Yamame Kurodani

黒谷 (くろだに) ヤマメ Yamame Kurodani (♫)
Yamame Kurodani in Subterranean Animism The Bright Net in the Dark Cave More Character Titles
Species	Tsuchigumo
Abilities	Manipulation of illness (mainly infectious disease)
Location	Underworld
Music Themes
Show Music Themes 封じられた妖怪　～ Lost Place (Subterranean Animism)
Appearances
Official Games
Show Official Game appearances Subterranean Animism (Stage 1 Boss) Double Spoiler (Scene 3-1, 3-4, 3-7 Boss)
Print Works
Show Print Work appearances Oriental Sacred Place (Chapter 10) Symposium of Post-mysticism

Yamame Kurodani (黒谷 ヤマメ Kurodani Yamame) is the Stage 1 boss in Subterranean Animism, inhabiting the entrance to the underground.

As a tsuchigumo (earth spider), her ability is the power to manipulate diseases, though she generally prefers not to. She enjoys fighting, and is well-liked for her bright personality among other youkai, but humans tend to be repulsed by her ability. Earth spiders are, in addition, well-suited for architecture, due to their own physical strength and that of their string.

Character Basis

Name

In an interview released in Cara☆Mel‎, ZUN mentioned that he figured her name was particularly "spiderish", maybe because spiders are all about their eyes (me, in Japanese), and pointed out that the number of buttons on her outfit added up to give her the proper number of eyes for a spider. This means that another possible interpretation for her name would be "Yamame" or "八ま目", which roughly translates as "Eight Eyes". Also see Tsuchigumo.

The name "Kurodani" is written with characters that mean "black valley". Yamame may be written as "山女" (lit. mountain girl), which refers to a mythical demon in Japanese folklore.

Design

In Subterranean Animism's official art, Yamame has Brown eyes, blonde hair tied up in a bun with a ribbon. She wears a black and brown dress that's poofy under the waist, some black shoes with white socks, and a yellow ribbon tied around her lower body.

Story

Subterranean Animism

During the events of Subterranean Animism, she mistook the heroine as a youkai from the surface and attacked; she was defeated quickly.

Main article: Reimu & Yukari Arc

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Main article: Reimu & Suika Arc

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Main article: Reimu & Aya Arc

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Main article: Marisa & Alice Arc

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Main article: Marisa & Patchouli Arc

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Main article: Marisa & Nitori Arc

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Spell Cards

  Spellcards

Name	Translated	Comments	Games	Stage
Total: 6
罠符「キャプチャーウェブ」	Trap Sign "Capture Web"		SA	St. 1: E/N
蜘蛛「石窟の蜘蛛の巣」	Spider "Cave Spider's Nest"		SA GoM	St. 1: H/L ----
瘴符「フィルドミアズマ」	Miasma Sign "Filled Miasma"		SA GoM	St. 1: E/N ----
瘴気「原因不明の熱病」	Miasma "Unexplained Fever"		SA	St. 1: H/L
細綱「カンダタロープ」	Small Thread "Kandata's Rope"		DS	St. 3
毒符「樺黄小町」	Poison Sign "Japanese Foliage Spider"		DS	St. 3

Additional Information

Yamame, on the cover of the SA demo CD

Trivia

• Subterranean Animism's demo CD featured Yamame on the cover (upside down).

Fanon

• Because of Yamame being upside-down on the demo CD, it didn't take long for fan-art of her hanging upside down to come up. Fans were disappointed when she didn't do this in the actual game.
• Because she's a spider youkai, pairings of her with Wriggle Nightbug are common (see also Relationshipping). Spiders eat bugs, right?
• Since Kisume has no known relationships, but appears as a mid-boss in Yamame's stage, the two, sometimes along with Parsee and Yuugi are often depicted as knowing one another in fanworks.

Official Profiles

  Subterranean Animism - Character Settings.txt

○１面ボス　暗い洞窟の明るい網 　　黒谷ヤマメ（くろだに　やまめ） 　　Kurodani Yamame 　　種族：土蜘蛛 　　能力：病気（主に感染症）を操る程度の能力 　　旧都や洞窟の奥底で活動している妖怪。 　　人間と戦う事に一切の抵抗感は無い。好戦的で性格は明るい。 　　ただその能力から会う者全てに嫌がられる。しかし、本人は無闇に相手を病に冒したりはしない。よく話をしてみると明るく楽しい妖怪で、地下の妖怪達の人気者である。

Stage 1 boss The Shining Net in the Dark Cave Yamame Kurodani Species: Tsuchigumo Ability: Manipulating illness (mainly infectious disease) A youkai that lives primarily in abandoned cities and deep in caves. She has no qualms about fighting humans. She has a bright, combative personality. Her power makes everyone she meets hate her. However, she herself wouldn't inflict disease on someone without reason. She's a bright, fun-loving youkai if you get to know her, so she's popular among the youkai that live underground.

Official Sources

  Official sources

• 2008/05/25 - Subterranean Animism Demo - Trial profile (pre-official profile)
• 2008/08/16 - Subterranean Animism - Settings.txt (official profile)
• 2008/12/25 - Interview on Subterranean Animism with Cara☆Mel‎ (Nico Nico Video link)
• 2009/07/28 - The Grimoire of Marisa - Yamame Kurodani's Spell Cards
• 2010/03/14 - Double Spoiler - Stage 3 Spell Cards
• 2010/08/26 - Oriental Sacred Place - Chapter 10 (appearance only)
• 2012/04/27 - Symposium of Post-mysticism