SoundOfRayne

Actually, I had the same experience when I picked up Azure Reflections, the side-scrolling STG fangame. Cirno was the third playable character in it, and throughout my playthrough, I couldn't get my mind off of her very distinct voice. I knew I'd heard it from somewhere, but I put my finger on it. Then I made it to the credits and found out that she was voiced by Yuka Iguchi. For the record, if you haven't played Azure Reflections to hear it for yourself, I strongly encourage looking up a playthrough to hear her voice. It's fantastic casting, and I consider her voice to be the canon Cirno voice. Yuka's got a lot of VA roles under her belt, but I knew her specifically because she played my favorite character, Hinata Miyake, from my favorite anime, A Place Further than the Universe. After finding that, I also found out that she voiced Tewi in A Summer Day's Dream. Much less interesting, but it also showed me that Reimu there was played by Mai Nakahara, who plays Nagisa Furukawa in my second favorite anime, Clannad. So yeah. It was cool to see that everything related to Japan does eventually come around to Touhou if you look hard enough. Oh, and @CountVonNumenor, you probably noticed, but in Azure Reflections, Rina Satou does reprise her role as Reimu there too. It wasn't shown in the list you provided, but I figured you'd appreciate it.

I dunno how confidently I can call this a "renaissance," since 2023 hasn't had nearly the amount of content that 2022 gave us. At least, not yet. I can at least say that 2022 was an awesome year to be a Touhou fan. So many new faces in the animation sphere that technically existed before 2022 really had their time to take off. I wanna think that MTB's reanimation of We Are Japanese Goblin in late 2021 played a big part in that. It'd been a while since Touhou had made any big waves outside of its own community, so I'd like to think the overwhelming amount of attention it brought to Touhou from all over the internet helped give these up and coming creators their audience. I'd say it's too soon to call it a renaissance, but it is still indicative of Touhou's longevity. All the creators we already love are still going strong, and new ones are starting to pop up. Touhou sure isn't going to be going anywhere anytime soon. And yes, as a certified Seki-stan, Akatsuki Records did a great job stroking my ego as all these people are coming out of the woodworks to find that I was right the whole time.

I've got a few things I'm looking forward to this year. Firstly, there's school. 2022 was a big year for since I returned to school for the first time in 8 years after dropping out. I was so nervous about going back; bogged down with thoughts of "It's too late to get an education" and "I'm not good enough to handle school." But I made it through that first year not just unscathed, but thriving. It was a great year and really boosted my confidence. And now, it's time to see it through. On the Touhou side of things, I'm really looking forward to TouhouFest this spring! I've been to a handful of conventions over the last few years, but never one centered on any one property. But I knew as soon as I heard about it that I wanted to be a part of this. I've already bought my ticket and saved up plenty of money this year. I'm ready to go all out! I'm even getting a costume prepared to cosplay for the first time! I should probably get around to finishing that... And, uhh... embarrassing as it is to out and say, my goal for this year that I want to keep closest is to try and be more sociable. In general, of course, but mainly here in the forums and maybe the discord server. Y'know, I like to think of myself as an active user here at the shrine. I visit the site several times a week, and I try to keep up with all of the threads that catch my interest. But, looking back on things, I don't put in nearly as much as I get out. Not for a lack of effort, mind. When I do post, it's been through hours of deep thought and a little research. Sometimes, an entire afternoon will be burned away, thinking up the perfect post that'll satisfy me, and I haven't even touched the keyboard. Sometimes I never do. It's one of those things I really want to change about myself. I genuinely love it here in the forums; I love Touhou, and I want to be a fan here, and I want to reach out and make friends with people, but it requires working past myself and that's not always an easy thing to do. This year, I'm going to put in the effort to change that. That's all I can think of for now, but I'm sure there'll be more to come. 2022 was a big year for me as fan and a person, and I'm going into 2023 very uncharacteristically optimistic. I know this year'll be good to me. I hope it'll be just as good for everyone else here too.

