spoiler

The real Touhou Jesus, not you, Byakuren.

Saw the comment chain and thought it would be a great opportunity to represent the few Christian Touhou weebs/fans.

Some context for those wondering what this is about.

Even though the official (shoot-em-up “bullet hell” game) Touhou franchise almost exclusively has characters from Eastern religions/religions in Japan (such as Shintoism, Taoism and Buddhism) as well as general Japanese mythology/folklore, a fan-made game released in 2012 called “The Last Comer” (which would be better translated as “The Last Coming (of God/Jesus)” curiously centered around Christianity. Some franchises in Japanese popular culture feature moe characters, and the Touhou franchise would be no different, with more than 95% of the characters/cast being female. The genderbent Jesus (and indeed, almost all the characters in this fan-made game) are thus represented in this moe-ified manner (yes, including Archangel Michael).

Genderbent moe-Touhou Jesus aside, what’s more surprising is that this depiction of Jesus’ character in this game was actually rather faithful to the Bible. Representations of Christianity in Japanese popular culture, given Japan’s history with the religion and general perception of it as a foreign faith, tend towards the exoticism of Christianity (many crosses, but not much Christ). In that light, the dialogue between Touhou Jesus/Iesua Nazarenus and the player’s character (see the references below) actually feels like something Jesus would say, and that’s amazing. Despite its unlikely source*, this game’s depiction of Jesus’/God’s kind and forgiving nature is, in my opinion, quite respectful and well done.

*It’s not known whether any of the production team that made the game are/were Christian, but given that less than 2% of Japan’s population claims Christian belief or affiliation, it wouldn’t be surprising if none of them were. Nevertheless, the character design of Touhou Jesus/Iesua Nazarenus shows that they’ve done their research and have some understanding of the Bible’s key message.

(It’s also worth noting that Jesus’ crucifixion did appear in the official Touhou manga.)

References for those interested/intrigued:

  1. In-game Dialogue between Touhou Jesus and the player
  2. Good ending
  3. True ending

Sources:

  1. Original comment thread
  2. “Touhou Jesus” / Iesua Nazarenus
  3. Improved art at bottom is from the Pixiv album titled: “Child of the All-Forgiving God” by 明ノ宮 飛鳥