Maidens of the Kaleidoscope

~Bunbunmaru News~ => Front Page Headlines => Topic started by: cuc on December 24, 2015, 03:46:29 PM

Title: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: cuc on December 24, 2015, 03:46:29 PM
Some images from this month's Comp Ace magazine have been leaked. Among them is an announcement for a new quarterly series written by ZUN, drawn by Makoto Hirasaka, to be launched in January 2016:
(http://i.imgur.com/v4kyPTD.jpg)

"Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."

Touhou Sangetsusei ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: cuc on December 24, 2015, 03:57:14 PM
Oh hello, I've been busy with work for the recent months. If you have any questions for me and didn't receive any response, this was why. I will probably remain busy for a while.

In Dec 21's Nikenme Radio stream, Okonogi mentioned publishing two issues of the Touhou magazine in the next year. It appears Touhou's publication schedule in 2016 will become:

Every 1 month: FS - Kosuzu
Every 2 months: WaHH - Kasen
Every 3 months: VFiS - Three Fairies of Light
Every 6 months: CoLA - Kourin
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: kevin1127 on December 24, 2015, 04:32:28 PM
Three manga happening in the same time. This is too good I can't handle this.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Ps on December 24, 2015, 04:48:41 PM
This is great news. I love the 3 fairies.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Suspicious person on December 24, 2015, 04:54:40 PM
New manga announcement ? Such a great new, this is ! It must be Christmas
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: CyberAngel on December 24, 2015, 05:15:52 PM
Whoa, great to see them coming back!

The scedule IS curious, though. The better the publication, the rarer it will come out. Well, that's fine. Next few years are sure to be fun.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: hungrybookworm on December 24, 2015, 05:57:53 PM
Hurray for new fairies! And oh, it's quarterly? I had trouble reading the text in the photo, so I'm glad you confirmed that. As amazing as Fairies + Kosuzu would've been every month, I'm pretty glad it's only every now and then. ZUN needs a life, after all. (And thank god it'll be in comp ace I won't have to buy yet another magazine hahaha...)
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Kilgamayan on December 24, 2015, 08:39:26 PM
(http://i66.tinypic.com/2vwe73n.jpg)
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: PK on December 24, 2015, 09:55:33 PM
Great news, at least got a present for christmas :V
I laughed at "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back". It is actually written there?
The scedule IS curious, though. The better the publication, the rarer it will come out. Well, that's fine. Next few years are sure to be fun.
Well, i find FS to be better than WaHH.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Critz on December 24, 2015, 11:39:11 PM
> http://i.imgur.com/LkB4y6x.jpg (http://i.imgur.com/LkB4y6x.jpg)

Bummed as I am that my two favorite fairies seem to not be getting a main role,
Daiyousei becoming full canon
is sure as hell going to make up for that.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Clarste on December 25, 2015, 01:57:31 AM
If she's becoming canon, I think she needs a real name.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Drake on December 25, 2015, 03:09:57 AM
I laughed at "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back". It is actually written there?Well, i find FS to be better than WaHH.
「幻想郷の最弱・再び!」 yeah
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Tiamat on December 25, 2015, 04:07:37 PM
Poor Daiyousai's on an official character sheet and STILL doesn't have an official name  :D
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Plubio on December 25, 2015, 04:16:28 PM
If she's becoming canon, I think she needs a real name.

Hey, what's wrong with Big Fairy?
There are characters called Sunny Milk or.... Solid Snake.

 :P
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: PK on December 25, 2015, 04:44:27 PM
Poor Daiyousai's on an official character sheet and STILL doesn't have an official name  :D
Well, all of her "data" is left blank, including the species which should be obvious.
What's the last field though? Cirno has quite the list there.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: NekoNekoRex on December 25, 2015, 05:02:34 PM
Probably works the character is included in.

Dai's sheet needs to be filled in, it seems.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Polaris on December 25, 2015, 06:18:32 PM
They're character nicknames/character titles, along with what work each title is from. "Ice Fairy of the Lake", "Unnatural Chill" etc. for Cirno.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: the old guy on December 25, 2015, 08:55:12 PM
Poor Daiyousai's on an official character sheet and STILL doesn't have an official name  :D
Her parents were really uncreative.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: PK on December 27, 2015, 11:49:13 AM
Better art from Makoto's site  :V
(http://homepage3.nifty.com/clash/twi_00.jpg)
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Espadas on December 30, 2015, 02:23:28 PM
A new Touhou manga it's fantastic news (although i still haven't got up to date with the other ones  :V)!
Dai-chan becoming canon and getting a bit of spotlight is even better!

*See Daiyousei's artwork in the character sheet*

......crap. "Shy-Daiyousei" is my personal headcanon.... if it becomes her official characterization i won't be held responsible for blatant fanboyism on my part  :D
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Tiamat on December 30, 2015, 02:36:16 PM

......crap. "Shy-Daiyousei" is my personal headcanon.... if it becomes her official characterization i won't be held responsible for blatant fanboyism on my part  :D

Shy-Daiyousei, as far as I can infer from what little panel time she had, has been canon ever since her first (and only?) appearance in the original three fairies manga.  She was playing hide and go seek with Cirno and emphasized on the hiding part, and when Reimu (I think it was Reimu? Maybe Sakyua?) tried to talk to her, she was scared and flew away.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Espadas on December 30, 2015, 06:09:11 PM
Shy-Daiyousei, as far as I can infer from what little panel time she had, has been canon ever since her first (and only?) appearance in the original three fairies manga.  She was playing hide and go seek with Cirno and emphasized on the hiding part, and when Reimu (I think it was Reimu? Maybe Sakyua?) tried to talk to her, she was scared and flew away.

*take note to read the original manga at the earliest opportunity  :V

Good to know :)
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Camilo113 on December 31, 2015, 12:01:49 AM
> http://i.imgur.com/LkB4y6x.jpg (http://i.imgur.com/LkB4y6x.jpg)

Why are people talking about Daiyousei becoming full canon? Is there something I'm missing?
Or are you actually believing that image is from Visionary Fairies in Shrine?

Sorry to crush your dreams but that's from an Unofficial Character Database (http://blog.livedoor.jp/tohomemory/archives/45058451.html) in which Makoto Hirasaka collaborated with some portraits, along with other artists. It came out not so long ago (I believe) and has the information of characters from "the Embodiment of Scarlet Devil" to "Double Dealing Character".

I don't know how that image mixed with the announce of VFiS but I can assure you is non-canon/unsupervised by ZUN.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Critz on December 31, 2015, 12:22:21 PM
...Well, that's awful.

Got that art and info from /jp/  (who got it from a japanese imageboard in turn) and not a soul as much as implied that it is non-canon for a long while. Since it's blatantly Hirasaka art, I assumed it must actually be connected to VFiS. Sorry for involuntarily spreading misinformation.

Well, there goes my hype for VFiS.  :matsuriscowl:
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Zigzagwolf on December 31, 2015, 07:12:02 PM
Haven't yet read a lot of mangas personally, but I guess I'll read this one whenever I can, should be interesting.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Espadas on January 02, 2016, 08:56:33 AM
Awww, too bad.
Well, it still focus on the fairies so it might be possible that Daiyousei is part of the story. Either way, it's still a welcome addition to the Touhouverse.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: game2011 on January 03, 2016, 01:24:02 PM
Her parents were really uncreative.
Satori and Nue's parents too.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Reu on January 03, 2016, 04:05:15 PM
Shy-Daiyousei, as far as I can infer from what little panel time she had, has been canon ever since her first (and only?) appearance in the original three fairies manga.  She was playing hide and go seek with Cirno and emphasized on the hiding part, and when Reimu (I think it was Reimu? Maybe Sakyua?) tried to talk to her, she was scared and flew away.


Well, if the wiki is correct on ZUN's old blog, Koakuma and Daiyousei are supposed to be mischievous and carefree.
As far as what he himself thinks of the two midbosses's personality.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Tengukami on January 03, 2016, 05:22:44 PM
Being mischievous and carefree isn't mutually exclusive with being shy, though.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Reu on January 04, 2016, 04:30:18 PM
Being mischievous and carefree isn't mutually exclusive with being shy, though.

It is when your personality is defined as shy, being shy to certain things and being a shy character is two different things in itself.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Tiamat on January 05, 2016, 02:48:08 AM

Well, if the wiki is correct on ZUN's old blog, Koakuma and Daiyousei are supposed to be mischievous and carefree.
As far as what he himself thinks of the two midbosses's personality.

Did he say that about Daiyousei too?  I thought ZUN only said that about Koakuma.  But I could be wrong.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Drake on January 05, 2016, 03:46:25 AM
Quote
ZUN (http://web.archive.org/web/20050408023014/http://www16.big.or.jp/~zun/cgi-bin/diary/nicky.cgi?page=9): その性格は他の妖精と変わらず、陽気でいたずら好き。単純で表情豊かです。
ZUN: "Her personality, just like other fairies, is cheerful and mischevious. Simple and expressive."
He actually said it about Daiyousei first, then said "similar to the stage 2 boss[sic]". Really what he was going for with these two was that Daiyousei and Koakuma are two very similar characters, where Daiyousei is a particularly strong fairy (who are usually weak) and Koakuma is a particularly weak demon (who are usually strong). This is further reflected a bit in his choice of "names", contrasting "big fairy" and "little demon".

Really though this was all back in January 2004. His initial imagining of minor characters like this is pretty insignificant, and presenting them slightly differently than this one-off response to fit better 12 years later shouldn't be controversial nor unexpected.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Reu on January 05, 2016, 04:55:43 AM
Really though this was all back in January 2004. His initial imagining of minor characters like this is pretty insignificant, and presenting them slightly differently than this one-off response to fit better 12 years later shouldn't be controversial nor unexpected.

Never said anything like that, was only pointing out what ZUN said her personality to be in the first place.

