Touhou Questionnaire 2024 📢

[Reitisen]

Alright, this was done in this general format due to the fact that you can only have two questions for a poll. (if you were wondering why it isn't in poll format)

To start off, this is a general questionnaire of the current fanbase of the site's denizens. This is to get a basic understanding of what kinds of people are present here and how one views Touhou as of now.
Some questions are limited, but others are open for responses depending on choices.

You can give an explanation for each choice and question if you want to, as I'm interested in what you guys respond with. View attachment 4770

1. When did you get into Touhou?
A. Before Windows Era (PC-98) ~ 1997–2001
B. During the start of Windows Era (6, 7, 7.5, 8, 9, 9.5) ~ 2002–2006
C. Second section of Windows Era (10, 10.5, 11, 12, 12.3, 12.5, 12.8, 13) ~ 2007–2012
D. Third Windows Era (13.5, 14, 14.3, 14.5, 15) ~ 2013–2016
E. Modern Era (15.5, 16, 16.5, 17) ~ 2017–2020
F. Present (17.5, 18, 18.5, 19) ~ 2021-2024

2. What made you first interested in Touhou?
A. Primary works (Official games, music, manga, and art)
B. Secondary works (fangames, music, manga, and art)
C. Social influence (friends, family, and others)
D. Other (Explain for this choice)

3. What made you stay with Touhou?
This one is an open response since many people have different reasonings for staying within Touhou.

4. What level of fanbase do you like to interact with?
A. Majority (Tumblr, Reddit, YouTube, Twitter, anything with a huge fanbase presence)
B. Medium (Smaller end communities such as this site (MS), MOTK and a couple others)
C. Small (Friends/friend groups, family, and others)

5. How familiar are you with Touhou lore and story?
A. Quite a lot (Mainline games/Hiffu club, etc.)
B. Average (only know about some character backstories and some story of games, but not to the point of remembering everything)
C. None to little

6. Do you think Touhou is the hardest bullet-hell game?
This one is open to response, as most people have different levels of playstyles and experiences with STGs.

7. Do you think Touhou Gacha harmed the franchise?
This one is also open to response, as it can be viewed as both positive and negative depending on which side you are on. This is in general, though TLW might be the one that most are familiar with given its global prosperity.

8. Is piracy within Touhou good or bad?
IKR, asking this question on a piracy site, but often times you can get interesting responses compared to crowds of people who care about moral projection. open response, but with leading questions.
1. It's good
2. It's bad
3. Other

9. How flanderized do you think Touhou characters are?
If you don't know what "flanderization" is, it is the knowledge of a character whose complex traits are boiled down to oversimplified representations that represent the character in a static personality. (basically, they are very easily seen as X characters or "crazy") (This question encompasses every character.)
A. 1–2 not flanderized at all
B. 3–4 little bit
C. 5–6 seared, but not charred
D. 7–8, affecting their character
E. 9-10 Everyone sees them as one way

10. Overall, which era(s) did you like/dislike the most?
I am open to responses, basically asking which era of Touhou games you personally think is the best.

 

 

[koakumas]

1. When did you get into Touhou?

approx. the present era, likely around 18.5-19 release (late 2022 or early 2023)

2. What made you first interested in Touhou?

i think it was a mix of primarily and secondary sources, then i was the influence for two of my irl friends to get into touhou  :AyaSmug:

3. What made you stay with Touhou?

been into it since i started, it’s mostly from the interesting stuff that comes out of the fans, especially from r/place bad apple. never underestimate the touhou fans as they say

4. What level of fanbase do you interact with?

i keep it medium level, i rarely ever speak in the big touhou discord servers tho sometimes i keep it small too since i have a bunch of online friends that are into touhou

5. How familiar are you with Touhou lore and story?

quite a lot tho there are still things i yet have to discover, my IQ for touhou is higher than my school IQ

6. Do you think Touhou is the hardest bullet-hell game?

as of today, i haven’t stepped out to see other bullet-hell games but i could play len’en if i did

7. Do you think Touhou Gacha harmed the franchise?

110% yes, LW has did a great impact on the turn of fangames leading to the gambling addiction of cute supernatural girls. i’m also a touhou ROBLOX user and the start of the rising tower defense games on there shouldn’t be ignored

