Hnnnng… ugh, well that felt like hell.
How long was I out?
Almost half a year?
Oh… oh no.
Ungh, this is bad—I need to think of a new idea for a video topic, before I dig myself
deeper into this rut of misfortune.
Wait a moment… that's it!
Ahhh, it feels nice to be back here again.
To say things have been bad on my end would be an understatement, and I thoroughly apologize
for the lack of content over the past few months.
Trying to get back the motivation to work on videos has been a difficult process, and
I'm hoping that I can at least recover some of that in the next few minutes.
There's a bit of a story attached to today's topic, aside from this video originally being
planned for a late May upload.
This episode was requested by someone who goes by the alias "NPCianT77," who had
been reposting several of my videos to Bilibili and translating the captions into Chinese,
something I wasn't aware of until they personally emailed me about the matter.
Normally when you hear YouTube personalities talking about reposters, it's in a negative
light, with people stealing content for the sake of quick profit, but in this case, I
was happy to hear how respectful they were toward my content and how it allowed said
videos to reach an audience in a country where—for the most part—YouTube is currently banned.
As a way to give thanks, I asked if they wanted to choose a future video topic, and they accepted,
suggesting that I talk about the Yorigami Sisters, Joon and Shion, from Touhou 15.5
– Antinomy of Common Flowers, even helping with some of the initial research involved.
I like to joke that Team Shanghai Alice's Touhou Project and Type-Moon's Fate franchise
have become a backbone to this series, given how frequently I've covered them in previous
episodes compared to other series of video games.
Of course, favoritism does play a strong role in that, but they're both series that are
filled to the brim with colorful characters that offer opportunities to discuss a wide
array of topics that can be learned about just from how their designs and actions incorporate
said topics.
While I haven't kept tabs on the recent Touhou games since beginning college, getting
to start anew and familiarize myself with the Yorigami Sisters in order to make this
video has been nothing short of a refreshing experience, and I'm eager to share what
I've been able to make out—it's not everything, but I hope it can still suffice.
I'm the Kitsune Hawk, and today, we're due for another trip to Gensokyo, this time
to cover the Most Despicable and Disastrous Twin Sisters, the easygoing egoist Joon Yorigami
and the sorrowful Shion Yorigami!
So get out your pencils, trivia enthusiasts, because this is Character Development!
Today's discussion is going to start in a bit of in odd direction.
Rather than beginning with Joon and Shion's names or story roles like I normally would
for an episode of the show, I feel that the best attribute to begin with here would instead
be the actual designs of the two, or—more specifically—how strongly their physical
appearances contrast each other.
The contrast between Joon and Shion's designs is primarily focused on their relation to
the economic climate of Japan in the 1980s and 90s.
Often called the "bubble economy," this was a phenomenon that occurred after Japan
began to dominate the international production of electronics in the 1970s and early 80s.
This miraculous and unprecedented period of growth fostered a great sense of optimism
and investiture among the Japanese.
The continuing growth began to shift, however, when Japan signed the Plaza Accord in 1985,
alongside the United States, France, the United Kingdom, and West Germany.
This agreement was intended to be a sort of safety measure for the United States, as the
US Dollar had grown too high in value, making imports of American goods expensive and thus
threatening the United States' ability to compete in international markets.
Under the terms of the Plaza Accord, the US Dollar would depreciate relative to the West
German Deutschemark and Japanese Yen, in an effort to keep the US Dollar going as a competitive
currency.
While it succeeded in boosting American imports in Western Europe, it didn't have the same
results in Japan, as the Yen continued to rise in value, and Americans increasingly
turned toward investing in Japanese markets rather than markets at home.
Japanese exports to the United States eclipsed American imports, creating the opposite of
the Plaza Accord's intended effect.
Money continued to flood into Japan throughout the second half of the 80s, so much that the
country took the title of second-largest economy in the world, and deregulation combined with
increased optimism led banks to pursue all manner of risky moves.
The late 1980s were a period of great prosperity for the Japanese, but dependence on exports,
as well as increased speculation—especially in stocks and real estate—created a "bubble"
that only continued to grow with each passing month, week, and day.