Though the discussion between Daiyousei's supposed personality and the one scene she had in the fairies manga was a 2004-2007 gap iirc, dunno what you mean by 12 years later.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Drake on January 05, 2016, 06:01:07 AM
I meant having such a change now if she appeared in this manga. Regardless I think my comment holds for her appearance in SaBND as well; he might have had some imagining of Daiyousei in 2004, but it was pretty shallow and changing his mind isn't a big deal.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: HalfGrand on January 07, 2016, 06:52:56 PM
First of all, I think it is fantastic that ZUN is still creating new Manga series to go along side his other Manga like WaHH and FS. It shows that his passion for Touhou still burns strong and that he still has ideas to build onto the world he created.

Honestly though, I am kind of disappointed that his new Manga is going to focus on these three characters... for the second time. The three mischievous fairies are my least favorite characters out of the whole long Touhou lineup and according to Touhou popularity polls, I'm not the only one who doesn't think that highly of them. Out of all the possible scenarios, characters to develop, places to flesh out and ideas to explore, ZUN wants to dedicate another Manga to these three insignificant Danmaku fodder that add nothing to the lore as a whole? Sometimes I really wonder what goes through ZUN's head when he plans out his Touhouverse.

We could have so many other more interesting stories to tell with more recognizable and loved characters than these three. We could have a Manga about Yuuka and her flower garden, Marisa and her thieving antics, something that explains Maribel Hearn and Renko Usami in more detail, backstory about Gensokyo before Reimu Hakurei and friends where born etc... but no, the focus is on these three little bastards again. Out of all the great things to make stories out of, it's these three again!

I mean, the three fairies seem so different to the rest of the Touhou cast that I find it kind of jarring sometimes. I mean, 90% of the cast have traditional Japanese names and then you have these three who's names are completely different. Star Sapphire sounds like a stripper name, Luna Child sounds like something that would be entered on a toddler fashion parade and Sunny Milk sounds like the name of a mascot on a packet of cereal. I know that they are faeries and so they are named differently than the regular cast, but still, imagine if Cirno was named Diamond Snowstorm or something.

I would have preferred any other scenario or main character(s) to these three again. I still have Eastern and Little Nature Deity sitting on my 'Too Read' list but I keep getting put off starting it because I really don't like these three numskulls.

Anything but them again ZUN! : <
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Prime32 on January 07, 2016, 06:58:01 PM
I would have preferred any other scenario or main character(s) to these three again. I still have Eastern and Little Nature Deity sitting on my 'Too Read' list but I keep getting put off starting it because I really don't like these three numskulls.

Anything but them again ZUN! : <
...so you hate something you've never read? ???

Quote
Honestly though, I am kind of disappointed that his new Manga is going to focus on these three characters... for the second time. The three mischievous fairies are my least favorite characters out of the whole long Touhou lineup and according to Touhou popularity polls, I'm not the only one who doesn't think that highly of them. Out of all the possible scenarios, characters to develop, places to flesh out and ideas to explore, ZUN wants to dedicate another Manga to these three insignificant Danmaku fodder that add nothing to the lore as a whole? Sometimes I really wonder what goes through ZUN's head when he plans out his Touhouverse.
Kosuzu sits in a shop all day and is actively shielded from learning certain information. The Fairies actively travel around Gensokyo getting involved in things. The fairies' manga aren't as dark as FS, but I'm not sure why you'd think they'd have have less worldbuilding. Heck, they've had long conversations with Yukari at least twice, where she talks about the true nature of youkai and the Great Hakurei Barrier.

Quote
I mean, the three fairies seem so different to the rest of the Touhou cast that I find it kind of jarring sometimes. I mean, 90% of the cast have traditional Japanese names and then you have these three who's names are completely different. Star Sapphire sounds like a stripper name, Luna Child sounds like something that would be entered on a toddler fashion parade and Sunny Milk sounds like the name of a mascot on a packet of cereal. I know that they are faeries and so they are named differently than the regular cast, but still, imagine if Cirno was named Diamond Snowstorm or something.
Lily White. Clownpiece.
Patchouli Knowledge. Remilia Scarlet. Flandre Scarlet. Letty Whiterock. Alice Margatroid. Merlin Prismriver. Lyrica Prismriver. Lunasa Prismriver. Layla Prismriver. Wriggle Nightbug. Mystia Lorelei. Medicine Melancholy. Doremy Sweet.
And Cirno's name is basically a weird rendering of "Chilly" anyway.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Tengukami on January 07, 2016, 08:20:39 PM
Yeah, maybe not actually reading the other manga featuring them explains a lot of the complaints there...

Honestly, I think seeing Yuuka would be even weirder than the Three Fairies. But hey, fans gonna fan.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Suspicious person on January 07, 2016, 11:31:35 PM
Out of all the possible scenarios, characters to develop, places to flesh out and ideas to explore, ZUN wants to dedicate another Manga to these three insignificant Danmaku fodder that add nothing to the lore as a whole? Sometimes I really wonder what goes through ZUN's head when he plans out his Touhouverse.
Most of the various lore related elaborations and explanations from the mangas, novels and CD stories are mainly from the title characters'point of view (to a certain extent) : rather than serving the lore related stuff dry, the books are more about exploring the Touhouverse lore through the characters.

Compared to the more juicy stuff that Bougetsuhou, CoLA, RenMerries stories, WaHH and FS gave, the daily lives of the three fairies might seem boring an unappealing ; but if you look at it in another way, it's a breather : a fresh and simple addition to the already heavy and rich material available. Even Bougetsuhou, which had a fairly serious tone, had a light hearted 4koma side stories. And I don't quite think that these 4koma had a significant relevance, lore-wise.

Besides, there are new characters and new settings that weren't there back in the time of the three fairies. There many way of having them interact with these new things : trying their hand at urban legends ? Getting to know Shinmyoumaru ? Interacting with Clownpiece ? Or just a regular random adventure ? It's a good occasion to tie the old generation 2hus with the new ones. Besides, the book is not out yet, so it may turn out to be anything. Obviously, it's gonna be a Slice of Life kind-of manga so there won't be anything over the top

It's not quite possible to say what ZUN's thoughts and objectives were when he chose to start this new manga, but as far as character choices go, I think that there's no need to introduce new characters that would fullfill the same roles that some preexisting characters already do : If he intended to make another Slice of Life manga, new characters were never needed. Granted,  using more popular characters besides the three fairies might have been a valid move, but if ZUN chose these three then, hey, can't help it but trust the guy's judgment.



Anyway, it's not like we have a lot of information about this right now. It'd be better to just wait and see how it turns out, just in case this happens to end up being another Touhou-14.5-bashing-before-the-game-s-demo-actually-got-released.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Reu on January 08, 2016, 12:15:22 AM
First of all, I think it is fantastic that ZUN is still creating new Manga series to go along side his other Manga like WaHH and FS. It shows that his passion for Touhou still burns strong and that he still has ideas to build onto the world he created.

Honestly though, I am kind of disappointed that his new Manga is going to focus on these three characters... for the second time. The three mischievous fairies are my least favorite characters out of the whole long Touhou lineup and according to Touhou popularity polls, I'm not the only one who doesn't think that highly of them. Out of all the possible scenarios, characters to develop, places to flesh out and ideas to explore, ZUN wants to dedicate another Manga to these three insignificant Danmaku fodder that add nothing to the lore as a whole? Sometimes I really wonder what goes through ZUN's head when he plans out his Touhouverse.

We could have so many other more interesting stories to tell with more recognizable and loved characters than these three. We could have a Manga about Yuuka and her flower garden, Marisa and her thieving antics, something that explains Maribel Hearn and Renko Usami in more detail, backstory about Gensokyo before Reimu Hakurei and friends where born etc... but no, the focus is on these three little bastards again. Out of all the great things to make stories out of, it's these three again!

I mean, the three fairies seem so different to the rest of the Touhou cast that I find it kind of jarring sometimes. I mean, 90% of the cast have traditional Japanese names and then you have these three who's names are completely different. Star Sapphire sounds like a stripper name, Luna Child sounds like something that would be entered on a toddler fashion parade and Sunny Milk sounds like the name of a mascot on a packet of cereal. I know that they are faeries and so they are named differently than the regular cast, but still, imagine if Cirno was named Diamond Snowstorm or something.

I would have preferred any other scenario or main character(s) to these three again. I still have Eastern and Little Nature Deity sitting on my 'Too Read' list but I keep getting put off starting it because I really don't like these three numskulls.

Anything but them again ZUN! : <



I highly disagree for multiple reasons, for one thing the Three Fairies give us a decent point of view of things we really wouldn't be seeing with the other protags, and honestly the ONLY thing that I would prefer is a sonic universe comic type thing where each arc covers different characters to build the world as a secondary manga that ties in with the main series/other manga occasionally.

And quite frankly a manga purely about Marisa and Reimu or even Yuuka would honestly be quite boring for me, in one case the first two already get enough appearances as it is being the main characters and all, THEN they also play major roles in the other manga as pseudo protags there. For Yuuka she isn't really a good star if you ask me, she'd be fine as a supporting but I don't think her post-MS slowed down-not as fun cause older personality can support a whole manga to herself. Also I believe ZUN is keeping Maribel and Renko vague for a reason.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Tiamat on January 08, 2016, 04:35:57 AM
Yuuka's flower garden, meanwhile, would be much more restricted than that.  I'm.... honestly not sure what the heck you could do with her as a main character in the long term considering that she's really REALLY such an isolationist.

Maribel and Renko don't really need a manga because they already have their own ongoing series, even if it does take forever for each new story from that to come out.   Their series is one that doesn't require art anyways since it doesn't involve any other Touhou characters.  Of course, artwork of the various places they explore could be gorgeous but I imagine most manga artists would do an official Touhou manga with the intent to draw Touhou characters, not various real life locations...

