YuuYuu Jiteki no Yuukarin, also known by its unofficial fan-translated title Carefree Yuukarin, is a Touhou Project doujin 2D platformer developed by artist NUU (aka nuu_echo). Taking inspiration from classic 2D platformers such as Kirby, Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island and Donkey Kong Country, the game stars the flower Yōkai, Yuuka Kazami, who notices that her sunflower garden was raided the night before and goes on a journey across Gensokyo to search for the criminal responsible for it as revenge. Along the way, she gets help from the Clerk God of Hell's Checkpoint, Kutaka Niwatari, who serves as Mrs. Exposition and provides rest checkpoints for Yuuka to relax on her journey.
The game was initially released on the Japanese-exclusive BOOTH website on April 17, 2021, and later got an international Steam release on September 3, 2021 along with some brand-new content to go along with it.
Since the English version of the game is machine-translated by the creator himself, expect some inconsistent grammar and awkward wording within the game's plot and dialogue.
YuuYuu Jiteki no Yuukarin provides examples of:
- Advancing Wall of Doom: Level 3-2 "Where the skull lurks" features a giant skeleton monster that will pursue you through most of the level. You're given a Foreshadowing by Kutaka in the checkpoint jar shortly before you confront it.
- Anchors Away: Minamitsu Murasa's primary weapon, which she slings at Yuuka as one of her attacks.
- Alpha Strike: True Final Boss Youmu begins her battle with 30 seconds of Blade Spam where she makes rapid horizontal or vertical slashes covering the length or width of the screen, during which she can't be counterattacked. In her final phase, she repeats this attack and can be finished off if you survive.
- Anti-Frustration Features: The Steam release adds additional Kutaka checkpoint coins in the lengthier levels and right before challenging segments where getting back to them was a chore in the original BOOTH release, alleviating the Checkpoint Starvation issue.
- Balloonacy: The members of Team ⑨note occasionally show up during stages tied to balloons, carrying powerups such as food or a stack of 5 sunflower coins for Yuuka to collect before flying off. In a case of Developer's Foresight, they will also be wearing swimsuits if they appear during underwater sections.
- Big Bad: Yuyuko Saigyouji is the main cause of the sunflower vandalism, although not directly. While her goblin minions committed the act, Yuyuko was responsible for giving the goblins more free time for them to do what they want, but did nothing when she realized they started going out of control, leading to the incident. Yuuka therefore still feels the need to make her take responsibility for their actions regardless.
- Big Boo's Haunt: The second half of World 4 takes place in a haunted ship graveyard, overlapping with Gangplank Galleon and Under the Sea. The area is filled with ghosts and undead enemies, and healing food is scarce.
- Bigger on the Inside: Kutaka's checkpoint jar is the same size as Yuuka, but when you enter it, you find that it's big enough to contain furniture and become a house in its own right.
- Boss-Arena Idiocy: Murasa summons several orbs that Yuuka can break during her bossfight which will leave her vulnerable once they're all broken, resummoning them when she recovers. In the Final Boss battle, servant goblins will enter Yuyuko's room at several points during her first phase. By throwing Yuyuko the giant riceballs they carry, Yuyuko will become vulnerable to attacks while she's eating.
- Boss-Only Level: Most of the game's bosses (including the Final Boss) are fought in very short contained levels dedicated to their battles with little in the way of obstacles before and after their fights. The only exception is Nitori, who is fought at the end of a shoot-em-up level.
- Brutal Bonus Level: By collecting all the hidden gears added in the Steam version of the game, you unlock a set of extremely difficult secret levels based off the various Worlds culminating in a boss fight against Youmu Konpaku, who away from Hakugyokurou. If you defeat her, you will unlock the True Ending where Youmu's sudden return forces Yuyuko to back down from her boss battle and immediately admit her guilt. Afterwards, Yuuka and Kutaka have a conversation afterwards somewhat sympathizing with Yuyuko's heavy responsibilities and having to deal with an inflexible servant like Youmu on a regular basis.
- Checkpoint Starvation: Because of how lengthy the late-game levels can get with long stretches of platforming obstacles combined with only one checkpoint jar per level, the original BOOTH release was plagued with this issue as it made players getting back to challenging segments they died at a difficult and cumbersome task. This was fixed in the Steam release with the addition of Kutaka checkpoint coins, and there will usually be two of them spaced out before and after the checkpoint jar.
- Convection, Schmonvection: World 3 may be Lethal Lava Land but at most the heat causes mild discomfort, such that the NPC fairies in the area wear swimsuits to deal with it.note Unless you're Kutaka, who can be found lying on the ground roasting in the volcano. Played for Laughs of course.
- Death from Above: A common form of obstacle.
- In World 2, the stage boss Keiki drops a stream of statues following Yuuka's position as an attack.
- In World 3, there are certain volcanoes in the background which periodically shoot fireballs at your path with Crosshair Aware.
- In World 4, falling icicles are common stage hazards especially in underground areas, while in stage 4-2, Raiko Horikawa flies around and shoots lighting bolts at Yuuka with her Thunder Drum.
