Kisume
Kisume is a character from the Touhou Project series who first appeared as the Stage 1 mid-boss in Touhou Chireiden ~ Subterranean Animism. She is a tsurube-otoshi (bucket-dropper) youkai who lives in the dark underground realm, predominantly occupying narrow places such as caves and wells.
Overview
Kisume is a character from the Touhou Project series who first appeared as the Stage 1 mid-boss in Touhou Chireiden ~ Subterranean Animism. She is a tsurube-otoshi (bucket-dropper) youkai who lives in the dark underground realm, predominantly occupying narrow places such as caves and wells.
Appearance
Kisume appears as a young girl tucked inside a wooden bucket hanging from an unspecified overhead point by a rope tied to its handle. She has green hair styled into twintails, fastened with hair ties decorated with pairs of light blue or white beads. Her eyes are depicted as black or green. Beneath the rim of the bucket, she wears a simple white kimono.
Personality
Kisume is extremely introverted and fond of confined spaces, leading her to spend her time tucked away inside a bucket. However, despite her small and docile appearance, she exhibits a brutal youkai nature. She will willingly attack humans walking at night, dropping down on them without warning, and possesses a bloodthirsty side that inclines her to sever people's heads and carry them off in her bucket.
Abilities
She possesses the ability to drop will-o'-the-wisps. In battle, she utilizes attack patterns that involve raining down severe vertical barrages and fireballs directly onto her targets from above.
Background
Residing in the subterranean caves and deserted wells beneath Gensokyo, Kisume acts as a feared creature of the dark who drops onto unsuspecting travelers traveling at night. During the events of Subterranean Animism, she is the very first youkai encountered by the protagonists as they venture down into the underground wind hole to investigate the geyser incident.
Relationships
Kisume is frequently associated with Kurodani Yamame, a spider youkai who also inhabits the upper levels of the underground region and appears alongside her in Stage 1.
Trivia
Her name is written in katakana rather than kanji, a choice intended by the series creator to give her a rustic, weaker impression compared to characters with full kanji names. Her official titles reference a Japanese proverb comparing the fast autumn sunset to a falling bucket, tying into her nature as a nocturnal youkai.
