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{{quote|When you betray someone, you don't do it with your own hands. A wonderful idea, in my opinion. |Tsukasa Kudamaki to [[Megumu Iizunamaru]]|[[Unconnected Marketeers]] Stage 5.}}


{{nihongo|'''Tsukasa Kudamaki'''|菅牧 典|Kudamaki Tsukasa}} is a [[kuda-gitsune]] who acts as a subordinate of [[Megumu Iizunamaru]] while secretly manipulating events for her own gain. She is also the Stage 5, 6, and Extra Stage [[Midboss|midboss]] of ''[[Unconnected Marketeers]]'' as well as being one of the main antagonists.
{{nihongo|'''Tsukasa Kudamaki'''|菅牧 典|Kudamaki Tsukasa}} is a [[kuda-gitsune]] who acts as a subordinate of [[Megumu Iizunamaru]] while secretly manipulating events for her own gain. She is also the Stage 5, 6, and Extra Stage [[Midboss|midboss]] of ''[[Unconnected Marketeers]]'' as well as being one of the main antagonists.

Revision as of 20:29, 17 August 2022

菅牧 (くだまき) (つかさ)
kɯdamaki tsɯkasa
Tsukasa Kudamaki
Tsukasa Kudamaki
Tsukasa Kudamaki in Unconnected Marketeers
Wicked White Fox Who Whispers in Ears
More Character Titles
Species

Kuda-gitsune

Abilities

Capable of slipping into places where one's soul is weak

Appearances
Official Games

"When you betray someone, you don't do it with your own hands. A wonderful idea, in my opinion. "
Tsukasa Kudamaki to Megumu Iizunamaru (Unconnected Marketeers Stage 5.)


Tsukasa Kudamaki (菅牧 典 Kudamaki Tsukasa) is a kuda-gitsune who acts as a subordinate of Megumu Iizunamaru while secretly manipulating events for her own gain. She is also the Stage 5, 6, and Extra Stage midboss of Unconnected Marketeers as well as being one of the main antagonists.

General Information

Personality

Tsukasa is a sly kuda-gitsune who talks out of both sides of her mouth, acting as a "loyal" confidant to her mistress, Megumu Iizunamaru. Although she presents herself to be Megumu's faithful servant, she seems primarily interested in her own goals. [1] Tsukasa's willingness to manipulate high-class youkai like Megumu, Gods like Chimata Tenkyuu, and even extremely powerful and dangerous youkai like Momoyo Himemushi, demonstrates a high degree of pride and confidence in her skills as a manipulator. She also address them in a very polite manner, calling them "Miss". Despite this, it's shown that Megumu, Chimata, and Momoyo trust her advice, even when they have good reason to be suspicious of her. When challenged, however, she can get quite vicious and mean-spirited, showing her malicious and disparaging side to the protagonist in Unconnected Marketeers. [2]

Abilities

Capable of slipping into places where one's soul is weak

Tsukasa senses weak points in the souls of those around her, and can exploit them in order to get what she wants. She demonstrates this ability against Megumu, Chimata, and Momoyo in Unconnected Marketeers.

Kuda-gitsune's wealth-bringing

Kuda-gitsune are capable of bringing people great wealth, but can somewhat ironically also cause financial ruin in the long-run.

Background Information

Origin

Kuda-gitsune (管狐 "pipe fox") are mythological beings associated with foxes, weasels, or larval rollers, small enough to fit inside a pipe or bamboo tube. According to tradition, they answer questions to those who conjure them up, or take possession of people. In Touhou, however, the main interpretation shown is that kuda-gitsune first bring wealth, but over time multiply in such a way that they harm their owners, whether through high financial costs as in traditional mythology, or by stealing their life force as in Touhou Project. For example, in Chapter 8 of Wild and Horned Hermit, Reimu Hakurei temporarily falls victim to a trick by a kuda-gitsune who steals Reimu's life force.

Kuda-gitsune are also called iizuna (飯綱 'fox spirit'). This is the same iizuna from Megumu Iizunamaru's surname.

Name

Her given name, Tsukasa (), typically read tenてん, means "law" or "ceremony." Alternate meanings for the kana tsukasa (つかさ) also include chief () and hill (), which may be of more significance.

Her surname, Kudamaki (菅牧), means sedge pasture.

Interestingly, the aforementioned characters , , and all share a radical with kuda ( 'pipe'), as in kuda-gitsune (管狐).

Design

Tsukasa has blonde, shoulder-length hair, that partially covers her face and has light-brown to yellow eyes. She has big fox ears with white points and a fluffy foxtail. She wears plain white, one-piece clothing, with green bands at the hemming. On the left thigh is a turquoise flower pattern. Besides that, she wears white socks and holds a test tube in her left hand, which is a reference to her nature as a kuda-gitsune, and is likely the very tube she lives in.

She holds her right hand in a pose shaped like a fox's head.

Story

Tsukasa's sprite in UM

Games

Unconnected Marketeers

From stage 5 onwards, Tsukasa appears in every stage, i.e. 5, 6 and extra, as a mid-boss and in dialogue with the stage boss in order to manipulate them. The protagonist beats her every time, but is drawn into another fight each time by Tsukasa's lies and tricks. As Megumu Iizunamaru's consultant, she was also involved in building the company that triggered the Unconnected Marketeers incident and, despite her seemingly small role in the background, she can be seen as one of the central antagonists.

