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hakurei reimu, kirisame marisa, izayoi sakuya, kochiya sanae, alice margatroid, and 3 more (touhou and 1 more) drawn by sama_samasa

Artist's commentary

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    第9回東方シリーズ人気投票ネタまとめ

    本日の結果発表（http://v.thwiki.info/vote9/result_char.html）を受けてさっそく描きました。今回の順位もネタ満載でしたね　　　■（追記）個人的に早苗を本気でdisる意図はありません。不快に思われた方がいたらすみません。あくまでネタとして楽しんでいただければ幸いです。

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    Owmyhead
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    FJH said:
    Look how far that kind of status got Meiling.

    Meiling is an actual joke character though. Sanae still has a way to go before she hits that point.

    And Meiling only got as far as she did because she's connected to so many other popular characters.

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    • Owmyhead
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    Clem_Tufts said:
    Hisoutensoku largely killed that assumption.

    Are you kidding? It freaking CEMENTED it. They give her a whole scenario to herself, and it ends up as "lol it was all just a dream". She's also low-tier as hell in the fighters, though she does have probably the most impressive combos. Probably makes for a good representation of her in canon frankly...

    Clem_Tufts said:
    Meiling is moe. Hence her popularity.

    Oh please.

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    • Clem Tufts
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    Owmyhead said:
    Are you kidding? It freaking CEMENTED it. They give her a whole scenario to herself, and it ends up as "lol it was all just a dream".

    It put the lie to the whole "China, lol" thing. Hisoutensoku showed that Meiling is actually a valued member of the SDM family. Furthermore, her scenario and ending demonstrated her courage, nobility and thirst for adventure.

    though she does have probably the most impressive combos. Probably makes for a good representation of her in canon frankly...

    Beauty is victory.

    Oh please.

    Explain all the pro-Meiling fanart and doujinshi. Her laid-back amiability is just part of her charm.

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    • Owmyhead
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    Clem_Tufts said:
    It put the lie to the whole "China, lol" thing. Hisoutensoku showed that Meiling is actually a valued member of the SDM family. Furthermore, her scenario and ending demonstrated her courage, nobility and thirst for adventure.

    It was a dream sequence you silly goof. It has all the typical sort of "I'm so amazingly awesome" bits that are characteristic of them as well. And I fail to see how it proves anything about her being a valued member of the SDM, considering they beat her awake and toss her back outside once they decide she's slept long enough.

    Every official appearance she actually manages to get just further solidifies her place as being canon comedic relief.

    Clem_Tufts said:
    Explain all the pro-Meiling fanart and doujinshi. Her laid-back amiability is just part of her charm.

    I probably should've explained that better. The "Oh please" was more along the lines of "Oh please, she's hardly the only 'moe' character in the cast".

    Honestly, I love Meiling just as much as the next guy, probably more. But I'm able to work past my personal bias to recognize this stuff, and just keep liking her anyway.

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    • Clem Tufts
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    Owmyhead said:

    Watch Meiling's ending again and pay attention to Patchouli and Sakuya's conversation. They were actually very empathetic, and "beat her awake" (Meiling fell asleep on duty, remember) only after bringing her into the library and letting her sleep.

    In addition, it's unlikely that Meiling would take such pride in being "the Great Wall of the Scarlet Devil Mansion" and proclaim that she "loves Gensokyo with all her heart", in a dream or otherwise, if everyone treated her like garbage. See also http://en.touhouwiki.net/wiki/Hong_Meiling#Relationships.

    Then there's the conclusion of her ending:
    Ultimately, she woke up before she defeated Taisui Xingjun. But there was something that made her uneasy. She saw something like Taisui Xingjun. That was not a dream. The most malicious, most brutal youkai, undefeatable even in one's own dreams. Meiling, who was forced to retreat from battle, could not remember what it looked like. Perhaps someday, a youkai as fearsome will appear in Gensokyo. Perhaps, when it does appear, all of Gensokyo's youkai will band together to fight it. "For everyone's sake, I will fight on the front line," Meiling confirmed to herself.

    Meiling is a battle-blooded badass. Deal with it.

    I probably should've explained that better. The "Oh please" was more along the lines of "Oh please, she's hardly the only 'moe' character in the cast".

    You suggested that Meiling "being connected to so many other popular characters" was the sole reason for her rather high ranking. I replied that Meiling's popularity is genuine, then pointed out evidence to support this.

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    • Clem Tufts
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    Shin-Houin said:
    @ Clem Tufts

    > Meiling is a battle-blooded badass. Deal with it.

