STORYTIME - Touhou 6 and how its Characters come to Life in their Boss Fights

[@khidorahian]

came across this on my recommended. Everything on the internet can somehow be linked to touhou. Also someone is gonna be real sad when you said 'I hate Sakuya Izayoi'.

[@kevinthestoryteller]

Yeah, I am quite harsh with Sakuya... But in EoSD she is very harsh towards the player. Since she appears in other games as well, my opinion on her might change over time. Maybe I will be able to forgive her cursed smirk on the Game Over screen someday ...

[@khidorahian]

@@kevinthestoryteller nah, it's a joke. On twitter there's a guy who has an intense love for sakuya and he's a really chill and kind dude and i was making the joke that he'd be sad about your hatred of Sakuya lol

[@MasterKohga5063]

@@khidorahian I'm assuming you're talking about Blake Izayoi? Unless there's some other guy on twitter with 3000+ hours on sleeping with sakuya izayoi that I don't know about

[@khidorahian]

@@MasterKohga5063 yes, I am talking about blake

[@kevinreynolds7500]

1) MinusT's videos do an excellent job of visually connecting the spell card patterns with each character's personality, and playing with that in more depth. 2) I felt the same way you did about Sakuya until I saw an image of her in 'The Grimoire of Marisa.' During the time stop, it shows her individually placing every single knife. What I initially thought was 'unfair' instead felt like 'extremely diligent and hardworking'

[@kevinthestoryteller]

Thanks for the recommendation! I didn't know minusT before and I checked out the Reimu vs Remilia video first and was blown away.

[@MasterKohga5063]

KZbinrs with

[@kevinthestoryteller]

Thanks a lot! And it is quite generous of you to put me in the "

[@InochiScarlet]

This was one of the most enjoyable longform touhou videos I’ve seen in AGES, incredible work. Interested to see what you’ve got in store for Flandre’s segment at a later date

[@kevinthestoryteller]

Thanks for your feedback! And while my next video will cover something different, I have something planned for Flandre afterwards.

[@mishy415]

I enjoyed the video. Your analysis of characters from their in-game spell cards and attacks was interesting to me.

[@kevinthestoryteller]

Glad you liked it! The moment I started to see these character traits in the spell cards was the moment I began researching more about the Touhou Project and its fan culture. That's where the idea for this video came from

[@JunkyX1122]

I'm not going to lie, it feels really cathartic hearing someone actually analyse these bullet patterns that these characters shoot. Like a mad man finally hearing someone else talk about their work. These bullet patterns (esspecially in the earlier Windows games) are really fun to analyse because they tell you a lot about the character shooting them. I am part of an even nicher part of the Touhou community where we actually concern ourselves with making bullet patterns like the ones in the official games and to actually hear some random person online talking about the bullet patterns in this way makes me feel super validated. It makes sense right? Like when you see fights in shows and movies, the way the person fights reflects what that character is like and what they value. This is the same thing! Just done in a means that doesn't involve more direct combat.

[@JunkyX1122]

People talking about the patterns in this way is so so rare, at least from what can be seen from the Western side of the fandom. The times where the patterns *are* broughgt up, it's usually under the tone of difficulty and/or scoring, all gameplay related. To my knowledge this is the first time I've seen someone (not within the damnaku making community) actually talk about the art that goes behind these patterns.

[@kevinthestoryteller]

And to me it feels reassuring that there is a community dedicated to the bullet patterns. That kinda validates the angle of my video. And it is as you said: In good fights in movies you can learn things about the characters from the way they fight. Since I didn't know much of the fan-content before playing EoSD, I met most of the characters in their boss fights for the first time. I got to know them while dodging (or getting killed by) their bullet patterns and that made a strong impression on me. To me that characterization through bullet patterns is the most impressive feat of EoSD. That's why it's really nice to see that this specific aspect of the Touhou games inspired others to create their own patterns and that there is a community dedicated to that. Keep it up!

[@valonyaver600]

Once you play touhou 7 you'll love sakuya

[@kevinthestoryteller]

No comment ... for now

[@spaghettiking7312]

Not loving Sakuya is a sign of inexperience. There is no such thing as a Touhou fan who doesn't love Sakuya.

[@evilpavel5777]

​@@kevinthestorytellerstage 5 bosses have the reoccurring theme of being gimmicky, annoying and at a first glance unfair so there is a saying that they are actually harder than final bosses

[@kevinthestoryteller]

Now that I've started playing Perfect Cherry Blossom, I can absolutely agree. Youmu is causing me similar problems as Sakuya in EoSD

[@fullmoonboss]

This is such a well researched video! You have shown me stuff I haven't seen before and I have been a fan for years! Keep up that good work!

[@kevinthestoryteller]

Thank you very much! Glad, you saw something new. I originally planned a much shorter video but I kept finding interesting stuff and I wanted to show as many as possible.

[@emdragon6666]

How is this not more popular? This is amazing

[@user-pl2qx9jm6l]

15:16 is it bad that I know exactly which song this is, exactly which spell card is on screen, exactly which character uses it, and exactly when it's used?

