Touhou Koumakyou New Classic Characters Hub

The only playable pair

Touhou Koumakyou New Classic, released 9 September 2026, still gives you exactly two playable characters. Reimu Hakurei is the Hakurei shrine maiden: medium speed, a small hitbox, and a wide attack that covers lanes you are not standing in. Marisa Kirisame is the magician from the Forest of Magic: faster movement, thinner spread, and the higher raw firepower of the pair. The character select is not a roster of unlocks. There is no third heroine, no playable Scarlet sister, and no hidden shot waiting in a code. If the menu shows four options, those options are Reimu A, Reimu B, Marisa A, and Marisa B.

Each letter is a full kit. A and B swap both the unfocused/focused shot and the bomb, so you are not mixing Fantasy Seal onto needles or hanging Master Spark under homing ofuda. Read the kits as four complete builds on the shot types page, then check the shot type rankings when you care which build is easiest for a first clear versus Extra.

What New Classic actually changes

The 2002 original hid your hitbox even while focused. New Classic draws it when you hold focus. Boss markers along the bottom of the playfield show horizontal position when the sprite is buried in danmaku or off the top. Challenge Mode grants unlimited lives and a death counter—a classroom, not a substitute for a no-continue Normal credit. Spell Practice drills a card you have already seen. Neither tool invents a third playable character.

First-credit picks

New players should start on Reimu A or Marisa A. Reimu A’s homing ofuda let you sit off-axis and still delete fairies while you learn streaming. Marisa A does not home, but Magic Missiles delete boss health fast enough that some cards simply end. Reimu B’s needles shotgun hard at point-blank, yet Evil-Sealing Circle is the weakest bomb of the four. Marisa B’s Illusion Laser flickers; Master Spark is the longest invulnerability in the game—better as a second shot.

For Extra, community consensus leans on Marisa A or Reimu B because Flandre’s health bars punish low damage. Reimu A’s homing often wastes shots on her familiars. Ranked tables live on the tier list.

The boss ladder

The six-stage story is a teaching sequence. Rumia on Stage 1 teaches streaming. Cirno, the Lake Sprite on Stage 2, adds ice shotguns. Hong Meiling holds the Scarlet Border on Stage 3. Patchouli in the Stage 4 library changes elements based on your shot; Koakuma is only the midboss. Sakuya is Stage 5 and the Stage 6 midboss. Remilia closes the story. Flandre is Extra only, unlocked by a Normal-or-higher clear with no continue.

For a first-clear route rather than a roster essay, start with Getting Started.