Table of Contents
Touhou Igyoukyou
Touhou
It's an unusual work that is dark, edgy, and violent, yet it's also bizarre and intriguing since it has this overarching multiverse storyline. Overall, it's entertaining, but slow to get into. The translation is serviceable, yet spotty if you focus on 'igyō' (異形),5) basic errors,6) commentary,7) etc.
Summary
This series features disturbing and graphic content.
For this one, it should be clear from the title alone, shouldn't it?
The story begins with a gathering at the Hakurei Shrine for a planned banquet with Reimu out shopping, but hours pass and a strange Reimu-like entity arrives instead, then everybody catches onto the fact that they intend to 'kill' rather than use conventional spell cards. We are shown glimpses of how the incident is affecting Gensōkyō, and the story branches off into 20+ routes that the viewer can choose from.
In short, Gensōkyō is suddenly thrown into a long, multiversal war with 'Igyōkyō', an alternate universe which contains grotesque and/or monstrous versions of the characters. Throughout the story, we learn that these versions are demonstrating their collective might across multiple iterations of 'Gensōkyō' and the Demon King currently intends to take Koumakan at, or around, 10:00pm.
List of Episodes
Toggle chart with the 'intended' format and branching paths.
Toggle chart with the 'chronological' order, along with other details.
Manga
Grotesque Abandoned Garden (異形の廃園, Igyō no Haien) is a 165-page unreleased doujinshi which was planned to be released at Reitaisai 13 on May 8, 2016, but it had several issues,8)9) so it ended up being uploaded to Pixiv on November 17, 2018.10) This story notably occurs in a parallel multiverse, unrelated to the main story, where Igyōkyō is suddenly attacked by this Chūnibyō-themed 'Gensōkyō'.11)12)
Explanations
The rest of this article contains spoilers.
Chronological analysis
「４月２７日。幻想郷が異形に滅ぼされる日。」
“April 27th. The day Gensōkyō is destroyed by Igyō.”
The story begins on April 27th, 2014,13)14)15) where Reimu had a banquet planned out at the Hakurei Shrine and Koishi planned to visit Flandre. In the Forest of Magic, we see Alice start her day off at 6:05am,16) then 3:52pm17) and 3:56pm18) seem to pass without any incident. However, the 4 o'clock hour is when this incident roughly begins,19) and Daiyousei gets attacked by an Igyō Fairy after 4:07pm.20)
Over the radio, Aya reports back that she visited the Hakurei Shrine at 4:30pm, saw it was bloody and empty, then followed a blood trail to the Bamboo Forest of the Lost.21) By the 6 o'clock hour, Igyō Sakuya gives a situation report to Demon King Remilia,22) while Marisa and Alice take a short 'break' at 6:30pm.23)24) At some point, Flandre learns that 10:00pm is when the Demon King plans to arrive at Koumakan.25)
During the entire incident, Koumakan's clock tower is fixed to 2:00pm,26)27)28)29) which is presumed to be an oversight. As a result, we don't have the exact timestamps for when Igyō Minoriko attacks Koumakan, or Meiling finding out that Flandre snuck out, but we can reasonably deduce that the real Marisa and Remilia had arrived at Koumakan after 6:30pm, some time after Patchouli kills herself.
