Resized to 85% of original (view original)
hakurei reimu, kirisame marisa, and kawashiro nitori (touhou) drawn by chameleon_(ryokucha_combo)

Artist's commentary

  • Original
    • |
  • Translated
    •

    The End of the Maiden's Illusion 3-2

    I am actually part of the Reimari faction.　　　　　　　You should finish reading it!　　\e　　　　　　　　>Previouspixiv #4895477 »

  • Comments
  • Recommended
    •
    garyseven
    [hidden]

    im sorry, Nitori, but this movie's too good of a story for us to be able to film. rake it over the ground a few times, stomp on it, and throw it in the river, then add a number of meaningless explosions, a chase scene, and some numbers at the end of the title, and we might be more considering. -Hollywood

  • 5
  • Reply
    • Hijiri Byakuren
    [hidden]

    Wow, that ending was very random and rather upsetting. I guess It's nice that no one really died though and that Komachi isn't really sad.

    Reminds me of that episode of GinTama where Gintoki was trying to fall asleep by listening to depressing stories on the radio of a girl and her dog. I actually cried because that story had a sad end, until the surprise part. I agree with Gin breaking the radio and being upset. I might just break the writer for this.

  • 0
  • Reply
    • shinmasaki
    [hidden]

    FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF-

    I was at the brink of shedding some very unmanly tears.
    Then THAT happened and then the tears instantly changed into rage tears.

    Truly a masterful level of trolling, but still...

    GOD DAMMIT...hold on, there's something in my eye.

  • 1
  • Reply
    • Giant Robot
    [hidden]

    mmmm that was a good read, i think the ending as much of a trap as it was was good in keeping with the spirit of things. I woulda liked to see Sanae (and maybe Sakuya im not exactly 100% sure on her human status) meet up with them in the afterlife as opposed to passing mention

  • 1
  • Reply
    • Dorakko
    [hidden]

    ooooooooooookay, i'm gonna say some very nasty things now, so don't read if you don't wanna learn some bad language
    FUCK YOU NITORI EAT YOUR OWN SHIT GODDAMITT YOUR MOTHER WAS A HAMSTER AND YOUR FATHER A FUCKING WEAPON AND DRUG SELLER
    well, aside that, i would have seriously cried if there was a serious ending... I want this to be a movie, and I want ZUN direct it. I want it to be 3D, square-enix quality, of course, and i want it to last six hours...

  • -6
  • Reply
    • Koumacsi
    [hidden]

    first, I dropped some tears, because the heart twisting scenes

    then suddenly Nitori enters
    first I was 11/10
    Kamereon master trollold me

    but then, I realized, I laughed

    THIS is Gensokyo

    a harder fatality would have been made, if Kogasa or her umbrella would showed up before Nitori
    now that would be a big surprise

  • 0
  • Reply
    • Saphyr
    [hidden]

    Comic said:
    Marisa: I'd find you no matter what, Reimu. Even if (insert Norio Wakamoto voice-over here) you were a [strike]hawkurei[/strike] birdo!

    Fix'd for great justice. That would offset the trolling levels just a bit. I'm still willing to fund that movie, though! It's just as well that it's fiction... after all, it was fiction to begin with, lol!

  • 0
  • Reply
    • test1979rg
    [hidden]

    All 11 strips hard translated:
    http://www.mediafire.com/?6ntz5aggsnipl3s

    ------=====-------=====----------======------------
    @WatcherCCG
    And when you read story that do not put a stunt like that and is really F. DEPRESING and only then you RAGE and wish for such 'trolling'

    http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7022541/1/Touhou_Death_Files_Reimu_Hakurei

    Somewhat similiar also has Reimu,Marisa and Komachi at the end.
    Be advised that it is really DARK, depresing, unjust and sad story...

  • 0
  • Reply
    • pokerfaced
    [hidden]

    garyseven said:
    im sorry, Nitori, but this movie's too good of a story for us to be able to film. rake it over the ground a few times, stomp on it, and throw it in the river, then add a number of meaningless explosions, a chase scene, and some numbers at the end of the title, and we might be more considering. -Hollywood

    Let's also cast Miley Cyrus, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sandra Bullock and the Olsen Twins. Hell, we'll even give Michael Cera and Nicholas Cage a lead role if we can find a space in their busy schedules.

  • 0
  • Reply
    • Alignn
    [hidden]

    ...Haha.

    I'm actually kind of thankful for that ending. Couldn't help but chuckle, and now I got to experience that strange emotion I've only seen others experience. Hard to put it into words.
    "It's really sad, but... ya gotta laugh, y'know?"

  • 2
  • Reply
    • iliekmudkips
    [hidden]

    Krugger said:
    I am glad to see that even after 2 years it is still messing with people

    Yeah, I just saw this on pixiv 1000 and man I kinda feel empty now, yet fufilled. I got to read a great story, with a great end, and then a cock-blocking kappa at the end. It's nice when a artist makes you torn between emotions like that.

