Touhou Project (Japanese: 東方Project, Hepburn: Tōhō Purojekuto), also known as Touhou (東方; lit. 'Eastern' or 'Oriental'), is a bullet hell video game series created by independent Japanese doujin soft developer Team Shanghai Alice. The team's sole member, Jun'ya "ZUN" Ōta, has developed programming, graphics, writing, and music for the series, publishing twenty mainline games, thirteen spin-offs, and one remake since 1997. He collaborated with doujin developer Twilight Frontier on seven of the official spin-offs, six of which are fighting games. ZUN has also produced related manga series, fanbooks, and music albums.
The first five games were developed for the Japanese PC-98 computer, with the first, Highly Responsive to Prayers, released in August 1997; the series' signature danmaku (弾幕; lit. 'bullet curtain') mechanics were introduced in the second game, Story of Eastern Wonderland (also released in 1997). The release of Embodiment of Scarlet Devil in August 2002 marked a shift to Microsoft Windows. Numerous sequels followed, including several spin-offs departing from the traditional shoot 'em up format.
Touhou Project is set in Gensokyo, a preternatural land sealed from the outside world and primarily inhabited by humans and yōkai, legendary creatures from Japanese folklore that are personified entirely as young girls and women in an anthropomorphic moe style. Reimu Hakurei, the miko of the Hakurei Shrine and the main character of the series, is often tasked with resolving supernatural "incidents" caused in and around Gensokyo; she is joined by Marisa Kirisame after the events of the second game.
Touhou Project has become notable as a prominent source of Japanese doujin content, with the series spawning a vast amount of fan-made works such as artwork, music, print works, video games, and Internet memes. Because of this, it has gained a large cult following outside of Japan. The popularity of the series and its derivative works has been attributed in part to the few restrictions placed by ZUN on the use of his content. Unofficial works are frequently sold at fan conventions, including Comiket, where the franchise has often held the record for circle participation, and the official convention Reitaisai, where trial versions of the official games are distributed prior to release.
Contents
Games
Touhou Project is a video game series developed by Jun'ya Ōta (known as ZUN). Beginning with the Arkanoid-inspired block breaker Highly Responsive to Prayers, the main series consists of bullet hell installments, with official spin-off fighting games developed in collaboration with Twilight Frontier.
PC-98 era
ZUN developed the first five Touhou Project games for the PC-98 system while he was a student at Tokyo Denki University. The games were published by Amusement Makers, a student game development club that ZUN was a member of. Between 1997 and 1998, ZUN sold copies of the first five games at Comiket, namely Highly Responsive to Prayers, Story of Eastern Wonderland, Phantasmagoria of Dim. Dream, Lotus Land Story, and Mystic Square. Since the PC-98 system was already in decline at the time, these works did not sell well and remained largely unknown. The game world was also different from those of the later games.
Windows era
The English fan community of the Touhou Project divides the series into three generations, including the PC-98 era, the first Windows Generation, and the second Windows generation. The first Windows Generation includes games between Embodiment of Scarlet Devil and Phantasmagoria of Flower View, while the second Windows generation includes games after Mountain of Faith. A less frequent approach from the community split the fourth generation further, also known as the third Windows generation. In the approach, the second Windows generation includes games between Mountain of Faith and Double Dealing Character, while the third Windows generation includes games after Double Dealing Character. For categorizing reason, this section split the games into three Windows generations.
Following the release of Mystic Square, ZUN graduated from university and took a hiatus from developing Touhou Project. During this time, he worked at Taito as a game developer and composed music for various games created by members of Amusement Makers. In 2001, ZUN formed the one-man doujin circle called "Team Shanghai Alice" and relaunched Touhou Project for Microsoft Windows. The Windows era is informally divided into two or three generations by the English-speaking community.
In 2002, ZUN released Embodiment of Scarlet Devil, the first Touhou Project game for Windows. The game marked a notable graphical and auditory improvement from the PC-98 games and introduced several core mechanics, including the spell card system for attacks. Following its release, ZUN published Perfect Cherry Blossom (2003) and Imperishable Night (2004), which together came to be known as the first Windows trilogy.
ZUN developed the spin-off fighting game Immaterial and Missing Power in collaboration with Twilight Frontier and published it in 2004. In 2005, ZUN released Phantasmagoria of Flower View, a battling bullet hell game similar to Twinkle Star Sprites rather than other Touhou Project bullet hell games. The spin-off game Shoot the Bullet (2005) is a bullet hell in which the player clears enemy bullets by taking photographs of them. These games are considered the end of the first Windows generation.
