Reitisen

Apparently ZUN got hacked by somebody and is now promoting cryptocurrencies. (atleast I hope this is the case) It seems like as of time writing this post the posts got deleted, but be aware as the account seems to be compromised. We will probably hear more about this soon.

Do you mean officially or this site in general? https://touhou-project.news/guidelines_en/ This is the current guideline for fan work creators that are outlining the guidelines for creators who want to share/sell and make works. Not everyone follows them as there isn’t a group of lawyers ZUN has poking at everything (except for a case of this site and other things) , but if it was AI it probably constitutes as infringement on other properties due to the training on artist’s works without permission. (Scrapping from sites like Danbooru or others) People in the Touhou Project fan base frown upon anything that isn’t approved by ZUN or has been negatively related to piracy or anything similar. (This for a case by case basis as some people are fine with it if you label it as AI) ZUN himself HATES AI and probably would stipulate a new rule specifically about AI if he decides the guidelines needed an update though none have been made since 2020. If you are thinking about this site then it probably is fine as there isn’t a lot of moderation except for serious cases of someone being too disruptive. Just label it as AI generated so people know that it is so they won’t be confused about who made it.

Going to be honest I’m more interested on whether or not this is going to actually impact Gensokyo in a story sense as she is a pretty notable figure and whether or not ZUN would actually follow through with doing it. Speculating on her death day isn’t really that interesting until ZUN makes it official on her death and if that had any impact to Touhou as a story.

Alright, seeing as how Touhou 20 is probably going to be released in 2025 (given the release dates from historical data), I've come up with some various theories and predictions for TH 20 and other releases based on previous games. This will include spoilers as it will talk about previous games and the stories behind them. This is also for fun! So you can take it as is or disregard it as you like as this will include my own supported viewpoints to the series. You guys can also add some predictions for what you think. 1. Touhou 20 | Will Focus On A New Plotline / Develops The Beast Realm Plot Alright, this prediction requires some backstory of the Touhou games, as people who know about Touhou lore know that a lot of the games are interconnected and sometimes reference past incidents and/or plotlines (EX: the current Beast Realm plotline and/or involvement of characters from the last game as seen from 6, 7, and 8, though many games do use past characters who aren't often seen as MCs). Introduction To start off, Touhou 20 is probably going to be a very important entry to the series due to previous games such as Touhou 10 being a new introduction to various characters and also Sanae, who has been a constant in the current Touhou games as a main character, aside from a new plotline given Kanako influencing Touhou 11's main plot. That aside, I feel like ZUN would probably be more inclined to make Touhou 20 a special entry that would either start another incident or continue the Beast Realm plot. New Plotline / Continuation of Beast Realm Plot This prediction is based on the length of previous plotlines and the focus of making Touhou 20 into something newer in the multiple entries. As the title says, Touhou 20 will probably involve a new plotline aside from the beast realm, which will probably be of some importance, but not enough to make the beast realm the main focus of this entry; it can also be put aside for another new incident. The other theory means the continuation of the beast realm plotline given that Touhou 19 UDoALG still has the three leaders kind of agitated against each other for control of Gensokyo, though the data to back this up is pretty low considering Zanmu's UDoALG ending has all three leaders of the beast realm convene and make up with Reimu acting as the peacekeeper, though the beast realm will probably still be of relevancy if brought up again. So to the new plotline I have some generalities that might be expected 1. Eastern thematic: Touhou has constantly focused on using characters from eastern mythologies for different plotlines; the use of western themes for a main game plot hasn't been used since EOSD, which focused on vampires, witches, maids, demons, and fairies. (To which I feel kind of disappointed as some character designs are from western backgrounds and fangames have provided great explorations of how it could be done for the main plot (BDiTB).) 2. 3–4 playable characters or just 2 main characters: This one needs more explanation as many people who have played Touhou know that many of the recent entries do include more than the usual two, though with the current theory "New Plotline," this might be relegated to just Reimu and Marisa with either 2-3 shot types that will lead to different endings. Otherwise, 3–4 playable characters will be the mainstay, given the recent entries which are probably the most likely. 3. *Something more modern*: This prediction is kind of more loose, so you can disregard it more easily, but I'll still talk about it anyway. Seeing as to how Gensokyo is constantly facing off more and more threats that have some theming around modern-day stuff, I feel like Gensokyo might face off with another kind of vague relation to the outside world that isn't entirely another character, but something that incites a new character into another incident. 2. New Touhou Fighting Game It has been about ~6 years since we had a multiplayer Touhou fighting game (disregarding GI and UDoALG as they don't fit what I'm actually talking about; the last one was AOCF in 2017). Studio Tasofro's recent work, GI (Goukyou Ibun), also called on the TH wiki Sunken Fossil World, has been kind of in production hell as it was supposed to release after WBaWC (presumably due to the effect of COVID-19 affecting the production schedule and release date). This wasn't exactly what people most expected from the game, as most people here felt that the gameplay fell short, though the music and art style always hit with people, given that Tasofro is made up of popular producers of doujin games. So maybe within the next year or two, there might be a new Touhou fighting game, as it is 2024, and Tasofro's regular schedule of fighting games might come back. 3. New Side Game Kind of expected given the release timeline, what type of side game is probably going to be dubious as most of the previous side games are either mostly STBs(Shoot The Bullet) and or one of the prominent ones GFW or 100th BM. Though one thing is for certain, it's going to include bullet curtain mechanics as it seems that is the only thing ZUN knows how to program a game around.

