Nemuno Sakata

坂 (さか) 田 (た) 　ネムノ Nemuno Sakata
Nemuno Sakata in Hidden Star in Four Seasons The Yamanba who Surpasses This Floating World's Barriers More Character Titles
Species	Yamanba
Abilities	Creating sanctuaries
Location	Youkai Mountain
Music Themes
山奥のエンカウンター (Hidden Star in Four Seasons)
Appearances
Official Games
Hidden Star in Four Seasons (Stage 2 Boss and midboss) Violet Detector (Thursday Boss, Wrong Sunday Boss) 100th Black Market (1st Market Boss)
Print Works
Wild and Horned Hermit (Chapter 42 cameo) Visionary Fairies in Shrine (Chapter 8 cameo) The Grimoire of Usami (Section 2-2) Lotus Eaters (Chapter 34 cameo)

"Oh, sorry about that. I'm Marisa the magician. I'm not sure why, but it seems like the season around this one area has turned into autumn?"

"I don't know nothin' 'bout that. More importantly, you should git outta here. If you stick around here any longer, I'll slice you open an' sun-dry you!"

— Marisa Kirisame and Nemuno Sakata (Hidden Star in Four Seasons Stage 2.)

Nemuno Sakata (坂田 ネムノ, Sakata Nemuno) is a yamanba who lives alone on the Youkai Mountain.

General Information

Nemuno appeared as the Stage 2 midboss and Boss in Hidden Star in Four Seasons.

Personality

Nemuno Sakata is a reclusive youkai who lives independently on Youkai Mountain. She has no interest in the world at large. Her way of living is very primitive, even by Gensokyo’s standards. She doesn't like trespassers and will attempt to drive away any intruder she comes across, be it human or youkai. This treatment is harsher with tengus, as they signed a non aggression treatment which says tengu need to leave her alone in her territory

However, she does have a benevolent side to her. She likes strong people. In Hidden Star in Four Seasons, she became more negotiable after fighting the protagonist. In Reimu’s scenario in particular, Nemuno tries to invite Reimu for some tea.

Abilities

Ability to create sanctuaries

She has the ability to create sanctuaries, the exact meaning of this is unknown.

Character Design

Name

Her full name is Nemuno Sakata (坂田 ネムノ). The characters for Sakata (坂田) are spelled with saka (坂) "hill, incline, slope", and ta (田) "rice field". Her surname Sakata (坂田) is a reference to Sakata no Kintoki (坂田 金時) a child of superhuman strength who was raised by a Yamanba. He was first known as Kintarō (金太郎, lit. Golden boy) but after catching Shuten-dōji he became a loyal follower of Minamoto no Yorimitsu and changed his name to Sakata no Kintoki (坂田金時).

Her first name Nemuno (ネムノ) may refer to the Albizia julibrissin (known as "nemunoki" (ネムノキ, lit. "sleeping tree") in Japanese).

Design

Nemuno has red eyes and wavy waist-length grey hair that falls down naturally in a somewhat ragged fashion. She wears blue detatched sleeves and a knee-length three colored dress, resembling a one-shoulder tunic, that wraps over her left shoulder yet still leaves both shoulders bare. Her dress has three color regions - yellow/gold on top, orange in the middle, and red on the bottom, all divided in a nonparallel manner by ragged white trim. The bottom is perforated with two and a half staggered rings of diamond-shaped holes and her detached sleeves bear a similar design. Nemuno wields a giant cleaver with a red bow at the front of the handle. She does not wear any footwear.

Appearances

Games

Hidden Star in Four Seasons

Nemuno's sprite in HSiFS

Main article: Hidden Star in Four Seasons: Story

Nemuno attacks the protagonist, who has reached a secluded area on Youkai Mountain. Nemuno is confused as to why an outsider would enter this place, but attacks in order to protect her territory. She is defeated shortly after.

Spin-offs

100th Black Market

In 100th Black Market, Nemuno appears as the one of the 1st market bosses. Her ability card, a kitchen knife hacking, can be acquired.

Relationships

Due to Nemuno's solitary nature, it is unknown if she possesses any relationship with the people of Gensokyo (other than vaguely speaking with the protagonists in HSiFS), however it can be assumed that she is the most isolated from the residents of Gensokyo.

