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 |  Tuesday, February 2, 2010
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 | "I?m back baby! Today?s subject - Looking into Touhou with detail" by Totaku
(2010-02-02) |
 Greeting everyone, I?m certain it has been a long time since I last came here and did any form of ranting. I am also surprised by all the changes that have happened here since the last time I came to the Tsunami Channel.
Lately, I?ve been busy doing work as a graphic designer but I also have recently adjusted enough that I can sit do some ranting.
Course I was curious what to talk about because I didn?t really have a lot of subjects to discuss at this time?
So I held a little topic to see if I could get fans of the community to come up with some interesting subject matters.
The first respone from Kaze was strangely enough worth discussing. Why Touhou again?
I went and looked back at what I?ve discussed about Touhou in general, and it came to surprise that not even once did I ever talked about the Touhou game series itself in general.
I?ve talked about the fan works, the community, and some of the games, but never the series in general. So for my current subject, my plan is to look at the world of Touhou in detail, starting with the series, it?s creator, the games, and then eventually the characters and then the fandom.
So without further ado let me begin by talking a little bit of the history?.
Back during the year of 1996, ZUN was attending college he began working with a student group known as Amusement Maker as a team. During that time, ZUN put together a game for the PC-98, which was, call Highly Responsive to Prayer, which would become the first game in the Touhou series. Even though this was the first game, it is important to know that it wasn?t a curtain shooter, but rather an Arkanoid type game. In it, Reimu had to bounce a yin-yang orb around to turn all the platforms around to complete the stage, all while avoiding enemies? attacks and being hit by her own yin-yang orb. Course it wasn?t without some form of danmaku elements. But regardless, the game did receive attention and later on Amusement maker made several other games to the Touhou series?
The four other games in the series were Story of Eastern Wonderland, Phantasmagoria of Dim. Dream, Lotus Land Story, and finally Mystic Square.
Within these games, ZUN had all the games take the form of a shooter in which they would include intense amount of bullets that the player would have to dodge through creating this ?Bullet Hell? environment. But in an artistic form?
Basically in the bullet hell environment, the play must focus on shooting while attempting to weave through the massive barrage of bullets as he either dodges or grazes through them all while shooting the enemies and eventually they would confront a boss which would lead to dialogue and plot which then would follow up with an intense danmaku battle. Which in the end would lead to more shooting and plot progressing till the player manages to complete the game, and if the right conditions are met?. would get the good ending, other wise, it would result in a BAD END. :P
However, it wasn?t until after ZUN left Amusement makers that the Touhou series would begin to take on a more elaborate plot and have a more defined universe. This was when he established his own Doujin circle in which he called it ?Team Shanghai Alice?. Despite the name, ZUN does all the work pretty much; he does the art, the character designs, the graphics, the music, the animation and so forth. Pretty much he?s the one man army, though he does tend to sometimes drag in a person or two to do some extra things?. like add some colors and stuff to certain things, but otherwise, he mainly does the work himself. (All while getting drunk off his beer)
From that point, ZUN was making one Touhou game every year from Embodiment of the Scarlet Devil (Game 6) all the way to his recent creation, Undefined Fantastic Object (Game 12). Plus at some points, he collaborated with another group of people to work on a fighter which I?ll bring up later on?
But for now this should conclude the introduction to the ?Looking at Touhou with Detail?. I guess what I can do for the next segment is introduce the games from the PC series and go through the characters one by one? why the PC series? Because that?s the series where Touhou began to receive actually attention. Course I may want to make this a little bit fun in the process? How? Well it?s matter of how interested I can get someone to get involved. :P
But for now this covers my introduction?. As for now here?s some videos that can give you a good idea of how the game play of a Touhou game is like along with maybe a boss fight.
Till next time.
Ja Matta! ^^
- Totaku
Here's something basic to start off with
Now let's crank it up a level
Now to the maximum!
Oh and may I remind you this is only on the normal setting? Sorry if it overwhelms you, I'll discuss some more about the mechanics later. ^^;
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| Wednesday, February 3, 2010
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| "Looking into Touhou with detail ? The World of Gensokyo" by Totaku
(2010-02-03) |
 Today, I shall be covering Gensokyo itself in general since it is the setting for the story plots on the Touhou series, so let?s begin?
A long time ago back in the older times of Japan exist a land called ?Gensokyo?. This land is located somewhere inland along a mountain range within Japan, where exactly is unknown. This place use to served as a home where youkai roamed and few humans would wonder. Those that ventured into this land couldn?t guarantee survival unless they were prepared to battle the youkai and thus they studied magic in order to exterminated them.
As the times changed so did Gensokyo but it wouldn?t be till around the 19th Century, that Gensokyo had went through a massive change. The world outside of Gensokyo was rapidly changing as technology began to grow and this ended up having a massive impact on Japan. It would eventually put the very land at risk and it put the youkais in danger risking them to possible extinction and being forgotten?.