    You almost sounds like someone who says "Naruto is badass", or "Touma is badass", "Shirou is badass" or anything along those lines

    I thankfully don't know who most of those are, but I do apologize

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    • Owmyhead
    [hidden]

    Clem_Tufts said:
    Watch Meiling's ending again and pay attention to Patchouli and Sakuya's conversation. They were actually very empathetic, and "beat her awake" (Meiling fell asleep on duty, remember) only after bringing her into the library and letting her sleep.

    Don't put "beat her awake" in quotations like I made it up, that's literally the line that's used during her ending. And they hardly seemed empathetic, Patchouli was more annoyed by the whole situation than anything, and Sakuya was just kinda shrugging it off like it was a normal occurrence. Then, after deciding they want to go out, they just smack her awake and put her back out front.

    Clem_Tufts said:
    In addition, it's unlikely that Meiling would take such pride in being "the Great Wall of the Scarlet Devil Mansion" and proclaim that she "loves Gensokyo with all her heart", in a dream or otherwise, if everyone treated her like garbage.

    I never said they treated her like garbage. I frankly hate that portrayal as much as anyone else.

    Clem_Tufts said:
    Spoilers, Meiling is a battle-blooded badass. Deal with it.

    Well she's certainly proud of the work she does and is the type to throw herself into a dangerous situation for others' sake without a second thought. How much that would actually accomplish in that theoretical scenario is dubious...

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    • Clem Tufts
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    Owmyhead said:
    Don't put "beat her awake" in quotations like I made it up, that's literally the line that's used during her ending.

    I know, I should have been clearer on what I was quoting.

    And they hardly seemed empathetic, Patchouli was more annoyed by the whole situation than anything, and Sakuya was just kinda shrugging it off like it was a normal occurrence.

    Patchy and Sakuya's conversation showed genuine concern for Meiling, in a way that is consistent with their usual poise. Also, the fact that they brought the sleeping Meiling into the library in the first place speaks volumes.

    Then, after deciding they want to go out, they just smack her awake and put her back out front.

    She's the gatekeeper, and she fell asleep on duty.

    How much that would actually accomplish in that theoretical scenario is dubious...

    Who knows? It's still an unusually stirring ending for a "joke character". It's an unusually stirring ending for canon Touhou, even.

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    • Gigawatt5
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    I dunno about the fans' perception but I'm pretty sure Soku made emphasis on Meiling's status as a joke character more than any other canon source ever did, what with the whole cliche ''I must defend this land from evil etc. etc.'' and the whole fact that it was a dream, that scene almost made it look like a joke 4koma.

    Let the fans believe what they want to I guess, not like it hurts, unless they try to smash it on others' faces.

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    • YuriTenshi
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    AeusValiance said:
    It's like she is #1, and we would love to donate to her.

    Aye, let's face it. If we suddenly found ourselves in Gensoukyo, one of the things most of us would want to do is go donate at Reimu's shrine. In influx of touhou fans to Gensoukyo would be one of the best things that ever happened to her.

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    • Neo X
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    Shin-Houin said:
    @ Clem Tufts

    > Meiling is a battle-blooded badass. Deal with it.

    You almost sounds like someone who says "Naruto is badass", or "Touma is badass", "Shirou is badass" or anything along those lines

    You mean that it is based on the opinion of the few people that pays attention to the shows, then yes, I fully agree with you... although I don't know who the heck shirou is.

    nice_starship said:
    I had gotten the impression she fell asleep in the library?

    Why hasn't anyone mentioned what a nice autumn it is?

    A nice autumn indeed... The Aki sisters really needs more love!

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    • StriderTuna
    [hidden]

    Tasafro are infamous fans of joke Meiling though the ending to her scenario shows Sakuya and Patchouli being concerned for her.

    Meiling's style in Soku is more counter hit-leaning and while not as easy modo as say early SWR Aya, isn't a complete joke. Alice is generally an absurdly high effort for moderate payoff character yet no one gives her flak about that.

    Meiling is basically the underdog of the SDM as if one looks on certain sites, you'd find she gets overshadowed in favor of almost any other SDM Resident (the only exception would be Koakuma)

    On the matter of Sanae, I get the impression the recent games are trying to compensate for Sanae's rookie status, sometimes to an obnoxious extent considering how unlike every major incident solver, Sanae's a rank newbie to this. Maybe she isn't a joke, but I doubt she actaully gets the same level of respect as the other playables. That isn't to say people don't like her, though the reasons may be tied to how well she fills out her shirt and maybe her hobbies (the whole UFO/Mecha otaku thing I felt was a tad forced)

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