Man, what happened to the fans of Marisa/Alice? It feels like there are no more fans of what was once, hands-down, the most popular 'ship and/or brOTP in Touhou. Thanks to Forbidden Scrollery, everyone likes pairing Marisa with Reimu instead, and turns Marisa into this weak, fragile human being, in contrast to her usual brash self. It feels like every bad fandom stereotype you see from the likes of the Harry Potter or Sherlock fandoms.
Man, what happened to the fans of Marisa/Alice? It feels like there are no more fans of what was once, hands-down, the most popular 'ship and/or brOTP in Touhou. Thanks to Forbidden Scrollery, everyone likes pairing Marisa with Reimu instead, and turns Marisa into this weak, fragile human being, in contrast to her usual brash self. It feels like every bad fandom stereotype you see from the likes of the Harry Potter or Sherlock fandoms.
I have a lot to say about this topic, but I'll do my best not to go overboard.
You either have a very broad definition of weak, or you're ignoring all the nuance that ReiMari content tends to have. Marisa is not depicted as weak. She may sometimes "lose to Reimu" in their interactions, but Marisa has her strong moments too. There's a mutual respect in ReiMari that Alice has never really demonstrated. Alice is too controlling, and that doesn't suit Marisa's personality. Marisa might be uncontrollable, but she takes the lead despite Alice, sometimes TO spite Alice. That's not a healthy relationship. Reimu might be in charge, but she doesn't give a shit, and they're exactly each other's type of crazy.
IMO, whatever bromance and companionship is in MariAli, ReiMari has that too and does it better. There's so much more depth to Reimu and Marisa's relationship, and in recent times, it's become something beautiful. Marisa had matured more, and she isn't as reckless, and she does show her more vulnerable side more often, but she's no less brave, and she still ventures forth into action.
I do acknowledge that it wasn't always that way, though, and what I think made this change was Sanae. ZUN had, until then, depicted Marisa as a rival, and before MoF, the magicians were all front and center. It was religion vs magic, and even though Marisa was a friend, she wanted to best Reimu, so Alice being her partner made sense. Post-Sanae, Marisa seems to have stopped stoking their rivalry and started nurturing their friendship. Sanae became the rival. The other magicians all dropped out of the story, and religions fighting each other became the focus.
Without the ReiMari rivalry, Alice isn't necessary, so she's not in the story anymore, and Reimu and Marisa's incredible, adorable partnership in the print works has made ReiMari take off like a rocket. It almost feels like ZUN is stoking those flames himself sometimes.
I have a lot to say about this topic, but I'll do my best not to go overboard.
You either have a very broad definition of weak, or you're ignoring all the nuance that ReiMari content tends to have. Marisa is not depicted as weak. She may sometimes "lose to Reimu" in their interactions, but Marisa has her strong moments too. There's a mutual respect in ReiMari that Alice has never really demonstrated. Alice is too controlling, and that doesn't suit Marisa's personality. Marisa might be uncontrollable, but she takes the lead despite Alice, sometimes TO spite Alice. That's not a healthy relationship. Reimu might be in charge, but she doesn't give a shit, and they're exactly each other's type of crazy.
IMO, whatever bromance and companionship is in MariAli, ReiMari has that too and does it better. There's so much more depth to Reimu and Marisa's relationship, and in recent times, it's become something beautiful. Marisa had matured more, and she isn't as reckless, and she does show her more vulnerable side more often, but she's no less brave, and she still ventures forth into action.
I do acknowledge that it wasn't always that way, though, and what I think made this change was Sanae. ZUN had, until then, depicted Marisa as a rival, and before MoF, the magicians were all front and center. It was religion vs magic, and even though Marisa was a friend, she wanted to best Reimu, so Alice being her partner made sense. Post-Sanae, Marisa seems to have stopped stoking their rivalry and started nurturing their friendship. Sanae became the rival. The other magicians all dropped out of the story, and religions fighting each other became the focus.
Without the ReiMari rivalry, Alice isn't necessary, so she's not in the story anymore, and Reimu and Marisa's incredible, adorable partnership in the print works has made ReiMari take off like a rocket. It almost feels like ZUN is stoking those flames himself sometimes.
I gotta say, looking at this comment and looking at the print works and... damn the ship just got stronger... Though there is a bit of MariAli FDS so there is that
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