Hi! Liked your video a lot :)! I just want so say that there are 2 Touhou themes that I highly recommend looking together in a video, those themes are Necrofantasia, and "A maiden's illusionary funeral~Necro-Fantasy", also, I would recommend to look the second one(Necro-fantasy) first, aa it is the first you see in the game and, also, it's better to see the difference xd
Hi man ! This video was as great as the previous ones. If you want suggestions for touhou tracks to review, I could only recommand listening to necrofantasia (Yukari's theme), very popular ost. And as my favorite one, much less known but with absolutely gorgeous zumpets, idolatrize world (Keiki's theme)
@@calibula95 I can’t believe I forgot the name of the song when it’s in the title. What’s worse is, when talking about Touhou songs I usually shorten the longer names and when referring to this one I call it immortal smoke.
@@kingdynal7735 nos that i think about it... Are extra stage and boss' themes the only ones that aren't redundant? I mean, most of the time Zun has 2 names for his songs, one in japanese and the other in english . Obviously when translated the two are somewhat similar but many extra themes aren't like that. Well, whatever. More context for Davi to guess the character traits without even having played the games KEKW.
It's a testament to the musical competence of Davi and ZUN that the characters and their personalities are so accurately communicated just by sound and melody alone. So impressive.
Mokou's theme is a great example of ZUN's ability to tell a story within a song. Mokou's theme is excited, cheerful, but it is also tragic. The song hinges on one main melody that repeats for most of the song, and has additions to it each time, reflecting that every time Mokou is resurrected, she's changed. But it has one section that deviates from the main melody, which is that music box/glockenspiel break verse, that is using a low energy instrument for a fast paced section. And it ends by returning to the main melody. It tells a tale of an eternal cycle that's broken only for a moment by death, which is practically a short sleep for her and music boxes are a well-known instrument for sleep, because she's brought back and forced to continue forwards, advancing with no real motivation to do so, but using her own emotions to power through it until even those burn away. She is a great example character of the "Immortality SUCKS" brand.
10:00 The fact that you were able to accurately nail the entire purpose of Mokou in that segment is incredible. The main melody sounds like it can infinitely loop because Mokou herself can “infinitely loop”- in other words, she’s immortal. She has the full powers of the pheonix, which reincarnates infinitely, basically meaning she’ll keep repeating forever just like the melody. The passion that you also pointed out in the song has to do with Mokou’s pheonix abilities too; she manipulates fire and can burn forever. Because she knows she’s going to live forever, Mokou is also a pretty laid-back and thrill-seeking character- you even caught that with the xylophone segment! Incredible stuff.
It’s not just that she’s immortal, it’s that she’s easily killed but comes back right away every time, in specific contrast to Kaguya, who can’t be killed at all. Kaguya is eternal, while Mokou burns out quickly but always comes back. I mentioned the contrast between the very structures of their respective theme songs elsewhere.
@@Dreigonix Isn't that practically every touhou song too though? The formula is just one short, memorable melody, a few interludes in between to connect the melodies composed of arpeggios/runs usually, then building on the melodies using new instruments, key changes, tempo changes, etc. Then they infinitely loop. I feel like that can describe nearly every single touhou song, including this one. Not that that's bad. I love almost every single one of them. Just, looping infinitely and building on a short melody is not really special in the context of touhou.
@@brianchen1302 Although every touhou song needs to loop, not every song loops in the same feeling as this one. In his other touhou song analyses, we can see he hadn't commented on this part, yet within this video he can clearly feel and hear the loop, as it was much more impactful.
when you mentioned looping and infinity my jaw dropped. mokou is immortal. she will live INFINITELY. how do you keep getting these characters right from the music alone...
@@Dreigonix And this is probably why every theme Zun does I just like it more or more xd You can't find someone who can express their characters so well only by the music itself.
Some personal thoughts on this song. The vibes of childishness do make sense, in a weird way, as Mokou was born a mortal human, but became immortal, now being over a thousand years old. She's had multiple phases in her immortality, and now reached one where she basically decides to do whatever she feels like doing - usually helping people and fighting with strong people. I do think that the tenser moments of this song also sound like a cry for help from her, while the start represent her melancholy - her immortality is a prison for her, as she never wanted to be immortal, and was never taught how to bear that burden unlike the non-human characters. To note, all the Touhou themes you've reviewed so far are the themes of the Extra bosses - the bonus, hyper-difficult, post-game bosses, which generally have among the most intense and urgent-sounding themes in the series, fitting for a one-off, no holds barred fight. If you want to review another one in that style (and currently my personal favorite of the bunch, though they're all great), I'd recommend the one from the most recent mainline game, Momoyo's theme: The Princess Who Slays Dragon Kings. Comparatively, the final boss themes, while climactic, tend to be less frenzied, more serene, as you're usually fighting the mastermind of the game that the story has been leading up to. Among those, I really like Remilia's theme, from the same game as Flandre: Septette For A Dead Princess.
That part in particular sounds so "dreamy" for me, everytime i hear it i cant help but imagine mokou remembering her childhood when she was mortal, to me her appearence before drinking the elixir looks like a small girl
On the topic of extra boss themes, Futatsuiwa from Sado is CRIMINALLY underrated. It's one of the catchiest songs in the entire series and part of the reason why Mamizou is one of my favorite characters, it just suits her so well!
I also hear the aggressiveness and anger in her theme, which makes sense. She's in an eternal feud with Kaguya. She became Immortal for the sake of taking revenge on her, and because they're both Immortal, they'll always have each other when everyone else around them dies. Even if the whole world falls apart, they'll still be there, and fighting each other is what makes their isolation less miserable. Mokou's eternal hatred for Kaguya is what keeps pushing her forward and distracts her from the fact that everyone she gets closer to will die. It's the only thing she can ever rely on if she loses someone or something because mortality consumes them.
I can’t believe we’re getting so many Touhou ost analysis videos so quick. Thank you so much. You don’t understand how much of a gift these are to me! And I’m glad you are enjoying them too. If I were to pitch in and suggest the next song, I’d want you to listen Utsuho’s theme: Solar Sect of Mystic Wisdom ~ Nuclear Fusion
Same. As a long time fan of the Touhou-Franchise (since 2011), it's so great to see the broader audience react to the amazing world ZUN has created. Even though I had no part in it, I still feel like a proud mom seeing her kid grow up.
Since you seem starting in touhou, you must hear: Necrofantasia Border of life + last spell border of life theme Suwa foughten field Native Faith Cosmic mind Broken moon EDIT: stage themes are mostly good too, all I mentioned are bosses themes, but you should look for stage themes as well, such as The Maid and the Pocket Watch of Blood, Road of the Apotropaic God and Lullaby of the Deserted Hell.
I feel like Necro Fantasy ought to be a package deal with Necrofantasia. Their similarities and differences really do paint an interesting picture of the Yakumos.
As among many that only know Touhou by it's soundtrack, Entrusting This World To Idols ~ Idolize World is one of my favs that you should give a listen to~
Mokou is about as far from Flandre and Koishi as you can get. She’s a vengeful, battle-scarred noblewoman whose family had their life ruined by Kaguya (yes, THAT Kaguya- Mokou’s story runs parallel to the legendary Tale of the Bamboo Cutter; look it up). In revenge, she stole the Hourai Elixir, becoming an immortal phoenix, and swore to kill Kaguya, and the two have been fighting ever since. While Kaguya is immortal in the sense that she can never die no matter what’s done to her, Mokou’s immortality means she respawns every time she dies- you actually kill her at least ten times over the course of the battle until she can no longer handle the pain of dying repeatedly and gives up. So Kaguya is eternity, and Mokou is ephemerality.
Also, if you listen to Flight of the Bamboo Cutter (Kaguya’s theme), you’ll notice that Kaguya’s theme is long and keeps changing with new motifs every section, in comparison to Reach for the Moon, Immortal Smoke, which uses only one short melody repeated over and over. I think this is also connected to Kaguya and Mokou’s respective themes of eternity and ephemerality.
One thing I love about Mokou too is how she fell into madness for several hundred years because her human mind couldn't comprehend her own immortality. A regular human was NEVER meant to live as long as her and she's suffered because of it. And it's not even the first time it's happened. She falls in and out of madness, and like you said she's ephemeral. She's in a constant state of change but is never truly destroyed.
