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#1
12-02-2008, 05:47 AM
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2009 Spring & Winter Anime upcoming list
For spring...
Spoiler:
WOOT for FMA! For winter... Spoiler:
eh...none of them i know off -.- Last edited by addiC; 12-02-2008 at 05:56 AM. Reason: Image stretches out the page on most skins |
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#2
12-02-2008, 05:49 AM
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OH my god it's confirm Haruhi is back
/does the Haruhi Dance and so is FMA and Hayate the Combat Butler and hmm pretty much interested on the lower left portion and Black Lagoon as well hmm I wonder why Slayers is up there as well (probably an OVA)
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Achieving the Perfect Zone   Necro, Nuclear, Kero, Terror, Corpse Voyage, Boundless, Imperishable, Sky Overture, Phoenix, Hartmann The Primal Scene of Japan the Girl Saw Spoiler for Perfect Memento in Strict Sense:
As things aren't going really well at recording my playthrough of this humble game called Touhou. I would like to make something out of nothing then. Let's just say I suddenly got a musical enlightenment due to the fact that this game is a collaboration of musical masterpieces by the one and only ZUN (the musical genius and creator of Touhou). A picture may be worth a thousand words, but a piece of music may be just as capable of detailing a character's personality and behavior. I like to think that I know something about music, instrumentation and composition, so I'm putting together this thread to analyze characters' theme tunes and try to glean some personality from them. So let's start! Embodiment of Scarlet Devil. EoSD feels to me like ZUN is still trying to figure out his synthesizer. A lot of the themes are all over the place, and, honestly, are a bit hard to analyze. Rumia's theme - Apparitions Stalk the Night We are immediately blasted with arpeggios that seem more in place at a trance party than in a fantasy wonderland. This sort of sound produces a sense of intensity - there are no gaps to breathe, as it were, so the entire passage blazes past you, giving that feeling of "whoa". And right now I'm gonna disagree with ZUN. From what we know of Rumia, canonically, is she's a slightly airheaded youkai with the appearance of a little girl. She also likes to eat humans. Her power is to manipulate darkness, which is so absolute that she herself can't see through it, leading to hilarious flight mishaps. There's no room here for high-powered intensity - Rumia is more macabre than she is intense, to me. Once these are done, the piece moves into a calmer xylophone and ZUN!trumpet melody. The melody never moves out of the higher octaves, has simple accompaniment and few key changes. The key here is the high-pitched simplicity, which, to me, does a far better job of showing ZUN's Rumia - straightforward, few complications, certainly no outright twists, with very little mention of her darker side. And that's what she is, ultimately, in the game - a straightforward challenge with few gimmicks, to get our heroines warmed up. In hindsight, perhaps those few opening arpeggios attempt to show the darker human-eating side of her, and don't quite succeed. Cirno's theme - Beloved Tomboyish Girl Heh. Far, far too elegant and melodic for the Cirno we know and love. I doubt even Cirno thinks she's as elegant as the piece seems to suggest. It certainly doesn't give off "the strongest" vibe, but that's a fanon thing, and wouldn't be present in the piece. The piece still has plenty of merit, though. The introduction is filled with, well, pretty meaningless arpeggios interspersed with well-chosen electronic glassy sounds to give that association with ice. Played fully legato, it's a set of very melodic passages that suggest elegance. Cirno freezes frogs for fun and has trouble with arithmetics. Elegant she is not. I did say I wasn't going to examine remixes, but IOSYS' Perfect Math Class does a far better job, to me, of showing her character with simple, confident chords with plenty of non-legato to show a simple, confident character without much flow or elegance. On the other hand, her airheadedness is reflected by the arpeggios never really going anywhere, and just sort of milling about. The main melody pretty much follows the same procedure, although is closer to IOSYS than the introduction - a more confident melody with more focus on each individual note than on the flow, without any strong key changes to keep it clean and simple. Again, the melody doesn't really go anywhere, and mills about, but doesn't appear worried about it - there are no suggestive cadences or even out-of-key notes. Thus we have our Cirno - confident about her self and her character, unconcerned with future developments and more focused on the here and now. Hong Meilin's theme - Shanghai Alice of Meiji 17. I always found Hong Meilin's shticks conflicting - she has flower and rainbow-themed ranged attacks in the game, yet is usually portrayed as a martial artist who prefers to go at it close and personal. Yeah, yeah, Spell Card System. Fneh. Anyway, my personal view is that this is a gorgeous piece, and really signifies the beginning of EoSD proper to me - ZUN has seemed to get a good grip on the music now, and is really using it to get flavour across. Or at least some pretty tunes. Shanghai Alice is, to me, all about its mixing of Eastern and Western styles. The main melody, played by violins and...something plucked - you can't miss it - has an Oriental vibe to it which contrasts strongly with its own Western cadences and key changes. The melody is quite forceful in standing out above its accompaniment, and doesn't give much room to breathe, keeping the listener hooked without an opportunity to break the suspense. Texture-wise, we hear both melodic legato, and plucked staccato, the former on violin, the latter on that plucked thing, again showing the two worlds that conflict in this piece. Putting it all together, we get a Hong Meilin who is a personality that stands out, is part of two different cultures, yet takes the strongest aspects from both, combining them into something different. We get a powerful elegance and a careful precision. We get an intoxicating intensity. Now if only more people portrayed her as thus, instead of as a submissive gate guard. Patchouli Knowledge's theme - Locked Girl - The Girl's Secret Room. My favourite piece amongst all those in EoSD. Every time I hear it, I keep thinking, why this intensity? Why never a major key? Why such a heart-wrenching melody (not even mentioning the SWR orchestral remix)? And then I realize the context, and it cracks me up. You are beating up an anemic, asthmatic, short-sighted girl who always wears a nightdress, and rarely leaves her room in fear for her health. In any context, this is tragic by itself - that gives us the insistence on the minor key. She's going to bloody well fight back with everything she's got, her pride appears to come before her health - hence the intensity, both in music and spell patterns (god damn you non-directional lasers). The heart-wretchedness comes from the desperate power in the melody - this is where the game comes first, music second - Patchy is a fantastic mage, with more spellcards than you can shake a stick at, all of them gorgeous, but she can only use them if her health permits - this feeling of being terminally crippled is mirrored in the melody. However, I always come back to the same conclusion - it's too tragic a melody. She is never portrayed by ZUN as being significantly hindered by her disabilities. Hell, we know she's ancient so we know she gets by pretty much fine. She's perfectly capable of showing initiative, as demonstrated in the games where she can be a protagonist. Perhaps if her disabilities were more important points in her narrative the melody would be more appropriate. Sakuya - Lunar Clock - Luna Dial To me, this one always comes out of nowhere, compared to Shanghai Alice and Locked Girl. Here we get more of an electronic rock vibe than anything else. Unlike with Rumia, however, I feel this is totally appropriate - a sharp contrast to the previous two Boss themes suggests something very different, and the diminished chords poking out of the background in the introduction set us on the edge. Actually, much about the piece does this, the biggest aspect, to me, being that there's not really any distinctive melody for the entire first half, with a series of arpeggios and broken chords in the second half suggesting a possible melodic development, but never properly coming to life before the track loops. It's hard for me to say if this shows anything about Sakuya herself, as opposed to providing a background for her unstructured and somewhat confusing spellcards. Perhaps, personality-wise, this shows unresolved conflict and aggression that Sakuya prefers to loose on the world than keep bottled up. The usual uninterrupted flow of sound that we get for most of the characters' themes is present in Lunar Clock, but has a very characteristic section of a few cadences of diminished chords, where the music stops, starts, stops (you know that bit, you can't miss it) - that attempts to trip up the listener. To me, this both reflects Sakuya's time-stopping tendencies, as well as, perhaps, showing a will to intentionally deceive and take advantage. What character do we get out of this? I would say cruel, willing to do unto others before others do unto her, unafraid of deceiving and manipulating to hurt, yet is also conflicted, unsure with where she's going, and not really able to resolve a path for the future. Remilia Scarlet - Septette for the Dead Princess I have trouble listening to this piece. First off, take the time to listen to the PCB stage 4 track ("Capital of Flowers in the Sky"), pay close attention at around the 1:00 mark, and especially the 1:10 mark. I played PCB before I played EoSD, and I was rather confused to hear that motif as the main theme in Septette, repeated all the time. Every time it crops up in Septette, I keep making that connection, and it distracts me from the actual piece. Additionally, I watched Cruel Sisters and the Suffering Maid a few too many times, and now I just can't listen to Septette without imagining the video and the song. Admittedly, it's hilarious, but it sure doesn't help in this particular exercise. So, Septette for the Dead Princess, final boss theme. This piece oozes with personality. I'll split the piece into several parts to make my life easier. The first part, until about 1:09 has a repeating theme (that distracting one I mentioned) played with a single ZUN!trumpet, clearly standing out above the accompaniment. The melody is calm, precise, no-nonsense, with many strong notes, yet with a clear, smooth melodic line. This epitomizes Remilia's aristocratic nature. This is the Remilia you see on first greeting - collected, firm, full of confidence and power. Perhaps a bit macabre or sinister, as illustrated by the diminished arpeggios in the sections where the trumpet doesn't play. In fact, this is something that Remilia will certainly not hide - these sections are very clear, never hidden underneath a melody. From 1:09 to about 1:22 we have a bit of a transition section. All in major, and characterized by piano chords following the ever-present smooth trumpet section - all somewhat throwing off the image that had just been set up, followed up with a, well, mischievous cadence at the very end. Let me explain that - cadences are chord progressions, and can be a way of changing key within a piece. There are a few different types, and evoke a specific mood of the transition, most tending to string the listener along with chord after chord before resolving into a satisfying new tonic chord. 1:22's cadence does exactly that...but then holds the melody off for a second, just a bit longer than it should, stringing the listener a long, leaving him to choke a bit, then continuing as if nothing had happened. Interpret that as you will, but I clearly see a Remilia who is able to effortlessly wind another around her finger by putting on unusual character airs, but only do so to tease, certainly nothing malevolent. From then on we start off with a doubled trumpet to mirror the first part, but these are quickly drowned out by a piano improvisation that lasts until the track loops. Although not technically an improvisation, it's clearly intended to sound as such - a stream-of-consciousness release of emotion that doesn't care if it overshadows the previously-established aristocratic coolness. And that's our final piece of the Remilia picture - ultimately, she doesn't care how she is seen, as long as she is able to operate free and uninhibited. She probably won't be actively malevolent, unless this improvisation takes her in that direction, but is just as likely to spin off somewhere else. However, that aristocratic tone will always be present in the background, whether by choice, force of habit, or something else. Flandre Scarlet - U.N. Owen was her? This piece actually creeped me out first time I heard it. It spelled Gothic doom. Still does, if I'm in the right mindset. Actually thinking about it, it's far easier to work with than Septette, simply because UNO has pretty much one style that it clings to with manic persistence. Instrumentation remains consistent throughout with some sort of organ-thing on the melody supported by a bass that sits in the lower octaves to remind you, in case you forgot, that this ain't no flowers-and-bunnies piece, occasional punctuation by bells, with a thumping, oppressive drum beat in the background. Oh, and a bit of xylophone... I'll get to that one in a bit. There isn't much point in analyzing the piece bit-by-bit - the objective seems to be to unashamedly blast you with diminished chords until your brain collapses, and UNO does exactly that - every section comes back to the same manic obsession on diminished chords and oppressive beat and bass. A part that actually stands out, now that I think about it, is the little xylophone transition part at 0:55. This bit gives us a break from the mania, establishing a somewhat different character, strings us along, pulls us into a cadence... Sound familiar? This bit really reminds me of Septette's transition, if not in melody, then, at least, in style - clearly Flandre is more similar to her sister than her usual behavior lets on. Then again, the cadence, instead of a satisfying conclusion, breaks the flow and falls back into mind screw mode. And here I have a question - Flandre is crazy (in a poorly-defined manner). Where (canonically) is this established? I honestly can't remember, and it'd help if someone could point it out. Assuming she is, indeed, not sane, then this piece might give a version of the nature of her insanity - I believe it can be described as chronic obsessive-compulsive sadism. She shows a manic fixation on hurting things, doing so with no degree of shame. Occasionally she'll give sign of snapping out of it...but it's too hard to tell if it's genuine, as she could just be doing so to mess with you some more. And she will most certainly continue messing with you in an equally nasty manner. In fact, considering the vast majority of the piece is the nasty bit, I think it's better to describe her mania as chronic lack of obsessive-compulsive sadism. I hope that's cleared things up, so I'll get going! Perfect Cherry Blossom There's some very characteristic instrumentation going on throughout all of PCB - lots of piano, trumpets and a very specific type of electronic sound that, to me, do well to link together many of the themes we hear, reinforcing the (rather meager) overarching narrative. Perfect Cherry Blossom is the one of the first Touhou game I've played, so I tend to subconsciously measure up every other one to it, music-wise also. This leads to issues with some of ZUN's more experimental tracks in UFO, but that's a ways away to talk about now. Letty Whiterock - Crystallized Silver What jumps out at me immediately are the sharp drum beats that permeate the entire piece, making the entire thing seem as if the listener is standing on thin ice that's constantly cracking under their feet, chasing them as they brave the oncoming blizzard, portrayed by the dual trumpets. The brass plays the melody here in long, undulating passages to give a feeling of persistence in addition to the clear and obvious power that brass generally adds to the feel of a piece. Listening to the introduction and its transition into the melody, there's some very clear imagery here, which I'll tie into Letty's canon characterization as a winter spirit of sorts. A few bursts of plucked strings suggest a few snowflakes falling here and there, biting in their cold, interspersed by somewhat whiny electronic chords (really obvious, can't miss 'em) to show chill wind picking up, then exploding with the trumpets as the blizzard finally catches up and envelops the listener. The melody, to me, really catches the feel of a sudden winter blizzard, which suggests just how strongly Letty's character is tied to that - her very nature is to be chilling wind and biting cold. She doesn't dawdle around, she does not hide what she is and she takes herself very seriously - she shows up and gets to business. Chen - Diao ye zong (Withered Leaf) Okay, this one's a bit hard. It's characteristic instrumentation - that biting drum, the glassy undulating synthesizer sound with a bit of piano in the high octaves thrown in for good measure - are still very good for capturing winter-related imagery. Considering Perfect Cherry Blossom is all about the unending winter and hawt ghosts I feel this piece is less about Chen, but more there to reinforce this unending winter vibe. Honestly, I feel this even pervades to the next stage's theme (The Doll Maker of Bucuresti). Listening to the piece again, I think there's something to get by focusing on the piano part, as that gives us something new over the glassy synthesizer and the biting drum. The piano gives us a simple repeating motif made up of clear, non-legato chords occasionally interspersed by a little bit of that wintry glassy staccato. The listener would expect the piano to develop into something with more substance, however, it's quickly caught up in the undulating glass, which takes over and has the piano follow it in its wake. Or perhaps the piano is content to follow it and occasionally poke out to remind us that it's there. Maybe that gives us something about Chen - uncomplicated, playful in the snow, content with letting the winter roll over, confident that at some point, it'll go away and Chen will still be there, completely unperturbed. Alice Margatroid - Doll Judgment ~ The girl who played with people's shapes. I was going to add Doll Maker of Bucuresti to this as well, as I feel the stage as as much about Alice as the actual boss battle is, but for the sake of brevity I'll leave it out until later, if at all. IOSYS may have been on to something - Doll Judgment is structured like a song. An oddly conflicted song, but a song nonetheless. Go on, listen to Marisa Stole the Precious Thing. IOSYS mess around a bit by mixing in bits of Doll Maker into Doll Judgment, and their verse versus chorus structure is a bit odd, nevertheless, I maintain it's a song, and that shows something about Alice - singers are typically portrayed as creative souls. They usually have a lot of love for their work, and I'd say they come in two flavours - those that sing for others, and those that sing for themselves. Hell, they can do both, depending on mood or situation. The verse is nice and macabre with a single motif of broken chords repeating, but changing to a different key every time. Every key change is strongly non-standard (no tonic to dominant for us) and the motif repeats note-for-note, leading to parallel fourths (I think) in the resulting harmonic line. Parallel notes in a harmony is distinctly un-classical, which leads to this entire set of passages to sound just off. Better yet, there are two melodies that do this, exacerbating the effect. The verse shows us that Alice is unlike others, unusual, possibly a loner due to this - there are no secondary, classic motifs to offset the primary one. The chorus breaks away from the strangeness to offer us something more familiar, more comforting, strong and surprisingly melodic, with gentle melancholy hinted at by a few flute passages. The verse comes back in, unchanged, perhaps to push us away, or, on the contrary, to keep us fixed, to hear that chorus again. And indeed the chorus comes back, twice, to make sure the listener does not forget that that part is as strong, or maybe stronger, than the strangeness that you heard at first. Alice might be one of the more popular characters in the Touhou fandom, so my perceptions are rather coloured by the way she's portrayed by fans. This in mind, I'll hope to do her character justice without falling back on the usual standbys. Alice is creative, and enjoys her creations. It's not immediately obvious why she keeps making her dolls - whether for herself or for others, but the fact that she's lives a solitary lifestyle suggests the former - thus meaning that she is introspective, perhaps looking for a greater meaning that would be revealed in her creations. She might confuse and bewilder on first impressions, and even when one is familiar with her, and that's an ever-present part of her character, something that is hard not to notice when she's around. Perhaps she is aware of this, and would go to rather great lengths to establish that no, she isn't all that weird, she has normal sensibilities as well, she has all the same troubles that everyone else has. Prismriver sisters - Phantom Ensemble. Hmm...not entirely sure what to do here. There are three characters, and one theme. Hell, the theme doesn't even really use the instruments of the Prismrivers, so it's not possible to evaluate their characters by contribution to the piece (to naysayers - there's an accordion and a guitar in there, not to mention drums, in addition to the distinct lack of violin). So what I'll do is judge them as one character. The Prismrivers are a laugh a minute. The piece keeps blatantly changing instruments, tempo and texture. On the other hand, the melody has two very basic patterns, which are repeated by a constantly-shifting jumble of instruments to provide the feeling of variety. And that's basically it for the Prismrivers - they're a colourful lot, each one with as much personality as the other, each contributing her distinct share to the general din that we get from them. Individually they're not much to look at, but put together their presence can easily overwhelm that of other characters' - there's certainly more volume to them than to Letty, Chen or Alice. I don't really feel I've done the Prismrivers justice, so if anyone has anything to say, please do. Lyrica (Keyboard) - The youngest sister. Starts the entire piece with some beautiful keyboard. When her other sisters are in the foreground, she plays some rhytmic support beats percussion style. She's described as the keyboardist and percussionist of the group, so it fits that she would be some rather rhythmic support beats on that keyboard. She's described as the sly one that likes to make her sisters do the work, the fact that she slips down into the supporting rhythmic section a lot of the time reflects it. In any case though a complete analysis of the sisters is a must so here it goes. Lunasa (Violin) - The eldest sister. She's very quiet and calculating in personality. According to her official profile, she prefers solo performances. After Lyrica's intro, she's brings in the main melody with precision. She gives up her spot rather quickly to Merlin though. She's described as someone who hates cheating and believes in fairness in her official profile, so the fact that she steps down for Merlin may be that she's letting everyone have their turn in the spotlight. Merlin (Trumpet) - The middle sister. She's the happy-go-lucky one of the group and is always rather excited. Her trumpet sections are usually very loud, fast, and sporadic. This reflects her vibrant attitude and her desire for the spotlight. Even when all three sisters are jamming out, Merlin is usually the one most prominently heard. Youmu Konpaku - Hiroari Shoots a Strange Bird ~ Till When. Every time I hear this I get the feeling of inevitable, colourful and prettily arranged death. This isn't irrelevant - Hiroari Shoots a Strange Bird explodes into fast-paced pipe organ and piano and doesn't let go even when changing gears into its melody. This is Youmu through and through - poweful, explosive and unrelenting. However, Youmu is also surprisingly simple. Her melody is no more than 8 bars long, repeated in one different key, then back to the original key. Of those 8 bars, it's basically 4 bars repeated twice. But goshdarnit, those few bars will be repeated with the force of a thousand suns (or one overdrive guitar, in this case), as Youmu doesn't appear to be able to do much else. Now, consider that melody played on something far more mellow - flute, cello, something like that, and a smidge slower. It's a very pleasant melody, actually, quite lyrical, with a bit of longing, maybe. Youmu is actually quite emotional, just those emotions are expressed through the filter of the "shoot first, ask questions later" approach that is established in the introduction. It's unfair to say that this is how she would always behave, however - imagine, in, say, a movie, where you might have a character with a central theme, which might have variations based on situation - a high-octane rock variation for fighting, a mellow flute-and-violins variation for introspection, a majestic horn variation for those walking-slowly-down-a-corridor moments... I feel that this particular rendition of Hiroari is simply Youmu's "fighting" theme, showing a unilateral, unwavering Youmu when she's repelling intruders - powerful, ruthless, fast. She will still remain refreshingly simple, however, with her 2x4-bar melody. Yuyuko Saigyouji - Bloom Nobly, Cherry Blossom of Sumizome ~ Border of Life As is befitting a final boss, and much like Septette, Bloom Nobly is chock-full of character. Obviously, it's very different from Septette in the character that it presents. I'll split by section as appropriate. We start with a guitar-and-piano motif that will stay with us for large sections of the piece, comfortable and quietly establishing a main theme. It is a melodic motif, with warm harmonies, albeit played somewhat harshly on the piano. But Cosmic Mind this ain't, and Yuyuko's patience can run dry - the warm harmony is replaced by menacing chords that only seem to grow in power every iteration, towering over the listener and strongly suggesting that he take matters seriously. Once the listener is properly humbled, the piece explodes into the main melody again, at full power, melodic as before but with far more volume and density to it. Yuyuko is herself through and through, and her nature remains whether she is calm or wrathful. Yuyuko will establish her dominance, but not through manipulation, like Septette's Remilia, or brutality, like U.N. Owen's Flandre, but through sheer force of will. Yuyuko is merciful, however. She will not impose more than she has to - she will let the listener rest, as her theme winds down into a gentle set of piano arpeggios, going nowhere really, not suggesting any developments, just carrying the piece along like some meaningless small talk. But Yuyuko is Yuyuko, and her very presence imposes an overwhelming will if she does not intentionally suppress it. Once again the powerful trumpet theme takes over in a different melody. Yuyuko has more to her than just seen at first impression, certainly - imagine the melody that takes over played alone, without any accompaniment, and in, say, flute or clarinet. The melodic line is fanciful, whimsical, self-indulgent, perhaps a bit playful. The characteristics, perhaps, of a slightly spoiled, somewhat selfish child or teenager. Yuyuko does not mind showing this side of her, and might be even willing to do so once the formalities of "who's boss here" are settled. She, however, probably does not realize the filter through which this side of her passes - her overwhelming, mind-numbing power - so effortlessly does the melody merge with the instrumental power reserved for gods and demons. The listener is absolutely blasted by playful whimsy, and has no choice but to submit. Every once in a while she'll realize that she's crowding the listener and hangs back - during these moments the listener gets a chance to collect themselves, before Yuyuko continues in her usual vein, and once more the listener just has to brace and hope for dear life. One final consideration - those moments of rest are extremely precise, very carefully dividing her outbursts of will. Perhaps Yuyuko is more aware of her charisma than one might think, and knows exactly how to use her power to greatest effect without burning out the listener. That in mind, the image of Yuyuko as manipulative chessmaster that we sometimes get in canon and fanon is rather appropriate. So that's the Yuyuko we get - 50% spoiled princess, 50% charismatic chessmaster, 100% willpower. Ran Yakumo - A Maiden's Illusionary Funeral ~ Necro-fantasy. Oof. Far more complicated than U.N. Owen, with a far more complicated character to show for it. Despite how often she comes up in fanon (and in canon, every once in a while), I'm still not able to really come up with a key phrase that really captures the essence of Ran, so maybe this piece will help. First off, there is one melody in the entire thing, approximately 16 bars long - a set of 8 bars that repeats with a fun key change at the end of the second set. What adds the complication is how the melody keeps varying. First of all, however, we get a long, tense introduction, with a bell-like piano drone in the background to add a solemn feeling. Ran is a serious entity, and serious is how the listener would see her at first glance, and well afterward - this introduction comes back every once in a while to remind us who we're dealing with. The melody comes in as a slight surprise - it's very open and emotional for such a sober introduction, and the listener might think that Ran is quite open-hearted, just occasionally hiding under a veneer of seriousness. That feeling quickly falters once the listener realizes that the open-heartedness is just a well-rehearsed act. Ran keeps her true self cunningly hidden just behind the act - the melody keeps varying its texture and instrumentation, occasionally letting the background to the front, hiding itself before coming back, to the point where it's somewhat hard to tell that it's still there at all (xylophone bit - can't miss it), but when you hear that characteristic key-change, the listener realises that no, it's still there, she's still completely in control. She uses that characteristic 'tell' of hers - that brief one-chord key-change - to reinforce her self-control, almost taunting the listener. It's hard to tell what drives these constant alterations in attitude, but it's probably not simple fun and games, as her 'serious' theme keeps reminding us. I would think that gives a satisfactory view of Ran - grimly focused, able and willing to use trickery and manipulation to fulfill her objectives, whatever those may be - she is most certainly not letting anyone know with that poker-face of hers that shows only what she wants it to show. Yukari Yakumo - Necrofantasia. No matter what she thinks, Yukari is startlingly similar to Yuyuko. The introduction overflows with effortless power, the melody keeps flowing forth, fast and furious, as if someone turned on the tap just a smidge and the water pressure blew off the sink, along with a good chunk of the wall. Attempting to stem the flow only leads to a gradual and unstoppable buildup of pressure that only doesn't level the rest of your house because it's cut off at the source, by the source. And then we actually get to the melody - Yukari actually shows up. Now, this is a remix of Maiden's Illusionary Funeral, so the piece has to follow some sensibilities in being similar to its source in some way. Here the similarity is in the melody - perhaps Yukari has an act of her own that she puts on to get what she wants, but it really doesn't matter. The overwhelming intensity and power that were established in the introduction blaze through her facade, subduing the listener before Yukari even has to put on airs. Let's make a comparison to Superman, or, specifically, how Booster Gold (or was that Blue Beetle?) sees him in that one Crisis story. If you're not familiar with Superman, consider Bleach's Zaraki Kenpachi, more specifically how he is perceived by Ichigo just before Kenpachi actually turns up. If you're not familiar with Kenpachi or Superman...what the heck are you doing on this forum? In all seriousness - the listener is well-aware of the power that simply washes off Yukari. He is awed by her might. She's probably well-aware of it as well, and thinks she's pretty awesome too, but doesn't use it as a shortcut to achieve her goals. Unfortunately, she rarely gets to use her mind or wits or charm, since that power is plenty - it is as if God wished for you to go out and do something highly unfavourable to yourself and decided to convince you to do so by presenting a well-thought-out and convincing argument - sure, he might have convinced you with the argument, but you'd likely be out of the door before he said, "Now listen here..." That's enough for me to show Yukari - blindingly powerful, so much that she subdues others with her mere presence. She, herself, has trouble suppressing it, only reigning it in every once in a while when she might realize those around her are huddled in fetal positions. She might have schemes and plans, but rarely has to really work for them, even if she might wish to. It's possible that she's a loner (she, in fact, is, canonically, but hey, got to have something), as she has trouble expressing anything beyond that power, and others characterize her by that, instead of whatever nature she possesses. It might be that she doesn't even care about revealing her true nature any more, as there are no hints to her beyond the Ran-like facade, if you can see it without blinding yourself. Meh I may be a bit of on the Marvel/DC and the Bleach reference but I hope you get the picture. Immaterial and Missing Power As for Immaterial and Missing Power - unless I'm sorely mistaken, we have only one new character introduced across the entire game. That said, Reimu and Marisa get some tunes as well, but I'll leave off those two until Imperishable Night. Suika Ibuki - Onigashima in the Fairyland. Somewhat similar to Necrofantasia, but both more suppressed and more uninhibited - we have the buildup of power, but without the initial blast. We have this buildup relaxing, but not because it was forcefully cut off, but because there's suddenly nothing more on the other end and everything is sucked back, as it were. The melody comes in as if nothing had happened, a whimsical, self-contained tune no longer than 8 bars. This is Suika at her core. Perfectly happy with herself as she is - no far-reaching consequences, only a bit of self-indulgent fun. The only thing reminding the listener of that pressure they felt earlier are the deep, almost inaudible broken chords in the accompaniment. It is entirely likely that the whimsical fun that Suika indulges in might go somewhat out of control. The tune quickly becomes more forceful with the addition of trumpet on top of the piano. A first thought is that this is uncontrolled, subconscious, if it weren't for that part that follows immediately after - once again the focus is on the buildup of pressure exclusively, abandoning the melody, as if Suika is unsatisfied with the power she's been putting out, and stops whatever she's doing and starts gathering herself. Not for anything malevolent or ominous, mind you - the whimsy is still there, so she just...wants to have fun, harder. Fortunately, Suika is, well, forgetful. All that power just goes to waste and dissipates, possibly tripping up the listener, who was bracing for a major outburst and instead got a few bars of extremely simple broken chords with practically no accompaniment. As if Suika forgot what she was doing at the peak of her 'charge' and just sort of stood there, a silly expression on her face, wondering what the heck she was just doing. Deciding it probably wasn't that important, anyway, the melody goes off in a different direction - a somewhat sober direction, with a melancholy feel to it - the melodic notes are long, legato with accompaniment in minor. The listener might wonder at this character change, only to have the melody wink at him with the inclusion of some scattered notes in the upper octaves, reminding us of the light-hearted whimsy present all the way at the beginning - this is a private joke between Suika and the listener, she's having fun by putting on some sort of drunken melancholy act. And drunken it is, as Suika suddenly hams it up with the melody exploding in trumpets, that 'wink' still there if you listen to it. Towards the end the melody loses some of its drive, the drums suddenly disappearing then reappearing again, the high-pitched trumpets moving into a lower key - Suika tires of this particular game, and the melody moves on, sitting on the spot for a while, wondering what to do next, growing more and more restless, before remembering what it was doing in the first place and returning to the original melody from the beginning. So that's Suika - plenty of power there, and she knows how to use it. Unlike Yukari, she's more able to channel that power into the shenanigans that form her daily life. It also helps that she occasionally can't remember what she was up to a few moments previously, so her power is never focused in one place or direction. She does like her shenanigans, however - most of her time is spent having self-indulgent fun in a way that only she really understands, occasionally at the expense of others, someone possibly being in on the joke every once in a while, but only if Suika lets them. Wriggle Nightbug - Stirring an Autumn Moon ~ Mooned Insect Wriggle's not much to look at, really - she's a first boss, after all, and rarely does a first boss carry with her earth-shattering complications. Unfortunately, I'm not really familiar with Wriggle beyond the rather outlandish doujins, so I might not do her character justice. The introduction keeps stuttering, not sure where, or when, to start. That little motif is plenty to get going, so it's less a lack of preparation, but more of a rookie inexperience, a first-time nervousness kind of thing, where Wriggle has to take a few deep breaths before rushing onto the stage. There's a reasonable amount of instrumentation in the rather simple melody (8 bars) that doesn't develop into anything else, and it does switch around from piano to trumpet and back to piano - a solid first-time performance with honest attention to detail - as much detail as Wriggle can handle, anyway. A bit forgettable, perhaps, without many quirks - all I can pick up are the little bits of ornamentation in the high-pitched piano melody to give it that bit of a twinkle - Wriggle's a firefly, after all. That's plenty for me to describe Wriggle - refreshingly quirk-light, someone to give an honest first effort even when inexperienced, mayhem a bit self-conscious, but rarely letting that stop her from performing. Imagine that one beginner in a crowd of experienced performers (of some sort) who goes out on stage and does their thing - it's not as good as that of the pros, but you clap anyway because it's got an honest effort behind it, and you reckon that beginner could well go far with practice. As I said - if someone has a more thorough view on Wriggle, do speak up. Mystia Lorelei - Deaf to all but the Song. Right then. I had a bit of a rant going about Mystia, but realized it was just taking up precious space. To summarize - I disagree with the moe-fication of Mystia. Hopefully my analysis will explain why. Deaf to all but the Song is cruel. That introduction confuses and scares - the repeating cadences are in minor, but that's no gentle A minor - that's the forceful E minor (I think, I don't have perfect pitch, but I like to think my relative pitch is decent) that means they're there to be inflicted. Moving an octave lower moves the chords into a menacing growl right at the listener's ear before spreading all around to envelop the listener, leaving him no escape. The melody is fairly innocuous, much like I suppose Mystia is, visually (the usual 8 bars, repeated with a difference at the end). The trumpet comes in soon enough to show the actual unique feature of Mystia - that high-pitched birdsong that slowly, but inevitably, becomes part of the melody, before becoming the melody itself... And the listener suddenly loses sight of Mystia, and all he sees or hears are the encroaching darkness in the repeating cadences from the beginning, with the bird song of the trumpet far above, laughing, taunting, finally exploding in an ecstatic shout of triumph. Mystia is a cruel hunter who enjoys playing with her prey. She does not play fair, she will use trickery and deceit to hunt and she will revel in the kill. There is no mercy in her, no regret for her actions - she is not crazy, she's just evil. I wrote the bit about Mystia before I talked about Gensokyo as a positive setting, so I'll be willing to amend the "kill" bit - modern Gensokyo is apparently a place where no youkai eats humans any more, according to Word of God, so I'd recharacterize Mystia not as a sadistic killer, but as a sadistic prankster. Not evil but immoral. Keine Kamishirasawa - Plain Asia. I think the piece title doesn't give Keine justice. The piece is far from plain, there are unfathomable depths to it that it doesn't let you investigate simply because you'd drown before you see them all. The introduction offers no hints at what is to come. The melody starts off in a careful and calm piano study, made somewhat aloof by the trumpet that tends to turn upwards into higher pitch. The introduction is quite short, made even shorter by being split into two characteristic parts – the unassuming Keine and the aloof Keine – suggesting that, despite her calm demeanor, she is somewhat short-tempered and refuses to be seen as inconsequential. When slighted thus, Keine’s response is to demonstrate just how deep she is. For the first time (possibly ever, I don’t hear it in any game previously) ZUN uses that electronic sound that sounds like unworded vocals – the closest thing to Ominous Latin Chanting that he can come to reasonably. The melody is gone, there’s only the draw of those long, chanted notes pulling in the listener, who might be surprised at this rather sudden development. The draw ends, and a fast-paced study takes over, completely different from the introduction. The melody is not forceful, not brimming with power, but it’s certainly confident, practiced, slightly chastising of the listener for his assumptions. But this might not be enough for Keine. Before even finishing with this development, she begins to pull even deeper, all the while demonstrating her point in her collected and practiced manner, before realizing her aggression, and rapidly pulling back to safety, to her usual self. However, by now the listener is well-aware of Keine’s hidden depths, and the inexorable draw is evident behind her unassuming introductory melody. Perhaps she chastises the listener for a while for spacing out, the trumpet adding a bit of exclamation to the end of the track. I’m not too confident about this analysis – the two melodies are straightforward enough, the transition making the piece unique. So I’ll go with Keine being a person with two sides to her, and possibly more that she hides from the listener. Despite this she is not schizophrenic – she is perfectly balanced, perfectly in touch with herself, aware that her mannerisms might scare but willing to use the weirder aspects of her to prove a point – and she will not push any further: she respects others and any limitations they might have. Marisa Kirisame - Love-Coloured Master Spark It occurs to me immediately how often I've heard the theme when fighting Marisa as a boss as opposed to listening to the track by itself - my mind overlays the whmmmmmmmm sound of the Master Spark at certain points in the piece, and it keeps seeming to me that without those, it lacks something. Fortunately, it's kinda there in the music at 1:18, so a homage has been made and all is well. The introduction is short, mostly there to establish a few first beats for the piece, and quickly makes way for the melody. Clocking in at 11-ish seconds, I think it's the shortest introduction we've had yet. That already says something about Marisa - she's not one to ramble or beat about the bush. She understands the need to establish who's who and what's what, and to make sure a spade is a spade, and will be absolutely charming about it for the first couple of seconds (extremely melodic trumpets, within a very comfortable hearing range - never too high to be shrill or too low to growl), before tossing decorum out of the window and adopting a familiarity with the listener to perhaps an uncomfortable degree (to the listener) - the melody that follows is extremely open-hearted about its optimism, almost child-like, completely unashamedly replete with the melodic line hopping happily all over the place, full of ornamentation. Still completely charming though, never harsh on the ears by pitch or amount of instrumentation used. Hell, even the instrument used for the melody - some sort of pipe organ, I believe - is