Touhou Project facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Touhou Project
Genres	Bullet hell (danmaku), shoot 'em up, fighting, block breaker
Developers	Team Shanghai Alice Twilight Frontier
Publishers	Team Shanghai Alice
Creators	Jun'ya Ōta ("ZUN")
Platforms	NEC PC-9800 Microsoft Windows PlayStation 4 (ULiL, AoCF) Nintendo Switch (AoCF, SFW)
First release	Highly Responsive to Prayers August 15, 1997 (C52)
Latest release	100th Black Market August 14, 2022 (C100)

The Touhou Project (also known as Touhou) is a super popular series of video games. It's mostly known for its "bullet hell" style, where the screen fills with tons of bullets you have to dodge! A Japanese independent game creator named Jun'ya "ZUN" Ōta made the whole series by himself. He does everything: the programming, graphics, stories, and music.

Since 1995, ZUN has released 19 main games and 6 spin-off games. He also makes related books and music albums. Sometimes, he works with another game developer, Twilight Frontier, on other Touhou spin-offs, which are often fighting games.

The Touhou Project games take place in a magical land called Gensokyo. This land is hidden from the outside world. It's home to humans and yōkai, which are legendary creatures from Japanese stories. In Touhou, these yōkai look like cute, anime-style girls. The main character is Reimu Hakurei, a shrine maiden. She often has to solve strange "incidents" that happen in Gensokyo.

The first five games were made for older Japanese computers called NEC PC-9800. The very first game, Highly Responsive to Prayers, came out in 1997. The famous "bullet curtain" (or danmaku) gameplay started with the second game, Story of Eastern Wonderland, also in 1997. In 2002, the series moved to Microsoft Windows with Embodiment of Scarlet Devil. Many more games followed, including spin-offs that weren't bullet hell games.

Touhou Project is also famous for inspiring tons of fan-made creations. Fans make art, music, books, games, and even internet memes based on the series! This is partly because ZUN lets fans use his content with very few rules. Fan-made Touhou items are often sold at fan conventions like Comiket. There's also an official convention called Reitaisai, where new Touhou games are often shown for the first time.

Games in the Touhou Project

Cover art for the first five Touhou games on PC-98

Early PC-98 Games

The first five Touhou games were made for older Japanese computers called NEC PC-9800. ZUN, then a student, developed these games. They were released by a student game club he was part of.

• Highly Responsive to Prayers (1997): This was the very first game. It's different from later games because it plays like Arkanoid. You control a Yin-Yang Orb to hit cards and bosses. It introduced Reimu Hakurei and the "Bomb" system, which lets you clear bullets.
• Story of Eastern Wonderland (1997): This is the first game with the famous "bullet hell" style, where you fly up the screen dodging bullets. Marisa Kirisame, another main character, first appears here as a boss. It added many features still used today, like smaller hitboxes for your character.
• Phantasmagoria of Dim. Dream (1997): This game is a versus shooter, meaning two players can battle each other with bullets on a split screen. You can also play against computer opponents.
• Lotus Land Story (1998): This game introduced the "graze" counter. You get points for letting bullets get super close to your character without hitting you!
• Mystic Square (1998): The last game for the PC-98. It brought back some old bosses as playable characters.

Modern Windows Games

After the PC-98 games, ZUN took a break for four years. He then started his own one-person team, Team Shanghai Alice, to make games for Microsoft Windows. These Windows games are like a fresh start for the Touhou story, but they still have many links to the older games. Games with decimal numbers (like 7.5) are spin-offs that aren't always bullet hell games.

