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Kasen Ibaraki

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(いばら) ()   () (せん)
ibaɽakʲi kaseɴ
Kasen Ibaraki
Kasen Ibaraki
The One-Armed, Horned Hermit
More Character Titles
Nickname

茨華仙 (いばらかせん) (Ibarakasen)
華仙 (かせん) (Kasen)

Species

Oni/Hermit

Abilities

Guiding animals

Age

Over 1,000 years [citation needed]

Occupation

Sage

Location

Youkai Mountain (Senkai), also seen at the Hakurei Shrine

Music Themes
Appearances
Official Games
Print Works
"Do you think that classical, behind-the-times youkai like yourselves can stand up to this era's humans and their collective knowledge?"
"Humans truly have become foolish. Have you forgotten the enigmatic terror of the youkai? Have you forgotten the mind-numbing darkness of the night?"
Sumireko Usami and Kasen Ibaraki (Urban Legend in Limbo Kasen's scenario.)

Kasen Ibaraki (茨木 華扇 Ibaraki Kasen), who also goes by the pseudonym Ibarakasen (茨華仙) or just Kasen (華仙), is the main protagonist of Wild and Horned Hermit. She is a mysterious self-proclaimed hermit living in the mountains. Possessing an artificial arm and various special abilities, she can often be seen dispensing knowledge to Reimu Hakurei, Marisa Kirisame, Sanae Kochiya and others.

Kasen is also a Sage of Gensokyo and, as of Wild and Horned Hermit Chapter 49 Part 2, is confirmed to be an oni and one of the Big Four of the Mountain.

General Information

Kasen is the main protagonist of Wild and Horned Hermit and has appeared in Chapter 16 and 17 of Oriental Sacred Place. She also appears as a playable character in Urban Legend in Limbo, and Antinomy of Common Flowers.

Personality

Kasen is kind and polite to nearly everyone. She is always willing to lend a word of advice or teach a lesson, but is often seen as preachy and overly critical of others. She volunteers to help other people near her, such as Reimu, helping her with ideas on how to attract more followers to the shrine. As a Sage of Gensokyo, she tries to keep Gensokyo isolated from the Outside World, doing things like trying to scare away Sumireko Usami, [1] although she ultimately decides to let Sumireko go free and return to the Outside World, [2] as well as ensuring Sumireko's safety when she comes to Gensokyo. [3] On the other hand, she tries to align her lifestyle and her ideals to those of the hermits and celestials [4]

Abilities

Kasen spoke vaguely when informing Reimu Hakurei about her capabilities, saying her powers were a "secret"[5] and that she could do "various things". Because captions and the in-character setting have never directly stated it, what specific ability she possesses is unclear. Although several of her feats that can be seen as ability-like, it's not definite whether the following traits are because of an "ability to <do something>", are an innate ability of her race, or are examples of the kind of hermit sorcery mentioned in Perfect Memento in Strict Sense.

Guiding of animals

Kasen is able to communicate with animals, including cryptids, beast youkai and dragons, and possesses a great deal of knowledge about them. She knows the antidotes to obscure venoms, as well as the processes that lead an animal to become various types of youkai and how to affect them. She also employs a number of trained animals as servants, whom she can apparently summon to her side. In addition to regular animals like monkeys, snakes and birds, Kasen and Reimu rode on the back of the Unnamed Dapeng, and she is even able to use such uncommon creatures like the children of dragons. Especially concerning the children of dragons, she even said, "whatever I say, they will listen"[6]. According to Komachi, the employment of animals is Kasen's signature move.

On the official site, it was stated that she possessed the ability to guide animals, but since it was not stated as "ability to guiding animals", it is probably not an ability name.

Artificial arm

Kasen's bandaged right arm is secretly an artificial one, apparently consisting of vaporous black smoke, and Kasen is capable of remotely controlling it and detaching it to act independently. Her arm is also capable of crushing vengeful spirits[7], removing them from the cycle of reincarnation entirely; Komachi Onozuka appears unsure how exactly Kasen does this. Of note, her arm is blown apart when it touches the Hakurei Yin-Yang Orb, implying that it has youkai properties. Consequently, Kasen immediately reconstructed her annihilated right arm. As the yin-yang orb is the shintai of the shrine blessed with exterminating youkai, it is likely that Kasen's arm was made from some sort of youkai essence. When she had the artificial arm, she needed to drink from the Ibaraki Box of a Hundred Medicines regularly so the arm will not rot. In Urban Legend in Limbo and Antinomy of Common Flowers, Kasen's artificial right arm contorts and uses the smoke within to attack.

