Sakuya Izayoi

十 (い) 六 (ざ) 夜 (よい) 　咲 (さく) 夜 (や) izajoi sakɯja (♫) Sakuya Izayoi
Sakuya Izayoi in Unconnected Marketeers Maid of the Scarlet Devil Mansion More Character Titles
Species	Human (not native to Gensokyo)
Abilities	Space-time manipulation.
Age	Said to be 10-20 years old, implied to be much older.
Occupation	Maid
Location	Scarlet Devil Mansion
Music Themes
月時計　～ ルナ・ダイアル (Embodiment of Scarlet Devil, Immaterial and Missing Power) メイドと血の懐中時計 (Immaterial and Missing Power) フラワリングナイト (Phantasmagoria of Flower View, Scarlet Weather Rhapsody)
Appearances
Official Games
Embodiment of Scarlet Devil (Stage 5 Midboss, Stage 5 Boss, Stage 6 Midboss) Perfect Cherry Blossom (Playable Character) Immaterial and Missing Power (Playable Character, Possible Opponent) Imperishable Night (Playable Character) Phantasmagoria of Flower View (Playable Character, Possible Opponent) Shoot the Bullet (Stage 7-1, 7-3, 7-5, 7-7 Boss) Scarlet Weather Rhapsody (Playable Character, Possible Opponent) Touhou Hisoutensoku (Hong Meiling Ending, Playable character in arcade mode) Hopeless Masquerade (Background Character) Double Dealing Character (Playable Character) Impossible Spell Card (7th Day Boss) Unconnected Marketeers (Playable Character) 100th Black Market (4th Market Boss)
Print Works
Bohemian Archive in Japanese Red (Interview) Extra of the Wind (Cameo) Seasonal Dream Vision/A Beautiful Flower Blooming Violet Every Sixty Years (Secondary Character) Perfect Memento in Strict Sense (Article) Eastern and Little Nature Deity (Chapter 1 cameo) Strange and Bright Nature Deity (Secondary Character) Silent Sinner in Blue (Secondary Character) Oriental Sacred Place (Secondary Character) Wild and Horned Hermit (Secondary Character) Forbidden Scrollery (Chapter 3, 6, 42 cameo, 52 cameo) Strange Creators of Outer World Vol. 1 (Profile Section) and Vol. 2 (Cross Review Section) Visionary Fairies in Shrine (Chapter 2 Cameo, 6 cameo, 7 cameo, 9.5 cameo) Alternative Facts in Eastern Utopia (Advertisement) Cheating Detective Satori (Chapters 1-4.5, 11, 21 cameo) Lotus Eaters (Chapters 1-5, chapter 6 cameo, 39 cameo, 40)
Miscellaneous Works
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"The only human who lives in the house where devils dwell and leader of the maids. A mysterious girl who works in a place that normal humans don't dare approach. Nobody had ever seen her before she started working at the mansion."
— Hieda no Akyuu (Perfect Memento in Strict Sense)

Sakuya Izayoi (十六夜　咲夜, Izayoi Sakuya) is the Chief Maid who serves Remilia Scarlet, the head of the Scarlet Devil Mansion. She is the only human living in the Scarlet Devil Mansion.

General Information

Sakuya first appeared as the Stage 5 boss in Embodiment of Scarlet Devil. She appeared in Perfect Cherry Blossom as a playable character and in Imperishable Night as Remilia's partner along with being in the new fighting game Immaterial and Missing Power. Later, she appeared again as a playable character in Phantasmagoria of Flower View, Scarlet Weather Rhapsody and in Touhou Hisoutensoku. She was a playable character once again in Double Dealing Character, and again in Unconnected Marketeers.

She essentially takes the position of managing the Scarlet Devil Mansion. Her height is "tall"; she is taller than Reimu Hakurei and Alice Margatroid but about the same height as Yukari Yakumo and Hong Meiling. She was not born in Gensokyo, and the name "Sakuya Izayoi" was given to her by Remilia Scarlet. In Perfect Memento in Strict Sense, Akyuu guessed that she might have originally been a vampire hunter.

Personality

Sakuya tends to be a little spacey, but it's unknown if its just an act. She's polite and pleasant towards to her mistress Remilia Scarlet and those she's close with, such as Patchouli Knowledge, while being less formal with other people. With those she's frequently annoyed with, such as Marisa Kirisame, she can be somewhat harsh and direct with her insults and smack-talk, especially during duels. She seems to possess a wry wit and delivers comebacks stoically.

In connection with her Age

As for her age, ZUN directly stated that "she plays the role of a human maid about 10 to 20 years old" and "perhaps she is a character in her early teens, and in Perfect Memento in Strict Sense, according to Hieda no Akyuu, "she claims to be in her late teens", but acts with the mannerisms of someone and the level of her ability seems like that of a human that's been living for more than a hundred years. According to a quote from Remilia Scarlet and Sakuya's ending in Imperishable Night (Good Ending #3), Sakuya has been working at the Scarlet Devil Mansion for so long, Remilia doesn't feel it fitting to call her human. With a comment like that, it seems safe enough to assume she has been at the Scarlet Devil Mansion for an extremely long time.

Ability

Manipulating time

Sakuya stopping time in Silent Sinner in Blue

Sakuya possesses the ability to manipulate time, where she's able to control the flow of time, such as speeding up time, slowing it down, erasing it, and stopping time altogether. She can also compress the flow of time to make both past and future to exist at the same time, making the same object from different timelines be in many places simultaneously. The extent of her ability lets her not only control the time of the place in which she is, but influence the flow of time of a person, a specific object or even a small zone if she so desires, such as stopping the time of an object and thus affecting the space, making it stand still on thin air or creating time suspension fields where everything inside them will be affected by her ability; she can also accelerate or decelerate the movement of objects from slowed down speed to incredibly high speed, to even reaching the speed of light, making it move at tremendous speed. However, as it is difficult to reverse events that have already occurred, and since she is not able to return broken things to how they were originally even if she reversed time, in reality, it is not possible to reverse time. However, she is able to do things to the extent of moving things back to where they were originally. She has shown the ability to erase time of an object from a respective timeline; such as erasing bullets of the present and then the future, making them non-existent.

She is also able to manipulate space, and can narrow or lengthen it: she made the Scarlet Devil Mansion, which was originally spacious, even more abundantly spacious, and furthermore just like this she cleans alone. ZUN also said that "Manipulation of Time" is synonymous with "Manipulation of Space". By manipulating space-time, Sakuya is also capable of creating another Sakuya and making it appear in front of her, which will execute a different action to that of the original. This is apparently related to "another time" though it isn't explained thoroughly.

According to Perfect Memento in Strict Sense, the power to control time is a power that a human can possibly have, but isn't acquired just from just training. In the games, using this ability, she scatters an infinite quantity of knives. To disclose the secret of this trick, she stops time and assiduously collects the knives.

Hieda no Akyuu believes Sakuya has managed to live so long while still looking like a teenager by manipulating time. It's true that Sakuya can increase the speed at which something ages, such as making bamboo flowers bloom instantly in Marisa's A ending of Embodiment of Scarlet Devil, even though this would normally take sixty years. It seems safe enough to assume she can decelerate aging for a specific object, too.

According to Sakuya, her ability to stop time is actually her moving at extremely high speeds with no mass, and she commented that she lacks the ability to stop the progression of someone else's time. While it's possible that this could have been an effort to make Reimu leave and rid the Scarlet Devil Mansion suspicion of kidnappings, there is no way to prove otherwise.

