possible for her to be, which gives Reimu ample time to say ?oh btw, welcome to gensokyo none of this is relevant any more lol? and introduce Byakuren to the world she always dreamed was possible, now a reality after so long.

So, tl;dr? Devil?s Recitation IS Byakuren?s final spellcard. But she promised to resist the shrine maiden with all of her strength, and that means fighting a lost battle to the very last.

[Sssgth]

Wow, that's... something I'd never have thought of. Ingenious.

(P.S. Devil's Recitation is actually Shinki's second to last pattern, look it up or play Mystic Square.)

[teefa85]

That makes a lot of sense.

[Jq1790]

Maybe Shinki was using it for a similar reason to the reason described above for Byakuren?  It's her greatest burst of magic, but when Reimu defeats even it, she can't just give up there, unleashing one final attack before she finally drops, completely spent.

[Drake]

Isn't Fridge Brilliance usually reserved for realizing something hidden that the creator had intended all along? This sounds more like creating new meaning out of something that didn't really have it to begin with, not that that's wrong.

I do agree that Byakuren would have been on edge when Reimu pops up going "lol guess I'll """seal""" you again" and probably would assume from it that nothing much has changed in the world. But the fact that Byakuren acknowledges that the other youkai helped unseal her, is enough confirmation that they weren't exterminated, at least (also just to note, they didn't actually strive to unseal her for a thousand years; many of them were just sealed that long and were unsealed during the events of SA). Also, although it's never really stated throughout the series, there's probably something going on behind the scenes where newcomers are explained the Spell Card Rules and how duels are done in Gensokyo. They've done this explicitly at least once during SSiB and I assume something similar happens in games like these where they just start dueling "immediately". I'm of the opinion that Byakuren knew before the duel that fights are nonlethal and all that stuff. You definitely don't get the same threatening urgency in Marisa or Sanae's scenarios.

I'm pretty sure many people think Byakuren would have met Shinki at some point. I'm going to be reserved about Byakuren getting any specific powers from her though, and her black magic buffing powers have been stated to be Buddhist arts taken to extremes, and something Byakuren did herself.

as a last little technicality, they are supposed to declare how many spell cards they will use before the duel, but game logic breaks down easily at that point so whatever

[yap1996]

So, maybe in that sense Byakuren also knew that Reimu and Marisa faced it before and deliberately did not leave it for last? (Though that wouldn't explain Sanae)

Speaking of fridge logic/brilliance, Yuyuko's spellcards are the most amusing to me. Ever felt like being chased when fighting her? Most notably, all of her spellcards except Resurrection Butterfly seem to involve something pursuing you, slowly closing in yet is very hard to escape from. Ya know, like...death ? Extra points when you get hit by the lingering side hazards while focusing too much on avoiding the main threat.

Another interesting theme is Utsuho's. The nuclear explosions themselves are not the most dangerous (controlled, predictable) . Rather it is the radioactive waste (random, uncontrollable) represented by the smaller bullets that kills you... usually.

[Tengukami]

Isn't Fridge Brilliance usually reserved for realizing something hidden that the creator had intended all along? This sounds more like creating new meaning out of something that didn't really have it to begin with, not that that's wrong.

Yeah, "fridge brilliance" is what has been called "l'esprit de l'escalier" since long long before TVT existed. This is fan theory (but pretty well thought out!) which is always welcome round these parts.

[Failure McFailFace]

Yeah, "fridge brilliance" is what has been called "l'esprit d'escalier" since long long before TVT existed. This is fan theory (buy pretty well thought out!) which is always welcome round these parts.

Like my attempt to integrate Touhou's gameplay mechanics with the plots last year?

(yes, I know it's poorly organized, I'll organize it and repost it later....)

[Leon゠Helsing]

About the second-to-last spells being better than the last spell, from an "obey the rules" perspective IMO it could simply be because hinging everything on the last spell might be a bad idea, so in those cases the last spell might really be just some sort of an emergency Plan B.

[Mеа]

Isn't Fridge Brilliance usually reserved for realizing something hidden that the creator had intended all along? This sounds more like creating new meaning out of something that didn't really have it to begin with, not that that's wrong.

I believe it can be used either way. In general, as a sudden epiphany of a[n] deep/subtle insight concerning some event/action/dialogue/etc, in a particular media in this case, that the author may or may not have intended. At least, this is the way TVTropes defines and uses it. Which makes sense, as the author isn't necessarily in control of all the complex interactions and subtleties underlying human actions.

Kind of an obscure example, but if anyone watches that Fist of the North Star x Touhou crossover parody video series on nico, then if you watched that one episode where Rei/Ran and Ken/Reimu are fighting the UFO villains (the beastly Nazrins and the huge Byakuran), you might remember that one scene where the Nazrins attack the duo at once. Ran stays on the ground and Reimu jumps up into the air to kick the ones coming from the air. She kicks multiple Nazrins in one jump, and Reimu seems to be standing upright midair. One fridge brilliance moment comes when you realize that Reimu's ability is to fly in the air. Ohohoho.

