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Utsuho Reiuji

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Utsuho Reiuji Name: 霊烏路 空(れいうじ うつほ)(通称:おくう) (♫)

Utsuho Reiuji
Nickname: Okuu

Alternate spellings: Utsuho Reiuzi
Species: Hell raven, yatagarasu
Abilities: Manipulation of Nuclear Fusion
Age: Unknown
Occupation: Regulator of the flames in the former Hell of Blazing Fires
Location: The former Hell of Blazing Fires
Description:

Long raven-black hair. 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 known as the "Third Leg", which appears to regulate the power of the devices on her legs (aka a control rod). She 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. Her left foot is being orbited by atoms.

Relationships:
Appearances:
Titles: See Character Titles

General Information

Utsuho is one of Satori's pets, a Hell raven who has lived in the underground world since before it was separated from Hell. Her job is to regulate the flames of the Hell of Blazing Fires.

Name and Concept

  • The characters for "Reiuji" literally mean, in succession, "soul/spirit", "crow/raven", and "path". "Utsuho" means "emptiness/empty-hole/cave" in old Japanese. The character for Utsuho also means "sky", and can be pronounced "kuu". Hence her nickname, Okuu.
  • In ancient Chinese mythology, the three-legged crow is a mythical animal associated with the Sun, thought to be its guardian beast or, more often, the manifestation of the Sun's deity. This explains Utsuho's nuclear fusion power and association with heat.
  • This myth of the three-legged crow and the fact that the crow tengu Aya Shameimaru calls her "hell crow" twice may be why people refer to her as a crow, even though she's a raven. (Actually, most Japanese don't distinguish raven from crow, except zoologists and curious people. The fact that both raven and crow are from the corvus genus doesn't help.)
  • The red eye is proof that Utsuho obtained the power of fusion by absorbing the three-legged crow (Yatagarasu) because the three-legged crow's eyes are red, according to Chapter Three of Cage in Lunatic Runagate.
  • On the Interview of Caramel 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.
  • Her "Third Leg" resembles an arm cannon. In Touhou Hisoutensoku, it is used as one.

Story

Before the events of Subterranean Animism, she was told by a voice (presumably Kanako Yasaka's) 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.

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.

Relationships

She's one of Satori Komeji'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. 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 Orin. Utsuho and Orin are really old friends, since before the Underground separated from Hell. They've known each other even before Satori started taking care of them.

Other

Trivia

  • Utsuho appears to be the only final boss in a Windows game whose goal is explicitly conquering the world. A very common goal for villains in cartoons.
  • Utsuho is also the only final boss in a Windows game who is a subordinate of an earlier boss (Satori).
  • Utsuho's spell cards "Giga Flare" and "Mega Flare" share the name of the attacks used by the summon Bahamut of the Final Fantasy series.
  • "Unyu?" (うにゅ?) has become her trademark sound, ever since she said it in the Extra Stage back story.
  • Because Utsuho is manipulated by Kanako, seems to have a simple and boastful personality, and is called a birdbrain by Orin, she's often considered an idiot by fans. ZUN also indirectly calls her an idiot in her theme song's description. This leads to comparisons (or pairings) with Cirno, and as the stage 6 boss, Utsuho is sometimes called ⑥ (which is an inverted ⑨).
  • In Touhou Hisoutensoku, the idea of Utsuho being an idiot is corroborated. In Sanae Kochiya's story, she is called birdbrained by Sanae, forgot why she was fighting her in the first place, and then follows Sanae's orders after being told she was doing that. This was also stated in Reisen's script, who called her a moron.
  • Utsuho is the only final boss in a Windows game that gives the player a warning before the spellcard begins. Two nuclear symbols appear, along with giant word "Caution" and Klaxons blaring in the background.
  • Utsuho's spellcard background in Subterranean Animism and Double Spoiler has a real-world picture of a cat on it. One reason ZUN might have included this in the background could be because of the wild cats that have colonized the abandoned city of Pripyat'. Pripyat' was in close proximity to Chernobyl, and after the catastrophe 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 the so-called Black Bird of Chernobyl not only because of her massive black wings, but also because the red eye in her chest, which was another trait of the Black Bird.
Similarities between Souther's and Utsuho's sprites.
  • And this "eye" in the center of her chest looks similar to one of J.R.R. Tolkien's creations, the Eye of Sauron.
  • A silhouette of Utsuho occupies the front of Subterranean Animism's jewel case.
  • In Story of Eastern Wonderland's Stage 4, in the second part of the background, there was an orange-like shine that was shaped like the orb that Utsuho points to in her Subterranean Animism portrait.

