History Literature / TouhouKourindouCuriositiesOfLotusAsia

* ArtifactOfDoom: Chapter 12 features Rinnosuke's panicked attempts to hide a handheld device that can control people, start wars, and even destroy worlds. [[spoiler:[[MetaphoricallyTrue It turns out]] these are ''fictional'' worlds - the device in question is just a UsefulNotes/GameBoy.]]

* NewTechnologyIsEvil: In Chapter 28, Sumireko shows Rinnosuke a smartphone and describes all the things you can do with it; he's suitably impressed and muses about finding a way to spread the technology to Gensokyo. However, Sumireko goes on a little rant about how consumer electronics are destroying interpersonal relationships[[note]]Talking about how people would rather surf the web or chat on the phone rather than talking to the person sitting next to them[[/note]] and says that she'd rather Gensokyo not get cellphones because they'd destroy the charm and make the land just like the Outside World. Most of this goes over Rinnosuke's head.

In addition to the main ''Franchise/TouhouProject'' video game series, and [[FanMyopia strangely overshadowed by the franchise's own fanfiction]], are a number of canon {{Spin Off}}s including comics and other print materials. ''Touhou Kourindou ~ Curiosities of Lotus Asia'' is the first of these, a series of short stories published in various magazines from 2004 to 2007. In 2015 it received a {{Revival}} in the first issue of official Touhou magazine ''Strange Creators of Outer World''.

-->"The history of Gensokyo was born the moment I began [[IShouldWriteABookAboutThis writing this book]]."
-->-- '''Rinnosuke Morichika'''

Rinnosuke is [[HalfHumanHybrid half-human, half-youkai]], with the perks of both races and few of their weaknesses... but despite this he is [[NonActionGuy not very strong]] and doesn't take part in [[DuelsDecideEverything Spell Card duels]]. Rinnosuke once worked for Marisa's father as a shop assistant, but has since set up a premises of his own - [[ThePlace Kourindou]], a curio shop built just outside the Forest of Magic, stocked mainly with [[SchizoTech items that have drifted into Gensokyo from the Outside World]]. While intended as a location accessible to both humans and youkai, in practice it's too out-of-the-way for many customers to travel there. Not that Rinnosuke really seems to mind, since only about half of his "merchandise" consists of things that he's actually willing to sell. Rinnosuke possesses a special power that tells him the [[NameDar name]] and purpose of any tool he can see... [[RequiredSecondaryPowers but not how they work]], and as a result his shop is littered with pieces of technology that he can't figure out how to use.

* SealedEvilInACan: The "contagious god" in chapter 23, released when Marisa found an ancient plate at [[CreepyCemetery Muenzuka]] covered in seals and [[WhatAnIdiot decided to take them off]].

* UnreliableExpositor: Rinnosuke isn't always reliable when it comes to describing what exactly the object of the day is since his power describes what an object does, but lacks nuance, such as when he was convinced that a handheld console was an ArtifactOfDoom due to his power describing that it could "destroy worlds", but not that it referred to ''fictional'' worlds.

* ContinuityNod

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Chapter 10 introduces Muenzuka, which would be an important location in ''[[VideoGame/TouhouKaeidzukaPhantasmagoriaOfFlowerView Phantasmagoria of Flower View]]''.

In addition to the main ''Franchise/{{Touhou}}'' video game series, and [[FanMyopia strangely overshadowed by the franchise's own fanfiction]], are a number of canon {{Spin Off}}s including comics and other print materials. ''Touhou Kourindou ~ Curiosities of Lotus Asia'' is the first of these, a series of short stories published in various magazines from 2004 to 2007. In 2015 it received a {{Revival}} in the first issue of official Touhou magazine ''Strange Creators of Outer World''.

* CallBack: Chapter 32 has Rinnosuke read a detective novel from the Outside World that he notes he can't completely follow due to the differing values between the Outside World and Gensokyo, a phenomenon Akyuu mentions in ''[[Manga/TouhouSuzunaanForbiddenScrollery Forbidden Scrollery]]'' as being the reason why they're not very popular in the latter location, but in Rinnosuke's case he likes them precisely ''because'' he fully understand them, as it makes the novels seem more fantastic.

** Rinnosuke's talk about the nature of names and naming in Chapter 15 becomes far more relevant when Junko appears in ''[[VideoGame/TouhouKanjudenLegacyOfLunaticKingdom LegacyOfLunaticKingdom Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom]]'', as her ability allows her to return things to the nameless state they had originally.

** Chapter 22 features a FlashBack to the year 2001 (two years before ''[[VideoGame/TouhouKoumakyouEmbodimentOfScarletDevil Embodiment of Scarlet Devil]]'') showing how Marisa picked up her fondness for [[StarPower star-themed magic]].

