#tsurara-onna

[lowcountry-gothic]

Yokai: The Art of Shigeru Mizuki. Published 10/31/2023 by Drawn & Quarterly.

Shigeru Mizuki is no stranger to the supernatural and its portents. Kitaro and Tono Monogatari reimagined the obscure folktales of his youth, bringing them to life with whimsy. Mizuki the cartoonist certainly left an indelible mark on comics as world literature. Mizuki the fine artist, on the other hand, rounds out the full scope of his fascination with the otherworldly and fantastic, bringing these worlds to life in robust color.

Yokai: The Art of Shigeru Mizuki showcases his expertise of not only folklore, but celebrates him as a naturalist. Elements of Mizuki’s lush compositions—flora, fauna, and everything in between—showcase his mastery of form and love for nature. These popular renderings of a disappearing, rural Japan are his contribution to the preservation of a cultural heritage that would have otherwise been forgotten. The grotesque realism central to his body of work is offset by the ingenuity of his fancy for the macabre. Pieces in this deluxe, full-color edition call to mind the playful pop-sensibility of Maurice Sendak informed by the technical prowess of traditionalists like Dürer and Doré. And like any other Mizuki classic, each oeuvre is a unique snapshot of spirit, human or otherwise, in constant transition.

Yokai: The Art of Shigeru Mizuki includes supplementary writing by acclaimed Mizuki scholar and translator Zack Davisson.

[briefbestiary]

A yokai that expects only faithfulness in love, even should she disappear without a word. Surprisingly warm-hearted despite her chilling nature.

[dekapm0048]

Yuki-onna ❄️❄️❄️

Read Nurarihyon no Mago series plz, thx! ~

[scrivenger-grimgar]

plot bunnies abound apparently. Kean, Kalira, blaccat, is this contagious? h

n e way

it's the same idea as before, where Orochi fucks up the Edo Tensei during the crush bc Tobira put his Hiraishin notes directly next to Edo Tensei and encoded tf outta that shit, and Orochi was just slightly more distracted than in canon.

except this time he uses a blood component to lessen chakra strain and the kunai he cuts himself with has Sasuke's blood on it.

so it ends up resurrecting a fair amount of Hatake (bc thats what you are orochi) and a few Uchiha. additionally, though none of them know it at the time, it also creates a beacon to call Hatake and Uchiha to that location, (a lot like Uzushio calls him home)

Izuna, Madara, Hikaku, Shisui, Kikiyo (Mada's aunt and spymaster), Kagome (Mada's younger sister), and Haruhi (Hikaku's grandchild), are the Uchiha that were brought back from Sasuke's blood.

Tobirama, Touka, Itama, Nawaki, Kawarama, Zaisha (butsuma's elder cousin imprisoned for cannibalism), Keigo (Akimichi grillmaster), Yoruichi (Nara assassin/spy), Kyouya (straight-up Hatake brawler, Sakumo's cousin), Tsurara (yuki defector and rogue), Mizuiro (Nara spymaster-in-training, Shikaku's uncle), Ozakura (Hatake hunter Zaisha's friend/cousin), Ise (Shiranui iryo-nin), Kurao and Okuro (Hatake's infamous plague and pestilence twins), Takami (Yamanaka kenjutsu master), Renji (Uzumaki tattoo artist), and Rukia (branch Hyuuga half-sister of Hiashi/Hizashi's father Byakuya) are the ones with Hatake blood who are resurrected.

That's 18 Hatake and 7 Uchiha. you'll notice that the Hatake blood will always add a slightly manic edge to a clan's previously established traits, with an emphasis on extremes. a Hatake's morals only apply to their pack.

[shikasual]

winter solitude ❄️

OC: Saya

09.10.2019

[setsuraposting]

I was reading through all of the Nura Q&A sections today, and there were a lot of gems in there, but one that really stood out involves the implication of Tsurara being slightly sensitive to cold.

My pet headcanon I’ve had for a while is that Tsurara’s second parent is another Yuki-Onna but one who’s weak to cold, and that’s where she gets her more bubbly and cheerful side from. Which means this Q&A (which I did not know about before today) actually coincides with and provides support for my kind-of-random theory, and that just feels pretty funny. It’s like, even when I’m just making shit up, I somehow still end up being right.