Marisa can and does do thieving antics here and there in all the manga's she's in, which is all of them.  We don't need a manga starring her because she's already starring in other mangas a good chunk of the time (including the Three Fairy ones)

I imagine ZUN used the three fairies prior because they pretty much gave him an excuse to have a story anywhere that involves anyone as ZUN wanted.  I could have sworn he even explicitly said something to that effect in an interview but that was years ago.  Really, most of the other Gensokyo residents just don't travel around enough to fit the "Touhou character of the month" format that ZUN does his mangas in (one month of FS/ThreeFairies/WaHH/CoLA is centered around Kanaku's latest shenanigans, the next issue is about Reisen selling stuff, the next is about Kappa doing things, etc).  If ZUN wanted a serious story that focused on one story instead of "Touhou Character of the week", then sure, the Three Fairies are a bad choice for that.  But ZUN hasn't really done something like that since the post Imperishable Night manga/written work series, and I don't see any indication that he will again any time soon.  I too would love such a thing again but I'm not expecting it.  Like... ever again, really.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Kasei on January 08, 2016, 10:20:46 AM
First of all, I think it is fantastic that ZUN is still creating new Manga series to go along side his other Manga like WaHH and FS. It shows that his passion for Touhou still burns strong and that he still has ideas to build onto the world he created.

Honestly though, I am kind of disappointed that his new Manga is going to focus on these three characters... for the second time. The three mischievous fairies are my least favorite characters out of the whole long Touhou lineup and according to Touhou popularity polls, I'm not the only one who doesn't think that highly of them. Out of all the possible scenarios, characters to develop, places to flesh out and ideas to explore, ZUN wants to dedicate another Manga to these three insignificant Danmaku fodder that add nothing to the lore as a whole? Sometimes I really wonder what goes through ZUN's head when he plans out his Touhouverse.

We could have so many other more interesting stories to tell with more recognizable and loved characters than these three. We could have a Manga about Yuuka and her flower garden, Marisa and her thieving antics, something that explains Maribel Hearn and Renko Usami in more detail, backstory about Gensokyo before Reimu Hakurei and friends where born etc... but no, the focus is on these three little bastards again. Out of all the great things to make stories out of, it's these three again!

I mean, the three fairies seem so different to the rest of the Touhou cast that I find it kind of jarring sometimes. I mean, 90% of the cast have traditional Japanese names and then you have these three who's names are completely different. Star Sapphire sounds like a stripper name, Luna Child sounds like something that would be entered on a toddler fashion parade and Sunny Milk sounds like the name of a mascot on a packet of cereal. I know that they are faeries and so they are named differently than the regular cast, but still, imagine if Cirno was named Diamond Snowstorm or something.

I would have preferred any other scenario or main character(s) to these three again. I still have Eastern and Little Nature Deity sitting on my 'Too Read' list but I keep getting put off starting it because I really don't like these three numskulls.

Anything but them again ZUN! : <

I pretty much fully agree. The three fairies are basically wasted potential : the fairies themselves really aren't too interesting (or at least, not interesting enough to merit another manga), and whilst they do allow for worldbuilding, the interesting parts (the aforementioned conversations with Yukari, for example) are so few and far between that you could cut out most of the manga and it would still be the same.
The existing mangas were fun, don't get me wrong. It's just a real shame that ZUN's going to focus on the yet again, instead of... almost anything else, really.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Tengukami on January 08, 2016, 11:23:20 AM
(On a side note, you guys really don't need to quote the entire content of someone's post to show who you're responding to, especially if it's a text wall.)

I imagine ZUN used the three fairies prior because they pretty much gave him an excuse to have a story anywhere that involves anyone as ZUN wanted.

This is my feeling, too. It's a very common device to employ a marginal character or characters' perspective on the major players in a cast in order to provide some kind of "outsider's perspective". It's a narrative tool that gives an author a lot of freedom to flesh out the rest of the cast more fully. I get the frustration that personal favorite girls are not being focussed on instead, but even if VFiS is pretty much just about the Three Fairies, alone, with no other involvement of any other characters, the previous manga certainly wasn't that, and major players like Marisa are well-worn ground.

At the same time, I recognize it's hard to separate invested interests from the content creator's choices. We're all fans of what ZUN puts out, and look forward to what he's going to do next with anticipation. It's hard to not feel let down when the creator makes a choice you personally wouldn't make. I get that. I'm just offering the suggestion that maybe there was a deliberate narrative reason for making the choice he did, and maybe it's a biiiiit too soon to completely dismiss this new manga altogether.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Drake on January 08, 2016, 11:26:01 AM
Most of the various lore related elaborations and explanations from the mangas, novels and CD stories are mainly from the title characters'point of view (to a certain extent) : rather than serving the lore related stuff dry, the books are more about exploring the Touhouverse lore through the characters.
I highly disagree for multiple reasons, for one thing the Three Fairies give us a decent point of view of things we really wouldn't be seeing with the other protags
I imagine ZUN used the three fairies prior because they pretty much gave him an excuse to have a story anywhere that involves anyone as ZUN wanted.
/me sheds a proud tear
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Plubio on January 08, 2016, 11:45:20 PM
Honestly though, I am kind of disappointed that his new Manga is going to focus on these three characters... for the second time. The three mischievous fairies are my least favorite characters out of the whole long Touhou lineup and according to Touhou popularity polls, I'm not the only one who doesn't think that highly of them. Out of all the possible scenarios, characters to develop, places to flesh out and ideas to explore, ZUN wants to dedicate another Manga to these three insignificant Danmaku fodder that add nothing to the lore as a whole? Sometimes I really wonder what goes through ZUN's head when he plans out his Touhouverse.

While I understand your complain (even if I don't agree with it ? but opinion diversity is great so) I wanna remind you of something.
Is not the first time ZUN says he does whatever he feels like doing on his games (or whatever Touhou-canon-related). I'm 100% sure that he doesn't follow up the fandom trends. If that would be the case, there would be Mimas every game or Sakuya as a playable character in every Touhou. And that's not the case.
I think that he likes the fairies so he's using them again, maybe for something bigger this time or who knows. They let us understand Gensokyo in a different way, as Kosuzu let us understand Gensokyo from a mere human standpoint, for example.

And personally I think is great to have a bunch of stories with a fairy point of view.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: PK on January 09, 2016, 09:51:44 PM
I think that he likes the fairies so he's using them again, maybe for something bigger this time or who knows.
That'd be great. Looking at the english title it might have something more to do with the shrine. They could even discover who/what the Hakurei God is :V
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Alcoraiden on January 12, 2016, 04:19:51 AM
Aw dammit. I hate these fairies and want ZUN to leave them by the wayside where I think they belong. ><
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Tengukami on January 12, 2016, 10:14:45 AM
Maybe some of y'all can sign a group e-mail petitioning ZUN to abandon this project and do a manga about Yuuka.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Drake on January 12, 2016, 11:04:09 AM
change.org
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Tengukami on January 12, 2016, 12:00:35 PM
change.org

Dozo (https://www.change.org/p/zun-please-zun-abandon-the-three-fairies-manga-make-one-about-yuuka-instead).
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Critz on January 12, 2016, 01:17:31 PM
Well, it *is* a quarterly series, guys. While I'm not particularly thrilled either and don't expect much compared to WaHH and FS, it's not like this will take ZUN's attention away from making the games.

On the other hand, it would be pretty swell of VFiS to give some spotlight to those who desperately need it - it could singlehandedly save the DDC cast by fleshing them out. The "higher deck" works seem to treat anyone not named Seija or Shinmyoumaru like they don't exist, whereas the new fairy manga could use the fairies as an excuse to provide some details on the Grassroots Youkai Network or the new life of the tsukumogami trio. Especially since the first three bosses got cheated out of even the usual pre-battle banter characterization by not being lucid at the time and the Tsukumo sisters didn't have much characterization to spare in the first place.

Not that I would balk at more LoLK cast, since they made much more of an impression on me, but they can wait for something more serious (read: another moon-themed work, which will appear without a doubt sooner or later).
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Drake on January 12, 2016, 03:23:30 PM
Dozo (https://www.change.org/p/zun-please-zun-abandon-the-three-fairies-manga-make-one-about-yuuka-instead).
lmao the best
why jack nicklaus
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Tengukami on January 12, 2016, 04:03:22 PM
lmao the best
why jack nicklaus

Just look at that drive

(http://i.imgur.com/ORkQBh3.jpg)

How could it not be Jack Nicklaus?
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: 7TC7 on January 12, 2016, 04:34:51 PM
I am very excited about the return of my favorite trio of whimsical mischief makers. They always showed a side of Gensokyo much different from any other work and their victories and failings were always amusing to watch. The sheer length of their story also meant, that there are lots of great moments I remember with them and I am sure, they will not disappoint in there return.

Speaking of them, I feel it worth mentioning that Hirasaka Makoto never really stopped writing about these three, which is why it makes sense to me that she would come back to write for them in canon.
As far as I know she put out 5 more volumes since the official manga stopped, a 6th one being announced not long before the announcement of the official return. They feel very much like the official stories with them, so they are surely worth a read for fans.
The first three volumes are about the first meeting of the three fairies, while the other two volumes are about them with Kokoro and Koishi.

The following links go to danbooru pools, so there might be NSFW adds!
Vol.1 (http://danbooru.donmai.us/pools/9359)
Vol.2 (http://danbooru.donmai.us/pools/9360)
Vol.3 (http://danbooru.donmai.us/pools/9367)
---
Vol.1 (http://danbooru.donmai.us/pools/9787)
Vol.2 (http://danbooru.donmai.us/pools/10310)
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: cuc on January 13, 2016, 09:16:29 AM
Hirasaka had finished (https://twitter.com/hirasaka8/status/686886344451203073) drawing the first chapter.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Tiamat on January 14, 2016, 05:38:49 AM
I am very excited about the return of my favorite trio of whimsical mischief makers. They always showed a side of Gensokyo much different from any other work and their victories and failings were always amusing to watch. The sheer length of their story also meant, that there are lots of great moments I remember with them and I am sure, they will not disappoint in there return.

Speaking of them, I feel it worth mentioning that Hirasaka Makoto never really stopped writing about these three, which is why it makes sense to me that she would come back to write for them in canon.
As far as I know she put out 5 more volumes since the official manga stopped, a 6th one being announced not long before the announcement of the official return. They feel very much like the official stories with them, so they are surely worth a read for fans.
The first three volumes are about the first meeting of the three fairies, while the other two volumes are about them with Kokoro and Koishi.