so very gentle, none of those trumpets that we've had previously. It is that charm that binds the piece together so well - the melody has three distinct parts, the first two played in pipe organ, with relatively light accompaniment, to really put the listener at ease. For the third the trumpets are introduced, but so organically that it doesn't shock or worry (the motif clearly requested that some more instrumentation be added, and there was nothing else to add besides things ZUN doesn't usually use). That last part does carry a distinct power that has built up without anyone noticing - the melody is what is usually described as "triumphant", with a strong complexity in the accompaniment, although the accompaniment never overshadows the melody - it's always Marisa first, her power second, always naturally, never threatening. And then the melody appears to loop, with a few minor changes, but nothing unexpected. The listener is aware of the power that Marisa holds, occasionally noticing it bubbling behind her utterly open and positive exterior, but compared to the things they've experienced, Marisa seems to be nothing more than a happy-go-lucky, optimistic, ordinary (magician) girl. BAM, giant laser too close to your face for comfort at 1:18, blowing away something in the distance, forcing a bit of a double-take, the listener going "where did that come from?" Looking back at Marisa, she's just the same as ever, the distant threat (or nonthreat) out of her mind already. The listener won't get any reasons for Marisa nearly blowing his head off - Marisa won't give them since the situation's already passed. Perhaps there weren't any, perhaps she was in control, or, perhaps, on the contrary, she fudged the spell - none of it matters, problem's over. Marisa has none of the intensity we might get from the other protagonists in the series. She's very open about herself and her feelings, which usually means her optimism shines like a beacon. She's also pleasant to be around unless you hate happy people - her mannerisms rarely grate, she's rarely too much to handle (though she might get a little loud for certain tastes - the trumpets are quite powerful towards the end of the third part of the melody). She knows her power well, but she always considers things as herself, not as someone with an array of magical firepower - her power never overwhelms her personality. She also has a tendency to shoot giant lasers at things, usually to those things' extreme surprise. Reimu Hakurei - Maiden's Capriccio ~ Dream Battle I think I've got it now: Capriccio is cold. Unlike Master Spark the instrumentation has a piercing quality to it, presenting the melody to the listener without caring whether the listener receives harm or not. Having now written my analysis, I realise it's also much more than that, but that coldness is a key factor. The first few seconds are unique across all the music in Touhou so far – it’s an alien sound, completely lacking any indication of what is to come. It’s also built on a diminished chord, thus having a frightening quality to it. It is an intense, withering stare directed at the listener, daring them to come closer – Reimu is sizing them up, her distrust, or even hostility, showing clearly. Suddenly she’s done sizing up, and her attitude becomes that of calculated force. The two cadences presented in this sequence are very textbook, and presented thus in a practiced manner without any deviations. Once again, these are overt challenges – aggressive declarations. Imagine a hostile police officer asking your name and occupation before arresting you by stating them and having you agree – he is playing by the book, but he doesn’t like you, and doesn’t have to show it. In fact, I’m tempted to say this is the bit where Reimu declares Spell Card rules in a sharp tone that allows no argument. I think this is something to consider throughout the piece as a fundamental fact: Reimu doesn’t like you. She probably doesn’t hate you, but she won’t be chummy for the hell of it like Marisa would. She will make sure the listener is well-aware of her dislike by colouring her declaration somehow – a facial expression, an intonation, perhaps – demonstrated by the bubbling piano underlay that sits in the upper octaves, almost coming over the chords, but never actually doing so. Once the declarations are done, this attitude will come to the forefront, but audibly – and incredibly reluctantly - die out once Reimu’s probably realized she’s made herself clear. This attitude would probably continue if Reimu wasn’t the complicated oddity she actually seems to be. The second melody goes from stone-cold to forced, desperate outburst with the simple addition of overdrive (I think) guitar on top of the regular melody line, and those fast-paced piano undertones of dislike suddenly seem to develop into a powerful statement for wistfulness. When we move back to the challenges presented initially, they’ve lost their edge, as if Reimu wasn’t quite so sure any more of her objective. She’s not letting the listener in on her emotions though – the melody quickly moves back into assertion (the one played initially after the dying-down piano), keeping its strength for a few repetitions before falling into its own trap and following the line of the overdrive guitar as before. Maiden’s Capriccio is hard to interpret, it’s incredibly busy, with overtones and undertones, variations and subtleties that can be analysed to Hell and back, and one could still miss a critical point. I’ll try my best. Reimu, ultimately, has trouble understanding herself. This has led to her putting up a hostile façade to most interactions, but this often turns out for the worse, as she begins to second-guess herself, realizing that she does not know what will show when she drops her hostility. She will keep trying to understand herself better, and does not care if this confuses others, harms them, or attracts them. It is not obvious why she will not let others in on her troubles, why she insists on this introspection being hers alone, despite never having any progress with it. Maybe that artificial feeling of dislike towards everyone that she has cultivated has rubbed off on her actual personality and she has trouble letting go of that as well. Reisen Udongein Inaba – Lunatic Eyes ~ Invisible Full Moon This piece is less a continuous description of Reisen’s character more than it is a set of clips taken at random points in her daily life, showing widely varying character aspects that come together to show us a great view of Reisen's personality. The introduction sounds strange, no two words about it. *checks* Yep, I’ve gone over something like this before, so you might find some familiar elements if you compare Lunatic Eyes to Doll Judgment. The repeating themes oscillate up and down in an interval of a perfect fourth, leading to parallel fourths (against classical composition sensibilities) making up the entire introduction, telling us that yes, Reisen is strange, and is not going to get less so if you just keep on looking. Better yet, the arpeggio that makes up each individual part of the motif is a diminished minor chord by itself, hostile and unapproachable, making the entire section wonderfully twisted. Thus our first clip – a wary and unfamiliar Reisen is an alien Reisen. Imagine those stereoscopic pictures you get – a mass of shapes and colours, and if you don’t know what to do, how to look properly, it’s just not going to make any sense. Unfortunately, the stereoscopic picture that is Reisen is not going to give instructions on how to approach her properly. The second clip I like to think of showing Reisen doing whatever assignment she might have. It’s characterized by two distinct parts: chords carefully and slowly going down, and arpeggioes that get quicker and finer going up. Additionally, we have a refreshing break from the strange non-melody of the introduction, although there isn’t much melody in this part either, it’s still more melodic. The accompaniment is extremely minimal in this section, just a single broken chord, with no additional instrumental support. This leads to an interesting contrast between the up and down sections. In the down-moving section, the combination of simple chords moving down in a scale into a cadence at the end with little accompaniment suggests simplicity and lack of complication. On the other hand, the section going up starts off simple, but becomes quicker and quicker as it reaches the top, culminating in a series of extremely precise and detailed arpeggioes, which, when combined with a simple accompaniment, suggests extreme focus on one single thing, removing any potential distractions. What does that say? I feel it says that Reisen comes in two flavours – simple and straightforward at one time, but equally capable of intense detail and concentration at another, and she does not have any real preference between the two, applying each as required. She can easily differentiate these two aspects, and never allows them to mix – she is thus careful and diligent in her work. She rarely allows emotion to colour her professional input. Third clip starts with that unmissable rock guitar. Clearly it says one thing – Reisen rocks! This section is rich in instrumentation, loud and boisterous, in a major key, daring to switch from the piano to the trumpets. This, I would like to think, is Reisen off-duty and amongst friends. She is outgoing and generous, eagerly voicing her thoughts, letting positive emotion colour them. It is as if all those suppressed feelings in the first and second clips just explode here – this is the only real melodic section in the piece. The melody itself is nothing to look at, the usual 2x8-bar fare with a bit of a variation in the second set of 8 bars, but it’s not the melody that is important here – it’s the contrasting outburst that really makes this section live. I don’t have much more to say about Reisen – she is very professional, very serious in separating her work from play, she is like the person who you know is seen as a complete weirdo by others, but they make sense to you completely because you know them, and, in fact, she is a very social and outward person, but only at the appropriate time. Eirin Yagokoro - Gensokyo Millennium ~ History of the Moon Much like Septette and Cherry Blossom of Sumizome before it, Millennium is chock-full of stuff, obviously fitting for a 1000+-year-old space nurse. A large part of this piece is its majesty, its loftiness and its aged elegance. The first 22 seconds are a pan up, as it were, of the listener's perception all the way up Eirin's imposing figure to the piercing gaze of her eyes. The sonorous piano chords and carefully-measured arpeggios combined with long, powerful trumpet notes accompanying show us the presence that Eirin commands, her charisma, combined with a shrewd perception of her surroundings. The first part starts with trumpets playing the melody supported by strings - violins, specifically, playing long, legato notes. The piece lifts the listener way up in the clouds and stays there, the sweeping melody of the trumpet and strings presenting an immense feeling of freedom in a vast space, and, importantly, of one's being totally in control there. The melody suddenly loses focus of the surroundings as the instrumentation changes to what I can only describe as down-to-earth. The melody's still the same, so we're still looking at the same person, in the same place, but the focus has moved from the freedom to the humility. Don't get me wrong, that does not mean simplicity - the instrumentation comprising the melody has, from what I can tell, pipe organ, piano and guitar, giving a thick, worldly sound. The strings have gone so as not call our attention back to the vastness that's being hidden behind Eirin. Eirin is naturally majestic, easily earning the "larger-than-life" descriptor. That does not stop her from noticing the everyday things around her, from stooping down to understand those without a force of personality to match hers. She is thus compassionate. The second part is a connecting passage to the third, here to lift the listener to the vastness of space where Eirin is so comfortable. Imagine this part as the takeoff of a rocket: the resonant piano chords and arpeggios sort of mill about on the spot, seemingly impatient to get somewhere - the rocket enters its ignition sequence and the flames and fumes obscure the whole launch platform as the rocket unbearably slowly rises into the air, and then those octaves come in, mirroring the might of the craft's inexorable movement upwards, the arpeggios getting higher and higher in pitch... And the third part is back where the first one started, and here to explore Eirin in her natural state of majesty. The instrumentation will remain trumpet and piano for a while, and texture-wise notes are always long and sparse, especially in the melody, to maintain that open-space feeling. The accompaniment quickly increases in note density, however, to contrast the melody: this is something that we've noticed in other characters, something that shows power bubbling just below the surface - in Eirin's case it elegantly flows from the accompaniment to her "majestic" character, so I'd say that it's Eirin's power that gives her that force of personality. It does not flow out unchecked like in Yukari's case, but, rather, it does not need to be controlled - it's natural flow is completely within Eirin, if you understand what I'm trying to say. It's interesting that even when the melody switches gears by changing key it stays the same, with the same accompaniment and texture - Eirin remains herself regardless of what she does. She is not one to trick with false pretenses, instead she will simply approach a different situation with a different approach, but with her usual character. A small intermezzo has ZUN riffing away. Much like in Septette, this part sounds improvised (I means emphasis on freeform playing around the melody, like jazz improvisation, not poorly-prepared, you naysayers you), showing Eirin has a tendency, maybe a bit like Remilia, to self-indulgent outbursts, something strongly at odds with the rest of her theme. These are rare and short-lived as Eirin catches herself - or someone else catches her at it - and hastily returns to her usual attitude - but this time it might be a bit of an embarrassed act, as the improvisational motif can be clearly heard in the background. I would think that Eirin does not like being caught when not in full control of her situation. I would like to theorize that Eirin might be slightly ashamed at having picked up distinctly Earthly mannerisms, specifically selfishness and self-indulgence. Despite that, they remain a guilty pleasure to her. |
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#3
12-02-2008, 05:52 AM
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Gonna put the image in a spoiler tag, as it stretched out the page on most skins.
One of them looks like it might be Gunslinger Girl... I might follow that one. Other I can definitely see as Spice & Wolf, I'll be following that too. Do you have the titles for all these series?
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[Endless Gravestones - Claymore RP] Newbie Help: ♦ ♢ ♦ ♢ ♦ ♢ Sinfest Buddha icon by _nicons @ livejournal ♦ ♢ ♦ ♢ ♦ ♢ I once saw a crematorium that gave discounts for burn victims.  New Members Please Read • The Great Big Guide To Everything • One Manga Forum Rules • If You Need Any Help • RP Corner Rules • RP's OOC Rules
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#4
12-02-2008, 05:52 AM
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can't wait for fma it will be the best one.
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#5
12-02-2008, 05:55 AM
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yeah!!!!FMA ftw
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#6
12-02-2008, 05:56 AM
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Well, i added in for winter anime upcoming list as well...
mind 1 mod pls kindly modify the thread tittle thx ^^ |
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#7
12-02-2008, 05:56 AM
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Quote:
and well they even adapted the Korean Series Winter Sonata lolz
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Achieving the Perfect Zone Necro, Nuclear, Kero, Terror, Corpse Voyage, Boundless, Imperishable, Sky Overture, Phoenix, Hartmann The Primal Scene of Japan the Girl Saw Spoiler for Perfect Memento in Strict Sense:
As things aren't going really well at recording my playthrough of this humble game called Touhou. I would like to make something out of nothing then. Let's just say I suddenly got a musical enlightenment due to the fact that this game is a collaboration of musical masterpieces by the one and only ZUN (the musical genius and creator of Touhou). A picture may be worth a thousand words, but a piece of music may be just as capable of detailing a character's personality and behavior. I like to think that I know something about music, instrumentation and composition, so I'm putting together this thread to analyze characters' theme tunes and try to glean some personality from them. So let's start! Embodiment of Scarlet Devil. EoSD feels to me like ZUN is still trying to figure out his synthesizer. A lot of the themes are all over the place, and, honestly, are a bit hard to analyze. Rumia's theme - Apparitions Stalk the Night We are immediately blasted with arpeggios that seem more in place at a trance party than in a fantasy wonderland. This sort of sound produces a sense of intensity - there are no gaps to breathe, as it were, so the entire passage blazes past you, giving that feeling of "whoa". And right now I'm gonna disagree with ZUN. From what we know of Rumia, canonically, is she's a slightly airheaded youkai with the appearance of a little girl. She also likes to eat humans. Her power is to manipulate darkness, which is so absolute that she herself can't see through it, leading to hilarious flight mishaps. There's no room here for high-powered intensity - Rumia is more macabre than she is intense, to me. Once these are done, the piece moves into a calmer xylophone and ZUN!trumpet melody. The melody never moves out of the higher octaves, has simple accompaniment and few key changes. The key here is the high-pitched simplicity, which, to me, does a far better job of showing ZUN's Rumia - straightforward, few complications, certainly no outright twists, with very little mention of her darker side. And that's what she is, ultimately, in the game - a straightforward challenge with few gimmicks, to get our heroines warmed up. In hindsight, perhaps those few opening arpeggios attempt to show the darker human-eating side of her, and don't quite succeed. Cirno's theme - Beloved Tomboyish Girl Heh. Far, far too elegant and melodic for the Cirno we know and love. I doubt even Cirno thinks she's as elegant as the piece seems to suggest. It certainly doesn't give off "the strongest" vibe, but that's a fanon thing, and wouldn't be present in the piece. The piece still has plenty of merit, though. The introduction is filled with, well, pretty meaningless arpeggios interspersed with well-chosen electronic glassy sounds to give that association with ice. Played fully legato, it's a set of very melodic passages that suggest elegance. Cirno freezes frogs for fun and has trouble with arithmetics. Elegant she is not. I did say I wasn't going to examine remixes, but IOSYS' Perfect Math Class does a far better job, to me, of showing her character with simple, confident chords with plenty of non-legato to show a simple, confident character without much flow or elegance. On the other hand, her airheadedness is reflected by the arpeggios never really going anywhere, and just sort of milling about. The main melody pretty much follows the same procedure, although is closer to IOSYS than the introduction - a more confident melody with more focus on each individual note than on the flow, without any strong key changes to keep it clean and simple. Again, the melody doesn't really go anywhere, and mills about, but doesn't appear worried about it - there are no suggestive cadences or even out-of-key notes. Thus we have our Cirno - confident about her self and her character, unconcerned with future developments and more focused on the here and now. Hong Meilin's theme - Shanghai Alice of Meiji 17. I always found Hong Meilin's shticks conflicting - she has flower and rainbow-themed ranged attacks in the game, yet is usually portrayed as a martial artist who prefers to go at it close and personal. Yeah, yeah, Spell Card System. Fneh. Anyway, my personal view is that this is a gorgeous piece, and really signifies the beginning of EoSD proper to me - ZUN has seemed to get a good grip on the music now, and is really using it to get flavour across. Or at least some pretty tunes. Shanghai Alice is, to me, all about its mixing of Eastern and Western styles. The main melody, played by violins and...something plucked - you can't miss it - has an Oriental vibe to it which contrasts strongly with its own Western cadences and key changes. The melody is quite forceful in standing out above its accompaniment, and doesn't give much room to breathe, keeping the listener hooked without an opportunity to break the suspense. Texture-wise, we hear both melodic legato, and plucked staccato, the former on violin, the latter on that plucked thing, again showing the two worlds that conflict in this piece. Putting it all together, we get a Hong Meilin who is a personality that stands out, is part of two different cultures, yet takes the strongest aspects from both, combining them into something different. We get a powerful elegance and a careful precision. We get an intoxicating intensity. Now if only more people portrayed her as thus, instead of as a submissive gate guard. Patchouli Knowledge's theme - Locked Girl - The Girl's Secret Room. My favourite piece amongst all those in EoSD. Every time I hear it, I keep thinking, why this intensity? Why never a major key? Why such a heart-wrenching melody (not even mentioning the SWR orchestral remix)? And then I realize the context, and it cracks me up. You are beating up an anemic, asthmatic, short-sighted girl who always wears a nightdress, and rarely leaves her room in fear for her health. In any context, this is tragic by itself - that gives us the insistence on the minor key. She's going to bloody well fight back with everything she's got, her pride appears to come before her health - hence the intensity, both in music and spell patterns (god damn you non-directional lasers). The heart-wretchedness comes from the desperate power in the melody - this is where the game comes first, music second - Patchy is a fantastic mage, with more spellcards than you can shake a stick at, all of them gorgeous, but she can only use them if her health permits - this feeling of being terminally crippled is mirrored in the melody. However, I always come back to the same conclusion - it's too tragic a melody. She is never portrayed by ZUN as being significantly hindered by her disabilities. Hell, we know she's ancient so we know she gets by pretty much fine. She's perfectly capable of showing initiative, as demonstrated in the games where she can be a protagonist. Perhaps if her disabilities were more important points in her narrative the melody would be more appropriate. Sakuya - Lunar Clock - Luna Dial To me, this one always comes out of nowhere, compared to Shanghai Alice and Locked Girl. Here we get more of an electronic rock vibe than anything else. Unlike with Rumia, however, I feel this is totally appropriate - a sharp contrast to the previous two Boss themes suggests something very different, and the diminished chords poking out of the background in the introduction set us on the edge. Actually, much about the piece does this, the biggest aspect, to me, being that there's not really any distinctive melody for the entire first half, with a series of arpeggios and broken chords in the second half suggesting a possible melodic development, but never properly coming to life before the track loops. It's hard for me to say if this shows anything about Sakuya herself, as opposed to providing a background for her unstructured and somewhat confusing spellcards. Perhaps, personality-wise, this shows unresolved conflict and aggression that Sakuya prefers to loose on the world than keep bottled up. The usual uninterrupted flow of sound that we get for most of the characters' themes is present in Lunar Clock, but has a very characteristic section of a few cadences of diminished chords, where the music stops, starts, stops (you know that bit, you can't miss it) - that attempts to trip up the listener. To me, this both reflects Sakuya's time-stopping tendencies, as well as, perhaps, showing a will to intentionally deceive and take advantage. What character do we get out of this? I would say cruel, willing to do unto others before others do unto her, unafraid of deceiving and manipulating to hurt, yet is also conflicted, unsure with where she's going, and not really able to resolve a path for the future. Remilia Scarlet - Septette for the Dead Princess I have trouble listening to this piece. First off, take the time to listen to the PCB stage 4 track ("Capital of Flowers in the Sky"), pay close attention at around the 1:00 mark, and especially the 1:10 mark. I played PCB before I played EoSD, and I was rather confused to hear that motif as the main theme in Septette, repeated all the time. Every time it crops up in Septette, I keep making that connection, and it distracts me from the actual piece. Additionally, I watched Cruel Sisters and the Suffering Maid a few too many times, and now I just can't listen to Septette without imagining the video and the song. Admittedly, it's hilarious, but it sure doesn't help in this particular exercise. So, Septette for the Dead Princess, final boss theme. This piece oozes with personality. I'll split the piece into several parts to make my life easier. The first part, until about 1:09 has a repeating theme (that distracting one I mentioned) played with a single ZUN!trumpet, clearly standing out above the accompaniment. The melody is calm, precise, no-nonsense, with many strong notes, yet with a clear, smooth melodic line. This epitomizes Remilia's aristocratic nature. This is the Remilia you see on first greeting - collected, firm, full of confidence and power. Perhaps a bit macabre or sinister, as illustrated by the diminished arpeggios in the sections where the trumpet doesn't play. In fact, this is something that Remilia will certainly not hide - these sections are very clear, never hidden underneath a melody. From 1:09 to about 1:22 we have a bit of a transition section. All in major, and characterized by piano chords following the ever-present smooth trumpet section - all somewhat throwing off the image that had just been set up, followed up with a, well, mischievous cadence at the very end. Let me explain that - cadences are chord progressions, and can be a way of changing key within a piece. There are a few different types, and evoke a specific mood of the transition, most tending to string the listener along with chord after chord before resolving into a satisfying new tonic chord. 1:22's cadence does exactly that...but then holds the melody off for a second, just a bit longer than it should, stringing the listener a long, leaving him to choke a bit, then continuing as if nothing had happened. Interpret that as you will, but I clearly see a Remilia who is able to effortlessly wind another around her finger by putting on unusual character airs, but only do so to tease, certainly nothing malevolent. From then on we start off with a doubled trumpet to mirror the first part, but these are quickly drowned out by a piano improvisation that lasts until the track loops. Although not technically an improvisation, it's clearly intended to sound as such - a stream-of-consciousness release of emotion that doesn't care if it overshadows the previously-established aristocratic coolness. And that's our final piece of the Remilia picture - ultimately, she doesn't care how she is seen, as long as she is able to operate free and uninhibited. She probably won't be actively malevolent, unless this improvisation takes her in that direction, but is just as likely to spin off somewhere else. However, that aristocratic tone will always be present in the background, whether by choice, force of habit, or something else. Flandre Scarlet - U.N. Owen was her? This piece actually creeped me out first time I heard it. It spelled Gothic doom. Still does, if I'm in the right mindset. Actually thinking about it, it's far easier to work with than Septette, simply because UNO has pretty much one style that it clings to with manic persistence. Instrumentation remains consistent throughout with some sort of organ-thing on the melody supported by a bass that sits in the lower octaves to remind you, in case you forgot, that this ain't no flowers-and-bunnies piece, occasional punctuation by bells, with a thumping, oppressive drum beat in the background. Oh, and a bit of xylophone... I'll get to that one in a bit. There isn't much point in analyzing the piece bit-by-bit - the objective seems to be to unashamedly blast you with diminished chords until your brain collapses, and UNO does exactly that - every section comes back to the same manic obsession on diminished chords and oppressive beat and bass. A part that actually stands out, now that I think about it, is the little xylophone transition part at 0:55. This bit gives us a break from the mania, establishing a somewhat different character, strings us along, pulls us into a cadence... Sound familiar? This bit really reminds me of Septette's transition, if not in melody, then, at least, in style - clearly Flandre is more similar to her sister than her usual behavior lets on. Then again, the cadence, instead of a satisfying conclusion, breaks the flow and falls back into mind screw mode. And here I have a question - Flandre is crazy (in a poorly-defined manner). Where (canonically) is this established? I honestly can't remember, and it'd help if someone could point it out. Assuming she is, indeed, not sane, then this piece might give a version of the nature of her insanity - I believe it can be described as chronic obsessive-compulsive sadism. She shows a manic fixation on hurting things, doing so with no degree of shame. Occasionally she'll give sign of snapping out of it...but it's too hard to tell if it's genuine, as she could just be doing so to mess with you some more. And she will most certainly continue messing with you in an equally nasty manner. In fact, considering the vast majority of the piece is the nasty bit, I think it's better to describe her mania as chronic lack of obsessive-compulsive sadism. I hope that's cleared things up, so I'll get going! Perfect Cherry Blossom There's some very characteristic instrumentation going on throughout all of PCB - lots of piano, trumpets and a very specific type of electronic sound that, to me, do well to link together many of the themes we hear, reinforcing the (rather meager) overarching narrative. Perfect Cherry Blossom is the one of the first Touhou game I've played, so I tend to subconsciously measure up every other one to it, music-wise also. This leads to issues with some of ZUN's more experimental tracks in UFO, but that's a ways away to talk about now. Letty Whiterock - Crystallized Silver What jumps out at me immediately are the sharp drum beats that permeate the entire piece, making the entire thing seem as if the listener is standing on thin ice that's constantly cracking under their feet, chasing them as they brave the oncoming blizzard, portrayed by the dual trumpets. The brass plays the melody here in long, undulating passages to give a feeling of persistence in addition to the clear and obvious power that brass generally adds to the feel of a piece. Listening to the introduction and its transition into the melody, there's some very clear imagery here, which I'll tie into Letty's canon characterization as a winter spirit of sorts. A few bursts of plucked strings suggest a few snowflakes falling here and there, biting in their cold, interspersed by somewhat whiny electronic chords (really obvious, can't miss 'em) to show chill wind picking up, then exploding with the trumpets as the blizzard finally catches up and envelops the listener. The melody, to me, really catches the feel of a sudden winter blizzard, which suggests just how strongly Letty's character is tied to that - her very nature is to be chilling wind and biting cold. She doesn't dawdle around, she does not hide what she is and she takes herself very seriously - she shows up and gets to business. Chen - Diao ye zong (Withered Leaf) Okay, this one's a bit hard. It's characteristic instrumentation - that biting drum, the glassy undulating synthesizer sound with a bit of piano in the high octaves thrown in for good measure - are still very good for capturing winter-related imagery. Considering Perfect Cherry Blossom is all about the unending winter and hawt ghosts I feel this piece is less about Chen, but more there to reinforce this unending winter vibe. Honestly, I feel this even pervades to the next stage's theme (The Doll Maker of Bucuresti). Listening to the piece again, I think there's something to get by focusing on the piano part, as that gives us something new over the glassy synthesizer and the biting drum. The piano gives us a simple repeating motif made up of clear, non-legato chords occasionally interspersed by a little bit of that wintry glassy staccato. The listener would expect the piano to develop into something with more substance, however, it's quickly caught up in the undulating glass, which takes over and has the piano follow it in its wake. Or perhaps the piano is content to follow it and occasionally poke out to remind us that it's there. Maybe that gives us something about Chen - uncomplicated, playful in the snow, content with letting the winter roll over, confident that at some point, it'll go away and Chen will still be there, completely unperturbed. Alice Margatroid - Doll Judgment ~ The girl who played with people's shapes. I was going to add Doll Maker of Bucuresti to this as well, as I feel the stage as as much about Alice as the actual boss battle is, but for the sake of brevity I'll leave it out until later, if at all. IOSYS may have been on to something - Doll Judgment is structured like a song. An oddly conflicted song, but a song nonetheless. Go on, listen to Marisa Stole the Precious Thing. IOSYS mess around a bit by mixing in bits of Doll Maker into Doll Judgment, and their verse versus chorus structure is a bit odd, nevertheless, I maintain it's a song, and that shows something about Alice - singers are typically portrayed as creative souls. They usually have a lot of love for their work, and I'd say they come in two flavours - those that sing for others, and those that sing for themselves. Hell, they can do both, depending on mood or situation. The verse is nice and macabre with a single motif of broken chords repeating, but changing to a different key every time. Every key change is strongly non-standard (no tonic to dominant for us) and the motif repeats note-for-note, leading to parallel fourths (I think) in the resulting harmonic line. Parallel notes in a harmony is distinctly un-classical, which leads to this entire set of passages to sound just off. Better yet, there are two melodies that do this, exacerbating the effect. The verse shows us that Alice is unlike others, unusual, possibly a loner due to this - there are no secondary, classic motifs to offset the primary one. The chorus breaks away from the strangeness to offer us something more familiar, more comforting, strong and surprisingly melodic, with gentle melancholy hinted at by a few flute passages. The verse comes back in, unchanged, perhaps to push us away, or, on the contrary, to keep us fixed, to hear that chorus again. And indeed the chorus comes back, twice, to make sure the listener does not forget that that part is as strong, or maybe stronger, than the strangeness that you heard at first. Alice might be one of the more popular characters in the Touhou fandom, so my perceptions are rather coloured by the way she's portrayed by fans. This in mind, I'll hope to do her character justice without falling back on the usual standbys. Alice is creative, and enjoys her creations. It's not immediately obvious why she keeps making her dolls - whether for herself or for others, but the fact that she's lives a solitary lifestyle suggests the former - thus meaning that she is introspective, perhaps looking for a greater meaning that would be revealed in her creations. She might confuse and bewilder on first impressions, and even when one is familiar with her, and that's an ever-present part of her character, something that is hard not to notice when she's around. Perhaps she is aware of this, and would go to rather great lengths to establish that no, she isn't all that weird, she has normal sensibilities as well, she has all the same troubles that everyone else has. Prismriver sisters - Phantom Ensemble. Hmm...not entirely sure what to do here. There are three characters, and one theme. Hell, the theme doesn't even really use the instruments of the Prismrivers, so it's not possible to evaluate their characters by contribution to the piece (to naysayers - there's an accordion and a guitar in there, not to mention drums, in addition to the distinct lack of violin). So what I'll do is judge them as one character. The Prismrivers are a laugh a minute. The piece keeps blatantly changing instruments, tempo and texture. On the other hand, the melody has two very basic patterns, which are repeated by a constantly-shifting jumble of instruments to provide the feeling of variety. And that's basically it for the Prismrivers - they're a colourful lot, each one with as much personality as the other, each contributing her distinct share to the general din that we get from them. Individually they're not much to look at, but put together their presence can easily overwhelm that of other characters' - there's certainly more volume to them than to Letty, Chen or Alice. I don't really feel I've done the Prismrivers justice, so if anyone has anything to say, please do. Lyrica (Keyboard) - The youngest sister. Starts the entire piece with some beautiful keyboard. When her other sisters are in the foreground, she plays some rhytmic support beats percussion style. She's described as the keyboardist and percussionist of the group, so it fits that she would be some rather rhythmic support beats on that keyboard. She's described as the sly one that likes to make her sisters do the work, the fact that she slips down into the supporting rhythmic section a lot of the time reflects it. In any case though a complete analysis of the sisters is a must so here it goes. Lunasa (Violin) - The eldest sister. She's very quiet and calculating in personality. According to her official profile, she prefers solo performances. After Lyrica's intro, she's brings in the main melody with precision. She gives up her spot rather quickly to Merlin though. She's described as someone who hates cheating and believes in fairness in her official profile, so the fact that she steps down for Merlin may be that she's letting everyone have their turn in the spotlight. Merlin (Trumpet) - The middle sister. She's the happy-go-lucky one of the group and is always rather excited. Her trumpet sections are usually very loud, fast, and sporadic. This reflects her vibrant attitude and her desire for the spotlight. Even when all three sisters are jamming out, Merlin is usually the one most prominently heard. Youmu Konpaku - Hiroari Shoots a Strange Bird ~ Till When. Every time I hear this I get the feeling of inevitable, colourful and prettily arranged death. This isn't irrelevant - Hiroari Shoots a Strange Bird explodes into fast-paced pipe organ and piano and doesn't let go even when changing gears into its melody. This is Youmu through and through - poweful, explosive and unrelenting. However, Youmu is also surprisingly simple. Her melody is no more than 8 bars long, repeated in one different key, then back to the original key. Of those 8 bars, it's basically 4 bars repeated twice. But goshdarnit, those few bars will be repeated with the force of a thousand suns (or one overdrive guitar, in this case), as Youmu doesn't appear to be able to do much else. Now, consider that melody played on something far more mellow - flute, cello, something like that, and a smidge slower. It's a very pleasant melody, actually, quite lyrical, with a bit of longing, maybe. Youmu is actually quite emotional, just those emotions are expressed through the filter of the "shoot first, ask questions later" approach that is established in the introduction. It's unfair to say that this is how she would always behave, however - imagine, in, say, a movie, where you might have a character with a central theme, which might have variations based on situation - a high-octane rock variation for fighting, a mellow flute-and-violins variation for introspection, a majestic horn variation for those walking-slowly-down-a-corridor moments... I feel that this particular rendition of Hiroari is simply Youmu's "fighting" theme, showing a unilateral, unwavering Youmu when she's repelling intruders - powerful, ruthless, fast. She will still remain refreshingly simple, however, with her 2x4-bar melody. Yuyuko Saigyouji - Bloom Nobly, Cherry Blossom of Sumizome ~ Border of Life As is befitting a final boss, and much like Septette, Bloom Nobly is chock-full of character. Obviously, it's very different from Septette in the character that it presents. I'll split by section as appropriate. We start with a guitar-and-piano motif that will stay with us for large sections of the piece, comfortable and quietly establishing a main theme. It is a melodic motif, with warm harmonies, albeit played somewhat harshly on the piano. But Cosmic Mind this ain't, and Yuyuko's patience can run dry - the warm harmony is replaced by menacing chords that only seem to grow in power every iteration, towering over the listener and strongly suggesting that he take matters seriously. Once the listener is properly humbled, the piece explodes into the main melody again, at full power, melodic as before but with far more volume and density to it. Yuyuko is herself through and through, and her nature remains whether she is calm or wrathful. Yuyuko will establish her dominance, but not through manipulation, like Septette's Remilia, or brutality, like U.N. Owen's Flandre, but through sheer force of will. Yuyuko is merciful, however. She will not impose more than she has to - she will let the listener rest, as her theme winds down into a gentle set of piano arpeggios, going nowhere really, not suggesting any developments, just carrying the piece along like some meaningless small talk. But Yuyuko is Yuyuko, and her very presence imposes an overwhelming will if she does not intentionally suppress it. Once again the powerful trumpet theme takes over in a different melody. Yuyuko has more to her than just seen at first impression, certainly - imagine the melody that takes over played alone, without any accompaniment, and in, say, flute or clarinet. The melodic line is fanciful, whimsical, self-indulgent, perhaps a bit playful. The characteristics, perhaps, of a slightly spoiled, somewhat selfish child or teenager. Yuyuko does not mind showing this side of her, and might be even willing to do so once the formalities of "who's boss here" are settled. She, however, probably does not realize the filter through which this side of her passes - her overwhelming, mind-numbing power - so effortlessly does the melody merge with the instrumental power reserved for gods and demons. The listener is absolutely blasted by playful whimsy, and has no choice but to submit. Every once in a while she'll realize that she's crowding the listener and hangs back - during these moments the listener gets a chance to collect themselves, before Yuyuko continues in her usual vein, and once more the listener just has to brace and hope for dear life. One final consideration - those moments of rest are extremely precise, very carefully dividing her outbursts of will. Perhaps Yuyuko is more aware of her charisma than one might think, and knows exactly how to use her power to greatest effect without burning out the listener. That in mind, the image of Yuyuko as manipulative chessmaster that we sometimes get in canon and fanon is rather appropriate. So that's the Yuyuko we get - 50% spoiled princess, 50% charismatic chessmaster, 100% willpower. Ran Yakumo - A Maiden's Illusionary Funeral ~ Necro-fantasy. Oof. Far more complicated than U.N. Owen, with a far more complicated character to show for it. Despite how often she comes up in fanon (and in canon, every once in a while), I'm still not able to really come up with a key phrase that really captures the essence of Ran, so maybe this piece will help. First off, there is one melody in the entire thing, approximately 16 bars long - a set of 8 bars that repeats with a fun key change at the end of the second set. What adds the complication is how the melody keeps varying. First of all, however, we get a long, tense introduction, with a bell-like piano drone in the background to add a solemn feeling. Ran is a serious entity, and serious is how the listener would see her at first glance, and well afterward - this introduction comes back every once in a while to remind us who we're dealing with. The melody comes in as a slight surprise - it's very open and emotional for such a sober introduction, and the listener