A meme involving giant, disfigured heads resembling those of Touhou characters. It originated on 2ch in early 2008 when an Anon tried to make a Shift_JIS portrait of Reimu and Marisa and failed horribly. Another Anon thought the failed attempt was humorous and drew the infamous original picture (shown below right). Ever since that fateful day, yukkuri heads have dominated parts of NicoNico and made cameos in numerous other pieces of Touhou fanart. Their catchphrase "Yukkuri shiteitte ne!" literally means "Do it slowly!", but has been more loosely translated as "Take it easy!" by the English-speaking Touhou community. This remains the basis for many of the jokes centered on yukkuris.
Since then, writers and artists in Japan have produced a huge amount of yukkuri material, making an entire ecosystem based around their various forms. Even ZUN appears to have made a small official acknowledgement of the yukkuri phenomenon, with a line of narration reading "The rocket has been destroyed!! This is no time to be taking it easy!!" in Silent Sinner in Blue Chapter 12.
From what has been gathered through comic shorts and translations, mostly from anonymous contributors on 4chan's /jp/ image board, this is a peek at the yukkuri world. (Note: since yukkuris are entirely a fan creation, no standards exist. This means the many artists often make their own facts and rules.)
Take it easy!
Summary
Yukkuris, named after their catchphrase, are creatures that appeared in Gensokyo one day. Nobody knows why or how. They are grossly misshapen heads with exaggerated facial expressions that bear striking similarities to Touhou characters, constantly telling people to "take it easy". There is a yukkuri for nearly every Touhou character, each with its own quirk and personality.
The yukkuri population in Gensokyo has climbed exponentially since their introduction. They're seen as pets, livestock, food, beanbag chairs, pests, and/or targets by the people of Gensokyo. The purpose of the yukkuris remains a mystery and probably will forever, so the best course of action would be to sit back, relax, and take it easy.
Characteristics
- They consist of a grossly exaggerated head with hair and head accessories.
Fake Yukkuris
- Normal ones are about the size and weight of a basketball. However, they can grow to much larger sizes. There are also fat ones which look similar to normal ones, but are slightly bigger and more bloated. If a yukkuri is forced to eat too much food at once, it does not become a fat yukkuri but is instead stretched out and "filled" with so much food that bouncing can force bean paste out of its eyes or mouth.
- They are filled with bean paste and therefore edible, which makes them a particular target of Yuyuko. Some variants have different fillings. For example, Remilia-types are meat buns.
- They have an outer layer of "skin" that is a bit less than an inch in thickness.
- Their teeth, hair, and accessories are identical to their human counterparts, but somehow turn into bean paste when eaten. It is theorized that they are "grown" with dead cells, much like the dermal layer on human skin.
- Their accessories will stay attached to them unless taken off by force.
Examples of Yukkuris with miniaturized bodies
- They breathe, eat, see, hear and move (by bouncing off the ground), yet, with the exception of their eyes, they have nothing resembling organs.
- Some of them have miniaturized bodies. It is not known whether they are mutated Touhou characters or mutated yukkuris. Examples include: Remilia-types, Flandre-types, Reisen-types, Tewi-types, Sikieiki-types, and possibly others that have yet to be discovered. Mutated types are usually born as regular yukkuris and gain bodies after a certain amount of time. The exact amount of time is unknown; it varies from a few hours to days. Whether the growth is instantaneous or gradual, and where they get their clothes, is unknown. After gaining bodies, mutated yukkuris stop growing in size.
External Links
- ゆっくりしていってね まとめwiki : Japanese yukkuri wiki
- ゆっくり保管庫: Yukkuri-specific image
- Church of Latter Day Yukkuris: Directory of English-language stories