To guide and transfigure youkai

In chapter 16 of Oriental Sacred Place she states that she admonished the yamainu who attacked humans and was in the process of turning into a youkai. Apparently she gave it a recommendation to turn into a youkai capable of feeding on human fears instead of humans themselves- an okuri-inu, a youkai which is very protective of humans (and will in turn attack what it deems a danger to humans, as seen when it attacked the fairies).

When Kasen said that she did something to the yamainu and hoisted her bandaged right arm in a meaningful manner, even Luna Child felt a sense of doubt that a human-eating beast would listen to preaching. It is unknown how Kasen truly convinced the canine youkai, but it is a significant deed however she did it.

To hide her home using fangshu

This ability Kasen uses is probably only one aspect of fangshu (方書), it's unknown whether she's skilled in the other parts of the art. One must use this sorcery reach Kasen's hidden house, as it is only accessible through a special path opened by fangshu. Even when a blizzard occurs outside, the area around her house was in a clearing. Marisa remarked that it looks as of it were in another world or different plane.[8]

After the incident in Ten Desires, Toyosatomimi no Miko and Mononobe no Futo created another world called Senkai and moved there, but it is not known whether or not the sorcery that Kasen used to hide her home and the sorcery used to create Senkai are of the same kind. She does, however, refer to her home as a senkai.

Miscellaneous
  • Hermit arts: While she may or may not be a real hermit, Kasen has used the common hermit technique of hiding her dwelling place, preventing anyone from reaching it unless they follow a specific (regularly changed) route.
    • According to something Reimu said in the first chapter and Perfect Memento in Strict Sense, appearance-wise hermits look like aged. Among this, as Kasen has a juvenile appearance; this is the basis that her existence is different from that of an ordinary hermit. However, in Ten Desires, the young-appearing hermit Seiga Kaku appeared, indicating that not all hermits have to look aged.
  • Creating light orbs: In chapter 10 of Wild and Horned Hermit Kasen creates orbs of light from her right hand that last for a long time move them by mere thought. This appears to be a generic application of mystic power, rather than a specific ability of Kasen's. Since she can freely use light orbs of the size and number she wants, it an be seen that she used a massive quantity of small ones as well as single big ones.
  • Instant movement: In the second chapter, she appeared in the background of the offertory box in the Hakurei Shrine without warning, surprising Sanae Kochiya who came to visit. It has not been specified what range of distance she is able to move, or if she can move anywhere. Also, in the seventh chapter, she performed a movement such that she was in the background of the offertory box without being noticed.
  • The Hakurei Barrier Kasen is capable of creating openings in the barrier to and from the outside world, which she does repeatedly in Urban Legend in Limbo as well as "off-panel" a few times in Wild and Horned Hermit. Notably, in Marisa's storyline in Urban Legend in Limbo, her incantation for opening it up is "In the name of the Sage XXXX, I command: Release the ban of 130 years!" This possibly was a foreshadowing to the reveal of her position in Wild and Horned Hermit Chapter 35.
  • Her true strength: In Urban Legend in Limbo, after fighting Reimu, she said to herself that using her full strength, in that case, would be risky for "various reasons". It's unknown if this means that it could be dangerous doing it near the shrine (because of the Barrier) or against Reimu, or if it would be risky for herself since she is probably just pretending to be a hermit without being one.

Possessions

Kasen owns the Ibaraki Box of a Hundred Medicines, which can cure all illnesses or heal any injury to the person who drinks from it.

Species

Kasen's true form in Wild and Horned Hermit Chapter 49

In chapter 49 of the final WaHH arc, Kasen fuses with her separated arm, thus confirming once and for all her true name and title: Kasen Ibaraki - Wily, Cunning and Treacherous Oni. However, as revealed in the finale, Kasen is a true adherent to the path of the hermit, despite being an oni.

Food

According to Perfect Memento in Strict Sense, pretty much all hermits who have passed five hundred years of age don't need food, and simply ingesting fog or haze will be enough. However, Kasen not only eats food ordinarily but also seems to have a sweet tooth. She is frequently shown eating sweets in Wild and Horned Hermit and Urban Legend in Limbo. She proposed having hot pot in chapter 2 and ate dango in chapter 7 of Wild and Horned Hermit. Also, in chapter 10, when the stranded Marisa Kirisame strayed into her home, Kasen treated her to something like nikuman, suggesting that Kasen normally keeps a supply of food in her home. Even supposing she hasn't reached five hundred years of age, this can be said to be a non-hermit-like trait.