8. Is piracy within Touhou good or bad?

i have mixed feelings about it. the thorns about it is the fact ZUN won’t get the money and it’s illegal too. the roses is that some people can’t afford the games on steam and such. the fan games here (PDP (puppet dance performance), MI (mystia izayaka), etc.) keeps the same opinions as the official games since the creators of those won’t get the money and allat :/

9. How flanderized do you think Touhou characters are?

i have my own headcanons, those have a mixture of canon and fanon but what from i gathered across the franchise: i’ll take D or even E. i’m quite surprised of the extreme difference from the flanderized characters to canon

10. Overall, which eras you like the most?

im quite the PC-98, 1st, and 2nd generations enthusiast :]

 

[Ken Hisuag]

1. When did you get into Touhou?
E. Modern Era (15.5, 16, 16.5, 17) ~ 2017–2020

2. What made you first interested in Touhou?
A. Primary works (Official games, music, manga, and art)

3. What made you stay with Touhou?
The music.

4. What level of fanbase do you like to interact with?
B. Medium (Smaller end communities such as this site (MS), MOTK and a couple others)

5. How familiar are you with Touhou lore and story?
A. Quite a lot (Mainline games/Hiffu club, etc.)

6. Do you think Touhou is the hardest bullet-hell game?
Wouldn't know, I don't really play Touhou or any other curtain-fires.

7. Do you think Touhou Gacha harmed the franchise?
I dislike gacha in general, and do not appreciate its inclusion in anything. That being said, I didn't notice any major impact on the parts of the franchise I interact with.

8. Is piracy within Touhou good or bad?
3. Other
The ethics of piracy in general is a complex subject; I disagree with the presupposition that you are justified to pirate what you couldn't hope to afford legally, but the piracy of unavailable (i.e. gatekept) media seems less problematic to me, since in theory the creator does not experience loss. I buy what I can, but I don't mind finding other avenues for what I can't (e.g., ZUN refuses to sell me the actual OSTs, so he's not losing anything if I get them by other means).

9. How flanderized do you think Touhou characters are?
C. 5–6 seared, but not charred

10. Overall, which era(s) did you like/dislike the most?
Eras seem vaguely defined, aside from the clear distinction between 1-5 and 6 onward, so I'm not sure I can properly answer this question.

 

[Rina_]

1. When did you get into Touhou?

i remember seeing some things related to touhou since 2020, but i just got into it after that year

2. What made you first interested in Touhou?

fanarts and music, tbh i'm not completely into the official games, that's why i really enjoy the fangames and stuff

3. What made you stay with Touhou?

cuz i love cirno hehe :) but honestly, i guess it's because i noticed the quantity of content availabe for the fans and the liberty we have to create our own works based on the series, this really amazed me

4. What level of fanbase do you like to interact with?

most of the time medium and less time on majority, cuz i don't have close friends who like touhou and i like having that vibe of liking something that most people don't even know it exists

5. How familiar are you with Touhou lore and story?

well, i know the lore of my favorite characters enough to like them, but the games' lore, not really

6. Do you think Touhou is the hardest bullet-hell game?

every bullet-hell is hard for me lol

7. Do you think Touhou Gacha harmed the franchise?

i'm not sure if my definition of gacha is the same as yours, but if it is, i don't really care about it, i play gachas all the time, even though the way they handled it with the touhou franchise it's kinda sad

8. Is piracy within Touhou good or bad?

any of those. i make Ken Hisuag's words mines.

9. How flanderized do you think Touhou characters are?

like cirno being childish? then i guess i'll go with C 5-6

10. Overall, which era(s) did you like/dislike the most?

again, not really into the games themselves, but i like the first windows era, idk it was cool and the lore of eosd is the only one i can remember right now

 

[Gri]

1. When did you get into Touhou?
Present (17.5, 18, 18.5, 19) ~ 2021-2024

2. What made you first interested in Touhou?
Social influence, I think? (often heard about people from Ys and Etrian Odyssey saying Touhou had great music, and I knew they were shumps. Decided to give the fan-game Scarlet Curiosity, an Ys clone, a shoot)

3. What made you stay with Touhou?
The official games. The gameplay of shumps is very addicting. Not sure how long I'll stick around once I am done with the games on Lunatic, but I'll definitely keep my eyes open for any interesting fan-games, as well as new official games.

