Due to vocalist Sayuri's poor health, Silver Forest is disbanding.
Spell Card
Game Spell Cards
In the Touhou Project games, spell cards manifest themselves in a few ways. In the shooting games, spell cards primarily act as a source of danmaku by enemy characters. As well, they are used as life-saving "bombs" by playable characters.
In the fighting games, spell cards generally exist as "supers" (special-condition, high-damage, high-priority attacks used in many 2D fighting games). In addition, during the story modes, they act as special movesets used by enemy characters. In Scarlet Weather Rhapsody and Touhou Hisoutensoku, in addition to spell cards, two other types of cards are used: system cards (which are the same for everybody), and skill cards (which affects special moves of the chosen character).
Spell cards were probably the first known instance of a shooting game's bullet patterns being given official, personalized names. Many danmaku fans appreciated this extra touch, as it clearly showed that the developers of the Touhou series cared about the patterns as much as the fans did.
Spell Card System
It was specified in Perfect Memento in Strict Sense that the spell card system was developed by Reimu (however, the original draft being written on a youkai contract has called this into question) and first used in the Scarlet Mist Incident. They were designed to give even weak youkai and humans a chance to win, as well as to provide youkai a way to defeat the Hakurei Shrine in a fair duel. They are described as pieces of paper bearing the descriptions of their respective spells, along with the possible approval of the shrine maiden.
In Silent Sinner in Blue, Marisa describes them in terms similar to a regular duel: You must dodge your opponents or be crushed by them. However, the difference between spell cards and a normal duel is that "the most beautiful one wins. It's a very mental contest." Reisen clarifies in Cage in Lunatic Runagate Chapter Six that "beautiful" in part means without dirty tricks. As it seems in the following, spell cards regulate rules for the time a duel is held such as: Used equipment, a time limit, winning and losing conditions and restrictions (mostly for the dodging part). Spell cards however don't seem to be limited to magic. Sanae Kochiya is able to call upon the power of a god, while Nitori or Marisa are able to use equipment, such as the Mini-Hakkero. Everything that can be used as an attack counts as a spell card, including everyday objects. Kogasa Tatara throws umbrellas in some of her spell cards while Minoriko Aki uses potatos.