Backstory

Kasen is one of the Sages of Gensokyo and was one of the now disbanded Big Four of the Mountain.

Little else is known about any other details of Kasen's history so far. However, a newspaper article in Symposium of Post-mysticism reveals that she has been known as a hermit at Youkai Mountain since at least 1980, if not earlier.

Unknown to the public, long ago in the past she was actually a wicked oni. However, all her malevolence was contained in her right arm before it was cut off and sealed by Onikirimaru, and Kasen's arm was replaced with an artificial one. When the seal on the wicked arm finally began to weaken, Kasen found herself at a decisive crossroads. Thus, she travelled down the mountain to see the shrine maiden.

Character Design

Kasen makes an appearance in Symposium of Post-mysticism.

Origin

Kasen is based on the oni Ibaraki-douji. Ibaraki-douji was one of the oni who ran the oni headquarters on Mt. Ooe and broke into Kyoto on a rampage. Although Ibaraki-douji is most commonly portrayed as a subordinate to Shuten-douji (who Suika Ibuki is based on), there are also variations to the myth where she is the daughter of Shuten-douji, or even his lover (being the only female oni of the group).

While Shuten-douji's gang was being massacred by Minamoto no Yorimitsu, Ibaraki-douji fought with one of his allies, Watanabe no Tsuna, but fled when she saw Shuten-douji fall in battle.

The survivor Ibaraki-douji assailed humans once again afterwards, and in doing so, even assailed Watanabe no Tsuna. However, Tsuna was able to cut off Ibaraki-douji's arm, sending the oni running away once again. This is the likely basis for Kasen (formerly) missing her right arm.

Name

Although she introduces herself in Wild and Horned Hermit as Ibarakasen (茨華仙), or Kasen (華仙) for short, this is merely her pseudonym. Her real name is Kasen Ibaraki (茨木 華扇 Ibaraki Kasen)[9] [10]; note the different spellings of "Kasen". Her surname, Ibaraki (茨木) comes from Ibaraki-douji and means "thorn bush" (rose bush), while Kasen (華扇) is a real, commonly used Japanese name written with the characters for "flower" and "fan".

Her hermit name, 茨華仙 (Ibarakasen) translates to "rose-flower hermit" and is often just shortened to 華仙 (Kasen lit. "flower hermit", a homophone of her actual name, 華扇 Kasen lit. "flower fan"). "Kasen" is also homophonous with the first two characters in 何仙姑 (He Xiangu, JP: Kasenko), the only female member of the Eight Immortals of Taoist mythology. Xiangu owns a fenghuang, making it likely to be the basis of Kasen's affinity with animals. The name "Kasen" (何仙) also appears in the Japanese detective novel series, 塗仏の宴 宴の支度 (Nuribotoke no Utage, Utage no Shitaku lit. "Nuribotoke's Banquet, Banquet in Preparation"). It's plausible that ZUN, as a lover of mystery novels, may have taken inspiration from there.

Kasen's Title

The "horned" in her title was long since speculated to be related to her hair buns possibly hiding horns of some sort. As of Wild and Horned Hermit Chapter 49 Part 2, Kasen rejoined with her actual right arm and returned to her true form as an oni. As a part of this transformation, actual horns burst from the buns on her head, destroying the headwear in the process. After having her arm cut off and resealed, Kasen's horns are shown to be visibly smaller.[11]

Design

Kasen Ibaraki in Oriental Sacred Place Chapter 16

In her original appearance, she has red eyes and shoulder-length pink hair with Chinese-styled buns. Her right arm is wrapped in bandages, concealing a gaseous black smoke. She wears a white top and a green skirt. Over her top is a maroon tabard with a thorny vine motif and large rose-shaped ornament just below collar level. Her single-strap shoes are colored the same as her tabard, and a shackle lays on her left wrist.

Her severed arm is generally the same in terms of design, with the only notable differences being the presence of horns, fangs, slit-pupil eyes, claw-like nails and sharper hair. The tabard and skirt she wears is colored different from Kasen's, being two seperate shades of blue. Shackles are present on all four of her limbs, with her leg shackles having iron ball-and-chains attached to them.

Kasen's true form, with her right arm reconnected to her body, has her gain horns were her buns previously were and grow knee-length hair. Both her tabard, now black and golden, and her skirt, now white, are noticeably longer, and her top becomes sleeveless. She retains her shackles on all four limbs, with iron bearings attached to all of them and her slit-eyed pupils.

