Maidens of the Kaleidoscope

~Bunbunmaru News~ => Front Page Headlines => Topic started by: cuc on September 20, 2014, 03:07:14 PM

Title: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: cuc on September 20, 2014, 03:07:14 PM
EDIT: The English version of the website has been up and running. For latest information, you can read the website or skip forward in the thread.

The word has already gotten out in the Japanese fandom, so it should be the right time to publicize it.

Some Chinese Touhou fans have been working on a ridiculously ambitious idea: a fan animation series. I have no deep involvement with the project, but they are my friends, so they do ask me for advice from time to time. Here is the project:


Circle Name: Kyoto Fantasy Troupe
Website: http://kyotofantasytroupe.net/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/fantasytroupe

Chinese/Japanese Title:
秘封活動記録 ~ The Sealed Esoteric History.

English Title:
Hifuu Club Activity Record ~ The Sealed Esoteric History.

Premise:
This series follows the exploits of Sealing Club, as they reveal the truth behind ancient tales, and discover the forgotten past of Gensokyo.

(http://abload.de/img/secretbannermtcyr.jpg)


Character concept art:
Hijiri Byakuren:
(http://abload.de/img/concept_hijiri1ak0k.jpg)

Fujiwara no Mokou:
(http://abload.de/img/concept_mokouz9it7.jpg)


Character designs:

Merry:
(http://kyotofantasytroupe.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/%E6%A2%85%E8%8E%890001.jpg)(http://kyotofantasytroupe.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/%E6%A2%85%E8%8E%890002.jpg)

Renko:
(http://kyotofantasytroupe.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/%E8%8E%B2%E5%AD%900001.jpg)(http://kyotofantasytroupe.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/%E8%8E%B2%E5%AD%900002.jpg)


Layout samples:
(http://kyotofantasytroupe.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Layout1.gif)
(http://kyotofantasytroupe.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Layout2.gif)


Background samples:
Rendaino Graveyard:
(http://kyotofantasytroupe.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/%E8%8E%B2%E5%8F%B0%E9%87%8E.jpg)

Bamboo Forest at night:
(http://kyotofantasytroupe.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/%E7%AB%B9%E6%9E%97.png)

Hakurei Shrine:
(http://kyotofantasytroupe.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/%E5%8D%9A%E4%B8%BD%E7%A5%9E%E7%A4%BE.jpg)


A small preview (http://thvideo.tv/v/th1987/) of storyboard for the first release to be completed in November (video hosted on Chinese servers, might be slow to load).

If you want to embed the video in a page, use this address:
Code: [Select]
https://ssl.thvideo.tv/mini.swf?cid=1987-0&.swf
Once completed, they will release it first at Chinese fan conventions, then in Japan and on the internet. There's no plan for large scale international distribution, but by that time you should have some way of obtaining it.
Title: Re: New fan animation project from China: Hifuu Activity Record
Post by: hungrybookworm on September 20, 2014, 03:28:40 PM
A Sealing Club fan animation? Yes please!

That is one gorgeous looking Hakurei Shrine.
Title: Re: New fan animation project from China: Hifuu Activity Record
Post by: Kilgamayan on September 20, 2014, 03:43:33 PM
Oh my, this looks splendid. I am all for anything that gives RenMary the attention they deserve.
Title: Re: New fan animation project from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: cuc on September 20, 2014, 05:00:31 PM
Sorry, the English titled should be Hifuu Club Activity Record ~ The Sealed Esoteric History., unless a better idea come to me. I also changed the story description for the better.
Title: Re: New fan animation project from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Gpop on September 20, 2014, 05:04:12 PM
I'm heavily interested in this. It looks pretty promising atm.
Title: Re: New fan animation project from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Satz on September 20, 2014, 05:58:00 PM
Dear God, a Touhou animation? All my yes!
I'd love to see it happen someday :)
Title: Re: New fan animation project from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Drake on September 21, 2014, 12:35:29 AM
sealing club anything = instant yes
Title: Re: New fan animation project from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: The Dratini Farmer on September 21, 2014, 12:38:46 AM
It's looking really promising so far. I'll be sure to keep my eye on this.
Title: Re: New fan animation project from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Baliverne on September 21, 2014, 12:59:25 AM
I gotta say....I'll eagerly be awaiting news for this project, Maribel/Renko being one of the most interesting angle of the Touhouverse in my heart.
Title: Re: New fan animation project from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: StainGlass on September 21, 2014, 04:55:54 AM
This looks really interesting! Thanks for keeping us informed.

The production is looking really nice so far and I'll be bookmarking the blog for future updates. Looking forward to it!
Title: Re: New fan animation project from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Espadas on September 21, 2014, 09:56:38 AM
While i'm not a great fan of the Sealing Club, this is really an amazing work, and i'll surely keep tabs on it!

And honestly, just the mere fact that it's an actual FAN ANIMATION deserve admiration!
Title: Re: New fan animation project from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Tengukami on September 21, 2014, 12:40:53 PM
Yes to everything Sealing Club related. I'm rooting for this one - other animation projects have fallen off way too fast. Here's hoping they blow our minds!
Title: Re: New fan animation project from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Hatateru on September 21, 2014, 01:09:57 PM
Man I really hope this will fly, I was hoping for some competition for Manpuku Jinja. They've been monopolizing "Touhou anime" for quite some time now

Also this looks hella interesting, especially that (presumably) pre-Gensokyo Byakuren. There might be some original material for that too, right? Man I'm really hyped now
Title: Re: New fan animation project from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Imosa on September 21, 2014, 03:12:03 PM
The time is now, the hype is real.
Title: Re: New fan animation project from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Phoenix-P on September 21, 2014, 10:01:40 PM
now that's a surprise, never thought someone was gonna do something that focused on them since they are not as famous as the others. nice to see something that's different
looking forward to it  :D
Title: Re: New fan animation project from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: H4xolotl on September 22, 2014, 03:49:15 AM
Does anyone know the name of the song in the trailer? Also how do you download the .swf video? None of the usual internet video rippers work and downloading the embed link just downloads a single frame :(



Things in the trailer preview;

Sealing club in front of a monorail and a metropolis skyline

Sealing club in the Bamboo forest of the lost

Alive Yuyuko in front of the Saigyoshi tree before being transformed

Yukari's hand coming out of a gap grasping at some ancient buildings, with (an army?) people behind her and an Orb that could be the Earth or the Moon. It could be her first invasion of the moon.

Kanako machine gunning pillars and a Snake Hydra at Suwako
Title: Re: New fan animation project from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: cuc on September 22, 2014, 05:42:13 AM
Does anyone know the name of the song in the trailer? Also how do you download the .swf video? None of the usual internet video rippers work and downloading the embed link just downloads a single frame :(
The song is a work-in-progress version of music written for the show, based on Track 2 of Ghostly Field Club. As for downloading, the Firefox plugin NetVideoHunter works.
Title: Re: New fan animation project from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: An Odd Sea Slug on September 22, 2014, 06:07:58 AM
Ooh, I'll certainly be keeping an eye on this.
Title: Re: New fan animation project from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: H4xolotl on September 22, 2014, 08:30:19 AM
The song is a work-in-progress version of music written for the show, based on Track 2 of Ghostly Field Club. As for downloading, the Firefox plugin NetVideoHunter works.
Ah thanks a lot :)
Title: Re: New fan animation project from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: qMyon on September 22, 2014, 12:31:40 PM
Impressive-looking indeed. I'll look forward to the finished product!
Title: Re: New fan animation project from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Reddyne on September 22, 2014, 12:48:37 PM
Also this looks hella interesting, especially that (presumably) pre-Gensokyo Byakuren. There might be some original material for that too, right? Man I'm really hyped now
Byakuren here might also fit the role that she's played in Forbidden Scrollery thus far. Any time Buddhist myths and legends pop up, she'll act out the role of the lead in that story. Saint Yuuten and the monk-eating youkai and another story involving challenging a group of boisterous belly-drumming tanuki have popped up so far if I remember the details right. Not to mention that the clothing and - more tellingly - the hair match the FS style, which has been depicted as simply dark since it's being drawn on a simple black-and-white medium.

Blah. I won't be able to look into any of this further or do a better job checking the legitimacy of my hypothesis until I get home from work. :/
Title: Re: New fan animation project from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Tiamat on September 22, 2014, 05:33:10 PM
Looks like it'll be about all of Gensokyo's major historical events, then (copious amounts of time travelling by the sealing club, obviously).  Interesting.
Title: Re: New fan animation project from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Kuremisago on September 23, 2014, 12:46:25 AM
All my yes.
2hu animu is always welcome
Title: Re: New fan animation project from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Firestorm29 on September 23, 2014, 06:16:51 AM
This looks really cool. I've always wondered what something like this would be like since Mari and Renko's stories have been in CD liner notes. Quite interested.
Title: Re: New fan animation project from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: cuc on October 02, 2014, 09:35:34 AM
A trailer. Also, site is now in English and Japanese.

http://kyotofantasytroupe.net/archives/150

It is now revealed that they are doing things the Mapuku Jinja way - the first release is "Prologue", a short music video that also functions as the opening to future episodes.

The plan is of course, hoping this prologue can attract enough support that they can actually have the resources to finish the full episodes.

Please direct any anger and frustration you may have felt to these guys - I can only tell you what I'm allowed to say.


Meanwhile, the plot relevant Chinese text from the trailer:

SPOILER:

Quote
00:57 "For what reason did she choose death"

01:03 "What caused the battle"

01:10 "The war on the moon a thousand years ago"

01:19 "What kind of stories are found behind the myths"

01:27 "Why is she bound to the darkness of the sea"

Oh it sure would be nice if they can do all that.
Title: Re: New fan animation project from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: H4xolotl on October 02, 2014, 10:43:49 AM
ALL ABOARD THE HYPE TRAIN!!
Title: Re: New fan animation project from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: H4xolotl on October 02, 2014, 11:11:06 AM
I reuploaded it onto Youtube since the chinese video host is pretty laggy for overseas viewers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIMAGhrVJ9k

Is there anything else I should do beyond putting their website in the description to make it a friendly reupload and not a theft of content?
Title: Re: New fan animation project from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Tengukami on October 02, 2014, 12:55:29 PM
That trailer looks pretty impressive! I got goosebumps. The stories around Renko and Maribel are so strange and Lynchian, yet so often overlooked. It's nice to see just a little of that brought to life.

The plan is of course, hoping this prologue can attract enough support that they can actually have the resources to finish the full episodes.

Say someone in the WTC wanted to help give them support. How they can send funds? What other resources do they need?
Title: Re: New fan animation project from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: cuc on October 02, 2014, 01:34:32 PM
I reuploaded it onto Youtube since the chinese video host is pretty laggy for overseas viewers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIMAGhrVJ9k

Is there anything else I should do beyond putting their website in the description to make it a friendly reupload and not a theft of content?
That should be enough. They'll probably upload a Japanese version to Youtube.

That trailer looks pretty impressive! I got goosebumps. The stories around Renko and Maribel are so strange and Lynchian, yet so often overlooked. It's nice to see just a little of that brought to life.

Say someone in the WTC wanted to help give them support. How they can send funds? What other resources do they need?
I'll remember to notify you if things come to that.
Title: Re: New fan animation project from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: The Dratini Farmer on October 02, 2014, 04:39:16 PM
It looks so good, I started to tear up a little bit. I can't wait to see the whole thing.
Title: Re: New fan animation project from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: cuc on October 03, 2014, 01:17:29 AM
Cover art for Prologue by Neko:
(http://kyotofantasytroupe.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/DVD.jpg)

For the full size textless image, go to Pixiv (http://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=46317020) or Danbooru (http://danbooru.donmai.us/posts/1809973)
Title: Re: New fan animation project from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: monhan on October 03, 2014, 01:20:34 AM
So... aside from the story from the Ghostly Field Club, there are:
The Taketori Monogatari
The Sealing of Saigyou Ayakashi
The Vampire Incident
The First Genso-Lunar War
The Great Suwa War
The Extermination of Youkai Murasa
The Lunar War (From Udongein's perspective as she fled from the war)

Oh my, I'll certainly look forward for those two.
Too bad there's nothing for PoFV, SWR, SA, TD, and DDC for now.
They could've go for the Sexagennially Empurpled Cherry Blossom, the Nawi Clan Ascension to Heaven, the Komeiji Sisters' Past (or the Underground Agreement), the Royal Clan Encounter with Kaku Seiga, and the Creation of the Shining Needle Castle. And there are lots other things to work on.
Touhou histories are all so delicious.

