This one felt somewhat deeper than the others. I wonder if it's just me or if there is actually something more to Eirin... And hey, if you want to watch my other Touhou videos, they're over here: ua-cam.com/video/DhdopiSqotU/v-deo.html&pp=gAQBiAQB
she is the brain of the moon and lived before Gensokyo and Lunar Capital existed or we can say she is maybe one of the moon Goddess. And her theme really fits her IMO Ah also she maybe the 4th strongest character in Touhou Project and the smartest character besides Junko
You’re right. Eirin is a Lunarian medical scientist who’s been around for as long as the moon has existed. She created the Hourai Elixir of immortality- the very one that made Mokou immortal. Eirin is most notable for saving Kaguya (yes, THAT Kaguya from the Tale of the Bamboo Cutter) from the Lunarian embassy that was coming to erase the memory of her life on Earth and take her back to the moon against her will- Eirin basically zoomed in, killed everyone, and took Kaguya to Gensokyo. She’s also allegedly responsible for the Apollo 13 near-catastrophe- the Moon Landing Denier movement had started weakening the border between Gensokyo and the real world at the moon (it makes sense in context), and Eirin knew that if this continued, the humans of the real world would discover the Lunar Capital, so she sabotaged the Apollo 13 mission to dissuade humans from returning to the moon. Have I mentioned that ZUN has admitted to having been drunk during Imperishable Night’s writing process?
Unless I missed some, all the previous touhou reactions covered extra stage boss themes, while this is a last stage boss theme. Not to get into the conventions of the series too much, there's usually a big gap in tone between the two.
@@witchhatter yeah, seconding this ~ Often the tone of the extra stages is "the issue was resolved, let's just fight people for fun", whereas some of the main stories involve a vampire blotting out the sun with red mist, a ghost causing perpetual winter to revive a tree in the land of the dead, and here, which a lot of people have already summarised 💜 I'm sure you could categorise different moods for early/mid/late stages too tbh
Both "Last Remote" and "The Gensokyo the Gods Loved" are great STAGE themes with some cool mood shifts and creative instruments (Last Remote's guitar is soooo cool)
I'm seconding both of these, but especially Last Remote! It has a really great emotional progression, and he would definitely have a lot to point out about the chord progressions and how they affect the feeling of the track
i would say "nostalgic blood of east" as well and "capital city of flowers" gives me a weird sense of nostalgia, then pcb stage 1 theme is also one of my favorite stage themes
One thing that I'd like to add is that the Gensokyo part of the title refers to the place Touhou takes place in, as well as the song containing the main theme/leitmotif of Touhou as a whole, Theme of Eastern Story (the melody at 6:08). Eirin is someone who caused a large incident that caused a chain reaction, with the conclusion of a war between people of Gensokyo and Lunarians, people residing on the Moon where Eirin also comes from after she got exiled. ZUN used the leitmotif and the name of the song to tell us that she's really important. Also another small addition, it's funny that you compared this song to Reach for the Moon ~ Immortal Smoke, as they're both from the same game. Eirin is the final boss of the main story which is why this theme is so climactic and serious, while Mokou is the extra boss who is optional and acts as a epilogue which is why her theme is less climactic and more laid back. This also applies to the other two themes as well, they were both extra bosses just like Mokou.
Theme of Eastern Story actually also appears at the beginning of the song at 0:42. Just slow it down to .5x speed and you can hear it pretty clearly. It's really cool since the part where it comes in again uses the same instrumentation and is in a similar location and everything, just slowed down to make sure you notice it the second time.
Eirin is very old compared to most Touhou characters, probably one of the oldest given the deity she's based on (it's a male deity but still). She's part of the "gang" that in fandom is regarded as those older women with air of maturity, so you are in fact right about the maturity thing. On Pixiv they're tagged as 東方五大老 (literally Touhou's Council of Five Elders; the Council was a real thing in Japan formed in 1598). In the West they're called the Old Maid Alliance.
A mature character with a sense of duty. Spot on. This kind of reading tells me ZUN is very good at putting this down and you're good at picking it up.
Gensokyo Millenium is my favorite example of ZUN's ability to tell a story in a song, it clearly has a message it's conveying, its subtitle "History of the Moon" and the lore surrounding the Moon in Touhou make the song feel so much more intriguing because the highs and lows do genuinely feel like they're communicating a clearly defined story to the listener.
@@lacerisesurlegateau4192 If you want to PLAY then you should just start playing all games in the order you want on easy mode until you start getting better(My recomendation is to start playing touhou 6, 7 and 8 randomly on easy mode until you manage to tolerate to play it in normal), theb when you are able to play normally on normal mode just try to play all games, the one that you like the most(I heavely recommend Touhou 8, Touhou 17 and Touhou 16 when you are at this level of good playing danmaku). And that's all, I can literally say "Just play" and it's correct. Touhou often feels like a playlist, you just play the game that most calls your attention at the moment. To make it easier to you: Hard touhou games: Touhou 15, 11, 12. Normal touhou games: 6, 9(This one is weird, you'll see when you investigate aboyt this one xd), 10, 13, 14, 16, 18. Kinda easy touhou games: 7, 8, 17. Good games to start: 6, 7 and 8, and probably touhou 17. Stressfull games if you are starting xd: Touhou 11, 12, Touhou 14, Touhou 15(I wish god has mercy on you if you play this one). If you are talking about lore, you should play the games and the fighting games, read wikis of your favorite characters and probably read some comments in any touhou-music video as the fandom uses to put a lot of information about all characters in any video. Also, it's probably a good idea to read the mangas and doujins.
FYI half of touhou themes are of anime girls being bosses you shoot down. The other half is stage themes, which is basically the shoot em up part of the game, and is usually masterfully timed with in game events for an epic experience. ZUN is a genius
The stage themes are really good too, yeah. Often even better, from my experience. Here's hoping he'll listen to one of them next, I think there's a big difference in feel compared to the boss themes.
Yep, I'm really hoping he starts reacting to some of my favorite stage themes too, like Lullaby of Deserted Hell, Fires of Hokkai or Lamentations Known Only by Jizo
Sometimes you can't listen to Touhou music with the impression of anime girl characters in mind. For example, this particular song is actually related to the universe and depicts the vastness of space, which is quite amazing. The beginning alone gives you goosebumps.
@@The360MlgNoscoper "Sometimes you can listen to Touhou music without the impression of anime girl characters in mind" makes less sense than what OP wrote. The point is that listening to the music with that impression can be incorrect, while your proposed corrections convert the sentence into being a light suggestion
Holy heck he did Gensokyo Millenium, by far one of the fan favourites and one of the grandest tracks. This is also the first touhou final boss theme you've covered, compared to the extra boss themes you've looked at so far they tend to be a lot more emotional and magical. I think 'duty' and 'longing' are the key points you identified here; Eirin's a lot more straightforward and serious compared to a large majority of the cast and this theme reflects her mission to protect Kaguya and her long history being a previous resident of the moon. She's essentially responsible for all the game's events, replacing the moon so the music reflects finally being able to take on such a powerful foe.
Oh Eirin's theme is amazing. She is indeed a very powerful character. Ancient and wise, with a past wrought with conflict. She fled from her home, killing her own people, and she knows she can never go back. And funny you mention Reach for the Moon, Immortal Smoke. Both that track and Eirin's theme are from the same installment in the series, Touhou Eiyashou ~ Imperishable Night
Not only that, but Yagokoro Eirin and Fujiwara no Moukou (Reach for the Moon, Immortal Smoke's character) specifically are connected through their respective relationships with Houraisan Kaguya and (more directly) the Hourai Elixir, which is Eirin's creation and the thing that caused Mokou's immortality, so it's neat that it reflects in their themes. :>
Your interpretation that it sounds more mature, has the sound of that sense of duty, and maybe a little melancholy and suffering is pretty spot on. It’s a lot to Eirin and it’s really hard to summarize. But essentially, she is one of the oldest characters in the series, as well as one of the smartest characters as well. She once had a pretty big duty when she was part of the moon, however she fled the moon alongside princess Kaguya after Kaguya drank the elixir of immortality, and has been protecting Kaguya ever since; even going so far as to drink the elixir herself. During Touhou 8, she creates a false moon and covers Gensokyo with it in order to defend against what she thought was a lunarian invasion, in order to protect Kaguya. Her sense of duty in protecting Kaguya, as well as creating medicines & potentially finding a way for immortals to die through that, is something she’s always had for millennia. The feeling of melancholy and suffering likely comes from the fact that she’s immortal & this suffering of an immortal is something all 3 immortal characters share. However Eirin is probably the one that is able to sort of deal with that suffering the best out of the three of them, and that may feed into the feeling of maturity in her theme too. She is also the leader of their little group of rabbits that hides & protects Kaguya in the earth, so that also likely feeds into the feeling of maturity & duty in her theme. There’s a lot more to her than that, a lot more subtlety with her relationship with the moon & everything.
A classic boss track yet remains in Border of Life. Said track has two phases. If you choose it, I would recommend you listen to both as they are separated. You would first need to find a video with the words; “Bloom Nobly”. The second phase is simply called “Border of Life”. They are from the game Perfect Cherry Blossom. There are also a pair of must-hear stage tracks named “Lullaby For a Deserted Hell” and “The Primal Scene of Japan The Girl Saw”.
