The games are a good way to start, mixed with music remixes if you like good music. Once you can distinguish the characters, the fanime, some doujins and animations...
The memes will come naturally.
Join us in our quest to play all RPG video games! Moving on to disc 2 of Grandia!
One Winged Egret
You get Last Spells in Imperishable Night if you've collected enough time points for the stage. This tends to coincide with not getting hit because that makes you lose a lot of points. I actually find it rather hard to get Wriggle's Last Spell because the stage is too short. I guess you must have shot her a lot while in human mode (unfocused).
The games are a good way to start, mixed with music remixes if you like good music. Once you can distinguish the characters, the fanime, some doujins and animations...
The memes will come naturally.
No kidding. Getting to know some characters made me realize that all those fanworks, memes, etc. I'd already seen were from Touhou.
And that's how I ended up in the wardrobe. It Just Bugs Me!
Where to start really depends on your interests. I started with music and memetastic music videos on Cirno Day, and worked my way up from there.
Still haven't touched any of the games myself. 
I started with Flandre's music thanks to the Mercy Mode page, then lots of music, the Touhou thread, Touhou Nekokayou and I eventually downloaded the demo of The Embodiment Of Scarlet Devil.
edited 22nd Jan '10 7:39:55 AM by Medinoc
"And as long as a sack of shit is not a good thing to be, chivalry will never die."
I am now a shiny stone~
I started from my shooter habit, and got into the music, memes, fancomics, and even did a little fanart (look all the way back at post #2 right at teh start of this thread!).
The three finest things in life are to splat your enemies, drive them from their turf, and hear their lamentations as their rank falls!
How did the Mercy Mode page lead you to that song? 
edited 22nd Jan '10 7:57:09 AM by Fawriel
The link was removed by Paradoxic Title. Basically, the Touhou example for the rank system had a link to a youtube video of the EoSD Extra Stage... with a hack blocking the rank at 75 (while it never goes above 32 in a normal game).
Here
.
edited 22nd Jan '10 3:26:32 PM by Medinoc
"And as long as a sack of shit is not a good thing to be, chivalry will never die."
literary masochist
Might give the games a shot, then. Anything in particular that would be a good choice to start off with?
This "faculty lot" you speak of sounds like a place of great power...
Well, game-wise Perfect Cherry Blossom (nr. 7) is a good start, with Imperishable Night (nr. 8) right behind. Character-wise (by that I mean to become familiar with the characters, there are no big spoilers to worry about), in order is preferable, starting with Embodiment of Scarlet Devil (nr. 6).
...or do them all at once. Like I did.
edited 22nd Jan '10 9:29:45 AM by Lemurian
Join us in our quest to play all RPG video games! Moving on to disc 2 of Grandia!
(weaving)
Second try, got through first level of Embodiment of Scarlet Devil without dying or using bomb. Next up is doing the same with Cirno.
I actually need to remember that I have bombs, but that's neither here nor there.
SHIKI is dead.
One Winged Egret
Are you focusing enough? When you hold shift, you move a lot slower and it's much easier to be precise. Honestly, I really can't imagine how stage 1 could pose so much of a threat otherwise, and the fact that you saw Wriggle's Last Spell when you didn't die supports this theory. Even when I was a beginner, the greatest threat from stage 1 has usually been boredom from its slow pace. However, if you were zooming around at full speed all the time it's a lot easier to make a careless mistake. A big part of this game is about small motions and moving as little as possible. Thus, focus mode is your savior.
RM/8
@WWW: Exactly my problem! I always forget to bomb, especially in Mo F and SA where your bomb counter is your power meter. Actually on my second try through Eo SD Normal, I made it to stage 5 without continuing.
Then Sakuya owned me so hard.
"Only now, after being besieged by a flock of talking ponies, did he really understand what he'd lost. "
Take it easy
Bombing is especially important in MoF, where power-up items are so plentiful you can chain-bomb bosses and not worry too much about your power. It's a bit tricky when you're new, but with some experience, you'll remember which pattern are likely to kill you, and which part of the stages you can bomb while killing enough red-circled fairies to replenish your power and then MoF will suddenly become as easy as Lotus Land Story.
In fact, someone went and cleared the game on normal bombing every single pattern in the game. Obviously, it's not the most efficient way to play (for a start, it requires you to suicide so you get enough power to clear, the next, easy pattern), but it's a nice proof of concept.
While I'm at it, I haven't seen this video posted yet. I was never quite convinced danmaku could work in a 3d environment, but this recreates the in-game patterns and make them even more epic.
(Edit: de-wicked MoF)
edited 23rd Jan '10 1:53:41 PM by StillWaters
I am now a shiny stone~
Oh man, now I really want to give Suwako a reassuring hug ;_;
The three finest things in life are to splat your enemies, drive them from their turf, and hear their lamentations as their rank falls!
Thought this was neat.
That puts "dine and dash" in a whole new perspective.
Join us in our quest to play all RPG video games! Moving on to disc 2 of Grandia!
@Scarabs: I uh. I. Uhm. Well. I'm not entirely sure what to think of... uh. Suwako rape. ... Uhm. Uwah. I mean, besides that, it's a good story, but... the idea of Sanae descending from a crazed rapist is... very... uncomfortable.
So, uhm. Are there any other stories about Suwako's past? Ones that don't involve rape. ._.;
edited 24th Jan '10 2:27:16 PM by Fawriel
Yar, Faw, I'm not fond of overly serious/dramatic Touhou stuff. Doesn't really jive with a game series that doesn't seem to take itself very seriously at all.
Hmmm, I like some dramatic stuff sometimes... Yuyuko's suicide is an interesting part of her characterization, for instance. I thought it would be interesting to see a new facet to Suwako, but that one bit's just kinda taking the whole thing too far and making her entire part in the saga really, really awkward...
I'd rather not adopt that into my personal canon.
edited 24th Jan '10 3:13:57 PM by Fawriel
Suicide?!
-checks Touhou wiki-
By golly, you're right.
Drama? In my Touhous? It's more likely than you think.
edited 24th Jan '10 3:40:28 PM by Zudak
Yeah, that's why I get pissed off at people calling them uncomplicated characters with no backstory. It's all there in the manual, people!
edited 24th Jan '10 3:51:25 PM by Lemurian
Join us in our quest to play all RPG video games! Moving on to disc 2 of Grandia!
You're right, Lemurian, but it's mostly All There in the Manual, IE in Perfect Memento and Bohemian Archive rather than stuff you actually see in-game. Which I guess is why people might think that!
edited 24th Jan '10 3:52:29 PM by Zudak
I'm still on the games. I have no idea about the memesphere and the fanverses that have sprung from them.
Play Again? Y/N