Well, Mokou's father was only really humiliated the way he was because he tried to fake the item Kaguya requested, only to have her pull out the genuine article when presented with the fake. Was it mean-spirited of Kaguya to request something that already was in her possession? Maybe. But if he had accepted that he couldn't fulfill her request, then at least he could have walked away with his dignity. Besdes, Mokou has long since thrown away any feelings of resentment and regret. 1300 years is a long time to reflect on the past, and at this point she's just happy to be able to relate to Kaguya, in regards to the endless expanse of time that awaits them both. Even though killing each other repeatedly is the way they choose to go about it. Besides, they're both Hourai immortals, which means that death (and thus life as well) doesn't apply to them. If their physical bodies are destroyed, their souls will create a new body from nothing, and their souls are also eternal, and disconnected from the cycle of life and death. Mokou will actually exploit this by burning herself to death, just to get a "fresh" body, if she has a reason to.
@@hoppefrosk The real fucked part of it all is those two will literally experience the heat death of the universe if they don't figure out how to die or jump to a new one
This is why many people feel like ZUN is a genius. Not only does he make great music, but he makes amazing 'themes'. In his music, he can accurately represent the person or place the music is for. Just as you managed to do, you can loosely figure out a character just by their theme alone. As a change up, you should listen to a stage theme from the series, rather than a boss theme. Some personal favorites of mine is 'The Gensokyo the Gods Loved' and 'The Capital City of Flowers in the Sky'.
'Legend of Tohno' and Hina's stage theme from MoF are really good stage themes too. And if you want to have a boss theme as a stage theme 'charming domination' slaps hard.
It's still funny as hell to me that the man's genius is all pretty innate, too. Like, he doesn't have any deep musical knowledge or experience(beyond iirc, he took a singular college course on music at one point and nothing else), none of that. He's just a guy with a hell of a passion and a phenomenal talent making these whole soundtracks and games from scratch, and they BANG. Truly, ain't nobody doing it quite like him.
I am really shocked how accurately you can nail down characters just by the theme used, but in the same time that also means that the Composers were geniuses in composing a theme which reflects the characters so well. It is just showing how much Genius music can be xd Also the little word "Infinity" at the end, just.... I dont know what to say xd
The looping infinitely is a big part of this song. Mokou is an immortal phoenix. In mythology, phoenixes live, die, then gets reborn again, in an endless looping cycle. In the game, you kill Mokou multiple times only for her to revive over & over again; matching the loops in the song. You only win when she gives up. In general, Touhou 8 has a feeling of infinity & vastness, since it’s a story about immortals/long-lived characters. It’s got a very dramatic “epic” style tragedy feel to it with it’s heavy use of classical sounding arpeggios & just the types of melodies it uses in general, but it’s also got a lot of tension & urgency because of the plot. (Whereas the previous game has a more sorrowful tragedy feeling to it, and the next game has a more wistful nostalgic feeling to it.)
7:20 No problem whistling, it's quite normal when listening to Touhou music, there are videos of covers whistling Touhou songs although I don't know if they still exist.
Something that I thing should be mentioned is that as this, as well as the previous two songs are for extra stage bosses, essentially a post-game that is unlocked for beating the game on normal without running out of lives, they are meant to be frantic and exciting. And as extra stage is the very end of every Touhou game (aside from 7, which is the only game to have a stage beyond Extra) they are almost always celebratory and exciting. Now, as great as all these three are, they are also just a fraction of the musical genres ZUN covers in his works. The best part of ZUN's compositions is that they tell a story not only by themselves, but also together, together with both the gameplay and the musics that follow one another. For example, the stage 2 theme from Subterranean Animism, the same game Hartmann's Youkai Girl is from, is a slow, ominous music that evokes the feeling of going through an abandoned place. It is then followed by the boss Parsee's theme, Green Eyed Jealousy, which is a slow and sad sounding song that keeps the sad tone until the end. Alongside this, ZUN also makes the musics before designing any of the characters or stages and builds the games around the music he's made, which results in characters and stages being intertwined with their respective themes as well as stages and characters having intentionally timed moments that almost always happen on time with a certain part of a song. It is one of the best parts of Touhou as a series and I think seeing it in action would enhance your experience with Touhou music as well. One last thing I need to mention is that ZUN also has made several standalone albums that have musics that do their own thing, as they are not meant to be in a game. Some examples would be Mary the Magician which is ominous and outright scary, Satellite Torifune that gives the feeling of space exploration and many more.
Normally I find people because of Touhou music. You're the first person I found first and then started doing Touhou music to my surprise. And I love your takes on them.
You should try listening to stage themes too!! They usually give off a different vibe, usually calmer and more melancholic- people keep suggesting boss themes, so why not stage themes? You could try listening to "Lullaby of Deserted Hell", "The Sea Where One's Home Planet Reflects", "The Shining Needle Castle Sinking in the Air", "Heartfelt Fancy", etc. These are some of my favorite ones but you can explore some more too!
Among my favorite stage themes, the more calmer ones that haven't been mentioned yet are "Frozen Capital of Eternity", "The Capital City of Flowers in the Sky", "Voyage 1969", "Swim in a Cherry Blossom-Colored Sea", or even "Fires of Hokkai".
If he does do Pure Furies, I wonder if he’ll notice that the chorus has the same chord progression as U.N. Owen Was Her. I think that was intentionally done to call back to something very primal in Touhou by referencing The One Touhou Song _Everyone_ Knows, and this relates to how Junko is a character boiled down to her pure base essence, and her gameplay boils down to the pure basics of danmaku.
I love reach for the moon, immortal smoke My OG favorite touhou song Maiden's Capriccio ~ Dream Battle is also good, and Necrofantasia is downright iconic.
Can't wait for more Touhou Content from you, your Videos are always very fun and informative! I will also proceed to use your Videos to steal chord progressions lol ;3
I don't expect you to turn into a Touhou music channel exclusively but in case you want to continue talking about Touhou for a while... How about Theme of Eastern Story? It's considered to be the main theme of the whole series. Its melody is found everywhere in other Touhou songs. Other suggestions: Satori Maiden ~ 3rd Eye - for something classier and a little somber Solar Sect of Mystic Wisdom ~ Nuclear Fusion - for something badass Tonight Stars an Easygoing Egoist (Live ver.) - for classic Touhou but with a silly twist A Flower-Studded Sake Dish on Mt. Ooe - for something fun
Thanks for including Tonight Stars, it's one of my favorites but often left aside because it's not from the main danmaku series. Other soundtracks I like: Cheat Against the Impossible Danmaku Provincial Makai City Esoteria (even though yet another irregular time might be too much for now) Beware the Umbrella Left There Forever The Shining Needle Castle Sinking in the Air Swim in a Cherry Blossom-Colored Sea Sakura, Sakura - Japanize Dream (because ending themes deserve some love too) Eastern Night Vignette - Imperishable Night - Eastern Night (because title themes deserve some love too, and it features the main theme) And maybe a few PC-98 themes like Civilization of Magic, and a few CD themes like Ancient Temple in the Netherworld.
My suggestion : Keiki theme : Entrusting This World to Idols ~ Idolatrize World. Touhou goes from 06 to 18 since 2001. Mokou theme is from touhou 09 made in 2004, Keiki theme is from touhou 17 made in 2019 and one of the best recent theme ZUN have made.
Of course, some looping is expected for a video game song like this, but the fact that you point it out here _specifically_ is interesting. Mokou's life is on a constant loop, as she is immortal. And it's not a pleasant kind of immortality, because she can't _stop_ (unlike the other "immortals" of the series who can technically die, it's just really hard to achieve), and having been born a normal human, she's not exactly mentally built for that. The notes of both playfulness (she's reached a point in her infinite life of just kinda doing whatever she feels like) and loneliness (who can truly relate to an immortal?) also fit parts of her character. By the way if you want to _really_ hear ZUNpets in action, try *Wind God Girl,* Aya Shameimaru's theme. The version in _Phantasmagoria of Flower View_ is the original, ZUN released an extended version in _Bohemian Archive in Japanese Red,_ and _Scarlet Weather Rhapsody_ has a fun remix (though that one might be by one of the TasoFro people instead of ZUN himself).
