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With a slight delay due to an overcharged beginning of the week and lack of energy as a result, the news roundup is only coming out now. News and updates Just like Isaac pointed out, JP Dev Letter has announced a great variety of content. At the same time, just a couple days prior, we also had a Dev Letter for Global. Therefore, I will go through Global first, then get into what JP has to offer to the players: 1) If I am to use the summaries done by r/touhou_lostword, probably the easiest way would be to split everything into character and event releases. Anyway, in terms of characters, White Koishi makes her way into Global as an EPIC FES, while Little Satori will be Ultra FES. 2) Kagerou and Wakasagihime are also making their global debut, which only brings us closer to having the full roster of L1 Gensokyo characters. And they are not alone, as they also come with costumes. I still wonder what will the evet be if they ended up swapping clothes between the Grassroots Youkai... 3) The already released Halloween costumes for Remilia and Yoshika will soon be accompanied by that for Eirin, Tojiko and Hatate, part of this year's Halloween event: (is it just me, or Tojiko's pose has always looked like in the "I guess you are like little pogchamp" meme? And I mean ever since ZUN came up with her art from Ten Desires) 4) Now moving to the events, Global will have a bunch of stuff in the following weeks. First off, the head of the banner this time around is Gensokyo of the Dead. Makes sense, given Halloween is less than a week from us. Apparently, the event will also reward you if you grind enough resources into it. Or at least if you are lucky enough to win the lottery... 5) Scarlet Devil Tower is receiving new content. Maybe this time we can get closer to how much JP does. My question is however - is any of this newly released content translated? Given all the promises we are going to get translations, it looks as if the team doing it works at the pace of a wheeled hamster having to supply electricity for entire building. And let's not talk about the story cards which still need translation from over half a year ago already... 6) More characters are being moved to the General pool. Does this mean there is an even greater chance for the Festival category of friends to disappear? I was talking about this possible switch in categories for at least a few months already, yet it seems to be slowly happening, at least in the case of L1 Gensokyo characters. FES would disappear or only be used for the retro units, UFES would become the new FES, Epic FES would become as common as the former UFES units, and Relic... well, it's Relic, it does whatever the hell it wants. 7) Time for Touhou LW to feel proud about participating at the Autumn Reitaisai back during the weekend (hey, at least I think we got like 15 SCs out of that ordeal): 8) Finally, we can sip grinding for the Mirrors and just get the results. If only we could get the same for story cards too. The multi-skip should have also been the way of doing regular farming, not waste hours in auto battles. Like the way you do the errands, but instead it farms resources and cards. So no more having your phone locked for hours in auto-play battles. 9) I guess Touhou LW is getting a manga of its own. Well, if we can't get an anime like Genshin does, at least that. However, I see the creators are not too subtle when it comes to the message even if we are to talk just about these 4 panels: 10) This Ultra FES thing is coming back. I think we had it at least once more in the past. 11) Everybody Wins (yay). Some GCs ae always good, and a chance for Fumo is a chance for a Fumo. Oh wait, these are the big ones. Well, at least the Seal and God Crystals will be a good addition... 12) There is also some news regarding the EFES unit. If we are to judge from this, apparently we are back to getting 100 free prayers, after we though that feature was removed for good: 13) And after praising the devs for something slightly not so bad, here comes the bad part, Another EX stage, quite likely tailored for a new EPIC/ULTRA unit to make it easier. The reward id this story card I am not too sure how good it is, The only thing I know is that this is the first time I am familiar with the artist, Suzuka Kyouka - or the way I know her better, the creator of the "Touhou Drip Month" (each day of March 2021 had a Touhou girl dressed in some cool street clothes I could only describe as "drip" at the time): 14) Just for a login bonus, Global 1.5 Anniversary is providing 36 SCs to collect through 5 days: With that, we are closing the Global section, and now are moving the focus to the JP area: 1) Just one day after Danmaku Kagura officially died, the following announced dropped on r/touhou_lostword: the announced new game mode, “Reimu’s Great Exorcism”, will be a rhythm mini-game. The reactions to this announcement have been varied. While some consider it to be a new way to keep people playing and are hyped about it, others see it as a spit on the grave of DanKagu, especially given the moment it was announced and some of the visuals/interface elements: 2) Just as Isaac pointed out, there is a new batch of costumes announced for LW Japan, which will come at some point in the future. From the looks of it, they are all cooking-related. I really like the Eiki one, even if it took me a bit to realize it is her dressed like that (I guess the red clothes - red hair combination made me first think of Yuuka, given that Eiki is more quickly associated with her blue and black (or back and whit if you want to take it in accordance to the theme) 3) The Prismriver sisters are finally getting their Fantasy Rebirth outfits. They look quite cute, I will not lie. 4) Time for JP to deal with another Relic unit. This time, it is a Mokou, from a music video I am not sure if it was already released or not (I am really not keeping track of all the official Touhou LW music videos) 5) Yet another Mokou alt. Now we can no longer make jokes about Shion being "Blue Mokou", because HOLY MOTHER OF SEAL CUBES there is an actual Blue Mokou. The Paripi Koumei style (are we now starting to milk other IPs... I mean inspire from other IPs in terms of what glorified skins unit alts to make?) Tewi is actually interesting though (I am still not for EFES units, but I like the outfit itself). Anyway. More units we barely have story for because there hasn't been new main story in what feels like months! Coming November 7th. 6) HOLY MOTHER OF SEAL CUBES x2, they are actually here. Well, they were inevitable, but still. Why in the world are we getting these? They could have very well be skins, but the game decided ever since Summer Yukari to make them separate units, and of an actual different tier of rarity with not chance for pity. Anyway, Summer Reimu and Marisa, everyone: Community discussion and memes Mostly memes this week. There are a couple that really caught my attention: They have even introduced some puns into the voice lines for Tenkyuu herself... Instead of just the image, I have inserted the whole thread. Why? Because the titles perfectly tied into the images themselves. Closing thoughts We failed, DanKagu is no more. I am sorry to end this up on a sad note. Not too much to say today otherwise.

