Cherry Playthrough: Youmu Konpaku (PCB Stage 5 Lunatic)

Channel:

raak1010

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Published on January 20, 2012 3:31:42 PM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rtx0Bd4ZT_s

Game:

Perfect Cherry Blossom (2003)

Duration: 7:41

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139

"The things my Roukanken cannot cut are next to none!"
-Youmu Konpaku

A video of me fighting for my honor against the gardener of Hakugyokurou, Youmu Konpaku

Youmu (her name is in the game's title!) is the stage 5 boss of the game Perfect Cherry Blossom, the 7th installment of the Touhou Project. The Touhou Project is a series of danmaku games where stage 5 bosses have a gameplay gimmick. Except Sanae. Poor girl. Anyways, this time around the ethereal being we know as ZUN decided to go with bullet time. Seems like a natural extension of a bullet hell to be honest.

Fun fact: Did you know that "The things my Roukanken cannot cut are next to none!" is a case of what we tropers call "Beam me up, Scotty". The actual phrase is "The things that cannot be cut by my Roukanken, forged by youkai, are close to none!"... maybe I'm the only one who says the quote at the beginning. I like it that way -.-

Anyways, Youmu is badass even if she doesn't really look the part. Fanon tends to be fair towards Youmu, giving her equal part badass and moe. She's constantly shown frustrated with the carefree demeanor of her mistress. She's constantly shown to be somewhat subtly distressed by her incomplete swordmanship. And she's shown to be completely disturbed by her status as one of the few sane women in Gensokyo.

I find Youmu a very likeable character. I imagine her normally calmed and controlled unless really provoked, even resulting somewhat cold and uncaring toward people outside her relationship circle. Being half ghost, I also attribute her a very otherworldly aura, mainly via an extremely pale almost glowing skin and her general presence. Of course, these are not really strictly canon, but nevertheless I'm positive her appearance result unnerving at best. A close enough doujin would be "Soul Blade" by Ice Rain( Warning: Gratuitous boob grabbing). Now that I think about it, Youmu is constantly shown flustered about anything remotely sexual. Alternatively there's also "Spring of the Residents of a Touhou Town" by FLIPFLOPs. By the way, Youmu holds the distinct recognition of being one of the few characters with a male character associated with her. In this case Youki Konpaku, her missing grandfather.

One of my favorite abilities of Youmu is her speed over power approach. According to her (fanon) self, her top speed is a considerable fraction of the speed of light (approx. 1/4 to be exact). I don't think it's sure who is the fastest in Gensokyo, Aya or Youmu. I do know Marisa has a sure third place, though...

Gameplay-wise, Youmu has some of the densest patterns in Touhou history. Apparently ZUN thought that having bullet time would make up for the night impenetrable curtain of bullet Youmu throws at you. Solid idea except for two things:
1) You also move as slow as the bullets
2) No much to do when the bullet make a truly impenetrable curtain.

This makes Youmu one of the hardest battles pre-MoF era. Hell, I'm willing to say Lunatic Youmu is the most hard hitting boss in Perfect Cherry Blossom. I don't say hardest because at the end of the day, the sheer length of Ran and Yukari's fight give them more time to mess you up. When it comes to danmaku, having harder patterns not necessarily beat having more stamina.

Music-wise, I decided to go metal for the rest of the game. Mainly because I had trouble with Yuyuko and I really, really wanted to use this arrange of Youmu's theme. Kokuyasou song is one of the few times where I was anxiously waiting for the chance to use the song. I know the song is a little off in some parts, but nevertheless I love it. And of course, SHO is SHO.

Image-wise, Youmu has a lot of great and awesome images. A hard choice indeed.

I would love to go into detail on Youmu's abilities and such, but I have limited space. Such is life.

Music:

Circle: Sonic Hispeed Omega
Album: THE BEST OF TOHO TEMPEST
Orignal: Mystic Oriental Dream ~ Ancient Temple

Circle: 黒夜葬
Album: Gothic
Original: Hiroari Shoots a Strange Bird ~ Till When?

Artwork:
Title: Cloudy.R: http://www.pixiv.net/member.php?id=800504
Ending: alcd: http://www.pixiv.net/member.php?id=2334059

For more information on the Touhou Project, check the wiki:
http://en.touhouwiki.net/wiki/Touhou_Wiki

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