Touhou Project
1952253
224106087
2008-07-07T09:53:53Z
Deadkid dk
677153
/* External links */ +template for future use
{{redirect|Touhou||Toho| (disambiguation)}}
[[Image:PCByukari140.jpg|right|thumb|300px|An example of [[bullet hell]] in ''Perfect Cherry Blossom''.]]
The {{nihongo|'''Touhou Project'''|東方Project|Tōhō Purojekuto}}, also known as '''Toho Project''' or '''Project Shrine Maiden''', is a series of [[Shoot 'em up#Manic shooter|manic shooter]]s made by [[Team Shanghai Alice]]. They are notable for being successful [[dōjin soft]] because of their intricate bullet patterns, their greater focus on characters than most shooter games, and being a one-man project.
==Development==
The Touhou Project is a one-man project by a Japanese game maker, ZUN, who did all the graphics, music, and programming alone.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cs.wisc.edu/graphics/Courses/679-s2007/CX/GameReview|title=Game Review: ''Imperishable Night'' (Touhou Project)|date=2007-01-30|accessdate=2008-01-11}}</ref>
==Gameplay==
The player's bullet power increases on a linear scale as the player collects power-ups 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. The player can use 'focus', the shift key by default, which 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.
The player can utilize a weapon called a 'spell card', the X key by default, which is similar to a 'bomb' in most other shooting games. While the player has a limited number, using one makes the user temporarily invulnerable and uses a special magical attack that generally clears the screen. Each character has two cards with different names and patterns. 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. In ''Imperishable Night'', this consumes two cards. Bosses also have spell cards, but with bosses the term applies to a prolonged pattern of movements and shots that lasts until the player depletes the boss' health by a certain amount, not a one-shot attack.
''Perfect Cherry Blossom'' and ''Imperishable Night'' have 'cherry' and 'time' points, respectively. 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, and 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".
;{{Nihongo|''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.
;{{Nihongo|''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.
;{{Nihongo|''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.
;{{Nihongo|''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.
;{{Nihongo|''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 [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]] instead, and left Amusement Makers to make his own group: the Team Shanghai Alice. The playability of the Windows games was substantially improved compared to their PC-98 counterparts. Most [[dōjin]] works derived from the Touhou series are centered on these games.
===Embodiment of Scarlet Devil===
{{Nihongo|'''''[[The Embodiment of Scarlet Devil]]'''''|東方紅魔郷|Tōhō Kōmakyō}} was the sixth Touhou game and the first 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===
[[Image:PCBYoumu.jpg|thumb|right|In-game screenshot]]
{{Nihongo|'''''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.[[Image:IaMPsakuyareimu.jpg|thumb|left|In game [[screenshot]].]]
===Immaterial and Missing Power===
{{Nihongo|'''''[[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 some of the characters from previous Windows games, such as the two protagonists [[Reimu Hakurei]] and [[Marisa Kirisame]], [[Alice Margatroid]], [[Youmu Konpaku]] (both bosses from Perfect Cherry Blossom), [[Sakuya Izayoi]] and [[Patchouli Knowledge]] (both bosses 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===
[[Image:Touhou 08.png|thumb|right|In-game screenshot]]
{{Nihongo|'''''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 will not 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 most of 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.
===Phantasmagoria of Flower View===
{{Nihongo|'''''[[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 out of season and more than usual. Initially playable characters include Reimu, Marisa and Sakuya as usual (as well as two other characters from previous games), but the list adds on as the player progresses in the storyline of each of the players.[[Image:STB-Thumb1.jpg|thumb|left|In-game screenshot.]]
===Shoot the Bullet===
{{Nihongo|'''''[[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 in which [[Reimu Hakurei]] is not a playable character - in fact, she does not even appear as an enemy.
===Mountain of Faith===
[[Image:Touhou 10.jpg|thumb|right|In-game screenshot]]
{{Nihongo|'''''Mountain of Faith'''''|東方風神録|Tōhō Fūjinroku}} is the tenth Touhou game. It was announced in early May 2007, and a trial version was released at the Reitaisai 4 convention on [[May 20]] [[2007]]. The full game was released on the first day of [[Comiket]] 72, [[August 17]] [[2007]]. Reimu receives an order to close down the Hakurei Shrine, or it will be torn down and the god of Youkai Mountain will take it over. As either Reimu or Marisa, the player has to ascend to the top of Youkai Mountain to find the god behind the happenings and prevent the shrine from being taken over.
