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Aya Shameimaru


Aya Shameimaru is a character from Touhou Project. She is Gensokyo's resident reporter, known for writing "slightly" exaggerated news articles about anything that happens in Gensokyo.


Overview

She first made her official game appearance in Phantasmagoria of Flower View. Taking resident in Youkai Mountain, she is a Crown Tengu, which in the world of Gensokyo, is one of the many youkai species that exists more than a thousand years ago, even before the Great Hakurei Boundary Field is established. (To note, it was when the Oni still exists)


Since they live in Gensokyo for so long, they are also knowledgable, which they even knew about the "sea" that does not exist in Gensokyo. Before the transformation into a Tengu, they were crows.


As for her, while she holds one of the highest class of power, she does not show-off her power unless necessary. This does not limit to her, but to all Tengu in general.


However, her very first existence is known way before "Phantasmagoria of Flower View", which she actually appeared in the book called "Bunkachou", which was a book, the next game, Shoot the Bullet, is made specially for her to appear in the game as the main character, considering her nature and the game settings


According to the omake text from Shoot the Bullet game game, the idea of "Camera Danmaku" game is already conceived during the production of Embodiment of Scarlet Devil, and thus the appearance of Aya Shameimaru in the game is far more natural and suitable instead of using the usual, staple main characters.


With the appearance in the Bunkachou book, added with the appearance in Phantasmagoria of Flower View, the decision to use Aya in the next game production, Shoot the Bullet is then created.


Story after "Shoot the Bullet"


あやややや

In the next game, Moutain of Faith (風神録), Aya was sent by the great Tengu to check on the intruder who invaded Youkai Mountain and is surprised to see it was the heroine. From there, although Aya knows that her boss' orders are a priority, she has no intention to fight the heroines, hence she purposely lose to the heroine, and leads her (depending on who you choose) to the new shrine, believing that the heroine could get rid of a large nuisance to the Tengu.


博麗様御一行

In Subterranean Animism, she is partnered with Reimu Hakurei as a support Youkai (only appeared through dialogues, hence there is no portrait of her). She also appeared once again in the previous spinoff game, Scarlet Weather Rhapsody, where you may select her as a playable character in the game's story mode and versus mode.


The second camera danmaku game (also a sequel) after Shoot the Bullet, Double Spoiler also featured her as the main, default playable character.


Characteristics

As a Tengu, her speed is excellent and can be actually comparable with vampires like Remilia Scarlet and Flandre Scarlet. Since then there were times where Aya is depicted to have a speed so fast that she could be possibly faster than both of the Scarlet sisters. ZUN has since confirmed it, and made it official in the manga Touhou Bougetsushou series through the dialogue exchange between Reimu and Marisa.


Because of that, it wouldn't be a surprise on why Tengu has the ability to control wind. It is also said that Tengu can move really fast due to the ability to control the wind that flies them all around the place.


However, it is currently unknown on which youkais move faster than Aya, or even Tenma, the chief of the Tengu. Also, considering Reimu Hakurei or Yukari Yakumo has the ability to move from one point to another almost immediately, they may be considered to be even faster than Aya.


But, if it's just pure speed, Aya, or the Tengu is by far the fastest as of current.


Official Titles

General

Traditional Reporter of Fantasy (PoFV, PMiSS, SWR profile&select, SaBND, SaBND 19th, SA, SSiB 20th)

・Tengu Closest to the Village (MoF)

・Crow of the Tempest (SWR)

・Fabricating Newspaper Reporter (DS)

・Humble Tengu Newspaper Reporter (StB)


Theme Song

Wind God Girl(風神少女)

Appeared in『書庫文(原曲)』"PoFV (Short version)", "StB (Short Version)", and "Hisoutensoku (Akiyamauni version)"

「The Youkai Mountain ~ Mysterious Mountain」(妖怪の山 ~ Mysterious Mountain)

Appeared in "MoF (Original)", "DS (Rearranged by ZUN)"


Two things to note about Aya's theme :

  • "Wind God Girl" is composed with the image and the characteristics of Aya.

  • "Youkai Mountain" however is composed with the image of Tengu in mind, which involves the Japanese mythology of the creature instead of Tengu in Gensokyo.

※ Considering how from the start till the end where Aya acts as a reporter, the theme "Wind God Girl" is used instead of her other theme.

※ Whereas the song "Youkai Mountain" is used in the Extra Stage of "Double Spoiler"


In PoFV, "Wind God Girl" can also be heard in the game if one reaches level 10.


Species

Crow Tengu


One of the species of Tengu, specializes in news report.

