Exploring the Origins of Touhou Memes

Apples, Clowns, Goblins, Fumos, ⑨s, and More! Today I wanted to look into the origin of various Touhou memes I've been exposed to over the years. There are memes that exist solely as fanon fodder the shows up in fan games, and even some that became cultural phenomenon's that grew even larger than Touhou itself, where exactly did they come from? Time to finally find out!
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Source (Pin Comment)
Inu Sakuya Tweet: / 1478392703193088004
Yukkuri: yukkuri.fandom...
ASCII Yukkuri: en.touhougarak...
Bouncing Yukkuri: • Touhou - Caution!! Yuk...
Yukkuri Cannot Get Up: • Yukkuri Reimu Cannot G...
Unknown X: • Dankagu Radio Special ...
Cirno’s Perfect Yukkuri Class: • Cirno's Perfect Yukkur...
Yukkuri Boss: • Yukkuri shiteitte ne!....
ANGELTYPE, Now known as ROYALCAT: royalcat.xyz/
GIFT: www.gift-gift.jp/
Fisheye Lens Cirno: / 1
Inu Sakuya Fumo: angeltype.under...
Reimu Sandwich: / 2061544017472755
Bottled Cirno: / bottled_cirno
Fumo Buy Guide: zenmarket.jp/e...
Custom Hina Fumo: / yumemimeme
Custom Nue Fumo: / sartouhou
AmiAmi: www.amiami.com...
Creation of Fumo: www.pixiv.net/...
Roomba Sakuya: • Roomba puppo
9 Ball: en.touhouwiki....
ZUN Comment: en.touhouwiki.... (Dai Touhouten Plaque)
ZUN Comments: en.touhouwiki.... (EoSD txt & Dai Touhouten Plaque)
MUKYUU MUKYUU: • 【公式】第2回東方M-1ぐらんぷり『ぱちゅみ...
Pad Chief: • 【東方MV】東方スイーツ！～鬼畜姉妹と受難メ...
Yuyuko eating: • Misamari Sketch【Touhou...
SCoOW Lily White (Black): en.touhouwiki....)
Lily Black Artist: www.pixiv.net/...
Nikenme Radio: www.youtube.co...
Hina Spin: • 【Touhou PV】Hinarin's R...
Bad Apple!!: www.nicovideo....
Alstroemeria Discography: en.touhouwiki....
Bad Apple Storyboard: • Bad Apple!! original ...
Bad Apple Playlist: • Bad Apple Parodies
Bad Apple Stop Motion: www.nicovideo....
CNN Cover of Bad Apple: • Bad Apple CNN:llä
COOL&CREATE Discography: en.touhouwiki....
AYAYA: www.nicovideo....
JP Ronald Mcdonald Ads Compilation: • Japanese Ronald McDona...
December 5th Ronald MAD: www.nicovideo....
Ronald Mcdonald Insanity: • Ronald McDonald insanity
Deaf to All but the Ronald: www.nicovideo....
Flandre Insanity (Original Source Unknown): • Flandre Scarlet Insani...
Cirno’s Perfect Math Class: • 【東方MV】チルノのパーフェクトさんすう教室...
Help me, Eirin: • 【東方】COOL&CREATE Touhou...
OVERDRIVE: • 【東方MV】患部で止まってすぐ溶ける～狂気の...
Marisa Stole the Precious Thing: • 【東方MV】魔理沙は大変なものを盗んでいきま...
Crazy Raging Reimu: www.nicovideo....
Crazy Rampaging Sakuya: www.nicovideo....
Tamifluriver Sisters: www.nicovideo....
Tamiflucat Sisters: www.nicovideo....
We Are Japanese Goblin: www.nicovideo....
Car shearer Japanese Goblin: • Japanese Goblin but it...
MTB We Are Japanese Goblin: • WE ARE JAPANESE GOBLIN...
MTB We Are Japanese Goblin Remaster: • 【Touhou MMD PV】Broken ...
Gyate Face: www.pixiv.net/...
Someone Wan Wan (Original deleted): • 【Touhou】 (Ｕ^ω^) SOMEON...
Chen Honk: www.pixiv.net/...
Chen Goes Fishing: www.youtube.co... sKY lxDE
Punchline: safebooru.donm...
Plastic Protein: www.pixiv.net/...
Yoshitaka Ushiki: / yosihiki
Merlin Glitch: www.youtube.co... kmKm docs
Rensenware: • Trojan.Ransom.Rensenware
First Mokou: www.pixiv.net/...

[@AspreyFM]

Hi it's me the PINNED COMMENT you should read! I ran out of room in the Description so here's what I couldn't include: Sources link to the originals as best I could, though for videos that I couldn't find the Original, I linked the most popular upload. There were some cases where I chose to use the HD restorations of the channel Kirbologist, in which case their channel is linked. If there's a source missing, or incorrect, odds are 1.) I forgot (there was a lot) 2.) I messed up 3.) It was left out on purpose (For Reasons) Hopefully everything is correct in there though. For those wondering about the Fan games shown throughout the video, here's a list of them in order of appearance without duplicates: EoSD for the Busy Person Touhou Soccer Moushuuden New Super Marisa Land Koumajou Remilia Scarlet Symphony Touhou Koboto V Burst Battle Touhou Lost Branch of Legend Fumo Kart Racing Touhou Mother Shanghai exe Azure Reflections Touhou Puppet Dance Performance Shard of Dreams Extended Ganbare, Minoriko! Reimu’s Awesome Holiday Genso Wanderer Reloaded Touhou Mystia’s Izakaya Touhoumon Heartgold That should be everything, hope you enjoyed the video!