It's always so interesting to see a bit-by-bit analysis of one my favourite themes by a person with such a deep insight. Really hope to see more Touhou)
So Davi, I’m actually really glad you chose Immortal smoke to listen to today. This song was the second song in the touhou project I ever listened to, my closest friend introduced me to this song, because it was his favorite. So there is one thing that you should keep in mind for EVERY TRACK IN THE SERIES, that being, none of them loop back to the beginning of the track. This is important, because the way that the bosses and levels in touhou work is that they perfectly line up with the music, this is because Zün makes the music first and levels second, so when the music ends, so does the boss, if you’ve survived to get there. If you were wondering what my first track was, “Lunatic Red Eyes- Invisible Full Moon” It’s still one of my favorites even if it’s a little more simple. I do recommend it though.
The ZUNpet is a sample called romantic tp from the edirol sd-90 synthesizer ZUN used the sd-90 for touhou 6 and after and he used the roland sc-88pro for the touhou 6 midis and his older stuff
It would be interesting to watch you review any "final boss" themes (like "Flight in the Bamboo Cutter ~ Lunatic Princess" from the very same game), as they often express many, many emotions and are overall way different. And every stage's boss has different music "convention" in general.
Omg, another 2hu track and this time it's Mokou! Her backstory and circumstances for fighting you are a lot more tragic than most other characters and its captured perfectly by that lonely piano. The loopable nature of the main melody very much reflects her status as an immortal. Not too mention this is a very good theme for demonstrating how Zunpets are used throughout the series as a final accumulation of all the themes introduce to you throughout their run. ZUN does an insane job of creating memorable melodies that implant themselves in your brain and its nice to see u seem to be experiencing that effect and very much enjoying it. Fantastic vid and analysis, you continue to be insanely good at figuring out context based only on music!
YES. YES THAT'S MY BOY! (Mokou is my third favourite character in the entire franchise) Reach for the Moon is an absolute masterpiece and one of ZUN's best. It's almost painful in it's beauty and it gives us so many clues about Mokou as a character, mostly that she's an immortal and that it's not always an easy experience. According to the lore of the franchise, she essentially went through the stages of grief after realising her mistake of consuming the Hourai Elixir (which is what gave her her immortality) and those emotions are relfected really well in her theme, I think. Also, like the last time, I again recommend you listen to Bloom Nobly, Cherry Blossom of Sumizome ~ Border of Life, Necrofantasia, Suwa Foughten Field, Solar Sect of Mystic Wisdom, Emotional Skyscraper or Pure Furies. And for something COMPLETELY different, check out Pristine Beat.
First undertale, and now Touhou?? I feel there are so many people who make "X reacts to Y" type videos, but I don't feel a lot of them actually tell you that much about what they are reacting to. I actually really like the way you explain things here though, and how show chords and notes and explain things with simple terms in a way where everyone can understand you. Keep up the amazing work!
I love how genuinely invested you are always on your musical analysis! You nailed the character/main traits of Mokou just from the music alone. She's a human that became immortal at a young age, with the passing of time she started to care less and less so now she just lives her life doing whatever she wants. I also always felt that the constant loop of the main melody gave it that infinite sensation to the song. Also don't mind the whistle! I actually really like it, never heard a whistle were the notes actually sound like the song so perfectly before, I'd like to hear more!😄
Next is Junko, its not an extra boss as every previous, but her theme is perfect Also Yuyuko's theme and her final spell themes are also perfect and emotional
Thank you for continuing to look at touhou content! :D As I said last time, I think it would be a really good idea to look at the "Music Room" in Touhou. Within Touhou, there's a music room where you can listen to all of the themes within the game, and ZUN will give his thoughts about the music, and some of his ideas when he was making the music. I think it would be a nice thing to tie everything together at the end of your videos! Great video as always!
Years of playing the games an listening the OST made me notices, that zun tends to repeat segments two times, the main melody reapeats but with differents instruments then adds another layer wich also repeats two times, until finally all layers at same time but ZUNPETS, a clear example is Okina matara´s theme
I felt on a spiritual level that if there was any Touhou song I'd like you to analyze next, it would be this one. Color me surprised, and again, your analysis is incredible, even touching upon the themes of Mokou's character! I actually learned from this analysis how the song invokes those themes, which is honestly amazing. I would suggest Byakuren's theme, Emotional Skyscaper - Cosmic Mind, as another iconic and beautiful Touhou song, and one that I think carries a different flavor from the more action-y songs, although it does share some elements.
Again another great review of touhou theme song. It's great that you can find the character personality and identity just from their theme song even I as a touhou fan never analyze a theme song this deep, Also I want to suggest "Emotional Skyscraper ~ Cosmic Mind" it's a great theme song from the last boss of Touhou 12 and to me its make me emotional listening to it.
Excellent choice, I've been loving these touhou videos! I suggest you look at the prismriver sister's theme, Phantom Ensemble. The group, in universe, are musicians, and perform their own theme, making it especially personal to them as characters. I'd love to hear your thoughts on it. :)
So far you’ve done only boss fights, but there are also a lot of great stage themes in touhou and they have different vibes, often times complimentary to their corresponding boss theme. Here are my recommendations for stage themes: -extend ash (Corresponding stage theme for Mokou’s boss fight.) -mystic oriental dream - ancient temple -interdimensional voyage of a ghostly passenger ship (amazing drums on this one) -the primal scene of Japan that the girl saw -frozen capital of eternity -The long awaited oumagatoki So excited to get more touhou music analysis on UA-cam!!! It’s my fav
So far you've only reacted to boss themes, and yes, since this is a shmup series, almost every character is a boss (there are some exceptions though), but every boss has a stage section before it, and, IMO, stage themes in touhou can be pretty cool too I insist on giving Rural Makai City Esoteria a chance. It is a very nice piece, and also kinda weird.
Maid and pocket watch of blood is interesting because it changes BPM and time signatures along with keys. Touhou 12 stage 5s theme is a but fun because of its unusual time signature. My favourite stage theme from each game is (th 6 to 17) EoSD stage 5 PCB stage 5 IN stage 5 PoFV spring Lane MoF stage 2 SA stage 5 (ex and 6 come close) UFO stage 4 (ex comes close) TD stage 5 (4 comes close) DDC stage 5 (4 comes close) LoLK ex stage (stage 5 comes close along with 4) HsIFS stage 4 (ex stage comes close) WBaWC stage 4 (ex stage is p good) UM ex stage ( stage 1 is p good) Idk why but Zuns stage 5 tracks never miss.
Ohhh! Good choice! This one is an absolute bop. Mokou is more of a tragic and lonely character compared to the other songs you have listened to. And yes, those are the famous ZUNpets :) Honestly, with like 25 touhou games counting the non mainline ones and at minimum 14 new or remixed songs in each one of them there's a truly staggering treasure trove of music for you to go through. Enjoy the journey. Touhou music is really special. And yes all the songs you've heard thus far are boss battle themes. Stage themes also exist but they're less bombastic and therefore less popular. But they're still quite special. While each song speaks about the character the complexity does go up with the later songs generally speaking. U.N. Owen was simple because it's such an early piece. While it does its job that's the extent of it. Zun's skill with his musical craft goes way up with each new song. Hartmann's came after Immortal smoke and its simplicity comes from the fact that Hartmann's Youkai Girl sounds remarkably similar if you play it backwards. But that aspect is a thing that was meant to also speak about the character. As for a suggestion this time, I'll throw my vote in for: Heian Alien Solar Sect of Mystic Wisdom ~ Nuclear Fusion Broken Moon Mystic Oriental Dream ~ Ancient Temple (this is a stage theme)
MY RECOMMENDATIONS: Cosmic Mind Broken Moon!!! Lullaby of Deserted Hell The Bridge People No Longer Cross The Sea Where One’s Home Planet Reflects Suwa Foughten Field Grave of being Native Faith I can go on for hours but here are a few!
