What would happen?

[Ultimate Destrado]

Ok, I know this might seem a bit strange, but I have honestly been thinking about this for a long time.

If, hypothetically speaking, something were to happen to ZUN (X_X) what the hell happens to Touhou? Maybe I am over-thinking this, but it was enough to keep me up all night with a cold sweat. I imagine that there would always still be waves after waves of doujin stuff (as usual) but with no new content, that would die eventually, right? So it makes me wonder, if this tragedy were to befall us, who would be worthy to take the role of making new Touhou games? Would it REALLY be the same?

I am curious to know what you guys think. Hopefully, this is just my mind running wild and its nothing to be worked up over...

[Boomer]

To be honest, I am not too sure if a topic like this warrants its own thread.  This feels more like something that would fit better in the "Miscelleneous Questions" or even "Miscelleneous Thoughts and Commentary".

But if I were to give my personal take on the matter, I would prefer that doujins stay the way that they are and leave the canon as is.  The series canon just feels like something that only ZUN can produce and having someone else continue the legacy would not be the same no matter how similar it seems.  As for new Touhou games, we already have had plenty well made ones from other groups, so I would not worry about that either.

[Tengukami]

To be honest, I am not too sure if a topic like this warrants its own thread.  This feels more like something that would fit better in the "Miscelleneous Questions" or even "Miscelleneous Thoughts and Commentary".

Yeah, the thing about the Misc Questions thread is that's a thread for questions that actually have an answer. Misc Thoughts and Commentary is kind of a "here's an amusing thing I thought of" thread, like the Touhou Blogging thread in HME, only related to the Touhou universe and fandom instead of gameplay. This thread seems more of a prompt for speculative discussion, because there is no definitive answer here.

This is also a subject that comes up regularly. Touhou fans are conscious of the concept of mortality, and that ZUN will get old and die one day. Just like the rest of us. I think the series is so particular to ZUN, the person, and the vision he has for the Touhou universe that I can't imagine someone else just picking up where he left off without it changing significantly. Fortunately, as often as he jokes about retiring, it seems he's still got a lot of life left in him, and will keep cranking out games for a while to come. And who knows, maybe his child will grow up to be his successor, so we can play Touhou in our floating bubble cities in the upper atmosphere of Venus.