In 1990, the bubble finally burst.
In less than a year, Japanese stock fell by half the value it had gained in its three-decade
long growth period, land prices fell, and the loans provided in earlier periods failed
to be paid back.
What followed was an economic panic as people tried to take their money out of the banks;
although the years of economic growth gave them plenty of funds to live on, it quickly
degraded in value after the bubble burst.
For nearly a decade after 1991, the Japanese government had to step in and help moderate
the nation's stagnant economy.
Compared to the 1980s, the "Lost Decade" of the 1990s in Japan was a period of decreased
consumerism, increased saving, currency deflation, and rising competition from South Korea and
the People's Republic of China.
Joon and Shion's designs reflect both decades accordingly; Joon, with her garishly bright
colors, feathered fans, and array of accessories and jewelry, embodies the grandeur and excess
of 1980s Japan.
She even goes as far as having her attacks explode in bursts of money and wantonly using
credit cards and other valuables as projectiles.
Shion, meanwhile, has a design with muted colors and a simpler outfit decorated with
debt and eviction notices, aligning her with the relapse of the 1990s.
Their ties to the Japanese economic climate of the 80s and 90s also do a great job of
emphasizing the two spirits that the Yorigami Sisters are supposed to be.
Indeed, despite Joon and Shion being sisters, the two also happen to be different types
of more obscure spirits from Chinese and Japanese folk religion.
And when I say "more obscure," I mean to say that these two are some of the most
difficult I've ever had to research for this show, due to a limited amount of English
sources.
Shion, the older of the two, is a Binbōgami, also known as a Pínqióng Shén in Chinese.
These spirits generally assume the form of an elderly beggar, going from home to home
and asking for entrance.
Those who welcome the Binbōgami into their homes are then struck with misery, poverty,
and bad luck.
They could, however, be repelled from a house by invoking a kami of good luck to counteract
their curse, or, more simply, by exploiting their love of miso, a paste made from fermented
soybeans.
Shion expresses her origins as a Binbōgami through her ability to collect misery and
misfortune within her body, and then unleash it upon anyone in the vicinity of the curse.
Though she doesn't manifest as an elderly woman, she still carries a cracked begging
bowl in her hand, and her simple outfit, the aforementioned debt and eviction notices covering
it, and bare feet all add to her connection to the mythological poverty spirits of East
Asia.
As for the younger sister, Joon, she's a spirit known as a Wēn Shén, or "Yakubyōgami"
in Japanese.
Much like the Binbōgami, these beings traditionally take on the form of an elderly man or woman
going around and visiting homes, except they spread disease instead of poverty.
Repelling a Wēn Shén could be done through appeasement rituals, carrying protective amulets,
or by displaying an image of Zhong Kui, an East Asian folk hero known as the "Demon
Queller," within one's house.
In Japan specifically, a Yakubyōgami could also be repelled by adorning a house with
shimenawa, a type of purifying rope used in the native religion of Shinto.
Joon reflects her Yakubyōgami origins more loosely compared to her sister; rather than
spreading disease, she either uses Shion as a tool to spread misery or simply steals money
from the residents of Gensokyo, which I suppose could be argued as a form of forced appeasement.
There's also quite a bit of neat trivia within Joon and Shion's names; their shared
last name, "Yorigami," is comprised of two kanji.
The first, "yori," can mean either "reliant" or "dependent," but it's also used in
the word "hyōi," meaning "possession," as in spirit possession.
This makes sense within the context of Antinomy of Common Flowers' story, where the main
event driving the plot is called the "Perfect Possession Incident."
I don't suppose it comes as much of a surprise that both Joon and Shion were responsible
for causing said incident.
Possession is also a primary component of Antinomy of Common Flowers' gameplay, where
each tag team of characters has a lead character doing the possession and a side character
bound by possession, who can tag into battle and send a portion of their power to the leader.
Joon and Shion even take advantage of this system in battle, but I'll get to that in
just a few.