In 2007, ZUN left his job at Taito to focus on the development of Touhou Project. The second Windows generation began with Mountain of Faith, released at Comiket that year. This entry marked a soft reboot for the series, with a total overhaul of the game engine that resulted in substantial design and pacing changes. Subterranean Animism was released in 2008, while Undefined Fantastic Object, the twelveth game of the series, was released in 2009. In 2011, Ten Desires, the thirteenth game of the series, was released. In addition, several spin-off Touhou Project games were released in the second Windows generation, namely Scarlet Weather Rhapsody, Touhou Hisoutensoku, Double Spoiler, and Great Fairy Wars.
Gameplay
Touhou Project games are vertically scrolling shoot 'em up games where the player aims to defeat enemies and complete successive stages without being hit by enemy bullets. Each stage has at least one boss; bosses have attack phases (also referred to as spell cards), a pattern of movements and shots that last until the player depletes the boss' health by a certain amount or time runs out.
The player's bullet power increases linearly as the player collects power-ups dropped by enemies and eventually maxes out. The player can also collect point icons to increase their score; life items and bomb items to obtain extra lives and bombs; and (from Subterranean Animism onwards) life pieces and bomb pieces that add up to an extra life/bomb when a sufficient number are collected.
The player can use a bomb to make their character temporarily invulnerable, clear many bullets, and deal heavy damage to all enemies. The player can use one during a short period (about 0.3 seconds) after being hit by a bullet to avoid losing a life, which is known as a deathbomb. The player can also enter focus mode by holding the shift key, which slows down the player's movement, makes their hitbox visible (from Perfect Cherry Blossom onwards), and focuses the player's attacks. In addition, a graze counter tracks how many bullets entered the character sprite but avoided its hitbox, rewarding the player with a score bonus.
Each main Touhou Project game has four difficulty levels: easy, normal, hard, and lunatic. Regardless of the difficulty choice, there are six stages in each game that become progressively harder. In addition, there is an extra stage typically unlocked by completing the game without using any continues. The extra stage is more difficult than normal and less difficult than hard, and contains an especially long boss fight. Some games in the series require a one-credit clear on Normal or above to unlock the extra stage, while on others, it can be done on any difficulty.
Each individual game of the main series from Perfect Cherry Blossom onwards has its own unique gimmick that affects some aspect of gameplay. For example, Perfect Cherry Blossom has cherry points, which are used mostly in scoring, but can grant temporary invulnerability; Imperishable Night has time points, which are essential for advancing to later stages and determine if the player can challenge a boss's final spell on certain difficulties; Mountain of Faith has faith points, which boost certain scoring mechanics.
Plot
Background
The plots of Touhou Project revolve around the strange phenomena that occur in the fictional realm of Gensokyo (幻想郷, Gensōkyō; lit. 'Land of Illusions' or 'Land of Fantasy'), originally described as a "a remote separated land of a human village in an eastern country." Long before Touhou Project's story began, many non-humans, like yōkai, lived with humans in the area. After a few humans disappeared into Gensokyo, many humans became afraid of approaching this area, while others settled there to exterminate yōkai. However, as time went on, humans developed civilization and multiplied in number, and thus yōkai worried about how the balance between humans and yōkai would be affected. 500 years before Embodiment of Scarlet Devil, the yōkai sage Yukari Yakumo developed the "boundary of phantasm and substance", which protected the balance. This was called the "Yōkai Expansion Project" and made Gensokyo a phantasmal world that automatically called out to the weakened yōkai of the outside world. Other things that disappear from the outside world, like extinct animals, lost tools, and architecture, appear in Gensokyo.
As a result of the seal, Gensokyo became inaccessible from the outside world, and similarly, those in Gensokyo became unable to leave. The isolated community developed its own civilization, independent from the outside world but still bordering it. In Gensokyo, there are few humans, and various kinds of yōkai, including therianthropes, vampires, bōrei, tengu, mermaids, and kappa. There are other species that may be yōkai depending on definition, like fairies, spirits, yūrei, onryō, poltergeists, hermits, oni, and deities, which are all portrayed in human female form. Otherworldly places such as Heaven and Hell are also accessible from Gensokyo.
