Logically? How's this:

Marisa think of herself too low. She compared her stated against Patchouli who has lived for over 100 years and Alice who is a genius doll master magician. But Marisa failed to see that she at such young age and not gifted in magic yet with hard work alone has managed to put her in par with both magicians.

She copied their spells which make her quality of original magics are lesser than both magician, yes it's true. But considering her age, her sociable personality, and the broad area of studies Marisa has taken, I bet there is no spare time to sit back and write down any new magic devices. Also plagiarism is a bad context only limited to education and certain area of art. In combat term, one must strive to evolve and adapt with surroundings in order to survive. Which is why the essentiality of espionage for intelligence gathering is essential.

Alice said every person aspiring to be a magician (in Gensokyo at least) must past this inferiority complex at one stage. Isn't this a proof that Marisa's studious diligence and hard work have paid off? It's evidenced by how much a young normal girl can reach this state.

Lastly, for Reimu... Well, she's the shrine maiden. Marisa has other qualities that outbested her. Didn't she realized how much friends she has gathered and worried her to death?

Marisa lacks perseverance. But she's only a frail young girl who's tried too hard for her sake, so it can't be helped.

Mr.Obake said:
Logically? How's this:

Marisa think of herself too low. She compared her stated against Patchouli who has lived for over 100 years and Alice who is a genius doll master magician. But Marisa failed to see that she at such young age and not gifted in magic yet with hard work alone has managed to put her in par with both magicians.

She copied their spells which make her quality of original magics are lesser than both magician, yes it's true. But considering her age, her sociable personality, and the broad area of studies Marisa has taken, I bet there is no spare time to sit back and write down any new magic devices. Also plagiarism is a bad context only limited to education and certain area of art. In combat term, one must strive to evolve and adapt with surroundings in order to survive. Which is why the essentiality of espionage for intelligence gathering is essential.

Alice said every person aspiring to be a magician (in Gensokyo at least) must past this inferiority complex at one stage. Isn't this a proof that Marisa's studious diligence and hard work have paid off? It's evidenced by how much a young normal girl can reach this state.

Lastly, for Reimu... Well, she's the shrine maiden. Marisa has other qualities that outbested her. Didn't she realized how much friends she has gathered and worried her to death?

Marisa lacks perseverance. But she's only a frail young girl who's tried too hard for her sake, so it can't be helped.

I read the entire post, and not to insult you or anything. But to refer to logic in the state of affairs with emotions, is like trying to make sense of why people stay together in a abusive relationship. Marisa wants Alice to make sense of the irrationality of love, since it is irrational. At least that is what I can currently infer from this text.

NakanoHitori said:
I read the entire post, and not to insult you or anything. But to refer to logic in the state of affairs with emotions, is like trying to make sense of why people stay together in a abusive relationship. Marisa wants Alice to make sense of the irrationality of love, since it is irrational. At least that is what I can currently infer from this text.

And my understanding is Marisa thought Alice is taking advantage of her acute stress depression through manipulation of kind words and sympathy. This psychological manipulation is a root of cult problem in Japan, with victim are those who is in great distress (marital/family problem most commonly) similar to Marisa.

Hence I think she doesn't want to hear such emotional support and rather to hear real facts.

Here's my armchair psychology take on it:

Marisa is naturally boisterous and cocky. This might've been a front for crippling self-doubt and such, or perhaps a need for being the center of attention. Being a teenager, she probably thinks that she is invincible/unstoppable AND is the Yama's Magical Girl Gift to Gensokyo; her exploits with Reimu only cemented this. After all, not many can claim that they went toe-to-toe with the likes of Yukari, Yuyuko, and even Okuu and defeated them. This in turn reinforced Marisa's already probably inflated ego.

Now she's encountering something that is very difficult and can't be blasted away by a well-timed Master Spark. Either she pushed herself too hard too quickly, or she suddenly realized that this path would be very difficult, no matter how many godlike opponents she's bested in danmaku. There's also the very big possibility that she may fail, which is something that she hasn't experienced many times before; to make it worse, she may fail at something that really weeds out the mundane chaff from the real magicians (which is a HUGE part of her gig! She's the Regular Western Magician or something like that). Marisa is not accustomed to failure, especially with matters that carry this level of significance; she's used to accomplishing things within a few days or even hours with plenty of flair and charm to spare.

Now confronted by the possibility of a failure of epic proportions (in her mind), she FLIPS THE SHIT OUT. But instead of going FUCK YA'LL IMMA WIZZARD and blustering through the test like so many hot-blooded anime protagonists, her ego collapses. With the only major pillar in her psyche knocked out from under her, she does the only thing that dumb emotional teenagers do in truly tough situations: she tries to kill herself.

And she fails! She claims not to want anyone's pity, but she seems to like the taste of her own well enough. Her ego is also bruised but also in full swing; she doesn't turn away guests or spend a lot of time in solitude to think on her past actions, she pulls any well-wishers to her and then shits all over them (figuratively). Her sense of self-importance demands that EVERYONE ELSE MUST ALSO BE LIKE ME (DEPRESSING DOWNERVILLE; POPULATION: ME AND THE REST OF YOU PLEBES). As a result, she's making everyone enraged at her when she needs them the most (and also providing a treasure trove of UMAD? reaction faces).

All of this is somewhat excusable because Marisa's a teenager and therefore dumb and emotional. Over time, she'll probably realize how melodramatic she's being, and realize the insanity of attempting to compare yourself to others in order to derive self-satisfaction. And also that she can just complete the magician's rituals to become functionally immortal and become a mage the same way every other non-prodigy does: through hard work and a lot of time investiture.

Danbooru: philosophers and psychologists.

ExecutorBill said:
<Wall of Text>

Seriously, that was a nice one. You have my respect.

tl;dr
nobody is a psychologist here so pseudo-intelectuals should gtfo

In my opinion, Marisa is sure to be one of the most respectable characters in Touhou. She works harder than probably anyone(especially Reimu)to get to where she is now although she may not show it. Her power in Canon is quite a lot, compared to the other characters. Compared to other people, especially Reimu, whose power comes from pure talent, Marisa's power comes from hard work. That alone really deserves a lot of respect. At least from me.

Allaire said:

Danbooru: philosophers and psychologists.

Well, we are all here because we are under the influence of Otaku culture, where almost everything about psychology and philosophy are gathered.