Transcriber's Character Introduction & Synopsis Know Your Main Characters "Curiosities of Lotus Asia" is a compilation of the stories of what happens at the Kourindou shop, told mostly from the perspective of the shop's more-or-less reasonable keeper, Rinnosuke Morichika. Though there are some cameo appearances here and there, these are the three main characters who appear in the most chapters: Rinnosuke Morichika Proprietor of the Kourindou shop, Rinnosuke runs his independent shop dealing with curiosities because he has a natural ability to know the name and general purpose - though, as he states several times, not the exact method of usage - of any item. He is a pretty reasonable guy who just wants to sell his wares, though hardly any of the girls who come to his shop are actually there to do business with them (and half the time they do, they just take his stuff without paying). He is half-human half-youkai, and, like most youkai, is in the middle of a rather long lifespan, so he is clearly smarter than the girls, who take a more carefree approach to life, but you can tell that he sometimes overanalyzes things, and occasionally comes to some pretty strange conclusions as a result. As Zun says, Rinnosuke is smart, but doesn't know nearly as much as he thinks he does. Reimu Hakurei The only shrine maiden in all of Gensokyo (throughout this book, anyway), and definitely a lazy one. She appreciates her status as shrine maiden, but often neglects her duties as one, oftentimes only performing out of necessity as the situation calls for it, and doesn't know nearly as much about shrine-related things as she should. Reimu is also Gensokyo's #1 incident resolution specialist (as Rinnosuke notes), making her the main character of the Touhou games (but not this book), and maintains the Hakurei Border that separates Gensokyo from the outside world. Despite her obvious importance to Gensokyo, the donation box for the shrine is frequently empty - something many of the other characters like to poke fun at. Marisa Kirisame As magic-users go, Marisa is among the most adventurous and mischievous you'll ever meet; she does whatever she wants, and is always looking for fun and adventure: if something exciting happens, you can bet she'll be in attendance (if she wasn't the cause in the first place). She doesn't speak properly either, with her own somewhat southern speech mannerisms (and she nicknames Rinnosuke "Kourin" after the name of his shop). While she appears (and for the most part is) a bit dense, she hides a more insightful, intelligent side that she brings out when she writes (evidenced in chapter 4 of this book, and in her own, the "Grimoire of Marisa") and when she can tell someone is making an entirely serious inquiry or is honestly trying to learn something (such as in chapter 15). If you're looking for fun times, Marisa is definitely a winner. Cameo Appearances Though those are the main three characters, there are a few others you'll see from time to time, such as Remilia Scarlet and her servant Sakuya, and if you're Touhou-savvy, you'll catch unnamed references to certain other characters, like Alice and Eirin. Read "Curiosities of Lotus Asia"