Inquiry about PC-98 love

[CyberAngel]

I've always been puzzled by this question. Why do people who actually like PC-98 characters prefer them over Windows-era ones? The former are barely developed compared to the latter, and for most of them there are always a few of the latter that can be considered similar, be it in appearance, personality or spirit. So why people may prefer them? About the only exception I can personally understand is with people who play PC-98 games seriously, but they're not the only ones, right? I'd love for such people to answer my question.

Now, don't bother with long descriptions, nobody likes waifu talk, you won't convince me anyway, but I'd like to see your point of view clearly, so keep it short. Just a few lines are enough, say a few general points why you like the character and why you prefer them over Windows ones that may be similar. This is just a small inquiry about people's fandom for my own curiosity, so take it easy (but seriously).

[Maiden Synnae ミ☆]

Most of the PC-98 characters are extremely boring. Save for a few exceptions: Mima, Shinki, Yumeko... and... yeah.

I mean, there are people that are crazy about Mugetsu and Gengetsu, but what's so great about them? I don't even know why the heroine went to that "Dream World" to fight them. And they apparently fought for no reason too. It was a completely pointless fight against characters with absolutely no personality.

Also, what about Orange? She was just a random Youkai passing by, and the heroine beated her up because she... was a youkai. Pretty much a nobody.

Or Louise? She is a Stage 2 boss. But what could be said about her? That she keeps her eyes closed most of the time? Then what else? zero character development if you ask me.

So I agree with you here, I also can't understand why people love those characters so much, and don't even get me started on the HRtP cast, as they don't even exchange dialogue with Reimu whatsoever. (Sorry for making this somewhat long, but I just could not make it shorter).

[LunarWingCloud]

Hey.

I like PC-98 characters.

And I still prefer the Windows ones.

I just like to spread the love. SPREAD THE LOVE.

[Kwak]

Touhou characters in general are "barely developed" and have a similar "appearance, personality, spirit" compared to most video game casts. That's a big part of why there's so much fan created works on them, because of everything ZUN doesn't spell out for us. 

So, in a sense, the PC-98 characters could be considered more "Touhou" than the Windows ones. More mysterious, more potential for interpretation. You can think of Orange however you like, whereas with Nitori, (who canonically hates religion and has shirikodama that were fatally removed from hundreds of humans) you're a bit constrained.

(Not that I prefer all the PC-98s but I see why someone would)

[Drake]

I heavily disagree. While there is much room for interpretation on how characters behave and interact with others, the appeal of Touhou for fanworks has never been emptiness of the characters (and I would very much argue that most characters are quite well-developed by any standard). Malleability, sure, but just removing more and more aspects of a character in order for other people to fill it in is not how this works. Being able to just make everything up shouldn't fool anyone, and doesn't. You can think of Orange however you like, and that's exactly why she has little appeal as a character.

[aListers]

If they had been released on the windows platform do you really think things would be the same? Do you really think that they would be undeveloped if they had been included in the perfect memento in strict sense like all the windows characters were?

It isn't about what they are not - it's about what they could have been. It's about what they should be! The aki sisters became popular because they were unpopular but the PC-98 characters have been unpopular for years and so very little people care. The problem is that people forget about them deliberately. People have tried to cast them out of existence by deliberately leaving them out of doujins and that infuriates me. Even Zun himself has contributed to this controversy by saying something ambiguous that lead people to believe that they were no longer canon - this was later disproved though.

Mima is a popular character but despite her popularity I look on danbooru and find that she has 1.1k pictures - which seems quite a lot. Yoshika Miyako has 2k and she's been going for 15 years less than Mima and has been in 4 less games than Mima. Mima is a brilliant character and I'm not putting down Yoshika but Mima was one of the biggest characters in touhou from game 1 to game 5. How can the main Villian of the 2nd game, playable character in the 3rd and 5th games and the mentor of 1 of the main characters in the Touhou series possibly have less popularity than most new characters. The only thing stopping her is the mere fact that she didn't appear in any of the critical windows games. I find that unfair.