===Scarlet Weather Rhapsody===
{{Nihongo|'''''Scarlet Weather Rhapsody'''''|東方緋想天|Tōhō Hisōten}} is a versus fighting game similar to ''Immaterial and Missing Power'' that was made with Twilight Frontier as well. It is numbered 10.5 in the series<ref>{{citeweb|url= http://tasofro.net/diary/diary200708.html|title=Tasogare Frontier's diary (August 2007)|accessdate= 2007-08-16|language=Japanese}} </ref> and was released on [[May 25]] [[2008]].[[Image:E0088742_922886.jpg|thumb|left|In-game screenshot]]
===Subterranean Animism===
{{Future video game}}
{{Nihongo|'''''Subterranean Animism'''''|東方地霊殿|Tōhō Chireiden}} will be the eleventh Touhou game. It was announced<ref>{{citeweb|author=ZUN|url=http://kourindou.exblog.jp/7850454/|title=Touhou Project Eleventh Bullet|date=2008-05-01|accessdate=2008-05-02|language=Japanese}}</ref><ref>{{citeweb|url=http://www.moetron.com/2008/04/30/touhou-11-東方地霊殿-~-subterranean-animism/|title=Touhou 11: Tōhō Chireiden: Subterranean Animism|publisher=Moetron|date=2008-04-30|accessdate= 2008-05-02}}</ref> on [[May 1]] [[2008]]. A demo was released at the Reitaisai 5 convention alongside the full version of ''Scarlet Weather Rhapsody''.
==Commercial works==
In addition to [[Dōjin soft|dōjin games]], Team Shanghai Alice has also used the Touhou characters in commercial media.
;{{Nihongo|''Curiosities of Lotus Asia''|東方香霖堂|Tōhō Kōrindō}}
:Written by ZUN himself, ''Curiosities of Lotus Asia'' 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. However, as BiBLOS went bankrupt, the series has moved again. Finally, it was published in the magazine ''[[Dengeki Moeoh]]'' from the August 2007 issue until the December 2007 issue, where the series ended. In addition, some instalments of ''Curiosities of Lotus Asia'' were published on the [http://elnavi.jp/ Elnavi] website. A compilation is slated to be published in 2008. Interestingly, the protagonist [[Rinnosuke Morichika]] is the only male character shown in Touhou.
;{{Nihongo|''Eastern and Little Nature Deity''|東方三月精|Tōhō Sangetsusei}}
:''Eastern and Little Nature Deity'' is a [[manga]] being published in ''[[Comp Ace]]'', a Japanese comic magazine. The base story is written by ZUN, and the art is by [http://goth.s7.xrea.com/top.html 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''.[[Image:BohemianArchiveofJapaneseRed.jpg|thumb|100px|right|''Bohemian Archive in Japanese Red'']]
;{{Nihongo|''Bohemian Archive in Japanese Red''|東方文花帖|Tōhō Bunkachō}}
:''Bohemian Archive in Japanese Red'' is the official fanbook of the Touhou series. The book includes mock newspaper articles, an interview of ZUN, and a compilation of some [[dōjinshi]]. 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.
;{{Nihongo|''Seasonal Dream Vision''|東方紫香花|Tōhō Shikōbana}}
:''Seasonal Dream Vision'' is an anthology of [[dōjinshi]] published by [[Tora no Ana]]. Also included is ZUN's setting of Gensokyo and a CD of various rearrangements of his music.
;{{Nihongo|''Perfect Memento in Strict Sense''|東方求聞史紀|Tōhō Gumonshiki}}
:''Perfect Memento in Strict Sense'' is a guide and bestiary of Gensokyo, as told by [[Hieda no Akyu]]. It was released in late December 2006, published by [[Ichijinsha]], but was originally slated for August of that year. A manga that uses the story's premise is published in the December 2006 issue of the ''[[Comic Rex]]'' magazine.
;{{Nihongo|''Touhou Bōgetsushō''|東方儚月抄}}
:''Touhou Bōgetsushō'' is a continuation of the story from ''Imperishable Night''. It consists of a manga, a novel, and a [[yonkoma]] serialized in three Ichijinsha magazines. The manga ''Silent Sinner in Blue'' began serialization in the ''Comic Rex'' magazine in the July 2007 issue. Drawn by Aki Eda, the manga focuses on the human characters - Reimu and Marisa. The novel ''Cage in Lunatic Runagate'' is being serialized in the seasonal ''[[Chara Mel]]'' magazine, debuting on 25 June 2007. It is illustrated by Tokiame, and the plot being a deep submersion into the manga, taking a non-human perspective. Finally, the yonkoma ''The Inaba of the Moon'' and the {{Nihongo|''Inaba of the Earth''|月のイナバと地上の因幡|Tsuki no Inaba to Chijō no Inaba}}, illustrated by Arata Toshihira, is a light-hearted discursion from the main story, featuring [[Reisen Udongein Inaba|Reisen]] and [[Tewi Inaba]]. It debuted in the August 2007 issue of the ''[[Manga 4koma Kings Palette]]'' magazine, which was sold on [[June 22]] [[2007]].<ref>{{citeweb|author= ZUN|url= http://kourindou.exblog.jp/5668286/|title=''Touhou Bōgetsushō''|date=2007-05-14|accessdate=2007-05-15|language=Japanese}} </ref><ref>{{citeweb|url=http://www.ichijinsha.co.jp/special/toho/|title=''Touhou Bōgetsushō'' official website|publisher= [[Ichijinsha]]|accessdate=2007-05-15|language=Japanese}}</ref>
==Setting==
The plots of the Touhou Project revolve around the strange [[phenomena]] that occur in the fictional realm of {{Nihongo|'''Gensokyo'''|幻想郷|Gensōkyō|literally ''Illusion Village'' or ''Fantasy Village''}}. Gensokyo is located in the [[Far East]] (ostensibly Japan, given that many of the characters have Japanese names, and Hieda no Akyu makes various comments about Japanese settings in Perfect Memento). Long ago, it was a desolate place haunted by ''[[yōkai]]'' who preyed on lost wanderers in the area. Soon exorcists were sent into the area to resolve the yōkai problem, and they eventually settled in the area as a check on the yōkai. As human civilization advanced elsewhere, the power of yōkai began to diminish and they chose to seal Gensokyo away from the outside world as a haven for themselves.