• Embodiment of Scarlet Devil (2002): This was the first Windows game and looked much better than the old ones. It introduced the "Spell Card" system, where bosses use special, named bullet patterns. You can play as Reimu or Marisa to stop a mysterious scarlet mist.
• Perfect Cherry Blossom (2003): This game added Sakuya Izayoi as a playable character. It also has a "Cherry Gauge" that gives you a temporary shield when full.
• Immaterial and Missing Power (2004): The first fighting game spin-off. ZUN worked with Twilight Frontier on this. It mixes fighting game action with bullet hell attacks.
• Imperishable Night (2004): You play as two-person teams in this game, switching between characters to solve a mystery about the moon.
• Phantasmagoria of Flower View (2005): Another split-screen versus shooter, similar to Phantasmagoria of Dim. Dream.
• Shoot the Bullet (2005): In this unique game, you play as a reporter named Aya Shameimaru. Your only way to attack is by taking photos of bosses and their bullet patterns!
• Mountain of Faith (2007): This game changed a lot of the gameplay systems. It introduced "Options" (satellites that help you shoot) and a "Faith" system for scoring.
• Scarlet Weather Rhapsody (2008): The second fighting game, continuing the story from Immaterial and Missing Power. It adds changing weather effects to battles.
• Subterranean Animism (2008): Reimu and Marisa go underground to stop evil spirits. You get help from other yōkai friends.
• Undefined Fantastic Object (2009): This game features strange flying objects (UFOs) that give you bonus items.
• Touhou Hisoutensoku (2009): The third fighting game, adding new characters and weather. The story is about a giant creature.
• Double Spoiler (2010): A sequel to Shoot the Bullet, where you again play as Aya Shameimaru, taking photos of bosses.
• Fairy Wars (2010): A bullet hell game based on a Touhou manga. You play as Cirno, an ice fairy, who can freeze bullets.
• Ten Desires (2011): This game introduces "Divine Spirits" that fill a "Trance Gauge", letting you become invincible for a short time.
• Hopeless Masquerade (2013): The fourth fighting game. It has a "Popularity" system that unlocks special moves.
• Double Dealing Character (2013): This game was the first Touhou game to be sold digitally in the West.
• Impossible Spell Card (2014): You play as Seija Kijin, using special "cheat" items to beat super hard bullet patterns.
• Urban Legend in Limbo (2015): The fifth fighting game. It was the first Touhou game released on a console (PlayStation 4).
• Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom (2015): This game has two modes: a classic mode and a "Pointdevice Mode" where you restart from checkpoints if you get hit.
• Antinomy of Common Flowers (2017): The sixth fighting game, where characters combine into "tag teams".
• Hidden Star in Four Seasons (2017): This game features a "Sub-Season" system where collecting items gives you boosts or mini-bombs. It was the first Touhou game released on Steam.
• Violet Detector (2018): Another photography game, similar to Shoot the Bullet, where you play as Sumireko Usami.
• Wily Beast and Weakest Creature (2019): You team up with animal spirits to stop an attack on the surface world.
• Sunken Fossil World (2021): A unique side-scrolling water action game.
• Unconnected Marketeers (2021): This game features "Ability Cards" that give you special powers.
• 100th Black Market (2022): Released to celebrate the 100th Comiket event.
• Unfinished Dream of All Living Ghost (2023): The newest game in the series.

Other Media from Touhou Project

Besides games, Touhou Project also has music CDs and many print works like manga and fanbooks.

Music CDs

ZUN has released many music CDs, including "ZUN's Music Collection" with game music and new songs. There are also collections of older PC-98 game soundtracks and official soundtracks for the fighting games. These albums often include stories or notes from ZUN.

Print Media

• Curiosities of Lotus Asia: A series of short stories about a male merchant named Rinnosuke Morichika.
• Touhou Sangetsusei: A four-part manga series about three mischievous fairies and their adventures. The game Fairy Wars is based on this manga.
• Bohemian Archive in Japanese Red: The first official fanbook, written like a newspaper by Aya Shameimaru. It has interviews, art, and music.
• Perfect Memento in Strict Sense: Another official fanbook, written from the viewpoint of a historian character, giving facts about yōkai.
• Touhou Bougetsushou: A collection of works (manga, novel, comic strips) that continue the story of Imperishable Night.
• The Grimoire of Marisa: A fanbook that looks like Marisa Kirisame's scrapbook, showing her notes on different "Spell Cards".
• Wild and Horned Hermit: A manga series about a mysterious hermit who shares wisdom with Gensokyo's residents.
• Forbidden Scrollery: A manga about Kosuzu Motoori, who collects rare and dangerous demon books. This was the first Touhou print work officially translated into English.
• Strange Creators of Outer World: An official Touhou magazine with interviews, comics, and more.
• Alternative Facts in Eastern Utopia: A fanbook designed like a chaotic tabloid magazine by Aya Shameimaru.
• The Grimoire of Usami: Another fanbook featuring a manga about a Spell Card display in Gensokyo.
• Cheating Detective Satori: A manga series about a detective.
• Lotus Eaters: A manga series that started in 2019.

How to Play: Gameplay Basics

The game screen in Perfect Cherry Blossom:
1. Your character (here, Reimu Hakurei)
2. Your highest score and current score
3. How many lives and bombs you have
4. Your shot power and how many bullets you've "grazed"
5. The boss's Spell Card health bar
6. Special item counter (like "Cherry Points")
7. The boss's Spell Card name
8. Where the enemy is on screen

In Touhou games, your character's shooting power grows as you collect power-ups from enemies. You can also collect "point" items to earn extra lives.

You can enter "focus mode" by holding the Shift key. This makes your character move slower, shows your hitbox (the tiny part of your character that can actually get hit), and makes your shots more focused.

The "graze counter" tracks how many bullets pass very close to your character without hitting the hitbox. You get bonus points for taking these risks!

You have a special attack called a "bomb" or "spell card". When you use it, you become temporarily invincible, clear many bullets from the screen, and deal lots of damage. You have a limited number of bombs, but sometimes you get more when you lose a life. You can even use a "deathbomb" right after being hit to avoid losing a life!

Bosses in the game have different attack phases, also called "spell cards". These are long patterns of bullets and movements that you must survive or damage the boss through.

Each main Touhou game from Perfect Cherry Blossom onwards has special items that affect gameplay. For example:

• Perfect Cherry Blossom has "cherry points" for scoring and temporary invincibility.
• Imperishable Night has "time points" that affect the story and how fast the night passes.
• Mountain of Faith has "faith" points that increase your score.