Shinki hasn't been forgotten about either. Zun composed a new theme for her a while back but she has only 1.2k pictures.

Maybe Pictures on Danbooru aren't the best sources but even the Touhou popularity polls show that the only boss of a level who is below a PC-98 character in the 2014 poll is Letty Whiterock. Mima has way more character development than Letty - no offence to Letty. Letty's popularity in the fandom is almost built on her being some sort of motherly figure to Cirno when there is more in canon to suggest that the don't like each other. How can you say that the fandom don't make stuff up to make the character popular when we have this going on? Orange could've been another Letty but, because she wasn't in the windows games, she's considered nowhere near her level.

What they don't have - the fandom would built. The main reason we have so many characters well developed like this is because only the windows games got included in the symposium and the perfect memento. The PC-98 era had great character, and some who should have been great, but they just go on ignored.

[Romantique Tp]

The japanese fandom doesn't ignore the PC-98 characters, most people there either never heard of them or know how they look but know nothing else about them.

The vast majority of all PC-98 owners after 1995 were officer workers and college/university students who are soon going to turn 40 and are too busy in life to contribute to the fandom. Most of the current japanese PC-98 touhou fandom are people who saw the characters in early fangames such as Touhou Soccer.

[game2011]

Does the second poster have to sound, like, so antagonistic?

I can say the same for nameless characters like Daiyousei, Koakuma (if that is still not considered her name), and Tokiko.  If people can give lots of love and attention to those three underdeveloped characters, why can't they love the PC-98 ones as well?

Anyway , fandom contributing to coming up with things for them is a reason that made them lovable.  While I do prefer canon portrayals more, there's really not much you can get out of the PC-98 ones, so people's own creative inputs are probably the best way to make them stand out more for me.  I'm fine with such if the creative inputs don't twist them to the point where they are nothing like their canon portrayals, even if there is little to begin with.

Rikako, for example, is a powerful magic user who prefers using science to explain and solve things.  Nitori specializes in science as well, but she doesn't object to using magic.  The former is sort of against magic, so having a character who wants science to dominate everything in a place full of magical stuff is a recipe for great story ideas.

Character design is a plus for me too.  Take YuugenMagan for example: her design implies that the gathering point of the trails of electricity is in the shape of a human.  The idea of an intangible being with a human appearance or a person with a potentially intangible body intrigues me, so to me, YuugenMagan is a pretty interesting character with potential to be portrayed and used in amazing ways.

My favorite PC-98 character is Mai, BTW, and it's thanks to the artist Hemogurobin A1C's design for her.

[Drake]

Anyway , fandom contributing to coming up with things for them is a reason that made them lovable.  While I do prefer canon portrayals more, there's really not much you can get out of the PC-98 ones, so people's own creative inputs is probably the best way to make them stand out more for me.  I'm fine with such if the creative inputs don't twist them to the point they are nothing like their canon portrayals, even if there is little to begin with.

I can say the same for nameless characters like Daiyousei, Koakuma (if that is still not considered her name), and Tokiko.  If people can give lots of love and attention to those three underdeveloped characters, why can't they love the PC-98 ones?

I flipped the paragraphs here, but I think you somewhat answer yourself here. There is very little difference between Koakuma and Daiyousei, and various PC-98 characters, if we're talking about the raw character material that they personally have to work with. The primary difference that sets them apart is that Koakuma and Daiyousei can be fundamentally tied to characters and settings that are already established, and this by itself gives the ability for the fandom to be able to produce consistent characterizations that then flesh out the characters and allow them to be used fittingly in any derivative works. It's the very reason Cirno is paired with Letty and Daiyousei, and why Momiji is paired with Aya, despite not having been related in-story whatsoever; they're just in the same stage location. If Elly suddenly reappeared in the same context as Yuuka, you bet you'd find works putting them together again, but as LLS has been shoved aside in favor of Yuuka's current residence, you won't commonly see that. Nameless kappa aren't fleshed-out characters whatsoever, but we know they exist and work with the current universe. That is what sets them apart.