I freaking love earing your analysis of touhou's musics. They alway made me feels a lots of things, and seeing you talk about them allows me to better understand why and how they achieve such effect on me. Thank you for doing it. Also, I would love one on "septet for a dead princess"... scratch that, one all majors theme :D
If you like Touhou Drums, I almost want to recommend Raiko's theme, Primordial Beat ~ Pristine Beat. It's a drum-focused song more than a melodically focused one, though! (If the title didn't key you in to that.) Other non-extra boss themes I recommend to give you a broader Touhou Scope (since other than Eirin's theme, you've mostly done Extra Boss themes), no order: - The Gensokyo the Gods Loved - Merry, the Magician (not from a game but from a supplemental CD) - The Sea Where One's Home Planet Reflects + Pure Furies ~ Whereabouts of the Heart (these go together) - Eternal Shrine Maiden (particularly if you can use the CD Version as well) - Desire Drive - Bloom Nobly, Ink-Black Cherry Blossoms ~ Border of Life
Mind if i throw my hat in the ring with a few suggestions? Emotional Skyscraper ~ Cosmic Mind Shoutoku Legend ~ True Administrator Kobito of the Shining Needle ~ Little Princess That last one is my favorite.
"Everyone is a boss" is true enough lol Occasionally you get a character from one of the print works that ZUN makes a theme for, but usually if a theme is made it's because you're fighting them!
I mean, it isn't like Hartmann where it show Koishi's childish, mystery, and kinda haunting personality, and UN Owen where it show Flandre's chaotic fun nature. It's just Mokou being carefree and stronk being immortal like a phoenix (looping life, or, tracks) so she'll just do whatever she wants, like helping people escort at Bamboo forest, fighting some stronk guys, and killing battle againts Kaguya And tha's why the title are Reach for The Moon Immortal Smoke. Also one of my favourite Zunpets are at Prismrivers's Theme, Phantom Band Phantom Esemble. Like, Merlin literally plays a frickin trumpets
Definitely recommend magical astronomy : track 9 Necrofantasia ^^ There’s a little surprise waiting further down if u listen Rlly appreciate these soundtrack breakdowns , and somehow they’re kind of accurate it’s insane
I think 2 touhou tracks that are generally really good are Lullaby of Deserted Hell, and Unlocated Hell. They both take place in different Hells, one being abandoned.
Thank you so much for not only reacting to the songs but also giving insight to structure and reasoning to how different instruments give different feels. Hope you keep enjoying the music as much as I enjoy listening to these videos. There are many more popular ones to get through, and I would personally love to see one made on "voyage 1969."
one of my favorite music in touhou. well, most touhou song are pretty lit so either way im very happy to see this vid help me appreciate them even more a personal favorite: a Flower-Studded Sake Dish on Mt Ooe
Recommend Marisa’s theme “Love Colored Master Spark” and Byakuren Hijiri’s theme “Emotional Skyscraper Cosmic Mind”, since you kept getting some music on the “unhinged” side.
one of my personal favorites in the touhou series is "Solar Sect of Mystic Wisdom ~ Nuclear Fusion", which is Utsuho Reiuji's theme if you end up making a video on it, it'd be appreciated if you could include the intro audio as well, as it's a unique sound to Utsuho Reiuji specifically
@@bellarosa_ I don't buy that. Seriously. I have seen her proper name being said a total of 5 times in the past week, while I've seen Okuu being said like 55 times.
In this video I mentioned the video I did on Undertale's Battle Against a True Hero. Have you seen that one? > ua-cam.com/video/bS7Dh_-6yys/v-deo.html
Hi! Liked your video a lot :)! I just want so say that there are 2 Touhou themes that I highly recommend looking together in a video, those themes are Necrofantasia, and "A maiden's illusionary funeral~Necro-Fantasy", also, I would recommend to look the second one(Necro-fantasy) first, aa it is the first you see in the game and, also, it's better to see the difference xd
you can whistle its fine
@@Sonicfalcon16 I mean, this theme is whistleable af, everytime I'm fighting Mokou I lots 1 life just because I'm whistling XDDD
Hi man ! This video was as great as the previous ones. If you want suggestions for touhou tracks to review, I could only recommand listening to necrofantasia (Yukari's theme), very popular ost. And as my favorite one, much less known but with absolutely gorgeous zumpets, idolatrize world (Keiki's theme)
@@luniquerango138 UFF idolatrize word is just such a masterpiece dude. You are a man of culture lady speedwagon 🗿
“It gives me that sensation of infinity” you got extremely close to guessing that she’s immortal.
Zun is the king of conveying emotion
hes really good at this figuring out chatacters through music
Tbf, the theme is called "reach for the moon, IMMORTAL smoke" so... That really give more context.
@@calibula95 I can’t believe I forgot the name of the song when it’s in the title. What’s worse is, when talking about Touhou songs I usually shorten the longer names and when referring to this one I call it immortal smoke.
@@kingdynal7735 nos that i think about it... Are extra stage and boss' themes the only ones that aren't redundant?
I mean, most of the time Zun has 2 names for his songs, one in japanese and the other in english . Obviously when translated the two are somewhat similar but many extra themes aren't like that.
Well, whatever. More context for Davi to guess the character traits without even having played the games KEKW.
It's a testament to the musical competence of Davi and ZUN that the characters and their personalities are so accurately communicated just by sound and melody alone. So impressive.
DAVI who?
@@raandomplayer8589 the man in this video, its even in his channel name you lil goof lmao.
@@raandomplayer8589mama
@@raandomplayer8589 the bassist slapper
@@bobsmithy3103 different one, but yes, he probably does too
Mokou's theme is a great example of ZUN's ability to tell a story within a song.
Mokou's theme is excited, cheerful, but it is also tragic.
The song hinges on one main melody that repeats for most of the song, and has additions to it each time, reflecting that every time Mokou is resurrected, she's changed.
But it has one section that deviates from the main melody, which is that music box/glockenspiel break verse, that is using a low energy instrument for a fast paced section. And it ends by returning to the main melody.
It tells a tale of an eternal cycle that's broken only for a moment by death, which is practically a short sleep for her and music boxes are a well-known instrument for sleep, because she's brought back and forced to continue forwards, advancing with no real motivation to do so, but using her own emotions to power through it until even those burn away.
She is a great example character of the "Immortality SUCKS" brand.
I love that he says the song gives a feel of "infinity" because that just really nails Mokou's character Imao
10:00
The fact that you were able to accurately nail the entire purpose of Mokou in that segment is incredible.
The main melody sounds like it can infinitely loop because Mokou herself can “infinitely loop”- in other words, she’s immortal. She has the full powers of the pheonix, which reincarnates infinitely, basically meaning she’ll keep repeating forever just like the melody. The passion that you also pointed out in the song has to do with Mokou’s pheonix abilities too; she manipulates fire and can burn forever. Because she knows she’s going to live forever, Mokou is also a pretty laid-back and thrill-seeking character- you even caught that with the xylophone segment! Incredible stuff.
It’s not just that she’s immortal, it’s that she’s easily killed but comes back right away every time, in specific contrast to Kaguya, who can’t be killed at all. Kaguya is eternal, while Mokou burns out quickly but always comes back. I mentioned the contrast between the very structures of their respective theme songs elsewhere.
Well... every touhou theme infinitely loops...
@@brianchen1302 Yeah, but this one only has one short melody and yet does so much with it.
@@Dreigonix Isn't that practically every touhou song too though? The formula is just one short, memorable melody, a few interludes in between to connect the melodies composed of arpeggios/runs usually, then building on the melodies using new instruments, key changes, tempo changes, etc. Then they infinitely loop.
I feel like that can describe nearly every single touhou song, including this one. Not that that's bad. I love almost every single one of them. Just, looping infinitely and building on a short melody is not really special in the context of touhou.
@@brianchen1302 Although every touhou song needs to loop, not every song loops in the same feeling as this one. In his other touhou song analyses, we can see he hadn't commented on this part, yet within this video he can clearly feel and hear the loop, as it was much more impactful.
あなたはとても凄いです…😭👏👏👏
このキャラクターは不死身です。あなたの「インフィニティ」という言葉、まさにその通りなんです。
あなたの考察力、知識量には驚かされます。
東方ファンにとって、これはとても嬉しい動画です。
ありがとうございます。あなたの考察をもっともっと聞きたいです🫶🫶
when you mentioned looping and infinity my jaw dropped. mokou is immortal. she will live INFINITELY. how do you keep getting these characters right from the music alone...