Controls: GNF is mostly a platforming game geared towards controller players, though keyboard controls still work just as fine. Z is your melee, X is shoot, and C is to lock onto enemies for shooting. You also have gauges that can be filled with density or sparsity. Gameplay & Design: Gameplay is a little bit empty as most of it focuses on bosses rather than regular enemies, which are scattered and far between. You can rush through enemies to advance, and there is no reason to defeat them yet, but there is a currency system in the works. Level design is also a little bit iffy at the start, though it gets better later with stage themes. The gameplay is a bit too fast depending on your frame rate; unfortunately, there is no option to control most of the game's settings, which might be hard for potato PCs with the graphics and those with faster hardware to have some stable speed as the game doesn't allow you to choose an optimal frame rate in the game, which might make boss fights way too fast to enjoy. Combat also needs a rework, as most attacks require you to risk pausing to deal good damage, which will always punish the player with the boss performing an attack within that time frame. Boss fights and visuals are pretty much the only thing that's going on in this game until new content is released. I would say this game is in a very early beta stage, given the content not being fully flushed out and it feeling empty. It has all the systems in place, but not a lot of content to explore and experience. This game started development around ~2019 to 2024 with the help of PLAYISM and WSS Playground for advertising and general management. Overall, the development of the game at the start was pretty strong, with monthly updates on the current development of the game, but there were hiccups from time to time and even longer than 6-month hiatuses for updates to then about 3-4 month updates to the present last update in October 2023. All of which seem to be happening again with the stage 3 hiatus. Generally, I don't recommend getting this game now due to these facts and the development hell it is in. Wait until this game is fully released for more reviews, though it is probably going to take more than a year or two (maybe three or more) given that the history of development is not favorable. Here is the general statement on Steam, which is the original statement from the launch in 2019. Not very good, as it seems the developer has introduced too many promises while being a solo developer, which is unfortunate.

Alright, this was done in this general format due to the fact that you can only have two questions for a poll. (if you were wondering why it isn't in poll format) To start off, this is a general questionnaire of the current fanbase of the site's denizens. This is to get a basic understanding of what kinds of people are present here and how one views Touhou as of now. Some questions are limited, but others are open for responses depending on choices. You can give an explanation for each choice and question if you want to, as I'm interested in what you guys respond with. 1. When did you get into Touhou? A. Before Windows Era (PC-98) ~ 1997–2001 B. During the start of Windows Era (6, 7, 7.5, 8, 9, 9.5) ~ 2002–2006 C. Second section of Windows Era (10, 10.5, 11, 12, 12.3, 12.5, 12.8, 13) ~ 2007–2012 D. Third Windows Era (13.5, 14, 14.3, 14.5, 15) ~ 2013–2016 E. Modern Era (15.5, 16, 16.5, 17) ~ 2017–2020 F. Present (17.5, 18, 18.5, 19) ~ 2021-2024 2. What made you first interested in Touhou? A. Primary works (Official games, music, manga, and art) B. Secondary works (fangames, music, manga, and art) C. Social influence (friends, family, and others) D. Other (Explain for this choice) 3. What made you stay with Touhou? This one is an open response since many people have different reasonings for staying within Touhou. 4. What level of fanbase do you like to interact with? A. Majority (Tumblr, Reddit, YouTube, Twitter, anything with a huge fanbase presence) B. Medium (Smaller end communities such as this site (MS), MOTK and a couple others) C. Small (Friends/friend groups, family, and others) 5. How familiar are you with Touhou lore and story? A. Quite a lot (Mainline games/Hiffu club, etc.) B. Average (only know about some character backstories and some story of games, but not to the point of remembering everything) C. None to little 6. Do you think Touhou is the hardest bullet-hell game? This one is open to response, as most people have different levels of playstyles and experiences with STGs. 7. Do you think Touhou Gacha harmed the franchise? This one is also open to response, as it can be viewed as both positive and negative depending on which side you are on. This is in general, though TLW might be the one that most are familiar with given its global prosperity. 8. Is piracy within Touhou good or bad? IKR, asking this question on a piracy site, but often times you can get interesting responses compared to crowds of people who care about moral projection. open response, but with leading questions. 1. It's good 2. It's bad 3. Other 9. How flanderized do you think Touhou characters are? If you don't know what "flanderization" is, it is the knowledge of a character whose complex traits are boiled down to oversimplified representations that represent the character in a static personality. (basically, they are very easily seen as X characters or "crazy") (This question encompasses every character.) A. 1–2 not flanderized at all B. 3–4 little bit C. 5–6 seared, but not charred D. 7–8, affecting their character E. 9-10 Everyone sees them as one way 10. Overall, which era(s) did you like/dislike the most? I am open to responses, basically asking which era of Touhou games you personally think is the best.