The Tengu were respected and prayed by the human villagers as a deity. Aside from their status, they are also an advanced civilization with the technology where

また、天狗は幻想郷で唯一外の世界に負けない程度の高度文明社会を有する種族で、他の妖怪より力も団結力も強い。そして排他的。

その為、住処である妖怪の山に不用意に立ち入るものには、集団で対応してくる。


かつては鬼の支配下にあった。

鬼がとある理由により幻想郷から姿を消したため、残された天狗と河童は共に鬼に代わって妖怪の山を納めるようになった。

そのため、天狗たちは今でも鬼に対して頭が上がらない。『地霊殿』では星熊勇儀に対して、異常なほど下手に出ていた。(ただ、文と萃香は割と普通に接している様子。一緒にお酒も飲んでいた。)


山の四天王の一人である伊吹萃香曰く「強いものには下に出て、弱いものには強気に出る。もの凄く強いのに適度に手を抜く。頭が切れるのに惚ける。やたらと狡猾」と、強い~弱い~は抜きにしても、天狗としての頭脳や身体能力等は萃香からの評価は高い。


天狗たちは新聞を自費出版しているらしく、定期的に大会まで催されている。

だが、自費出版で出される新聞は本来の情報伝達媒体としての新聞より、ゴシップなどの娯楽性を重視されており、内容の信憑性よりエンターテイメント性が重視されている。


They are also said to be great drinkers, rivaled only with Oni.


Appearance

センシティブな作品

While her outlook is generally the same throughout all titles, there are some minor changes to her appearance.


  • DS : Same as her Touhou 10 appearance, but with puffier and longer hair, her calf-high socks from Touhou 10.5, and an orange armband reading 「取材中」 (Shuzaichuu: "collecting material"). She is also shown without her fan and white puffs. Her ears are visible again but now pointed. The color of her camera lens is now red.
  • SWR : Similar to her Touhou 9 appearance, but wears calf-high socks.
  • SWR (Alternate Color Version) : Hair and dress are gray, blouse is dark gray, fan is orange instead of yellow, and Tokin is blue instead of red. Normal ears are visible in her portrait.
  • MoF : Red eyes, semi-long black hair. Wears a white blouse with brown leaf-print sides, a black short skirt with brown leaf-print portions, and a Tokin with several white puffs of feathers hanging from it. Carries a hauchiwa fan.
  • PoFV : Red eyes, semi-long black hair, with a crow perched on her shoulder. Wears a white blouse, a black short skirt, and a Tokin. Carries a journal of some sort. She is no longer shown with wings.
  • (PoFV alternative outfit) Same as above, but her tokin is green, and her fan is blue.
  • (Bohemian Archive in Japanese Red) Red eyes, semi-long black hair, usually seen with a crow following her. Wears a white blouse, a black short skirt, and a Tokin. She is sometimes shown with black wings.

It is also possible for Aya to wear school uniforms considering ZUN has once commented that her shirt is designed based on the image of a white collar worker.


Spellcards and Weapons


Phantasmagoria of Flower View

 Wind Sign "Wind God's Fan" (風符「風神一扇」)

 Whirlwind "Wind God Girl" (疾風「風神少女」)


Mountain of Faith

 Crossroad Sign "Crossroads of Heaven" (岐符「天の八衢」)

 Crossroad Sign "Saruta Cross" (岐符「サルタクロス」)

 Wind God "Wind God Hidden Among Tree Leaves" (風神「風神木の葉隠れ」)

 Wind God "Tengu's Fall Wind" (風神「天狗颪」)

 Wind God "Storm Day" (風神「二百十日」)

 "Illusionary Dominance" (「幻想風靡」)

 "Peerless Wind God" (「無双風神」)

 Cork Sign "Mountain God Procession" (塞符「山神渡御」)

 Cork Sign "Advent of the Divine Grandson" (塞符「天孫降臨」)

 Cork Sign "Terukuni Throughout the World" (塞符「天上天下の照國」)


Scarlet Weather Rhapsody

 Whirl Sign "Maple Leaf Fan" (旋符「紅葉扇風」)

 Tornado "Indication to the Divine" (竜巻「天孫降臨の道しるべ」)

 Headwind "Route Forbidden to Man" (逆風「人間禁制の道」)

 Thrust Sign "Tengu's Macroburst" (突符「天狗のマクロバースト」)

 Wind Sign "Wind of the Tengu Path" (風符「天狗道の開風」)

 Demonic Beast "Sickle Weasel Veiling" (魔獣「鎌鼬ベーリング」)

 Squall "Sarutahiko's Guidance" (突風「猿田彦の先導」)

 Rotation Sign "Calamity Waving Fan" (旋符「飄妖扇」)

 Whirlwind "Torii Hurricane" (旋風「鳥居つむじ風」)


Hisoutensoku

 Crow Sign "Dark Daymare" (鴉符「暗夜のデイメア」)

 Wind Sign "Tengu Limited Special" (風符「天狗報即日限」)


Double Spoiler

 Interview "Aya Shameimaru's Coercive Reporting" (取材「射命丸文の圧迫取材」)

 Telescoping "Candid Shot" (望遠「キャンディッドショット」)

 Snapshot "Fast Shot" (速写「ファストショット」)


かの有名な武道の達人で…

Aya has a hauchiwa fan (which is shaped like a maple) where she brought it with her all times. The fan has the power to cause strong wind, added with her wind manipulation power, the power is excessively strong.


