Touhou Project
The Touhou Project (東方Project, sometimes Toho; translates as The East) is a series of curtain fire scrolling shooters made by Team Shanghai Alice. They are notable for being successful dojin soft because of their intricate bullet patterns, their greater focus on characters than most shooter games, and being a one-man project.
Gameplay mechanics
- The player's bullet power increases on a linear scale as the player collects powerups dropped by enemies, and eventually maxes out. The player can also collect 'point' icons to earn extra lives; the number needed grows exponentially as the player gains lives.
- 'Focus', the shift key by default, slows down the player's movement, makes the collision box visible and (generally; some characters are reversed) focuses the player's attack to make it more powerful. In Imperishable Night this mode actually brings in the Phantom teammate. This function is essential for navigating through complex bullet patterns and defeating bosses more quickly.
- The Graze counter tracks how many bullets entered the character sprite but avoided the collision box, and rewards the player with a score bonus for living on the edge.
- 'Spell Card', the X key by default, is similar to the 'bomb' in most other shooting games. The player has a limited number; using one makes the user temporarily invulnerable and uses a magical attack that generally clears the screen.
- The player can use one during a short period after being hit by a bullet (known as the 'Border between Life and Death') to avoid loss of a life. However, this consumes two cards.
- Each one has a name, and the bosses use them as well to create bullet patterns.
- Perfect Cherry Blossom and Imperishable Night, respectively, have 'Cherry' and 'Time' points. Cherry points are used mostly in scoring, but can grant temporary invulnerability (known as 'Supernatural Border.') Time points are essential to restoring the moon before morning arrives; they also determine if the player gets to challenge a boss's 'Final Spell' on normal or higher difficulties.
PC-98 predecessor games
The Touhou series of games started on the Japanese PC-9801 series of computers and its first five entries are native to that platform; standard PC users are only capable of playing them through an emulator. Also, the PC-9801 series of computers was already on the decline when these games were released. Because of this, they are not well known among players. The group making these games was called "Amusement Makers".
Highly Responsive to Prayers
Highly Responsive to Prayers (東方靈異伝 Tōhō Rei'iden) The first game of the Tōhō series. It is not a traditional shooter, and is similar to Arkanoid instead. Reimu Hakurei, the perpetual protagonist, was introduced in this game. The game was released in 1996.
Story of Eastern Wonderland
Story of Eastern Wonderland (東方封魔録 Tōhō Fūmaroku) Released in 1997 at Comiket 52. This is the first danmaku game of the series, and also marks the first appearance of Marisa Kirisame (here as the second-to-last boss), the second major player character of the series.
Phantasmagoria of Dim. Dream
Phantasmagoria of Dim. Dream (東方夢時空 Tōhō Yumejikū) A two-player, versus-type shooter; similar to Twinkle Star Sprites. Released in August 1997 in Comiket 53.
Lotus Land Story
Lotus Land Story (東方幻想郷 Tōhō Gensōkyō) Released in August 1998 in Comiket 54. This game introduces the focus mode, a staple of the series hereafter, that slows the sprite's movement to facilitate dodging bullets.
Mystic Square
Mystic Square (東方怪綺談 Tōhō Kaikidan) The fifth and last Tōhō game for the PC-98, released in December 1998 in Comiket 55. Mima and Yuka, final bosses of The Story of Eastern Wonderland and Lotus Land Story respectively, return as playable characters in this game.
Windows games
After four years of inactivity, Touhou creator ZUN began to develop games for Windows instead, and left Amusement Makers to make his own group: the Team Shanghai Alice. The playability of the Windows games was substanstially improved compared to their PC-98 counterparts. Most doujin works derived from the Tōhō series are centered on these games.
Embodiment of Scarlet Devil
Embodiment of Scarlet Devil (東方紅魔郷 Tōhō Kōmakyō) was the first Touhou game on Windows. It greatly exceeded the PC-98 games graphically and musically, and was the first game to gather a substantial Western fanbase.
The story, told by conversations between characters during interludes in the action, goes as such: The land of Gensokyo; (setting of all the Touhou games) has been engulfed by a red mist, and its inhabitants no longer see the sun. As the miko Reimu Hakurei or the witch Marisa Kirisame, the player attempts to deal with the source of the mist, a mysterious figure called the Scarlet Devil.
Perfect Cherry Blossom
Perfect Cherry Blossom (東方妖々夢 Tōhō Yōyōmu) is the seventh Touhou game. It is unusual among the recent releases in that the English and Japanese titles are not similar in meaning; its Japanese title could be rendered as Bewitching Dream.
As the month turns to May, winter has lasted far longer than normal in Gensokyo;, and the denizens begin to suspect foul play. As Reimu, Marisa or the new arrival Sakuya Izayoi, the player embarks on a search for those who are working to prevent spring's coming.
Perfect Cherry Blossom continues the tradition of the Touhou games, the reappearance of former bosses as playable characters. Sakuya was the maid of vampire Remilia Scarlet, better known as the Scarlet Devil, and the player fought her several times in EoSD.