[@NeoAya]

I'm surprised you didn't mention NYN despite her insane popularity, although I guess Cookie is something that warrants a video in of itself

[@HyperVanilo]

You forgot to explain the fake title We Are Japanese Goblin. The title was from the first 4 words of the lyrics, I don't know if atomicpuppy (the reuploader) were too lazy to translate the actual title or they want a bit creative. About the word 'goblin', despite being an oni or what the Westerners interpret as Japanese ogre, Suika says Japanese goblin aka tengu, she's so drunk she forgot her own species.

[@GamerRoman]

You should put things into a doc or the video's credit/end when you can't fit it all into the description.

[@ClassicTouhouMedia]

Oh my god, thanks for the shoutout and cool video! I'm so glad that my restorations are helping to perpetuate these legacy works into this day and age. Innocent Key actually did release the Pad Chief video on KZbin, albeit it's hard to come by: kzbin.info/www/bejne/epmllGZqorB4qNE

[@captainmega6310]

What about 8:31 ?

[@CrystalChris21]

Touhou jokes are such an amalgamation of both the humor of different time periods (old internet humor/modern memes) and also different cultures (eastern/western side of the fandom)

[@eagletanker]

The interpretations of the character and the spread of those interpretations too is really interesting. If it didn't feel so weird talking about touhou outside of the internet it would be fun to actually try and do a serious academic paper on it.

[@paper2222]

touhou is worldwide

[@snailthelostcow63]

Even 2chan parallels 4chan It's amusing

[@Xnoob545]

​@@notroboteva7601and then we have the western side, a mix of older internet and modern internet humor And then we mix the Japanese and western sides So, 4 ingredients in total, if you will

[@shirleymaemattthews4862]

​@@snailthelostcow63but does 2chan have pathetic incels, neo-nazis, and CHRIS CHAN?!?

[@hafizhaekal1352]

I don't know if it's because he's the only notable male character in the series but my favorite Touhou meme is Rinnosuke's joke characterization in the fan works. Sometimes he's absolutely pathetic and is the butt of the joke being roasted by various character like in awesome holiday. Sometimes he's also a muscular soccer demigod that runs around in the field only wearing a fundoshi. He's truly an enigma.

[@AspreyFM]

That was actually one of the ones I wanted to look into, but I couldn't find anything specific, like the first instance of him being absolutely jacked. I could only find tidbits describing essentially what you said, so I had to give up on it

[@eagletanker]

There's a really funny version of this which sees Rinnosuke getting kicked in the balls by Tewi and then it slowmotion (well for a comic) shot of his glasses breaking. It's so good

[@katiewahh]

What do u think of this tho kzbin.info/www/bejne/h2S3e4dvmtessM0

[@Christopher01906]

ronald

[@lilythebestlesbian]

​@@Christopher01906 "Correct! The heavy is dead." "He's just pining for the fjords"

[@ShockInazuma]

I don’t care what anyone thinks about fumos. They’re goofy and adorable as hell and I'm proud to own two of them.

[@NoSkill_fr]

how much money did it cost you

[@therealman27]

how much do you own now?

[@Allanubs]

Which ones?

[@ShockInazuma]

@@Allanubs Koishi and Satori, but now the family has grown.

[@Allanubs]

@@ShockInazuma Let the family name live on lmao

[@loftilywrongly3483]

That "horrible droning note" is the best part of Marisa stole the precious thing. I don't understand how anybody could hate it.

[@palequadrant2]

yeah not when your playing it on a speaker at a birthday party.

[@hassanico9999]

@@palequadrant2 ...why would you play that at a birthday party

[@lemocoffee]

@@hassanico9999 for the horrible droning noise

[@palequadrant2]

@@hassanico9999 IT WAS MY BIRTHDAY

[@hassanico9999]

@@palequadrant2 And a happy birthday to you, but that song just doesn't feel like birthday music/material to me is all lol

[@guitarguyjones]

The memes about Flan's theme reminds me of that whole era on the English-speaking internet where people thought her theme was a supposedly-unplayable black MIDI composition named Death Waltz by American composer John Stump. I think that meme might have been my own first exposure to Touhou content.

[@aierie-dragonslayer]

oh right! i remember being curious about death waltz and pissed i couldn't find anything about it that wasn't un owen

[@desolate00]

My introduction on this meme was on the siivagunner channel where one of the rips of U. N Owen was Her!? was named Death Waltz - John Stump.

[@drpibisback7680]

"Faerie's Aire and Death Waltz" isn't really Black MIDI, it's more just an extremely involved classical piece with a lot of nonsensical stage directions (e.g. "release the penguins" or simply "Drive it!"). It's dense but human playable, minus all the goofy shit.

[@shirleymaemattthews4862]

Imagine their reactions after finding out it had something to do with ANIME GIRLS

[@johnathansfacew8528]

You forgot to add Inu Sakuya origins coming from PCB where Yuyuko calls her the dog of the devil in her dialogue. Enjoyed the video seeing all these memes is always fun along with seeing their origins.

[@HyperVanilo]

Ackchually, it's the Prismrivers first who sees Sakuya as a dog by saying dog meat, which then she corrected them with human meat.

