Ankake Spa dropped an announcement trailer on December 5, 2025, for Touhou: Blossom Blade, a remastered version of their December 2011 doujin game Youyou Kengeki Musou. The 3D bullet hell action game stars Konpaku Youmu in a stage-based adventure through Gensokyo, the fantastical setting of the Touhou Project universe. The Steam release brings significant control improvements, balance changes, and modern graphics optimization to a game that kicked off Ankake Spa’s journey before they made Touhou: Scarlet Curiosity and Touhou: New World.
What Is Touhou Blossom Blade
Touhou: Blossom Blade is a 3D action game that mixes traditional bullet hell mechanics with hack-and-slash combat. You control Konpaku Youmu, a half-human half-phantom who works as the gardener, security guard, and swordsmanship instructor for Saigyouji Yuyuko, the ghost princess of Hakugyokurou in the Netherworld. The story kicks off when Youmu scolds Yuyuko for slacking off during training, only for Yuyuko to fire back that Youmu lacks the skill to be teaching anyone.
Yuyuko then issues a challenge: defeat Hakurei Reimu, the shrine maiden who’s resolved every major incident in Gensokyo, and prove your abilities are legitimate. Youmu, recognizing her inexperience but determined to prove herself, accepts and sets off on a journey through Gensokyo to fight Reimu. The game features stage-based progression where you navigate 3D environments filled with enemies and bullet patterns, culminating in boss fights against iconic Touhou characters.
How It Actually Plays
Youmu has three distinct skills that define the combat system. The first is a dash ability that serves double duty as both a movement tool and damage dealer, letting you extend your jump range to reach distant platforms while damaging enemies you pass through. The second is an area-of-effect attack designed for crowd control, perfect for clearing groups of weaker enemies swarming you. The third is a ranged skill that hits enemies from a distance, useful for taking out foes positioned across gaps or behind hazards.
On top of these three skills, Youmu has access to a powerful Spell Card attack that deals massive damage but presumably has limited uses or a long cooldown. The combo system ties everything together by rewarding continuous attacks with score bonuses and faster skill recharge rates. Maintaining your combo counter makes skills available more frequently, which in turn makes battles significantly easier since you can spam your abilities rather than waiting for cooldowns.
| Feature | Original (2011) | Blossom Blade (2025) |
|---|---|---|
| Skill Controls | Toggle between skills | Dedicated button for each skill |
| Graphics | 2011 hardware standards | Optimized for modern hardware |
| Fall Penalty | Penalty for falling | Removed entirely |
| HUD | Basic interface | Updated with additions |
| Achievements | None | Steam Achievements added |
| Balance | Original tuning | Adjusted for better flow |
What Changed in the Remaster
The biggest change is the control scheme overhaul. In the original 2011 release, players toggled between Youmu’s three skills during combat, which meant constantly cycling through abilities to find the right one for each situation. The remaster gives each skill its own dedicated button, making the combat feel more intuitive and responsive. This might seem like a small change, but it fundamentally improves how the game feels to play.
Other improvements include Steam Achievements for progression tracking, balance changes to smooth out difficulty spikes, more breakable environmental objects for satisfying destruction, HUD additions to display information more clearly, removal of fall penalties so you’re not punished for exploration mistakes, and graphics optimization for modern hardware. The game also features Touhou music arrangements by Shoichiro Sakamoto (Sound Sepher), which should sound better on modern audio setups.
The Touhou Context
For those unfamiliar, Touhou Project is a legendary bullet hell shoot ’em up series created entirely by one person, Jun’ya Ota, who goes by the name ZUN. He handles programming, graphics, writing, and music for the mainline games through his one-man doujin circle Team Shanghai Alice. The first game launched in 1997, and ZUN has released 20 mainline entries plus numerous spinoffs over nearly three decades.
What makes Touhou unique is ZUN’s extremely permissive approach to derivative works. He actively encourages fans to create their own games, music arrangements, manga, anime, and other content using his characters and world. This has spawned a massive doujin culture where hundreds of fan circles produce Touhou-related works. Ankake Spa is one such circle, creating action RPG interpretations of Touhou rather than traditional bullet hell shooters.
