The Unofficial All-inclusive Touhou Thread

**bjwdestroyer** · Posted: Tue Feb 24, 2009 1:17 pm Post subject:

SA English Patch will be released sometime in the very near future. I've been playing around with a beta and from what I've seen so far, everything is looking exactly as it should. And speaking of patches, a few guys are also working on English patches for PoFV and StB, and apparently, they are making some really good progress. Stay tuned for more information :P

Other than that, Suwako is confirmed to be loli in canon via Inaba of the Moon/Earth. >_>

hhhnnnnnnnggggggggg

Edit: Oh, and for those who aren't on IRC, I recently found a YouTube user, named marasy8, who is absolutely kick ass at Touhou covers on piano. All of his videos are from the games or are at least related to the series in some manner (for example, his most recent video is a cover of Cirno's Perfect Math Class by IOSYS), and honestly, I can't get enough of some of them. Why oh why couldn't Everfades release a sequel album to Reverie

**voidedalive2x** · Posted: Wed Feb 25, 2009 12:00 am Post subject:

**bjwdestroyer** · Posted: Wed Feb 25, 2009 11:28 pm Post subject:

[This post will be updated constantly as more information comes out]

Touhou 12 Confirmed!

The name is apparently... Undefined Fantastic Object. ZUN really needs to quit the alcohol.

Observations and what we can deem as facts with the gameplay:

Sorry, Sakuya

Demo will be released at Reitaisai 6 (March 8th), full version out C77 (August).

Lastly, the Japanese are way too fast at making fan art.

Nice boat.

**bjwdestroyer** · Posted: Thu Feb 26, 2009 5:28 am Post subject:

BAWWW I hate to double post but I believe that this announcement warrants a bump. If anyone feels otherwise, I can get someone like Krim with ~~douchebag~~mod powers to combine these two posts :P

Subterranean Animism English Patch v1.00

Like I said earlier, you might want to expect StB and PoFV soon as well: not as soon as the time it took between MoF and SA, but soon nonetheless.

Now run forth and enjoy Marisa/Alice's fourth wall breakage, Satori's finishing-of-your-sentences, Utsuho's cockiness and ⑥ishness, and most importantly, Orin's southern accent. Try reading her dialogue without superimposing a southern accent in your head, because I sure as hell can't.

**MajorGeek42** · Joined: 22 Mar 2007 Posts: 431 Location: Sacramento, CA

*sees the announcement for TH12*

*also sees the announcement for SA eng patch*

ｷﾀ━━━━━━(ﾟ∀ﾟ)━━━━━━ｯ!!!!!
ｷﾀ━━━━━━(ﾟ∀ﾟ)━━━━━━ｯ!!!!!
ｷﾀ━━━━━━(ﾟ∀ﾟ)━━━━━━ｯ!!!!!

_________________

Obligatory ancient crazy hax vid
My custom song shit that I never update. PM me in IRC if you need something from there

**voidedalive2x** · Posted: Thu Feb 26, 2009 10:58 pm Post subject:

**bjwdestroyer** · Posted: Thu Mar 05, 2009 1:57 pm Post subject:

So on multiple occasions now, I've seen several people express their interest in reading doujins but have not been able to do so. Why? Because it's overwhelming. What do I mean by that? The fact that they are about to enter arguably the biggest proportion of what Touhou doujin circles create. With literally 1000's of doujins out there, which ones are good, which are bad, and most importantly, where do you start?

Hopefully, this post will set you on your feet.

Doujins? Explain!

Doujin, when referenced to Touhou and pretty much anything Japanese, involves the very broad definition of a group of fans who create derivative works to a series: manga/comics, music, games (doujinsoft), etc. For now, I will be focusing purely on the manga/comic side of things, but perhaps one day in the future I might make another writeup on something else. Although, I have barely scratched the surface when it comes to the music and doujinsoft.

I've snooped around the communities quite a bit, and as a result, I have noticed a trend: most people who read doujins have read specific common ones. By this, imagine a venn diagram where two circles are two different readers--the intersection are these "common doujins" that I am referring too.

In this post I will be compiling two lists: a list of common doujins, and a list of not-so-common doujins. If you frequent any Touhou communities (emphasis on imageboards), then you may have noticed many cropped images of doujins floating about; many of these come from said common doujins. The not-so-common ones barely scratch the surface, but this is more of an appetizer than a full course meal. I'm here to get you a proper footing so you can then experiment from there. My goal is not to show you only the good stuff (as such stuff is highly subjective) and have you stop there. Besides, it's not like I'm going to create a sequel to this post showing all the new good doujins released from Reitaisai 6 or C77 (although, I'll still probably edit this post in the future :P).

