msh1120 said: Aren't Akyuu's books considered "Inaccurate"? Isn't it also considered partially biased?
Correct. Akyuu secretly hates youkai and often blows up minor youkai to make them look nightmarish. She also gladly inflates a profile if the subject asks.
WatcherCCG said: Correct. Akyuu secretly hates youkai and often blows up minor youkai to make them look nightmarish. She also gladly inflates a profile if the subject asks.
msh1120 said: Aren't Akyuu's books considered "Inaccurate"? Isn't it also considered partially biased?
Anything canon is considered inaccurate since it is filtered through the opinions and perceptions of one of the characters. I was referring to the simple fact that logically she couldn't get up close to study or interview these "monsters" so their profiles would always have to be highly questionable.
It's really late, but this probably ought to be corrected.
The idea that Akyuu hates youkai doesn't quite gel with her actions, especially considering the content of Symposium. Unless you consider her some kind of Chessmaster who got a bunch of youkai to have a conference specifically to freak the humans out. Even so, the one who comes off looking like a bitch at the end isn't the youkai for the most part, it's Reimu. Also, for all she says about minor youkai, she apparently sneaks out at night to attend their concerts, which don't normally attract many humans.
OTOH it's entirely possible that she was inflating individual or species profiles on request, AND (more likely) relying on inaccurate or biased sources, as people here have already pointed out.
It's really late, but this probably ought to be corrected.
The idea that Akyuu hates youkai doesn't quite gel with her actions, especially considering the content of Symposium. Unless you consider her some kind of Chessmaster who got a bunch of youkai to have a conference specifically to freak the humans out. Even so, the one who comes off looking like a bitch at the end isn't the youkai for the most part, it's Reimu. Also, for all she says about minor youkai, she apparently sneaks out at night to attend their concerts, which don't normally attract many humans.
OTOH it's entirely possible that she was inflating individual or species profiles on request, AND (more likely) relying on inaccurate or biased sources, as people here have already pointed out.
Been a very long time, but my original statement ended up being completely invalidated by later additions to the canon. Akyuu considers Yukari one of her closest friends and essentially used the events of Symposium to revise and update the Perfect Memento. My statement wasn't purely ignorance, just knowledge invalidated by history.
Been a very long time, but my original statement ended up being completely invalidated by later additions to the canon. Akyuu considers Yukari one of her closest friends and essentially used the events of Symposium to revise and update the Perfect Memento. My statement wasn't purely ignorance, just knowledge invalidated by history.
Youkai subsist off of human fear. Alternatively, they can subsist off of positive emotion as well, such as love, or faith. I imagine Akyuu was fear-mongering on purpose, possibly at the request of the youkai she was writing about. That’s giving her the benefit of the doubt, though. In any case, I doubt anyone who’s read the Perfect Memento even believed what was written. Honestly, you’d have to be an idiot to take something at face value that claims to be without fault, only to present an extremely one-sided, heavy-handed, moralistic narrative about such a complex subject as a person. Something like that would make me disbelieve it on principle. I imagine the humans in the village are much the same. They haven’t prospered in Gensokyo by being stupid and gullible.
Youkai subsist off of human fear. Alternatively, they can subsist off of positive emotion as well, such as love, or faith. I imagine Akyuu was fear-mongering on purpose, possibly at the request of the youkai she was writing about. That’s giving her the benefit of the doubt, though. In any case, I doubt anyone who’s read the Perfect Memento even believed what was written. Honestly, you’d have to be an idiot to take something at face value that claims to be without fault, only to present an extremely one-sided, heavy-handed, moralistic narrative about such a complex subject as a person. Something like that would make me disbelieve it on principle. I imagine the humans in the village are much the same. They haven’t prospered in Gensokyo by being stupid and gullible.
The human village isn't prospering. They're literally a pen of cattle. The relative safety the village enjoys is only because people like Yukari make absolutely sure that the delicate balance that allows Gensokyo to exist is maintained. This balance requires that the human village is "threatened" enough that their fear perpetuates the existence of monsters and magic, but still "safe" enough that they don't start trying to mount serious youkai extermination campaigns. This is the very reason that incidents and the Spellcard rules exist, because before those were established the youkai of Gensokyo were growing weaker and weaker because the human village was completely off-limits and the humans were growing complacent.
If anyone would be aware of this key facet of Gensokyo's existence, it would be Akyuu, and it's very likely much of the Perfect Memento was written with this in mind. The humans are absolutely going to believe what's written in it, because Akyuu is one of their most trusted members. They also don't see youkai as people, for obvious reasons, and have no reason to criticize it for being "biased." They don't exactly have access to limitless information like we do, and can't be bothered to fact check everything they hear. What, are they gonna risk leaving the safety of the village to visit Yuuka at her house and find out for themselves just how dangerous she is? No, they're going to take whatever the highly respected Hieda girl says as trustworthy and go on with their lives.
Danger Level: Extreme
Friendliness to Humans: WorstI read the Perfect Memento.How did she observe this extremely dangerous youkai?When you wrote the Perfect Memento, did you ever directly talk with Kazami Yuuka?Is that it?Did you just decide to do that without talking?Hieda no Akyuu.Like a new butterfly knows how to fly, or a chick breaks through its egg's shell, without being taught, she left the mansion.
Her powers she now had control of no longer withered plants.
On the contrary, she could restore withered flowers back to life.
She could now control her power.
She could now keep from recklessly hurting others.
But she was still just as lonely as before.She had become too powerful.
Because of her power, she was a target for youkai that loved battle, and she fought them.
And humans saw this, and told others of how terrifying she was.
And so, it was written in that book.From when I first read this description, I had doubts.