Occupation

Sakuya placing her knives, as illustrated in The Grimoire of Marisa.

As the head maid, she oversees all the fairy maids as the only human maid. The other maids have many perks to their jobs and rarely choose to leave (even though they are not paid or given vacations); however, they are nearly useless and most of the work is done by Sakuya alone, which would be impossible if she didn't stop or slow time. She shops at the Human Village, but she is cold toward other humans and has no friends there. However, ever since Remilia Scarlet was beaten by the heroine of Embodiment of Scarlet Devil, Sakuya has begun opening herself up more.

At the time of Embodiment of Scarlet Devil, she merely worked at the Scarlet Devil Mansion in return for food. Continuing in Imperishable Night, she did not worry at all about the clothing, food or housing and felt satisfied. Meanwhile, she is utterly devoted to her mistress. She's constantly seeking out new varieties of tea flavours for Remilia to try, as shown in several official works. For example, she mentions in Phantasmagoria of Flower View that with so many flowers around, she can make as much tea and as many pastries as she wants. (Flowers have often been used to provide flavouring for tea, especially in the past, and are still the basis of jasmine tea.)

Possessions

She possesses a great amount of silver throwing knives and is skilled at handling them, and with only her ability to manipulate time, she is skilled in conjuring knives from nowhere.

Her throwing range is said to be 20 ken (about 36 meters or 39.8 yards) and has the accuracy such that she is able to strike an apple on the forehead of a fairy. A portion of her throwing-knife ability is within her cooking ability and therefore is very skilled at cooking as well. She also is able to conjure knives in battle as danmaku as well. In the games, despite Sakuya showing to make knives appear mysteriously when time is stopped, her artwork in The Grimoire of Marisa shows that she's placing the knives physically.

Official Profiles

Official Profiles

Embodiment of Scarlet Devil - おまけ.txt

○紅魔館のメイド 　　十六夜 咲夜（いざよい・さくや） 　　能力：時間を操る程度の能力 　　５面ボスです。メイドで、１０〜２０年程人間をやっています。 　　彼女はその能力により人間から煙たがられてしまいます。すでに普通の人間と仲良くやっていくのをあきらめています。 　　これといった名誉欲や支配欲などはなく、飯さえ食えればそれでいいと思い、紅魔館でメイドをやっています。 　　紅魔館では清掃係兼メイド長を担当していて、常に時間を止める能力を活かして仕事をしています。 　　（時間止めて掃除をすると埃が舞わないとか） 　　この家の主人がアレなので、実質、メイドというか子守り役というか、この家を仕切っています。 　　カードアタック　全９種

Maid of the Scarlet Devil Mansion Sakuya Izayoi Ability: Time manipulation 5th stage boss. Plays the role of a human maid about 10 to 20 years old. That power of hers distances her from the human race. She has given up trying to be friendly to ordinary people. She does not care about honor or power; she thinks so long as it earns her dinner, being the Scarlet Devil Mansion's maid is fine. She is the chief of the Scarlet Devil Mansion's maids and cleaning staff, and always takes advantage of her ability to stop time when working. (If she cleans when time is stopped, it won't raise dust.) Due to the nature of the mistress of the house, it is arguable whether she serves the role of maid or babysitter, but in any case, she is in charge of most of the affairs of the household. Total of nine card attacks.

Perfect Cherry Blossom - Manual

○紅魔館のメイド　十六夜 咲夜（いざよいさくや） 　　とあるお屋敷の瀟洒なメイド。時を操る程度の能力を持つ。 　　頭も切れ、腕もたち、弱点は無い様だが猫舌。 　　投げナイフの技術は料理の腕に比例する為、咲夜は料理が大変上手。 　　最近は貴重な食材を使用した創作中華にはまっている。 　　なおナイフは、節約と環境保護のために投げた後に回収する。 　　もし、戦闘中にナイフが尽きた場合は、時間を止めて回収にあたる。 　　武器は投げナイフ。タネ無し手品を得意とする。 　　　なんと言っても、ボム数が４である。クリアだけなら楽勝。 　　　「ジャック・ザ・リッパー」は、前方ある程度の角度範囲内の敵をロックして狙い撃ちをする。 　　　威力は低めだが、非常に使い勝手の良い武器。 　　　一方、時符は全ての武器が不思議な挙動をする。 　　　「ミスディレクション」は、移動方向にショットが傾く。この状態で「パワーディレクション」に移行すると、ショット方向がロックされる。 　　　ボムは、「パーフェクトスクウェア」「プライベートスクウェア」共に、威力が皆無で無敵時間はゲーム中最長である。また、このボムだけ使用中に移動速度が上がる。 　　　最大の特徴は、ボム中は敵弾を停止させ、「その敵弾にかすることが出来る」＋「ボム終了後にボーナスアイテムになるため、ボーナスアイテムの得点が通常の得点になる」事である。 　　　かすり数によっては、大きく稼げる武器になっている。

Maid of the Scarlet Devil Mansion Sakuya Izayoi The elegant maid of a certain mansion. She possess the ability to manipulate time. Sharp and able, she has no real weak points but can't eat hot (temperature) foods. Since she wants her knife-throwing skills to be comparable to her cooking skills, Sakuya is incredibly good at cooking. Her is currently addicted to creating Chinese delicacies using expensive ingredients. In order to save money and the planet, she reuses knives she's already thrown. If she were to run out of knives during a battle, she'd just stop time and pick them up again. Throwing knives are her weapon. Deceitless sleight-of-hand is her specialty. In any case, she starts out with 4 bombs. It makes it easier to clear the game. "Jack the Ripper" locks onto enemies at certain angles in front of you. It has low power, but it's a very easy to use weapon. On the other hand, all of the "Time Sign" weapons have very unusual movement. "Misdirection" angles its shots in the direction you're moving. If you switch to "Power Direction" when it's angled, the shot direction will lock in its current position. The bombs, "Perfect Square" and "Private Square" are both very weak, but they have the longest invincibility time in the game. Also, these are the only bombs that make you move faster when you use them. The biggest distinguishing point is: enemy bullets stop during bombs, so the fact that you can graze them like this + the fact that they become bonus items when the bomb is finished (and normal point items then get the bonus item value) mean that the more you graze, the higher you will score with her weapons.

Perfect Cherry Blossom - キャラ設定.txt

○紅魔館のメイド 　　十六夜　咲夜（いざよい　さくや） 　　主に時間を操る程度の能力を持つ。 　　幻想郷にある湖のほとりに、その紅いお屋敷はある。そこで働くメイドである。給金は無い。 　　この館で掃除したり、指示したり、料理したり、お嬢様の世話したりで、普通に忙しい。 　　館は無駄に広く、それでいて単調な色調のため、全体像はなかなか掴めない。迷い込んだ招かざるお客様が何処かに落ちていても、分からない。先に誰かに発見されて消されていても、分からない。 　　紅い建物は、緑の多い幻想郷に在っても何故か違和感を感じられない。 　　あたかもそこに在るのが当たり前かの様に、建っていた。 　　咲夜も、ここに暮らしていると時間が停止しているかのように感じるのだった。もちろん、咲夜が時を止めているわけではない。

Maid of the Scarlet Devil Mansion Izayoi Sakuya Mainly she possesses the ability to manipulate time. She is a maid who works at the Scarlet Devil Mansion on the banks of a lake in Gensokyo for no salary. She's kept quite busy in this mansion cleaning, commanding the other maids, cooking, and taking care of her mistress. The mansion is unnecessarily large and has monotonous colors, so it's hard to tell things apart inside. Nobody would notice if an uninvited guest wandered inside and fell into a hole somewhere, undiscovered. Nobody would know if they were discovered and gotten rid of, either. Somehow, this scarlet building doesn't seem out of place surrounded by the green of Gensokyo. It simply stands there as if it were always meant to be there. Living here, even Sakuya feels as if time has stopped. Of course, that's not because Sakuya has stopped time.