might think that Ran is quite open-hearted, just occasionally hiding under a veneer of seriousness. That feeling quickly falters once the listener realizes that the open-heartedness is just a well-rehearsed act. Ran keeps her true self cunningly hidden just behind the act - the melody keeps varying its texture and instrumentation, occasionally letting the background to the front, hiding itself before coming back, to the point where it's somewhat hard to tell that it's still there at all (xylophone bit - can't miss it), but when you hear that characteristic key-change, the listener realises that no, it's still there, she's still completely in control. She uses that characteristic 'tell' of hers - that brief one-chord key-change - to reinforce her self-control, almost taunting the listener. It's hard to tell what drives these constant alterations in attitude, but it's probably not simple fun and games, as her 'serious' theme keeps reminding us. I would think that gives a satisfactory view of Ran - grimly focused, able and willing to use trickery and manipulation to fulfill her objectives, whatever those may be - she is most certainly not letting anyone know with that poker-face of hers that shows only what she wants it to show. Yukari Yakumo - Necrofantasia. No matter what she thinks, Yukari is startlingly similar to Yuyuko. The introduction overflows with effortless power, the melody keeps flowing forth, fast and furious, as if someone turned on the tap just a smidge and the water pressure blew off the sink, along with a good chunk of the wall. Attempting to stem the flow only leads to a gradual and unstoppable buildup of pressure that only doesn't level the rest of your house because it's cut off at the source, by the source. And then we actually get to the melody - Yukari actually shows up. Now, this is a remix of Maiden's Illusionary Funeral, so the piece has to follow some sensibilities in being similar to its source in some way. Here the similarity is in the melody - perhaps Yukari has an act of her own that she puts on to get what she wants, but it really doesn't matter. The overwhelming intensity and power that were established in the introduction blaze through her facade, subduing the listener before Yukari even has to put on airs. Let's make a comparison to Superman, or, specifically, how Booster Gold (or was that Blue Beetle?) sees him in that one Crisis story. If you're not familiar with Superman, consider Bleach's Zaraki Kenpachi, more specifically how he is perceived by Ichigo just before Kenpachi actually turns up. If you're not familiar with Kenpachi or Superman...what the heck are you doing on this forum? In all seriousness - the listener is well-aware of the power that simply washes off Yukari. He is awed by her might. She's probably well-aware of it as well, and thinks she's pretty awesome too, but doesn't use it as a shortcut to achieve her goals. Unfortunately, she rarely gets to use her mind or wits or charm, since that power is plenty - it is as if God wished for you to go out and do something highly unfavourable to yourself and decided to convince you to do so by presenting a well-thought-out and convincing argument - sure, he might have convinced you with the argument, but you'd likely be out of the door before he said, "Now listen here..." That's enough for me to show Yukari - blindingly powerful, so much that she subdues others with her mere presence. She, herself, has trouble suppressing it, only reigning it in every once in a while when she might realize those around her are huddled in fetal positions. She might have schemes and plans, but rarely has to really work for them, even if she might wish to. It's possible that she's a loner (she, in fact, is, canonically, but hey, got to have something), as she has trouble expressing anything beyond that power, and others characterize her by that, instead of whatever nature she possesses. It might be that she doesn't even care about revealing her true nature any more, as there are no hints to her beyond the Ran-like facade, if you can see it without blinding yourself. Meh I may be a bit of on the Marvel/DC and the Bleach reference but I hope you get the picture. Immaterial and Missing Power As for Immaterial and Missing Power - unless I'm sorely mistaken, we have only one new character introduced across the entire game. That said, Reimu and Marisa get some tunes as well, but I'll leave off those two until Imperishable Night. Suika Ibuki - Onigashima in the Fairyland. Somewhat similar to Necrofantasia, but both more suppressed and more uninhibited - we have the buildup of power, but without the initial blast. We have this buildup relaxing, but not because it was forcefully cut off, but because there's suddenly nothing more on the other end and everything is sucked back, as it were. The melody comes in as if nothing had happened, a whimsical, self-contained tune no longer than 8 bars. This is Suika at her core. Perfectly happy with herself as she is - no far-reaching consequences, only a bit of self-indulgent fun. The only thing reminding the listener of that pressure they felt earlier are the deep, almost inaudible broken chords in the accompaniment. It is entirely likely that the whimsical fun that Suika indulges in might go somewhat out of control. The tune quickly becomes more forceful with the addition of trumpet on top of the piano. A first thought is that this is uncontrolled, subconscious, if it weren't for that part that follows immediately after - once again the focus is on the buildup of pressure exclusively, abandoning the melody, as if Suika is unsatisfied with the power she's been putting out, and stops whatever she's doing and starts gathering herself. Not for anything malevolent or ominous, mind you - the whimsy is still there, so she just...wants to have fun, harder. Fortunately, Suika is, well, forgetful. All that power just goes to waste and dissipates, possibly tripping up the listener, who was bracing for a major outburst and instead got a few bars of extremely simple broken chords with practically no accompaniment. As if Suika forgot what she was doing at the peak of her 'charge' and just sort of stood there, a silly expression on her face, wondering what the heck she was just doing. Deciding it probably wasn't that important, anyway, the melody goes off in a different direction - a somewhat sober direction, with a melancholy feel to it - the melodic notes are long, legato with accompaniment in minor. The listener might wonder at this character change, only to have the melody wink at him with the inclusion of some scattered notes in the upper octaves, reminding us of the light-hearted whimsy present all the way at the beginning - this is a private joke between Suika and the listener, she's having fun by putting on some sort of drunken melancholy act. And drunken it is, as Suika suddenly hams it up with the melody exploding in trumpets, that 'wink' still there if you listen to it. Towards the end the melody loses some of its drive, the drums suddenly disappearing then reappearing again, the high-pitched trumpets moving into a lower key - Suika tires of this particular game, and the melody moves on, sitting on the spot for a while, wondering what to do next, growing more and more restless, before remembering what it was doing in the first place and returning to the original melody from the beginning. So that's Suika - plenty of power there, and she knows how to use it. Unlike Yukari, she's more able to channel that power into the shenanigans that form her daily life. It also helps that she occasionally can't remember what she was up to a few moments previously, so her power is never focused in one place or direction. She does like her shenanigans, however - most of her time is spent having self-indulgent fun in a way that only she really understands, occasionally at the expense of others, someone possibly being in on the joke every once in a while, but only if Suika lets them. Wriggle Nightbug - Stirring an Autumn Moon ~ Mooned Insect Wriggle's not much to look at, really - she's a first boss, after all, and rarely does a first boss carry with her earth-shattering complications. Unfortunately, I'm not really familiar with Wriggle beyond the rather outlandish doujins, so I might not do her character justice. The introduction keeps stuttering, not sure where, or when, to start. That little motif is plenty to get going, so it's less a lack of preparation, but more of a rookie inexperience, a first-time nervousness kind of thing, where Wriggle has to take a few deep breaths before rushing onto the stage. There's a reasonable amount of instrumentation in the rather simple melody (8 bars) that doesn't develop into anything else, and it does switch around from piano to trumpet and back to piano - a solid first-time performance with honest attention to detail - as much detail as Wriggle can handle, anyway. A bit forgettable, perhaps, without many quirks - all I can pick up are the little bits of ornamentation in the high-pitched piano melody to give it that bit of a twinkle - Wriggle's a firefly, after all. That's plenty for me to describe Wriggle - refreshingly quirk-light, someone to give an honest first effort even when inexperienced, mayhem a bit self-conscious, but rarely letting that stop her from performing. Imagine that one beginner in a crowd of experienced performers (of some sort) who goes out on stage and does their thing - it's not as good as that of the pros, but you clap anyway because it's got an honest effort behind it, and you reckon that beginner could well go far with practice. As I said - if someone has a more thorough view on Wriggle, do speak up. Mystia Lorelei - Deaf to all but the Song. Right then. I had a bit of a rant going about Mystia, but realized it was just taking up precious space. To summarize - I disagree with the moe-fication of Mystia. Hopefully my analysis will explain why. Deaf to all but the Song is cruel. That introduction confuses and scares - the repeating cadences are in minor, but that's no gentle A minor - that's the forceful E minor (I think, I don't have perfect pitch, but I like to think my relative pitch is decent) that means they're there to be inflicted. Moving an octave lower moves the chords into a menacing growl right at the listener's ear before spreading all around to envelop the listener, leaving him no escape. The melody is fairly innocuous, much like I suppose Mystia is, visually (the usual 8 bars, repeated with a difference at the end). The trumpet comes in soon enough to show the actual unique feature of Mystia - that high-pitched birdsong that slowly, but inevitably, becomes part of the melody, before becoming the melody itself... And the listener suddenly loses sight of Mystia, and all he sees or hears are the encroaching darkness in the repeating cadences from the beginning, with the bird song of the trumpet far above, laughing, taunting, finally exploding in an ecstatic shout of triumph. Mystia is a cruel hunter who enjoys playing with her prey. She does not play fair, she will use trickery and deceit to hunt and she will revel in the kill. There is no mercy in her, no regret for her actions - she is not crazy, she's just evil. I wrote the bit about Mystia before I talked about Gensokyo as a positive setting, so I'll be willing to amend the "kill" bit - modern Gensokyo is apparently a place where no youkai eats humans any more, according to Word of God, so I'd recharacterize Mystia not as a sadistic killer, but as a sadistic prankster. Not evil but immoral. Keine Kamishirasawa - Plain Asia. I think the piece title doesn't give Keine justice. The piece is far from plain, there are unfathomable depths to it that it doesn't let you investigate simply because you'd drown before you see them all. The introduction offers no hints at what is to come. The melody starts off in a careful and calm piano study, made somewhat aloof by the trumpet that tends to turn upwards into higher pitch. The introduction is quite short, made even shorter by being split into two characteristic parts – the unassuming Keine and the aloof Keine – suggesting that, despite her calm demeanor, she is somewhat short-tempered and refuses to be seen as inconsequential. When slighted thus, Keine’s response is to demonstrate just how deep she is. For the first time (possibly ever, I don’t hear it in any game previously) ZUN uses that electronic sound that sounds like unworded vocals – the closest thing to Ominous Latin Chanting that he can come to reasonably. The melody is gone, there’s only the draw of those long, chanted notes pulling in the listener, who might be surprised at this rather sudden development. The draw ends, and a fast-paced study takes over, completely different from the introduction. The melody is not forceful, not brimming with power, but it’s certainly confident, practiced, slightly chastising of the listener for his assumptions. But this might not be enough for Keine. Before even finishing with this development, she begins to pull even deeper, all the while demonstrating her point in her collected and practiced manner, before realizing her aggression, and rapidly pulling back to safety, to her usual self. However, by now the listener is well-aware of Keine’s hidden depths, and the inexorable draw is evident behind her unassuming introductory melody. Perhaps she chastises the listener for a while for spacing out, the trumpet adding a bit of exclamation to the end of the track. I’m not too confident about this analysis – the two melodies are straightforward enough, the transition making the piece unique. So I’ll go with Keine being a person with two sides to her, and possibly more that she hides from the listener. Despite this she is not schizophrenic – she is perfectly balanced, perfectly in touch with herself, aware that her mannerisms might scare but willing to use the weirder aspects of her to prove a point – and she will not push any further: she respects others and any limitations they might have. Marisa Kirisame - Love-Coloured Master Spark It occurs to me immediately how often I've heard the theme when fighting Marisa as a boss as opposed to listening to the track by itself - my mind overlays the whmmmmmmmm sound of the Master Spark at certain points in the piece, and it keeps seeming to me that without those, it lacks something. Fortunately, it's kinda there in the music at 1:18, so a homage has been made and all is well. The introduction is short, mostly there to establish a few first beats for the piece, and quickly makes way for the melody. Clocking in at 11-ish seconds, I think it's the shortest introduction we've had yet. That already says something about Marisa - she's not one to ramble or beat about the bush. She understands the need to establish who's who and what's what, and to make sure a spade is a spade, and will be absolutely charming about it for the first couple of seconds (extremely melodic trumpets, within a very comfortable hearing range - never too high to be shrill or too low to growl), before tossing decorum out of the window and adopting a familiarity with the listener to perhaps an uncomfortable degree (to the listener) - the melody that follows is extremely open-hearted about its optimism, almost child-like, completely unashamedly replete with the melodic line hopping happily all over the place, full of ornamentation. Still completely charming though, never harsh on the ears by pitch or amount of instrumentation used. Hell, even the instrument used for the melody - some sort of pipe organ, I believe - is so very gentle, none of those trumpets that we've had previously. It is that charm that binds the piece together so well - the melody has three distinct parts, the first two played in pipe organ, with relatively light accompaniment, to really put the listener at ease. For the third the trumpets are introduced, but so organically that it doesn't shock or worry (the motif clearly requested that some more instrumentation be added, and there was nothing else to add besides things ZUN doesn't usually use). That last part does carry a distinct power that has built up without anyone noticing - the melody is what is usually described as "triumphant", with a strong complexity in the accompaniment, although the accompaniment never overshadows the melody - it's always Marisa first, her power second, always naturally, never threatening. And then the melody appears to loop, with a few minor changes, but nothing unexpected. The listener is aware of the power that Marisa holds, occasionally noticing it bubbling behind her utterly open and positive exterior, but compared to the things they've experienced, Marisa seems to be nothing more than a happy-go-lucky, optimistic, ordinary (magician) girl. BAM, giant laser too close to your face for comfort at 1:18, blowing away something in the distance, forcing a bit of a double-take, the listener going "where did that come from?" Looking back at Marisa, she's just the same as ever, the distant threat (or nonthreat) out of her mind already. The listener won't get any reasons for Marisa nearly blowing his head off - Marisa won't give them since the situation's already passed. Perhaps there weren't any, perhaps she was in control, or, perhaps, on the contrary, she fudged the spell - none of it matters, problem's over. Marisa has none of the intensity we might get from the other protagonists in the series. She's very open about herself and her feelings, which usually means her optimism shines like a beacon. She's also pleasant to be around unless you hate happy people - her mannerisms rarely grate, she's rarely too much to handle (though she might get a little loud for certain tastes - the trumpets are quite powerful towards the end of the third part of the melody). She knows her power well, but she always considers things as herself, not as someone with an array of magical firepower - her power never overwhelms her personality. She also has a tendency to shoot giant lasers at things, usually to those things' extreme surprise. Reimu Hakurei - Maiden's Capriccio ~ Dream Battle I think I've got it now: Capriccio is cold. Unlike Master Spark the instrumentation has a piercing quality to it, presenting the melody to the listener without caring whether the listener receives harm or not. Having now written my analysis, I realise it's also much more than that, but that coldness is a key factor. The first few seconds are unique across all the music in Touhou so far – it’s an alien sound, completely lacking any indication of what is to come. It’s also built on a diminished chord, thus having a frightening quality to it. It is an intense, withering stare directed at the listener, daring them to come closer – Reimu is sizing them up, her distrust, or even hostility, showing clearly. Suddenly she’s done sizing up, and her attitude becomes that of calculated force. The two cadences presented in this sequence are very textbook, and presented thus in a practiced manner without any deviations. Once again, these are overt challenges – aggressive declarations. Imagine a hostile police officer asking your name and occupation before arresting you by stating them and having you agree – he is playing by the book, but he doesn’t like you, and doesn’t have to show it. In fact, I’m tempted to say this is the bit where Reimu declares Spell Card rules in a sharp tone that allows no argument. I think this is something to consider throughout the piece as a fundamental fact: Reimu doesn’t like you. She probably doesn’t hate you, but she won’t be chummy for the hell of it like Marisa would. She will make sure the listener is well-aware of her dislike by colouring her declaration somehow – a facial expression, an intonation, perhaps – demonstrated by the bubbling piano underlay that sits in the upper octaves, almost coming over the chords, but never actually doing so. Once the declarations are done, this attitude will come to the forefront, but audibly – and incredibly reluctantly - die out once Reimu’s probably realized she’s made herself clear. This attitude would probably continue if Reimu wasn’t the complicated oddity she actually seems to be. The second melody goes from stone-cold to forced, desperate outburst with the simple addition of overdrive (I think) guitar on top of the regular melody line, and those fast-paced piano undertones of dislike suddenly seem to develop into a powerful statement for wistfulness. When we move back to the challenges presented initially, they’ve lost their edge, as if Reimu wasn’t quite so sure any more of her objective. She’s not letting the listener in on her emotions though – the melody quickly moves back into assertion (the one played initially after the dying-down piano), keeping its strength for a few repetitions before falling into its own trap and following the line of the overdrive guitar as before. Maiden’s Capriccio is hard to interpret, it’s incredibly busy, with overtones and undertones, variations and subtleties that can be analysed to Hell and back, and one could still miss a critical point. I’ll try my best. Reimu, ultimately, has trouble understanding herself. This has led to her putting up a hostile façade to most interactions, but this often turns out for the worse, as she begins to second-guess herself, realizing that she does not know what will show when she drops her hostility. She will keep trying to understand herself better, and does not care if this confuses others, harms them, or attracts them. It is not obvious why she will not let others in on her troubles, why she insists on this introspection being hers alone, despite never having any progress with it. Maybe that artificial feeling of dislike towards everyone that she has cultivated has rubbed off on her actual personality and she has trouble letting go of that as well. Reisen Udongein Inaba – Lunatic Eyes ~ Invisible Full Moon This piece is less a continuous description of Reisen’s character more than it is a set of clips taken at random points in her daily life, showing widely varying character aspects that come together to show us a great view of Reisen's personality. The introduction sounds strange, no two words about it. *checks* Yep, I’ve gone over something like this before, so you might find some familiar elements if you compare Lunatic Eyes to Doll Judgment. The repeating themes oscillate up and down in an interval of a perfect fourth, leading to parallel fourths (against classical composition sensibilities) making up the entire introduction, telling us that yes, Reisen is strange, and is not going to get less so if you just keep on looking. Better yet, the arpeggio that makes up each individual part of the motif is a diminished minor chord by itself, hostile and unapproachable, making the entire section wonderfully twisted. Thus our first clip – a wary and unfamiliar Reisen is an alien Reisen. Imagine those stereoscopic pictures you get – a mass of shapes and colours, and if you don’t know what to do, how