Author Topic: ZUN and Touhou status update  (Read 411838 times)

cuc

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ZUN and Touhou status update
« on: February 14, 2013, 03:46:20 PM »
This thread can be used for any status update about ZUN and Touhou that's noteworthy enough to warrant translation, but not important enough to need its own thread.

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Names to know
* Name order is family name first, given name second. Unless noted, all names are pseudonyms. *

Hakurei Kannushi and family
ZUN: Sole member of Shanghai Alice Gengakudan (Shanghai Alice Fantasy Ensemble, English name: Team Shanghai Alice). Former employee at Taito. Making Touhou full-time since 2007, being a full-time daddy since 2014. @korindo

ki-san: ZUN's wife and former co-worker. Game programmer. Loves frogs. Also loves drinking.

Doujin game-making friends
Unabara Iruka: Leader and designer of the doujin game developer Twilight Frontier (Tasofro for short), developer of Touhou fighting games. The pseudonym means "Ocean Dolphin". @unabara

Akiyama Uni: a.k.a. U2, composer at Twilight Frontier. Wrote "Broken Moon" and many other songs from the fighting games. @u2aki

D.N.A.: Leader of the doujin game developer D.N.A. Softwares (Touhou Unreal Mahjong). @dnasoftwares

Ruw: Member of D.N.A. Softwares. Helps ZUN and Tasofro with business and legal matters. Can drink as much as ZUN.

tbn: Doujin game designer who often helps ZUN manage booths at conventions. @tbn

Heppoko: One half of the doujin game circle Eikyuu Loop (TWilight refrAIN, TWilight INSanity, etc) until 2013, he is making games entirely on his own now. Works in the game industry by day. @heppoko

Game industry connections
Tanzawa Yūichi (real name): ZUN's former co-worker, now a game designer at Square Enix. Main member of the PoriPori Club web broadcast. @TANTAN_U1

Kimura Yoshirō (real name): Legendary game designer known for creating cult titles such as Chulip and Little King Story. Main member of PoriPori Club. @yoshiro_kimura

Print work-related
Okonogi Tetsurō (real name): Editor of several Touhou print works at the publisher Ichijinsha until his resignation in July 2014. Hosts ZUN's monthly web broadcast "Radio Begins from the Second Pub" (Nikenme Radio). Has cameo appearances in the When They Cry franchise. @okonyogi

Azuma Aya: Touhou fan artist, and artist of Touhou Ibarakasen ~ Wild and Horned Hermit (published by Ichijinsha). @a_to_z

Harukawa Moe: Artist of Touhou Suzunaan ~ Forbidden Scrollery (published by Kadokawa). Still in college.


==========================
Original first update:

With very little warning, ZUN declared on Twitter he was going to Taiwan, and he has already arrived in Taipei a few hours ago.

You can even catch a live broadcast from his hotel (it's 11:47 PM in Taiwan at this moment):
http://live.nicovideo.jp/watch/lv126520307

Possible related events include a Taiwan anime con TCA 2013, and the Taiwanese edition of PMiSS and SoPM, to be released today. But who knows what he's cooking now!?
« Last Edit: November 11, 2014, 02:12:27 PM by cuc »
Touhou Fantasy News: twitter

AnonymousPondScum

Re: ZUN's 2013 Taiwan trip
« Reply #1 on: February 16, 2013, 02:34:22 AM »
Man, when it was first announced that ZUN was getting married I was worried he'd be so busy with the wife he'd have to slow things down.

Boy was I wrong. :V

Drake

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Re: ZUN's 2013 Taiwan trip
« Reply #2 on: February 16, 2013, 02:54:28 AM »
Well, they were already living together for a while by the time of the announcement.

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AnonymousPondScum

Re: ZUN's 2013 Taiwan trip
« Reply #3 on: February 16, 2013, 03:18:30 AM »
Ohhh, okay.

cuc

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Re: ZUN's 2013 Taiwan trip
« Reply #4 on: February 16, 2013, 03:48:45 AM »
Huh, I didn't mention that ZUN attended Taiwan's Fancy Frontier 19 in 2012, and that was actually the first time he ever went abroad, his honeymoon trip being the second time. This time he's probably there to attend Fancy Frontier 21, starting today.
Touhou Fantasy News: twitter

cuc

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Re: ZUN's 2013 Taiwan trip, and other tweets
« Reply #5 on: February 22, 2013, 02:08:31 AM »
The game designer and composer Kenji Eno has passed away. ZUN expressed his grief on twitter (pardon my horrible translation):

Quote
He is a person who believed in the responsibility to express auteurship through games, no matter what happens. You can say he is one of my goals. I've never thought he could die, and am slightly shaken. Rest in peace...