Also, what kind of support do they need?
Title: Re: New fan animation project from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: H4xolotl on October 03, 2014, 02:28:12 AM
Cover art for Prologue by Neko:
(http://i922.photobucket.com/albums/ad70/cucuct/Touhou/prologcover_zps5691fdb6.jpg)

For full size, go to Pixiv (http://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=46317020) or Danbooru (http://danbooru.donmai.us/posts/1809973)
Is Neko the artist for the Troupe, or did he only make the cover art?

He's one of the best artists on Pixiv :)
dat Sailor Moon crossover...
Title: Re: New fan animation project from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: monhan on October 03, 2014, 03:09:10 AM
Is Neko the artist for the Troupe, or did he only make the cover art?

He's one of the best artists on Pixiv :)
dat Sailor Moon crossover...
Artist of the cover art, but he is also likely the character designer for the project. Need confirmation for this, though.

Also, cuc, they've released the Japanese Trailer on Nico
http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm24602868
Title: Re: New fan animation project from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: cuc on October 03, 2014, 06:37:07 AM
Neko did the concept art for some characters, including the past Hijiri and Mokou you saw on the first page.

He also did the earliest iteration of the storyboard. For this reason, I suggested them to list him as "Assistant Director" in the credits, because the more in-depth storyboards and layout works are done by other people.

He's quite popular on Pixiv now, but calling him "one of the best" isn't a good idea. He wouldn't approve of it too.
Title: Re: New fan animation project from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Quukii on October 04, 2014, 06:55:34 AM
It's great to see another Touhou fan animation project being made, and the kinds of stories that might be animated pique my interest.
Title: Re: New fan animation project from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: cuc on October 04, 2014, 10:14:29 AM
Something else not on the website: stage performance of the theme song during August's Touhou Only 4 convention at Chengdu. The singer 瑶山百灵 (Yaoshan Bailing) had only received the song one day ago.

http://www.bilibili.com/video/av1407632/index_19.html
Title: Re: New fan animation project from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: cuc on October 05, 2014, 03:18:10 PM
Hifuu Club Activity Record trailer vs. real life comparison

Quote
The included scenes are: aerial view of Kyoto, Fujimi Plateau Hospital, Zenkou-ji Temple, and Rendaino Graveyard.

http://thvideo.tv/v/th2604/


Fujimi Plateau Hospital (http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%AF%8C%E5%A3%AB%E8%A6%8B%E9%AB%98%E5%8E%9F%E7%97%85%E9%99%A2) is a famously scenic sanitarium in Suwa.
Title: Re: New fan animation project from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Kappa on October 07, 2014, 03:48:15 AM
Well, damn.  This looks GOOD.  And focusing on the Sealing Club folks?  Now they have me curious how they're going to fit this all together.
Gonna keep an eye on this, see if it transcends the fate of [insert name here, there was like 3 of them] which lasted a few episodes and fizzled for one reason or another.
Also first post yay hello hi.
Title: Re: New fan animation project from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Hatateru on October 07, 2014, 07:30:55 AM
Hifuu Club Activity Record trailer vs. real life comparison

http://thvideo.tv/v/th2604/


Fujimi Plateau Hospital (http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%AF%8C%E5%A3%AB%E8%A6%8B%E9%AB%98%E5%8E%9F%E7%97%85%E9%99%A2) is a famously scenic sanitarium in Suwa.

Real life references? Man this is gonna be amazing on so many levels. I wager this will trump even Maikaze in terms of dedication.
Title: Re: New fan animation project from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Tiamat on October 07, 2014, 07:57:42 PM
The fact that it's exploring established events in Touhou "canon" instead of an all-new plot does naturally imply an attempt to stick to.... well, both canon and RL research.  Not completely necessarily, mind you, but it'd be pretty shoddy to have a series based around exploring what happened during canonical events (that also are related to real life stories and locations) without actually researching real life stories and locations.  It's refreshing to see them on the ball with this.

Most of those canonical events are shrouded in a good amount of mystery.  I'm curious what their idea for why the Lunar War happened will be, etc.
Title: Re: New fan animation project from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Lanaryu on October 08, 2014, 04:08:40 AM
I really like the perspective they've decided to take with this project.

Considering that a lot of the back story behind the characters are either spread thin through ZUN's texts or just historical common knowledge, it's good to have most if not all of that in one entire project so it's a lot easily accessible.

This has a lot of potential and hopefully it pushes through!
Title: Re: New fan animation project from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: aUsernameIsFineToo on October 11, 2014, 05:49:29 PM
THIS NEEDS TO HAPPEN.

The mere fact that the sealing club is involved makes it a million times better than maikaze or manpukujinja.

And I have a weird feeling that one day I would be channel-surfing Chinese satellite TV and see scenes of this pop up.
Title: Re: New fan animation project from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Haganeproductio on October 15, 2014, 02:08:29 PM
So, is the actual release date known? I'm talking about the prologue. So far it is known that it will be released around next month, in November. But exact date would be nice~
Title: Re: New fan animation project from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: ditt93 on October 15, 2014, 04:34:18 PM
So, is the actual release date known? I'm talking about the prologue. So far it is known that it will be released around next month, in November. But exact date would be nice~

November 15
Title: Re: New fan animation project from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: DTM on October 15, 2014, 10:35:53 PM
Yeah.  The prologue will be first released at ComiCup 15 (CP15) in Shanghai during November 15-16 (I think, can't really read Chinese) according to this:
http://kyotofantasytroupe.net/archives/187 (http://kyotofantasytroupe.net/archives/187)
Title: Re: New fan animation project from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: aUsernameIsFineToo on October 16, 2014, 02:15:32 PM
Pre-order is in progress! (http://kyotofantasytroupe.net/archives/195)

THE HYPE IS REAL. If only I can get my cousin to get a copy at CP15, among all the other things he's planning on buying...
Title: Re: New fan animation project from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: CirnoTheFastest on October 18, 2014, 03:59:06 AM
This is something to look foward to, it looks stunning ;-;
Title: Re: New fan animation project from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: monhan on October 19, 2014, 11:24:14 AM
http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=41698178277
http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=41740600098

Are those really the prequel videos?
I mean, seriously, 100 yens? A dollar for a video? Are we sure it's not just the cover art?

Can someone clarify, please?
Title: Re: New fan animation project from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Hatateru on October 19, 2014, 02:11:09 PM
http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=41698178277
http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=41740600098

Are those really the prequel videos?
I mean, seriously, 100 yens? A dollar for a video? Are we sure it's not just the cover art?

Can someone clarify, please?

Man, you've been had. I fell for the same thing the first time I saw this too. Apparently the ? symbol can also be used to denote the Chinese currency "yuan", it's misleading yes but if it's too good to be true then it really is.
Title: Re: New fan animation project from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: aUsernameIsFineToo on October 19, 2014, 02:12:36 PM
http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=41698178277
http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=41740600098

Are those really the prequel videos?
I mean, seriously, 100 yens? A dollar for a video? Are we sure it's not just the cover art?

Can someone clarify, please?

100 Chinese Yen is not the same as 100 Japanese Yen. 100CNY is roughly US$16.33. Now that sounds about right for a DVD, doesn't it?

普装版 is for preorder of the standard edition, which includes a DVD and supplementary manga.
特装版 is for preorder of the special edition, which has different cover art as well as many extras, including a keychain featuring Maribel and Renko.
场贩 means convention edition, and 通贩 means retail edition.
Title: Re: New fan animation project from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: DTM on October 19, 2014, 03:04:22 PM
100 Chinese Yen is not the same as 100 Japanese Yen. 100CNY is roughly US$16.33. Now that sounds about right for a DVD, doesn't it?

Wait, I thought the Chinese uses yuan. Regardless, they both use the same symbol for their currencies so that could get confusing.

Anyways, can't wait until its released!  Hope they sell enough to continue their en devours.
Title: Re: New fan animation project from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: monhan on October 19, 2014, 11:08:34 PM
Man, you've been had. I fell for the same thing the first time I saw this too. Apparently the ? symbol can also be used to denote the Chinese currency "yuan", it's misleading yes but if it's too good to be true then it really is.
Figures that  would be the case. Well, that means it really is a DVD. Good news, alright. Thanks for the correction.

100 Chinese Yen is not the same as 100 Japanese Yen. 100CNY is roughly US$16.33. Now that sounds about right for a DVD, doesn't it?

普装版 is for preorder of the standard edition, which includes a DVD and supplementary manga.
特装版 is for preorder of the special edition, which has different cover art as well as many extras, including a keychain featuring Maribel and Renko.
场贩 means convention edition, and 通贩 means retail edition.
Thank you for explaining the differences between them.

Another thing, though. Does it say anything regarding what it'll cover in the video, how far it'll go, and does it ship overseas?
Title: Re: New fan animation project from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Firestorm29 on October 20, 2014, 01:24:07 AM
Does that website do international purchases? I might consider buying this one.
Title: Re: New fan animation project from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: aUsernameIsFineToo on October 20, 2014, 02:59:55 AM
Does that website do international purchases? I might consider buying this one.
Yes, they do. (http://www.taobao.com/go/chn/transit/index/eng.php)
Title: Re: New fan animation project from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: cuc on October 20, 2014, 12:39:14 PM
Actually, no (http://www.taobao.com/go/chn/transit/interdict/eng.php?spm=0.0.0.0.8U2JBn).

Quote
CDs and DVDs
Sensitive goods that require inspection and/or export permits may not be received for forwarding by express service

Due to regulation re: audio/video products, it's at least a legal hassle to ship any CD/DVD through Chinese customs. They are not shipping this overseas.

At present, they have no plans for selling the physical disc in places beyond China and Japan.
Title: Re: New fan animation project from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Marth on October 31, 2014, 09:31:29 AM
If there is another way to support them, I would be glad to know what to do.
Title: Re: New fan animation project from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: nintendofreak768 on November 17, 2014, 04:30:33 AM
Please don't tell me this animation will go into obscurity like the Anime Tenchou x Touhou . I was really looking forward to seeing this.
Title: Re: New fan animation project from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Tengukami on November 25, 2014, 02:52:10 PM
So, I don't know if this is real or a hoax, but the OP is (allegedly) up now (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t55SXXCzG-U).
Title: Re: New fan animation project from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: N-Forza on November 25, 2014, 02:53:08 PM
Yeah, I picked it up over the weekend. Haven't had a chance to watch it yet, but I did see the OP sung live at least.
Title: Re: New fan animation project from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Koneko on November 25, 2014, 02:58:01 PM
Just finished watching it on Youtube, too
Title: Re: New fan animation project from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Tengukami on November 25, 2014, 03:03:38 PM
So, I don't know if this is real or a hoax, but the OP is (allegedly) up now (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t55SXXCzG-U).

Just quoting myself to get this on the next page.

e: Thoughts on this:

- Love the ley lines
- Animation looks a little stiff, but the art is pretty great
- I have a feeling danmaku battles are going to be a wonder to behold
- Is that .... lipstick Yukari is wearing?
Title: Re: New fan animation project from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Koneko on November 25, 2014, 03:28:18 PM
Also, this one featuring Mouko, which makes me wonder what role can she play in this anime ?
Title: Re: New fan animation project from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Jana on November 25, 2014, 07:26:27 PM
I like anything with Renko and Maribelle in it by default, but the art and music in the OP are both very nice.
Title: Re: New fan animation project from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Kaizaki on November 26, 2014, 12:04:36 AM
Also, this one featuring Mouko, which makes me wonder what role can she play in this anime ?

Since the series is going to be about the tales behind the tales, I'd imagine they'll explore Mokou's background as a Fujiwara. A few things from the top of my head:

If we're going with the assumption that the circle will tend towards real life references and historical research, they are likely to touch on Taketori Monogatari due to wealth of literature on that, and the fact that her father is an actual historical figure and was featured, albeit with a different name, in the story itself. (Personally, I'd like to see them tackle the question of why 'Prince Kuramochi' a.k.a. Fujiwara no Fuhito was said to have disappeared into the mountains, despite the clan leader having lived publicly and died of old age. I always thought that the 'Prince' near the end of the tale, who assaulted the workers/counterfeiters and left, was actually Mokou. The attack could be seen as her violent reaction to her father's public shaming, and her 'disappearance into the mountains' could refer to her following Iwakasa and the Imperial soldiers up Mt. Fuji. It also seems to be a convenient excuse to remove someone from the family tree... But, meh, that's my heacanon.)

Or they might not go that route, and focus on the more fantastical side of things, e.g. the Legend of Hourai, Fenghuang or Suzaku.  :)

I hope they'll give a similar treatment to Kaguya's backstory, as there are a lot of angles they can take hers on. Anyway, I hyped myself up way too much.  :V
Title: Re: New fan animation project from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Starxsword on November 26, 2014, 05:55:12 AM
Quote
?her reason for seeking revenge on Kaguya (understandable if Fuhito was a good man, but in the case that he wasn't...)