Immaterial and Missing Power - 上海アリス通信.txt

○紅魔館のメイド 　　十六夜　咲夜（いざよいさくや） 　　種族：人間 　　住処：紅魔館 　　能力：時を操る程度の能力 　　　紅魔館の住み込みで働くメイドさん。炊事、掃除、洗濯、子守にナイフ投げと、メイドがやりそうな事は全て完璧にこなす。メイド長。 　　　性格は、瀟洒で完璧そうに見えるが、たまに抜けている所も見せる。 　　仕事が完璧で速いのは、時間を止めて仕事をしているいるからだと思うが……。 　　　体術も得意とする。むしろ弾幕のような怪しげな術よりも得意な位。 　　弾幕にも投げナイフを使うのはその為である。それにタネの無い手品が好きで、戦闘にも積極的に取り入れる。そういう所が抜けている所の様な気がしてならないが。

Maid of the Scarlet Devil Mansion Izayoi Sakuya Species: Human Location: Scarlet Devil Mansion Ability: Ability to manipulate time A maid who works and lives in the Scarlet Devil Mansion . She does a maid's duty perfectly: cooking, cleaning, washing, babysitting, knife throwing, etc. Her position is chief maid. Her personality seems perfect and elegant, but sometimes she shows a more spaced-out side. The reason she works so quickly is probably because she stops time to do it, though ... She also specializes in melee attacks. Probably even more so than at suspicious tricks like danmaku. This is why she uses throwing knives in her danmaku. In addition, she likes magic that doesn't have tricks to it, so she proactively adopts it into battle. I can't help feeling this point is the odd acts.

Imperishable Night - Manual

○紅魔館のメイド　十六夜 咲夜（いざよいさくや） 　　悪魔に仕えるメイドさん。 　　紅魔館に住む人間。時を操る程度の能力を持つ。 　　紅魔館ではメイド長を勤めていて、ご主人様がアレなので実質、紅魔館の顔である。 　　心からご主人様に忠誠を誓うが、従事という言葉から感じるじめじめした暗い嫌な感じは全くせず、サバサバとしていて見てて気持ちがいい。 　　時折、惚けた事もするのだが、わざとか真剣なのか判りづらい。 　　本人は言うまでも無く、真剣である。 　　武器は投げナイフ。銀が手に入り難くなってきたので別の材料を検討中。 　　　　備考 　　　　今回はレミリアと組む。 　　　　低速移動は単独使用時のみの性能である。 　　　　全く癖の無いオーソドックスなショットで使い 　　　　やすい。 　　　　アイテムは俺のもんだ。という人にお奨め。

Maid of the Scarlet Devil Mansion Izayoi Sakuya A maid who serves a devil. She lives in Scarlet Devil Mansion. She can manipulate time. She is the head maid of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, but due to her mistress's nature she's practically head of the household. She is utterly devoted to her mistress, and she feels no shame in being a "servant"; on the contrary, she's so easy-going it feels nice to watch her. Sometimes she's a little spacy, but it's hard to tell if she's serious or faking it. In either case, she's a fairly serious person. Her weapon is throwing knives. Since silver is hard to come by, she's looking for other materials to use, too. Notes: She's teamed up with Remilia this time. She can only use focused movement when alone. She has a very orthodox, straightforward shot, so she's easy to use. Recommended for people who must get every item.

Imperishable Night - キャラ設定.txt

○紅魔館のメイド 　　十六夜　咲夜（いざよい　さくや） 　　Sakuya Izayoi 　　種族：人間 　　能力：時間を操る程度の能力 　　幻想郷にある湖のほとりに、その紅いお屋敷はある。そこで働くメイドである。 　　メイドをしていると、こんな辺鄙な山奥でも衣食住に困らず快適である。彼女は人間だが、悪魔達と一緒にいる為人間からも妖怪からも余り良い目で見られない。でも一部の人間達はそんなことを一切気にしないで接してくれるし、何より食う寝る処に住む処に困らない。これほど快適な暮らしは他に考えられなかった。

Maid of the Scarlet Devil Mansion Sakuya Izayoi Species: Human Abilities: Manipulating time There's a scarlet mansion on the banks of a certain lake in Gensokyo. She works there as a maid. When you're a maid, you don't have to worry about clothing, food or housing, even when you live this deep in the mountains. She's human, but both humans and youkai don't look too well on her since she lives with devils. Still, some humans will overlook this, and she never has to worry about her living conditions. She can't imagine a life better than this.

Phantasmagoria of Flower View - Manual

○完全で瀟洒なメイド　十六夜 咲夜（いざよいさくや） 　　悪魔に仕えるメイドさん。 　　紅魔館に住む人間。時を操る程度の能力を持つ。 　　あか抜けた性格だが、余裕なのか惚けているのかちょっとずれた面も見せる。 　　花の異変に関しては、さほど危険を感じていない。

Perfect and Elegant Maid Izayoi Sakuya A maid who serves a devil. She's a human who lives in the Scarlet Devil Mansion. She possess the ability to the extent of manipulating time. Though her character is refined, sometimes she acts like she's being careless or just spacing out. She doesn't think the flower incident is anything terribly dangerous.

Phantasmagoria of Flower View - キャラ設定.txt

○完全で瀟洒なメイド 　　十六夜　咲夜（いざよい　さくや） 　　Izayoi Sakuya 　　種族：人間 　　能力：時間を操る程度の能力 　　 幻想郷にある湖のほとりに、その紅いお屋敷はある。そこで働くメイドである。 　　 今回は、一応異変と言うことで様子を見に出てきた物の、特に危険は無いと感じていた。それは紅魔館の者の様子も、特に慌てた物では無かったからでもある。

Perfect and Elegant Maid Izayoi Sakuya Species: Human Ability: Manipulating time There's a scarlet mansion on the edge of a lake in Gensokyo. She's a maid working there. She heard something was going on, so she just thought she'd go out and have a look; she didn't particularly think something dangerous was happening. This is also why nobody in the Scarlet Devil Mansion was particularly upset about the flower incident.

Scarlet Weather Rhapsody - Official website

○完全で瀟洒な従者 　　十六夜　咲夜（いざよい　さくや） 　　種族：人間 　　職業：メイド 　　住家：紅魔館 　　能力：時を操る程度の能力 　　性格：瀟洒で知的、垢抜けている。 　　　　　　でも案外うっかりした行動をとる事もある。

Perfect and Elegant Servant Sakuya Izayoi Race: Human Occupation: Maid Place of residence: Scarlet Devil Mansion Ability: Manipulating time Personality: Elegant, knowledgeable, and refined. However, can be surprisingly careless from time to time.

