New chapter, woo, let's see ...
Miyoi's ability honestly strikes me as something that is too good for a measly household spirit. We've went from her being an uncertain youkai to a Suima to a Zashiki Warashi, but even then she seems to be able to do far more than just bringing good fortune to a household (or potentially business even) like her peers from WaHH. I mean, she gets to have her memory manipulating ability and that thing that she can make happen to people who got drunk from the ibuki gourd's sake.
For me the thing that I found rather interesting from this chapter is the fact that apparently, Miyoi PREDATES Geidontei and even its owner ... It should be very obvious by this point that whale imagery is Miyoi's thing, yet, for some reason, the new owner of the place would coincidentally choose to adopt whales as the pub's image too ? That is REALLY suspicious to me. Maybe the secret behind Miyoi's ability is that it can influence people who got involved with the place she is dwelling in, and that the thing that happens to people who got drunk to people who got drunk from the Ibuki gourd is something that was recently possible because she moved inside the gourd.
Like, and this is just me small theory, when the new owner came in and decided to make the place Geidontei, he fell under Miyoi's influence and was like "you know what would be cool for this pub ? WHALES", which is pretty suspicious even moreso if you remember that there are no seas in Gensokyo (which is kinda where whales are from) : IF there was NO Miyoi and her whaleness, then the old man would have one hell of a weird ass inspiration ...
I'm too lazy to do research at the moment, but if memory serves, Whales had some kind of big place when it comes to faith related things for the Japanese : they'd be celebrated as their appearance would pretty much stave hunger for the villages in the past (since they were meaty bois), and there are (or where ?) a bunch of Whale celebrating shrines out there. Considering how big of a place Japanese folklore holds in Touhou, I wouldn't be too surprised if the truth behind Miyoi's character had something to do with that. Cuz I for one don't believe she is just a zashiki warashi, certainly not a normal one.
When it comes to Mamizou for this chapter, she is obviously there to bring a wee bit of intrigue, although I don't believe there's gonna be greater implication when compared to what I mentionned earlier. Mamizou's deal has always been about consolidating her power (in the political sense) and also raise the status of Tanuki in regards to the human village (which was especially true in FS) : my expectations would be that she had the drunk dude sheltered in some tanuki place, and that her goal was to get this particular person to tell some kind of story that may prove to be benefitial for the tanuki's image in the human village (something that Reimu don't approve either, as could be seen in FS). This bringing suspicion on Geidontei is just an unfortunate accident that is bound to cause a misunderstanding.
Now, the thing with the Human village as a setting is that it's something that has been done in FS already, and done quite extensively well if I may say so. The Miyoi - Suika thingy, aside from being a reason to pair them up later on, strikes me as a very Touhou Suichouka fitting thing, but the thing with Mamizou seems to me more like something that would be a better fit for Forbidden Scrollery. I quite like the Human Village as a setting, but I'd be more interested in seeing something else. Going forward, I hope that ZUN is going to try to fulfill Miyoi's desire to see more of the world, to travel, cuz that would not only be some kind of enriching experience for the girl, but also an opportunity for the reader to see more than the Human village and the Hakurei Shrine. Like, Miyoi's got Suika with her, and Suika is not only one of the more well travelled person (she's been to the Land of the Oni, Former Hell, and THE MOON, among other places), but also a VERY sharp and perceptive person, despite behaving like a dumbass. There is potential here, and I hope ZUN is gonna go for a story that goes outside the Human Village for this manga.
