Author Topic: What did ZUN think while making Touhou music?  (Read 2738 times)

Forte Blackadder

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What did ZUN think while making Touhou music?
« on: November 27, 2011, 03:23:24 AM »
Well, basically, I'm the type that overthink everything. I can't help but try to go deeper...
Everyone loves Touhou music, so do I. But I don't listen to Touhou music just for the melody, I... well, let's say my brain is damaged and I see something in them.

The Gensokyo the Gods loved for example, why ZUN put it in MoF, the 10th game? This melody is nice, but when you close your eyes, what do you see? I see a vast land, from a middle of a mountain, a cliff. It's windy there, the sky is clear and sunny. It's very beautiful, but it doesn't put my mind in peace. The chorus touches my heart, the channel hurts. It shows me exactly how I yearn to go to Gensokyo, but I can't, there is nothing there. I couldn't see human, or youkai, or any sign of living creature. The place the Gods loved is too beautiful it doesn't exist. It's heaven, it's told from tales to tales, it's ancient, unchangeable, and forbidden. Why is the song not played in Spring if it's so nice, isn't Spring better for such a place, when the flowers are blooming, the birds are singing and party everywhere? Why Autumn? What can we see in Autumn? A waterfall, withering leaves, and sunset. Everything is fine, everything is nice, but there is an unattainable peace is flowing in the air. You love autumn, but you sure know soon you will have to say goodbye and there comes winter. Gensokyo is the same, I love it now, I love Touhou now but I'm unsure about future. Life goes on and things will change. There will be a time that I forget about Gensokyo, about Touhou altogether. Mountain of Faith, is that what's needed for Gensokyo to exist? We went from a romantic fall, our most beautiful time to a dark road, our future where we have to deal with life. Is Gensokyo the final destination? That Gensokyo, that place even the Gods did love, is now isolated...

Now, Gensokyo Millenium ~ History of the Moon. We how Eirin was one of the Founder of the Lunar Capital, so she is very likely to live with the whole history of it. What do I see in this masterpiece? People building stuffs. Lots of stuffs. Actually, the intro shows me such rashness I can't keep up. Why are they so hurry? What's pushing them? The channel is serious, something's about to happen and I see Eirin with the Tsukihimes. A war. The history of the Moon is full of blood and glory. They are so competitive they push themselves to advance as fast as possible. The fight continues, there is no sign to stop. The music loops smoothly, bringing another chorus. The song has three distinct phases, which allows them to repeat without boredom. That's how history is.

Another one I want to share is Reach for the Moon, Immortal Smoke. The music that was, is and will be only forr Fujiwara no Mokou. The special thing I found is, this song is goddamn repeative. 29 notes, 19 times and looping. Why is it? The instruments were varied, but god this is worse than Pachebel's Canon in D. Then I realised, Mokou drank the Elixir in the 10th century, until IN it had been around 1000 years. What had she been doing? Travel back in time, we know Mokou hated Kaguya, loathed Kaguya. At that time, in young Mokou's head there was only revenge. Is it a good thing for a kid? No. And she had to pay. An immortal body is desired by everything, Mokou were being hunted by youkai and probably even human, for her liver. She is strong now, but she was just a kid then. What happened? I rather not guess. But the song confirmed how repeative it was. Getting caught, escaped, getting caught again, then escaped. Or maybe she couldn't escape, she simply waited until the keeper died of old age... There is a desire in the song, to go somewhere. Yes, to the Moon. But this desire is different that the desire to go to Gensokyo, it's full of sadness. Not despair, only sadness. The intro is empty, the chorus in desire, but apart from "reach for the Moon", what else? Nothing. I couldn't feel her hatred, I couldn't feel her desire to kill Kaguya. I feel nothing but a desire to "reach for the Moon". Did Mokou want to see Kaguya? She did. In the chorus, we can clearly see how much she want to go to the Lunar Capital. Her extensive adventure, the middle eight, is rash and mysterious. Because she could bear to live forever no longer. Because she had no idea how to go to the Moon. After hundred years of repeative events. Does she still want to kill Kaguya? Or does she just want to see someone she once knew, that still exists? The ending loops exactly the intro, when the emptiness returns. Laying down on a vast, isolated field, Mokou, raising her hand as if to touch the Moon. The night falls and her eyes slowly close... Another day has passed... again...

Er, I'll stop my rant here before bricks start flying...

I think this belongs to http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,2084.0.html
Sorry.
« Last Edit: November 27, 2011, 03:26:40 AM by Forte Blackadder »