~Hakurei Shrine~ > Touhou Addict Recovery Center
Is Touhou's time in the sun over? And why?
Aya Reiko:
I've gathered the circle numbers information from the past 8 Comikets, and I've noticed a few things...
c85
Touhou 2272
Kuroko's Basketball 1462
kancolle 1136
c89
kancolle 2747
Touken Ranbu 1724
Touhou 1666
idolmaster 1325c86
kancolle 2038
touhou 1918
Kuroko's Basketball 1444
c90
Kancolle - 2678
Touhou - 1625
Touken Rabou - 1482
IdolMaster - 1328c87
kancolle 2552
Touhou 1756
Kuroko's Basketball 1178
c91
kancolle 2824
touhou 1623
touken ranbu 1501
idolmaster 1479c88
Kancolle - 2566
Touhou - 1508
IdolMaster - 1186
c92
kancolle 2329
touhou 1320
Idolmaster 1299
Touken Ranbu 1244
Fate series 1129(All series with >1000 circles at Comiket)
1. Touhou is not the darling of the doujin scene anymore, Kancolle is.
2. It used to be the undisputed queen of Comiket. Now it's fighting for second against two or three series. (Ceding it briefly to Touken Ranbu at Comiket 89.)
3. While everyone's representation was down (except for the Fate series), Touhou's Comiket 92 representation is the smallest in years.
IMHO, Touhou's time at the top is probably over. As to why? One, Kancolle is "new and exciting", while Touhou is "old and stale". Two, Touken Ranbu is a big hit to a fanbase Touhou never really played to, the fujoshi, so it's here to stay too. Three, everybody that has its roots or a presence in mobile gaming are increasing, which is extremely popular in Japan, while Touhou, whose games are PC based, a platform that's niche at best in Japan, is shrinking.
As for my first point, I don't think it's too difficult to see Touhou as a series as old and stale. As a series it is ever expanding, but not evolving. Negative Continuity, is a problem for the series. Especially after the MoF-TD chain showed the series can work with storyline continuity, only for ZUN to backflop back into the old way of having each game having nothing to do with each other. You can retcon completely any game from DDC to HSDS and it would not affect the series universe at all (save for losing a few characters, most of whom wouldn't be missed).
And the characters aren't much better either. For the most part, most of the series' characters remain unchanged since their debut (if they are ever seen again).
Gameplay mechanics wise. Outside of a one-time gimmick, they haven't really changed at all either. Same linear progression (except IM, which had two different Stage 6's, and PoFV which was practically a different genre altogether), same core gameplay systems... It's a stale series.
the old guy:
Very saddening to see. Especially considering Kancolle is flat out denial of Japan's past war crimes that depict the allied forces as being monsters.
It's...actually pretty fucking vile. Jesus Christ.
game2011:
The no. of fan stuff on the internet points to Touhou going as strong as ever and Kancolle being on the decline, so no, Touhou isn't dying.
You have realize that the only fan stuff KC can produce are comics and music, as Kadokawa bans all fan games and animations. That plays a factor in keeping its fandom from growing too big. It's not like KC has the more superior gameplay either, as it largely relies on RNG, AKA luck. The only thing that KC has over Touhou is sex appeal, and it seems to be the only thing the producers are doing to pull in the fan base.
You're worrying too much.
Hello Purvis:
It's kind of dumb to compare the two, anyways. Kancolle is a very cynical pump'n'dump operation, while Touhou is a slow burn that has matured over the years.
That said, pump and dump mobas in general will continue to be a thing, so Touhou will always be fighting for space with them now.
game2011:
I previously found a Twitter post that talked about someone researching on Touhou's popularity, and according to him, the series is still as strong as always and in no danger of declining.
So yeah, in the long run, it's safe to say that Touhou will continue to stick around.