Alright, to start off, I'm going to be talking about GNF (Gensokyo Night Festival), which has been a game that I've been following for pretty much the start of development ~around 2019. Lots of people talked about it and even shared some screen shots of some of the more cooler scenes (Marisa's being the more dramatic one). I'm pretty interested in this project, even though, as of now, it seems like the creator hasn't posted since 2022 on their most recent account (they regularly do art), and it has been 7 months without an update to the current development, though half-year waits for development have happened before. Nonetheless, I wanted to share the current scenes with some GIFs until hopefully the next update comes out and it has more content. Spoilers (Includes some bosses from the beta branch and some secret areas)

To give clarification to the title, ZUN seems to put the Touhou series in a kind of Sazae time space (characters generally do not age and the story generally stays the same), which has put Touhou in a kind of slice-of-life period if it were boiled down to a really generalized statement used in the Doujin scene. This kind of development makes Touhou not really feel like it has developed nor have any kind of sense of concern for any kind of incident, as most people in the Touhou fandom never really had much concern for the story as the characters never lose nor change, which leads to the more prevalent aspect of Touhou as a fandom, the Moe-blob, and the general sentiment towards the more mature aspects of the fandom (no, its not the constant posting of horny on big platforms, but Touhou as a real-world aspect). I'm going to state this here: I see Touhou in a more two-way street aspect. I don't like it when people see Touhou as only cute girls, nor do I like Gensokyo's Extreme Depression Edition. A general balance and progression is what most series, such as Adventure Time or Neon Genesis Evangelion, have made in terms of not being overly bearing towards the fanbase while also respecting that the fanbase can handle more mature themes rather than only relying on newcomers to make the fanbase as it is without any kind of change. This leads me to the mature works, as I don't often see many Touhou works that do take this concept and spin it into what other series have made, except for maybe certain Doujin artists such as Zounose, who, even though they depict Gensokyo as a place for Youkai, make Gensokyo feel like a real world with characters that self-reflect on their own place within an eccentric world of Gensokyo rather than something of a setting that other Doujins seem to rely on for Slice-Of-Life scenarios with no focus on characters. To give context to Zounose's works, they generally are for the more mature fanbase as they focus on more introspective topics rather than light-hearted stories as even though they do include violence, it isn't just violence for the sake of it, but a story to impact with it. as an example in on of his works, Reimu isn't seen as the Hakurei shrine maiden, but rather herself and her responsibility with the duty as a shrine maiden, which is kind of covered by the official doujins, but not to the extent in which she is introspective enough to give a real thought to Reimu as a human being (Same with Sanae if you know other works from Zounose). Though most people seem to hate the general sentiment of more mature works as it seems they mostly ignore and or comment about how violent it is without the general context in contrast to what most people see as a generally cute series as I found out that discussions about series like this are generally buried with very few dedicated users talking about mature works in a forum-like way while Slice-Of-Life/4-Koma has been the most prevalent type of Doujin genre for Touhou in both people liking and discussing about it. (Set aside the KKHTA which is often used for edgy memes and shock humor nowadays). That aside, I want to clear up some things that most fans seem to think is true with Touhou in its spell card rules and violence. ZUN himself seems kind accepting of violence and the general breaking of rules in Touhou, as he does seem to generally accept the fact that violence is indeed the normality if you have played Imperishable Night in YUYU/YOUM scenario and also the whole entire character of Rumia eating humans without any kind of repercussion unless the person can fight back (which breaks the rules). Who's Who H&Y Rumia. So to keep in mind the Spell card rules aren't some kind of law that every being in Gensokyo follows, they are generally a rule that one must follow and can be broken as "Impossible Spell Card" did to which I found interesting as a story as to characters breaking the rule just to catch one Youkai, but it was never really covered as it was a side game rather than a main game which disappointed me as it was an interesting for Seija Kijin to be an actual Youkai that follows their own way of thinking rather than peaceful existence to be only put off as a nothing burger in the end even though they were probably the most antagonistic character in the series for what they did and planned. as stated here, "She's just a simple rebellious attention-seeker. She's pretty unusual for a Touhou character, in that she's clearly malicious and evil." Who's Who Seija Kijin So here comes the question, do you guys think Touhou is being held back in terms of what is being done? In this sense, is the story itself affecting the way most people see Touhou as in fan works? Or is it something only Touhou has that all other franchises don't as most people covet the Characters more than the games and story themselves?

