Gotta run for at least a couple of hours. I'll try to wind up these last couple of pages tonight if I've still got the energy, tomorrow morning if I don't.
I'm grinning like a loon. Whole book I was thinking "Oh, goody, it's this story again. Come on, Karaagetarou, you're better than this" and I'd bet I wasn't the only one. Bravo!
I guess I don't read enough of this stuff, as I didn't catch a hint of unoriginality in it while I was reading.
I think Zaku Zelo meant to imply that, up until this page, he was thinking, "Oh, joy, another story about Mokou having to deal with the bittersweet results of outliving Keine." Then he got to this page, realized the story wasn't what he'd thought it was, and applauded the author.
Mind you, even if this HAD been a straightforward "tragedy of long life" story, I think the whole "collection of notes/memories" approach would still have lent it a new flair.
Nah, there's nothing sweet about that scenario. It's just plain bitter and doesn't suit touhou's atmosphere at all.
Have to disagree there; though Mokou here (and by extension we the readers, what with her being the viewpoint character) has an unusual perspective on it, the passing of old friends with time is a natural thing and not in and of itself a tragedy. Furthermore if it had been a post-Keine story, it still would have had an unusual flavor; most of those focus on the survivor grieving the death of the lost, this has her celebrating their life with a memorial composed of happy reminiscences. Hell, I'd call that more sweet than bitter even. That said, it would be somewhat more melancholy (or maybe a better word would be "wistful") than standard Touhou fair, I hardly think it'd be a poisonous flavor.
Have to disagree there; though Mokou here (and by extension we the readers, what with her being the viewpoint character) has an unusual perspective on it, the passing of old friends with time is a natural thing and not in and of itself a tragedy. Furthermore if it had been a post-Keine story, it still would have had an unusual flavor; most of those focus on the survivor grieving the death of the lost, this has her celebrating their life with a memorial composed of happy reminiscences. Hell, I'd call that more sweet than bitter even. That said, it would be somewhat more melancholy (or maybe a better word would be "wistful") than standard Touhou fair, I hardly think it'd be a poisonous flavor.
Indeed. I would have to say, if this WERE a Post-Keine story, the way it was depicted here...none of it would EVER fit in the "Tragedy of Long Life" pool. It was so much more of...Mokou enjoying the reminisces of the past and enjoying her memories with Keine. The times where she found out she was trolled by Tewi. The times where she was discovering about more purposes of food than to sustain the body. Especially the time when she found Keine trolled her when she'd discovered the Keine-Box and put Mokou's portrait of her in the box. She was laughing for her remembering, not grieving. Which would have certainly been an awesome way to actually end the story there, but then Karaagetarou had to go and troll us in a completely different awesome way. And we loved it. :)
Nah, there's nothing sweet about that scenario. It's just plain bitter and doesn't suit touhou's atmosphere at all.
Well, try asking some grandmas or grandpas having lost their partner in life already. They will most likely think of stuff like "it was a good ride" people always say at the end of something, rather than breaking down in sorrow.
For my part, everything up to now indicated that Keine was, just like she said, "busy on full-moon nights", for somewhat obvious reasons (after all, it's only in her were-hakutaku form she creates history). Even the very first note was "Now working". So I have to agree that if you read something else into this, you've either been consuming a lot of maudlin MokoKene, or are paranoid in your attempts to spot stings in the tail before they happen.