All main Touhou games have four difficulty levels: Easy, Normal, Hard, and Lunatic. Each one is tougher than the last. Most games have six stages that get harder as you go.

After you beat the game without using any continues, you unlock an "Extra Stage". This stage is shorter but very difficult, with a super long boss fight. Some games even have a "phantasm stage" that's even harder!

Gameplay Terms You Should Know

1CC (One Credit Clear)

Finishing a game without running out of lives. This is often needed to unlock the Extra Stage or get a good ending.

Bomb

A special attack that clears enemy bullets, deals damage, and makes you temporarily invincible. You have a limited number of these.

Capture

Successfully surviving an enemy's Spell Card attack without dying, using a bomb, or running out of time.

Deathbomb

Using a bomb very quickly after being hit (usually within a fraction of a second) to avoid losing a life.

Extra Stage

A very hard bonus stage unlocked after you complete the main game without using any continues.

Focus Mode

An ability that slows your character down, making it easier to dodge bullets. It also shows your hitbox and makes your shots more focused.

Graze

When enemy bullets pass extremely close to your character's hitbox without actually hitting it. This often gives you bonus points.

Hitbox

The tiny, invisible part of your character that actually registers hits from enemy bullets. It's much smaller than your character's visible picture.

Item

Power-ups you collect in the game, like extra bombs, lives, or points.

Point of Collection

An area near the top of the screen where all items will automatically fly to you if you move into it. This makes it easier to collect them.

Shot

Your character's main way of attacking. Each character usually has different shot types to choose from.

Spell Card

The name for specific, powerful attacks used by bosses. It's also another name for the "bombs" you use.

The Story of Gensokyo

What is Gensokyo?

The Touhou Project stories happen in a made-up place called Gensokyo. ZUN designed it to be like a remote, hidden village in the mountains of Japan. Long ago, many non-human creatures called yōkai lived there with some humans. Over time, humans became afraid of the area, while others moved there to hunt yōkai.

About 500 years before the game Embodiment of Scarlet Devil, a wise yōkai named Yukari Yakumo created a special "boundary" or barrier. This barrier separated Gensokyo from the outside world. It was called the "Yōkai Expansion Project" and it made Gensokyo a magical world that attracted weaker yōkai from outside. Other things that disappeared from the outside world, like old animals or tools, would also appear in Gensokyo.

Because of this barrier, people in Gensokyo can't leave, and people from the outside world can't easily get in. Gensokyo developed its own unique way of life. It's not a parallel universe, but a hidden part of Japan.

In modern Gensokyo (where most games take place), magic and spirits are very common. This is different from the outside world, where people stopped believing in unscientific things around the Meiji era. The only known way into Gensokyo from the outside is through the Hakurei Shrine, which is on the border. A very strong barrier called the "Great Hakurei Barrier" was built decades before Embodiment of Scarlet Devil. It's so strong that even yōkai can't pass through it easily.

In-Game Events: Incidents

In Gensokyo, strange events called "incidents" happen sometimes. An incident is a big event that affects everyone in Gensokyo, and no one knows why it's happening at first. The Touhou Project games mostly focus on these major incidents.

Often, incidents are caused by a yōkai being curious or playful. Usually, Reimu Hakurei goes to investigate, finds out who caused it, and stops them. Sometimes, Marisa Kirisame or other characters solve the incidents instead. When a big incident happens, spirits and fairies in Gensokyo become more powerful.

Characters of Touhou Project

The Touhou series has a huge number of characters, mostly cute girls. Even though the games don't have super deep stories for every character, many players love them. For example, Hong Meiling, a boss from Embodiment of Scarlet Devil, is very popular in Japan.

Most characters are female. There are only a few male characters mentioned: a turtle (Genjii), a cat (Sokrates), two who are only mentioned in stories, a merchant (Rinnosuke Morichika), and a cloud-like being (Unzan).

The main hero of the series is always Reimu Hakurei. Marisa Kirisame joins her as a main character from the second game onwards. However, some games let you play as other characters, like Aya Shameimaru, Cirno, or Sumireko Usami.

How the Games are Made

The Touhou Project is mostly a one-person effort by ZUN. He creates all the graphics, music, and programming for the bullet hell games himself. The only exceptions are some character pictures in Fairy Wars, which were drawn by Makoto Hirasaka.

The fighting games (like Immaterial and Missing Power and Scarlet Weather Rhapsody) are made by ZUN and Twilight Frontier together. ZUN writes the music and story, while Twilight Frontier handles the art and gameplay.

ZUN first became interested in making video games in high school. He wanted to create a shooting game with a shrine maiden character and a Japanese shrine theme. He originally wanted to make music for games, especially fighting games. Since he didn't know anyone else making games to put his music in, he started making his own. This led to the first Touhou game, Highly Responsive to Prayers, in 1996. That first game was just for practice. Touhou became a shooting game series from the second game because shooting games became popular again. ZUN said the overall theme of Touhou really came together with the sixth game, Embodiment of Scarlet Devil.

ZUN uses special software like Visual Studio, Adobe Photoshop, and Cubase to make his games.

See also

In Spanish: Touhou Project para niños