Line #21 VideoGame/GensouShoujoTaisen


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/GSThong_5658.jpg]]
2	''Gensou Shoujo Taisen'' ("Fantasy Maiden Wars") is a ''Franchise/TouhouProject'' {{doujin}} game series in the spirit of the popular ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'' games, created by Sanbondo. The game is divided into four parts and loosely retells the story of every Touhou game from the 6th through the 12th, while attempting to create a more unified story between all of them.
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4	The first part, ''Kou'' (Scarlet) or ''E'', retells the story of ''Embodiment of Scarlet Devil'' and has been translated into English by Deranged. The patch can be found [[http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php?topic=11076.0 here]]. The second part, ''You'' (Mystic) or ''P'', combines ''Mountain of Faith'' and ''Perfect Cherry Blossom'', the third part, ''Ei'' (Eternal) or ''I'', combines ''Imperishable Night'' with ''Subterranean Animism'', and the final part, ''Yume'' (Dream), combines ''Undefined Fantastic Object'', ''Mystic Square'', and an original arc.
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6	The game got an UpdatedRerelease in the form of ''Fantasy Maiden Wars Complete Box'', which condenses the four games into one package, and polishes various aspects of the game (such as giving characters more facial expressions, to give an example), which was released on August 12, 2019.
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8	On March 9th, 2022, a port of the Complete Box called ''Genso Maiden Wars: Dream of the Stray Dreamer'' as announced for March 31st, 2022 release on the Nintendo Switch. (Japan only so far)
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10	----
11	!!This series contains examples of:
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13	* AdaptationalBackstoryChange: One of the big questions in ''Touhou'' is, "What exactly ''is'' Alice?" In the PC-98 games she was implied to be a creation of Shinki's, while the Windows games have her as a [[MageSpecies magician youkai]]. ''Yume'' splits the difference by having her born as a human, adopted by Shinki, and then becoming a youkai at some point after moving out of Makai.
14	* AdaptationalPersonalityChange: Tenshi is ''way'' less of a jerk in this game than in canon ''Touhou''.
15	* AntiFrustrationFeatures: From ''You'' onwards, having allied units shot down no longer penalizes your acquired funds, after all, [[NintendoHard you're going to need every Point you can get]].
16	* AreaOfEffect: What ''Touhou'' brings to the ''Super Robot Wars'' formula, other than the characters, is Spell Cards. The cards that bosses use take the form of this trope, outlining spaces on the map; anyone who attacks the boss from a marked space will be counterattacked, and anyone ending their turn on one can be targetted by the actual Spell Card. The markers aren't always avoidable, but lighter markers do less damage, and in some cases clever positioning can prevent the boss from hitting someone you don't want.
17	* BackgroundMusicOverride: Like in SRW, bosses will always have their theme play during battle and certain stages play special music that continues over the regular battles. Also, certain attacks such as Reimu's Fantasy Seal or Marisa's Master Spark have their own themes that play over even boss themes. [[spoiler: When Reimu activates Fantasy Nature, her theme overrides '''''everything''''', even [[FinalBoss Makura's]] music.]]
18	* BigBadFriend: Yuuka has been letting [[spoiler: Makura]] live in Mugenkan for an unspecified amount of time and treats them like an amusing acquaintance she enjoys checking up on. She even knows most of [[spoiler: Makura's]] plans, but keeps quiet partly out of courtesy (and partly because [[ItAmusedMe she likes watching the heroines run around clueless]]).
19	* BigDamnHeroes: Prevalent all throughout the games. In particular, the Scarlet Devil Mansion's inhabitants tend to show up as reinforcements during climactic battles. In ''Kou'', Sakuya appears to assist you on Remila's orders when fighting Flan. In ''You'', Patchouli and Koakuma show up to lend their aid against Sanae, in ''Ei'', Remilia flies in to save Sakuya when fighting Eirin, and later Nue jumps in to assist in stopping a rampaging Utsuho (in the process alerting the Palanquin Ship crew to an incoming attack, stopping the hit from destroying the ship outright), and in ''Yume'', Byakuren saves Shou from Yumeko and Shinki, while Yorihime, Toyohime and Reisen II rescue Eirin and Lily White from [[spoiler:Meeko's sheep familiars]]. In ''Complete Box'', the final chapter of ''Kou'' has Meiling, Elly and Kurumi also join in trying to stop Flan's attempted rampage. (On top of Sakuya joining as in the original release of ''Kou'').
20	* BittersweetEnding: How ''Ei'' ends. The heroines ''barely'' manage to stop a berserk Utsuho from razing the surface. However, the one responsible for the crisis in the first place is still unknown (Yuuka knows, but she's not willing to share aside from hints). In addition, Koishi's memory appears to be getting worse, to the point that she doesn't know how to get home anymore.