[@IdkAlcohol]

​@@HyperVanilo it's "Actually"

[@Satono3606]

@@IdkAlcohol I believe that's on purpose

[@IdkAlcohol]

@@Satono3606 oh... Please dont wooosh me...

[@Satono3606]

Eh, i won't

[@Eggyteevee]

At this point I feel like Touhou is one of the main columns for memes on the internet today There are memes from 2006, 2010, 2015, even today people make new memes, I didn't knew 40% of these were originally from Touhou

[@SirKarlIsTheMod]

AMOGUS EYES

[@Eggyteevee]

@@SirKarlIsTheMod WITH BIG SHOES

[@RealLife2006-y9f]

Touhou x Omori Hikik Au Touhou x The Trollge Files Hikik Au Touhou Team 9 x Omori Hikik Au Touhou x Yandere Simulator Hikik Au

[@Zyra-Not-The-LOL-One]

@@RealLife2006-y9fYou uhhh... you good man?

[@shirleymaemattthews4862]

And the irony is that people who enjoy touhou memes, without knowing it or without knowing what touhou is, hate on the whole Otaku neckbeard/discord mod stereotype, though some of their memes have anime girl references in themselves!

[@ohhahhglennmcgrath4202]

As a Yuuka fan, I do agree that most of her sadist personality is entirely fanon. However, interestingly enough, her depiction in Perfect Memento in Strict Sense hints at a darker side. "Eyewitness Reports: "She came to the village to shop. She gives proper greetings, and she didn't seem like she's that strong, but..." (Flower Shop) The stronger the youkai, the more polite they normally are. But you must not cross her. "I see her at the shrine a lot. I wonder if that shrine maiden will exterminate her..." (Anonymous) The shrine maiden there is infamous for not doing her job. However, it's said that she's exterminated this youkai several times (*2). "I saw her at the Garden of the Sun. Her smile was terrifying, so I immediately ran away." (Anonymous) Strong ones are usually smiling (*3). Countermeasures: There are no countermeasures; it's impossible for ordinary humans to exterminate her. They can only be vigilant. Luckily, she isn't interested in boring battles, so as long as you don't attack, set up a trap, or set her field of flowers on fire, you should be fine. If you come across this youkai battling with someone else, do not get yourself involved. However, these fights are based on certain rules, so as long as you do not disturb the fight, she'll be polite. If you can keep your distance, it's also a good idea to watch. Battles between non-humans are full of breathtaking beauty. Her "Danger rating" to humans is also rated as "Very High" to humans. Up there with the Scarlet sisters, Suika and Yuyuko." However, PMiSS is written entirely from the in-universe perspective of Akyuu, so how much of this is misinformation from Yukari or others is up for debate. Still, love the video though. Keep up the great work!

[@waluigiisthebest2802]

She is more of a troll who acts intimidating, but mostly just messes with people.

[@Minulf]

I have nothing to add to this other than: Yuuka

[@naikyou]

Could be worse, at least her nickname from Touhou Mother didn't stick aka "Miss Shotacon". Regular meme sadism is pretty mild in comparison.

[@まめまろ]

日本人ですが、海外の方なのにここまで日本の東方のミームを知っていることに驚きを隠せません。東方のミームを説明してくれてありがとうございます！！

[@moosenger]

I don't understand, but I agree!

[@jjosseph]

real

[@HyperVanilo]

​@@moosenger He basically said Overseas people know about Japanese Touhou meme and being grateful for Asprey to explain them

[@星あかり-k2p]

体感的な感じですが、最近は外国の方が東方memeが多く感じます。特に東方fumo関連のパペット作品が多いようです(日本人)

[@h2knad]

@@星あかり-k2p海外は東方を全体としてミーム化してるイメージがある 日本だと、某ボイスドラマが独り歩きしてるイメージ…

[@jvts8916]

Another thing that probably caused double Lily to spread was the Silent Sinner illustrator screwing up and drawing Lily White and Lily Black at the same place, at the same time.

[@StarkMaximum]

20:05 I thought I was going INSANE, that one note pisses me off SO BAD and NO ONE mentions it. Thank god Dylan is here to make me feel sane again. I know you were focusing on specifically origins, but one of my favorite branches of UN Owen Was Here's widespread Internet grasp is the "Death Waltz", the sheet music that was being spread around as "the impossible song", to which I believe it ended up being a remix of specifically the Cool 'n' Create UN Owen. (I may be wrong.)

[@HyperVanilo]

The "Death Waltz" is based on Marasy8's piano cover of Last Brutal Sister Flandre S, then a random Korean re-uploaded the video and renamed it to Death Waltz. The actual Death Waltz is _Faires Aire and Death Waltz_ by John Stump.

[@ShinSHOGO]

I absolutely loathe that droning noise at the end of “Marisa Stole the Precious Thing”, especially for how ridiculously long it goes for. My friends and I at work have a Spotify shuffle playlist that we pooled together a ton of songs into, which happens to also include a decent amount of Touhou stuff (fan works, official songs, and covers/remixes), and we pretty much made it a rule to never ever add that song to the list ever again, because of that bit. 😒

[@star7communicator]

I've been a casual observer of the Touhou fandom since the mid to late 2000s, so this was extremely helpful! You mentioned a lot of the ones that have lived rent-free in my head since then. One of my favorites was "Pettan, Pettan, tsurupettan~" where the joke was that Suika was flat-chested like a pancake. I didn't know where the meme came from, I just found the joke and the animation funny.

