Best. Screenshot. Ever.

The sixth episode of Mysterious Girlfriend X was divided into two segments, and while the first one seems a bit normal and romantic in its own way, the latter part partly tackled one of Tsubaki’s most heart-wrenching moments. I’ll try not to spoil things here since I read the manga, but I’ll try to make it as meaty as possible.

In this episode, Tsubaki meets by coincidence his crush from middle school, Hayakawa Aika, which re-opens the relationship between the two. Hayakawa attempts to prolong the conversation by inviting Tsubaki to a cafe, which the latter declines, due to his appointment with Urabe. Unbeknownst to him, Urabe was listening to their conversations.

“When I turned her down, I felt a tinge of regret.”

Tsubaki’s Regret

Tsubaki’s sentence bears so much meaning when he said it. Just by regretting not going with Hayakawa to the cafe, he regretted a lot of things. He regretted the opportunity to possibly get into a relationship with her. He regretted that he had to destroy his lingering sentiments for her in order to be with Urabe. And maybe, he even regretted having tasted Urabe’s drool, the source of every ounce of his regret, in the first place. Had he reserved the moment to think more about these, I’m sure Tsubaki would feel more than just a tinge.

The root of all evil?

Tsubaki’s Normalcy

To understand Tsubaki’s feeling of regret, let’s take a look at the kind of person Hayakawa Aika really is. She’s a normal girl, going on a normal school, living a normal life, and having the normal curiosities of a high school student in puberty. If we sum up these qualities, we can really say that Hayakawa is really compatible for Tsubaki because they’re the same in almost every way. For Tsubaki, Hayakawa is a dream girl, because he sees himself, the embodiment of qualities that he can relate and cope with, in her.

Ah, a growing boy manning up. It’s as pure as a girl’s chastity.

Tsubaki’s Choice

But in the end, Tsubaki chose Urabe, mostly for the logical reasons that Urabe is already his girlfriend and that they were bound by drool, a bond that can never be equaled by a relationship with Hayakawa. But is that all there is to it? I mean, I’m sure he thought “If I wasn’t bound by drool by Urabe, maybe I could re-establish a relationship with Hayakawa.” But he didn’t do anything. Why is it so? Is it because Hayakawa is normal? Is it because they’re compatible but not bound by something more complex? Or maybe is it because Hayakawa Aika isn’t as mysterious as Urabe Mikoto to be able to spur interest and curiosity to a normal, adolescent boy like him? Frankly, the last one had a lot of basis, but I’ll leave that speculation when the next episodes roll in.

All in all, this episode of Mysterious Girlfriend X was good. It was split into two parts, but having read the manga, I understand why. You guys will just have to wait for the upcoming episodes if you want to know what I mean. I don’t want to spill spoilers for some of the readers.

Further Reading

A tag-team post that talks about the intimacy between Japanese (mysterious) couples:

Colloquium: Mysterious Girlfriend X Episode 6 – The Untold Story of Altair and Vega (5/13/2012)

He got me by the “two scoops of ice cream x Oka’s blouse” part:

Mysterious Girlfriend X 06: Spit Sisters – Kritik Der Animationskraft (5/14/2012)

She may not be the holy mother we thought she is, but she’s a mother nonetheless.

It’s Mother’s Day, a day where we pay our tributes to the mothers of the world. But instead of celebrating it by revering some of the most amazing moms in anime and manga, I chose to air my concerns for a mother that can only do so much: Fate/Zero‘s Irisviel Von Einzbern.

If we are to look at her status apart from being the mother of Illyasviel Von Einzbern, Irisviel is amazing enough. She’s a homonculus created to be the catalyst for the Holy Grail. She’s a participant of the Holy Grail War albeit not being a Master. She’s a wife of a man whose wish is to end all suffering on Earth. And her very nature as a homonculus grants her the magic circuits that can only be seen in an exceptional Magus. But despite all of these powers and characteristics, Irisviel remains a victim of circumstance. Why is it so?