Goes to show what a musical genius ZUN is- everything about his characters can be summed up in their theme songs.
@@Dreigonix And this is probably why every theme Zun does I just like it more or more xd You can't find someone who can express their characters so well only by the music itself.
You knew ZUN was the best there is at what he does, and this video series is a professional from the same industry telling you why.
i mean, all touhou music is composed to loop forever.
@@galtonova But not all of them do it the same way(I mean, this guy didn't mention it in the last 2 themes).
Some personal thoughts on this song. The vibes of childishness do make sense, in a weird way, as Mokou was born a mortal human, but became immortal, now being over a thousand years old. She's had multiple phases in her immortality, and now reached one where she basically decides to do whatever she feels like doing - usually helping people and fighting with strong people. I do think that the tenser moments of this song also sound like a cry for help from her, while the start represent her melancholy - her immortality is a prison for her, as she never wanted to be immortal, and was never taught how to bear that burden unlike the non-human characters.
To note, all the Touhou themes you've reviewed so far are the themes of the Extra bosses - the bonus, hyper-difficult, post-game bosses, which generally have among the most intense and urgent-sounding themes in the series, fitting for a one-off, no holds barred fight. If you want to review another one in that style (and currently my personal favorite of the bunch, though they're all great), I'd recommend the one from the most recent mainline game, Momoyo's theme: The Princess Who Slays Dragon Kings.
Comparatively, the final boss themes, while climactic, tend to be less frenzied, more serene, as you're usually fighting the mastermind of the game that the story has been leading up to. Among those, I really like Remilia's theme, from the same game as Flandre: Septette For A Dead Princess.
That part in particular sounds so "dreamy" for me, everytime i hear it i cant help but imagine mokou remembering her childhood when she was mortal, to me her appearence before drinking the elixir looks like a small girl
On the topic of extra boss themes, Futatsuiwa from Sado is CRIMINALLY underrated. It's one of the catchiest songs in the entire series and part of the reason why Mamizou is one of my favorite characters, it just suits her so well!
I also hear the aggressiveness and anger in her theme, which makes sense. She's in an eternal feud with Kaguya. She became Immortal for the sake of taking revenge on her, and because they're both Immortal, they'll always have each other when everyone else around them dies. Even if the whole world falls apart, they'll still be there, and fighting each other is what makes their isolation less miserable. Mokou's eternal hatred for Kaguya is what keeps pushing her forward and distracts her from the fact that everyone she gets closer to will die. It's the only thing she can ever rely on if she loses someone or something because mortality consumes them.
There's also Yuyuko's theme in PCB. The way how you describe final boss themes perfectly fits that one. I really love that theme.
I mean, she absolutely wanted to be immortal at first- she killed a man for it. It's more along the lines of her regretting that decision immensely.
I can’t believe we’re getting so many Touhou ost analysis videos so quick. Thank you so much. You don’t understand how much of a gift these are to me! And I’m glad you are enjoying them too.
If I were to pitch in and suggest the next song, I’d want you to listen Utsuho’s theme: Solar Sect of Mystic Wisdom ~ Nuclear Fusion
Same.
As a long time fan of the Touhou-Franchise (since 2011), it's so great to see the broader audience react to the amazing world ZUN has created. Even though I had no part in it, I still feel like a proud mom seeing her kid grow up.
Yeah, Solar Sect is a awesome theme
On side note... given how he has affinity with DRUMS... give this man a Raiko's Drum theme --> Pristine Beat~~
@@Rncko Swear to god, yes! Raiko's theme is so incredibly good.
You right
綺麗にループするから不滅！？
すげぇ......これを作った神主も曲聞いただけでそこまで想像できるうｐ主もすげぇ......
Since you seem starting in touhou, you must hear:
Necrofantasia
Border of life + last spell border of life theme
Suwa foughten field
Native Faith
Cosmic mind
Broken moon
EDIT: stage themes are mostly good too, all I mentioned are bosses themes, but you should look for stage themes as well, such as The Maid and the Pocket Watch of Blood, Road of the Apotropaic God and Lullaby of the Deserted Hell.
fires of hokkai is so good too
I feel like Necro Fantasy ought to be a package deal with Necrofantasia. Their similarities and differences really do paint an interesting picture of the Yakumos.
Pure Furies
As among many that only know Touhou by it's soundtrack, Entrusting This World To Idols ~ Idolize World is one of my favs that you should give a listen to~
I agree
Yes yes YES I LOVE YOU MAN
I've been addicted to the theme for months now since I've discovered the theme. (I only know touhou by it themes/songs)
it slaps so hard from the very beginning damn
My only issue is that, Idolatrize World has Reimu's leimotif in it.
So idk, i think he should listen to one of Reimu's themes beforehand?
Touhou is very diverse with its music.
Just when you think you have the hang of things, boom, smooth jazz and dubstep
妹紅(moko)は"老いない""死なない"薬を飲んだ為、永遠に生きなければいけない"人間"です
mokoは彼女の周りの人々との出会いと別れを何度も経験してきました
しかし、mokoはそれらの悲しみより重要な事がありました
それは
"復讐"
Mokou is about as far from Flandre and Koishi as you can get. She’s a vengeful, battle-scarred noblewoman whose family had their life ruined by Kaguya (yes, THAT Kaguya- Mokou’s story runs parallel to the legendary Tale of the Bamboo Cutter; look it up). In revenge, she stole the Hourai Elixir, becoming an immortal phoenix, and swore to kill Kaguya, and the two have been fighting ever since. While Kaguya is immortal in the sense that she can never die no matter what’s done to her, Mokou’s immortality means she respawns every time she dies- you actually kill her at least ten times over the course of the battle until she can no longer handle the pain of dying repeatedly and gives up. So Kaguya is eternity, and Mokou is ephemerality.
Also, if you listen to Flight of the Bamboo Cutter (Kaguya’s theme), you’ll notice that Kaguya’s theme is long and keeps changing with new motifs every section, in comparison to Reach for the Moon, Immortal Smoke, which uses only one short melody repeated over and over. I think this is also connected to Kaguya and Mokou’s respective themes of eternity and ephemerality.
One thing I love about Mokou too is how she fell into madness for several hundred years because her human mind couldn't comprehend her own immortality. A regular human was NEVER meant to live as long as her and she's suffered because of it. And it's not even the first time it's happened. She falls in and out of madness, and like you said she's ephemeral. She's in a constant state of change but is never truly destroyed.
Mokou do be needing that kamijou touma treatment
Well, Mokou's father was only really humiliated the way he was because he tried to fake the item Kaguya requested, only to have her pull out the genuine article when presented with the fake. Was it mean-spirited of Kaguya to request something that already was in her possession? Maybe. But if he had accepted that he couldn't fulfill her request, then at least he could have walked away with his dignity.
Besdes, Mokou has long since thrown away any feelings of resentment and regret. 1300 years is a long time to reflect on the past, and at this point she's just happy to be able to relate to Kaguya, in regards to the endless expanse of time that awaits them both. Even though killing each other repeatedly is the way they choose to go about it.
Besides, they're both Hourai immortals, which means that death (and thus life as well) doesn't apply to them. If their physical bodies are destroyed, their souls will create a new body from nothing, and their souls are also eternal, and disconnected from the cycle of life and death. Mokou will actually exploit this by burning herself to death, just to get a "fresh" body, if she has a reason to.
@@hoppefrosk The real fucked part of it all is those two will literally experience the heat death of the universe if they don't figure out how to die or jump to a new one
妹紅は私の最も好きなキャラクターなので、このような動画がある事がとても嬉しいです！
Mokou is my favorite character，so I’m really happy
that thare are videos like this!
This is why many people feel like ZUN is a genius. Not only does he make great music, but he makes amazing 'themes'. In his music, he can accurately represent the person or place the music is for. Just as you managed to do, you can loosely figure out a character just by their theme alone.
As a change up, you should listen to a stage theme from the series, rather than a boss theme. Some personal favorites of mine is 'The Gensokyo the Gods Loved' and 'The Capital City of Flowers in the Sky'.