EDIT:
And the theme of today's Nikenme Radio broadcast will be "in memory of Kenji Eno".
« Last Edit: February 22, 2013, 03:23:30 AM by cuc »
Touhou Fantasy News: twitter

wailofthebanshee

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Re: ZUN's 2013 Taiwan trip, and other tweets
« Reply #6 on: February 23, 2013, 09:47:12 PM »
Where does ZUN get the money to travel all over the world all of the time, like this? Surely touhou can't be that profitable.

N-Forza

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Re: ZUN's 2013 Taiwan trip, and other tweets
« Reply #7 on: February 24, 2013, 01:42:36 AM »
This is only his second/third trip overseas, and Taiwan isn't that far away from Japan.

cuc

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Re: ZUN's 2013 Taiwan trip, and other tweets
« Reply #8 on: February 24, 2013, 02:16:40 AM »
For the first Taiwan trip, ZUN went as a guest, and was not paying out of his own pocket. I haven't checked who paid for him this year.

On an unrelated note, he's also not alone in Taiwan this year. Other people, including U2 Akiyama (the fighting game composer) accompanied him.

Regarding the honeymoon trip... that was what saving up money is for, right?
« Last Edit: February 24, 2013, 02:35:04 AM by cuc »
Touhou Fantasy News: twitter

cuc

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Feb 22, 2013 Nikenme Radio
« Reply #9 on: February 25, 2013, 01:25:44 PM »
The Nikenme Radio broadcast of Feb 22 turned out to be quite interesting. For now, I only have the time and ability to translate the most important part. This is again, based on posts in the Touhou Gensou forum, collected by Tateito1.

- ZUN put Reimu into Magic Pengel for testing purposes. The data stayed into the final version. That was the period when he had ceased making Touhou games.
(He would revive Touhou by making EoSD, while working on Graffiti Kingdom, the sequel to Magic Pengel.)

- Reimu's skill name 夢想封印 "Fantasy Seal" originated in Magic Pengel. It was composed using the game's key word system.
(Apparently the name is composed like this:  "dream" 夢 + "thought" 想 + "seal" 封印, and the key word "seal" means the attack can immobilize the target.)

- Q: How to defeat Reimu in Magic Pengel? A: We don't know, either. She's like Mew this way.

- He temporarily stopped at a milestone for Touhou first, and quit his job at Taito later. The Touhou popularity boom caused by the video site Nico Nico Douga happened even later.
(ZUN decided to stop making Touhou games for a while after completing PoFV in 2005. See the Gensou Denshou lecture.)

- He drinks the most when writing music. When one song is done, he would also become drunk. On the other hand, he doesn't drink when drawing.

- He drinks beer when in good health, and drinks small amount of strong liquor when unwell.
« Last Edit: February 25, 2013, 02:11:46 PM by cuc »
Touhou Fantasy News: twitter

N-Forza

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Re: ZUN and Touhou status updates, 2013 version
« Reply #10 on: February 25, 2013, 02:30:28 PM »
On the other hand, he doesn't drink when drawing.
I believed you up to here.

Drake

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Re: ZUN and Touhou status updates, 2013 version
« Reply #11 on: February 25, 2013, 05:49:43 PM »
maybe he should drink while drawing

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cuc

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Re: ZUN and Touhou status updates, 2013 version
« Reply #12 on: February 26, 2013, 03:34:43 AM »
Thanks to tryourbreast, here's a video of fighting and defeating Reimu in Magic Pengel (since you've probably all seen the video about Reimu in Graffiti Kingdom). Fantasy Seal got used near the end. Now you know where the visual effects of Fantasy Seal come from!
Touhou Fantasy News: twitter

cuc

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Re: ZUN and Touhou status updates, 2013 version
« Reply #13 on: March 08, 2013, 01:53:06 PM »
Very soon, a new live broadcast will start.
http://live.nicovideo.jp/watch/lv127872748

This is a special broadcast for the 2nd "NicoNico Super Conference" event, to be held in April 27-28. On that event, ZUN will again be selling the beer he brewed himself in his booth, just like last year.