Fandom

  • Her right foot is supposed to be encased in concrete (representing the concrete sarcophagus that was built to contain the Chernobyl reactor), but is often depicted in fan art as a gray ruffled legwarmer or an armored greave. The electrons orbiting her other leg are also often omitted in fanart, and sometimes the control rod on her arm is too.
  • Her sprite animations in Touhou Hisoutensoku greatly resemble and are most likely a homage to Souther of Hokuto no Ken fame, even having a spellcard attack similar to Souther's Fatal K.O., Nanto Hō-ōh Ken Ougi: Tenshou Juuji Hou. Because of this fans sometimes call that spellcard Nanto Hō-Ōkuu Ken Ougi: Tenshou Juuji Hou.

Spell Cards

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GoMSigil-Utsuho.jpg
GoMIllus-Utsuho.jpg
Atomic Fire "Nuclear Fusion"
"Nuclear Excursion"
"Uncontainable Nuclear Reaction"
Explosion "Petit Flare"
"Mega Flare"
"Giga Flare"
"Peta Flare"
Blazing Star "Fixed Star"
"Planetary Revolution"
"Ten Evil Stars"
"Hell and Heaven Meltdown"
"Hell's Tokamak"
"Hell's Artificial Sun"
"Subterranean Sun"
"Hell's Artificial Sun"
Control "Self Tokamak"
Light Cover "Nuclear Visor"
Explosion Sign "Mega Flare"
"Giga Flare"
Burning Star "Fixed Star"
"Ten Evil Stars"
Nuclear Sign "Creeping Sun"
Light Energy "High-Tension Blade"
Geothermal "Nuclear Blaze Geyser"
Crow Sign "Yatagarasu Dive"
Nuclear Heat "Uncontainable Dive"
"Subterranean Sun"
"Abyss Nova"
Heat Sign "Break Prominence"
Atomic Fire "Break Prominence"
"Artificial Sun's Spot"
"Hot Jupiter Descent Model"
Fusion "Melting White"
Giant Star "Red Giant"
Star Sign "Fall of Great Stars"
Seven Stars "Septentrion"


See also: The Grimoire of Marisa: Utsuho Reiuji's Spell Cards

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Official Profiles

Subterranean Animism - おまけ.txt

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Utsuho Reiuji SA  ○6面ボス 熱かい悩む神の火

  霊烏路 空(れいうじ うつほ)(通称:おくう)
  Reiuzi Utsuho

  種族:地獄鴉 with 八咫烏
  能力:核融合を操る程度の能力

  一際異彩を放つ姿を持つ鴉。

   左足に『分解の足』
   右足に『融合の足』
   そして右手にそれらを制御する『第三の足』

  彼女はこれらの三本足で究極のエネルギーを操作するという。

  永い眠りについた火焔地獄跡の上に地霊殿はあった。
  地底世界が地獄のものでは無くなった今、ここに罪人が落とされる
  事は無く、今では元々棲んでいた地獄鴉、死体を運ぶ火車、他に物
  好きな妖怪達と、恨みだけで動く怨霊しか住んでいなかった。
  さとりは、自分の物となったその場所にペット達を住まわせた。

  空も燐と同じ、さとりのペットの一匹である。

  燐は怨霊を、空は火焔地獄跡が暴走しないか見張っていた。
  彼女の仕事は、少しでも火が強くなったら中庭の天窓を開け、火力
  が衰えたら燐が運んできた死体を投げ込み、火力を調整する事。
  毎日毎日、同じ事の繰り返してはあったが、平和で満足のいく生活
  を送っていた。