  • 1
  • Reply
    • Vhaltz
    [hidden]

    I know this is going to be one massive ride through manly tears land every time and yet I still keep coming back to read it every few months.
    I only wish I had been more familiar with Touhou back in my first read-through, it's already unforgettable as it is, and with a little more context this would've well managed to be the best doujin I ever read.

  • 0
  • Reply
    • Nitramy
    [hidden]

    I'd still watch this movie even though I was like: "...so all of that was a screenplay by Nitori?! THE HELL?!"

    Apparently Yukari loved it because it was an act of trolling she could sympathize with, being Gensokyo's premiere troll extraordinaire...

  • 0
  • Reply
    • Zoujinsin
    [hidden]

    I just read all of this today and all I can say is....

    TAKE MY MONEY! TAKE ALL IT AND BRING THIS MOVIE INTO EXISTENCE! WHY DOES NOTHING HAPPEN NO MATTER HOW MUCH MONEY I THROW AT MY SCREEN!?]

    But yeah that ending is just absolutely brilliant.

  • 2
  • Reply
    • escav
    [hidden]

    Welps, I'm used to troll endings anyway. Well played Nitori, well played Kamereon. But all in all, it was way too emotional in a good sense.

    What I am surprised about though is why nobody has taken these strips apart, put them in a video, subtitled them, added fittingly sappy music, and uploaded it all to youtube yet. It seems like one of those series that would be fun to do so and it even has the author and kappa's approval.

  • 0
  • Reply
    • SoulDevour
    [hidden]

    Goddammit. I don't think I've ever been trolled so massively hard. That would have been perfectly fine as a conclusion to the life of Hakurei Reimu. It was touching, heartwarming, gave a character I didn't expect a ton of characterization that she never seems to get, had a fantastic ending and it was all rendered USELESS by that DAMN kappa.

    Goddammit...I feel so broken now...I'm erasing the last part from my mind. It's better that way.

  • 0
  • Reply
    • user 377800
    [hidden]

    SoulDevour said:
    Goddammit...I feel so broken now...I'm erasing the last part from my mind. It's better that way.

    No, its not. The last panels are the only things that redeems this sordid little melodrama porn.

    Why do people want the touhou girls to die so much? It's a land full of agelessness and eternity. Why would you wish to deny that from them? Why do you want to see happiness end?

    The taoists are immortal, the buddists are immortal, the youkai are immortal and humans become immortal by many means. Agelessness is an overwhelming and pivotal theme of this series and killing off any characters for any reason destroys it's integrity.

    Some people want them to die and have the integrity of the series be dragged through the mud just for some kind of awkward self-satisfaction and that is wrong. You want melodrama, death and "boo-hoo"ing? Go anywhere else for it, but stop forcing it onto a series it doesn't belong in.

    If touhou does has a "true end" it certainly doesn't involve death.

  • -1
  • Reply
    • Kalga
    [hidden]

    Even accounting for the fact that the whole thing is a blatant attempt on Nitori's part to get an Oscar Award... this story is still better than most movies (and TV shows) I have seen in the past decade.

    Let's be honest here, we the audience get to have our cake and eat it too in this case. We get to cry, smile, and laugh, all in the space of a few panels.

    10/10

    Edit: The funny thing was I somehow skipped the last 4 panels for some reason the first time around and I was wondering who everyone was talking about Nitori trolling... It took me another 2 rereading before I saw the last 4 panels

    Updated by Kalga

  • 0
  • Reply
    • XKR
    [hidden]

    my heart and mind just fulfilled with calamity, reminiscence and atonement after reading the entire story despite THAT ending as it was so heart-warming that I cannot cry at all. Truly the best masterpiece I've ever seen and read.

    13/10 would read (and rage) over and over

  • 0
  • Reply
    • IndustriousMechanic
    [hidden]

    Explosion said:

    No, its not. The last panels are the only things that redeems this sordid little melodrama porn.

    Why do people want the touhou girls to die so much? It's a land full of agelessness and eternity. Why would you wish to deny that from them? Why do you want to see happiness end?

    The taoists are immortal, the buddists are immortal, the youkai are immortal and humans become immortal by many means. Agelessness is an overwhelming and pivotal theme of this series and killing off any characters for any reason destroys it's integrity.

    Some people want them to die and have the integrity of the series be dragged through the mud just for some kind of awkward self-satisfaction and that is wrong. You want melodrama, death and "boo-hoo"ing? Go anywhere else for it, but stop forcing it onto a series it doesn't belong in.

    If touhou does has a "true end" it certainly doesn't involve death.

    I disagree rather strongly on this point. Many of the characters may be immortal, but I feel that the theme is, primarily, the fear of and the flight from death. Many of the plots in the Windows canon feature antagonists whose primary motivation is fear of death, and a desire for things to become ageless and unchanging, and those that don't have different thematic ties with death. Remilia the vampire, Yuyuko the Princess of the Netherworld, Mokou and Kaguya's sin, and so forth.

