Reimu Hakurei is one of the main characters of the Touhou series, having appeared in almost every game in Touhou Project. As the sole maiden of the Hakurei Shrine, she is commonly called upon (or calls it upon herself) to investigate strange occurrences throughout the world.
Reimu Hakurei (博麗 霊夢 Hakurei Reimu)
Character Backstory
One of the main characters of Touhou Project. Followed by Marisa Kirisame, and Kochiya Sanae.
In earlier games, Reimu's limited spiritual abilities makes her weak, to the point where she was unable to harm enemies directly at all. But as time went by, she developed her abilities, becoming able to use the Yin-Yang Orb, special amulets, and her own limited spiritual power in order to fight enemies effectively. Eventually she also developed the ability to fly, which she previously relied on her turtle familiar to do so.
As her abilities have changed, so has Reimu's personality. She is commonly described as easygoing, curious, decently dutiful and optimistic—sometimes overly so. Her personality seems sympathetic toward many individuals; there are few people indeed who remain her rivals past the first game in which they appear, although depending on situation, they might end up fighting, or not; And the shrine has become a moderately popular hangout for some of Gensokyo's more interesting female individuals.
She is also often depicted by many fans as poor, as her shrine aren't visited by many humans. She is often been seen checking to see if there are any monetary offerings, which she often ended up disappointed.
Trivia
- The characters for Reimu's last name "博麗" (Romanized: Hakurei) literally mean something like "esteemed companion", the first word "博" (Haku) means "wide" or "exposition" while "麗" (Rei) means "lovely", "graceful", and "beautiful". Her first name "霊夢" (Romanized: Reimu) means "revelatory dream" or "a vision", the first word "霊" read as "Rei" means "spirit" or "soul" while "夢" (Romanized: Yume) is read "Mu" and means "dream".
- The surname Hakurei is also another name for sake, as the maker of the Touhou series, ZUN, is quite the connoisseur of "spirits", so much so that fans often speculate over whether ZUN might be or have been an alcoholic.
- Reimu has appeared as a playable character in every integer-numbered game in the Touhou series.
- She was the second extra boss in the Seihou game Shuusou Gyoku.
- She makes an official appearance as "Flying Maiden" in Graffiti Kingdom, as ZUN was involved in the production of it.
- She appeared on the cover of all the PC-98 Touhou games, from the first game in the series to the fifth.
- She was never seen flying with her own power until Embodiment of Scarlet Devil. In the previous games, if Reimu needed to go somewhere far, she would ride on her turtle familiar, Genjii.
- Although her many profiles suggest that the "Hakurei Clan" and the shrine Reimu lives at have been in Gensokyo for long enough to be considered ancient, there has never been any mention of Reimu's family members, ancestors, etc. It is originally stated that she lives alone at the shrine, but other rarely seen characters (Mima and Shingyoku) are known to stay there or near there as well.
- Reimu's Yin-Yang Orb exhibits some strange powers, aside from helping her attack her enemies. The greatest powers of the Hakurei Yin-Yang Orb are: 1) Even if you eat sweets, you won't get fat, 2) One of your favorite aromas can be given off, and 3) The yin-yang orb can be disguised as a cat.
- In Imperishable Night Reimu is the only one whose partner doesn't mention the danger of the full moon.
- Reimu's Last Word 「夢想天生」 "Fantasy Heaven" (Pronounced: Musou Tensei) is a homonym of 「無想転生」 "Unconscious Transmigration of Souls" (Also pronounced: Musou Tensei), Kenshiro's ultimate technique in Hokuto no Ken. In 12.3, if you activate Fantasy Heaven successfully in a 3rd round, a remix of Mystical Oriental Love Consultation will play with the sounds of the Fatal KO theme from the Hokuto no Ken fighting game, which is fitting because activation of the said Spell Card will result on the opponent instant death, or almost. Because of this it is now known as the Hakurei Hyakuretsu Ken to some fans.
- In Touhou Hisoutensoku, Depending on which color scheme you chose, one of her alternative palettes looks similar to VIVIT, the heroine of Seihou. Also, one of her palettes seems to be another maid homage, Ruukoto, or possibly Sanae's colors. The palette also seems to resemble Mima from Highly Responsive to Prayers. Her white/light gray palette seems to resemble Toki from Hokuto no Ken. And finally, her white/light blue palette looks like a tribute to Nanoha, as they both tend to "befriend" their opponents with superior firepower.
- In Lotus Land Story, when you clear Easy Mode with Reimu and just before the Name Registry screen shows up, you get a Congratulation screen with a drawing of her wearing an outfit that very closely resembles her outfit from Embodiment of Scarlet Devil (save for non-detached sleeves).
- Most of her theme from Lotus Land Story sounds similar to Elis and Kikuri's theme from Highly Responsive to Prayers, Magic Mirror.
- Because of how she dresses in the Windows Touhou Games, her exposed armpits are sometimes the target of jokes and memes, with "Waki Miko Reimu" or 「腋巫女霊夢」 being a popular phrase
- There is also a recurring joke that nobody ever donates to her for the shrine, leading many to think that she is destitute. This, "Binbou Miko" or 「貧乏巫女」 (meaning "destitute miko") is also a popular phrase.