For the most part, the characters in the PC-98 series are compartmentalized within their own games. There are generally no solid relations you can make from those characters to any current characters or settings, and the ones that do, such as Mima or Genji or whatever, simply don't appear anymore and can't be easily used. If ZUN isn't going to use any of the characters, the only ones that can actually affect what the fans will put out, are the fans themselves. So the PC-98 characters not appearing in more derivative works, where other minor characters aren't, is entirely a decision promoted by the fanbase altogether.

If they had been released on the windows platform do you really think things would be the same? Do you really think that they would be undeveloped if they had been included in the perfect memento in strict sense like all the windows characters were?

See, this is the problem. This isn't strictly about whether or not they were released on the Windows platform, or whether they were included in a book, or whether they're developed characters or not. This is about ZUN not giving much thought as to what the Touhou universe was supposed to be like, prior to the Windows series. Little thought into how different settings and characters mesh together, little thought into how his world works. Inclusion into a Windows game or in a book would show that he's thought about the characters enough to say that they have a place in the current Gensokyo, but that likely won't happen unless they're repurposed in some way, just as Alice and Yuuka were. The fans just react to what the current Gensokyo is like; nothing more, nothing less. As said above, it's entirely the fans' decisions as to whether or not the old characters are put into fanworks. This can hardly be considered "unfair". Medicine has fewer pictures on Pixiv than Mima does, and Tokiko has even fewer. These are characters we know exist in the current Gensokyo, but there isn't enough way for them to become incorporated into fan material. The characters survive by virtue of how well they mesh with everything else.

The fans do not exist as machines to meld characters that don't work into characters that do work -- they take what already works, and work it.

[game2011]

I flipped the paragraphs here, but I think you somewhat answer yourself here. There is very little difference between Koakuma and Daiyousei, and various PC-98 characters, if we're talking about the raw character material that they personally have to work with. The primary difference that sets them apart is that Koakuma and Daiyousei can be fundamentally tied to characters and settings that are already established, and this by itself gives the ability for the fandom to be able to produce consistent characterizations that then flesh out the characters and allow them to be used fittingly in any derivative works. It's the very reason Cirno is paired with Letty and Daiyousei, and why Momiji is paired with Aya, despite not having been related in-story whatsoever; they're just in the same stage location. If Elly suddenly reappeared in the same context as Yuuka, you bet you'd find works putting them together again, but as LLS has been shoved aside in favor of Yuuka's current residence, you won't commonly see that. Nameless kappa aren't fleshed-out characters whatsoever, but we know they exist and work with the current universe. That is what sets them apart.

For the most part, the characters in the PC-98 series are compartmentalized within their own games. There are generally no solid relations you can make from those characters to any current characters or settings, and the ones that do, such as Mima or Genji or whatever, simply don't appear anymore and can't be easily used. If ZUN isn't going to use any of the characters, the only ones that can actually affect what the fans will put out, are the fans themselves. So the PC-98 characters not appearing in more derivative works, where other minor characters aren't, is entirely a decision promoted by the fanbase altogether.

So you agree that Daiyousei and Koakuma are basically "PC-98 characters" who only got lots of attention due to their connections to Windows characters and also being Windows characters themselves (if you did bring this up), right?

[Maiden Synnae ミ☆]

As Drake already explained things very comprehensively, I think I have little else to offer. But I could also add that perhaps we, the western, are more aware of the PC-98's because we have a very extensive Touhou wiki covering information about them and pointing out all of the canon games since HRtP right on the main page. I don't even know if the Japanese have a Touhou wiki similar to ours as well (but I do know they have a scoreboard for replays).

The fact the Japanese aren't willing to sail the seven cyber seas as much as us (aka: play the games via emulators), also makes things even more difficult to give those PC-98's enough attention. A major part of the problem is that they really don't even know about the existence of those characters to begin with. But they can easily get physical copies of the windows games, get to know their respective characters and make derivatives about them.