[@oak8194]

That was a good compilation! The Touhou meme had become so large that a lot of people don’t even know their origins. LOL Anyway, just a little feedback on some of the things you’ve mentioned: Meiling also has another joke nickname, “Hon Mirin” (Japanese Sweet Rice Wine), which sounds similar to her full name “Hong Meiling” The circle IOSYS is pronounced “Ee-Oh-Sis” The artist’s name BKUB is pronounced “Bu-Ku-Bu” The artist Bomber Grape is also the creator of “Daily Lives of High School Boys”

[@AspreyFM]

I ended up seeing the "Hon Mirin" name, but the one I knew I wanted to look into was the "China" nickname, so I focused on that alone. IOSYS pronunciation makes sense when I read it like that, but I always think of IO as an acronym, so I read it as 2 individual letters. BKUB on the other hand, I don't think I ever would've gotten that one right lol. The bit on Bomber Grape there was a shock, but also I can completely believe it given how similar their humor really is lol

[@StarkMaximum]

"The circle IOSYS is pronounced “Ee-Oh-Sis, the artist’s name BKUB is pronounced “Bu-Ku-Bu”" are you FUCKING kidding me, "ee-oh-sis" is one thing but BKUB is fucking BUKUBU???

[@oak8194]

@@StarkMaximum BKUB also uses a picture of the puffer fish from Mario, Cheep Cheep, as his profile pic, in which their original name is “Pukupuku”. So my guess is he probably likes Cheep Cheep and altered the JP name to Bukubu as his own. LOL

[@oak8194]

@@AspreyFM BKUB’s name makes me think of ONE, One Punch Man’s author, whether his name is pronounced “Wan” or “Oh-Nay” like Onee-san and such.🤣 Though I’m pretty certain it’s “Wan” to reflect his work’s title. As for BKUB, he usually includes his name written in hiragana, so it’s more clear. Also, I wish Bomber Grape would make more Touhou doujin...

[@SuperChrim]

Wow. A couple of these I didn’t realize actually originated from Touhou. But I’m now glad to learn that’s the case.

[@ProjectSNT]

Awesome video! Was not expecting to see my dub mentioned!

[@XenoflareBahamut]

It's really impressive on how Touhou fans keeps on making memes like Amogus Eyes

[@andrevital91169]

00:06:09

[@ShockInazuma]

@@andrevital91169 Bro called someone an idiot for no reason lmao.

[@thepanman674]

​@andrevital.2484 the fact that the timestamp is literally 69 is also funny

[@THEWORLDOVA-SKY]

5:08 is no one gonna talk about how Sakuya is just doing the Famous DIO Pose in the first Card? *Omae wa oshi monowa nanta...*

[@emceechupitheundying5692]

ZA WAURDO!

[@LoveFor298Yen]

11:04 Lily Black is actually found in a canon work, albeit because of an artist error; in SSiB you see Lily White and Lily Black in the same ballroom (Chapter 9). Lily Black can be found next to Mystia on the left side of the page. Since it’s a mistake, you can mentally retcon it and say this was an instance of another fairy in a similar getup.

[@systemrestart120]

Oh my god!! Finally someone who remembers that CNN covered that Bad Apple recreation........... it's one of my favorite fun facts I like to tell other Touhou fans I meet, lol. Anyways, this is a great video, brought up a lot of memories from my Touhou forum days, and also answered a lot of questions I had about where some of those old memes came from!

[@TheKrzysiek]

The ACTUALLY important Touhou lore

[@zombiekiller0023]

A giant Yukkuri Riemu fighting a Mecha was definitely a flashbang to the brain on my first time watching Pani Poni Dash.

[@cornocornocorno]

You really ended the video with Byakuren hitting the bell, huh... very sneaky youtuber man

[@AJSdanmakufu]

Man these were a fun trip down memory lane. I've been in the Touhou fandom for quite a while and yet I didn't know where most of these memes originated from myself. Great video!

[@RealLife2006-y9f]

☺️😊😍🥰😘😚😳🤗🤭🤤🥴😻😽💋❤️💕💞💓💗💖💘💝💟

[@piranhabones]

This video not only was extremely informational and covers a lot of ground, but the actual editing is INSANE. With a video this long, you'd expect for it to have minimal editing, but no, you went the extra mile and made sure it looked this good. Not to mention the several hours of sheer research, confirming information, and investigating. Absolutely amazing video. I can't even imagine the amount of hours you put in this singular project. Nothing but kudos to you, man

[@Mokoccino]

I love watching these videos on touhou meme origins. Been a fan for a really long time (since around 2007/8 maybe?), it's great to refresh my memory on some things and I *still* learn something new every time I watch or read something :D

[@YuutaTogashi0707]

Did you know that there was an extended version of the Bad Apple!! animation It was only shown at 3 concerts with 2 of them being in 2010 and the 3rd in 2013 I think, I could be wrong The extended version was never leaked and we don't know if anira also made the extended parts There are some recreations of it

[@oosha2000]

Really ? I thought the long version was 5 minutes and 25 seconds long.

[@YuutaTogashi0707]

@@oosha2000 I meant that the extended animation is the 5 minute version the original animation uses a shortened version that is 3 minutes and 40 seconds alsot the second concert is 2011, I messed that up

[@oosha2000]

@@YuutaTogashi0707 mhm

[@akaiappears]

Touhou feels like an anomaly. Whenever I learn something about it I feel like I am looking at the picture of someone else scratching the surface of the tip of the iceberg. It's like a 5 dimensional fandom that glitched itself inwards into our plane of existence.