And as a side note, in case you do not know how to read a doujin, you read bubbles from right to left, and panels top down.

[All doujins can be found on Touhou Wiki. If you are waiting for a specific doujin to be released/translated, you can find progress here.]

Common Doujins

Circle: N/A (Official Work Promoted/Written by ZUN)
Title: Inaba of the Moon and Inaba of the Earth
Genre: Slice of Life, Comedy, 4koma
Example: Image
Comments: Very easy to get into. The plot (or rather, lack of plot) centers around the characters of Imperishable Night, primarily Reisen. Simple outline (4koma, 1-2 strips per page) with only a few pages per chapter. Watch crazy antics unfold, and then question to yourself "wait... this is actually canon with the series?!" Yeah.

Circle: Hole of Yago
Genre: Slice of Life, Comedy
Example: Image
Comments: Quite the proliferate circle, Hole of Yago has pushed out a lot of material. Could be a little harder to stick with as a lot of the strips and doujins are more about their cutesy nature than for comedy, but there are still laughs and smiles to be found. Might want to go through the Main Series before venturing into the many doujins they have created, just to see if you like the material or not.

Circle: Ennui Akadako
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Example: Image
Comments: Lots of comedy and pure madness--Ennui Akadako is Touhou with ADD. Great circle with a lot of memorable stuff, and the laughs are far more adult oriented than what you would find in Hole of Yago. I haven't read Ennui Akadako in a long time, but I remember one particular doujin being slightly NSFW--if they ever have anyone naked, it's done tastefully (not to mention, they will be flat-chested so... tsurupettan). Edit: Dichromatic Butterfly is the one I speak of. Dialogue is pretty damn dirty, on top of the fact that there's a lot of panels with flat chests >_>

Circle: Ishikiriba
Genre: Slice of Life, Comedy, 4koma
Example: Image
Comments: This is the doujin I started with, and it served its purposes really well. Cute and funny, Ishikiriba does all of their work in the 4koma style with art that fits it extremely well--simple, polished, and tremendously cute.

Circle: FLIPFLOPs
Genre: Slice of Life, Comedy, Drama (*Based on True Gensokyo Events)
Example: Image
Comments: I really like this circle, so much that I would read a lot of their work multiple times (of which is not particularly hard since doujins tend to be short). With so many interesting characters in Gensokyo, Touhou has a lot of Slice of Life potential; FLIPFLOPs takes this fact and runs with it. They don’t make everything really cute, nor do they make everything crazy. Instead, they model Touhou in what one could describe as a “real” slice of life—it really is just life in Gensokyo.
*: FLIPFLOPs has created two 200 page doujins that retell the events (or rather, tell the events in how they believe it played out) of both EoSD and PCB.

Circle: Dioxin
Genre: Slice of Life, Comedy, 4koma
Example: Image
Comments: Unless you have tried your best to stay away from any Touhou communities, you will recognize the art of Cirno in these 4koma strips immediately. Dioxin's work is very hit-or-miss because all the jokes tend to be heavily pun based, and to make it worse, the puns are based on Japanese pronunciation. It can still be a fun read, however, and the translators have written how the puns exactly work in each case.

Circle: Quarter Iceshop
Genre: Slice of Life, Comedy
Example: Image
Comments: Just another Slice of Life/Comedy series. I don't recall it as well as the others, but it's entertaining and that's what you want to hear since you are reading this post. ☢CAUTION!!!☢: read their doujins from left to right rather than right to left!

Circle: ANGELTYPE
Genre: Slice of Life, Comedy
Example: Image
Comments: Probably better known these days for their plush dolls that everyone wants but cannot get due to extremely limited supplies. ANGELTYPE has produced pretty memorable doujins and is definitely worth a shot.

Circle: Haniwa's Store
Genre: Slice of Life, Comedy, Drama
Example: Image
Comments: This circle is awesome. They've created (and are still creating) quite a library of works that tend to be comedy oriented with some drama on the side. Laid back and feel good stuff. Also, Suika in Reimu's outfit.

Taking the Training Wheels Off

Circle: N/A (Official Work Promoted/Written by ZUN)
Title: Silent Sinner in Blue
Genre: Action, Drama
Example: Image
Comments: An official story (canon) that documents the Second Lunar War. I've only read the first chapter as I never had much motivation to read it anyway, but I probably will sometime later (it's still a continuing series anyway). A lot of people read it due to it being official, so you're probably wondering "why didn't you put it in the Common Doujins list?" Well, because a fair amount of those who have read it or are still reading it actually dislike it. But instead of stopping, they continue reading because it is Touhou. Ah, gotta love fans.