** In chapter 11 (while the Great Hakurei Barrier is temporarily weakened) Rinnosuke is transported to the Outside World in a dreamlike state, claimed by Yukari to be due to an [=MP3=] player that contained lingering spiritual power from the Outside World. This effect, referred to as "spiriting away", later becomes a major plot point in ''[[VideoGame/TouhouShinpirokuUrbanLegendInLimbo Urban Legend in Limbo]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/TouhouKanjudenLegacyOfLunaticKingdom Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom'', [[Manga/TouhouBougetsushou Watatsuki no Toyohime]]'s ability to connect Earth and the Moon was obtained by being able to comprehend one of Eirin's lectures on the nature of spiriting away, and it's implied to have some connection to [[Music/TouhouZUNsMusicCollection Maribel Hearn]]'s ability to travel between worlds.

* CallBack: Chapter 32 has Rinnosuke read a detective novel from the Outside World that he notes he can't completely follow due to the differing values between the Outside World and Gensokyo, a phenomenon Akyuu mentions in ''Forbidden Scrollery'' as being the reason why they're not very popular in the latter location, but in Rinnosuke's case he likes them precisely ''because'' he fully understand them, as it makes the novels seem more fantastic.

** Rinnosuke's talk about the nature of names and naming in Chapter 15 becomes far more relevant when Junko appears in ''Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom'', as her ability allows her to return things to the nameless state they had originally.

** ''Phantasmagoria of Flower View'' features a reference to chapter 14, where the cherry blossoms at Kourindou turned unnaturally white.

** Chapter 31 is set shortly after the events of ''Hidden Star in Four Seasons'', with Marisa explaining the cause of the incident to Rinnosuke.

* ExcaliburInTheRust: Almost literally; as payment for repairing and upgrading the Mini-Hakkero, Rinnosuke asks for the pile of iron scrap Marisa's been collecting ever since she was little. It turns out out said scrap includes the [[Myth/JapaneseMythology Kusanagi]], which Marisa dismisses as a rusty and useless old sword.

** Chapter 22 features a FlashBack to the year 2001 (two years before ''Embodiment of Scarlet Devil'') showing how Marisa picked up her fondness for [[StarPower star-themed magic]].

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Chapter 10 introduces Muenzuka, which would be an important location in ''Phantasmagoria of Flower View''.

** In chapter 11 (while the Great Hakurei Barrier is temporarily weakened) Rinnosuke is transported to the Outside World in a dreamlike state, claimed by Yukari to be due to an [=MP3=] player that contained lingering spiritual power from the Outside World. This effect, referred to as "spiriting away", later becomes a major plot point in ''Urban Legend in Limbo'' and ''Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom'', [[Manga/TouhouBougetsushou Watatsuki no Toyohime]]'s ability to connect Earth and the Moon was obtained by being able to comprehend one of Eirin's lectures on the nature of spiriting away, and it's implied to have some connection to [[Music/TouhouZUNsMusicCollection Maribel Hearn]]'s ability to travel between worlds.
** Chapter 15, in which Rinnosuke explains how naming things can limit their power, becomes more important in the context of ''Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom'', in which Junko's power is explained as the ability to return things to their original nameless state.

** In chapter 11 (while the Great Hakurei Barrier is temporarily weakened) Rinnosuke is transported to the Outside World in a dreamlike state, claimed by Yukari to be due to an [=MP3=] player that contained lingering spiritual power from Outside. This effect, referred to as "spiriting away", later becomes a major plot point in ''Urban Legend in Limbo'' and ''Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom'', [[Manga/TouhouBougetsushou Watatsuki no Toyohime]]'s ability to connect Earth and the Moon was obtained by being able to comprehend one of Eirin's lectures on the nature of spiriting away, and it's implied to have some connection to [[Music/TouhouZUNsMusicCollection Maribel Hearn]]'s ability to travel between worlds.

* DownTheRabbitHole: In chapter 11 Reimu deliberately tampers with the [[CosmicKeystone Great Hakurei Barrier]] (to get [[BarrierMaiden Yukari Yakumo]]'s attention) while Rinnosuke is nearby concentrating on an MP3 player, resulting in Rinnosuke being sucked into the Outside World. However, he is immediately [[WeirdnessSearchAndRescue found and retrieved by Yukari]] before he can get more than a glimpse of his surroundings.

** In chapter 11 (while the Great Hakurei Barrier is temporarily weakened) Rinnosuke is transported to the Outside World in a dreamlike state, claimed by Yukari to be due to an MP3 player that contained lingering spiritual power from Outside. This effect, referred to as "spiriting away", later becomes a major plot point in ''Urban Legend in Limbo'' and ''Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom'', [[Manga/TouhouBougetsushou Watatsuki no Toyohime]]'s ability to connect Earth and the Moon was obtained by being able to comprehend one of Eirin's lectures on the nature of spiriting away, and it's implied to have some connection to [[Music/TouhouZUNsMusicCollection Maribel Hearn]]'s ability to travel between worlds.