The one saying "idiot" is the idiot!

December 25, 2008 5:15 PM

Poor Cirno - she just can't get a break: Her math class was a failure, she has a hard time telling a crush how she feels, and everyone calls her an idiot.

A little background:

Cirno is an ice fairy and one of the weaker bosses one must fight in the game Embodiment of Scarlet Devil (the song playing in this stage, Beloved Tomboyish Daughter, is the recurring musical phrase that appears in the above videos). The Gensokyo refered to in the first video is the fantasy world she and everyone else in the game inhabit. She's characterized by her childishness, which has made her an object of both ridicule and affection among fans of the game.

posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing (30 comments total)

Marisa Stole The Precious Thing -

Now, first of all, you know I respect you. I find your posts clever, insightful, and frequently humorous. You are a "go-to" poster for me here up in this hizzy. But now, MSTPT, you have gone and told me of ice fairies that sound like insects telling me of idiocy.

Why, Marisa, why do you reel me in and then dispose of me thusly? I can only walk that path once, only once, dear, dar Marisa Who Stole The Precious Thing Which Is My Pre-Explosional Head.

One day, you'll rue the day this occurred, Marisa Oh Stealer of the Precious. One day....
posted by Lipstick Thespian at 5:25 PM on December 25, 2008

This isn't frontpage worthy, damnit.
posted by Foci for Analysis at 5:28 PM on December 25, 2008 [1 favorite]

Why can't you play good bullet hell games, for God's sake?
posted by nicolas léonard sadi carnot at 5:31 PM on December 25, 2008

If you understood this post you may already be Japanese.
posted by shii at 5:40 PM on December 25, 2008

BAKA, BAKA!, BAKA, BAKA!, BAKA, BAKA!
posted by geos at 6:03 PM on December 25, 2008

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posted by pyramid termite at 6:07 PM on December 25, 2008

Anime will kill us all.

Mark my words.
posted by JHarris at 6:11 PM on December 25, 2008 [1 favorite]

/jp/ in my Metafilter? Its more likely than you think!
posted by cimbrog at 6:50 PM on December 25, 2008

/jp/ in my Metafilter? Its more likely than you think!

For the record: my only knowledge of /jp/ comes from some of their posters spilling over into forums I frequent.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 7:21 PM on December 25, 2008

Oh.
posted by daboo at 7:21 PM on December 25, 2008

You know how in crime thriller flicks, when they want to show how the antagonist is a brain-damaged psychopath, they just cut to a scene wherein the villan is lounging at home watching children's cartoons on the tube?

Well, imagine a whole country like that.

Then imagine foreign fascination with that national culture.

I can't picture that many levels of irony myself. It's an interesting mental exercise to try, though.
posted by 3.2.3 at 7:41 PM on December 25, 2008 [6 favorites]

I don't get it.

I also don't get pyramid_termite's post.

I don't know that I'm meant to.
posted by Netzapper at 8:25 PM on December 25, 2008

I also don't get pyramid_termite's post.

Another game, Phantasmagoria of Flower View, came with a manual. The different items in the illustration are numbered and labelled. Cirno was numbered 9, and labelled as "idiot" (バカ). Hence ⑨, nine-ball, circle nine and so forth.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 8:39 PM on December 25, 2008 [1 favorite]

Strange. I found it interesting.
posted by delmoi at 8:49 PM on December 25, 2008

Yeah, sorry to rain on the popular opinion parade, but I liked 2 of the videos and the music in them. They were amusing. Thanks for pointing this stuff out to me.
posted by Chan at 8:52 PM on December 25, 2008

First, YouTube decides that an Andy Rooney clip is related to a Ronald McDonald remix of Native Faith. Then, I look up an old SRPG only to be greeted with commentary in the form of IOSYS flash mocking of easy mode. Now, the blue has become ice blue.

I am both terrified and delighted.
posted by Saydur at 9:15 PM on December 25, 2008

What does it mean to be an adult? Please tell me, so I may stop pretending.

all these questions, while I cannot stop dancing.

kind of a wiggle in me chair, actually
posted by captainsohler at 10:57 PM on December 25, 2008 [1 favorite]

I like the TaNaBaTa song. Catchy, and not as syrupy as it could have been.
posted by Xoebe at 11:19 PM on December 25, 2008

I've watched half of the first one, and i now feel quite ill. The flashing lights, the sheer pace of the music... urgh. (Disclaimer: I ate my own weight in chocolate yesterday).
posted by marmaduke_yaverland at 1:32 AM on December 26, 2008

This thing isn't good for a hangover. It is the opposite of good for a hangover.


IDIOT IDIOT IDIOT!
posted by The Whelk at 8:43 AM on December 26, 2008

huh. ok, so there's this in the world too
posted by From Bklyn at 12:46 PM on December 26, 2008

Why can't people obsess like this over Compile or Konami shooters? (Other than Otomedius? Or Pastel from Twinbee I guess? Okay okay, I withdraw the question.)
posted by JHarris at 2:19 PM on December 26, 2008

Why can't people obsess like this over Compile or Konami shooters?

Probably because they're both console. Touhou shooters are PC shooters, small (most between 300 and 500 MBs), easy to install, and available virtually anywhere. There are other shmups who have frankly better graphics (Trouble Witches, Bike Banditz, Cloudphobia, Samidare) but I think the fan base arises from the sheer number of playable characters and bosses, and the storylines in the games, and the attention put into the personalities of each player or boss. It creates a wellspring of fan work in the from of music, manga, video and, pretty soon, a full-length anime.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 4:13 PM on December 26, 2008

MSTPT: I enjoyed this, but I think I share your tastes. Judging by the reactions, maybe this wasn't general-interest enough to make a good FPP?

You're the expert though. *shrug*
posted by Xezlec at 9:59 AM on December 27, 2008

maybe this wasn't general-interest enough to make a good FPP?

Yeah, the reception was pretty mixed. Think I'll shy away from this sort of thing in the future.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 1:10 PM on December 27, 2008

Well, I really liked it, and I suck at these games. I knew there was a Touhou community out there but I had no idea it had grown to the level of producing things like that incredible maths class Cirno video. Maybe you just had bad luck with your timing.

Anyway, please don't stop.
posted by A Thousand Baited Hooks at 5:16 AM on December 28, 2008

Vile. Utterly vile.
posted by GoingToShopping at 6:46 AM on December 28, 2008

The videos makes me nauseous and start my xenophobia nerve twitchin', but posts like this are why I love Metafilter.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 8:43 AM on December 28, 2008

vista stole the precious thing!
posted by pyramid termite at 8:16 PM on December 28, 2008 [1 favorite]

Poor Cirno - she just can't get a break: Her math class was a failure, she has a hard time telling a crush how she feels, and everyone calls her an idiot.

Did she post to Ask MetaFilter yet?
posted by ikkyu2 at 11:24 PM on December 28, 2008