Issue 12
Blogs mentioned in the articles:
@randomtengureporter, @nightblindsparrow, @astrologistsgaze, @phantasmalfantasia, @satorisays, @houraihime
Text versions of the articles are behind the read more:
Opinion: Tengu rebellion should not be so easily dismissed
If you live on the mountain dearest reader, you’ve no doubt by now heard of the rebellion against the oni spearheaded by Daichi Yuutamo Senior Editor of the Intrepid Truth Press. And if you’re like most Tengu, dearest reader, you no doubt dismissed it out of hand. Yours truly, thinks such casual dismissal is a mistake.
I’ll be the first to admit, dearest reader, that I have not always been the most traditional of Tengu, but I have always sought to uphold our most sacred values of truth and it’s pursuit. And one of the most important ways to pursue the truth is to keep an open mind. If you don’t dearest reader, you risk letting old miss conceptions cloud your vision. If we don’t we’re no better than those close minded humans in the village.
The very fact that Daichi’s rebellion has found any traction at all, means that there must be at least some grain of truth to his complaints. After all the oni have done for us, don’t we owe it to them to try and help them be better? Maybe we should listen to his complaints with that in mind. Maybe there really is somewhere that they could improve, and we could be the ones to help them in that!
It’s my opinion that we should give Daichi a fair listening to. Then we can make a rational judgement of them. Maybe his ideas are as crazy as some no doubt believe, but maybe there is some truth in them. And are we really very good tengu if we ignore a potential truth just because it might be uncomfortable?
Yukari takes human lover
Yes dearest reader, another story about what Gensokyo’s youkai-phile human is up to. After somehow surviving her dalliance with Yuuka Kazami, the Human Renku Usami has begun dating another Youkai. This time she’s dating none other than the youkai sage herself, Yukari Yakumo. If yours truly didn’t know better dearest reader, I’d say that Renko’s trying to one up herself.
Yukari herself even confirmed this when asked for comment by the Bunbunmaru. Saying that she thinks Renko is “Cute”. Although she was unable or possibly unwilling to elaborate further when pressed for details.
Renko herself was far less tightlipped about the whole affair than her new paramour. When asked to explain her relationship, Renko said that she’s come to believe that Yukari is Renko’s long lost (and probably dead and eaten) human lover Mary. Renko continued to say that she believes that this marry person somehow evolved into the current Yukari and lost or discarded her human memories.
I was at first, dearest reader, inclined to believe that this was just some insanity brought on by human grief. However, Renko continued to elaborate that she believes this means that even if her old flame and Yukari share a common past, they are still different people and that Renko is infatuated with Yukari in her own right.
While it is not known why the breakup between Renko and Yuuka occurred or how Renko survived, it will be interesting to see how long this new relationship lasts. As always dearest reader, yours truly will keep you informed.
Taoism losing followers
A recent poll of the human village commissioned by the Bunbunmaru has shown that Taoism is losing followers. Of those who once considered themselves primarily Taoist, 15% of them now claim to have fallen out with the faith.
Some of the humans we interviewed attributed this to the relative inaccessibility of Gensokyo’s Taoist leaders compared to the leaders of the competition.
Although the cause of the change is still unclear, several humans were willing to speak to us on condition of anonymity:
“Miko is just creepy, you know? Not at all like Byakuren.”
“Does Taoism have a god at all? What’s the point if they don’t?”
“Hina cares for us as best she can, that Miko person just looks down on us.”
“I wouldn’t mind a roll in the hay with some of the Taoists, but they lack the dignity of the Hakurei miko.”
These were just a few select quotes of the people we talked to. The common theme of the interviews we conducted seems to be that the recent hands off approach that the Taoists have been taking has caused the humans to feel abandoned by them.
Faith is central to the power balance in Gensokyo. A sustained shift in the Taoist following could spell serious problems for Toyosatomimi no MIko and her group. Perhaps the Taoists only saving grace in such an unfortunate scenario is that unlike Shinto gods, they are not directly empowered by faith.
Both the newcomer faith Hinaism and age old Taoist rival Buddhism have picked up the bulk of the humans that have left the Taoist fold.
Senkai did not respond to our request for comment by print time.
Satori Komeji’s experimental fashion
She’s at it again dearest reader. Satori Komeji has managed to land herself in my paper – again. This time it’s not for drunkenly attempting to fight a goddess, molesting her pets, or accusations of beating her sister. No, dearest reader that was how the ever attention starved mind reader of Chireden got into my paper last issue.
I won’t bore you with the details, for I’m still too terrified of her to approach for an interview (did I mention I’m now hiring interns?). Instead, I’ll just allow this candid picture to speak for itself.
Retraction: Princess Kaguya not into BDSM
I try my best to bring you only the best and most accurate news dearest reader, but even I can make mistakes. In the last issue of the Bunbunmaru, we cited a rumour that princess Kaguya was in a BDSM relationship with Fujiwara no Mokou. After a brief interview with the princess herself, it turns that is indeed just a rumour.