Mmmm, this topic has been something of a long time brewing, hasn't it? 1.) General groundworks, fanbase fragmentation 2.) ZUN himself and franchising 3.) Doesn't he only interact with his JP fans? I'm gonna stop here for now and let this thread build up. I'm interested in seeing how this develops as it has been some time since something like this captured my attention.

Ah the joys of December, and a time for posting again. Alright! Hello! I'm interested in what you guys find interesting in certain Touhou Doujins! (Manga/VN types) This means fan work, not official work. You can list as many as you want, but I'm going to list one series to make this short and simple as the jumping point for others to add on and explain for themselves. I hope that the works you guys add here aren't just pure Yuri shipping and have actual lore and story, but that's for what you guys think is good in a Doujin manga. The series I list is one that is mostly looked over due to the nature of what Gensokyo's other side is, that being Zounose, which is a cup of tea for some and not for others given their works being more on the graphic and dark side. Though to begin, this kind of aspect of Gensokyo also has some deep meanings that I generally don't find in other Touhou manga's, given that most of them are lighthearted and/or don't really push for some story that gives weight to the characters involved or a bigger story that has lore implications. Zounose really likes to expand a lot of things that are found in games and sometimes make things more interesting to get into. https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/last_supper One work that I found especially impactful was "Last Supper," which, yes, is indeed the nitty-gritty of being a human in Gensokyo getting eaten, but it is slowly telling the story of a Youkai exterminator on his last vestiges of a new era in which he has forgotten the fear of Youkai as he slowly gets wounded and eventually reaches the end of his journey, eventually dawning as he is the last of his kind to go against Youkai in Gensokyo. It is very interesting to read as it practically involves a human trying to fight back against Youkais, eventually realizing that their old age and current balance in Gensokyo have left them outcast from both humans and Youkai alike, ending their lives with a journey to the end accepting the fate of the forgotten leading to the new era of Youkai dominance. (To which I'm not going to spoil how it ended) So? Got any to share that you guys think deserves more attention? Come to think of it, I've posted something like this before.

Mmmm, so this topic comes from an old forum idea that is probably still present but buried underneath some topic that I'm too lazy to find. So as the topic states, I'm talking about how you guys would design a game based upon which games you found interesting and would like to incorporate within the dream game that you would like to make. I'm going to be basing it off of Touhou, as the forum discussion was based off of, I think, Touhou and gacha games in the first place with the general disdain for the gameplay (e.g., LW and the failure of Danmaku Kagura in the mobile space). Game Design Part What's the genre? As the previous one was about turn-based Touhou and dynamic gameplay, from what I remembered, I'm going to try and come up with something different. (TBH, it's like trying to turn "cog webs" into this.) Alright, out of the left corner, there is the Touhou civilization game. Yes, I know, this kind of sounds weird, and it indeed is, and I'm going to torture myself trying to fit pieces of Touhou stuff into something akin to a civ game. Gameplay Normal gameplay Hoho, you thought this was normal Civ? No, it's me, Danmaku. In this game, capturing things is based on Danmaku fights and gathering faith. Units and Leaders Your units will have a certain amount of danmaku power and will work off of first-strike advantages (if you know about advance wars); these will make up most of your forces against opponents. While regular units are your stock and will work out as their own attack and capture units, commander units and captain units are going to be your knives slicing through butter. They can smash most units, such as the various infantry fairies, fluffs, cats, Yukkuris, etc., and provide buffs depending on which CO/captain units you produce. As they are special, you must invest some faith in them to upgrade them into a bigger threat for the enemy, as a later mechanic will explain. You start with a choice of your CO from a faction that is very basic and can't do much except capture faith sites, pester enemy units from capturing your stuff, and build stuff that provides either vision or barriers. Maybe some traps, defenses, or special buildings specific to your faction or CO. Map layout Maps are randomly generated but are designated with special structures that you can capture for either natural faith gain or very special powers that can be used once (e.g., faction-based buffs such as the human village providing buffs to your unit movement, health, or Danmaku if