21	* BlessedWithSuck: Two of Eirin's personal skills invoke this, offering one turn of a great benefit in exchange for such a horrid penalty that it's not even remotely worth it outside of rare edge cases. One of Reisen's personal skills, implied to be another drug that Eirin gives her, will boost her stats three times and then make her explode.
22	* BloodKnight: Mima and Yuuka are sometimes depicted as strong friends in fanworks, usually because they have a common interest of some sort. Here, they share a love of picking fights with powerful entities just to test their own strength, with Yuuka happily throwing down with Reimu and Marisa should they dare to, and Mima [[spoiler: going down into Makai between ''Ei'' and ''Yume'' just to fight demons and steal their magic, even joining your team just for the thrill of challenging Shinki herself once again]]. They will also [[BashBrothers field together]] as Marisa's heavies during Chapter 40 just for the sake of throwing down with Reimu and ''her'' heavies (Yukari and Yuyuko). Hell, Yuuka stands in your path during ''Yume'' almost purely to pick a fight with the combined might of Gensokyo. [[spoiler: Though she also is doing Makura a favor as her landlord and has it in for Yukari in particular...]]
23	* BodyHorror:
24	** Utsuho's arm cannon, lead boot, and chest eye in this universe - impatient and desperate to support Satori, she allowed Yatagarasu to seize hold of and transform her right arm, right leg, and even her heart into the iconic traits of her empowerment. [[spoiler: Shiro's kedama swarm]] specifically attempts to tear out the eye in Utsuho's chest that is now her heart, which would've instantly killed her.
25	** There's also Yuuka's ultimate spellcard, Flower Master of the Four Seasons, used against your party in [=Ch75=] [[spoiler: and later becoming her dynamic finishing attack as a player unit]]. She uses her own body as a catalyst to summon a colossal beanstalk, which emerges ChestBurster style and smothers her victim in flowers. And once the attack is finished, the scene ends with a shot of her seemingly lifeless corpse, which then sprouts several plant stems - nature's cycle of death and rebirth in miniature. And of course she gets right back up none the worse for wear.
26	* BraggingRightsReward: Beating Yorihime in stage 49 gives you a "Lunar Magatama", which does nothing except say that you beat Yorihime in stage 49. ''Complete Box'' suberts this in two ways. First, the Lunar Magatama is altered to instead give the equipped girl an extra 100 SP, meaning it has a use now. The second is that Yorihime has one when she joins the team, meaning you don't have to defeat Yorihime in Chapter 49 to get one.
27	* BroadStrokes: In general, the games stick to the general story of the source material, but with some liberties taken. From the start, characters that don't appear in the game the story arc is based on appear and team up with the heroines (which is a divergence in itself).
28	** ''Kou'' retells the story of ''Embodiment of Scarlet Devil'', but there's a running sideplot of Youkai Mountain dealing with the Moriya Shrine and its residents arriving, with Sanae showing up during the incident to judge Reimu for herself. Youmu also shows up looking for ways to make cherry trees bloom, foreshadowing Yuyuko's plan to revive Saigyou Ayakashi in ''Perfect Cherry Blossom''.
29	** The first half of ''You'' is a retelling of ''Mountain of Faith'', a level right afterward is based on ''Immaterial and Missing Power'', and the second half retells ''Perfect Cherry Blossom''. Shou and Nazrin appear in the second half and join the heroines and Marisa ends up accidentally getting sidetracked to the Former Hell. The two plot points converge in TheStinger when Marisa leads Shou and Nazrin to the Palanquin Ship and they free it.
30	** Though the divergences get broader in ''Ei'', the first half is based on ''Imperishable Night'', the second half is based on ''Subterranean Animism'', and in between is a small story arc based on ''Silent Sinner in Blue''. Most significantly, the Palanquin Ship is used in this game as a battleship unit with the Buddhist group operating it. The heroines are well aware of their goal to free Byakuren. Nue shows up, bitter that she was left behind by Murasa and shows up from time to time to cause trouble. And the ''Silent Sinner in Blue'' arc doesn't have the GambitPileup that was in the original story and instead, the heroines are asked to deliver a letter to the Watatsuki sisters by Eirin, though things are complicated by the letter being misplaced.
31	** ''Yume'' throws the original timeline completely out the window. First up, the events of ''Scarlet Weather Rhapsody'' and ''Hisoutensoku'' are completely averted, as the party stops Tenshi from ever starting the incident by fighting her before she has the chance (this also makes Tenshi in FMW very much act differently to how her canon self would act), and the party learns the truth behind Hisoutensoku (an advertising balloon made by the kappa) almost immediately, leaving no room for Sanae and Cirno to misidentify it. Then there's a small mini-arc where the party assists Satori in searching for Koishi, loosely based on the extra stage of ''Subterranean Animism''. After that is essentially a combination between a rerun of ''Mystic Square'' and the second half of ''Undefined Fantastic Object'', with the Buddhists leading the party down into Makai to free Byakuren, fighting Yumeko and Shinki and permanently recruiting [[spoiler: Mima]] in the process. And once the party leaves Makai, they come back to find out the BigBad has essentially begun phase one of their EvilPlan for Gensokyo completely unaccosted, with the rest of the game spent hunting them down. [[spoiler: And during the ending after defeating Makura, the mass out-of-season blooms of ''Phantasmagoria of Flower View'' kick off just in time to herald the party's return to Gensokyo, with Eiki calmly explaining why it's happening.]]
