Initial Reactions and Your Early Fan Career

[チソウ タイゼン]

I went and tried to play all the games and failed

I would play Easy Mode, and so would everyone else.
Then they watched the Overdrive video.

NEEHHHRRRRRR EASY MODE IS FOR LITTLE KIDS
ARE YOU A MAN OR NOT
(*Continues to Chen on Normal*)

Me > 1CCs PCB Normal, clears extra stage, is working on Phantasm by next week
Me > :smug:

[Nyarly]

My first experiences with Touhou were with pictures on image boards, some years ago. I was mildly interested, but didn't really like the designs of the characters and after learning that it's a shmup series (a genre I rarely play), my interest didn't grow. It was last year that I slowly started to become a fan, as I was (well, actually still am) quite a Danbooru regular and there is just too much Touhou on it too ignore. I started to warm up to the characters, especially Marisa and Reimu (well, and Marisa and Reimu, me being a yuri fan) and listened to some of the music, especially "Maiden's Capriccio ~ Dream Battle", "Love-coloured Master Spark" (only later I would learn that the original PC98 versions are much better) and "Doll Judgment". But it wasn't much and most characters were still unknown to me.

It's only roughly two months ago that I became a fan. I got acquainted with nearly all of the characters, got a lot of pictures (I have probably more pictures of Touhou than of any other series, even more than Vocaloid which I started to like earlier), read many doujinshi, listened to much of the music and various remixes and arrangements and, most importantly, actually started to play the games. And I had to realize that they are more fun that I expected. Much more.

[Reddyne]

Part of what drew me in to begin with was that it was a shmup series that's more character focused as opposed to anonymous gunships, and the characters are deliberately left more open for the fandom to have fun with. I played Tyrian for a long while as a kid and enjoyed it for what it was, but Touhou had far more going for it in terms of fan activity. I also watched

Spoiler:

Marisa Stole the Precious Thing

during my first week of fandom, and I thought

Spoiler:

that Marisa and Alice were potentially twin sisters since their hairstyle was off by 1 braid.

Luckily, that didn't last very long at all. I picked up my own favorite remix groups based on my own particular tastes in music shortly after without any outside influence.

Oh, and it took me 2 years before I 1cc'd a game, and 3 before I beat my first extra stage boss. I actually didn't mind so much because I was never really good at any game that require a lot of focused and precise movements. Still, regardless of which game I was playing, practice helped me gradually get better at an individual game. The exception was StB, in which practice and my mediocre talent seemed to give way to endless repetition and random bits of luck at some point, which is why I haven't picked up on it or DS since. One distinct style thing that I've retained since my early days of playing are that I do far better with more powerful shot types, which were typically the ones I got my first 1cc's with. In UFO, it took an equal amount of time to 1cc it with all the different shot types with the exception of MarisaB, and in TD, I cleared Normal with Youmu and Reimu in no time flat, but Sanae has taken me a couple dozen attempts and I'm still working on it.

[Carnot]

My first encounter with Touhou was about a year ago when searching for mods for Team Fortress 2 and found the Touhou Fortress 2 models (which I still use and eagerly await their new and better ones). I absolutely fell in love with the character designs, particularly Nue's. I asked a friend about the series and he showed me to a few fan videos and I couldn't believe that people made all these amazing things out of a vertical shooter. It wasn't until maybe a month later before I took a real interest in the series and tried EoSD at the behest of the same friend. I had never really played a vertical shooter before so my hopes and dreams were promptly crushed of beating the game on the first day, refusing to play on easy since I hadn't touched a difficulty with the name in so long.

After I beat EoSD I really got into it though, playing the games and looking up characters all the time. IN was the next game I played and I still play it the most to this day, I absolutely loved all the music and characters and was when I started liking Marisa and Alice a lot.  I'm still not very good at shmups though, so I honestly prefer playing fan-made things of the series most of the time. The music is such a great thing that was probably what really grasped my attention though, it's all just so great sounding. My mind just can't grasp how Touhou has invaded my interests now, nor can it grasp how so many others can make such great things from it.

[TAKE IT CACODEMON!!]

Then:
"Man, I suck at these games."

Now:
"Man, I suck at these games."


A lot of my early Touhou experience came from Imperishable Night, as that was the newest standard danmaku game at the time. Many bombs were fired, and thus not many time bonuses were had. Keine's patterns were aggravating. The music was wonderful. The variety of playable characters was... a non-factor, since I just played Reimu/Yukari all the time anyway, haha. To this date, it remains my favorite game in the series.

This, a thousand times over.

I actually knew about Touhou since 2009, but didn't get really into the fandom until late last year-ish. I just wondered why they kept showing up in my Danbooru searches, and eventually, I got fed up and did a bit of research and began favoriting every Touhou I could see.