[spicymancer]

Monster Researcher Eclair and the Haunted City (Part 3) This is a collection of art from a series Choose Your Own Adventure polls I ran on twitter a while back! Please enjoy! The Gingerbread Man would have been appropriately sized for Mochabelle which would have been funny. The Witch would have had fun potion shenanigans. Tsurara Onna is a bit of an obscure monster but she's got fun opportunities for temperature play. Hot Cold Older Lady stuff. Still, I'm pretty happy that the Catgirl won the day. I had a lot of fun with her design. Considering promoting her to recurring cast member but she'd need a sweets name and I dunno what she'd do at the institute. Part 1 Part 2

[hwsevents]

MYTHTALIA MARCH

List of some mythological creatures/figures for inspiration:

-Selkie, Will o’ the Wisp, Wolfwalker

-Harpy, Nymph, Centaur

-Lamia, Siren, Sphinx

-Odysseus, Athena, Heracles

-Yuki-onna, Kitsune, Oni

-Circe, Calypso, Poseidon, Cassandra

-Valkyrie, Giant, Dwarf

-Loki, Thor, Odin

-Dullahan, Banshee, Changeling

-Huldra, Lorelei

-Frey, Freyja, Ymir

-Osiris, Nephthys, Amun

-Arachne, Medusa/Gorgon, Echidna

-Mars, Venus, Pluto

-Tsurara-onna, Kuchisake-onna

-Tengu, Kaguya, Ameterasu

-Adonis, Galatea, Hecate

-Chang'e, Hou Yi

-Rusalka, Baba Yaga, Alkonost

The HWS characters can be these creatures/figures (e.g. nyo Japan as Kaguya, France as Adonis, Russia as a centaur, nyo China as Chang'e, Egypt as Osiris)...

...or interact with them (e.g. Ireland following Wisps, England meeting Hecate, America running from the Dullahan/Headless Horseman).

Doing both is also an option (e.g. human Lithuania interacting with rusalka Belarus).

Link to Prompt Themes

@hetaliahappenings @nsfhetalia @heta-on-the-books @hetaliacalendar

[karuma-hyakki-yagyo]

TSURARA ONNA

Archetype : Lady

A beautiful demon born from the hearts of lonely men during the cold winter when they saw a beautiful icicle hanging from the roofs.

Like Yuki Onna, they appear similar to a ordinary women, but they only live through the winter and will disappear during springtime, or when they're forced to dip in a hot bath, which causes them to melt.

They're known to be warm and loving despite being born from ice, however like most romance between demons and humans. Because they disappear at the end of winter, any romance will never end well for them.

An angry Tsurara Onna could result in one's death.

One incident ended up having an icicle spear a man's head when he unknowingly "cheats" on a Tsurara Onna, thinking her gone forever when she only disappears at the end of winter only to return.

[starlitmothart]

HISUI TEAM - 百鬼夜行

... minus 95...

Despite only having 4 ghost types on this team, I really wanted to make a yokai-themed team. I'm actually going to write lore for these guys that I'm going to share publicly (*le gasp*). Info under the cut.

Hinoken - "Nurarihyon"

First of all, me thinking that Nurarihyon is sexy is all Nurarihyon no Mago's fault. Hinoken the Typhlosion is the leader of a group of "yokai" that are hiding from those who have arrived in Hisui from other places. He protects those he holds dear. Unfortunately, he also likes sleeping around and has commitment issues sometimes, so his ex wives and husbands all ended up leaving him. Despite how he seems, he values peace and wants lost souls to ascend with no regrets rather than staying on earth as he does. He haunts his descendants (Quilly, Blaze, Explo, and Solus) and is mildly disappointed in them.

Sachiko - "Zashiki Warashi"

Though not a ghost type, Sachiko the Pachirisu is a very lucky little zashiki warashi. Her presence keeps everyone safe while they're in hiding, even though she doesn't know that. Rikuu especially holds her dear to his heart and cares for her as if she were his daughter or younger sister. She's very sweet and likes to play small pranks on the others, who always forgive her. Her descendant (Graham) resembles her greatly, and she wishes he could hear her.