32	* BrokenPedestal
33	** When Marisa is properly reunited with Mima during ''Ei'', she's initially ecstatic to see her teacher and foster mother again... [[spoiler: But then Mima completely tears her apart for relying entirely on the Mini-Hakkero and demands she both cast aside the "toy" and leave the team so she can be retrained. This leaves Marisa in a HeroicBSOD for a few chapters until she finally declares she will forge her own path separate from Mima, [[SecretTestOfCharacter pleasing the old spirit and prompting her to praise Marisa's independence.]] Mima stays somewhat aloof with Marisa for the rest of ''Ei'', but things between them warm back up during ''Yume'' after she rejoins the party.]]
34	** Yukari is terribly afraid Yuyuko will have this reaction [[spoiler: when Yuuka reveals she was the one who removed Yuyuko from the cycle of reincarnation and bound her in Hakugyokurou. Subverted in that Yuyuko doesn't seem to think any less of Yukari for it, and almost immediately forgives her.]]
35	* BrutalBonusLevel: The entirety of [[spoiler:Dream Mode's Future Route. If you trigger it at the end of Chapter 70, you have to face, in order- a tougher version of Chapter 71, a chapter where you have to shoot down three 100k HP bosses in five turns while also being unable to use Makura, a chapter where you fight an empowered Nightmare Hisoutensoku, a BossRush including Nightmares of some of the most threatening characters, involving their spell cards from their chapters (Including but not limited to Flandre's Four of a Kind, Remilia's Scarlet Gensokyo, Yuuka's Dual Spark, Toyohime's Waveguide Fan, Yorihime's Take-mikazuchi, Ran's Ultimate Buddhist, Reimu's Fantasy Nature and Marisa's Master Spark) alongside some new original spells, like one from Yuyuko that reduces all afflicted units' HP to 1... and this comes at the same time as [[OhCrap Yuuka and Toyohime's spell cards, which are both infinite range MAPs (which cover each others' blind spots to boot)]], and lastly a battle against Shitone and her army of Nightmare Giant Sheep and Nightmare Hisoutensokus. They're all brutally difficult- even on ''Normal+'', let alone Lunatic. Shitone in particular is a [[{{Pun}} nightmare]] to face, especially in her final spell card, which boosts her defense and accuracy as her hp drops (On Normal+, she has ''600,000 HP'', in stark contrast, Makura's final healthbar is only 300,000, split into two 150,000 spell cards), to the point where eventually even characters as evasive as Reimu and Yorihime will have no chance to dodge without using a Spirit, and even extremely tanky characters like Hisoutensoku and Tenshi are in danger of being wiped out from the sheer damage the attack puts out.]]
36	* CardCarryingVillain: Not to put too fine a point on it, but [[spoiler: Namazu the catfish]] in ''Yume'' is essentially every stereotypical JRPG villain rolled into one.
37	* TheCavalry: Mima appears to save Marisa in the Underground. In ''Yume'', Yorihime, Toyohime and Reisen II show up to protect Eirin (the Watatsukis) and Lily White (Reisen II) from [[spoiler:Meeko's familiars]].
38	* TheChessmaster: Kanako and Suwako appear only in cutscenes in ''Kou'', seemingly planning their move for ''You''. They plan to do this again in ''Ei'' by manipulating Utsuho, but things go horribly wrong.
39	* CombinationAttack:
40	** Marisa and Alice's Proto Malice Cannon, later upgraded into the true Malice Cannon.
41	** Reimu and Sanae's Shrine Maiden Extension.
42	** Patchouli and Koakuma's Silent Selene.
43	** Ran and Chen's Shikigami (Chen).
44	** Kanako and Suwako's Suwa War.
45	** Murasa's Phantom Ship Harbor, if she's not captaining the Palanquin Ship.
46	** Kurumi and Elly's Reflector Tile.
47	** Aya and Hatate's Double Spoiler.
48	** Kisume and Yamame's Cannon Bucket Attack.
49	** Satori and Koishi's Komeiji Heartbreaker.
50	** Shou's Radiant Treasure Gun and Nazrin's Greatest Treasure, depending on who has the Pagoda.
51	** Reimu and Marisa's Trichromatic Lotus Butterfly, and later True Trichromatic Lotus Butterfly.
52	** Cirno and Daiyousei's Twin Fairy Strike.
53	** Cirno, Mystia, Rumia, and Wriggle's Bakatet Special. Adding Daiyousei makes it the Final Bakatet Special.
