2 years of eating danmakus

Perhaps of some curious interesting numerical coincidence (well... almost), the 2nd and 22nd of May marks the milestone in my inception into the Touhou series - the first being having listening to the first three work by CROW'SCLAW, and the latter being coming across an article at one blog.

Never forget!

(Which I'm sure I've mentioned a few times before)

I've discovered that my intelligence have taken quite a beating lately (procrastination and laziness can do that)... but rather than a review or anything, this would be more of a commemorating post than anything. I really could use some exercise when it comes to writing, eh?

2 years after being engrossed in the series, and what can I say about it?

There's a lot of aspect in the series that would appeal to the Touhou fans. Some are into the characters in general (can't go wrong with the loads of characters there). Some just like a good punishing at eating hell of bullets here and there. And some love listening to the music, even if having to put up with dying every now and then (I call this the 'even dying is cool! syndrome).

And then there's the derivative works: the art, music, fan-made games (yes, you can practically hear the word 'secondaries' being screamed in the distant). Some would consider themselves a fan of the series by just indulging into these aspect - which is all right, except that they're going to miss out quite a bit.

But that's that; I'm not interested to talk on that aspect - I think I've mentioned it here and there in the past already. Let's ramble a bit about the fans over here.

As of right now, I can say that there are actually a good number of Touhou fans here - although you could see how each have differing preference and interpretation of the series (hence why I mentioned about the fan aspect just now). The fastest way to look out for them would be through events - for reason which you would surely know why. Judging from that itself, if you're talking about awareness, many seems to know (or at least heard) of the series. So to call it underrated would be somewhat far off the mark.

The only concern is for them to go deeper into the series. The question that I found myself asking several times is, until where do you draw the line where you can say 'OK they're the real deal'? (a point of much arguing among the older fans with newer fans who only know the tip of the stick - and doesn't go any more than that). Some are cool with playing a couple of games and knowing the more important characters, while the more serious ones would insist that they should go further than that (usually involving some knowledge of the characters history, spell cards, music, and things of the sort).

But is it really a point to be fussing about? There isn't much to do if they're content with staying there. As long as they're not getting on others' nerves - now that'd be different...

Still, for the more dedicated ones, the next step would be contributing to the series in general. Everyone has a different way of doing it. Some write. Some draw. Some compose. Some design. Some create. It all goes down back to showing love to the series. That's why I love the series so much; it's not so much about the game, or all those nice drawings - it's a great collaborative effort, you could say.

Which is why I'm all for the idea from a few dedicated fans here in creating the same Touhou gathering found there in Japan - the Malaysia Reitaisai, as it is. The fanbase over here isn't as strong as over there, sure, but given the time - and some prodding here and there - I believe it's possible. In any case, these guys enthusiasm are rubbing off to me; it's infectious, really.

As for myself, I'll be glad to keep on rambling every now and then. And go off to die repeatedly in the games - hey, the music make up for the otherwise sucky experience.

Also, rock n roll is awesome. And so is ZUN.

This post was written in conjunction with a trip to a recent event. It's always cool hanging about with Touhou dudes and dudettes, yeaaa.

Cheers, and enjoy yer danmakus.