Good taste my dude (says the guy with a Yuyuko profile picture). FR though, Lullaby For A Deserted Hell may be the most unique stage theme in the entire series so far given as it's, well, a lullaby.
id love to see a breakdown on Fires of Hokkai and Emotional Skyscrapper-Cosmic mind together too, as the themes are such a build up and emotional release of divinity
You have to do Voyage 1969, the stage theme before this one. The piano and the chords are so… almost cosmic and vast, as it is the stage theme basically for space itself, I think it has the best usages of the ZUNpets as well. It’s a beautiful track that really gives you the feel of floating through a vast and twinkling galaxy
If you've listened to this,then you should listen to"lunatic princess" too!It's because this anime girl is a "knight" has to protect the "princess" ,and the track"lunatic princess" is the princess's theme.
I'm so glad to finally have Touhou music analysis videos to watch. I've been trying to get into music theory and I grew up with the Touhou games, so the soundtracks are very near and dear to my heart. I can finally put into words the feelings these songs give me. If you're looking for anymore suggestions, Last Remote from Touhou 11 is my favorite It's the song that plays right before you fight Koishi (Hartmann's Youkai Girl) and in my opinion a song that stands out as not the usual Touhou formula, it feels so unique and also my favorite character Nue's theme Heian Alien from Touhou 12. It has the same playful/disturbing sound as Flandre and Koishi's theme (which is why the 3 are often associated together by fans)
If you ever want to do a longer analysis, you could listen to the menu themes for each game. They're short, but considering how many Touhou games there are it would be a longer video. However, most share a certain similarity you'll pick up on making the analysis a little easier on you and it'd give you a general vibe for each game
There's definitely a magical moment playing the game, listening to Gensokyo Millennium, and the boss uses an attack that cursed Apollo 13 and transports you to a vision of a moonscape. Unexpectedly magical.
You know, a new Touhou game was announced! Touhou 19! Yes, there's 18 games + several spinoffs, so you basically have a lot of tracks to review, if you wish :)
Ive seen this youtuber called PerlDrop, in which in the past he reviewed the themes in 2 minutes saying too the music theory in how ZUN made, and almost 20% of the videos ive seen he talked about the "Theme of Eastern Story", in which is a famous leitmotif that ZUN loves using, along with the sequence you called "Touhou Sequence": the 6-7-1 progression that loves showing in a bunch of themes, when he did the video of Gensokyo Millenium he didnt specifically sayed about the sequence but seeing you say it i can pretty much confirm the existence of the sequence If you have some free time i recommend seeing him review the songs, pretty funny and short
From the little I understand about music theory, this 6-7-1 Sequence is particularly effective because ZUN writes most of his songs in minor keys. Meaning 1 in the sequence is minor and the 6-7 is mayor. This makes the song enter a sort of loop, making the 1 (your more harmonic note in a key, like it's your house) minor with 6-7 being mayor and searching the resolution of reaching 1 is simple but brilliant. ZUN uses this further to his advantage, like in "The Gensokyo the Gods Loved" where he makes the minor 1 a mayor key after a few 6-7-1 successions, and it's mind-blowing how it shifts the mood of the song.
The interesting parallel you drew between Immortal Smoke and this is interesting, as they come from the same game! Touhou games are usually structured as one final boss and one extra stage boss. Now, this game is unique in that it has 2 final boss and 1 Extra stage boss. Immortal Smoke belongs to the Extra stage boss, while this belongs to one of the 2 final boss of the game. You should then try to complete the trio, with "Flight of the Bamboo Cutter - Lunatic Princess", Kaguya's theme, the last final boss of the game. It's also a blast with a lot of Zunpets to enjoy ofc
"Sense of maturity" is a good description for a lot of Touhou final boss music. They're usually gods, legendary figures, or some other mythological big wheel (reinterpreted as an anime girl), and the music reflects that. The previous tracks you listened to are Extra bosses, who tend to be a bit crazier and more unique.
Ah yes, this one is a bit unique, as it uses the Dorian and Phrygian scale, along with the usual Minor (although I suppose you could transcribe it to minor). The BPM shifts rather dynamically along with the different portions of the song, speeding up as it goes along. But yes, you're correct, 6-7-1 chord progression is used in practically every touhou boss theme, it's ZUN's go-to "emotional" progression; sometimes he changes it up with suspended chords and resolving to the 1 major instead of minor.
I'm really happy you had covered this song; I wanted to actually suggest it on your last live stream. Superb composition, you can feel a story is being told simply through music. Edit: that face at 07:09 KEK I admit, it's "acquired taste" at this point when it comes to ZUN, them crazy trumpets
Thank you for covering Touhou again, Eirin's theme just like almost the entire IN soundtrack is great because of how it mixes a nostalgic melody along with an epic one, idk how to explain it but that's how i interpret them, and that makes sense because of the themes of the games
I love touhou music, and I love touhou music parsing and reactions. But I noticed one pattern - almost always offer melodies from the end of the game and almost always it's the bosses. All the touhou tracks you've heard are endgame bosses, but unfortunately they don't fully reflect the full variety of touhou music. The endgame boss themes are epic, intense, and cool in terms of composition, but there are other, calmer tracks with a different mood, whether it's melodies from the main menu or level themes. I will give some examples below: -Theme of Eastern Story - not included in the very first game main music theme. The main theme of all touhou games, the re-arrangements that are played in the main menu of each part, and to which there are dozens of callbacks in other touhou tracks (even in this track, right here 6:07). -Retribution for the Eternal Night ~ Imperishable Night - The theme of the 4th level of the 8th part. The re-arrangement on the main theme of touhou, which I wrote about above, but more intense and fast. -KOMAKUSA SAKU Perpetual Snow - track of the 3rd level of the 18th part. One of the most major compositions in my memory, calm, with a mood shifting from joy to light sadness. -Fires of Hokkai - the theme of the last level of the 12th part. A very atmospheric, calm theme, which pretty well pumps up the mood in front of the last boss. -Nemesis's Stronghold - The 4th track from the 12.5 part. A rather rarely mentioned composition from a side series. Although quite intense and energetic at first, with an admixture of madness inherent in touhou, but one of the most "dark" and gloomy compositions, conveying a feeling of some kind of fear, with a loss conveying a feeling of sadness. I would continue to list more, but you can continue indefinitely with compositions from touhou)
Agree we need some stage themes. I vote for "Retribution for the Eternal Night" since it's probably the most popular non-menu theme of eastern story. As for others, if we go with photo game, I've always like "Sleepless Night of Eastern Country". Other iconic stage themes include "Lullaby for a Deserted Hell" and "The Gensokyo the Gods loved". But if we were to go with my personal take I'd prefer to hear his take on some of the stage 1 themes as I find they all do an amazing job for giving the initial vibe of the game. "At the End of Spring" is probably my favorite stage 1, but any of them are good and I also really like "Night Sakura of Dead Spirits", "Paradise ~ Deep Mountain", "The Dark Blowhole" and "Unforgettable, the Nostalgic Greenery". They're short enough that he could do a couple in one video. Even a couple menu themes like DDC's and WBaWC's are really good
@@annaairahala9462 Only now I noticed in "The Gensokyo the Gods loved" the beginnings of the Hijiri theme at the moment 0.15-0.40, and references to the Remilia theme at the very beginning. Good theme
I am a Japanese Touhou fan. Thank you very much for your very good appreciation of Touhou music. What you called Touhou sequence is a chord progression called ZUN progression (ZUN進行 in Japanese). It is a chord progression used in many Touhou background music. Also, crazy piano is also used in various songs. I look forward to seeing videos of other songs.
I'm not a musician by any means, I've never went to school or studied anything related to it but...I feel confident in saying that ZUN is a genius when it comes to music. It's one of his strongest attributes.
I love your videos Davi. It would absolutely make my day if you were to do a video on Cirno's theme, "Beloved Tomboyish Girl", or the Embodiment of Scarlet Devil stage 2 theme, "Lunate Elf".
Something that might be worth checking out are some PC98 Touhou tracks (from the first to the fifth game), they use FM synthesis music (what old Sonic games use), giving them a retro and somehow sound more magical/tragic than regular tracks. Search for them using "Akyu's untouched score" first, as that's the name of the remasters ZUN made of the tracks. My personal favorite is "Plastic Mind" from Touhou 05. It's pretty melancholic, has great drums and a more different melody. They encapsulate the feel of the whole PC98 era pretty well.
Man while I love learning more and getting a deeper understanding of video game music, the other part I come to watch is to hear how you might describe the character/circumstances behind the song, and almost all the time you are spot on or really close. That's mighty impressive and entertaining as well.
Touhou is, unlike what its most popular tracks would suggest, full of emotion and nuance. Perfect Cherry Blossom, my favorite game in the series, confirms this the best, with "The Doll Maker of Bucuresti" being, far and large, one of the most intricate and fascinating pieces of music in the series.
I've only gotten into Touhou recently and have always been on the meme and doujin spectrum, so it's really refreshing to see some actual analyses of the series' stories itself. These videos are a good way to help people learn about not just music theory, but the characters and the lore as well through the comments, since most of the top comments actually deep dive headfirst into it all. I think Davi's Touhou playlist would become a really useful way for newcomers to learn more and discuss about the lore if he continues reacting to more Touhou tracks.
I really like your reaction from the melody of Touhou,learning the personality of the character from the sentiment under the chorus.Please keep uploading and there are still more fabulous Touhou songs waiting to be discovered
Glad to see more 2hus and an underrated theme too! I recommend to check out "emotional skyscraper - cosmic mind" and "the lost emotion"... also "Locked girl the girl's secret room" because recently i have fell in love with it
I want to bring special attention to 6:07 and the piano runs there. That melody was first heard in "Theme of Eastern Story", an unused song from the very first Touhou game, and it's often considered the main leitmotif of the entire Touhou Project, appearing in almost every single title theme and several other songs throughout the series. Keep an ear out for it in the future...
