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aka: Story Of Eastern Wonderland

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A major change, even if it wouldn't take off immediately.

Touhou Fuumarokunote  ~ the Story of Eastern Wonderland is a video game developed by ZUN Soft and published by Amusement Makers for the PC-98 in 1997. It's the second installment in the Touhou Project franchise.

Returning from a (half-hearted) training session, the shrine maiden Reimu Hakurei finds her shrine overrun by youkai, seemingly on orders from someone else. After defeating them, she heads back to Makai, where one of her enemies from the first game has returned.

The game begins the classic vertical Shoot 'Em Up format later games would follow, playing somewhat like Darius Gaiden. Reimu is the only playable character but she can choose between three shot types, each with their own bomb.


This game provides examples of:

  • Abnormal Ammo: The Stage 2 midboss attacks with kanji of all things. Specifically, the kanji 呪, meaning curse.
  • Breaking the Fourth Wall:
    • Reimu and Rika talk about the latter being the stage 1 boss during the extra stage.
    • If you have used a continue, Marisa will take notice of it.
  • Brutal Bonus Level: This game introduces the concept of the Extra Stage to the series, unlocked by completing the game without continues (here, it must be done with all shot types; in subsequent games, it's unlocked individually for each shot typenote ). And sure enough, the first ever Extra Stage pulls no punches, requiring you to study it well and come up with consistent routes. While most Extra stages simply reduce the amount of extra lives you can earn to account for its length relative to the full game, the first Extra Stage goes beyond that and forces you to play it in "3 lives 1 bomb per life" setting, in a game that otherwise defaults to 3 bombs per life (and boy will the player miss all those extra bombs). This, combined with how weird the difficulty levels in this game are, means that unlike how typical Extra Stage is usually somewhere between Normal and Hard clear in terms of accomplishments, clearing SoEW's Extra Stage is far past clearing it on the Hard difficulty.
  • Bullet Hell: In the manual, ZUN boasts that SoEW's tiny hitbox and huge numbers of bullets surpasses even DoDonPachi.
  • Button Mashing: Pressing the shot key as fast as you can gives you a faster rate of fire than simply holding the key. This isn't present in later games.
  • Cutting Off the Branches:
    • Implied. When Reimu encounters Mima in this game, they seem to already know each other (Mima says "It's been a while", and they both say each other's names without needing to introduce themselves). This suggests Hell as the canon scenario of the previous game, as that's the route where Mima appears.
    • The Extra Stage does this to itself. After the boss is defeated, Genjii says it's thanks to the yin-yang orb's power, even if you play as Mobile Type (which doesn't use the orb), which Reimu denies, even if you play as Offensive Type (which relies heavily on the orb). While Reimu could be too full of herself to admit she relied on the orb, Genjii has no reason to lie, so this at least suggests Mobile Type isn't the canon shot type.
  • Deflector Shields: Over the course of her fight, Marisa will repeatedly put up her orreries. She can only be damaged once all of them are destroyed.
  • Early Installment Character-Design Difference: Marisa debuts in this game, but she is a redhead and wears purple. She becomes blonde from the next game onwards, and starts wearing black in the Windows games. She also rides a giant flower instead of a broom; she would get her broom as a playable character from the next game onwards, while her boss appearances would continue to use either the flower or illusionary wings until the end of the PC-98 Era.
  • Early-Installment Weirdness:
    • Even though this is the first Touhou game to be a proper Vertical Scrolling Shooter, Reimu is shown flying on top of her turtle Genji. Said turtle disappears from the series in the Windows games, where Reimu just flies by herself. He also has plenty of dialogue in this game, whereas in his three subsequent appearances he's completely silent.
    • Reimu is the only playable character. All subsequent main series games went on to have playable Marisa as well, with most of them having one or more other playable characters on top of that.
    • Marisa is introduced in this game, but she's a boss instead of playable, is The Dragon to Mima instead of acting on her own and being the series Deuteragonist, and lacks her brash attitude from later on in the series. Her name is also spelled "魔沙" here while later installments changed it to "魔沙".
    • Being the first proper shmup game, a lot of distinct features are missing, even compared to Touhou Gensokyo ~ Lotus Land Story. There is no focus, there are no deathbombs, bosses do not show their health bars (even though the first game had this feature), you get very few resources between boss phases, Button Mashing is a valid tactic, there's only five stages in main game (and last one is there mostly to feed you power items for the Final Boss so it's more like four), and the bullet patterns are nowhere as flashy.
    • Defensive Type has Reimu's iconic homing shots, but only when you're at max power.
    • The item border, the Spell Card system, practice mode and replays don't exist yet. Those features will be introduced in the Windows games.
