The plot revolves around Lunarians trying to invade and purify Gensokyo due to someone causing havoc in the Lunar Capital. The heroines set out to stop this invasion and find the one behind this incident.
The game is known to be one of the hardest games in the series and it features the Pointdevice Mode, a mode where you get no lives, but have checkpoints throughout the game through the Chapter-system. There is also a Legacy Mode, which plays like a regular Touhou-game.
Shrine Maiden of ParadiseReimu Hakurei
The all-too-familiar shrine maiden of the Hakurei Shrine.
The lunar emissaries have at last arrived for real.
Their goals are unknown, but as she's fighting entirely away from home,
it's obvious that this will be the first truly difficult battle for her in a long while.
This time, she's forced to fight a battle with no room for error.
Ordinary MagicianMarisa Kirisame
An ordinary magician living in Gensokyo. She also has a mania for collecting things.
In a rather odd turn of events, she obtained a power stone from the Lunar Capital.
Just as she started to realize that somehow, this power stone had been
manifesting the urban legends, the lunar emissaries finally appeared.
Mountain-Dwelling Living God of MiraclesSanae Kochiya
The Shrine Maiden living in the shrine on the mountain.
She realized that there was some kind of incident occurring on the Youkai Mountain.
However, perhaps because the youkai hadn't noticed anything yet, nobody reacted to what was going on.
Feeling a sense of unease, she went to consult with Reimu.
Moon Rabbit on EarthReisen Udongein Inaba
A moon rabbit living in Eientei.
She felt some disquiet in regards to her orders this time.
Why would Eirin request help from humans, in addition to just her?
Perhaps there was something going on that only humans could see.
The Ultramarine Orb Medicine held the power to experience the future.
This medicine was a secret elixir known to everyone living in the Lunar Capital.
The Pale Blue Eagle RaviSeiran
Stage 1 Boss
An underling treated with about as much respect as a cannonball.
Amongst the members of the "Eagle Ravi" Earth Recon Unit,
she has the most dangerous job: infiltration operations.
She isn't paid much relative to the danger.
All the moon rabbits have to ability to communicate via telepathy,
but she never holds a decent conversation.
It seems she was attacked as she was making mochi for her comrades while on break.
The Orange Eagle RaviRingo
Stage 2 Boss
Amongst the members of the "Eagle Ravi" Earth Recon Unit,
she bears the most leisurely job: information management.
She has a high-ranking post relative to the leisure.
Perhaps because she's been gathering information, she's taken an interest in moving to the Earth.
Her duty is only to investigate.
She's permitted to fight, but it's said there's no need for her to actually win.
Ruler of DreamsDoremy Sweet
Stage 3 Boss
A youkai who's often dreaming. She lives in the world of dreams.
The dreams of all living creatures are, in fact, connected at the deepest levels.
This is why in dreams, you can visit places you've never seen, meet people you've never seen,
and find glitches you've never seen either.
She can erase, create and switch out those very dreams.
If one uses the dream world skillfully, they can go anywhere and become anything at all.
She watches over the place to ensure that those who realize this don't disturb the order of things.
Goddess who Invites Unfortunate Slips of the TongueSagume Kishin
Stage 4 Boss
A resident of the Moon.
She normally occupies a very important post amongst the Moon's people, and doesn't often show herself publicly.
She can tentatively be classified as a divine spirit, but her nature is neither that of a god, nor oni, nor departed soul.
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She doesn't usually talk much, but this is a result of her ability.
When she speaks about any particular situation, (particularly to those who are thought to be involved,)
that situation will begin to proceed in its opposite way.
This power is similar to that of amanojaku, but she is a divine spirit ranked far above amanojaku.
Amanojaku only speak contrarily, but in her case, with her words the world acts contrarily.
Should she try to accomplish something, it will end in failure,
and if something bad is occurring, she has the ability to find a solution.
It's not as if the situation will always improve for her personally.
She's truly a divine spirit whose 'words can lead to disaster', as the saying goes.
To avoid the encroachment of impurity from Junko's attack, the sages of the Moon froze the Lunar Capital.
At the same time, they evacuated the People of the Moon into the Dream World.
The Capital within the Dream World was just like the ordinary Lunar Capital that its residents imagined.
The People of the Moon residing there never doubted that it was the real thing.
However, they certainly couldn't stay cooped up in the Dream World forever.
The longer a dream becomes, the more it can erode one's mind.
Thus, the sages proposed the "Lunar Capital Transfer Plan" as insurance.
The "Lunar Capital Transfer Plan" was to purify Gensokyo and build a new capital there.
To 'purify' is to eliminate life and death.
That is to say, they were going to annihilate all the living things on its surface.
However, it wouldn't be easy. Their opponents were the youkai living in Gensokyo.
She thought that the spread of a particular urban legend in Gensokyo would make a good shortcut.
Using her power, she created a secret Power Stone.
That Power Stone had the power to change the world with people's words.
Just by being near it, rumors (ie. urban legends) that shouldn't exist would materialize.
A terrifying curio indeed.
When the urban legends began to materialize, she simply had to wait
for someone to spread one particularly famous urban legend. That was the plan.
That famous urban legend was the "Apollo Project Coverup Theory."
An unfounded rumor that "NASA is hiding the truth of what they saw on the Moon."
That is to say: if a rumor spread that NASA was hiding information about the lunar civilization they saw,
that very civilization, the Lunar Capital, would materialize in Gensokyo.
...however, this plan was no more than insurance.
She wasn't totally serious about it, and none of the Moon's people wanted
to move the capital to begin with. Returning to the Moon would be ideal.