Immaterial and Missing Power
Immaterial and Missing Power (東方萃夢想 Tōhō Suimusō), a collaboration with Twilight Frontier, is the 7.5th game in the series. Despite being released after Imperishable Night, it is numbered 7.5 because the events in this game took place before those of Imperishable Night. Immaterial and Missing Power is a 2D fighting game instead of the usual scrolling shooter. Though Team Shanghai Alice was only responsible for the storyline and some of the music, the game was listed as one of the team's official works.
Initially playable characters in this game include all the playable characters from previous Windows games, along with Alice Margatroid, Youmu Konpaku (both bosses from Perfect Cherry Blossom), and Patchouli Knowledge (4th stage boss from Embodiment of Scarlet Devil). More characters become playable as the player finishes the story mode with the initially playable characters, and so on. An official patch to the game adds Hong Meiling (from Embodiment of Scarlet Devil) as a playable character, but she is not available in the story mode.
Imperishable Night
Imperishable Night (東方永夜抄 Tōhō Eiyashō) is the eighth Touhou game. It was released at the Comiket 66 Convention in August 2004.
This story's focus is on a rather more insidious evil than past games. Gensokyo's yearly event, the Moonviewing Feast, is only one dawn away... but someone seems to have replaced the moon with a fake that won't grow full. A team of human and phantom set out to remedy this before the night is over - the story says that the team the player selects is the only team heading out to investigate. This is true for all the Touhou games; the only character heading for the final boss is the player-chosen one - exceptions to this are Phantasmagoria of Dim. Dream... and Phantasmagoria of Flower View.
Each of the usual playable characters gets a teammate from the non-human side of Gensokyo; in this entry. Reimu Hakurei allies with Yukari Yakumo, Youkai of the Boundary; Marisa Kirisame with Alice Margatroid, Seven-Colored Puppeteer; and Sakuya brings her mistress, Remilia Scarlet. The new team is half-ghost Youmu Konpaku and full-ghost Yuyuko Saigyouji, end-bosses of Perfect Cherry Blossom. All the other characters (except Remilia) appeared in Perfect Cherry Blossom as well.
Imperishable Night also introduced some complicated scoring mechanics based on the player's 'human to phantom' ratio.
Phantasmagoria of Flower View
Phantasmagoria of Flower View (東方花映塚 Tōhō Kaeizuka) is the ninth Touhou game. It was released in August 2005 at the summer Comiket 68 convention.
This game is a versus-type shooter like Phantasmagoria of Dim. Dream, and has very different gameplay from the past three entries in the series. The story puts the characters in an investigation on why the flowers of Gensokyo; are blooming fanatically. Initially playable characters include Reimu, Marisa and Sakuya as usual, but the list adds on as the player progresses in the storyline of each of the players.
Shoot the Bullet
Shoot the Bullet (東方文花帖 Tōhō Bunkachō) is the 9.5th game in the series. It was released at the Comiket 69 convention in December 2005. The game is meant to be the game version of the official fanbook, Bohemian Archive in Japanese Red.
The player, as tengu reporter Aya Shameimaru, is tasked with taking pictures of bosses for her newspaper to clear successively more difficult stages. The game is unique in that the player has no standard shot or bombs; rather, the camera is the main method of offense and defense, as it clears bullets from the screen. Scoring is based on the contents of each photo, boss location, number of bullets, and Aya's position. Notably, this is the only game from which Reimu Hakurei is absent. The same goes for Marisa Kirisame, with the exception of Highly Responsive to Prayers.
Related works
In addition to games, Team Shanghai Alice has also used the Touhou characters in other media.
- Curiosities of Lotus Asia (東方香霖堂 Tōhō Kōrindō), written by ZUN himself, is a story being published in installments. First it was published in the Colorful PUREGIRL magazine, but was moved to Magazine Elfics of the BiBLOS company after the discontinuation of the former. Recently, however, as BiBLOS went bankrupt, the series is likely to move to yet another magazine. In addition, some installments of Curiosities of Lotus Asia are published on the Elnavi website. Interestingly, the protagonist Rinnosuke Morichika is the only male character shown in Touhou.
- Eastern and Little Nature Deity (東方三月精 Tōhō Sangetsusei) is a manga being published in CompAce, a Japanese comic magazine. The base story is written by ZUN (the only known member of Team Shanghai Alice), and the art is by Nemu Matsukura, a known fan of the Touhou series. The story centers around three fairies and their daily mischiefs to the visitors of Reimu's shrine. Starting May 2006, Matsukura stopped drawing the manga for health reasons, and that responsibility was given to Makoto Hirasaka. The new version is titled Strange and Bright Nature Deity.
- Bohemian Archive in Japanese Red (東方文花帖 Tōhō Bunkachō) is the official fanbook of the Touhou series. The book includes mock newspaper articles, an interview of ZUN, and a compilation of some doujinshi. A CD-ROM is attached to the back cover, and in it are new music tracks by ZUN, a demo of Phantasmagoria of Flower View, and a wallpaper of the book's cover.