54	** The Three Fairies of Light have the S-Formation Attack and the Prismriver Sisters have Prism Concerto, both basic attacks in their combined forms.
55	** The Aki sisters are queens of this trope, having ''three'' ''Anime/GunBuster''-themed combination attacks: Super Aki Sisters Kick, Double Autumn Busters, and Super Aki Sisters Kick Kai.
56	* CombiningMecha: After being defeated individually, the Prismriver Sisters huddle together to become a single unit, which is treated mechanically like an SRW CombiningMecha. This results in the Three Fairies of Light deciding to "combine" as well... in a scene which parodies ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann''.
57	* ContinuityPorn: The game blends the story of the official Touhou games, including the PC-98 continuity, into one.
58	* CooldownHug: Happens ''twice'' in ''Ei'', first with Remilia hugging a berserk Flandre in a special attack-animation cutscene, and later with Rin and Utsuho, although the latter only partially succeeded because Utsuho's power was no longer under her control even after she regained awareness.
59	* CulturalTranslation: The subtitles "Kou", "You", and "Ei" come from "'''Kou'''makyou", "'''You'''youmu", and "'''Ei'''yashou", the Japanese parts of the first three Windows Touhou games' names (which are relatively obscure in the English fanbase). The FanTranslation renders them as "E", "P" and "I", from their English portions, "'''E'''mbodiment of Scarlet Devil", "'''P'''erfect Cherry Blossom", and "'''I'''mperishable Night", which more closely fits the naming scheme of the ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'' games.
60	** One of the quit game skits has a Kedama giving the player a tip about being careful around spell card effects after a long string of ellipses, referencing how [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing Heero]] does the same in one of the quit game skits of ''[[VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsAlpha Super Robot Wars Alpha 2]]''. Since Alpha 2 never got an English translation, the English patch of the game adds "it can hurt like hell" at the end to make the reference more obvious.
61	* DefeatMeansFriendship: A majority of your units are recruited only after you defeat them in battle.
62	* DiabolusExMachina: After taking down Utsuho and talking her out of her plans of world domination [[spoiler: Shiro shows up with a swarm of Kedama, and attack Utsuho in order to get rid of the Yatagarasu. This causes Utsuho to lose control of her powers, threatening to cause a [[GoingCritical nuclear meltdown]].]]
63	* DiscOneFinalBoss: Remilia in ''Kou''. Kanako and Suwako in ''You''. Eirin and Kaguya in ''Ei''. Shinki in ''Yume''.
64	* TheDreaded: Yuuka. And if you attack her, you'll see just why everyone is afraid of her. [[SchmuckBait If you're feeling gutsy, have Marisa attack her with Master Spark.]] [[labelnote:If you're curious...]] She'll completely NoSell the beam with her parasol, offer Marisa a backhanded compliment for learning the technique (which she had never named herself), then turn the ''original'' Master Spark upon Marisa, usually dealing enough damage to either leave Marisa with critically low HP or outright oneshot her. Master Spark will then be added to Yuuka's moveset for the fight, both as a regular attack, and her pre-existing MAP will be renamed into Master Spark. She'll also instantly hit 130 Power, making her able to fire off her Master Spark immediately.[[/labelnote]]
65	** In ''Ei'', the party has a similar reaction to Yorihime.
66	* DualBoss: Minoriko and Shizuha, Kanako and Suwako, Dream Mima and Dream Byakuren.
67	** WolfpackBoss: The three Fairies, The Prismriver Sisters.
68	* EleventhHourRanger: Sakuya in ''Kou''. Youmu in ''You''. Both Rin and Nue in ''Ei'', one of whom has a special ability specifically designed to counter the final boss. [[spoiler:Yuuka]] in ''Yume''.
69	* EleventhHourSuperpower: Reimu and Marisa's CombinationAttack in ''You'' is acquired two scenes before the last boss.
70	** In ''Ei'', Reimu acquires the new spellcard "Fantasy Nature" just in time to stop [[HopelessBossFight Yorihime]] from defeating the party.
71	** In ''Yume'', Reimu and Marisa's CombinationAttack gets upgraded to defeat [[spoiler:Meeko]].
72	* FelonyMisdemeanor: Sanae interrupts a party at the Hakurei Shrine to reveal a "shocking secret" about Reimu which will break everyone's trust in her forever. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnAD34rn-Lc#t=6m2s The reaction was not what she was expecting.]]
73	* FinalBoss: Flandre in ''Kou''. Yukari in ''You''. Utsuho in ''Ei''. [[spoiler:Makura]] in ''Yume''.
74	* FinalBossPreview: Marisa's stage 13 features Flandre as an NPC competitor. She turns into an OptionalBoss if the Gensokyo Chronicle has been completed. You also meet a pre-powered up version of Utsuho as one of the weakest bosses in the game, to foreshadow her character development.
75	* FriendlyEnemy: Shinki and Byakuren like each other quite well. However, Byakuren cannot be released from Hokkai without releasing the SealedEvilInACan and Shinki won't allow that.