[Failure McFailFace]

What about UFO's SanaeB options when focused looks like a frog?

[BB]

As time goes on, you'll probably come to realise I'm very very bad at summarising my thoughts, and titles are beyond me  :V I was going for "Things You Suddenly Realise That Could Explain A Thing You Were Wondering About Or Have Interesting Implications To Canon" but that's not very elegant!  Sorry for any confusion.

(also just to note, they didn't actually strive to unseal her for a thousand years; many of them were just sealed that long and were unsealed during the events of SA).

Yeah, sorry, that was a poor choice of words on my part. I more meant that they remembered her after a thousand years and still wanted to help her after so long.

I'm of the opinion that Byakuren knew before the duel that fights are nonlethal and all that stuff.

"So all of this is just an excuse to have a tea party?"
"Yeah."
"But we still have to fight anyway?"
"Yeah."

That's a pretty amusing thought. I guess only Byakuren's release is immediate enough to really bring up this oddity- I'd say Kanako is a newcomer too, but there's every chance the tengu had a few altercations with her and she picked up the system that way.

I actually just kind of assumed the spellcard rules are hard-coded into the Barrier, and any high-level danmaku is automatically "converted down" into spellcard form. At least that's how I've been explaining how Byakuren knows how to/can use them, and why someone like Kanako would use them despite being set on taking over. I totally accept that's not at all stated as canon anywhere though, it's just an explanation that makes sense enough to me 

[Mеа]

Also, this (referring to the themes of PoFV):

...Medicine loves the suzuran flower, and Komachi is heavily associated with the spider lily. Both are flowers, and flowers is the theme of this game. I'll also note that Youmu is a gardener (who is also half dead, fitting both themes of the game), Reisen's name (Undonge) refers to a type of flower, and Yuuka is the youkai of flowers. Sakuya's name literally means 'flowering night', which contains the kanji for blossoming. Needless to say, flowers is the theme here. There's also a second theme, death. The plot involves spirits that run away into flowers, causing them to bloom. The player crosses the Sanzu river over to the side of death and judgement. Youmu is half dead, Sakuya serves what's essentially the lord of the dead in other pop-culture usages, and Reisen buried her past identity. There's a lot of interpretive value here. If we just take the title for what it is, it describes the plot in a really simple sort of way. The juxtaposing of the rather romantic and lighthearted action of flower-viewing with the second theme of death creates a rather beautiful but sobering expression.

This thread I made a while back tries to apply Fridge Brilliance to the game titles in general.

[haoreos2]

Yeah, "fridge brilliance" is what has been called "l'esprit de l'escalier" since long long before TVT existed. This is fan theory (but pretty well thought out!) which is always welcome round these parts.

Are they really the same? L'esprit de l'escalier refers to situation wherein you suddenly think of the perfect retort after the chance to use it has passed (for instance, when you have left the room and are going down the stairs), so you can't deliver your scathing rejoinder without coming across as a fool. Meanwhile, fridge brilliance (at least as I've always interpreted it) is when something initially doesn't make sense, or seems contrived or ridiculous or what-have-you, but later you realize a clever, sensible explanation that simply isn't stated outright.


Incidentally, I don't think the spellcard rules actually bar Reimu from sealing Byakuren, so it's possible the latter was aware of the rules when the duel began, but still had a reason to go all out while staying within their confines (assuming there isn't any automatic enforcement of the spellcard rules system in place).

[Tengukami]

Not to start a derail here, but yes, that is the original definition of l'esprit de l'escallier, although it can also be broadened to describe any sort of a-ha moment of sudden realization after the fact.

Either way, what we have here is fan theory rather than a flash of insight about creator intent, whatever you want to call the phenom. And as I said, fan theory is awesome and this one makes some great points based on observable canon.

[not ZUNs wife]

I have to say I really like OP's spin on it. It's fridge brilliance if ZUN indeed intended that, but it's hard to say for sure.

Incidentally, I've had some more about Touhou 12. The game's themes are basically Buddhism, unidentified flying objects, and retro games. As distinct as those three might seem, they have some interesting connections. Starting from the most tangential one, retro game references in UFO could be seen as being about reincarnation, which is a core Buddhist concept.

Getting to the clever details, the incident is about a flying ship in the sky, right? And its purpose turns out to be fetching Byakuren. Is there any particular reason why ZUN chose a nautical design for the vessel, though?



This type of helm is a symbol of the eightfold path, Buddha's described way to enlightenment. Dharma is the practice of living your life through the eightfold path:

O Vakkali, whoever sees the Dharma, sees me.

In UFO, once you have control of the ship, you get to see the enlightened person.

-

Also, research into characters led me to some serious ZUN brilliance.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shigisan-engi is the story UFO is most heavily based on. Myoren/"Myouren Hijiri" was an actual Buddhist monk living in the Heian period, and in UFO's lore, Byakuren is his sister to which he taught magic. Myoren was born in the Shinano Province, where ZUN himself lives.