4. What level of fanbase do you like to interact with?
Medium. This site and a private discord. Not much interaction really, this is the first time I really take the time to chat online with others.

5. How familiar are you with Touhou lore and story?
Above average, but I am against "wiki-reading" cause it's boring, so I know about all the games plots, some of the mangas

6. Do you think Touhou is the hardest bullet-hell game?
Clearly not. I didn't play that much yet, but Ikaruga's on Easy is far harder than any Touhou game on lunatic. Getting extra lives is hard (you need to kill 3 ennemies of the same color to increase the "chain" counter, and keeping that counter high is the only way to score high. Ignoring this makes it near-impossible to get extra lives, so your 3-5 lives is all you'll get). Haven't played other shumps yet.

7. Do you think Touhou Gacha harmed the franchise?
Haven't played it so I'll refrain from speaking much about it, as I am biased against Gacha in general. In Touhou's case, Lost Word is selling waifus, so it will "give what the fans wants" and put random fan-services that often disregard the lore, and will simplify the characters into a "one-liner" personality. Examples I have seen: Eiki in a weeding dress saying she "wouldn't lecture the player as much, since the player may need to rest and it's ok". Random Nue in a night-party-dress (cause we all know Nue, of all characters, like to show herself). From what I have heard, there alternate universe in there, so this is how they justify all the various version of the characters they are selling (such as cyberpunk).

I can't really speak about the impact it might have had, since I wasn't in the community before that game was release.

8. Is piracy within Touhou good or bad?
Other.

It's good cause

• It makes more visibility, so more people will be willing to try it out
  
  
  especially since the official game are "expensive" when you consider their state (no English language for players outside of Japan, some requires for resolution and other things). Other shumps cost the same price but comes with English at least.
  

[*]It's the only way to play the most popular games (6-8) without spending a lot for CDs

[*]It's the only way to play PC98 (these game cost a fortune, and Zun's stole some asset in those games anyway, including music parts, so it'd be quiet hypocrite of him to call out thieves)



It's bad cause

• It harm Zun directly (though he might be getting money from Gatcha)
  
• In the long term, unreleased games stays inaccessible (piracy site can be shutdown at any time)
  
• Once someone pirated a game, it is more likely they will pirate the other, since they already know how to. Not much will buy the game afterwards (since they are so many, the price to buy them all is quiet impressive).
  

The only way to fix this situation would be for Zun to stop being lazy and release EoSD-PCB-IN (the most pirated games) on steam. If pirates can make the game playable, surely the creator can as well. Once all windows game are released, it will be easier to direct new players to the "official start" of touhou (EoSD) rather than telling them to start in the middle of the series (MoF, which isn't very noob friendly with its continue system, power bombs and overall more complex spells than EoSD-PCB).

9. How flanderized do you think Touhou characters are?
6 seared, but not charred.

Really depends on the characters. Eiki, for instance is very "flanderized". Can say the same for Satori who is often depicted as a lonely person who's suffering because of her power, when in fact she doesn't care about being lonely and really likes her ability.

Doesn't help that most character only have one major moment (their boss fight), then they becomes minor characters or cameos. Fans will fill in the blanks if there too few information.

10. Overall, which era(s) did you like/dislike the most?

I am biased in that regard, since I've started with EoSD, so of course the Present era seems like the worse since there's isn't much new after playing the 11th shumps in a row (with PC98 being a refreshing final era for me). I can say that stages are definitely not as memorable in 16-17-18, as well as most bosses, which is pretty bad. If I can't remember them, then maybe it wasn't worth remembering. I'll give points to 18 for having the very unique card system. Story wise, they are not interesting, but previous games weren't that much either. Early game had the advantage of introducing Gensokyo, so they felt more relevant.

Best era for me was MoF-LolK. While TD was a small mistep, the games are very enjoyable and the writing is less clumsy. Though the simplicity of EoSD-PCB is very nice as well. Never been a big fan of IN, even though its stage 4-5 boss fight are really good.

 

[nitorii]

1: E
2: B
3: mostly just interest in the story and fangames.
4: Medium and Small.
5: quite a bit, but not enough to call myself an "expert".
6: don't play / don't like stgs.
7: gachas will never harm a franchise exactly, it's the way the gacha is presented that does. lost word is somewhat predatory, but it wouldn't be as terrible as it is if the game wasn't so insanely boring to play.
8: usually good.
9: seared, but not charred.
10: can't say since I never really played the games.