Appearances

Literature

Kasen's Arm from Wild and Horned Hermit
Wild and Horned Hermit

Kasen meets Marisa Kirisame outside the Human Village as the latter was running an errand for Reimu Hakurei. In the beginning, she appears to be nothing but a simple, strange ascetic, but it's all a guise. Her real motive for appearing at the Hakurei Shrine is to search for the Kappa's Arm she believes resides there. She also claims her objective is to shut down the connection between humans and the Former Hell. What that means is unclear, but she takes great interest in the runaway vengeful spirits at the Underground Geyser Center, and is able to destroy them with her bandaged smoke arm. This brings her to the attention of Komachi Onozuka, whose superiors are concerned about Kasen's movements. As she continues to act in secret, she also attempts to teach Reimu, Sanae Kochiya, and Marisa how to be better people, investigates and wraps herself up in various small time incidents, and introduces Reimu and the others to her power to control various beasts.

Over the course of the story, Kasen becomes involved in cases relating to Sumireko Usami's entry and exit from Gensokyo and the effects this has on the Great Hakurei Barrier. This leads her to attract the attention of her old acquaintance Yukari Yakumo, who seems interested in Kasen's actions and reveals her nature as one of the Sages of Gensokyo. Although Yukari's exact goal is unclear, she chastises Kasen's for disrupting things with her actions - for example, by accidentally allowing invasive western dandelions to enter the barrier. Yukari implies that Kasen is somehow guiding Sumireko's manifestations, which Kasen quickly denies. Kasen also draws the attention of Mamizou Futatsuiwa, who quickly determines she is an Oni with some sort of plot relating to the Hakurei Shrine. Mamizou attempts to intimidate her so she can continue with her own plans for the shrine, but ends up being tricked by Kasen at a drinking challenge and admits defeat.

Near the end of the series, Reimu comes down with a strange sickness that renders her seemingly healthy but utterly comatose. Unbeknownst to her friends, this is due to her discovery of Kasen's sealed missing arm, which Kasen recovered long ago from the outside world and kept for safekeeping. Confronted by the arm, Reimu's soul ends up trapped in the Infinite Hell of Avici. Unexpectedly, though, Kasen brings Reimu's body to the hell, allowing her to escape from what would otherwise be an infinite prison. In doing so, Reimu discovers the true nature of Kasen's missing arm - that it is a piece of a very powerful Oni and can manifest in humanoid form. They battle, but Reimu seems outmatched by the hand's sheer viciousness and power. Just when it seems she is going to be defeated, Kasen interrupts the fight and fuses with her arm. The combined being offers food, leading Reimu to hope that she has been saved by the "Good Kasen", but it turns out that Kasen merely wanted her to be a fitting challenge as the battle resumes.

Although the fused Kasen seems invincible, she appears to be holding back for some reason. With the help of Tenshi Hinanawi, who came to the Hell while investigating Reimu's disappearance after realizing that Kasen was related to the case, Reimu realizes that Kasen has smuggled her something in the food: A piece of Onikirimaru, the oni-slaying sword that sealed Kasen away long ago. Realizing that Kasen's parts are working against each other, Reimu becomes determined to win the fight. Although she doesn't fully understand the situation, Reimu uses the sword fragment to empower her Dream Seal and cut off Kasen's arm once more.

It turns out that Kasen's actions the entire time were all a means of finding someone to help reseal her arm, since it could not be destroyed. As all of Kasen's malice was sealed into it at the moment of severing, Kasen felt a responsibility to keep it contained. She had found her it enshrined in the Outside World long before the events of the manga and realized that it was breaking free of its bonds, becoming a threat to those around it. In search of a way to repair the seal, Kasen eventually decided to get closer to the arguable best user of seals in Gensokyo - Reimu. Thus several earlier incidents where Kasen advised Reimu or subjected her to harsh training finally make sense, as they are all revealed to have been attempts to prepare her for the eventual battle with the arm. With the arm sealed again for now, Kasen seems content to continue living in the role she created in Gensokyo.

Oriental Sacred Place

In chapter 16, Kasen goes to the Hakurei Shrine to tell Reimu about rumors about a wolf on the foot of the Youkai Mountain. Later, she meets the fairies trying to catch the wolf, and tells them how it was just a regular dog and how she ended up persuading it. Although Kasen said to the fairies that she warned the dog and tell it to protect humans from youkai, they didn't know what that meant until they tried to enter the Human Village to prank the villager as always, as they got chased by it due to not being human.

