Aya shameimaru

[edit] Main Profile
Aya Shameimaru is Gensokyo's resident reporter, known for writing "slightly" exaggerated news articles about anything that happens in Gensokyo. She's very strong and is probably stronger than she shows since she sometimes "accidentally wins" battles while only meaning to cover a news story.

During the events of Phantasmagoria of Flower View she sets out to cover what promises to be an interesting news story, apparently having had completely forgotten that the exact same event had occurred 60 years ago. Even though she was alive and around during the previous flower incident, perhaps her memory is clouded by the thousands of facts and rumors she hears every day.

When Aya was sent by the other Tengu to see who the intruder on Youkai Mountain was during Mountain of Faith she was surprised to see it was the heroine. Although Aya doesn't want to fight the heroine, she prioritizes her bosses' orders. She decides to "go easy" on the heroine and leads her to the new shrine, believing that the heroine could get rid of a large nuisance to the Tengu.

During the events of Scarlet Weather Rhapsody she goes around doing her job, and after an encounter with Reimu and Marisa she decides to infiltrate the Scarlet Devil Mansion to report on the Scarlet Devil and write an article about her. Remilia mentions something about the weather incident, and Aya goes back to the Youkai Mountain. There she meets an infuriated Reimu complaining about an earthquake destroying her shrine. In spite of the situation, Aya defeats her as an intruder.

[edit] Fun Facts

 * The characters for Shameimaru literally mean, in sequence, "to shoot (an arrow)" (or "to shine into/onto"), "command, decree, order" (or "hit/target" in the word　meichuu (命中)), and "circle" (common name ending, usually seen in names of crafts and swords or similar weapons). Aya means "text, sentence, literature", and it's also the first character of "Bunkachou".
 * The name Shameimaru is derived from Sha-Mail (Shamēru → Shameimaru), which is text messages with photos, very appropriate for a fast-travelling journalist who takes pictures.
 * Aya runs the Bunbunmaru Newspaper.
 * Aya owns the Bunkachou (文花帖), a tengu notebook gathering innumerable photographs and handwritten notes. Bun (文 - can also be pronounced as "aya") means "sentence, text", ka (花) means "flower, blossom" (or "pretty, cute thing" in a figurative sense) and chou (帖) means "notebook": therefore Bunkachou literally means "notebook of flowering sentences"- her record of interesting observations for Bunbunmaru Newspaper articles and pictures of beautiful danmaku or cute girls living in Gensokyo.
 * Aya is on less than good terms with some of the other characters. This is not necessarily because of her personality, but rather because of the news articles she writes about them, which are filled with as much of her own personal opinions as actual news. When she publishes things like "Reimu just seems to be a laid-back drunkard" in her newspaper, it's no wonder many other Gensokyo residents are less than thrilled to see themselves in the news. Nonetheless, that comes from her very inquisitive nature and a tendency to exaggerate events, rather than the desire to corrode other people's reputation for the sake of it. In fact, she has developed ethics and goes out of her way to pursue the truth, sometimes to a fault.
 * A silhouette of Aya occupies the front of Shoot the Bullet's jewel case.
 * Aside from Reimu, she's the only other character to ever have the solo lead role in an official Touhou game (Shoot the Bullet) so far.
 * ZUN once commented that the gaming concept of Shoot the Bullet was around since the same time he created Embodiment of Scarlet Devil, since such a game required a camera-using character. Aya was created specifically to fit that purpose.
 * In Mountain of Faith, Aya is the first stage 4 boss in a Windows game not to have some sort of gimmick/variation based on the playable character (i.e. Patchouli's different spell cards in Embodiment of Scarlet Devil, Reimu or Marisa in Imperishable Night, etc.)
 * Her depiction in Strange and Bright Nature Deity and Curiosities of Lotus Asia suggest that her newspaper isn't well received, and she is willing to jokingly trick Reimu into believing in a fictional type of ghost to boost its popularity.
 * Due to Aya including photos of various characters in her news articles, some fan comics portray her as having a habit of taking embarrassing or risque photos as well. Thus she is sometimes a joke character that's shown as a pervert.
 * Although Bohemian Archive in Japanese Red described Aya having black wings, you cannot see them in the artwork of Shoot the Bullet and Phantasmagoria of Flower View. This lead to confusion in many fan works, as many artists took liberties on this subject. Various theories have been made regarding the wings, and the most commonly accepted explanation is that Aya can magically hide her wings when they are in the way.
 * In both Mountain of Faith story modes, Aya was seen to say "Ayayayaya" (あやややや) which has become her catchphrase.

[edit] Perfect Memento in Strict Sense

 * Main article: Perfect Memento: Aya Shameimaru


 * Aya is extremely fast,among the other tengu.
 * She always carries a fan that allows her to summon enormous winds, a camera, and a notebook full of her observations,articles,and pictures.
 * Her newspaper, the Bunbunmaru Newspaper, is a gossip rag that's popular among humans and youkai alike.
 * Many fear her as a result of her shameless reporting style, and don't want to be written up in her newspaper.
 * Though Aya is extremely strong, she's not usually combative unless someone gets in her way.