If we are to assume it is similar to the tale of the bamboo cutter, then, he is an ass. All of the suitors are.
Title: Re: New fan animation project from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Kaizaki on November 28, 2014, 01:07:19 AM
If we are to assume it is similar to the tale of the bamboo cutter, then, he is an ass. All of the suitors are.

Ah yes, true. Thanks! It'll be interesting to see their take on Mokou's vengeance, if they do decide to go in this direction.
Title: Re: New fan animation project from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: DTM on December 12, 2014, 05:25:02 PM
So the DVD is now available on Melonbooks (https://www.melonbooks.co.jp/detail/detail.php?product_id=111256).

I'm assuming it's the Japanese version.
Also, I wonder how they managed to get a 1080p video playing on a DVD?
Title: Re: New fan animation project from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: StainGlass on December 13, 2014, 05:52:32 AM
What are the contents of the DVD?
Is it a full episode? Currently I believe it's just the opening and two Doujin books? Is that correct?

I'd like to buy it if it's a full episode already, if not, I'll wait :)
Title: Re: New fan animation project from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: DTM on December 13, 2014, 05:16:20 PM
What are the contents of the DVD?
Is it a full episode? Currently I believe it's just the opening and two Doujin books? Is that correct?

I'd like to buy it if it's a full episode already, if not, I'll wait :)

I think it is just as you believe, although they are using funds from this DVD to continue to make animations.
Title: Re: New fan animation project from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: cuc on December 20, 2014, 12:32:07 PM
Indeed, the "Prologue" package contains a DVD-ROM with 1080P MP4 files for the opening, and two comic booklets.

I might do something stupid like becoming the official English translator of the project, but that's for a later time. For now, you can take notice that the site has been updated with a tease about the first full episode, concerning past events on the moon such as the first Lunar War, which they hope will be released in 2015. With character concept art for chancellor Eirin and little Kaguya.
http://kyotofantasytroupe.net/archives/257

Oh by the way, I've put exactly zero thought into it, but obviously, for this stuff to get an English release, some logistical details must be involved. Their current plan is to do a digital release on the English version of DLSite. Do you find this a feasible method for the international release? What's your opinion?

I can imagine optimal cases where physical English discs can be produced, but even then, can we justify the cost of distributing it?
Title: Re: New fan animation project from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Firestorm29 on December 20, 2014, 01:12:37 PM
It might be feasible. I've seen it used, the tricky thing is to setting up a way to avoid piracy. DLsite's methods of anti-piracy tends to be extremely invasive.
Title: Re: New fan animation project from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: monhan on December 22, 2014, 10:27:30 AM
How about in MelonbooksDL?
Title: Re: New fan animation project from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: cuc on January 30, 2015, 04:02:55 PM
Well folks, they updated the page, announcing the next thing.

Episode 1 "Moon"'s got a story so massive, it needs a 80-page companion comic.

The comic will be drawn by NEKO, as his comic debut.

The book is standalone, they'll release it at Reitaisai 12 (May 10). The actual episode may be completed by the end of the year.

BTW a pedantic note: in commonly accepted usage, the English words "anime" and "manga" refers to Japanese productions only (which differs from their usage in Japanese), so Record is not an anime, and this comic is not a manga. Other existing words are "manhwa" for Korean comics and "manhua" for Chinese ones; call it a manhua if you want.
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record (Reitaisai 12 comic)
Post by: DTM on January 30, 2015, 04:51:02 PM
I can't wait!  The lore behind the moon is one of the most fascinating in Touhou in my opinion.

Also, regarding that note, what would be a Chinese equivalent for an animated production?
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record (Reitaisai 12 comic)
Post by: cuc on January 30, 2015, 05:04:49 PM
I suspect "manhwa" and "manhua" came into use because publishers wanted to emphsize the comics' countries of origin in marketing. No one has done that for Chinese animations, so there isn't such an English word. The Chinese word for animation is "donghua", which somehow doesn't sound like it'll be popular in English :/
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record (Reitaisai 12 comic)
Post by: cuc on January 31, 2015, 03:08:29 AM
Da poster. NEKO's art is... very NEKO.
(http://kyotofantasytroupe.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/%E6%BC%AB%E7%94%BB%E6%B5%B7%E6%8A%A5.jpg)
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: hungrybookworm on January 31, 2015, 05:21:01 AM
Is the comic going to be in Japanese? Or Chinese? (Or both lol) Also can you read it without watching the animation?
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: cuc on January 31, 2015, 03:32:06 PM
It's released at least half a year before the episode, it had better be able to stand on its own lol. The real question is whether the episode makes any sense without the comic.

The releases outside of China will of course be localized. However, the songs will always be written and performed in Japanese by the Chinese doujin music group Yonder Voice. If they are going to do voice acting, it'll be in Japanese by well-known Japanese VAs.
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Doki-Doki on February 02, 2015, 09:00:08 PM
Woo! Another Touhou fanime! I'm really looking forward to this one, I think the backstory of certain characters is the most interesting part about them, to see a whole anime on backstories is just what I wanted. Really looking forward to how they do Mokou, Byakuren, Sanae and Sakuya's backstories.
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Uruwi on February 10, 2015, 06:41:08 AM
While I'm still excited, I'm questioning the legality of this. Didn't ZUN put certain restrictions on fan anime?
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Suspicious person on February 10, 2015, 10:52:40 AM
While I'm still excited, I'm questioning the legality of this. Didn't ZUN put certain restrictions on fan anime?
What do you mean by "certain restrictions ?"

Anyway, strictly speaking, this is a fanwork (an anime one, but still fanwork) like any other, so it'll be okay so long as it follows the guidelines, which it's been doing. It'll be as legal as "a summer's day's dream" and "fantasy kaleidoscope" methinks.
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Firestorm29 on February 10, 2015, 01:54:30 PM
While I'm still excited, I'm questioning the legality of this. Didn't ZUN put certain restrictions on fan anime?
I don't think there's restrictions, just concerns about when one of the anime was using pro voice actors.

Only anime I know that has the stops put on it was from animate (I think?), who were a company rather that doujin circle.

Shouldn't have any worries yet.
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: anthonyshu01 on February 11, 2015, 03:43:53 AM
Oh man, this is the 1st time I've seen how animation is made.
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: notext on February 11, 2015, 07:43:54 AM
What do you mean by "certain restrictions ?"

Presumably referring to this:

Quote from: ZUNs derived content guidelines 2011 revision
I'd like to place the following restrictions on all
derivative works, regardless of whether they're commercial or independent:

For-profit development of works whose main element is animation(*)

...

* By this I mean so-called "traditional cel animation"; computer-generated 3D
animation and 2D illustrations with special effects processing aren't included
in this restriction.
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: cuc on February 11, 2015, 11:36:13 AM
Quote
I'd like to place the following restrictions on all
derivative works, regardless of whether they're commercial or independent:

For-profit development of works whose main element is animation(*)

...

* By this I mean so-called "traditional cel animation"; computer-generated 3D
animation and 2D illustrations with special effects processing aren't included
in this restriction.
About one year ago, I've written about this at MotK. In short, this rule was poorly conceived. It was hastily made to shut down the Animate X Touhou project, while completely ignoring the fact that there are fan creators whose chosen medium of expression is traditional cel animation, and who have always acted in good faith. Even if you are an amateur animator who draws your own Touhou anime using simple B&W sketches, this rule would bar you from selling it at conventions, not to mention higher profile works like Touhou Kinema Kan and Touhou PVD.

Hearing the fan outcry, ZUN revised the 2011 guideline two days after releasing it, changing this particular item to "commissioning corporations for the production of animation" (アニメーション製作を企業に依頼する行為).

EDIT:
I make the post above in my usual role as a neutral observer of the Touhou phenomenon.

As you can see, I'm associated with the Hifuu project closely enough (while being neither directly participating nor its official representative) that I'm not really the right person for making certain comments about it, positive or negative.

In any case, it probably doesn't involve "commissioning corporations for the production of animation", as far as I can tell.
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: notext on February 11, 2015, 07:12:37 PM
That makes a lot of sense considering the animated work that has been coming out since the announcement - I figured the likes of Summer Day's Dream pt2/manpukujinja's work got a pass because they were in the works when the announcement was made, but that definitely explains why they're still ongoing. Thanks for clarifying. It sounds like the restriction isn't much of a restriction at all.
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Flandre5carlet on February 13, 2015, 11:10:05 AM
While I'm really looking forward to this one, I hope it'll be better than the other two fanimes out there.
Memories of Phantasm has good art and animation but that's frankly all it's got going for it, while Summer's Day Dream is just abysmal.

This one has a lot of potential judging by the plot and the main characters (which I both really, really like), so I really hope they won't fuck it up with fanon memes or fanservice.
The "serious" plot seems to imply that they'll avoid that and stick to a serious route, but I'd rather keep my hopes not too high and be pleasantly surprised, than keeping my hopes up and end up disappointed (like I've been with every MoP release , SDD's "fight" scene,...)
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Omegahugger on February 13, 2015, 06:29:15 PM
Oh wow how did I miss this thread? It's been here for months, too, so I really don't know what to say. =P

This looks amazing. I'm really looking forward to it. If anything, the artwork is great (what a cutie younger Byakuren is!) Merry and Renko aren't exactly my favorite characters but they do work very well as a means of framing the story and exploring many different unrelated scenarios, so that's cool. And hey, it's not like many favorite youkai characters aren't going to be involved, so that's even cooler. =D

I'm definitely going to keep an eye on this one. Hype get!
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: cuc on February 14, 2015, 02:47:44 AM
A website update.

The 24-minute long Episode 1 will focus on events of the first lunar war, which will be complemented by background information provided by the comic.

The Lunar Capital will get a few original characters, two of which are important. They will be introduced in the next update.

Character designs (for the animated part, they emphasize):

Eirin (in Lunar Capital)
(http://kyotofantasytroupe.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/%E5%85%AB%E6%84%8F%E6%B0%B8%E7%90%B3.jpg)

Kaguya (adult)
(http://kyotofantasytroupe.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/%E8%93%AC%E8%8E%B1%E5%B1%B1%E8%BE%89%E5%A4%9C%EF%BC%88%E5%A4%A7%EF%BC%89.jpg)

Kaguya (child)
(http://kyotofantasytroupe.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/%E8%93%AC%E8%8E%B1%E5%B1%B1%E8%BE%89%E5%A4%9C%EF%BC%88%E5%B0%8F%EF%BC%89.jpg)

Toyohime
(http://kyotofantasytroupe.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/%E7%BB%B5%E6%9C%88%E4%B8%B0%E5%A7%AC.jpg)

Yorihime
(http://kyotofantasytroupe.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/%E7%BB%B5%E6%9C%88%E4%BE%9D%E5%A7%AC.jpg)

Yukari (during lunar war)
(http://kyotofantasytroupe.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/%E5%85%AB%E4%BA%91%E7%B4%AB.jpg)

Yuyuko
(http://kyotofantasytroupe.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/%E8%A5%BF%E8%A1%8C%E5%AF%BA%E5%B9%BD%E5%B9%BD%E5%AD%90.jpg)

Suika
(http://kyotofantasytroupe.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/%E4%BC%8A%E5%90%B9%E8%90%83%E9%A6%99.jpg)

Some expressions:
(http://kyotofantasytroupe.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Face.png)


If the character designs look different from the previous update (Eirin and child Kaguya), it's because these were the concept art, which is different from proper character designs for animation production, though I still have no idea how they expect designs of this level of detail to get actually animated.

If they appear to have a different style from the designs of the Prologue, it's because they've got one (or more?) new designers.
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: aUsernameIsFineToo on February 14, 2015, 03:07:18 AM
> 24 minutes
> Lunar War
> OCs

(http://i1.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/facebook/000/264/200/acb.jpg)

Seriously, that art is gorgeous.
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: H4xolotl on February 14, 2015, 09:15:51 AM
Adult Kaguya looks very elegant and beautiful

They did a good job designer her

:)
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: monhan on February 14, 2015, 09:44:15 AM
At first, i thought it'll cover the stories of the Lunarians, prior to the First Genso-Lunar War, but I'm quite glad that I was wrong. They'll probably still cover that, but most of them may be in the complementing comic.
Though with how it's presented, it will probably cover the event through the Lunarians(Eirin) point of view. It's nice, since we can see their interactions (the Watatsukis need it), Tsukuyomi being the likely candidate of one of the OC, and the landscape of the Lunar Capital.
Still, I'm also more interested to see the war from the Youkai(Yukari) side. I'd like to see how she planned and prepared all that. Gathering the elder youkais and such. It would be a pleasure to behold.