Someone else recommending stage themes! You have good taste.
@@istokipsy6289 Some of my favorites are stage themes. It would be criminal not to recommend some
'Legend of Tohno' and Hina's stage theme from MoF are really good stage themes too. And if you want to have a boss theme as a stage theme 'charming domination' slaps hard.
It's still funny as hell to me that the man's genius is all pretty innate, too. Like, he doesn't have any deep musical knowledge or experience(beyond iirc, he took a singular college course on music at one point and nothing else), none of that. He's just a guy with a hell of a passion and a phenomenal talent making these whole soundtracks and games from scratch, and they BANG. Truly, ain't nobody doing it quite like him.
I am really shocked how accurately you can nail down characters just by the theme used, but in the same time that also means that the Composers were geniuses in composing a theme which reflects the characters so well. It is just showing how much Genius music can be xd
Also the little word "Infinity" at the end, just.... I dont know what to say xd
@ZaHandle I hate how this is true 💀
I can't believe it, I KNEW YOU WOULD DO MOKOU'S THEME THANK YOU YOUR ANALYSIS ARE GREAT I LOVE TO SEE THEM!!!!!!
The looping infinitely is a big part of this song. Mokou is an immortal phoenix. In mythology, phoenixes live, die, then gets reborn again, in an endless looping cycle. In the game, you kill Mokou multiple times only for her to revive over & over again; matching the loops in the song. You only win when she gives up.
In general, Touhou 8 has a feeling of infinity & vastness, since it’s a story about immortals/long-lived characters. It’s got a very dramatic “epic” style tragedy feel to it with it’s heavy use of classical sounding arpeggios & just the types of melodies it uses in general, but it’s also got a lot of tension & urgency because of the plot. (Whereas the previous game has a more sorrowful tragedy feeling to it, and the next game has a more wistful nostalgic feeling to it.)
7:20 No problem whistling, it's quite normal when listening to Touhou music, there are videos of covers whistling Touhou songs although I don't know if they still exist.
Something that I thing should be mentioned is that as this, as well as the previous two songs are for extra stage bosses, essentially a post-game that is unlocked for beating the game on normal without running out of lives, they are meant to be frantic and exciting. And as extra stage is the very end of every Touhou game (aside from 7, which is the only game to have a stage beyond Extra) they are almost always celebratory and exciting.
Now, as great as all these three are, they are also just a fraction of the musical genres ZUN covers in his works. The best part of ZUN's compositions is that they tell a story not only by themselves, but also together, together with both the gameplay and the musics that follow one another. For example, the stage 2 theme from Subterranean Animism, the same game Hartmann's Youkai Girl is from, is a slow, ominous music that evokes the feeling of going through an abandoned place. It is then followed by the boss Parsee's theme, Green Eyed Jealousy, which is a slow and sad sounding song that keeps the sad tone until the end.
Alongside this, ZUN also makes the musics before designing any of the characters or stages and builds the games around the music he's made, which results in characters and stages being intertwined with their respective themes as well as stages and characters having intentionally timed moments that almost always happen on time with a certain part of a song. It is one of the best parts of Touhou as a series and I think seeing it in action would enhance your experience with Touhou music as well.
One last thing I need to mention is that ZUN also has made several standalone albums that have musics that do their own thing, as they are not meant to be in a game. Some examples would be Mary the Magician which is ominous and outright scary, Satellite Torifune that gives the feeling of space exploration and many more.
I love your videos man, simply because of how good you are at understanding melodies! I hope you continue this great work😁
Normally I find people because of Touhou music. You're the first person I found first and then started doing Touhou music to my surprise. And I love your takes on them.
You should try listening to stage themes too!! They usually give off a different vibe, usually calmer and more melancholic- people keep suggesting boss themes, so why not stage themes? You could try listening to "Lullaby of Deserted Hell", "The Sea Where One's Home Planet Reflects", "The Shining Needle Castle Sinking in the Air", "Heartfelt Fancy", etc. These are some of my favorite ones but you can explore some more too!
"Walking the Streets of a Former Hell" is still one of the best stage themes.
Last Remote and Heartfelt Fancy are my two most favorite Touhou themes of all time. I just like calm music in general.
Among my favorite stage themes, the more calmer ones that haven't been mentioned yet are "Frozen Capital of Eternity", "The Capital City of Flowers in the Sky", "Voyage 1969", "Swim in a Cherry Blossom-Colored Sea", or even "Fires of Hokkai".
8:07 仰る通りでございます！
この作品が出た時期、及びその前後に出た作品はZUNが作曲に使っていたツールの関係上なのか、やたらと甲高いようなやかましいようなトランペットが使用された曲が多かったんです。
特に有名なのはこの作品の前に出た作品で登場した曲「幽霊楽団 〜 Phantom Ensemble」ですね。奏者が好き勝手に奏でている賑やかな曲なので、一度聴いてもらいたいです！
曲名とキャラの背景も知るとより深い曲になるのよね
『月まで届け不死の煙』ってのは竹取物語で帝が「お前がいないなら不死の薬などいらない」って言って山の上で燃やしたことからなんよね
でその山は不死山って呼ばれたと
また帝が山を登るときに多くの兵士を連れていったことから兵が富む山ということで富士山と呼ばれるようになった
こういうのを知るとどんどん楽しくなるよね
あなたの分析は的確で素晴らしい 😊
We don't mind you whistling or humming along to the tracks you're breaking down Davi!! Thanks for the amazing analysis once again!
8:10 - Yes, basically it is!
Also, if you want another Touhou music with Zunpets: Wind God Girl (Aya's theme) from touhou 9 (I think)
you're a real one for doing touhou stuff in 2023, keep it up 🔥
Touhou music is so catchy you’ll be randomly doing something then you start humming or whistling without thinking.
One good one is pure furies. It’s a really good Touhou theme.
If he does do Pure Furies, I wonder if he’ll notice that the chorus has the same chord progression as U.N. Owen Was Her. I think that was intentionally done to call back to something very primal in Touhou by referencing The One Touhou Song _Everyone_ Knows, and this relates to how Junko is a character boiled down to her pure base essence, and her gameplay boils down to the pure basics of danmaku.
furry
@@Darkusaido Purr Furries.
I love reach for the moon, immortal smoke
My OG favorite touhou song
Maiden's Capriccio ~ Dream Battle is also good, and Necrofantasia is downright iconic.
Maiden's Cappricio 2 is very very good.
4:46 gamer moment
Can't wait for more Touhou Content from you, your Videos are always very fun and informative!
I will also proceed to use your Videos to steal chord progressions lol ;3
"Entrusting This World to Idols ~ Idolatrize World" is one hell of a banger if you plan to kept going with touhou
I don't expect you to turn into a Touhou music channel exclusively but in case you want to continue talking about Touhou for a while...
How about Theme of Eastern Story? It's considered to be the main theme of the whole series. Its melody is found everywhere in other Touhou songs.
Other suggestions:
Satori Maiden ~ 3rd Eye - for something classier and a little somber
Solar Sect of Mystic Wisdom ~ Nuclear Fusion - for something badass
Tonight Stars an Easygoing Egoist (Live ver.) - for classic Touhou but with a silly twist
A Flower-Studded Sake Dish on Mt. Ooe - for something fun
A fellow Chireiden enjoyer, I see.
Thanks for including Tonight Stars, it's one of my favorites but often left aside because it's not from the main danmaku series.
Other soundtracks I like:
Cheat Against the Impossible Danmaku
Provincial Makai City Esoteria (even though yet another irregular time might be too much for now)
Beware the Umbrella Left There Forever
The Shining Needle Castle Sinking in the Air
Swim in a Cherry Blossom-Colored Sea
Sakura, Sakura - Japanize Dream (because ending themes deserve some love too)
Eastern Night Vignette - Imperishable Night - Eastern Night (because title themes deserve some love too, and it features the main theme)
And maybe a few PC-98 themes like Civilization of Magic, and a few CD themes like Ancient Temple in the Netherworld.
@@PhantomGato-v- You know, I didn't even realize I suggested 3 songs from Chireiden. I might be a little biased.
Your analysis is amazing ! I hope to see more of them on Touhou music, there are all so good.
