The Tale of the 3 Touhous. The parallels are quite nice.
http://youtu.be/bN1_h_eGitEIn time the heroes met a funayuurei who could not be shot, but being learned in danmaku the three heroes simply treated it as a pacifist run and dodged the attacks.
Before they could finish the stage; however, they found their path blocked by a final boss. It was Death, and she felt cheated. Cheated, because heroes would normally drown to the funayuurei and joined her at a flower viewing party, but Death was cunning. She pretended to congratulate the three heroes on their dodging, and said that each had earned a prize for having been skillful enough to evade her.
The first asked for a weapon more powerful than any in existence, so death fashioned a mini-hakkero from a sunflower that stood nearby. The second decided she wanted to humiliate Death even further, and asked for the power to recall loved ones from the grave. So death plucked a pocket watch from the river and offered it to her. Finally death turned to the third hero. A humble shrine maiden, she asked for money. However, Death shrugged, saying she had none. Not amused, the shrine maiden beat Death as if she were a first stage boss. And so it was that death reluctantly handed over a single coin, to which the shrine maiden was still not amused.
The first hero, traveled to a distant forest, where, with the mini-hakkero in hand, she beat an ice fairy with whom she had once quarreled. Drunk with sake, mushrooms, and the power that the mini-hakkero had given her, she bragged of her invincibility. But that night, some fairies stole the mini-hakkero, and drew on the hero’s face for good measure. Humiliated, the first hero found Death as to steal another one, but upon arriving, instead indulged in the delicious food and more sake. And so joined Death and the flower viewing party.
The second hero journeyed home, where she took the watch and cast a spell card. To her delight, the mistress who she had once served, before her untimely death, appeared before her. Yet soon she turned sad and cold because the fandom had long grown tired of her antics. Driven mad with hopeless longing, the second hero killed herself so as to join her, but instead just ended up at the flower viewing party.
As for the third hero, Death tried for many years but was never able to overcome the immense popularity of the hero. Only when she attained a great age, did the shrine maiden reveal the single coin Death had given her, and gave it to the greater doujin community. She then greeted Death as an old friend and went with her gladly, departing this life for the flower viewing party.