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This us quite a natural thing. After all.you may feel bored of one series after a point, so you want to do something different and refreshing. In term of artists drawing fanart of various franchises, I noticed two things after a brief walk through Danbooru: 1) a lot of artists that nowadays draw stuff like Genshin, Fate Grand Order, Azur Lane, KanColle or Idolmaster used to draw Touhou in the early days of their career; 2) connected to #1, there seems to have been a big migration towards those mainstream series and flavor of the week/month gacha game; given some of the authors doing that very high quality (at least in terms of drawing techniques, not the topics depicted - maybe I should call it more professional-looking art if that's the term I'm looking for) art, I wonder what contribution would they have been to the Touhou fanart community Anyway, is the migration a positive thing, or maybe you would have liked people to keep a tie, no matter how loose, with where they started from/come back to origin every now and then?

More UM characters are on the way to global! Really happy to have Chimata, Momoyo and Mike arrive now! I'd love to have all of them and hopefully we'll see Megumu very soon too!

Its positive for them, as It is always a good thing to be able to change and enjoy other things, but on the other it does make touhou look a bit more barren. i dont see the series fans dying off anytime soon (considering the fangames have gotten less frequent yet higher quality in recent years), but I can see that there has been a noticeable decline in the amount of fan manga and doujin being produced/translated than there was in the early days. it makes me a little bit sad as i quite enjoy reading them, but as long as the artists are able to enjoy what they are doing its for the positive. I forgot about the second option, i guess i would prefer to keep a tie, especially since there are some newer high quality touhous to draw too (chimata, virtually anyone from 17 arc). idk i just wanna see more chimata

Time for the news roundup. News and updates This week, "In the West Nothing New" (or as everyone knows it better, "All Quiet on the Western Front")... I mean nothing new happening in regards to LW Global. However, JP seems to be having a little bit more activity: It looks like LW is trying to blue-ball us again with a PC-98 character. Again, do not expect her to be playable in the nearby future. If anyone from PC-98 will be playable AT ALL, given the uncertainty of the answers given by LW staff during the AmA session. Besides her, there is also a new Hifuu Space War character. Meanwhile, Relic Festival Sakuya has been announced, and will soon be part of the game. There is also a new event, which may finally make sense why in the Morby story, Kagerou, Sekibanki and Wakasagihime were all dressed like each other (during that event on Global, there was no explanation or context to what was going on): Community discussion and memes Not so much in terms of discussions this week, but there are memes:

I haven't played every Touhou game, nor heard every track, so I'll only be commenting on entries I've at least gone through enough of to pick a favorite song. But I figured I'd give a little twist to my answer, and give some love to fan games that I also think have some noteworthy music. Touhou 6: Embodiment of Scarlet Devil: Y'know, I don't pay much attention to Touhou's credits themes. After a really intense final battle with really intense final boss music, the credits music just feels so... "nothing" by comparison. But man, Crimson Belvedere ~ Eastern Dream hits different. It's certainly not an unliked track, but it also doesn't get to sit at the big kids' table alongside U.N. Owen was Her?, Beloved Tomboyish Girl, or Septette for the Dead Princess, and that's a shame. It's such a good song to cap off Touhou's most iconic adventure. Special mention also goes to Shanghai Teahouse ~ Chinese Tea and Voile, the Magic Library for both being top-notch stage themes. Touhou 7: Perfect Cherry Blossom: I definitely underestimated how hard it'd be to pick out my favorites from PCB. It's easily my favorite official Touhou soundtrack, and I like so many songs equally; it's hard to justifiably put some above others. But I gotta give it to The Capital City of Flowers in the Sky. This stage is something special. I know all stages are built and timed around their themes, but I can't think of an example done more effectively than this. It's a long song, and not terribly complex- most of the song is just repeating and building upon this one section- but there's no song I'm more excited to get to when I'm listening to the songs in order. Special mentions