Occurrences of 427
The number '427' is a significant number in Touhou Igyoukyou, which presumably stems from the first video's release date of April 27th, 2014. When asked about its significance, the author replied that it's meant to be a nod to Final Destination's use of '180' to foreshadow deaths and misfortune.30)31) However, I have not seen anyone compile a list, so here's the list of the ones that I wrote down during my watchthrough:
- Flandre Route #1 - April 27th, 2014 was the day that Koishi would've played with Flandre.32)
- Mokou Route #1 - Eirin admits and declares that Kaguya was Eientei's 427th failed homunculus.35)
- Rumia Route #1 - Yukari laments that Rumia had accurately predicted April 27th.36)
- Rumia Route #2 - Yuuka brings up Yukari's warnings about April 27th.39)
- Mokou Route #3 - Koakuma, under Igyō Sanae's curse, had been forced to mention Route 427.40)
Third to Sixth Gensokyo
Over time, we learn that the story is set in the 'Sixth Gensokyo' (第六幻想郷)41)42) and the Gensōkyō–Igyōkyō War apparently spans back to the 'Destruction of the Third Gensōkyō' (第三回幻想破壊),43)44) yet Igyō Keine implicates that she had killed five past iterations of Mokou.45) In addition, we learn that the prior 'Destruction of the Fifth Gensōkyō' (第五幻想破壊) was 2459 years ago.46)
As history repeats, some events stay the same (e.g. Cirno defeating the Igyō Fairies),47) other events change (e.g. Mokou killing the Igyō Keine),48) and certain ones are manipulated (e.g. EX Rumia's awakening)49) so history does not repeat. The details surrounding EX Rumia is curious because she 'awakens' when Igyō Yuuka tries eating her,50) then we see that a past iteration of Rumia had fell to Igyō Sakuya.51)
Factions of Igyōkyō
Do not assume that these translations are 'final' by any means.
We have a general idea of Igyōkyō's factions, based on what Igyō Minoriko52) and Igyō Sakuya53) mentioned, and we do have silhouette of the factions in Igyō Minoriko's list.54) Of course, both of these lists are not the same and completely overlook the 'Elite Fairies' for example. The viewers are also left trying to figure out which label apply to which of the character(s) from context clues.
Notes
- When the series began, the latest fully released Touhou Project work was Touhou Kishinjou.
- Regarding the inevitable problem of Touhou Project releasing new works, the author has stated that they don't really like the idea of altering the story whenever a new game comes out.56)
- The author is a fan of Sentakubune and Koishi Komeiji's Heart-Throbbing Adventure, so the community overlap should not come off as a surprise.
Stop pitting them against each other. - In the Cirno Route, we are introduced to two original characters:
- 'Vinca Wars' (ヴィンカワーズ) is a fake mockup character for Great Fairy Wars that emerged in the pre-release hype.57) She is named after the vinca rosea, which has since been reclassified.
- 'Teena Flavor' (ティーナ・フレーバー), or 'Tina Flavor', is an original character in Touhou Igyoukyou. She is supposed to be a 'black' tea fairy (紅茶の妖精, koucha no yousei).
- There are subtle hints that Igyo Marisa had defeated the Watatsuki Sisters, given that she appears to be in possession of Yorihime's destructive fan62) and Toyohime's ability to easily absorb knowledge.
- We find Igyō Marisa possesses three cards with Reimu, Cirno, and Alice. She had already crossed out Reimu for unknown reasons,63) then crosses out Cirno for her 'importance'.64)
- To end the Cirno Route, we see Cirno get this intense vision of Igyō Cirno,65) despite never meeting, which has led to speculation on whether abilities and memories can be inherited.
- By the way, I believe Igyō Yuuka is meant to be an alraune. Most people won't know this since it's a niche book with mature, sexual, and philosophical themes, but they're in a lot of Japanese media.
- In the Sakuya Route, there are 'deceased portraits' (遺影, iei) for Utsuho and Koishi in Chireiden,66) but the Koishi Route is still planned, so we may find the reason for this at some point.
- In the Flandre Route, she correctly suspects in a hallucination that Remilia was an imposter.67) A keen viewer might pick up on this detail as Remilia hasn't spoken since the prologue.
See also
- Koishi Komeiji's Heart-Throbbing Adventure - Main inspiration.
External links
- Touhou Igyoukyou, Table of Contents on Niconico Douga - The playlist.
- Sushi Yuusha Toro on YouTube - The videos are also uploaded here!
- Sushi Yuusha Toro on Pixiv
- @toro_yori_ebi on Twitter
- Touhou Igyoukyou on Niconico Encyclopedia [JA]
- Touhou Igyoukyou on Pixiv Encyclopedia [JA]
- Touhou Igyoukyou on Moegirl Encyclopedia [ZH]
- Touhou Igyoukyou on Namu Wiki [KO]