In chapter 17, Kasen goes again to the Shrine and scolds Reimu for not even knowing the Hakurei God's blessing. That's when the Three Fairies of Light appeared to help, so Kasen suggests searching for the goshintai of the god, as the god could manifest their powers better thanks to it. After the fairies start the search, she leaves. In the forest, Kasen finds them and a Yin-Yang Orb, which vaporizes her bandaged arm when she tries to grab it. While she commands to one of her animals to deliver it back to the shrine, she thinks about how youkai extermination can be the god's blessing, and how slightly ironic it is for a person like Reimu.

Symposium of Post-mysticism

Kasen is asked by Aya Shameimaru about her opinion in the mist nets debate, as someone was spreading and even putting them back when people were taking them down. The hermit claims that they need to be taken down as they could harm wild birds. After hearing that the kappa were aggressive saying they have the right to catch mist, she responds saying that they don't eat only mist and asking who was willing to buy it.

Spin-offs

Urban Legend in Limbo

Kasen's first in-game appearance is in the fighting game Urban Legend in Limbo.

In Sumireko’s scenario, she tries to scare her away to make her leave Gensokyo, fearing that if something happens to the human an investigation in the Outside world could lead to the discovery of Gensokyo.

In Mamizou’s scenario, the tanuki will claim that she understood her plan and she offers herself as if she is spotted nothing will happen, unlike Kasen.

In her scenario, she recollects the Occult balls from all the characters she finds to prevent them from gathering seven and open holes in the barrier. Finally, she finds the culprit, who explains how she got the balls and her plans. Later, the human attacks her and manages to flee.

In Reimu’s ending, she, Mamizou, Reimu and Marisa Kirisame consider what to do with Sumireko. They decide to bring her back to the Outside World and watch for her, but Sumireko comes back saying she can visit Gensokyo in her dreams.

Antinomy of Common Flowers

In Antinomy of Common Flowers, Kasen partners with Reimu Hakurei to begin investigating the Perfect Posession incident. While she begins as the slave, Reimu learns she will need to become the slave, crucial to Yukari Yakumo's plan, so Kasen becomes Reimu's master.

Later, Kasen's Dream World self begins to rampage with the other dream dwellers, whom Joon and Shion Yorigami must stop. Dream Kasen offers to let the sisters join the dream dwellers and to rise in power, but Joon declines, claiming that her training at Myouren Temple changed her.

Relationships

Reimu Hakurei

Kasen remembers Reimu Hakurei from long before, having visited the Hakurei Shrine many times in the past, although Reimu's memory failed her and she had to be reminded who Kasen was. [5] She's mostly earned Reimu's annoyance, who dislikes sermons and doesn't want her shrine to smell of them. She mostly thinks of Kasen as a nagging, preachy busybody. However, Reimu often concedes, either because Kasen is usually right or she doesn't want to deal with her. Kasen is openly critical of Reimu, believing her to be too greedy and slack in her duties.

In truth, Kasen was mentoring and training Reimu specifically so that Reimu could be strong and wise enough to seal away Kasen's wicked arm some day. However, it appears that her fondness of Reimu grew beyond that purpose, as during Reimu's climactic battle with her arm, Kasen smiles wistfully thinking that she must train Reimu further even as Reimu failed to take advantage of Kasen's aid.

Reimu too has begun to view Kasen as a genuine friend, unable to bring herself to fight Kasen whole-heartedly until she realizes that the arm battling her is actually a separate entity from Kasen. When she sees that Kasen survived the battle, Reimu expresses relief.

By the end of things, Reimu knows that Kasen is secretly an oni, but partially due to this friendship and partially due to owing Kasen for all the money that one of Kasen's schemes got her, Reimu can't tell anyone else about it.

Marisa Kirisame

Initially thinking she was just a strange hermit, Marisa Kirisame also met Kasen some time before Wild and Horned Hermit and is the first to remember who she was. Once reunited, Kasen is invited by Marisa to visit more often, to the disdain of Reimu. Marisa hopes that Kasen will teach her any life extending techniques and is more than willing to listen to Kasen's preaching in exchange.

Kasen's Pets

Kasen's pets include Koutei, Kume, Mukou, Kanda, and Houso. They're mostly cryptids who can be summoned at any time, such as when she called on the child dragon to abduct Reimu and used the dapeng for transportation. However, there was a point at which the raijuu she captured previously felt lonesome and ran away. She is also shown to have a snake and monkey.