to Charming Domination - I'm glad this has unofficially been recognized as Ran's theme over Necrofantasy; it helps set her apart as a character from Yukari - and The Girl who Played with People's Shapes - Even though IOSYS has made it impossible to not hear Marisa Stole the Precious Thing while listen to it, this song DAWN TO's my UGG to this day, and I love it for it. Touhou 8: Imperishable Night: Flight of the Bamboo Cutter ~ Lunatic Princess started out as an OG favorite of mine back when I first learned about Touhou, and even now that I've finally gotten around to playing IN and can experience the whole soundtrack, it's still one of my favorites. It's that perfect blend of elegance and intensity that really makes a final boss so memorable. Special mentions to Illusionary Night ~ Ghostly Eyes - I think this is my favorite 1st stage theme in the series - and Retribution for the Eternal Night ~ Imperishable Night - Even though it's not my favorite song, even within the same game, if I was to choose a song to represent the Touhou series as a whole, it would be this one. Those first few seconds are the first thing that come to mind when I think "Touhou Project." Touhou 12.8 Great Fairy Wars: I found myself not really liking GFW's soundtrack that much compared to other games, which is a shame since I really like the Three Fairies of Light and Sangetsusei has overtaken Wild and Horned Hermit as my favorite Touhou manga. I blame it on Three Fairies Hoppin' Flappin' Great Journey, a 50+ hour Touhou RPG with way too little music, beating a chiptune version of GFW's OST into my head for a lot longer than anyone should have to bear. Still, among the tracks, Year-Round Absorbed Curiosity was always my favorite. It's got an addictive energy to it that I occasionally find myself going back to. Touhou 14: Double Dealing Character: I always imagined I would feel more attached to DDC's OST; it was my first official Touhou game, after all. But no; I can hardly remember any of the soundtrack off of memory. Maybe I'd spend more time with it if Seija wasn't the WORST GODDAMN BOSS IN ALL OF TOUHOU WHY IS SHE SO DIFFICULT NO ONE ELSE GAVE ME THIS MUCH SHIT but I digress. Kobito of the Shining Needle ~ Little Princess is still my favorite piece of Touhou music, and I can't imagine that changing anytime soon. It's such a badass theme, and I love the fan interpretation that this isn't the theme for you fighting against her, but her theme fighting against you. Dullahan under the Willows took some time to grow on me, but as I gained appreciation for this neckless li'l doofus, so too did I end up appreciating her theme. Touhou 18: Unconnected Marketeers: Okay, maybe I was too hard on DDC, because I REALLY can't remember UM's soundtrack. I do genuinely like my choices, but I feel like I'm placing them as defaults, since I just can't remember any other songs. Fortunate Kitten is a really fun opening boss theme, and Where is that Bustling Marketplace ~ Immemorial Marketeers has grown on me after learning to not hate Chimata's stupid looking rainbow dress. They both kinda fit in as earworm pieces; they didn't leave any kind of lasting impression on me, but they just sorta pop back into my head every now and then. I won't complain. And now for something completely different. So, like, I suck at Touhou. Like a lot. Like a lot a lot. So I don't spend that much time playing the official games. Now fan games, that's a different story. I will ALWAYS appreciate the efforts of people who try and make a property as unforgiving as Touhou more appealing to newcomers. I've spent significantly more time with fan works than I have on official titles, and dammit, their music needs love too. So I'm gonna give it to them, and you all have to suffer. Touhou Makuka Sai ~ Fantastic Danmaku Festival: With Patchy joining the protagonists, who's gonna cover her shift as the stage 4 boss? Koakuma, of course, with an original boss theme to boot, The Glamorous Waltz ~ The Little Devil Dance. Being a pretty close retelling of EoSD, I was ready for nothing but remixes of EoSD's soundtracks, but then they bring out a new theme for Koakuma, and it's such an addicting little bop. It doesn't quite "feel" like a proper Touhou song, but it's stuck with me well ever since I first heard it. And a special mention to Cloud Sweeper ~ Kongfu Storm - my favorite remake of Shanghai Alice of Meiji 17. Touhou Makuka Sai ~ Fantastic Danmaku Festival Part II: I can't give this choice to one single song. The combination of Flowers Blowing within Life and Death into Fly! The Ever-living Sakura is the best 10 minutes of pure musical bliss I've ever experienced. This hard rock original song takes you through a... well, it's a decently tough final fight with