Perfect Cherry Blossom

Screenshot of stage 5

Perfect Cherry Blossom is a vertical scrolling shooter in which the player shoots enemies who will appear from the top of the screen, whilst having to dodge their attacks, and fighting a boss half way through, and at the end of a stage. The game consists of six stages, and also offers a practice mode, allowing the player to play through a single stage at any time, provided they have completed it already.

In Perfect Cherry Blossom, the player's main method of attack is with their 'shot', the damage and behaviour of which varies depending on the character in question, and each character has two available shot types. The player can also use 'bombs' to clear the screen of bullets, grant themselves invulnerability for its duration, and deal immense damage, but they have a small number of bombs to use. Throughout the course of the game, enemies will drop Power Items, which will increase the damage and rate of fire of the player's shot, and Point Items, which give the player points, which contribute to replenishing their lives and bombs. When at maximum shot power, the player can move to the top of the screen, to collect all onscreen items. The player will also receive a point bonus if they can 'capture' an enemy spell card – completing it without dying, bombing, or running out of time.

Perfect Cherry Blossom features three different playable characters to choose from, with two different shot types each. Reimu Hakurei starts with three bombs, has the smallest hitbox, and the longest time in the game to deathbomb (activating a bomb shortly after being hit, cancelling out the death), but weak bullets. Marisa Kirisame is the fastest character, and has a lower boundary to collect all items onscreen, but has a narrow attack range, and starts with two bombs. Sakuya Izayoi has the largest area in which she can graze enemy bullets, a lower Cherry point penalty for dying, and can attack over an even larger area than Reimu. She starts with four bombs.[1]

The largest change Perfect Cherry Blossom introduces over its predecessor Embodiment of Scarlet Devil is the addition of the "Cherry" scoring system. Shooting enemies, and grazing (having enemy bullets reach the edge of the player hitbox) increases the "Cherry Meter", and bombing or dying decreases it. A higher cherry meter allows the player to gain more points from Point Items, and when a total of 50,000 Cherry Points are collected, the player will be given a Supernatural Border, a shield that lasts for seven seconds. While active, Point Items are collected instantly, and the player can be protected from one enemy attack, which will remove all onscreen bullets but end the shield prematurely. If the player is able to survive for the entirety of the shield's duration without being hit, an additional point bonus is granted.[2]

Other important gameplay changes introduced in Perfect Cherry Blossom are the appearance of the player character's hitbox while being focused, as well as the player's shot having different properties if they are focused, a cursor on the bottom margin of the screen during a boss battle which tells the player where the boss is currently located, and a consistent time in which to perform a deathbomb.[3]

If the player completes the game without using a continue, they unlock the Extra Stage,[4] which is considerably more difficult than the default game, with ZUN acknowledging that not all players would be able to complete it.[5] Exclusive to Perfect Cherry Blossom, there is a Phantasm Stage after the Extra Stage, which is more difficult than the Extra Stage, and contains the conclusion to the game's story.

In the spring of the 119th season of Gensokyo, the Spring Snow Incident (春雪異変) occurs. Gensokyo is stuck in an eternal winter, with snowstorms happening in May. The three heroines, each for their own reasons, set out to do something about the winter, and return Gensokyo's spring. As the Hakurei Shrine is old, the winter caused Reimu to be perpetually stuck in the cold, which motivates Reimu to resolve the incident. Upon finding a cherry blossom petal in her home in the Forest of Magic, Marisa is intrigued as to whether the eternal winter is affecting places outside of Gensokyo, and like Reimu, Sakuya has to end the winter, as otherwise she would run out of supplies to keep the Scarlet Devil Mansion warm.[6] Canonically, Reimu is the one that resolves this incident.

After passing a barrier located above the clouds, the heroine enters the gate of the Netherworld (冥界). There she is confronted by half-ghost gardener Youmu Konpaku. Youmu explains that she had been stealing the essence of spring throughout Gensokyo in order to make the Saigyō Ayakashi (西行妖), a youkai cherry blossom tree, bloom perfectly under orders from her mistress, Yuyuko Saigyouji. The heroine defeats Youmu and proceeds to Hakugyokurō (白玉楼) to get Gensokyo's spring back. There the ghost princess of Hakugyokurō, Yuyuko, reveals that she had an interest in a corpse sleeping beneath the Saigyou Ayakashi from before her existence. In order to break the seal, the youkai cherry blossom tree needed to bloom fully. Yuyuko and the heroine fight to get the last "spring" contained in the heroine needed for the Perfect Cherry Blossom, and to reclaim Gensokyo's spring. After the heroine defeats Yuyuko, the Saigyou Ayakashi starts to lose its health. However, the seal has been weakened from the near-complete bloom, and the sealed soul is temporarily unleashed. The soul is revealed to be Yuyuko's, and the heroine fights her a second time, until Yuyuko's soul is finally sealed. As a result of the Spring Snow Incident, since the arrival of spring was late, the hanami season became short, and was also the trigger for the incident orchestrated by Suika Ibuki in Immaterial and Missing Power, the next Touhou game.

