Okuu is a nickname for the bird character Utsuho Reiuji from the Touhou Project series. Utsuho is a hell raven (a mythical type of raven) who has the ability to control nuclear fusion. She lives in the underground hell of Gensokyo and was given her powers by the main antagonist of Subterranean Animism, Satori’s pet hell raven Rin Kaenbyou.
Who is Utsuho Reiuji?
Utsuho Reiuji (mysterious), also known by her nickname Okuu, is a hell raven who lives in the underground hell of Gensokyo. She is characterized by her control over nuclear fusion, her third leg, and her association with crows and ravens. Some key facts about Utsuho Reiuji:
- First appeared as the extra stage boss of Subterranean Animism (the 11th Touhou game)
- A powerful youkai with the ability to manipulate nuclear fusion
- Has a third leg which grants her incredible speed and power
- Works as the caretaker of the former Hell of Blazing Fires
- Owns a pet hell raven named Rin Kaenbyou who gave Utsuho her nuclear powers
- Fights using danmaku (barrages of brightly colored bullets) and her control over nuclear fusion
As a boss character, Utsuho is among the most powerful characters in the Touhou Project. Her theme song is called “Solar Sect of Mystic Wisdom ~ Nuclear Fusion” which references her nuclear powers. She’s known for being difficult to defeat due to her danmaku patterns and use of nuclear attacks.
Why is Utsuho nicknamed Okuu?
Utsuho Reiuji’s fan nickname of “Okuu” comes from an abbreviation of her full name in Japanese. In Japanese, her name is written as 火焔猫 燐 (Kaenbyou Rin) where:
- 火 (Ka) means fire
- 焔 (En) means blaze/flame
- 猫 (Byou) means cat
- 燐 (Rin) is her given name
Fans took the first part of her name, Kaenbyou, and abbreviated it to “Okuu” which is shorter and catchier than her full name Utsuho Reiuji. So in Japanese, her nickname stems directly from a shortened form of her actual name Kaenbyou Rin. This nickname became popular with overseas fans as well who adopted the nickname Okuu for her.
What are Utsuho’s key characteristics?
Here are some of the main characteristics and traits of Utsuho Reiuji:
- Appearance – Utsuho has dark brown hair and red eyes. She wears a green cap with a yellow sun emblem on it and has large black crow wings. She also has a third leg which grants her power.
- Personality – She has a childlike, upbeat, and energetic personality. However, she is also depicted as naive and not very bright.
- Powers – Utsuho has the power to manipulate nuclear fusion through her third leg. She can control heat, radiation, and create nuclear blasts.
- Role – She works as the caretaker of the former Hell of Blazing Fires underground in Gensokyo. She maintains the fires and nuclear heat down there.
- Pets – Utsuho owns pet ravens, the most important being Rin Kaenbyou who originally gave Utsuho her nuclear powers.
- Origins – Utsuho was originally just an ordinary raven before receiving her third leg and nuclear powers from Rin Kaenbyou.
In summary, Utsuho is characterized by her childlike innocence, powers over nuclear fusion, role in the underground hell, and connections to ravens and crows. She embraces her nuclear abilities enthusiastically even if she doesn’t fully understand their dangers.
What is Utsuho’s role in Subterranean Animism?
In the 11th Touhou game Subterranean Animism, Utsuho Reiuji plays an important role as the extra stage boss:
- She is given her nuclear powers by the main antagonist Rin Kaenbyou, Satori Komeiji’s pet hell raven.
- Rin wanted Utsuho to destroy the above ground world of Gensokyo in an act of revenge against Satori.
- Utsuho happily embraces her newfound powers and begins converting the heat from the underground hell into nuclear energy.
- The heroine Reimu Hakurei is sent underground to resolve the crisis and defeats Utsuho.
- After being defeated, Utsuho becomes docile and goes back to maintaining the fires of the underground hell.
So in Subterranean Animism, Utsuho is a key character who drives the incident and serves as the powerful extra stage boss. She is manipulated into embracing her nuclear powers by the main villain Rin Kaenbyou. Utsuho acts as an enthusiastic yet unaware pawn in Rin’s plans for revenge against Satori.
Utsuho’s Boss Fight
Utsuho’s boss battle as the extra stage boss of Subterranean Animism is considered one of the hardest and most epic in the series due to:
- High health and defense – Utsuho can withstand a ton of damage before being defeated.
- Complex bullet patterns – Her danmaku features complex shapes and movements.
- Nuclear attacks – She uses her nuclear powers in spells like Nuclear Fusion and thermonuclear radiation.
- Final attack – Her final spell card causes the sun to explode violently on the screen.