Aside from her fan, she also holds a note that states whether the pictures snapped can be usable or not. Usually the picture contains the danmaku bullet from the youkai, and is usually clipped with the notebook. Other than that, her camera is also said to be able to cause mental damage to her opponents; and while the camera is said to be analog, the pictures will project instantly as a photo the moment a picture is snapped.


Trivia

  • Aya is the first character in the series to originally appear in an artbook, then later in a game.
  • A silhouette of Aya occupies the front of Shoot the Bullet's jewel case.
  • ZUN once commented that the gaming concept of Shoot the Bullet was around since the same time he created Embodiment of Scarlet Devil, since such a game required a camera-using character. Aya was created specifically to fit that purpose.
  • In Mountain of Faith, Aya is the first stage 4 boss in a Windows game not to have some sort of gimmick/variation based on the playable character (i.e. Patchouli's different spell cards in Embodiment of Scarlet Devil, Reimu or Marisa in Imperishable Night, etc.).
  • In Touhou Hisoutensoku, she has a palette that resembles Ranka Lee from Macross Frontier.

Bunbunmaru Newspaper

Main Article : Bunbunmaru Newspaper


The Bunbunmaru Newspaper is run by Aya, which is viewed by most people and youkai in Gensokyo as a mildly popular (albeit notorious) gossip paper. Thanks to her shameless reporting style, and her tendency to exaggerate events, and including her own personal opinions in her articles, her article is never considered to be reader's choice, and they tend to avoid appearing in the papers.


However, she does have a degree of ethics and dignity as a reporter, and is more interested in pursuing the truth (sometimes to a fault) rather than reporting news that hurts other peoples' reputation for the sake of it.


Even with her ethics, her newspaper remain unpopular, as suggested in Strange and Bright Nature Deity and Curiosities of Lotus Asia.


Derivative Scene

In most doujinshis, Aya is said to be :-

  • an individual with a terrible attitude
  • always holding a camera all the time.
  • loves gossip (applies to Tengu in general)

She is usually portrayed to be a troublemaker reporter with the tendency to make gossips, hence she is described mainly as a paparazzi, stalker, or having a habit of taking embarrassing or risque photos as well (in other words, a pervert)


Her terrible attitude is however being treated as a minor focus, considering the majority of the Touhou characters are bad in attitude anyway.


Her image has since changed with the appearance of Momiji Inubashiri, and her appearance as a partner of Reimu in Subterranean Animism. In Double Spoiler, it is said that Aya is weak at dealing with Momiji.


As with most other shipping community, Aya is also seen paired with other girls. While her main couple is Aya and Momiji, she is also seen paired with other characters seen below :



With the list above, it is also said that her character is potrayed in a much positive view since Subterranean Animism.


Main reason of her negative treatment.


To begin with, the main reason of her getting a negative treatment is due to the fact that her role for the game (Shoot the Bullet) - Her acquaintance with every character from the past titles with the exception of Reimu and Marisa was considered to be the main reason. In Gensokyo, it is a common occurrence to see characters exchanging sarcasms and witty comments against each other. Because of the reason, all the characters (aside from Reimu and Marisa), ranging from top tier, wise Youkai down to fairies, and even species were given a particularly witty comments by Aya.


Added to the fact where she is actually a strong character compared to most other weaker youkai makes her particularly stand out compared to most other characters. Which contributed to the negative treatment factor.


Related Illustrations

レトロスペクティブ京都

紅い風


Related Tags

Touhou

Touhou Project

Traditional Reporter of Fantasy

Bunbunmaru Newspaper

Youkai Mountain

Wind God Girl

Tengu

Momiji Inubashiri

Hatate Himekaidou


Character Appearance

Shoot the Bullet

Double Spoiler

Phantasmagoria of Flower View

Mountain of Faith

Subterranean Animism

Scarlet Weather Rhapsody

Hisoutensoku)


Coupling : Humans/Youkai

AyaMomi

AyaHata

AyaReimu(ReiAya)

AyaChiru

AyaAri

AyaSana

AyaNue

AyaNito

AyaRin

Three Crows

Crow Group

Own Machine Group

Chireiden Reimu Group


Others

Ayaya

Ayayaya


Derivative Scene Unrelated to the Original

Bunbunmaru Aya

Kimeemaru

Chimeramaru

Kyonuumaru

●Momiji Momimomi

Nyameimaru


Article in Other Languages

射命丸文

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