She, along with her husband, Kiritsugu, participated in the fourth Holy Grail War as the champions for the Einzbern clan. However, they intended to use the Holy Grail’s wish to end human suffering as opposed to the clan’s wish to reach Akasha, or the beginning and end of all things. This is good for their child, Illyasviel, as the girl will grow without knowing pain and destruction. But while the idea of a world without strife is nice, it does not come without a price. A homonculus serving as the catalyst for the Holy Grail will die once the war is over and all seven Servant participants are dead. That means Irisviel, as the Holy Grail’s catalyst, is literally trying to kill herself to fulfill this wish. That also means that she’s depriving Illsyasviel of a mother that should nurse her to proper age.

But let’s get off Iri’s case for a bit so I can ask this crucial question: Is a world without suffering truly achievable? We have already seen in past shows that the creation of a utopia is not possible, that it is but a extreme figment of an ideal world that can only exist in our minds. In the case of Fate/Zero, this can be interpreted as breaking the rules of the world. And knowing the Nasuverse, the phrase “I wish to create an ideal world without suffering” can be interpreted in different ways, let alone have it interpreted by the Holy Grail. The grail can create a worldwide, permanent Reality Marble. The grail can rewrite the rules of the current world. The grail can also choose to create a parallel world separate from its progenitor world. And ultimately, the grail can choose to make those who wished for such a world to enter a comatose-like state in order for them to “dream” of this world.

I assume Iri already gave these “alternatives” enough thought, but would she really want Ilya to live in this kind of world? An amalgamation of illusions masquerading as an ideal world? Would these alternatives even survive without being crushed by the rules of the world despite being created by means of a miracle granted by a materialized holy drinking cup? Of course not. But knowing the situation she’s in during the fourth war, she might have accepted these alternatives as a better option than having to live in a world full of pain and death. As a mother who wishes nothing but the best for her daughter, who wouldn’t want such a world?

I’m sure Irisviel considered the option of running away from the war in order to preserve herself and fulfill her duties to Illyasviel as a mother. But alas, she cannot, for she also respects her husband’s wish to save the world, no matter what the price, in order to create an ideal world for Ilya to grow up on. Torn between her obligations to Ilya, the Einzberns, and Kiritsugu, she continues to participate in the Holy Grail War in the hopes that her answers may appear before her, even at the cost of her time and life.

These circumstances made me admire her resolution. Irisviel, in all notions, is all but confused, powerless and torn. She has the power to change the world, but is powerless to do so because of how she is going to play her part in achieving it. And yet she continues to move forward and fight for her loved ones and herself. It may be foolishness, it may be idealistic, it may even be destructive to the world. But if it means being together with her family, she’s willing to die for it. You can’t find any other mother doing that, even if every mother in the world had the powers she had.

So Happy Mother’s Day, Irisviel. You deserve it.

Ah, how long has it been?

May 6, 2008. Four years ago, on this very day, Rainbowsphere officially made itself known in the blogosphere. I find it hard to believe that I’ve persevered for long, and that I’m still going strong. I went through a lot of ups and downs, met a lot of interesting people, and ultimately had a lot of fun. Looking back, I can truthfully say that I don’t regret my decision to start a blog to express myself.

I have to confess, the first reason I started the blog was because I was curious about it, nothing else. I wanted to have a blog to know what blogging feels like, what it feels to manage your own webspace, what it feels like to write posts for people to read, what it feels to have a public reputation in the Internet.

All that changed when I went past my second year, the year I when I was exposed to other blogs. I found out that I need to reach out to other people if I want to really enjoy my blogging experience. I wrote guest posts on other blogs, discussed interesting topics with other bloggers, and participated in some of the blogosphere’s events.

“I would love to have a discussion over a cup of tea.”