[Drake]

So you agree that Daiyousei and Koakuma are basically "PC-98 characters" who only got lots of attention due to their connections to Windows characters and also being Windows characters themselves (if you did bring this up), right?

It's oversimplifying to say they've only become popular "because" they're in Windows games, as if the very inclusion of a character in the current series is what gives them some sort of stamp of approval to make fanworks of them. If you want to say that several PC-98 characters have a better-developed canon personality and whatnot than some nameless Windows characters, then of course that's true.

But you're trying to ask "why can't PC-98 characters be as popular if it's the fandom that makes the character anyways", which I think is a very loaded question to ask. While you might think it's arbitrary for a character to only become relevant because they're alongside another character, consider that the very act of having one nameless character show up with another character, is a defining feature for that nameless character. Daiyousei didn't profit from this much, but Koakuma being in the SDM library, where really nobody else is besides Patchouli, very easily turns her character into an assistant or familiar of sorts. The inclusion of Momiji before Aya gave an easy relationship between the two and was a sort of foundation for the later expansion of the tengu society, even if ZUN later rejected that Momiji and Aya were buddy-buddy. Putting the characters in these locations is itself a form of worldbuilding that the PC-98 characters can't do without ZUN explicitly bringing them back.

Without a way to get "in", you can't expect fans to just toss PC-98 characters into Gensokyo and make something up for them just because they were characters before, and have this actually take off somewhere. Elly is sometimes still portrayed with Yuuka, for example, but this isn't any sort of popular concept because there's nothing there.

[Kwak]

You guys make really good points. Most of PC-98 characters I really like are the ones that are the most well-developed and have strong relationships with other characters, like Mima and Shinki. If they're at least connected to other PC-98s that's usually enough for me (Yumemi & Chiyuri, Mai and Yuki).

But when characters come back to Windows, they end up being way more interesting than their PC-98 incarnations. That right there makes the quality gap kind of hard to deny. _{louise is still awesome though i dont care}

[game2011]

But you're trying to ask "why can't PC-98 characters be as popular if it's the fandom that makes the character anyways", which I think is a very loaded question to ask.

Was I?

[Drake]

Well here, for one.

I can say the same for nameless characters like Daiyousei, Koakuma (if that is still not considered her name), and Tokiko.  If people can give lots of love and attention to those three underdeveloped characters, why can't they love the PC-98 ones as well?

Paying attention specifically to the undeveloped characters really suggests you figured that they were just given life from the fandom, and would argue that because they were underdeveloped, and some PC-98 characters were underdeveloped, that the fandom could just as easily give new life to the PC-98 characters. Later saying "So you agree that Daiyousei and Koakuma are basically 'PC-98 characters' who only got lots of attention due to X" further suggests that this was what you were trying to do, so I wanted to snip that line of thinking. It's loaded because it assumes that the nameless characters introduced in the Windows series are on similar ground to PC-98 characters for content creation, when they aren't.

[CyberAngel]

Wow. Not exactly what I had in mind for this topic (I was looking for stuff like game2011's Rikako example, even though I could debate that what was said can also apply to Nitori with some liberties), but the discussion looks pretty interesting nonetheless.

First things first, pet peeve on canonicity. I keep being amused how people take ZUN's latest statement as unquestionable proof that PC-98 is canon, even though it meant nothing of the sort, and are quick to brush off his earlier statements. However, if you take all that he said on the matter into account, his view on it becomes pretty clear. The fact that he feels he can't just bring a character from that era indicates that there is indeed a divide between PC-98 and Windows works. He pretty much said you can just ignore PC-98 stuff. His latest statement only confirms that if you really want to bring two together, you can do that with some retconning. So let's not discuss the canonicity any further here, it's still a grey area, so believe what you want, but let others do the same.