to look properly, it’s just not going to make any sense. Unfortunately, the stereoscopic picture that is Reisen is not going to give instructions on how to approach her properly. The second clip I like to think of showing Reisen doing whatever assignment she might have. It’s characterized by two distinct parts: chords carefully and slowly going down, and arpeggioes that get quicker and finer going up. Additionally, we have a refreshing break from the strange non-melody of the introduction, although there isn’t much melody in this part either, it’s still more melodic. The accompaniment is extremely minimal in this section, just a single broken chord, with no additional instrumental support. This leads to an interesting contrast between the up and down sections. In the down-moving section, the combination of simple chords moving down in a scale into a cadence at the end with little accompaniment suggests simplicity and lack of complication. On the other hand, the section going up starts off simple, but becomes quicker and quicker as it reaches the top, culminating in a series of extremely precise and detailed arpeggioes, which, when combined with a simple accompaniment, suggests extreme focus on one single thing, removing any potential distractions. What does that say? I feel it says that Reisen comes in two flavours – simple and straightforward at one time, but equally capable of intense detail and concentration at another, and she does not have any real preference between the two, applying each as required. She can easily differentiate these two aspects, and never allows them to mix – she is thus careful and diligent in her work. She rarely allows emotion to colour her professional input. Third clip starts with that unmissable rock guitar. Clearly it says one thing – Reisen rocks! This section is rich in instrumentation, loud and boisterous, in a major key, daring to switch from the piano to the trumpets. This, I would like to think, is Reisen off-duty and amongst friends. She is outgoing and generous, eagerly voicing her thoughts, letting positive emotion colour them. It is as if all those suppressed feelings in the first and second clips just explode here – this is the only real melodic section in the piece. The melody itself is nothing to look at, the usual 2x8-bar fare with a bit of a variation in the second set of 8 bars, but it’s not the melody that is important here – it’s the contrasting outburst that really makes this section live. I don’t have much more to say about Reisen – she is very professional, very serious in separating her work from play, she is like the person who you know is seen as a complete weirdo by others, but they make sense to you completely because you know them, and, in fact, she is a very social and outward person, but only at the appropriate time. Eirin Yagokoro - Gensokyo Millennium ~ History of the Moon Much like Septette and Cherry Blossom of Sumizome before it, Millennium is chock-full of stuff, obviously fitting for a 1000+-year-old space nurse. A large part of this piece is its majesty, its loftiness and its aged elegance. The first 22 seconds are a pan up, as it were, of the listener's perception all the way up Eirin's imposing figure to the piercing gaze of her eyes. The sonorous piano chords and carefully-measured arpeggios combined with long, powerful trumpet notes accompanying show us the presence that Eirin commands, her charisma, combined with a shrewd perception of her surroundings. The first part starts with trumpets playing the melody supported by strings - violins, specifically, playing long, legato notes. The piece lifts the listener way up in the clouds and stays there, the sweeping melody of the trumpet and strings presenting an immense feeling of freedom in a vast space, and, importantly, of one's being totally in control there. The melody suddenly loses focus of the surroundings as the instrumentation changes to what I can only describe as down-to-earth. The melody's still the same, so we're still looking at the same person, in the same place, but the focus has moved from the freedom to the humility. Don't get me wrong, that does not mean simplicity - the instrumentation comprising the melody has, from what I can tell, pipe organ, piano and guitar, giving a thick, worldly sound. The strings have gone so as not call our attention back to the vastness that's being hidden behind Eirin. Eirin is naturally majestic, easily earning the "larger-than-life" descriptor. That does not stop her from noticing the everyday things around her, from stooping down to understand those without a force of personality to match hers. She is thus compassionate. The second part is a connecting passage to the third, here to lift the listener to the vastness of space where Eirin is so comfortable. Imagine this part as the takeoff of a rocket: the resonant piano chords and arpeggios sort of mill about on the spot, seemingly impatient to get somewhere - the rocket enters its ignition sequence and the flames and fumes obscure the whole launch platform as the rocket unbearably slowly rises into the air, and then those octaves come in, mirroring the might of the craft's inexorable movement upwards, the arpeggios getting higher and higher in pitch... And the third part is back where the first one started, and here to explore Eirin in her natural state of majesty. The instrumentation will remain trumpet and piano for a while, and texture-wise notes are always long and sparse, especially in the melody, to maintain that open-space feeling. The accompaniment quickly increases in note density, however, to contrast the melody: this is something that we've noticed in other characters, something that shows power bubbling just below the surface - in Eirin's case it elegantly flows from the accompaniment to her "majestic" character, so I'd say that it's Eirin's power that gives her that force of personality. It does not flow out unchecked like in Yukari's case, but, rather, it does not need to be controlled - it's natural flow is completely within Eirin, if you understand what I'm trying to say. It's interesting that even when the melody switches gears by changing key it stays the same, with the same accompaniment and texture - Eirin remains herself regardless of what she does. She is not one to trick with false pretenses, instead she will simply approach a different situation with a different approach, but with her usual character. A small intermezzo has ZUN riffing away. Much like in Septette, this part sounds improvised (I means emphasis on freeform playing around the melody, like jazz improvisation, not poorly-prepared, you naysayers you), showing Eirin has a tendency, maybe a bit like Remilia, to self-indulgent outbursts, something strongly at odds with the rest of her theme. These are rare and short-lived as Eirin catches herself - or someone else catches her at it - and hastily returns to her usual attitude - but this time it might be a bit of an embarrassed act, as the improvisational motif can be clearly heard in the background. I would think that Eirin does not like being caught when not in full control of her situation. I would like to theorize that Eirin might be slightly ashamed at having picked up distinctly Earthly mannerisms, specifically selfishness and self-indulgence. Despite that, they remain a guilty pleasure to her. |
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#8
12-02-2008, 05:59 AM
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'K, done. ^_^
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I haven't heard of Winter Sonata, but it looks like it might be good... I guess, I have no clue. >_>
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[Endless Gravestones - Claymore RP] Newbie Help:♦ ♢ ♦ ♢ ♦ ♢ Sinfest Buddha icon by _nicons @ livejournal ♦ ♢ ♦ ♢ ♦ ♢ I once saw a crematorium that gave discounts for burn victims. New Members Please Read • The Great Big Guide To Everything • One Manga Forum Rules • If You Need Any Help • RP Corner Rules • RP's OOC Rules
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#9
12-02-2008, 06:01 AM
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and if Winter Sonata tries to capture the live series obviously it will be an emotional roller coaster then but still why is the Slayers is alive and kickin <_< if they are going to revive a series then do StarshipGirl Yamamoto Yohko then
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Achieving the Perfect Zone Necro, Nuclear, Kero, Terror, Corpse Voyage, Boundless, Imperishable, Sky Overture, Phoenix, Hartmann The Primal Scene of Japan the Girl Saw Spoiler for Perfect Memento in Strict Sense:
As things aren't going really well at recording my playthrough of this humble game called Touhou. I would like to make something out of nothing then. Let's just say I suddenly got a musical enlightenment due to the fact that this game is a collaboration of musical masterpieces by the one and only ZUN (the musical genius and creator of Touhou). A picture may be worth a thousand words, but a piece of music may be just as capable of detailing a character's personality and behavior. I like to think that I know something about music, instrumentation and composition, so I'm putting together this thread to analyze characters' theme tunes and try to glean some personality from them. So let's start! Embodiment of Scarlet Devil. EoSD feels to me like ZUN is still trying to figure out his synthesizer. A lot of the themes are all over the place, and, honestly, are a bit hard to analyze. Rumia's theme - Apparitions Stalk the Night We are immediately blasted with arpeggios that seem more in place at a trance party than in a fantasy wonderland. This sort of sound produces a sense of intensity - there are no gaps to breathe, as it were, so the entire passage blazes past you, giving that feeling of "whoa". And right now I'm gonna disagree with ZUN. From what we know of Rumia, canonically, is she's a slightly airheaded youkai with the appearance of a little girl. She also likes to eat humans. Her power is to manipulate darkness, which is so absolute that she herself can't see through it, leading to hilarious flight mishaps. There's no room here for high-powered intensity - Rumia is more macabre than she is intense, to me. Once these are done, the piece moves into a calmer xylophone and ZUN!trumpet melody. The melody never moves out of the higher octaves, has simple accompaniment and few key changes. The key here is the high-pitched simplicity, which, to me, does a far better job of showing ZUN's Rumia - straightforward, few complications, certainly no outright twists, with very little mention of her darker side. And that's what she is, ultimately, in the game - a straightforward challenge with few gimmicks, to get our heroines warmed up. In hindsight, perhaps those few opening arpeggios attempt to show the darker human-eating side of her, and don't quite succeed. Cirno's theme - Beloved Tomboyish Girl Heh. Far, far too elegant and melodic for the Cirno we know and love. I doubt even Cirno thinks she's as elegant as the piece seems to suggest. It certainly doesn't give off "the strongest" vibe, but that's a fanon thing, and wouldn't be present in the piece. The piece still has plenty of merit, though. The introduction is filled with, well, pretty meaningless arpeggios interspersed with well-chosen electronic glassy sounds to give that association with ice. Played fully legato, it's a set of very melodic passages that suggest elegance. Cirno freezes frogs for fun and has trouble with arithmetics. Elegant she is not. I did say I wasn't going to examine remixes, but IOSYS' Perfect Math Class does a far better job, to me, of showing her character with simple, confident chords with plenty of non-legato to show a simple, confident character without much flow or elegance. On the other hand, her airheadedness is reflected by the arpeggios never really going anywhere, and just sort of milling about. The main melody pretty much follows the same procedure, although is closer to IOSYS than the introduction - a more confident melody with more focus on each individual note than on the flow, without any strong key changes to keep it clean and simple. Again, the melody doesn't really go anywhere, and mills about, but doesn't appear worried about it - there are no suggestive cadences or even out-of-key notes. Thus we have our Cirno - confident about her self and her character, unconcerned with future developments and more focused on the here and now. Hong Meilin's theme - Shanghai Alice of Meiji 17. I always found Hong Meilin's shticks conflicting - she has flower and rainbow-themed ranged attacks in the game, yet is usually portrayed as a martial artist who prefers to go at it close and personal. Yeah, yeah, Spell Card System. Fneh. Anyway, my personal view is that this is a gorgeous piece, and really signifies the beginning of EoSD proper to me - ZUN has seemed to get a good grip on the music now, and is really using it to get flavour across. Or at least some pretty tunes. Shanghai Alice is, to me, all about its mixing of Eastern and Western styles. The main melody, played by violins and...something plucked - you can't miss it - has an Oriental vibe to it which contrasts strongly with its own Western cadences and key changes. The melody is quite forceful in standing out above its accompaniment, and doesn't give much room to breathe, keeping the listener hooked without an opportunity to break the suspense. Texture-wise, we hear both melodic legato, and plucked staccato, the former on violin, the latter on that plucked thing, again showing the two worlds that conflict in this piece. Putting it all together, we get a Hong Meilin who is a personality that stands out, is part of two different cultures, yet takes the strongest aspects from both, combining them into something different. We get a powerful elegance and a careful precision. We get an intoxicating intensity. Now if only more people portrayed her as thus, instead of as a submissive gate guard. Patchouli Knowledge's theme - Locked Girl - The Girl's Secret Room. My favourite piece amongst all those in EoSD. Every time I hear it, I keep thinking, why this intensity? Why never a major key? Why such a heart-wrenching melody (not even mentioning the SWR orchestral remix)? And then I realize the context, and it cracks me up. You are beating up an anemic, asthmatic, short-sighted girl who always wears a nightdress, and rarely leaves her room in fear for her health. In any context, this is tragic by itself - that gives us the insistence on the minor key. She's going to bloody well fight back with everything she's got, her pride appears to come before her health - hence the intensity, both in music and spell patterns (god damn you non-directional lasers). The heart-wretchedness comes from the desperate power in the melody - this is where the game comes first, music second - Patchy is a fantastic mage, with more spellcards than you can shake a stick at, all of them gorgeous, but she can only use them if her health permits - this feeling of being terminally crippled is mirrored in the melody. However, I always come back to the same conclusion - it's too tragic a melody. She is never portrayed by ZUN as being significantly hindered by her disabilities. Hell, we know she's ancient so we know she gets by pretty much fine. She's perfectly capable of showing initiative, as demonstrated in the games where she can be a protagonist. Perhaps if her disabilities were more important points in her narrative the melody would be more appropriate. Sakuya - Lunar Clock - Luna Dial To me, this one always comes out of nowhere, compared to Shanghai Alice and Locked Girl. Here we get more of an electronic rock vibe than anything else. Unlike with Rumia, however, I feel this is totally appropriate - a sharp contrast to the previous two Boss themes suggests something very different, and the diminished chords poking out of the background in the introduction set us on the edge. Actually, much about the piece does this, the biggest aspect, to me, being that there's not really any distinctive melody for the entire first half, with a series of arpeggios and broken chords in the second half suggesting a possible melodic development, but never properly coming to life before the track loops. It's hard for me to say if this shows anything about Sakuya herself, as opposed to providing a background for her unstructured and somewhat confusing spellcards. Perhaps, personality-wise, this shows unresolved conflict and aggression that Sakuya prefers to loose on the world than keep bottled up. The usual uninterrupted flow of sound that we get for most of the characters' themes is present in Lunar Clock, but has a very characteristic section of a few cadences of diminished chords, where the music stops, starts, stops (you know that bit, you can't miss it) - that attempts to trip up the listener. To me, this both reflects Sakuya's time-stopping tendencies, as well as, perhaps, showing a will to intentionally deceive and take advantage. What character do we get out of this? I would say cruel, willing to do unto others before others do unto her, unafraid of deceiving and manipulating to hurt, yet is also conflicted, unsure with where she's going, and not really able to resolve a path for the future. Remilia Scarlet - Septette for the Dead Princess I have trouble listening to this piece. First off, take the time to listen to the PCB stage 4 track ("Capital of Flowers in the Sky"), pay close attention at around the 1:00 mark, and especially the 1:10 mark. I played PCB before I played EoSD, and I was rather confused to hear that motif as the main theme in Septette, repeated all the time. Every time it crops up in Septette, I keep making that connection, and it distracts me from the actual piece. Additionally, I watched Cruel Sisters and the Suffering Maid a few too many times, and now I just can't listen to Septette without imagining the video and the song. Admittedly, it's hilarious, but it sure doesn't help in this particular exercise. So, Septette for the Dead Princess, final boss theme. This piece oozes with personality. I'll split the piece into several parts to make my life easier. The first part, until about 1:09 has a repeating theme (that distracting one I mentioned) played with a single ZUN!trumpet, clearly standing out above the accompaniment. The melody is calm, precise, no-nonsense, with many strong notes, yet with a clear, smooth melodic line. This epitomizes Remilia's aristocratic nature. This is the Remilia you see on first greeting - collected, firm, full of confidence and power. Perhaps a bit macabre or sinister, as illustrated by the diminished arpeggios in the sections where the trumpet doesn't play. In fact, this is something that Remilia will certainly not hide - these sections are very clear, never hidden underneath a melody. From 1:09 to about 1:22 we have a bit of a transition section. All in major, and characterized by piano chords following the ever-present smooth trumpet section - all somewhat throwing off the image that had just been set up, followed up with a, well, mischievous cadence at the very end. Let me explain that - cadences are chord progressions, and can be a way of changing key within a piece. There are a few different types, and evoke a specific mood of the transition, most tending to string the listener along with chord after chord before resolving into a satisfying new tonic chord. 1:22's cadence does exactly that...but then holds the melody off for a second, just a bit longer than it should, stringing the listener a long, leaving him to choke a bit, then continuing as if nothing had happened. Interpret that as you will, but I clearly see a Remilia who is able to effortlessly wind another around her finger by putting on unusual character airs, but only do so to tease, certainly nothing malevolent. From then on we start off with a doubled trumpet to mirror the first part, but these are quickly drowned out by a piano improvisation that lasts until the track loops. Although not technically an improvisation, it's clearly intended to sound as such - a stream-of-consciousness release of emotion that doesn't care if it overshadows the previously-established aristocratic coolness. And that's our final piece of the Remilia picture - ultimately, she doesn't care how she is seen, as long as she is able to operate free and uninhibited. She probably won't be actively malevolent, unless this improvisation takes her in that direction, but is just as likely to spin off somewhere else. However, that aristocratic tone will always be present in the background, whether by choice, force of habit, or something else. Flandre Scarlet - U.N. Owen was her? This piece actually creeped me out first time I heard it. It spelled Gothic doom. Still does, if I'm in the right mindset. Actually thinking about it, it's far easier to work with than Septette, simply because UNO has pretty much one style that it clings to with manic persistence. Instrumentation remains consistent throughout with some sort of organ-thing on the melody supported by a bass that sits in the lower octaves to remind you, in case you forgot, that this ain't no flowers-and-bunnies piece, occasional punctuation by bells, with a thumping, oppressive drum beat in the background. Oh, and a bit of xylophone... I'll get to that one in a bit. There isn't much point in analyzing the piece bit-by-bit - the objective seems to be to unashamedly blast you with diminished chords until your brain collapses, and UNO does exactly that - every section comes back to the same manic obsession on diminished chords and oppressive beat and bass. A part that actually stands out, now that I think about it, is the little xylophone transition part at 0:55. This bit gives us a break from the mania, establishing a somewhat different character, strings us along, pulls us into a cadence... Sound familiar? This bit really reminds me of Septette's transition, if not in melody, then, at least, in style - clearly Flandre is more similar to her sister than her usual behavior lets on. Then again, the cadence, instead of a satisfying conclusion, breaks the flow and falls back into mind screw mode. And here I have a question - Flandre is crazy (in a poorly-defined manner). Where (canonically) is this established? I honestly can't remember, and it'd help if someone could point it out. Assuming she is, indeed, not sane, then this piece might give a version of the nature of her insanity - I believe it can be described as chronic obsessive-compulsive sadism. She shows a manic fixation on hurting things, doing so with no degree of shame. Occasionally she'll give sign of snapping out of it...but it's too hard to tell if it's genuine, as she could just be doing so to mess with you some more. And she will most certainly continue messing with you in an equally nasty manner. In fact, considering the vast majority of the piece is the nasty bit, I think it's