Third year came, and I saw myself writing posts that attempt answer questions presented by the visual media I consume. I also questioned the very tenets of fandom in order to enlighten not only myself, but also others that read my articles. As a person who likes the Socratic approach, I found further enjoyment as I wrote these editorial posts.

The years will continue to pour in, but there is one question that needs an answer: Will I continue blogging? Certainly, for as long as I can. It might be absurd to say this, but I am partly indebted to the blogosphere for continuing to rekindle my passion as a fan, as well as touching my personal life in the most indirect and unorthodox way possible.

I would like to thank Vucub Caquix, ajthefourth, Baka-Raptor, 2DTeleidoscope, Schneider, ghostlightning, animekritik, Yi Ysieh, Moritheil, Scamp, Ryan A, Hisui, Omo, sdshamsel, lolikit, and anyone I forgot to mention, for caring and keeping me company for all this time. I could count the years we’ve experienced together, but the memories themselves are innumerable. I hope we can still share the good times together for the years to come.

Oops, wrong drawer.

During the course of my blogging lifetime, I left a very long trail of drafts. Serving mainly as repositories of past ideas, I purposefully left these posts unfinished until I can muster enough experience, material, and motivation to complete them. But due to time and my own limitations, I have left the majority of these posts to collect dust in the folder in which they were filed.

So, with respect to the trend Baka-Raptor started, I open my archive of drafts with the intention of reducing the number of draft posts, some of which are faithfully reproduced below:

Title: Me and Summer Wars – Alice In My Electric Dreams
Date Created: 3/06/2010
Concept: A post that “dares to compare” Summer Wars to Alice in Wonderland.
Rejection: Does not compute. It was a bad idea waiting to happen.

Title: Man and Machine in Armored Core: A Reverse-Frontier Situation?
Date Created: 3/11/2010
Concept: Explanation of why the plot and setting of every Armored Core game features mankind living further and further underground as mankind continues its technological advances. Also discusses mankind’s struggle to get into space to usher a new frontier.
Rejection: Plot and setting never got anywhere, and not having canon continuity doesn’t help. There are a lot of possible explanations, but none of them have any concrete bearing since each game and its corresponding universe have little to no attachment to one another.

Title: More on Fin Funneling: Questioning Blogger Singularity
Date Created: 12/06/2010
Concept: Continuation of my Fin Funneling post that discusses the factors of using social networking sites and staying in one medium of broadcast, in this case the blog.
Rejection: Blogging meta made it impossible to thrive in the blogosphere without using social networking sites. Most readers are info-savvy and want to be updated on their favorite blogs’ and blogger’s activities. Questioning it now is a futile attempt.

Title: A Closer Look at Half-Otaku Romance
Date Created: 10/05/2011
Concept: A discussion about “half-otaku romance”, or a relationship between an otaku and a normal person.
Rejection: Requires too much research and actual reference material. While Genshiken‘s Saki-Kousaka pairing presents a plausible, near-realistic depiction of such a relationship, most of the couples I encountered in reality do otherwise, so I can’t wholly base it on them. And they don’t want to be used as reference material, so I’ll leave it at that. Bromance, however…

Title: Seven Common Game Misconceptions
Date Created: 7/20/2011
Concept: Basically a list of misunderstood game mechanics, like the famous barrel roll and the way starfighters move in side-scrolling shooter games.
Rejection: Seven instantly became seven hundred. I’m not surprised that a lot of game developers these days aren’t learning a single thing from their past mistakes.

Title: Gifts and OreImo: A Closer Look on Otaku Tastes
Date Created: 12/11/2010
Concept: Editorial post for an OreImo episode where Kousaka and co. give gifts to one another.
Rejection: My tastes became too twisted for me to comprehend this idea. I’d rather not talk about it.

Title: The Spoils Of The Reverse-Universal Century: Was Char Aznable A Great Man?
Date Created: 06/15/2010
Concept: A completed draft post of me talking about Char Aznable, while watching watching all the Universal Century Gundam shows in reverse continuity.
Rejection: Still haven’t finished watching all the shows. Ghostlightning said it was a bad idea, too.