placed on top that last for a couple of turns or used as a short but high faith gain that exhausts after a couple of turns). Each map for multiplayer is balanced, but has their own parts of Gensokyo that they must use to their advantage (e.g., Youkai mountains/mountains providing ranged units +2 or +1 range) only countered by barrier units who get less damaged by ranged danmaku or fast units that can evade shots but do little damage. Buildings Capitol/Faction HQ It's your main base of operations; your CO unit starts here. It can produce standard units and, most importantly, captain units. Also, the main upgrade point Shrines Your main source of faith, nuff said Altars Produces basic units Barrier Blocks vision and units from passing through (only affects enemies, but some COs can see through barriers) Tower shoots danmaku at enemies and provides vision; it has variations depending on how much faith you spend Special Buildings Something that is explained with the COs and factions Danmaku time What if you thought this was just civ but Touhou themed? NAH. We are going to have a bit of danmaku in our fighting between commanders and leaders. Like actual danmaku and not move onto a unit to kill them. When you are attacking a CO unit, both units go into Shmup mode and have to fend off, damage, or destroy each other. Danmaku is based on how many upgrades your CO/captain unit has and can provide advantages during danmaku mode, such as activating spell cards against the attacker or defender. Commanders or captains defeated must wait a certain period of time and must be revived using faith. Game-winning condition Enemy commanders or captains must move onto your headquarters and enter an actual bullet hell stage. From there, it doesn't matter where the enemies CO are; they are now acting as the end-stage boss once you get past the buildup of Danmaku forces. Attacking commanders and captains must overcome the boss through danmaku and their own upgrades and skills. Defending HQ COs must play spell cards and create dynamic bullet fields in order to whittle down the attacker's health pieces. This kind of condition can promote turtling, so as a preventative measure, each incursion and attack on the enemy HQ boss that fails but does damage does permanent damage to the boss and incurs a faith loss for the defending CO depending on how much health the boss has lost. (This health can be regained, but only through high faith, so this also doesn't promote a quick rush to HQs, though it would be a death march to fight an upgraded enemy faction.) Choosing Your Commanders and Faction Humans A faction that is very normal—well, maybe if you count the inhuman powers they have. (Starting Faction - very basic.) Reimu Hakurei Starting items: Gohei (Melee), Ofudas (Range) Passive: Natural power: She gains +1 danmaku, +1 speed, and +1 range for herself when on shrines. lasts for two turns in which you perform actions. (Has a three-turn cooldown.) Upgrades: Yin-Yang orb DMG+, Bigger rod DMG+ , exorcism needles Ranged DMG+, ETC.) Marisa Kirisame Starting items: Broom (Melee), Mini-Hakkero (Ranged) Passive: Magician's Might!: Gains +1 speed permanently; can use potions to buff speed even more; lasts one turn; stores 1 potion at start. restocked on altars, HQs, or a Apothecary. MAX storage of 3. Starting potions: 3x Speed (+1) Special building: Apothecary: Restocks potions +1/+2 each turn on it depending on upgrades. It also heals Marisa for 1 for each turn spent on it. Can only be built once per game. Upgrades: Strength potions: Unlocks Strength Potions that provide +1 to DMG to Melee/range and +1 to range, Ironwood broom DMG+, Hakkero furnace Ranged DMG+, Bounty of the forest (Apothecary restocks +1 potion and adds +2 storage to potions storage, ETC+. Humans are mostly the starting faction. Leaders for them are very few, as they promote more simple gameplay with commanders as the starting point. e.g. Aunn Scarlet Devils A faction based around building up your defenses and focusing on upgrading your CO and leaders The buildup of power is more focused on targeting HQs and focused pushes. Normal units are built less. HQ special: Scarlet protection: every allied unit within adjacent tiles of the HQ gain +1 DMG and +1 DEF Remilia Scarlet, Commander focused on wrecking havoc on weak normal units and blitzing defenses. Starting items: Vampire claws (Melee), Blood shot (ranged) Passive: Fate: Gains +1 luck on danmaku rolls against normal units; has a sort of perception of danmaku being played during fights between herself and enemy captains or COs. Upgrades: Gungnir Ranged DMG+, Scarlet Bats DMG+, Vampire's Kiss (Passive: life steals on kill), Red Moon (Super), which costs faith to play. For three turns, it makes the moon red, enhancing Remi's powers. +2 Ranged/Melee DMG, +2 Movement, +1 DEF). Fear the night and protect your squishy units when this happens. Flandre Scarlet, A very devastating commander that focuses on a murder bar Has a very high skill ceiling in order to perform high-power moves. Very aggressive gameplay. It's not advised to engage her when her rage meter