Horror Movies from Japan - Pt. 2

Hello! I'm back this week with my thoughts on Corpse Party and As the Gods Will. First up, is Corpse Party!

Corpse Party (link)

Game Play-though

It started out pretty dark as the lights were off in the haunted/abandoned school, but came back with some color. It really didn't seem so bad til I saw one of the evil beings murder someone...then I was scared and covering my eyes. Remember, I'm a scaredy cat that has to watch horror movies with the lights on. ^^;

Anyway, It was pretty close to the video game for the most part except that some characters were either replaced or missing from the script which I felt took away from the story. I also will NEVER EVER play Sachiko Ever After. Why? Because I don't want to risk being murdered by a vengeful spirit. 

One thing that I thought was weird was of the five spirits of Tenjin Elementary, one was more of a zombie than ghost. That made the movie 1000% more scary for me. ^^;

There's a post-credit scene, so watch to the end if you plan on seeing this. Japanese level of this movie is pretty advanced, so if you have been out of practice or a beginner, subtitles are your friend. 

If you love seeing guts and brains all over the place, this movie is right up your alley. You can watch the game play-through which is what I prefer over the movie.

As the Gods Will (link)

For my second movie this week, I watched As the Gods Will, based on the manga of the same name, or Kami-sama no Iu Toori (神さまの言うとおり). 

It jumped straight into the action with the heads of high school students exploding in a "game" called Daruma ga Koronda. It seems to be played like Red Light, Green Light except if you're caught moving, off with your head. This is just the opening, too. Aside from Daruma-san, Maneki Neko and some Kokeshi show up to "play" with the students as well. 

I haven't read the manga yet, so I'm lost as to who one of the characters was. There were also quite a few flashbacks that cleared things up, but some things were still confusing. This was pretty awesome, but if I were in the same situation as the main characters, I'm sure I would have died. If you play these games without the death, they could actually be pretty fun.

The Japanese level in this movie is also advanced, so you'll need the subs if you aren't on that level. There's lots of blood and a psycho in this movie, but not as much guts as Corpse Party. I actually was able to watch this without hiding, though Daruma-san is pretty creepy.   

"Perfect" Cherry Blossom Trio! [SUPER Touhou Character Profile!] {Part 3}

Yakumo Yukari

Aww look at that! It's your new little puppy dog. Let's just call him Woofers. He's so adorable, look how sleepy that little doggy is! Don't you just want to pet him? You and Woofers will always be together, no matter what happens! Best friends for life!

But wait, what the heck!? What's wrong with Woofers!? I t ... it looks like he just grew some new "appendages".... poor Woofers!

[Woofers... Before and after.]

That, technically, is Yukari's power. Don't get it? That's the point. Yukari, along with being one of the most mysterious and feared youkai of all existence, is arguably the most powerful being in Gensokyo. And you just upset her shikigami. Are you dumb or what?

Yukari is seen with her favorite parasol, and pinkish-purple dress. She has long blonde hair and purple eyes. A beauty saved for those who forfeit their lives.

You say you want to know more about her power? Fine, you were better off not knowing...

She has the ability to manipulate boundaries.

Huh, you're not impressed? Let's put it this way: what do YOU know of that doesn't have any boundaries or borders? Without boundaries, cups wouldn't be able to hold water, heck, water and air would just mix.


And what would that be? Nothing, that's what.

There would just be NO air and NO water. It would be something new. Something I'd rather not put in my body.


Without boundaries, everything we know would just merge into one gigantic blob of nothingness. And Yukari has flawless control over every boundary imaginable. Without even discussing conceptual boundaries, you should be able to tell how powerful Yukari is.

And along with that, she has ageless wisdom and experience. Her age is AT LEAST 1200 years old. And what does she choose to do with all her time? Sleep. Yes, she's nothing but a lazy youkai. Even though she has the great responsibility of watching over Gensokyo, she just slacks off and has Ran do all the work in her stead.

I know what you're asking. You're still upset about Woofers, aren't you? "Even if she can control boundaries, how could her power do something like THAT?!" you ask. Well, she also has the power to "slip through" gaps in space, going anywhere imaginable. She can move any part of her body to anywhere! She can steal your lunch from right under your nose with one hand while clipping her toenails with another, all while enjoying the view from Mt. Everest in the comfort of her home. And although she can take anything through a gap, no living thing can pass through her gaps unless she herself wills it.

[Gaps usually appear as holes in space, pinned on either side by ribbons.]

I could bore you with the history of Gensokyo, but by now you're probably dying with interest and will find it on your own. And yet you still complain that you don't know what gives Yukari the right to mutate your puppy!? Let's just say this: the power to manipulate boundaries, in essence, creates and/or denies existence. In fact, Gensokyo itself is speculated to be nothing but a plaything to her, created when she messed with the boundary between "real" and "imaginary" (note: "Gensokyo" literally means Land of Illusions). Since Gensokyo was created by placing a boundary between reality and fantasy, Yukari could do away with such a place as "Gensokyo" with the wave of a hand.

[There's a dramatization of the creation of Gensokyo in there! Did you spot it?]

Of course, you have no chance against such a being. She does battle in a relaxed position; always holding back her true power for fun. She hasn't a single weakness for you to take advantage of. And heck, youkai have to kill one or two humans every now and then to keep their reflexes sharp, right? It just turns out that you're one of them.

The only person speculated to have control over the youkai of boundaries is the maiden of the Hakurei Shrine, Reimu. Her abilities have close ties to the border of Gensokyo as well, making her equally as important as Yukari.

As you can imagine, the trio of youkai (Chen, Ran, Yukari) get along very well together...