  しかし、ある日を境にその日常が崩れてしまう。

  何者かが地上から、誰にも気付かれる事なく火焔地獄跡まで一気に
  入り込んできたのだ。
  そして彼女に語りかけた。
  その声は彼女の好奇心を刺激した。

  『火焔地獄跡には究極にして人類が手のする事が出来る最後のエネ
   ルギーを生む秘密が隠されています。
   そして、火焔の中に棲む鴉である貴方。
   貴方はその究極の力を体に宿らせる事が出来る筈です。
   それにより地底のみならず、地上にも希望をもたらしましょう』

  彼女は光に包まれ、何者かが体に入り込んでくるのを感じた。
  気付いた時には彼女の姿は大きく変化していた。

  空は手に入れた力を使うのが楽しくて、気が付いたら灼熱地獄跡は
  熱さを取り戻していた。
  その熱は地底の水を熱し、水蒸気の圧力が限界に達した時に間欠泉
  となって地上に吹き出していたのである。

  地上から訪れた者。
  それは何者だったのだろうか、そして目的は。
  空の小さな頭は、そんな疑問をすぐに吐き出してしまった。


  ――八咫烏(ヤタガラス)
    彼女の体に入り込んだ力とは八咫烏と呼ばれる神様。
    三本足の鴉で、太陽に住んでいると言われている。

    八咫烏が持つ究極の力とは、原子創造の力、核融合である。
    核エネルギーは、未来に残された究極の幻想であった。

Stage 6 Boss The Scorching, Troublesome Divine Flame

Utsuho Reiuji
Nickname: Okuu

Race: Hell raven, Yatagarasu
Ability: Manipulation of Nuclear Fusion

A crow that gives off a conspicuously-colored light.

 On her left foot is the "Foot of fission";
 On her right foot is the "Foot of fusion";
 Finally, on her right arm is the "Third Leg" which controls it.

Using these three legs, it's said she can control the ultimate energy.

When she awoke after a long sleep, the Earth Spirit Palace stood above what was once the Hell of Blazing Fires. In this time when the underground was no longer part of hell, criminals were no longer banished underground, and the only ones that lived underground now were the hell ravens, the kasha that carried off the bodies of the dead, and various other curious youkai, as well as the evil spirits who only acted out of malice. Satori took the youkai who lived there as her own and raised them as pets.

Utsuho and Rin were both Satori's pets.

Rin and Utsuho both worked hard at their respective jobs, Rin at controlling the evil spirits, Utsuho at managing the former Hell of Blazing Fires. If the flames became too hot, they'd open the skylight in the courtyard; if the flames became too weak, they'd throw in more of the corpses Rin carried off; they regulated the flames in this manner. They lived out their lives this way, doing the same thing every day but leading a peaceful, satisfying life.


However, one day that peaceful lifestyle was shattered.

Someone from above stole into Hell without anyone noticing.
Then, she began to speak.
Her voice stoked Utsuho's curiosity.

"The Hell of Blazing Fires hides the secret to the ultimate form of energy that humans can attain.
You, crow that lives within the blaze ...
You should be able to contain that power within your body.
We can use that to bring about the wishes of not just the underground, but the above ground as well."

She was enveloped in light, and she felt someone entering her body.
When she came to, her body had changed greatly.

Utsuho enjoyed using her new power, and before she knew it the Hell of Blazing Fires had regained its original heat.
That heat boiled the water in the underground, and when the steam pressure reached its limits it boiled over into the above ground as a geyser.

 The one from above ground.
 Who was she, and what was her purpose?
 Utsuho quickly pushed such questions from her little head.


  - Yatagarasu, the divine three-legged crow
   The power that had entered her body was the god called the yatagarasu.
   It's said to be a three-legged crow that lives on the sun.

   The ultimate power the yatagarasu possessed was the power to split and fuse atoms.
   Atomic energy is the ultimate fantasy left for the future.

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Official Sources

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ja:霊烏路 空