Ibaraki-douji's Arm

This is Kasen's right arm, cut off with the use of Onikirimaru long ago after all Kasen's malevolence was moved to it. Ibaraki's arm is sentient and has a mind of her own to the point where she can be considered a separate entity of sorts even after the two are re-combined. She even managed to forcefully take control of Kasen's entire body after she realized Kasen's true intentions. Initially Kasen was overjoyed to be re-united with it. However, this was a front, as Kasen actually wished that her malevolence and her arm remain sealed away. Upon realizing this, Ibaraki's Arm forcefully took control of Kasen's entire body before Reimu managed to cut off and seal her again. Kasen currently keeps the arm physically near by in mummified-arm form as a trophy of sorts as well as a reminder, comparing it to being able to see your own death close by.

Sages of Gensokyo

Yukari Yakumo

It is unknown how long Yukari and Kasen have known each other, but both are youkai sages. The monologue in Perfect Memento in Strict Sense states it was the youkai sages who proposed the Hakurei Barrier, so Yukari and Kasen probably knew each other since at least that time.

After Kasen came down from the mountain in the present day, Yukari assumed Kasen was always "on her side" and that Kasen's actions were intended to help Yukari's ideals. Kasen finally got fed up by the time of Wild and Horned Hermit Chapter 35 and angrily informed Yukari that she wasn't on her side, but on the side of celestials. [4] This caused Yukari a brief visible moment of distress before she regained her composure, but she also stated she would wait as long as it takes for Kasen to come to her side.

Kasen's dream self in Antinomy of Common Flowers calls Yukari a coward who gets others to do her work for her because she's too scared to do it herself. As dream selves are unrestrained exaggerations of the real being, it is uncertain how much of this reflects Kasen's actual view of Yukari, but from Doremy's explanation of dream selves in Reisen's scenario, it does mean Kasen's normal feelings fall along those lines at least somewhat.

Okina Matara

Kasen has known Okina since a while back as a fellow sage, and commented how it was a misfortune getting to know her. [12]She also claims to know how Okina works and acts around others, but any actual interaction has not been shown.

Minor Relationships

Sanae Kochiya

Sanae Kochiya lives on the Youkai Mountain near to Kasen and are considered neighbors. They meet fairly often and are on friendly enough terms. Kasen is a bit critical of Sanae as well, albeit to a much lesser extent than Reimu. Sanae describes her as living in a large mansion, corrected by Kasen as being a training dojo.

Kanako Yasaka and Suwako Moriya

Despite being friendly enough with Sanae, she is highly suspicious of Kanako and Suwako's schemes to attain faith and their inability to handle the Underground Geyser Center's dangers.

Komachi Onozuka

Komachi Onozuka and Kasen are slightly antagonistic toward each other. Ordered to keep Kasen under surveillance, Komachi is distrusting of her, even to the point of threatening her with her scythe – although the death god doesn't appear to be serious about it.

Suika Ibuki and Yuugi Hoshiguma

When Suika Ibuki appeared at the Hakurei Shrine, Kasen quickly fled the scene in order to avoid her. [13] She appears familiar with Suika, but her relationship with her is unknown, and she appears hesitant about letting Suika know about her current status. However, after learning that Kasen borrowed some sake from Yuugi, Suika realised that Kasen was planning something and decided to leave her alone. [14] She also knows Kasen's true form.

Sumireko Usami

Kasen appears to meet with Sumireko in Rinnosuke Morichika's shop several times over the course of Wild and Horned Hermit, including claiming that she's the secret supply chain Kasen utilizes to get goods from outside the barrier. Given that Kasen possesses her own ability to circumvent it, it is uncertain how much of their relationship is really related to transferring things into Gensokyo and how much this is a useful excuse for her abilities.

Seiga Kaku

The first time Kasen hears about Seiga is from Komachi Onozuka, who says that "a troublesome and wicked hermit has come from underground" [15], which surprises her a lot, specially when the shinigamis tells her that a chief kishin, Suiki, was in charge of killing her. Later, Seiga appears in the Hakurei Shrine, Kasen questions her a lot after the wicked hermit gave her a business card and said that she was attacked when she was ""scrounging stuff at the Kappas' hideout". However, in her mansion she says she can't be sure about Seiga being a wicked hermit and she asks herself why extending the lifetime is a deep sin.

Mamizou Futatsuiwa

At first Mamizou tries to get proofs about Kasen being an oni with the intention of having some sort of influence over the Hakurei Shrine, and tries to scare her away with a drinking contest, but she is tricked by the oni. [16] However, Kasen invites the tanuki to hold a real drinking contest some day.

