👾 INTRO: From Indie Bullet Hell to Meme Immortality

What do ASCII art, plush toys, surreal fan fiction, and the phrase “Take it easy!!!” all have in common?

They’re all part of the deep, weird, and wildly creative ecosystem surrounding the Touhou Project—an indie Japanese bullet hell game series that somehow gave birth to one of the internet’s most resilient meme cultures.

At the heart of it all lies a simple catchphrase:
“Yukkuri shiteitte ne!!!”
Translation: “Take it easy!!!”

But how did that phrase—and its nightmarishly cute mascot—go from textboard joke to global subcultural icon? Let’s dive into a story where fan creativity turns fiction into folklore, one meme at a time.

🎮 PART 1: The Game That Wasn’t Supposed to Go This Far

➤ What Is Touhou Project?

Originally created by a single developer, ZUN, Touhou Project began as a vertical-scrolling shoot-’em-up series where magical girls battle through dense, often hypnotic waves of projectiles called danmaku.

But gameplay was only half the appeal.
The real draw? Dozens of female characters with deep backstories, whimsical powers, and room for endless reinterpretation.

As ZUN famously said, “I want fans to do whatever they like with Touhou.”
And they did.
Boy, did they ever.

🧱 PART 2: The Birth of Yukkuri (And Why It’s So Weirdly Iconic)

➤ Where It All Started

The now-iconic “Yukkuri” faces—distorted ASCII-style heads of Reimu Hakurei and Marisa Kirisame—first appeared in Japanese textboard threads (like 2channel and Shitaraba) around 2003–2004.

Initially designed for comic relief, these janky faces came with a catchphrase:
「ゆっくりしていってね!!!」
“Yukkuri shiteitte ne!!!”
Literally, “Please take it easy!”

The phrase exploded as a greeting, a meme, and a mantra.

➤ The Meme Evolves

By 2007, artists began redrawing Yukkuri in a cleaner, vectorized style. These weren’t just heads anymore—they were beings.

Yukkuri became soft, squishy blobs with recognizable Touhou hairstyles and accessories… but no bodies. They were often imagined saying cheerful nonsense, fighting absurd wars, or even being eaten.

That’s right: entire fan communities began exploring the “biology” of Yukkuris.
According to Fanlore, some Yukkuris are filled with red bean paste. Others multiply like fungi. Some even rot if not cared for.

“It’s like they’re not Touhou characters anymore. They’re their own species now.”
—Fanlore summary

🧸 PART 3: Plushies, Parodies, and Commercial Cannonballs

➤ Enter the Fumo

In parallel, fumo fumo plushies (a.k.a. “fumos”) took off. These adorable, blank-faced dolls based on Touhou characters became collector’s items.

Their odd expression—flat eyes, smug mouth—paired perfectly with Yukkuris. They’re different memes, but spiritually related.

Produced by Gift and designed by artist Neji, fumos are regularly sold out upon restock.
Some fans describe them as “emotional support plushies.”
Others just meme them hard.

Fumos became so iconic they often starred in YouTube animations, TikTok skits, and unboxing videos where their “personalities” (based on memes) were played up.

🔄 PART 4: From Meme to Myth — Fan Fiction, Videos, and Internet Subculture

➤ Fan Creativity Went Nuclear

By the late 2000s, Yukkuri culture wasn’t just alive—it was mutating.

Fans created:

• Entire YouTube channels animating Yukkuri domestic life (complete with cooking, sibling fights, and bizarre deaths)
• Fan games like “Yukkuri Breeding,” where players manage villages of them
• CreepyPasta-style horror stories, turning once-cheerful Yukkuris into tragic or terrifying figures

These fan contributions weren’t minor. They redefined the original characters into something else entirely. As TVTropes notes:

“The memes became so prolific, they began to feel canon.”

➤ TikTok & Reddit: The Next Wave

In recent years, platforms like Reddit and TikTok have resurrected and recontextualized Touhou memes:

• TikTok creators animate fumo plushies in domestic scenarios, using them as stand-ins for emotional expression or chaos.
• Reddit threads regularly host “Yukkuri Lore Days,” where users share fan-made taxonomies, evolution trees, or even political dramas involving Yukkuris.

One Reddit user put it bluntly:

“Yukkuri helped Touhou go global. They were the gateway drug.”

📊 PART 5: Cultural Analysis — Why Did This Meme Hit So Hard?

Now let’s slow down and ask:
Why did a low-res ASCII face saying “Take it easy!” become so influential?

Here’s a breakdown.

🧠 1. It Was Permission to Be Silly

Touhou Project, despite its hardcore gameplay, has a very flexible fan policy.
ZUN, the creator, explicitly encourages derivative works.

That openness made the fandom feel safe being ridiculous.

Yukkuris were a perfect outlet:

• Low barrier to entry (you didn’t need to draw well)
• Universally understandable emotion (“take it easy!”)
• Surreal enough to meme in endless formats

It wasn’t about “getting it right.”
It was about having fun.

💡 2. It Was Meme-Ready Before Memes Were Cool

This was 2004. Before YouTube was big. Before Reddit exploded.
And yet, Yukkuri already had:

• Catchphrases
• Visual repetition
• Shock value
• Emotional triggers

It predated—and predicted—what we now call meme mechanics.

🌐 3. It Bridged Cultures Through Vibes

Even non-Touhou fans can enjoy Yukkuri content.
The faces are so expressive, so exaggerated, that they transcend language.

Much like Doge, Pepe, or Shrek, Yukkuri isn’t just a joke—it’s an emotion delivery system.

“Take it easy” resonates across generations.
Especially online, where people are anxious, overworked, and hyper-stimulated.

🧠 PART 6: Legacy & Influence — Beyond the Meme

➤ Official Acknowledgment

While not fully canon, the meme bled into semi-official zones:

• Fumos are sold at Touhou-only events.
• “Yukkuri Shiteitte ne” voice lines appear in fan-approved games.
• Even music remix titles reference them.

In 2008, “Yukkuri shiteitte ne!!!” won a Bronze Net Buzzword Award in Japan—proving its national recognition.

➤ Global Reach

• In 2023–2025, TikTok trends featuring fumos and “Yukkuri voiceovers” exploded in Japan and overseas.
• On Spotify, tracks sampled from Touhou remixes made it into U.S. viral charts, particularly via memes like “Omae Wa Mou”.

Even if someone’s never played Touhou, they’ve seen Touhou memes.

That’s real cultural power.

✅ CONCLUSION: Yukkuri is More Than Just a Meme—It’s Digital Folklore

Let’s summarize what we’ve learned.

🧵 Touhou didn’t just inspire fan art.
It incubated one of the richest, weirdest meme cultures in internet history.

🧠 The Yukkuri phenomenon shows us:

• How fandom can invent new species
• How a joke can become a storytelling platform
• And how emotional weirdness spreads faster than logic

So next time you see a low-res, big-eyed, bean-filled head saying
“Yukkuri shiteitte ne!!!”
Don’t scroll past.

Take a moment.
And, well…

Take it easy.

🔗 SOURCES & LINKS

• Wikipedia – Touhou Project (Internet Meme Section)
• Fanlore – Yukkuri
• TVTropes – Memes / Touhou Project
• Reddit – Yukkuri Lore Day Thread
• note.com – Omae Wa Mou Viral Phenomenon