It was just a few days ago that Gensokyo Island finally filled the seventh floor of the Mii Apartments building, and according to what I've heard, it was actually a long and protracted process lasting about one and a half months, which was quite different from the previous floors of new residents who were invited in 'batches' rather than one at a time.
Perhaps this has signalled a change in how Okuu's Look-alike administers the island, or not. It's really hard to tell seeing how erratic she usually is. All the same, to commemorate this milestone in Gensokyo Island's development, we invited the seventh floor of residents to take a group photograph together. How does it look?
They're probably staring in amazement at Aya Shameimaru's pant... I mean skirt, flapping in the wind.
Clockwise from the bottom left, that's Almaz, Chargeman, Hoshi, Nozomu, Reisen, Hinoko, Tia, and Koyomi. Five of them are children who were invited to move in, while the remaining three are new to the island. It is indeed quite a change, considering that before this point Okuu's Look-alike had only invited three children to stay in Mii Apartments and sent the rest off packing to travel the world. This also means that, given the trend of only one child from each married couple being invited to move in, eight out of eighteen couples have children living on Gensokyo Island, with ten more potentially being welcomed to join them.
Again, it has always puzzled islanders here as to what gives a child that magic factor which actually induces Okuu's Look-alike to want to invite them to stay, and it's really hard to discern. As we have seen recently, even having a completely agreeable personality type isn't necessarily good enough to make the cut. Nor is having a meaningful name or an attractive appearance. Recently, Marisa Kirisame and Miko Toyosatomimi were seen buying travel goods and provisions for their infant daughter Toyoko, perhaps already aware that she didn't have any of those key factors to persuade Okuu's Look-alike to let her stay.
And as for enshrining firsts in Gensokyo Island's history ... well, Okuu's Look-alike has again gone back on her promise and chose to send Yves, son and first child of Tia Arlert and Tadakichi Mihama and the first child to have four grandparents living on the island, off as a traveller. Way to build rapport with your underlings, miss overlord tyrant dictator person!
Two travellers to be. Left, Marisa and Miko's fourth child, their daughter Toyoko, while Yves the designer is packed off to see the world.
Again, when pressed for an explanation for going back on her word, Okuu's Look-alike could only mumble "He looks way too much like his dad". So looking like one's parents is a huge disadvantage? Isn't that how genetics works? Or... oh, I see, it has to do with their hairstyle, but hairstyles can be changed, can't they? Or is it just that Okuu's Look-alike lacks interesting original ideas to help build a character from scratch? Maybe that otaku Kiba could help with that!
Another problem Okuu's Look-alike has been reported to state regarding to slow rate of increase in Gensokyo Island's residents this time around was supposedly the lack of time and opportunities to interact with each and every islander. Okuu's Look-alike has been known to mostly ignore islanders unless they flag up a problem for her to assist with, and as a result the more demanding islanders receive more attention and quickly overshadow their more amenable counterparts. As a result of this, clear "Tier" divisions have arised between islanders of each batch, corresponding to each floor of Mii Apartments, although some have been able to transcend their station in life through fortune or fortitude.
All the same, though, some islanders have argued that this so-called system of pandering to 'flags' is nothing more than a systematic surveillance system and to be quiet and to receive less gifts is ultimately more beneficial to one's privacy. Not to mention the immense bother caused by being forced to provide a gift and grudgingly mutter a compliment about someone they can barely stand. To gain the best of both worlds, new islanders are encouraged to supplement their usual quota of requests with putting in effort into networking amongst the already-established relationships of the more senior residents of Gensokyo Island.
Efforts at networking by the new residents themselves. Shinichi and Hinoko at a 'chance' encounter, while Nozomu seeks true despair from Yuuka.
Growth is inevitably in the nature of all living things, and the same could possibly also be said of Gensokyo Island, a living community. And it just so happens that who else would know better about growth than the subject of today's in-depth character profile. No, it's not John Maynard Keynes. I'm referring to Yuuka Kazami, the flower youkai and infamous sadist who considers genocide a most pleasurable game. It's no secret that pretty much the only way to ever have a conversation with her would be to discuss her favourite hobby, gardening, so with that in mind a kid like me put my life on the line to gether the following information. Treasure it well!
