Touhou Project is a Japanese indie shoot-’em-up series created by a single person known by the pen name ZUN. Spanning dozens of official games and a cast of over 100 characters, it has an extremely dedicated following which has spent nearly two decades creating an overwhelming torrent of content: fan art, fan games, musical covers, memes, and more. Its influence is almost impossible to avoid in any online community dedicated to Japanese video games or anime. One of the many memes among the fandom is based on an infamous line of dialogue from the eighth game in the series, Imperishable Night, in which the extra stage boss Mokou remarks, “My god, jelly donuts are so scary.”
However, this is not quite what she says in Japanese, and there’s a fair amount of context behind the line that isn’t obvious. If you’re curious to learn the truth behind Mokou’s fear of jelly donuts, read on!
NOTE: In this article, I Romanize long vowels using direct transliteration (e.g. しょうぐん as shougun, すうどく as suudoku) rather than our typical convention of using macrons (shōgun, sūdoku.) Otherwise, this article would be littered with unfamiliar forms like Tōhō and Mokō.
Background
The Touhou Project series is set in 幻想郷 (Gensoukyou), a hidden enclave located within present-day Japan, separated from the outside world by an immense barrier. Thanks to this barrier, it resisted the technological advances and Western cultural influences that transformed the rest of Japan into what it is today. As a result, Gensoukyou became something like a time capsule of traditional Japanese culture—just with fantastical elements from Japanese folklore thrown in, such as 神 (kami, gods/spirits), 妖精 (yousei, fairies), and 妖怪 (youkai, monsters).
In contrast, titles of games in the Touhou series typically feature a mix of Japanese and English text. Today we focus on the eighth entry, officially named 東方永夜抄 〜 Imperishable Night.—and no, that wasn’t the end of the sentence; that period is part of the title. The Japanese characters in the name can be Romanized as Touhou Eiyashou, and fans generally translate them as “Eastern Eternal Night Vignette.”
The game’s extra stage is set a short while after the events of the main story are concluded. The bored protagonists are enticed by a dare to test their courage by going into the bamboo forest at midnight under a full moon, which is when the youkai that live there are at their fiercest. Once inside, they encounter an immortal human named 藤原妹紅 (Fujiwara no Mokou, Mokou of the Fujiwara clan), and proceed to fight her. Winning this fight requires dodging thousands of bullets in intricate patterns for about ten minutes with few mistakes.
Line-By-Line Breakdown
The line about jelly donuts is only seen if the player clears the extra stage while playing as the Barrier Team, which consists of shrine maiden Reimu Hakurei and the sage Yukari Yakumo. I will compare the original Japanese text and my own literal translation of it against an older fan translation, as newer translations have changed the line in question. Specifically, it is based on this September 2005 version of the translation provided by the fan Touhou wiki—not long after the game’s August 2004 release.
| Japanese Script | Fan Translation (September 2005) | Direct Translation |
|---|---|---|
| [藤原妹紅] こんなに強いんじゃ、肝試しもへったくれも 無いじゃない。 | [Fujiwara no Mokou] You’re too strong. What’s the point of a trial of guts for people like you? | [Fujiwara no Mokou] If you’re this strong, then there’s no test of courage or anything like it for you. |
| [八雲紫] そう？ 私だって怖い物も色々あるわよ。 | [Yukari Yakumo] Well, there are still some things that are kinda scary. | [Yukari Yakumo] Really? Even for me, there are still various scary things. |
| [博麗霊夢] まんじゅうとかでしょ？ | [Reimu Hakurei] Like jelly donuts? | [Reimu Hakurei] Like manjuu, right? |
| [八雲紫] そう、あの丸いフォルムが大きな蟲の卵を 彷彿させて、そして中のあんが…… | [Yukari Yakumo] Yeah, their shape is like a giant insect egg… And the jelly inside, it reminds me of… | [Yukari Yakumo] Right, that round shape resembles a giant insect’s egg, and the filling inside… |
| [藤原妹紅] いやぁぁ。まんじゅう怖い。 | [Fujiwara no Mokou] My god, jelly donuts are so scary. | [Fujiwara no Mokou] Stooop. Manjuu are scary. |
Analysis
The first thing to notice here is that, in Japanese, they aren’t talking about jelly donuts at all, but a traditional Japanese pastry known as 饅頭 (manjuu), which is filled with a sweetened paste made of adzuki beans. The editor was kind enough to leave this note explaining the change: “Closest thing I can think of are donuts, if you think of something better, change it.” It seems that, not expecting audiences to be familiar with manjuu, the editor substituted it for an analogous Western pastry with a sweet filling.
It’s easy to criticize the decision, but it was made by someone claiming no qualifications, editing a wiki for free in an earnest attempt to do a service for the community, and it was immediately adjacent to both the original Japanese script and a translation note. The same revision included many clear improvements to other lines, as well. However, that version of the script ended up being used as the basis for a translation patch, and so many players saw it without that additional context.
