Language…
16 users online: autisticsceptile1993, Batata Douce, CalHal, DasFueller, DPBOX, Dzing, fanfan21, Hammerer, isaix, matthwsan, RZRider, sheeptitan,  shovda, TheBourgyman, underway, Ziz - Guests: 300 - Bots: 277
Users: 64,795 (2,379 active)
Latest user: mathew

How did Touhou get so popular?

I like the Touhou seires (especially S.A.) as much as anybody else here, but I just don't understand just how it got so popular.

Is it because you play as anime girls?

Is it because of the awesome soundtrack?

Is it because of the crazy difficulty?

I have no idea, you tell me
All three. It's a game. It was probably just shared a whole lot and boomed into a big thing. Just as all other games get popular.
I for one won't even touch a game if it doesn't have cute anime girls.

I've only played like 2 touhou games. I'm not a big fan of them, but I enjoy the fan art, and there's an endless array of sweet touhou remixes on Osu! I would even go so far as to say that all this fan-created content is a big part of touhou's popularity.
I think it's the music and the loli, really, and the fact that there's a girl for almost everything you can think of, including tons of animals, a bucket, shrine maidens, witches, gardeners, bands, and so on, so chances are you'll find at least one character you'll like. (If you absolutely hate women, there's Rinnosuke.) The music is popular to remix and to incorporate in medleys, and there's so much "art" of the girls. The games themselves are nothing spectacular; just standard danmaku games.

I liked Subterranean Animism the most. Imperishable Night was my first and probably had the most diverse gameplay. Wasn't a fan of the fighters or the Cirno game or the picture games.

Just look above you...
If it's something that can be stopped, then just try to stop it!
Cute anime girls are popular and combine that with a awesome soundtrack and solid bullet hell gameplay and it's easy to see why.
Touhou isn't as popular as other games, it's partly well-known in the internet, but it hasn't transcended very much outside of it. Things like MLP have gotten a lot more popular.

To answer the question, I couldn't track when touhou became popular outside of japan, but the oldest gameplays I could find date from 2008, so I'm going to assume it was around that time, which is the year when SA was released, so obviously it's because everybody loves Satori. Still I don't think ZUN would have bothered releasing over 11 games if the series didn't get popular in Japan.

As for the reason why, the girls probably had their part and all, but there are so many games and anime with cute girls around so that alone couldn't make a popular game by itself.

Personally I'd say it's because of the challenge. The games themselves offer the player several difficulties to play from really easy to impossible lunatic. I once showed the game to one of my brother's friends who likes to play hard games, and he was impressed by the difficulty level in Lunatic that he downloaded the game himself and kept trying to be it (I should have showed him Kaizo instead). Orphen Nightford from here played DDC in his classroom once and all of his classmates were impressed by the difficulty and became fans of the game.

Another main reason is ZUN himself. The guy has been very open to the fanbase, he imposes almost no restrictions on fanwork and enjoys watching the fans creating doujin material, and all this fanwork also contributes to its popularity. Touhou is not just a bunch of shooting games with cute girls, it's also a lot of art, music remixes, fangames and more.
Basically everything that's been said here is a reason for Touhou's popularity. But in my opinion what's kept it so popular is the fans. Whether by fanart, fangames, or just playing the games, fans of Touhou keep doing what they do, and the games maintain their popularity as a result.

And with that, here's hoping the fandom stays going strong for years to come.

#lm{pal} also reisen is still best touhou character #lm{pal}
Layout by Mirann <3

I'm probably retired tbh

Extras



I should have something witty to put here (even if it's just to update dated info), shouldn't I?

Advertising Space

It lends itself to fan interpretation very well to the point that a person not that familiar to the series will mistake fanon for canon way too often.

ie: Chen

Originally posted by MrDeePay

ie: Chen

What about Chen? Relation to Ran? Surname or lack thereof?
Let's milk Sunny Milk. Then she'll have enough money to fund Sunny Milk Real Estate.
Everypony's digging with a shovel

Extras



I should have something witty to put here (even if it's just to update dated info), shouldn't I?

Advertising Space

Canon Chen is nowhere near as adorable or lovable as Fanon Chen.

If I were you I would've chosen Flandre as an example.
Kinda in hibernation for a while. I hope to be back in full swing soon.

Extras



I should have something witty to put here (even if it's just to update dated info), shouldn't I?

Advertising Space

Flan is a known headcase in the fandom, so no.