[Sophilia]

I was lurking a site, as I generally do.  It was one about Nippon Ichi's strategy/grinding games, which I had just gotten into.  Eventually, someone started posting some Touhou pictures in their forum.  My eyes were immediately drawn to one Yuyuko Saigyouji.  I didn't know a thing about the series, or even that it was a series, I just wanted more Yuyuko.  Of course, not knowing her name or what she was from hindered that just a bit.

A little bit later, I and my brother were looking for a new fighting game to pick up.  Then a full Touhou thread showed up, as if on cue.  There was some discussion on IaMP so I decided to get it and give it a try.  He never got into it.  I, on the other hand, was all "OMG IT'S HER!!!!!"  And then I stomped Suika a few times.  Of course, I then wanted to know what was going on, because I didn't know any Japanese.  Cue me chasing around the Internet for the next few weeks learning about the series and reading way the hell too many doujins.

My next step, naturally, was to play PCB.  And that game pretty much set my love of Touhou and Yuyuko in stone.  I was not a fan of shooters at all, but between the music, challenge, beautiful patterns, and of course Yuyuko, I was hooked.

[SuperParadox]

My first encounter was with the music and pictures. Curious about it I searched it up and found out it was an actual game and thought hey why don't i give it a try?

I first booted up EoSD back in late 2010 and had no idea how to play the game. All i knew was that somehow I had to shoot the enemy and dodge bullets. Being stubborn instead of searching up the controls I tried figuring it out myself. Getting lucky I instantly found out that Z was to shoot and X did what I called "LifeSavers" back then and of course ESC was the pause button.

I had no idea there was a focus button so I played my first game unfocused and confused, only getting up to Meling, and using all my continues on normal mode. After my first play though I googled the controls and picked up anything I missed.

Anyways. I started playing the games on and off for awhile and I just recently started to train myself to become "pro" at the games.
And then my good PC broke down on me, and I found out how unreliable my sisters thinkpad could be.
The end.

[Paper Conan]

GUYS GUYS WHY ARE THEY ALL LESBIANS. (Marisa Stole the Precious Thing)
WHAT IS THIS SUPER KAWAII, NICO NICO BS. (Make us your Brides)
WHY IS THERE A BULLET GOING UP HER BUT. (Overdrive)
Oh this looks cool. (actual gameplay)

13 months later and now I'm a hardcore addict. Help me, Eirin!

Oh, and I thought Alice and Marisa were twins, with Marisa being the "evil" one. Fun stuff. :3

[Aquila]

The gap between my discovery and obsession with Touhou spans for about 2 years xD
I just saw it everywhere. But there was a LOT of bad feedback from it such as the quality of the game art (Sorry ZUN), the hordes of horrid memes and those Yukkuris...
Started playing, first game was the PCB demo, I practiced and practiced until I could 1cc Alice on hard. Realised the games weren't that bad after all. And so began my Fan "Career"
But... The reality still stands...

Then:
"Man, I suck at these games."

Now:
"Man, I suck at these games."

[Skyler]

That awkward moment when you realise you've been getting some of the names wrong for ages now: I always say Sakuya with emphasis on ku, I say Cirno "seerno/sirno", my pronounciation of Flandre is probably way off, I don't think I'm even saying Touhou right (toehoe? toohoo? toho? what), I say Kaguya with emphasis on gu (I've seen a lot of people put it on the ka) and I say Tewi's name all three ways depending on what I feel like doing. *facepalm*

[OkashiiKisei]

That awkward moment when you realise you've been getting some of the names wrong for ages now: I always say Sakuya with emphasis on ku, I say Cirno "seerno/sirno", my pronounciation of Flandre is probably way off, I don't think I'm even saying Touhou right (toehoe? toohoo? toho? what), I say Kaguya with emphasis on gu (I've seen a lot of people put it on the ka) and I say Tewi's name all three ways depending on what I feel like doing. *facepalm*

Guilty to all of these as well, except for Cirno. For some inexplicable reason I always pronounce Cirno as 'Sjerno'/'Cherno' (like Chernobog) even though I know that's wrong. I want to say C(h)iruno, but Cherno always comes out anyway.

I also frequently pronounce Keine like the German word for none, instead of Ke-i-ne.

[Reisen-tanith]

Before: Okay so when their health bar goes from grey to red, Spam the Bomb!
Now: Why do I have so many bombs, I'll use 2 per life if Im lucky?

[Unassuming Squid]

Things I actually said while playing EoSD for the first time:

Menu:
"What? There's no tutorial?"

Stage 1:
"Huh, this is kind of difficult."