My suggestion : Keiki theme : Entrusting This World to Idols ~ Idolatrize World.
Touhou goes from 06 to 18 since 2001.
Mokou theme is from touhou 09 made in 2004, Keiki theme is from touhou 17 made in 2019 and one of the best recent theme ZUN have made.
Of course, some looping is expected for a video game song like this, but the fact that you point it out here _specifically_ is interesting. Mokou's life is on a constant loop, as she is immortal. And it's not a pleasant kind of immortality, because she can't _stop_ (unlike the other "immortals" of the series who can technically die, it's just really hard to achieve), and having been born a normal human, she's not exactly mentally built for that.
The notes of both playfulness (she's reached a point in her infinite life of just kinda doing whatever she feels like) and loneliness (who can truly relate to an immortal?) also fit parts of her character.
By the way if you want to _really_ hear ZUNpets in action, try *Wind God Girl,* Aya Shameimaru's theme. The version in _Phantasmagoria of Flower View_ is the original, ZUN released an extended version in _Bohemian Archive in Japanese Red,_ and _Scarlet Weather Rhapsody_ has a fun remix (though that one might be by one of the TasoFro people instead of ZUN himself).
It's always so interesting to see a bit-by-bit analysis of one my favourite themes by a person with such a deep insight. Really hope to see more Touhou)
So Davi, I’m actually really glad you chose Immortal smoke to listen to today. This song was the second song in the touhou project I ever listened to, my closest friend introduced me to this song, because it was his favorite. So there is one thing that you should keep in mind for EVERY TRACK IN THE SERIES, that being, none of them loop back to the beginning of the track. This is important, because the way that the bosses and levels in touhou work is that they perfectly line up with the music, this is because Zün makes the music first and levels second, so when the music ends, so does the boss, if you’ve survived to get there. If you were wondering what my first track was, “Lunatic Red Eyes- Invisible Full Moon”
It’s still one of my favorites even if it’s a little more simple.
I do recommend it though.
ZUN is a musical genius and it's about time more people notice
I'm just BEGGING for The Sea Where One's Home Planet Reflects + Pure Furies reaction
曲だけでキャラクターをイメージできるのが凄い…
The ZUNpet is a sample called romantic tp from the edirol sd-90 synthesizer
ZUN used the sd-90 for touhou 6 and after and he used the roland sc-88pro for the touhou 6 midis and his older stuff
It would be interesting to watch you review any "final boss" themes (like "Flight in the Bamboo Cutter ~ Lunatic Princess" from the very same game), as they often express many, many emotions and are overall way different. And every stage's boss has different music "convention" in general.
Omg, another 2hu track and this time it's Mokou! Her backstory and circumstances for fighting you are a lot more tragic than most other characters and its captured perfectly by that lonely piano. The loopable nature of the main melody very much reflects her status as an immortal. Not too mention this is a very good theme for demonstrating how Zunpets are used throughout the series as a final accumulation of all the themes introduce to you throughout their run. ZUN does an insane job of creating memorable melodies that implant themselves in your brain and its nice to see u seem to be experiencing that effect and very much enjoying it. Fantastic vid and analysis, you continue to be insanely good at figuring out context based only on music!
YES.
YES THAT'S MY BOY!
(Mokou is my third favourite character in the entire franchise)
Reach for the Moon is an absolute masterpiece and one of ZUN's best. It's almost painful in it's beauty and it gives us so many clues about Mokou as a character, mostly that she's an immortal and that it's not always an easy experience.
According to the lore of the franchise, she essentially went through the stages of grief after realising her mistake of consuming the Hourai Elixir (which is what gave her her immortality) and those emotions are relfected really well in her theme, I think.
Also, like the last time, I again recommend you listen to Bloom Nobly, Cherry Blossom of Sumizome ~ Border of Life, Necrofantasia, Suwa Foughten Field, Solar Sect of Mystic Wisdom, Emotional Skyscraper or Pure Furies. And for something COMPLETELY different, check out Pristine Beat.
Haha, now here is a name I recognize! Crazy to see you here
This came up in my subscription feed and binged all your touhou reactions. Thanks for making this!
First undertale, and now Touhou??
I feel there are so many people who make "X reacts to Y" type videos, but I don't feel a lot of them actually tell you that much about what they are reacting to. I actually really like the way you explain things here though, and how show chords and notes and explain things with simple terms in a way where everyone can understand you. Keep up the amazing work!
You can't get past "flowering night"
we need more! your reactions are very good
I’m all for more Touhou Breakdowns. Been listening to them for years but it will be interesting to break them down from your point of view.
I love how genuinely invested you are always on your musical analysis!
You nailed the character/main traits of Mokou just from the music alone. She's a human that became immortal at a young age, with the passing of time she started to care less and less so now she just lives her life doing whatever she wants. I also always felt that the constant loop of the main melody gave it that infinite sensation to the song.
Also don't mind the whistle! I actually really like it, never heard a whistle were the notes actually sound like the song so perfectly before, I'd like to hear more!😄
Next is Junko, its not an extra boss as every previous, but her theme is perfect
Also Yuyuko's theme and her final spell themes are also perfect and emotional
ここまでざっくりと言い当てれる人は
なかなかいませんね。とても複雑
な曲だということも当たってる。
東方の曲の解説を聞くのはとても
良いものですね！妹紅は不死鳥の
力を使える、不老不死の人物。
ボスってのは当たりですが妹紅は
EXボスですね。1から6面ボスが
一般的ですが時々EXボスという
ものがあります。前回のフランも
EXボスですね。んで、前々回の
こいしもEXボスですね。
僕の一番好きな曲は博麗霊夢の
少女綺想曲〜Dream Battleと
幻想郷3面道中テーマのBad Appleです！
(まぁ、Bad Appleはアレンジの
ほうが好きですが。)
編集お疲れ様でした！お体に気を
つけて頑張ってください！
Thank you for continuing to look at touhou content! :D
As I said last time, I think it would be a really good idea to look at the "Music Room" in Touhou. Within Touhou, there's a music room where you can listen to all of the themes within the game, and ZUN will give his thoughts about the music, and some of his ideas when he was making the music. I think it would be a nice thing to tie everything together at the end of your videos!
Great video as always!
YES! MORE TOUHOU! xD
Raiko Horikawa's theme is also good to make an analysis
Years of playing the games an listening the OST made me notices, that zun tends to repeat segments two times, the main melody reapeats but with differents instruments then adds another layer wich also repeats two times, until finally all layers at same time but ZUNPETS, a clear example is Okina matara´s theme
This is one of my favorite touhou tracks, thanks Davi!
...and no, I don't mind the whistling :)
I felt on a spiritual level that if there was any Touhou song I'd like you to analyze next, it would be this one. Color me surprised, and again, your analysis is incredible, even touching upon the themes of Mokou's character! I actually learned from this analysis how the song invokes those themes, which is honestly amazing. I would suggest Byakuren's theme, Emotional Skyscaper - Cosmic Mind, as another iconic and beautiful Touhou song, and one that I think carries a different flavor from the more action-y songs, although it does share some elements.
The way her theme perfectly restarts is a good nod to how she's like a Phoenix with the whole rebirth aspect.
yooo i relly like your reaction this is my favorite theme of all universe thanks to ear it :)
7:55, a quick timestamp if you wanna witness the GLORY of ZUNPETSS
Mokou no Fujiwara, my favourite Touhou character! Her theme, personality, story- all of it is so perfect!
Again another great review of touhou theme song. It's great that you can find the character personality and identity just from their theme song even I as a touhou fan never analyze a theme song this deep, Also I want to suggest "Emotional Skyscraper ~ Cosmic Mind" it's a great theme song from the last boss of Touhou 12 and to me its make me emotional listening to it.
This one hits real hard with ZUNpets
Invisible Full Moon - Lunatic Eyes
Excellent choice, I've been loving these touhou videos!
I suggest you look at the prismriver sister's theme, Phantom Ensemble.
The group, in universe, are musicians, and perform their own theme, making it especially personal to them as characters. I'd love to hear your thoughts on it. :)
loving your videos! it's always interesting to see professional music composers review some good ol videogame music
Its great hearing you get into the music and whistle! I love when people get excited over my favorite music.