Circle: One Night Stand
Genre: Action, Drama (FFVII)
Example: Image
Comments: Touhou meets Final Fantasy 7. Nothing else to say, really. Cirno is Cloud, so if you want a badass Cirno, this is for you. Other characters get the badass treatment as well (e.g. Reisen, Letty, China, etc.)

Circle: Aozora-Market
Genre: Drama
Example: Image
Comments: Dramatic and light-hearted, exactly what Touhou should be if it isn't some crazy action series or slice of life. Definitely read these in the order that Touhou Wiki presents them (or, at the very least, read Scarlet & Scarlet last). Although the plots between the different doujins aren't exactly intertwined, Scarlet & Scarlet definitely acts as a conclusion.

Circle: Tail Concerto temporary
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Example: Image
Comments: Lots of small doujin works with either light-hearted and funny scenarios or a bit more on the dramatic side of things. This circle obviously enjoys the Marisa x Alice pairing, so if you aren't a fan of it, you may want to stay away from a good half of their material.

Circle: Personal Color
Genre: Drama
Example: Image
Comments: Another circle that loves the Marisa x Alice pairing, of which encompasses maybe a good half of their work (one of which is NSFW, but tasteful). Most of their non-Marisa/Alice stuff is light-hearted and has some comedy, but they are probably best known for the fact that they seem to use a more canon-based personality of Alice. Usually, in doujins, it's Alice who is awkwardly chasing Marisa. Here, we practically have the opposite. Some people find this incredibly entertaining and depressing at the same time.

Circle: Happy Flame Time
Genre: Comedy, Slice of Life
Example: Image
Comments: Here's a circle that's been around for quite a while and is still producing new work. If you've read and enjoyed other Comedy/Slice of Life doujins, then this circle is right up your alley.

Circle: Hero Bear
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Example: Image
Comments: Lots of works mainly in the department of drama with a few little comic things on the side. One of the shorter comedic doujins actually deals with a UFO and happens to have a boat in it… Hero Bear was ahead of its time, obviously.

Circle: Sougetsu-Tei
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Example: Image
Comments: Probably best known for creating the whole “Youmu is a fangirl of all things Sakuya” meme. As the list nears its end, it seems that most of the included doujin circles are focused primarily on dramatic elements and story telling.

Circle: Saku Saku Tei
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Example: Image
Comments: And coming to a close, here’s another circle that has produced a fair amount of both dramatic works and comedic works. Nothing else to really say since circles tend to operate the same and there are only so many synonyms I can come up with for describing “drama.”

Now What?

So you've given each or most of the above doujins a chance and you now have a good understanding of what story elements you like with Touhou and which you dislike with Touhou. Well, now it's all up to you. Say hello to your new home: Touhou Wiki's listing of comics by release.

By visiting the above link on a frequent basis, you will be up to date on all new translated doujins. Some additions will be of groups you have already read, and if you liked that groups material, then go for it. If you have never heard of the circle, then it's time to experiment: download the new addition and check out a few pages (or you can download an older doujin, it's not like it matters). Note that new additions don't come at a rapid pace, thus giving you enough time to actually go through the past and check out earlier released items.

And there you have it, a guide to Touhou doujins. Hope you enjoyed it, because this took me a surprisingly long time to make :P

**voidedalive2x** · Posted: Sat Mar 07, 2009 3:33 am Post subject:

Did this die or something?

Quite an interesting list of doujins. It would take quite a while to read em all (well, at least for me since i've never really heard of any besides IotM&E).

Gamewise, im working on PoFV normal, and currently am on Youmu.

Two characters i hate on any difficulty: Medicine (especially on higher difficulties, unless you're used to going REALLY SLOWLY. Do the poison fields build on each other?) and Shiki (special little black holes that add an extra undestroyable bullet shaped like Shiki's little stick after a bullet=FTFL!!!)

How im doing in the games:

EoSD: i somehow haven't really gotten the inclination to play this now. I can reach stage 5 on a consistent basis, but never with enough lives to survive random deaths by Sakuya to live beyond Remi's first couple of spells.