He'll definitely talk about his microbrewery a lot in today's broadcast, but I have no idea whether he'll talk about anything else. The other two people are the founder of 2ch and operator of NicoNico Douga.

EDIT: I think we are now being shown ZUN's microbrewery, huh?
« Last Edit: March 08, 2013, 02:32:38 PM by cuc »
Touhou Fantasy News: twitter

cuc

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Re: ZUN and Touhou status updates, 2013 version
« Reply #14 on: March 09, 2013, 10:40:37 AM »
Melonbooks seems to be the first site to reveal the Forbidden Scrollery Vol 1 cover. (Their exclusive?) preorder bonus is a cover wrap made with Japanese paper. Link (WARNING: the page contains NSFW images; if you don't see Forbidden Scrollery, do a text search.)

==============

During yesterday's live broadcast for the 2nd NicoNico Super Conference event (to be held on April 27-28), ZUN spent much of the time talking about the beer he brewed, and we are shown footages of the brewery. He sold his own beer during the 1st Super Conference, and will do it again this year.

This time the beer is called "Super Red the Nightless Castle". 500 yen a cup of 250 ml, 800 cups each day. (Source)

On April 27, a "Super Condensed Version" of Reitaisai will accompany ZUN at NicoNico Super Conference. (Not new info, but I didn't know about it.)

ZUN also said something about the new game (presumably Touhou 14): the demo will be released on Reitaisai 10 (May 26), and the full game on Comiket 84 (August 12). (Source)

Other things ZUN said: "I make games each year because I love games. But also, because this makes people buy me drinks." (Source)

==============

I went to sleep last night, and didn't see much of the broadcast, so most of the above comes from the Japanese internet. Strangely, the only source I can find about the new game is one fan's twitter; everyone else just retweeted him, and no other places seem to have discussions about it. Nonetheless, I don't see any reason he could have lied about it - he was tweeting well-written summaries of the broadcast all the way, and it should be impossible to lie about something a thousand people on the internet were watching.

EDIT: um, suspicion cleared?
« Last Edit: March 09, 2013, 01:37:29 PM by cuc »
Touhou Fantasy News: twitter

BT

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Re: ZUN and Touhou status updates, 2013 version
« Reply #15 on: March 09, 2013, 10:57:27 AM »
ZUN also said something about the new game (presumably Touhou 14): the demo will be released on Reitaisai 10 (May 26), and the full game on Comiket 84 (August 12). (Source)
Y-Y-Yay

game2011

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Re: ZUN and Touhou status updates, 2013 version
« Reply #16 on: March 09, 2013, 11:16:00 AM »
ZUN also said something about the new game (presumably Touhou 14): the demo will be released on Reitaisai 10 (May 26), and the full game on Comiket 84 (August 12). (Source)
I assume you mean "about a new game, because using "the" sounds like he's talking about 13.5

If the former is true, then let's hope it's Touhou 14!

cuc

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Re: ZUN and Touhou status updates, 2013 version
« Reply #17 on: March 09, 2013, 12:24:15 PM »
The new game by ZUN has been confirmed in an earlier Nikenme Radio broadcast. And as a rule, the Tasofro games announcements are made by them, not ZUN.

In other topics:

Something hasn't been mentioned here: ki-san (a name that has always been in game credits since IN) is ZUN's wife, a fact known since last April.

I'm now very certain ZUN has been self-employed since he quit Taito in 2007. His "day job" is manga writer. This is because he recently has had a series of tweets that leave no doubt: 1) he can do his "work" at any time and place; 2) the "work" is writing Touhou manga.

One day, he still hadn't gone to sleep at 13 PM, and the "work" was not done yet; he would get up at 6 PM to attend a meeting, where he should discuss his manga, but instead talked more about anime. The other day he was working in some public place, he tweeted if he's doing his work "outside", it's usually in a pub.
« Last Edit: March 12, 2013, 10:43:08 AM by cuc »
Touhou Fantasy News: twitter

Tengukami

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Re: ZUN and Touhou status updates, 2013 version
« Reply #18 on: March 09, 2013, 02:23:05 PM »
ZUN also said something about the new game (presumably Touhou 14): the demo will be released on Reitaisai 10 (May 26), and the full game on Comiket 84 (August 12). (Source)

Other things ZUN said: "I make games each year because I love games. But also, because this makes people buy me drinks." (Source)

This might be Front Page Headlines material ...