Tsurara - "Yuki Onna"

What could a Froslass be other than Yuki Onna? Tsurara the Froslass is potentially the most cruel of the group. She likes handsome men and may or may not have kidnapped Rikuu at one point (which is how he met everyone else). She tends to argue with Hinoken a lot (because they're ice and fire), but is generally tolerant of everyone else (or loving towards Sachiko, who she sees as a little sister). She is the one most likely to lash out at anyone who tries to come near those she loves. She is the only one still "alive" during the modern day, and is quite proud of her daughter Fubuki for finding such a handsome boyfriend.

Itoyo - "Tsukumogami" Armor

Itoyo the Basculegion was a normal man who inherited a cursed armor holding the souls of his ancestors. He acts as a defender for the hidden yokai village, and is seen as one of Hinoken's right hand men. He is constantly hearing the vengeful voices of the fallen, and is barely hanging on to his sanity by the time that Hinoken found him. He is one of the first to trust Rikuu when he first arrives at the village. He has no direct descendants.

Kiko - "Kejoro"

Kiko the Zoroark is a somewhat vengeful soul. She is a mother whose eldest child was killed, and she vows revenge. She was separated from her young son as well, and didn't find him again until he had settled in a faraway land. Kiko is one of Hinoken's ex wives, as well. Her first meeting with Rikuu was one of hostility as she believed that he was allied with those who killed her son. She is very happy that her descendant (Ienzo) is living a very happy and successful life, as that is all she ever wanted for her family.

Rikuu - Not a yokai lol

A traveler from Hoenn, Rikuu the Gallade came to the Hisui region after running away from an attempted assassination of his family. While he's wandering around Jubilife Village, he gets kidnapped by Tsurara and taken to the yokai village. He's completely confused and it takes Itoyo's intervention to keep him alive. He agrees to help keep the peace between the settlers and the yokai, and keeps the location of the village a secret. Sachiko thinks he's really cool, so she keeps following him around. Rikuu eventually moves back to the Hoenn region and re-starts his family. He thinks his descendants (Shimmer, Gleam, Twinkle, Sparkle, Glimmer, and Gladius) are dramatic.

[pathfinderunlocked]

Tsurara-Onna - CR13 Fey

Are you interrupting my bath?

Artwork by Kakiman on Pixiv.

The story of the tsurara-onna is sometimes confused with the yuki-onna, a spirit of a woman who froze to death. They're both ice women that originate from Japanese mythology, but a tsurara-onna is a much less malevolent creature. It comes from a story about a man who was lonely and wished for a wife, and the tsurara-onna appeared and fell in love with him. But, depending on the version of the story, she accidentally stabbed him to death when his roof collapsed while she was in icicle form, or melted when he forced her to take a bath. The moral of the story is to fix your porch and accept your stinky wife, I guess.

Tsurara-onna - CR 13

A kimono seemingly made of woven ice adorns the woman, who has silver hair and icy blue eyes.

XP 25,600 CN Medium fey (cold) Init +9 Senses low-light vision; Perception +23 Aura snowstorm (200 ft.)

DEFENSE

AC 28, touch 20, flat-footed 23 (+5 Dex, +5 sacred, +8 natural) (+4 vs AoO) hp 171 (18d6+108); fast healing 5 Fort +12, Ref +16, Will +13 DR 10/cold iron Immune cold Weaknesses vulnerability to fire, warm water weakness

OFFENSE

Speed 40 ft., swim 20 ft., burrow 60 ft. (ice only) Melee +1 frost longspear +22/+17 (2d8+10/×3 plus 2d6 cold plus slow (1d6 rounds, DC 24)) or touch +20 (slow (1d6 rounds, DC 24)) Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft. (10 ft. with longspear) Special Attacks breath weapon (60 ft. cone, 10d6 cold plus blind (DC 24 Fort), Ref DC 24 half, 1d4 round recharge)

Spell-Like Abilities (CL 13th)    At will—cone of cold (DC 22), ice storm, wall of ice (DC 20)    3/day—polar ray (DC 24) (ray +19), freezing sphere (DC 22), quickened ice slick (DC 18), quickened wall of ice (DC 20)

STATISTICS

Str 23, Dex 21, Con 20, Int 21, Wis 15, Cha 20 Base Atk +9; CMB +15; CMD 35 Feats Combat Reflexes, Elemental Focus (cold), Great Fortitude, Improved Initiative, Mobility, Toughness, Quicken Spell-like Ability (ice slick), Quicken Spell-like Ability (wall of ice), Weapon Focus (longspear) Skills Acrobatics +26, Bluff +26, Diplomacy +26, Knowledge (local, nature) +26, Knowledge (arcana, religion) +23, Perception +23, Sense Motive +23, Spellcraft +20, Stealth +26, Swim +20 SQ ice glide, icicle shape, sacred ice Gear +1 frost longspear

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Slow (Su) A tsurara-onna induces numbing cold if it hits with its longspear or a touch attack. The opponent must succeed on a DC 24 Fortitude save or be affected as though by a slow spell for 1d6 rounds. The save DC is Constitution-based.