In present Gensokyo, the setting of all Touhou Project games since Embodiment of Scarlet Devil, magical and spiritual qualities prevail compared to the outside world where unscientific phenomena were dismissed as "superstition" around the time of the Meiji era. The only known gateway from the outside world into Gensokyo is the Hakurei Shrine on the border of Gensokyo. The "Great Hakurei Barrier," managed by past Hakurei miko, is described as a "barrier of common sense" that not even yōkai can pass through. The yōkai initially opposed its construction before understanding its usefulness. In addition, the spell card rules, a form of regulation for how fights can be conducted, were also established by Reimu Hakurei to maintain the relationship between humans and yōkai, which was necessary to preserve of the balance of Gensokyo.
In-game events
In Gensokyo, events called incidents occur once in a while. An incident is an event that affects Gensokyo and is of unknown cause at the time it occurs. The Touhou Project video games mainly focus on incidents that affect the entirety of Gensokyo, but there are also works like Mountain of Faith and many print media stories that center on lesser-scale events.
Frequently, incidents are due to a yōkai's whim or curiosity. Typically, Reimu Hakurei or Marisa Kirisame go investigate it and find and chastise the perpetrators. While Reimu and Marisa are usually the ones to resolve incidents, there are cases where other characters would resolve them.
Characters
Touhou Project is known for its unconventional, almost entirely female roster, which features a cast of over 180 characters.
Though each entry in the series features a collection of different characters, the series's main protagonist is the Hakurei Shrine miko Reimu Hakurei (博麗霊夢, Hakurei Reimu),who is joined by the magician Marisa Kirisame (霧雨魔理沙, Kirisame Marisa) after the second game. They are usually tasked with resolving supernatural incidents caused in and around Gensokyo. However, various games, particularly spin-off ones, have other playable characters, including Sakuya Izayoi, a maid with the ability to stop time; Youmu Konpaku, a half-yūrei gardener and swordswoman; and Sanae Kochiya, a miko and arahitogami.
Characters that frequently appear in the print works include Yukari Yakumo, a yōkai involved with the founding of Gensokyo; Eirin Yagokoro, a Lunarian pharmacist; and Aya Shameimaru, a tengu journalist with the ability to manipulate wind.
ZUN has acknowledged that while the Touhou Project characters have elaborate stories, little detail is given to them in-game, saying that danmaku (bullet hell) is how the story and characters are communicated. Additionally, he has claimed danmaku is meant to be beautiful and aesthetically pleasing, which is also the main reason why the majority of Touhou Project characters are female. ZUN believes there is a feminine charm to bullet hell, which would be lost with male characters, and that the presence of female characters should not be interpreted as fan service.
Other media
Music CDs
Thirteen music CDs have been released as part of "ZUN's Music Collection". They are numbered from Volume 1 to 11 by release date, with Unknown Flower, Mesmerizing Journey and Rainbow-Colored Septentrion being numbered as 5.5 and 9.5 respectively due to their short playing time. Each album contains arrangements of music from the games as well as new compositions:
Dolls in Pseudo Paradise (蓬莱人形, Hōrai Ningyō; lit. 'Hourai Dolls'; 2002-12-30)
Ghostly Field Club (蓮台野夜行, Rendaino Yakō; lit. 'Night Trip to Rendaino'; 2003-12-30)
Changeability of Strange Dream (夢違科学世紀, Yumetagae Kagaku Seiki; lit. 'Changing Dreams in the Age of Science'; 2004-12-30)
Retrospective 53 minutes (卯酉東海道, Bōyu Tōkaidō; lit. 'East-West Tōkaidō'; 2006-05-21)
Magical Astronomy (大空魔術, Ōzora Majutsu; lit. 'Celestial Wizardry'; 2006-08-13)
Unknown Flower, Mesmerizing Journey (未知の花 魅知の旅, Michi no Hana, Michi no Tabi; 2011-05-08)
Trojan Green Asteroid (鳥船遺跡, Torifune Iseki; lit. 'Ruins of Torifune'; 2012-04-30)
Neo-traditionalism of Japan (伊弉諾物質, Izanagi Busshitsu; lit. 'Izanagi Object'; 2012-08-11)
Dr. Latency's Freak Report (燕石博物誌, Enseki Hakubutsushi; lit. 'Swallowstone Naturalis Historia'; 2016-05-08)
Dateless Bar "Old Adam" (旧約酒場, Kyūyaku Sakaba; lit. 'Old Testament Tavern'; 2016-08-13)
Rainbow-Colored Septentrion (虹色のセプテントリオン, Nijiiro no Seputentorion; 2021-12-31)
Print media
Curiosities of Lotus Asia (東方香霖堂, Tōhō Kōrindō; lit. 'Fragrant Rain Temple')
Curiosities of Lotus Asia is a serial novel by written by ZUN with illustrations by Genji Asai and released in 26 installments. It began serialization in Biblos's Colorful Puregirl magazine in January 2004, and it moved to Magazine Elfics after Colorful Puregirl ceased publication in September 2004. Then, the series was moved to the website Elnavi after Magazine Elfics ceased publication in October 2005. Following the bankruptcy of Biblos in April 2006, the series was moved to ASCII Media Works's Dengeki Moeoh magazine and was serialized until October 2007. It was compiled into a book and released on September 30, 2010. The novel is told from the perspective of Rinnosuke Morichika, one of the few male characters depicted in the series and the proprietor of Kourindou (香霖堂), an antique store in Gensokyo. In September 2015, a new serial began in the official Touhou Project magazine Strange Creators of Outer World, with 10 chapters being published as of January 2024.