The following links go to danbooru pools, so there might be NSFW adds!
Vol.1 (http://danbooru.donmai.us/pools/9359)
Vol.2 (http://danbooru.donmai.us/pools/9360)
Vol.3 (http://danbooru.donmai.us/pools/9367)
---
Vol.1 (http://danbooru.donmai.us/pools/9787)
Vol.2 (http://danbooru.donmai.us/pools/10310)

...that.... I don't know if I find that really sweet that the artist loved them so much that she continued drawing them even after their official manga ended, or really heartbreaking that the artist loved them so much that she continued drawing them even after their official manga ended.  Maybe it's a mix of both.

Side topic:  I wonder if ZUN ever told her the canon reason why Sunny Milk hates Lilly White. 
At least in that unofficial comic, apparently when Sunny saw her for the first time, Lily blasted Sunny with a ton of danmaku with her spring declaration :P
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: CyberAngel on January 14, 2016, 06:00:46 AM
...that.... I don't know if I find that really sweet that the artist loved them so much that she continued drawing them even after their official manga ended, or really heartbreaking that the artist loved them so much that she continued drawing them even after their official manga ended.  Maybe it's a mix of both.

I'd be hard-pressed to remember a doujin manga about the fairies by someone else. ...Actually, I can't remember a single doujin manga about fairies by someone else. That's touching indeed.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Ps on January 14, 2016, 04:17:14 PM
I'd be hard-pressed to remember a doujin manga about the fairies by someone else. ...Actually, I can't remember a single doujin manga about fairies by someone else. That's touching indeed.

Doujinshi.org has you covered (http://www.doujinshi.org/search/object/?Q=s&age=N&SLIST_CIRCLE=-Clash+House&SLIST_CHAR=ルナチャイルド%0D%0Aスターサファイア%0D%0Aサニーミルク). These are the results for works with all three fairies, there are a few more that only feature one or two. There are also slightly more results when including porn. Even so, there definitely aren't very many.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: cuc on January 20, 2016, 04:03:28 AM
Quote
ZUN: (https://twitter.com/korindo/status/689604498608685056) I forgot to make the announcement. A new episode of "Touhou Sangetsusei" will begin serialization in this month's Comp Ace. The manga is a heartwarming, easygoing account of the shrine behind the curtains of its contemporary serialization Forbidden Scrollery. A chapter will be published every three months. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Tiamat on January 20, 2016, 05:34:30 AM
Well, guess that confirms it's easy-going rather than something dark/serious/whatever.  Not that most of us didn't know that already but a few people here (or one. I forget) were hoping it'd be something more serious.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Usamiko on January 20, 2016, 07:36:41 AM
Huh, I must be one of the few fans who prefer the lighthearted nature of Touhou. The 'serious/dark' aspects of the series I find quite boring tbh and I can't take them seriously at all.

But anyways, I'm definitely looking forward to this! :3
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Clarste on January 21, 2016, 06:18:13 AM
I like the mix of light hearted and dark. Heartwarming and cynical. It's all good. Also, I'm not really the hugest fan of the original fairy comics, but Sunny is the best fairy and I will brook no argument. Unless you think Star is the best fairy, which is also acceptable.

And for what it's worth, the Comp Ace magazine (which runs FS, and the new fairy manga starting January 26) can be purchased in ebook format as of last month, so you can finally read the comics outside of Japan without paying huge shipping costs.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: cuc on January 21, 2016, 09:13:25 AM
After yesterday's (Jan 20 in Japan) editorial meeting with ZUN, Hirasaka tweeted (https://twitter.com/hirasaka8/status/689824399113920513), "It seems the next chapter of VFiS will be quite lively!" Guess we'll have the chance to see a lot of cameos.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: CyberAngel on January 21, 2016, 05:20:18 PM
Sunny is the best fairy and I will brook no argument. Unless you think Star is the best fairy, which is also acceptable.

Amazing. How is it even possible to get something like this wrong twice in a row?
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Tengukami on January 22, 2016, 10:26:03 AM
Star Saph > literally all other fairies.

It's not complicated.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Spotty Len on January 22, 2016, 04:13:11 PM
In reality, Luna Child is the best in the trio.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Cristian on January 22, 2016, 07:20:25 PM
 Aaah just when I've felt I didn't praise them enough. As my standar goes, and generally speaking, I "don't like" faires... Still, the way the manga ended (Oriental Sacred Place) made me feel... weird. I've realized how lovely the trio were to the Touhou verse... late, and I regret it, I regret not fully enjoying them. That's why this makes me happy! I wanted them to "update" themselves to the new characters and stuff, the lovely Koishi and Kokoro comic Makoto did made me realize that...
 So yeah, I'm excited for their adventures and potential. I'm ready for more.
(hope to see some DDC cast)

My inner self desires more Luna Child...
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: cuc on January 23, 2016, 01:21:11 PM
This is the current live ZUN-related news thread, so I'm posting here to ensure people can see it.

In yesterday's Nikenme Radio, ZUN said (https://twitter.com/SisterKomeiji/status/690491925552492544), "This year I'll take a rest. Got lots of work to do..." ("Work" here refers to ZUN's formal contract-abiding jobs - writing the Touhou manga.) When Hojo (president of Reitaisai Committee) wanted (https://twitter.com/vanihami/status/690524465092898816) him to confirm whether he has anything new to release at Reitaisai...
Quote
ZUN: There isn't.
Hojo: Is it like a surprise you can't show us until the last minute?
ZUN: The surprise is "no new release".

In short, he is unlikely to release a new main game this year.

Meanwhile, the list of registered circles for Reitaisai 13 has been released (http://reitaisai.com/rts13/uketuke-list). We still have Team Shanghai Alice and Twilight Frontier on the list by default. A total of 3752 circles have applied, which should be down from Reitaisai 12 by a little bit. However Hojo told (http://blog.livedoor.jp/tohomemory/archives/46636314.html) ZUN the number of circles has increased. Why? I don't get it. Hojo further stressed that the number of young applicants have increased.

Anyhow, here's a leaked VFiS spoiler for a new character. View it at your own discretion.
http://i.imgur.com/XOCrpjD.jpg
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Critz on January 23, 2016, 03:10:39 PM
sadface.jpg

Do we happen to have any knowledge on how closely ZUN supervises the creation of the official mangas?
Considering that the bulk of the work surely falls to Hirasaka, is it plausible to blame VFiS for the lack of games this year? Not that I need ZUN to explain himself for any reason, just asking out of curiosity and to refute such arguments, should they pop up.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Tengukami on January 23, 2016, 03:11:51 PM
Anyhow, here's a leaked VFiS spoiler for a new character. View it at your own discretion.
http://i.imgur.com/XOCrpjD.jpg

I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of weebs suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: cuc on January 23, 2016, 03:31:57 PM
Do we happen to have any knowledge on how closely ZUN supervises the creation of the official mangas?
Considering that the bulk of the work surely falls to Hirasaka, is it plausible to blame VFiS for the lack of games this year? Not that I need ZUN to explain himself for any reason, just asking out of curiosity and to refute such arguments, should they pop up.
The only supervision he does is those editorial meetings. He is good at procrastinating until the deadline though.

I don't think the manga work is the real reason. He also said (https://twitter.com/vanihami/status/690522441471295488) he wants to focus on raising his son this year. Really, that's the only thing he needs to say.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: N-Forza on January 23, 2016, 03:49:09 PM
Anyhow, here's a leaked VFiS spoiler for a new character. View it at your own discretion.
http://i.imgur.com/XOCrpjD.jpg
The obvious choice.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Critz on January 23, 2016, 04:13:07 PM
The only supervision he does is those editorial meetings. He is good at procrastinating until the deadline though.

I don't think the manga work is the real reason. He also said (https://twitter.com/vanihami/status/690522441471295488) he wants to focus on raising his son this year. Really, that's the only thing he needs to say.
Fair enough. Makes me feel better about the whole deal too.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: kevin1127 on January 23, 2016, 04:21:59 PM
Anyhow, here's a leaked VFiS spoiler for a new character. View it at your own discretion.
http://i.imgur.com/XOCrpjD.jpg
They say there is no guest character in new FS, but it's ok bacause THIS totally makes up for it.
I think this is the first LoLK character who is officially (not cameo) introduced in the manga
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Super Butterfly on January 23, 2016, 06:42:26 PM
The only supervision he does is those editorial meetings. He is good at procrastinating until the deadline though.

I don't think the manga work is the real reason. He also said (https://twitter.com/vanihami/status/690522441471295488) he wants to focus on raising his son this year. Really, that's the only thing he needs to say.

I thought that ZUN wrote the mangas. Or was I mistaken?
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: HalfGrand on January 23, 2016, 07:17:43 PM
You know what? I am strangely okay with ZUN taking a year off to focus on ZUNior. Children develop at a accelerated rate when they are in their infancy so this is the time when ZUNior is going to need both his parents attention the most in his life. Lets have ZUN tell stories of Reimu and co to ZUNior while he tucks him to bed so that the seeds of interest are planted and ZUNior could possibly continue the legacy when ZUN retires.  :derp:

Also, who is to say that ZUN won't experiment on his keyboard, create more character art and just generally throw ideas around his head for the next game in his down time? He is an artist so he will always be thinking of something to create next. The more time he has to plan and tinker for the next game, the better it will be!  :D

... I just hope that with a year vacation that ZUN wants to have from game making, his desire to create games doesn't fade until he simply doesn't want to do it anymore and focus on something else. He might wake up one morning and go "SCREW IT, I WANT TO CREATE BEEEEEEEEEEEEERRR!".  :V
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Tengukami on January 23, 2016, 07:54:26 PM
I don't think there's anything strange about being okay with a guy taking time off to care for his only child. "Strange" would be being angry about it.

Ok, maybe not "strange" given the levels of entitlement in this community sometimes. Maybe more like "disappointing". Being okay with it is kind of what you'd expect of a decent human being.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Plubio on January 23, 2016, 08:27:47 PM
I hope nobody is really angry for this. In fact I'm quite happy ZUN decided it ? you know, he deserves a rest.
What's more, is not like there won't be any Touhou this year. We have the three mangas, as well as the upcoming two issues of SCoOW.