    • You must get the good ending with all shot types before you can go into the Extra Stage, unlike later games where the Extra Stage is unlocked individually for each shot type. This is the only Extra Stage without a midboss, and the Extra Boss takes damage from bombs, unlike later games where they get Contractual Boss Immunity.
  • Face Fault: Reimu does this when Rika takes offense to being called suspicious by Genjii and replies that she created the bakebake, as demonstrated by her dialogue portrait showing her legs upside down.
    Reimu: How is that not suspicious!?
  • Fake Difficulty: Your hitbox is rather large compared to later games, and if you die it becomes offset slightly — enough to make some previous safe spots no longer safe.
  • Gameplay and Story Segregation: The menu claims the different shot types vary in how much they rely on the yin-yang orb, with Mobile Type not using it, Defensive Type moderately relying on it and Offensive Type heavily relying on it. But after defeating the Extra Boss, Genjii says it's thanks to the yin-yang orb's power, even if you play as Mobile Type, which Reimu denies, even if you play as Offensive Type. While Reimu could be too full of herself to admit she relied on the orb, Genjii has no reason to lie.
  • I Always Wanted to Say That: When Mima shows up, Reimu says "Mima! Just as I thought!", but when pressed by Genjii, she admits she didn't know it would be her, but that she "just always wanted to say that".
  • Iconic Sequel Character: The stage 4 boss, Marisa Kirisame, would go on to become the Deuteragonist of the series (as well as the icon for the game executables).
  • Inconsistent Spelling: Marisa's name is spelled 魔梨沙 in the game, but 魔理沙 in the omake. All subsequent works have consistently used the latter spelling.
  • Instant-Win Condition: Even if it was your last life, as long as Mima's last phase is defeated in the short span it takes the game to process your death, you win and get the good ending.
  • MacGuffin: The antagonists seek "The Power of the Hakurei", meaning either the Yin-Yang Orbs or Reimu's ability to use them.
  • Mundane Utility: In the good endings, the yin-yang orb's powers are given mundane applications, not related in any way to combat, youkai extermination, spiritual matters or shrine maiden duties. Depending on your shot type, they're producing one's favorite smell, letting one eat sweets without getting fat or the orb itself transforming into a cat.
  • Pent-Up Power Peril: Exploited. The Hakurei clan's Yin-Yang Orbs slowly fill up with their users' powerful spiritual energies over time, then release it all at once. Mima seeks to be there when it happens so that she can take that power for herself.
  • No Final Boss for You: Downplayed. If you've used any continues, Mima will end the fight early and skip her final phase. The game then proceeds to the bad ending.
  • One-Hit Polykill: Mobile Type and Offensive Type gain piercing shots when at max power.
  • Only the Chosen May Wield: Mima explains how the Yin-Yang Orb works before her fight, and points out that only a Hakurei can draw its powers.
  • Rare Random Drop: In this game only, stage enemies that do not have fixed drops have a 1/512 chance to instead drop a bomb item (though the actual chance is smaller due to how the game checks for it).
  • Recurring Boss:
    • Stage 1 boss Rika returns for the Extra Stage with her new "tank", Evil Eye Sigma. She and Reimu then Break the Fourth Wall to point out that if Reimu had pursued Rika in their first fight, Stage 2 would be "way too hard".
    • The angel-like midboss in Stage 4 is encountered twice during the level.
  • Screw This, I'm Outta Here: After defeating the Stage 3 boss, Reimu is genuinely scared and makes haste to move on immediately.
  • Sealed Evil in a Can: In the ending, Reimu seals Mima away behind the shrine, but she escapes within a month.
  • Strategy Guide: The omake is a strategy guide with the survival section narrated by Marisa, and the scoring section narrated by Reimu.
  • Taking You with Me:
    • Lunatic difficulty has all enemies fire revenge bullets when defeated, which are aimed at your position.
    • Evil Eye Sigma self-destructs when defeated, which will kill you if you don't get away from the explosion.
  • Took a Level in Badass: Mima went from second boss in the previous game to Final Boss here.
  • Training from Hell: In the bad endings, Marisa shows up to help Reimu train... with the slight detail that her idea of training seems to be brutally over the top, involving such things as attaching her to a burning cross or trapping her under a magical waterfall.
  • Trial-and-Error Gameplay: When Mima flashes in it means she's about to ram you. Moving to the side is recommended.
  • Villain: Exit, Stage Left: If you've used any continues, Mima will end the fight early and retreat, telling you to come back when you're stronger. The game then proceeds to the bad ending.
  • What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?: In the ending Genji reveals to Reimu the "true power" of the Yin-Yang Orbs, which varies depending on the player's selected shot type. Respectively, they can turn into a cat, produce any smell, or allow the user to eat sweets without gaining weight. Reimu is disappointed to say the least, though in time she comes to enjoy using it.

Alternative Title(s): Story Of Eastern Wonderland

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