76	* GameplayAndStoryIntegration: In Chapter 6 of ''E'', where you're trying to clear up a misunderstanding with Cirno, she will never attack Daiyousei, even if she ends up in range, because they're established as friends. It helps since one of the win conditions[[note]]The other is to beat her up[[/note]] is to bring the two fairies together to talk.
77	* HopelessBossFight:
78	** If you fill out all of the EncyclopediaExposita in the first game; when Marisa competes with Flandre to kill the most bats; Flandre will decide to focus on "playing" with Marisa. One can theoretically beat Flandre, but she'll keep reviving.
79	** Stage 49 of ''Ei'' is a race to the goal line while being chased by a full-power Yorihime, who drops a BraggingRightsReward item if the party can defeat her at least once.
80	** Yuuka will watch the party fight Medicine in ''Yume'', leaving them alone if they avoid her. Like Flandre and Yorihime, she'll constantly revive if you somehow beat her. The Giant Catfish on stage 74 follows similar rules, but fully restores itself after every attack instead of just on defeat.
81	* IdiosyncraticDifficultyLevels: Easy, Normal, Hard, and Lunatic. ''Yume'' adds an additional slider for each difficulty except Lunatic between Basic, Normal, and Challenging, which can be changed between stages, making a total of ten difficulty settings. ''Complete Box'' rolls this back down to four: Normal, Normal+, Hard, Lunatic.
82	* {{Leitmotif}}: Everyone has at least one. Sakuya, Nitori, [[spoiler: Youmu, Aya, Sanae, Flandre and Makura]] have different ones both as an enemy and as an ally. The three fairies gain one for their CombinationAttack [[spoiler: and another one in CombiningMecha form.]] Reimu, Marisa [[spoiler:and Mokou]] have an additional theme each in [[NewGamePlus Dream Mode.]] Sometimes even attacks have their own leitmotifs. Notable attacks that have their own leitmotifs (not including former boss leitmotifs like Youmu's and Sanae's) include but are not limited to the following:
83	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vil19uul3Uk Sealing Charm, Blessed Light]] for Reimu's Fantasy Seal and, after her MidseasonUpgrade, Fantasy Seal -Blink-.
84	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rihprWgP1RE That Voice Won't Reach]] for Reimu's Fantasy Nature.
85	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0JIqSgwTOM The Moment Dreams Reach the Stars]] for Marisa's Master Spark and, after her MidseasonUpgrade, Final Spark.
86	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URiYpku1_T4 Trichromatic Danmaku Träumerei]], for Reimu and Marisa's Trichromatic Lotus Butterfly.
87	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Va5K4CpDqV8 A Single Blow for the Fate of Gensokyo]] for Reimu and Marisa's True Trichromatic Lotus Butterfly.
88	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGEx1LQ99S0 Tied to your Fingertips]] for Alice's Phantom of the Grand Guignol.
89	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g60eK9Fk_yw Crumbling Silver Knife]] for Sakuya's Eternal Meek and later Soul Sculpture.
90	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWJKZq4rNTA Roar Towards the Full Moon]] for Yuuka's Master Spark.
91	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8Fhn55h9wk Wish Upon a Rainbow]] for the Prismriver Sisters' Ghostly Wheel Concerto Grosso: Revised.
92	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kq_DeVnSzH4 Three Hearts Blazing Like A Morning Star]] for the Three Fairies' Fairy Overdrive.
93	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxct-9kUKAg UDON-ZAM]] for Reisen's Lunatic Red Eyes.
94	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pulf2obgY3o Drill Through that Cloud]] for Iku's Dragonfish Drill Break.
95	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4UsVAKr9GM Get Angry!!]] for Tenshi's Scarlet Weather Rhapsody of All Mankind and later Scarlet Weather Rhapsody of all Humans and Youkai.
96	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVwHzNJRT_8 Invincbility Session!!]] for Cirno, Rumia, Daiyousei, Mystia and Wriggle's Final Bakatet Special.
97	** Exclusive to ''Complete Box'' is [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToL2CBJtZhA An 3rd LOVE!!]] for Satori and Koishi's Komeiji Heartbreaker.
98	* LastEpisodeThemeReprise: [[spoiler:The main theme gets an orchestrated reprise at Makura's final spell card.]]
99	* LimitBreak: In ''Yume'', the player gains access to a mechanic called Full Power Mode. When both units in a pair are at 150 Power, they can, once per chapter [[spoiler:Except when under the effect of Fantasy Maiden Wars, which refreshes Full Power Mode usage at the start of every turn]], have both characters perform a combined assault on the target. Unlike usual team attacks, the backrow unit can use any attack they want, and without any Team Attack damage penalties. In ''Complete Box'', this mechanic is instead unlocked during Chapter 42 (Specifically, after Remilia saves Sakuya and joins the party), about halfway through the ''Ei'' scenario.