C'mon
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Starxsword on January 23, 2016, 10:10:20 PM
Well, its a waiting game to read the new fairies manga.

Quote
Side topic:  I wonder if ZUN ever told her the canon reason why Sunny Milk hates Lilly White.

I don't think Sunny Milk hates Lily White, she just fears her.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: HalfGrand on January 24, 2016, 12:02:37 PM
*sigh*... I feel as though I have to read all of Sangetsusei before I can really start this new addition properly. So much backlog reading to do!  :X

Quote
I don't think there's anything strange about being okay with a guy taking time off to care for his only child.

What I meant was that I expected myself to feel disappointed when hearing there would not be any new games coming soon. On the contrary; ZUN deserves his break and considering the wealth of content we have available already, the fans can hold out for awhile before needing another Touhou fix. He pushed himself hard with making LoLK and meeting deadlines for it as a one man team so so I say let him go.

Quote
I don't think Sunny Milk hates Lily White, she just fears her.

Who doesn't fear Lily White when she comes for you in PoFV? The last thing I want when dealing with Shiki and her huge bursts of RNG bullets is Lily coming out of nowhere and slapping my hitbox around... It's ALWAYS when your screen is at its busiest moment.  :V
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Super Butterfly on January 24, 2016, 02:37:54 PM

Meanwhile, the list of registered circles for Reitaisai 13 has been released (http://reitaisai.com/rts13/uketuke-list). We still have Team Shanghai Alice and Twilight Frontier on the list by default. A total of 3752 circles have applied, which should be down from Reitaisai 12 by a little bit. However Hojo told (http://blog.livedoor.jp/tohomemory/archives/46636314.html) ZUN the number of circles has increased. Why? I don't get it. Hojo further stressed that the number of young applicants have increased.


Shouldn't someone tell ZUN about this?
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: UTW on January 24, 2016, 03:09:42 PM
I thought that ZUN wrote the mangas. Or was I mistaken?

He writes the manga in name, but leaves it to the artists a lot, as well. His involvement varies.

In SSiB I don't think he had much oversight. He just hit on important plot points and script, but with not very much detail, and left Aki Eda to her own devices otherwise. Inaba x Inaba is essentially just ascended fanon with ZUN's blessing. Since that one is just a gag comic there isn't as much need to exercise control. I want to say he also trusted Makoto Hirasaka with a lot, giving him more control over what the fairies do and just giving him basic plots to work with.

In WaHH and FS I feel like he retained much greater control. This is based on something either of their artists said, something about ZUN being pretty controlling with certain panels and the expressions in them. I'm almost certain he writes a larger portion of the script than he ever has and details more of what should be done, though still with input from the artists (see the heavy use of males in FS, which I'm almost certain is something Harukawa wanted to do).

In essence, I think he does manga the way he does the fighting games, entrusting a lot to Tasofro/the manga artists based on his basic scripts and plots. If they go too far off track on review then he dials it back or nixes what he doesn't like, which goes on until they reach the final product.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Tiamat on January 24, 2016, 08:27:15 PM
He said in an interview or something (been a long time. I forget what) that he just suggested who should appear next in Inaba x Inaba.  So you can at least chalk up some of the character appearances to him.  That's about it though
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Doki-Doki on January 25, 2016, 03:33:14 PM
Apologies if I didn't understand this correctly but, do main games = the spinoffs too? So there wont be any 2hu 15 spinoffs this year?
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Drake on January 25, 2016, 05:12:12 PM
"Main games" do not usually mean spinoffs (hence "main"), but judging by what he said it seems likely that there won't be any new releases regardless. This was in response to asking about releasing something at Reitaisai in May, so perhaps something could change later in the year, but ZUN never releases new work at Winter Comiket anyways.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Plubio on January 25, 2016, 09:46:48 PM
But ZUN never releases new work at Winter Comiket anyways.

We had PCB's demo (well it doesn't count) and first Bunkachou on Winter tho.
Who knows, actually. Anyway you're kinda right: aside from CDs he doesn't launch full games on Winter ket anyway.

EDIT: UNLESS you mean "new work" as "not a .5" game. Then my bad.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Romantique Tp on January 26, 2016, 01:05:20 AM
PCB's Trial+ was released at Winter Comiket because there was no Reitaisai back then, and ZUN began work on PCB way earlier than usual since EoSD was already mostly done by early 2002.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: kevin1127 on January 26, 2016, 07:30:47 AM
Apparently Clownpiece is going to stay with the three fairies
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Nyxnyx on January 26, 2016, 02:03:38 PM
I would buy this without a second-thought if i can read Japanese. ;A;  Really want sometime to study the language.

As a last year college student who recently got into touhou, it gladdens me that this series is still pumping out new things for fans and will stay for sometimes to come.

Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Espadas on January 26, 2016, 08:24:02 PM
Apparently Clownpiece is going to stay with the three fairies

If by that you mean
that she will take residence in that vague spot near the Hakurei Shrine and actually live there with the 3 fairies
i'll be a really happy skeleton! More food for fanfictions and fanarts *_*

As for ZUN not releasing a new game, well to be honest i was kinda expecting this since the day they announced the birth of the child. He works alone and maintaining a stable schedule for basically a decade is no small feat, with a baby in the equation it would be unreasonable to expect no changes....
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Clarste on January 27, 2016, 02:20:17 AM
She does not live with the three fairies, she lives separately underneath the shrine (without Reimu's knowledge).
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Kilgamayan on January 27, 2016, 02:31:48 AM
THANK YOU ZUN YOU ARE MY GREATEST ALLY
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: cuc on January 27, 2016, 09:53:27 AM
In SSiB I don't think he had much oversight.
Actually we have no hard evidence that the making process of SSiB differs from WaHH in any way.

ZUN's statement re: how he didn't give Aki Eda any "instruction on weapon" is vague in itself. For all we know, he could mean that he never told Aki Eda the fan is a weapon until the reveal, not unlike how George Lucas didn't tell anyone Darth Vader is Luke's father before shooting that scene.

I thought that ZUN wrote the mangas. Or was I mistaken?
From what can be gathered (based on ZUN's twitter, Nikenme Radio, and the artists' afterwords), the process involves:

1) He writes the script to a manga chapter. The script includes all dialogue, and instructions on certain details like character expressions. Manga industry people seem to think his writing contains more details than necessary, as when written by a different writer from the artist, manga scripts tend to leave lots of room for the artists to improvise. Of course, they are not all-encompassing; for example, they do not include all sound effects. I doubt ZUN have any exact control on the manga's page layout.

2) He attends an editorial meeting with the manga's editor and artist, generally at a restaraunt. Some preliminary work like designing new characters and other visual elements are done here. It may take several meetings to hammer down all the details on certain special occasions, but mostly it is one meeting for each chapter.

3) ZUN goes home, and falls into radio silence, no longer making any contact with his editor and artist. All he'd do is to wait for the new magazine to be delivered at his door.

As mentioned, the Inaba gag manga is an exception. ZUN only gave its artist Arata general directions such as which characters should appear, and let Arata tell his own jokes.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Tiamat on January 27, 2016, 06:34:37 PM
Also, in case someone might think he did that for a different reason (like "ZUN didn't exercise much control over Inaba because ZUN didn't consider it canon"), ZUN specifically stated he gave the artist lots of leeway because it was important in order to tell the jokes.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Raikaria on January 27, 2016, 10:55:20 PM
1) He writes the script to a manga chapter. The script includes all dialogue, and instructions on certain details like character expressions. Manga industry people seem to think his writing contains more details than necessary, as when written by a different writer from the artist, manga scripts tend to leave lots of room for the artists to improvise. Of course, they are not all-encompassing; for example, they do not include all sound effects. I doubt ZUN have any exact control on the manga's page layout.

2) He attends an editorial meeting with the manga's editor and artist, generally at a restaraunt. Some preliminary work like designing new characters and other visual elements are done here. It may take several meetings to hammer down all the details on certain special occasions, but mostly it is one meeting for each chapter.

3) ZUN goes home, and falls into radio silence, no longer making any contact with his editor and artist. All he'd do is to wait for the new magazine to be delivered at his door.

As mentioned, the Inaba gag manga is an exception. ZUN only gave its artist Arata general directions such as which characters should appear, and let Arata tell his own jokes.

He probobly gives such specific instructions BECAUSE of Inaba...
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Clarste on January 28, 2016, 01:28:44 AM
Also, in case someone might think he did that for a different reason (like "ZUN didn't exercise much control over Inaba because ZUN didn't consider it canon"), ZUN specifically stated he gave the artist lots of leeway because it was important in order to tell the jokes.

Specifically, he chose the artist for their sense of humor, so he felt letting them tell their own jokes was very important.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Flandre5carlet on February 04, 2016, 11:25:12 AM
Apparently Clownpiece is going to stay with the three fairies
I hope not, sincerely don't want her to be a regular. :X


He probobly gives such specific instructions BECAUSE of Inaba...
I never really figured whether the Touhou fandom generally likes or dislikes Inaba of the Moon, Inaba of the Earth. Of course, you can't have an entire fanbase agree on something, but generally there's always at least a sort of consensus for the majority.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: HalfGrand on February 04, 2016, 02:45:59 PM
I generally enjoyed Inaba of the Moon, Inaba of the Earth. I mean, who doesn't enjoy Eirin's punishment time~ <3!?

I think that having a manga that centers on one of the households/factions of Gensokyo and expands what we know of them by seeing what they get up to on a daily basis is a great idea. I mean, we already get a bit of that in Forbidden Scrollery, Wild and Horned Hermit and the artbooks but I liked the way it was done in Inaba. I would love to see a manga in the style of Inaba but have the Myouren Temple or the Great Mausoleum as the setting.

(Yes, I know there are literally thousands of Doujin works that have done this already... but it is not the same when it doesn't have the official ZUN seal of approval slapped on it).
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: CyberAngel on February 04, 2016, 05:26:23 PM
I mean, who doesn't enjoy Eirin's punishment time~ <3!?