Touhou Bougetsushou - Official website

十六夜　咲夜（いざよい　さくや） 人間／時間を操る程度の能力 紅魔館に住むただ１人の人間。多くの妖精メイドたちを束 ねるメイド長である。ちなみにメイドに給金や休暇は無い。 代わりに自由と食事と紅茶が与えられる。 時間を操る能力を持ち、レミリアからの信頼も厚い。だが、 人間である咲夜がなぜ紅魔館で働いているのかは謎に包 まれている。

Sakuya Izayoi Human / Ability to manipulate time The only human who lives at the Scarlet Devil Mansion. She serves as the head maid, managing the many fairy maids. Incidentally, the maids are not paid in wages or awarded any days off. Instead, they are compensated with freedom, meals, and black tea. She possesses the ability to manipulate time and enjoys a deep bond of trust with Remilia. That said, the question of why Sakuya, a human, works at the Scarlet Devil Mansion is a riddle wrapped in mystery.

Double Dealing Character - omake.txt

○悪魔のメイド 　　十六夜　咲夜（いざよい　さくや） 　　Izayoi Sakuya 　　種族：人間 　　能力：時を操る程度の能力 　　紅魔館にすむ、人間のメイド長。 　　最近、勝手に敵に向かっていく短剣を手に入れた。 　　自分で投げるよりもずっと簡単で、気持ちの良い物だった。 　　そんな時、紅魔館の近くの霧の湖で妖怪が暴れているという 　　噂が立った。 　　咲夜は短剣を試すべく戦いに出る。

Maid of the Devil Sakuya Izayoi Species: Human Ability: Capable of manipulating time The human head maid that lives in the Scarlet Devil Mansion. Recently, she has obtained knives that will aim towards enemies by themselves. Since this is much easier than throwing them herself, they're quite enjoyable. Not long afterwards, rumors surfaced that youkai were acting rowdy at the Misty Lake near the Scarlet Devil Mansion. Sakuya goes to fight to try out her new knives.

Unconnected Marketeers - omake.txt

○瀟洒なメイド 　　十六夜 咲夜（いざよい　さくや） 　　Izayoi Sakuya 　　種族：人間 　　能力：時間を止める程度の能力 　　紅魔館でメイド長をしている。すましているので分かりにくいが、実は少し天然。 　　ちまたに不思議なカードが流通していた。 　　そのカードにパチュリー様が非常に興味を持たれ、全てを回収するように命じられた。 　　確かに興味深いカードだった。中にはお嬢様の魔力が込められたカードもあるという。 　　しかし、お嬢様はピンピンしている。これは一体何を意味しているのか……。

Elegant Maid Sakuya Izayoi Species: Human Ability: Capable of stopping time Works as the head maid of the Scarlet Devil Mansion. Her cool demeanor makes it hard to tell, but she's actually a bit of an airhead. Mysterious cards were circulating in the streets. Lady Patchouli gained an extreme interest in the cards, and ordered her to collect every last one of them. The cards certainly were intriguing. Apparently, some of them even contained her mistress's magic power. However, her mistress was fit as a fiddle. Just what exactly could this mean...?

ZUN's comment from Dai Touhouten plaque (EoSD)

数少ない人間の中でも、人間離れした性格と能力の持ち主であるメイドです。彼女がナイフを使うのは、彼女よりの美学なんでしょう。勿論、時止め中に頭上からロードローラーを落としたりするのも良いんですが。 他の人間とつるんでいる事は少なく、人間からはどちらかというと悪魔の手先と思われていますが、本人もそれを演じている節があります。そんなところも、後の主人公っぽいと言えば、ぽいです。

Among humans who are already short in numbers, she's an extraordinary human maid with a special personality and ability. The reason she uses knives is probably just that it's her philosophy. I wouldn't say that it's bad to drop a road roller on top of someone's head, though. She doesn't hang out with other humans too often, so they mostly see her as a demon's servant, while she does act like one from time to time. This kind of personality makes her like a deuteragonist, to some extent.

ZUN's comment from Dai Touhouten plaque (PCB)

紅魔郷の5面ボスでしたが主人公になりました。敵キャラが続編で使用キャラになる、という流れって良いですよね。でもそれをやると、設定やストーリーに無理が出やすいのですが、東方の場合は人間 vs 人間以外という不文律がある為、彼女が人間と言うだけで主人公になるのは簡単でした。キャラセレ画面だと珍しくモップを持っています。何でしょう、床掃除の途中で出てこなきゃいけないほどだったようには見えないんですけどね……。

She was EoSD stage 5 boss but she's become another protagonist. Your old enemy becomes a playable character in later series is the sort of flow I like. Although, generically speaking, a character's background and related stories are often conflicting with such flow, in Touhou the world's unspoken theme is about human vs non-human, she being a human alone is easy enough to justify her being another protagonist. On character selection screen she's depicted holding a mop, which is rare. What feels a bit off is that, from her look she does not look like she's in such an urgent matter where she had to dash out while cleaning floors, yet here we are...

ZUN's comment from Dai Touhouten plaque (IN)

妖々夢に引き続き、プレイヤーキャラの咲夜です。 実は儚月抄でも紅魔館組は月を目指すわけで、 少なからず何らかの因縁がある気がします。 レミリアと主従関係でコンビを組む訳ですが、 ゲーム的には咲夜が主なんですよね。ちょっと不思議ですよね。

Sakuya continues to be a playable character after PCB. The SDM gang also planned for the moon in SSiB, so I think there's some strings attached. Remilia is supposed to the master, but in the game Sakuya takes the lead. Intriguing.

Skills

Skills

Name	Translated	Comments	Games	Usage
Total: 22
「ジャック・ザ・ルドビレ」	"Jack the Ludo Bile"		PCB	Type A unfocused
「ジャック・ザ・リッパー」	"Jack the Ripper"		PCB PoFV	Type A focused Charge attack
「ミスディレクション」 ミスディレクション	"Misdirection"	Related: Sakuya's Conjuring "Misdirection" (EoSD)	PCB Soku	Type B unfocused Alternate 214B/C
「パワーディレクション」	"Power Direction"		PCB	Type B focused
離剣の見	Sense of Thrown Edge		IaMP	236A/B
アンビシャスジャック	Ambitious Jack		IaMP	236C
バウンスノーバウンス	Bounce No-Bounce		IaMP SWR	214A/B Default 214B/C
クロースアップマジック	Close-up Magic		IaMP SWR	623A/B Default 623B/C
バニシングエブリシング	Vanishing Everything		IaMP SWR	421A/B/C Default 22B/C
「ミステリアスジャック」	"Mysterious Jack"		IN
「アナザーマーダー」	"Another Murder"		PoFV	EX attack
マジックスターソード	Magic Star Sword		SWR	Default 236B/C
プロペリングシルバー	Propelling Silver		SWR	Alternate 623B/C
スクウェアリコシェ	Square Ricochet		SWR	Alternate 214B/C
離剣の見	Sight of Distant Blade		SWR	Alternate 236B/C
パーフェクトメイド	Perfect Maid	Related:Sakuya's Silver Sign "Perfect Maid" (StB)	SWR	Alternate 22B/C
パラレルブレーン	Parallel Brane		Soku	Alternate 236B/C
ダンシングスターソード	Dancing Star Sword		Soku	Alternate 623B/C
タイムパラドックス	Time Paradox		Soku	Alternate 22B/C
スローイングナイフ	Throwing Knives		DDC	Unfocused
妖剣シルバーブレード	Bewitched Sword 'Silver Blade'		DDC	Type A focused
スマートロバー	Smart Robber		DDC	Type B focused