    The gods of Moriya, Byakuren, and Miko exemplify this desire to continue regardless of the cost. But, between all these supernatural beings, you have two humans. They age, and, eventually, will die. This isn't a matter of sadness, nor sordidness, but simple fact. Barring Kaguya and Mokou, they all will, eventually. And, as Komachi said, for some it comes sooner. This isn't sordid in the slightest, but cathartic instead, and is remarkably upbeat and cheerful in spite of the subject matter. It allows us to mourn and give thanks for life, and then makes us laugh at the absurdity of it all at the very end.

    They die, but their passing isn't a sad one but for those immortals they touched and must leave behind. And, even despite their deaths, they continue. They were there, and touched countless lives, and will reincarnate in some other form. In short, not only do I believe your interpretation to be flawed, but take umbrage with your calling this a sordid little melodrama porn. It is not sordid, nor is their passing melodramatic or even dramatic, but graceful. It's only pornographic if you consider catharsis pornographic, but that's another matter entirely.

  • 9
  • Reply
    • DevonM
    [hidden]

    I wasn't even angry about the last few panels when I read this the first time. Sure, it's a troll and everything, but I find it in good humour. It doesn't really (to me) detract from having read the rest of the comic. Having said that, Nitori is a pretty good scriptwriter!

  • 0
  • Reply
    • Zeta101
    [hidden]

    It's all awesome. Rather than just being a complete sad story like some, this one actually was like...idk, happy death in a sense. I felt kinda good about all the stuff that was going on. The ending honestly made me laugh and just feel better still. I got no problems with this.

  • 0
  • Reply
    • Pallacertus
    [hidden]

    When I first saw this about a year ago, way before I made this account, I thought this was the greatest doujin I've ever seen on Danbooru, never mind that this was literally the first one I ever saw on this site. The passing days and weeks and months haven't changed my mind. I've seen many more since then, and a few have stuck around in my mind -- particularly giselebon's excellent short comic on Eiki Shiki, Bomber Grape's explosive farce, gensoukoumuten's Touhoutopias, and yaza's ongoing McDo-on-Gensokyou -- but for the way it handles a normally very gloomy subject in such a deft way so as to make it feel cathartic, to make it feel that a wonderful time was had by all while she was with them; in such a way that the ending made me feel (and still makes me feel) energized rather than trolled, so that I can't help but agree with Marisa (and presumably Yukari)...

    ... I may not be able to express myself well enough in appreciation of this great, great work, but I know great doujinshi when I see one, and this is one of them, and in fact the greatest. What this thing gives, other works fail in twice as much ink and paper and time spent.

    I don't know what else to say, and yet I know much has been left unsaid -- damned language...

  • 1
  • Reply
    • DeityDiz93
    [hidden]

    I was crying throughout the whole thing. Despite the shift in the end it didn't stop my flowing stream of them.

    This was an absolutely beautiful story, and I think it was done beyond well. Each panel held their own set of suspense and power, and the payload in the first part of this series was enough to move me, which doesn't always happen, but darn it all, I love Reimu as a character so well, so it definitely had a huge impact on me. That, and the fact that Reimu is just such a wonderful person; she's just so nice to everyone. ; ;

    Perhaps it's because I've known about Touhou for 8 years too that I react this way, but the appreciation I have as a Touhou fan when seeing this doujinshi is very apparent, and no doubt people here can also appreciate this. I'm thankful to the author for writing such a stellar piece of work; this will be a series I cherish well alongside the other beautiful Touhou fan stories that have drove me to tears.

    Oh, if you're wondering about that other fan story, it's mainly Osana Reimu and its sequel.

  • 0
  • Reply
    • Demundo
    [hidden]

    Sakil said:

    FUUUCK! I was so moved about all of this and suddenly giving me that... Well, at least I had a good laugh so it's even.

    Krugger said:

    I am glad to see that even after 2 years it is still messing with people

    7 years and people are are still falling left and right for this.
    I also had a serious cough knowing someone fell for it too.

  • 5
  • Reply
    • Caihn
    [hidden]

    Hmmm, despite showing us that this was just Nitori showing Marisa and Reimu the movie in slides, I can't help but wonder if what we were seeing before that point was the actual Movie that was shot afterward. Or maybe it's what's to come in the future.

    Regardless of that, this was really good. Made me so emotional reading through it.

  • 0
  • Reply
    • Alixiron
    [hidden]

    I feel kinda happy knowing that the previous chapters weren't real but damn that's a bait and switch I never could have seen coming lol. Already liked the start of this final chapter before the reveal because of the sudden Reimari after hinting towards Alimari throughout the other chapters but that ending just makes it a 10/10.

    Updated by Alixiron

  • 0
  • Reply