- Circle
- Bicolor Butterfly
- Tags
- Shooting, Music, Application, Chinese Simplified, English
- Price
- 1,540JPY
Synopsis
About the Game
Touhou Kikamu ~Elegant Impermanence of Sakura~ is a fan game with the same classic shoot-em-up gameplay as the original series!
At the dawn of the new year, an unusual event occurs in the shadows of Gensokyo.
The Bamboo Forest of the Lost blossoms overnight, the bell at Myouren Temple is suddenly
rusted over, and the Winter snow shows no sign of melting in the sun.
The shrine maiden of paradise, the youkai of the boundary, the strange magician, flawlessly
beautiful ghost, the sullied immortal, and the history-devouring half-beast…
all of them set out to follow the clues and uncover the truth.
Keyboard:
Arrow keys: Move, make menu selections
Shift key: Slow mode
Z key: Shoot (hold for rapid fire), Confirm/OK on the menu
X key: Bomb, go back on menus
ESC key: Pose, go back on menus
Gamepad:
As this game is compatible with Steam inputs, Steam-compatible gamepads should be usable.
This game is also compatible with xinput, so xinput compatible pads should also be usable.
However, Steam input may interfere. Please turn off Steam input in the options menu first.
For those wishing to use Steam controllers, please first turn Steam input on.
Please read the manual and settings carefully before starting the game.
– This is a Touhou-derivative work that pays homage to the story of “Imperishable Night”.
12 different characters appear, including original characters. Also includes an extra story.
– This game is heavily based on the original Touhou games, so the method of play should be
familiar to fans. Just as you’d expect, it’s a real hell of bullets! But that can get a little old, so we’ve
included a special coloring system as well.
– Except bosses, enemies are divided into large and small varieties.
In high-speed mode (Human side), only large enemies can be attacked.
In slow mode (Youkai side), all enemies can be attacked, but only bosses have collision.
– In certain zones, defeating a large enemy will change the color of smaller enemies within radius.
Bullets in the area will also disappear. Color change chains will also be tallied with your score.
– Beautiful art, with 6 playable characters, 6 bosses, 12 pose arts, and 10 ending CGs!
32 tracks of Touhou-style original music!
| Circle | Bicolor Butterfly |
| Tags | Shooting, Music, Application, Chinese Simplified, English |
| Price | 1,540JPY |
Editorial Review
Touhou Kikamu slots neatly into the well-established fan-game ecosystem surrounding Touhou Project, inheriting the bullet-hell framework that defines the original series while layering on a mystery narrative centered around supernatural disturbances in Gensokyo. As a doujin shooter, it faces stiff competition from both official Touhou releases and countless other indie shmups, so execution matters more than premise alone.
What distinguishes this work is its ensemble-cast approach to the narrative. Rather than following a single protagonist, the game cycles through six distinct characters—each with established personalities and relationships from the broader Touhou mythology—to investigate a supernatural crisis. This structure sidesteps the typical doujin shooter problem of thin storytelling by leveraging pre-existing character dynamics and giving players multiple narrative perspectives. The atmospheric framing (corrupted temples, eternal winter, reality-devouring threats) suggests thematic ambition beyond standard boss-rush content. The dual-language support and cross-platform gamepad compatibility indicate professional localization effort, a rarity in fan games that typically prioritize Japanese audiences.
The production notes—multiple playable characters, stage structure implied by the investigation framing, keyboard and gamepad compatibility—suggest a team committed to accessibility standards rather than niche appeal. Whether the shooting mechanics justify investment depends entirely on your tolerance for Touhou’s particular brand of pattern-based difficulty, as the synopsis reveals nothing about mechanical innovation or difficulty balancing.
Veteran Touhou fans seeking fresh character perspectives and those who appreciate narrative texture woven through shmup progression will find genuine value here. Casual shooter players or anyone indifferent to Touhou’s existing lore should manage expectations accordingly. This is fandom made with visible craft, not innovation for its own sake. For the target demographic, a genuinely solid entry point into doujin shooting games with character substance backing the arcade action.
Official English version available ↓
Get “Elegant Impermanence of Sakura” on DLsite
English Version → Free TrialJapanese Original
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Related Tags:
English | Application | Music | Chinese Simplified | shooting