100	* LordBritishPostulate: In ''Kou'', it's possible to defeat Sakuya in chapter 5, Sanae in chapter 7, and Yuuka in chapter 10 if you can reduce their HP to zero in one hit without going below a certain threshold beforehand. They'll still escape as per the story, but you'll get items and EXP and such for a boss kill. Doing this with Yuuka is the only way to acquire the extremely useful [[RegeneratingMana Sunflower]] equipment part until partway through ''Ei''.
101	** In ''Ei'', when you fight the protagonist you didn't choose, your objective is only to shoot down Reimu/Marisa; however, the more powerful characters such as Yukari and Yuyuko/Yuuka and Mima will sit in the back and not engage your units unless you pursue them. The same thing happens in ''Yume'' when fighting the Nightmares.
102	* LordErrorProne: Sanae, to a hilarious extent.
103	* {{Medley}}: The last stage track in ''Kou'' contains fragments of ''every single stage theme'' from Embodiment of Scarlet Devil, plus the title screen theme.
104	** The last stage of ''You'' does the same thing with songs from Perfect Cherry Blossom.
105	** Similarly, the stage theme for the final battle of Eientei in ''Ei'' does this with the stage themes of Imperishable Night. [[spoiler: Though it's not the final stage this time.]]
106	** [[spoiler: In the Future Route, the theme used for Shitone’s final spell card is a medley starting with Enigmatic Doll, then continuing with ''every main game final boss theme'' from ''Embodiment of Scarlet Devil'' to ''Undefined Fantastic Object''. It then plays sections from Meeko’s, Makura’s, Reimu's and Marisa's themes before ending with the main theme.]]
107	* MagikarpPower:
108	** When Lily White joins your team she has only a single attack, low stats, and is practically an EmotionlessGirl; she powers up (and [[GenkiGirl brightens up]]) significantly once you get closer to where all the Spring was taken.
109	** The Three Fairies of Light increase in power by learning how to [[CombiningMecha group together into a single unit with the sum of their stats]].
110	** Utsuho's entire character arc is about this trope, [[PowerIncontinence and what happens when it goes too far]].
111	** Byakuren's debut has her go through this in the course of a single stage, starting out as a weak unit and gradually unlocking her full movepool throughout the fight with Shinki.
112	** Daiyousei's final personal skill is only unlocked at level ''99'', and boosts all of her stats by 40.
113	** Hoo boy, ''[[SecretCharacter Akyuu Hieda]]'', though not in the traditional sense. While her base stats are terrible and she only has a single melee attack, she has a unique skill, Miare, that increases her stats and damage dealt as the [[EncyclopediaExposita Gensokyo Chronicle]] is completed, which can increase to truly absurd levels.
114	* MauveShirt: Tengu A, Tengu B and Kappa C in ''You'', three recurring enemies who are identical to standard {{Mooks}} of their species but have a few lines of dialogue and slightly higher stats. Kappa C stands out for also [[CharClone being red rather than blue like the other kappa, and claiming to be three times faster]].
115	* MeaninglessMeaningfulWords: Nue yammers on about her "way of life" nonstop throughout Chapter 60, to the point the phrase "way of life" shows up in roughly half her lines. It's all hot air; she ''really'' wants to be with the rest of Byakuren's friends, but she's too proud to admit it. Thankfully, kicking the crap out of her gets her out of it.
116	* MechaExpansionPack: Multiple units gain the ability to switch between different forms to alter their capabilities. Noticably...
117	** In Chapter 22 (''You'') Nitori gets an upgrade into Full Armor Nitori, though you can swap between regular Nitori and FA Nitori during the preparation screen to reduce Nitori's Cost.
118	** In Chapter 39 (''Ei''), Reimu and Marisa get a MidseasonUpgrade, revamping their movesets, increasing their stats and increasing their Cost. Exclusively to ''Complete Box'', if you have Reimu/Marisa have 100 foes shot down by Chapter 56 (the start of ''Yume''), you can have Reimu and Marisa swap back to their pre-chapter 39 moveset, with the sole exception of having gained a MAP in their pre-upgrade moveset (Reimu's is unique to this situation, Marisa's is her Master Spark MAP from Chapter 40R), and from then on gaining the ability to swap between the two forms (akin to Full Armor Nitori).
119	** In Chapter 62 (''Yume''), Lily White gains the ability to change costumes into Lily Black for a greater offensive focus. In ''Complete Box'', this is a secret unlockable only available on Marisa's route. See SecretCharacter below for more details.
120	** In the same chapter, Shou and Nazrin acquire the Pagoda, and one of them can wield the Pagoda to gain increased stats and access to stronger moves. While both have access to stronger moves, the one who doesn't have the Pagoda will only be able to use it as a combo attack with the one who does. Equipping the Pagoda to Shou in particular will increase her Cost.
