Touhou Suichouka: Lotus Eater-tachi no Suisei
The Lotus Eaters, Drunk and Sober

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Lotus Eaters is yet another entry into the Touhou series of canonical works, this time being an episodic romp starring the Zasshiki-Warashi, Okunoda Miyoi. While light on story, the manga provides a fun, light-hearted and alcohol tinged look at Gensokyo's denizens from a less exaggerated manner (compared to WaHH) or a less serious manner (compared to FS).

Miyoi is a fun character to follow. Bubbly and cute, Miyoi is basically a youkai Kosuzu in a less threatening setting. Despite this apparent meekness, she is shown to be smarter than she looks and has gotten the upper hand a few times against the Hakurei Shrine Maiden ... among others. More recent chapters do have her in a more backseat role however, which is a shame, but having the setting be in Geidontei does open up to different scenarios and world building situations for Gensokyo as a whole. Most of the stories involve her bar or alcohol being involved in some way, and it's fun to see how these themes are woven into the story of the week. Suika, Mamizou, and Aya are prominent secondary characters in this, and while I do tire seeing Mamizou and Aya involved in such a capacity again, it is nice to see an official work focusing more on Suika and how she relates to the world itself.

While every other Touhou manga depicts Reimu differently,( ie WaHH has her being loud and dumb, while FS has her as a serious authority figure), Lotus Eaters brings forward a part of Reimu's personality that is rarely seen. Her vulnerability. This is especially surprising since otherwise Reimu is basically ruthless and practically invincible, but here, you can really feel how powerless Reimu is against many situations. You can really see it in the incredible artwork, Reimu is drawn to be much more "soft" looking, or more "kinder", for lack of better terms. Thanks to Miyoi's power, even other powerful characters, Aya, Kanako for example, can succumb to horrific nightmares and these too, are depicted beautifully in the manga.

You won't be finding a grand narrative or an engaging storyline with this, but that's not the point of Lotus Eaters. Like Geidontei itself, it's a (relatively) laid back piece to enjoy some fun low-stakes chapters where the intensity is dialed down with some good company. Just don't overdrink or you'll be cursed with nightmares.

10/10

For now, the manga is great. Nice art and lots of Suika. Best Oni and 2hu feels good.
Other than that the characters are Touhou characters which means you need to already know the characters and reading just this manga won't help you fully figure them out.

Don't read for plot, although this one does seem interesting.
The plot seems more mysterious while also having the same lightheartedness the series commonly has and seems to be a step up from wild horned and hermit. The main character revealed here is Miyoi and she is friends with Suika and has the same dress colour as Suika's skirt making her ... look really nice and unique. So far I am fully enjoying this, I love the characters and I think the art is on par with the end with Wahh which is really good. The story is also Whatever. Please note that I am extremely biased with Touhou and I actually can't see any flaws in this manga, but I know they exist.

These Touhou manga aren't really that good. I've read, dropped, or skimmed virtually all of them, and none of them are that particularly interesting.
It's always the fan-made doujinshi, anime, games, or spin-offs that I always found more interesting, so it's kind of a disappointment that the official manga are especially tame.
The main problem with this manga and a lot of the other official touhou manga like Forbidden Scrollery is that a lot of these manga are episodic, and other than the actual mainstay characters from the original franchise, the manga provides no incentive for you to read them.
Sure, you get to see characters from ... the game drawn and having fun conversations, but there's a lack of any good storytelling.
Lotus Eater is about a bar and pub being managed by a Zashiki-warashi Youkai, and just tells about the troubles of the pub, mainly the causes being youkai and other spiritual machinations. As a result, most of the chapters are just "youkai/problem of the week," with the same characters, mainly there to bring forced developments into the story, whether that be discovery or new information in the mystery at hand.
Something like the plot of Disappearance of Gensokyo has a lot more charm, and I was hoping the manga to have some of that.