This is a really pleasant surprise, this my favorite ost in all of gaming. You nailed the emotions, this song is meant to tell a story, but I also think it would've hit a bit different if you listed to the stage theme, Voyage 1969 too. It does a great job setting the stakes for the battle.
It means so much to a massive fan of this series to see more videos like this from you! Thank you so much for getting into the world of touhou! If I had to request any track, please listen to Necrofantasia! imo it's one of his greatest tracks ever
The melody around 6:10 or so is basically the main theme of touhou essentially. So if you hear that motif, you know stuff is serious. Makes sense since Eirin is one of the final bosses of the game.
Some touhou songbs for us to watch you listen: "Beloved tomboyish daughter" "Native Faith" "Gensokyo the god loved" "Pure Furies" "Love Colored Master Spark" "Lunatic Eyes ~ Invisible Full Moon" "Road of the aprotropaic god" "Candid Friend" "Fall of Fall ~ Autumnal Waterfall" Thanks!!
I discovered your channel very recently, but i already feel like i know it for years. Love your way to describe, feel music. Great work! Also, shoutout to brazil! huehue br 🇧🇷
I know it’s not really one of the classics due to how recently in the series it was introduced, but I’d love it if you would react and listen to Electric Heritage and Idolatrize World, together they are the level 6 stage theme, and the level 6 boss theme of Touhou 17: Wily Beast and Weakest Creature, it makes great use of Zunpets, and as the stage theme title so greatly states, it’s got quite a use of electrics.
The Zunpets in touhou are the best, if you want listen more Zunpets, listen "a maiden's illusionary funeral necro-fantasy", "border of life", "pantom ensemble" , "retribution for the eternal night", "cinderella cage - kagome kagome", "onigashima in the fairylan", "poison body - fosaken doll", "judgemente of the sixtieth year", "wind god girl", "the youkai mountain - misterious yokai", "Satori's maiden - 3rd eye", "lullaby of the deserted hell", "rural makai city esoteria", "emotional skycrapper - cosmic", "kobito of the shining needle - little princess", "primordial beat - pristine beat", "last occultism - esotericist of the present world", "pure furies - whereabouts of the heart", "illusionary white traveler", "egoistic flowers" PD: sorry for writing to much
I love every video you make on this, your thoughts on what the music conveys and the music theory behind it is a treat to listen to. Especially since I recently got into composing.
One thing worth noting is that the three Touhou themes you've listened to before this one are all themes of "extra stage" bosses. Extra stages are exceptionally long and challenging levels that skilled enough players can unlock to test their mettle against, but because of the higher skill gating involved with them, ZUN tries to make sure that you don't actually need to complete them to get a proper resolution to the game's story proper. So the bosses of those stages tend to be incredibly powerful characters (to fit with the difficulty of the stage), but ones that are only tangentially related to the actual conflict of the main game. In many ways, playing the extra stage after beating the main game is kind of a "cooldown" - yes, the challenge is harder that anything that came before, but most of the tension is gone, the stakes are lower, and you're encouraged to just enjoy the challenge for challenge's sake, while learning some extra worldbuilding and lore that gives additional context to the conflict that, by the time you're in the extra stage, has already been resolved. Eirin, however, is a proper final boss, the actual final enemy you have to overcome to resolve the game's primary conflict, so this song does not represent a high-challenge but low-stakes sideshow, it represents the ACTUAL climax of the story.
(Before another Touhou fan hits me with a "well actually" in the replies, I'll state that Eirin's game in particular is weird in that it actually has two possible final bosses, and you have to play through the whole game a second time and fight an alternate final boss if you want the best ending, but the fight with Eirin is still the climax of that particular story path, so my point still stands regardless.)
The previous 3 themes (you reacted to) are extra bosses themes, made for longer battle (they have 9-10 lives/spellcards) This one is last boss theme (stage 6), usually more beautiful and melodic (except maybe Nuclear Fusion)
The minute you mentioned duty and maturity I was amazed at how ZUN could convey the essence of his characters in his music theory alone yet again. Eirin is basically a traitor to her nation over protecting somebody, and is basically conflicted over it despite her pride and duty towards her homeland. During her boss fight (at 6:20) after the drop, the background changes to the photograph of the US flag being put on the moon during the Apollo 13 mission. The melody that follows along with one of her dialogues about it shows that despite being a traitor, she still embodies the values and opinions of when she was loyal to her nation and regards humans claiming the moon for themselves with derision, scorn, and pride. It's interesting to me that you note that even while it is unique in that it has a mature feel to it, the song still has that cartoonish, exaggerated flair that a lot of touhou songs do. After all, it is a boss fight in a game and has to hype the player up.
Funny that you should mention that this track gives a sense of a journey. For me the main melody has always sounded like something out of the Wild Arms series.
I mean, Wild Arms series is basically a journey on the vast desert and magical land. And yes the the whistle part of Wild Arms Intro and the main melody of Gensokyo Millenium are almost similar, which I freaking like, so no complaint there.
I don't think I've ever seen someone bring up Wild ARMs in a comment on anything before, but I can definitely see some similarities in the style. For someone from the Moon like Eirin, Earth would be a lot more like the wild west to her.
If you havent done any title screen songs yet, try checking out Mysterious Exorcism Rod, The Space Shrine Maiden Appears, A Shadow in the Blue Sky, Snow or Cherry Petal, or Silent Beast Sprits.
Damn, I forgot how good this theme was... Since you've already reacted to Mokou's and Eirin's theme, you could do Kaguya's theme, Lunatic Princess, next. Or perhaps, since you seem to love Touhou drums, you could do Raiko's theme, Primordial Beat. As for other game OSTs to react to, one I would really love is Ultrakill. I think it has a really interesting soundtrack.
Someday, you're gonna figure out this entire games' story by just listening to its music hahah. I remember this was the track that made me wanna check out Touhou back then. While not being able to explain it like you did, I had a lot of similar thoughts going through my head trying to figure out the story behind this track before playing the game and finding out who Eirin is. I think Imperishable Night (the game this and Immortal Smoke are from) has a very distinct magical style to it, which is why people often get drawn in by this game in particular I feel like.
Not expected some fresh Touhou content in this current year. such timeless. great content and melody interpretation. I bet we all could relate in some of those emotion the song gives. imo , I felt like your video just suddenly end. maybe I expected some summary. but still respect and appreciate your format. It's felt like a live react video. fresh and focusing on the moment.
Eirin Eirin For background, Eirin is the many minded god in Shinto Religion, Yagokoro-no-Omoikane, a big major in Japanese myth. In fact, she's among those of the second generation of the Japanese Shinto gods, only below the creators. Furthermore, She's also mythologically responsible for Amaterasu;(the Sun Goddess and Ancestor of Japan) being baited out of her hiding place. She's also unique among her people in touhou, being a sage of the moon that imposed herself to exile to be with her student. In current lore Eirin's one of the big masterminds, having achieved feats such as thwarting seperate invasions of the earth and moon without being there personally. It's also interesting how you pointed out how her theme reminds you of Mokou's, considering she is an integral factor to Mokou's (and another Character's) immortality. The 6:08 one chord part is the closest you can get to a Touhou Main Theme, that melody shows up in almost every title theme in the mainline games, and even the spinoffs to some extent.
Super spot on about the feeling of maturity part, this is one of my favorite touhou themes so im happy to see you listen to it for the first time and analyzing it
Hello Davi, great reaction and analysis, I've noticed that you has taken boss themes, I think will be a great complementation if you pick eventually stages themes. My recomendatios are here: -Locked Girl ~ The Girl's Secret Room (Patchouli Knowledge's theme - Touhou 6) -Centennial Festival for Magical Girls (Extra stage theme - Touhou 6) -The Capital City of Flowers in the Sky (Stage 4 theme - Touhou 7) -Hiroari Shoots a Strange Bird ~ Till When? (Youmu Konpaku's theme - Touhou 7) -Higan Retour ~ Riverside View (Komachi Onozuka's theme - Touhou 9) -The Gensokyo the Gods Loved (Stage 3 theme - Touhou 10) -Native Faith (Suwako's theme - Touhou 10) Extra boss theme -Lullaby of Deserted Hell (Stage 5 theme - Touhou 11) -Satori Maiden ~ 3rd Eye (Satori Komeji's theme - Touhou 11) -Last Remote (Extra stage theme - Touhou 11) -Provincial Makai City Esoteria (Stage 5 theme - Touhou 12) -Captain Murasa (Murasa Minamitsu's theme - Touhou 12) Well all my recommendations are of classic Touhou of windows era. I think I will recommend themes of the newest games on the next.
I'd recommend Satori's theme or Fires of Hokkai for something mature and different. Or Utsuho's if you're in the mood for metal. Actually Misty's theme is really beautiful, as is the Phantom Ensamble.
Hello, what good analysis of the songs you do, you discover the personalities of the characters with their melodies and even more, I'm glad I discovered your channel!
Once again you nailed it. As many have almost certainly pointed out, Eirin is old. Although no one in the games really looks elderly, she comes the closest in both appearance and demeanor, and it's exactly her character; she's an immortal scientist who has *successfully* made a drug that grants complete immortality. Gensokyo Millennium is one of the best Touhou tracks of all time --- which sounds like hyperbole, given how high that bar is is, but it's completely true. It's an absolute tapestry of sound and themes and encapsulates ZUN's energy and ability to convey a story through music alone. And I cannot even explain why, but that sequence that plays here on 6:21 strikes me at an innermost level.