I hope there will be some opportunities to have epic dolls in order to limit break Epic Friends (as for my tropical Hecatia who is stuck on level 70 for 2 months now ^^) I’ve noticed that the omikuji (those little paper in the animal shaped fortune cookies around Kagerou) are based on the ones ZUN made for some event.

Pfffft. ZUN being confused on the concept of Reli. Even he understands that something like that doesn't need to exist. Swimsuit Marisa and Reimu being Epic sucks. A lot. But I guess their fate was sealed the moment Yukari and Hecatia were released. Tewi and Mokou are so cool. God it's been a while since they've given us a character with a really sick design that isn't just a recolor.

Here is the content announced from the 2.5th anniversary dev letter of jp lostword. Reimu and Marisa now have an Epic swimsuit variation. As much as I love both of them, it's just disappointing to see characters that should've been costumes instead. Tewi and Mokou also have Ultra festival variations on the way. I actually thought blue Mokou would be an Epic character and while she does look cool, I'm still not interested with any of the Ufes. They're probably just focusing on these characters now, since everyone from Touhou 6-18 has been implemented already. However, there's another Mokou arriving shortly after. Her MV variation doesn't have a introduction video yet, but I still believe the Relic characters didn't need to exist at all. Even ZUN seemed confused about them in the dev letter livestream. The Prismrivers finally have their fantasy rebirth outfits and they're all beautiful! Lyrica looks really cute while she's sitting on her piano! For the jp christmas event, costumes for Eiki, Narumi and Eika were revealed. I think all of them are adorable! Since the global version likes to include costumes with new characters, we might see Narumi and Eika arriving soon!