Spell Cards

Spell cards

Name	Translated	Comments	Games	Stage
Total: 40
奇術「ミスディレクション」	Conjuring "Misdirection"		EoSD	St. 5: E/N
奇術「幻惑ミスディレクション」	Conjuring "Mesmerizing Misdirection"		EoSD	St. 5: H/L
幻在「クロックコープス」	Illusion Existence "Clock Corpse"		EoSD	St. 5: E/N
幻象「ルナクロック」	Illusion Image "Luna Clock"		EoSD GoM	St. 5: E/N —
メイド秘技「操りドール」	Maid Secret Skill "Manipulating Doll"		EoSD	St. 5: E/N
幻幽「ジャック・ザ・ルドビレ」	Illusion Phantom "Jack the Ludo Bile"		EoSD	St. 5: H/L
幻世「ザ・ワールド」	Illusion World "The World"		EoSD	St. 5: H/L
メイド秘技「殺人ドール」	Maid Secret Skill "Killing Doll"		EoSD GoM	St. 5: H/L —
奇術「エターナルミーク」	Conjuring "Eternal Meek"		EoSD SWR	St. 6: N/H/L
インディスクリミネイト	"Indiscriminate"		PCB	Use
殺人ドール	"Killing Doll"		PCB	Use
パーフェクトスクウェア	"Perfect Square"		PCB	Use
プライベートスクウェア 時符「プライベートスクウェア」	"Private Square" Time Sign "Private Square"		PCB IaMP SWR	Use Use Use
幻符「殺人ドール」	Illusion Sign "Killing Doll"		IaMP IN SWR	Use Use Use
幻葬「夜霧の幻影殺人鬼」	Buriallusion "Phantomic Killer in Night Mist"		IaMP IN SWR	Use Use Use
「咲夜の世界」	"Sakuya's World"		IaMP SWR	Use Use
傷符「インスクライブレッドソウル」	Wound Sign "Inscribe Red Soul"		IaMP SWR	Use Use
傷魂「ソウルスカルプチュア」	Scarred Soul "Soul Sculpture"		IaMP SWR	Use Use
符の壱「連続殺人ドール」	Sign I "Serial Killing Doll"		IaMP	Story
符の弐「チェックメイド」	Sign II "Checkmaid"		IaMP	Story
手品「クロースアップ殺人鬼」	Jugglery "Close-Up Serial Killer"		IaMP	Story
「デフレーションワールド」	"Deflation World"		IN GoM	LW —
時符「プライベートヴィジョン」	Time Sign "Private Vision"		PoFV	Use
時符「ミステリアスジャック」	Time Sign "Mysterious Jack"		PoFV	Use
時符「トンネルエフェクト」	Time Sign "Tunnel Effect"		StB GoM	St. 7 —
空虚「インフレーションスクウェア」	Void "Inflation Square"		StB GoM	St. 7 —
銀符「パーフェクトメイド」	Silver Sign "Perfect Maid"		StB	St. 7
銀符「シルバーバウンド」	Silver Sign "Silver Bound"		SWR SWR	Use Story
速符「ルミネスリコシェ」	Speed Sign "Luminous Ricochet"		SWR SSiB	Use Ch.14
時符「咲夜特製ストップウォッチ」	Time Sign "Sakuya's Special Stopwatch"		SWR SWR	Use Story
幻術「マイナイフリカージョン」	Illusion "My Knife's Recursions"		SWR	Story
時符「シルバーアキュート360」	Time Sign "Silver Acute 360"		SWR	Story
時符「イマジナリバーチカルタイム」	Time Sign "Imaginary Vertical Time"		Soku	Use
時計「ルナダイアル」	Watch "Lunar Dial"		Soku	Use
光速「Ｃ．　リコシェ」	Light Speed "C. Ricochet"		Soku	Use
妖器「銀色のアナザーディメンジョン」	Bewitched Weapon "Silver Another Dimension"		DDC	Use
時符「デュアルバニッシュ」	Time Sign "Dual Vanish"		DDC	Use
時符「タイムストッパー咲夜」	Time Sign "Time Stopper Sakuya"		ISC	St. 7
時符「チェンジリングマジック」	Time Sign "Changeling Magic"		ISC	St. 7
時符「アイウィンクナイフヘル」	Time Sign "Eye-wink Knife Hell"		100BM	4th Market

Backstory

ZUN has stated in his e-mails that Sakuya is not her real name and that she is not from Gensokyo. According to her profile in Embodiment of Scarlet Devil, her power to control time distanced her from humans, and she eventually gave up trying to be friendly with them.

It is unknown how she came to work for the Scarlet Devil Mansion.

Character Design

Name

Her full name is Sakuya Izayoi (十六夜　咲夜), which was given to her by Remilia Scarlet. The characters for Izayoi (十六夜) literally means "Sixteenth night" (the night just after that of the full moon), and Sakuya (咲夜) literally means "Flowering night". The Japanese word for "last night" (昨夜) can also read as Sakuya, which would point towards the night of the full moon. The word for "night of the new moon" (朔夜) can also read as Sakuya, which is possibly related to the ability to manipulate time. The word Izayoi (十六夜) has come to mean "sixteenth night" from the expression "izayou tsuki" (いざよう月), where "izayou" means "not to progress/proceed forward at all", which might have a deep connection to her ability as well.

Design

Sakuya in Perfect Memento in Strict Sense.

Sakuya was first seen in Embodiment of Scarlet Devil. In this game, she was seen with bright red eyes, silver hair worn in long braids on both sides of her face with green bows at the ends and a white maid headband. She wears a pink/white and dark blue French maid's outfit with an apron, short sleeves and a green ribbon. She is also seen carrying three knives and the phrase "Red Magic" appears to be embroidered on her left sleeve.

Later in Perfect Cherry Blossom, when choosing a player, Sakuya appears to have grey eyes, blue colored long sleeves and a red scarf. She also has red shoes and two knives, one blue and one red. However, her appearance in-game shows her having blue eyes. She's wearing such clothing because it was effectively winter during the game.

Her appearances in Immaterial and Missing Power, Imperishable Night and Scarlet Weather Rhapsody are very similar. Sakuya is seen with grey eyes and once again wearing short sleeves. She appears to the have a thin black ribbon on the maids outfit. However in Imperishable Night she holds a knife and an old stopwatch, where as in Scarlet Weather Rhapsody, she has three knives and a plate with cups and a teapot on it. The colour of her eyes changes with each work.

In Phantasmagoria of Flower View, she has dark blue eyes and long sleeves. The Roman numerals for I (1) through XII (12) line the bottom of her apron.

In Double Dealing Character and Unconnected Marketeers she additionally wears stockings.

Alternative Outfits

Her alternative outfit in Immaterial and Missing Power and Scarlet Weather Rhapsody is mainly light blue with a white apron and her hair is light green. In Phantasmagoria of Flower View, her outfit is mainly dark red instead of dark blue.

Theories

Sakuya Izayoi is a character that holds a few mysteries. These are theories among the fanbase about the Touhou Project that may or may not be true in most cases. This section concerns well-known mysteries in relation to Sakuya Izayoi. These are to be noted to only use official material, and a caveat can be suggested to be conjectures in most parts. Hieda no Akyuu states there are several theories regarding Sakuya's origins and/or behaviour (including she is a homunculus, a zombie, or an eccentric).