You should check out "Now Until the Moment you Die" from Touhou 1: Highly Responsive to Prayers as the final boss there is heavy inspiration in the character design for the final boss in Undertale Pacifist "Hopes and Dreams", Sariel Undertale. This also does not sound like any of the Touhou Music you previously heard, and was also apparently composed by ZUN when he was around 18 or 19 years old?? Also, Gensokyo Millenium is potentially sampling the Wild Arms "Into the Wilderness". Also, there are no anime girls in Touhou.
Something you will learn through time is that most characters in these games are based on historical characters, mythologies, beasts or items. So dropping the whole mindset of anime girls might be in your best interest for future songs. Most reviewers of the touhou songs tend to dig a little bit into the story/background of the song either before listening or after listening and add their thoughs of what the music conveys while listening or after initial review of the song. (Usually as the last part of the video). All I can say for this song is that it tries to convey alot regarding the story of eirin and her horrible past. And kind of the catalysator of the whole moon residents versus gensokyo war that is important in future installments of games. I would higly suggest trying out Apollo song afterwards. Title of songs tend to explain alot. Guess what that song would convey from that title alone :)
Please keep on doing touhou music! ^-^ I'm just gonna copy and paste what I said last time: "I think it would be a really cool thing to read his notes on his songs. Every single game, he has a "music room" where you can view all of the music used in that game. He includes his thought process and his thoughts about the songs that he has written. I think his notes are also on the touhou wiki. Once again, great video and analysis as always!"
Nice video, as always ❤ I really love how you can find the tiny intricate details with these videos ~~ Also, not sure if you've ever listened to the OneShot soundtrack but it's *phenomenal*
This is a really nice analysis of Eirin's theme. I haven't heard this in a long time! She tends to get overshowed by many of the other characters in Touhou 8. In part, it's like you said - she's a mature and strong character. Those generally aren't the characters the fanbase is most hype about. But I forgot all about the crazy piano in the latter half of the song. In the Windows 1 and 2 eras, that was one of the major indicators of someone being way stronger than they looked. Keine, Yuuka, Suwako and even Byakuren all had this to some extent. Everyone else major to the plot back then got a huge helping of ZUNpets. And yes, I've returned to recommend The Doll Maker of Bucresti, Song of the Night Sparrow, Swim in a Sakura Colored Sea - and I'm adding Rural Makai City Esoteria to the mix. All of these are stage themes. ZUN's range in exploration with those themes is an entirely different animal than his boss battles. For a Music CD exclusive, I will also recommend Welcome to the Moon Tour from Magical Astronomy.
The "Touhou sequence" makes sense. ZUN is so in love with his own style that he made the Touhou games mostly by himself just to match his style. Story, characters, design, programming, it's all done by him around his music.
Very cool, I hope you continue to do Touhou music analysis. I've learned a bit of theory, I'd like to make some comments. The first part of the song is G# minor, going between natural, harmonic, and melodic minor. The magic chord with F natural is IV from G# major, also in G# melodic minor. The signature cadence is the minor Andalusian cadence in reverse, going up and down. The second part, the key change is to B minor, the parallel minor of G#'s relative major. Interestingly, the modulation arpeggiated chord (another signature ZUN sound) is first inv. of the stacked fourths starting on Eb, so that G# is the root. I guess this chord is pretty useful for key modulations because he just slams this chord and bam suddenly we're in B minor. The last key change up is B minor to C minor, common, but because vgm songs need to loop a key change back to G# minor has to happen at some point, interesting. Anyways, Touhou music has a unique sound thanks to the rich harmonic language ZUN uses. Like jazzy but not. Funky but not. Cinematic but not. And also eastern. Touhou means eastern/oriental in Japanese, the series is formally Touhou Project. Anyways yeah Touhou music is a treasure.
Always love your analyzes! If you want to react to a touhou theme that isn't a boss theme, I would recommend either: "The Gensokyou the Gods Loved" (a stage theme), or "Mysterious Purification Rod", a main menu theme
it's fun to see people when they first start figuring out the awesomeness of touhou. hopefully you'll play the games and stop being a secondary soon enough. everyone is suggesting necrofantasia, so i'll suggest you play plastic mind or either of yuuka's old songs (faint dream in particular). maybe heartfelt fancy if you're ok with stage themes. idolatrize world is a good recent one, and if for no other reason than the memes, tomboyish girl in love. also, little princess, you sound like you might enjoy that one. legend of the great god's is an underestimated theme that zun really liked, i wonder what you would think of it.
We Japanese fans of Touhou call the trumpet that plays during the main melody the ``ZUN pet.'' There is a chord progression called the "ZUN progression" where the chorus suddenly gets exciting. Basically consists of ♭Ⅵ→♭Ⅶ→Ⅰm Originally, it had a certain degree of popularity among musicians under the name "Mario Progress". ZUN's music always uses this chord progression at the beginning of the chorus, so it was named "ZUN progression" and the name is now well-known throughout the world. The intro chords of Vocaloid Hatsune Miku's signature song "Senbonzakura" also use this ZUN progression, so it is very distinctive that it builds excitement from the beginning like a climax.
Really love to hear your breakdowns, if i may suggest regarding touhou music, check out stage themes too, ZUN way of conveying ambience through the music is really outstanding and he goes all out on stage themes too, and then, even more on the special albums he does where he is even more adventourous, some themes i could reccomend are "Tomorrow is special, yesterday was not", "The long awaited outonomagoki" or from the album of same name "Unknown Flower, mesmerizing journey"
If you want to analyze modern era Touhou music, go for the final bosses themes (Yuyuko's Bloom Nobly, Yukari's Necrofantasia, Byakuren's Emotional Skyscraper, Shinmyoumaru's Little Princess, Kanako's Venerable Ancient Battlefield, Keiki's Idoliatrize World, and maybe the most perfect of them all, Junko's Pure Furies, which, by the way, contains THE melody of doom, the main four notes of the Dies Irea Gregorian chant used to crystalize the purest form of fear in our genes, which is important for the understanding of the character), and if you want to dive into bit-tunes, into the pc-98 era, I can only recommand Shinki's Infinite Being and Mima's themes: Reincarnation, maybe, but above them all, Complete Darkness, which, in my opinion, rocks harder than any rock/metal song written ever since.
Since you have only reacted to boss themes so far, you may want to check out some stage themes as well. My recommendation is "The Gensokyo the Gods Loved", from Touhou 10: Mountain of Faith
Doesn't the main melody sound a lot like the Wild Arms opening theme? Wasn't Davi asking for non-boss themes? To keep things from getting too samey, maybe some "lullaby of a deserted hell", "last remote", "heartfelt fancy" or "fires of hokkai"?
When I first heard the theme, I thought the start sounded a lot like Together we Ride from Fire Emblem. And after hearing that opening, I can definitely say the melody is similar to both this and Septette for the Dead Princess.
This one felt somewhat deeper than the others. I wonder if it's just me or if there is actually something more to Eirin... And hey, if you want to watch my other Touhou videos, they're over here: ua-cam.com/video/DhdopiSqotU/v-deo.html&pp=gAQBiAQB
she is the brain of the moon and lived before Gensokyo and Lunar Capital existed
or we can say she is maybe one of the moon Goddess. And her theme really fits her IMO
Ah also she maybe the 4th strongest character in Touhou Project and the smartest character besides Junko
You’re right. Eirin is a Lunarian medical scientist who’s been around for as long as the moon has existed. She created the Hourai Elixir of immortality- the very one that made Mokou immortal. Eirin is most notable for saving Kaguya (yes, THAT Kaguya from the Tale of the Bamboo Cutter) from the Lunarian embassy that was coming to erase the memory of her life on Earth and take her back to the moon against her will- Eirin basically zoomed in, killed everyone, and took Kaguya to Gensokyo. She’s also allegedly responsible for the Apollo 13 near-catastrophe- the Moon Landing Denier movement had started weakening the border between Gensokyo and the real world at the moon (it makes sense in context), and Eirin knew that if this continued, the humans of the real world would discover the Lunar Capital, so she sabotaged the Apollo 13 mission to dissuade humans from returning to the moon.
Have I mentioned that ZUN has admitted to having been drunk during Imperishable Night’s writing process?
Unless I missed some, all the previous touhou reactions covered extra stage boss themes, while this is a last stage boss theme. Not to get into the conventions of the series too much, there's usually a big gap in tone between the two.
@@witchhatter yeah, seconding this ~
Often the tone of the extra stages is "the issue was resolved, let's just fight people for fun", whereas some of the main stories involve a vampire blotting out the sun with red mist, a ghost causing perpetual winter to revive a tree in the land of the dead, and here, which a lot of people have already summarised 💜
I'm sure you could categorise different moods for early/mid/late stages too tbh
@@WatatsukiNoToyohime the* brain of the moon(title)
発狂ピアノのことをちゃんと"crazy piano"って言ってくれてるの嬉しいな．
あとZUNさんのよく使うコードを数曲聞いただけでTouhou sequenceって言うのも，本当に言語化がうまいことがわかる．
不死の煙とメロディが似てるって言ってたけど，同じゲーム内の曲だからDaviさんは作品を通したテーマを汲み取る能力がとても高いと思う．
旅の感覚があるって言ってるしヴォヤージュのこと知らなくても出てきてるのやばい
Both "Last Remote" and "The Gensokyo the Gods Loved" are great STAGE themes with some cool mood shifts and creative instruments (Last Remote's guitar is soooo cool)
The Gensokyo the Gods Loved is my personal favorite! The theme is so good!
