#Loved Yachie since i played WBaWC

[spear-gsun]

I was gonna draw a bunch of characters who show up in th19 cause i was thinking about that game again but then i got distracted and only managed to sketch one character

So here's Yachie

[megumu-iizunamaru]

TH17.5 Gouyoku Ibun Speculation & Talk

Hello everyone, happy Gouyoku Ibun release month! I'm going to write my thoughts about this game because it's been living rent free in my mind since they first teased it!!

The Story

So first off I want to talk about the story and what's it's going to be like. According to Zun's tweet; the game is going to have "the most devastating storyline you've ever seen." Now this could be just Zun hyping us up, but considering the plot of WBaWC, and how the yakuza are involved in this game too, the story could as well be devastating. Maybe not in the sense that a character is going to die or something lol.. but the events of the game are going to impact Gensokyo and future games. The inclusion of Kanako kinda supports my theory, because she has been involved in many storylines that have impacted Gensokyo a lot, like bringing nuclear energy to the realm, taking over Yokai Mountain and basically starting the religious "war".

The implied final boss of this game, Toutetsu, who is the leader of Gouyoku Alliance aka the eagle clan, is a Taotie which is a creature associated with greed. My guess is that Toutetsu is like a greedy businesswoman who will end up having some sort of business agreement with Kanako which will impact Gensokyo in some way or another. Will it be oil related? Who knows!

The Game

About the game itself, I think the game is going to have 6-8 stages per each character. It's a safe number to go with because every mainline game has 7 stages (excluding PCB and PoFV) and every spin-off game made by Tasofro has about 5 to 6 stages.

Judging by what we have seen in the demos and in the trailers, I think each stage has 2 bosses, which depend on the character you are playing. Stage 1 has Reimu or Marisa, stage 2 has Yamame or Kogasa and Stage 4 has Kanako or Murasa. The only stage without a known second boss is stage 3, but we haven't seen who Kanako or Murasa encounter in it yet.

Now it's possible that I could be totally wrong because we haven't seen who Kanako and Murasa encounter in the first stage and it would get very repetitive if you always have to fight Reimu or Marisa at the first stage.

Also if every stage except the final stage has 2 bosses, there would possibly be around 14 characters. But if I recall correctly, Zun said in a tweet (couldn't find the tweet so i could be wrong, sorry!) that the game is going to have a lot of characters, so it's possible.

The Characters

And that brings us to the remaining bosses, who could they be? I think it's safe to assume from what we've seen, the game focuses on the characters from MoF to UFO, so from 10 to 12. But it's very possible that characters from different games appear as well (mainly WBaWC because the game is related it). There seems to be a water theme going on as well.

So, I think the potential characters we will see are:

Parsee Mizuhashi: She is the bridge keeper of Former Hell and I think she is a fine candidate to be the other boss of stage 3. She is the only non-Chireiden character from SA we haven't seen yet, and she has connections to the Former Capital which is the location of the 3rd stage.

Komachi Onozuka: Now what would a Hell related, water themed game be without our beloved ferryman of the Sanzu River. Komachi has a lot potential to be a boss in this game because of its connections to Hell. Eiki asked Youmu about about Yachie, so I think Komachi could have started to do some investigating on her own (which also means skipping work).

Urumi Ushizaki: A water related oni? Perfect for 17.5! Meanwhile she may not have any known connections to the Former Hell or the underground, she could have a lovely cameo if there is a stage located at the Sanzu River. She works with extinct giant fish and plesiosaurs who would definitely be bothered by the oil gushing out of the ground. Could also work as a playable character.

Yachie Kicchou, Saki Kurokoma, Mayumi Joutoguu and Keiki Haniyasushin: I think it's most likely that at least one of these characters is going to appear. Yachie and Saki have a rivalry with Toutetsu, and Mayumi and Keiki oppose her.

If you ask me, Saki and Mayumi would be the most likely out of these four. Saki is already interested in visiting Gensokyo meanwhile Yachie is probably busy running the Beast Realm and being a horrible person in general. Mayumi and Keiki seem to have a very Youmu and Yuyuko like dynamic, so it makes sense Keiki would send her off to protect Gensokyo. But I wouldn't be surprised if Keiki decided to show up herself.

Characters that I personally would want: Seiga Kaku: She seems like a person who would be interested in the oil and imo she needs more screen time. Maybe she could have a competition with Yachie to see which is a nastier person.

Nue Houjuu: She needs more screen time!! she was so underutilized in the occult legend arc!! also she already is familiar with former hell and following Murasa around, so why not?

Hecatia Lapislazuli: Oh come on, who doesn't want to see Hecatia? It would be interesting to see her opinion on the Beast Realm and them kinda invading Gensokyo.

Eiki Shiki, Yamaxanadu: In my opinion it would be a wasted opportunity to not hear her thoughts about the Beast Realm, and it was already shown she had interest in Yachie.

Last Thoughts

I am VERY excited for this game. When I heard it was going to be related to WBaWC, I was already sold!