Sakuya's Species

ZUN's E-mails has referred to her as human, as do most of her official profiles. In Perfect Memento in Strict Sense, Hieda no Akyuu considers Sakuya as a human, but wonders if she is not actually from Gensokyo, but perhaps one of many other worlds including Higan, the Netherworld, the Lunar Capital, and the outside world. Reimu Hakurei questions her humanity in Embodiment of Scarlet Devil, but throughout the series Sakuya insists and refers to herself as a human very often. Perfect Memento in Strict Sense states her ability to control time is an extremely powerful ability for a human to possess.

In relation to Sakuya's eyes being red

In Embodiment of Scarlet Devil, and possibly Immaterial and Missing Power and Scarlet Weather Rhapsody's spell cards, there are parts when her eyes become red when using a spellcard. In Embodiment of Scarlet Devil, it may possibly be due to the Scarlet Mist Incident, but it was inferred that those were to manipulate the eyes of insanity. In Imperishable Night, at the scene where Remilia Scarlet worried that Sakuya might become insane at the time Kaguya cast the light of the true full moon, even when Sakuya looked at the true full moon there did not seem to be any abnormality caused by the full moon. However, Imperishable Night's Good Ending #3 indicates Sakuya went a bit mad. Additionally, ZUN drew Sakuya with red eyes shortly after the release of IN, and answered a fan's question about her red eyes in the picture, stating that they should play through the game to understand. The implication here is that Sakuya did indeed go mad. That being said, Reimu Hakurei and Marisa Kirisame passed through seeing the moon just fine, although they had their own reasons as to why they don't become insane. Either way, Sakuya acts completely normal anyway after IN.

Vampire Hunter

Sakuya being a vampire hunter is a theory that's speculated by Akyuu, based on the fact that her silver knives are the same kind used to slay vampires and other demons. Silver is one of the prime weaknesses of vampires.

The theory that was said by Akyuu claims that long ago, a young vampire hunter was training herself, defeating smaller demons in an unknown location, but never had the chance to fight a vampire. Confident in her abilities, she decided to set out on a journey to slay vampires and ended up at the Scarlet Devil Mansion. There she saw Remilia Scarlet, who was surprisingly strong, and Remilia easily defeated her. However, Remilia wanted the girl's power for herself, so she spared her life and gave her a new name, which also gave her a completely opposite fate: Sakuya Izayoi. Sakuya then became the head maid of the Scarlet Devil Mansion before it was moved to Gensokyo. This may also have some relation to her species theory.

Human Cuisine

Sakuya shown cooking in Oriental Sacred Place Chapter 15.

Sakuya's involvement in the human cuisine of the Scarlet Devil Mansion is pretty heavily implied. While Sakuya has never been shown preparing humans, it's stated that all other maids in the mansion are practically useless and Sakuya is the one who does all the work. This heavily implies that she is involved in cooking as well since it's one of the biggest duties in a household.

Flandre Scarlet confesses to Reimu Hakurei in Embodiment of Scarlet Devil that she has no idea who prepares her human food, but doesn't think it's Remilia. Her profile confirms the pastries she eats are made from humans, but doesn't say who prepares the pastries.

Music comments in Embodiment of Scarlet Devil by ZUN state that Remilia's tea is blood. In Strange and Bright Nature Deity, Sakuya asked Remilia if she thought her latest (not humans) tea tasted like blood. Also, Sakuya's ending in Immaterial and Missing Power mentions that tea time is usually "red tea".

In Perfect Memento in Strict Sense, its stated that the Vampire Incident resulted in a contract where the Vampires(Remilia) were to be offered humans to feed on in exchange for their peace.

In Wild and Horned Hermit Chapter 11, Sakuya comments at the flower viewing party, "It's been a while since I've seen such seedy-looking food. I usually see steaks dripping with blood."

In chapter 35 of Wild and Horned Hermit, faced with Reimu's accusation that she's the one behind the sudden disappearances of the Human Village people because of Remilia's need for blood, Sakuya jokes that it didn't occur to her to kidnap people that way and then denies her involvement in the case on the basis that the kidnapped people come back unharmed the next day with no recollection of what they were doing during that time, stating that her time manipulation powers cannot stop the flow of time for people other than herself.

Appearances

Games

Embodiment of the Scarlet Devil

Sakuya's sprite in EoSD

During Embodiment of Scarlet Devil Sakuya attempts to prevent the heroine from reaching her mistress, but fails.

Main article: Reimu Arc

Sakuya is cleaning when Reimu interrupts her and demands Sakuya to bring her to her mistress. Sakuya refuses to put Remilia in danger and faces against Reimu.

Main article: Marisa Arc

Sakuya is cleaning when Marisa comes in and muses at Sakuya's maid position. Sakuya deadpans about Marisa's magician class and after a rather amusing discussion on Marisa "application", the ruse is uncovered and they fight.

Perfect Cherry Blossom

Sakuya's back sprite in PCB

Main article: Perfect Cherry Blossom Sakuya's Scenario

Later, during Perfect Cherry Blossom, Sakuya is able to show more of her true character, even if her main reason for trying to solve the problem is that the delayed Spring will affect her too. Sakuya wants no distractions and to quickly find the culprit, unfortunately for her, she gets into a full fledged adventure.

Imperishable Night

Sakuya's back sprite in IN

Sakuya's sprite in IN, PoFV, StB and ISC

Main article: Imperishable Night Scarlet Team's Scenario

Remilia gets fed up at Sakuya's inability to catch her subtle hints to fix the Moon. Sakuya faithfully follows her disgruntled mistress into the night.

Phantasmagoria of Flower View

Sakuya's back sprite in PoFV

Main article: Phantasmagoria of Flower View Sakuya's Scenario

Sakuya wanders about but this time more for her inquiring nature rather than actually solving the incident.

Double Dealing Character

Sakuya's back sprite in DDC and UM

Main articles: Sakuya A Scenario and Sakuya B Scenario

Sakuya discovers that some of her silver knives started acting up and have become independent. Meanwhile, youkai at the Misty Lake have been running a rampage, so Sakuya goes out to test her new knives.

Unconnected Marketeers

In Unconnected Marketeers, Sakuya was ordered by Patchouli to investigate the ability cards in order to purchase some for her mistress, Remilia. Eventually, she invites Chimata Tenkyuu to the Scarlet Devil Mansion, where she holds a special market in Remilia's honour.

Spin-off

Immaterial and Missing Power

Main article: Immaterial and Missing Power Sakuya's Scenario

Sakuya realizes the air is charged with some strange power and investigates on what could it be.

Shoot the Bullet

In Shoot the Bullet, Aya Shameimaru encountered Sakuya on stage 7 and took photos of her danmaku.

Scarlet Weather Rhapsody

Main article: Scarlet Weather Rhapsody Sakuya's Scenario

During the events of Scarlet Weather Rhapsody, she is initially commanded by Remilia Scarlet to find possible suspects behind the strange weather. After Remilia grows tired of "questioning" suspects, she orders Sakuya to personally find and deal with the culprit. After doing so, Sakuya tells Reimu where to find the culprit, and latter helps to rebuild the Hakurei Shrine after it is destroyed for the second time.