The second kanji in their last name, pronounced as "kami" or "gami," simply means
"god."
Putting the two together, "Yorigami" would best translate as "possession god," again
befitting the sisters' story role in their debut appearance.
As for their first names, they're both taken from Japanese names for flowers—specifically,
two flowers that are closely related, thus reflecting their relationship as sisters.
Joon's name is derived from "Himejoon," the Japanese name for the Daisy fleabane,
while Shion's name is derived from "Harujion," the Japanese name for the Philadelphia fleabane.
This naming choice even reinforces Shion's nature as a poverty spirit, as the Philadelphia
fleabane has a nickname in Japan: binbōgusa, meaning "poverty grass".
Part of me also wonders if the birth order of the Yorigami Sisters was influenced by
the flowers they're named after, as the Philadelphia fleabane usually blooms first,
between April and May, while the Daisy fleabane tends to bloom a few months later, between
May and August.
Either way, the naming convention fits with the title of the game they both debuted in:
Touhou Hyōibana, translated as "Antinomy of Common Flowers".
The use "Common Flowers" is most likely referring to Joon and Shion, while "Antinomy,"
meaning "a contradiction of beliefs," could be applied to the dramatic differences
in Joon's flashy appearance and domineering attitude against Shion's poor appearance
and bleak attitude.
Of course, the literal translation of Hyōibana, "Spirit Possession Bloom," regards the
Yorigami Sisters, too, as well as their role in the game's plot.
And while it's most likely *not* intentional on ZUN's part, I do find it amusing that
both the Daisy and Philadelphia fleabane are, coincidentally, considered to be invasive
species in Japan and disregarded as weeds in their native land of North America, just
as the Yorigami Sisters have a reputation for being two of the most disliked inhabitants
in all of Gensokyo.
Again, I'm completely certain this was unintentional, but it's at least worth mentioning because
it gives me a good laugh every time.
Lastly, and in more of a sense of tradition with the other Touhou episodes, let's conclude
with the spellcards in the Yorigami Sisters' deck, which tie together everything I've
discussed so far quite nicely.
These come in three categories: those involving Joon by herself, those used exclusively by
Shion, and the spellcards where the two attack together.
Considering that Joon is the primary playable character of the two, and has the most to
herself, we'll start with hers.
Possession Stripping: "Slave Robber" is pretty straightforward; in the gameplay terminology
of Antinomy of Common Flowers, "slave" refers to the character in a tag team who
is being possessed.
The spellcard itself involves Joon rushing at her opponent and temporarily disabling
their tag-team partner.
Poor Sign: "Super Poverty Bomb" is more of a pop culture reference, as the attack's
name, as well as the pose Joon makes when unleashing it, is meant to parody the Super
Spirit Bomb from the popular manga and anime franchise Dragon Ball.
Just with a name that better suits Joon's habit of robbing others, of course.
"Queen of Bubble" is a spellcard that involves Joon taking to a small stage and
breaking out into a short dance that I can assume is based on 1980s Japanese disco dancing,
also known as the "bubble dance," though I can't quite tell if it's a specific
dance that was popular at the time.
Fourth and finally for Joon by herself is her Last Word spellcard, "Extortioner of
the 80s," in which Joon quite literally beats and shakes the valuables and wealth
out of her opponent while Shion scrambles to collect as much of it as she can.
The attack ends with Joon tossing what appears to be a dunning letter—that is to say, a
slip of paper reminding someone they have a payment that's due—before delivering
one final punch.
It's also worth noting that the dunning letter is pulled out of Joon's purse; either
this serves as a reminder that Joon—despite her lavish appearance—spends and wastes
all the money she extorts, or it might be a nod to the many risky loans that Japanese
banks gave out in the late 1980s, only to be left unpaid when the economic bubble burst
in 1990.
Maybe both.
After Joon's selection of solo spellcards, she and Shion share a few more during story
mode battles against them.
Bad Luck: "Welcome to the World of Destitution" involves Joon drawing a large number of golden
kanji projectiles toward her—the specific characters used spell out "treasure,"
"gold," "wealth," and "abundance."