[@so_cool_so_cool]

Day 3: Im starting to love touhou more, youtube seems to be knowing this and recommending me more touhou videos, memes, and lore. I enjoy this and will be awaiting more touhou content.

[@meep4950]

Great video, but I have one question: How do I not feel old after watching this?

[@slayerofdarknssdmt9697]

because much like kaguya, touhou memes dont like to die and thus gain the powers of eternal youth as to never lose their comedic touch

[@NeoAya]

"I will not be discussing any meme that originates from something originally nsfw" >Remilia on screen I see what you did there :^)

[@brunop.8745]

Well I dont, care to enlighten us?

[@m4sterb4it3r]

@@brunop.8745 I'm guessing it's the "Hey, mister" meme

[@Hedge_the_Hog]

Is KKHTA also considered nsfw? Some Koishi expressions are extremely shitposty.

[@HyperVanilo]

​@@Hedge_the_Hog Well, KKHTA has a lot of gore scenes, so of course it's NSFW

[@CaptainCFalcon]

Hey mister, I see what you did there •,_,•)

[@yfrufeyfryd2129]

it's really interesting how it's a bunch of inside jokes getting so popular that they turn cannon and generate more inside jokes, a full circle.

[@darkerbot1337]

Great video. I was surprised by how many of these I recognized, but it's always nice to a well researched and comprehensive list like this :D

[@testhekid]

finally the touhou memes and references have actual good documentation for newcomers, i didnt know the origin of the majority of these but i was happy to see me recongnising most of them with how little time i spent in the community

[@akiraigarashi2874]

Thanks a lot for linking all the sources.

[@Tsukitsune1]

I'm not a big touhou fan but I always found the series fascinating. I now feel more cultured after watching this video. thanks!

[@BinglesP]

29:18 The fact that the Japanese Touhou community has made memes crossing Touhou over with Teletubbies is hilarious

[@francjirachi]

This makes me realize that like 90% of memes I have loved somehow originate from touhou

[@fraz66511]

Absolutely love this video! I am super intrigued by how much memes there are regarding Touhou. If only it was more longer, it wouldve been even better but this was more than enough tho. Thank you so much ❤

[@them3ds464]

Imagine when human civilization finally collapses, the only evidence of our existence will be Touhou memes. Touhou will outlive us.

[@tchitchouan]

I loved the segment on fumofumos.

[@TheAngerPowered]

I'm not really into 2hu but I appreciate your videos. It's great to see some insight in a fandom that is somewhat niche and unfamiliar to me! I'm working my way through PCB and IN but I suck at bullet hell so the progress is slow. Keep up the good work.

[@abd-animation-22]

And i am still stuck on flandre Currently at 75% completion

[@kirbonicpikmin8809]

Amazed that you managed to touch on the Sakuya pads joke but avoid mentioning the jokes about Marisa having a large ass due to her having the biggest hitbox & her having a powerful butt bump attack in every fighting game (notably Soku). It’s funny, because I don’t think it can be placed specifically as a Japanese or Western meme in the community either. It seems to be more popular in the west, but it’s also been a joke in the East for a while as well, I’ve seen art of the hitbox comparisons from Japanese fans that are years old. What make it more interesting to me, is that many of the specific variations of the meme from Western specific communities (like the Among Us animation, you know the one) would end up spreading to the Japanese community, which would lead to a huge boom of Japanese shitposts of a sprite animated version of Marisa doing the dance to different music. It’s a notable example of an old meme getting a much bigger modern resurgence. Though I can see you probably finding this to teeter on the NSFW end. (Also you should’ve had the video end with the SDM exploding somehow, would’ve been a perfect way to endcap the video, haha)

[@ShinSHOGO]

Yeah, I was surprised to see no mention of all the Marisa butt memes, as well. Especially with them going on for so long, and even being a prevalent thing in many of the games, too.

[@kirbonicpikmin8809]

@@ShinSHOGO it’s also extended to even fangames and crossover appearances lol. The more recent and popular example being Marisa in Muse Dash. I think Mystia’s Izakaya even has a line poking at it somewhere.

[@RealLife2006-y9f]

Sasuke Vs Naruto Sunny Vs Basil Sunny Vs Omori Omori Aubrey Kel Hero Basil Mari Jeref Marlsa Oviler Vs Sonic Red, Sonic Blue, Sonic Green, Sonic Yellow,

[@d3ltazer0judgement]

SIR, I NEEDED THIS VIDEO LITERALLY *MONTHS AGO!* (i had too much effort to understand Cirno's 9 meme) THANK YOU, I AM FOREVER GRATEFUL!

[@heckstar]

I was honestly not expecting to see projectsnt come up in my touhou deep dive 😭😭

[@TheHarunate]

Having been an inactive Touhou fan for years, I couldn't remember why the fumos always looked so familiar to me. Turns out they originated from Inu-Sakuya, something that I've seen during my active days. Yes, it's been almost 13 years since I first became a Touhou fan (thanks, ZUN's glorious trumpets), and this video really serves as a nostalgia trip because, man, has it been THAT long? Now I wanna listen to some Touhou musics again.