I'm glad I decided to sleep before coming back to finish this post. I seem to always have a better perspective on things after waking up. I was gonna come in with a spiel about how "there's no definition for what makes someone a fan" and how "only you can define whether you consider yourself a fan or not." But, that one never really felt complete. Something felt off. "There's no such thing as a bad fan"? Of course there are. I just talked about how awful these people are who gatekeep others from the fandom. How I could I in good conscience make the claim that no one can be a bad fan when I clearly admonish that kind of behavior? I didn't agree with this. I liked the sentiment, but just as you said, it felt incomplete. But you got me questioning; thinking about what was missing from it. I've enjoyed things that I never considered myself a fan of. Hell, even within Touhou, I had been engorged with content for well over a month before I could consider myself a fan. Tons of games and fangames, animations, music, art; I saw so much, and I loved all of (most of) it, but I never really wanted to tell people I was a fan. And then FDF II happened, and before you say anything, I know. "Mom!!! SoundOfRayne's jerking off FDF II again!!!" Okay, I get it. FDF II is special to me and I won't shut up about it. But that's just it. It's special to me, and I wanted to share that with other people. Up until that point, enjoying Touhou was for me and me alone. No girls allowed! But, this one was different. Not because I liked it the best, but because for the first time, I wanted to share how I felt about it with other people. And that's the conclusion I've reached. "What makes someone a [Touhou] fan?" When your enjoyment of something extends beyond yourself, that's when you're a fan. Is that answer broad as all hell? Oh, you bet it is! "How far beyond yourself do you have to get to be a 'real' fan?" Doesn't matter! Do you like playing the games and competing for score? You're a fan. Do you like looking up cool artwork of cute girls? You're a fan. Do you like scrolling through comment sections or forums to hear what other people have to say about "whatever Touhou?" You're a fan. Hell, do you just like sending memes about the plushie of a stupid ice fairy? You're still a fan even if I don't wanna admit it. Is it all positive? Of course not. We've had plenty of discussions here that were plenty critical of things inside and outside of the fandom. Being a fan of something doesn't mean you have to love everything about it. Making people feel welcome to talk about not just what they like, but what they don't, is the mark of a healthy community. And then we wrap it back around to the gatekeepers: a genuine, bona fide bad fan. Gatekeepers don't wanna share things. They want to cut the conversations off; keep the riff-raff out; keep things from changing so that the fandom stays centered around them and what they like. The worst part is that the things that they like are still in the fandom. Older games still have their dedicated fans. People still "play for score." Canon is still being explored and discussed. It's just not the only thing. Arguably, it never was. But rather than try and connect with their kindred spirits, they just try and force everyone else out. To what end? To make it easier to find people who think like they do? I don't have the answer to that. And, @CountVonNumenor, I need to correct something from my previous post. I said before that you weren't a bad Touhou fan, and that was seriously understating things. Over the last year, you've brought a lot of people together on the forums. You've brought debates and critiques and passions out of people. I've tried to enjoy the Shrine's Discord, but I doubt I'll ever be able to feel comfortable in it. These forums feel like a home to me to be able to express myself on my own terms. I wouldn't be surprised if others felt the same way. And even now, we've got someone new to jump in for something that you started. (Welcome to the Shrine @EerieCrypts, by the way.) Dude, if that's not evidence of a good Touhou fan, I don't know what is. I don't really like being sappy about it, but it feels fitting to close out the year. Don't let other people's arbitrary standards get you down. You're absolutely appreciated here.

Never a simple post with you, huh Count? Just as I'm trying to write up a response to the Memories of Phantasm post, I get the notification for this. Well, this topic's a little more important. So, I've read through it all pretty quickly, and I've got some pretty strong feelings on the matter. So, just to get the first question out of the way, "Am I a bad Touhou fan?" Short answer: No. Long answer: Fuck no. There is no debate on this. There is no justifiable, well-intentioned way to make a case that there are "better" or "worse" ways to be a fan. And this doesn't just apply to Touhou. It applies to everything. Gatekeeping is inexcusable in my book. It always has been, and it's always going to be. I think that the basis behind this problem, and why some act the way they do about other people joining in their fandoms, is a psychological concept known as "the Other." As per the webpage: "The Other is an individual who is perceived by the group as not belonging, as being different in some fundamental way. Any stranger becomes the Other. The group sees itself as the norm and judges those who do not meet that norm (that is, who are different in any way) as the Other. Perceived as lacking essential characteristics possessed by the group, the Other is almost always seen as a lesser or inferior being and is treated accordingly. The Other in a society may have few or no legal rights, may be characterized as less intelligent or as immoral, and may even be regarded as sub-human." I wasn't sure whether I should bring this one up. The Other is a concept most often used alongside some pretty