A few days later, Yuyuko asks the heroine for a favour. The magic boundary between Gensokyo and the Netherworld was weakened by Yukari Yakumo, one of Yuyuko's friends, to make stealing Gensokyo's spring easier, which resulted in many yuurei being seen in Gensokyo. Yuyuko asks the heroine to find her friend, who would be preparing for the flower-viewing event during this time, and remind her to repair the boundary.

In the Extra Stage, the heroine searches for Yukari. Instead, the heroine meets Chen. It is revealed that Chen was the shikigami of Ran Yakumo, and Ran comes to fight the heroine after Chen is defeated again. Ran reveals that she is also a shikigami, and that she will not does not want anyone to disturb her master. The heroine fights Ran, knowing it will get her master's attention, and is victorious in battle.

Ran's master, Yukari, does not appear, and Ran tells the heroine that she should try coming back at night, since her master sleeps less often during the night. In the Phantasm Stage, the heroine returns that night and defeats a weakened Ran again, after which Yukari emerges to greet the heroine. Yukari is quite surprised at the heroine's ability and decides to continue where Ran left off. Yukari is defeated, and uses her abilities to fulfill the heroine's request. However, as this was not resolved and continues for a time, Youmu went to Gensokyo and gathered back the yuurei with a hitodama light.

Playable characters

• Reimu Hakurei (博麗 霊夢) – The shrine maiden of the Hakurei Shrine, she is tired of the perpetual coldness and wants to find the source of the unnatural weather. She attacks with homing amulets and needles.
• Marisa Kirisame (霧雨 魔理沙) – A black-clothed magician, she sees a cherry blossom petal float down outside her house in the Forest of Magic and wonders if spring is happening somewhere else. She attacks with magic missiles and lasers.
• Sakuya Izayoi (十六夜 咲夜) – The head maid of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, she knows that their winter supplies are diminishing quickly, and wants to end the prolonged winter before they run out completely. She attacks with homing knives and misdirected knives.