...But I still wouldn't pick a fight with them!

I hope you enjoyed our Super Touhou Character Profile!


-chansu

"Perfect" Cherry Blossom Trio! [SUPER Touhou Character Profile!] {Part 2}

Yakumo Ran



[FireFox?]

Ran is the proud owner of Chen. But at the same time she herself is a shikigami and has her own owner. It is very rare for a shikigami to have their own shikigami as well. This alone should be taken as an indication of Ran's strength.


Ran is a shikigami in possession of a nine-tailed fox youkai. In folklore it is said that a fox grows an extra tail every 100 years until it has 9 tails. This means Ran is at least 800 years old! She is a formidable opponent and is the Extra Stage Boss of PCB. Her spell cards reflect her place as one of the strongest shikigami in existence, and her spell card "Shikigami Chen" even calls upon her subordinate to attack!


Ran has the appearance of a human nine-tailed fox. She wears a jester cap to hide her fox ears, and is almost always seen wearing a blue and white robe. When Ran removes her hat, you should run for your life, it is a sign that she's serious. With a threat level of "High," I wouldn't stick around for the carnage that would happen if you were to get in her way!

Ran's name was given to her from her master. In fact, Ran's sole job is to take care of her master's business while she sleeps. It's not a luxurious job, but Ran is just a faithful to her master as Chen is to Ran. Ran also harbors strong feelings of affection for Chen, to the extent that she can't stop praising the bakeneko youkai enough. In fan depictions, Ran is seen screaming out Chen's name in bliss over how cute she is. "Cheeeeeeeeeeeeen!" is one of the most famous memes associated with Ran.



Ran is, in many ways, seen as a complete oddball by her fans. She goes crazy over Chen, to the extent that she has nosebleeds over her cuteness. She's even known as a frequent streaker, (yes, streaker. You read that right) and was hilariously dubbed "Suppatenko" (lit. "Nekkid Heavenly Fox"). If anyone knows why, please tell me. Her most famous spell card is "Princess Tenko," a homage to a famous Japanese magician. I assume the meme's name comes from that spell card...?

Ran is also given less credit than she deserves. Sure, she's just an animal when it comes down to it, but in her shikigami form she's a genius mathematician and the strongest youkai beast in Gensokyo. So what if she likes aburaage (deep fried tofu slices) like foxes do in Japanese folklore? So what if she actually goes shopping in human villages, and gathers attention for merely examining and protecting Gensokyo's borders? I still wouldn't underestimate her. Even if she's very mild-mannered, it really wouldn't be wise to mess with her...

...

Huh?! Don't tell me you did... that to her?! You... hugged her tails?! This isn't Chen ya know, she's going to destroy you!

*BOOM, FZZ KAPOW, GACHAN*

*20 minutes later*

I-i-impossible... to beat Ran, you... you can't be an ordinary human! There's no way-

"Who's bold enough to wake me so willfully?"

C-check us out a-again for P-p-p-part 3! I'm outta here!


-chansu

"Perfect" Cherry Blossom Trio! [SUPER Touhou Character Profile!] {Part 1}

Hey guys, it's been a while since we've seen a Touhou Character profile, and this time is guaranteed to please! Skipping right along to another random (group of) character(s) in the world of Gensokyo, we have the Ex/Phantasm Trio of the 7th installment, Touhou Project ~Perfect Cherry Blossom~! Without skimping a bit, let's go up the ranks of the Youkai Heirarchy!



Chen
Chen, adorable Chen! Cute, sweet, delightful Chen! Pitiful, foolish Chen! *hey you, how did you sneak up on us?!*

Alright alright, enough praises. Chen is a black cat youkai, and is Perfect Cherry Blossom's (from now on called PCB) stage 2 boss. As well all know, stage 2 bosses are more or less pathetic, but at the same time adorable. Chen is the perfect example of a stage 2 boss. Her spell cards relate to occult magic (i.e. "wizard sign", "ying yang sign", "heaven sign", etc.) but even on Lunatic any versed player has a chance of survival.

Chen may seem like a pushover, but along with being a youkai she is also a shikigami, or summoned spirit. She can harness amazing powers while a shikigami, but folklore has it that shikigami are weak to water... and being a cat makes her doubly as weak.



Chen almost always wears a green cap, red and yellow Chinese dress, and a large gold ring-like earring in her ear. She also has a forked tail, representative of ghost cats. Of course she has nekomimi as well, but they're real! Don't pull, or else you'll regret it! Chen's attacks also rely on her feline reflexes and nimbleness. So don't even consider running away after you start a fight!

[Check out Chen's awesome dancing, er, battle skills! It's... contagious! ]

Chen spends most of her free time curling up under the kotatsu during the winter, and meeting with stray cats for unknown purposes...



Chen is always loyal to her master, Ran, even when Ran herself is a little... over the top at times. But because Ran herself is a shikigami to a youkai, Chen's power is, well, scoffable. But everyone loves her adorable nature! In fan depictions, Chen is always the tiny, cute follower that is very close to Ran. And because she doesn't have a last name, like Cirno, she's usually given a childish aura of innocence and niavete similar to Cirno's.


...

Wait, you pulled her ears? Didn't I just say-- Oh no, Chen's gonna attack!!

*BAM, POW, WHZZ*


*5 minutes later*

Oh wow, I can't believe you were able to beat Chen in combat! Even though she's only a medium on the threat scale, a human beating a shikigami is unprecendented...

" How could you do that to my adorable Chen!?! Don't think you'll be off the hook so easily!"

... Oh no, looks like you got her master angry! Stay tuned for Part two!



-chansu