Touhou Project

LogoGames

PC-98Windows Games

Highly Responsive to PrayersStory of Eastern WonderlandPhantasmagoria of Dim.DreamLotus Land StoryMystic Square

First GenerationSecond GenerationThird Generation

Embodiment of Scarlet DevilPerfect Cherry BlossomImperishable NightPhantasmagoria of Flower View

Mountain of FaithSubterranean AnimismUndefined Fantastic ObjectTen Desires

Double Dealing CharacterLegacy of Lunatic KingdomHidden Star in Four SeasonsWily Beast and Weakest CreatureUnconnected MarketeersUnfinished Dream of All Living GhostFossilized Wonders.

Background

Touhou Project is a Japanese doujin game series developed primarily by ZUN of Team Shanghai Alice. The series consists mainly of vertically-scrolling shoot 'em up games (danmaku), with additional print works and music CDs. It also includes seven danmaku action fighting game spinoffs co-developed with Twilight Frontier. The games are set in the sealed region of Gensokyo, a land where humans and youkai coexist under magical rules and regular incidents.

General Information

Official Date: 1996

Company: Team Shanghai Alice

Creator/Developers: ZUN

Genre: Shoot 'em up, danmaku, danmaku action

Cosmology: Multiverse (The human world and Gensokyo, a sealed land separated from the outside world by the Great Hakurei Barrier, creating a self-contained civilization with its own magical and social systems)

Number of Series: 1 main series

Number of Games: 33 main games

Status: Ongoing

Sales: A number of sales from Doujin Comiket sales, normally going over 1000 copies sold each comiket

Reception: Generally Positive (The Touhou Project series is influential in doujin culture, spawning dozens of fanmade series with use of the characters having their own entire officially published games not made by ZUN)

List of Misconceptions

Reimu is the 13th Hakurei Shrine Maiden

This misconception has been fully debunked by ZUN, essentially noting it were a lot of people that made additions to the original text causing confusion.

Power of the Verse

The series consists of various youkai with different sets of powers and characters capable of varying strength and speed into superhuman fields. One of the most defining traits is all characters usage of their bullet hell attacks covering the screen, making it very hard to dodge. The characters utilize a number of abilities such as: Magic, Energy Manipulation, Curtain Fire, Soul Manipulation, Mind Manipulation, Space-Time Manipulation, Boundary Manipulation, Ice Manipulation, Temperature Manipulation, etcetera.

Explanations

Canoncity of Touhou Project

The Touhou Project franchise canoncity mainly falls under any media worked on by ZUN are official and canon to the overall lineup.

There are various aspects constantly debated about within the canon:

PC-98

Media like PC-98, has been noted by ZUN to be ignored as one can ignore derivative works. He has also said that anything prior to Embodiment of Scarlet Devil can for the most part be ignored and one can think fo Embodiment of Scarlet Devil as the starting from a clean slate and starting a new series, he's also referred to Highly Responsive to Prayers as a study product. With this in mind, one would assume that PC-98 is thus non-canon to the Windows continuity of games.

However, ZUN has also directly stated PC-98 games are the same world as the Windows Games, stating that any contradictions that exist from PC-98 can be ignored from the retcon in Windows Era. While one argues ZUN noting the works are derivative works to be ignored and Embodiment of the Scarlet Devil should be seen as the starting point, these statements are moreso telling a fan to not worry about having to play PC-98 games or learn more about their stories.

It's also been noted in Embodiment of Scarlet Devil's おまけ.txt that the game chronologically is not too far from the previous title, which would be Mystic Square, the PC-98 title. ZUN has also directly brought back characters from PC-98 games, noting he wanted to bring back characters from before Embodiment of Scarlet Devil and notes any of the other older characters that don't appear have probably retired by now and are warmly watching over things from various places nowadays. When asked where Mima from PC-98 has gone, ZUN notes that he doesn't bring them back due to making things complicated and having potentially angry fans ask where she has been the entire time, he has also noted that there's not much use for characters like Genji as Reimu can fly now and also notes he is not dead. ZUN has also made mention to Genji probably living in the lake in the back of the shrine. In Touhou Sangetsusei ~ Strange and Bright Nature Deity, Reimu and Marisa were talking about glowing moss with Reimu saying it would be nice to transfer it to the pond in the back of the Hakurei Shrine and Marisa saying that she could make it grow there on the turtles' back, referencing Genji.

In Touhou 07 Perfect Cherry Blossom, when Alice meets Reimu, she tells her long time no see, noting that they've met before calling her "old friend". In Yuuka's mode in Touhou Project - Phantasmagoria of Flower View, Reimu directly references defeating Yuuka back in PC-98. If Yuuka defeats Marisa in the same game, she will note that Marisa has grown up quite a bit, when the last time she's seen her has been in PC-98.

Seeing as ZUN himself has directly said both PC-98 and Windows are in the same world and that characters directly acknowledged PC-98 events and reference characters from it, PC-98 is completely canon and any contradictions PC-98 have can be ignored.

Multiple Playable Routes

In the series, there are multiple playable character routes, including some where the characters fight Reimu herself and defeat her, calling question into what route is canon. ZUN has elaborated that canonically, anytime Reimu and the gang are defeated, they challenge again however many times they want, but on the youkai side, they do not challenge again after being defeated and are not attached to the results of winning or losing.

In terms of how playable routes have went, some examples of canonically noted routes:

• In Reimu's profile on Perfect Memento in Strict Sense, it's noted that Reimu resolved the Scarlet Devil Mansion Incident alone.
• Reimu is also acknowledged to have resolved the Spring Snow Incident in Perfect Cherry Blossom, though it is not noted if she did this alone.
• Reimu claims she solved the Eternal Night incident, however if one asks her about the cause or the perpetrator, she'll only respond with ambiguous answers, it is also not noted if she did this alone.

With some of these examples, it is normally assumed that in some way Reimu has some part in resolving every incident and other routes are dubiously canon depending on what transpired.

Spell Card Rules

There are many cases of weaker humans beating stronger Yokai or vice versa within the Touhou series, this has been elaborated on in Reimu's profile on Perfect Memento in Strict Sense. Reimu introduced the spell card rules as the youkai had no way to defeat the Hakurei shrine maiden, making many youkai feel that their meaning to exist have dissapeared. The rules incoporate the following:

• Spell cards are techniques specially-named by the individual, and they must be declared upon use.
• The number of each party's spell cards must be determined in advance of a duel.
• The first party to have all of their spell cards beaten must admit defeat.
• The victor is entitled only to what was agreed upon before the duel. If they're not interested in what their opponent has to offer, they can refuse a duel.
• Winners should generally allow losers a rematch.
• Always prepare for the unexpected.

The original draft held these rules:

• Combatants will give names and meanings to the duel for the benefit of beauty.
• Combatants will declare the number of named duels before beginning.
• Combatants may not repeat attacks by relying on stamina.
• Combatants may not deliver attacks that do not have meaning. The meaning itself becomes the attack's power.
• In the case that a combatant loses a named duel, that combatant will admit defeat, even if he or she has strength remaining. No combatant may kill a human, even upon victory.
• Combatants will write the duel's name on paper in the format of a contract. By doing so, the above-mentioned rules become absolute. These papers will be called spell cards.

These rules allows for duels that feel almost like sport rather then a match, and have allowed for weaker fighters to challenge stronger ones, due to this though, it also has become possible for youkai to freely defeat Reimu without worrying about the consequences.

Due to them being written into cards and essentially affecting the ability and power of an attack, the spell cards are likely the thing binding attacks to specific properties.

Knowledgeable Members

• GiverOfThePeace