Touhou Game Club

EDIT : Good timing you have there, ninja Zandorf.

Since nobody seems to pay attention to the underrated characters such as 1st boss or 2nd boss. Therefore, I decided to write an article about Parsee. Hope you guys enjoy it, and don't forget to give all of Touhou characters enough love, they deserve it.

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Touhou - Mizuhashi Parsee - Character Review

Ah yes, Parsee, Mizuhashi Parsee; usually depicted as the embodiment of jealousy in Touhou considering her power to manipulate said subject. Fandom loves to bully her, to abuse her, just like what it has done to Alice Margatroid. But let's put that aside, what is Mizuhashi Parsee ?

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[size=15]Concept[/h]

Parsee is actually a hashihime (橋姫, bridge princess), a character that debuted in the Heian Period literature.
There are a lot of variations on how people should see a Hashihime; Hashihime can be referred as only a bridge's guardian, a ghost under the bridge, and etc. But the most popular definition is that Hashihime symbolizes a woman who spends night waiting for someone she loves to visit her. More details ahead.



While it's highly possible that Parsee's concept is taken from "bridge's guardian" considering her job in Subterranean Animism, it still doesn't tell us anything about why she is related to jealousy. Her theme, her eyes, and her power heavily implied that the most popular definition of Hashihime is the "true" one.

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[size=15]Symbolism[/h]



Like the rest of 2nd boss, her character is very underrated, and sadly, she is only and more popular when fandom abuses her. To be honest, I'd prefer to see her underrated forever than seeing her walking on the same route as Alice. Her constant abuse made us forget her value.
Power to manipulate jealousy; I don't know about you, but it sounds as lame as Yuuka's flower control. But again, like Yuuka's, Parsee's power might contain a deeper meaning than just that.



Let's take a look at her "Green Eyed Monster" card. Green Eyed monster, as depicted by Shakespeare, is the manifestation of jealousy. Reimu and Marisa are both human, and human is always plagued with bad personality-traits, with one of them being "jealousy". Looking at how the spellcard works, the bullets are chasing you, no matter where you go; this is just like saying that jealousy is always within human's heart, no matter where the human go, it will always be there, waiting for said human to give in. While it wouldn't kill you directly nor is harmful to your health, one jealousy might invoke another. Therefore, it's dangerous and is contagious.

Back to spellcard; the solution to beat this spellcard is actually simple, despite the usual complexity of chaser-type-spellcards; you just need to move (while shooting) to Parsee's exact position whenever she changes place, her defense is at its lowest during this phase. The key for this method to succeed is by "stay-calm", isn't it just the same as saying "who has self-control can reject his/her jealousy" ?

and now let's just listen to her awesome theme, Green Eyed Jealousy, is also another way for Shakespeare to describe jealousy poetically. This theme sounds sad, very very sad. I might sound like a weirdo here, but after reading the definition of Hashihime, this theme sounds like representing an unrequited feeling, a feeling that only can be kept inside the said person, which in this case is Parsee and jealousy. Frankly, I don't know what kind of devil did possess me so I could think like that; but I say, just try it by yourself; I know that I am not the only one (hope so).

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[size=15]Afterwords[/h]



Parsee might be not the top in my book. But I have to admit, she has a potential to be big, at least bigger than standard 2nd boss. Her character, her interpretation, her patterns, are all referred to one specific-deep-subject, which is jealousy. Her symbol is what people always look down for, though it doesn't make her laughable, it just make her more valuable. Something that you don't aware is also something that might hurt you the most.

I am trying to avoid fanon stuffs while writing this article for obvious reasons, so I have to apologize for the lack of detail in regard to her background; it just cannot be helped. I really hope the upcoming symposium can cover her identities, or at the very least, give us more explanation to what and how the real Parsee is. She is just lacking a proper spotlight.

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[size=15]References[/h]

- Mizuhashi Parsee in Touhouwiki.net
- Hashihime