Gallery

Illustrations

• 

  Nemuno from Who's Who of Humans & Youkai - Everlasting Edition

Illustrations

• 

  Nemuno in Lotus Eaters

Spell Cards

Spell Cards

Name	Translated	Comments	Games	Stage
Total: 10
雨符「囚われの秋雨」	Rain Sign "Imprisoning Autumn Rain"		HSiFS	St. 2: E/N
雨符「呪われた柴榑雨」	Rain Sign "Cursed Torrential Rain"		HSiFS	St. 2: H/L
刃符「山姥の包丁研ぎ」	Blade Sign "Yamanba's Kitchen Knife Sharpening"		HSiFS	St. 2: E/N
刃符「山姥の鬼包丁研ぎ」	Blade Sign "Yamanba's Oni Kitchen Knife Sharpening"		HSiFS	St. 2: H/L
尽符「マウンテンマーダー」	Blade Exhaustion Sign "Mountain Murder"		HSiFS	St. 2: E/N
尽符「ブラッディマウンテンマーダー」	Blade Exhaustion Sign "Bloody Mountain Murder"		HSiFS	St. 2: H/L
研符「狂い輝く鬼包丁」	Sharpen Sign "Madly Glinting Oni Kitchen Knife"		VD	Thursday - 2
殺符「窮僻の山姥」	Murder Sign "Deeply-Secluded Yamanba"		VD	Thursday - 3
夢尽「殺人鬼の懐」	Dream Blade Exhaustion "Demonic Killer's Retreat"		VD GoU	Wrong Sunday - 6 —
包丁「刃こぼれするまで切り刻め」	Kitchen Knife "Mince Up Till Your Blade Chips"		HBM	1st Market

Additional Information

• Like Mystia Lorelei, Nemuno is one of the few characters that immediately starts the end-of-stage boss battle after the mid-boss fight.
• Nemuno refers to herself with uchi (うち), a Japanese first-person pronoun used mainly by women in Kansai-ben and Kyushu dialect.

Fandom

Main article: Fandom: Nemuno Sakata

Official Profiles

Hidden Star in Four Seasons trial - omake.txt

○２面ボス　　浮世の関を超える山姥 　　坂田 ネムノ 　　Sakata Nemuno 　　種族：山姥 　　能力：聖域を作る程度の能力 　　妖怪の山の中に住む妖怪。 　　山姥は集団、組織を持たず、単独行動を好む種族である。 　　同種族同士でも交流を持つことは殆ど無い一方で、他種族とは交流することもある。 　　だが、あくまでもビジネスライクな交流である。 　　組織を好む天狗とは相容れず、種族間で不可侵条約を結んで、それぞれ独自に 　　生活しているようだ。 　　里では一般的に山に入って行方不明になった場合、山姥に何らかの形で処理されたと 　　思われているが、実際には大人の場合は脅して送り返し、子供の場合は保護して 　　立派な人間へと育て上げることが多いようだ。その理由は判らない。 　　彼女自身も世間に興味が無く、幻想郷の中では未開で情報も殆ど無い。

Stage 2 Boss: The Yamanba who Surpasses This Floating World's Barriers Nemuno Sakata Species: Yamanba Ability: Capable of creating sanctuaries A youkai who lives on the Youkai Mountain. Yamanba are a species that enjoy acting independently, without forming groups or societies. They barely ever interact with fellow members of their species; on the other hand, they're known to interact with other species. However, it's always a business-like kind of interaction. They're completely the opposite of the society-loving tengu. It seems that they form nonaggression treaties with other species and live on their own. In the Human Village, it's generally assumed that people who go missing in the mountains were dealt with somehow by a yamanba. But in reality, it seems that they often send lost adults back with a warning, and take custody of lost children, who they raise into upstanding human beings. The reason for this is unknown. Nemuno herself, likewise, has no interest in the world at large. She's primitive even by Gensokyo's standards, and there's hardly any information on her.

Official Sources

Official sources

• 2017/05/07 Hidden Star in Four Seasons trial - omake.txt (trial profile, stage 2 dialogue)