Souko Shirami

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銀鏡しらみ 蒼枯そうこ
Souko Shirami
ɕiɾ̠a̠mi so̞ːko̞
Souko Shirami
Character Titles
Unwithering Flower
Information
Species Celestial (God)
Abilities Enchanting people
Location Heaven; Human Village (Visits often)
Music Themes
  • 花よ散れ ~ Consumed with JEALOUSY! (BPoHC)
Appearances

Souko Shirami (銀鏡 蒼枯) is a celestial and a god, and the first stage boss of the haze route of Brilliant Pagoda or Haze Castle.

General Information[edit | edit source]

Souko was very dramatically dumped in the past, so now they hide their face because they believe that they are hideous. They currently do lots of volunteer work, thinking that if their face is ugly, then they may as well work towards having a beautiful heart. However, they feel intense jealousy towards beautiful things, which in turn prompts them to dislike their own personality as well.

Souko is both a celestial and a god, but due to their apparent lack of power, they are worshipped at a hokora somewhere.[1]

Personality[edit | edit source]

Because they were dumped by their loved one in the past, Souko believes themself to be ugly, hence why they are so jealous of beautiful things and cover themself in heavy clothing. Despite being a celestial, they prefer to stay on the ground. Though they are a loner by nature, they are mostly polite and humble when they encounter people. Their profile states that many people are enchanted with them, but Souko is unaware of this and are still uncomfortable with their homely appearance.

Since they dislike battles and are a pacifist at heart, they use several methods of warding away youkai, such as waving around sticks with bells that youkai dislike the sound of, or using evil-warding charms.

Abilities[edit | edit source]

Enchanting people

Souko has the ability to charm people, born from their desire to be loved and because some of their internal beauty has also become external over the years. They have enchanted a great number of people, although they themself still haven't noticed a thing.

Background Information[edit | edit source]

Origin[edit | edit source]

Souko is based on the Shinto rock goddess Iwanaga-hime (石長比売), who is the daughter of the mountain god Ōyamatsumi and sister of the flower goddess Konohanasakuya-hime. Ōyamatsumi is said to have given the god Ninigi-no-Mikoto both of his daughters' hands in marriage, only to have Ninigi take only Konohanasakuya and reject Iwanaga because of her ugly face as rough as a rock. Due to this, Ōyamatsumi or Iwanaga curses Ninigi, saying that his descendants, which would become the Japanese imperial family, would live glorious yet short-lived like Konohanasakuya's flowers, rather than be resilient and long-lived like Iwanaga's stones.

According to another tale, Iwanaga remained deeply hurt by this event and once became so distraught at the sight of her own face in a mirror, which looked as ugly as a dragon to her, that she threw the mirror as far away as she could. The mirror landed atop Mount Ryuubusa (龍房山) in modern-day Saito City, Miyazaki Prefecture, where it is enshrined at the Shiromi Shrine (銀鏡神社, lit. "silver mirror shrine") as Iwanaga's shintai.

Name[edit | edit source]

Their full name is Souko Shirami (銀鏡 蒼枯). "Souko" is composed of kanji meaning "blue" and "wither," while "Shirami" is composed of kanji meaning "silver mirror". The name "Shirami" is also similar to that of the Shiromi Shrine (銀鏡神社), one of several shrines that worships the goddess Iwanagahime, and is spelled with exactly the same kanji.

Design[edit | edit source]

Souko has lavender eyes and long lavender hair that reaches past their shoulders. They wear a kasa hat and a maroon kimono. There is an ofuda on their hat, which was made by Tsubakura Enraku, claiming it to be a charm to repel demons. They wield a staff with a bell tied near the end, which are said to repel youkai and bad fortune. They are seen carrying a basket, which according to JynX is full of medicinal herbs. They stand on what is possibly a pile of rocks, in reference to their basis in legends about Iwanagahime.

Appearances[edit | edit source]

Brilliant Pagoda or Haze Castle

In Brilliant Pagoda or Haze Castle, Souko senses the incident, but pays no mind and goes to recollect medicinal herbs near the Senri Shrine. However, they encounter the heroes.

When Souko encounters the heroes, Yabusame Houlen and Shion make fun of their homely appearance and call them a "low-quality good". The celestial mistakes Tsubakura Enraku for Tsurubami Senri, who sold them a demon-sealing charm in the past and is thankful for it. Yabusame and Shion start teasing Tsubakura for doing a nice deed for once while Tsubakura is confused, because it wasn't them. They decide to attack the surprised celestial. After they are defeated, Shion tries to eat their soul, but cannot, because they are a celestial and thus immortal. When Souko demands why they were attacked, Shion says that the charm was defective and Tsubakura was checking it out, but it's obviously a lie. Souko falls for it, anyway.

