[PC-98 Remix] The Doll Maker of Bucuresti (Touhou 7)

Good (early) morning my friends, here's an authentic PC-98 remix of "The Doll Maker of Bucuresti", the Stage 3 theme from Touhou 7 "Perfect Cherry Blossom". So PCB's 20th anniversary was several days ago and, being the kinda guy I am, I put this together to (try and) mark the occasion.
MIDI Source: KR. Palto47 on UA-cam ( • (MU2000EX)[Th07 PCB]"T... )
Video Thumbnail Credits: skmmt3, on Pixiv (www.pixiv.net/...)
Video Art: skmmt3, on Pixiv (www.pixiv.net/...)
Touhou 7 is licensed to Team Shanghai Alice
Pastebin: pastebin.com/u...
If you want a .WAV or .M2 download link, let me know in the comments
Compiled with PMD, Prototyped with FMPMD2000, Recorded with FMDSP/Neko Project
Hope you enjoy ~!
i would've gotten this video out on the proper day if it weren't for a certain pesky camping trip i went on
#touhou #pc98 #chiptune
discrod: / discord

[@spaghettiking7312]

Man of supreme culture.
Alice's return was the best return. Her themes, both PC-98 and Windows, in many ways, are just the heart of Touhou to me.

[@FORTEtheSECOND]

"Alice's return was the best return."
I concur. In fact, I personally divide Youyoumu in 3 main acts - with the first one having Alice's return as the climax, albeit a bit of an awkward one (because the tone resets in stage 4) .
(the other two acts would be the second half of the game squarely dedicated to Yuyu-sama and, then, the EX stages where the Yakumos reveal themselves.)
I find it quite unfortunate that half of Alice's excellent themes seem locked away in the Old Canon ; which leads me to think (headcanonically) that is what her Grimoire represents in a 'meta' sort of way. A closed chapter that, alas, won't be revisited / unearthed. At least it makes sense given that the opening of her Grimoire would become the final event of the Old Canon (if we do not count Seihou , of course) .
For this and several other reasons, Alice and Patche share the No. 1 spot as my faves. If only the time would come for Mima-sama, though (fingers crossed) .

[@spaghettiking7312]

@@FORTEtheSECOND Reimu recognises Alice in PCB, so it's not like we have to act like everything to do with her in PC-98 never happened. ZUN may never refer to those games again, but because Alice and Yuuka are recognised when they appear, it's a slight nod that those games did happen in the timeline.
As for Alice's return being the sort of last chapter before the new Windows tone setting in is interesting, because Touhou 6 feels very different in tone to the rest of Windows, because it uses Western-themed characters. After that, the old tone and style is phased out, and viewing Alice's return as the end of that isn't inaccurate.

[@FORTEtheSECOND]

@@spaghettiking7312 _" Reimu recognises Alice in PCB, so it's not like we have to act like everything to do with her in PC-98 never happened. "_
Oh, don't get me wrong. I was quite glad to know The Man himself acknowledged the (relative) relevancy of the Old Canon. It's just I can't shake the feeling there's always some kind of awkwardness associated with Alice. Between her being part of the very name of ZUN's company (Shanghai Alice) yet having a very limited number of in-game appearances, in contrast. There's also the unsolved mystery of her significant change in appearance in the New Canon.
BTW, I never thought of Koumakyoh that way, good points. Care to elaborate on what you meant by "the old tone and style" being phased out? Were you refering to the Old Canon? Because the music in the PC-98 games do indeed have a markedly different (often melancholy) feel to it which I really appreciate.

[@spaghettiking7312]

@@FORTEtheSECOND Touhou 6 uses Western-themed characters. No Touhou game after will introduce Western-themed characters, but PC-98 often had different or non-Oriental characters. Touhou 6 also has an unnamed mini boss in Koakuma. Every game after made sure to name every character as Touhou became more popular. Touhou 6 doesn't feel exactly like PC-98, but it feels closer to it than the games that come after. It feels like a game which only could've been made at that transitional point when ZUN didn't know exactly what he wanted to do with Windows.

[@FORTEtheSECOND]

@@spaghettiking7312 Thanks, good points.
_" PC-98 often had different or non-Oriental characters. "_
Agreed. I lament the (virtual) loss of Yumemi who had a more unique backstory / plot but seems to have been quasi-replaced by Sumireko and the Hifuu Club in the New Canon (or so some state) .
It's not like I disagree with you (I really don't) but at least some presence of western mystical creatures (i.e. Youkai ) exists post-Koumakyoh. We've got Wakasagihime who is a mermaid and Kageroh who is a lycanthrope, Sekibanki herself is a bit of a mix of western and eastern headless Youkai as well. Although, I acknowledge these are outliers.
Maybe it could be that ZUN likes to move along to keep things from getting stale? With Junko and Okina, I was afraid ZUN would steer too much into Chinese lore but then we got the uber-cooky oddity that was Stonks-sama (and I love Chimata... whom, at first glance, I thought I never would) . I think maybe it's just a matter of time until ZUN comes up with another mostly-western theme / cast. Mima-sama herself is a ghost witch so there's hope... or I could be just deluding myself . *xP*

[@mushroomsrcool1449]

0:25
This part, is beautiful. Not sure how to describe it but I love it, it's indescribably beautiful.

[@Alexs23743]

Becomes hilarious when you realize that Alice Margatroid is one of precious few characters to have existed in the PC-98 era. ^^

[@kinjoko]

Amazing job as always ❤️

[@alonectorch7877]

banger as always

[@514komeiji5]

It's one or two day late for pcbirthday but ... Happy pcbirthday

[@WishMakers]

...Am I crazy or are you doing something microtonal with the chords in the beginning? It might just be the combination of timbre from the 2FM+PSG, and the rest of the cover is on key but those chords are wildly haunting.
Not even a critique necessarily, the effect is REALLY interesting, but my sense of pitch was massively thrown off by it haha

[@asi14]

i can assure you i am nowhere near intelligent enough to be doing that intentionally LOL

[@inn5268]

I think it's the vibrato of the synth causing the pitch drift

[@kandaimai9944]

please do Touhou Lunatic Eyes! You will earn a subscriber

[@lucds25]

asi14 when new rip? 😭

[@dantrunkyrusuke4772]

Kino

[@AngelOfTheStarzz]

are u alive?

[@Altiami]

What's the source for the PPZ file?