Touhou Hisoutensoku

Main article: Touhou Hisoutensoku Story

If connecting SWR with Touhou Hisoutensoku, then Sakuya can become a selectable character to play with, although she appears in no scenarios.

Hopeless Masquerade

Sakuya in HM

Sakuya appears as a background cameo in Hopeless Masquerade on the Hakurei Shrine stage. She standing with Remilia Scarlet and Patchouli Knowledge holding a tray with tea on it.

Impossible Spell Card

Main article: Impossible Spell Card: Story

After apparently reading the newspaper by the tengu about a mischief-making amanojaku, she becomes one of the many strong youkai and humans to try and stop Seija Kijin. She uses spell cards that are considered impossible to dodge.

100th Black Market

In 100th Black Market, Sakuya appears as the one of the 4th market bosses. She has two ability cards dedicated to her, both pertaining to throwing knifes.

Literature

Bohemian Archive in Japanese Red

Main article: Bohemian Archive in Japanese Red/Sakuya

Sakuya as seen in Wild and Horned Hermit chapter 21

The article reports of Sakuya sneaking into Marisa Kirisame's house and stealing various objects with the intent of building a rocketship to travel to the moon. Sakuya explains her odd behavior by claiming she is only carrying out Remilia's request.

In the interview, Aya Shameimaru asks to speak to Remilia to find out why she wanted those items, but in stalling Sakuya, she is late in delivering tea to Patchouli Knowledge, who arrives to see what the hold-up is. Patchouli explains that they were going to use the items for a magic spell which would send them to the moon, but it ultimately proved useless in the end. The interview ends with Sakuya inviting Aya to join them for tea-time.

Silent Sinner in Blue

Sakuya is ordered by Patchouli to gather information on how to construct a "Saturn V Rocket" that would be able to bring Remilia to go to the Moon. After receiving information from Rinnosuke Morichika on its construction, she visited the Hakurei Shrine to convince Reimu Hakurei to help "fuel" the "rocket" by lending a God's strength.

Sakuya joins Reimu, Marisa Kirisame, and Remilia in their adventure to the moon, where she is the first to fight (and lose) against Watatsuki no Yorihime.

Wild and Horned Hermit

Remilia reacts to Reimu's new event of Mamemaki for Setsubun (an event where people throw beans to drive away the onis) and decides to make her own festival without the beanthrowing in which Sakuya aids with the preparation. Kasen learns that the vampire is also weak against beans and decides to pay them a visit in which Sakuya kindly welcomes her and tell her about the festival. After Reimu's change of mind, the Scarlet Devil Mansion cancels its own festival and sets up a sushi stand at the Hakurei Shrine.

Forbidden Scrollery

Sakuya goes to the Hakurei Shrine looking for Remilia's new pet, a supposed Tupai, which seems to have disappeared. Later, she goes along with Reimu to Suzunaan to research about the creature. After Hieda manages to capture it and reveal it was actually a Chupacabra, Sakuya returns it to the Scarlet Devil Mansion.

Foul Detective Satori

Sakuya is taken possessed by Mizuchi Miyadeguchi who used her in order to send Patchouli Knowledge in to a coma. Rin Kaenbyou and all Scarlet Devil Mansion residents suspected Sakuya as the culprit, which caused them to lock Sakuya in to the basement with Flandre Scarlet, however, Flandre eventually let her out of the basement by destroying the lock on the door. Sakuya went to do the dishes immediately after being let out, at the same time however, Hong Meiling was put in to a coma by Mizuchi, which naturally caused everyone to suspect Sakuya again. Seeing as the investigation is not moving forward, Rin calls her master Satori Komeiji to take over. She finds out that it was indeed Sakuya who caused Patchouli to fall in to a coma due to being possessed by Mizuchi.

Relationships

As a playable character in several games, Sakuya has met a large number of characters. Generally, she treats everyone with professional politeness fitting of a perfect and elegant maid, but youkai that get in her way while she is resolving incidents are coldly exterminated.

Residents of the Scarlet Devil Mansion

Sakuya is loyal to Remilia Scarlet and serves her as the Head Maid without question, a servitude in which no one knows why either trust each other so much. She follows Remilia's requests even when she knows it won't work, such as catching Lily White to restore Spring in Strange and Bright Nature Deity, as requested by her mistress. When Remilia playfully criticizes Sakuya for her failure to catch spring, she takes it in good stride and doesn't disagree. She will also do things for Remilia which she won't even ask, like accompanying her in Imperishable Night and Immaterial and Missing Power (or trying to, in the latter case), or putting on a sleight-of-hand magic show for Remilia without warning in Curiosities of Lotus Asia. Remilia has said that Sakuya is an excellent cleaner, though not before contrarily stating that humans are useless. She seems close enough to Remilia that Remilia permits her to lightly chide her at times. She chastises Remilia in her Scarlet Weather Rhapsody and Immaterial and Missing Power victory quotes for sneaking out food or playing around too much.

Hong Meiling is a fellow employee who she pesters about her work productivity as shown in Immaterial and Missing Power and Touhou Hisoutensoku victory quotes. Meiling seems easily frightened when Sakuya shows even a slight bit of anger as shown in Strange and Bright Nature Deity. However, in Meiling's Touhou Hisoutensoku ending, when Meiling is found passed out and asleep, Sakuya takes Meiling inside because she is worried Meiling will get heatstroke.

She also serves Patchouli Knowledge since Patchouli rarely leaves her room. Sakuya has the highest authority as chief maid, yet Patchouli's rank is noticeably higher within the Scarlet Devil Mansion. Sakuya may also be serving her because Patchouli is Remilia's friend, though she does care for Patchouli personally. In Silent Sinner in Blue, she takes a private moment to watch and smile at Patchouli, who's blissfully unaware as she's researching a new magical breakthrough.

Koakuma is simply a fellow employee of the Scarlet Devil Mansion and presumably nothing more.

On top of serving Remilia, she serves her younger sister Flandre Scarlet, who usually stays in the Scarlet Devil Mansion due to her lack of control over her strength. Someone prepares Flandre's food, which are humans prepared in the shape of pastries and other pleasant things, and although not directly stated, it has to be Sakuya.

As the head maid, Sakuya has precedence over all the other Fairy Maids of the Scarlet Devil Mansion. She is familiar with every each one and notices any abnormality such as the Three Fairies of Light dressing up as three maids. Due to the poor work productivity of the fairies, Sakuya presumably does most of the work. An advertisement in Alternative Facts in Eastern Utopia states that Sakuya interviews for recruiting, so she may have interviewed the majority (if not every) of fairy maids herself.

Marisa Kirisame

Despite Marisa Kirisame's tendency to "borrow" books from the library, Sakuya has shown on a few occasions (mainly endings) to be quite friendly with Marisa, going so far as to serve her snacks and tea and hiding her from Patchouli. This may explain Patchouli's low "catness" rating in Immaterial and Missing Power.

Residents of Eientei

From the events of Imperishable Night, Sakuya is one of the few people who know that Eirin Yagokoro and Kaguya Houraisan are from the moon, and presumably keeping it a secret. Eirin's profile states Eirin is surprised to see Sakuya, but only Eirin knows why.

ZUN's only hint in regards to this can be seen above in the section about Konohana-Sakuyahime.