Yuuka Kazami
All information correct as of 16 February 2015
Yuuka hanging out with what she loves best - plants, flowers, and the absence of the stench of humans.
Name: Yuuka Kazami
Nickname: Yuuka
Date of Birth: 14th August 1996
Personality: Independent Free Spirit
Favourite Colour: Red
Quotation: "Genocide is fun"
Yuuka Kazami is the 5th and 6th Stage Final Boss character of Touhou 4: Lotus Land Story by Team Shanghai Alice, and also appears as a playable character in Touhou 5: Mystic Square and Touhou 9: Phantasmagoria of Flower View. She is a youkai who specialises in the manipulation of flowers and plant life, but whom is widely considered to be one of the oldest and most powerful beings in Gensokyo and is rightfully feared by just about everyone. While she possesses a home in an alternate-dimension dream world called Mugenkan (which may or may not still exist), her favourite place is a field of sunflowers known as the Garden of the Sun, to which she lovingly tends. Vandals, trespassers, and pretty much anyone who she meets can thus probably expect to be obliterated.
In the Touhou fandom, Yuuka is revered as the 'Ultimate Sadistic Creature', the absolute pinnacle of wild and violent cruelty, thanks to her habit of not-so-subtly teasing and abusing anyone she meets in the games. As a result of a comment she made in the games, she is also rumoured to have participated in genocide of the residents of an alternate dimension and possibly humans as well, although this may have been another teasing 'joke'. Regardless of the truth of her interpretation by the fandom, it's just recommended that anyone interested in self-preservation stay far away from her.
Yuuka is the kind of person from whom a smile could mean either permission for your continued existence or your imminent doom, and that's reflected in her interpretation on Gensokyo Island with her inscrutable smirk. She also seems to be the kind of person who places great value on their appearance, whether in terms of beauty or intimidation, and I've tried to reflect that in the choice of gifts she possesses. As to whether she is actually evil and murderous, or not... well, that's open to interpretation, but it's a safe bet to say most islanders are wise enough not to tangle with her.
In the Touhou fandom, Yuuka is revered as the 'Ultimate Sadistic Creature', the absolute pinnacle of wild and violent cruelty, thanks to her habit of not-so-subtly teasing and abusing anyone she meets in the games. As a result of a comment she made in the games, she is also rumoured to have participated in genocide of the residents of an alternate dimension and possibly humans as well, although this may have been another teasing 'joke'. Regardless of the truth of her interpretation by the fandom, it's just recommended that anyone interested in self-preservation stay far away from her.
Yuuka is the kind of person from whom a smile could mean either permission for your continued existence or your imminent doom, and that's reflected in her interpretation on Gensokyo Island with her inscrutable smirk. She also seems to be the kind of person who places great value on their appearance, whether in terms of beauty or intimidation, and I've tried to reflect that in the choice of gifts she possesses. As to whether she is actually evil and murderous, or not... well, that's open to interpretation, but it's a safe bet to say most islanders are wise enough not to tangle with her.
Yuuka proposes to Augustine Sycamore. The Pokémon Professor looks thrilled about catching for himself a legendary Grass type!
Husband: Augustine Sycamore
Best Friend: Kanako Yasaka, formerly Miko Toyosatomimi
Children: Alexandre, Lily
Ex-Sweethearts: Drake Kitazawa
Yuuka was the last of the third batch of islanders to be married, and her husband turned out to be Augustine Sycamore, a man from two floors higher in Mii Apartments. That's a long-distance relationship if there ever was one. However, the twists and turns of Yuuka's romantic entanglements here on Gensokyo Island are the subject of another ripping yarn. It's similar but not the same as the story of Shinmyoumaru Sukuna, Armin Arlert, and Overlord Laharl - it involves two men as well, but this time the villain was not the girl (suprising, considering it's Yuuka), but the one who got the girl in the end.
It all began when Sycamore was introduced to Gensokyo Island, and the first two friends he made were Yuuka, as well as Drake Kitazawa, a fellow professor who is more widely known by the name of Utonium. It just so happens that Sycamore, being a conscientious Buddy, decided that his pal Utonium needed a sweetheart and resolved to set him up with the other person he knew, Yuuka. It was a success - Yuuka and Utonium hooked up almost immediately.
