Day 39: Koakuma

[Juuni]

This character doesn’t exist in a good way

Day 39: Koakuma

Koakuma isn’t a character, but her case is very different than dai’s. Koakuma ended up being fanoned as patchy’s servant/friend, which really helped her character. She shows up much more and more meaningfully than dai, because people tend to use her as a part of patchy instead of a sidekick, where we see her get to do some stuff. In many fangames, she tends to be cheerful, and generally is fun to see. The specific good fan work for her is the busy person games, where she is basically an Everyman. Overall, another of those fan carried characters, but isn’t present in the series.

[Yumetou]

I think its very telling of EoSD's design that even no-names like Daiyousei and Koakuma have developed their own fanbases. Every character in the game has a following. And while Zun's designs have gotten more complex, theirs are both simple and appealing. Leading to some very flexible interpretations.

In an interview, Zun stated Koakuma--like all demons--is mischievious, but in a less playful way than fairies. While funny to see how the fanbase and Zun diverge on her and Dai, it does open the way to fun fan interpretations. From Koakuma being a good person and only being a troublemaker for little things she can get away from it, to being an unwilling slave by magic, to her just being a massive simp for Patchy.

One interesting feature I find of her, is while generic Youkai are very common, devils are quite rare in the series. All other devils we see come from specific subspecies. Ellis, Kurumi, Remilia and Flandre are vampires, Patchy and maybe Alice are Magicians. But Koakuma is the only 'generic' Devil to appear in the series. Her being generic oddly makes her unique. I've hear devils may have some kind of tie to Makai. I doubt that myself. But I can only imagine how hard she would have been bullied before Patchy got ahold of her.

 

I will say I find Koakuma's personality and design less compelling than Daiyousei's. Though that may well be down to taste. Then again I recently found a Resident Evil parody where she's a cold femme fatale with a .45 and that's been living rent-free in my head for three days now.