Breath Weapon (Su) A tsurara-onna has a breath weapon which deals 10d6 cold damage in a 60 foot cone.  A DC 24 Reflex save halves this damage.  A creature that takes damage from a tsurara-onna's breath weapon must succeed a DC 24 Fortitude save or be blinded for 1d6 rounds.  It can use this breath weapon once every 1d4 rounds.  The save DCs are Constitution-based.

Frost Longspear (Su) A tsurara-onna's longspear is made of ice, and a hit from it deals additional damage if the tsurara-onna is wielding it. This additional damage is already included in its statistics above.

Ice Glide (Su) A tsurara-onna can use its burrow speed to move through ice without penalty, as easily as a fish swims through water. It leaves no tunnel or trace of its passage. It can only use its burrow speed in ice.

Icicle Shape (Su) As a full-round action, a tsurara-onna can transform into an icicle and hang from a ceiling within 30 feet directly above her.  While she is transformed, this functions similarly to tree shape, except that her form is an icicle instead of a tree, and is attached to a ceiling.  She can dismiss this effect as a free action.

Sacred Ice (Su) A tsurara-onna gains a sacred bonus to AC and attack rolls equal to its Charisma bonus. This is already included in its statistics.

Snowstorm (Su) A tsurara-onna is surrounded by whirling blasts of snow, even in areas that wouldn’t allow for such weather, that comprise a 200-foot-radius spread. Within this area, the snowfall and wind gusts cause a -4 penalty on Perception checks and ranged attacks. The wind itself blows in a clockwise rotation around the tsurara-onna, and functions as severe wind. A tsurara-onna is unaffected by snowstorms or blizzards of any kind. Any effect that causes these winds to drop below severe (such as control weather or control winds) cancels the snowstorm effect entirely.

Warm Water Weakness (Ex) A tsurara-onna takes 4d6 damage per round if mostly submerged in warm water (80 F or higher). If it takes this damage, it loses its fast healing for 1 hour. This damage happens at the start of each of its turns.

[luckystars1015]

Best Rikuo x Tsurara Moments

Part 2

Tsurara and Rikuo always standing close to one another

Tsurara - Lunchbox Maker

I thought this little tidbit was very cute since Rikuo likes Tsurara's lunches despite the dishes usually being frozen.

Yuki Onna finding her master in darkness

One of the best fighting scenes involving Tsurara. I just loved her ingenuity here--especially the way she freezes her eyes to not let the feathers blind her.

Tsurara writing letters to Rikuo and Rikuo calling for Tsurara in his sleep

Rikuo thinking about her Tsurara was always happy doing his laundry xDD

Amazing cover image!!

I love how Yuki Onna gracefully sits with Night Rikuo's strong stance beside her. Really nice gentleness clashing with power

Popularity Contest!

I love how Yuki Onna always places very highly and close to Rikuo! I have a theory that the author wasn't expecting Tsurara to be so popular as the series progressed. I honestly think originally he was planning to have Kana be Rikuo's love interest, but then with how the story progressed and Tsurara's growing popularity, the mangaka saw how Rikuo and Tsurara naturally weaved together.

Tsurara's unwavering faith in Rikuo

Snow White Yuki Onna

I hadn't even recognized Tsurara here! Her hair just soaks up the soft light of the night and snow. She's so beautiful <3

Tsurara and Rikuo reunite in Kyoto

I thought this unification scene was so cute and funny! Look at how Rikuo practically lights up at Tsurara's appearance <3! Also the way Tsurara just looks so happy at Rikuo as well. I also love how Tsurara continued writing letters to Rikuo despite the fact she couldn't send them. It's very "The Notebook" of this couple.

