Part 81: Grimoire, Koakuma, Patchouli
Alright, I'm back to characters, except I'm gonna start summarising instead of transcribing because a lot of this is just absolute drivel and needless words. Don't worry sanbondo fans, creepy stuff can be retained. I'm just doing this because the hugeass blocks of words are really demotivating.Chapter 8
Grimoires
quote:
Patchy made them, but anyone can control them if they know how, such as Koakuma.
It's main attack is the "High-Caliber Mega Laser Cannon".
It's a parody, though you probably guessed that. I'm sure you all felt the same thing playing stage 4 of EoSD. Hopefully you felt nostalgic towards the lasers firing along the y-axis.
Koakuma
quote:
Her name is literally "Small Demon". It doesn't mean she's literally small (although some fanon does use that as a joke). Instead it means she is a lesser demon; one with relatively weaker power.
She has sometimes been depicted as being cheerful and loving pranks like Daiyousei, although as she has no canon characterisation many have thought of their own settings for her.
The most common setting is her working exclusively for Patchy, usually as a librarian/personal assistant. This is backed up in one panel of "Eastern and Little Nature Deity".
In FMW, she is depicted as a rather serious librarian, in the image of a "girl of literature". She gives the impression of always doing her best to be helpful to Patchouli
Patchouli
quote:
She gives orders to Sakuya and drinks tea with Remilia, implying that they are equals.
She is the master of the Scarlet Devil Mansion's library. The books stored in the library appear to be Patchy's own collection.
The library is her main domain, and she rarely leaves it. She usually spends her days reading and writing magical grimoires.
She isn't generally courteous, sensitive or sociable, but she is occasionally ditzy and is hard to dislike.
Her specialisation is elemental magic, and she is especially skilled at combining the elements. Whilst her spellcard names have a western feel to them, the elements she utilises are the five eastern elements, along with Sun and Moon, giving her a total of 7. She often speaks of the five elements in conversation, making it one of the few forms of magic that we are informed about.
Marisa seems to have seen all of her magic, as Patchouli has the highest number of spellcards in "Grimoire of Mais". Marisa's "reference level" for Five Elements: "Philosopher's Stone" is 7 stars, tying her for the top with Okuu's "Mega Flare".
The general danmaku Patchy used in EoSD has been used by Marisa to make "Non Directional Laser".
Patchy has a weak constitution for a youkai, even suffering from asthma. When her asthma is particularly bad she is unable to perform the incantations for her more advanced spells.
Conversations with the main characters in EoSD also indicate that she has bad eyesight, although she is not night-blind like Reimu.
It would be hard to believe that Patchouli, who spends her days reading, would neglect her eyesight, so it is generally believed that she was just saying something appropriate to Marisa.
Although her general lifestyle does not give the impression of her being active, Patchouli is suprisingly reactionary when incidents occur. Her actions in SA and SWR show her proactive side.
She is also a bit of a troublemaker. On Setsubun (the first day of summer), she scattered roasted beans throughout the mansion (except the library) to drive away evil spirits. Also, she made a mysterious circle in the flower gardens, worrying Meiling.
While these incidents are generally kept within the mansion and cause few problems, evreyone else doesn't understand how Patchy thinks, and she does not consider the negative consequences of her actions. The ones caught up in her strangeness have a right to be annoyed.
Furthermore, she seems to have a habit of chipping in, with her appearing in the BRiJR interviews for every resident of the SDM (except Frandre).
In addition, the article immediately following Flandre's entry involved Patchouli's pressed flower exhibition, and the manga "Inaba of the Moon and Inaba of the Earth" noted her as a "well-informed individual" when making comments about a monstrous fish in the SDM's lake.
Perhaps she just enjoys appearing in the paper.
In FMW, she plays the role of the SDM's strategist. Due to her possessing a large amount of spellcards, this is reflected in her having a wide variety of weapons, as well as her being the first boss to use extra spellcards in battle.
Patchy's stage was created as a result of the staff wondering what would happen if restricted movement was combined with large amounts of danmaku. It has since been called "the maze of danmaku". If we continue coming up with these kinds of ideas for the danmaku system, who knows what you'll see next...
"I feel good today. I'll show you something special".