u/ostrichsolar

strap in folks because… haha

I have a lot to say. A LOT. In my opinion, there’s a frequent mischaracterisation and flanderisation of Shinmyoumaru in the fandom (yes, she IS a cute smol bean but she’s so much more than that and I want some recognition for her different sides), and why I personally adore how her dynamic with Seija is written. I would not say they are canonically friends. It’s so much more nuanced than that but their dynamic is not as toxic and abusive as a lot of people say it is. so I’m gonna be going very into depth in terms of my thoughts on Shinmy as well as their relationship dynamic.

As a reminder before I kickstart the long rant, this is just 1 person’s opinion and understanding of the characters based on canon material. feel free to disagree, just don’t be an ass.

The Amanojaku: Seija Kijin

I don’t have much to add here because I think most fanon portrayals of her are pretty on point to her canon self. She is a malicious, unrepentant, spiteful asshole that always going against others just for a hell of it. without a doubt, she represents true chaotic evil.

There is a lot of headcanons and discussion that can be made about her amanojaku nature though, which is probably one of the most interesting things to discuss. I personally interpret her amanojaku tendencies as an extreme compulsion that defies all logic, common sense and to a large extent basic self-preservation (As seen in ISC, she literally gets warned multiple times about how much the odds are against her and Mamizou points out she’s at risk of being absolutely destroyed by the dominant forces of Gensokyo like the Tengu if she keeps going, yet she just keeps going anyway out of sheer stubbornness. That imo reflects the strength of her compulsion.)

Seija will always stand against societal order and rules in favour of chaos, because arguably that is the core of who she is: she’s a trickster who just wants to see people miserable and suffering because that‘s the only way she’ll be happy. She’s anti-society fundamentally and she cannot coexist with anybody because as long as there’s any kind of rules for people’s wellbeing she’ll go out of her damn way to flip them over. That’s who she is. she’s fucking awful and that’s why I hate her *cough cough*

However, just because that’s the case doesn’t mean she is completely incapable of liking others. It’s stated in the DDC omake that she dislikes what “MOST“ people like and likes what “MOST” people dislike. in other words, she’s different from Koishi. Koishi is a true blank slate whose personality is determined by whoever’s around her. That’s not the case here. Seija has likes and dislikes, and a much stronger sense of identity, showing a lot of pride in being an amanojaku. She isn’t simply the opposite of whoever is around her in the moment, as she shows very consistent character traits like being ambitious, hating on strong ones at the top of the societal hierarchy and having a thieving habit. You could say that she’s not genuine about wanting to help the weak, but when you think of it even post-DDC, in Grimoire of Usami, she remains generally consistent in her stated ideology, if only because strong youkai are the dominant force in Gensokyo and by nature Seija’s always rejecting the “mainstream”, rebelling for the sake of it. “The strong ruling over the weak is absolute“ is the mainstream, accepted norm of Gensokyo to maintain balance, and arguably that is what Seija aims to reject simply because everyone else is on board with it.

That also means that as long as the current societal structure and status quo is maintained, Seija will always side with the weak. She might drastically change up her tune if the weak ruled Gensokyo instead one day, but as of now that is an impossible occurrence especially with her revolution being foiled.

It hasn’t stopped her from stabbing her supposed weakling allies in the back because being a fraud and backstabbing people is what amanojaku do, but canon material has now confirmed that she does genuinely like Shinmy. (Source: Strange Creators of Outer World/Who’s Who of Humans and Youkai/Seija and Shinmy’s profiles)

• my apologies, idk how to insert images but you can find the articles on the Touhou wiki

Not to the extent that she’ll give up on her lying, cheating and stealing ways for her sake, but still. In Grimoire of Usami Seija does briefly monologue about stealing the Miracle Mallet again to help Clownpiece cause more chaos. She truly never learns.

Now we move on to…

The Inchling Princess: Shinmyoumaru Sukuna

We love Shinmy. Yes, we do. But you have to consider that from an in-universe perspective, Shinmy is an existence that is objectively not favoured. The dwellers of Gensokyo have always favoured individuals who possess a lot of power, and many named characters are constantly interested in gaining more of it even if it means antagonising or being in competition with other factions. Very few characters care about appearances in Gensokyo. To many of us, we love her because she’s a cutie, but canonically, Shinmyoumaru is “just an inchling” that is powerless and is frequently looked down. By that definition, Shinmy IS unpopular. She is often viewed as simply subservient to others stronger than her, insignificant and not taken seriously. She is not seen as someone with her own agency, desires or ambitions, but someone who can be easily used and ignored. (Funnily, that view of her is reflected in the fanon, with how much people infantilise her and see her as nothing but an innocent weak lil cutie getting one sidedly manipulated by Seija the big bad).

