So, a number of characters didn't appear in either the Gensokyo Chronicles or the Tengu newspapers... in particular, the Watatsuki sisters. To begin with, there are people who don't even know what kind of characters they are. Please tell us more about other characters, and I'll help you clean the room.

Well, the Watatsuki sisters are princesses of the moon. Toyohime has "the ability to connect mountains and seas", which is an ability to move anywhere she likes. Most importantly, she can move between the Lunar Capital and Earth, with Gensokyo being the "mountain" and the moon being the "sea".

Ah, a rather concrete interpretation then. I've only imagined her as "eating peaches" or "carrying superweapons"...

I didn't explain the weapons to Aki★Eda so the depiction was super sloppy(laugh). Her sister Yorihime is a more ordinary character.

Yorihime feels like the powered up form of a protagonist character.

That's because she's a character with cheat-like abilities. It doesn't use the power of science at all; it's purely her own ability. The stronger the summoned god is, the more versatile she gets. Since she's so strong, a manga is the only thing I can put her in. In games, you need to be able to defeat all of the bosses, after all. The character is limited precisely because it is a game.

I see. But Yorihime showing up meant that parts of Reimu's abilities was first illustrated concretely.

In that regard, I personally think one of the best parts of that manga was when she summoned the Sumiyoshi sanjin (the three gods of the voyage) for the three-stage rocket.

Will we see more interaction between the Lunar Capital and Gensokyo?

That would be tough. Perhaps we should leave that until humanity travels to the moon again? A non-NASA, private, for-profit venture looks possible, and could happen any time. In the past it was spurred by the Cold War, and now it seems like it's money.

Space travel aside, the process of entering the Lunar Capital is pretty similar to entering Kasen's house, isn't it?

That's because the Lunar Capital and the house of a hermit are rather similar. The residents of the Lunar Capital are closer to hermits or celestials than humans.

Now that you mention it, since there are also gods living on the moon, does that mean that Lunarians really are better?

My thought is that the Lunar Capital is where the highest, noblest gods live - that sort of setting. On the other hand, Gensokyo is where the more friendly, indigenous gods live. I figured that there are factions even among gods. Eirin is one of them, which is why she isn't interacting with the other humans after she moved to Gensokyo.

That seems to clear up a lot of things.

Because of that, the Watatsuki sisters are truly untouchable to those from Gensokyo. As a necessary measure. Those two have fun-loving personalities and the story could expand even farther, so I would like to make a story about them. When it comes to Gensokyan sisters, in general the younger one is "broken".

ZUN, I know you don't have a younger sister, but do you have some kind of grudge against them? (bitter chuckle)

I'd like to ask some questions about celestials and the messengers of the Dragon Palace.

Well, simply put, they were left out because they have nothing to do with Kanako, Hijiri or Miko, but Tenshi has a pretty good personality, doesn't she? In the end, the game was all about everyone bullying her.

She reminds me of Cirno in that sense.

The number of characters at that level of intelligence has increased, hasn't it. That kind of character is easier to come up with, compared to timid characters, which tend to be harder. In the end, in a game, Reimu is just going to force her way past and defeat them anyway, though.

What about Iku?

She has the ability to read the atmosphere, but she's terrible at taking advantage of it. In fact, because she can read it, all of Gensokyo's resident atmosphere-breakers made things even worse. Well, seriously talking, reading the atmosphere means swimming in the sky. So it's not a problem even if their conversation gets awkward.

I see.

Oh yeah, Iku's species is not written as "Messenger of the Dragon Palace" in katakana, but in kanji, but the Dragon Palace really does exist. That's the Lunar Capital I'm talking about.

You mean like how celestials live in the Lunar Capital.

The game setting says that there are various connections between the places.

What about the Midbosses like Kisume and Momiji?

Kisume... I don't really know what she normally does. But, I have images of her being pretty brutal. Words are useless against her; she'd just chop your head off, stick it in her bucket, and return home. The head you see may not even be Kisume's head.

Scary!

Well, the head you see really is hers, but she's that sort of unpleasant character. As for Momiji... she has a lot of White Wolf Tengu comrades, and has telegnosis (1000 li vision). Quite a handy person to have around.

And even though you included the Kakashi Spirit News, there's no article about Hatate...

It's because no one knows her except Aya, and why would Aya put her in the newspaper? But Hatate does have an ability that Aya lacks. Thoughtography is like telegnosis except you can take pictures with it. You enter keywords that come to mind and related items come up, like Google san. Well honestly, until just now I completely forgot that Hatate wasn't in either the Gensokyo Chronicles or the newspapers, so there isn't really a good in-universe explanation.

Ibara Kasen isn't in the Gensokyo Chronicles either.

Kasen's a great character, but since she's part of a work-in-progress I figured I shouldn't reveal too much here. That said, please enjoy the manga.