Wasn't it speculated that Yukari and Maribel are the same person, and that Gensokyo is just a dream realm created by Maribel when she's sleeping, which is the time when Yukari is active (nighttime), and when Yukari sleeps, Maribel is active (daytime in Tokyo).
Lambdadelta said: Wasn't it speculated that Yukari and Maribel are the same person, and that Gensokyo is just a dream realm created by Maribel when she's sleeping, which is the time when Yukari is active (nighttime), and when Yukari sleeps, Maribel is active (daytime in Tokyo).
Yukari is said to sleep most of the time and even hibernate. Then that would make Maribel be awake most of the time(....) and not sleep at all in winter(......).
It's one of the best interpretations I know. It's basically supports:
Maribel Hearn powers evolved from being "able to see borders" to "manipulating borders". Canonically, even Renko states that exactly this happened.
And there is much more that leads to that conclusion which are from canon. Especially the connection between Yukari's spell cards and Maribel's experiences in Gensokyo are a great find. Also the fact that they both stared at the moons reflection on a lake and thought about manipulating borders to reach it.
Take your time and read through it. It's definitely worth it. Well, at least read Tiamat's first two posts. The rest is a bit too much speculation.
i dont want to go into full detail but somewhere in the Perfect Memento in strict sense says there were some people lost at the bamboo forest...like i said if you want the full intel i suggest you go read P.M.S.S.
If anyone were to ask my opinion about Yukari and Mari's relationship, I think it would go like this. Think of Gensokyo as a parallel universe to ours and that everyone in said parallel universe has one or two counterparts in this one and both of their actions affect each other in some way, thus Yukari and Maribel are not necessarily the same, rather, they are counterpart to each other, ergo their actions subtly affect what goes on this world as their lives are in some way parallel to each other. If Maribel is awake then, Yukari would be asleep and if Mari is awake then Yukari would be asleep, explaining the dreams. As for the hibernation on that note, I don't know.
Amoriderefarfalla said: Think of Gensokyo as a parallel universe to ours and that everyone in said parallel universe has one or two counterparts in this one
But Gensokyo is basically a region of Japan that was sealed from the outside world. I'd say that makes it rather unlikely that it is a parallel universe with said counterpart-effects and such.
But Gensokyo is basically a region of Japan that was sealed from the outside world. I'd say that makes it rather unlikely that it is a parallel universe with said counterpart-effects and such.
Hmm, I didn't think about that but, then again, it could be, in a sense it is more of a branch off or a Level 2 Parallel Universe (as in you go deeper, you fall into wonderland or something like that). Anyway, I kind of figured it was that in terms regarding Maribel and Yukari. Maybe she is a doppelganger(which may or may not go with the parallel universe theory, I said earlier), maybe she and Yukari are one in the same, maybe she is Yukari's offspring, or, rather, the two are just too similar and Maribel so happens to be able to see borders and Gensokyo, after all, it wouldn't outside the realm of possibility that there are people that can see Gensokyo and stuff relating to it (Ghostly Field Club implies the two had found the entrance to Netherworld, thus finding Gensokyo and Merry does know the true nature of the Lunar Capital). Either of those things could be true and maybe that is the point with Maribel, maybe we're supposed to speculate on what relation she has to Yukari and Gensokyo, after all ZUN never said any those were or weren't true and he may never tell.
But Gensokyo is basically a region of Japan that was sealed from the outside world. I'd say that makes it rather unlikely that it is a parallel universe with said counterpart-effects and such.
Parallel universes are tricksy little things, in that scientifically speaking, they are either unstable and collapse in finite time (usually very fast), or they are separated from each other to such a degree that punching a hole between two would likely create a metastable vacuum disaster (a region of lower-energy vacuum is created, whose boundary then catalyzes the conversion of surrounding vacuum to the lower energy in a self-perpetrating process that results in an ever-expanding volume of the new vacuum annihilating our current universe).
A way to reconcile the sealing would be saying that when Gensokyo was created, space was warped in a way that creates a 'bubble' of flat space-time inside a closed curve, sort of like a soap bubble. This would separate Gensokyo from the surrounding universe completely, while maintaining the same physical constants that enable life (and physics, and chemistry, and etc.) as we know it. This would also enable passage between the two regions of space via carefully controlling the warping of space at the edge (which could also be called the Great Hakurei Barrier) to create openings to our region of space-time, in effect, a sort of passable wormhole.
This theory doesn't explain the Yukair/Maribel relationship, though, it's only a possible explanation for how Gensokyo is isolated from the rest of the world.
Parallel universes are tricksy little things, in that scientifically speaking, they are either unstable and collapse in finite time (usually very fast), or they are separated from each other to such a degree that punching a hole between two would likely create a metastable vacuum disaster (a region of lower-energy vacuum is created, whose boundary then catalyzes the conversion of surrounding vacuum to the lower energy in a self-perpetrating process that results in an ever-expanding volume of the new vacuum annihilating our current universe).
A way to reconcile the sealing would be saying that when Gensokyo was created, space was warped in a way that creates a 'bubble' of flat space-time inside a closed curve, sort of like a soap bubble. This would separate Gensokyo from the surrounding universe completely, while maintaining the same physical constants that enable life (and physics, and chemistry, and etc.) as we know it. This would also enable passage between the two regions of space via carefully controlling the warping of space at the edge (which could also be called the Great Hakurei Barrier) to create openings to our region of space-time, in effect, a sort of passable wormhole.
This theory doesn't explain the Yukari/Maribel relationship, though, it's only a possible explanation for how Gensokyo is isolated from the rest of the world.
Yeah, that definitely would explain the sealing of Gensokyo of from the rest of the world 128 years ago. In terms of the Maribel/Yukari relationship, could be possible that maybe Maribel is supposed to have all of this speculation surrounding her? I mean everyone has some good theories and ZUN declined to elaborate on what he meant in an interview and didn't give an answer when someone asked if Maribel and Yukari were the same. Maybe they are the same person and maybe they aren't, who knows? In my opinion we're supposed to speculate on who Merry is and what relationship she has in regards to Yukari and Gensokyo, which makes her more interesting and everyone has some good theories and their own takes on it that wouldn't be outside of any foreseeable realm of possibility in canon.
Amoriderefarfalla said: [...]In my opinion we're supposed to speculate on who Merry is and what relationship she has in regards to Yukari and Gensokyo, which makes her more interesting and everyone has some good theories and their own takes on it that wouldn't be outside of any foreseeable realm of possibility in canon.
And the fact that so many things in Touhou just have vague informations, makes the fans all the more creative and awesome. I mean look at this discussion about parallel universes, dream realms and more, basically just because two characters are similar and seem somehow related. It is kinda amazing.