I think I should explain my point of view on PC-98 stuff. You see, when I started exploring Touhou, PC-98 works gave off a strong feeling of "sketchbook material". Be it story, characters or gameplay, everything felt more like a bunch of ideas made in broad strokes. Which they were, given these were ZUN's university projects. But more than that, a lot of stuff was reused in Windows works, purposefully or not. That includes characters. Of course, there are ones that are unique enough. But I've noticed that a lot of traces of less popular ones can be found in Windows-era characters. One of the most obvious examples - Yumeko, who is just Sakuya but much less developed and without time abilities. My question is about characters like these, who may feel redundant since they essentially exist in Windows canon already, just under a different name or as a few different characters, all of which are developed even better. And as a bonus question to those who want to meld PC-98 canon with Windows one: why do you want to do that? Not as in "on what basis you want to do that", but "why did you even think of doing that". I mean, imagine, would you want anyone to try to fit your early works, which you did when you had no experience, into a fully formed canon you've made later without thinking about those early works? ...Sorry if something from this paragraph sounds wrong, but these are my thoughts on the matter.

Oh, I guess I can add being a nearly clean slate for fanfic writers to use as an easily understandable reason to prefer PC-98 characters too. But keep in mind that people generally like well-developed characters more. Otherwise there would be little point to build up those underdeveloped characters, now would there? And I agree with Drake fully, (Windows-era) Touhou characters are among the most developed ones I've seen. The amount of detail even minor bosses tend to get is quite impressive and makes sure they're highly likable.

[Tengukami]

There could be any number of reasons why someone prefers PC-98 characters to Windows era ones, and that difference has little to do with character development.

There exists in every media a certain fanbase that will always express a love for the early days over the current state of affairs. Take hip-hop for example. Today's rap can employ complex instrumentation, flow, rhyme schemes and ideas; rap of the early 80s was more like, a drum machine, a turntable to scratch on, and a couple of MCs whose rhymes were pretty simple. Yet you will meet lovers of early hip-hop who not only insist they love early crews like UTFO; they will insist they are better than what's come out today. Even if most of us can compare early and current hip-hop and see a lot more development and layers of composition today than there used to be.

This is a phenomenon I call "orthodoxing" - not only holding to the original form of a media, or the early attempts from an artist, but insisting that these early forms are better than current forms. It differs from nostalgia because you don't have to have even been alive when these early forms were around, and it differs from hipsterism because these early forms aren't necessarily obscure. It's just the romanticization of the original form of a medium. I think because there is this distinct schism between the PC-98 era and the Windows era that is clearly defined that orthodoxing becomes easier.

So no, it has nothing to do with how underdeveloped the characters are. Those characters are always going to attract a certain type, who want to "stick up for" the underdogs of the games, and the most underdog of underdog are the profile-less, backstory-less, characters of the PC-98 era. So there's some overlap on the Venn Diagram of PC-98 fans and People Who Like Blank Characters, but they aren't the same group altogether.

[Kimidori]

Touhou characters in general are "barely developed" and have a similar "appearance, personality, spirit" compared to most video game casts. That's a big part of why there's so much fan created works on them, because of everything ZUN doesn't spell out for us. 

the omake profile and manga/novel develop many windows character rather wells and give them a district personality IMO.

[Tengukami]

I do also have to strongly disagree with the contention that Touhou characters are in general "barely developed" and samey.  That is unless we're suddenly ignoring all the written works or something.

[game2011]

Well here, for one.Paying attention specifically to the undeveloped characters really suggests you figured that they were just given life from the fandom, and would argue that because they were underdeveloped, and some PC-98 characters were underdeveloped, that the fandom could just as easily give new life to the PC-98 characters. Later saying "So you agree that Daiyousei and Koakuma are basically 'PC-98 characters' who only got lots of attention due to X" further suggests that this was what you were trying to do, so I wanted to snip that line of thinking. It's loaded because it assumes that the nameless characters introduced in the Windows series are on similar ground to PC-98 characters for content creation, when they aren't.

