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Saturday, April 3, 2010

Touhou Character of the day: Reisen Udongein Inaba


Facts from Touhou wiki

  • Reisen's right hand is often depicted to be making a gun shape, which leads to fan assumption that she shoots danmaku in this manner, and she indeed does in SWR. Some fans even depict Reisen holding an actual handgun in artwork. Those are all based on ZUN's word that her normal shots were modeled after a bullet. The revelation in SSiB that all Moon Defense Corps Rabbits are drilled with rifles suggests that Reisen can also use the real thing.
  • "Inaba" is a nickname given to her by Kaguya (just like Tewi). Her real name, Reisen, is written in katakana, but in order to fit in with people on Earth, the kanji with the same pronunciation, 鈴仙, was used. The characters for Reisen literally mean something like "Bell wizard", and Udongein "House of plantain flowers.". Additionally, in Japanese "reisen" can mean "Cold War". (see also notes on Reisen's spellcards) while in Germany it means "travels" or "voyages" as well as "to travel". Another meaning for "rei-sen" is "Type-0", as in the Japanese Navy designation for the famous Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighter plane. (see also Imperishable Night: Music) A species of rabbit, called the Deutsche Riesen, may also be where her name comes from.
  • "Udonge", the short version of the nickname Eirin calls her by, translates to "plantain flower," whose buds look remotely like rabbit ears.
  • Some fans call her "Zayaku" (座薬, meaning 'suppository'), because her bullets look like them. Many, many jokes have been made about this, often of a crude nature. In addition, some species of plantains carry seeds that are useful for constipation and irritable bowel syndrome, similar to the functions of rectal suppositories.
  • Reisen's Imperishable Night outfit, with a long-sleeved dark suit jacket, tie and short skirt, is considerably more modern than most of the other characters' and resembles a private school uniform. In Phantasmagoria of Flower View, with her jacket doffed, she looks more like an office intern.
  • Reisen's rabbit ears, strangely, always have two accoutrement-like buttons on them. It looks like the ears were linked to Reisen's head by buttons. Many fans made fun of this and said Reisen's rabbit ears were artificial. However, Silent Sinner in Blue chapter 8 showed other rabbits in the Lunar Defense Corps for the first time, and they also have the same buttons on straight ears, unlike the floppy ears of "civilian" Earth and Moon rabbits.
  • Reisen's line "I'm just a useless little bunny, only good for my sex appeal," from the doujinshi "Drunkards in Eientei" by Omchicken, has become a popular meme associated with her.
  • Reisen's alternate outfit in Scarlet Weather Rhapsody and Touhou Hisoutensoku is a homage to Hatsune Miku from Vocaloid. Her other alternate outfits in Hisoutensoku are also homages to fellow Vocaloids Kagamine Rin/Len, Megurine Luka, Meiko, Kaito, Kamui Gakupo, and even the new Vocaloid, Megpoid Gumi.
  • Based on what Reisen says to Mystia and what Lyrica says to Reisen in Phantasmagoria of Flower View, it seems as if Reisen can also manipulate sound waves as well as light waves.

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