Steven says in response to Wonderduck’s question on Shana’s assumption of Yukari’s existance:
The girl Hirai Yukari is consumed by a rinne (a servant of a denizen) in the first episode and is replaced by a torch. In the second episode that torch burns out right in front of Yuji. Shana is nearby when it happens, and captures a small ember on one of her fingers. The next day at school she’s there sitting where Yukari had been sitting, and everyone refers to her as Hirai Yukari….The reason that no one forgets about Yukari is because Shana is using her own power to maintain that past without it fading out. But also because of that, everyone accepts her as being Yukari and no one notices the replacement. That’s the nature of the magic involved.
Steven also has some serious problems with the contradictions in “Yukari’s” existence:
If, before she went away, Yukari lived alone then it means that the house is now completely vacant. A landlord or a bank or tax collectors or neighbors are going to notice and wonder. If Yukari was not living alone, then whoever she was living with (parents, siblings, servants, guardians) would notice that she was gone. In any case, eventually someone is going to file a “missing person” report with the police, and the most obvious first place for an investigator to look around would be Yukari’s school — where he’s going to be told that she’s been attending normally. Then he’s going to seek her out at the school and ask her why she hasn’t gone home.
The answer to all this is that I think it’s a misread of what Shana did. She didn’t maintain Yukari’s past; she took over Yukari’s present. She or Allistor altered Yukari’s past existence when she took it over. Her parents do not remember her, they have nothing to indicate they ever had a child, no one remembers them having a child, and everyone in the school knows her as “that orphan girl who lives alone.” There is no direct confirmation of that anytime, but we do see Shana’s apartment late in the series (she lived alone) — and my question is “how does she pay for it?” One of the things I looked for was whether it was actually Shana’s or Yukari’s, and there’s no clear indication. I got the feeling it was Shana’s, though.
As for Chigusa…. well, I’m going to let it wait until tomorrow and finish up the longer article I’m writing.
I was thinking about this today, and I’ve got a theory. Caveat: I’ve only seen the entire series once (fansub), but I’ve seen the first three R1 DVDs again. There very well could be things that I missed or can’t remember that prove my theory wrong.
First, a word about torches. When a torch is created it is infused with the power of existence. This power has two purposes. The first is to maintain a facsimile of the person killed in order to keep order. The second is to slowly change the reality surrounding that person such that they would never have existed in the first place. There is enough power to accomplish these two things. (Perhaps a little more, resulting in a person hanging around for a brief time even though noone acknowledges them.)
We are shown the final stages of this process with Yukari. The closer she gets to disappearing the less people around her even notice her. In the arcade Ikke could see her with Yuuji’s prompting, but as soon as Yuuji walks away Ikke forgets about her, practically mid-conversation, even though she remains standing right behind him. Presumably, at this point everyone else in her life had reached the same point. She was on the verge of disappearing, and currently noone knew she had ever existed. This includes any friends she may have had and her parents.
This is the point at which Shana steps in. She takes over what is left of Yukari’s existence. At this point, that is, for all intents and purposes, nothing. She exerts her own power to alter the reality surrounding her to reinsert Yukari (herself) back into existence. However, her needs only require this to be the case when people are in close proximity to either her or Yuuji. So, anytime someone comes into contact with her or Yuuji, Yukari exists. Once they leave she fades away for them. If they come into contact repeatedly (Ikke or Kasumi) Yukari’s existence becomes stronger for them, thus lasting even when they are away from Shana or Yuuji.
This would explain why none of Yukari’s friends or family wonder what happened to her. This also explains the tendency for people to accept Shana’s appearance or behavior without question. Since noone remembers Yukari, Shana’s appearance or behavior can’t be considered strange. Also, when she comes into contact with someone, her power inserts her into existence for that person. Presumably this allows her to create whatever circumstances are required to be non-intrusive to that person. In the case of Yuuji’s mother, perhaps she is a new friend he met recently at school, or a childhood friend he’s known for a while. Either way the circumstances would have always been there. The reasons for Yuuji’s training would have been created (and would have always existed) at this time as well. Also, once out of sight, Shana would fade somewhat from Chigusa’s mind. This could account for Chigusa’s ignorance of the sleeping arrangements.
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