heavy topics like, for example: differences in race and ethnicity, social class, religion, and political stances. Pretty heavy stuff with a lot of severe implications behind them. And I would be a damned idiot if I tried to make the case that gatekeeping in a fandom is equivalent to being a racist and a bigot. But... I can't deny that when I see stuff like you put in your post, Count, this was the first thing that came to mind. I think on a fundamental level, this is the reason why gatekeeping happens. People like feeling like they're part of something special; that they found this hidden gem, and they get to place themselves in an "us" against "them" scenario because they understand something that others around them don't. It massages their ego to feel like they're part of this "special elite," even though it would make more sense to want more people involved, so that they would have more opportunities to share their passions with others. But people don't want that. If their fandom gets popular, they're not the "special ones" anymore; just another face in the crowd. So to stave it off, they, the "us," have to do something to set themselves apart from the "them." "They" aren't "us" and they can't be "us," because if "they" can be "us," then there's no point in being "us." The Touhou fandom is... weird. Weird in the sense that it is simultaneously an absolute powerhousing giant of a fandom, yet relatively obscure. It's big enough that a lot of people (I'd argue most people) find out about it through means other than its official material. At the same time, getting invested in it takes work. Say you wanna play the games. Sure, the later entries are available on Steam, but they're costly, and aren't officially patched for any language other than Japanese. Better google up a patch. Oh, and I hope you actually like and are decent at shoot-em-ups. You're not getting much story if you can't beat the game. Wanna read the manga? Hope you already know who these characters are; they're not gonna be introduced. Oh yeah, and these also aren't made available in your language. Please, I just want my WaHH... Is that too much to ask? OG Touhou fans outside of Japan had to work their asses off to get into this fandom. It's not hard to imagine them getting an ego when new people join in because Touhou is now infinitely more accessible than it was in their time. Now we get "fake fans." They didn't put in the same amount of time and work and dedication that we did, and yet they get to keep the same title of "fan?" And now even inside the fandom, it's still "us" vs "them." Okay, that's enough on the nature of gatekeeping. Worrying about whether you fit someone else's definition of a "fan" isn't just a fruitless endeavor; it's a harmful one. If you let someone assume the role of an authority on what constitutes a fan, not only are you putting your own enjoyment of Touhou at risk, but also reinforcing their stance that their are "better" and "worse" fans for other newcomers. That's why gatekeeping needs to be nipped in the bud and never be tolerated. I'm not totally happy with my post. I still have the second question to answer about "What makes someone a Touhou fan?" But, I'm out of time for today, and I really don't want to wait a whole 'nother day to get my thoughts out. I'll definitely be coming back to this thread to close things up.

Holy shit @CountVonNumenor, you really like putting us through the wringer on these posts, huh? Not just satisfied having us go through your episode-by-episode reactions, but MegaFrog's hour-long video AND a compilation of comments too? Absolute sadist. I'm kidding. I love that any thread you start up is gonna get my brain-gears turning. Though I'm not as happy to say that thanks to MegaFrog's due diligence, there isn't much of anything I can think of to research for this thread. But getting to revisit my time with MoP again leaves me with a lot of questions and thoughts on it, and I feel like sharing them. Girls are now calculating... So, trying to put a pin in my feelings for Memories of Phantasm turned out to be really difficult because I don't really have strong feelings for it. My feelings are largely similar to the kind of reception MegaFrog covered in his video: I remember the show pretty fondly, I can recall a good number of moments that I enjoyed, and some I enjoyed a lot, but when I try to think about the kind of impact it left on me, I can't really muster up anything more than "It's the Touhou anime," and end up defaulting to a lot of the criticisms for stuff about it that I didn't like. Which is a shame. No other singular project in the Touhou fandom that I've seen reaches the kind of scale MoP does, and despite it being so full of stuff that I really liked, my feelings about it overall are just lukewarm... One of the pieces of MegaFrog's video that stuck out to me was his opening argument over authorial intent and the claim that MoP was never made to be an adaptation of Touhou Project. Maybe it was recency bias, the well-formed argument MegaFrog made around this, or that smooth voice of his, but I ended up following along with it throughout the entirety of his video, but when I spent literal hours yesterday trying to write out a response to this thread, I ended up feeling frustrated because despite agreeing with his position at the time, most of my stances and feelings on MoP contradicted it. I decided to sleep on the matter. When I woke up, I realized that there were a few points MegaFrog made that I don't actually agree with; this being one of them. MoP adds very little "new" to the stories of the games. Sure, it takes creative liberties with the way characters are portrayed and how the events are structured, but that was going to happen anyways. All adaptations take creative liberties. Claiming that MoP isn't one just highlights how little deviation there is from the events it's