Stage 2:
"WHAT THE FUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-"

Stage 3:
"I CAN SEE FOREVER"

Stage 4:
"OH SHIT LASERS"

Stage 5:
"YOU BITCH STOP BOUNCING AROUND LIKE A RUBBER BALL LEPRECHAUN ON CRACK SO I CAN SHOOT YOU"

Stage 6:
"WHY DID I THINK THIS WAS A GOOD IDEA"

Extra:
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA"

(more serious answer to come later)

[linkhyrule5]

I probably had one of the more weird entrances...

I got here from TVTropes. Not directly, no. I went from "Psychic Static" to "huh, chess as a mental barrier. That sounds interesting." So I found Nekokayou. After spending a few days reading the archives, I decided to give the games a try. Imperishable Night, since apparently it was considered the easiest.

... Yeah. It took me two years to 1cc IN on Normal, and one and half to do it on Easy...

Anyway! I'm much more competent now, totally! *coughcough*.

[Excelsus]

Back then i know about touhou game long before i became a fan of it.... i didn't like the game not because of the music but let's be honest here shall we...?
I kinda dislike touhou for not having a MALE character, so instead i'll just pass it on, not seeing the gameplay and the music... i just know but not become a fan of it...
A years later, i was fan of this man here named kupo707(You could search my posts about it everywhere in the MOST Earliest of my post),he usually makes a game that isnt a bullet hell but rather a rpg game called epic battle fantasy series, but this time, he make bullet hell game, so it kinda intrigued me a little, why is touhou really that popular?? Then i'll give a chance and that's where i became a fan of this series.

Now i want to share you guys some question, is it wrong for me to respect the game that make me to become touhou fan than the touhou series itself?

[Alfred F. Jones]

Things I actually said while playing EoSD for the first time

Stage 6

... you got to Stage 6 your first time playing EoSD?

I remember dying horribly on EoSD. Stage 1. Before Rumia even showed up as the midboss.

[n i c o l e]

I first got alerted to the existence of touhou by watching a video of somebody's PCB extra run and I thought it looked like a lot of fun, but I don't know how I ended up watching that video in the first place. this was in January 2009.

first game I played/cleared was IN, with the Magic team, took me a few hours spread out over about 2 weeks with a score of roughly 940 million (stage practice <3). I eventually cleared it with Border and Underworld teams not long after. I didn't really do much after those initial clears until the UFO demo came out and I wasn't impressed by it and I disappeared off the internet for a few months, and when I came back I got into the pc-98 games so it was still a while further before I got to see the full game.

I haven't played anything in ages though, due to lack of a goal and my golfer's elbow flaring up again but once that is back under control I'm going to start playing regularly again hopefully.

[Marin The Magus]

I remember that when I first saw PVs, for some reason, I thought it was about a witch's school... (well, Marisa looked like a typical witch, Alice looked like she did voodoo or somethin'... I HAD MY REASONS )

[KrackoCloud]

I remember that when I first saw PVs, for some reason, I thought it was about a witch's school... (well, Marisa looked like a typical witch, Alice looked like she did voodoo or somethin'... I HAD MY REASONS )

This makes me think of a Touhou and Harry Potter crossover or something :Y

[Zil]

So how did I get into Touhou...

It was kind of haunting me without me realizing it. My first encounter was somehow seeing stage 5 of SA on Youtube a long time ago. Never thought much of it, just thought it looked pretty cool, and wondered why the boss in a shooting game was a little girl with pigtails. Years later, by some freakish coincidence, I stumbled upon a video of SA stage 5 once again. I thought "I've seen this before. The words "Subterranean Animism" sound familiar." So I did some reasearch, learned about the game a bit, kinda felt like playing it but never bothered. A few weeks later, while listening to video game music on youtube, I saw a related vid with a crazy-ass name: "Solar Sect of Mystic Wisdom ~ Nuclear Fusion." So I listen to it, I see the awesome picture of Okuu used in the video, I wonder what game this song and character are from, I read the video description: Subterranean Animism. That basically settled it for me, I had to play this freakin' game. So I played SA first, and it's still my favorite.

What was it like being new to Touhou...

Used lots of continues and strong-armed my way through easy mode the first day I got the game.(I had to face Orin and Okuu!) The next day 1cced easy. About a week later 1cced normal. I felt like if I wanted to 1cc hard I should probobly get some more general experience, and I wanted to know who all of the "partner" characters were, so that basically launched me into the series. Working chronologically from EoSD, I 1cced the games on normal, then cleared the corresponding extra stage.By the end of this I concluded that Flandre and Yukkari were beasts, and that Suwako and Koishi were wimps. Then I went back to try another Flandre clear and I blew her away. Realizing I had gotten alot better without noticing, I figured I'd go for some hard 1cc's. I starting paying attention to the PC-98 games some time around then, and got my first lunatic 1cc in SA (with 5 extra lives in stock!?  :3). The entirety of this took about 6 months, and i guess my noob-hood ended with that lunatic 1cc, so uh... thar ya go.
As far as favorite characters go its basically been Patchy all along (Mokou's cool too!) 