And does this mean the art will keep getting better as they go? All of my yes.
Can't wait until it's Byakuren and Murasa's part.
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: N-Forza on February 14, 2015, 10:01:02 AM
> 24 minutes
> Lunar War
> OCs

[img-takemymoney]
At least two of those three also describe that ancient Sound Holic animation, btw. :V
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Clarste on February 14, 2015, 11:45:45 AM
I see they subscribe to the ZUN school of character design: keep adding details until you run out of space on their clothes. I'm now imagining this being animated by the cast of Shirobako though, which adds some morbid humor to the production.
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Flandre5carlet on February 14, 2015, 12:07:16 PM
Original characters, eh? Hmm.. Not too sure what to think of that other than hope they pull it off well.
I'm guessing they'll most likely be Tsukuyomi and/or Toyohime and Yorihime's respective husbands/future husbands, but we'll see.

With that said, these designs are amazing. I think I'm in love with this adult Kaguya. Eirin's is also beautiful.

At least two of those three also describe that ancient Sound Holic animation, btw. :V
Pls no.
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Tengukami on February 14, 2015, 12:35:25 PM
Yeah, I gasped at the sight of Lunar Capital Eirin. That is really lovely stuff. Although I, too, kinda wince at the idea of OCs in my Lunar War, everything else I've seen come out of this project so far has vastly exceeded expectations. So I'm hoping for good things here.  Also holding out hope to see the *himes given stuff like depth and weaknesses. That would also be pretty cool.
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Suspicious person on February 14, 2015, 01:11:38 PM
Gorgeous~ but how are they going to go from the hifuu club people to the moonfolks ? Already been hyped by this but now I'm also curious  :3

Hope they'll leave some stuff for eventual future Touhou fanimators to work with
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: hungrybookworm on February 14, 2015, 01:25:14 PM
OCs are useful for filling roles that can't be taken by any of the other hundred or so touhou characters. Which means they're either gonna be dudes, cannon fodder, or both. (The Watatsuki husbands maybe? Some cute rabbits who'll get the chop near the end? Who knows!)

Looks good either way.
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Clarste on February 14, 2015, 01:55:43 PM
Gorgeous~ but how are they going to go from the hifuu club people to the moonfolks ? Already been hyped by this but now I'm also curious  :3

Hope they'll leave some stuff for eventual future Touhou fanimators to work with

The premise has been clear from the beginning: the Necromancy Club is just a framing device to tell a bunch of different backstories. The implied but unseen stories that the Touhou series constantly uses. Presumably they'll see it in a vision, or find an old mysterious book, or whatever.
OCs are useful for filling roles that can't be taken by any of the other hundred or so touhou characters. Which means they're either gonna be dudes, cannon fodder, or both. (The Watatsuki husbands maybe? Some cute rabbits who'll get the chop near the end? Who knows!)

Looks good either way.
I'm assuming the OCs are moonpeople, because it certainly wouldn't make sense to use other characters in those roles. Tsukuyomi and such.
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: cuc on February 14, 2015, 03:22:52 PM
As anyone who's been watching Shirobako should know by now, an essential job in the modern anime industry is the sakuga kantoku - "animation supervisors" who revise the drawn frames, because given the industry's reliance on freelancers and outsourcing, there's simply no way to ensure the quality of the frames when they are drawn. A show's character designer is generally also the "chief animation supervisor" who as a veteran key animator, must design each character with how they should be animated in mind, and will actually be responsible for keeping them in line with her vision.

True animators should have ample reasons to hate these designs. If they can be animated at all, it would take a well-coordinated team of veterans, not a production team that already had trouble keeping simpler characters on-model in the opening.
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: LunaWillow on February 14, 2015, 03:44:08 PM
Ah, those designes look so nice! I especially love Eirin's. I hope the animators will be able to animate them.

Hype get! Can't wait for more information.
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Suspicious person on February 15, 2015, 10:34:14 AM
OCs are useful for filling roles that can't be taken by any of the other hundred or so touhou characters. Which means they're either gonna be dudes, cannon fodder, or both. (The Watatsuki husbands maybe? Some cute rabbits who'll get the chop near the end? Who knows!)

Looks good either way.
I'm assuming the OCs are moonpeople, because it certainly wouldn't make sense to use other characters in those roles. Tsukuyomi and such.
Maybe the OCs could be the circle's rendition of the characters from the original Tale of the bamboo cutter too, as they would be relevant in the story : "Kaguya"'s adoptive family, the suitors...
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: cuc on February 15, 2015, 01:22:20 PM
Here's the OC (http://kyotofantasytroupe.net/archives/316) update. It has laid out the thinking process behind the characters. Dudes and dudettes of MotK, prepare to be assaulted by a thinking pattern utterly different from anything you're familiar with lol (in the Touhousphere, at least).


- As pointed out by ZUN's afterword for SSiB, the Lunar Capital is similar to ancient China in architecture (and clothing, and presumably, social structure).

- SSiB indicates Eirin has powerful political rivals in the Capital.

- It seems jockeying for political power for selfish reasons would create kegare, so the rivals should have non-selfish motives. For a Chinese-style society, kinship makes for a good motivation.

- If Tsukuyomu, the king of the moon trusts Eirin over his own kin, it makes sense for the princes to worry about an outsider gaining so much power.

- So the OC concept is that after founding the Capital, Tsukuyomu had given the rulership of the Capital to his Princes and Princesses, and appointed Eirin as a supervisor who had more real power than the Princes.

- Not all Princes are Eirin's enemies. However, the two Princes to be introduced have the strongest animosity towards Eirin.

- The Princes are based on other names of Tsukuyomu; the idea is that the legends attributed to Tsukuyomu in history were actually done by different Princes in his name.

1. Prince Tsuku

Symbolizing the nigi-mitama "harmonious soul" of the four souls, the genderless Prince Tsuku has the highest status among Tsukuyomu's direct offsprings, and is the best regarded by Tsukuyomu.

With intelligence that rivals Eirin, they are responsible for governing the Lunar Capital.

("Tsuku" simply means "the moon".)

(http://kyotofantasytroupe.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/%E9%83%BD%E4%B9%85%E4%BA%B2%E7%8E%8B1.jpg)

2. Prince Sasarae

Symbolizing the ara-mitama "rude soul" of the four souls, Prince Sasarae is the commander of the Lunar Capital army, above the Wakatsuki sisters.

He was the very person who suspected the Wakatsuki sisters of treason in SSiB.

("Sasarae" means "slender and lovely". Sasarae-otoko, "the slender and lovely strong man" is a poetic epithet for the moon.)

(http://kyotofantasytroupe.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/%E7%BB%86%E7%88%B1%E4%BA%B2%E7%8E%8B1.jpg)
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Suspicious person on February 15, 2015, 01:38:34 PM
lol Neko finally drew male characters

Here's the OC (http://kyotofantasytroupe.net/archives/316) update. It has laid out the thinking process behind the characters. Dudes and dudettes of MotK, prepare to be assaulted by a thinking pattern utterly different from anything you're familiar with lol (in the Touhousphere, at least).
*reasoning*
*Handclaps* Magnificent~ it's not ZUN level but still awesome. The Moon saga related stuff have always been one of the most complicated thing ever in Touhou, and that without adding politics in. Whoever is dealing with the storyboard must really know their stuff. Maybe the time has finally come where someone'll make sense of the moon saga ? All my hype. The OCs are well thought  and all but I'm not sure whether they'll be well received or not, though. ZUN, make them canon pls
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: cuc on February 15, 2015, 01:42:48 PM
lol Neko finally drew male characters
Well, I guess if you care about it so. He drew the concept art that informed these design sheets, and will draw these characters (and more) in the comic.
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Doki-Doki on February 15, 2015, 03:02:38 PM
OC's that look promising? The Watatsuki's in anime form? FIRST EPISODE IS 24 MINUTES LONG? This is going to be a gooooood year for Touhou.
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Prime32 on February 15, 2015, 07:38:14 PM
(http://kyotofantasytroupe.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/%E7%BB%86%E7%88%B1%E4%BA%B2%E7%8E%8B1.jpg)
...I think I saw this guy in a super robot anime once. :V
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Kaizaki on February 15, 2015, 09:27:11 PM
This is wonderful. The character designs are great, the reasoning behind the OCs is sound, and it seems the troupe researched the (lore and real life) concepts they are working with. Is this level of depth and detail, story-wise, a first for Touhou anime?

Political rivals will certainly make things interesting and help explain the moon saga. I wonder if Kaguya is a direct descendant and one of the ruling Princesses...

Sasarae definitely looks "slender and lovely", by the way. :D
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: MewMewHeart on February 16, 2015, 11:05:10 PM
-Looks at the male OCs and concepts of lore-

FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUCKING GENIUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  :D
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Tengukami on February 17, 2015, 02:27:02 AM
Not to split hairs, but if Tsuku is "genderless", why use "he"? Secretly male?

Just asking for clarification's sake; don't really care too hard about fictional character pronouns.
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: cuc on February 17, 2015, 03:09:35 AM
Symbolizing the nigi-mitama "harmonious soul" of the four souls, the genderless Prince Tsuku has the highest status among Tsukuyomu's direct offsprings, and is the best regarded by Tsukuyomu.

With intelligence that rivals Eirin, they are responsible for governing the Lunar Capital.
I never wrote "he" for one second. I'm not familiar enough with the use of other genderqueer pronouns like xir, therefore I opted to stick to "they". If your question is re: Prince, I haven't found any alternate word for that.

(On an unrelated note, purely from a pedantic point of view, "he/him" remain as the academically recognized gender-neutral pronouns for people in the English language. But language is determined by the people who use it; if people don't want to use "he/him" this way, then this usage ceases to be viable.)
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Doki-Doki on February 17, 2015, 04:14:41 PM
For some reason Prince Sasarae reminds me of Walhart from Fire Emblem: Awakening. Probably just me though.
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Flandre5carlet on February 18, 2015, 10:39:06 PM
-OCs snip-
Interesting. Since this is Touhou, I expected the OCs to be female, but this is okay too.
Anyway, to echo others' claims so far, this all seems very interesting, and I can clearly see that a lot of time was spent studying the lore as well as all the other concepts in relation to this.
I also find Tsuku's design very fitting; less so the armor-clad Sasarae however.

I just hope that they won't turn into "Mary Sues" of sorts later down the line, specially when I read "With intelligence that rivals Eirin". OCs are fine and all, but I'm primarily here for the Touhou!  :V
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Maiden Synnae ミ☆ on February 18, 2015, 11:28:33 PM
I've been lurking on this thread a bit but just decided to post now.

I must say I find the project to be quite promising. The artwork of the characters look great as well, so I'm interested to see how the final product will turn out.

@ OC's:

Hey, those look pretty nice. I have no problems if they're male or female, but I agree with the above post that Sasarae looks a bit... "untouhou-ish". He is still decent, though.

So far we have the Nigi Mitama (peace/harmony) and the Ara Mitama (aggressiveness/passion). I'm looking forward to see the Saki Mitama (happiness/love) and the Kusi Mitama (wonder/wisdom) incarnations.
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Jeremie on February 18, 2015, 11:46:38 PM
Interesting. Since this is Touhou, I expected the OCs to be female, but this is okay too.
Anyway, to echo others' claims so far, this all seems very interesting, and I can clearly see that a lot of time was spent studying the lore as well as all the other concepts in relation to this.
I also find Tsuku's design very fitting; less so the armor-clad Sasarae however.

I just hope that they won't turn into "Mary Sues" of sorts later down the line, specially when I read "With intelligence that rivals Eirin". OCs are fine and all, but I'm primarily here for the Touhou!  :V

This is pretty much what I'm thinking as well. Still, the fact that they have a lot of animosity towards Eirin makes their design a bit amusing in the context that I'm almost expecting a scene where we get Sasarae get angry, speak loudly and act like a complete jerk while we get Tsuku to have an evil smile at some point. I'm not genuinely expecting that but it would be kind of funny (positively if they end up being interesting) and if they don't then we still have at least Sakura, Marius, Fangirl Koakuma and Jar Jar Kochiya right?  :V

I'm just kidding but the fact that they're actually doing their research makes me more optimistic.  I'm truly looking forward to see how it'll turn out since the premise is genuinely interesting.
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Usamiko on February 19, 2015, 05:14:35 AM

I just hope that they won't turn into "Mary Sues" of sorts later down the line, specially when I read "With intelligence that rivals Eirin". OCs are fine and all, but I'm primarily here for the Touhou!  :V

Oh, please no! I have been hoping for a Renko/Maribel fanime ever since I got into Touhou. Please don't let the story be ruined by cliches and whatnot D:
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Fulisha of Light on February 19, 2015, 02:32:01 PM
I just hope that they won't turn into "Mary Sues" of sorts later down the line, specially when I read "With intelligence that rivals Eirin". OCs are fine and all, but I'm primarily here for the Touhou!  :V

Eirin's smart yes, but she's not the smartest thing in the universe, she just happens to be highly intelligent. Tsuku is just at her level, not exactly smarter than her. There's nothing wrong with an OC being as smart as an existing character, and here it's justified pretty well imo.
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Starxsword on February 20, 2015, 11:08:50 AM
Uh, Eirin is the Genius of the moon. She is not simply just highly intelligent. She is probably the smartest being in the universe. Being even her equal is saying a lot about Tsuku.
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Clarste on February 20, 2015, 01:46:47 PM
Eirin's smart yes, but she's not the smartest thing in the universe, she just happens to be highly intelligent. Tsuku is just at her level, not exactly smarter than her. There's nothing wrong with an OC being as smart as an existing character, and here it's justified pretty well imo.