 

[Nyoko]

1. When did you get into Touhou?

Around late Modern Era. Touhou 17 was already out but Touhou 17.5 was not even announced yet. When I started being part of the community and not lurking around like I usually do would be firmly in the present Era.

2. What made you first interested in Touhou?

I believe that would have to be music, though I'm not exactly sure. That's the problem with living from day to day in transience, you tend to forget a lot of quite important trivia of yourself.

*Quick addendum, I believe it was primary source material that made me interested in Touhou, so stuff like Flowering Night.

3. What made you stay with Touhou?

The music continues to draw me to Touhou, as does the gameplay itself. What also keeps me invested in Touhou is the constant new takes on characters, setting, et cetera that people come up and make into some quite stunning games. And, of course, the knowledge I gain from the community cannot be discarded as a reason not to stick with Touhou, as compared to everywhere else, because Touhou brings people from all walks of life together, somehow.

4. What level of fanbase do you like to interact with?

B. This website specifically, because my small group of friends don't know what half of the games I have in my catalogue even are and the large ones are great for information gathering but nothing really more for me.

5. How familiar are you with Touhou lore and story?

Average to little, the only thing that drives me to a correct answer is the information I already possess from other people talking about it and the rest is my own insight into human psychology guiding me to what I believe to be a somewhat correct reading of the character.

6. Do you think Touhou is the hardest bullet-hell game?

No, but it is the one to introduce me to bullet-hells. Games like Suguri and Last Command are more unforgiving than Touhou but I've not played any of them on the hardest difficulty. Touhou's difficulty comes mostly from its length, while the other two are less lengthy but does not pull their punches.

7. Do you think Touhou Gacha harmed the franchise?

Yes, it absolutely did. It changed a core part of Touhou, at least to my understanding. That being the understanding of Characters in Touhou being very influenced by the Gachas, which will eventually cascade into a whole new loop of Flanderization which only the community before the Gacha can guide towards a more desirable result. I am not going to say we can prevent it, because that is setting my ambitions too high and might scare off perfectly reasonable people to join, but I am wary of every change.

Well, less so "harmed" than "will harm" the franchise, but the clockwork has already been set in motion.

8. Is piracy within Touhou good or bad?

Piracy is inherently about people wanting to rebel against certain groups of people who they believe are exploiting them (mostly), and I am no different. A general principle of mine is that if I pirate a game, I put a price on it that I want to pay for it and if that price I set exceeds the price of the game, I pay for it as soon as I am capable. But if the price is below the price I set on it, I wait for a sale to see if it is below that price then and if it is still below that price then I do not pay or touch the pirated copy.

For Touhou, it is generally a good thing because you cannot get certain games otherwise, but there are bad sides to everything. Two sides of the same coin cannot be seperated from each other no matter how much we pirates with a decent moral compass try to disassociate ourselves with the other side.

9. How flanderized do you think Touhou characters are?

Five or higher, depending on the character. And It'll only get worse with Gacha.

10. Overall, which era(s) did you like/dislike the most?

The new Era is more blatantly experimenting with ideas than the last three combined, while the early windows and especially the pc-98 suffer from the fact that ZUN was still developing the Touhou formula, so I find the second windows Era the (current) peak of Touhou as a franchise. Some are difficult, while others are easier but more flashy to make up for it. But I haven't played all of the games in every Era to their completion, so take this insight with a truckload of salt.

 

[pocketcalc1205]

1. When did you get into Touhou?
C. Second section of Windows Era (10, 10.5, 11, 12, 12.3, 12.5, 12.8, 13) ~ 2007–2012

2. What made you first interested in Touhou?
B. Secondary works (fangames, music, manga, and art)

I saw Momiji art online and I was intrigued. Pls don't judge.

3. What made you stay with Touhou?
Games are fun, music is great, fanbase is more dedicated than any other I think I've ever seen.

4. What level of fanbase do you like to interact with?
Both medium and majority.

5. How familiar are you with Touhou lore and story?
B. Average (only know about some character backstories and some story of games, but not to the point of remembering everything)
I'm familiar with a lot but I can't always keep track of it all.