Boss characters

• Cirno (チルノ, Chiruno) – Returning from stage 2 of Embodiment of Scarlet Devil, Cirno is now a mid-boss of the first stage in Perfect Cherry Blossom. She still uses icicle-based attacks, but she has no dialogue in this game.
• Letty Whiterock (レティ・ホワイトロック, Reti Howaitorokku) – Stage one boss. Letty is a type of yuki-onna who is only active during the winter. Mistaken for the person behind the unending winter, she was attacked by the heroines. She possesses an ability to manipulate chilliness—since this is equivalent to an ability that manipulates the winter within nature, she possesses tremendous power according to the environment, but she is mostly powerless outside of winter. With the onset of spring, she retreats to "unknown whereabouts."[7]
• Chen (橙) – Stage two midboss, boss, and Extra Stage mid-boss, and appears during one of the spell cards of Ran Yakumo, the Extra Stage boss. A cat keeping watch in the lost village of Mayohiga, Chen is a shikigami of Ran Yakumo, who bestowed her with the powers of sorcery. Chen, as a bakeneko, acquires powers of a wrathful god while possessed, but since Ran is also a shikigami, her ability is fairly low. This shikigami possession is removed when she is soaked in water, and since she is a cat, she is particularly affected by water.
• Alice Margatroid (アリス・マーガトロイド, Arisu Māgatoroido) – Returning from Mystic Square, the redesigned Alice is the Stage 3 midboss, the only one who the player has to fight twice, and also the stage boss. She is a magician who uses puppetry, a departure from her old magic-styled attacks. She has blond hair and pale skin, and somewhat resembles the dolls she creates. Generally indifferent to other people, she is attached to magic, and confident, but can also be timid.[8] Originally a human, she became a youkai magician upon completion of some training. It has not been long since the day she has become a magician, and because of this, she still continues human habits like eating and sleeping that have since become unnecessary. She lives in the Forest of Magic, and perhaps due to originally having been human, she gladly gives shelter to those lost in the forest. Normally aloof, she unexpectedly likes to duel others with spell cards.
• Lily White (リリーホワイト, Rirī Howaito) – The mid-boss of stage four. A fairy that is excited for the forthcoming spring. She is the first midboss to receive an official character profile.
• Prismriver Sisters (プリズムリバー三姉妹, Purizumuribā San-shimai) – Bosses of stage 4. They are poltergeists in the shape of three sisters. They were originally daughters of a human noble, but an unfortunate event caused his four daughters to separate. The fourth daughter, Layla Prismriver, was unable to leave the mansion that held so many of her memories. Using her power, she conjured poltergeists with the appearance of her older sisters, that became forgotten along with the mansion and the poltergeists. Though the humans have since died, the Sisters continue to reside in the mansion. The three Prismriver Sisters, now musical performers, were employed by Yuyuko Saigyouji to provide entertainment for the upcoming flower-viewing. The protagonists encounter them at the gate to the netherworld.
  • Lunasa Prismriver (ルナサ・プリズムリバー, Runasa Purizumuribā) – The first Sister encountered when playing as Reimu. The eldest of the Prismriver Sisters, she plays the violin and prefers solo performances.
  • Merlin Prismriver (メルラン・プリズムリバー, Meruran Purizumuribā) – The first Sister encountered when playing as Sakuya. The middle child of the Prismriver Sisters. She plays the trumpet. Her magic is the strongest of the three sisters, but her technique is not very good. Despite this, she is cheerful and tends to obsess over things.
  • Lyrica Prismriver (リリカ・プリズムリバー, Ririka Purizumuribā) – The first Sister encountered when playing as Marisa. The youngest of the poltergeist Prismriver Sisters. Although skilled with all instruments, she prefers keyboard and percussion. She is clever and manipulative, usually goading her older sisters into doing her fighting rather than engaging in battle herself.
• Youmu Konpaku (魂魄 妖夢, Konpaku Yōmu) – The stage five mid-boss and boss as well as the stage six mid-boss, Yuyuko's gardener and bodyguard. With her supreme concentration, her sword slashes can appear to slow time or blink at an instant. As she is a mixture of human and yūrei, she has a half-human half-yokai existence, and the large yūrei that always follows her is the yūrei half of her body. As she has a straightforward and diligent personality, she is often manipulated by those around her, especially Yuyuko.
• Yuyuko Saigyouji (西行寺 幽々子, Saigyōji Yuyuko) – Final boss, the ghostly princess of the netherworld pagoda, Hakugyokurō, who unwittingly lures her victims to their deaths. This ability originates from when she was still a living human, and caused her to eventually commit suicide, using her life to seal away an ancient evil residing in a youkai cherry blossom tree. Yuyuko, at first appearance, is a ditz; her mental processes seem to be dedicated mainly to teasing her gardener and servant, Youmu, and anticipating her next meal. However, her usual manner conceals a sharp mind and an almost preternatural depth of insight. Her danmaku are characterized by butterfly-shaped bullets.
• Ran Yakumo (八雲 藍, Yakumo Ran) – Extra stage boss and Phantasm stage midboss. A nine-tailed fox youkai whom Yukari Yakumo made her shikigami. She is considerably powerful even without her master's support; among other things, she uses this power to maintain her own shikigami, Chen. Since Yukari sleeps twelve hours a day, she handles her work during these times, and fights the heroine while Yukari is sleeping.
• Yukari Yakumo (八雲 紫, Yakumo Yukari) – Boss of the Phantasm Stage. An ancient youkai being who has control over the boundaries of all things, both physical and metaphorical. She is a good friend of Yuyuko and is the self-appointed stewardess of the seal between Gensokyo and the Outside World (Earth). However, she is asleep most of the time, leaving all the work to her shikigami Ran, and Ran's own shikigami, Chen. When she is not, she tends to amuse herself by pulling in unprepared humans from the outside world and stranding them in Gensokyo. Her calculation and mathematical skills far exceeds that of Ran.

The first demo of Perfect Cherry Blossom was released at the 63rd Comiket on December 30, 2002. Another demo with only the MIDI soundtrack was released freely online on January 26, 2003. The final version was released on August 17, 2003, in the 64th Comiket, while distribution in doujin shops started on September 7 of that year. ZUN, the only member of Team Shanghai Alice, made another version of the game for the first Reitaisai, held on April 18, 2004, where a score attack tournament was held. This version features changed dialogue and background music for the Phantasm stage. The new track is included in the doujin CD Cradle -tōhō gegakushi den- (Cradle -東方幻樂祀典-) by Sound Sepher.[9]

ZUN stated that Perfect Cherry Blossom is "not a very smart game", saying that since many new people are playing his games, it would be nice to have more fan service, but it is just more of the same. He says that this is on purpose, since doujin games give him the freedom to create what he likes as opposed to game companies where the main goal is to attract new customers.[10]

In a review for Sick Critic, Max Broggi-Sumner said that "Perfect Cherry Blossom is a fantastic sequel, taking everything that made EoSD great and improving on it. With more playable characters, more welcoming mechanics, a second extra stage, a debatably better soundtrack, and just as entrancing bullet patterns, PCB is fantastic for both newcomers to the series who just want to beat the game on normal, as well as veterans who’re good enough to focus on getting a high score on Lunatic difficulty."[11] On GameSpot, Perfect Cherry Blossom had an average user rating of 9.4/10.[12]

According to ZUN, Perfect Cherry Blossom was the most popular Touhou game in the series.[13]

British comedian and journalist Charlie Brooker, in his video game review show Gameswipe, presented Perfect Cherry Blossom as an example of the shoot 'em up genre that "masochistic maniacs actively enjoy dipping into". He said the game "sort of resembles a firework display being sick".[14]

• Official website (in Japanese)
• Perfect Cherry Blossom at Touhou Wiki