Don't know...  I don't think I had that in mind when I replied to your post...  I just assumed you were saying "nameless Windows characters = PC-98 characters" that I said that.  Sorry that/if I misunderstood you...

And as a bonus question to those who want to meld PC-98 canon with Windows one: why do you want to do that? Not as in "on what basis you want to do that", but "why did you even think of doing that". I mean, imagine, would you want anyone to try to fit your early works, which you did when you had no experience, into a fully formed canon you've made later without thinking about those early works? ...Sorry if something from this paragraph sounds wrong, but these are my thoughts on the matter.

First of all, I'm a long-time author on Fanfiction.net, and I've start my own continuity of Touhou there that implements PC-98 characters as if they were there the whole time.

Why did I do that?  To imagine how things would be like if ZUN was still using them.  I can say for sure that I really do enjoy making them fit into my own continuity, and I even got praised by reviewers for this and made at least one person basically fall in love with a PC-98 character he originally didn't care about.

Would I want someone using something from my earlier works and implementing them into the canon I established later on?  I won't object to that.  In fact, I might even say it's nice to know that someone remembers the things I made back then!  Of course, I'm not proud of my first stories, as they are very, very low quality compared to what I make nowadays, but as long as I do not delete those stories and they are still visible on my profile, then they still happened.  Even if my earlier works sometimes embarrass me, I will still answer to people who bring them up properly and not tell them to forget about them. 

[CyberAngel]

Hm, that's pretty interesting, game2011. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.

[xJeePx]

Felt like throwing my two cents in.

As a retro game enthusiast, PC-98 games hold a special place in my heart. Unlike for most people, those were the first Touhou games that I played, and thanks to those games, Touhou became one of my favorite video game series of all time. I like the game design, the memorable characters, the sound of FM, and countless references to old Japanese video games, manga, video game and pop music, classic literature, religion and folklore. It's only natural that many of my favorite Touhou characters are from PC-98 games.

I don't see much point in comparing certain characters to each other (Yumeko/Sakuya, etc), not to mention there are very few examples of that. You can find some interesting similarities, yes, but in the end the characters are completely different. That's like comparing a knight to a ninja or something.


The main question of the topic, I think, is not "why do people who like PC-98 characters prefer them over Windows characters", but "why do people who like Windows games ignore PC-98 games", at least that's how I see it.

For a long time I wondered, where the thought of questionable canon status or similar views come from. I guess, as Bigode said, the fact that even in Japan many people don't know about the PC-98 games (because of limited copies, PC-98 being an old and rare system, and strict Japanese anti-piracy laws), which results in less secondary works focused on the old characters, gives an illusion of questionable canonicity, a false impression which is treated by some people as reality. Add to that rare appearances of old characters in official material, "seizure-rific" graphics and misinformation spread. For me, there is no such things as PC-98 era and Windows era. There's PC-98 games and Windows games. Even if there's no recent appearances of many old characters, there's no explicit official statement saying that PC-98 games are non-canon or form a separate universe. In any case, why would someone want to cut off such a big and important piece of Touhou universe and history is beyond me.


A good comparison example would be the Metal Gear series. I've seen many people who played MGS games saying "ignore the MSX games", or even worse. Personally, I've enjoyed the hell out of the 8-bit MG titles for MSX2 and NES, but found Metal Gear Solid for PS1 quite boring.

To each their own, simple as that.

[Tengukami]

The main question of the topic, I think, is not "why do people who like PC-98 characters prefer them over Windows characters", but "why do people who like Windows games ignore PC-98 games", at least that's how I see it.

So, the opposite of what the OP asked, then, is what you see the question as being? Interesting take.

For me, there is no such things as PC-98 era and Windows era. There's PC-98 games and Windows games. Even if there's no recent appearances of many old characters, there's no explicit official statement saying that PC-98 games are non-canon or form a separate universe. In any case, why would someone want to cut off such a big and important piece of Touhou universe and history is beyond me.