All the same, though, as much as they needed to fight back against Junko,
they had no way of resisting her attack.
It was then that one of Gensokyo's humans arrived.
She never imagined that Doremy would send a human to the Lunar Capital,
but decided to test the human's power anyway. She found that they were strong indeed.
"I'll place my bet on this human", she thought.
"If I speak the truth to them, the situation will reverse itself with them at the center.
My Capital Migration Strategy will fail, but since Junko's attack will also fail, we'll break even.
It doesn't matter what this human will do afterward, as long as the Lunar Capital is saved..."
Fairy of HellClownpiece
Stage 5 Boss
A fairy from Hell.
One of Hecatia's subordinates.
Fairies can be found just about anywhere; Hell is no different.
However, the Lunarians eliminate fairies, as they reject life and death.
There are almost no fairies around the Lunar Capital.
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Under Hecatia's orders, she filled the Sea of Tranquility with fairies she brought with her from Hell.
Thanks to her and her friends, the Sea of Tranquility was transformed into a fairy playland.
Then, thanks to Junko's ability, they were awakened.
They can be said to be a mass of totally pristine life energy.
"If you play around here, the Lunarians will be unable to act.
As long as nobody goes and sullies themselves with impurity, they'll be completely trapped."
...that's what she was told. So, she played to her heart's content.
The lunar surface was a desolate world, but compared to Hell, it was still beautiful and fun.
The fairies played and frolicked.
Just by doing that, the Lunarians were bound in place.
Though the Lunar Capital showed no signs of action for a long time,
a human flew over from there at last.
"If anyone comes from the Lunar Capital, go wild. Do anything you like."
As she remembered being told that, she was as ecstatic as could be.
Junko
Stage 6 Boss
A being who holds a deep resentment for the Lunarians.
She herself is a spirit who has been purified by that resentment.
By now, she has no need even for information on what exactly she is.
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She had a deep grudge against Chang'e, one of the Lunarians.
Details are included in one of the game's endings, so things will be kept brief here,
but it seems that she calmed her rage against the sages by repeatedly attacking the Lunar Capital.
Her first grudge came about when her husband killed her child, but said grudge has already been purified
to the point where her anger stands on its own.
Her existence is unknown to all but a select few of the Lunarians.
It was hardly necessary for them to live in fear of her, after all.
It's unknown if Chang'e has full knowledge of who she is, but she's likely aware of her to some extent.
Chang'e doesn't appear in the game itself, but she's a goddess of the Moon imprisoned in the Lunar Capital.
She rules over the moon rabbits and is extremely powerful, but she doesn't show herself publicly.
She is also a criminal who drank the Hourai Elixir.
Junko's plan to attack the Lunar Capital was as follows.
"I'll fill the Near Side of the Moon with fairies whose life force I purified,
turning the Moon itself into a planet with life on it.
Thus, the Lunar Capital's residents will have no choice but to flee.
Then I'll seize that opportunity, and shoot Chang'e down as she's escaping."
The Lunar Capital was first founded by people who migrated to the Moon to escape the Earth's impurity (life force).
Junko was going to cause the same thing to happen on the Moon.
The plan went well.
The Sea of Tranquility began to fill with life.
It seemed that the fairies from Hell thought the Moon to be a paradise.
That's how awful the environment in Hell must've been.
The Lunarians couldn't raise a finger against her 'Planet with Life' plan.
However, Junko knew.
The Lunarians would hardly wait around near all that impurity, and would flee into the Dream World.
Anticipating this, she sent one of her friends over there as well.
Just as she planned, but perhaps not quite as she expected, the Lunarians showed no sign of action for over half a year.
Junko was again at a loss as to how to attack the Lunar Capital. Both sides were locked in a stalemate.
As her anger gradually began to settle, she thought she might have to reconsider her course of action.
It was then that a human, of all things, appeared before her.
Not just any human, but one whose impurity had been wiped clean away. Likely due to the effects of some drug.
They did not abhor life, but no life could be felt from them.
She never imagined that they'd come up with such a plan to send such a human in, but she felt at ease.
The lunar sages had done something she never expected.
She could at least enjoy that fact.
And thus, her current revenge drama came to a close.
Goddess of HellHecatia Lapislazuli
Extra Boss
A mysterious god who governs the Hells of the moon, the Earth, and Otherworlds.
She has a separate body in each of the three worlds, and can act independently with each of them.
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Also, since the Moon, Earth, and Otherworlds each have their own Hell, and her core soul resides in Hell,
she's a rather troublesome god who can't easily be retaliated against if viewed as an enemy.
The Dream World falls under 'Otherworlds', by the way.
She too is a god who hates Chang'e.
Because, you see, Chang'e's husband was the person who shot down the suns (ie. Apollo).
In the first place, Hell would be unable to exist without the sun.
Without strong light, the darkness of Hell would weaken too.
...that said, though, her hatred of Chang'e is mostly due to Junko's influence anyway.
Junko's current plan required someone who could freely control fairies, as well as someone
who could freely move to and from the Dream World.
Those conditions fit her perfectly.
She and Junko hit it off immediately.
It was to her merit that she greatly enjoyed fighting to begin with.
She also allowed Junko to freely use her subordinate, Clownpiece.
And so, the moon's people escaped into the Dream World.
She filled the surroundings of the Dream World's fake Lunar Capital with life.
Thus, the People of the Moon were completely suppressed.
All that was left was to shoot down Chang'e...
but, all of a sudden she received a notice of defeat from Junko.
It seemed that the People of the Moon came up with a strategy that ran circles around hers.
Namely: a purified human who had become free from death.
The strategy to send a "Human of the Ultramarine Orb" to the moon.