And the way the new yokai friends think Tsurara is the "super hot girl". I love it when Tsurara's beauty is acknowledged <3

Part 1 | Part 2

[core-bagg]

FUCK IT, AU TIME!

I got inspired by @pepperoni-chips’ au and decided to make my own.

TL;DR: GHS meets Japanese myths and that one fae rule

Plot

It’s been half a year since Gregory House became aware of a new hotel and sent their first expeditionist (A random JB that nobody would miss). Gold wanted a break from the hotel and ask Gregory if he could leave. To his surprise, the old rat said yes…But not as how he looked now, besides, they needed someone to find that last expeditionist. Gold, now dubbed “Gabriel”, ends up at Laplace itself. There’s only one objective, find that JB and get out…Oh, and another thing; Don’t tell them your real name at any cost.

——————————————————————————————————

Characters:

——————————————————————————————————

“GABRIEL”

Gabriel is the main character of the au. He is JBG in disguise, using a soul to hide his true appearance…Unfortunately for him, that soul belonged to a teenager who just hit puberty. All he wanted was a day away from the hotel, and he got to visit Gregory House’s kaizo mode cousin.

“THE RADIO”

Of course Gregory wasn’t going to just let one of his first guests walk straight into a potential death trap without guidance, so he dug out an old radio and hooked the other end up to an anonymous helper. They know a little too much about Laplace for comfort…Oh yeah, the old expeditionist used to send letters of his findings.

“YOKO”

The fox that runs Laplace. Despite the name, she is not a Yōko, she’s actually based off a Myōbu. She is quite strict, but that’s her job as the runner of Laplace. Like Gregory, she has a “one-winged angel” form, which is based off a Tenko.

“PONPOKO”

The tanuki that acts as Neko Zombie’s stand in. Like how NZ and Gregory’s relationship is based off the classic “cat vs mouse”, Yoko and Ponpoko’s relationship is based off the Japanese “Kitsune vs Tanuki”. He’s a much more jovial and round fellow.

“DR. RIVER”

A kappa that works as Laplace’s resident doctor. He is a kind man, in fact, he’s one of the more kinder residents in Laplace. Unlike Catherine, he will actually try to cure the guest’s illness and won’t just take them as live bait. He is also a man that’ll never break a promise. However, he is a little cowardly after an experience that made him put a helmet of water around his head.

“FAULT KID”

A Nopperabō who gets their kicks off enabling a guest’s despair. They usually change their appearance to reflect a person that the guest has wronged in the past. The only way to get rid of Fault Kid is to either ignore them or show a positive reaction instead of a negative reaction, then they’ll walk off to find someone else.

“POLY-SAN”

A arcade machine that plays a dating simulator on its screen. He seems like a regular arcade machine at first, but the more the in-game Poly-san gets attached to you, the more he reveals that he’s sentient. Poly-san is a Yandere who’ll even harm his “lover” if they “cheat”. Basically Catherine without the chest.

“COLD GIRL”

A young yuki onna that always cold. She wanders the halls, hoping to find a way to satiate her hunger for warmth. Should a guest hug her, they’ll suffer from an incurable sensation of coldness that’ll be around for at least an hour. She also has a mother called “Cold Mama” who is a tsurara onna with a similar yet worse coldness.

“RISADA”

A Warai onna dressed like a jester. She’s usually in the hallway practicing tricks. If a guest approaches Rasada, she’ll purposely fail her trick and begin laughing. Sooner or later, the guest will begin to laugh as well. Even after she leaves, they’ll still be laughing until they either pass out from the lack of air or they’re snapped out of it.

“HANGING BOY”

A Teru-Teru Bōzu who likes to play the game “hangman”. He’ll give the guest hints so they can spell the right word. It may be a simple game to him, but with that rope that spawned around the guests neck, it’s a game of life or death.

“THE KING”

An oni that’s behind Laplace’s creation. He has three servants: a blind one named “Mizar”, a deaf one named “Kika” and a mute one named “Iwa”. He is, as the title would imply, in cahoots with Yoko, the person running Laplace.

“THE MANZAI”

The current beating heart of Laplace. This is the fate of the first expeditionist. After he faced all the trials of Laplace, his escape prevented by one fatal mistake: He said his real name. But that’s a mistake that won’t be repeated, right Gabriel?

