Day 8: Urumi Ushizaki

[Juuni]

 

Oh hey, a cow! She drowns people!

Day 8: Urumi Ushizaki

Urumi is definitely a character that could do more. She a Rumia-adjacent character, which I describe as a character whose role is to remind people that there are a lot of deadly youkai around, and Urumi functionally does it well. The problem is everything else, where she’s a boring personality and not too interesting. The only detail I have for her is that she does a lot of fishing, which is like nothing to go on. A huge problem with a lot of newer touhou characters is that they aren’t standout, which is why characters like Keiki are special because they actually have more than just lore or just personality, and that’s going to be an issue for most new characters until they show up in books for more than a cameo. Overall though, Urumi is a character with a role and nothing else. Her design isn’t even good.

[Flame Sniper]

I just have one word for this character.

 

COW

[BlueMoon]

I like Urumi, because she's memorable, mainly because of the fact that ZUN drawn her with a stack, which is unthinkable for him, thanks to her horns, not many of them do have them. Also yeah, the characters these days are rather, not really different from each other, I guess having a consistent artstyle does that, I dunno. I also wouldn't put her rather high in my list, but that doesn't mean I hate her. She's still a neat cowe.

[Eulogous]

On 7/2/2023 at 6:42 AM, Juunimeta said:

She a Rumia-adjacent character

I personally think Urumi actually having an occupation puts her a fair bit above the characters that just feel like they'd be a random encounter in a JRPG. Said occupation adds a little to Gensokyo from a logistics angle, which I like.

 

On 7/2/2023 at 6:42 AM, Juunimeta said:

The problem is everything else, where she’s a boring personality and not too interesting. The only detail I have for her is that she does a lot of fishing, which is like nothing to go on.

Canon offerings, especially from the games, are almost always barebones in terms of in-depth characterization. However, I believe what can be interpreted (either from a character conceptually or the details of their role) and examined from what's given is severely overlooked. Homing in on specific details, thinking on what they entail, and how that potentially interacts or functions in the setting is a fun thought exercise, and I believe can lead to stronger writing in things like fanworks.

As someone who values writing in fanworks and helps from time to time on projects or fangame jams, I notice a lot of people I've worked with just think in terms of "What cool thing has this character done in an existing plot, and how can I do that, but again?" or "This character hasn't done anything cool (or is a PC-98 character), so there's no way they can work in anything, ever!". Also, I find that people think in terms of making a grand plot, when good character writing can make an otherwise mundane situation interesting.

To use Urumi for an example of homing in on details, there are questions that can be asked. Why is she generally peaceful now? Does she sell what she fishes up to the village? If so, how is she viewed? What else besides prehistoric fish has she found in the Sanzu River? (Seafood from the outside world is mentioned in a recent chapter of Lotus Eaters, and since Gensokyo has no oceans, this has been bugging the heck out of me, and I need an explanation lol). 

 

On 7/2/2023 at 6:42 AM, Juunimeta said:

Her design isn’t even good.

I like her overall outfit design (the cow-pattern is way too on-the-nose though), but I really hate the Ketchup and Mustard coloring she has going on. Very saturated. I feel like having either a gold or a burgundy throughout her design and not both at once could help her outfit look easier on the eyes. Why is her tail red?

Admittedly, I think her Strange Creators of Outer World is pretty okay:
 

Spoiler