Touhou is a phenomenon in the realm of otaku and has rejuvenated the dying shoot ‘em up (shmup) genre. It’s hard to believe that Touhou had such a humble beginning and has been already been around for 12 years. The series has become such a juggernaut that even people that don’t normally play shmup games have dabbled in the depths of bullet hell.
The shmup scene was all but dead when Touhou hit the scene in 1998, and even then the series didn’t truly become a phenomenon until its sixth entry, Embodiment of Scarlet Devil. Touhou really set itself apart with its well known ‘bullet hell’ gameplay and some semblance of a story, but a big part of its success lies in the numerous moe girls featured throughout the series. Classic shmups typically tossed the player into fighter planes and space craft, whereupon you would fight off legions of enemies until you finished the game. However, Touhou places you in the shoes of magical girls that have to traverse through screens riddled with colorful bullets and quirky villains. While the entire cast is female, it’s not just the main heroines and villains that have their fans. Strangely enough even one-shot sub bosses have their own followings for some reason.
This brings me to the point of this article. Would Touhou be popular without relying on moe? How many otaku can honestly say they were fans of the shmup genre before playing Touhou? How many Touhou fans played shmup classics like R-Type, Ikaruga, Rez, and Bangai-O before playing Touhou? My bet is not many. The shmup genre is very niche. Among all the people I personally know, only one of them is a long standing fan of the genre. Touhou would not be where it is now without the moe girls. Sure the gameplay is unique and revolutionized a dying game genre, but it needed something to lure in unwary otaku. A catch.
Moe.
Moe is a powerful thing. It can turn crappy anime into gold. It can make crappy games print money. In the case of Touhou, it’s actually a very good game. I don’t think Touhou would be too popular without relying on moe though. It would be just another niche shmup game series in the vein of Bangai-O and Ikaruga. But Touhou is not just another shmup. Touhou has made the genre trendy and relevant again. And it’s all thanks to moe.
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I don’t think there is a reason to argue with the point I do think moe plays into it for most people. However I played R-Type, Ikaruga, Thunder Force (which I all played before touhou, I had the cheep SNES Super R-Type with no level checkpoints); though I just love shooters, and I find the idea of there being millions of bullets on the screen and the characters having a kill box, that one pixel where if you get hit there you die I very interesting idea. Though the shoot um’ up genera is dead, and this played off current trends to make it hip and now. This isn’t a bad thing though, there have been other games that tired this and didn’t have good gameplay with it so they died. So while it is the moe that draws in the crowd, I think its the gameplay that keeps them their.
I’m not a fan of bullet hell games, the last of which I played was Square’s Einhander way way back in PS1 times. And even with Touhou having moe~ and all that, I don’t intend to play the games. I think Touhou already transcended from a doujin shmup to a doujin multimedia franchise. It’s possible to enjoy Touhou without even touching the original game series, and instead watching random flash vids, listening to terabytes of custom music, enjoying Reimu’s armpits in pictures, etc.
So I’m at the extreme end of things (I only go to Gensokyo for the moe~).
I personally suck major ass at bullet hell games, yet I STILL love touhou, partially for moe~, partially for the diverse characters and partially for the game itself.
But you can’t deny that Touhou has become what most doujin games (or shmups, whatever) will never be, a franchise. All you need to do is to take a look at the IOSYS or Alstroemaeria albums, doujins ABOUT touhou, memes like tsurupettan…..etc.
Maybe it’s the moe or ZUN’s storytelling, I have no idea personally . >_>
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I will admit, I was never a fan of danmaku until Touhou came in. However, ever since it did, it helped open up a whole new world (albeit a really small one) of twitch gaming, colorful bullets, beautiful patterns, and so on.
I guess what I mean is that if it weren’t for Touhou, I probably would never have even willingly touched most STGs. Thank God I did.
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If you mean moe in terms of girls with God-like powers, than sure!
But if you mean more in the “I want to protect her” vibe, that’s not what hooked me on to there, although that is an apparently powerful selling point.
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@Shadro: Yep, moe is the lure but the gameplay is admittedly solid and addicting.
@bluemist: So you’re a Touhou spectator fan?
@C.I.: Touhou is so popular that it’s insane!
@Zeroblade: Bullet hell has consumed your soul~
@TheBigN: Moe moe? Moe~
I’m guessing that storytelling might have quite an involvement in the Touhou franchise, looking at some of the official Touhou light novels (Curiousities of Lotus Asia, etc) and manga (Silent Sinner in Blue, etc). Not to mention, nowadays quite a number of danmaku games are dabbling in moe, but none have reached the popularity of Touhou. Then again, I suppose it has the benefit of a large fanbase and a long history.
Is the shmup genre trendy and relevant? It still seems pretty unknown in the big scheme of things (although we did get a release of Bangai-O in the states recently), but I guess that it is making a name for itself among serious gamers and especially anime otaku.
I think Touhou has evolved past being just a shmup at this point, just look at the fandom and you see random games (Tetris spinoffs, Dr. Mario clones, RPGs), fanart, doujinshi, music, and even a few mutant creations of its own (hey, I like Yukkuri, but the point stands), so much that it’s absolutely overwhelming to a newcomer.
It’s probably gone beyond being just a shmup, as ZUN’s actual games aren’t even the biggest focal point of the series for a lot of people nowadays. Personally, I like the games, but I’m equally entranced by the amount of effort that the community can put out in random fanworks.
So in conclusion, Touhou is a good gateway to shmup-land, and I’ve played a few good bullet hell games as a result, but I think it’s much more than a shmup now, thanks to moe.
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@Sylon: Touhou’s influence has definitely leaked into other shmups like Trigger Heart Exelica and Cave’s newer shoot ‘em ups like DeathSmiles. Like you said, Touhou’s story and established fanbase ensure the success of the franchise. I think the imitators do enjoy moderate success but nothing remotely on the level of Touhou.
@CCY: Touhou is an unstoppable cult franchise. The otaku dedication for it borders on scary sometimes.