is near max. (visible by darker auras and murder eyes). Starting items: Vampire Claws(melee), Lævateinn(ranged, rage item) Passive: Burning Rage: Has a 5-bar rage bar, which is used to perform certain powerful moves. Her rage charges by one when defeating enemies. Rage dissipates by one turn or is consumed by actions. every bar provides a 0.50 Ranged/Melee DMG+ buff Upgrades: Held Emotion (+3 bars to rage bar, making it 0/8), Starbow break (Adds active ability that uses 2 rage) Acts as a longer ranged artillery that does some damage with a little bit of splash, Rampage mode (Active that burns bar by two but provides a +2 to R/MDMG and +1 to movement), Forbidden Barrage: Annihilation (Burn 7 rage bars in order to deal massive amounts of damage in a 3-range space pretty much demolishes any unit unfortunate enough to not be in cover and survive to the point of "close to death") Flan is put into cooldown mode after these two turns. Captains Sakuya Izayoi Scouting captain, moves fast and can teleport. low damage at game start. Has unique trapping abilities Starting item: knives (M+R DMG) Passive: Time and space maid: Can teleport by three tiles without hinderance to movement spent on terrain. This effect can be recharged in two turns. Upgrades: Sharp knives M+R DMG, Knife trap (places a hidden trap at Izayoi's feet, when stepped on by an enemy unit, Damage them and stun them for one turn) Patchouli Knowledge Slow captain focused on protecting and shutting down offenses and ranged combat. Can produce unique elemental defenses when upgraded. needs to be protected if you don't want her to be mukyuued. Starting item: Knowledge book (M+R DMG) Passive: Unmoving knowledge: -1 speed, -1 Melee Damage, +1 range and range damage) Upgrades: Fitness (gain +1 to movement and 0.5+ to melee damage) Elemental Tower building (Fire, Water, Earth, Plant) Fire does +1.25 ranged DMG, Water has +1 range, Earth does 0.50 DMG but does some splash, Plant can slow enemies. PCB Hakugyokurou Crew A faction that is focused on very deadly strikes and logistical warfare with strong leaders. (Boss Faction) (Not Balanced) HQ Special: Dance of the Dead Butterflies: HQ has a zone of butterflies that deal one damage to every enemy unit (except COs and leaders) within its zone of influence every turn. Those with one life are consumed by the cherry tree, which gives allied units +1 health within the zone (stored if no units are present) (+2 range with +1 when upgraded). Yuyuko Saigyouji A commander that one should stay away from if you are the enemy can still attack with her ranged beams. Invites death to enemies. Kind of slow, but death is always looming Starting items: Parting Fan (DMG R + M) Passive: Welcoming Death: She has an adjacent range of death in which she drains life from enemies and heals herself. Enemies at a certain health point die and depart. This buffs Yuyu with a +1 DMG buff that can last for two turns and can be chained and reset until max that performs an AOE burst effect resetting (Stackable up to 3, 5 with upgrades) Upgrades: Death's Embrace (Yuyu gains a +1 to her passive range effect) Cherry Memory (Yuyu gains +2 storage to her spirit stack and can manually burst her AOE) Barrage Blossom (unfolds the cherry fan and turns into an artillery unit); passive is disabled, but she gains +2 to range and +1 to ranged damage. takes a turn to unfold and refold. Yukari Yakumo (Phantasm Boss) (Extreme amounts of bull) This commander doesn't dawdle around; she starts with Ran as her captain unit, which can also summon Chen as a scout captain. Can place gaps in places where she has been. Letting her plan go will be your downfall, yet attacking her early is unadvisable. Creates map effects. Somewhat slow, hence the way she uses shikigamis to do her bidding. Passive: Boundary Breaker: Can place gaps that stay until destroyed. These gaps provide vision and can attack while also providing a quick travel point for only Yukari and her captain units. (this ability recharges by two every turn.) Gaps have 3 base HP Upgrades: Shikigami program (Increases DMG for Ran and Chen while also increasing movement by one) Wandering Eyes (Gaps gain +1 vision and can be another unit (up to two)) Splitting borders (Can create boundary effects on the map that can prevent crossing by creating random effects, e.g. damage, slowness, stun) Gap enforcement (All units within a gap's vision gain +1 DMG and +1 DEF; Gaps gain +1 HP) Termination Boundary (When there are ten gaps on the field) Yukari chooses one gap to travel to and forces closure on all ten gaps to empower her final attack. "You better have your headquarters bundled up, as Yukari can AOE and act on two turns in one turn while doing massive damage. She gains +2 Movement, +2 DMG, +2 DEF, and when she reaches your HQ, you better hope to Youkai Jesus that your defenses are top quality as she starts effecting the Danmaku battles themselves to deal extra DMG to your HQ boss." (Lasts until she is MURDERED) Wrote this as funni brain decided to jolt my head back into writing long form content. Anyways, time to go back into hibernation.