recreating, and how reductive the deviations it does take are. People mistaking MoP as a failed adaptation of Touhou's canon isn't the result of fans misunderstanding the project; it's the result of MoP failing to forge it's own unique identity separate from the source material. Alright, let's talk about the tiddies because ho' boy, there are sure a lot of them in MoP. Look, I watched MegaFrog's entire video. I see the image. The fanservicing was done because the creators wanted it; not necessarily to make the show more marketable. I get it. But on the other hand, what does it matter why the fanservice was put in? When I hear people complain that the fanservice is excessive, they don't care about whether it was an executive decision for money or the passion work of a particularly horny animator; they care that it's detracting from a story that's already cutting out characters and potential content to make a tight run time and negatively impacts their ability to enjoy the show. "Why" is completely irrelevant in this. It's not people are gonna say "Well, I used to hate Chen's ass, but now that I know the artist is into it, I guess it is pretty cool." And since I guess this has become the "This is the part where SoundOfRayne disagrees with MegaFrog's analysis of MoP's criticisms" part of the post, I may as well comment on the final thing I don't agree with him on: the closing image of the three ways in which MoP is misinterpreted by the creators, its critics, and its fans. Mind, not because of what's actually put on-screen. I do believe that different people have different conclusions on what Memories of Phantasm is trying to be. No, what I disagree with is the implication that MoP's mixed reception comes from a shared responsibility (or lack thereof) from all three parties to properly identify and understand the show. I do not agree with this implication in the slightest. As GensouChronicle put it, "I blame the people in charge of the project." As a creator, it is your responsibility to properly establish what your work is and what it's about. If people are misunderstanding MoP, that's its creators' fault, not theirs. Okay, now that I've covered the Frog in the room, I guess I talk about my specific feelings on Memories of Phantasm now. I do wanna start with positives since, as I said before, MoP does so many things well, and those positives often get overshadowed by its criticisms. I don't think this needs much elaboration, but damn, MoP looks so darn pretty. All of the art is crisp and clean, and pretty much any frame of the show could be a valid wallpaper choice. Personally, I'm a bigger fan of good smear-framing to sell that extra bit of oomph to movements, but I'd be stupid not to recognize the talent that went into MoP's visual production. Even as the show carried on and the team downsized, the art for the show continues to look polished and professional. One of the things that MoP does that most other non-game fanworks don't is portraying actual danmaku battles. Danmaku are such visual clutter; it works well in the context of the games, but for things like doujin manga or animations, it distracts viewers from what the artist wants them to focus on. So, most examples of battles in fanworks tend to be simpler; more direct attacks with basic patterns to give fights a better sense of direction and flow. But MoP opts to animate danmaku in all of their glory, giving us gorgeous scenes of colorful bullet patterns, and they're just as captivating and terrifying as they are in the games. Admittedly, though, this does come with the downside of being less visually impressive once things zoom in and we watch the characters just... not get hit by anything. I'm convinced that Touhou bosses all just have Stormtrooper aim, but also have like 1000 blasters to even it out. Something's bound to hit, right? This one might be a bit contentious depending on which character you happen to be a fan of, but on the whole, I do like the way most of the characters are written. Cirno is the favorite in my book. She's not too stupid, but she's also clearly not all there. She's arrogant and scrappy, but also gets her moments to be sweet for Daiyousei. MegaFrog was spot on. I never really considered having a favorite episode for the show, but if I had to choose, I would give it to The Mysterious Giant Youkai. I kinda forgot how favorably I remembered that episode until I heard MegaFrog talking about it. Also, can we talk about Nitori being an adorkable little butterbean? She just wants to play with her science toys, and Marisa joins in as her hypeman just because it "sounds like it'd be cool." Sure, Nitori getting flirty with her wasn't really my thing, but everything else was so cute and wholesome and I loved it. I wish the actual MoF story wasn't going on and I coulda just gotten an episode of them just playing around, being doofuses. Okay, so Meiling got absolutely shafted in the EoSD arc. Everyone agrees on this. But like, Meiling being Flandre's mom in pretty much every other scene they're in is the most precious and wholesome thing ever, and no one talks about it. It's all just "haha, lazy gatekeeper gets her ass handed to her." Meiling fans, just... take the L on that fight, okay? You're still eating pretty good. Alright, I know this one is hated by a lot of people, but... I actually really like Eiki in MoP. Not necessarily because I like her flanderized personality (smol, judgemental, obnoxiously self-righteous, talks shit about everyone to their face literally the whole night) but because despite being shown as annoying and non-threatening, she strikes the most visceral fear into the hearts of everyone the moment she's mentioned. I find the idea that listening to her lectures is more terrifying that the literal death-matches these characters have with each other absolutely hilarious, canon be damned. Sure, MoP doesn't bat 1000. There