6. Do you think Touhou is the hardest bullet-hell game?
Probably not. I don't dabble in many others outside of it, but games like Ikaruga and others are challenging in their own right.

7. Do you think Touhou Gacha harmed the franchise?
Maybe? I don't interact much with TLW fans (since I can't stand gacha games) but I feel it's a poor introduction to the world of Touhou, just like how FGO is a poor introduction to the world of Fate.

Touhou isn't and never was a gacha. It's a bullet hell. Only knowing or caring about Touhou through Lost Word is pretty disappointing.

8. Is piracy within Touhou good or bad?
3. Other

I think it's somewhat bad. I'd like to support our lord and savior ZUN but actually buying the games, especially in English, isn't very easy. Piracy is a necessary evil in this case since it's really the only easy way for a westerner to get their hands on Touhou.

9. How flanderized do you think Touhou characters are?
C. 5–6 seared, but not charred
Some are more affected than others, I reckon. For example, I think Marisa Stole the Precious Thing has forever smeared Alice as a totally smitten lovebug for Marisa, when that's really just fanon. Yeah, it's fun; the fanon personalities of characters give them even more life than they do in the games. But it's flanderization nonetheless, I suppose.

10. Overall, which era(s) did you like/dislike the most?
PC-98. Don't bash me for this. The games are good, but I reckon the Windows games are far, far better.

As for like, you can't go wrong with the first Windows era. They're classics and most peoples first introduction to Touhou anyway.

 

[Jaz:3]

1. When did you get into Touhou?
Probably...from 2017 onwards

2. What made you first interested in Touhou?
I don't really know lol. But if I remember correctly, back when I was probably a kid I watched "Bad Apple". But it didn't really made me that interested in t2h2, and I didn't really know anything. It was later that I somehow found myself meeting t2h2 again, but I don't remember what exactly pulled me in to the series. I might be because of the games.

3. What made you stay with Touhou?
Probably the community, specifically this one. One day, I decide to look up touhou forums to join, maybe I did so because I wanted to be involved with touhou and it's community, because I want to share my interest with other people too. And now I'm here. I think I need to do a proper introduction...maybe not... eh, who knows. 

4. What level of fanbase do you like to interact with?
This place right here, but I don't mind the majority too

5. How familiar are you with Touhou lore and story?
Pretty average

6. Do you think Touhou is the hardest bullet-hell game?
probably one of the hardest, but I don't really play other bullet hell tho

7. Do you think Touhou Gacha harmed the franchise?
Not that much really, it can coexist with the series. But I hope that people who first know of touhou through playing Lost World don't think that that's the end of that with only cute girls and pretty art because there is more to it.

8. Is piracy within Touhou good or bad?
It's good
9. How flanderized do you think Touhou characters are?
C. 5–6 seared, but not charred

10. Overall, which era(s) did you like/dislike the most?
Haven't experienced everything yet but I like all of them!

 

[Yumetou]

1. When did you get into Touhou?
I'm playing through the PC-98 era now, but I didn't really get into Touhou until a couple years ago.

2. What made you first interested in Touhou?
B. Secondary works (fangames, music, manga, and art)
C. Social influence (friends, family, and others)
D. Other (Explain for this choice)

Would you believe, fan mods? Don't get me wrong, I had a vague idea Touhou was an anime game with good music about cute girls and magic. But I didn't really care until I was playing through mods for Mount and Blade. One of them, Gensokyo Warfare, puts you in the world of Gensokyo. It was only then I realized both how many fan mods for various games there were, how many friends online talked about Touhou, and I realized just how many years I had seen fan art and references to the series. My friends began infecting me with the brainrot and here I am.

3. What made you stay with Touhou?
I really like the community. I think its creative, thoughtful and interesting. But most of all chill. After seeing so many things I loved as a child being corporatized and losing their identity, a series which feels about the same as it did when I saw my first reference to Touhou on 4chan nearly 20 years ago is a welcome sight.

Its also one of the few settings that feels like it would be a nice place to live. There are all kinds of cozy settings where the danger is passing, true. And Touhou has its fair share of tricksters and even killers. But it feels like it would be a cozy and peaceful place to live overall. Its an isekai world that feels more like its predecessors like the Wizard of Oz, than modern isekai fantasies. With its Eastern roots giving it a more unique flavor.

