Tetsamaru said: I fail to see the Cirno-nee tag on Pixiv and no where does it mention that this Adult Cirno is based on Cirno-nee at all. Removing tag.
Don't forget that Pixiv does have it's own tags just like Danbooru. In this case, This picture has the "Adult Cirno" tag but no "Cirno-nee" tag. The "Cirno-nee" tag is mostly reserved for fan-art of the Ricia's original Cirno-nee character. Ofcourse, there are pics that have both the "Cirno-nee" and "Adult Cirno" tags, but this isn't one of them. Also the artist description doesn't talk about Cirno-nee either, so this is simply just an Adult + (insert touhou character here).
Fred1515 said: Is there any difference between Cirno-nee and any old scarf-wearing mature-looking Cirno?
HUGE difference. Cirno-nee is all about attitude. Looking at these few Adult Cirno pics, this Cirno definitely is a little ditzy and also retains her idiotness(?) a little bit. Pixiv even has a take for "Little Sakuya" as well. Usually showcasing her 1 piece black dress. I've even some some attempts to also give Remilia a seperate tag when it has to do with the Remilia from that series but since she doesn't dress any different, it's kinda hard to visually see it. Remilia from that series is definitlly different and more down to earth than the canon Remilia is or the more common fanon. Whether it's the overly charismatic Remilia or the "Charisma break" moe Remilia.
Pixiv tags do differeintiate between Adult + Cirno and Cirno-nee. Also as I have said before, there are pics that feature an adult Cirno-nee, but this just isn't one of them. None of the components are here for Cirno-nee, thus, no Cirno-nee tag for this. The artist doesn't acknowledge Cirno-nee at all. 大人チルノ ≠ Cirno-nee. 大人チルノ = Adult + Cirno
Tetsamaru said: There is otherwise we wouldn't have a Cirno-nee tag in the first place. Adult + Cirno would have been just fine as far as Danbooru is concerned.
That's no argument, there have been useless tags that have been nuked in the past, there are useless tags as we speak, and there will be more in the future. Danbooru is not perfect.
That said, the more info you provide, the more convinced I become that there is no significant difference between them. If Cirno-nee's appearance varies so greatly that she cannot be objectively identified from the image alone and you need external information (e.g. artist's description) to be sure then it's just a vaguely defined combination of Cirno and some of the scarf, adult, alternate_hairstyle and alternate_outfit tags.
Anyways, apparently this means a lot to you so I'll just drop it for now.
I'm not the inventor of the Cirno-nee tag, but I do my part of the Danbooru community a bit just cleaning up tags/pools. If you really think Cirno-nee is a useless tag, why not create a forum thread for it?
In fact, I myself was REALLY surprised at the invention of the Cirno-nee tag in the first place. I never thought Danbooru would even create it(I never even thought it would get popular enough). But since it exists, I'm just doing my part in keeping the tag clean. In the same way others clean up alternate character tags for the Advent series. Which also features another type of Alternate Cirno(as well as other cast).
I personally though don't see any difference between this tag and say the ex-rumia or ex-meiling tag for another touhou character that also is just a fanon representation that happened to get somewhat popular.Same deal also in the fact that uploaders also rely on the Ex-rumia(EXルーミア)and(EX美鈴) tag for Pixiv to be on the picture. Danbooru does borrow some of it's tags from Pixiv after all. Also, if you read the manga, Cirno-nee actually is quite identifiable without looking, you just need to be familier with the work.
Also let me direct you to a fan-doujin(Fan doujin of a fan doujin? Yo dawg....) that got uploaded here pool #4303 No scarf, no ⑨ hoodie, but that is definitely Cirno-nee P.S. Cirno-nee doesn't have long hair.