Character

Kikuri

Kikuri is a large bronze disc with an image of a girl on it that Reimu Hakurei encounters in Hell's Rotting World of Flames. Kikuri is the Stage 15 boss on the Hell route of Highly Responsive to Prayers. However, since she has no profile and no dialogue exchange with Reimu, nothing much is known about this enemy. Kikuri is most likely based on Kikurihime (菊理媛 lit. "Lady Kikuri" or "Princess Kikuri") a Shinto goddess who mediated the dispute between the two primordial Shinto creator gods Izanagi and Izanami in Yomi, the Shinto land of the dead. Kikurihime, due to being the mediator of the conversation between Izanami and Izanagi, is said to be the goddess of love, marraige, and negotiation. In fact, it's speculated that her name orginally came from the word 括り(kukuri) meaning to bind or to tie (relating to her status as a matchmaking god). She was later conflated with the dragon goddess Shirayamahime, who is worshipped at Mount Haku. Through this she gained the attributes of being a patron god of fertile land and rain.