are definitely characters who got the short end of the stick when it came to representation. If you're a fan of any character who shows up before stage 4, you just get to eat whole shit. Except Alice. Alice fans get to eat good. ...Fuck you, Alice fans... I would say that the big main issue I take with MoP is, as MegaFrog elaborated on, its lack of identity. MoP does do something very fascinating, though. I would say it's a perfect reflection of the inconsistency within the Touhou fandom. MoP wants to be a high-intensity action show that replicates the spectacle of danmaku battles from the games, but it also wants to be a cute, silly little slice-of-life-y show that focuses on these adorable little beans we call characters, but it also also wants to coat the whole thing in raw sex appeal because the fandom sure does like their yuri-bait and tiddies, huh? It's like it's trying to be everyone's Touhou and, well... In all fairness, it did bring everyone together to collectively say, "Not my Touhou." That's really what it boils down to. It's trying to be for everyone; to encompass as much about Touhou's canon and fandom as possible to give everyone something. And as the old saying goes, if you try to please everyone, you'll end up pleasing no one. That's why I think that MoP is so heavily panned compared to its contemporaries. A Summer's Day Dream and Hifuu Club Activity Record knew exactly what they wanted to be; what story they wanted to tell, how they wanted to tell it, and who they wanted to tell it for. So people who watched them can know exactly why they like them, or maybe don't like them. They can judge them fairly because they understand what they're watching. MoP didn't have this. Even though it was incredibly popular, not many people seem to consider themselves fans of it, and I totally get that. And that's where I find myself with Memories of Phantasm. There are all these moments which captured my heart, but that's all they were; moments. It's like taking a bunch of really tasty ingredients and putting them in a pot to cook, except the pot is rusted and hadn't been cleaned in a while, the heat isn't at the right setting, and oh yeah, you don't know how to cook. Those ingredients- those moments- might be good on their own; maybe even the best. But unless they can be properly tied together, your soup is gonna end up nasty. MoP is so odd to talk about because it's a whole that's somehow less than the sum of its parts. It's easy to punch down to because people from all stages in the Touhou fandom can find the cracks in it pretty easily. But it's hard to hate. Despite how much flak it gets for the sloppy execution, people still see Memories of Phantasm for what it truly is: A labor of love at an unprecedented level. Seriously, how many other fandoms can get a whole, independently funded, professionally animated series? Touhou fans really are an entirely different breed. I think that's why people give all this conflicting reception to it. It's a genuinely special endeavor for the Touhou fandom, and that kind of passion shouldn't go unappreciated. But, uhh... It was kinda hard watching the end of MegaFrog's video, hearing about just how bad MoP's finances are. It's heartbreaking knowing that this massive passion project, given to one of the most ravenous fanbases around, isn't making back any of its money. Like, this is the same fandom that will shell out hundreds of dollars for a fucking felt plushie based off an ages-old fan manga (Seriously, fuck Fumos), but this is where they draw the line? I'm genuinely shocked. I hope for the sake of the people who really believe in Memories of Phantasm that no one ends up breaking themselves over it.

As an avid Shimmy-stan, this kind of shit has to be some of the most disgusting stuff to ever come out of the fandom. I'd love to hear someone try and justify abusing a character whose most defining characteristics are "being overly trusting of others" and "being smaller than everyone else," and come out of it still thinking they're a well-adjusted human being. Reminds me of when I found out there was a community of people who enjoyed watching snuff videos of monkeys being abused. I sure hope the people who support this stuff don't have any pets... Look hard enough, and "Gensokyo accepts everything" takes on a much more insidious meaning. As for the actual topic of the thread, I really wanna know why so many people love Tenshi so much. It's not like I have anything against her: She's got a cool hat. She's got a laser sword. That's pretty awesome. And she chows down on a peach that one time. In my mind, it's like "Yep. She fits the bill. She's definitely a Touhou character. Into the bin with the rest of 'em." But like, Tenshi's popular. Really popular, and I have no idea why. To be fair, though, I haven't played any of the fighting games where she actually appears, so maybe there's something there I missed out on. And for a character I just flat-out hate, I can't stand Seija. Like, she's designed from the ground up to be intentionally unlikable, and uhh... mission accomplished, I guess. She's supposed to always act opposite to everyone's desires. No matter the context, she will always antagonize anyone she's next to. That could work well for her while she has her villain role, but a big part of Touhou is that nearly every character stops being a villain after their connected incident is resolved. But Seija doesn't do that; by design, she can't do that. Whereas other characters are shown to be thoughtless, short-sighted, or self-serving, Seija is an actual malicious force who even enjoys being hated for her actions. And then to keep her around, the fandom has to strip her down into a cheap tsundere so they can ship her with Shinmyoumaru guilt-free. In a fandom rife with toxic pairings, I still think this one is the worst.

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~