It was then Gensokyo became a refugee point where the youkai would gather for their safety and working along with the humans who were interested in staying in the world in which technology didn?t have an impact on them. They worked together to set up a barrier around the land of Gensokyo sealing it off and leaving no trace of Gensokyo?s existence in the outside world.
This barrier was known as ?The Hakurei Border?
From the year 1884 and onward, Gensokyo remained hidden from the rest of the world allowing the youkai and humans to live in peace in a 19th Century Japan environment. And thus then magic became a primary focus within Gensokyo.
Course that still meant that they would occasionally do battle as well but eventually the rules would change for them over time?.
In the year 2003, Gensoyko would establish a new system known as the spell card system as a method of maintaining control over fights within Gensokyo by holding duels in which both opponents would use spell cards in terms of battle to settle their disputes without killing each other.
This was used as a method to control the youkai and human population because in a way, they depend on each other?.
Youkais need to feast on humans to some degree; no humans would risk their very survival. And humans need youakis in order to exterminate, no youaki would result in humans to begin developing other things (like technology). Thus why a spell card system was implemented.
Course even with the Hakurei border up, there are times when things seem to sneak through the border, whether it finds a weak opening, or they manage to teleport their way into Gensokyo. There are occasions when these unknown forces come through.
And because of these occurrences, an incident can break out in Gensokyo and a certain group of heroes must solve the cause?
On this very same year would begin the story of the PC series ?Embodiment of the Scarlet Devil? in which two girls, Reimu Hakurei and Marisa Kirisame would embark on a journey to find out the cause of the red mist that has been seeping out all over Gensokyo?.
But that series be covered next time?
Till then.
Ja Matta!
- Totaku
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| Thursday, February 4, 2010
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| "Looking into Touhou with detail ? Embodiment of the Scarlet Devil" by Totaku
(2010-02-04) |
 Greeting everyone, as I continue my long series, we will now begin our introduction to the first PC game series of the Touhou saga
Embodiment of the Scarlet Devil
In 2003, ZUN had recently established his own doujin group called ?Team Shanghai Alice? It was at this point he begin producing the Touhou series on his own mostly with very little assistance from other people after he left Amusement Makers.
Around the fall of 03? he released the first Touhou game onto the PC platform at a comiket convention, which was titled ?Embodiment of the Scarlet Devil?.
Embodiment of the Scarlet Devil was the 6th game in the Touhou series and while it had still took place in the same universe, it seem a lot had changed?.
Reimu and Marisa had a complete redesign compared to how they looked back in the PC-98 series. Plus their named were slightly written differently in kanji as well. In fact their characters were treated as if the universe of Gensokyo was different from that of the PC- 98 series. But is it really? ZUN explains it?s still the same world pretty much so much still remain a mystery as how the PC-98 and PC series connect other than the world of Gensokyo, some of it?s regions and that some characters return?
Anyways, in Embodiment of the Scarlet Devil, the plot explains that a strange and mysterious scarlet red fog has snuck into Gensokyo blocking the sky and making the atmosphere turn dark. This made the village begin to worry as what was happening, but there was a shrine maiden on the case and her name was Reimu Hakurei.
Meanwhile another girl became curious about the fog and noticed that off in the far distance was a shadow of a large mansion she had never seen before. This perked her curiosity, and thus she left her home and took off on her broomstick as she traveled toward the mansion, in hopes of finding treasure.
This girl was known as Marisa Kirisame, a young witch who seems very ordinary, but is also very clever with magic and can be sort of a thief in a way.
The team would embark their journey as they travel toward the source of the scarlet fog...The Scarlet Devil Mansion.
The mechanics of the game were pretty simple. You could control Reimu or Marisa and play on 4 difficulty levels (easy, normal, hard, and lunatic). From there the team would embark on their journey as they fire bullet toward their enemies. And in the meantime, the enemies would fire back at them. Eventually bullets would cover the screen over time and you would have to shift your character around to avoid the enemy attacks.
You could also use ?focus? mod, which would allow you to take your shots and focus them at one point allow for extra damage, and at the same time? it also slows you down. But of course slowing down has its benefits as well as you carefully make your way through the bullets?.
You character also had a hit box, which mean that was the vital area (the center of the body), which you the character mustn?t be hit at. Otherwise you loosed a life.
Other areas around that area would allow you to earn graze points as you move dangerously close to the shots.
Also it?s important to note that in order to earn extra lives you have to earn point, and the fastest way to earn points were to collect the blue point icons. And the best way to get those points is to go near the top of the screen where your points are maximized.
You also could collect red icons, which are power points. These are vital for two reasons. First you could earn more power that would eventually mean extra damage to your enemies. And once you max it out, you can head up to the top of the screen and all the points that drop from your fallen enemies will instantly come to you when you reach the ?point of collection?
Your characters also have two shot types each. Reimu while slower could use homing shots or fast piecing shots while Marisa was fast and had straight forward shot and also another set of shots that made lasers that pierced through the enemies. In total that?s 4 shot types, but you can only select one.