Ankake Spa’s Touhou Games
Youyou Kengeki Musou (now remastered as Blossom Blade) was Ankake Spa’s origin point back in December 2011. The game established their approach of taking Touhou’s bullet hell DNA and transplanting it into 3D action gameplay. This formula proved successful enough that they followed up with Touhou: Scarlet Curiosity in 2014, which featured vampire Remilia Scarlet and her maid Sakuya Izayoi as playable characters in an action RPG with more robust progression systems.
Scarlet Curiosity eventually came to Steam in 2018 via publisher XSEED Games, introducing Ankake Spa’s work to a much wider Western audience. The game sits at 92% positive reviews on Steam with a Metacritic score of 65, indicating it found its niche despite not being a mainstream hit. Ankake Spa followed that with Touhou: New World, continuing their action-focused interpretation of the Touhou universe. Blossom Blade represents a return to their roots, giving modern audiences access to where their journey began.
FAQs
When does Touhou: Blossom Blade release?
Ankake Spa hasn’t announced a specific release date yet. The Steam page lists it as “Coming Soon” with no concrete launch window. Given the announcement happened in early December 2025 and the game is a remaster rather than a from-scratch project, a release sometime in Q1 or Q2 2026 seems likely.
Is this an official Touhou game?
No, Touhou: Blossom Blade is a fan game (doujin game in Japanese parlance) created with ZUN’s blessing. ZUN actively encourages fans to create derivative works using his characters and setting. Official mainline Touhou games are only those developed by ZUN himself through Team Shanghai Alice.
Do I need to know Touhou lore to enjoy this?
Not really. While familiarity with Touhou characters and Gensokyo’s setting adds context, the game tells a self-contained story about Youmu trying to prove herself. The gameplay focuses on action and bullet dodging rather than deep lore, making it accessible to newcomers curious about the Touhou universe.
What difficulty options are available?
The game offers three difficulty settings: Easy, Normal, and Hard. This lets players match the challenge to their skill level, whether you’re new to bullet hell mechanics or a veteran looking for punishment. The difficulty selection affects enemy patterns, damage values, and potentially the complexity of bullet arrangements.
Who is Konpaku Youmu?
Youmu is a half-human half-phantom character from Touhou Project who first appeared in Perfect Cherry Blossom (2003). She wields two swords, Roukanken and Hakurouken, and serves Yuyuko Saigyouji as a gardener and guard. Her half-phantom nature is represented visually by a ghost-like wisp that follows her around. She’s known for being earnest, somewhat naive, and dedicated to swordsmanship training.
Will the game have controller support?
Yes, the Steam page indicates full controller support. This makes sense given the game’s 3D action focus and the remaster’s emphasis on improved controls. The original 2011 version likely supported controllers too, but modern Steam integration should make setup seamless.
How long is a playthrough?
Ankake Spa hasn’t specified the game’s length, but based on the stage-based structure and it being a remaster of a 2011 doujin game, expect something in the 4-8 hour range for a single playthrough. Multiple difficulty levels and potential unlockables could extend playtime for completionists.
Can I play other Ankake Spa games on Steam?
Yes, Touhou: Scarlet Curiosity is available on Steam right now with 92% positive reviews. It’s a more robust action RPG compared to Blossom Blade’s stage-based structure, featuring character progression, equipment systems, and dual protagonists. Touhou: New World is also available on various platforms, though availability depends on your region.
Why This Matters
Touhou’s doujin culture represents something special in gaming. ZUN created a universe so rich and characters so beloved that an entire ecosystem of fan creators sustains itself entirely through derivative works. Conventions like Comiket feature entire sections dedicated to Touhou music albums, games, and manga created by these circles. Some doujin circles eventually go professional, using Touhou as a proving ground for their skills before launching original IPs.
Ankake Spa remastering their 2011 debut shows confidence in their origin point. Many developers would rather bury early works and focus on newer projects, but Blossom Blade clearly holds significance for the team. Bringing it to Steam with modern improvements gives both longtime fans and newcomers a chance to experience where Ankake Spa’s unique action-focused Touhou interpretation began. Whether it finds an audience beyond hardcore Touhou fans remains to be seen, but the announcement itself is a nice reminder of how vibrant Touhou’s fan creation scene remains even 28 years after the first game launched.