ZUN's stance on this - an "explicit official statement" if you will - is that the PC-98 characters are just "somewhere else", and that working them into Touhou now would requiring some retconning. I'm guessing by this the distinction between PC-98 and Windows Touhou, in ZUN's mind anyway, is very clear.

I can appreciate the nostalgic aspect you describe though. The music reminds me of video games I played in the 80s even. But by the same token, MoF was the first Touhou game I ever played, and I wouldn't call it my favorite. It does, though, have a special place in my heart.

[aListers]

So, the opposite of what the OP asked, then, is what you see the question as being? Interesting take.
ZUN's stance on this - an "explicit official statement" if you will - is that the PC-98 characters are just "somewhere else", and that working them into Touhou now would requiring some retconning. I'm guessing by this the distinction between PC-98 and Windows Touhou, in ZUN's mind anyway, is very clear.

As far as I know he didn't say it required retconning. He said if there is any conflict then retcon the PC-98 but he never said it required it. I'm sure that he said that he just doesn't like to answer the question of what happened to them - which is why Touhou has so many characters. I remember reading somwhere that he said Genji was probably living in the lake at the back of the shrine.

[Kilgamayan]

The main question of the topic, I think, is not "why do people who like PC-98 characters prefer them over Windows characters", but "why do people who like Windows games ignore PC-98 games", at least that's how I see it.

For a long time I wondered, where the thought of questionable canon status or similar views come from. I guess, as Bigode said, the fact that even in Japan many people don't know about the PC-98 games (because of limited copies, PC-98 being an old and rare system, and strict Japanese anti-piracy laws), which results in less secondary works focused on the old characters, gives an illusion of questionable canonicity, a false impression which is treated by some people as reality. Add to that rare appearances of old characters in official material, "seizure-rific" graphics and misinformation spread. For me, there is no such things as PC-98 era and Windows era. There's PC-98 games and Windows games. Even if there's no recent appearances of many old characters, there's no explicit official statement saying that PC-98 games are non-canon or form a separate universe. In any case, why would someone want to cut off such a big and important piece of Touhou universe and history is beyond me.

Looking at it from an entirely practical standpoint, I would guess most people "ignore" the PC-98 games because far more effort goes into the acquisition and setup of them, be it legit or not, than that of the Windows games. The inconvenience is a significant barrier to entry, as it were.

On the subject of the original question, I think said question is fundamentally lacking is that it seems to assume people base how much they like characters mostly, if not only, on their actual characterization. There is plenty more to Touhou characters than who they are (as much as that's obviously an important thing to consider). To draw upon a personal example, I have five distinct reasons why I heavily dislike Koishi, and only one of them has anything to do with her personality/backstory.

[Drake]

As far as I know he didn't say it required retconning. He said if there is any conflict then retcon the PC-98 but he never said it required it. I'm sure that he said that he just doesn't like to answer the question of what happened to them - which is why Touhou has so many characters. I remember reading somwhere that he said Genji was probably living in the lake at the back of the shrine.

You should probably consider that even saying Genji is just behind the shrine in a pond is essentially the same as saying he isn't likely to actually be mentioned again (but if you want to think he's there then go ahead). This is the same as saying that all the other PC-98 characters are "somewhere" but would be hard to bring back. It's basically the nicest form of retconning, and it's at the point where if he did want to bring a character back, they would have to shove aside a lot of previous details about the character, just as he did with Alice and Yuuka. Again, retconning.

[aListers]

You should probably consider that even saying Genji is just behind the shrine in a pond is essentially the same as saying he isn't likely to actually be mentioned again (but if you want to think he's there then go ahead). This is the same as saying that all the other PC-98 characters would are "somewhere would be hard to bring back. It's basically the nicest form of retconning, and it's at the point where if he did want to bring a character back, they would have to shove aside a lot of previous details about the character, just as he did with Alice and Yuuka. Again, retconning.

While there are said to be some slight personality changes with Yuuka, what makes Alice's details different? If anything she's just grown up slightly.

Retconning is different from saying that they don't matter anymore. The fact is that they still exist and it annoys me when people act like they don't.