Minor Relationships

Three Fairies of Light

Sakuya met them in an omake in Eastern and Little Nature Deity, where she stops their prank by throwing some knives at them. In Strange and Bright Nature Deity, at the mansion, she saw through their maid disguises but didn't say a word and let them stay. She eventually kicked them out (according to the fairies' conversation) or frightened them out by telling them if they don't work, they don't eat. Sakuya was smiling, so she may have been speaking as-a-matter-of-factly. Later, when they're spying on Sakuya and others at the Hakurei Shrine, she sees them, revealing she can see through their abilities to hide themselves even though Reimu Hakurei and Marisa Kirisame cannot. She cheerfully invites them to join, but this only scares them into running away, which disappoints her.

Alice Margatroid

In Immaterial and Missing Power she gets lost in the Forest of Magic and Alice escorts her out. Also, she fights Alice as a way to relieve stress on her break. In Scarlet Weather Rhapsody, Sakuya is ordered by Patchouli to kick Alice out. In both cases, Alice thought it was a poor reason. In comparison, Marisa Kirisame and Youmu Konpaku don't even get into trouble when caught intruding in the mansion (in fact, they usually get tea, instead).

Cirno

Sakuya has trouble understanding why Cirno finds freezing frogs or flowers fun in Phantasmagoria of Flower View, but at least came to understand fairies' recklessness from watching Cirno fight in Touhou Hisoutensoku. Cirno also affirmed not wanting to be a fairy maid.

Gallery

Covers

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  Sakuya in Curiosities of Lotus Asia

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  Sakuya in Curiosities of Lotus Asia

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  Sakuya on the Vol. 5 cover of Wild and Horned Hermit

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  Sakuya in the Strange Creators of Outer World Vol. 2 cover

Artworks

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  Sakuya full artwork from Embodiment of Scarlet Devil

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  Sakuya artwork from Embodiment of Scarlet Devil

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  Sakuya artwork from Perfect Cherry Blossom

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  Sakuya artwork from Immaterial and Missing Power

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  Sakuya artwork from Imperishable Night

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  Sakuya artwork from Phantasmagoria of Flower View

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  Sakuya artwork from Phantasmagoria of Flower View

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  Alternate outfit from Phantasmagoria of Flower View

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  Sakuya artwork from Scarlet Weather Rhapsody

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  Sakuya pre-battle artwork from Immaterial and Missing Power

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  Sakuya artwork from Double Dealing Character

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  Sakuya artwork from Unconnected Marketeers

Sprites

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  Sakuya's different color palettes from Touhou Hisoutensoku. The middle top corresponds to her second color palette in Scarlet Weather Rhapsody, while the right top corresponds to her Immaterial and Missing Power palette

Illustrations

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  Illustration of Sakuya in Bohemian Archive in Japanese Red

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  Another illustration of Sakuya from Bohemian Archive in Japanese Red

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  Sakuya in Silent Sinner in Blue

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  Sakuya's illustration by ZUN

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  Sakuya from Who's Who of Humans & Youkai - Dusk Edition

Screenshots

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  Sakuya in Strange and Bright Nature Deity

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  Sakuya and Remilia cameo in Extra of the Wind

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  Sakuya in Silent Sinner in Blue

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  Sakuya mummy costume in Oriental Sacred Place

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  Sakuya in Lotus Eaters

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  Sakuya in Foul Detective Satori

Others

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  Sakuya's sigil in The Grimoire of Marisa

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  Sakuya's sigil from Touhou Hisoutensoku

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  Omikuji with Sakuya's portrait made by ZUN for Reitaisai 15

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  Sakuya's job hiring ad from Alternative Facts in Eastern Utopia

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  Sakuya's shot type on an Ability Card from Unconnected Marketeers

Additional Information

• Despite helping rebuild the Hakurei Shrine later in Scarlet Weather Rhapsody, Sakuya casually ignores Reimu Hakurei's donation requests for shrine upkeep in Immaterial and Missing Power, saying she doesn't believe in gods anyway. She also describes herself as being as an atheist when Reimu asks her about disappearances in the Human Village in Wild and Horned Hermit.
  • Some people note that Sakuya has stated that she is an "atheist" on multiple occasions, such as in Wild and Horned Hermit, despite living in a land where Gods are literally real. However, within context, Sakuya simply seems to mean she does not believe that the Myriad Gods, who represent nature, are "divine" and worthy of worshipping.
• Her alternate colors in Immaterial and Missing Power and Scarlet Weather Rhapsody might be a homage to Ruukoto, the first maid of the Touhou Project. In Touhou Hisoutensoku more alternate palettes were added, including a possible reference to Suigintou and Dio Brando.
• Similar to most humans in Gensokyo, Sakuya seems to lack knowledge of basic scientific concepts (such as the concept of oxygen), as seen in both Silent Sinner in Blue and her route in Unconnected Marketeers.
• Theoretically, Sakuya is the fifth character to serve as a maid in the Touhou Project. The other maid characters are Ruukoto, Mugetsu, Yumeko and Alice Margatroid. However, due to the fact that Mugetsu is probably not a maid, Sakuya would be the fourth maid in the Touhou Project.
• Shibata Masahiro's manga series "Sarai" seems to be a big inspiration for many of the characters from EoSD . Sarai is a manga about superpowered maids fighting youkai and monsters in a dystopian future. The series was published from 1997 to 2007 in Japan only.
  • Sakuya's design resembles Flicker and Nudge from Sarai and all of them are maids. Sakuya resembles Nudge more appearance wise (with the exception of eyeglasses) while Flicker uses Knives as a weapon just like Sakuya. The comparison between Sakuya, Nudge and Flicker.

Fandom

Main article: Fandom: Sakuya Izayoi

Official Sources

Official sources

• 2002/08/11 Embodiment of Scarlet Devil - Stage 5 dialogue; Stage 6 dialogue; おまけ.txt
• 2003/08/17 Perfect Cherry Blossom - Sakuya's Scenario; キャラ設定.txt; Manual
• 2004/04/03-2004/05/01 Curiosities of Lotus Asia - Chapters 4, 5
• 2004/08/15 Imperishable Night - Scarlet Team's Scenario; Scarlet Team Extra Stage; キャラ設定.txt; Manual
• 2005/08/11 Bohemian Archive in Japanese Red - Article and Interview: Sakuya
• 2005/08/14 Phantasmagoria of Flower View - キャラ設定.txt
• 2005/10/01 Seasonal Dream Vision/A Beautiful Flower Blooming Violet Every Sixty Years
• 2006/02/10 Curiosities of Lotus Asia - Chapter 18
• 2006/05/26 Strange and Bright Nature Deity - Chapter 1
• 2006/12/27 Perfect Memento in Strict Sense - Sakuya Izayoi
• 2007/03/25 ~ 2007/04/26 Strange and Bright Nature Deity - Chapters 7-8
• 2007/06/08 ~ 2009/04/09 Silent Sinner in Blue
• 2007/12/26 ~ 2008/01/26 Strange and Bright Nature Deity - Chapters 15-16
• 2008/05/25 Scarlet Weather Rhapsody - chara.html
• 2009/07/28 The Grimoire of Marisa - Sakuya Izayoi's Spell Cards
• 2009/08/26 Oriental Sacred Place - Chapter 4
• 2012/12/26 Forbidden Scrollery - Chapter 3
• 2013/04/26 Forbidden Scrollery - Chapter 6

See Also

• Sakuya in Touhou Hisoutensoku wiki