- It's speculated that two or more Reimu(s) may exist. The circumstantial evidence suggests 靈夢 (from the PC-98 games) and 霊夢 (from the Windows games) may be different people. However, this is extraordinarily unlikely, as both Alice and Yuuka recall Reimu, and ZUN uses the new kanji to refer to the old Reimu now. Also, her bio in Embodiment of Scarlet Devil's "おまけ.txt" file says, "Chronologically this title is not too far from the previous title, thus her age stays the same as before". Since the previous title in question would be Mystic Square, the last game in which PC-98 Reimu appeared in, and Embodiment of Scarlet Devil is the first game in which Windows Reimu appears, the bio appears to further debunk this theory.
- The drastic change in the color of Reimu's skin tone over the course of the Windows games (most noticeable in Mountain of Faith, in which her skin appears yellowish and almost jaundiced) raised eyebrows and led to a number of jokes and dubious theories, the most common of which is that she is actually an undead zombie.
Appeared Works
Official Games
Highly Responsive to Prayers (Cover, Playable Character)
Story of Eastern Wonderland (Cover, Playable Character)
Phantasmagoria of Dim.Dream (Cover, Playable Character, Possible Opponent)
Lotus Land Story (Cover, Playable Character, Stage 4 Boss)
Mystic Square (Cover, Playable Character)
Embodiment of Scarlet Devil (Playable Character)
Perfect Cherry Blossom (Playable Character)
Immaterial and Missing Power (Playable Character, Possible Opponent)
Imperishable Night (Playable Character, Stage 4A Midboss, Stage 4A Boss)
Phantasmagoria of Flower View (Playable Character, Possible Opponent)
Mountain of Faith (Playable Character)
Scarlet Weather Rhapsody (Playable Character, Possible Opponent)
Subterranean Animism (Playable Character)
Undefined Fantastic Object (Playable Character)
Touhou Hisoutensoku (Playable Character)
Double Spoiler (Scene EX-1, EX-4, EX-7 Boss)
Fairy Wars (Cameo)
Ten Desires (Playable Character)
Print Works
Eastern and Little Nature Deity
Bohemian Archive in Japanese Red
Strange and Bright Nature Deity
Inaba of the Moon and Inaba of the Earth
Music CDs
Related Games
Others
Other information
Character voice
Mai Nakahara (Only from MAIKAZE's "東方二次創作同人アニメ 夢想夏郷 A Summer Day's Dream" (Touhou Niji Sousaku Doujin Anime: Musou Kakyou / Touhou Secondary Creation Doujin Anime: Fantasy Summer Village))
Species
Human
Abilities
Sealing/purification powers, high intuition, ability to call on the power of Gods, flight
Age
Unknown; Mid-teens
Occupation
Shrine Maiden
Location
Hakurei Shrine
Relationships
Marisa Kirisame (Friend)
Rinnosuke Morichika (Friend)
Yukari Yakumo (Friend)
Suika Ibuki (Houseguest/Moocher)
Genjii (Turtle)
Ruukoto (Robotic Maid)
Mima (Taunter)
As well as most of the characters in the series that visits her shrine.
Theme Song
PC-98
*****東方妖恋談 (Touhou Yourendan, lit. "Mystic Oriental Love Consultation")*****
From : 東方夢時空 ～ Phantasmagoria of Dim.Dream (romanized: Touhou Yumejikuu, lit. Oriental Dream Dimensions)
*****Witching Dream*****
From : Touhou Gensokyo ～ Lotus Land Story, 東方幻想郷 ～ Lotus Land Story lit. Fantastic Home Village of the East)
*****少女綺想曲 ～ Capriccio (Maiden's Capriccio)*****
From :（Touhou Gensokyo ～ Lotus Land Story, 東方幻想郷 ～ Lotus Land Story lit. Fantastic Home Village of the East)
Windows
*****少女綺想曲 ～ Dream Battle (Maiden's Capriccio ~ Dream Battle)*****
From : 東方永夜抄 ～ Imperishable Night (romanized: Touhou Eiyashou, lit. Eternal Night Vignette from the East)
*****春色小径 ～ Colorful Path （Spring Lane ~ Colorful Path）*****
From : 東方花映塚 ～ Phantasmagoria of Flower View (romanized: Touhou Kaeizuka, lit. Oriental Flower Viewing Mound)
*****少女綺想曲 ～ Capriccio （Maiden's Capriccio）*****＊
From : 東方萃夢想 ～ Immaterial and Missing Power (romanized: Touhou Suimusou, lit. Gathering Dreams in the East)
*****東方妖恋談 （Mystic Oriental Love Consultation）*****＊
From : 東方萃夢想 ～ Immaterial and Missing Power (romanized: Touhou Suimusou, lit. Gathering Dreams in the East)
*****二色蓮花蝶 ～ Red and White （Dichromatic Lotus Butterfly ~ Ancients）***** ＊
From : 東方非想天則 ～ 超弩級ギニョルの謎を追え (romanized: Touhou Hisoutensoku ~ Choudokyuu Ginyoru no Nazo wo Oe, lit. Lacking Perception of the Natural Laws of the East or Lacking Perception of the Rule of Heaven in the East ~ Chase the Enigma of the Superdreadnought Guignol)
The * denotes song is originally composed by ZUN, but rearranged by Akiyamauni from U2 (Tasogare Frontier)
Seihou Project
*****二色蓮花蝶 ～ Ancients （Dichromatic Lotus Butterfly ~ Ancients）*****
From : Shuusou Gyoku (秋霜玉)
Related illustrations