Title: Kamijou Touma, His Harem, and Imagine Breaker: Technicalities of Love and Misfortune in Index
Date Created: 03/18/2011
Concept: Possible interpretations on how Touma rakes in the girls.
Rejection: Most cases are one-sided, so you can’t really call it a harem. Besides, if you do raise a flag on a girl made of pure energy, how will you do her if you have a right hand that can make her disintegrate with a single touch? That’s just plain wrong.

Title: Ken Akamatsu: Saber-Class Servant of the Holy Harem War
Date Created: 12/29/2009
Concept: Comparing Ken Akamatsu and his works with other famous creators using TYPE-MOON’s Holy Grail War theme. Most notable line of the post: “If Kinoko Nasu is the Gilgamesh of the Holy Harem War, then Ken Akamatsu must be Saber.”
Rejection: I’m too dissatisfied with what Akamatsu did with Negima’s ending. I don’t really want to elaborate further on it. I’d rather associate him with the Lancer class, since the Lancer class is suffering, and it fits his current impression to me.

To vote or not to vote? That is the question.

I’m sure some of you are aware of the aniblog tourney that’s currently underway. As a non-participant, I feel the need to express my thoughts about it, because I know that it’ll affect my status and outlook in aniblogging.

I know that Scamp started the second tournament with good intentions. Aside from letting anibloggers connect with each other, the tourney also lets active readers find the good blogs that they might want to subscribe and follow. However, the idea that people would only connect, gather, and check out blogs they don’t read or know just because there’s a aniblog battle royale going on wouldn’t sit well for some. I mean, would I heedlessly subscribe to a blog just because it destroyed We Remember Love or Random Curiosity by the sheer amount of votes they got? Of course not.

I also know that he went from hell and back trying to make that tournament bracket before he started calling for votes. It was literally a smorgasbord of content-rich links, some of them famous blogs that participated in the first tourney. Trying to make a bracket that lets every blog compete in equal ground is hard, let alone think that said blogs will compete fair and square. There are some that try, though, and I admire them for that.

This is where the dirty part comes in. The participating authors of each blog try to appeal and convince people to give their votes for them. There’s nothing really wrong about this, and I honestly don’t think it’s a bad thing. You can do shameless plugging on other sites, write blog posts that advertise your blog, personally talk to other readers for their vote, and be everywhere so people can notice you. Now, plugging for your blog isn’t bad, but it does make it seem that you’re literally begging for votes if you do it very frequently. If you want people to vote for your blog more, you need to build a solid list of good blog posts, or alternatively, write guest blog posts on other, more famous blogs. That way, people would vote you for what you are as a blogger, not because you just asked them to vote for you.

There were also blogs that wrote potshot posts about the blogs they faced. I know that some bloggers did it in jest so I took every one of them with a grain of salt. But is this necessary? Call me serious or whatever, but I think throwing dirt at a blog doesn’t improve your blog’s disposition to other people. Sure, you’re confident enough that you’ll rake enough votes, that’s why you’re simply throwing potshots at the other blog. But I tell you, it’s in bad taste.

And then, there’s vote rigging. I don’t know how or why some of them do this, but this is simply ridiculous. I won’t talk about CSW’s incident here, but if the allegations are true, then it’s a prime example of what people shouldn’t do. Doing it makes people see you in a bad perspective rather than a good one.

As for my own standing on this event, I’m actually glad that I’m not participating in it because it saves me the trouble of having to deal with underhand potshots and other unruly things you usually see in aniblog tourneys. This also means I plan on keeping my current standing outside the tourney, which is not to vote and simply watch it from afar. I may not get readership, but it’s fine. I just want my personal space to be a place of discussion about topics that I want to get across.

