Not a big fan of how this portrays Megumu potentially stronger than Momoyo while also having every other advantage and essentially taking pity on her in a way. Really downplays Momoyo solely to make Megumu look better
Not a big fan of how this portrays Megumu potentially stronger than Momoyo while also having every other advantage and essentially taking pity on her in a way. Really downplays Momoyo solely to make Megumu look better
Why wouldn't Megumu stronger than Momoyo? The legend and popularity of the divine daitengu Megumu is based on suggest she's not just a mere tengu or lesser god. On the other hand, while Momoyo is strong and legendary herself I don't think she's so far above, considering the dragons her legend suggest might not be the same as how dragons are in current Touhou setting.
Why wouldn't Megumu stronger than Momoyo? The legend and popularity of the divine daitengu Megumu is based on suggest she's not just a mere tengu or lesser god. On the other hand, while Momoyo is strong and legendary herself I don't think she's so far above, considering the dragons her legend suggest might not be the same as how dragons are in current Touhou setting.
Well, one is a battle junkie dragon eater, and the other is middle management
Well, one is a battle junkie dragon eater, and the other is middle management
I feel that it's a bit odd to try and downplay Megumu. She (well, Iizuna-daigongen, I mean) is historically considered one of the 8 Great Tengu of Japan (and the rank of Tenma doesn't really exist as such), so especially if the artist is clearly drawing inspiration from those historical sources as Hisona always does, it's not unfair to assume she is (and was before Gensokyo) one of the most powerful tengu in the world. Meanwhile, both this story and Momoyo's canon profile specifically make it clear that she might not have eaten a dragon in her life.
However, putting that aside, I'm not sure whether I should say that turning this into a power level argument is totally missing the point of the story, or just proving it. (You can take that as a bad faith "gotcha" argument if you want, I know it sounds like one.) If you hate a story on principle for emphasizing this sense of a power imbalance, well, you do you, but Momoyo feeling uncomfortable about it is literally what the story is about. Not literal combat power - she believes herself to be Megumu's equal there, not that she wants to fight her - but how much "better" and more radiant Megumu appears in her eyes, and how Megumu doesn't realize she feels this way.
Furthermore, youkai being slave to human imagination prior to the barrier going up is a central theme of the story. If Megumu is more powerful than Momoyo, it's only because humans started to think she is, regardless of what she wanted. Depending on interpretation, she may either see this authority as a burden, or that same belief may even have helped "brainwash" her into acting as supposedly noble as she does. Meanwhile, the one time Momoyo got a big power boost due to human belief, it only made her lash out against her will and be glad that the power was sealed away (again making the power level argument feel kinda pointless). It's even heavily implied that only at that point did she start to manufacture memories of dragon-eating; Megumu tries, and seemingly mostly succeeds, in stopping her from going down that slippery slope.
The point at the end of the story is that even after human belief started to come between them - first by altering their power levels, next by making Momoyo want to eat Megumu - in Gensokyo, they can be equals like they wholeheartedly want to be, and physical or social power doesn't mean shit in that. There's no sign of Megumu considering herself Momoyo's superior or taking pity on her in any way, even when affected by belief. She admires and loves Momoyo (in whatever sense of the word), and only hates the things that try to separate them.
Of course, this might be completely missing your point, if it's just that you dislike Momoyo being portrayed as potentially weaker than Megumu regardless of the artist's excuse. But in that case, I can't really wrap my head around why you care about that anyway. It'd be one thing if the story was even remotely trying to humiliate Momoyo or something, which it pretty clearly isn't.
I feel that it's a bit odd to try and downplay Megumu. She (well, Iizuna-daigongen, I mean) is historically considered one of the 8 Great Tengu of Japan (and the rank of Tenma doesn't really exist as such), so especially if the artist is clearly drawing inspiration from those historical sources as Hisona always does, it's not unfair to assume she is (and was before Gensokyo) one of the most powerful tengu in the world. Meanwhile, both this story and Momoyo's canon profile specifically make it clear that she might not have eaten a dragon in her life.
However, putting that aside, I'm not sure whether I should say that turning this into a power level argument is totally missing the point of the story, or just proving it. (You can take that as a bad faith "gotcha" argument if you want, I know it sounds like one.) If you hate a story on principle for emphasizing this sense of a power imbalance, well, you do you, but Momoyo feeling uncomfortable about it is literally what the story is about. Not literal combat power - she believes herself to be Megumu's equal there, not that she wants to fight her - but how much "better" and more radiant Megumu appears in her eyes, and how Megumu doesn't realize she feels this way.
A simple way of looking at it is that Megumu is "the dragon" and Momoyo is "the thing that eats dragons." She isn't "omukade," she is defined only when the "dragon" comes into the picture.
Furthermore, youkai being slave to human imagination prior to the barrier going up is a central theme of the story. If Megumu is more powerful than Momoyo, it's only because humans started to think she is, regardless of what she wanted. Depending on interpretation, she may either see this authority as a burden, or that same belief may even have helped "brainwash" her into acting as supposedly noble as she does. Meanwhile, the one time Momoyo got a big power boost due to human belief, it only made her lash out against her will and be glad that the power was sealed away (again making the power level argument feel kinda pointless). It's even heavily implied that only at that point did she start to manufacture memories of dragon-eating; Megumu tries, and seemingly mostly succeeds, in stopping her from going down that slippery slope.
The point at the end of the story is that even after human belief started to come between them - first by altering their power levels, next by making Momoyo want to eat Megumu - in Gensokyo, they can be equals like they wholeheartedly want to be, and physical or social power doesn't mean shit in that. There's no sign of Megumu considering herself Momoyo's superior or taking pity on her in any way, even when affected by belief. She admires and loves Momoyo (in whatever sense of the word), and only hates the things that try to separate them.
Of course, this might be completely missing your point, if it's just that you dislike Momoyo being portrayed as potentially weaker than Megumu regardless of the artist's excuse. But in that case, I can't really wrap my head around why you care about that anyway. It'd be one thing if the story was even remotely trying to humiliate Momoyo or something, which it pretty clearly isn't.
The problem imo is that it's too one-sided. Momoyo is never given anything of her own in the story. She barely even exists outside of Megumu because she doesn't really remember much about anything before the story is presented to the reader. Momoyo exists just to be a problem for Megumu and for Megumu to be magnanimous in not seeing her that way. Momoyo feels that Megumu is radiant, which is fine, but the author also portrays her as radiant. I don't feel that there's any real sign of Megumu admiring Momoyo, though she does like her. There's almost no humanizing of Megumu beyond the fact that it's said she doesn't have many friends; outside of that, she's initially powerful, gets more powerful, and moves up in society. She's a Superman figure that neither Momoyo nor the reader ever really sees the human side of.
Megumu is the "dragon" and Momoyo is the "dragon eater," not the "omukade." Without the "dragon" she's nothing.
A concession that Momoyo is the stronger one is essentially just the very least that she can be given. It would also make Megumu's decision to let her stay and potentially endanger the tengu society much more impactful if defeating Momoyo wasn't something that she could do by herself.
Could you clarify what that's supposed to be for the uninformed?
It's the result of the 2023 Touhou popularity poll, 101 being Momoyo's position. I guess he implies, hopefully in jest, that this doujin tanked her popularity.
It's the result of the 2023 Touhou popularity poll, 101 being Momoyo's position. I guess he implies, hopefully in jest, that this doujin tanked her popularity.
Right. Because that's the only thing that could have influenced that.