Having played through the game and the rest of the Touhou series, I completely agree with a lot of the stuff said here. It honestly feels like an imitation of POFV, but like a DLC with only added characters, minor mechanical additions, and some removals. There was nothing major in the SHMUP PVP from TH9. I honestly wished that TH19 added something new that TH9 didn't have, but the only things added were the things listed above by other users. Aside from net play mode being borked, I really wish that ZUN added something like actual spell cards that you initiate to attack opponents instead of using the boss system from TH9. Something like SWR/Hisouten in which you customize your decks and launch different attacks towards your opponent aside from relying on your attacker to flood the screen and hope your opponent gets cornered. Something more complex than onslaught mechanics. Single-player gameplay is not so fun after fighting the same drivel of bullets and getting the powerup cards, which don't really change anything aside from giving you minor boosts/changes and or damage. It feels like the bullet battles are more geared towards playing against a human opponent than an AI, as the bosses themselves don't play by the same rules as you do and punish you for launching attacks. I would rate TH19 to be the same, if not worse, than the fighting games. It relies on people to keep it going, as once you have beaten the AI, you really don't have anything else to beat aside from other humans who play on the same ruleset and can create dynamic fights. Without multiplayer, it's really just a one-off game that can't stand on its own legs, aside from the mainline SHMUP and some of the fighting games, which challenge you in actual difficulty/score rather than impossible fights that the AI can just zip through and crap on your screen.

Time to get this off my chest. Alright, this thread has been spurred out of both seeing @CountVonNumenor's thread about burnout and also the general state of the Touhou fanbase on other sites, most notably Reddit (which has been going through a ditch), in which most Touhou fans/internet denizens seem to be downright oblivious/blind to changes or downright hostile to those who are protesting changes which keep the site aware of the users and keep it useful to everyone. To give a synopsis for clarity, I'm going to cover how Touhou fans existed throughout the years and how the internet changed the Fandom from a mostly creative fandom to a sanitized corporate outcome over the years, which inspires no creativity. Some of it will talk about Touhou, some will not, given that this sort of thing can apply to any fandom that exists on corporate-owned websites and not fandom owned. This kind of progression is why I'm giving the outlook a Terribad stamp due to the short attention spans of Touhou fans and the rabid tribalism of people justifying how Reddit is right in their horrible changes which will shoot them right back in the butt. This is sort of the expansion of the forum thread about attention spans here: This discussion is for people who have an attention span. (You know who you are ) Information will be kept into spoiler sections in order to save on scrolling. This is all based on my own opinions on what has occurred over the years. 1. The Start of the Internet (Touhou Fans Eating Good) This kind of discussion will talk about the early internet | around the <2000> s 2. The Rotting Starts (Sanitization and blandness starts) Hmmm, this probably started around the 2008-2020 this is when sites started to go corpo mode and start profiteering off the users. 3. What it is now◝(^⌣^)◜--> ^o^ --> n-n (People capitulate to Greed for instant satsifaction) The complete change of culture in Touhou | 2020-Present Time to act as a boomer, even though I was born at the time in which old forums were going out. 4. Burnout Zone (Opinion on why the fandom is at an all time low for creativity) So how is this going to end up? (Conclusion - Touhou fans and everyone hate everyone else) What are you looking at?