The first episodes of Acchi Kocchi (あっちこっち) were actually enjoyable compared to the staple slice-of-life shows of the past. The show’s pacing isn’t too fast or too slow, the characters are very lovable, and the antics have a new flair despite being the norm. Simply put, it’s easy to digest, even for someone without a knack for slice-of-life such as myself.

What does these arrows look like to you?

Arrow Visuals

The usage of arrows on certain frames was very clever, in my opinion. Anyone could easily associate arrows as an embodiment of direction, where up means north, down means south, etc. However, Acchi Kocchi used arrows as an embodiment of a lot of things. The common one is to depict a person as an arrow and making it do a brief activity associated with the idea written in the frames. “Recess” had four arrows going from one side of the frame to another (students walking from the classroom to the recess hall), while “Homeroom” shows a bunch of arrows and one arrow in front (teacher in front, students on their seats). And while this explains that the show simply “pegs” or associates an item to a character, it also gives us an idea of why arrows can be used to depict a person. Because a person, as a human being, is compelled to “live life by moving forward”, we see arrows as a fitting symbol to associate with a person. This not only invokes a feeling of creative interest among viewers, but also presents a well-illustrated time skip to start or end a segment.

The symbols on the frame are moving to the right.

While we’re on the topic of time skips, it’s also worth noting that the show also used the arrows to depict a flashback or a quick forward skip for some parts of a segment. If you are familiar with the symbol where two arrows follow each other in a circular motion, then I’m sure you know what the symbol means in particular. It’s a symbol that means something ((In the show’s case, an activity) is being timely processed. The symbol also gave me an idea of the circular motion that you can usually see on the holes of a cassette tape. If the arrow symbol is moving to the right, then it’s a “fast-forward” or “play” scene. If the symbol is moving to the left, it means it’s a “rewind” or “flashback” scene.

→→→↑↑↑↑↑↑→→→→→

Lastly, I found that they also used arrows to depict a person’s view or feelings toward another. A good example of this is when they showed a frame where an icon of Tsumiki projects arrows toward an icon of Io while chopping veggies. What does this mean? It may mean that Tsumiki was merely looking at Io. But if that’s the case, then the arrows shouldn’t be moving toward Io in a wave-like motion. Maybe this means that Io is projecting her thoughts toward Io? Or maybe her feelings?

Genki Dama/元気玉, also known as Tsumiki attempting to make a snowman by throwing a big ball of snow.

Reference Drops Galore

Surprisingly, Acchi Kocchi had some subtle reference dropping, mostly on the third episode. Some references include Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha and Dragon Ball Z. It even included video game fundamentals like character hitboxes and epic fighting game matches like the Daigo-Justin Wong SF match. I just hope they don’t overdo it like some shows did. Seitokai no Ichizon was specially bad on that one since the reference drops were blatant.

All in all, Acchi Kocchi is easy to digest and very fun to watch. I’ll give it three more episodes to see if I’m still interested in watching it all the way, but for now I’m pretty much convinced to watch the show’s first half.

Or let’s just say I like Mayoi’s antics and her Seiyuu (Hitomi Nabatame) a lot.

P.S. It’s all JohnnyYandere’s fault, I swear.

For some of you who’ve visited the site over the last twelve hours, I’m sure you noticed that the blog has been flagged as “possibly having malware”. I would like to issue my sincere apologies for the troubles it may have caused. It should be fixed now, so you don’t have to worry one bit about malware or anything of the sort.

Google flagged the blog twelve hours ago, so I tried to diagnose and fix the problem. The actual problem?

It seems that the other sites hosted by DreamHost were affected by malware, and Google flagged the entire domain, including the safe sites. I’ve been waiting for a reply from Google on the site review that I requested, but it seems that that isn’t needed anymore.

On a final note, please be reminded that the site may possibly still show problems (which I hope doesn’t include malware AGAIN) since it’s fresh from an half-assed site cleanup. If you ever see anything wrong, please notify me on Twitter (you know where to get me) or my email (shancerainbowsphere{at}gmail{dot}com).