Once she's done, Shion tags into battle and unleashes the kanji back out in waves.
Not only are they black and purple instead of gold, but the kanji are transformed into
new shapes, this time spelling out "disaster," "loss," "poverty," and "damage."
It's a great way to visually display Joon's ability to pull in other people's fortunes
and Shion's ability to turn it into misery and spread it to anyone in the vicinity.
Next is Financial Ruin: "Pluck Pigeon," which gets its name from a financial metaphor;
to "pluck a pigeon" means to scam a gullible person out of their money, perfectly in line
with Joon's habit of coercing others into giving up their money and using Shion as a
tool to help her accomplish that.
The attack itself involves Joon dashing across the screen and tossing out gold, jewels, and
other valuables, before tagging to Shion, who draws them back toward her, essentially
making it the opposite of "Welcome to the World of Destitution."
Lastly in the Yorigami Sisters' shared deck of spellcards is Possession Exchange: "Absolute
Loser," which might be another reference to economics, as the terms "winner" and
"loser" are fairly common in discussions of international trade, and we've already
discussed how Joon and Shion represent two decades in which Japan was successful and
stagnant as a global trade power.
Either way, this spellcard is the ace up Joon's sleeve, as it forces her opponent's tag
partner to switch places with Shion, not only forcing two former allies to fight each other,
but also cursing her opponent with Shion's bad luck, which she visibly tosses into the
battle.
Compared to Joon's four solo spellcards and the combined duo's three, Shion only
has two spellcards to herself, and both are exclusive to the final battle of Yukari and
Reimu's story.
This is because Yukari manages to figure out Joon's strategy before the two can unleash
their "Absolute Loser" technique, and then she uses a trump card of her own, by
bending the master-slave border between both tag teams.
So instead of Joon switching Shion out with her opponent's partner and then taking control
of them, Shion is forced to fight at the front while Joon is relegated to Reimu's side,
unable to curse her with the same bad luck as her sister.
Even though she's considered a bad luck charm by her sister, Shion chooses to stop
holding back, unleashing her full power in an effort to bring everyone down with her
and effectively becoming the game's true final boss.
The first of Shion's two spellcards at full power is Poor Sign: "Mischance Scatter,"
in which Shion shakes out a storm of black and purple kanji from her begging bowl.
The more damage she takes, the more streams of projectiles she unleashes, and the faster
said projectiles become, as if the attack becomes stronger from the added misfortune
placed upon her.
And then there's "The Most Despicable and Disastrous God of Destitution and Misery,"
Shion's last-effort attack, and one which takes part of its name from Joon and Shion's
shared character title, "The Most Despicable and Disastrous Duo."
Much like Shion's other solo spellcard, this primarily focuses on Shion's nature
as a Binbōgami, enveloping her opponent in a realm of misery, with wave after wave of
hostile kanji in varying sizes sweeping across the screen.
After enduring the onslaught for a long enough period of time, Shion will reveal herself,
attempting to once again fill the screen with kanji projectiles before ultimately being
defeated.
Right, that's probably a good place to stop—I've said quite a bit in the past few minutes.
I'll admit, despite how long I've been familiar with the Touhou Project, I've fallen
behind on the recent installments and newer characters since about… the announcement
of Touhou 14.
But it's great to characters like Joon and Shion keeping up the franchise's standard
of characters whose background, inspiration, and design weave together concepts that might
not appear very synergetic at first glance.
Meshing together old stories of the Binbōgami and Yakubyōgami, possibly even their older
Chinese counterparts, the Pínqióng Shén and Wēn Shén, with the more modern topic
of 1980s and 90s Japanese society and economics sounds like an odd idea, but Joon and Shion
Yorigami manage to pull off the combination excellently.
I'm certain I missed a few details and subtleties regarding the Yorigami Sisters, given the
obscurity of the East Asian spirits they're meant to be, as well as my lack of familiarity
with economics and all its attached jargon, but I hope what I was able to discuss today
at least suffices as a basic overview.
And, uh, here's hoping that the next delay won't be quite as long.
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