In Shigisan-engi, there's an unnamed Buddhist priestess who is the sister of Myoren. As Myoren has gone off to live a full monk life, she wants to reunite with him. One day, she has a dream in which a Buddha statue shows her a purple cloud at a nearby mountain. She travels to the mountain, finds Myoren, and they live together.

Understanding this reference highlights the relationship between Hijiris, and you'd think it's enough to tie Unzan into the story too, but that's not all. According to another story, Ichiren Nyuudou was the name of a tsukumogami born of Buddhist prayer beads. That explains Ichirin's background, but it just so happens that "nyuudou" also means a cumulonimbus cloud in Japanese.

So it's genuinely insightful of ZUN to tie these two stories together by giving Ichirin a purple nyuudou cloud companion. Also, by manner of foreshadowing, you could say it links the former umbrella Kogasa's appearance to tsukumogami nature of Ichirin/Unzan - after all, an umbrella offers shade from the rain of a cumulonimbus cloud.

-

Mount Shigi, the setting of Shigisan-engi, further leads to Ten Desires connections. I'll just leave this Wiki quote here, notice any familiar things?

One of the legends of Mt. Shigi tells of Prince Shotoku asking for victory from the gods over his opponents. Prince Shotoku was a descendant of the Soga family, who had loyalty to Buddhism. During the Year of the Tiger, Prince Shotoku was promoting Buddhism, and was in conflict with the Mononobe family.[2] While at Mt. Shigi, Prince Shotoku prayed for a victory over Mononobe no Moriya. Bishamonten, the Buddhist deity of war, then visited him during the Hour of the Tiger, on the Day of the Tiger. Bishamonten then lead Prince Shotoku to victory in the Battle of Shigisen. Prince Shotoku then built a shrine in his honor.[3]

These sort of things are why I believe UFO has the top characters and lore of the Touhou games so far.

[iPetalchaser]

Getting to the clever details, the incident is about a flying ship in the sky, right? And its purpose turns out to be fetching Byakuren. Is there any particular reason why ZUN chose a nautical design for the vessel, though?

This type of helm is a symbol of the eightfold path, Buddha's described way to enlightenment. Dharma is the practice of living your life through the eightfold path:

All well, except that the symbol is a Dhamachakra, literally a 'Wheel of the Eternal Law'. In Buddhist context, it is represented with the spokes coming out of the wheel, as the wheel represents the Sansara, while each spoke is one element of the eightfold path. The spokes jut out, since the eightfold path leads to Moksha/Nirvana.
In Hindu context, the Dharmachakra may have a larger number of spokes, and the spokes do not jut out, since Hinduism does not believe in binding individuals seeking enlightenment with doctrines. You can see an adaptation of this Dharmachakra on the Flag of the Republic of India.

So, no, that is not a Ship's Wheel, and seeing it as a such is a non-Buddhist cultural context, as ships in Asia did not have wheels for their rudders (they were a 17th century European invention). The thing with the ship and the Dharmachakra is at best an modern appropriation on ZUN's part and not correctly symbolic as such.

[not ZUNs wife]

Good point. It would have to be ZUN's modern interpretation to have a ship's wheel represent the Dharma wheel, as the original symbol has no such meaning. But I still like to think it's intentional, considering what a mashup of mythologies and modern culture Touhou is.

To expand on the Unzan cleverness, apparently "nyuudou" also means a bald-headed person, much like a Buddhist monk (and Unzan himself); as well as "entering the road", which is a metaphor for walking the Dharma path, but in UFO's context could mean how Unzan guards the entry to the Palanquin ship.

[BB]

In Shigisan-engi, there's an unnamed Buddhist priestess who is the sister of Myoren. As Myoren has gone off to live a full monk life, she wants to reunite with him. One day, she has a dream in which a Buddha statue shows her a purple cloud at a nearby mountain. She travels to the mountain, finds Myoren, and they live together.

Oh wow, I knew the story but somehow never made that connection with Unzan! The Ichiren part is new to me though, that's cool. It's only personal preference but I'd agree that UFO is by far my favourite game, lore-wise.

Eheh, maybe I should change the thread title to "UFO theories" or something  :fail:

[Tengukami]

Getting to the clever details, the incident is about a flying ship in the sky, right? And its purpose turns out to be fetching Byakuren. Is there any particular reason why ZUN chose a nautical design for the vessel, though?

1. There are already UFOs, i.e. "space ships", in the game.
2. He already created his little spooky sailor girl and wanted to expand on that theme.
3. Byakuren's whole backstory of being Youkai's Best Friend would naturally involve being faced with a youkai no one could possibly love (on account of her drowning people and stuff) but demonstrating nonetheless that love conquers all.
4. ZUN has been meaning to use a ship in a game at some point but never got around to it until UFO.

All of which seem a bit more likely than "a ship's wheel is like the Wheel of Dharma" but who knows? Maybe someone should tweet him and ask.