The inclusion of Kanako and Murasa was imo a very smart and nice move. Kanako always brings out these juicy lore things in Touhou and it's nice to see Murasa come back after 12 whole years.

I already love the music, and I am very excited to hear the rest. The stage backgrounds of this game look so nice and I am very into the art style of the character sprites.

Lastly but not certainly the least, I am more than excited to see Toutetsu. She sounds like an absolute bastard, which is a character type I LOVE. The yakuza were such a good addition to the cast, and having one do nasty things that would affect the story of the whole franchise sounds so interesting! Also her whole concept, an ancient beast being a yakuza ruling over a realm is SO good. As an art history nerd, I hope Zun includes bronze vessel aspects in her design.

I hope everyone enjoys Gouyoku Ibun once it releases! Tasofro worked on it so hard during the pandemic and I'm sure the game will be great!

[evilisk]

My Favorite Touhou Characters circa 2019

aka Here’s who I voted for this year’s popularity poll would have voted for if the Touhou Popularity Poll actually happened at the beginning of this year when I thought it was going to

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Here are my 7 character picks:

Seiga Kaku

Miko Toyosatomimino

Yoshika Miyako *new*

Okina Matara

Saki Kurokoma *new*

Mamizou Futatsuiwa

Yatsuhashi Tsukumo *new*

Explanations for Each Pick:

Seiga: Surprise surprise, the person with a Seiga avatar is a Seiga stan (is that how you use that word?). Seriously though, I don’t have time to get into it now, but I genuinely love Blue Chinese Necromancer. 

Miko: Still the best Stage 6 boss in the series tbh. The only bad thing you can say about her is that her TD theme is kinda boring, but HM fixes that with its rendition of True Administrator. Otherwise, she’s leader of the best faction (Taoists), has the best extended family (Kokoro, Okina, Saki), has the coolest spellcards and design etc.

Yoshika: It's shocking but yeah, I've never voted for Yoshika until now. Too many characters, not enough voting slots tbh. There's always been one revolving spot in my picks, it just so happens that Yoshika gets her turn this year (just as Futo got hers last year). Jiang-shi are cool yo

Okina: Last time, I voted Okina out of hype for her lore (being a Sage of Gensokyo on par with Kasen and Yukari) but this year, I’m voting for her because I now legit enjoy her character. ZUN revealing that Okina’s intended as a powerful god of the disabled and other discriminated is super cool (so is having her manhandle dumb Hell Gremlin in VFiS)

Saki: Wily Beast and Weakest Creature ended up having the most fun cast in a while, so choosing any character to rep them was hard. I couldn't decide between her, Kutaka and Yachie. Ended up deciding on Saki because a vote for Saki is a tertiary vote for the Taoists / Ten Desires (yeah, I like the Taoists / Ten Desires, sue me)

Mamizou: This is my second consecutive vote for the Tanuki (or it will be, once voting goes up). It’s amazing how much Forbidden Scrollery changed my opinion of Mamizou. She went from being one of my least favorite modern Touhou characters to “favorite Youkai character in the series”. She’s easily one of ZUN’s most well-realized characters, after Reimu, Marisa and Yukari.

Yatsuhashi: Last spot was pretty hard to pick. I ended up going with Yatsy because, dammit, the Tsukumo’s, especially Yatsy, don’t get enough appreciation! I feel like there’s so much missed potential with the Tsukumo’s. I mean, they’re were born because of / for a failed revolution. They’re literal Tools of Revolution. How can you not think up anything interesting with a starting point like that? smh, I really need to get into writing fanfic one of these days. But yeah, they’re getting a vote because the sisters have so much untapped potential.

= = =

 Runner Ups:

Kaguya: Labyrinth of Touhou has slowly been changing my mind on Kaguya. She's too useful, like an easier to use version of Patchouli with more support capabilities. (NOTE: After playing LOT2, where she’s horribly nerfed, I will not be voting for her)

Any other Wily Beast Character: I really think the entire cast of WBaWC is perfect and while I could easily pick Saki for the Miko Connection, you cannot force me to pick between any of the others. I love the entire case.

Benben or Raiko: Already explained my reasoning for voting the Tsukumo’s but I specifically went with Yatsuhashi since she really gets the rough of it. I’ve actually voted Raiko before, so I didn’t feel a pressing need to include her, though I also think her “Horismriver” arc gives her more than the two Tsukumo’s. Benben doesn’t have it as good as Raiko, but Benben isn’t called “not-Yatsuhashi” like Yatsy is called “not-Benben” so yeah, easy vote there.

Marisa: Who the hell doesn't love Marisa? One of these days, we really gotta push for Marisa to reach first place. It is a disgrace that Koishi's managed to overthrow Reimu at least once yet our Ordinary Human Magician has never gotten to do so.