Have fun and thank you for flying Rainbowsphere! Now, back to regular programming…

Convenient Cirno is convenient.

It’s summer on where I’m at. With temperatures rising on each passing day, it’s hard to keep a sane mind without resorting into some form of self-refreshment. But fret not! There are actually a lot of ways that you can keep yourself cool without the hassle of going to the nearest beach or water resort. What’s more interesting is that you can do these while being in theme with characters who’ve done the very same thing to cool themselves.

あ゛あああああァアアアアア-

Electric Fans

Electric fans are one of the tried and tested methods in keeping the heat away. They’re so effective that even the girls in Gensokyo are using them. But for some reason, some characters like to do this “ritual” of sorts while cooling off with an electric fan: They point the fan closely towards their face, and say anything in a long, monotonous fashion. A good example of this is  ”We are Aliens.” (“我々は宇宙人です.”/”Wareware wa uchuujin desu.”), a phrase commonly thrown out on electric fans by children and childish adults alike. But even though it’s generally dismissed as an act of  boredom, some characters see it as something embarrassing to do in public, so they do it alone and in secret.

Frozen frog and ice fairy not included.

Popsicles

Ice cream. Definitely a good way to keep you cool. One of the popular and cheap ones are popsicles, an ice cream “variant” on a stick that you can buy for a cheap thirty yen a piece. One of the best known examples? You guessed it: Cirno. What could go wrong with an ice fairy that can instantly make popsicles to munch on? Thing is, said ice fairy still buys it from stores, hoping to get a lucky popsicle stick with the words “winner” on it so she can get another one free of charge. Fitting? Yes. Stupid? Definitely yes. But we love her that way, so what gives?

On a side note, some people find popsicles as a sex object of sorts, which oftentimes leads to sexually suggestive situations, especially when it melts and it’s colored cream white…

Never noticed the ice cubes at first, but that works too.

Feet Soaking in Water

For those who don’t want to shell out cash (even on popsicles), another simple way to cool oneself is to soak your feet in water. You find an empty tub, fill it half-brim with water, then directly soak your feet in for as long as you like. However, this trope is common only to people who live in cities, and not to people who live in the countryside, where clean bodies of water are available.

Vampire is cooling off, please wait until she is ready.

Shaved Ice

Another Cirno troper, shaved ice is another condiment that can stand to match a popsicle’s cooling power. If you don’t have someone selling popsicles around, shaved ice is the way to go. It’s basically flavored shaved ice, which comes in different flavors, mostly from fruity and tangy ones. This simple treat can also be made at home, provided you have invested on an ice shaver. Of course, this includes me, and I’ve had many a summer adventure with it.

You, get back in the watermelon, RIGHT NOW!

Eating a Watermelon

If there’s a fruit that can symbolize summer, it’s the watermelon. Being a mainstream dessert fruit in beach outings or at home, watermelons never fail to keep you cool in a healthy and invigorating way. You bust open a watermelon, slice it into parts, then eat it. The seeds might get in the way of enjoying the juicy flesh, but if you’re creative enough you can even start a game of who gets to throw the farthest and most number of seed in a single watermelon slice. That’s another way to enjoy watermelons, and unfortunately, another excuse for kids and adults to play with their food. Literally.

When I saw Upotte!! on this season’s chart, the synopsis alone was enough to make my gun junkie nerves tingle. Of course, as with all shows, the idea of enjoying a show about anthropomorphised guns should be taken with a grain of salt. And with three episodes in, I don’t really think this show bodes well for me, nor did it take just one grain of salt.

