TOUHOU BOUGETSUSHOU - SILENT SINNER IN BLUE

I'm going to say this straight up, if you haven't played the Touhou games, it is recommended to not read this manga, as it will not be nearly as enjoyable and is not aimed at you.

The story is, in a brief description, all about a race to the moon. Assuming you are a fan of the series, this is quite the enjoyable read. It expands on the characters and their personalities in ways that the games have not, and introduces some interesting new characters as well. There's some nice action in it that I'm sure all fans of the series will love, as well as a plot that'll keep you wondering just what's going on inside the character's heads. The ending is very ZUNesque, which is to be expected, and the art is very pretty to the eye as well.

I would definitely say this is a must read if you're searching for more from Touhou, and a great place to start with the manga series. The plot is driven through the characters, so you had best be fond of them, or this manga isn't for you.

Based on the famous Touhou franchise comes Touhou Bougetsushou ~ Silent Sinner in Blue. Set in the fictional world of Gensokyo, it follows the main characters of the games. Of course, you must be familiar with games in order to really appreciate this Manga, since it will be hard to follow without prior knowledge.

Story:
The Story starts off with Yukari Yakumo, as she plans to start the second lunar war in order to get revenge for her previous loss, one thousand year ago. So now, she tries to gather an army to fight for her, either by recruiting them, or manipulating them to fight for her sake. The story doesn't fully revolve around her though, it focuses more on the other main characters that Yukari is trying to manipulate for her own sake. But you also mustn't forget how ZUN likes to end everyone of his works, in a unique way that is.

Characters:
If there's one thing Touhou is famous for, it's the characters. All the characters are well written and lively, Despite being a large cast. Their interactions are always amusing to watch. And the manga certainly did a great job, as it presented the characters, and handled them in a very good way. Not to mention the addition of new characters from the lunarian society.

Art:
The art is very good, Not perfect, but still a great work, which i found to very appealing to the eye. I also loved the character design in it.

Enjoyment:
Well of course i enjoyed this. Every Touhou fan would probably love this. as we get to see more from our favorite characters, how they spent their lives after the events of the games, and more funny interactions.

Overall:
I really had a great time reading this. It reminded of how much i love the Touhou franchise. so bottom line is, if you're a Touhou fan, then this Manga is definitely for you. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who hasn't played the games though.

Touhou is set in Gensokyo, a fictional land that its culture vaguely resembles that of feudal Japan, with a lot of folktale elements added on. On Gensokyo lives Yukari Yakumo, one of the strongest youkai, as her power to manipulate borders is close to the power of a god (Her next to last atack on the video game is called "Boundary of Life and Death" and she isnt buffing about that) but she rarely uses her powers and she is extremely lazy. Some time on the past Yukari gathered Gendokyo strongest youkais and using her power she went to the moon (wich is poblated by the lunarians, an extremely advanced society that combined technology with magic) with the idea of conquering it and gaining knowloge of the moon technology, there is little info of what happened but the fact that yukari's army lost against the moon technology is for sure.

Touhou Bougetsushou ~ Silent Sinner in Blue covers yukari second attempt to conquer the moon. The manga itself its really good and the characters really resemble the original ones, the story gets really exciting and you always want to keep reading.

Spoiler alert:
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However the problem is that even thoughis prensented as a serious work, in the end it twist into the same ending of all touhou games "... and then thay ahd a tea party" making it an anticlimatic ending for one of the best storys and characters out there.

Gensokyo as a place is constructed upon Yukari's keen awareness of the nature of fiction and reality. Gensokyo was built as a retreat from the outside world, enclosed behind a barrier of phantasms and illusions by being sheltered inside that world. It is Earth so long as Earth is treated as the world from humanity, not the world of flesh and blood.

It's through this creation that Yukari is able to pull off her plan. Manipulation of borders, as a blunt power, only goes so far, the manga clearly shows she's unable to simply "gap" her way wherever she wants. Rather, she makes clever use of the nature of the moon, by its link to being like Gensokyo. As the light side of the moon has its relation to the dark side that the Outside World has to Gensokyo, the linkage between Gensokyo and the Lunar Capital is through the medium of their border construction, fantasies secluded into fantasies, the "floating world" of ukiyo-e. This nature of borders, of both the Moon and Gensokyo, is explored twice. Firstly, in the way in which Yuyuko enters, through the reflection of a full moon in a placid lake, and secondly in the way Remilia & co enter, through their own interpretations of the various phantasms and spectral images of the Outside World's space program.

This manga is highly recommended in order to understand the nature of Gensokyo & Yakumo Yukari's ideology.

1000 Years ago, the youkais of earth gathered under tha banner of the youkai sages to wage a war against the lunarians, beings that live on the moon.It was the first large scale war to attack the moon as well as the last, the youkai army were annilated by the far superior lunar technology, magic and power. After the war, consipiracies rised that questioned whether the sages planned the defeat to uproot all who may oppose them in the future, but that's story for another time.
Fast forward 1000 years, youkai sage Yukari now wants to steal some things from the lunarians, and with that we began the far less serious second lunar war.

Story - 9
Despite saying far less serious, it still have quite a bit of story behind it, Yukari's motive is not simple and the act of stealing from the lunarians served a purpose in her centuries of planning. And despite only stealing a bottle of sake, it was a great achievement, since it is the lunarian's stuff. The story further expands on Touhou verses lore, such as explaining how lunarian space travel works and leaves a lot to think about

Character - 9
The lunarian society is introduced, as a race that have lifespan measured in thousands of years have technology (quantum cleaning fan) and magic surpassing everyone else. They can get quite up their own asses due to their superiority complex and arrogance, but none can deny they do have the ability to back it up. Two main lunarian introduced is Yorihime, the one in charge of lunar defense, and her elder sister Toyohime. Despite not much screen time, they manage to show quite a bit of personality, with Yorihime being a strict women with honor and treats everything highly serious, while Toyohime is the smarter one pretending to be the ditz (or maybe she really is one).
Other main characters include the scarlet devil mansion people, Eirin, Reimu, Marisa and Yukari. Reimu surprisingly became one of the few human to get invited into the lunarian city, both due to her power and probably because her attitude is similar to lunarian. Eirin and Yukari continues their complex plot around the relationship between the moon and earth.

Overall - 8
Highly amusing and leaves a lot for one to think about after viewing, a good Touhou manga. Now all that's left is for hifuu club activity to show the first lunar war.