[@bounds.astroe]

the fact that someone made a ransomware and infected his own pc is wild, he even felt bad and gave the antidote for free online

[@GleebieDeebie]

I only figured out about this franchise because of those little fumo things, there silliness naturally drew me towards their origin

[@ignisol47]

Amazing video! I would've liked to see a bit more mention of KKHTA, but that subject matter may be too dark. If it isn't though, a standalone video on it would be really interesting!

[@Kybhoh]

I love this type of videos. Your work is always great and appreciated :) Very good subject ! I loved watching that.

[@IdkAlcohol]

The Mukyu noise is so loud bro, i was eating with my parents and when they heard the mukyu sound, they stared at me for a few minutes. I really thought i was gonna die

[@borkK]

Probably forgotten about that omae wa mou shindeiru remix which was actually taken from Tiny Little Adiantum, a song from Shibayan Records. Tiny Little Adiantum was derived from Yuuka's theme from PoFV.

[@lazydelibird]

I literally didn't know it was gensokyo past and present. Shibayan Records really remix the songs to the point of it being really hard to know.

[@Mine18x]

I was surprised to see a reference to "Easy Modo?!?!?" in A Hat In Time, and appropiately enough, it appears randomly whenever the game offers you to ease the death wish challenges.

[@enfixu5833]

Hey mister, thanks for making this video, it explained a lot for me, you're great

[@goodandfren3926]

0:57 >Won´t talk about NSFW memes >Puts Remilia Boss fight gameplay while saying it LOL

[@RayTC]

eppin meme arrows

[@tiffany-chan1235]

I'm surprised you didn't mention how Yukkuri created there own genre of youtube video in Japan and they are very popular

[@lotgc]

I hope I make it onto one of these Touhou meme compilations/explanations someday.

[@sycophant-ism]

3:00 going to stop you right there, recently on a trip to japan i found loads of claw machines with yukkuri plushies (mainly of marisa and reimu) but i never won any

[@VekhGaming]

Speaking as a proud owner of a Funa Remilia plush(AKA Bup Wemi). As far as I've been able to find, they're actually "Tikutaku Rabbit Plushies", more Fumo alternatives available only as Remilia and Flandre than intentional bootlegs. For anyone who cares in the audience. As far as I've been able to figure out, the Suku really doesn't have very complex lore, artist upg (Pixiv user 7929) drew Hakutaku-Keine in the style of the (JP-Only) game "SukuSuku Inufuku", then artist Rebecca (Pixiv user 7907966), who is a giant Keine fan, took a shine to it and popularized it. At least, thats all I've been able to figure out without being able to read or speak English.

[@EinTheEin]

Suku lore (real)

[@fragrantshirt6302]

Very great and informative video as usual! Although, I do have one bit of criticism. Since the video is about pointing at the origins of these memes, I feel like you didn't do the Wriggle Kick justice enough, specifically what it could be referencing, the Rider Kick from the Kamen Rider series. There are a lot of parallels that could be drawn between the two such as how both Wriggle and Kamen Rider Ichigo are green, bug themed characters and how the Wriggle Kick is often represented by a dive kick which the Rider Kick often takes the form of. This is far from outlandish as the Kamen Rider series is an incredibly popular and influential series in Japan and has been referenced numerous times such as in Bleach of all things (yes, THAT Bleach) so I don't doubt the Rider roots from the Wriggle Kick.

[@ballinbinandastick2708]

What a goddamn rabbit hole i've stumbled onto.

[@lazydelibird]

Tewi made a lot of rabbit holes to jump into afterall

[@wildfirewolf1777]

I came here looking for where the meme of the characters eating Spaghetti came from, I didn't find what I was looking for but I was more than satisfied xD

[@ltxr9973]

14:00 There's many who tried to prove that they're faster but they didn't last and they died as they tried

[@Orange_Tree_]

Wasn't corndogs Tenshi born from a fan image of her feeding corndogs to Shion? I remember watching a video something half a decade ago or more, that featured the image itself and explained that different rendition of it became a meme? Upd: Ok'ay, I actually became intrigued and looked it up myself. Didn't find video I mentioned, but I did find wiki article about actual origins. Apparently, the original image was posted back in '09 on Pixiv by user Ayumi Tooru with caption "Cozy Dog Drive-In is the birthplace of the American Dog* (common japanese name for corndogs), or something. I used the glazing technique to create an atmosphere of strong sunshine, rather nice!". Their artwork from back then features a lot of similar pictures revolving around Touhou characters and food, and this one appears to be just the one they tried "glazing technique" on. As for combination of food and character, it appears to be rooted purely in Tenshi's intensions to do whatever she finds to be fun, like, say, travelling all the way to Americas to try the "true" corndog right from it's "birthplace", not the ones found in Japan. And route 66 sign also present in the picture is just a commonly known symbol of America, further cementing, that Tenshi isn't content with simple japanese American Dogs and eats this particular corndog righ in the middle of America. And that seems to be the full extent of image's origins. It eventually reached western net, and Tenshi's love for American Dogs (together with her expression on the picture, because I mean, look at her) was loved enough to fill the boards and create many iterations, including the one I was mentioning before.