Touhou Sangetsusei (東方三月精; lit. 'Three Fairies')
Touhou Sangetsusei is a four-part manga series written by ZUN and illustrated by Nemu Matsukura and Makoto Hirasaka. It was published by Kadokawa Shoten and serialized in Comp Ace magazine. The story follows three fairies (Sunny Milk, Luna Child, and Star Sapphire) and documents their daily mischief and adventures in Gensokyo. The first entry, Eastern and Little Nature Deity, was illustrated by Nemu Matsukara, beginning in June 2005. Matsukara gave up the project for health reasons in May 2006, with Makoto Hirasaka taking over for the second entry, Strange and Bright Nature Deity, which was serialized until January 2009. The third entry, Oriental Sacred Place, ran from May 2009 to January 2012; the fourth entry, Visionary Fairies in Shrine, ran from January 2016 to September 2019. The tankōbon volumes of the manga, which each include a CD with new tracks by ZUN, were released on the following dates: Eastern and Little Nature Deity (2007-01-26), Strange and Bright Nature Deity (2008-01-26, 2009-02-18, and 2009-08-26), and Oriental Sacred Place (2010-03-20, 2011-03-26, 2012-03-26). The 12.8th video game in the series, Fairy Wars, is a spin-off of the manga series.
Bohemian Archive in Japanese Red (東方文花帖, Tōhō Bunkachō; lit. 'Word Flower Album')
Development
Touhou Project is a one-man project by Jun'ya Ōta (usually under the pseudonym ZUN), who does all the graphics, music, and programming alone for the bullet hell games, with the exceptions of the portrait art in Fairy Wars, which was done by Makoto Hirasaka. The fighting games, Immaterial and Missing Power, Scarlet Weather Rhapsody, Touhou Hisōtensoku, Hopeless Masquerade, Urban Legend in Limbo, and Antinomy of Common Flowers, were dual efforts with Twilight Frontier, in which ZUN wrote the music and story, and Twilight Frontier created the art and gameplay.
ZUN's first interest in developing video games came during his high school years. While most shoot 'em up games utilise a military or science fiction theme, ZUN wanted a game with a miko main character, and a Shinto aesthetic. ZUN was part of his school's orchestra club, and originally wanted to create music for video games. He went to college, hoping to compose music for fighting games, since they were popular at the time due to Street Fighter II. As he did not know anybody else who was making games that he could put his music in, he made his own games for this purpose, which led to the first Touhou Project game, Highly Responsive to Prayers, being released in 1996. The first game was originally intended as a practice in programming. Touhou Project only became a shooting game series from the second game onwards, because the popularity of shooting games had revived due to RayForce and ZUN had long been a fan of such games. ZUN remarked how the general theme and direction of Touhou only started coming together in the sixth game, Embodiment of Scarlet Devil.
ZUN develops his games with Visual Studio, Adobe Photoshop, and Cubase, according to his interview in Bohemian Archive in Japanese Red. For the development of Fossilized Wonders, ZUN incorporated images generated by artificial intelligence into the game, a decision some Touhou fans criticized. However, he stated that his reason of using AI-generated images had to do with the game's plot, and affirmed a negative stance against generative AI in art.