4. What level of fanbase do you like to interact with?
B. Medium (Smaller end communities such as this site (MS), MOTK and a couple others)
C. Small (Friends/friend groups, family, and others)

Touhou's always felt like a weirdly personal game to talk about. Whether its reaction images on 4Chan, Youtube fan works or chatting on Discord. Its part of its charm to me.

5. How familiar are you with Touhou lore and story?
B. Average (only know about some character backstories and some story of games, but not to the point of remembering everything)
I like watching lore videos or browsing the wiki sure, but I am only so deep in the early games. And despite me dropping trollish questions frequently, I could listen to my friends tell me obscure bits of lore all day..

6. Do you think Touhou is the hardest bullet-hell game?
I think some Touhou levels are pretty impressive even by hardcore standards. People still talk about Flandre's extra stage from two decades ago. And there are bosses harder than her in the series. But I think people who say Touhou is the hardest are people like me who suck at bullethells and played only a couple. There are surely much harder games out there.

7. Do you think Touhou Gacha harmed the franchise?
Its too soon to be sure. Gacha is well accepted in the mobile market. But its clearly having a chilling effect on the PC/Console market. And while it provides a massive spike to a series' popularity, it seldom seems to last past the Gacha. It can also have a bad effect on official words. Why spend 200 million on a new game that will make a billion dollars, when you can spend 2 million on a Gacha update with sexy skins and make the same? While I doubt Zun's beer budget is anywhere near 200 million, that same psychology may creep in over time. With manga projects or spinoffs potentially being shot down, not because they won't make money but they won't make as much.

idk. We'll see.


8. Is piracy within Touhou good or bad?
1. It's good
I've gone over this in extreme detail in another thread, so I will only repeat myself in brief. We live in an era where billion dollar companies are shutting down ROM sites, letting some games be lost to history. Piracy isn't a good thing to do if there are other methods of buying the game. But if we accept games are not just entertainment but art, then piracy isn't just about 'lol free thing'. Its about preserving art.

I am sure if I ever want to do something official with Touhou, Zun will find this and refuse to work with me. But I want to be clear. You aren't proud of your early works, I get that. I'll still pay you $10, even $20 bucks for Eastern Wonderland or Mystic Square. My offer remains on the table, until then I'll play the story of Zun's growth as a creator from Moriya instead of Steam or the eShop.


9. How flanderized do you think Touhou characters are?
C. 5–6 seared, but not charred
I think it depends on the character. Some have grown less flanderized over time, like (ironically) Flandre. She was always just 'crazy serial killer locked in basement'. Even I was familiar with the famous image of a bloody laughing evil Flan. But as time passed, she had her second appearance in years. Now she's seen more for her cuteness than being 'locked in the basement for 500 years because she craycray'.

I think a lot of flanderization boils down to the fans wanting to like the characters. Kogasa for instance in the lore tends to be fairly spiteful. Nowhere near as bad as say Reimu, but still, she threatened to burn down Moriya. Nevertheless, a lot of fans prefer to see her as a cheery, happy person. Maybe even a little ditzy, because that makes her a more likeable person, and it means she would live a happy life. Even when people thought of Flan as the 'murder one', that's kind of the teenage fantasy. To live in luxury, be insanely powerful and dangerous, and to be left alone.

In some cases it actually makes a character more interesting. Koakuma and Daiyousei being the best examples of this. According to Zun, Koakuma is just another demon, spiteful and mean. While Daiyousei is another fairy prankster. Don't get me wrong, both have fairly dull personalities in the fandom. Daiyousei could never survive without Cirno in canon or fanon. But her kind and considerate nature makes her a fun contrast to Cirno's recklessness or the other fairies' childishness. Koakuma is often just 'thirsty for Patchy', but even that has been a jumping off point for more interesting ideas and goals for her.

10. Overall, which era(s) did you like/dislike the most?
This may be because I am stuck there. But I quite like the PC-98 games. There's something exuberant in Zun's childhood ambitions. Something fun and exciting, even if he looks down on them now. The Windows Golden Age is also a safe bet. The series has grown much more complex than Touhou 6 for instance, but EoSD, PCB, IN, etc are remembered as classics for a reason.
Least favorite? I'm not deep enough in the games to make a definitive statement. Though a lot of the spinoff games don't seem as compelling. Fairy Wars always sounded both very short and dull.