——————————————————————————————————

That’s my lore dump done, feel free to ask me about my AU. I’m really passionate about it! Okay bye!

[umbrasdoodles]

Was out and about yesterday so simple Procreate portrait time. This one is of Tsurara, a trans yuki-onna lady I haven't done much with recently and thus wanted to give love

[queenofnohr]

Do you have any lore about Kouyou & Rangiku? I've been dying to know more about these two tbh!

SORRY FOR TAKING SO LONG TO GET TO THIS ANON IVE BEEN HAVING A TIME.............

But!!!!!

Kouyou and Rangiku are my "boy I sure do love tragedy!" shards LMAO

Rangiku starts out as an onmyouji who happens to save a fox....... Who happens to be Kouyou. Now, it's important to note that at this point, Kouyou is just a normal, everyday fox. But he falls in love with this human who has saved him and longs and yearns to become human to be able to be with Rangiku.

He doesn't quite become *human*, but the gods take pity on him and reward his love, turning him into a shapeshifting kitsune youkai. He very enthusiastically sets himself upon Rangiku who is disgruntled by his new lover's enthusiasm, but obviously not entirely put-off

The thing isssssssssssssssss. Rangiku is unfathomably unfortunate. He is destined to die early from consumption. And thus does Kouyou live alongside him, watching his beloved die. He likes the winter because his fur (hair) turns white and he can make believe he's grown old with his beloved.

When Rangiku passes, Kouyou still tends the shrine they called home, and it becomes a sort of crossroads of sorts. That is, where he and Rangiku are destined to meet when Rangiku reincarnates.

But Rangiku is truly an unfortunate soul. For he is destined to, in every lifetime, have his life cut tragically short. Whether it's dying from consumption, being a guileless young samurai in wartime who dies young on the battlefield, born of faith and persecuted for it, etc. Kouyou watches his beloved die young lifetime after lifetime despite his efforts to prevent such fates.

Eventually, his small wish to live a long and happy life with Rangiku simply turns into wanting Rangiku to be able to live a long and happy life. He stops tending the shrine, afraid of Rangiku finding him, afraid that *he* is the source of Rangiku's misfortune. But despite his best efforts, again and again Rangiku finds him and *chooses* to be with Kouyou though kouyou tries warning him away.

(And yes, thinking of each individual lifetime is something I like to do with Asha's player bc I love tragedy <3 <3 <3)

Eventually, at some point in time Caedo starts interfering with this world/reflection. In exchange for the many tails Kouyou developed over his lifetime as a kitsune - the tails Kouyou has been saving up for the sake of making a wish to grant Rangiku a happy life, though it will mean turning into an ordinary fox for him again - he promises to prolong Rangiku's life. And Caedo does hold true to his word, however..........

At the same time, Caedo makes a deal with Rangiku to turn him into an existence like Kouyou, to prolong his life even further, and give him a strong, healthy body (the lifetime this happens in, Rangiku has been sickly since birth). Rangiku takes the deal and........... Caedo turns him into a tsurara onna (well without the onna part. Tsurara otoko?)

And so.......... even though Rangiku is technically an eternal existence (loosely speaking), he disappears with the snows and Kouyou can no longer hold him....... This leads to Rangiku possessing mortals and slowly turning them into himself as new "lifetimes," to be able to be with Kouyou

Kouyou is understandably FUCKING LIVID not even because of Rangiku's parasitic existence, but because he wanted Rangiku to live as a human. (as an aside he and Caedo have a Weird Thing bc of this and also Caedo asking to fuck Kouyou in return for prolonging Rangiku's life when Kouyou has no more tails that he can give (without damning him to be an ordinary fox again))

It's also worth noting that whenever Rangiku takes over someone's body, he loses memory of Kouyou as his memories have yet to fully merge so it's like nothing changed in the first place

There is a good ending though! After many many lifetimes of me having my tragedy fix, at the end of the tunnel, Kouyou sacrifices all of his tails for the wish for Rangiku to be immortalized as a god. In return, of course, Kouyou becomes nothing but a fox, but Ran, after letting Kouyou drift a while for doing something so foolish, ascends him to how he used to be with kouyou being something of a familiar similar to how inari okami's messengers are white kitsune

[setsuraposting]

My Thoughts On The “Discourse”

Lately, I’ve been seeing a lot of accusations of NuraMago having “problematic content” in regards to the ages of characters, and I just wanted to make one big post addressing all the arguments with one fell swoop.