Busy weekend caused me to miss my Musical Discoveries post, but instead of posting late I've decided to postpone to next week and prioritize continuing this; I keep putting it off because of how long it takes, but at this point it's getting past the point of acceptability. I could probably fill a thread of its own with original Zunish compositions, a good portion of which would be from fangames (but instead I occasionally feature them in the MD thread). I won't do entries like yours just yet, but I may consider doing so later on. Now, for the first modern era! Actually, where does this era start for the music collections? Should I have included music collections four and five in the classic era? Well, too late now. ZUN's Music Collection Vol. 4: Retrospective 53 Minutes Easy picks, and fitting openers as well. Hiroshige No.36 ~ Neo Super-Express and Blue Sea of 53 Minutes are hard to beat, both for their superior atmosphere and complimentary usage of ambient sound effects. They also do a good job at showcases the distinct sound that music collection originals tend to have; Neo Super-Express would need some tweaking to pass as a stage theme, but Blue Sea would require a complete overhaul (which has been done, but the point stands). ZUN's Music Collection Vol. 5: Magical Astronomy By far my favorite music collection volume, featuring a healthily limited quantity of remixes (that are nonetheless noteworthy among their kind) and several originals of legendary arrangement. G-Free is one of those tracks vying for the mysterious #11 spot in my ranking, capturing all the intensity of a boss theme while also carrying the spacey style that characterizes this album. Beyond that, it's almost impossible to pick a track out from the collection. Obviously Greenwich in the Sky gets plenty of love, but Satellite Cafe Terrace and Welcome to the Moon Tour deserve at least as much attention. So for this one I'll cheat and leave it open; if pressed, I'll favour the latter two for second spot and honorable mention, respectively. Perfect Memento in Strict Sense This is another tiny three-track EP, but where the previous example was somewhat forgettable, this one is worth giving some time to. It is one of two entries where ZUN experimented with his old PC-98 sounds, unrestrained by the confines of their native hardware. All three are noteworthy arrangements; especially relevant is Child of Are, the official theme of written-work-exclusive character Akyuu (keep in mind that this was released around the same time as the Untouched Scores series was coming out). The collection is characterized by an almost off-key sounding harmonization structure, feeling conflicted but somehow cohesive. I think my personal favorite is Japanese Saga, but hopefully all three will receive proper appreciation. Technically Eastern and Little Nature Deity would be next, but I'm skipping it for reasons that will be stated shortly. Touhou 10 ~ Mountain of Faith Earlier I referred to this soundtrack as having "overall strength" in comparison to other entries. By this I meant that there is a standard of quality motifs and progression structures that persists throughout the soundtrack; as a complete collection, I would consider it my favorite in the series. Everything said about Music Collection 5 applies here; Gensokyo Beloved is easily my favorite track (for reasons given elsewhere), but beyond that becomes a difficult choice. For now, I shall go with Faith is for the Transient People, and add Fall of Fall ~ Autumn Waterfall as honorable mention. Strange and Bright Nature Deity The music for this series of written works was spread across three separate releases, all of which could accurately be called EPs. Given that they all follow the same story, and are even named the same with successive numbering, I am considering them as a single collection. Additionally, the tracks from Eastern and Little Nature Deity were re-released as part of this series with little change, so I am grouping that into the collection as well. I ought to admit to being less familiar with these tracks than usual; in fact, you may consider the Three Faries my "blind-spot" for Touhou music. I can safely say that Sunny Rutile Flection is my favorite of the three character themes (as well as one of the strangest names for a track I know of in a series full of odd titles), and I can easily recommend the rest of the collection based upon my vague memory of them, but it may be unfair of me to pick a secondary favorite. The one other track that stands out to me is the collection's rendition of The Refrain of the Lovely Great War; it predated the game it would later be remixed for, and I personally prefer this older version by a great deal. That isn't very much ground covered, but it's been an hour and I'm out of time. Have patience; Lord willing, I shall return!

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~