The show is about the daily school life of guns-turned-girls, who attend their corresponding schools according to the type of gun they are. Battle rifles attend high school, assault rifles attend middle school, and SMGs attend elementary school. The plot mainly focuses on three assault rifle girls attending middle school: Funko, modeled after the FN FNC, Shigu, modeled after the SIG SG 550, Ichiroku, modeled after the M16A4, and Eru, modeled after the L85A1.

Does this count as sex education if they included the naughty bits?

Wonky Gun “Anatomy”

If there’s any aspect of Upotte!! that’s being given subtle albeit constant emphasis, it’s the “anatomy” of the guns turned girls. For example, a rifle’s stock is the girls’ waist, buttocks and underwear, while a rifle’s hammer is the girls’ no-no parts. Wait, seriously? I mean, I know I should expect this kind of development because of the show’s intended plot, but this is just too much. Because if I had a rifle with a thin, plain stock, then does that mean that the corresponding girl goes around everywhere without panties on? That’s just plain wrong.

Yeah, you lolicons sure love your SMGs, don’t you?

(Mis)Matching Characteristics

Moving on to the more prominent aspect of the girls, the show tries hard integrating a gun’s characteristics to the gun girl in question. To demonstrate, let’s get into my favorite girl so far in the show: Shigu. Like the rifle’s uncanny versatility and exceptional performance, Shigu demonstrates her prowess in almost everything, from shooting and sniping, to academics and sports. However, Shigu’s case is an isolated one, because aside from the role model battle rifle high school students, the rest of the other characters weren’t lucky enough to get their good points across to the viewers. One of the worst cases is Ichiroku. She tires easily on activities because she can only use bursts of energy, which symbolizes her the maximum setting of her rifle’s fire mode, which is a 3-shot burst on a pulled trigger. And while I do favor the burst setting because of its perks, I don’t think it should be a liability of a girl modeled after a gun that utilizes it. Plus, she speaks Osaka-ben for no reason, despite being an American rifle. Why can’t she be like Thompson-sensei (M1928A1) instead?

To sum it up, Upotte!! is a show for the gun junkies who fantasize about their guns turning into girls, which means this show isn’t going to make a really big impact for someone who’s interested in guns for what they are, such as myself. Still, some aspects of the show might win my interests back if they do an extensive background for the questions I have for them, such as “What about the sniper rifle class? Are they college students by any chance?”, “Are guns that always get covered in gun magazines gravure idols?”, and “Do we get cute kindergarten characters for handguns?”

Then again, these questions are only for my interests, not for my actual dedication to watch it.

Name: Hakurei Reimu (博麗 霊夢)
Notable Nickname/s: Wakimiko (脇巫女), Red-White (赤白), Shrine Maiden of the Hakurei (霊夢の巫女)
From: Touhou Project (東方Project)
Protagonist Status: Active

Hakurei Reimu is the current generation of the Hakurei clan of shrine maidens, and is the most prominent protagonist in the Touhou Project series of games. Given the gift of flight, she is known to solve unnatural incidents that happen within the realm of Gensokyo using the various purification, extermination, and bullet hell techniques of the Hakurei. Her escapades have taken her from the gray, monotonous Netherworld to the flowery plains of Bhavaagra, often leaving no stone untouched in order to solve an incident.

When there’s no incident to solve, she lazily resides in her shrine near the human village. More often than not, she is visited by various personalities from Gensokyo’s realms, such as longtime rival Kirisame Marisa. She also serves as the guardian of the Great Hakurei Border, the border that separates the real-life, “outside” world from Gensokyo.

Why was she chosen?
Setting personal bias aside, Reimu is a prime example of a strong protagonist. However, this strength does not primarily lie on her abilities because there are other entities that can easily match hers. It does not lie on her status as Touhou‘s protagonist, either. Her true strength lies in having an unrelenting tenacity for doing what she does best. By effectively solving almost every incident that came in Gensokyo’s way, Reimu has earned herself a reputation both in Gensokyo and in some of our hearts. That’s a very hard thing to do in a type of visual media that solely relies on basic information and fandom input.