Touhou Chireikiden: Hansoku Tantei Satori

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In the first five minutes of the first chapter of 'Foul Detective Satori', I was thinking to myself, "Eh, the art style's kinda weird and I'm not so into it...story seems a little off-kilter...maybe I'll give it a 7." After the tenth minute, and extending to the 19th chapter (which is the most recent chapter at the time of this review), I was thinking to myself, "this is one of the greatest Touhou manga I've read. Hands down."

And really, at least so far, it is. The 'strange' art style thrown at readers becomes a thing of beauty, and frankly, I could not wait to see ... how each of Gensokyo's denizens would be drawn. If you're a reader of Touhou manga simply because of the slice-of-life fun that the supernatural girls have every day, then fret not, Chireikiden loses none of that in return for a detective-mystery theme. If you love certain specific characters of Gensokyo, then chances are, this manga has a 'devilish' encounter with them at some point. It (will) encompass ALL of the characters Reimu encounters in Touhou's windows era (TH6-) upon completion, as the plot progresses in order of the games and Reimu's interactions (and fights!) with each of Touhou's characters.

I don't believe there's anything else I have to address here, and I hope I've convinced you to give this manga a try. It's one of those manga that leaves you begging for the release of newer chapters, and yet, never gets old, thus leaving huge rereading potential behind to us, the readers.

So please, don't be thrown off by the different art style, you'll get so used to it within minutes and learn to love every appearance of all of your favourite characters. Don't be thrown off by the strange titles given to characters...why is Reimu the "Shrine Maiden Detective of Paradise" indeed? Touhou Chireikiden will be one of the greatest Touhou manga you will read, and whilst short (at least not), those few hours will never fail to amuse you, or have you at the edge of your seat.

Enjoy! I hope you love it as much as I did.

I gotta be honest here, at first I really wasn't into the new artstyle, and the concept of Satori and Rin going around solving simple mysteries doesn't appeal to me, so after reading the first few chapters I stopped paying attention to this series, thinking that it'd end up as yet another Monster of The Week series but with worse art than usual.

And then the culprit got away.

Oh how wrong of me to judge it on first impressions alone.

Picking the manga back up in time after it resumed a several month long hiatus, I can honestly say this has got to be one of ... the most engrossing series I have read, easily beating out Miyoi's bartending adventures.

Unlike other Touhou manga, Detective Satori does not feature a newly made character, nor does it feature the same old cast manipulating events behind the scenes (no Mamizou...yet at least). Instead, the focus goes back to pre-established characters, even those who hardly reappeared after their initial debut almost 2 decades ago. Maybe it's the nostalgia bias speaking, but it really is pleasant to see Yukari back at it again instead of Okina or Mamizou, and my goodness the new redesign to Chen and her new importance to the series as well as all the cutesy interactions between her and Rin (I still can't believe ChenxRin ,one of the most improbable ships, is now canon) just made me so satisfied as a longtime fan of the series. Seriously, if you've been following this franchise for as long as I have, the surprises, the fanservice, the callbacks and the glorious returns of the early Windows cast is just so gratifying to behold.

The plot that now runs throughout the entire series as opposed to being an episodic affair is truly refreshing for the series. Not since SSiB I was this engrossed in an ongoing Touhou narrative. Detective Satori isn't afraid to break commonly established rules, and the characters do feel more vulnerable than ever as they futilely chase after this new unseen unknowable threat. It's gripping stuff.

The art style started off pretty poor, I can't mince my words around it, but it ended up having its own charm to it in the end. I grew to really like the new Shoujo-like designs for the cast, and once Chen appeared, I was totally won over. I'll definitely miss the old artist, the new artist does a good enough job even if it doesn't stand out from the other Touhou manga, but it really can't be helped if health issues are a concern.

I may look like I'm gushing throughout, and that's because I am. This manga is squarely aimed at long time fans of the series, and there is definitely something in here for you if you've stuck with Touhou for over a decade now. New readers may want to pick up something like the games or FS instead, but if you still haven't picked this up because of the art or the hiatus, you will have an absolute blast following up.

10/10

(also currently MAL lists this as being completed at 12 chapters, but it's gonna go on longer than that.)