I'm seconding both of these, but especially Last Remote! It has a really great emotional progression, and he would definitely have a lot to point out about the chord progressions and how they affect the feeling of the track
i would say "nostalgic blood of east" as well and "capital city of flowers" gives me a weird sense of nostalgia, then pcb stage 1 theme is also one of my favorite stage themes
@@friendlyneighborhoodshinigami yesss
Last Remote is so good
One thing that I'd like to add is that the Gensokyo part of the title refers to the place Touhou takes place in, as well as the song containing the main theme/leitmotif of Touhou as a whole, Theme of Eastern Story (the melody at 6:08). Eirin is someone who caused a large incident that caused a chain reaction, with the conclusion of a war between people of Gensokyo and Lunarians, people residing on the Moon where Eirin also comes from after she got exiled. ZUN used the leitmotif and the name of the song to tell us that she's really important.
Also another small addition, it's funny that you compared this song to Reach for the Moon ~ Immortal Smoke, as they're both from the same game. Eirin is the final boss of the main story which is why this theme is so climactic and serious, while Mokou is the extra boss who is optional and acts as a epilogue which is why her theme is less climactic and more laid back. This also applies to the other two themes as well, they were both extra bosses just like Mokou.
Theme of Eastern Story actually also appears at the beginning of the song at 0:42. Just slow it down to .5x speed and you can hear it pretty clearly. It's really cool since the part where it comes in again uses the same instrumentation and is in a similar location and everything, just slowed down to make sure you notice it the second time.
OH MY GOD ITS U AGAIN WTH
Eirin is very old compared to most Touhou characters, probably one of the oldest given the deity she's based on (it's a male deity but still).
She's part of the "gang" that in fandom is regarded as those older women with air of maturity, so you are in fact right about the maturity thing. On Pixiv they're tagged as 東方五大老 (literally Touhou's Council of Five Elders; the Council was a real thing in Japan formed in 1598). In the West they're called the Old Maid Alliance.
i just call them the Super Strong Really Old Scary People
iirc wasnt she in some manner involved with some of the actual deities related with the moon(one that is mentioned somewhere is "Lord Tsukuyomi")
A mature character with a sense of duty. Spot on.
This kind of reading tells me ZUN is very good at putting this down and you're good at picking it up.
We all knew that ZUN is the best there is at what he does. Davi is here to tell us why.
Gensokyo Millenium is my favorite example of ZUN's ability to tell a story in a song, it clearly has a message it's conveying, its subtitle "History of the Moon" and the lore surrounding the Moon in Touhou make the song feel so much more intriguing because the highs and lows do genuinely feel like they're communicating a clearly defined story to the listener.
please tell me how can I start playing the touhou games ?
@@lacerisesurlegateau4192 If you want to PLAY then you should just start playing all games in the order you want on easy mode until you start getting better(My recomendation is to start playing touhou 6, 7 and 8 randomly on easy mode until you manage to tolerate to play it in normal), theb when you are able to play normally on normal mode just try to play all games, the one that you like the most(I heavely recommend Touhou 8, Touhou 17 and Touhou 16 when you are at this level of good playing danmaku). And that's all, I can literally say "Just play" and it's correct. Touhou often feels like a playlist, you just play the game that most calls your attention at the moment.
To make it easier to you:
Hard touhou games: Touhou 15, 11, 12.
Normal touhou games: 6, 9(This one is weird, you'll see when you investigate aboyt this one xd), 10, 13, 14, 16, 18.
Kinda easy touhou games: 7, 8, 17.
Good games to start: 6, 7 and 8, and probably touhou 17.
Stressfull games if you are starting xd: Touhou 11, 12, Touhou 14, Touhou 15(I wish god has mercy on you if you play this one).
If you are talking about lore, you should play the games and the fighting games, read wikis of your favorite characters and probably read some comments in any touhou-music video as the fandom uses to put a lot of information about all characters in any video. Also, it's probably a good idea to read the mangas and doujins.
@@kr3533 thank you so much for your guidance love you !
@@juncheok8579 thank you I will watch it too
Last Remote is also good example of story-based song as well, you can see how the theme turns from dilly-dally lonely life of Koishi to her insanity.
FYI half of touhou themes are of anime girls being bosses you shoot down.
The other half is stage themes, which is basically the shoot em up part of the game, and is usually masterfully timed with in game events for an epic experience. ZUN is a genius
The stage themes are really good too, yeah. Often even better, from my experience. Here's hoping he'll listen to one of them next, I think there's a big difference in feel compared to the boss themes.
Yep, I'm really hoping he starts reacting to some of my favorite stage themes too, like Lullaby of Deserted Hell, Fires of Hokkai or Lamentations Known Only by Jizo
You and ZUN are on another wavelength. You are 4/4 for guessing the how the character is and the emotions attached to the piece. It’s mind boggling
Daamn
Davi: "This chord gives me a sense of peace."
My brain on loop for the last 5 minutes: "Long ago, the capital suffered peace."
"Caged so with no manner of release"
"At the peak, a princess uncontained by mortal age"
"Wished for more than life on the moon could be"
Shit i forgot to put a comma 💀💀💀
"Whit her crime, she motioned to take a stand."
Sometimes you can't listen to Touhou music with the impression of anime girl characters in mind. For example, this particular song is actually related to the universe and depicts the vastness of space, which is quite amazing. The beginning alone gives you goosebumps.
Can and without*
@@The360MlgNoscoper "Sometimes you can listen to Touhou music without the impression of anime girl characters in mind" makes less sense than what OP wrote. The point is that listening to the music with that impression can be incorrect, while your proposed corrections convert the sentence into being a light suggestion
Holy heck he did Gensokyo Millenium, by far one of the fan favourites and one of the grandest tracks. This is also the first touhou final boss theme you've covered, compared to the extra boss themes you've looked at so far they tend to be a lot more emotional and magical. I think 'duty' and 'longing' are the key points you identified here; Eirin's a lot more straightforward and serious compared to a large majority of the cast and this theme reflects her mission to protect Kaguya and her long history being a previous resident of the moon. She's essentially responsible for all the game's events, replacing the moon so the music reflects finally being able to take on such a powerful foe.
Check out her stage theme "Voyage 1969" as well! Easily one of the best Touhou songs.
This as well as how both songs go into Voyage 1970. It's all very neat.
@@TlbHibiki Touhou IN is one of the best, in term of musics and characters
Oh Eirin's theme is amazing. She is indeed a very powerful character. Ancient and wise, with a past wrought with conflict. She fled from her home, killing her own people, and she knows she can never go back.
And funny you mention Reach for the Moon, Immortal Smoke. Both that track and Eirin's theme are from the same installment in the series, Touhou Eiyashou ~ Imperishable Night
Not only that, but Yagokoro Eirin and Fujiwara no Moukou (Reach for the Moon, Immortal Smoke's character) specifically are connected through their respective relationships with Houraisan Kaguya and (more directly) the Hourai Elixir, which is Eirin's creation and the thing that caused Mokou's immortality, so it's neat that it reflects in their themes. :>
Your interpretation that it sounds more mature, has the sound of that sense of duty, and maybe a little melancholy and suffering is pretty spot on.
It’s a lot to Eirin and it’s really hard to summarize. But essentially, she is one of the oldest characters in the series, as well as one of the smartest characters as well. She once had a pretty big duty when she was part of the moon, however she fled the moon alongside princess Kaguya after Kaguya drank the elixir of immortality, and has been protecting Kaguya ever since; even going so far as to drink the elixir herself. During Touhou 8, she creates a false moon and covers Gensokyo with it in order to defend against what she thought was a lunarian invasion, in order to protect Kaguya. Her sense of duty in protecting Kaguya, as well as creating medicines & potentially finding a way for immortals to die through that, is something she’s always had for millennia.
The feeling of melancholy and suffering likely comes from the fact that she’s immortal & this suffering of an immortal is something all 3 immortal characters share. However Eirin is probably the one that is able to sort of deal with that suffering the best out of the three of them, and that may feed into the feeling of maturity in her theme too.
She is also the leader of their little group of rabbits that hides & protects Kaguya in the earth, so that also likely feeds into the feeling of maturity & duty in her theme.
There’s a lot more to her than that, a lot more subtlety with her relationship with the moon & everything.
A classic boss track yet remains in Border of Life. Said track has two phases. If you choose it, I would recommend you listen to both as they are separated. You would first need to find a video with the words; “Bloom Nobly”. The second phase is simply called “Border of Life”. They are from the game Perfect Cherry Blossom.
There are also a pair of must-hear stage tracks named “Lullaby For a Deserted Hell” and “The Primal Scene of Japan The Girl Saw”.
Good taste my dude (says the guy with a Yuyuko profile picture).
FR though, Lullaby For A Deserted Hell may be the most unique stage theme in the entire series so far given as it's, well, a lullaby.
I’d love to see him react to A Sea Where One’s Home Planet Reflects and Pure Furies ~ Whereabouts of the Heart together
id love to see a breakdown on Fires of Hokkai and Emotional Skyscrapper-Cosmic mind together too, as the themes are such a build up and emotional release of divinity
Parts of this really remind me of the music during Undyne's fight in Undertale, I can see where Toby was inspired.
Yep. Battle Against a True Hero is arguably the most Touhou of Undertale's OST.
can relate. She had to protect the princess, after all
and Battle Against a True Hero also reminds me of Mysterious Mountain and Pure Furies a bit
言ってることは１０％もわからないが、俺も好きな曲が褒められてることだけは伝わるので何度も見てしまう
自動翻訳の日本語で何となく言ってることわかるよ
それかゲーマー翻訳を見れば分かる
You have to do Voyage 1969, the stage theme before this one. The piano and the chords are so… almost cosmic and vast, as it is the stage theme basically for space itself, I think it has the best usages of the ZUNpets as well. It’s a beautiful track that really gives you the feel of floating through a vast and twinkling galaxy
I feel like he is slowly getting more and more addicted to touhou music.