...actually, she's Omoikane, the Shinto god of intelligence and wisdom. The SMT version of her is a big floating brain.
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: cuc on February 20, 2015, 03:18:25 PM
/neutral_hat on

Speaking of Eirin's intelligence, in IN's spell card comment for "Omoikane's Brain" (a reference to SMT itself), ZUN joked that someone who flagrantly shows off her brain isn't the smartest. (The smartest one is of course Yuyuko.)

More explanation: a Japanese idiom says "a capable eagle does not bare its talons". ZUN modified this idiom using a pun where both "capability" and "brain" are pronounced nou in IN: "a brainy WHO does not bare its WHAT", or something along these lines. The same idiom was also quoted by Remilia erroneously IIRC in EoSD.

/neutral_hat off

Re: "Mary Sue" and what not, it's not a spoiler that the youkai didn't win this war.
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: cuc on February 21, 2015, 01:37:59 AM
LET'S derailing!

The idiom is 能ある鷹は爪を隠す "a capable eagle hides its talons". The joke hinges on that both 能 "capability, competency" and 脳 "brain" are pronounced nou.

In EoSD Marisa's route:
Quote
Remilia: A capable eagle does not hide its tail...
Marisa: ...you sure seem like you got no brains.
Remilia: Only the humans.
Remilia: Only they need a simplistic, chemical faculty of thinking, such as the brain.

Here Remilia, as foreigners are wont to do in comedies, mixed up the eagle idiom with another idiom, 頭隠して尻隠さず "(the pheasant) hides its head without hiding its tail", i.e. one only manages to conceal part of their weaknesses/mistakes, yet thinks they've hidden away everything. Remilia was bragging she is powerful, and does not need to hide her strength (the reverse of the eagle idiom's meaning), and Marisa played the straight man: did you say you have brains? No, you don't.

The joke is repeated in the Lunatic comment for "Omoikane Brain":
Quote
I think exposing one's brain is proof of one's incompetency.
A brainy WHO hides its WHAT, as they say.
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Flandre5carlet on February 21, 2015, 01:58:31 PM
Re: "Mary Sue" and what not, it's not a spoiler that the youkai didn't win this war.
Well, sure it isn't - save for those who haven't read into the lore or heard much about it, I suppose - but I think it's Yorihime who states in Silent Sinner in Blue that the reason the youkai didn't succeed is because Eirin set up a trap to catch someone who'd attempt to invade the moon.
As stated by others, Eirin isn't exactly "just smart", she's the genius of the Moon and most probably Omoikane (Is that actually confirmed? I'm not entirely sure...)


That's mostly why I personally got this feeling of "I hope they won't be Mary Sues", when I read that one of their OCs "rivals Eirin" in terms of intelligence.
That said, if the OC is brought up well, doesn't overshine actual characters and serves its purpose then it's good. This is just an initial feeling that I hope won't be confirmed.
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Clarste on February 21, 2015, 03:32:21 PM
As stated by others, Eirin isn't exactly "just smart", she's the genius of the Moon and most probably Omoikane (Is that actually confirmed? I'm not entirely sure...)

I don't think ZUN's ever outright said it, but the hints are obvious enough. She has those Omoikane spellcards, Yagokoro-Omoikane-no-mikoto is one of Omoikane's names, and ZUN calls her one of "the highest, noblest gods" in the SoPM interview.
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Starxsword on February 21, 2015, 11:35:41 PM
Quote
but I think it's Yorihime who states in Silent Sinner in Blue that the reason the youkai didn't succeed is because Eirin set up a trap to catch someone who'd attempt to invade the moon.

I thought the reason youkai didn't succeed was unrelated to Eirin's trap. I am pretty sure it was a failure from the beginning, unrelated to the trap.
The thing that the trap did was prevent at least one youkai from escaping punishment, which was Yukari.
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: dreamzzs on February 22, 2015, 04:31:38 AM
3 months later and I still haven't gotten over how beautiful alive Yuyuko is...
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Tiamat on February 22, 2015, 07:43:11 AM
I myself am expecting these OCs to be villains and to get some sort of comeuppance during the story, which would not be very Mary-Sue-ish at all.  Of course, that's just a gut feeling of mine.  My bigger worry is that having OCs means they'll need to flesh out the Lunarian society in general, not just the Lunar War, which could greatly expand the scope of the story to something so big that it'd require an anime of its own (as opposed to just a 20+ minute episode or two).

Just like their character designs being biting off more than they can chew with animating it, they might be biting off more than they can chew with the scope of the story now that the scope's being expanded to include Lunarian politics.

I don't think ZUN's ever outright said it, but the hints are obvious enough. She has those Omoikane spellcards, Yagokoro-Omoikane-no-mikoto is one of Omoikane's names, and ZUN calls her one of "the highest, noblest gods" in the SoPM interview.

Also, maybe relevant, but as stated in Silent Sinner in Blue, "Eirin" isn't her real first name (but Yagokoro is still her real surname).

I thought the reason youkai didn't succeed was unrelated to Eirin's trap. I am pretty sure it was a failure from the beginning, unrelated to the trap.
The thing that the trap did was prevent at least one youkai from escaping punishment, which was Yukari.

Eirin's trap was set after the first Lunar War in case Yukari ever came back.  This is stated in Silent Sinner in Blue, IIRC.  The way the trap was set required it being set centuries in advance (by altering the rotation of the moon slightly so that centuries later, the way to get into it was offset by a day which would totally screw with whoever was trying to enter, that way. This is stated in both CiLR and SSiB, IIRC)

General indications are the youkai simply got their butts kicked.  Yorihime just refers to Yukari as "troublesome" while reminiscing about the war to Reimu in CiLR, Akyuu said they had no chance against the Moon's weaponry, and Yukari tells Ran in CiLR that they can never win because the Lunarians possess such technology and "unyielding stamina and abilities that far outmatch youkai" (possibly a piece of evidence that Yukari started the first Lunar War knowing they'd lose).

The poster might be confused because there is evidence that the trap was used twice.  In addition to the present day time that Yukari tripped it at the end of SSiB, Yukari implies Ran in CiLR that it hit another time as well when an "anonymous youkai" (that was probably Yukari herself) came to the moon just to look around and play.  Far as I can tell, given that Yukari tells Ran this story before the conclusion of SSiB, yet Yorohime seems to think that SSiB is the first time the trap is sprung, an explanation for Yukari's story (if her story actually happened, though the narrative implies it did thanks to Yukari's suspiciously specific denial about it) would require a time paradox or time-travelling shenanigans.  (or possibly Yukari sharing Maribel's memories in some sort of parallel-ity shenanigans thing)

Granted, my memory is a bit hazy (it's been years...)
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: 7TC7 on February 22, 2015, 08:18:49 PM
I myself am expecting these OCs to be villains and to get some sort of comeuppance during the story, which would not be very Mary-Sue-ish at all.  Of course, that's just a gut feeling of mine.  My bigger worry is that having OCs means they'll need to flesh out the Lunarian society in general, not just the Lunar War, which could greatly expand the scope of the story to something so big that it'd require an anime of its own (as opposed to just a 20+ minute episode or two).

They do have an accompanying manga for it, so I guess they realized themselves that the story was too much for just one episode.
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Tiamat on February 22, 2015, 11:46:30 PM
Oh right, I forgot about the accompanying manga.  Hmm... yea, that would make it more manageable.
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: farios on February 23, 2015, 11:31:41 PM
http://cv.kyotofantasytroupe.net/ja/

They started a survey to know which seiyuu will fit each character, not exactly mean that they will really be voiced in the anime but at least it means they are thinking to have it voiced

I just want Ohara Sayaka to voice Yuyuko and Imai Asami to voice Renko
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Damien on February 24, 2015, 12:38:11 PM
http://cv.kyotofantasytroupe.net/ja/

They started a survey to know which seiyuu will fit each character, not exactly mean that they will really be voiced in the anime but at least it means they are thinking to have it voiced

I just want Ohara Sayaka to voice Yuyuko and Imai Asami to voice Renko

And Kikuko Inoue as Yukari Yakumo, reason : Sayaka Ohara have worked with Kikuo Inoue for some time so that they may compatible to each other.

And besides the two of them :

Eirin = Atsuko Tanaka
Mokou = Maaya Sakamoto
Kaguya = Mamiko Noto
Reisen = Shizuka Ito

The other matchable VA if these characters are getting animated :
 
Shikieki = Romi Paku
Komachi = Kaya Matsutani
Rinnosuke = Hiroshi Kamiya or Tomokazu Sugita
Cirno = Miyuki Sawashiro
Sanae = Kana Hanazawa
Kanako = Aya Hisakawa
Youmu = Ryōko Shiraishi or Ryo Hirohashi
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Drake on February 24, 2015, 01:01:12 PM
Mokou = Maaya Sakamoto
Kaguya = Mamiko Noto
Rinnosuke = Hiroshi Kamiya
Cirno = Miyuki Sawashiro
Sanae = Kana Hanazawa
Kanako = Aya Hisakawa
Youmu = Ryōko Shiraishi
you basically have all of modern anime right there
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Clarste on February 24, 2015, 02:24:37 PM
Cirno = Miyuki Sawashiro

What a waste of Sawashiro...
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: monhan on February 24, 2015, 06:37:54 PM
Does it has to be professional Seiyuu?
Hire those people who do the M-1 Grandprix Manzai. Some of them were brilliant.
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Kilgamayan on February 25, 2015, 01:37:57 AM
Yukari Tamura and Mayumi Yamaguchi for 'Machi and Eiki respectively or bust.

Also yeah Cirno is kind of a waste for Sawashiro.
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Tengukami on February 25, 2015, 09:43:07 AM
Aya Hirano for Marisa pls
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Flandre5carlet on February 25, 2015, 11:06:31 AM
I frankly don't care who voices what, I just don't want Reisen (or any other character, really...) to have the stupid moe voices they had in Summer Day's Dream.

Also thank you Tiamat for the corrections about the Lunar War, Eirin's trap etc.
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: cuc on February 25, 2015, 03:36:41 PM
The survey has an English version now.
http://cv.kyotofantasytroupe.net/en/
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: cuc on April 15, 2015, 05:24:33 AM
April 1st update was more character sheets for Merry and Renko.
http://kyotofantasytroupe.net/archives/348

Today's update is a trailer, containing the full opening, with some animation corrections.
http://kyotofantasytroupe.net/archives/358

Oh right, the Episode 1 comic will be titled "Recollections of the Moon".
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: monhan on April 15, 2015, 06:36:49 AM
April 1st update was more character sheets for Merry and Renko.
http://kyotofantasytroupe.net/archives/348

Today's update is a trailer, containing the full opening, with some animation corrections.
http://kyotofantasytroupe.net/archives/358

Oh right, the Episode 1 comic will be titled "Recollections of the Moon".
Oh, finally a sneak peek of the comic. Things I noticed:
So, is that bearded, Oda Nobunaga looking guy Tsukuyomi?
Is Toyohime talking about Urashima Tarou?

Also interested how far they put in the story board. Will check again later.
Thanks for the updates as always, cuc
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Algo on June 14, 2015, 06:16:04 PM
I'm sorry for up, but is there any news about this project?
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: anthony_en on June 14, 2015, 11:39:39 PM
I'm sorry for up, but is there any news about this project?

They release manga about kaguya past on moon.
I am already have it
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Doki-Doki on September 06, 2015, 08:30:22 PM
Dunno if this counts as an update but they recently posted this on their twitter https://twitter.com/fantasytroupe/status/640557039828099073
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Reu on September 07, 2015, 05:52:07 AM
I'm a little late on this but yeah this seems interesting, and on the topic of Eirin's rival in this story I don't quite see the issue with it.
Rivals are made to be beaten in most fictional stories, she can still be the genius and continuously outsmart the prince,  they can have the intelligence but how they apply it can be different,
being a genius isn't only based on how smart you are.