...Any decent human being?

But really, that's quite a big leap of logic to think that a gag manga (that ZUN wasn't even writing personally, unlike everything else) is a good way to judge the daily life of a household. (Also, "official ZUN seal of approval"? LOLWUT? As if that means a thing!)
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Drake on February 04, 2016, 09:21:24 PM
I can vastly disregard Inaba as a source of canonical information but still enjoy it for what it is. Not sure why people get so wrapped up about this.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Tengukami on February 04, 2016, 10:08:34 PM
Kaguya knows how to ding-dong-dash (or ping-pong-dash as the case may be), Mokou knows how to fish, and that is canon.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: the old guy on February 04, 2016, 11:19:47 PM
I didn't really like Inaba ether, mainly due to the way Eirin treated Reisen, sorry but abusive relationships aren't funny. Ever.
And imo the only canonical parts in that manga was Kaguya's personality and that chapter with the Moonbitch (I can't be bothered to remember her name).
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Tiamat on February 04, 2016, 11:31:07 PM
And imo the only canonical parts in that manga was Kaguya's personality and that chapter with the Moonbitch (I can't be bothered to remember her name).

The fast-growing bamboo is kinda confirmed to be canon in a win-quote in Hisoutensoku.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Clarste on February 05, 2016, 01:42:09 AM
I didn't really like Inaba ether, mainly due to the way Eirin treated Reisen, sorry but abusive relationships aren't funny. Ever.
And imo the only canonical parts in that manga was Kaguya's personality and that chapter with the Moonbitch (I can't be bothered to remember her name).

The abusive relationship is still canon as of FS though.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: the old guy on February 05, 2016, 01:56:23 AM
The abusive relationship is still canon as of FS though.

Well, fuck Eirin then. Abusive Bitch. At least Yukari has a excuse for her horrible treatment of Ran, Eirin's just cruel for no real reason.

EDIT: Just to let you guys know, Yukari's a horrible bitch too.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Starxsword on February 05, 2016, 03:20:23 AM
Quote
Well, fuck Eirin then. Abusive Bitch. At least Yukari has a excuse for her horrible treatment of Ran, Eirin's just cruel for no real reason.

I think you are getting it backwards. Yukari has a bad excuse for her terrible treatment of Ran. Eirin actually has a good excuse for her treatment of Reisen.

Reisen's attitude is one of the biggest reasons why Reisen needs discipline. Reisen cannot get around the idea that she is supposed to be equal to the other rabbits, even if the other residents more than once indicated that is the case.
Her abusive behavior towards the rabbits is the reason why she is being treated poorly. Many residents of Eientei more than once told her that everyone is supposed to be somewhat equals.

Note that Kaguya never orders the rabbits, while Reisen does. Reisen never has any authority to do such things. It was never given to her at any time in the series. But because she is a moon rabbit, she thinks she is superior to the earth rabbits, so therefore takes command, when that is and has never been the case.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: the old guy on February 05, 2016, 04:52:02 AM
Reisen's attitude is one of the biggest reasons why Reisen needs discipline. Reisen cannot get around the idea that she is supposed to be equal to the other rabbits, even if the other residents more than once indicated that is the case.
You know what....your right, Reisen is kind of an ass and does kind of deserves it, in a way. But i still can't help but disagree with Eirin, if a child is being a prick, the right action should not be to spank them, that just teachs them to not get caught.
But, i will admit that you made my opinion of Eirin improve a little bit. Bravo.

Oh and agreed about Yukari, she used to be my top fav but her abuse of Ran made my opinion of her worsen, she's now at the bottom. (Youmu's my number 1 now.)
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: CyberAngel on February 05, 2016, 07:56:32 AM
...Except in FS Reisen helped humans on her own volition, with no traces of superiority in her behaviour. And was still punished.

About Yukari and Ran, there IS a good excuse. Strict subordination is mandatory for the shikigami link. Reisen acting superior, however, had no effect except making her look like an ass. Of course, whether that excuses physical abuse is questionable at best, but Yukari's reason is at least a little bit more justified than Eirin's.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Drake on February 05, 2016, 08:40:53 AM
today i learned physical violence is okay when it's disciplinary
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Tengukami on February 05, 2016, 09:01:34 AM
today i learned physical violence is okay when it's disciplinary

Yeah this. Please bear in mind some people have good reasons for disliking some of the abusive stuff from canon. It really doesn't need moral justification, for a lot of good real-life reasons...
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Drake on February 05, 2016, 09:26:58 AM
Making it clear I'm fine with this being a thing in the series with in-universe justification, just that defending it becomes pretty funny in this respect lol
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Tiamat on February 05, 2016, 03:20:57 PM
I like that aspect of Yukari in an "I like fictional evil people" kind of way.  Her justification for it ("I'm doing it because if I don't, she might endanger herself!  I'm doing it out of love!") is just one of the few examples in Touhou that show that everyones' fear and dislike of Yukari and her utterly absurd sense of morality is absolutely justified.   Kinda like how a child abuser might justify that their beatings were done out of love for the good of the child (although that's just an analogy.  Yukari's abuse of Ran probably isn't on that level because Ran is a youkai that's a LOT more durable and culturally violent than a child and also voluntarily got into that relationship, but it's at least eerily near that line of thinking).  Most of the other times characters express their dislike for Yukari, it kinda comes off as some kind of "Informed ability" where she's supposed to be kinda a @$@# but since she doesn't really do things that are THAT bad, it feels like they're disliking and distrusting her just because she's weird.

But then,  with nothing more than just circumstantial evidence, I tend to believe that Touhou's backstory is extremely dark compared to the paradise of Gensokyo in present times.  I like to think that Yukari is an "ends justify the means" kind of character that, over the course of Gensokyo's history, did things a lot worse than animal/child abuse (Yukari claims she does it because she "loves" Ran and claims she's doing it for Rans own safety.  Now note that Yukari "loves" Gensokyo too and constantly looking out for its own safety...).  Ran's implication that there was some kind of faustian bargain between the two being another rare outright (rather than just implied) example.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Starxsword on February 06, 2016, 12:54:07 AM
Quote
You know what....your right, Reisen is kind of an ass and does kind of deserves it, in a way. But i still can't help but disagree with Eirin, if a child is being a prick, the right action should not be to spank them, that just teachs them to not get caught.
But, i will admit that you made my opinion of Eirin improve a little bit. Bravo.

I don't disagree with you that Eirin is overly harsh. I mean there are times that Reisen cannot get up after punishment, that is pretty bad. But I think that stems from Reisen being Eirin's student. Different standards for your disciple than other people and all that.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: HalfGrand on February 06, 2016, 08:57:59 AM
I'm thinking that the thing to keep in mind is that we are dealing with Gensokyo here which is a land blocked off by a mystical barrier and is isolated from the rest of the world (out world). Gensokyo is very much still in a traditional Japanese conservative state of culture and so it is very different from our more liberal worldview in our world. Seriously, feudal Japan was known for doing some messed up things during its time.

Lets keep in mind here that Touhou's cast all have questionable morals. I mean, most humans and youkai are all happy to Danmaku battle each other at the drop of a hat with barely any justification to do so. I like that all the characters are not strictly good guys and bad guys. Even the two main heroines Reimu and Marisa are not squeaky clean good guys. Reimu is known to just exterminate youkai whenever it suits her in a genocidal mindset and Marisa is a kleptomaniac who pokes her nose into everybody's business for her own reasons... and I love them for it.

Quote
**** Yukari, **** Eirin blah blah blah!

I consider Yukari deliberately tearing a hole in the boundary in PCB and Eirin replacing the real moon with a fake one for her own selfish reasons in IN to be worse than simply beating their subordinates. But hey, they are both still 'my waifu!' tier to me because of who they are as people/youkai, not by what they have done. Nobody is purely an antagonist in Touhou (except maybe Utsuho).
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Tengukami on February 06, 2016, 11:06:13 AM
Pretty sure we're all aware Gensokyo is a fictional backwater with different moral standards. Which is exactly why the fictional abuse that goes on there does not need moral justification. These are mythical creatures beating the shit out of each other; they don't need actual real-world rationales argued for their behalf. I have zero desire to apply "liberal worldview" standards to the flying magic girl paradise, nor do I think their violent behavior requires moral rationalisation. It's Gensokyo.

All that said, the mixed good and bad within most of the characters is indeed what adds to how fascnating the place is. Sure makes for some at times unpredictable storylines.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: HalfGrand on February 06, 2016, 01:59:48 PM
You can't let yourself be held back by common sense in Gensokyo, right!?  :V

Still, after their glorious and brilliantly patterned beat downs, they sit down to have tea/sake and laugh it off. The ending to SSiB comes to mind.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Tengukami on February 06, 2016, 07:11:32 PM
For real. How many world leaders have tea parties with each other after waging war against each other is finished? Advantage: Gensokyo.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: PK on February 06, 2016, 07:30:04 PM
The ending to SSiB comes to mind.
Yukari's mind-scarring grin to Eirin doesn't sound that friendly :V
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Starxsword on February 07, 2016, 12:48:43 AM
Quote
Reimu is known to just exterminate youkai whenever it suits her in a genocidal mindset and Marisa is a kleptomaniac who pokes her nose into everybody's business for her own reasons... and I love them for it.

It is the opposite case. Reimu is supposed to exterminate every single youkai she meets, but she doesn't. That is why her reputation with the humans are not so good.
Her attitude towards youkai are far more kind than any other human's attitude towards them.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: cuc on February 07, 2016, 03:15:12 AM
Let's just say, the first chapter of VFiS can teach you what ZUN's "heartwarming" means, and why it's a bad idea to look for examples about, or judge the characters on how to conduct one's life in Touhou.

Hirasaka tweeted:
1. The individual images of VFiS Chapter 1's color page artwork: 1 (https://twitter.com/hirasaka8/status/694835316230762497), 2 (https://twitter.com/hirasaka8/status/694835801851473920), 3 (https://twitter.com/hirasaka8/status/694836157541027841), 4 (https://twitter.com/hirasaka8/status/694836282023776256), 5 (https://twitter.com/hirasaka8/status/694836509988376577).