Fumikado and their lackeys encounter Souko, who asks the group if they're heading for the incoming war and suggest them to make peace instead. Fumikado does not care about peace, only ruling Mugenri. They also make fun of their plain appearance and way of talking. Offended, Souko attacks them, but is defeated. Fumikado laughs and calls Souko a small fry, only for them to back off after Souko comments they are a Celestial and a God and thus higher than them. Embarrassed, Fumikado tries to make up an excuse and asks Iyozane for suggestions. However Iyozane's bad at lying and Souko doesn't fall for it, much to Fumikado's chagrin.

Relationships[edit | edit source]

Tsubakura Enraku

Souko had once asked Tsubakura to make demon-repelling talismans for them, which can be seen hung on their hat. Although Tsubakura did not prepare them seriously, Souko said that they worked excellently.

Yago Ametsukana

While they do not know each other on a personal level, they know each other's names and faces as they are both gods.

Additional Information[edit | edit source]

  • Unlike most celestials, Souko is well known by the humans of the village.[2]
  • Souko is described as being "human-like" prior to becoming a god.[3]
  • According to Kanae Tabinoki, Souko is apparently the character most likely to crush an apple with a single hand.[4]

Spell Cards[edit | edit source]

Spell Cards
Name Translated Comments Games Stage
Total: 5
木花「花は美しき故散る」 Konohana "Flowers Are to Wither for Their Beauty"[a] BPoHC St. 1: E/N
「必如木花之移落」 "Certain to Wither and Fall as Flowers Do"[b] BPoHC St. 1: H/U
竜顔「鏡に映る姿」 Dragon's Face "The Form Reflected in the Mirror"[c] BPoHC St. 1: E/N
「龍房山までハンマー投げ」 "Hammer Toss to Mount Ryuubusa"[d] BPoHC St. 1: H/U
岩の寿命 Lifespan of a Rock BPoHC Upgrade

Notes[edit | edit source]

  1. The title of the spell references the Shinto goddess Konohanasakuya-hime (木花咲耶姫), in which "konohana" (木花), used as the spell's title, translates to "tree blossom".
  2. Quote from the legend of Iwanaga and Ninigi in the Nihon Shoki.
  3. A reference to how Iwanagahime (磐長姫), after being rejected by Ninigi-no-Mikoto for being ugly, looked into a mirror one day and saw a hideous dragon's face, which was in reality her own face. She was so scared and distraught that she threw the mirror away.
  4. A reference to how the mirror thrown by Iwanagahime (磐長姫) was said to have landed on Mount Ryuubusa, where the Shiromi Shrine is now located.

Official Profiles[edit | edit source]

枯れぬが花

銀鏡 蒼枯
Shirami Souko
●種族
天人
●能力
人を魅入らせる
      的な能力

過去に盛大にフラれた経験から、
自身の容姿が醜いと思い込み、顔を隠している。

容姿が醜いなら、せめて心だけでも美しくあろうと、
今は勤労奉仕に努めているとか。

だが美しいものに嫉妬深く、
またそうした自分の性格にも嫌気が差している。

しかし実際のところ、
長い年月を経て心の美しさが容姿に出たのか、
今では自分が多くの者を惑わしていることに、
当人はまだ気がついていない。

戦闘は苦手なので、妖怪が嫌う音を
発する鈴をつけた棒をふるったり、
闡裡神社神主(玄鳥)に作ってもらった
魔除けのお札を使用したりして、
妖怪避けをしている。

天人であるが、一日の大半は地上に下り、
人里あたりにいる。

今回は森で薬草を集めていたところを、
戦乱に巻き込まれた。

Unwithering Flower[a]

Souko Shirami
●Species:
Celestial
●Abilities:
Something like enchanting people

Because they were very dramatically dumped in the past,
they are convinced that they look hideous, and thus hide their face.

They now do lots of volunteer work, thinking that if their face
is ugly, they may as well work towards having a beautiful heart.

However, they feel intense jealousy toward beautiful things,
which in turn prompts them to dislike their own personality as well.

In reality, though,
perhaps because some of their internal beauty has also become
external over the years, they have enchanted a great number of people.
Although they themself still haven't noticed a thing.

Since they're not great at battling, they use several methods
of warding away youkai, such as waving around a staff
with bells that youkai dislike the sound of, or using
evil-warding charms made for them by the Senri Shrine's
head priest (Tsubakura).

They are a celestial, but spend the better part of each day
on the ground in the vicinity of the Human Village.

This time, they get tangled up in the ongoing battle
while out gathering medicinal herbs in the forest.

Notes[edit | edit source]

  1. Literally "to not wither is a flower"; this is a play on the phrase "to not speak is a flower" (言わぬが花, iwanugahana), which is similar to the English "silence is golden".

Official Sources[edit | edit source]

Official sources

References[edit | edit source]