Reception
Touhou Project was nominated for the 11th annual Media Arts Awards held by Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs, under the Entertainment category, where Touhou Project eventually lost to Nintendo's Wii Sports for the Grand Prize award. The series was inducted into the Guinness World Records in October 2010 as the "most prolific fan-made shooter series".
Legacy
Touhou Project has a large fandom. A survey conducted by the Comic Market Committee in 2009 lists the average age of Touhou Project fans among Comiket attendees as 24.8 years of age. According to the results of the Touhou Project Popularity Poll 2023, almost 40% of respondents to the poll were aged 15 to 19 years old, while people over 25 years old made up only about 20%. A later survey conducted by Nikkei Entertainment from December 16, 2023, with a sample size of 50,000 participants across various different fandoms, showed that respondents who considered themselves devoted fans of Touhou Project within Japan had an average age of 23 years, and a male-to-female ratio that skews 85:15.
Derivative works
Many derivative works based on Touhou Project have been created since the release of Embodiment of Scarlet Devil, including doujinshi, doujin music, doujin anime, and doujin games. The vast scope of Touhou Project derivatives has prompted commentary, with Touhou Project being noted as an unmissable aspect of Japanese consumer generated media.
Nowadays, Touhou Project is regarded as a typical example of database consumption. These doujin activities are mostly responsible for adding original attributes to characters. ZUN, for the most part, has acknowledged, appreciated, and even encouraged these derivative works by imposing very few restrictions on the use of his works. The major restrictions are on unauthorized commercial distribution, and the spoiling of endings; proper attribution to Team Shanghai Alice is a requirement, and creators of derivative works are asked to refrain from crowdfunding their projects. ZUN stated himself that he did not want the Touhou Project series to be officially commercialized.
The first publication of Touhou Project doujinshi occurred following the release of Perfect Cherry Blossom, where seven circles sold derivative works at Comiket 65 in December 2003. At Comiket 74 in August 2008, 885 circles had Touhou Project derivative works on display or for sale, out of a total of participating 35,000 circles. The series' popularity declined by the late 2010s, and by 2019, Touhou Project was the fourth-most popular series at Comiket, with less than half the circles of the Fate series. Besides Comiket, there are events exclusively hosting Touhou Project content known as Touhou-Only (東方オンリー). The largest Touhou-Only events are Reitaisai in Kanto and Kouroumu in Kansai.
Doujin games based on Touhou Project are another popular genre of derivative works. They include adaptations of other game series' mechanics with Touhou Project characters, such as Master Burner, an arcade shooting game based on After Burner, and original works such as UTG Software's Suwako's Jumping Shooting Game. Prior to 2014, it was difficult to find physical copies of these fan games due to official guidelines regarding commercialization. This changed in 2014 when Sony and Mediascape launched the "Play, Doujin!" to allow fan-made Touhou games to be ported to other platforms.
Several fanmade anime have been created for Touhou Project. Albeit created by amateur studios, the projects have sometimes included appearances by professional voice actors, such as Rie Tanaka. Doujin anime of note include Fantasy Kaleidoscope ~ The Memories of Phantasm (幻想万華鏡) by the circle Manpuku Jinja in 2011, A Summer Day's Dream (夢想夏郷) by the doujin circle Maikaze, and Hifuu Club Activity Record ~ The Sealed Esoteric History (秘封活动记录) by the Chinese doujin circle Kyoto Fantasy Troupe. A derivative anime from a commercial anime studio came in the form of Anime Tenchou x Touhou Project (アニメ店長 x 東方Project) by Ufotable to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Japanese goods chain Animate.
Internet memes
Major Internet memes based on Touhou Project are Yukkuris and "FumoFumo". Yukkuris, featuring disembodied, deformed heads of Touhou Project characters, originated from a crude attempt in late 2007 to draw the main characters Reimu and Marisa with Shift JIS art and a phrase "Yukkuri shite itte ne!!!" (ゆっくりしていってね!!!; often translated as "You should be taking it easy!!!"). It become a popular meme in Japan, winning 2008's "Net Slang of the Year". Videos narrated by Yukkuris with the text-to-speech engine SofTalk are called Yukkuri videos. Another popular meme is FumoFumo (ふもふも), a line of plush dolls of Touhou Project characters, designed by the Japanese illustrator Neji and manufactured by the Japanese merchandise company Gift. The plushes have emotionless faces, scornful eyes, and are about two heads tall. After becoming popular, the dolls have caused panic buying at times.