2. In the previous fairies manga, Sunny's hair was represented by pure white on B&W pages. Hirasaka always regretted (https://twitter.com/hirasaka8/status/695892115310538752) not shading Sunny's hair, but find it inappropriate to make such a change midway. From VFiS on, her hair will be shaded.

3. LoLK had not been released when (https://twitter.com/hirasaka8/status/695898777526226944) they decided to resume the fairies manga, so there was no plan to introduce Clownpiece. It was good timing to have a new fairy debut at the moment.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: the old guy on February 07, 2016, 04:14:03 AM
jeez this thread sure did go off the rails, anyways the only thing i think i can add is that i guess i don't actually really hate Eirin and Yukari, maybe as people i hate them, but they are interesting as characters.

And yeah Starzword is right about Reimu, she is not genocidal, as damnaku is very clearly non-lethal. She's not an fucking inquisitor from Warhammer 40k, guys.

(although that's just an analogy.  Yukari's abuse of Ran probably isn't on that level because Ran is a youkai that's a LOT more durable and culturally violent than a child and also voluntarily got into that relationship, but it's at least eerily near that line of thinking)
The only good thing about Yukari's beatings of Ran is the possibility that it stops ran from going psycho and start attacking random humans, but even then i can't help but get a sick taste in my mouth from Yukari's treatment of Ran, IMHO.
I'd still argue that Eirin's treatment of Resien is still worse however, because as far as we know Ran hasn't been beaten so hard tat she is unable to walk.
And honestly "Gensokyo has different morals" is a shitty justification for Yukari and Eirin's abusiveness, i mean, Aya in-universe objectived to yukari's treatment of ran. Even in gensokyo its considered wrong.

(AND while moral relativism is okay for fictional works like, it is a harmful thing to do in real life, i mean, can you imagine someone saying "Its okay for Sadui Araba to not allow women to drive because its their culture!", and you not having a problem with that? Probably not. That had nothing to do with the conversation but i just wanted to get that off my chest.)
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Reu on February 07, 2016, 08:05:06 AM
Never thought I'd see the day where people actually cared for the treatment of fictional Youkai(some of which can break a human easily so a little physical punishment won't hurt them that much).
That being said, Gensokyo really doesn't need any standards applied to it, least not in the case of Youkai, they may look human but they're still very different.

Also, Aya isn't much better.
While she said it was wrong, the way she said it implied she didn't even consider Ran a equal, amounting it to animal abuse.
Despite her clearly not in the leagues of an random fox.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: CyberAngel on February 07, 2016, 11:03:55 AM
Also, Aya isn't much better.
While she said it was wrong, the way she said it implied she didn't even consider Ran a equal, amounting it to animal abuse.
Despite her clearly not in the leagues of an random fox.

Been a while since you've actually read that article, I take it? Aya considers herself an animal too.

But seriously, people, stop this already. Yes, this is a thing, and it provides characterization for everyone involved, so it's an important one. If you can abstract yourself away from it then good for you. But as Tengu said earlier, some people might have reasons to dislike it. Could you please stop trying to convince everyone that it's okay? People are free to have their own opinions you know, fictional characters or not.

Though all this talk reminded me of something. Remember how shikigami are supposed to be like computers? Well, you know how some people hit their computers in frustration if they act up? I believe Yukari/Ran situation might be just a reference to that.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Drake on February 07, 2016, 11:46:10 AM
Remember how shikigami are supposed to be like computers? Well, you know how some people hit their computers in frustration if they act up? I believe Yukari/Ran situation might be just a reference to that.
that's kind of literally it, yes
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Jeremie on February 07, 2016, 12:57:39 PM
I'm pretty sure the whole beating thing with Eirin in "Inaba of the Moon and Inaba of the Earth" was merely exaggerated canon in general even though we see a mention of Reisen getting punished during "Forbidden Scrollery". I also think it goes much beyond an attitude issue seeing how Reisen is Eirin's student. Toyohime and Yorihime's visit at Eientei showed Yorihime giving a training just as harsh as Eirin would give (as shown with Reisen II being shaken up just as much as Reisen) to her student. Chances are the Watatsuki sisters went through the same thing and I always thought that the implication is that Reisen is being trained to grow in a similar way which clashes with the lifestyle Moon rabbits have (A bit detailed in "Cage in Lunatic Runagate").

While it's obviously wrong to give violent punishments whether it's Yukari to Ran or Eirin to Reisen, it's very clear that Eirin cares for Reisen. After all, the reason why she calls her Udonge (I don't fully remember but it has to do with how Reisen will grow to become a beautiful thing) is actually kind of heartwarming.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Tengukami on February 07, 2016, 04:02:46 PM
Been a while since you've actually read that article, I take it? Aya considers herself an animal too.

Yes, thank you. Moreover, it's the reason why she's scandalized in the first place:

Quote
When I arrived, I saw in front of me a fox being dominated, a truly shocking view of animal abuse.
As I am a crow tengu, this case is extremely heart-wrenching.
The offender of this animal abuse is Yukari Yakumo

She expresses solidarity with Ran here. It would take a really ungenerous interpretation to read this as Aya looking down at her. Most interestingly, I think this shows a level of compassion we don't normally see very often from Gensokyans, let alone Gensokyo's resident troll.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Reu on February 07, 2016, 08:12:32 PM
Yes, thank you. Moreover, it's the reason why she's scandalized in the first place:

She expresses solidarity with Ran here. It would take a really ungenerous interpretation to read this as Aya looking down at her. Most interestingly, I think this shows a level of compassion we don't normally see very often from Gensokyans, let alone Gensokyo's resident troll.

I don't see it that way because she called herself a Crow Tengu.

I guess we just see it differently then.
EDIT: And to understand where I'm coming from with this, Aya herself has Crow Familiars, I take that for the reason why she doesn't like seeing others abuse their "pets"
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: CyberAngel on February 07, 2016, 08:27:04 PM
I don't see it that way because she called herself a Crow Tengu.

I guess we just see it differently then.
EDIT: And to understand where I'm coming from with this, Aya herself has Crow Familiars, I take that for the reason why she doesn't like seeing others abuse their "pets"

Seriously, read that article. Because it says at the end:

Quote
The offender continued with her irrational claims, attempting to justify her abuse. As I am half animal, I intend to pursue this further.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Reu on February 07, 2016, 08:27:46 PM
Seriously, read that article. Because it says at the end:
HALF, never has she once referred to Ran as anything more than a animal.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Spotty Len on February 07, 2016, 08:52:22 PM
HALF, never has she once referred to Ran as anything more than a animal.
Why would she be stating she is half-animal in this context if she wasn't angry at this fact?
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Reu on February 07, 2016, 08:54:48 PM
Why would she be stating she is half-animal in this context if she wasn't angry at this fact?
Why feel the need to distinct yourself in this context at all?
Like I said though, you guys could think differently about the topic, I already have my own opinion on it.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Starxsword on February 07, 2016, 11:11:37 PM
Quote
Why feel the need to distinct yourself in this context at all?
Like I said though, you guys could think differently about the topic, I already have my own opinion on it.

Yes, and this is offering of opinion from the other side. All that can be done is we disagree.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Tengukami on February 08, 2016, 01:27:40 PM
Why feel the need to distinct yourself in this context at all?
Like I said though, you guys could think differently about the topic, I already have my own opinion on it.

"I have my opinion" does not shield you from your interpretation of the facts upon which your opinion rests being criticised. Just for future reference.

Seems pretty clear to me in Aya's own words what she means, and I think it's safe to say Aya is aware that Ran is not an ordinary fox. You're entitled to your interpretation of her words, just as others are entitled to question your interpretation. But as it seems you're pretty dug in to your take on the matter, it's probably pointless to continue this volley.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Reu on February 08, 2016, 05:36:02 PM
"I have my opinion" does not shield you from your interpretation of the facts upon which your opinion rests being criticised. Just for future reference.

Seems pretty clear to me in Aya's own words what she means, and I think it's safe to say Aya is aware that Ran is not an ordinary fox. You're entitled to your interpretation of her words, just as others are entitled to question your interpretation. But as it seems you're pretty dug in to your take on the matter, it's probably pointless to continue this volley.
Saying "I have my opinion" is another way of saying that we're not going to get anywhere with this conversation, never have I said anything of that sort.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Clarste on February 09, 2016, 06:31:05 PM
While it's obviously wrong to give violent punishments whether it's Yukari to Ran or Eirin to Reisen, it's very clear that Eirin cares for Reisen. After all, the reason why she calls her Udonge (I don't fully remember but it has to do with how Reisen will grow to become a beautiful thing) is actually kind of heartwarming.

Udongein is the flower that blooms in the presence of impurity. The implication was that Reisen is the canary in the coalmine: the member of the household that is most sensitive to impurity and will be used as a test subject to see how lunar beings react to living on Earth. It's not really flattering.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: HalfGrand on February 11, 2016, 03:06:44 PM
This whole discussion on the ethics of Yukari beating Ran and the way Aya goes about when discovering it really in the end is simply pointless. After all, when I cleared the extra mode in PCB, using Reimu as my avatar.... I, Half-Grand, beat Ran into submission myself and demanded her to wake Yukari from her slumber. Dose that make me an evil person? I don't think so. Everyone is Gensokyo gets a beating on a regular basis so focusing on this incident with Yukari and Ran is simply a speck of sand on a whole entire beach of beatings. I mean, what about all of those nameless fairies that we slaughter mercilessly on our playthroughs of the main games and the bosses on each level that often are not even that serious on fighting us?

Quote
Udongein is the flower that blooms in the presence of impurity. The implication was that Reisen is the canary in the coalmine: the member of the household that is most sensitive to impurity and will be used as a test subject to see how lunar beings react to living on Earth. It's not really flattering.

Well... Eirin is a woman of science and medicine. Endearment or experiment, it fits her character well.

Without Eirin and her fondness of 'punishment time', we wouldn't have such great music videos like Sadistic Eirin and her S&M club! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvzg4d4BWUY
 _, ,_ ∩
( ゚∀゚)彡 Eirin! Eirin! Please beat me, Eirin!!!
  ⊂彡

...

