Touhou and Youmu

[agelessobsession]

Touhou is a Japanese doujin bullet hell shoot-em-up game series created for the PC. It's well-known for its intricate bullet patterns and designs as well as its huge cast of characters almost solely comprised of girls.

The games normally flow in a similar manner: One of the player characters notices something unusual going on and sets out to right the issue or take advantage of it to get treasure. The first two stages are normally composed of fighting bosses who have little to no relation to the events at hand. The third boss, however, sets the player on the course, knowing something about what's going on, and the fourth boss continues this. The fifth boss is usually the servant or underling of the final boss, and the sixth and final boss is the source of the incident itself.

Touhou is also well-known for being created all - characters, music, art, story, gameplay - by one man, the enigmatic ZUN. His art is usually criticized for being, well, bad, but its simplicity is somewhat of a charm for the series and the games wouldn't quite be complete without it.

Gameplay is known to be extremely hard, even easy mode being difficult to pass, but those with skill have popularized the game with videos of the hardest levels and spell cards. Games usually progress with a stage portion, the player shooting down random fairies or other minor enemies with danmaku (bullets), occasionally coming across a midboss, then having a short, snappy talk with the main boss of the stage before going to battle with them. Boss portions of the stage consist of nonspells and spell cards, the latter usually (but not always!) being more difficult than the former. Spell cards make up the bulk of why the gameplay is so well-known; some are absolutely beautiful, and others are absolutely terrifying. While the game does give a hitbox not congruent to the sprite of the player character, the amount of dodging and grazing needed to perform in the game requires attention at all times and makes Touhou a difficult, but incredibly fun, shmup.



Youmu is a character in the Touhou Project who first appeared in the seventh game, Perfect Cherry Blossom, as the fifth boss, gardener to the final boss Yuyuko Saigyouji. She's intently loyal to her boss; in the game, Yuyuko sends her out to gather the spring of the world and dispel the seal on a demon cherry blossom tree with it, and she complies without debate. The player hunts her down along their way to the Netherworld, and while Youmu tries to fight them down and keep them out, she's eventually beaten and the player moves on to face Yuyuko.

As a character, Youmu is composed, serious, and focused. She focuses on her tasks and only her tasks, rarely straying from them, and is always loyal and close to Yuyuko, doing whatever is requested of her. Despite this, she's a bit snappy and sarcastic, usually calling out her boss when she knows something is going on, but still performing the tasks anyway. She's a bit trigger-happy, as well; in Imperishable Night, when she and Yuyuko are out to search for the reason behind the disappearance of the moon, she asks if she should cut down every boss they come across, excitedly complying and doing her duty with a smile.

She is a swordsman, using her two swords - one short and one long - to do both her gardening and fighting. The long sword, Roukanken, is said to be able to kill ten spirits with one strike. How that's possible, we'll never know. The short sword, Hakurouken, is said to be able to cleave through a person's own confusion. That, too, is never explained, but its powers are mentioned multiple times and Youmu is incredibly proud of her ability to wield them, being half human.

Youmu is a half human, half ghost hybrid - the same as the rest of her lineage. She is always followed by her spirit half, a white ball of a somewhat transparent ghost whom fans have dubbed to be called Myon (and for playing purposes, so does Youmu). Youmu and Myon are one and the same, fans deducing they must be able to understand one another and can converse often. The two fight back to back, the ghost half being able to fire danmaku, albeit at a lesser rate than her human half.

While Youmu was raised by her teacher, Youki, and prepared for the occupation she holds today, he vanished suddenly when she was young, leaving her training unfinished and causing her to perfect her own swordsmanship style. Due to this, her style is a bit odd and forced, usually consisting of her lashing out to attack with both swords drawn. She's an intense fighter and will fight until the last bit of blood falls, but also tends to exhaust herself easily and become overpowered quickly. Anger at your own risk.