With that in mind, let’s look at the ways in which this localization choice both succeeds and fails. First, and most importantly, the Japanese scene is clearly meant to be humorous, and I would say the translation succeeds in preserving the humor. Jokes about Mokou being afraid of jelly donuts persist among the English fandom to this day, even though it has been over ten years since the wiki translation was changed back to manjuu. The humor of the line derives in large part from the mundanity of the dessert, and Western audiences generally aren’t familiar enough with manjuu to find them mundane.
On the other hand, jelly donuts are somewhat out-of-place in the setting, in a way that may strain suspension of disbelief for some players. Yukari is knowledgeable about the outside world, so she would likely know about jelly donuts, but Reimu and Mokou probably would not. But more importantly, it’s manjuu for a reason: the scene is a reference to 饅頭怖い (Manjuu Kowai, Manjuu are Scary), a famous 落語 (rakugo). Rakugo is a traditional Japanese comedic performance art.
Manjuu Kowai!
I will summarize Manjuu Kowai below, but if it’s new to you, I think it’s worth hearing firsthand with this excellent video by the professional rakugo performer Tatekawa Shinoharu. In rakugo, each performer puts their own spin on the story, so the exact names of the characters and the dialogue will vary greatly, but the basic premise and punchline is the same, and I really enjoyed Shinoharu’s take on it. The story starts at 4:42 and ends at 15:02 in this video.
For those of you who skipped the video, the premise is that a group of friends are discussing what they are afraid of, and most of them list common fears like as spiders and snakes. After everyone else has shared their fears, the last man, named Kuma-san in Shinoharu’s telling, claims to be afraid of nothing and mocks the others for their fears. After they press him, though, he reluctantly admits he is deathly afraid of manjuu. They are incredulous, but Kuma-san seems sincere, and is so disturbed by even the thought of manjuu that he begs them to change the topic.
Later, the rest of the group, indignant about being mocked for their fears by someone afraid of a dessert, decide to buy a ton of manjuu and fill his room with them while he’s asleep. When Kuma-san awakens, he begins to eat the manjuu. Realizing they’ve been tricked, they demand that Kuma-san tell them what he is really afraid of. He replies that, right now, he’s afraid of a nice hot cup of tea.
To summarize it even more briefly, Manjuu Kowai is a story about a trickster who uses reverse psychology, telling his friends he is afraid of manjuu to get them to buy him a large quantity of it. It’s similar to the story of Brer Rabbit, who escapes from Brer Fox by convincing him that the thing he is most afraid of is being thrown into the briar patch. A bold localization of Imperishable Night might have Yukari and Mokou express their shared fear of briar patches instead of manjuu or jelly donuts!
Interpretations of the Scene
Now that we have all of the context, we can begin analyzing the Imperishable Night scene. Clearly, it references Manjuu Kowai, but it’s not entirely clear whether the characters in the scene are referencing it consciously. With that in mind, I see several interpretations of the scene:
- First, Mokou is genuinely afraid of manjuu, and has been since before the events of Imperishable Night. This is the surface-level reading and most common interpretation of the line.
- Second, Mokou was not previously afraid of manjuu, but after hearing someone as powerful and courageous as Yukari express a fear of them, she concludes they must be very frightening indeed. (This is the explanation of the joke given by a different editor in a translator’s note in an earlier revision.)
- Third, Reimu and Yukari are referencing the rakugo, and Mokou is joining in on it. This theory is supported by Flandre’s reference to Manjuu Kowai in Bohemian Archive in Japanese Red, and a few instances of characters making references to other rakugo elsewhere in Touhou canon. It also makes sense that residents of Gensoukyou, a time capsule of traditional Japanese culture, would be familiar with rakugo.
- Finally, Mokou’s line can be read as sarcastic—rather than expressing a fear of manjuu, she could actually be making fun of Yukari for doing so! Although it’s far from conclusive, Mokou’s cry of いやぁぁ (iyaaa) followed by a period rather than an exclamation point is easy to read this way.
Closing Thoughts
Although the editor may not have had confidence in the change from manjuu to jelly donuts, it turned out well. It sacrificed the reference to Manjuu Kowai, but it’s unlikely many in the English-speaking Touhou fandom in 2005 knew about it. In fact, if more fans know about it now, it’s probably because of this scene. Sticking to the original script to preserve the reference wouldn’t have improved the experience for many players. Humor is often impossible to translate, especially when it relies on a specific cultural reference. For a funny line to stay funny in localization, it’s often necessary to completely rewrite it. The survival of the meme to this day proves that the change was successful.
Which of the four interpretations of the scene makes the most sense to you, if any? We’d love to hear your thoughts on this article, or any questions you have about Touhou localizations, in the comments below! For another article on Touhou, check out our retranslation and analysis of We Are Japanese Goblin! And if you’re interested in seeing another article focusing on a single infamous line of dialogue, check out our examination of “Dilly-Dally, Shilly-Shally” from Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children!
I really enjoyed this write-up and video. I think there’s a fifth possibility, which is that the three are actually living out the events described in the rakugo, and Mokou is the trickster hoping that they’ll buy her some manjuu! If they’re in a cultural time capsule of sorts then maybe they are in the sort of environment where such a story could take place.