Yuyuko. It's definitely not as hard as the official games, but damn if it doesn't look impressive. And then, when you get past her last spellcard, she revives for one last attack, and you get this absolutely GORGEOUS final spellcard, just filled to the brim with colors and all these butterflies and cherry blossom flowers and petals flying around everywhere; it is such a treat for the eyes, and your ears are given this beautifully climactic traditional remix of Border of Life. And it's like: This is it. This is peak Touhou. And like, sure, I'm definitely gushing hard over this, but these songs, and this sequence, is what MADE ME a Touhou fan. Go play this! Right now! I don't care if you've already beaten it. Play it again! It's worth it! Touhou Kikamu ~ Elegant Impermanence of Sakura: EIoS's OST is truly a force to be reckoned with. This might just be my favorite collection of stage themes in the entire franchise. It's seriously hard to pick a definite favorite, but I'll settle on a three-way tie between Stage 3's theme, Little Tune for a Drizzle in the Forest, Stage 2's theme, Flowing Moon Night Pastorale, and Stage 6's theme, One Moment's Splendour, with Hisoka Uroki's boss theme Mystery is your Mirage as an honourable mention. This game is like the opposite of official Touhou. Normally, the character themes are the ones that get the most praise, and the stage themes are usually the ones trying to play catch-up for attention, but not here. These stage themes are out here, loud 'n proud. I wish the boss themes were a little better, but for a game with an almost completely original score, this soundtrack can go toe-to-toe with even the best Touhou music. Kubinashi Recollection ~ Forgotten Dullahan Dreams: What a precious little gem this game is, blessing us all with the cutest Banki known to man. Dream Fields SCENE1 is a soft li'l remix of Dullahan Under the Willows, perfect for a soft li'l game like this. On the flip side, Outside World SCENE2 is fast and catchy and works in tandem with one of my favorite platformer gimmicks: Beat blocks. These levels were my favorite to play in, and this rhythm is snugly cemented into my brain. Touhou: Luna Nights: I don't care if it's low hanging fruit. I'm hungry, and Final Boss 3 - Night of Nights is frickin' rad. C'mon, it's Night of Nights; y'know, the coolest remix to ever grace the Touhou community. And it shows up right as you've got the final boss with Flandre on the ropes. It's totally cheap fanservice in a game that's already gushing with fanservice, but I can't even be mad. What a way to close out Luna Nights' main campaign. I also really liked Extra Stage - Scarlet Beyond a Crimson Dream. Can't entirely explain why this song in particular stuck out over the rest of this really kickass soundtrack, but it was what kept me going when the game started spamming those really obnoxious enemies at me. Touhou: Double Focus: Even though AquaStyle's remixes weren't my cup of tea as a whole, they sure did get these boss themes right. I'll happily boot up the OST to listen to Vs. Seiga and Vs. Kokoro anytime. Even after hearing the original versions of these songs, I still prefer AquaStyle's remixes, so hey. Good for them. I need to stop here. This has taken way too much time, and I can feel the life being drained from my body. I haven't even come close to covering all the Touhou games I've played through. It is worth noting there are some other games out there I would've liked to get around to, but I chose not to include any fangames where I can't access its soundtrack. Like how this new little platformer Kedama's Adventure has this really cool mashup of Lunatic Princess and Reach for the Moon, but I can't actually hear the music outside of the level itself, and that sucks. Hero of Ice Fairy and Mystery Reel are in the same boat. I'd really like to spend time listening to their OSTs, but as they're still early access titles, I probably won't get that chance until the games are finished. ~This post has been brought to you by the letter S for SELL YOUR FRICKIN' SOUNDTRACK~

