東方Project Stuff!

Don't be a bad apple!

This is a page of information relating to the Touhou Project. At least that's the plan.

Under construction!

In case you're curious, the syllables rhyme with each other. They don't rhyme with the number 2 or the word "cow."

Anyway, the Touhou Project, also known as Project Shrine Maiden, is a Japanese video game series. Most of the games (18 of the 19 mainline games) are shoot 'em ups, and specifically a subset of said genre known as bullet hell or danmaku (弾幕).

14 of the 19 mainline games were created by Team Shanghai Alice (上海アリス幻樂団), which consists of an enigmatic developer known only as ZUN (though people actually know his real name but never mind that).

It's very well known for its music, which is also composed by ZUN. The games have a very unique musical style that lots of people love.

There are 19 mainline games in the series, but I've really only had experience playing the first 11. Of those, I've only been able to 1cc 3, 6, 8, and 9, and even then, I've really only played on Easy.

Games in violet are ones I've played. Games in red are ones I've been able to 1cc.

1. 東方靈異伝　〜 Highly Responsive to Prayers
2. 東方封魔録　〜 the Story of Eastern Wonderland
3. 東方夢時空　〜 Phantasmagoria of Dim.Dream
4. 東方幻想郷　〜 Lotus Land Story
5. 東方怪綺談　〜 Mystic Square
6. 東方紅魔郷　〜 the Embodiment of Scarlet Devil
7. 東方妖々夢　〜 Perfect Cherry Blossom
8. 東方永夜抄　〜 Imperishable Night
9. 東方花映塚　〜 Phantasmagoria of Flower View
10. 東方風神録　〜 Mountain of Faith
11. 東方地霊殿　〜 Subterranean Animism
12. 東方星蓮船　〜 Undefined Fantastic Object
13. 東方神霊廟　〜 Ten Desires
14. 東方輝針城　〜 Double Dealing Character
15. 東方紺珠伝　〜 Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom
16. 東方天空璋　〜 Hidden Star in Four Seasons
17. 東方鬼形獣　〜 Wily Beast and Weakest Creature
18. 東方虹龍洞　〜 Unconnected Marketeers
19. 東方獣王園　〜 Unfinished Dream of All Living Ghost

Fanworks! But who would use it during the winter?

Besides all the official stuff, there are lots of doujin circles that sell fanworks related to the Touhou Project. Team Shanghai Alice has traditionally had a very lenient attitude towards fanworks, leading to a thriving community.

In fact, one circle, Twilight Frontier (黄昏フロンティア), is responsible for the spin-off games of the Touhou Project.

Team Shanghai Alice is itself a doujin circle, but we're talking about other circles.

There are a lot of doujin circles out there that have made fanworks related to the Touhou Project. Those fanworks include stuff like music, fangames, print works (doujinshi), and even anime.

Those fanworks are often sold at conventions, with the most notable of which being Comic Market/Comiket (コミックマーケット / コミケット). There are also some other conventions, including a Touhou Project-specific convention known as Reitaisai (博麗神社例大祭).

There are lots of (in fact, thousands) of doujin circles out there, so I'm not going to be able to fit them all on here. But here's a few that I like.

• Alstroemeria Records - electronic (EDM, house, trance) music, named after a genus of flowering plants commonly referred to as the Peruvian lily, well-known for "Bad Apple!!" - website
• COOL&CREATE - electronic and rock music, well-known for "Night of Nights" (｢ナイト・オブ・ナイツ｣) - website
• IOSYS (イオシス) - music of varying genres, well-known for lots (and lots (and lots)) of memes, including "Marisa Stole the Precious Thing" (｢魔理沙は大変なものを盗んでいきました｣) - website
• Kisida Kyodan & the Akebosi Rockets (岸田教団&THE明星ロケッツ) - rock music, not as well-known as the above three - website
• ShibayanRecords - bossa nova and electronic music - website
• Akatsuki Records (暁Records) - music of varying genres, quite a bit newer than the other circles (most of the others were founded around 2003-04, with IOSYS being founded in 1998, but this circle was founded in 2012) - website

Some links.

• Team Shanghai Alice official site (in Japanese)
• Touhou Yomoyama News (also an official site, in Japanese)
• Wikipedia page
• Wikipedia page about Comiket
• Touhou Wiki
• Maribel Hearn's Touhou Portal
• Silent Selene

I first discovered the Touhou Project in June 2022. Like lots (and lots (and lots)) of other people, I discovered it through fanworks. Like lots (and lots) of people, I discovered it through Bad Apple. But unlike lots (and lots) of people, I initially tried to avoid Bad Apple for a while.

But then the retro computing demoscene dragged me into it anyway. Which is interesting because the demoscene is mainly a European phenomenon.

Anyway, there was one demo released in 2014 called 8088 Domination, which can display full-motion video in color with sound on the slowest of MS-DOS computers. You can view a capture of it here. Or if you want to see real hardware running it, you can click here. If you want to go straight there, click here. You should be right around where the animation starts, give or take 15 seconds.