- In World 5, there are Smashing Hallway Trapsof Doom styled after the mansion's owner and Final Boss, Yuyuko. She also spends her first phase flying around and bombarding you with danmaku and lasers.
- Death Throws: You fall off the screen while spinning, Kirby-style.
- Dem Bones: Skeletal enemies can be found in World 3 and the second half of World 4. Murasa also first appears to Yuuka as a skeleton before reverting to her human appearance.
- Derelict Graveyard: The second half of World 4.
- Dissonant Serenity: Yuuka has a smile in most of her sprite's animations (though she does have other expressions in her cutscene portraits), even when violently batting away and bodyslamming creatures in her way that are simply minding their own business, and her walking animation has her eyes constantly shut and producing music notes as if humming or singing. Considering she's on a warpath tearing through hordes of mooks in the process of finding out who damaged her precious garden, her walking animation can come off as a Menacing Stroll while in a state of Tranquil Fury. Then again, Yuuka is often portrayed as a Sadist in fanworks...
- Double Jump: While the game lacks a true double jump, both Yuuka's Hurricane Kick and Parasol Parachute grant a small vertical boost, which can be combo'd in order to function as a pseudo-double jump. It's a useful trick to know in order to bypass certain obstacles by simply going over them and possibly save yourself from a Bottomless Pit, though you can only use them a limited number of times each time you leave the ground.
- Eternal Engine: The interior sections of World 5 is styled like this in a Clockworks Area manner, with conveyor belts, wooden gears (including giant ones as platforms) and bamboo traps. It's likely all designed to transport food around the mansion to the premise's owner, Yuyuko, especially since the area's moving platforms are literally giant sticks of dango carried by conveyor belts.
- Eyes Always Shut: Yuyuko is depicted like this, even when she starts taking the battle seriously or crying and groveling for Yuuka's forgiveness.
- Every 10,000 Points: Collecting 100 sunflower coins awards a 1-Up.
You're probably going to need as many of them as possible. - Final-Exam Boss: The True Final Boss Youmu is invulnerable to basic attacks and can only be harmed through several methods used against past bosses, such as Keiki's summoned throwables, Mokou's rebounding projectiles and Murasa's vulnerable orbs, but with greater difficulty.
- Furry Reminder: One conversation in World 2-3 with Kutaka has her bring up the fact that in her business of selling eggs, they're all layed by her, a chicken. Yuuka naturally has some mixed thoughts at this revelation, considering the cake she snacks on in Kutaka's abode is made from those same eggs.
- Green Hill Zone: World 1 starts off in Yuuka's home area known as the Garden of the Sun. It's a vibrant and sprawling grassland filled with sunflowers and the difficulty in this world is fairly low this early in the game, allowing the player to get to grips with the controls and mechanics.
- Hurricane Kick: One of Yuuka's airborne moves. It gives a slight vertical boost which can be combo'd into her Parasol Parachute to gain extra height.
- Hyperactive Metabolism: Picking up food will heal Yuuka's health bar on the top-left corner of the screen. The healing rate will depend on the selected difficulty, with Picnic mode (easy) giving 3 times the healing and Expert mode (hard) reducing the healing by half. In addition, there are the rare Sunflower Cookies (the stand-ins for Maxim Tomatoes from the Kirby series) which restores Yuuka's health bar by 100%.
- Iaijutsu Practitioner: One Giant Mook in World 5 is a large samurai that slowly approaches Yuuka when aggro'd, preparing to draw its sword. In this state, it is invulnerable to attack. After telegraphing its attack, it makes a swift slash over a long distance in front of itself, aiming low if Yuuka was on the ground or high if she was airborne, before returning its sword back to its sheath, during which it is vulnerable.
- Idle Animation: Yuuka has them in certain regions, where she will take out a handkerchief to wipe her sweat in World 3, or she will blow air into her hands in the snowy section of World 4, as well as heat up her hands if near a fire source.
- Improbable Weapon User: Keiki wields sculpting tools between her fingers like Wolverine Claws, but never actually uses them in battle, opting for a giant hammer and danmaku.
- Instant Costume Change: Just by touching water, Yuuka can change into her swimsuit to explore underwater sections, and instantly changes back into her dress upon leaving water.
- Invincible Minor Minion: The bee enemies are essentially a combination of the Zingers from Donkey Kong Country and the Gordos from Kirby. They're entirely invincible and cannot be killed by any means, and merely touching them will take a large chunk of Yuuka's health bar away.
- Jungle Japes: World 2 is a dense jungle that features climbable vines, trees that can be entered in, and numerous Haniwa enemies.
- Kaizo Trap: Finishing a Boss Fight doesn't always mean you're in the clear, so watch for stage hazards placed in the very next screen right after the battle.
- Lethal Lava Land: World 3 takes place in a volcanic cavern, with lava as a constant hazard. It features periodically-erupting volcanoes raining down fireballs, precarious moving platforms, and deep-fried food spewing from the lava that can hurt players.
