Can someone answer this lore question for me? How can Koishi persist in her existence if youkai require conscious acknowledgment and awareness from humans to sustain themselves? Koishi is largely outside ordinary perception yet she isn't vanishing into nonexistence somehow.
>>51172359Koiwho? Sorry, I'm not aware of a character by that name.
Can she exist because of the general acknowledgement of satoris as a species?People don't know about Koishi, but the existence of Koishi is possible within the context of the world human consciousness created.Does that make sense? Am I retarded?
>>51172565I'd say that's a solid answer. Youkai don't exist because of belief in their individual, but because of belief in their species. Kappa are feared as a type, therefore Nitori exists as an instance of kappa. It didn't need to be Nitori specifically, but there needed to be kappa and we got Nitori. Koishi is the same way; just more abnormal. Abnormality is common among youkai, though. They don't need to strictly follow their species egregore.
>>51172359Dunno
Touhou lore sux
>>51172359Wasn't Koishi's existence made known through Akyuu's records or something?
>>51172359Her sister knows she exists, and everyone else remenbers her because they know she's Satori's sister.Truth be told it feels like one of those things ZUN just forgot about
>>51172359dumbass, she still eat outsider humans like any other youkai, that's recognition enough
>>51172359Don't even think about it. She certainly doesn't.
>>51172565>Can she exist because of the general acknowledgement of satoris as a species?This is how youkai work in general. It's something people often misunderstand about how Youkai exist, and is also why the hypothetical question of "If Youkai are so strong, why don't they just show themselves to the world?" doesn't work.Youkai don't exist because an individual believes in each of them. Youkai exist because people believe in the origin of the concept of their species existence. This is one of the main differences between Gods and Youkai.Gods are incorporeal, behaviorless but existent soup that inhabit something, a concept, an object, whatever. They are given form, power, and an actual personality once said thing is worshipped enough. A god's existence and power is determined by the belief in the individual god. Once a God is forgotten, the concept or object they inhabit don't really cease to exist, they just lose power and personality. It makes sense, because the source of their personalities' existence itself is the individual worship.A youkai is different. Youkai didn't exist before humans misunderstood the natural world, and were thus given pure existence by misunderstanding. Cows dying in mysterious ways? Must be vampires. Echoes in the mountains? Must be Yamabiko. Racoon Dog? Looks weird, must be magical. When individual youkai are forgotten, it literally doesn't matter. What matters is if humans realize that their misunderstanding of the natural world is that: a misunderstanding. It doesn't matter how many people know or doesn't know Mamizou as an individual exist. It does matter, however. if humans realize that racoon dogs aren't actually magical. Because then, the reason why Tanuki exist in the first place exist becomes null and void, and they start to lose existence. Basically, the source of their existence isn't tied to how many people believe in the individual, because how they came to be isn't "I believe Koishi exist, so she exists". Koishi exists because someone thinks "I believe Satori as a species exist, and thus Koishi coincidentally came to be".
>>51190863Actually, even the last part of what I said is slightly off. It's more like, "I believe those monkeys I found in the mountains are magical and their eyes look like they see through me, and can read minds, therefore, Satori exist, and thus, later, Koishi came to be."If people realize those monkeys aren't actually magical, or if people realize that livestock looking sick and bleeding out in the night aren't actually caused by vampires, or if people realize that mountain echoes aren't actually caused by yamabiko, then, at that point, it doesn't even matter if humans know the youkai exist. The misunderstanding is cleared, and that particular species has no reason to exist any longer.It doesn't matter how much you shove Kyouko at me to prove Yamabiko exist. I've figured out mountain echoes are caused by natural, scientific, phenomenon, not magical creatures.
>>51190863>>51190874Koishi is a youkai of the subconscious though, the mind's unconscious processes have hardly been disproven
>>51191671Koishi isn't a "youkai of the subconscious", she's still a satori, race-wise. She was born as one, and just underwent changes. That's like categorizing a human that has Alzheimers as a different species.There are unique cases and races in Touhou that work differently than the generality (unknown race youkai like Yukari, Oni, Tsukumogami) but Koishi isn't one of them.
>>51190691And I'm going to eat her in return
>>51172359Touhou lore is simply bs period.It would've been better if ZUN made it so youkai are an independent existence that evolved alongside humanity.
The central mechanic of belief/fear being instrumental in the yokai's existence reminded me of another story from around the same time about the same thing, will the handsome devil here be the center of an incident in the future?
>>51196543The problem is that if they evolved along side humans then the plot of the outside world forgetting about them would make no sense.
>>51186666quads of truth, zun just forgor>>51192379hot
>>51172359To be fair, you have to have a very high EQ to understand Komeiji Koishi. The humour is extremely subtle, and without a solid grasp of the transcendental realism tenets of psychiatry most of the jokes will go over a typical viewers' psyche. There's also Koishi's arational outlook, which is deftly woven into her characterization of her personal philosophy which draws heavily from German metaphysics, for instance. The fans understand this stuff they have the intellectual capacity to truly appreciate the depths of these jokes, to realize that they're not just funny, they say something deep about LIFE. As a consequence people who dislike Koishi truly ARE idiots of course they wouldn't appreciate, for instance, the humour in Koishi's existential arms flapping, which itself is a cryptic reference to Richard Semon German research on ecphory. I'm smirking right now just imagining one of those addlepated simpletons scratching their heads in confusion as ZUN genius wit unfolds itself on their computer screens. What fools.. How I pity them. And yes, by the way, I DO have a Koishi tattoo. And no, you cannot see it. It's for the satoris' Third Eyes only and even then they have to demonstrate that they're within 5 EQ points of my own (preferably lower) beforehand.
