Touhou Project

Where it started

Touhou Project (Japanese: 東方Project, Hepburn: Tōhō Purojekuto), also known as Touhou (東方; lit. 'Eastern' or 'Oriental'), is a bullet hell video game series created by independent Japanese doujin soft developer Team Shanghai Alice. The team's sole member, Jun'ya "ZUN" Ōta, has developed programming, graphics, writing, and music for the series, publishing twenty mainline games, thirteen spin-offs, and one remake since 1997. He collaborated with doujin developer Twilight Frontier on seven of the official spin-offs, six of which are fighting games. ZUN has also produced related manga series, fanbooks, and music albums. The first five games were developed for the Japanese PC-98 computer, with the first, Highly Responsive to Prayers, released in August 1997; the series' signature danmaku (弾幕; lit. 'bullet curtain') mechanics were introduced in the second game, Story of Eastern Wonderland (also released in 1997). The release of Embodiment of Scarlet Devil in August 2002 marked a shift to Microsoft Windows. Numerous sequels followed, including several spin-offs departing from the traditional shoot 'em up format. Touhou Project is set in Gensokyo, a preternatural land sealed from the outside world and primarily inhabited by humans and yōkai, legendary creatures from Japanese folklore that are personified entirely as young girls and women in an anthropomorphic moe style. Reimu Hakurei, the miko of the Hakurei Shrine and the main character of the series, is often tasked with resolving supernatural "incidents" caused in and around Gensokyo; she is joined by Marisa Kirisame after the events of the second game. Touhou Project has become notable as a prominent source of Japanese doujin content, with the series spawning a vast amount of fan-made works such as artwork, music, print works, video games, and Internet memes. Because of this, it has gained a large cult following outside of Japan. The popularity of the series and its derivative works has been attributed in part to the few restrictions placed by ZUN on the use of his content. Unofficial works are frequently sold at fan conventions, including Comiket, where the franchise has often held the record for circle participation, and the official convention Reitaisai, where trial versions of the official games are distributed prior to release.