121	** In Chapter 66 (''Yume''), Sanae gains access to two new forms that she can swap between in the preparation screen alongside her base form, her Sky and Land frames. Her Sky Frame increases her armor and gives her an S in Sky terrain (fittingly, like Kanako) and grants her access to her MAP from Chapter 22, though at the cost of some mobility. Her Land frame, on the other hand, gives her an S on Land and Water terrain (fittingly, like Suwako), and while she loses access to Summon Takeminekata, she gains access to a new finisher, a combination attack with Suwako. In ''Complete Box'', she gains access to these midway through the ''Ei'' scenario- specifically, after Chapter 40.
122	* MercyRewarded:
123	** Talking to Alice with Marisa in Chapter 2, rather than shooting her down, will increase Alice and Marisa's friendship ranking permanently.
124	** If you talk down Cirno with Daiyousei in Chapter 6, when she joins the party, she comes in with two upgrades to her attributes already, saving you from spending '''38,000 points''' of doing it yourself, and making her more viable as a unit for future battles.
125	** Talking down Nitori in ''You'' will cause her to rejoin the party sooner.
126	** The WP Bonus on Chapter 72 of ''Yume'' has the characters refer to the Mercy spirit by name, the only viable way to achieve it.
127	** In ''Complete Box'', these are altered. While the Alice example is unchanged, as is the example in Chapter 72, talking Cirno down no longer starts her with two upgrades, and instead just clears the EX mission, granting you 10,000 points (The player now automatically gains 10 WP per stage cleared).
128	* MidseasonUpgrade: Nitori upgrades to [[Franchise/{{Gundam}} Full Armor Nitori]] in ''You'', which gives her MoreDakka and a {{BFG}} WaveMotionGun. [[MechaExpansionPack The upgrades can be removed if you want Nitori to take up less space in your team.]]
129	** Both Reimu and Marisa change sprites and movesets (and theme music) partway through ''Ei'', just in time to use them against each other in the obligatory LetsYouAndHimFight from ''Imperishable Night'' stage 4. In ''Complete Box'', if Reimu and Marisa have 100 enemies shot down by Chapter 56, they can return to their original movesets with the exception of gaining a MAP.
130	* MightyGlacier: [[spoiler: Hisoutensoku. It's understandable, really, given the fact that the Hisountensoku in the party is a dream manifestation in the form of a giant robot.]]
131	* MyRulesAreNotYourRules: [[spoiler:Makura breaks out a spellcard ''after she runs out of spellcards'' in the final battle.]]
132	* NewGamePlus: In ''Complete Box'', beating the game as well as the three bonus scenarios (Sakuya's, the gaiden chapters [[spoiler:featuring the Yorihime refight]] and [[spoiler:Meeko's]]) will unlock Dream Mode. This allows the player to pick any six units (except [[SecretCharacter Akyuu]]) from any point in the game to start with (and they'll never leave your party, even during chapters such as Chapter 13R where you can only deploy Reimu), as well as having all characters start with PP equal to the total amount acquired across the previous playthrough (Including a prior Dream Mode playthrough). [[spoiler:Dream Mode also lets you use Makura and Meeko from the very beginning of the game, as they join during Chapter 1 in a Dream Mode playthrough, and there is a special Future Route for Dream Mode playthroughs, to take into account that Meeko and Makura are party members.]] This is why the ''Kou'' chapters have the cost mechanic applied to them in ''CB''; in Dream Mode you can pick enough heavy hitters that you can use enough cost to run out. Any units you start with will also keep any buffs they would acquire over the story (i.e. Tenshi getting the Courage spirit and her second finisher, Yuuka getting access to her Full Bloom Mode, Reimu and Marisa starting with their MidseasonUpgrade forms and True Trichromatic Lotus Butterfly). Additionally, any secrets you unlock (except for Reimu and Marisa's pre-upgrade forms) in a given playthrough will be available on any future playthrough- including route exclusives like Akyuu and Lily Black.
133	* NiceJobFixingItVillain: In ''You'', the heroes are gathering allies to help them against the forces of Yokai mountain, Reimu and Keine asking Mokou, and Marisa and Alice asking the Scarlet Devil Mansion. They intially refuse, but the tengu tailing them decide to attack and make the respective people change their minds, resulting in Remilia making Sakuya and Meiling go with them, and Mokou joining up despite her initial refusal.
134	* NintendoHard: When its harder difficulty levels boast to have the same level of difficulty as the classic SRW games, you know you're going to catch hell. Also a partial case of IdiosyncraticDifficultyLevels. In contrast, Easy and Normal compare themselves to more modern games, Alpha and Alpha Gaiden.
135	* OriginalGeneration: [[spoiler:Meeko and Makura.]]
136	* PrecisionFStrike: Marisa's final pre-fight retort to [[spoiler: Makura]] if you picked her as main character for your run?
137	--> "I'm Marisa Kirisame, and I'm going to '''kick your ass.'''"
