>>50130964
Don't be sad for him, this is what he voted for.

I really think there is a huge missed opportunity for ZUN to do stories with youkai who feel like they lost their purpose.
Have them as people with a general sense of malaise and inability to settle into the modern Gensokyo, which alienates them almost as much as the Outside World does.
There's lots of opportunities there, from characters who want things to return to how they once were and regret ever going along with the Hakurei's scheme, those who are actively trying to escalate conflicts, those who strong wish they could just be human because they think they're the only people who are truly alive, those who keep throwing themselves into new pursuits in hope of finding something fulfilling, and those who think it would've been better for youkai to just fade away naturally instead of seeking to artificially prolong their existence.

At one point, it seemed like this would actually be a notable part of the setting, like with Aya commenting in Rumia's interview that many youkai seem to just act without purpose or meaning to their existence.
But actually doing anything with that would require ZUN to write a story with an actual sense of gravitas and seriousness, but as we see with Mizuchi's story, ZUN just fundamentally doesn't want to commit to anything serious so we're forever stuck with silly stories about silly girls in silly hats with no real stakes or consequences.