[@kevinthestoryteller]

I think I know how you feel. I saw these patterns ingame hundreds of times and they're permanently burned into my brain. You probably had a similiar experience. But I don't think it's bad. Sure, there were many deaths and tribulations involved but I have lots of fond memories of it.

[@user-pl2qx9jm6l]

@@kevinthestoryteller I actually haven't played the games yet. But I'm planning to.

[@kevinthestoryteller]

As you might have guessed by the video: I can absolutely recommend them. However, you need to be ready for a challenge

[@Cryfur]

What an amazing video, glad i found this in my recommended! Keep up the great work!

[@kevinthestoryteller]

Thank you very much for your kind words! This is the first time I've received such a positive comment. Reading it felt quite special!

[@HyperVanilo]

21:45 Koumajou Densetsu is not a Metroidvania, it's a Classicvania like the Castlevania games in NES and SNES era. The characters are designed by Banpai Akira and they're quite popular, there are fanarts and figurines based on his design. Fun fact: Sakuya's voicelines in One Minute Melee are from the sequel (the gameplay you used in this video) 50:44 You sure about that? She asked Reimu if she can eat the person in front of her, same goes to Meiling Because Easy mode only last for 5 stages, doesn't matter if you do 1CC Sakuya will kick the protagonists out of the mansion then tell them to come back again until they get better, which is kinda a 4th wall break.

[@kevinthestoryteller]

Thanks for your comment and the info about Koumajou Densetsu. Wikipedia lists it as a Metroidvania and I guess the mixup is due to the artstyle being similar to Symphony of the Night (Koumajou Densetsu looks great btw). I didn’t look into it enough to realize that it’s not a Metroidvania, so thanks for your correction! Regarding 50:44: Most of the dialogue in EoSD has a humorous tone and while I’m a fan of Reimu’s snarky attitude, the dialogue didn’t give me much to characterize the bosses. From my perspective it is mostly played for laughs and that’s why I focused on the gameplay to derive their character traits. In Rumia’s case I would interpret her words in a playful tone and when she asks if Reimu is edible it is part of her game. Sakuya on the other hand has a mocking tone in my head and her brilliant 4th wall break and her remark that she wants to make you waste a bomb in Stage 6 feels like she is looking down on the player. My interpretation of the characters is based on the fights themselves because that is what I noticed most clearly and what I think is most noteworthy. However I am aware that there is more to these characters i.e. the story which I didn’t cover in the video. My gameplay-driven perspective is just one of many and I hope it feels somewhat fresh to veterans of the series.

[@LilyKazami]

One of my favorite things is simply how the more commonly used characters change over time. For an example, Marisa from TH6-TH10 is very cocky and aggressive, but in more recent titles she's chilled out a lot. She still likes to make Jojo memes though. Another thing to take a look at are the official books and Manga that do a lot of the world building. ZUN gives a solid foundation, but leaves a lot of things unsolved - a perfect base for fans to build from.

[@spaghettiking7312]

Definitely the greatest cast of any series.

[@themaskguy4237]

Hello my german friend. Ze touhou musik is sehr gut

[@kevinthestoryteller]

Vielen Dank für deinen Kommentar, mein Freund! Du hast recht: Touhou music is great. I especially recommend the Eurobeat albums. I can't get enough of them

[@themaskguy4237]

​@@kevinthestoryteller du hast recht. Ich a eine art von sucht bekomme nach dem ich bad apple gefunden habe. Ich habe innerhalb von 6 Monaten 90 touhou ost, remix und orchestras gedownladed.

[@gameygeemer4142]

Wait, what the fuck? You have less than 40 subscribers? God damn, master of your craft

[@EnderChurro]

Good video. Liked the editing and commentary.

[@zengarden3853]

This vid deserves more appreciation fr. I was surprised when I saw that you only had 13 subscribers and 200+ views on this video cause your video production is top notch. Your videotelling is really engaging and it was interesting to hear about your analysis. Really enjoyed this vid as a touhou fan

[@kevinthestoryteller]

Thanks for your feedback! This is my second video in this essay-style, so your comment is really encouraging. And since I'm rather new to the Touhou fandom it's also nice to hear that Touhou fans are enjoying it

[@Romero_m8]

Touhou mentioned

[@rga1605]

Touhou is a really unique series, I'm happy it influenced so many people

[@Meocontuki]

Distant chanting: one of us, one of us... We've lured another one to the dark side :D

[@kevinthestoryteller]

It's quite comfy here so I'm not complaining. More people should come here. And the games deserve more attention.

[@TheruleroftheSkaters]

wow toe hou

[@teddyrichard1488]

Reimu A's dps is so painfully low it causes me genuine physical pain to use her a 1cc is a 1 credit clear not a 1 continue clear Amazing video

[@kevinthestoryteller]

I wouldn't call it "physical pain" but I was shocked how much more damage the other loadouts can do. Now I wouldn't go back to Reimu A, Reimu B or Marisa B are so much more fun. But I'm glad I used her in the beginning because with her you can just focus on learning how to dodge. And thanks for your remark about 1cc. I learned it as "1 continue clear" in different games. Maybe I should have mentioned that in the video...