138	* ReadingsAreOffTheScale: Any enemy unit whose current HP is exceeds 10,000 will have both their current and max HP values replaced with question marks. Their health bar still shows the percentage of their health, though.
139	** Some of the older Super Robot Wars game [[https://youtu.be/z52H5RoYSjE?t=2m38s did that too]] so it might have been done on purpose.
140	** This happens in the plot as well when Keine measures Yorihime's spiritual energy after letting her use all her power.
141	* RecycledInSpace: Lampshaded in ''Ei'', chapter 48, which is titled "Gensou IN SPACE". Naturally this chapter is when the party visits the moon.
142	* SealedGoodInACan: Hijiri Byakuren. The problem is, the Can she's in, the Hokkai, has SealedEvilInACan as well. Breaking the seal would release everybody.
143	* SecretCharacter: There are two in ''Complete Box'', one for Reimu's Route and one for Marisa's route. Reimu's route has Akyuu, who can become a standalone unit instead of piloting the Palanquin Ship, starting in Chapter 50, as long as you managed to get her to reach the patch of flowers in Reimu's Chapter 4 (Kosuzu replaces Akyuu as one of the pilots of the Palanquin Ship if this option is chosen). Marisa's route has Lily Black, who is unlocked by having Lily White shoot down at least one enemy in Marisa's Chapter 38 as well as Chapter 46, which will allow Lily White to swap between her regular and Lily Black forms come Chapter 62. To a lesser extent, Reimu and Marisa's Pre-upgrade forms become this in ''Complete Box'', as they can be unlocked by having Reimu and Marisa have 100 kills respectively by Chapter 56.
144	* SecretLevel: Completing ''Kou'' with both Reimu and Marisa's routes unlocks Sakuya's route, which consists of four levels; one takes place before the story, and the other three take place after the main story. At the end of ''Yume'', if you're not on a NewGamePlus, you can access a set of gaiden chapters which are a recreation of the events on the moon, except this time with access to every character, including the Watatsukis. This also contains Yume's two superbosses: a refight against Yorihime as she appeared in Ei, with massively beefed up stats, and a fight against Toyohime, who didn't appear on the original stage 50, and since the stage is in space she doesn't have to worry about limiting the power output on her WaveMotionGun like she does as a player unit. In ''Complete Box'', Sakuya's scenario is available at the beginning of the game, and the ''Yume'' gaiden chapters are unlocked after beating the game. Also after beating the game is [[spoiler:Meeko's scenario, consisting of five chapters.]] Completing all three of these scenarios in ''CB'' is mandatory to unlock [[NewGamePlus Dream Mode.]]
145	* ShoutOut: [[ShoutOut/GensouShoujoTaisen So many it has its own page.]]
146	* TheStinger: ''You'' has one where Marisa helps Nazrin and Shou find the Palanquin Ship.
147	* StylisticSuck: [[spoiler:Hisoutensoku as an enemy unit]] has really crappy animations for its attacks, as a shout-out to the earliest ''SRW'' games.
148	* SuddenSoundtrackStop: Fittingly for her powers, this occurs when Sakuya stops time for her ultimate attack.
149	* TitleDrop: The spell card that the heroes use to respond to [[spoiler:Makura's The Furthest Reaches of Dreams]] is called Fantasy Maiden Wars.
150	* ToHellAndBack: ''Yume'' does this at least twice. Once with Satori harmonizing with the leftover remnants of Koishi to go into oblivion to bring her back; and then a literal trip to Makai to rescue Byakuren; made complicated by Shinki opposing them.
151	* TrueFinalBoss: [[spoiler:Shitone, Makura’s nightmare, in the Future Route of Dream Mode.]]
152	* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: In ''Ei'', Reisen II (named Rabbit right now) meets up with Reisen first instead of Reimu like in [=SSiB=], and attempts to get on her good side by claiming she's a fellow fugitive with lunar emissaries pursuing her. Instead, this freaks Reisen out, causing her to flee to Eirin and Kaguya to report to them, which leads into the IN part of the story.
153	* ViolationOfCommonSense: In ''Lunatic'' difficulty of the last Extra Chapter in ''E'', even if Flandre's ''And Then There Were None'' lasts 7 turns, you have to actually let it hit at least one of your units (and she definitely will thanks to casting Strike). This is because you need to make sure she doesn't start ''Ripples of 495 Years'' with enough SP to cast Strike, because if she does, the final spell turns into a meatgrinder.
154	* WhatTheHellHero: If Marisa is your protagonist and you shoot down [[ShootTheMedicFirst Daiyousei first]] in Chapter 40 (Showdown! Reimu vs Marisa in ''Ei''), Reimu's entire team will not only call you out; but the entire team will get a Spirit buff. This also happens if you're playing Reimu's version of events and shoot down Lily White first. This can be avoided if you shoot down Cirno and Rumia first if you're facing Reimu's team, or the Three Fairies and Prismrivers first if you're facing Marisa's team.

Context VideoGame / GensouShoujoTaisen