>>1867656She somehow manages to be one of the most human protagonists in the series in spite of the fact that she isn't even a human. Where Reimu comes off as some sort of bipolar serial killer and most other protagonists are your bog-standard superhero of some description, here you have a simple shaved ice salesfairy stated to be no stronger than your average anon and probably a lot less educated tackling fantastic quests and journeys in spite of the odds on her quest to become as powerful as they. It makes you almost believe that if you had the right resources, you could go on her quests too (see Sumireko for someone who confirms this)! It makes her an underdog and gives her room for character development where many other characters remain static.
This is also why Marisa is popular to a lesser extent, as she's another character that's actually written like a human been.