better to describe her mania as chronic lack of obsessive-compulsive sadism. I hope that's cleared things up, so I'll get going! Perfect Cherry Blossom There's some very characteristic instrumentation going on throughout all of PCB - lots of piano, trumpets and a very specific type of electronic sound that, to me, do well to link together many of the themes we hear, reinforcing the (rather meager) overarching narrative. Perfect Cherry Blossom is the one of the first Touhou game I've played, so I tend to subconsciously measure up every other one to it, music-wise also. This leads to issues with some of ZUN's more experimental tracks in UFO, but that's a ways away to talk about now. Letty Whiterock - Crystallized Silver What jumps out at me immediately are the sharp drum beats that permeate the entire piece, making the entire thing seem as if the listener is standing on thin ice that's constantly cracking under their feet, chasing them as they brave the oncoming blizzard, portrayed by the dual trumpets. The brass plays the melody here in long, undulating passages to give a feeling of persistence in addition to the clear and obvious power that brass generally adds to the feel of a piece. Listening to the introduction and its transition into the melody, there's some very clear imagery here, which I'll tie into Letty's canon characterization as a winter spirit of sorts. A few bursts of plucked strings suggest a few snowflakes falling here and there, biting in their cold, interspersed by somewhat whiny electronic chords (really obvious, can't miss 'em) to show chill wind picking up, then exploding with the trumpets as the blizzard finally catches up and envelops the listener. The melody, to me, really catches the feel of a sudden winter blizzard, which suggests just how strongly Letty's character is tied to that - her very nature is to be chilling wind and biting cold. She doesn't dawdle around, she does not hide what she is and she takes herself very seriously - she shows up and gets to business. Chen - Diao ye zong (Withered Leaf) Okay, this one's a bit hard. It's characteristic instrumentation - that biting drum, the glassy undulating synthesizer sound with a bit of piano in the high octaves thrown in for good measure - are still very good for capturing winter-related imagery. Considering Perfect Cherry Blossom is all about the unending winter and hawt ghosts I feel this piece is less about Chen, but more there to reinforce this unending winter vibe. Honestly, I feel this even pervades to the next stage's theme (The Doll Maker of Bucuresti). Listening to the piece again, I think there's something to get by focusing on the piano part, as that gives us something new over the glassy synthesizer and the biting drum. The piano gives us a simple repeating motif made up of clear, non-legato chords occasionally interspersed by a little bit of that wintry glassy staccato. The listener would expect the piano to develop into something with more substance, however, it's quickly caught up in the undulating glass, which takes over and has the piano follow it in its wake. Or perhaps the piano is content to follow it and occasionally poke out to remind us that it's there. Maybe that gives us something about Chen - uncomplicated, playful in the snow, content with letting the winter roll over, confident that at some point, it'll go away and Chen will still be there, completely unperturbed. Alice Margatroid - Doll Judgment ~ The girl who played with people's shapes. I was going to add Doll Maker of Bucuresti to this as well, as I feel the stage as as much about Alice as the actual boss battle is, but for the sake of brevity I'll leave it out until later, if at all. IOSYS may have been on to something - Doll Judgment is structured like a song. An oddly conflicted song, but a song nonetheless. Go on, listen to Marisa Stole the Precious Thing. IOSYS mess around a bit by mixing in bits of Doll Maker into Doll Judgment, and their verse versus chorus structure is a bit odd, nevertheless, I maintain it's a song, and that shows something about Alice - singers are typically portrayed as creative souls. They usually have a lot of love for their work, and I'd say they come in two flavours - those that sing for others, and those that sing for themselves. Hell, they can do both, depending on mood or situation. The verse is nice and macabre with a single motif of broken chords repeating, but changing to a different key every time. Every key change is strongly non-standard (no tonic to dominant for us) and the motif repeats note-for-note, leading to parallel fourths (I think) in the resulting harmonic line. Parallel notes in a harmony is distinctly un-classical, which leads to this entire set of passages to sound just off. Better yet, there are two melodies that do this, exacerbating the effect. The verse shows us that Alice is unlike others, unusual, possibly a loner due to this - there are no secondary, classic motifs to offset the primary one. The chorus breaks away from the strangeness to offer us something more familiar, more comforting, strong and surprisingly melodic, with gentle melancholy hinted at by a few flute passages. The verse comes back in, unchanged, perhaps to push us away, or, on the contrary, to keep us fixed, to hear that chorus again. And indeed the chorus comes back, twice, to make sure the listener does not forget that that part is as strong, or maybe stronger, than the strangeness that you heard at first. Alice might be one of the more popular characters in the Touhou fandom, so my perceptions are rather coloured by the way she's portrayed by fans. This in mind, I'll hope to do her character justice without falling back on the usual standbys. Alice is creative, and enjoys her creations. It's not immediately obvious why she keeps making her dolls - whether for herself or for others, but the fact that she's lives a solitary lifestyle suggests the former - thus meaning that she is introspective, perhaps looking for a greater meaning that would be revealed in her creations. She might confuse and bewilder on first impressions, and even when one is familiar with her, and that's an ever-present part of her character, something that is hard not to notice when she's around. Perhaps she is aware of this, and would go to rather great lengths to establish that no, she isn't all that weird, she has normal sensibilities as well, she has all the same troubles that everyone else has. Prismriver sisters - Phantom Ensemble. Hmm...not entirely sure what to do here. There are three characters, and one theme. Hell, the theme doesn't even really use the instruments of the Prismrivers, so it's not possible to evaluate their characters by contribution to the piece (to naysayers - there's an accordion and a guitar in there, not to mention drums, in addition to the distinct lack of violin). So what I'll do is judge them as one character. The Prismrivers are a laugh a minute. The piece keeps blatantly changing instruments, tempo and texture. On the other hand, the melody has two very basic patterns, which are repeated by a constantly-shifting jumble of instruments to provide the feeling of variety. And that's basically it for the Prismrivers - they're a colourful lot, each one with as much personality as the other, each contributing her distinct share to the general din that we get from them. Individually they're not much to look at, but put together their presence can easily overwhelm that of other characters' - there's certainly more volume to them than to Letty, Chen or Alice. I don't really feel I've done the Prismrivers justice, so if anyone has anything to say, please do. Lyrica (Keyboard) - The youngest sister. Starts the entire piece with some beautiful keyboard. When her other sisters are in the foreground, she plays some rhytmic support beats percussion style. She's described as the keyboardist and percussionist of the group, so it fits that she would be some rather rhythmic support beats on that keyboard. She's described as the sly one that likes to make her sisters do the work, the fact that she slips down into the supporting rhythmic section a lot of the time reflects it. In any case though a complete analysis of the sisters is a must so here it goes. Lunasa (Violin) - The eldest sister. She's very quiet and calculating in personality. According to her official profile, she prefers solo performances. After Lyrica's intro, she's brings in the main melody with precision. She gives up her spot rather quickly to Merlin though. She's described as someone who hates cheating and believes in fairness in her official profile, so the fact that she steps down for Merlin may be that she's letting everyone have their turn in the spotlight. Merlin (Trumpet) - The middle sister. She's the happy-go-lucky one of the group and is always rather excited. Her trumpet sections are usually very loud, fast, and sporadic. This reflects her vibrant attitude and her desire for the spotlight. Even when all three sisters are jamming out, Merlin is usually the one most prominently heard. Youmu Konpaku - Hiroari Shoots a Strange Bird ~ Till When. Every time I hear this I get the feeling of inevitable, colourful and prettily arranged death. This isn't irrelevant - Hiroari Shoots a Strange Bird explodes into fast-paced pipe organ and piano and doesn't let go even when changing gears into its melody. This is Youmu through and through - poweful, explosive and unrelenting. However, Youmu is also surprisingly simple. Her melody is no more than 8 bars long, repeated in one different key, then back to the original key. Of those 8 bars, it's basically 4 bars repeated twice. But goshdarnit, those few bars will be repeated with the force of a thousand suns (or one overdrive guitar, in this case), as Youmu doesn't appear to be able to do much else. Now, consider that melody played on something far more mellow - flute, cello, something like that, and a smidge slower. It's a very pleasant melody, actually, quite lyrical, with a bit of longing, maybe. Youmu is actually quite emotional, just those emotions are expressed through the filter of the "shoot first, ask questions later" approach that is established in the introduction. It's unfair to say that this is how she would always behave, however - imagine, in, say, a movie, where you might have a character with a central theme, which might have variations based on situation - a high-octane rock variation for fighting, a mellow flute-and-violins variation for introspection, a majestic horn variation for those walking-slowly-down-a-corridor moments... I feel that this particular rendition of Hiroari is simply Youmu's "fighting" theme, showing a unilateral, unwavering Youmu when she's repelling intruders - powerful, ruthless, fast. She will still remain refreshingly simple, however, with her 2x4-bar melody. Yuyuko Saigyouji - Bloom Nobly, Cherry Blossom of Sumizome ~ Border of Life As is befitting a final boss, and much like Septette, Bloom Nobly is chock-full of character. Obviously, it's very different from Septette in the character that it presents. I'll split by section as appropriate. We start with a guitar-and-piano motif that will stay with us for large sections of the piece, comfortable and quietly establishing a main theme. It is a melodic motif, with warm harmonies, albeit played somewhat harshly on the piano. But Cosmic Mind this ain't, and Yuyuko's patience can run dry - the warm harmony is replaced by menacing chords that only seem to grow in power every iteration, towering over the listener and strongly suggesting that he take matters seriously. Once the listener is properly humbled, the piece explodes into the main melody again, at full power, melodic as before but with far more volume and density to it. Yuyuko is herself through and through, and her nature remains whether she is calm or wrathful. Yuyuko will establish her dominance, but not through manipulation, like Septette's Remilia, or brutality, like U.N. Owen's Flandre, but through sheer force of will. Yuyuko is merciful, however. She will not impose more than she has to - she will let the listener rest, as her theme winds down into a gentle set of piano arpeggios, going nowhere really, not suggesting any developments, just carrying the piece along like some meaningless small talk. But Yuyuko is Yuyuko, and her very presence imposes an overwhelming will if she does not intentionally suppress it. Once again the powerful trumpet theme takes over in a different melody. Yuyuko has more to her than just seen at first impression, certainly - imagine the melody that takes over played alone, without any accompaniment, and in, say, flute or clarinet. The melodic line is fanciful, whimsical, self-indulgent, perhaps a bit playful. The characteristics, perhaps, of a slightly spoiled, somewhat selfish child or teenager. Yuyuko does not mind showing this side of her, and might be even willing to do so once the formalities of "who's boss here" are settled. She, however, probably does not realize the filter through which this side of her passes - her overwhelming, mind-numbing power - so effortlessly does the melody merge with the instrumental power reserved for gods and demons. The listener is absolutely blasted by playful whimsy, and has no choice but to submit. Every once in a while she'll realize that she's crowding the listener and hangs back - during these moments the listener gets a chance to collect themselves, before Yuyuko continues in her usual vein, and once more the listener just has to brace and hope for dear life. One final consideration - those moments of rest are extremely precise, very carefully dividing her outbursts of will. Perhaps Yuyuko is more aware of her charisma than one might think, and knows exactly how to use her power to greatest effect without burning out the listener. That in mind, the image of Yuyuko as manipulative chessmaster that we sometimes get in canon and fanon is rather appropriate. So that's the Yuyuko we get - 50% spoiled princess, 50% charismatic chessmaster, 100% willpower. Ran Yakumo - A Maiden's Illusionary Funeral ~ Necro-fantasy. Oof. Far more complicated than U.N. Owen, with a far more complicated character to show for it. Despite how often she comes up in fanon (and in canon, every once in a while), I'm still not able to really come up with a key phrase that really captures the essence of Ran, so maybe this piece will help. First off, there is one melody in the entire thing, approximately 16 bars long - a set of 8 bars that repeats with a fun key change at the end of the second set. What adds the complication is how the melody keeps varying. First of all, however, we get a long, tense introduction, with a bell-like piano drone in the background to add a solemn feeling. Ran is a serious entity, and serious is how the listener would see her at first glance, and well afterward - this introduction comes back every once in a while to remind us who we're dealing with. The melody comes in as a slight surprise - it's very open and emotional for such a sober introduction, and the listener might think that Ran is quite open-hearted, just occasionally hiding under a veneer of seriousness. That feeling quickly falters once the listener realizes that the open-heartedness is just a well-rehearsed act. Ran keeps her true self cunningly hidden just behind the act - the melody keeps varying its texture and instrumentation, occasionally letting the background to the front, hiding itself before coming back, to the point where it's somewhat hard to tell that it's still there at all (xylophone bit - can't miss it), but when you hear that characteristic key-change, the listener realises that no, it's still there, she's still completely in control. She uses that characteristic 'tell' of hers - that brief one-chord key-change - to reinforce her self-control, almost taunting the listener. It's hard to tell what drives these constant alterations in attitude, but it's probably not simple fun and games, as her 'serious' theme keeps reminding us. I would think that gives a satisfactory view of Ran - grimly focused, able and willing to use trickery and manipulation to fulfill her objectives, whatever those may be - she is most certainly not letting anyone know with that poker-face of hers that shows only what she wants it to show. Yukari Yakumo - Necrofantasia. No matter what she thinks, Yukari is startlingly similar to Yuyuko. The introduction overflows with effortless power, the melody keeps flowing forth, fast and furious, as if someone turned on the tap just a smidge and the water pressure blew off the sink, along with a good chunk of the wall. Attempting to stem the flow only leads to a gradual and unstoppable buildup of pressure that only doesn't level the rest of your house because it's cut off at the source, by the source. And then we actually get to the melody - Yukari actually shows up. Now, this is a remix of Maiden's Illusionary Funeral, so the piece has to follow some sensibilities in being similar to its source in some way. Here the similarity is in the melody - perhaps Yukari has an act of her own that she puts on to get what she wants, but it really doesn't matter. The overwhelming intensity and power that were established in the introduction blaze through her facade, subduing the listener before Yukari even has to put on airs. Let's make a comparison to Superman, or, specifically, how Booster Gold (or was that Blue Beetle?) sees him in that one Crisis story. If you're not familiar with Superman, consider Bleach's Zaraki Kenpachi, more specifically how he is perceived by Ichigo just before Kenpachi actually turns up. If you're not familiar with Kenpachi or Superman...what the heck are you doing on this forum? In all seriousness - the listener is well-aware of the power that simply washes off Yukari. He is awed by her might. She's probably well-aware of it as well, and thinks she's pretty awesome too, but doesn't use it as a shortcut to achieve her goals. Unfortunately, she rarely gets to use her mind or wits or charm, since that power is plenty - it is as if God wished for you to go out and do something highly unfavourable to yourself and decided to convince you to do so by presenting a well-thought-out and convincing argument - sure, he might have convinced you with the argument, but you'd likely be out of the door before he said, "Now listen here..." That's enough for me to show Yukari - blindingly powerful, so much that she subdues others with her mere presence. She, herself, has trouble suppressing it, only reigning it in every once in a while when she might realize those around her are huddled in fetal positions. She might have schemes and plans, but rarely has to really work for them, even if she might wish to. It's possible that she's a loner (she, in fact, is, canonically, but hey, got to have something), as she has trouble expressing anything beyond that power, and others characterize her by that, instead of whatever nature she possesses. It might be that she doesn't even care about revealing her true nature any more, as there are no hints to her beyond the Ran-like facade, if you can see it without blinding yourself. Meh I may be a bit of on the Marvel/DC and the Bleach reference but I hope you get the picture. Immaterial and Missing Power As for Immaterial and Missing Power - unless I'm sorely mistaken, we have only one new character introduced across the entire game. That said, Reimu and Marisa get some tunes as well, but I'll leave off those two until Imperishable Night. Suika Ibuki - Onigashima in the Fairyland. Somewhat similar to Necrofantasia, but both more suppressed and more uninhibited - we have the buildup of power, but without the initial blast. We have this buildup relaxing, but not because it was forcefully cut off, but because there's suddenly nothing more on the other end and everything is sucked back, as it were. The melody comes in as if nothing had happened, a whimsical, self-contained tune no longer than 8 bars. This is Suika at her core. Perfectly happy with herself as she is - no far-reaching consequences, only a bit of self-indulgent fun. The only thing reminding the listener of that pressure they felt earlier are the deep, almost inaudible broken chords in the accompaniment. It is entirely likely that the whimsical fun that Suika indulges in might go somewhat out of control. The tune quickly becomes more forceful with the addition of trumpet on top of the piano. A first thought is that this is uncontrolled, subconscious, if it weren't for that part that follows immediately after - once again the focus is on the buildup of pressure exclusively, abandoning the melody, as if Suika is unsatisfied with the power she's been putting out, and stops whatever she's doing and starts gathering herself. Not for anything malevolent or ominous, mind you - the whimsy is still there, so she just...wants to have fun, harder. Fortunately, Suika is, well, forgetful. All that power just goes to waste and dissipates, possibly tripping up the listener, who was bracing for a major outburst and instead got a few bars of extremely simple broken chords with practically no accompaniment. As if Suika forgot what she was doing at the peak of her 'charge' and just sort of stood there, a silly expression on her face, wondering what the heck she was just doing. Deciding it probably wasn't that important, anyway, the melody goes off in a different direction - a somewhat sober direction, with a melancholy feel to it - the melodic notes are long, legato with accompaniment in minor. The listener might wonder at this character change, only to have the melody wink at him with the inclusion of some scattered notes in the upper octaves, reminding us of the light-hearted whimsy present all the way at the beginning - this is a private joke between Suika and the listener, she's having fun by putting on some sort of drunken melancholy act. And drunken it is, as Suika suddenly hams it up with the melody exploding in trumpets, that 'wink' still there if you listen to it. Towards the end the melody loses some of its drive, the drums suddenly disappearing then reappearing again, the high-pitched trumpets moving into a lower key - Suika tires of this particular game, and the melody moves on, sitting on the spot for a while, wondering what to do next, growing more and more restless, before remembering what it was doing in the first place and returning to the original melody from the beginning. So that's Suika - plenty of power there, and she knows how to use it. Unlike Yukari, she's more able to channel that power into the shenanigans that form her daily life. It also helps that she occasionally can't remember what she was up to a few moments previously, so her power is never focused in one place or direction. She does like her shenanigans, however - most of her time is spent having self-indulgent fun in a way that only she really understands, occasionally at the expense of others, someone possibly being in on the joke every