So, after reading that thread in /gensokyo/ where anon complained about grimdark stories, I've been wondering, how much grimdark is justified in a Touhou story? Is it justified to use grimdark to add drama to the story?
I know some of the famous stories here are quite dark in their take of Gensokyo. And I love them for it.
Anon will always whine about something. If it's not about grimdark, it'll be about Kahi, about Spacebattles, about newfags, about /th/ being stupid, about Patchwork being lazy...
That grimdark thing highly depends how your interpretation of Akyuu's books. She clearly states that human often go missing, and that outsiders almost always die in Gensokyo.
Some shrugged it off by saying that Akyuu was paranoid and stuff, and they decided that Gensokyo was their happy place where everyone drinks tea.
Personally, I think it's a matter of opinion. You like grimdark? Cool. You don't like it? Cool. You think that you're right and that every else is wrong? Welcome in the wonderful world of the fanbase, where everyone is wrong.
>>7866 I entirely agree with this. Some people get ridiculously butthurt about things that don't even matter. Grimdark? So? Who gives a fuck? Write, fucker!
Oh hey look, Another guy who thinks canon is unchanging. Or how rules cant be broken. Why would ZUN explicitly say 'yeah all outsiders die'? What reasoning does he have?
As someone else in the thread said, everyone is wrong.
grimdark isn't a positive description if you want to do a serious dark story as it refers to Warhammer 40K or Frank Miller's works. One began as a parody (though its fans and sometimes producers take it seriously), and Frank at one time did write good comic book stories, some of which legitimately dark. These days he's better known for "All women are whores and are beaten half the time"
And people who use "Grimdark" in a serious positive way are generally hacks who think it'll make them cool and edgy, particularly in settings that don't have room for it. It'd be like turning Sauron into a pink dinosaur who playfully hits his friend Mr. Gandalf with a foam bat.