- Let's Get Dangerous!: Upon defeating Yuyuko's first phase, she changes into a skimpy pro-wrestling outfit and declares that she wasn't taking the battle seriously, starting the second phase where she eschews danmaku for body presses and dropkicks. If you beat Youmu, in the following cutscene Yuyuko changes into her wrestling outfit directly when encountered, but immediately surrenders when Youmu suddenly returns.
- Parasol of Pain: Yuuka's iconic white parasol, which she can use in several attacks to bat enemies away or hit airborne enemies in a midair Spin Attack. It's also used as a Parasol Parachute to gain extra height and control her descent, which is imperative in this type of game.
- Piñata Enemy: There's a random chance that Seija Kijin will appear in each level and run away from you when you approach her. If you catch up to her and defeat her, she'll drop a treasure chest which contains loads of sunflower coins, healing food, and an extremely-rare 3up extra life.
- Platform Hell: With low health on higher difficulties and some Hitbox Dissonance at times, the platforming parts of the game are easily the hardest compared to the bosses, especially when Checkpoint Starvation was Played Straight in early releases.
- Power Creep, Power Seep: Yuuka in-universe is an extremely powerful Youkai, and is still quite capable of wrecking face, she's taken out in just a few hits by just about anything.
- Power Up Mount: The second half of World 4 has a diving propulsion unit resembling Wakasagihime in underwater areas that fires homing torpedoes modeled after Sekibanki's head. It's the only thing that can defeat the skull shelled crabs immune to Yuuka's underwater kicks, allowing you to progress more easily.
- Pushy Mooks: World 2 contains shield-bearing haniwa, which harmlessly bounces Yuuka off their giant shields at any angle except if she's directly above them, becoming an Improvised Platform. That's also why they're placed near Bottomless Pits and guaranteed death if Yuuka doesn't land on top of their shield. You can however grab their shields, causing them to run away if not for you likely killing them with their own shield. In World 4, penguins don't inflict Collision Damage like most enemies, instead bouncing Yuuka off if she bumps into or attacks them. Unsurprisingly, they're also often placed near Bottomless Pits, but likewise with the haniwa shield, you can fortunately still grab and throw them.
- Shout-Out: The continue screen is reminiscent of the infamous game over screen from Donkey Kong Country, showing Yuuka and Kutari all beat up.
- Single-Stroke Battle: Depleting Youmu's lifebar and surviving her Last Ditch Move prompts Yuuka with an Action Command, throwing both characters in a bout of Air Jousting and finishing with one (non-lethally), convincing Youmu to reconsider Yuuka's complaints and accusations towards her mistress.
- Sleepy Enemy: Subverted and played with the lazy pig enemies. They're found dozing off on lawn chairs with a newspaper in hand and will not react to Yuuka attacking them, making them the least-threatening in the game. The worse they can do is harm Yuuka with Collision Damage but, they don't actively retaliate once attacked and will just go back to napping. They even appear in World 3-2 "Where the skull lurks" where their dozing habit gets them killed by the giant skeleton pursuing Yuuka.
- Slippy-Slidey Ice World: The first half of World 4 takes place on snow-covered mountains, where hazards include slippery ice that can affect movement and icicles falling from above.
- Tactical Suicide Boss: Several bosses are invulnerable and can only be damaged after knocking them into a vulnerable state or with obstacles they summon.
- Tennis Boss: Fujiwara no Mokou's bossfight includes a phase where she throws a slow-moving fireball at Yuuka which you must deflect back and forth with Mokou several times until she slips up, putting her in a vulnerable state that allows Yuuka to damage her lifebar.
- Unexpected Gameplay Change: The transitional level between Worlds 1 and 2, called "Car run along the coast", is an Unexpected Shmup Level where you drive a car along a sidescrolling road and shoot down enemies and obstacles in the way with a minigun. The level is capped off with a boss fight against Nitori Kawashiro in her Kappappa No. 8 tank. The transitional level between stages 4-2 and 4-3 is a 2D skiing obstacle course with branching paths.
- "Wanted!" Poster: Within Kutaka's abode is a wanted poster of Seija flipping the bird. Chances are, this is the first hint the player will have of Seija's role as the Piñata Enemy to hunt down.
- Warm-Up Boss: Mayumi Joutouguu is the first boss with slow, predictable attack patterns that you can easily dodge if you're already somewhat used to the game's movement techs and hitboxes.
- Wake-Up Call Boss: Mayumi's creator/mistress, Keiki Haniyasushin, is invulnerable to regular attacks and can only be damaged by throwing the statues that fall into the arena from her hammer attack at her. At this point, you should be pretty familiar with movement and Yuuka's hitbox to avoid her attacks.
- World of Buxom: Most likely due to Author Appeal, everyone is stacked in this fangame, even characters who are usually not depicted as busty.
- Wutai: World 5 takes place in Hakugyokurou; Yuyuko's residence, an oriental mansion featuring many samurai and ninja enemies guarding the place. It is The Very Definitely Final Dungeon.