Basically, everyone that fall into touhou hell hole
@@artasky6093 As it should be.
I can't wiat for Touhou to become part of the singularity.
as did many of us...
That’s how they get you…
It’s how they got me…
@@artasky6093 Meanwhile doujin
0:56 He's unconsciously asking Eilin for help.
😂
If you've listened to this,then you should listen to"lunatic princess" too!It's because this anime girl is a "knight" has to protect the "princess" ,and the track"lunatic princess" is the princess's theme.
I'm so glad to finally have Touhou music analysis videos to watch. I've been trying to get into music theory and I grew up with the Touhou games, so the soundtracks are very near and dear to my heart. I can finally put into words the feelings these songs give me.
If you're looking for anymore suggestions, Last Remote from Touhou 11 is my favorite
It's the song that plays right before you fight Koishi (Hartmann's Youkai Girl) and in my opinion a song that stands out as not the usual Touhou formula, it feels so unique
and also my favorite character Nue's theme Heian Alien from Touhou 12. It has the same playful/disturbing sound as Flandre and Koishi's theme (which is why the 3 are often associated together by fans)
If you ever want to do a longer analysis, you could listen to the menu themes for each game. They're short, but considering how many Touhou games there are it would be a longer video. However, most share a certain similarity you'll pick up on making the analysis a little easier on you and it'd give you a general vibe for each game
I second this notion.
This is a great idea Buh
There's definitely a magical moment playing the game, listening to Gensokyo Millennium, and the boss uses an attack that cursed Apollo 13 and transports you to a vision of a moonscape. Unexpectedly magical.
You know, a new Touhou game was announced!
Touhou 19! Yes, there's 18 games + several spinoffs, so you basically have a lot of tracks to review, if you wish :)
Still waiting he do another tohou
he would go crazy listening to kingdam of nothingness
Ive seen this youtuber called PerlDrop, in which in the past he reviewed the themes in 2 minutes saying too the music theory in how ZUN made, and almost 20% of the videos ive seen he talked about the "Theme of Eastern Story", in which is a famous leitmotif that ZUN loves using, along with the sequence you called "Touhou Sequence": the 6-7-1 progression that loves showing in a bunch of themes, when he did the video of Gensokyo Millenium he didnt specifically sayed about the sequence but seeing you say it i can pretty much confirm the existence of the sequence
If you have some free time i recommend seeing him review the songs, pretty funny and short
From the little I understand about music theory, this 6-7-1 Sequence is particularly effective because ZUN writes most of his songs in minor keys. Meaning 1 in the sequence is minor and the 6-7 is mayor.
This makes the song enter a sort of loop, making the 1 (your more harmonic note in a key, like it's your house) minor with 6-7 being mayor and searching the resolution of reaching 1 is simple but brilliant.
ZUN uses this further to his advantage, like in "The Gensokyo the Gods Loved" where he makes the minor 1 a mayor key after a few 6-7-1 successions, and it's mind-blowing how it shifts the mood of the song.
Even the pause menu jingle is "Theme of Eastern Story" extremely sped up, if I remember correctly!
The interesting parallel you drew between Immortal Smoke and this is interesting, as they come from the same game!
Touhou games are usually structured as one final boss and one extra stage boss. Now, this game is unique in that it has 2 final boss and 1 Extra stage boss. Immortal Smoke belongs to the Extra stage boss, while this belongs to one of the 2 final boss of the game.
You should then try to complete the trio, with "Flight of the Bamboo Cutter - Lunatic Princess", Kaguya's theme, the last final boss of the game.
It's also a blast with a lot of Zunpets to enjoy ofc
"Sense of maturity" is a good description for a lot of Touhou final boss music. They're usually gods, legendary figures, or some other mythological big wheel (reinterpreted as an anime girl), and the music reflects that. The previous tracks you listened to are Extra bosses, who tend to be a bit crazier and more unique.
I originally didn't come to this channel for Touhou, but now i do.
Now i eagerly await more of it because it truly is curious.
Ah yes, this one is a bit unique, as it uses the Dorian and Phrygian scale, along with the usual Minor (although I suppose you could transcribe it to minor). The BPM shifts rather dynamically along with the different portions of the song, speeding up as it goes along. But yes, you're correct, 6-7-1 chord progression is used in practically every touhou boss theme, it's ZUN's go-to "emotional" progression; sometimes he changes it up with suspended chords and resolving to the 1 major instead of minor.
I'm really happy you had covered this song; I wanted to actually suggest it on your last live stream. Superb composition, you can feel a story is being told simply through music.
Edit: that face at 07:09 KEK
I admit, it's "acquired taste" at this point when it comes to ZUN, them crazy trumpets
Thank you for covering Touhou again, Eirin's theme just like almost the entire IN soundtrack is great because of how it mixes a nostalgic melody along with an epic one, idk how to explain it but that's how i interpret them, and that makes sense because of the themes of the games
I love touhou music, and I love touhou music parsing and reactions. But I noticed one pattern - almost always offer melodies from the end of the game and almost always it's the bosses. All the touhou tracks you've heard are endgame bosses, but unfortunately they don't fully reflect the full variety of touhou music. The endgame boss themes are epic, intense, and cool in terms of composition, but there are other, calmer tracks with a different mood, whether it's melodies from the main menu or level themes. I will give some examples below:
-Theme of Eastern Story - not included in the very first game main music theme. The main theme of all touhou games, the re-arrangements that are played in the main menu of each part, and to which there are dozens of callbacks in other touhou tracks (even in this track, right here 6:07).
-Retribution for the Eternal Night ~ Imperishable Night - The theme of the 4th level of the 8th part. The re-arrangement on the main theme of touhou, which I wrote about above, but more intense and fast.
-KOMAKUSA SAKU Perpetual Snow - track of the 3rd level of the 18th part. One of the most major compositions in my memory, calm, with a mood shifting from joy to light sadness.
-Fires of Hokkai - the theme of the last level of the 12th part. A very atmospheric, calm theme, which pretty well pumps up the mood in front of the last boss.
-Nemesis's Stronghold - The 4th track from the 12.5 part. A rather rarely mentioned composition from a side series. Although quite intense and energetic at first, with an admixture of madness inherent in touhou, but one of the most "dark" and gloomy compositions, conveying a feeling of some kind of fear, with a loss conveying a feeling of sadness.
I would continue to list more, but you can continue indefinitely with compositions from touhou)
Agree we need some stage themes.
I vote for "Retribution for the Eternal Night" since it's probably the most popular non-menu theme of eastern story.
As for others, if we go with photo game, I've always like "Sleepless Night of Eastern Country". Other iconic stage themes include "Lullaby for a Deserted Hell" and "The Gensokyo the Gods loved".
But if we were to go with my personal take I'd prefer to hear his take on some of the stage 1 themes as I find they all do an amazing job for giving the initial vibe of the game. "At the End of Spring" is probably my favorite stage 1, but any of them are good and I also really like "Night Sakura of Dead Spirits", "Paradise ~ Deep Mountain", "The Dark Blowhole" and "Unforgettable, the Nostalgic Greenery". They're short enough that he could do a couple in one video.
Even a couple menu themes like DDC's and WBaWC's are really good
@@annaairahala9462 I second Deep Mountain. (I'm also quite a fan of Phantom Ensemble)
@@annaairahala9462 Only now I noticed in "The Gensokyo the Gods loved" the beginnings of the Hijiri theme at the moment 0.15-0.40, and references to the Remilia theme at the very beginning. Good theme
I am a Japanese Touhou fan. Thank you very much for your very good appreciation of Touhou music.
What you called Touhou sequence is a chord progression called ZUN progression (ZUN進行 in Japanese). It is a chord progression used in many Touhou background music.
Also, crazy piano is also used in various songs.
I look forward to seeing videos of other songs.
日本語で失礼します。
是非、「恋色マスタースパーク」「星の器 ～ Casket of Star」も聴いてみてください。
I'm not a musician by any means, I've never went to school or studied anything related to it but...I feel confident in saying that ZUN is a genius when it comes to music. It's one of his strongest attributes.
I love your videos Davi. It would absolutely make my day if you were to do a video on Cirno's theme, "Beloved Tomboyish Girl", or the Embodiment of Scarlet Devil stage 2 theme, "Lunate Elf".
Touhou tracks are strange yet are still a banger
Also, Please do Risk of Rain!!
Something that might be worth checking out are some PC98 Touhou tracks (from the first to the fifth game), they use FM synthesis music (what old Sonic games use), giving them a retro and somehow sound more magical/tragic than regular tracks.
Search for them using "Akyu's untouched score" first, as that's the name of the remasters ZUN made of the tracks.
My personal favorite is "Plastic Mind" from Touhou 05. It's pretty melancholic, has great drums and a more different melody. They encapsulate the feel of the whole PC98 era pretty well.
Man while I love learning more and getting a deeper understanding of video game music, the other part I come to watch is to hear how you might describe the character/circumstances behind the song, and almost all the time you are spot on or really close. That's mighty impressive and entertaining as well.
Touhou is, unlike what its most popular tracks would suggest, full of emotion and nuance. Perfect Cherry Blossom, my favorite game in the series, confirms this the best, with "The Doll Maker of Bucuresti" being, far and large, one of the most intricate and fascinating pieces of music in the series.