Kinda like the rivalry between Sima Yi and Zhuge Liang, both very smart people but they did things differently and only one came out on top.
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Doki-Doki on October 12, 2015, 08:36:58 PM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nE3IWOXqWyU Sweet goodness they've teased the first episode, is it reasonable to presume the first ep should be out by winterket? Loving the animation quality.
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: StainGlass on October 16, 2015, 09:47:40 AM
Wow nice! The animation quality has exceeded my expectations so far. Very much looking forward to more!
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Biakmon on January 14, 2016, 10:33:52 AM
So... what you guys thought about the newest Hifuu Club Activity Record ep coming out?
Was it like how you were expecting it to be?

How do you contrast it with the others animation like fantasy kaleidoscope and summer dream work?
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Flandre5carlet on January 14, 2016, 01:48:16 PM
I haven't watched it yet, except skipping through real quick to check out the art and animation. It looks really good, and the animation is very smooth. Beyond that I haven't watched it as I don't speak Japanese, and besides, supposed members of the circle are asking the YouTube uploader to take it down because they have yet to reach their budget for episode 2 and this jeopardizes sales. I would buy it myself, but I'm very short on cash.
Edit: The upload is on private now.

How do you contrast it with the others animation like fantasy kaleidoscope and summer dream work?
I have yet to actually watch it properly and I'd already put it miles ahead of either work. To me, Summer's Day Dream is little more than nonsensical fanon and moe fanservice, in every aspect of the series: voices, art, events, personalities, etc; and while Fantasy Kaleidoscope is a lot better in terms of art and animation, the fights are very lacking in substence and it also suffers a lot from blatant service like an unrelated hot springs scene taking up half the screen time, etc.
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: AJS on January 15, 2016, 08:10:09 PM
I haven't heard any news or developments on this lately, but I'd just like to know where I could purchase the discs?  If they're having trouble making the budget for episode 2, I'd like to help them out.  But also, is there any news on whether there are english subs on the discs or if they plan on making any at some point?
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Spotty Len on January 16, 2016, 08:54:01 AM
Somebody asked me to post here for him since he still cannot register...

Quote
Okay, since your ReCaptcha system is broken, meaning that you can't either search or register, I'm forced to use this dodgy solution to contribute to that thread. I hope at least helvetica can come back soon to sort that out.

I personally bought it from Melonbooks with help of a proxy (Buy Nippon). My copy should arrive on Monday. From that, I'll decide if I post or not the episode in low resolution or only the first minutes of it. I want to ask the circle first about this (they seem to be English speakers too).

I fear it didn't have the recognition or exposure it deserves. Also, there's a total lack of information on their part, meaning that only people who have it in hands know what it looks like.

Before I can actually register and post a more detailed review (once I'll have the disc in hands and watch it), here are all the buying options I listed:

Melonbooks: https://www.melonbooks.co.jp/detail/detail.php?product_id=148826

Toranoana: http://www.toranoana.jp/mailorder/article/04/0030/37/37/040030373777.html

Buyee: http://buyee.jp/item/yahoo/shopping/akhb_2100000060184/category/

Otaku Republic: https://otakurepublic.com/product/doujin_software/touhou_project/product_page_1210103.html

The first two are Japanese stores that don't ship overseas, so you'll have to use a proxy like Noppin or Buy Nippon (or any other of your choice).

The second two can ship overseas but I don't know much about them. Otaku Republic is pretty expansive so watch out for possible custom fees!! Buyee almost work as proxy by itself but has has very low service fees compared to other ones (this has to be checked).

To finish, here's an ASS file for Korean subs. Just in case, it can help for an English translation: http://teamhourai.tistory.com/308

Regards, hoping you can sort your ReCaptcha problems.
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: ZM on January 16, 2016, 03:11:05 PM
A friend of mine found the first episode. It's currently RAW, though.
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Drake on January 16, 2016, 04:03:09 PM
Sorry, but did you miss the bit where circle members are asking people to take down uploads because at this point in time it potentially hurts sales and they haven't met their budget for episode 2? We really shouldn't be encouraging this right now.


Also, since paged:
Quote
Okay, since your ReCaptcha system is broken, meaning that you can't either search or register, I'm forced to use this dodgy solution to contribute to that thread. I hope at least helvetica can come back soon to sort that out.

I personally bought it from Melonbooks with help of a proxy (Buy Nippon). My copy should arrive on Monday. From that, I'll decide if I post or not the episode in low resolution or only the first minutes of it. I want to ask the circle first about this (they seem to be English speakers too).

I fear it didn't have the recognition or exposure it deserves. Also, there's a total lack of information on their part, meaning that only people who have it in hands know what it looks like.

Before I can actually register and post a more detailed review (once I'll have the disc in hands and watch it), here are all the buying options I listed:

Melonbooks: https://www.melonbooks.co.jp/detail/detail.php?product_id=148826

Toranoana: http://www.toranoana.jp/mailorder/article/04/0030/37/37/040030373777.html

Buyee: http://buyee.jp/item/yahoo/shopping/akhb_2100000060184/category/

Otaku Republic: https://otakurepublic.com/product/doujin_software/touhou_project/product_page_1210103.html

The first two are Japanese stores that don't ship overseas, so you'll have to use a proxy like Noppin or Buy Nippon (or any other of your choice).

The second two can ship overseas but I don't know much about them. Otaku Republic is pretty expansive so watch out for possible custom fees!! Buyee almost work as proxy by itself but has has very low service fees compared to other ones (this has to be checked).

To finish, here's an ASS file for Korean subs. Just in case, it can help for an English translation: http://teamhourai.tistory.com/308

Regards, hoping you can sort your ReCaptcha problems.

And of course, the choice of proxy of this forum in general would be N-Forza: https://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,566.0.html
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: ZM on January 16, 2016, 04:36:30 PM
Yeah, I missed that. Took it down.
Huh, the video got removed by the user anyway...that's good.
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: StainGlass on January 17, 2016, 10:31:10 AM
Thanks for the updates and purchase links. I'm certainly going to purchase a copy, pending if N-Forza can help, or I'll use a paid deputy. I like Otaku Republic and have used them quite a bit, but their price is just too expensive this time, especially considering how weak the AUD is now.

Trailer looks amazing. I hope they receive enough funding for episode 2.
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: ~Shin Kuroi~ on January 17, 2016, 04:34:31 PM
ahh, i almost completely forgot about this. i'm glad that they seem to be (mostly) successful so far.

i wonder how they'll portray hijiri's backstory...
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Gamer251 on January 20, 2016, 02:33:53 PM
Just leaving an English ASS (https://mega.nz/#!R4UgXKaS!LoEkALOAudjBJPkLqUebanxrUAs563b5G429J2IiJX0) file for your viewing pleasure~

Courtesy of our group, TPD-Subs.

I do hope they meet more than their budget goal...  :ohdear:
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: StainGlass on January 21, 2016, 06:38:17 AM
Just leaving an English ASS (https://mega.nz/#!R4UgXKaS!LoEkALOAudjBJPkLqUebanxrUAs563b5G429J2IiJX0) file for your viewing pleasure~

Courtesy of our group, TPD-Subs.

I do hope they meet more than their budget goal...  :ohdear:

Thank-you!
This will be super handy when I get my copy. Thanks for subbing it!
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Dioxaz on January 23, 2016, 10:31:56 AM
Hello all. I think it is time to post my lengthy review of it (beware, it is that long!!). First of all, I'd like to thank Spotty Ren for posting in my place (the post detailing buying options was mine) during the reCaptcha incident and the admins (or one of them) for more or less finding a solution to that incident, allowing me to finally post the review. Also thanks to TPD-Subs for sharing their ASS file with us, allowing me to watch it translated, so I can understand better what's happening.

So, be prepared, here it is (also, my review sure has its caveats and weaknesses too and should be shorter, please don't assume it to be perfect).

After all that time waiting, I finally had a chance to watch the awaited animation by Chinese circle Kyoto Fantasy Troupe, The Sealed Esoteric History -moon-.

Indeed, I wasn?t stupid enough to wait for downloads to pop up on the net. I ordered it from Melonbooks with help of a proxy, and did so on December 24th 2015. I just got it on January 18th.

In case you missed them, here are all the buying options I listed for that animation, on January 18th 2016:

Melonbooks: https://www.melonbooks.co.jp/detail/detail.php?product_id=148826

Toranoana: http://www.toranoana.jp/mailorder/article/04/0030/37/37/040030373777.html

Buyee: http://buyee.jp/item/yahoo/shopping/akhb_2100000060184/category/

Otaku Republic:
https://otakurepublic.com/product/doujin_software/touhou_project/product_page_1210103.html

Now, here are all the questions you might all ask to yourself while reading this text:

- How does it compare to the two other existing animated series (A Summer Day?s Dream and Memories of Phantasm)?
- What is the story like?
- How is it close to canon?
- Does it have any fan service?
- How is the overall tone of the anime? And its pace?
- Does it use any lazy tricks/shortcuts?
- How good are the music and sound effects?
- How is it presented? Does it have voices? Subs?
- How good is the animation, character design and backgrounds? And compared to the other series?
- How is the sound/picture quality?

Throughout this review, I?ll try to answer all these questions... I said ?I?ll try?. Because I?m hardly a Touhou expert, especially canon-wise, I?ll leave my opinion as someone who discovers it with a fresh eye (and not a stupidly biased and jaded view like 4chan folks had on that thread they did).

So, what are going to begin with first? To put it shortly, this animation puts A Summer Day?s Dream to shame. I watched episode 2.5 the other day... Umm, well... such concentrate of laziness is amazing. On the other hand, Memories of Phantasm still has its own arguments to present. But we?ll see all that at the end. Let?s look at the package first.

/!\ WARNING /!\
Before starting this review, I?d like to inform you that I failed to have permission from the circle to show video and picture content (I only got a quick response from their part redirecting me to their already existing teasers). Also, they really do not want anything to leak from their DVD, including goodies. It is clearly stated in their readme file and the answer I got after mailing them clearly goes in that direction, even though they didn?t give me a clear and frank response. So you?ll have pictures of my old CRT TV (Sony 29? Trinitron SDTV) instead of high-def screenshots. I can?t do anything about that, I?m sorry.


What are the contents like?

(http://i.imgur.com/KU0kzQdl.jpg) (http://imgur.com/KU0kzQd)

First surprise, the DVD comes in a standard Amaray box, not a slim one compared to other existing OVAs. Second surprise, unlike what the box artwork suggests it, this is not a Video DVD. If you put that in a standard home DVD player, it won?t play. As the following screenshots show, this is a data-only disc:

(http://dioxaz.free.fr/download/shots/sealed_esoteric_contents1.png)

The first folder contains goodies (wallpapers). The second one contains our movie. Not one file... four files!! Technical details will be given later but the animation is presented in two resolutions, 720p and 1080p and both with and without (Japanese) subtitles.

Back to the box, you also have a nice booklet inside detailing all the staff with very nice artwork. I really appreciate that, as that was lacking from the other two. As you may have guessed, I?m reviewing the regular version, not the collector set.

(http://i.imgur.com/rdl36s1l.jpg) (http://imgur.com/rdl36s1) (http://i.imgur.com/U67iheTl.jpg) (http://imgur.com/U67iheT) (http://i.imgur.com/TqY7Cq9l.jpg) (http://imgur.com/TqY7Cq9)


Now let?s talk about how it watches and how it is presented

(http://i.imgur.com/UysSJiul.jpg) (http://imgur.com/UysSJiu)

As it was more or less obvious from their previous blog entries, it is presented in the same exact fashion as Memories of Phantasm. It feels like a regular OVA episode with animation backed up by music and sound effects, but doesn?t have any voice. The interesting part is how it watches compared to the latter. To be honest, as this relies a lot on dialogue to tell the story, even more than its competitor from Manpuku, you might find that disturbing and awkward. Some scenes are almost completely silent with sometimes quite long lines ?expressed? by a character. But the good thing is those scenes are generally short and not in significant number. The rest of the time, we have a very nice atmospheric music that goes alongside. Now, the fact that this lack of voice, even if awkward at times, is what adds its charm and cachet to it is completely up to you. You may like it or find it jarring or not give a damn about it. Personally, I wished they would have taken that more into account when making the episode. Keep in mind full voice was considered and kept in storage as an idea within the circle (remember the survey they did in February 2015).

Compared to Manpuku?s attempt, I was pleased to see that it watches very smoothly, even with no voices. It?s not fast-paced, obviously, but it?s not the soporific we had with Maikaze?s attempt either. It?s in-between. The half-hour this OVA lasts won?t feel long and boring.

