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Utsuho Reiuji

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(れい) () ()   (うつほ)
ɾeːɯd͡ʑi ɯt͡sɯho (♫)
Utsuho Reiuji
Utsuho Reiuzi

More Alternative Spellings
Utsuho Reiuji
Utsuho Reiuji in Sunken Fossil World
Scorching, Troublesome Divine Flame
More Character Titles
Nickname

Okuu (おくう or (くう) )

Species

Hell raven with Yatagarasu

Abilities

Manipulation of nuclear fusion

Occupation

Regulator of the flames in the former Hell of Blazing Fires

Location

The former Hell of Blazing Fires

Music Themes
Appearances
Official Games
Print Works

"Lord Yatagarasu, the Black Sun. Thank you for giving me your power.
The sunlight that rains down on the Earth is a nuclear furnace that will create new atoms.
My ultimate nuclear fusion will burn up every body, heart, phantom, and fairy!"
Utsuho Reiuji (Subterranean Animism Stage 6)

Utsuho Reiuji (霊烏路 空 Reiuji Utsuho) is a Hell Raven who is one of Satori Komeiji's pets and lived in the Underworld since before the transition to the newer Hell happened. Kanako Yasaka fed Utsuho the Sun god, Yatagarasu, which led to Utsuho obtaining the power of nuclear fusion. Utsuho first appeared as the Stage 6 boss of Subterranean Animism. After that, she appeared in Touhou Hisoutensoku as a playable character and possible opponent, and in Sunken Fossil World as a possible opponent.

General Information

Personality

Utsuho has such a simple and direct personality that it can even be said that she's airheaded or birdbrained.[1] In fact, she misunderstood what Kanako Yasaka told her "We can use that to bring about the wishes of not just the underground, but the above ground as well." and believed that she had to use her new power to take over Gensokyo.[2] Furthermore, when Sanae Kochiya told her that she is the shrine maiden that serves Kanako, Utsuho said she doesn't know that it's her; and after fighting, Utsuho didn't even remember the purpose of the fight and believes Sanae when she said that Utsuho was following Sanae's orders [3]

Abilities

Manipulation of Nuclear Fusion
Utsuho, as illustrated in The Grimoire of Marisa

Her abilities come from the god of nuclear fusion, Yatagarasu, and were granted to her by Kanako Yasaka in the god's attempt to turn the Hell of Blazing Fires into an energy source for Gensokyo. After absorbing the god, Utsuho obtained the left leg "the leg of fission" and the right leg "the leg of fusion", along with the third leg (a nuclear control rod in her right hand). As a result, she is able to manipulate the ultimate energy, nuclear fusion. Essentially, this means that Utsuho's own body actually houses a divine spirit, technically making her into a branch shrine for Yatagarasu. Apparently, the duller the holder of the power, the better they can utilize it. The red eye on her chest is proof that Utsuho obtained the power of fusion by absorbing Yatagarasu because the god's eyes are red, according to Chapter Three of Cage in Lunatic Runagate.

In the Outside World, the prospects of putting this to use have still not been reached, and thus can surely be said to be an illusory power.

Yatagarasu is the Misaki God of the Nihon Shinwa. In Nihon Shoki, as the messenger and envoy of highest sun god of the Nihon Shinwa, Amaterasu Oomikami (天照大神), Yatagarasu is considered the incarnation of the sun. It has been said that Yatagarasu possibly lives in the sun.

That is, it means that she's able to manipulate the same temperature as the highest heating power in the natural world, the sun (Furthermore, by the spells that she uses, she is also able to spring forth the same gravitational attraction). However, Utsuho can't keep creating energy forever on her own because she would run out of "fusion material" and as explained in one of the endings for Subterranean Animism, she needs to get the atoms used in the fusion process from someone else.

Occupation

Utsuho's job is to manage the temperature inside the Hell of Blazing Fires, by either opening the skylight above the Hell of Blazing Fires's courtyard to lower the temperature, or feeding the fires with the corpses carried by Rin. Since she received the Yatagarasu and her new ability, she has been using it to power the Nuclear Furnace.

Possessions

Utsuho wears a control rod on her right arm, which she uses as a cannon in combat. She presumably also uses it to absorb radiation and regulate nuclear reactions.

Official Profiles

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Official Profiles

Skills

Skills

Spell Cards

Spell Cards

Character Design

Utsuho, as illustrated in Symposium of Post-mysticism

Origin

There are several mythical three legged crows, such as the Sanzuwu (三足乌) in China and Yatagarasu in Japan. They are usually associated with the Sun, thought to be its guardian beasts or, more often, the manifestations of the Sun's deity. This inspired Utsuho's nuclear fusion power and association with heat.

Name

Her full name is Reiuji Utsuho (霊烏路 空). The characters for Reiuji (霊烏路) literally mean, in succession, "soul/spirit", "crow/raven", and "path". Utsuho () means "emptiness/empty-hole/cave" in Old Japanese, in which it is pronounced "utsuho". This is an example of a Japanese counterpart to spelling pronunciation. The character for Utsuho also means "sky" and can be pronounced "kuu" in a compound word.

Because of this, her nickname is Okuu (おくう), which was first used by Rin Kaenbyou to refer to Utsuho in the Extra Stage prologue. At first, only the "おくう" spelling used in Subterranean Animism was canon and "お空" (spelling using the kanji from her actual name) was not, but after Aya Shameimaru called her "お空" in the comment of scene 8-6 in Double Spoiler, both became canon; this was used again in the data files for Hopeless Masquerade. "O-kuu" (おくう) can also be a pun of "Oku-u" (屋烏, lit. "a crow standing on a roof"), though this might not be intentional.