In a way, a lot of characters don't matter anymore but that doesn't stop them being popular. I'll accept the fact that most will never return but at the same time I don't expect Rumia or Medicine to return either. Gensokyo is a very different place from even the 6th game but, in the leap from PC-98, there is a very sudden change in attitude towarda them and huge drop in popularity. A little mention, even if just by name, would improve a character's popularity greatly. If Mima was brought back as a stage 1 midboss, it would greatly increase her popularity. You don't need to destroy everything just to acknowlege a character's existance.

[Tengukami]

I think the game creator himself politely declining on the idea is a pretty good indicator of its likelihood. That said, OP's question seems to concern more why those who like PC-98 characters do so when they lack depth. This presumes they lack depth, or that people like 2hus in general for their depth, as Kilga pointed out. The likelihood of a comeback seem like a separate discussion altogether.

I agree with Kilga that character depth is not a feature that attracts most PC-98 fans, nor all Windows era fans for that matter. But I do think a significant portion of the PC-98 fanbase is comprised of folks who underdog it a bit; not touting themselves as "true fans" for liking the original series or whatever, but rather just because it's a series that gets largely overlooked. I personally don't think the technical aspects for getting them to run are that much of a deterrent, but certainly other technical details e.g. fonts and replays, can be a pain in the ass.

[nintendonut888]

Regarding ZUN's latest statement about PC-98, I read it as saying that the events of PC-98 did happen, but in a sort of contorted way due to later canon contradicting it. Kind of like how the general encounters between superheroes and supervillains in early comic books still happened even if later details or characterizations contradicted the events themselves.

As for the topic at hand...people have said a lot of what I wanted to say. A PC-98 character is only as bland as you think they are. It's true, the canon characterization is lacking in most of PC-98, but to say there's no reason to like them simply because a lot of it is our own personal canon  is a little presumptuous. Take what you said before about Yumeko:

One of the most obvious examples - Yumeko, who is just Sakuya but much less developed and without time abilities. My question is about characters like these, who may feel redundant since they essentially exist in Windows canon already, just under a different name or as a few different characters, all of which are developed even better.

To begin with, there's all sorts of reasons to differentiate them. For one thing, the different setting gives an entirely different potential relationship dynamic (serving a high class vampire is a little different from serving a goddess). Also, Yumeko's mannerisms (what little are shown anyway), danmaku, and theme are completely different from Sakuya's and suggest an entirely different sort of person. I developed a lot of my interpretations of PC-98 characters through the personality seen through their danmaku and themes, and from these alone Yumeko's similarities to Sakuya become little more than superficial.

And, as people have said before, a lot of Touhou is fanworks. I don't think many people who enjoy the game for its setting can claim to enjoy it only through the canon material and base their views of characters only on what they do in canon. Therefore I don't think you have much basis to say people have no reason to like PC-98 characters more or less than Windows ones.

But keep in mind that people generally like well-developed characters more. Otherwise there would be little point to build up those underdeveloped characters, now would there?

It's a false assumption that PC-98 fans make the same connections between characters that you do, or that "general" statements apply to the individual case, which is the norm for PC-98 since there's little consistency between people's headcanons. I may be misinterpreting what you're saying, but it seems as though you're questioning PC-98 fans why they like characters from that era while nay-saying every potential reason. And that...is silly!

Whew. There, got that out of my system.

[日巫子]

I guess my answer to your question, is that it's Touhou.  A lot of things about PC98 are different from Windows games, but that doesn't make them any less cool to me.  I'm personally fond of the atmosphere of the PC98 games, with the 8bit music and pixel art.  As for the characters, whether or not they're "developed", I don't think it matters.  A character could have an incredibly detailed profile about them and people would still go about making headcanons for them.  Not just Touhou, anything. 

I guess the point I'm trying to make is, even though the PC98 games and characters don't have a lot of canon backing, me and other people came up with our own headcanons and stories and grew attached to them.