once in a while, but only if Suika lets them. Wriggle Nightbug - Stirring an Autumn Moon ~ Mooned Insect Wriggle's not much to look at, really - she's a first boss, after all, and rarely does a first boss carry with her earth-shattering complications. Unfortunately, I'm not really familiar with Wriggle beyond the rather outlandish doujins, so I might not do her character justice. The introduction keeps stuttering, not sure where, or when, to start. That little motif is plenty to get going, so it's less a lack of preparation, but more of a rookie inexperience, a first-time nervousness kind of thing, where Wriggle has to take a few deep breaths before rushing onto the stage. There's a reasonable amount of instrumentation in the rather simple melody (8 bars) that doesn't develop into anything else, and it does switch around from piano to trumpet and back to piano - a solid first-time performance with honest attention to detail - as much detail as Wriggle can handle, anyway. A bit forgettable, perhaps, without many quirks - all I can pick up are the little bits of ornamentation in the high-pitched piano melody to give it that bit of a twinkle - Wriggle's a firefly, after all. That's plenty for me to describe Wriggle - refreshingly quirk-light, someone to give an honest first effort even when inexperienced, mayhem a bit self-conscious, but rarely letting that stop her from performing. Imagine that one beginner in a crowd of experienced performers (of some sort) who goes out on stage and does their thing - it's not as good as that of the pros, but you clap anyway because it's got an honest effort behind it, and you reckon that beginner could well go far with practice. As I said - if someone has a more thorough view on Wriggle, do speak up. Mystia Lorelei - Deaf to all but the Song. Right then. I had a bit of a rant going about Mystia, but realized it was just taking up precious space. To summarize - I disagree with the moe-fication of Mystia. Hopefully my analysis will explain why. Deaf to all but the Song is cruel. That introduction confuses and scares - the repeating cadences are in minor, but that's no gentle A minor - that's the forceful E minor (I think, I don't have perfect pitch, but I like to think my relative pitch is decent) that means they're there to be inflicted. Moving an octave lower moves the chords into a menacing growl right at the listener's ear before spreading all around to envelop the listener, leaving him no escape. The melody is fairly innocuous, much like I suppose Mystia is, visually (the usual 8 bars, repeated with a difference at the end). The trumpet comes in soon enough to show the actual unique feature of Mystia - that high-pitched birdsong that slowly, but inevitably, becomes part of the melody, before becoming the melody itself... And the listener suddenly loses sight of Mystia, and all he sees or hears are the encroaching darkness in the repeating cadences from the beginning, with the bird song of the trumpet far above, laughing, taunting, finally exploding in an ecstatic shout of triumph. Mystia is a cruel hunter who enjoys playing with her prey. She does not play fair, she will use trickery and deceit to hunt and she will revel in the kill. There is no mercy in her, no regret for her actions - she is not crazy, she's just evil. I wrote the bit about Mystia before I talked about Gensokyo as a positive setting, so I'll be willing to amend the "kill" bit - modern Gensokyo is apparently a place where no youkai eats humans any more, according to Word of God, so I'd recharacterize Mystia not as a sadistic killer, but as a sadistic prankster. Not evil but immoral. Keine Kamishirasawa - Plain Asia. I think the piece title doesn't give Keine justice. The piece is far from plain, there are unfathomable depths to it that it doesn't let you investigate simply because you'd drown before you see them all. The introduction offers no hints at what is to come. The melody starts off in a careful and calm piano study, made somewhat aloof by the trumpet that tends to turn upwards into higher pitch. The introduction is quite short, made even shorter by being split into two characteristic parts – the unassuming Keine and the aloof Keine – suggesting that, despite her calm demeanor, she is somewhat short-tempered and refuses to be seen as inconsequential. When slighted thus, Keine’s response is to demonstrate just how deep she is. For the first time (possibly ever, I don’t hear it in any game previously) ZUN uses that electronic sound that sounds like unworded vocals – the closest thing to Ominous Latin Chanting that he can come to reasonably. The melody is gone, there’s only the draw of those long, chanted notes pulling in the listener, who might be surprised at this rather sudden development. The draw ends, and a fast-paced study takes over, completely different from the introduction. The melody is not forceful, not brimming with power, but it’s certainly confident, practiced, slightly chastising of the listener for his assumptions. But this might not be enough for Keine. Before even finishing with this development, she begins to pull even deeper, all the while demonstrating her point in her collected and practiced manner, before realizing her aggression, and rapidly pulling back to safety, to her usual self. However, by now the listener is well-aware of Keine’s hidden depths, and the inexorable draw is evident behind her unassuming introductory melody. Perhaps she chastises the listener for a while for spacing out, the trumpet adding a bit of exclamation to the end of the track. I’m not too confident about this analysis – the two melodies are straightforward enough, the transition making the piece unique. So I’ll go with Keine being a person with two sides to her, and possibly more that she hides from the listener. Despite this she is not schizophrenic – she is perfectly balanced, perfectly in touch with herself, aware that her mannerisms might scare but willing to use the weirder aspects of her to prove a point – and she will not push any further: she respects others and any limitations they might have. Marisa Kirisame - Love-Coloured Master Spark It occurs to me immediately how often I've heard the theme when fighting Marisa as a boss as opposed to listening to the track by itself - my mind overlays the whmmmmmmmm sound of the Master Spark at certain points in the piece, and it keeps seeming to me that without those, it lacks something. Fortunately, it's kinda there in the music at 1:18, so a homage has been made and all is well. The introduction is short, mostly there to establish a few first beats for the piece, and quickly makes way for the melody. Clocking in at 11-ish seconds, I think it's the shortest introduction we've had yet. That already says something about Marisa - she's not one to ramble or beat about the bush. She understands the need to establish who's who and what's what, and to make sure a spade is a spade, and will be absolutely charming about it for the first couple of seconds (extremely melodic trumpets, within a very comfortable hearing range - never too high to be shrill or too low to growl), before tossing decorum out of the window and adopting a familiarity with the listener to perhaps an uncomfortable degree (to the listener) - the melody that follows is extremely open-hearted about its optimism, almost child-like, completely unashamedly replete with the melodic line hopping happily all over the place, full of ornamentation. Still completely charming though, never harsh on the ears by pitch or amount of instrumentation used. Hell, even the instrument used for the melody - some sort of pipe organ, I believe - is so very gentle, none of those trumpets that we've had previously. It is that charm that binds the piece together so well - the melody has three distinct parts, the first two played in pipe organ, with relatively light accompaniment, to really put the listener at ease. For the third the trumpets are introduced, but so organically that it doesn't shock or worry (the motif clearly requested that some more instrumentation be added, and there was nothing else to add besides things ZUN doesn't usually use). That last part does carry a distinct power that has built up without anyone noticing - the melody is what is usually described as "triumphant", with a strong complexity in the accompaniment, although the accompaniment never overshadows the melody - it's always Marisa first, her power second, always naturally, never threatening. And then the melody appears to loop, with a few minor changes, but nothing unexpected. The listener is aware of the power that Marisa holds, occasionally noticing it bubbling behind her utterly open and positive exterior, but compared to the things they've experienced, Marisa seems to be nothing more than a happy-go-lucky, optimistic, ordinary (magician) girl. BAM, giant laser too close to your face for comfort at 1:18, blowing away something in the distance, forcing a bit of a double-take, the listener going "where did that come from?" Looking back at Marisa, she's just the same as ever, the distant threat (or nonthreat) out of her mind already. The listener won't get any reasons for Marisa nearly blowing his head off - Marisa won't give them since the situation's already passed. Perhaps there weren't any, perhaps she was in control, or, perhaps, on the contrary, she fudged the spell - none of it matters, problem's over. Marisa has none of the intensity we might get from the other protagonists in the series. She's very open about herself and her feelings, which usually means her optimism shines like a beacon. She's also pleasant to be around unless you hate happy people - her mannerisms rarely grate, she's rarely too much to handle (though she might get a little loud for certain tastes - the trumpets are quite powerful towards the end of the third part of the melody). She knows her power well, but she always considers things as herself, not as someone with an array of magical firepower - her power never overwhelms her personality. She also has a tendency to shoot giant lasers at things, usually to those things' extreme surprise. Reimu Hakurei - Maiden's Capriccio ~ Dream Battle I think I've got it now: Capriccio is cold. Unlike Master Spark the instrumentation has a piercing quality to it, presenting the melody to the listener without caring whether the listener receives harm or not. Having now written my analysis, I realise it's also much more than that, but that coldness is a key factor. The first few seconds are unique across all the music in Touhou so far – it’s an alien sound, completely lacking any indication of what is to come. It’s also built on a diminished chord, thus having a frightening quality to it. It is an intense, withering stare directed at the listener, daring them to come closer – Reimu is sizing them up, her distrust, or even hostility, showing clearly. Suddenly she’s done sizing up, and her attitude becomes that of calculated force. The two cadences presented in this sequence are very textbook, and presented thus in a practiced manner without any deviations. Once again, these are overt challenges – aggressive declarations. Imagine a hostile police officer asking your name and occupation before arresting you by stating them and having you agree – he is playing by the book, but he doesn’t like you, and doesn’t have to show it. In fact, I’m tempted to say this is the bit where Reimu declares Spell Card rules in a sharp tone that allows no argument. I think this is something to consider throughout the piece as a fundamental fact: Reimu doesn’t like you. She probably doesn’t hate you, but she won’t be chummy for the hell of it like Marisa would. She will make sure the listener is well-aware of her dislike by colouring her declaration somehow – a facial expression, an intonation, perhaps – demonstrated by the bubbling piano underlay that sits in the upper octaves, almost coming over the chords, but never actually doing so. Once the declarations are done, this attitude will come to the forefront, but audibly – and incredibly reluctantly - die out once Reimu’s probably realized she’s made herself clear. This attitude would probably continue if Reimu wasn’t the complicated oddity she actually seems to be. The second melody goes from stone-cold to forced, desperate outburst with the simple addition of overdrive (I think) guitar on top of the regular melody line, and those fast-paced piano undertones of dislike suddenly seem to develop into a powerful statement for wistfulness. When we move back to the challenges presented initially, they’ve lost their edge, as if Reimu wasn’t quite so sure any more of her objective. She’s not letting the listener in on her emotions though – the melody quickly moves back into assertion (the one played initially after the dying-down piano), keeping its strength for a few repetitions before falling into its own trap and following the line of the overdrive guitar as before. Maiden’s Capriccio is hard to interpret, it’s incredibly busy, with overtones and undertones, variations and subtleties that can be analysed to Hell and back, and one could still miss a critical point. I’ll try my best. Reimu, ultimately, has trouble understanding herself. This has led to her putting up a hostile façade to most interactions, but this often turns out for the worse, as she begins to second-guess herself, realizing that she does not know what will show when she drops her hostility. She will keep trying to understand herself better, and does not care if this confuses others, harms them, or attracts them. It is not obvious why she will not let others in on her troubles, why she insists on this introspection being hers alone, despite never having any progress with it. Maybe that artificial feeling of dislike towards everyone that she has cultivated has rubbed off on her actual personality and she has trouble letting go of that as well. Reisen Udongein Inaba – Lunatic Eyes ~ Invisible Full Moon This piece is less a continuous description of Reisen’s character more than it is a set of clips taken at random points in her daily life, showing widely varying character aspects that come together to show us a great view of Reisen's personality. The introduction sounds strange, no two words about it. *checks* Yep, I’ve gone over something like this before, so you might find some familiar elements if you compare Lunatic Eyes to Doll Judgment. The repeating themes oscillate up and down in an interval of a perfect fourth, leading to parallel fourths (against classical composition sensibilities) making up the entire introduction, telling us that yes, Reisen is strange, and is not going to get less so if you just keep on looking. Better yet, the arpeggio that makes up each individual part of the motif is a diminished minor chord by itself, hostile and unapproachable, making the entire section wonderfully twisted. Thus our first clip – a wary and unfamiliar Reisen is an alien Reisen. Imagine those stereoscopic pictures you get – a mass of shapes and colours, and if you don’t know what to do, how to look properly, it’s just not going to make any sense. Unfortunately, the stereoscopic picture that is Reisen is not going to give instructions on how to approach her properly. The second clip I like to think of showing Reisen doing whatever assignment she might have. It’s characterized by two distinct parts: chords carefully and slowly going down, and arpeggioes that get quicker and finer going up. Additionally, we have a refreshing break from the strange non-melody of the introduction, although there isn’t much melody in this part either, it’s still more melodic. The accompaniment is extremely minimal in this section, just a single broken chord, with no additional instrumental support. This leads to an interesting contrast between the up and down sections. In the down-moving section, the combination of simple chords moving down in a scale into a cadence at the end with little accompaniment suggests simplicity and lack of complication. On the other hand, the section going up starts off simple, but becomes quicker and quicker as it reaches the top, culminating in a series of extremely precise and detailed arpeggioes, which, when combined with a simple accompaniment, suggests extreme focus on one single thing, removing any potential distractions. What does that say? I feel it says that Reisen comes in two flavours – simple and straightforward at one time, but equally capable of intense detail and concentration at another, and she does not have any real preference between the two, applying each as required. She can easily differentiate these two aspects, and never allows them to mix – she is thus careful and diligent in her work. She rarely allows emotion to colour her professional input. Third clip starts with that unmissable rock guitar. Clearly it says one thing – Reisen rocks! This section is rich in instrumentation, loud and boisterous, in a major key, daring to switch from the piano to the trumpets. This, I would like to think, is Reisen off-duty and amongst friends. She is outgoing and generous, eagerly voicing her thoughts, letting positive emotion colour them. It is as if all those suppressed feelings in the first and second clips just explode here – this is the only real melodic section in the piece. The melody itself is nothing to look at, the usual 2x8-bar fare with a bit of a variation in the second set of 8 bars, but it’s not the melody that is important here – it’s the contrasting outburst that really makes this section live. I don’t have much more to say about Reisen – she is very professional, very serious in separating her work from play, she is like the person who you know is seen as a complete weirdo by others, but they make sense to you completely because you know them, and, in fact, she is a very social and outward person, but only at the appropriate time. Eirin Yagokoro - Gensokyo Millennium ~ History of the Moon Much like Septette and Cherry Blossom of Sumizome before it, Millennium is chock-full of stuff, obviously fitting for a 1000+-year-old space nurse. A large part of this piece is its majesty, its loftiness and its aged elegance. The first 22 seconds are a pan up, as it were, of the listener's perception all the way up Eirin's imposing figure to the piercing gaze of her eyes. The sonorous piano chords and carefully-measured arpeggios combined with long, powerful trumpet notes accompanying show us the presence that Eirin commands, her charisma, combined with a shrewd perception of her surroundings. The first part starts with trumpets playing the melody supported by strings - violins, specifically, playing long, legato notes. The piece lifts the listener way up in the clouds and stays there, the sweeping melody of the trumpet and strings presenting an immense feeling of freedom in a vast space, and, importantly, of one's being totally in control there. The melody suddenly loses focus of the surroundings as the instrumentation changes to what I can only describe as down-to-earth. The melody's still the same, so we're still looking at the same person, in the same place, but the focus has moved from the freedom to the humility. Don't get me wrong, that does not mean simplicity - the instrumentation comprising the melody has, from what I can tell, pipe organ, piano and guitar, giving a thick, worldly sound. The strings have gone so as not call our attention back to the vastness that's being hidden behind Eirin. Eirin is naturally majestic, easily earning the "larger-than-life" descriptor. That does not stop her from noticing the everyday things around her, from stooping down to understand those without a force of personality to match hers. She is thus compassionate. The second part is a connecting passage to the third, here to lift the listener to the vastness of space where Eirin is so comfortable. Imagine this part as the takeoff of a rocket: the resonant piano chords and arpeggios sort of mill about on the spot, seemingly impatient to get somewhere - the rocket enters its ignition sequence and the flames and fumes obscure the whole launch platform as the rocket unbearably slowly rises into the air, and then those octaves come in, mirroring the might of the craft's inexorable movement upwards, the arpeggios getting higher and higher in pitch... And the third part is back where the first one started, and here to explore Eirin in her natural state of majesty. The instrumentation will remain trumpet and piano for a while, and texture-wise notes are always long and sparse, especially in the melody, to maintain that open-space feeling. The accompaniment quickly increases in note density, however, to contrast the melody: this is something that we've noticed in other characters, something that shows power bubbling just below the surface - in Eirin's case it elegantly flows from the accompaniment to her "majestic" character, so I'd say that it's Eirin's power that gives her that force of personality. It does not flow out unchecked like in Yukari's case, but, rather, it does not need to be controlled - it's natural flow is completely within Eirin, if you understand what I'm trying to say. It's interesting that even when the melody switches gears by changing key it stays the same, with the same accompaniment and texture - Eirin remains herself regardless of what she does. She is not one to trick with false pretenses, instead she will simply approach a different situation with a different approach, but with her usual character. A small intermezzo has ZUN riffing away. Much like in Septette, this part sounds improvised (I means emphasis on freeform playing around the melody, like jazz improvisation, not poorly-prepared, you naysayers you), showing Eirin has a tendency, maybe a bit like Remilia, to self-indulgent outbursts, something strongly at odds with the rest of her theme. These are rare and short-lived as Eirin catches herself - or someone else catches her at it - and hastily returns to her usual attitude - but this time it might be a bit of an embarrassed act, as the improvisational motif can be clearly heard in the background. I would think that Eirin does not like being caught when not in full control of her situation. I would like to theorize that Eirin might be slightly ashamed at having picked up distinctly Earthly mannerisms, specifically selfishness and self-indulgence. Despite that, they remain a guilty pleasure to her. |
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#10
12-02-2008, 06:04 AM
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Yeah, Gunslinger Girl is a pretty good series overall and I can see it working for a RP. I wish I could've joined it... bah, I blame my screwed up schedule -_-;
Slayers... I only saw a clip of it on DirectTV when I still had satellite, but it seemed really old-fashioned. I might look at it out of boredom, but it sounds like it's been around a long time and I wonder why it's still around as well.
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