For all of the above reasons, you would be able to understand why Shinmy wants so badly to be bigger, why she has an inferiority complex, and why she is so desperate for power. She’s one of those characters who are easier to empathise annd understand with in the context of the worldbuilding. Her character is effectively a metaphor. when Reimu confronts her in DDC, she points out that “those born into power would never understand”. you can see that even back in DDC, she’s always understood how being weak put her at a disadvantage, and she wanted more power. And here’s the thing, nobody really cares or understands how it’s like to be in her shoes. But her character makes a lot of sense. I have seen people saying ”Shinmyoumaru is actually a bad person, and Grimoire of Usami proves that”, “Shinmyoumaru is gullible, makes bad decisions to hang out with bullies like Seija and Tenshi and always getting manipulated”, and “Shinmyoumaru is nothing but pure and innocent and must be protected” and while all of these have a grain of truth to it, I’ve always felt that they lack critical nuance. The question is: if you were Shinmyoumaru, what would you do in her shoes? Would you just do nothing and accept your place in society even if it means a life of being insignificant, small, and constantly playing the victim in the face of greater threats, at the mercy of others’ every whim?

for that reason It is important to understand why she chose to accept Seija’s proposition to start a revolution. It’s true that Seija lied to her in order to get her going so to speak, but objectively speaking if the revolution had succeeded, it would have been in her own best interest as well. Shinmyoumaru is very much aware of this. Even in ISC, her dialogue with Seija shows her expressing that it’s *a shame* for her that the revolution can’t work out anymore. one could say she became friends with Reimu after DDC, but a more cynical interpretation is that she failed to defeat Reimu and was forced to accept her fate even if it meant being kept in a cage. That she really had no choice but to surrender to Gensokyo’s youkai to keep living and avoid being hunted down like Seija. To me it always read like she would have simply preferred a scenario where she and Seija won. She’s not particularly hostile to Seija in ISC either, just asking her to return what was stolen and even offering to surrender together.

Arguably, deep down there was always a part of her who wants the revolution just as much if not even more than Seija does. That’s why in Grimoire of Usami, she is the one recruiting Seija to ruin Reimu’s danmaku festival. I’ve seen that there are people who think that this action of Shinmy’s is also because Seija’s manipulation but like….? my girl made the whole plan herself from scratch, from recruiting everyone, figuring out the timing to crash the festival, and Seija was recruited at the very final stage of her plan not knowing anything beforehand. Guys it’s about time we give Shinmy her flowers and the credit she deserves. she does have agency and desires, the whole point of her character is that she has a big attitude because she refuses to be nothing more than a weakling that’s looked down on and ignored. She HAS a strong personality and has always had grit and spunk. She’s proven that she can be a co-conspirator and a chaos gremlin on her own terms if she wants to. It’s because she has a genuine desire for change, not just contrarian bullshit.

I would personally go as far as to argue that from Shinmyoumaru’s perspective, she’s never really took to heart the fact that Seija lied to her. In the Strange Creators of Outer World cross reviews and Grimoire of Usami, she shows a lot more understanding of the way Seija is, even making jabs at her amanojaku nature. Hell, she even observes that Seija is using double sarcasm in Grimoire of Usami, and calls out Seija for trying to be amanojaku with her which forces Seija to admit that she agrees with her opinion that the festival is boring. She’s got the people skills to handle Seija, honestly. Post-DDC Shinmy is very aware of the fact that Seija is constantly lying. Yet we never see her make a big deal out of it, because arguably Shinmy already knows what her priorities are.

Also, Napoleon complex or not, GoU proves Shinmy is charismatic enough to convince youkai to rally behind her, and passionate enough to make her arguments known, so she's more like a leader than a loner. SEIJA COULD NEVER BTW, considering Seija by nature drives away all her allies. (and I do adore Seija but i’ve had enough of people underrating Shinmy to emphasise how much more metal Seija is). Even Okina points out Shinmy attracts people when it’s Shinmy’s turn to get up there and show off her (although she muses if the Miracle Mallet has got a part to play in it). she’s got a skill for finding allies.

SO finishing off this part? Yep, Shinmy is a pure smol bean. She must be protected. But she’s also got so much more personality?? she’s genuinely passionate about improving her own station in life and I wish for genuine Shinmy appreciation that isn’t just the atrocity that is Shinmy abuse. I swear that part of fandom is more abusive to Shinmy than Seija ever was in canon.

I ended up writing a lot and I still have more to say on their dynamic but I feel like that’s enough for one post, so lets just call this part 1. if people actually like this brainrot, I’ll post part 2.

I did want To post source images to back up some of my points in this post but I didn’t know how to insert images using a link.