I've only gotten into Touhou recently and have always been on the meme and doujin spectrum, so it's really refreshing to see some actual analyses of the series' stories itself.
These videos are a good way to help people learn about not just music theory, but the characters and the lore as well through the comments, since most of the top comments actually deep dive headfirst into it all.
I think Davi's Touhou playlist would become a really useful way for newcomers to learn more and discuss about the lore if he continues reacting to more Touhou tracks.
I really like your reaction from the melody of Touhou,learning the personality of the character from the sentiment under the chorus.Please keep uploading and there are still more fabulous Touhou songs waiting to be discovered
Thanks to you, I'm gaining new appreciation for already well-established Touhou characters
Glad to see more 2hus and an underrated theme too! I recommend to check out "emotional skyscraper - cosmic mind" and "the lost emotion"... also "Locked girl the girl's secret room" because recently i have fell in love with it
I’ve been waiting for another Touhou video since!
Yay, more Touhou videos. I hope there will be videos about the stage themes in the future, they're good too.
I want to bring special attention to 6:07 and the piano runs there. That melody was first heard in "Theme of Eastern Story", an unused song from the very first Touhou game, and it's often considered the main leitmotif of the entire Touhou Project, appearing in almost every single title theme and several other songs throughout the series. Keep an ear out for it in the future...
This is a really pleasant surprise, this my favorite ost in all of gaming.
You nailed the emotions, this song is meant to tell a story, but I also think it would've hit a bit different if you listed to the stage theme, Voyage 1969 too. It does a great job setting the stakes for the battle.
"It has a sense of maturity."
Translation: Eirin is 100 million years old.
It means so much to a massive fan of this series to see more videos like this from you! Thank you so much for getting into the world of touhou! If I had to request any track, please listen to Necrofantasia! imo it's one of his greatest tracks ever
The melody around 6:10 or so is basically the main theme of touhou essentially. So if you hear that motif, you know stuff is serious. Makes sense since Eirin is one of the final bosses of the game.
Some touhou songbs for us to watch you listen:
"Beloved tomboyish daughter"
"Native Faith"
"Gensokyo the god loved"
"Pure Furies"
"Love Colored Master Spark"
"Lunatic Eyes ~ Invisible Full Moon"
"Road of the aprotropaic god"
"Candid Friend"
"Fall of Fall ~ Autumnal Waterfall"
Thanks!!
I discovered your channel very recently, but i already feel like i know it for years. Love your way to describe, feel music. Great work! Also, shoutout to brazil! huehue br 🇧🇷
I know it’s not really one of the classics due to how recently in the series it was introduced, but I’d love it if you would react and listen to Electric Heritage and Idolatrize World, together they are the level 6 stage theme, and the level 6 boss theme of Touhou 17: Wily Beast and Weakest Creature, it makes great use of Zunpets, and as the stage theme title so greatly states, it’s got quite a use of electrics.
The Zunpets in touhou are the best, if you want listen more Zunpets, listen "a maiden's illusionary funeral necro-fantasy", "border of life", "pantom ensemble" , "retribution for the eternal night", "cinderella cage - kagome kagome", "onigashima in the fairylan", "poison body - fosaken doll", "judgemente of the sixtieth year", "wind god girl", "the youkai mountain - misterious yokai", "Satori's maiden - 3rd eye", "lullaby of the deserted hell", "rural makai city esoteria", "emotional skycrapper - cosmic", "kobito of the shining needle - little princess", "primordial beat - pristine beat", "last occultism - esotericist of the present world", "pure furies - whereabouts of the heart", "illusionary white traveler", "egoistic flowers"
PD: sorry for writing to much
I love every video you make on this, your thoughts on what the music conveys and the music theory behind it is a treat to listen to. Especially since I recently got into composing.
I would also recommend you listen to the track “Theme of Eastern Story”, a common leitmotif in many Touhou tracks.
えーりん(^^)えーりん(^^)
原曲竹取の方w
One thing worth noting is that the three Touhou themes you've listened to before this one are all themes of "extra stage" bosses. Extra stages are exceptionally long and challenging levels that skilled enough players can unlock to test their mettle against, but because of the higher skill gating involved with them, ZUN tries to make sure that you don't actually need to complete them to get a proper resolution to the game's story proper. So the bosses of those stages tend to be incredibly powerful characters (to fit with the difficulty of the stage), but ones that are only tangentially related to the actual conflict of the main game. In many ways, playing the extra stage after beating the main game is kind of a "cooldown" - yes, the challenge is harder that anything that came before, but most of the tension is gone, the stakes are lower, and you're encouraged to just enjoy the challenge for challenge's sake, while learning some extra worldbuilding and lore that gives additional context to the conflict that, by the time you're in the extra stage, has already been resolved.
Eirin, however, is a proper final boss, the actual final enemy you have to overcome to resolve the game's primary conflict, so this song does not represent a high-challenge but low-stakes sideshow, it represents the ACTUAL climax of the story.
(Before another Touhou fan hits me with a "well actually" in the replies, I'll state that Eirin's game in particular is weird in that it actually has two possible final bosses, and you have to play through the whole game a second time and fight an alternate final boss if you want the best ending, but the fight with Eirin is still the climax of that particular story path, so my point still stands regardless.)
The previous 3 themes (you reacted to) are extra bosses themes, made for longer battle (they have 9-10 lives/spellcards)
This one is last boss theme (stage 6), usually more beautiful and melodic (except maybe Nuclear Fusion)
The minute you mentioned duty and maturity I was amazed at how ZUN could convey the essence of his characters in his music theory alone yet again. Eirin is basically a traitor to her nation over protecting somebody, and is basically conflicted over it despite her pride and duty towards her homeland. During her boss fight (at 6:20) after the drop, the background changes to the photograph of the US flag being put on the moon during the Apollo 13 mission. The melody that follows along with one of her dialogues about it shows that despite being a traitor, she still embodies the values and opinions of when she was loyal to her nation and regards humans claiming the moon for themselves with derision, scorn, and pride.
It's interesting to me that you note that even while it is unique in that it has a mature feel to it, the song still has that cartoonish, exaggerated flair that a lot of touhou songs do. After all, it is a boss fight in a game and has to hype the player up.
Me listening to every Touhu song:
"Hmmm yes, the Touhou here is made out of Touhou"
Funny that you should mention that this track gives a sense of a journey. For me the main melody has always sounded like something out of the Wild Arms series.
I mean, Wild Arms series is basically a journey on the vast desert and magical land. And yes the the whistle part of Wild Arms Intro and the main melody of Gensokyo Millenium are almost similar, which I freaking like, so no complaint there.
I don't think I've ever seen someone bring up Wild ARMs in a comment on anything before, but I can definitely see some similarities in the style. For someone from the Moon like Eirin, Earth would be a lot more like the wild west to her.
If you havent done any title screen songs yet, try checking out Mysterious Exorcism Rod, The Space Shrine Maiden Appears, A Shadow in the Blue Sky, Snow or Cherry Petal, or Silent Beast Sprits.
Damn, I forgot how good this theme was... Since you've already reacted to Mokou's and Eirin's theme, you could do Kaguya's theme, Lunatic Princess, next. Or perhaps, since you seem to love Touhou drums, you could do Raiko's theme, Primordial Beat.
As for other game OSTs to react to, one I would really love is Ultrakill. I think it has a really interesting soundtrack.
Someday, you're gonna figure out this entire games' story by just listening to its music hahah.
I remember this was the track that made me wanna check out Touhou back then. While not being able to explain it like you did, I had a lot of similar thoughts going through my head trying to figure out the story behind this track before playing the game and finding out who Eirin is. I think Imperishable Night (the game this and Immortal Smoke are from) has a very distinct magical style to it, which is why people often get drawn in by this game in particular I feel like.
Surprisingly, this song shares its first couple measures with a theme from the Wild Arms series.
東方が世界に広まっていって一東方ファンとしてとても嬉しい
Not expected some fresh Touhou content in this current year. such timeless.
great content and melody interpretation. I bet we all could relate in some of those emotion the song gives.
imo , I felt like your video just suddenly end. maybe I expected some summary. but still respect and appreciate your format. It's felt like a live react video. fresh and focusing on the moment.
Eirin Eirin
For background, Eirin is the many minded god in Shinto Religion, Yagokoro-no-Omoikane, a big major in Japanese myth.
In fact, she's among those of the second generation of the Japanese Shinto gods, only below the creators.
Furthermore, She's also mythologically responsible for Amaterasu;(the Sun Goddess and Ancestor of Japan) being baited out of her hiding place.
She's also unique among her people in touhou, being a sage of the moon that imposed herself to exile to be with her student.
In current lore Eirin's one of the big masterminds, having achieved feats such as thwarting seperate invasions of the earth and moon without being there personally.
It's also interesting how you pointed out how her theme reminds you of Mokou's, considering she is an integral factor to Mokou's (and another Character's) immortality.
The 6:08 one chord part is the closest you can get to a Touhou Main Theme, that melody shows up in almost every title theme in the mainline games, and even the spinoffs to some extent.