Kasen: This one's shocking to me since, for as long as I've been voting, I've been dedicating one of those votes to the Wild and Horned Hermit herself. I’m still kind of in shock at the idea that Kasen might never appear in a canon work again (as a latecomer to this series, I’ve literally never not known a time before WaHH). The combo of WaHH’s meh ending with Okina becoming more active lead to me not voting Kasen.

And that’s that. I’m not sure I’ll have the same list if / when we actually have a Popularity Poll this year. Labyrinth of Touhou 2 really changed my view of a bunch of characters. 

Here’s a list of other characters I’ve voted / considered voting (more for my own reference than anything else)

List of Previously Voted Characters (By Number of Times I’ve Voted Them)

Kasen Ibaraki

Yuuka Kazami

Aya Shameimaru

Yumemi Okazaki

Tewi Inaba

Ringo

Nemuno Sakata

Futo Mononobeno

Reimu Hakurei

Shorlist of Characters I’ve Always Liked, But Never Got Around to Voting (Because 7 Characters Of A 150 Character Cast Is A Stupidly Small Amount)

Kaguya Houraisan *new*

Yachie Kicchou *new*

Kutaka Niwatari *new*

Hong Meiling

Youmu Konpaku

Kanako Yasaka

Parsee Mizuhashi

Tojiko Sogano

Raiko Horikawa

Benben Tsukumo

Yatsuhashi Tsukumo

Akyuu Hiedano

Kosuzu Motoori

Marisa Kirisame

Elly

[amemenojaku]

oh you all know I love oversharing my opinions on touhou ships... now that some time’s passed since the new game release euphoria I can safely say I’ve got a solid idea of what my favs are in wbawc

I’ve had a yachie/saki fever for like... 2 weeks it’s not even funny anymore. if my japanese TL’s a good sample to go by it could become a fairly popular ship - lots of ideas bouncing around and some of my mutuals being like ‘hahhh I wish the application deadline for winter comiket weren’t so early, I want to draw some 4xEX... but I had to submit something else...’

kinda surprised it’s become my favourite of the game, I’m not usually too big on rivals ships, but then I look at the other sides of their dynamic and like ok... stupid/cunning... blonde/dark hair... the whole ‘she thought she’d manipulated me with her power but I was only pretending haha’ thing in saki’s dialogue... also saki mentions yachie 5 WHOLE TIMES in one of marisa’s routes. ‘kicchou this’ ‘kicchou that’ I get it. you love saying your rival’s name I get it!!! it’s got potential for really dark and really silly/cute and everything in between, so I for sure am looking forward to more dragonhorse fan content in the upcoming months

also really fond of urumi/kutaka... another furry ship................. a classic case of pairing 2 early stage bosses when there’s only the demo to work with (especially considering eika is. literally a baby.) but the more I think about it, the cuter it is... retired monster with a passion for giant fish and big farmer vibes has a soft spot for dumb but diligent god with an office job in hell. kutaka would be SO oblivious to anyone flirting with her in any way whatsoever, I just find it funny to imagine someone like urumi with a crush on her... it’s like a romcom. they hang out as friends for the first time, and when urumi takes off her jacket to catch fish with her bare hands kutaka has gay panic. a perfect moron/morosexual ship. how romantic

I’ve mentioned my rarepair this time a few posts ago - okina/keiki is an idea I’m playing with and I’d say it’s enjoyable purely on the ‘concept’ side? ancient gods with a link to arts (sculpture/performance arts) and very historical roots... it’s appealing, and I know I’ll be the only one to make content for it, but it’d be interesting to explore themes like isolation and creation with them. so look forward to that eventually maybe? if uni doesn’t kill me before I get to it? gee okina how come zun lets you have so many girlfriends

the other big ship I’ve seen discussed on my TL is the obvious mayumi/keiki... it’s a fairly classic dynamic of master/devoted underling + 5/6 stage bosses! I think this one’s gonna have more ‘mixed’ opinions since their creator/creation relationship is also easy to interpret as... well, mom/daughter. not literally, but I can see where it comes from. I personally don’t see mayumi as a child/I don’t hc that she or keiki would view each other that way (unlike, say, hecatia and clownpiece), so I don’t have a problem with it as a potential ship. still thinking about how it works exactly, but at least not a happy mutual romantic thing - I’m honestly more interested in how far mayumi would go in her devotion to keiki and what she represents to keiki as her creation...

I guess what I’m trying to say is that as long as ppl keep in mind that everything’s a headcanon and that the mom/daughter and romantic interpretations dont like... end up in the same fanwork, I’m open to it and I’ll definitely keep it in a corner of my mind because both characters are extremely good. catch me editing this post and all potential future posts on them at the speed of light if it’s ever officially revealed their dynamic is like hecatia & piece’s though. I don’t joke with this stuff LOL

I’ve seen a few other ship ideas go around on twitter and I’m waiting for some time/more content to see how I feel about them, but for now that’s it! this game’s great and the characters’ relationships especially caught my eye this time, so I’m looking forward to what the fandom’s gonna create out of it. good stuff I’m sure