“Yukari was saying outfits are basically another type of barrier, and it seems like she was right! …There’s no doubt! With this, I can fight just like I always do! Gimme all you got, scoundrels behind the Lost Word Incident!”

Reimu Hakurei’s Fantasy Rebirth
Reimu is a shrine maiden. You can only be a shrine maiden while you are a young girl, and when you grow up, you stop being one. The Hakurei shrine maiden embodies the “lost shrine maiden” archetype. Rural female shamans known as yabu who cleanse disease with magic; shrine maidens who travel to all regions praying and spreading divine messages; kuchiyose, who summon and communicate with spirits; and koushinfu, who become possessed by gods and dance… Such professions have all but faded from the world but form the basis for what shrine maidens are today. A shrine maiden who exterminates youkai with ofuda and needles is yet another example of this.

“Is this the Lost Word Incident? Is this… its true form? It can’t be…”

Land of Fantasy
Reimu soars through the skies and exterminates youkai. Those things aren’t so different from jumping rope and playing ohajiki (a traditional Japanese children’s game similar to marbles). Reimu takes her “playing” very seriously, perhaps because play ought to be taken seriously. Even if you don’t explicitly call your friend a friend, they’re still your friend. When the sun sets, the day’s play comes to an end, ready to start again the next morning. In that way, a young girl’s days float by like a dream.

“In the human village. As I continued my search, enemies encountered. Nothing unexpected. Exterminated them as usual. I’m unharmed, so will proceed as planned.”
[Torn page of a report written by Marisa Kirisame.]