Super spot on about the feeling of maturity part, this is one of my favorite touhou themes so im happy to see you listen to it for the first time and analyzing it
Hello Davi, great reaction and analysis, I've noticed that you has taken boss themes, I think will be a great complementation if you pick eventually stages themes. My recomendatios are here:
-Locked Girl ~ The Girl's Secret Room (Patchouli Knowledge's theme - Touhou 6)
-Centennial Festival for Magical Girls (Extra stage theme - Touhou 6)
-The Capital City of Flowers in the Sky (Stage 4 theme - Touhou 7)
-Hiroari Shoots a Strange Bird ~ Till When? (Youmu Konpaku's theme - Touhou 7)
-Higan Retour ~ Riverside View (Komachi Onozuka's theme - Touhou 9)
-The Gensokyo the Gods Loved (Stage 3 theme - Touhou 10)
-Native Faith (Suwako's theme - Touhou 10) Extra boss theme
-Lullaby of Deserted Hell (Stage 5 theme - Touhou 11)
-Satori Maiden ~ 3rd Eye (Satori Komeji's theme - Touhou 11)
-Last Remote (Extra stage theme - Touhou 11)
-Provincial Makai City Esoteria (Stage 5 theme - Touhou 12)
-Captain Murasa (Murasa Minamitsu's theme - Touhou 12)
Well all my recommendations are of classic Touhou of windows era. I think I will recommend themes of the newest games on the next.
日本語で失礼します。
ぜひ『無間の鐘〜Infinite Nightmare』と、西方Projectの曲になりますが同じくZUN作曲の『二色蓮花蝶 ～Ancients』も聞いてみて下さい。
Boss themes are awesome. Wish people gave more love to stage themes too (Like the best stage theme ever Lullaby of Deserted Hell)
I'd recommend Satori's theme or Fires of Hokkai for something mature and different. Or Utsuho's if you're in the mood for metal. Actually Misty's theme is really beautiful, as is the Phantom Ensamble.
Hello, what good analysis of the songs you do, you discover the personalities of the characters with their melodies and even more, I'm glad I discovered your channel!
Gensokyo millenium definitely gives Final Fantasy vibes with it's grandness.
Once again you nailed it. As many have almost certainly pointed out, Eirin is old. Although no one in the games really looks elderly, she comes the closest in both appearance and demeanor, and it's exactly her character; she's an immortal scientist who has *successfully* made a drug that grants complete immortality.
Gensokyo Millennium is one of the best Touhou tracks of all time --- which sounds like hyperbole, given how high that bar is is, but it's completely true. It's an absolute tapestry of sound and themes and encapsulates ZUN's energy and ability to convey a story through music alone.
And I cannot even explain why, but that sequence that plays here on 6:21 strikes me at an innermost level.
Gensokyo Millennium is my favourite next to Mokou's theme, both are so beautiful and fitting for their character!!
You should check out "Now Until the Moment you Die" from Touhou 1: Highly Responsive to Prayers as the final boss there is heavy inspiration in the character design for the final boss in Undertale Pacifist "Hopes and Dreams", Sariel Undertale. This also does not sound like any of the Touhou Music you previously heard, and was also apparently composed by ZUN when he was around 18 or 19 years old?? Also, Gensokyo Millenium is potentially sampling the Wild Arms "Into the Wilderness". Also, there are no anime girls in Touhou.
Zun really does always go crazy with those background pianos
You’ve successfully summoned the Touhou community.
Thank you for the reactions!
Something you will learn through time is that most characters in these games are based on historical characters, mythologies, beasts or items. So dropping the whole mindset of anime girls might be in your best interest for future songs. Most reviewers of the touhou songs tend to dig a little bit into the story/background of the song either before listening or after listening and add their thoughs of what the music conveys while listening or after initial review of the song. (Usually as the last part of the video). All I can say for this song is that it tries to convey alot regarding the story of eirin and her horrible past. And kind of the catalysator of the whole moon residents versus gensokyo war that is important in future installments of games. I would higly suggest trying out Apollo song afterwards. Title of songs tend to explain alot. Guess what that song would convey from that title alone :)
Please keep on doing touhou music! ^-^ I'm just gonna copy and paste what I said last time:
"I think it would be a really cool thing to read his notes on his songs. Every single game, he has a "music room" where you can view all of the music used in that game. He includes his thought process and his thoughts about the songs that he has written. I think his notes are also on the touhou wiki. Once again, great video and analysis as always!"
Nice video, as always ❤
I really love how you can find the tiny intricate details with these videos ~~
Also, not sure if you've ever listened to the OneShot soundtrack but it's *phenomenal*
This is a really nice analysis of Eirin's theme. I haven't heard this in a long time! She tends to get overshowed by many of the other characters in Touhou 8. In part, it's like you said - she's a mature and strong character. Those generally aren't the characters the fanbase is most hype about. But I forgot all about the crazy piano in the latter half of the song. In the Windows 1 and 2 eras, that was one of the major indicators of someone being way stronger than they looked. Keine, Yuuka, Suwako and even Byakuren all had this to some extent. Everyone else major to the plot back then got a huge helping of ZUNpets.
And yes, I've returned to recommend The Doll Maker of Bucresti, Song of the Night Sparrow, Swim in a Sakura Colored Sea - and I'm adding Rural Makai City Esoteria to the mix. All of these are stage themes. ZUN's range in exploration with those themes is an entirely different animal than his boss battles. For a Music CD exclusive, I will also recommend Welcome to the Moon Tour from Magical Astronomy.
Love these videos, keep up the great analysis on ZUN's work! We're always happy to get another fanatic into the mix!
The "Touhou sequence" makes sense. ZUN is so in love with his own style that he made the Touhou games mostly by himself just to match his style. Story, characters, design, programming, it's all done by him around his music.
The literary definition of "music album comes with a game", every titles.
Very cool, I hope you continue to do Touhou music analysis. I've learned a bit of theory, I'd like to make some comments. The first part of the song is G# minor, going between natural, harmonic, and melodic minor. The magic chord with F natural is IV from G# major, also in G# melodic minor. The signature cadence is the minor Andalusian cadence in reverse, going up and down. The second part, the key change is to B minor, the parallel minor of G#'s relative major. Interestingly, the modulation arpeggiated chord (another signature ZUN sound) is first inv. of the stacked fourths starting on Eb, so that G# is the root. I guess this chord is pretty useful for key modulations because he just slams this chord and bam suddenly we're in B minor. The last key change up is B minor to C minor, common, but because vgm songs need to loop a key change back to G# minor has to happen at some point, interesting. Anyways, Touhou music has a unique sound thanks to the rich harmonic language ZUN uses. Like jazzy but not. Funky but not. Cinematic but not. And also eastern. Touhou means eastern/oriental in Japanese, the series is formally Touhou Project. Anyways yeah Touhou music is a treasure.
Always love your analyzes!
If you want to react to a touhou theme that isn't a boss theme, I would recommend either:
"The Gensokyou the Gods Loved" (a stage theme), or
"Mysterious Purification Rod", a main menu theme
This is the deepest analysys of Touhou music on UA-cam. Now we even have Th music slang. Great job!
it's fun to see people when they first start figuring out the awesomeness of touhou. hopefully you'll play the games and stop being a secondary soon enough. everyone is suggesting necrofantasia, so i'll suggest you play plastic mind or either of yuuka's old songs (faint dream in particular). maybe heartfelt fancy if you're ok with stage themes. idolatrize world is a good recent one, and if for no other reason than the memes, tomboyish girl in love. also, little princess, you sound like you might enjoy that one. legend of the great god's is an underestimated theme that zun really liked, i wonder what you would think of it.
We Japanese fans of Touhou call the trumpet that plays during the main melody the ``ZUN pet.''
There is a chord progression called the "ZUN progression" where the chorus suddenly gets exciting.
Basically consists of ♭Ⅵ→♭Ⅶ→Ⅰm
Originally, it had a certain degree of popularity among musicians under the name "Mario Progress".
ZUN's music always uses this chord progression at the beginning of the chorus, so it was named "ZUN progression" and the name is now well-known throughout the world.
The intro chords of Vocaloid Hatsune Miku's signature song "Senbonzakura" also use this ZUN progression, so it is very distinctive that it builds excitement from the beginning like a climax.
Wow great explanation! I love hearing how different techniques affect the sound and feeling
Really love to hear your breakdowns, if i may suggest regarding touhou music, check out stage themes too, ZUN way of conveying ambience through the music is really outstanding and he goes all out on stage themes too, and then, even more on the special albums he does where he is even more adventourous, some themes i could reccomend are "Tomorrow is special, yesterday was not", "The long awaited outonomagoki" or from the album of same name "Unknown Flower, mesmerizing journey"
If you want to analyze modern era Touhou music, go for the final bosses themes (Yuyuko's Bloom Nobly, Yukari's Necrofantasia, Byakuren's Emotional Skyscraper, Shinmyoumaru's Little Princess, Kanako's Venerable Ancient Battlefield, Keiki's Idoliatrize World, and maybe the most perfect of them all, Junko's Pure Furies, which, by the way, contains THE melody of doom, the main four notes of the Dies Irea Gregorian chant used to crystalize the purest form of fear in our genes, which is important for the understanding of the character),
and if you want to dive into bit-tunes, into the pc-98 era, I can only recommand Shinki's Infinite Being and Mima's themes: Reincarnation, maybe, but above them all, Complete Darkness, which, in my opinion, rocks harder than any rock/metal song written ever since.
Since you have only reacted to boss themes so far, you may want to check out some stage themes as well. My recommendation is "The Gensokyo the Gods Loved", from Touhou 10: Mountain of Faith
Doesn't the main melody sound a lot like the Wild Arms opening theme?
Wasn't Davi asking for non-boss themes? To keep things from getting too samey, maybe some "lullaby of a deserted hell", "last remote", "heartfelt fancy" or "fires of hokkai"?
When I first heard the theme, I thought the start sounded a lot like Together we Ride from Fire Emblem. And after hearing that opening, I can definitely say the melody is similar to both this and Septette for the Dead Princess.