#tohosort

After 13 hours and 23 minutes of on and off going through the 700 choices you have to go through to fill the whole list, it's finally done!

Some pretty surprising results! At the same time though, I can see how it happened. Top 3 was always going to be Youmu, Sanae, and Reimu, only question was the order. In the end, Youmu is still my number one, even if I think Sanae is a more interesting character.

I was kind of shocked to see Nazrin at number 4. I've always liked her (UFO bias), but I was never a huge fan of her or anything. I think what happened is that there was a while where I was using Nazrin for a bunch of placeholder textures, plus just seeing a lot of Nazrin art randomly get posted. I guess it comes down to exposure. Plus like, "A Tiny, Tiny, Clever Commander" is just such an adorable name. I also have a headcanon(?) where Nazrin is the one that actually does the work while her boss Shou takes all the credit and I love stuff like that.

Shion is a newcomer. I really love her simple design and how she's just always kind of miserable. Also her super toxic relationship with Tenshi is hilarious.

Redoing the Tohosort for the first time since 2018, and this was the big battle I was afraid of. This is the fight for number 1.

Youmu has been my favorite since almost the beginning, but my appreciation for Sanae has only grown ever since and now it's REALLY CLOSE between the two.

I've always liked Youmu because she's so straightforward and simple and I love the half-ghost thing. It's such a weird aspect of her that to this day is just so fun to think about. Sanae meanwhile I've always loved as the "outsider" to Gensokyo and also just being kind of a dork. I also really, really love the Moriya family, while I'm not as keen on the Yakumo (extended) family.

Since UFO was my first game, Sanae was the first character I got attached to. She's really funny in UFO, and easy to play as. What really drew me though was that I felt like such a "latecomer" (which is funny to say now) to series, but so was she! Gensokyo was still very new to her and so the fish out of water element made her super relatable.

About a month ago I decided to revisit Touhou Sort and see how my taste in 2hus has changed over the last two years.

Many of the changes in the list are a result of when I binge read through many of the canon Touhou comics some time ago. While most of the list isn’t a surprise, there are some results that I think are worth pointing out. 

I really like Sanae. I always liked her, as UFO was my first game, and found her very relatable because she’s also an outsider to Gensokyo. However, her supremely dorky personality in the comics added a whole other layer on top of what I already liked about her. She’s now taken the number 2 spot from Alice.

My appreciation for Reimu has grown significantly lately and I’m not really sure why. Maybe her grumpy demeanor is getting more and more relatable.

I was surprised to see Kosuzu rank so high, but I really enjoyed reading about her character in Forbidden Scrollery. She’s unusual for a Touhou in having a cheery demeanor and positive (if naive) outlook. It’s a great change of pace. She’s also a serious liability to the safety of the human village because she’s always poking her nose into things she shouldn’t be. It’s a fun dynamic.

Tewi isn’t dead last and that’s disappointing. She’s the only Touhou character I actually hate.

If you want to do the sort yourself, here’s the link. If you want to do all the characters be sure to set aside like a half hour because there’s so many to go through.

Another year, another Touhou Sort update. From last year, Reimu has taken third. The decision between Sanae and Reimu for second was really tough, as Reimu has only continued to grow on me as time has gone on, but Sanae’s dorkfactor was the deciding factor keeping her in second place.

Kosuzu made it to top 5 this time. There’s something about a genuinely nice, if naive, character existing in Touhou that’s a fun change of pace. Even more than Akyu, she’s the most grounded of the entire cast by offering a picture of what it’s like to be a regular human in Gensokyo.

Aunn is a newcomer that placed in top 10. She’s my favorite of the TH16 cast because she’s so honest and is just doing her best. Her exchange with Reimu is a hilarious example of being the wrong place at the wrong time when she’s out taking care of an incident.

Kanako placed unusually high this year. The Moriya family is already my favorite of the Gensokyo families and the badass, sort of motherly role that Kanako tends to play in it, and the Moriya shrine’s affairs, is something that I really enjoy.

Hatate was absent in the last list, and this year she shows up in the top 10. I’m not really sure what it is about her. I just like her design and somewhat one-sided rivalry with Aya.