I came to the Shrine to quickly redownload Hisoutensoku and then I find this extremely long thread. Ah well, might as well share some thoughts (or a full on review) while I'm here. Main Story I've been playing TLW ever since the first little sister event (Which now makes a lot of sense for being an event when we learned that our MC is very very young) and I've got quite to say about the game. At first I've grabbed the game for the sake of it being a Touhou game, but while the story has been progressing it has captivated me and soon enough I become a regular player. The earlier bits were such a drag however, since there were a LOT of unnecessary battle stages against nobodies (which was made even more annoying when the earlier stages had the best Support Card WoSD so you had to clear a lot for lunatic). Thankfully they've significantly cut it down for the later chapters. At first the chapter 3 saga started out well enough, though I felt that the LostWord would have easily been Yukari or something... And then Act 3 & 4 came. Oh boy, I felt like I understood NOTHING. I came out confused when they said that the LostWord were Youmu's swords. The interlude chapter came, and then I felt a bit confused why everyone was treating Lossie as if as a child but it was nice to see them meet each other. Then the final part of the interlude came and my only thoughts were just: "W-why?" Act 4 arrives, and much to my joy/dismay it really feels like we're getting close to the end of the story with all characters from different universes gathering around and the inclusion of Hifuu Characters as well. (I thought it was hinted that Vampire Hunter Sakuya ultimately won her fight and killed the sisters but NOPE. She's become their maid now.) That and we're getting hints of Lossy's true identity. Sigh regardless, I'm sticking to finishing the story no matter what. Event Stories The earlier ones were lackluster/felt like there was no way they could happen in Gensokyo (except the Detective Marisa case). But soon, the writing and dialogue of the events started better, so even the events that feel like they shouldn't happen were really fun to read. I want to say that Masked Dancer's Rebellion is my favorite but I know that's just me being biased to Kokoro (and Satono). So I put Yakumo's Ambition on the top. I love the absurd things happening in the event and how meta it got. That event also taking place in the 1st universe we saved (the school universe) was a good excuse to go a bit ham on the concept of the event. It's sequel however, the Jo'on Phantom Thief confuses me as it acts like it all took place in the L1 Universe. But nevertheless, the writing of the event stories have really improved and I hope the skipped events are on par with the writing. Gacha System My experience with this has been... A mostly positive one? The one and only time where I've failed to grab a unit I want was F1 Reimu. I spent all my cubes for that. Most other times though has been a success. I've also been quite lucky when it came to rolling for Ultra Fes I wanted, with only needing to Spark once for Soldier Reisen. But ever since Chapter 4 dropped that Winged Marisa I've been saving. Now however with the 2Million Downloads banner came up, I've been rolling 10s everyday and either the rates are higher than usual, or I'm lucky (I've gotten Miko, Alice, and Patchouli so far). But talking about what they have been doing so far with Relic and Epic? God I wish Epic didn't exist. I'm fine with Relic the way it currently is, it's sparkable but the designs of the characters feel a bit lazy (ESPECIALLY the brand new Sakuya). But Epic? That can go. I was fine with Blue Reimu being Epic but now that a good amount of Chapter 4's main cast will be Epic? Nah, screw that. Blue Reimu had Important Story Reasons to be Epic, but I don't see why Hecatia needed to be Epic. The brand new Koishi being Epic I can barely forgive since she's apparently F1 just like Reimu. The power creeping is starting to show with the push of Epic units that I'm starting to miss the Super Fes spam. By the way, locking away the good Story Cards away in the gacha is stupid. Encourages hoarding 5 star cards in the event you get a character that needs it. Arenas, Rebirths, Tower, and EX Battles Arena's are for non-casual players who want their characters to deal a bit more damage. Weekly Arenas however provide casuals who has an abundant of MLBd characters to spam Last Words and gain easy access to the incense. Scarlet Devil Tower is a challenge designed for more advanced players, but starts of only a tad bit more difficult so that newer players can learn things such as barrier breaking and resource management. EX Battles are for the even MORE advanced players and rewards you with really good cards. Someone like me who doesn't really care about learning how to the combat system works and strategizing so man am I glad tutorials for characters and Story Cards I happen to have exist. Rebirths. First I found them neat with the costumes. Soon they started releasing them with plain old normal wedding dresses and flower/ring bearers. Now my interest is getting piqued with them releasing more unique costumes. That said it sucks that the stories are locked behind Ring of Fates because they rarely give them out for free. Anyways that's all I have to say. I have nothing to talk about Hifuu because at the moment, it seems to be quite dead. Even in JP.