[Unassuming Squid]

... you got to Stage 6 your first time playing EoSD?

I remember dying horribly on EoSD. Stage 1. Before Rumia even showed up as the midboss.

Several continues and bombs later, of course. I don't think I even got to Remilia my first time. Maybe not even Sakuya in Stage 6.

[shurcle]

Several continues and bombs later, of course. I don't think I even got to Remilia my first time. Maybe not even Sakuya in Stage 6.

I couldn't even get to remilia for a year when I first started touhou. (of course I took very long breaks and mostly played on easy)
Then I could.
But then I can't again because th13 has caused me to focus too much on points instead of survival.

[qno2]

Initial reaction: Avoidance, for many years. I knew about the franchise (but only through IOSYS) and wasn't impressed (because of IOSYS, well their stranger stuff that others forced on me).

One day, seemingly unrelated to this topic, I decided to just give visual novels a try, also something I avoided for many years. After actually liking what I read I thought 'Hey, I might as well look into Touhou!' and thus my early fan career began, about a year ago.

Originally I wanted to just play Lunatic mode but... eh... didn't work out that well so I settled for Hard-mode (and still do, it's too early for me to take the leap I think) and even with it I had to punch my way through with everything I had and still fail at Level 4 or 5 (which made me do a symbolic happy dance every time I reached a new level).
To no surprise at all it took me quite a while to actually manage my first 1cc in EoSD (with ReimuA to boot), but most of the time I just jumped from one game to another, grinding experience (still a bad habit of mine and one of the reasons I haven't seriously tried Lunatic mode yet). The rest kind of followed (except for 10-12, working on it).

Fandom was and is only secondary to me.


Back then I actually thought that Chen's 'Flight of Idaten' is the epitome of bullshit. Oh how innocent I was...

[Ritsuioko23]

[ruro]M'dear, I think you need to acquaint yourself with basic forum rules before you post again.[/ruro]

[KLH]

I remember, about a year ago, when I was looking up random videos on YouTube.
As I browsed around, I developed an interest in those "Windows Error Remixes" and stumbled upon one titled "Crazy Windows Error".
In the description, it said the source music was none other than "Marisa Stole The Precious Thing".
Wondering what the hell that was, I decided to look it up...

...And that was my official introduction into Touhou. This was the first Touhou work of any sort that I remember; strangely enough, it's still actually my favorite "silly" PV.
I started encountering other videos like Alice-Dere, and soon enough I discovered the games. Although I had some experience with other shoot-em-ups before, Touhou was my first danmaku-type game. (In particular, I played Einh?nder and ZANAC, both of which are more about shooting skill and resource management than about the usual bullet hell gameplay.)

I first decided to try Touhou 06. On Hard Difficulty (and I can't remember why). I actually managed to make it to the Stage 3 boss battle before I lost my last life. Within about 5 days I was able to get a 1CC of Normal Difficulty, but too bad I didn't know that the Japanese text was asking me to save a replay and I was just pushing buttons to get back to the main menu.
(Oh well, it was a pretty bad and extremely exhausting run because I was relying on almost completely reactive skills that I developed from FPS games.)

Despite that exhausting and fairly poor performance, Touhou is actually what got me interested in danmaku and bullet hell shooters. For a few months, I stopped playing Touhou and explored other shooters like Seihou and Samidare (where I have a score that I'm very happy with). Then, about 6 months ago, I drifted back into Touhou and started actually getting 1CCs on the other games and Extra Stages. In particular, I had fun with Touhou 11 and its Extra Stage.

But even though I still don't play the games often at all, Touhou has pretty much permanently embedded itself in my daily experiences. Like with Team Fortress 2, which I also developed an interest in around the same time, I now enjoy the countless Touhou references that I started noticing almost everywhere I looked.


An interesting fact, though, is that I came into contact with Touhou long before I even realized it. Four years ago, I used to play rhythm games almost exclusively, especially StepMania.
I had this song called "200 BPM Dump" that was a medley of various songs at 200 BPM. At the very end of the medley was this "catchy" tune that I liked, but I didn't give it much thought at the time. Then, as I was browsing YouTube for Touhou soundtracks, I came across this one theme from Touhou 09 that sounded vaguely familiar even though I have never played that game. It turns out that Komachi's theme was the first Touhou song I ever heard, and I didn't even know it for four years.