Toyosatomimi no Miko

With the break of the religious war, Kasen goes to the Divine Spirit Mausoleum, to talk about hermits and clarify the path Kasen is taking. [17] Miko welcomes her with high respect, calling her "honored mountain hermit" and "master", and she also says that the oni is in another level when she says she can understand animals.

Gallery

Covers

Artworks

Sprites

Illustrations

Screenshots

Others

Skills

Skills
Name Translated Comments Games Usage
Total: 6
万歳楽 Manzairaku ULiL
AoCF
5C
5C
彭祖 Houso ULiL
AoCF
6C
6C
黄帝 Koutei ULiL
AoCF
4C
4C
竿打 Kanda ULiL
AoCF
8C
8C
務光 Mukou ULiL
AoCF
2C
2C
逃れられない猿の手 Inescapable Monkey's Paw Aided by Occult Ball ULiL
AoCF
A+B with Occult Ball
A+B with Occult gauge

Spell Cards

Spell Cards
Name Translated Comments Games Stage
Total: 15
包符「義腕プロテウス」 Wrap Sign "Prosthetic Arm Proteus" ULiL
AoCF
Use
Use
龍符「ドラゴンズグロウル」 Dragon Sign "Dragon's Growl" ULiL
AoCF
Use
Use
鷹符「ホークビーコン」 Hawk Sign "Hawk Beacon" ULiL
AoCF
Use
Use
*猿の手よ!敵を握りつぶせ!* *Monkey's Paw! Crush my Enemy!* ULiL
AoCF
Use-LW
Use-LW
雷符「微速の務光」 Thunder Sign "Slow-Speed Mukou" ULiL Story
*死ぬまで願いを叶える手* *Hand that Grants Wishes Until Death* ULiL Story
*猿の手はオカルトな夢を見る* *The Monkey's Paw Dreams of the Occult* ULiL Story
虎符「両門の彭祖」 Tiger Sign "Houso of Both Gates" Used only in the Comiket 87 demo version; not present in the web demo nor the full release ULiL Story
霊鷹符「鷹による夢想封印ハンティング」 Spirit Hawk Sign "Dream Seal Hunting Done by a Hawk" Co-owner with Reimu AoCF Story
雷霊符「務光の雷弾夢想封印」 Thunder Spirit Sign "Mukou's Thunder Shot Dream Seal" Co-owner with Reimu AoCF Story
龍蹴符「ドラゴンズ飛鳥井キック」 Dragon Kick Sign "Dragon's Asuka'i Kick" Co-owner with Reimu AoCF Story
雷化符「務光と葉っぱの弾幕変化」 Thunder Transform Sign "Mukou and Leaf Danmaku Transformation" Co-owner with Mamizou AoCF Story
龍化符「ドラゴンズエイリアンカプセル」 Dragon Transform Sign "Dragon's Alien Capsule" Co-owner with Mamizou AoCF Story
雷符「務光の雷霆閃光夢幻弾」 Thunder Sign "Mukou's Thunderclap Flash Phantasmal Shot" Used by Kasen's Dream World self AoCF Story
龍符「ドラゴンズオプティカルドリーム」 Dragon Sign "Dragon's Optical Dream" Used by Kasen's Dream World self AoCF Story

Additional Information

  • Kasen was one of the possibilities ZUN had in mind for the Extra Stage boss of Ten Desires, along with Byakuren Hijiri. Mamizou Futatsuiwa took that place.
  • Kasen is mentioned in Ten Desires' ending no.4, where it's explaining that Marisa heard from Kasen that the ultimate goal of Taoism is to achieve immortality.
  • Kasen's title of "The One-armed Horned Hermit" (片腕有角の仙人) appears to be derived from the titular character of the Noh play "One-horned Hermit" (一角仙人 Ikkaku Sennin).
  • From a historical perspective, the Noh play suggests that Kasen may not exactly be a hermit, but a rishi, a person who gives wisdom. They are different from hermits in that they are sometimes regarded as Buddhist saints.
  • Kasen recites a fragment from one of Miyako no Yoshika's poems in her first appearance. The poem in question is said to have been a collaboration with Ibaraki-Douji, and the fragment that Kasen recites is Ibaraki's half of the poem. The folktale goes that Yoshika was traveling through the Rajoumon gate one night and was struck with inspiration upon seeing the scenery. He composed the first half of the poem on the spot, and when he spoke it aloud, a voice from the gatehouse replied with the second half. Ibaraki-Douji was said to dwell in the gatehouse on Rajoumon's second floor, and furthermore, when Yoshika proudly presented the collaboration to Sugawara no Michizane, Michizane was immediately certain that the anonymous author must have been an oni (some earlier versions of the story have Yoshika composing the whole poem, while Ibaraki is moved by his skilful words and calls out "Touching, touching!" to convey its admiration). [18]
  • Kasen is one of the few print work-débuted characters to become a major character in a game. Some others are Aya Shameimaru and the Three Fairies of Light.
  • One of her alternate color palettes in Urban Legend in Limbo resembles Chun-Li from Street Fighter.
  • In her idle stance, Kasen does perform Du Li Bu, one of the stances in Shaolin Kung Fu.