Alright, time for another news roundup. News and updates Since I barely had any time this week to look and write for this series, and the fact Isaac already covered the most important updates, guess I have o deal with the bare bones... Anyway, here is the rest of the events: In 2 days from now (just a bit over 24 hours actually, according to my time zone), we are going to get the next maintenance. It is interesting we are getting a rerun of Yakumo Ambition, which is a rather recent event (just 4 months ago, back in June). Probably the other big thing sticking out like a sore thumb is the A6 Sunny Milk "retro" unit. Again, how did Sunny an EoSD character? Community discussion and memes The reception of Sunny as a retro unit is already being received in an interesting way. She is not even out yet, but the discussions are on. A few opinions: Technically THIS Sunny Milk isn't canon. She never appeared in EoSD. But she was technically a maid at some point alongside Luna and Star in the Manga. That was due to them infiltrating the Scarlet Devil Mansion and dressing as maids to try and blend in with the other fairy maids to go unnoticed. eo$d - that's it. EoSD is the Pokemon gen 1 of Touhou, so NN is intent on milking EoSD for everything it's worth. I'm still baffled that we're getting fucking EoSD Daiyousei, who has no spellcards or art from EoSD. I'm really excited to see A6 Sanae because she was playable in the EoSD fangame Fantastic Danmaku Festival. The main thing that rubs me the wrong way is that no other game in the series would ever get this much preferential treatment. does anyone think we're really going to get an A7 Letty? A10 Minoriko? A12 Kogasa? Nope. I saw this theory somewhere that Sunny Milk could've became a maid due to the Scarlet Mist Incident since the A6 universe is where the Scarlet Mist incident doesn't stop so not just the EoSS crew will be affected by the incident. People are making their own predictions in regards to what units will be coming next into the game And of course, we cannot forget about the memes in regards to how to create a Relic unit: Closing thoughts Again, that is why I called the whole thing a PR stunt. Many I have talked to told me it was surprising it took LW 2.5 years to realize their game has problems, which led to the AmA and then developer manifesto the following day. Surprisingly, I did ask about Arcadia Record at the same time, given we have not really seen that game being discussed for the past coupe months since release. What i was even more surprised was to hear that not only is the game still alive, but that it is actually much better than LostWord right now. That is has an actual development team listening to the issues players report and fix them in mere days. That the game gets quickly updated and it takes 2-3 days at most to implement QoL updated whenever needed. That AR is actually starting to attract music circles to collaborate with, including Akatsuki Records (music group who, at the current point, is only missing from LostWord out of all Touhou mobile games ~ under what category should Touhou Spell Bubble be added?). Maybe that game does have a chance to survive... All I know about Reimu and Marisa in their PC-98 form is that they appeared in one of the Hifuu story cutscenes... and that's about it. They also did appear on some promotional material, but nothing more about actually implementing the units. Oh, you would be surprised to know how many people were actually asking for a collab/cross-over with Azur Lane. Which may not be impossible, given that LW is pretty much a clone of that game.