Reimu Hakurei

> *As an incident resolver back in Gensokyo, Reimu is quite experienced with traveling to alternate universes, especially when its against her will, which was just what happened when she became a victim of the Cross. What she wasn’t prepared for, however, was to be stranded in the middle of what appeared to be a monochromatic warzone filled with plus-face people, all against her. Luckily, her friend and loyal ally Marisa happened to be right beside her, and now they are hot on the tail of a certain gap-opening yokai, who they believe to be behind this mess. After teaming up with a hooded figure who seems familiar with the environment around them, the duo will stop at nothing to resolve the Crossed Dimensional Incident.”'*
>
> *Reimu’s description*

***Reimu*** is a playable character in *IndieVisible* , being the first representative of the Touhou Project series. In *IndieVisible,* Reimu utilizes the various projectiles and skills she utilizes not only in the mainline shoot-em-up games, but various fan made, officially endorsed fighting games as well.

## Playstyle

Reimu is a fairly interesting fighter to say the least, as despite being a zoner, she relies heavily on maneuverability than you may expect. With a fast air speed and 3 mid-air jumps, Reimu is very good when in the air, making her quite a potent threat off-stage. This doesn’t mean she is lacking on the ground, however, as she still has some great options for combos or surprisingly quick KO moves.

Notably, Reimu has a special trait that no other fighter in the roster has. Reimu has a small circle in the center of her at all times, and it is always active when doing any action. This is her hitbox (not to be confused with the hitboxes that are used for her attacks to damage opponents), and this is the only part of her body that can be damaged by projectiles. This means that if a projectile were to hit any part of her body except her hitbox, it will simply graze right past it, dealing no damage or knockback to Reimu. Normal attacks, including disjoints, can still damage Reimu on any part of her body, not just her hitbox, but projectiles must hit her hitbox in order to damage her at all. This, combined with her high mobility, especially in the air, makes her great against other zoners or characters who rely on a single projectile, such as Spamton, and her plethora of projectiles for herself means that she can easily fight back.

A good example would be Reimu’s neutral special, Hakurei Amulet. Being a multi-hit projectile, it is especially powerful on shields, quickly racking down its durability, either forcing it to break and leave the opponent vulnerable, or pressuring the opponent to unshield, possibly leaving them vulnerable to the amulet or Reimu’s other options, usually her aerial attacks. When charged up, however, 2 additional amulets are fired, one angled upwards, and one angled downwards. While both of the angled amulets are weaker than the middle one, it can still be great for edgeguarding or as a slight anti-air due to its great range and multi-hitting capabilities. The fact that it can be held after being fully charged also makes it great for mix-up or set-up options, and if it is used right next to a shielding opponent, it can almost break their shield nearly instantly, easily leaving them vulnerable to being punished.

Reimu’s side special, Youkai Buster, is far better for direct zoning than pressuring and edgeguarding when compared to Hakurei Amulet, but can still be very deadly. With high speed and a large amount of range covered, plus its nature of being quite spammable when uncharged, makes it a great zoning option and mix-up tool, as it is fairly difficult to dodge, even when considering its below average damage and knockback. When charged up, 2 additional amulets are fired between the top and bottom amulets, covering more ground and ultimately being even harder to dodge. Uniquely, when charging in the air, Reimu’s falling speed is heavily reduced, making it useful off-stage or by mixing up her landing.

Reimu’s up special, Ascension Kick, is a fairly basic recovery move, being the only one of Reimu’s specials to not be a projectile, though it does have a few notable traits. When performed in the air, Reimu simply kicks upwards to ease in recovery. Out of a short hop, this is fairly useful as an anti-air or get-off-me tool, as well as, of course, a reliable recovery option. If done on the ground, the attack becomes the Sliding Ascension Kick, trading verticality with horizontal range. This deals more damage and launching power than the air version, though its lack of vertical range makes it fairly easy to dodge. However, if this move were to be inputted again while Reimu is sliding, she will perform the mid-air version of the move while on the ground. This makes it a great out-of-shield and mix-up option, as well as a KO move. The normal version can also make for some great mobility to avoid disadvantageous situations.

Reimu’s down special, Spread Amulet, is another projectile, though it works differently from the other two. On contact with an opponent, it will explode into 6 small amulets that fire out in different directions, possibly damaging the opponent further, which can lead into combos. When charged up, up to 2 additional large amulets are fired out, which also explode on contact into 6 small amulets. This can make up for its lackluster speed, and make it harder to dodge for an opponent and easier for Reimu to combo into it.

Despite all of Reimu’s powerful moves, however, she has her fair share of weaknesses. Reimu is one of the most maneuverable and speediest characters in the game, but there is a reason for this, as she is one of the frailest characters in the game, meaning that she is one of the easiest fighters to KO. Though she has fast air speed and zoning options to prevent this, if an opponent manages to close the gap between each other, then more often than not, Reimu will struggle up close against them.

Reimu’s specials aren’t perfect, either. Hakurei Amulet is fairly slow and easy to dodge and punish, and while it has decent range, it can’t exactly reach from one end of a stage to another. Youkai Buster, while fast, is quite weak, and is easy to avoid via shielding or dodging. Ascension Kick has quite a bit of end lag and is fairly easy to punish off-stage. Spread Amulet is also slow and easy to avoid and punish, and it has by far the worst range out of any of her special projectiles, making it even easier to avoid.

Despite her flaws, however, Reimu is still an interesting zoner character, with a wide variety of projectiles and maneuverability options, she is one of the most dangerous zoners in the cast as well. Even when considering her frail nature, her air speed, projectiles, and specials can make her a large threat if not handled accordingly.

## Moveset

### On-screen Appearance

* Reimu lands on-stage from the sky as a sigil appears below her.

### Taunts

* **Up Taunt** - Reimu places her gohei on her shoulder as she shrugs to the camera.
* **Side Taunt** - Reimu raises one of her amulets in the air.
* **Down Taunt** - Reimu spins around as some yin-yang orbs spin around her.

### Block Animation

* Reimu creates a barrier in front of her.

### Idle Poses

* Reimu analyzes one of her amulets
* Reimu waves her gohei while looking at it.

### Victory Pose

* Reimu spins around in the air before striking a pose.

## Arcade Mode Route

Reimu's Arcade Mode route is titled ***RESOLVING THE CROSSED DIMENSIONAL INCIDENT***..

Like all other Arcade Mode routes for other characters, there is unique pre-fight banter before each fight.

## Trivia

* Reimu's codename is **Tape**, referring to how tape is commonly used to seal things shut, and Reimu's affiliation with sealing evil away.
* As her debut game, *Highly Responsive to Prayers*, released on August 15th, 1997, Reimu Hakurei is chronologically the oldest character on the roster, beating out Postal Dude by 2 months.