Also depending on the shot type, your character also had a ?bomb? attack. Which was known as your spell card attacks. These served as a way to blow the enemies away or severely damage the boss. But it?s important to know that bombs better served as a defensive weapon to destroy the bullets on the screen because you?ll learn quickly, the bullets are the only thing you should truly worry about.
Finally, it?s important to note that the game had several endings as well. But they could only to achieve them is by playing on the Normal difficulty in this game. Playing on easy will only let you play through 5 stages. While every other mode let?s you play through all 6 stages. And if you use a continue, you are bound to get the BAD END. While successfully completing the game without using a single continue will give you the good ending. There are a total of 4 good endings in total.
This should cover a concept behind Embodiment of the Scarlet Devil and it?s mechanics.
As for some videos, I actually already show you Embodiment of the Scarlet Devil in my introduction back two ago, so you should be able to look further down and spot them in an earlier post I did.
Next time we will look at the main characters of the Touhou series and then the cast that makes up Embodiment of the Scarlet Devil.
Till Then,
Ja Matta,
- Totaku
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| Friday, February 5, 2010
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| "Looking into Touhou with detail ? Reimu Hakurei" by Totaku
(2010-02-05) |
 Today we shall begin looking at the main characters that appear within the Touhou series in general and then follow up with the cast from EoSD characters later in the next few days. To begin I will explain about the key character and main heroin of the series, Reimu Hakurei.
Reimu Hakurei
Reimu is a shrine maiden who lives within a shrine located in the right near by the border of Gensokyo itself. The shrine itself is known as the Hakurei Shrine it pretty much stand at a hill where she can get very good view of Gensokyo in general.
In the PC 98 series, Reimu?s appearance was more like a traditional shrine maiden plus she had purple hair. She also was unable to fly during the good portion of the PC-98 series and had to fly with the assistance of an old turtle named Genji. However as time passed she would be able to fly on her own. And by the time the PC series debuted, Reimu?s appearance went through a complete change.
Her hair became brownish black, and while she wore a seemingly similar shrine maiden garb one thing that can be noted that is big to her change was that she now had detached sleeves to her design now. Leaving her armpit to be exposed in open view. (And yes this is a fetish among some of the fans). She uses the power of her amulets and her yin yang orbs to battle against the fairies and youkai that she confronts.
According to her records, it explains that special ability is to fly. But that?s a given to anyone in Gensokyo since they can all fly. If you personally ask me, I think it?s more like her ability is to be a broken main character made of hax. :P But I?ll save the story behind that for another day. You?ll understand why I said that when the time comes.
Reimu?s importance in Gensokyo is believed to be extremely vital. As she is the one who watches over the Gensokyo border itself. It is believed that her ancestors of the Shrine were one of the key people who played a role in establishing the Hakurei Border.
Despite her important role, the only time she really received notice for her dedication was during the Embodiment of the Scarlet Devil game, as in that story she actually chose to go on the mission to solve the incident by her own choice. After that chapter of the Touhou saga, Reimu went through a change as she became lazier and constantly complaining.
She pretty much spends most of her time grumbling about why she doesn?t get donations and the lack of food and loafs around not giving a care on the most part. However trouble always seems to knock on her door eventually in one form or another in the chapters that follow after EoSD. Most of the time, Reimu decides to investigate the incidents from there on only because they either interfere with her life, she gets dragged into it or under her own selfish ambitions. Regardless of these facts though, she still seems to hold a smile on her face and she bears with her tasks because she is a shrine maiden after all...
It?s also important to note that Reimu also doesn?t receive donations very often because people tend to be afraid to even go up to the shrine. Why you ask? Because apparently after each incident she seem to get involved in, she always ends up inviting the culprit who caused the incident over to the shrine and let them hang out as they have tea and rice. (A good summary of her endings in general). Thus her shrine has become sort of like a youkai hangout of it?s own.
Also Reimu was the first human to lay down the rules that were given to her about the spell card system. As of this point, it is unknown who wrote those rules though it?s said to be written on youkai paper.
Because of her role Reimu is a very important figure that is needed for the Hakurei Shrine, and thus they all abide by the spell card rules. Because if any of them were to kill Reimu, it would most likely result in Gensokyo?s doom. Thus one of the reasons she?s built with plot armor. :P
Besides that, Reimu also has a large variety of spell cards that all center around border, amulet and yin yang theme based on her role as a shrine maiden. And apparently there are some spell card that are said that only she?s capable of doing because of who she is as her position in Gensokyo.
As of this point, Reimu has appeared in every game in the Touhou series besides one, and that was Shoot the Bullet, which I will explain more about much later in the future.
In the fandom world, Reimu is often portraying pretty similar to her in game character. Course there?s always the armpit jokes and the many gags involving her donations, but that?s a given. And of course since she?s pretty much met with all the youkai and other charaters they always seem to come barging in making themselves at home (even if Reimu doesn?t want company, yet she bears with it since she?s a shrine maiden)
That?s it for now! Till next time,
Ja Matta,
- Totaku
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