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 yōkai 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. However, due to the [[urban sprawl]] in the outside world the seal has weakened and more humans are able to wander into Gensokyo from the outside.
==Characters==
{{seealso|List of Touhou Project characters}}
With its focus on [[bishōjo]] characters, the Touhou series possesses a large cast compared to other shooting games. 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, affectionately known as Chuugoku (China), the stage 3 boss of ''Embodiment of Scarlet Devil'', who won a popularity contest in Japan out of all Touhou characters.<ref>{{citeweb|url= http://f39.aaa.livedoor.jp/~nullpopo/toho2/|title=Touhou Saimoe 2 official website and contest results|accessdate=2007-01-11}}</ref> 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 [[List of Touhou Project characters#Reimu Hakurei|Reimu Hakurei]], joined by [[List of Touhou Project characters#Marisa Kirisame|Marisa Kirisame]] after the second game. The only game where this is not the case is ''Shoot the Bullet'', where only [[List of Touhou Project characters#Aya Shameimaru|Aya Shameimaru]] is playable. Most of the games also "borrow" enemy characters from the previous installments as playable characters. (If one excludes Marisa from consideration, however, then ''Lotus Land Story,'' ''Embodiment of Scarlet Devil,'' and ''Mountain of Faith'' are exceptions.)
==Reception and fanworks==
A prodigious amount of [[derivative works]] based on Touhou have been created since the release of ''Embodiment of Scarlet Devil''. These include [[dōjinshi]], [[dōjin music]], and [[dōjin soft|dojin games]], even though the Touhou games themselves are dōjin games. These activities are mostly responsible for adding original attributes to characters that ZUN may not have intended. For example, Alice Margatroid is described in the original games as aloof and rarely caring much about others, while in dōjin she is a fragile and oversensitive girl who desperately seeks Marisa's affection. [[yuri (term)|Yuri]] pairings are prevalent among Touhou dōjinshi.
Japanese fans have a habit of giving their favorite characters nicknames, often based on [[In joke | in-references]]. Hong Meiling is "Chuugoku" (China), Yuyuko Saigyouji is "Yuyusama", Ran Yakumo is "Tenko", and so on. The dōjin 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 the ''[[Mega Man (original series)|Mega Man series]]''), ''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.
The Touhou Project was nominated for the eleventh annual Media Arts Plaza awards held by Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs, under the Entertainment category.<ref>{{citeweb|url=http://plaza.bunka.go.jp/open/works.html|title=2007 11th Japan Media Arts Festival Open form.|accessdate=2007-11-19}}</ref> However, [[Nintendo]] [[Wii Sports]] was given the Grand Prize award and Touhou Project failed to win any awards.<ref>{{citeweb|url=http://plaza.bunka.go.jp/english/festival/2007/|title=2007 Eleventh Japan Media Arts Festival Award-winning Works|accessdate=2008-02-29}}</ref>
===Reitaisai===
The {{Nihongo|'''Hakurei Shrine Reitaisai'''|博麗神社例大祭}} is the largest of the many dōjin 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 them 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; [[Sunshine City, Tokyo]] in 2006 and 2007; and the [[Tokyo Big Sight]] in 2008. 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.
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
* [http://www16.big.or.jp/~zun/ Team Shanghai Alice], the official site of the group. {{ja icon}}
* [http://www.tasofro.net/ Twilight Frontier], creators of ''Immaterial and Missing Power'' and ''Scarlet Weather Rhapsody''. {{ja icon}}
* {{wikia|Touhou|Touhou Project}}
{{Touhou Project}}
[[Category:Dojin soft]]
[[Category:Indie video games]]
[[Category:Japan exclusive video games]]
[[Category:Scrolling shooters]]
[[Category:Touhou Project| ]]
[[Category:Video game franchises]]
[[de:Touhou Projekt]]
[[fr:Touhou]]
[[ko:동방 프로젝트]]
[[ja:東方Project]]
[[no:Touhou Project]]
[[pl:Touhou Project]]
[[ru:Touhou project]]
[[th:โทโฮโปรเจกต์]]
[[zh:東方Project]]