So far you’ve done only boss fights, but there are also a lot of great stage themes in touhou and they have different vibes, often times complimentary to their corresponding boss theme. Here are my recommendations for stage themes:
-extend ash (Corresponding stage theme for Mokou’s boss fight.)
-mystic oriental dream - ancient temple
-interdimensional voyage of a ghostly passenger ship (amazing drums on this one)
-the primal scene of Japan that the girl saw
-frozen capital of eternity
-The long awaited oumagatoki
So excited to get more touhou music analysis on UA-cam!!! It’s my fav
So far you've only reacted to boss themes, and yes, since this is a shmup series, almost every character is a boss (there are some exceptions though), but every boss has a stage section before it, and, IMO, stage themes in touhou can be pretty cool too
I insist on giving Rural Makai City Esoteria a chance. It is a very nice piece, and also kinda weird.
ooh, yes this one would be really nice!
Maid and pocket watch of blood is interesting because it changes BPM and time signatures along with keys.
Touhou 12 stage 5s theme is a but fun because of its unusual time signature.
My favourite stage theme from each game is (th 6 to 17)
EoSD stage 5
PCB stage 5
IN stage 5
PoFV spring Lane
MoF stage 2
SA stage 5 (ex and 6 come close)
UFO stage 4 (ex comes close)
TD stage 5 (4 comes close)
DDC stage 5 (4 comes close)
LoLK ex stage (stage 5 comes close along with 4)
HsIFS stage 4 (ex stage comes close)
WBaWC stage 4 (ex stage is p good)
UM ex stage ( stage 1 is p good)
Idk why but Zuns stage 5 tracks never miss.
Touhou also has some amazing stage (non-boss) tracks:
- Provincial Makai City Esoteria
- Cemetery of Onbashira~ Grave of Being
- Desire Drive
once again recommending "lullaby of deserted hell" cause its great :)
I love your analysis on the music theory as well as linking it to Mokou! Thank you for this great experience.
Can't wait for "Idolatrize World" or "Pure Furies"
Necrofantasia Necrofantasia Necrofantasia Necrofantasia
Ohhh! Good choice! This one is an absolute bop. Mokou is more of a tragic and lonely character compared to the other songs you have listened to. And yes, those are the famous ZUNpets :)
Honestly, with like 25 touhou games counting the non mainline ones and at minimum 14 new or remixed songs in each one of them there's a truly staggering treasure trove of music for you to go through. Enjoy the journey. Touhou music is really special.
And yes all the songs you've heard thus far are boss battle themes. Stage themes also exist but they're less bombastic and therefore less popular. But they're still quite special.
While each song speaks about the character the complexity does go up with the later songs generally speaking. U.N. Owen was simple because it's such an early piece. While it does its job that's the extent of it. Zun's skill with his musical craft goes way up with each new song. Hartmann's came after Immortal smoke and its simplicity comes from the fact that Hartmann's Youkai Girl sounds remarkably similar if you play it backwards. But that aspect is a thing that was meant to also speak about the character.
As for a suggestion this time, I'll throw my vote in for:
Heian Alien
Solar Sect of Mystic Wisdom ~ Nuclear Fusion
Broken Moon
Mystic Oriental Dream ~ Ancient Temple (this is a stage theme)
I really want to hear what he thinks about "Solar Sect of Mystic Wisdom - Nuclear Fusion"
I do like how Mokou stands out as a more somber character compared to the other EX bosses.
@donhimesamadaifutariAt least most of her spellcards aren't that hard so the non spells don't bother me
@donhimesamadaifutari I guess the Gengetsu final timeout attack is supposed to be impossible
@Donhimesama Daifutari Does LLS even run at 60fps? I thought it was more like 30fps.
If you want to hear another good song with amazing ZUNpet's I'd recommend listing to "Entrusting this world to idols ~ Idolatrize world"
Very intense theme. I absolutely love it
junko boss fight theme hit hard, you gotta listen it at least once
MY RECOMMENDATIONS:
Cosmic Mind
Broken Moon!!!
Lullaby of Deserted Hell
The Bridge People No Longer Cross
The Sea Where One’s Home Planet Reflects
Suwa Foughten Field
Grave of being
Native Faith
I can go on for hours but here are a few!
I freaking love earing your analysis of touhou's musics. They alway made me feels a lots of things, and seeing you talk about them allows me to better understand why and how they achieve such effect on me.
Thank you for doing it.
Also, I would love one on "septet for a dead princess"... scratch that, one all majors theme :D
Two suggestions that are way out of left field:
The song that might play when you fight sans.
Universal collapse from the terreria calamity mod
If you like Touhou Drums, I almost want to recommend Raiko's theme, Primordial Beat ~ Pristine Beat. It's a drum-focused song more than a melodically focused one, though! (If the title didn't key you in to that.)
Other non-extra boss themes I recommend to give you a broader Touhou Scope (since other than Eirin's theme, you've mostly done Extra Boss themes), no order:
- The Gensokyo the Gods Loved
- Merry, the Magician (not from a game but from a supplemental CD)
- The Sea Where One's Home Planet Reflects + Pure Furies ~ Whereabouts of the Heart (these go together)
- Eternal Shrine Maiden (particularly if you can use the CD Version as well)
- Desire Drive
- Bloom Nobly, Ink-Black Cherry Blossoms ~ Border of Life
Mind if i throw my hat in the ring with a few suggestions?
Emotional Skyscraper ~ Cosmic Mind
Shoutoku Legend ~ True Administrator
Kobito of the Shining Needle ~ Little Princess
That last one is my favorite.
"Everyone is a boss" is true enough lol
Occasionally you get a character from one of the print works that ZUN makes a theme for, but usually if a theme is made it's because you're fighting them!
Another great analysis! I love these touhou ones especially, touhou music is so near and dear to my heart, haha. Love your vids!
I mean, it isn't like Hartmann where it show Koishi's childish, mystery, and kinda haunting personality, and UN Owen where it show Flandre's chaotic fun nature. It's just Mokou being carefree and stronk being immortal like a phoenix (looping life, or, tracks) so she'll just do whatever she wants, like helping people escort at Bamboo forest, fighting some stronk guys, and killing battle againts Kaguya
And tha's why the title are Reach for The Moon Immortal Smoke. Also one of my favourite Zunpets are at Prismrivers's Theme, Phantom Band Phantom Esemble. Like, Merlin literally plays a frickin trumpets
Definitely recommend magical astronomy : track 9 Necrofantasia ^^
There’s a little surprise waiting further down if u listen
Rlly appreciate these soundtrack breakdowns , and somehow they’re kind of accurate it’s insane
I think 2 touhou tracks that are generally really good are Lullaby of Deserted Hell, and Unlocated Hell. They both take place in different Hells, one being abandoned.
Hell yeah. Maybe try a stage music track next time
Thank you so much for not only reacting to the songs but also giving insight to structure and reasoning to how different instruments give different feels. Hope you keep enjoying the music as much as I enjoy listening to these videos.
There are many more popular ones to get through, and I would personally love to see one made on "voyage 1969."
one of my favorite music in touhou. well, most touhou song are pretty lit so
either way im very happy to see this vid help me appreciate them even more
a personal favorite: a Flower-Studded Sake Dish on Mt Ooe
Recommend Marisa’s theme “Love Colored Master Spark” and Byakuren Hijiri’s theme “Emotional Skyscraper Cosmic Mind”, since you kept getting some music on the “unhinged” side.
Thank you so much for your content, it's always on point!
one of my personal favorites in the touhou series is "Solar Sect of Mystic Wisdom ~ Nuclear Fusion", which is Utsuho Reiuji's theme
if you end up making a video on it, it'd be appreciated if you could include the intro audio as well, as it's a unique sound to Utsuho Reiuji specifically
Utsuho Reiuji.
Can't you just say Okuu
@@PhantomGato-v- utsuho is much more common than okuu
@@bellarosa_ I don't buy that. Seriously. I have seen her proper name being said a total of 5 times in the past week, while I've seen Okuu being said like 55 times.
@@PhantomGato-v- i meant it's more common to find actual content via that name. of course fans of the series will use the nickname more.
@@bellarosa_ yeah, That's a valid point.