(Analysis) The theme of intrusion and why the HSiFS casts are probably designed to be hated

As you all know, HSiFS characters ranked extremely low on popularity polls. I believed that this might have been intentional, or at least it's an unavoidable effect from the theme they are made to portray.

For this analysis, I will base on HSiFS story and profiles, WaHH, and one of ZUN interview.

One of Okina goal is about hiding in plain sight, she has backdoor everywhere, and she is also a god of hindrance. I believe this link her to a theme of intrusion: she intruded on everything and had always been there all along. The entire casts of HSiFS seem to support this theme, with each and everyone of them feeling more and more intrusive every stages. Which is why I think this is probably intentional, they are made to feel intrusive, and this should give players a creep. Let's analyze:

Stage 1: Eternity is just slightly odd compared to the fairies. She looks mostly like a fairies, but unlike others fairies who embodied some more abstract part of nature (like spring, sun, or ice) she's actually a critter. Now, it's not like we haven't got oddball fairies before, but Clownpiece is explicitly said to be from Hell so that's different; Eternity had been here all along, being part of the fairies circle.

Stage 2: Nemuno staked out a piece of land within what the Tengu considered to be their territory. And she's quite territorial as well. So she's like an annoying neighbor that Aya just have to put up with, and had been there all along. Not to mention, her ability literally contradict the nature of the youkai mountain itself as being dangerous for human. Sure, there are others loner on this mountain too, but Hina isn't as territorial. For the player, she should feel more intrusive than Eternity, but not so bad yet.

Stage 3: Aunn. Now things start to get worse. As reader/player, we love Aunn for her cuteness, but that might actually be unintentional. Because remember, in-universe (in HSiFS and WaHH), everyone was creeped out by her cuteness. She's the one who wait for Reimu at her own home, acting all cute and friendly, while saying she had always been watching her all along. I think she's meant to be seen like a stalker and the players are supposed to be creeped out by that too, but her cuteness backfired. She should feel very intrusive now, making presence at both Reimu's home and social life.

Stage 4: Narumi. The most hated character in this game, and I think she really serve the role very well from this perspective. She's intrusive in every way:

- Being a eastern statue in a western-theme forest of magic.

- Being part of the forest of magic groups, a small close knit group previously having only 3-6 people.

- Being part of the well establish small group of witches.

- Power hungry behavior resembling Marisa.

- Controlling life magic sounds very similar to what Alice want to do, making her like an Alice-replacement.

- The funny line between Alice and Marisa (and Reimu) previously seen to be a joke? She's the embodiment of that joke all along, turned out Alice did put hat on jizo statue, it's her (this is confirmed in interview).

So Narumi intrude on everything, from home, to social fabric, to personal moments. And once again, she had been there all along.

Stage 5: now things get meta. It's a very common fan theory that the 2 dancers are supposed to stand for your life piece and bomb piece. And given their abilities and color scheme, it's hard to imagine it's not intended. So in other word, they are part of what you have been collecting (almost) every game, all along, and you gladly did so. So they intrude on the game mechanics. Now, it's confirmed that they are supposed to be seen as creepy because of their nature as servants, and that just reinforce this theory: the players have been collecting them and using them all along.

Stage 6: Okina used your own sub-shot-type against you. Can't get more intrusive than that.

Assuming that I'm correct that these characters are designed to make the players creep out by their intrusiveness, then their low popularity is completely sensible. It can even explain how Narumi is least liked, with her being the most intrusive before things get meta. In other word, they are hated because of the theme they embodied. And that's all in an effort to highlight Okina's personality and goal.

Do you think this is a right analysis? Do you think a character made to be hated should be hated or not?