PCB: i can reach stage 6 consistently, but its the same deal as EoSD (replace Sakuya with Youmu and Remi with Yuyuko and you get the idea)

IN: I can reach stage 6 on hard, but Marisa rapes me so hard I really only have like 2 lives and 3 bombs into stage 5. The farthest ive gotten on B is to Hourai Jewel, but i run out of lives too soon.

POFV: explained above.

MoF: not really playing that much since i beat extra. Maybe every once in a while i try for a perfect ReimuA easy run.

SA: Outside of downloading it, i've never touched it for some reason. I dont know why, though...

I dont have IaMP, SWR, or StB, so no data on that.

What about you all? *is still waiting for a Phantasm run by Bjw*
_________________

GH accomps: FFWF, DE, Battery HDrums FCs! HDrums 46/49!!

RB accomps: RB3 MDrums FGFC! RB3 MOMBFGFC!
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**bjwdestroyer** · Posted: Sat Mar 07, 2009 11:17 pm Post subject:

UFO's demo is only a few days away so I decided to whip up one more video before it's release:

Perfect PCB Stage 5 Lunatic

**voidedalive2x** · Posted: Sun Mar 08, 2009 4:21 am Post subject:

**krimsunmunkeys** · Posted: Sun Mar 08, 2009 12:30 pm Post subject:

Yeah, I haven't been posting here. The main reason for that is the failed attempt at a Lunatic MoF Stage 6 perfect run (the replay for which can be found here). I've since been working on that in between sanity-curing runs of other random shit, and have pulled off 3 single-death runs other than that one (at more reasonable places like SoR and VoWG, rather than a stupid noncard).

I post today finally claiming an achievement that bjw has yet to do: a capture of Flan's QED. Here I am, playing at 3 am, tired as hell, dying on some of the stupidest shit. (I died to one of the red lasers on the sides of Kanako's first card. And I wasn't forced there by a misled wave of amulets. Nope, I rammed into a laser that was all the way on the edge of the screen. I'm that tired.) After the random Kanako run, my roommate shows our friend U.N. Owen Was Ronald, and I feel obligated to show him the original source of the song. Stupid deaths ensue, followed by, sure enough, the cap of QED. My mind and my skills work in mysterious ways.

Aside from that, I've started up my doujin reading with Inaba of the Moon and Inaba of the Earth. Cute, simple, and very easy to pick up. And I like the art as well. None of that Zombie Reimu crap.

**bjwdestroyer** · Posted: Sun Mar 08, 2009 3:01 pm Post subject:

Heh, awesome job with QED and make good use of my doujin guide above :P

(This almost makes me want to capture QED, but nah, UFO's demo is out)

Speaking of UFO's demo, Stage 3 is complete bullshit on Lunatic difficulty. Fun boss, but holy fuck if the stage isn't a ridiculous bomb fest (of which is no longer possible due to the bomb counter being back). The UFO system is also cool, but collecting lives (or anything else in general) on Lunatic is deceptively evil--nothing like having 2/3 red UFOs and seeing a green UFO turn red right as it marches into a wall of danmaku.

**voidedalive2x** · Posted: Sun Mar 08, 2009 8:16 pm Post subject:

I think i can imagine the screams of disbelief running through your mind at those times.

And i guess the idea of stage 4 being harder since its after the demo is kinda shot, i guess (if stage 3 is as hard as people make it to be)
_________________

GH accomps: FFWF, DE, Battery HDrums FCs! HDrums 46/49!!

RB accomps: RB3 MDrums FGFC! RB3 MOMBFGFC!
Old Youtube, New Youtube | I do Twitch, now!

**bjwdestroyer** · Posted: Mon Mar 09, 2009 2:05 am Post subject:

**voidedalive2x** · Posted: Mon Mar 09, 2009 2:14 am Post subject:

But isnt that most Stage 4's? (post-Momizi, Aya's survival on MoF; The Prismrivers last two spellcards; most of Reimu or Marisa's spells; Patchy's spells)

also, i decided to play Subterreanean Animism, but it said i was missing a .dll file. Following what some people said on that site, i downloaded the .dll, put it on there, and it worked, but now there's basically a black box encompassing the sprite of everything on the stage. Now, i suppose i really dont mind, but it is annoying, especially when im focused, as the black boxes completely obscure any bullets in them.

Is there something I can do? Or is it the .dll's problem. The file i needed was d3dx9_37, btw.
_________________

GH accomps: FFWF, DE, Battery HDrums FCs! HDrums 46/49!!

RB accomps: RB3 MDrums FGFC! RB3 MOMBFGFC!
Old Youtube, New Youtube | I do Twitch, now!