Of course the real answer here is that it doesn’t matter that much morally because it’s fiction, but that’s the boring response. I want to engage these people on the same level and address their actual arguments, so as to not let one of my favorite series get slandered and misrepresented without proper analysis being done on it.

The first thing to bring up, is Nurarihyon marrying Youhime when she was 15, and Rihan marrying Wakana when she was around 17 (guess it runs in the family). These are, I will admit, kind of weird. With Wakana it’s not QUITE as bad, but Youhime’s case is pretty clear-cut. Considering the time period, I think it makes sense for the author to have written it that way (in that same arc, her own father was getting ready to sell her into prostitution, so this was just kind of a thing back then), but for Nurarihyon as a character it’s definitely not a great look.

Next, onto Setsura and Rihan. While there’s not any definitive proof that Setsura loves Rihan in the same way she loves Nurarihyon, there are certainly a lot of details that suggest it to be the case, and the rest of this post will be operating under that assumption (that’s a topic for another time). Essentially, Setsura helped raise Rihan when he was a child, he developed a crush on her, he grew up and she (presumably) started liking him back, but by this point it was already too late, his feelings had changed and he ended up marrying Otome instead. This is a deeply unfortunate situation, but what it definitely isn’t, is grooming. That’s not what that term means, and would imply Setsura was psychologically priming Rihan to be more susceptible to her or some insidious shit like that. No, she was just raising him normally, he thought he liked her for a while, and then he grew out of it, that’s all that happened.

And finally we arrive at the thing people actually care about, the real meat of this discourse, Rikuo x Tsurara. There are two main arguments used here to invalidate their relationship, that Tsurara groomed Rikuo, and that Tsurara is an adult while Rikuo is a child. For the first one, it’s basically the Setsura and Rihan example all over again, except Rikuo’s crush didn’t happen immediately, it seems to have taken a while to form and didn’t fade away like Rihan’s. Those specifics aside, the same logic as before applies here.

The second point, however, is more complicated. On the matter of Tsurara’s age, we know she was probably a few years old when she arrived at the Nura Clan, ten years went by, and then she wrote a letter back to her mother, at a point after Rikuo’s birth but before Rihan’s death. This could only have taken place from 1997 to 2002, meaning she arrived at the clan anywhere between 1987 and 1992, and was born even earlier than that. This would mean that by 2011 (the end of the series), she had been with the clan anywhere from 18 to 24 years, so unless Yuki-Onna have their own weird system of aging, she would most definitely be an adult, just a petite adult.

Rikuo, meanwhile, seems to exist in a paradox; on one hand, his human form looks like a kid and goes to middle school, while his youkai form looks and acts just like his father and grandfather in their primes, and is in every imaginable sense coded as an adult. Coupled with the fact that the youkai age of adulthood is said to be 13, it can be hard to make heads or tails of this. The most intuitive explanation I can think of is that his youkai form is an adult and his human form is a child, which is kind of supported by how his two states are portrayed as not merely transformations of the same person (like when his bodyguards take on human disguises at school), but separate personalities within himself who can interact with each other, as shown during the Tsurara sakazuki scene.

To add to this confusion, in extra chapter chapter 210.2 (best chapter ever, if you know you know) there’s a scene where Kana, Yura, Tsurara, and Kejourou are all suggested as possible brides for Rikuo in the near future. The fact that 13 year-old schoolgirls can be put next to centuries-old youkai women in this context without anyone batting an eye suggests to me that Rikuo is in fact considered both a kid and an adult, or rather, it switches depending on his form. (A 13 year-old human Rikuo marrying another 13 year-old would admittedly still be kind of strange, though…)

So, it would be fine for Kana or Yura to be with his human form, and then for Tsurara or Kejourou to be with his youkai form, I guess? That’s some ammunition for the people who support a harem ending, if nothing else.

Whether this makes the situation better or worse is up for you to decide, perhaps in the act of defending the series I actually made it look worse in some of your eyes, but eh, shit happens. My goal wasn’t to blindly defend it but rather to look at the evidence fairly and try to sort things out as best I could, so do with this information what you will. This has been your host Stratovariant, the worst Nura fan ever, and thank you for coming to my TED talk.