[@skiddytrippy7189]

I think a BIG part of Yukuri culture now is for Japanese Channels somewhat similiar to sci-show, osp, religionforbreakfast, the canvas and educational channels like that in the japanese sphere is done very commonly by yukuri heads with their classic txt to voice voices(e.g. www.youtube.com/@c-history a japanese channel focusing on chinese history) and their main name is ゆっくり解説, and not as prominent nowadays but for a time very popular on niconico and partly youtube is let's play channels using yukuri heads and voice to speech, though with the advent of voiceroids( think vocaloid but taking the niche of text to voice previously occupied by yukuri heads) it died down quickly. Right now it is kinda the go to if you did not want to voice your own video as a japanese and many yukuri channels don't even know that much about Touhou anymore, forming its own sub-culture.

[@ciufolof7635]

I didn't know nearly anything about touhou and holy shit, the influence that it has to anime meme culture is massive. I didn't know that stuff originated from touhou, in particular from tohu doujin.

[@TheTouhoudude]

I was not expecting somebody actually acknowledging the existence of Advent Cirno especially in a video talking about the origins of Touhou memes (Man maybe I should work on that Advent Cirno continuation fanfic I was gonna do)

[@laster25]

great video as always

[@thisisasupersayin376]

I strongly believe the "frogs go mlem mlem, snakes go ppblblt, thanks for comign folks" image could end all wars

[@HaikuClover]

9:37 iPad was a Sakuya Meme before it was an Electronic Tablet.

[@YUKILOID39]

Watching this just reinforces how much touhou has intruded on my time on the internet before i actually got into it properly i've seen so many of these memes for YEARS, like more than likely over a decade, but now the pieces are finally being put together for me that it's all touhou

[@tanyushing2494]

Small keine meme from fan games. Keine is always associated with a Refrigerator, Washing Machine and Cathode-ray tube Television. This is a reference to a Japanese PM in the 80s/90s saying these are the three sacred treasures of the modern era.

[@uniformofsquids1718]

Man I’m surprised such a recent video on this can overlook all the recent memes. I’m more familiar with western Touhou memes than eastern ones, but I’m surprised he didn’t touch on yukari’s age, necromantic, Kazuya being a neet, wheelchair okina, that time the devs of psi sang cirno’s perfect math class, that one sanae sprite being throw around (I see it more than the Hina face honestly), myon (in general, it is a non cannon term more common than whatever patchouli’s line was), hanipaganda (and akatsuki records in general), Mima’s status, silent stoner in blue, any of the old ciryes videos, there’s a lot. I’m surprised you glossed over so many of the songs too, there’s easy opportunity for a part 2 or 3 or 4. Especially since even though there’s definitely stuff that’s missed and stuff you glossed over, this is still one of the best informational Touhou videos I’ve seen in a while. I don’t know what it is with English speaking KZbin and being terrible at giving Touhou information but this video was much nicer than I expected.

[@naikyou]

Momiji also got an IOSYS song dedicated to her called "Yuusha Wan Wan" that presumably references the doggo meme.

[@ImmacHn]

Amazing job!

[@Alissi-P]

Hello! I'm someone who has had like,, a passing understanding of Touhou for most of my life at this point (I'm a Vocaloid fan and Touhou and Vocaloid have a very large overlap in niche) but am only more recently making an effort to learn more and enter the fandom! This video is very helpful for becoming more acquainted with the fandom and its culture, which at first felt quite daunting due to Touhou being nearly 30 years old now... I appreciate this video! Thank you!

[@Karasca]

very comfy video, some notable memes that came to mind, not in the video: klepto marisa, marisad keine headbutt tiny adiantum futo pyro

[@AspreyFM]

There were a few things related to Marisa that in hindsight, probably should've done (Daze, Borrowing, LOLK, goodness) honestly typing that out, why didn't I touch on her at all lol. For the others, I feel like Keine's Headbutt is kinda like Wriggle Kick, with her accidently hitting the player, though there is a chance EX Keine had some influence there, if you know what I mean. I don't know much about Tiny Adiantum aside from the absolute failure of the KZbin Copyright system, so it never came to mind, though if I did look into it and it was only the story of said Copyright bull, I'm unsure I would've wanted to include it Futo kinda was included, but it was video for the portion where I was saying that I didn't have any specific character past UFO I wanted to look into. I'm still kind of unsure what started Futo's pyromancy, but for me I felt that Genso Wanderer really drove it home

[@ImmacHn]

@@AspreyFM Sequel time

[@LushieTilde]

@@AspreyFM I don't think there is anything more to Tiny Adiantum than the drama about someone stealing, profiting from and claiming copyright of the song and all the ensuing chaos. Technically the song was a meme but it was unrelated to Touhou (it was about Minecraft parrots), and I'm glad it isn't covered cause everytime I get reminded of it it makes me irrationally angry. For Futo's pyromancy, that's just a canon part of her character (well I suppose less extreme than in fanon). Futo when she was still alive burned down everything she saw related to Buddhism out of fear. One of her TD spell cards on Hard/Lunatic is even called "Sakuraiji in Flames", with Sakuraiji being a Buddhist temple.

[@JesusMorales-cx8vv]

If I remember correctly, Keine's headbutt was briefly mentioned in Perfect memento in strict sense. It's a punishment that keine does to the students that forget to do their homework.

[@HyperVanilo]

Manly Marisa is also a notable meme about here

[@sec9_]

I like the joke about marisa eating bread actually making it into Touhou Lost Word.