Defeating Utsuho requires learning her patterns and having great dodging skills. Her final attack of making the sun explode covers the whole screen in bullets and is extremely difficult to survive. Overall, she makes for an epic and climatic extra stage boss battle.
What are some key facts about ravens and crows since Utsuho is a hell raven?
Since Utsuho Reiuji is characterized as a hell raven, here are some key facts about her real-life corvid counterparts, ravens and crows:
- Highly intelligent birds – Ravens and crows are among the smartest birds, with problem-solving skills and social learning.
- Omnivorous – They are omnivorous birds that eat a varied diet including insects, rodents, seeds, fruits, and grain.
- Distinctive calls – Crows make the classic “caw caw” sound while ravens have a lower croaking call.
- Large birds – Ravens are quite big, around 2 feet long with a 4 foot wingspan. Crows are smaller.
- Social birds – Ravens and crows are social birds that live and roost in flocks of hundreds or thousands.
- Long-lived – In the wild ravens and crows can live 10-15 years. In captivity over 40 years.
- Black plumage – Both crows and ravens have all black feathers, though raven tail feathers are wedge-shaped.
Like her real-life counterparts, Utsuho possesses raven-like intelligence which allows her to master nuclear fusion. But she also displays more human-like behaviors like using language, wearing clothes, and having relationships with other characters.
How does Utsuho’s design incorporate nuclear and sun themes?
Utsuho’s design incorporates themes related to nuclear energy and the sun:
- Her clothing has a yellow sun emblem representing the sun’s energy.
- The nuclei and electrons pattern on her dress symbolizes atomic particles.
- Her glowing third leg evokes the image of nuclear radioactivity.
- The large circular object behind her back resembles a sun.
- In her final attack, she makes the sun violently explode with nuclear fusion.
- Her theme song is “Solar Sect of Mystic Wisdom ~ Nuclear Fusion.”
These sun and nuclear motifs visually communicate her powers over nuclear fusion and solar energy. Although Utsuho is originally a raven, she is reinvented by Rin with control over the ultimate energy source – the sun itself via nuclear fusion. Her design captures this nuclear-sun theme very effectively.
What other Touhou characters are related to Utsuho?
Here are some other Touhou Project characters that are connected to Utsuho Reiuji:
- Rin Kaenbyou – Rin is Utsuho’s owner and the one who gave her nuclear powers. She is Satori Komeiji’s pet hell raven.
- Satori Komeiji – Satori is Rin Kaenbyou’s owner. She lives in the underground Chireiden complex where Utsuho also resides.
- Reimu Hakurei – The heroine Reimu defeats Utsuho in Subterranean Animism to resolve the nuclear crisis.
- Satori’s pets – Satori has other pet birds like ravens and eagles living underground alongside Utsuho.
- Orin – A kappa engineer who helped construct Utsuho’s third leg. Orin may also be the same as Rin Kaenbyou.
- Koishi Komeiji – Satori’s sister. She closes the Underground Geyser Center, cutting off Utsuho’s nuclear power source.
The underground world of Gensokyo where Utsuho lives contains a close network of relationships between Satori, Rin, Koishi, Orin, and the other pets. Reimu entering this underground world sets up the events of Subterranean Animism’s storyline.
How popular and well-known is Utsuho among Touhou fans?
Utsuho Reiuji is one of the most popular and well-known Touhou characters among fans of the series:
- Her popularity stems from her epic extra stage boss battle and memorable design.
- Fans love her lively, nuclear-themed outfit with the sun emblem and third leg.
- Fan art and cosplay of Utsuho is common at conventions and online.
- She ranked high in the official Touhou popularity polls at #5 in 2015.
- Fans enjoy her upbeat, energetic personality and theme of nuclear power.
- Doujinshi and fan fiction often portray her innocent, childlike qualities.
- Memes focus on her difficulty as a boss, nuclear abilities, and third leg.
Utsuho stands out with her visual design, personality, connections to ravens, and role as an extra stage boss. Casual and hardcore Touhou fans alike tend to love and appreciate the character. Her popularity has endured over the years since her debut in Subterranean Animism.
Conclusion
Utsuho Reiuji, better known as Okuu, is a powerful and significant hell raven character in the Touhou Project series. Introduced as the extra stage boss in Subterranean Animism, Utsuho is characterized by her nuclear fusion abilities, childlike personality, connections to crows and ravens, and relationship to other characters like Rin Kaenbyou and Satori Komeiji. She plays a key role in the game’s story when she is manipulated into using her newfound powers to attack the above ground world. Utsuho has become one of the most well-known and popular Touhou characters due to her memorable design, epic boss battle, and enthusiastic personality. Her connections to nuclear energy and the sun are creatively incorporated into her character motifs and attacks. For Touhou fans, Okuu remains a beloved and iconic character from the series over a decade after her debut.