But anyway, lets actually discuss what this thread is about, shall we? I took a glace over the first chapter of VFiS and I'm really liking what I see of it so far. I will look forward to more installments.

... Clownpiece still is a cocky little shit who just got off the Hell boat to Gensokyo, it seems.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Tengukami on February 11, 2016, 10:58:37 PM
This whole discussion on the ethics of Yukari beating Ran and the way Aya goes about when discovering it really in the end is simply pointless. After all, when I cleared the extra mode in PCB, using Reimu as my avatar.... I, Half-Grand, beat Ran into submission myself and demanded her to wake Yukari from her slumber. Dose that make me an evil person? I don't think so.

I know you were hoping to say your piece and re-rail this rollercoaster of a thread, but I should point out that no one has called anyone, in Gensokyo or out here in the real world, "evil". A couple people expressed discomfort with a stronger being beating a weaker one with an umbrella, and then we got tailspun on this weird argument about whether Aya thinks of herself as animal, or part animal, and if it matters. Silly and mostly harmless, yes, but I think pretty much everyone here is aware that Gensokyo is a place of danger and flexible morality; some people just bristle at certain depictions of physical abuse, for their own reasons, which I think is a totally fine position to take that doesn't require a reminder of what a psychotic place Gensokyo is.

Like, if I watch an action movie and people are shooting and blowing each other up, it won't phase me, but some little kid gets hurt and I nope the fuck out of the movie - I know the whole movie is violent, but certain types of violence are just unbearable for me. I think this is important to have in mind when people side-eye things that happen in Gensokyo. Although having said that, just how psychotic Gensokyo is is very important to remember anytime someone talks about how cool it would be to end up in Gensokyo, or how idyllic it must be to live there. I don't understand those people. Have they ever played Touhou? Gensokyo is like Somalia with flying magical girls.

Hey this turned out to be a fun discussion after all!
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Jeremie on February 12, 2016, 04:53:51 AM
Udongein is the flower that blooms in the presence of impurity. The implication was that Reisen is the canary in the coalmine: the member of the household that is most sensitive to impurity and will be used as a test subject to see how lunar beings react to living on Earth. It's not really flattering.

I took a quick read into CiLR since it's been quite a while and...

Thinking of which, Eirin often calls Reisen "Udonge." I wonder why that is? She must think of her as something to gauge the extent of the impurity that's creeping into us... Or perhaps it's meant to mean that a moon rabbit who knew no impurity on the moon will become something beautiful when touched by the Earth's.

... It kind of does sound like you say but at the same time it also feels like it can be left open to interpretations. Touhou has a lot of serious and dark undertones regarding many aspects but further depictions of Eirin in various other events seems to make it quite possible that the latter bit from Kaguya's thoughts is quite literal even though yes, Eirin takes advantage of Reisen's abilities in multiple ways. However, Eirin's tone with Reisen also comes off as an adult dealing with an overly excited child at times. Chances are that the physical punishments she gives to Reisen are completely open to interpretation as it often happens with Touhou seeing how "Inaba of the Moon and Inaba of the Earth" were wacky adventures and later in FS we're told she was gently scolded by her master (dunno if we'd want quotation marks around gently) after she acted without permission.

I'm not trying to argue about this, just that Eientei, the Lunar Capital and the Myouren Temple are settings that I find interesting and fun to discuss about. 

And then I missed HalfGrand's reply which addressed this well. Whoops, I'll try to remember knowing how to read from now on, lulz.  :V
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Starxsword on February 12, 2016, 06:34:17 AM
Quote
... Clownpiece still is a cocky little shit who just got off the Hell boat to Gensokyo, it seems.

She is a stage 5 boss, I don't see why she wouldn't be cocky.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: HalfGrand on February 12, 2016, 06:13:53 PM
Quote
She is a stage 5 boss, I don't see why she wouldn't be cocky.

Well, looking back at the last stage 5 bosses we have had (I'm thinking of Shou and Futo in particular), they never really gave off the vibe of a hyperactive ADHD demon child that was left to run riot. Stage 5 bosses were motivated to protect their boss most of the time while Clownpiece was just kinda let loose to terrorize the moon populous and that power that Hecatia infused in her kinda got to her head. The only stage 5 boss that got near her level of cockiness was probably Rin and that was simply because she wanted to wheel your soul away in her cat-cart.

Actually, I can see quite a few parallels with SA here now that I think about it.  :V

Quote
Kyahahahaha! It's lunatic tiiiime! Welcome to a world of madness! If anyone comes from the Lunar
Capital, show them no mercy! Ooh, I got a good idea just now. How about I make you cry and silence you?

Nigga please, your so about to get a spanking that your mamma never gave you (and I gave her that spanking, on normal mode in point device).

Seriously, her dialogue reminds me of an overly spoiled brat who thinks the sun shines out of her star spangled arse. So annoying! :flamingv:
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Espadas on February 12, 2016, 08:29:19 PM
Seriously, her dialogue reminds me of an overly spoiled brat who thinks the sun shines out of her star spangled arse. So annoying! :flamingv:

Well, in her defense:

1) empowered or not, she is still a Fairy, ergo not particularly bright
2) before meeting the player, she basically was kicking the ass of a very arrogant and powerful race by simply existing.... a serious ego-boosting feat  :V
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Clarste on February 12, 2016, 08:43:58 PM
Seriously, her dialogue reminds me of an overly spoiled brat who thinks the sun shines out of her star spangled arse. So annoying! :flamingv:

Yeah, she's Cirno. And Sunny. All fairies are like that, it's great.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: cuc on February 14, 2016, 05:25:43 AM
Hirasaka has been tweeting about his experience with Touhou.

Interestingly, he happened (https://twitter.com/hirasaka8/status/698400685411291136) to get into the hobby of mineral collecting a short while before covering this very topic in OSP Chapter 14. He posted (https://twitter.com/hirasaka8/status/697956240090005504) a pic of an "iron rose" hematite, the same mineral Marisa found in said chapter.
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ca-jgGoVIAEmkMC.jpg)
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: HalfGrand on February 16, 2016, 10:24:34 AM
I can't wait to get my Touhou reading backlog up to OSP. Marisa finding a precious mineral sounds like an interesting and straightforward story.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: cuc on February 19, 2016, 05:26:16 AM
The Melonbooks preorder bonus book cover for FS Vol. 5 (Apr 26 release) is looking pretty good (https://twitter.com/melon_kinki/status/700530305690566656).

(Click through for the full-sized image)
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CbjImZWUEAAKYq0.jpg:small) (https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CbjImZWUEAAKYq0.jpg:orig)
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: HalfGrand on February 19, 2016, 02:46:24 PM
Quote
The Melonbooks preorder bonus book cover for FS Vol. 5

YES yes yes yes yes oh goodness, all my YES! Byaaaakuren!

Ichirin is looking pretty banchō there too. Lovin' it!

Namusan!
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Leon゠Helsing on February 19, 2016, 02:57:33 PM
And she still has her bike too, nice.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: the old guy on April 26, 2016, 11:58:15 PM
New issue just got translated, and in it:

*SPOILERS* (Too lazy to remember how to do spoiler tag.)

They try playing a prank on Reimu, Marisa, Yuyuko, and Youmu. Clownpiece uses her touch of insanity to make Youmu go crazy, but all that happens is that Youmu threatens to cut things, and then she falls over and goes unconscious, Raymoo, Marisa and Yuyuko just shake it off as Youmu being drunk. And the Fairies are all like patting themselves on the back when NO ONE EVEN GOT HURT, hell not even Youmu had much happened to her, jeez, they sure are shitty pranksters! Whatever happened to scaring youmu with obviously fake ghosts?
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Clarste on April 27, 2016, 05:17:36 AM
New issue just got translated, and in it:

*SPOILERS* (Too lazy to remember how to do spoiler tag.)

They try playing a prank on Reimu, Marisa, Yuyuko, and Youmu. Clownpiece uses her touch of insanity to make Youmu go crazy, but all that happens is that Youmu threatens to cut things, and then she falls over and goes unconscious, Raymoo, Marisa and Yuyuko just shake it off as Youmu being drunk. And the Fairies are all like patting themselves on the back when NO ONE EVEN GOT HURT, hell not even Youmu had much happened to her, jeez, they sure are shitty pranksters! Whatever happened to scaring youmu with obviously fake ghosts?

I think the idea is that they were too busy running away to look back and see what actually happened, so they just assumed it worked because they successfully hit their target. Also Youmu didn't simply "theaten" to cut, she was actually swinging her sword but everyone else was casually dodging her while eating and chatting because it's Touhou and they're used to that.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: the old guy on April 27, 2016, 05:38:13 AM
I think the idea is that they were too busy running away to look back and see what actually happened, so they just assumed it worked because they successfully hit their target. Also Youmu didn't simply "theaten" to cut, she was actually swinging her sword but everyone else was casually dodging her while eating and chatting because it's Touhou and they're used to that.
I know, i phrased my post badly, but my point still stands, whats the point of an prank if your not even going to to watch it? Stupid Fairies!
Also i wouldn't be surprised if the next chapter is about the Fairies finding out that their prank was a total bust. And so they'll have to reclaim their honor. Or Youmu is still suffering from madness and they have to fix the problem they started. Or they'll get cut into sushi!
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Clarste on April 27, 2016, 06:13:30 AM
Next chapter is in 3 months so probably not. Considering it's a "seasonal" publication, I'd imagine the focus is going to be on Clownpiece reacting to some uniquely summer event. I wouldn't expect any direct follow-ups to anything that happened this chapter.

In general, the Touhou comics are pretty obsessed with the seasons. Like, every other chapter starts with them talking about the weather or festivals or something. They're very grounded in a specific time of year. This tri-monthly fairy comic is going to be like that even moreso.
Title: Re: 東方三月精 ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine. "Gensokyo's Weakest Are Back."
Post by: Drake on April 27, 2016, 06:18:38 AM
Even the games are pretty season-heavy, they just don't deal with it in very impactful ways.