Relationships

Megumu Iizunamaru

She is Megumu Iizunamaru's right-hand and seems loyal to her, addressing her in very polite tones. However, Tsukasa is shown to manipulate Megumu all the same. Megumu trusts her without hesitation and seems to appreciate her presence, sending her away before her boss fight, apparently out of concern that Tsukasa might be injured.

Momoyo Himemushi

As a messenger for Megumu, Tsukasa brings her messages from Megumu to Momoyo, and vice versa. Tsukasa uses this by announcing that she will report Momoyo's apparent 'failure' to Megumu when the protagonist and Misumaru Tamatsukuri enter the cave, falsely branding them 'thieves'. Momoyo fights the protagonist, apparently more concerned with having a good fight than upholding any sense of honour with her 'employers'. Momoyo is also able to threaten Tsukasa and blackmail her into silence.[3] While Tsukasa also addresses Momoyo with polite tones, it seems that this is mostly for appearances, as Tsukasa does not seem to respect Momoyo's intelligence very much.

Chimata Tenkyuu

Like with the other antagonists of Unconnected Marketeers, Tsukasa addresses Chimata in polite tones, but for her own gain. Chimata seems to recognize this double-sidedness in Tsukasa, refusing Tsukasa's requests and sending her away at the end of Unconnected Marketeers, considering bargaining with the kuda-gitsune to be a worthless endeavour. [citation needed]

Minor relationships

Misumaru Tamatsukuri

Misumaru does not seem particularly enthralled by Tsukasa's manipulations, considering her a nuisance as Tsukasa disrupts Misumaru's attempts at a conflict-free resolution to the incident.

Spell Cards

Spell Cards
Name Translated Comments Games Stage
Total: 5
狐符「フォックスワインダー」 Fox Sign "Fox Winder" UM St. Ex
管狐「シリンダーフォックス」 Kuda-gitsune "Cylinder Fox" UM
UDoALG
St. Ex
Use
星狐「天狐龍星の舞」 Stellar Fox "Dance of Heavenly Foxes and Dragon Stars" UM St. Ex
狐符「遅効性の管狐弾」 Fox Sign "Delayed Pipe Fox Bullet" 100BM 5th Market
狐符「管の中の邪悪」 Fox Sign "Wickedness Within the Pipe" 100BM 5th Market

Additional Information

Tsukasa is a unique character in several ways.

  • She was the first midboss-only character introduced since Soga no Tojiko in Ten Desires, from ten years prior.
  • She is the only midboss-only character to have dialogue portraits, an in-game name and title introduction, and a significant role in the plot.
  • She and Rin Kaenbyou are the only Touhou characters to appear as midbosses in three consecutive stages.
    • Unlike Rin, Tsukasa keeps the same appearance throughout all of her encounters, and was never the main boss in any stage.
  • She is the only enemy character who uses spell cards but never with a spell background.

Fandom

Official Profiles

Tsukasa Kudamaki  ○5面中ボス

  耳元で囁く邪悪な白狐

     菅牧 典(くだまき つかさ)
  Kudamaki Tsukasa

  種族:管狐
  能力:魂の弱い所に入り込む程度の能力

  飯綱丸龍の頼りになる右腕で、命令以上の結果を出す……と思われている。
  実際には相手の心の隙間に忍び込み、混乱を引き起こす元凶である。

  大天狗と市場の神の間を取り持ったり、大ムカデに指示したりと、何かと忙しいようである。
  大天狗からも市場の神からも、大ムカデからも信頼されおり何かと相談を受けたりしている。

  しかし彼女の正体は管狐だ。

  彼女の助言を聞いた者は金銭的に恩恵を受けるだろう。
  その代わり破滅的な結果が待っていることも忘れてはいけない。

  市場の神も大ムカデも、霊夢達と戦うはめになった元凶は、結局は彼女の囁きなのだ。

Stage 5 Midboss

Wicked White Fox Who Whispers in Ears

Tsukasa Kudamaki

Species: Kuda-gitsune
Ability: Capable of slipping into places where one's soul is weak

Megumu Iizunamaru's reliable right-hand woman, who gets far better results than she's ordered to... or so people think.
In reality, she's a troublemaker who brings about chaos by slipping into the cracks in a target's heart.

She seems rather busy, being tasked with ferrying messages between the Great Tengu and the market god, giving instructions to the oomukade, and so on.
She's trusted by the Great Tengu, the market god, and even the oomukade, and they each consult with her in various ways.

But her true nature is that of a kuda-gitsune.

Those who listen to her advice will surely receive financial benefits,
but you mustn't forget that a destructive result awaits you in return.

In the end, her whispers were the source of trouble that roped both the market god and the oomukade into fighting Reimu and co.

Official Sources

Official sources
  • 2021/05/04 Unconnected Marketeers - omake.txt (profile, stage 5/6/EX dialogue, Marisa's hidden ending, Sanae's ending)

References

  1. Unconnected Marketeers - Tsuakasa's Profile
  2. Unconnected Marketeers - "I let you off easy before, since you seemed useful... But if you're going to cause trouble in the tunnels, I've got no more use for you! Die like the pitiful human you are!" (Extra Story)
  3. Unconnected Marketeers " As long as you stay silent about it, I'm guessin' we don't have a problem. Right, Tsukasa?" (Marisa's Scenario)