However, things quickly began to sour. Perhaps the good-hearted Utonium found out about Yuuka's more unsavoury practices, or Yuuka had a bit of difficulty convincing him of participating in her... sadistic games. But the two soon began to fall out. It was then that Sycamore decided that enough was enough - if Utonium couldn't make Yuuka happy, he would, and he swooped in with a love confession, snatching Yuuka away and leaving Utonium clinically depressed at both his friend's and his sweetheart's betrayal.
That was most certainly a dick move on the part of Sycamore. Why introduce a girl to someone, get them hitched, then snatch her away? What other explanation would suffice either than malice or a callous disregard for his friend's mental state? Utonium didn't blame Sycamore for doing this in the end, as the two are still friends to this date, but I can no longer look at Sycamore for using Yuuka as a tool to break his friend's heart. Well, that, and the kinky French bondage games the two are probably engaged in when Okuu's Look-alike isn't paying attention.
Kyouko's eyes are as big as dinner plates. No, you really don't want to know what was going on in Yuuka's apartment.
Food Preferences:
All-Time Favourite: Spaghetti Peperoncino
Favourite: Barbecue
Worst: Watermelon
Okuu's Look-alike Rating - Watermelon: Dislike! I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels that Watermelons aren't tasty at all. I find that they're hardly sweet despite some people's claims, and the grainy pulp has a horrid texture and a nasty bitter aftertaste. Give me plain water anytime, in my opinion the only use of a watermelon is smashing it for that Japanese beach game.
Song Participation:
Reach for the Throat, Musical, solo singer
Too Much Water, Techno, instrumentalist for Rogues' Gallery
Take On Me, Opera, solo singer
As you can see from the song list Yuuka is my go-to character when I feel like I want to get someone to sing a silly, non-original song. I don't know why I chose her but it could most likely be because of how she can be interpreted as a psychopath or just plain weird. Inspired by silly Youtube videos, I just lifted the songs directly and typed them in to see what Yuuka would do, and it gets me laughing every time.
Whether Yuuka's actually an evil psych or just sociopathic is open to interpretation. But she is scary, no matter what!
Apartment: Apt. 302
Islander Rating: High Tier
Yuuka is the only character on Gensokyo Island, as far as I know, who faces the unique situation of having both her All-Time Favourite and Favourite foods as 3/4 fullness items. This would, in most circumstances, make it much harder to raise her happiness at the same rate as superstars like Junya Ohta with their 1/4 fullness favourites. However, because it's my policy to only feed islanders when they have an absolutely empty stomach, Yuuka's been able to maintain a rate of happiness growth very similar to the others.
Logically, this also means that there is no point whatsoever in feeding her her Favourite food (Barbecue), since both All-Time Favourite and Favourite cannot be eaten in the same sitting, save the very unlikely possibility that she needs immediate cheering up while still 1/4 full with a half-digested Spaghetti Peperoncino. That being said, I think Yuuka has the amazing distinction of being one of the few islanders to have never been depressed at any time in their history, for I have never had to feed her such filling consumables to cure her unhappiness. It must be those kinky sadistic practices of hers that keeps her going through thick and thin - and which encourage those fortunate enough to call her friend to never, ever make her mad.
Unlike Baldren from yesterday, Yuuka isn't a villain in the generally accepted sense of the word. She's not someone who actively threatens the order of society. In truth, as a Free Spirit, she just wants to be left alone, to enjoy herself with her flowers and her merciless teasing of any helpless moppets she can lay her hands on. Rather, it's things that upset the usual state of affairs, such as an unexplained mass blooming of flowers or a sudden influx of tourists from an alternate dimension, which drive her to act - and it's then that one should truly fear what she is capable of.
So, if you love flowers, peace and quiet, and are a masochist, Yuuka Kazami is most definitely someone you can get along with. But take out a life insurance policy first, just in case.
Yuuka's always shown wearing that straw hat, even though she never actually wears a hat in canon. Strum that guitar!
BUNBUNMARU NEWS, 16th February 2015
Children
Yves, son of Tia Arlert and Tadakichi Mihama, grew up. He was made to leave Gensokyo Island and become a traveller!
Gensokyo Gourmands
Hoshi Toramaru tried some Watermelon today. He thought it was the Worst!
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