The game part, not his functional alcoholism.

"Human history and growth are both linked closely to strife. Without conflict, humanity would have no impetus for growth. When humans are satisfied with their present condition, they may as well give up on life."

cuc

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Re: ZUN and Touhou status updates, 2013 version
« Reply #19 on: March 09, 2013, 03:08:33 PM »
Youtube video of the broadcast: Part 1 Part 2

Via Hachimaki

BTW, while Comiket 84 lasts from August 10 to 12, the game release date should be August 12, because that's the day scheduled for Touhou and other games.
« Last Edit: March 09, 2013, 11:51:30 PM by cuc »
Touhou Fantasy News: twitter

Maiden Synnae ミ☆

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Re: ZUN and Touhou status updates, 2013 version
« Reply #20 on: March 09, 2013, 03:11:45 PM »
ZUN also said something about the new game (presumably Touhou 14): the demo will be released on Reitaisai 10 (May 26), and the full game on Comiket 84 (August 12). (Source)

Wait, seriously!?

That's awesome! I've been longing for Touhou 14 for over one year. Makes me quite excited to see how the new demo will turn out. (Assuming this "new game" he mentioned is in fact th14).

It also makes me glad to know this year won't be Touhou less.

Sweetness and love~ ♥

game2011

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Re: ZUN and Touhou status updates, 2013 version
« Reply #21 on: March 09, 2013, 03:31:25 PM »
ZUN also said something about the new game (presumably Touhou 14)
Wait, since you used "the" originally, does that mean ZUN has been hinting on Touhou 14 even before this?

Thanks in advance!

Re: ZUN and Touhou status updates, 2013 version
« Reply #22 on: March 09, 2013, 04:15:50 PM »
Manga writer, huh? Wonder if he's working on anything else besides WaHH and FS. Though if it's just WaHH and FS, good for him. Nice to see Touhou as an official career in that case (instead of the side-hobby of his that it used to be).

Raikaria

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Re: ZUN and Touhou status updates, 2013 version
« Reply #23 on: March 09, 2013, 04:19:38 PM »
He can't be saying 13.5's release date is C84, because then he wouldn't mention releasing a demo for said game.

Hopefully it's 14, hopefully.


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cuc

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Re: ZUN and Touhou status updates, 2013 version
« Reply #24 on: March 09, 2013, 04:27:38 PM »
>Touhou 14

He first tweeted he started working on a new game last year, and said he'll release it this year during a Nikenme Radio broadcast one month ago. When ZUN says he's making a game, it means the game is not developed by anyone else.

>manga writer

Sorry if I was not clear enough: the only manga ZUN writes are Touhou manga.
« Last Edit: March 09, 2013, 04:31:39 PM by cuc »
Touhou Fantasy News: twitter

Nindella

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Re: ZUN and Touhou status updates, 2013 version
« Reply #25 on: March 09, 2013, 07:48:11 PM »
This might be Front Page Headlines material ...

The game part, not his functional alcoholism.

Yes, I think it's pretty big news, although there's sadly very little else to talk about other than release dates (but maybe that qualifies it enough?).

I'd buy him so many drinks if I did meet him, haha
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Re: ZUN and Touhou status updates, 2013 version
« Reply #26 on: March 09, 2013, 09:14:12 PM »
I don't think it should go to Front Page Headlines neither. It's too soon, and there's barely any discussion material for that yet.

It's better to just wait for Zun actually announcing it on his blog, as usual.

Sweetness and love~ ♥

Drake

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Re: ZUN and Touhou status updates, 2013 version
« Reply #27 on: March 09, 2013, 11:08:17 PM »
It would be worth editing the thread title to reflect important information, however. There's a lot of good news here, thanks a bunch cuc.

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Re: ZUN and Touhou status updates: Touhou 14 this summer
« Reply #28 on: March 10, 2013, 12:28:08 AM »
Maybe you can sticky this topic so you can bump it anytime?

Re: ZUN and Touhou status updates: Touhou 14 this summer
« Reply #29 on: March 10, 2013, 02:31:15 AM »
Well, ZUN announces his games about 20 days before Reitaisai.. let's just wait