The overall mood is also completely different from what we watched before. It presents itself as relatively serious with only a few tidbits of funny attempts (you won?t see a grimace fest like in Memories of Phantasm). I also like how it tries to put the storytelling very upfront by developing relationships within characters and events that occur. Unfortunately, if you?re a bit lost behind regarding canon and can?t speak Japanese (just like me), this may feel a bit complicated to follow. Like in Memories of Phantasm, character psychology seems okay and tangible enough (compare that to the caricature we had in A Summer Day?s Dream). You might find all those characters endearing.

One quality I like about it over Memories of Phantasm is how low it relies on fan-service and some lame and dated puns. You won?t find any of these here. For some people, that may be a huge plus. Also, it doesn?t feel as cartooney as Manpuku?s anime.


Artwork, sound, music and writing

The visual part is probably what this OVA is best at. Sincerely, this was ravishing. The background design is amazing of detail (thank you miss High-definition) and the animation feels really smooth and neat. My only gripe is the slightly awkward character design. Some characters might look a bit weird to some of you. Also, background detail is so high it is even visible on my SD CRT TV! I think they really outdid themselves. Also, as a side note, this makes me realize how outstanding the background work is on Memories of Phantasm too.

(http://i.imgur.com/IgC6VUil.jpg) (http://imgur.com/IgC6VUi) (http://i.imgur.com/Bds18F8l.jpg) (http://imgur.com/Bds18F8)
The background design is absolutely amazing. Look at that detail. Also, watching a 1080p file on an SDTV? What the hell is wrong with me? For the info, this is a retrogaming-media center PC which is plugged to it. The resolution that?s actually shown is 1280x576 50Hz interlaced with 16:9 mode enabled, coming from VGA-to-SCART conversion (this TV has a 600-TVL tube by the way so the 1280 pixels get smoothed out in a fashion similar to subpixel smoothing in Cleartype). Also, the picture of this TV looks a lot better in real life than it does on these cheap photographs.

The sound part. Probably what we really can?t make an idea about when not having the product in hand. Well, it works. Let?s begin by sound effects. To be honest, they feel a little cheap at times. This is especially true for hard sounds (footsteps, cloth sounds, etc.) and everyday life sounds (let's smile at the same looped crowd noise we hear at every place Renko and Merry are walking around... well, honestly, it?s not that noticeable :P). You can argue it adds a charm. Also, considering there is no voice, this is the only thing your brain will hold (along with the endless lipflaps) and the fact that sometimes they?re a bit too upfront doesn?t really help. All in all, it?s not that disturbing frankly. I think they have a little work to do on this part. On the other side, all other magical, spell card, attack, explosion sounds or anything that?s not supposed to be realistic sound really nice and is on par with Memories of Phantasm.

About sound, what I like the most is the music. Yonder Voice or whoever scored that did a wonderful job. Instead of the fast and rhythmic (and sometimes ?mickeymoused?) things we had in Manpuku?s anime, we have a very nice and atmospheric score, which deserves its own original soundtrack in my opinion.

Now, the writing... Umm... As I don?t speak Japanese, this will be very hard for me to judge that part. Just like Memories of Phantasm, the characters look like they all have something interesting to say, which I hope is the case (and it is, more or less, read below). In fact, one quality that almost everybody ignored from Manpuku?s anime is how the dialogue is really well written. However, in the meantime, TPD-Subs group released English subtitles (link to ASS file in this very topic) which helped me a lot to understand better what is going on. So, basically, Renko and Merry are considering a trip to the moon but appear to be short on money. While discussing about that, they begin remembering an incident that occured ten years ago (if I understand correctly) where youkai from the Earth tried invading the Moon in order to steal the Hourai Elixir (Elixir of immortality in TPD?s subs) I presume. That?s why we go back and forth between Renko and Merry in what appears to be a futuristic world and events on the moon during the whole movie.

All in all, I really liked how Kyoto Fantasy Troupe tried to push settings and characters not commonly seen and build something around them. That really brings some fresh air (the circle even makes fun of this at the end of the anime). All that makes it a very interesting watch. Also, I don?t think we have original characters there. They seem to be coming from the Cage in Lunatic Runagate story but I can?t recognize the male characters, as TPD probably didn?t transcribe them properly (they can?t be found anywhere on the web and the wiki, the only thing I found were the gatekeepers). I might be mistaken but if it's more or less basing itself on or taking elements from Cage in Lunatic Runagate (which I didn't read), we can consider it close to canon... but again, I'm not the best person for that. This alone makes it very desirable over Memories of Phantasm where dialogue is the only thing that add depth to their stories.

(http://i.imgur.com/Yo9BWiXl.jpg) (http://imgur.com/Yo9BWiX)
No fan-service, but some unexpected and amusing cameos


The technical side: what is the quality like?

That?s why I?m sad I can?t post screenshots. You?ll only have my descriptions as to how to gauge the overall quality.

As said earlier, we have 4 files. 2 720p files of 318MB of size and 2 1080p files of 1.8GB of size. The one I watched is the 1080p subbed one. This one should have been almost flawless considering the high bitrate (8Mbps variable bitrate AVC)... except that?s not totally the case. Relatively calm parts look clean, but once it begins to have some action, some degradation and blocking start to appear (I also checked frames individually on my computer too, with a 23? Asus IPS full HD monitor, if that is any comfort to you). Indeed, action go generally pretty fast so you?ll not likely to notice it. But beware if you?re watching it on a 50+ inch TV. I really wish they used constant CRF instead of what I assume to be 2-pass encoding.

(http://dioxaz.free.fr/download/shots/esoteric_closeup_calmscene.png) (http://dioxaz.free.fr/download/shots/esoteric_closeup_busyscene.png)
On the left, we have a calm scene and on the right a busy one (battle with Suika). I know I didn?t have permission to show direct screenshots, but Idon?t think this should be harmful as the product is not really recognizable directly. Notice the quality drop when something busy happens. Thankfully, it doesn?t go worse than that.

Audio is AAC 317kpbs with a 48KHz sample rate on all files. Again, it should be flawless... except, hum! Analyzing the waveform through Adobe Audition?s frequency analyzer reveals a lot of frequency drops at as low as 16KHz on many BGMs, meaning they used lossy files as sources when editing! How can on earth someone serious could do that? Considering the music was most likely commissioned and not downloaded. On the other hand, opening and ending songs don?t show any sing of frequency drop (they go up to 20KHz but not over, which is okay for AAC audio). In all honesty, if you?re not obsessed with audio quality you won?t notice it. But if you?re an audiophile... Again, something to work on for the next time. Never use lossy files when editing sound if especially on something of that ambition, unless you have absolutely no other choice.

(http://dioxaz.free.fr/download/shots/esoteric_bgm_freqanalysis_th.png) (http://dioxaz.free.fr/download/shots/esoteric_bgm_freqanalysis.png) (http://dioxaz.free.fr/download/shots/esoteric_ed_freqanalysis_th.png) (http://dioxaz.free.fr/download/shots/esoteric_ed_freqanalysis.png)
Click on each to enlarge. Notice how the graph doesn?t go above 16KHz on one of the BGMs heared throughout the OVA. That?s the sign of lossy audio thrown in the mix. Notice also how the ending only drops at 20KHz, which is what you would expect from AAC audio of a bitrate that high.

I quickly looked through one of the 720p files. I think it?s safe to consider them useless, unless the device you?re using to watch has trouble with high bitrate and 1080p files (some old BD players or multimedia gateways might struggle to play them), as they are basically Youtube-tier quality.

On the practical side, let?s look through the subtitles. Well, first surprise, they weren?t positioned with overscan in mind. They?re a bit too close to the bottom edge of the screen. On a CRT TV, subs might be either be plastered over the bottom edge of your bezel or cropped/eaten up. On a modern TV, it should be a bit better. I still recommend to disable overscan on your TV if you can, or unzoom the picture if using Kodi or XBMC on an old TV. The other complaint I have is how fast some of them are shown on screen. Most subs really go too fast to be read entirely. I think they wanted all their lines to be one-line only, which has never been a practical solution. With at least 2 lines, you are wasting a bit of screen space but at least you can read them (this is what Memories of Phantasm did perfectly). Also, it seems that TPD-Subs based their timing on the original subs, which made most of their lines a bit too fast to be read as a result. If you?re not a fast reader, that will be a problem. I highly recommend looking for lines that are too short in their file in order to merge them with lines after them (probably what I?ll do).

Now, something nobody will talk about (except me), the overall loudness. This is the aspect I feared the most. That was a pleasant surprise. In fact, only the opening and ending songs can be misleading as they are quite loud (in fact they reach 0dBFS). But the rest is fairly quiet with lots of headroom. I?m happy on this point.

(http://dioxaz.free.fr/download/shots/esoteric_waveform.png)
Just like Memories of Phantasm, a lot of headroom is given so that various sound effects can breathe and so that it doesn?t sound squashed or assault our ears. However, opening and ending songs should have been lowered by at least 4 or 6dB, considering they were mastered with some loudness in mind (just like any other modern song, Touhou doujin music including ZUN?s own albums is no exception).


Really good days for both animation and Touhou lovers

We are in a point of time that has never been so good if you?re looking for Touhou animation. We now have three series which all have their own imprint (on top of them you can add Sound Holic?s PVDs and Touhou M-1 Grand Prix and some other less major efforts). Let?s detail what I don?t like with A Summer Day?s Dream. The overall tone, the pet-like characters, all that laziness and shortcuts to fill in the time and space along with the really slow pace and completely silly plots. I can?t understand how can some of you consider it as ?better?. It sure has entertainment value, with the really lovely voice acting that drives most of its tone (I really like what some seiyuu do to the characters by improvising a bit) but some of the voices are just... no.

Memories of Phantasm set a new mark or standard for Touhou animation. Allying efficiency with rapidity and unmatched care in both art, animation and sound departments. However, its target is clearly pure entertainment and a cartooney, light tone to appeal the highest number of potential viewers. It also allows itself some obvious liberties by incorporating questionable elements and not really focussing enough on storytelling. They are, at Manpuku Jinja, in a more ?let?s just enjoy ourselves as that?s what really counts, as we?re over the top anyway? approach than others. Maybe they?re right after all. What I like the most is the audacity of not wanting to include voice acting. You would not see that in traditional and commercial TV animation. Ever! Yet, not only Touhou allows you to transcend the rules seen in the industry and art schools but it can also prove it can work if done more or less properly. In fact, Memories of Phantasm is a concentrate of really well thought and smart compromises when thinking about it and stepping back. Also... yes, I myself do prefer Touhou derivative works (and some other fan productions) to be unvoiced. That?s an aesthetic and personal preference (I also find characters to look a lot cuter that way, especially considering it?s an all female cast, don?t ask me why).

Now our lovely OVA from Kyoto Fantasy Troupe. Truly one of the nicest surprises of 2016. I really like how it tries to compensates for Memories of Phantasm caveats by focusing on storytelling and going easy with gags, grimaces and fan service. For a first attempt, I consider it as truly astounding. Gone are the days of that dodgy attempt Sound Holic offered us in late 2007. Some awkwardness is inevitable but I think it coped very well.


Now, my personal verdict

The moment everybody is waiting for. Do I consider this as better than Memories of Phantasm? The answer I?m going to give may surprise you or make you jump. I?m sorry, I just can?t distance myself from my usual anti-conformism.

Well, as good and neat Kyoto Fantasy Troupe?s anime is, I still think Memories of Phantasm still have its word. The lighter and more accessible tone, along with better mastered art clearly act in its favour. So, my folks, no. It is not superior to Memories of Phantasm, even with its own questionable artistic choices (mainly for Episode 6, as I consider it way too cartooney). Artistic choices and elements that you choose to include don?t make everything. Don?t forget we?re talking about Touhou derivative works, not your average TV programme that a network purchased to be aired on such time slot. It?s all about alchemy. An alchemy that works regardless of what you put and how you?re doing it. I guess it has something to do with the soul that is blown into it. I really wish some fine/amateur animators and MMDers could take that into consideration rather than following crowds and trends. Maybe it?s just a question of open-mindedness... or I?m just going too far with my reflection (we?re just talking about a small self-product OVA).

In any ways, I heartily recommend it, especially if you?re not fan of the cartooney aspect of Memories of Phantasm and want something more ?mature?, less childish to watch, something that can bring actual reflection rather than amusement. The gorgeous art and is really what strikes the most in it.


Okay, a final thought...

Well, one of the anime?s weakness doesn?t reside in the sold product actually but rather in the circle?s own communication strategy. They clearly have lot of work to do on that domain. If you compare Kyoto Fantasy Troupe?s blog to Manpuku Jinja?s one, differences are striking. It looks like KFT doesn?t like giving too much info or leaking too much material. The problem is that it prevents the future viewer of being aware of how the final product will look like. Sure we had come sketches early in development and some animated GIFs later but that?s all we had, really. It looks like the circle is a bit too discreet in my taste. They clearly need to work on their advertising.