- Seasonal Dream Vision (東方紫香花 Tōhō Shikōbana) is an anthology of doujinshi published by Tora no Ana. Also included is ZUN's setting of Gensokyo and a CD of various rearrangements of his music.
- Perfect Memento in Strict Sense (東方求聞史紀 Tōhō Gumonshiki) is an anthology of Gensokyo's histories, as told by Hieda no Akyu. It is scheduled to be released in early November, published by Ichijinsha.
World
The plots of the Touhou Project revolve around the strange phenomena that occur in the fictional realm of Gensokyo (幻想郷, literally Illusion Village or Fantasy Village).
Gensokyo is located in the Far East. Long ago, it was a desolate place haunted by youkai who preyed on lost wanderers in the area. Soon exorcists were sent into the area to resolve the youkai problem, and they eventually settled in the area as a check on the youkai. As human civilization advanced elsewhere, concepts such as youkai were written off as unscientific superstition. Gensokyo itself was sealed off by priests, and Gensokyo was slowly forgotten.
As a result of the seal, the isolated community developed its own civilization. As opposed to the outside world, magical and spiritual qualities prevailed over science, and while youkai and humans coexist, they still fight with each other. The only known gateway from the outside world into Gensokyo is the Hakurei Shrine, on the border of Gensokyo. The seal has weakened, however, due to the urban sprawl in the outside world, and more humans were able to wander into Gensokyo from the outside.
Characters
Some shooting games have no characters at all, but the Touhou series possesses a cast that could have trouble fitting in a novel. While they aren't developed nearly to the standards of a story-based game, many players love them, and even obscure stage bosses who only appear once have a fanbase. One example is Hong Meiling, the stage 3 boss of EoSD, who won a popularity contest in Japan.[citation needed]
It is interesting to note that among the vast array of characters, only three are male. One is a turtle, one is only mentioned in passing, and the only active male character is only featured in the serialized novel.
Though each game features a collection of different characters, the main character of the games is always Reimu Hakurei, joined by Marisa Kirisame after the second game. The only game where this is not the case is Shoot the Bullet, where only Aya Shameimaru is playable. Each new installment also "borrows" enemy characters from the previous installments as playable characters. (If one excludes Marisa from consideration, then Lotus Land Story and Embodiment of Scarlet Devil don't do this)
Fanworks
A prodigious amount of derivative works based on Touhou have been created since the release of Embodiment of Scarlet Devil. These include dojinshi, dojin music, and even dojin games, even though the Touhou games themselves are dojin games.
These activities are mostly responsible for adding original attributes to characters that ZUN did not intend to add. For example, Alice Margatroid is described in the original games as aloof and rarely caring much about others, while in dojin she is an fragile and oversensitive girl who desperately seeks Marisa's affection, nearly the inverse of her in-game character. Due to the lack of male characters, yuri pairings are prevalent among Touhou dojinshi.
Japanese fans have a habit of giving their favorite characters nicknames, sometimes strange or nonsensical. Hong Meiling is "Chuugoku" (China), Yuyuko Saigyouji is "Yuyusama", Ran Yakumo is "Tenko", and so on.[citation needed]
The dojin games based on Touhou are mostly adaptations of other game series' mechanics with Touhou characters, such as Super Marisa Land (an obvious parody of the Mario games with the title being a pun on Super Mario Land), MegaMari (based on Mega Man Classic), Moedan (based on Moeru Eitango Moetan), and Touhou Soccer (based on Captain Tsubasa).
Touhou's music is also very popular and many arrangement CDs can be found for sale at Comiket and other Japanese conventions.
Reitaisai
The Hakurei Shrine Reitaisai (博麗神社例大祭) is the largest of the many dojin conventions hosting only Touhou content. It first started in the year 2004 as a way for Team Shanghai Alice to publicly distribute the trial version for their upcoming games to the fans well in advance of releasing in on the internet. Since then, many Touhou derivative works are also gathered and sold there. Commencing every year in April or May, the convention has been hosted in Ota, Tokyo in 2004; Naka-ku, Yokohama in 2005; and Sunshine City, Tokyo in 2006. It is expected that Sunshine City will continue to host the event in 2007.
Although the coordinator of this convention has nothing to do with Team Shanghai Alice officially, the name "Hakurei Shrine Reitaisai" was given by ZUN himself.
External links
- Team Shanghai Alice, the official site of the group.
- Maidens of the Kaleidoscope, a community for English-speaking Tōhō fans
- TouhouWiki
- Twilight Frontier, creators of Immaterial and Missing Power: a fighting game, and Super Marisa Land: a Super Mario like game. They also produced MegaMari, a MegaMan like game.
- Touhou image board, featuring a repository of Touhou fanart
- Danbooru, another image archive. This one allows non-worksafe pictures to be added