Time for another plot exploration! Future Plot! What is being talked about Touhou's story being in a post-future state in which characters have changed (in appearance, thinking, maturity, or living status/ETC.) disregards ZUN's floating timeline, which ages characters according to when it is needed. How the setting could've changed: If you've been part of the fanbase for long enough, you've probably heard about spell card rules and other interesting tidbits that make up the plot for Touhou. All of that could change over time, as Gensokyo is currently seen as a safe place for both humans and youkai, though it might see bigger threats that could topple this law. Based on these I'm going to create an example of Gensokyo's future. Keep in mind that this is a theoretical piece based on current information with a tinge of dissolution of the actual ramifications of the plot. Basically trying to be loose on official information while trying to be something else for a bit of fun. Just think like Akyuu is writing this. Now time to introduce the changes! The Story We aren't going to take this too far into the future in which the MCs are long gone (that's for another time), but probably around an era in which the main characters have sort of already done most of the incident resolution enough to become somewhat pros in dealing with major threats (something around young to mid-adults 25–30). Incidents around this time are few, with much of the dispute being settled in Danmaku play, but violent youkai are one of the major reasons for some of these incidents occurring on a wide scale given the situation on the outside world being quite chaotic and influencing some of the denizens who are affected by these thoughts. Reimu Reimu, at this point in time, had to take up the full mantle of dealing with both youkai and humans who turned into youkai, along with being a dutiful shrine maiden. (If that really mattered in the first place.) Her demeanor is rather more mature given the responsibilities she was saddled with, though her attitude is still reminiscent of her teenage version. Her clothing would more closely represent traditional shrine maiden clothes, though more outfitted for movement, comfort, and the standard array of accessories she would usually have. Whacking the yin-yang orb and bashing her enemies with her gohei stick along with her ofudas (needles) are still her favorite modes of punishment and execution. That much aside, she still is friends with many Youkai who she deems are not harmful to disrupting the peace of Gensokyo; that much doesn't help her reputation with the humans in the village, who still think her shrine is a place filled with dangerous Youkai. Marisa Given how Marisa is constantly seeking to empower herself and is in constant contact with incidents, Marisa would've probably been on her way to becoming somewhat of a youkai magician given her obsession with mushrooms and magic, leading her to become something akin to Patchouli and Alice. Though her magic powers would probably be on par with Reimu's given the fact that both of them train with each other in both power and Danmaku, Her personality is rather reserved, but somewhat outgoing and upbeat to those who see it from a public perspective. Aside from her attitude, her clothes are still quite the same, but they have been adjusted to fit more items within various magic pouches and her size. Her usual routines are more refined than in her younger years, as she has focused her efforts on acquiring important magical items that she has deemed necessary for her potions and magic. She has often taken up the job of clearing out problematic and dangerous youkai within the forest and paths of Gensokyo. Her arsenal is still quite the same, but her spell cards are vast in terms of firepower, learned over many years of adapting other spell cards to her own. Her mini-Hakkero and broom stick are still her tools of the trade. Youkai Of Gensokyo As with all Youkai, most are rather the types that are good and the ones that are terrible for the balance of Gensokyo. Most youkai try to stay out of trouble given their reputation, which relies on both human fear and the avoidance of exterminators who drive them out of places where they lurk. The treaties of the land are still held as they were years ago, so not much has happened in the years as much of the underworld Youkai are respecting the rules made. That aside, some youkai do rise up and cause a fuss whenever they feel bored or have some type of plan in action, though it is usually the former rather than the latter. Otherwise, some youkai just outright cause panic and mayhem due to their personality being quite prude and hot to those that don't fit their personality. All of them are equalized with a good beatdown or extermination. Sages of Gensokyo Due to the unknown nature of the sages of Gensokyo, not many know of their operations or who their identities are within meetings. One thing is for certain, though: they are one of the most powerful in Gensokyo and keep the peace as they represent the many factions within the barrier. That aside, they mostly operate within their own areas and only convene whenever a credible threat needs their attention. They remain neutral for the time being. Yakumos One of the more prosperous yet mysterious clans is probably one of the most important to keeping Gensokyo thriving both outside and inside. The head of the clan is the well-known Yakumo Yukari, who seems to be in different places at different times. She still holds a close connection with the Hakurei shrine maiden and the magician, which has led both of them to become quite the exterminators. (quite ironic) Yukari's personality still remains the same as ever for a youkai, as she still makes others do stuff for her while she sleeps (most of it being her two Shikigami, Ran and Chen), though all of it seems to be keeping the peace of Gensokyo. She still wears her current attire for work and sleep but has been seen in other clothes aside from the usual. Right going to end that for the examples. All of this is an exploration of what a future Gensokyo would be like in a not-quite-so-distant future. I haven't gone quite into the drastic future in which everything is thrown at the wall yet, but that is for another time.