Okay, I think I?m done now. I hope my review wasn?t too long or boring. If I actually made you want to buy this, it means that I did my job well and that the circle could take inspiration from it and think about what they should say from what they shouldn?t. Thank you for your reading. I really wish the circle good luck for the future.
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Clarste on January 27, 2016, 03:10:49 PM
Those are original characters, not characters from CiLR. Actually, I think we knew that ahead of time? It's perfectly understandable that you'd be less invested in the plot if you haven't read the related canon works.

...I haven't actually watched it myself though.
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: StainGlass on January 28, 2016, 09:21:51 AM
Thanks a lot for the in-depth review Dioxaz!
I was wondering if it was going to come with voice acting or not, at least I'm prepared for the lack of it now.
I'm also glad that the tone is more serious than the other two animation projects.
Looking forward to viewing it when I can.
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Flandre5carlet on February 04, 2016, 11:17:24 AM
The overall mood is also completely different from what we watched before. It presents itself as relatively serious with only a few tidbits of funny attempts (you won?t see a grimace fest like in Memories of Phantasm). I also like how it tries to put the storytelling very upfront by developing relationships within characters and events that occur. Unfortunately, if you?re a bit lost behind regarding canon and can?t speak Japanese (just like me), this may feel a bit complicated to follow. Like in Memories of Phantasm, character psychology seems okay and tangible enough (compare that to the caricature we had in A Summer Day?s Dream). You might find all those characters endearing.

One quality I like about it over Memories of Phantasm is how low it relies on fan-service and some lame and dated puns. You won?t find any of these here. For some people, that may be a huge plus. Also, it doesn?t feel as cartooney as Manpuku?s anime.
I'm oh so happy about that, you have no idea - especially that last line. Finally a good fanime that doesn't rely on fanservice, fanon or cartooney humour, and instead presents an attempt at serious storytelling, with some of the lesser represented characters and storylines.
In that regard, that's where I disagree with your verdict; while Memories of Phantasm is fine for what it is (ie. "not taking itself too seriously", appeals to the largest audience), it's specifically for those reasons that I simply cannot agree on it being better than KFT's attempt. It's just... way too cartooney/fanservicey/fanoney/etc like a lot of fanworks, making KFT's anime seem like a breath of fresh air amidst all of it. And I won't even talk about Summer's Day Dream.

Thanks a lot for the review, also. Very in-depth. Still waiting to have enough cash to be able to buy my own copy. Also, as Clarste said, the male characters are OCs.
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Dioxaz on March 05, 2016, 10:09:32 PM
You don't have to agree with my verdict. After all, this is a reflection of my own thoughts. Also, I mainly wanted to emphasis the fact that Memories of Phantasm is not as bad as some like to depict it.

There's a lot of qualities that are missed because it's not to one's liking. Even though I really wish Manpuku push storytelling more upfront instead of relying on all those "entry level" and outdated gags like they overused them in episode 6 (nothing really interesting happens during that episode). To be honest, I was in "WTF mode" when watching episode 6 for the first time. It took me some time and many re-watches to really enjoy it. If they keep going in the same direction, they might get some stronger criticism.

Now, about this:
Those are original characters, not characters from CiLR. Actually, I think we knew that ahead of time? It's perfectly understandable that you'd be less invested in the plot if you haven't read the related canon works.

...I haven't actually watched it myself though.
That's what I suspected. Thank you for the clarification. I should have remembered that huge discussion on 4chan (/jp channel) trying to find out how accurate it was in comparison to CiLR. I guess there were some grey areas plot-wise during the writing of the episode and they came up with those secondary characters to "fill in the blanks". They probably did what they thought was the best.
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: monhan on April 01, 2016, 09:56:33 AM
I don't know if it warrants a new thread, but Kyoto Fantasy Troupe have updated their site with news regarding the addition of voiceover for the first episode of the Hifuu fananime.
http://kyotofantasytroupe.net/archives/509
Here is the tweet:
https://twitter.com/fantasytroupe/status/715569881354100737?ref_src=twsrc^tfw
Nico Video with voice samples:
http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm28543106

The seiyuus are:
Maribel Hearn (CV: Kana Hanazawa )
Renko Usami (CV: Eri Kitamura)
Kaguya Houraisan(CV: Mamiko Noto)
Eirin Yagokoro(CV: Sumi Shimamoto)
Watatsuki no Yorihime(CV: Ayako Kawasumi) > SEIIIIBAAAA
Watatsuki no Toyohime(CV: Tomatsu Haruka )
Tsukuyomi (CV: Shibata Hidekatsu)
Prince Tsuku (CV: Inoue Kazuhiko)
Prince Sasarae (CV: Koyama Rikiya)
Yukari Yakumo(CV: Inoue Kikuko)
Suika Ibuki(CV: Shimizu Ai)
Yuyuko Saigyouji (CV: Kayano Ai)
Reimu Hakurei(CV: Imai Asami)
Marisa Kirisame(CV: Asumi Kana)

Honestly, I want to hype, but
today's April Fool... so many people are worried that this may be a joke. But still, the voices in the video is legit, so I don't know...

If this isn't the right place to post this news, then I'll leave it to the moderators.
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Dioxaz on April 01, 2016, 07:18:06 PM
Again, what I said in my conclusion just holds true.

Not very smart of posting that kind of news on this particular day and with no preliminary info whatsoever (it almost gave me the impression they dropped the idea). Given the fact all voices sound relatively spot-on, even if I was personally not convinced (all this sounds pretty generic to me and looks like voice will not add that much to the experience). But it's just a personal view, as usual. Your mileage will probably vary. Still excellent news for anyone actually looking forward to this particular voiced version or wanting to hear what pro seiyū are capable of on a production of like this.

However, what I'm sure will happen now are complaints that such or such voice is not good enough or doesn't really match, etc. (probably by the same ones who complained about no voices in the first version). I wonder what they will choose to do for a possible episode 2, if they actually decide to produce it.

Also, they also posted different info on the Japanese and Chinese pages of their blog (http://kyotofantasytroupe.net). We learn from the Chinese one that it will be planned for early May in some Chinese and Japanese festivals (the English page appears not to be maintained anymore). Some info is also present on the video itself.

Bottom line: I can already read some "Cookie☆" in the comments... oh boy, it might get fun... (they appear to have been deleted, still remain some references to a certain "UDK")
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Clarste on April 02, 2016, 02:03:25 AM
Historically, even when doujin groups get professional voice acting, their voice direction is relatively amateur and brings down the quality.
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: monhan on April 03, 2016, 01:19:20 PM
Just a little update to clarify that it is real, and wasn't an April Fool joke.
The voiced version of first episode will be sold on this year's Reitaisai 13 in May 8th. Later on it'll also be available in online stores like Tora no Ana, Melonbooks, Akiba, and so on.
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: nintendofreak768 on April 03, 2016, 02:28:20 PM
When I try to click on that Nico Nico link, I keep getting a timeout error. Is this happeneing to anyone else or just me?
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: monhan on April 03, 2016, 02:48:54 PM
When I try to click on that Nico Nico link, I keep getting a timeout error. Is this happeneing to anyone else or just me?

Not for me, maybe you can try a proxy, or just the youtube one uploaded by the circle:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMgLgKmcXZg

The little bits of clarification that it is real can also be read in the description.
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: MrNoobomnenie on April 03, 2016, 02:50:34 PM
When I try to click on that Nico Nico link, I keep getting a timeout error. Is this happeneing to anyone else or just me?
This happens with me too. And not just with this link, but with whole Niconico.
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Quwanti on April 03, 2016, 04:22:01 PM
When I try to click on that Nico Nico link, I keep getting a timeout error. Is this happeneing to anyone else or just me?
Nicovideo has been out for the past few days.
https://twitter.com/niconicoen/status/715824605005484034

You can use a mirror, though.
www.nicozon.net/watch/sm28543106
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Dioxaz on May 11, 2016, 08:03:09 PM
(I'm aware the topic hasn't been replied for a while now, I hope this doesn't bother - in all logic, it shouldn't)

Just a reminder to mention that the Full Voice edition of The Sealed Esoteric History has been released and... is already out of stock on some stores! (Grep and Melonbooks noteably)

But you can still order it from those places (proxy required as no overseas shipping):
- Toranoana: http://www.toranoana.jp/mailorder/article/04/0030/40/77/040030407769.html
- D-Stage: http://d-stage.com/shop/detail.php?seq=70692
- Akiba Hobby: http://ec.akbh.jp/products/detail.php?product_id=2100000062621
- Grep has restocked apparently: http://www.grep-shop.com/tsuhan/products/detail.php?product_id=16831
- Melonbooks has restocked as of 2016-5-28: https://www.melonbooks.co.jp/detail/detail.php?product_id=160331

For those who want overseas shipping without a proxy, Otaku Republic has it, too: https://otakurepublic.com/product/doujin_dvd/touhou_project/product_page_1320051.html
Beware, it's $64.29 and might be subject to additional custom fees.

Also worth of mention is the soundtrack of the OVA now available: http://www.toranoana.jp/mailorder/article/04/0030/41/11/040030411190.html

Unfortunately, I won't buy it myself because not interested (my first impressions were mixed, despite the high-profile cast and being satisfied with the unvoiced version). But I saw many of you were pretty excited by the news and are actually looking forward to it because it will feel more natural and will be a lot easier to watch (many will prefer it in full voice). If that's the case, I recommend buying this version instead of the unvoiced one (still available on Melonbooks (https://www.melonbooks.co.jp/detail/detail.php?product_id=148826), Akiba Hobby (http://ec.akbh.jp/products/detail.php?product_id=2100000060184) and Buyee (http://buyee.jp/item/yahoo/shopping/akhb_2100000060184/category/), out of curiosity).
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: anthony_en on May 12, 2016, 07:51:32 AM
I bought both, although i have unvoiced.
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: StainGlass on May 16, 2016, 09:34:39 AM
Just bought the voiced version. Worked out well since I totally forgot to buy the unvoiced one before.
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Marth on June 24, 2016, 09:01:42 AM
I didn't watch the unvoiced version in purpose to wait for the final one. Do you think it will be uploaded soon ?
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Dioxaz on July 20, 2016, 06:47:38 PM
Okay, I finally decided to write a review for the full voice version. It was time! I'm really sorry for being that late (and for bumping an old thread, again). Laziness devoured me one more time.

If you want to read my complete review, here it is:
http://dioxaz.free.fr/?p=121

Thankfully, it's not as long as my previous review, as I'm focussing on this specific version. To sum up, if you don't feel like reading, this voiced version was a pleasant surprise for me and is worth the purchase if you didn't do it yet or if you purposely skipped the unvoiced one. This is even the preferred version if you specifically look or waited for this version and, more than that, if you're new to this animated series too, as it is becoming a bit harder to find now (the unvoiced one OTOH is really easy to find, legally or not). And if you already watched the unvoiced one through some unauthorized reprints and thought it felt too awkward and dodgy for you, the issue doesn't even arise. Just go for this version instead! However, if you already bought the unvoiced one and enjoyed it, just like me, you won't miss much by not buying this one (read my complete review for more details).
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Critz on July 22, 2016, 10:41:52 AM
http://kyotofantasytroupe.net/archives/date/2016/07 (http://kyotofantasytroupe.net/archives/date/2016/07)

Why, hello there,
Seija and Shinmyoumaru.
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Nerios on August 13, 2016, 04:16:39 PM
Looks like Kyoto Fantasy Troupe has uploaded the fully-voiced version of Episode 1 on Youtube & NicoNico.

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjd7A5j20hc
NicoNico: http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm29431346
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Spotty Len on May 27, 2017, 10:40:17 AM
Another episode will apparently be released at Comiket 92. They said they were going for a fully voiced episode from the start, if I read it correctly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IKyq4IA8hM

Source from Twitter (https://twitter.com/fantasytroupe/status/868391178135257088)
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Critz on May 30, 2017, 02:47:27 PM
Can't help being excited for an episode centered around the Moriya Trio.  Especially if voiced from the get go. :getdown:

I wonder about the seiyuu cast.
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: Flandre5carlet on May 31, 2017, 03:44:34 PM
I love this fanime a LOT more than the other series out there so any announcement regarding it is exciting for me.

Well except if they'd announce they're cancelling the project.
Title: Re: Fan animation from China: Hifuu Club Activity Record
Post by: chen34 on June 09, 2017, 01:25:31 AM
I really like what they did with Hijiri's design, in general it looks great. Hope the project keeps going on.