Fandom

Official Profiles

Wild and Horned Hermit official website[9]
Kasen Ibaraki WaHH 茨木華扇(号:茨華仙)
片腕有角の仙人

山に棲み、修行を重ねる仙人。し
ばしば里や神社に現れては、あり
がたいお説教をしてくれるらしい。
動物を導く能力を持っており、龍や
大鵬といった幻獣すらも自在に操
る。

Ibaraki Kasen (Pseudonym: Ibarakasen)
One-armed horned hermit

A hermit living in the mountains, repeatedly training. She's said to appear frequently in the village and shrine and give them a nice scold. Having the ability to guide animals, even controling such fantastic beasts as dragons and the cryptid Dapeng.

Urban Legend in Limbo official website [19]
Kasen Ibaraki ULiL 脅威!願いを訊く仙人

茨木華扇

オカルト「猿の手」

変幻自在の腕とペットの動物達を活用した広い射程が
自慢の仙人、スピードに抱える難を有利な間合いでカバーする

オカルトアタック「逃れられない猿の手」
遠隔操作が可能な猿の手で
遠くの敵へ掴みかかる便利な攻撃だぞ

Menace! The Hermit Who Listens to Wishes

Ibaraki Kasen

Occult "Monkey's Paw"
A hermit who takes pride in her broad range, utilizing her phantasmagoric arm and the animals she keeps as pets, which compensates for the drawbacks of her speed.

Her Occult Attack “The Inescapable Monkey’s Paw”, is a monkey’s paw that allows for remote control; a super convenient attack that grips a hold of far-away enemies!

Kasen Ibaraki AoCF 神仙思想で動物好きな仙人

茨木華扇

「誰がこんな噂を広めたのかを探るには
 内側に飛び込むしかないわね」

動物に好かれるお節介な仙人

完全憑依異変にいち早く反応し霊夢と組むも
一筋縄でいかないと判断した彼女は巫女の特訓を開始する

「腕」による変則的な打撃と、ペットによる多彩な攻撃が売り

Taoist-Minded and Animal-Loving Hermit

Kasen Ibaraki

"If we want to find out who spread this rumor,
our only option is to jump into the thick of things."

A meddlesome Taoist hermit who's loved by animals.

She quickly responds to the Perfect Possession incident and teams up with Reimu, but after realizing that the usual approach won't work, she starts the shrine maiden on some special training.

Her biggest selling points are her "arm's" irregular melee moves, and her pets' colorful variety of attacks.

Official Sources

Official sources

See Also

References

  1. Urban Legend in Limbo - Sumireko's Scenario
  2. Urban Legend in Limbo - Reimu's Ending
  3. Alternative Facts in Eastern Utopia - "Can This Student Destroy Our Barrier?"
  4. 4.0 4.1 Wild and Horned Hermit - "My ideals exist alongside the laws of Heaven!" - Chapter 35
  5. 5.0 5.1 Wild and Horned Hermit - Chapter 1
  6. Wild and Horned Hermit - Chapter 5
  7. Wild and Horned Hermit - Chapter 3
  8. Wild and Horned Hermit - Chapter 10
  9. 9.0 9.1 "キャラクター紹介". Ichijinsha. 2011.
  10. Oriental Sacred Place Chapter 16
  11. Wild and Horned Hermit - Chapter 50
  12. Wild and Horned Hermit - Chapter 42
  13. Wild and Horned Hermit - Chapter 9
  14. Wild and Horned Hermit - Chapter 20
  15. Wild and Horned Hermit - Capítulo 12
  16. Wild and Horned Hermit - Capítulo 32
  17. Wild and Horned Hermit - Chapter 18
  18. Mori, Masato (1982). "Konjaku Monogatari-shū". Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 9 (2/3): 151-152. http://www.jstor.org/stable/30233945. Retrieved September 7, 2020. 
  19. 東方深秘録 ~ Urban Legend in Limbo Official Page
  20. 東方憑依華 ~ Antinomy of Common Flowers Official Page