[@juthut9890]

should've ended the video with the scarlet mansion exploding lmao

[@rga1605]

It was nice to remember these memes, they basically made an entire community. In spite of the memes being popular amongst us, I feel Touhou will forever remain outside the "mainstream" (whatever that is), but still people will learn about it through memes

[@deltazero3796]

Cool material you did here, good job :)

[@JosephHk743]

1:05 Given how the Yukkuri’s are now in Lost Word (yes, that’s a thing now), I’ve officially been exposed to more Touhou Memes than ever before (even after watching the rest of the video).

[@darkness_4ever490]

Marisa "borrowing" patchouli's books "till she is dead" from touhou lost word is the funniest thing ever if you ask me

[@lazydelibird]

And it’s canon

[@darkness_4ever490]

@@lazydelibird that makes it better XD

[@tastefullynerdy1161]

Amazing vieo, and I really REALLY appreciate you showcasing Touhoumon HeartGold for a moment there. Also, based Mokou enjoyed is based.

[@prophecyking3448]

I'm more or less certain that Sin Sack's source is IOSYS PV for "Border of Extacy". Also, I highly recommend mentioned here Bomber Grape's Touhou manga, certified knee-slapper.

[@somegnome3398]

Rensenware is the funniest malware I’ve ever heard of. That rules.

[@Eri21486]

20:10 - Would you mind if I add some perspective on this? In all honesty, I actually never heard of Crazy Raging Reimu... well at least not that name. In fact, I know the meme as being called "X on Drugs" and "Raging X." There are also 4 versions of the meme, if you would believe it. They are Reimu on Drugs, Marisa on Drugs, Marisa on Drugs MMD (or ++), and Suwako on Drugs. Although Reimu on Drugs was the first, Marisa's version began incorporating meme dances into the video. While the MMD version of Marisa added more dance memes than the non-MMD version, it wasn't actually completed until the Suwako on Drugs version. If you look at other parody videos from that time, you can tell which version was used for the inspiration as the Marisa MMD and the Suwako version had slight differences moves. As for the Prismriver Sisters on Drugs/Tamiflu Sisters, that version ultimately won the use of the "X on Drugs" search but I don't think it was strictly Touhou based. If I recall, the reason the Tamiflu Sisters became more popular than the Raging X series is because of a small franchise called Undertales (note the sarcasm before someone comments on that statement). Someone uploaded a video called "Sans on Drugs" which ultimately resulted in the Touhou Fanbase arguing with the Undertale Fanbase. The original video can be found though but the name was changed to "【Undertale】Sans is.... 【Parody】" with a "do not go to the original and say Sans version brought them to the original" disclaimer in the description. Anyway, good video and it brought back memories of years ago. Eri21486 - Creator of the Marisa On Drugs Explained video and Suwako on Drugs Explained video

[@cozzalozza9089]

The first thing touhou related I came across were fumos. Mainly in sh*tposts and memes. I love their adorably funny design lol

[@PassingNeet]

Something to note, Remilia, Sakuya, and Flandre are all jojo references, not just Sakuya. Remilia is Part 1 dio, Sakuya is ZA WARUDO itself, And flandre is yoshikage kiras BITEZ ZA DUSTO. Remilia and Sakuya also have a weird dichotomy in this regard as castlevania references, as a sub weapon weilding potential vampire hunter, and the supposed descendant of dracula (even if she's lying about it). EoSD characters are very dense with references

[@brimstoner982]

I’ve never been a fan of touhou but I knew all of these memes just from browsing 4chan semi-regularly

[@basilhussam3130]

Your voice is so soothing

[@BrJPGameplay]

The entire vide I went "what do you mean this is also from touhou?" Specially the big head form of the characters. I play skullgirls and one of characters (Ms Fortune) has a secret animation that can sometimes spawn a big head version of her reminiscent from those of touhou, I asked around and most people only said "it's a japanese forum meme" and now I get this shift in paradigm as I realize probably most memes that come from Japan are probably originated from touhou, that sick, and it scares me at the same time.

[@HyperVanilo]

Squigly has Yoshika color palette and Peacock has Cirno's

[@ToxicAtom]

Being in places adjacent to most touhou memes without ever actually getting into touhou for well over a decade and a half makes me feel like the biggest poser on the internet

[@yamjay5613]

What I need to know is where the weird Eirin comes from, you know the one, that one that shows up at the end of OVERDRIVE that just looks like an egg

[@lazydelibird]

I think it’s supposed to look like a suppository. I think the joke there is that Reisen’s bullets resemble suppositories than actual bullets.

[@linkscarlet9094]

God, my second hand Inu Sakuya has gotten around. For one, it was in this video

[@TheFrenchmanBehindYou]

14:20 "Right behind you"

[@somegoodsoup7008]

Why does it feel like everything comes back to Touhou?

[@BinglesP]

When I got into Touhou when I was 8 years old, I was obsessed with the memes that were going around at the time as well as before then, and I loved the fanon unquestionably. Definitely a nostalgia trip for me, watching this. I specifically remember loving the Yukkuri, as much as the more... offensive aspects disturbed me. I really just liked the pet care aspect, to be honest.

[@eriknystrom9293]

Bad Touhou video, SDM does not explode at the end! /s Thanks for a fun trip down memory lane, a couple of these origins were unknown to me.

[@randommaster06]

Mandatory head accessories used to be a community meme. It lasted until UFO released and had three entire characters with nothing on their heads.

[@dragorine]

you reminded me of the meme of all the touhou characters amalgamated into one image, and the description saying "average/prime touhou" ... Of course the original post is made by ciryes