Design

Utsuho has long dark brown hair and wears a white short-sleeved shirt with a red "eye" in the center, a short green skirt, and a green hair-ribbon. On her right arm, she wears a device reminiscent of a nuclear control rod. She also wears a cape that's white on the outside and a starry pattern on the inside; the cape is kept aloft by her black wings. Her right foot is encased in congealed matter, representing the "elephant's foot" of Chernobyl, a mass of cooled radioactive material and glass. Her left ankle is orbited by electrons.

On the Interview of Cara☆Mel‎ vol.8, ZUN mentioned that he tried to keep her from being indecent during the design process by adding a cannon on her arm instead of having an additional leg, thus solving the analogy of the third leg of the Yatagarasu.[4]

Appearances

Subterranean Animism
Utsuho's sprite in SA

Before the events of Subterranean Animism, she was told by a voice that she could swallow the god, Yatagarasu, that was hidden in the flames to gain a power that would fulfill the wishes of both the worlds below and above the surface. This power was nuclear fusion. Utsuho misunderstood what the voice had told her, and decided that, using these powers, she would take over Gensokyo. Her friend, Rin Kaenbyou, became worried about Utsuho, and drove evil spirits to the surface to cause an incident among the strong youkai above ground, in hope that they would come down to do something about it and, when they got there, defeat Utsuho and bring her back to her former self. What came, however, was not a strong youkai, but a strong human.

Undefined Fantastic Object

In Undefined Fantastic Object, it is revealed that the geyser she created with her newfound powers wound up blowing Byakuren Hijiri's ship out from the underground and into the sky, thus starting the plot of that game.

Touhou Hisoutensoku
Utsuho becomes a playable character in Touhou Hisoutensoku. She treats Sanae Kochiya and Cirno as objects interfering in the fusion process that can possibly cause malfunction to the core and attempts to eliminate them, after both fall in the Underground Geyser Center where she lives.
Double Spoiler
Utsuho in HM

In Double Spoiler, Utsuho appeared as a stage 8 target, where she uses a few spell cards and had Aya Shameimaru and Hatate Himekaidou take photos of her and her danmaku.

Hopeless Masquerade
Utsuho's sprite in SFW

Utsuho made a background cameo appearance in Hopeless Masquerade on the Palace of Earth Spirits and Youkai Tanuki Forest stages. She is seen enjoying the fights.

Violet Detector
Attention: This section is a stub and it needs expanding with more information related to the section's topic. If you can add to it in any way, please do so.
Sunken Fossil World

Utsuho greets the heroine with fireballs and fights thinking she was the culprit of the petroleum in the reactor. She explains her mission (if the player plays Reimu), gets confused about why she was fighting before (if the player plays the Yorigami sisters), request keeping fighting until the player goes through one of Okina's doors (if the player plays Flandre) or warns her about an enemy that could gobble up the Blazing Hell's flames (if the player plays Minamitsu).

The Grimoire of Marisa

Utsuho is one of the people whose spell cards Marisa Kirisame documents, adding descriptions, comments, and considerations to imitate them.

Symposium of Post-mysticism

Hieda no Akyuu writes an in-universe encyclopedic article on Utsuho as part of the Gensokyo Chronicle.

The Grimoire of Usami

Utsuho shows up to the Hakurei Fireworks Festival after others attempt to sabotage it, showcasing some of her dangerous danmaku.

Foul Detective Satori
Attention: This section is a stub and it needs expanding with more information related to the section's topic. If you can add to it in any way, please do so.
Whispered Oracle of Hakurei Shrine

Reimu Hakurei writes a fortune slip about Utsuho as a way of cleaning up in the aftermath of an incident.

Relationships

Satori Komeiji

She's one of Satori Komeiji's pets. In order to maintain the Hell of Blazing Fires and Palace of Earth Spirits working in proper order, Satori appointed various jobs to her pets.

Kanako Yasaka

She tells Utsuho in a dream to consume Yatagarasu and gain nuclear powers. However, Utsuho misunderstands her and uses these powers in an attempt to take over Gensokyo, which causes the events of Subterranean Animism.

Rin Kaenbyou

Utsuho and Rin are really old friends, since before the Underworld separated from Hell. They've known each other even before Satori started taking care of them.

Minor relationships

Koishi Komeiji

She is Utsuho's master Satori's younger sister.

Gallery

Covers

Artworks

Sprites

Illustrations

Screenshots

Others

Additional Information

  • A silhouette of Utsuho occupies the front of Subterranean Animism's jewel case.
  • Utsuho is one of the two only final bosses in a game who is a subordinate of an earlier boss (Satori). The other being Shinmyoumaru Sukuna, to Seija Kijin.
  • Utsuho is one of the two only bosses in a Windows game that gives the player a warning before the spell card begins; "☢ CAUTION!! ☢" appears for a few moments with klaxons blaring in the background. The other one belongs to Koishi, which warning Klaxons blare in the background in the "Philosophy of a Hated Person" spell card.
  • Her sprite animations in Touhou Hisoutensoku greatly resemble and are most likely a homage to sprite animation of Souther from the game Fist of the North Star PS2 version. (Comparison).
  • In Utsuho's spell cards, the background behind the trefoil is a photo of the Carina Nebula.
  • Utsuho's spell card background also features a real-world picture of a cat on the trefoil. One reason ZUN might've included this in the background could be because of the wild cats that have colonized the abandoned city of Pripyat. Pripyat was the town created for the families of workers at Chernobyl in Ukraine, and after the disaster that happened there, the population was evacuated. Recent excursions back into the ghost town lead to the discovery of a small community of irradiated wild cats that live comfortably in the foundations of abandoned homes.
    • Furthering the Chernobyl links, Utsuho could be a reference to an urban legend called the Black Bird of Chernobyl, which allegedly had massive black wings and bright red eyes.

Fandom

Official Sources

Official sources

See Also

References