Imperishable Night is an iconic entry in the series for a very good reason. I may have my gripes with the endgame, but between the lovely night-time atmosphere, one of the most fun stories in the series, the utterly wild amount of content, and some of the best boss fights period, it has a lot to love. But most of all, it's yet another entry in my Top 3 Touhou soundtracks. Beloved for its iconic piano and stellar-across-the-board second half, Imperishable Night's music is easily some of ZUN's best.
Eastern Night Vignette
I don't think any other title theme in the series sets the tone this well. Eastern Night Vignette's spacey synths and sparse piano perfectly capture Imperishable Night's vibe, and makes for one of the best iterations of Theme Of Eastern Story in the entire franchise.
5/5 Stars
Illusionary Night - Ghostly Eyes
Ghostly Eyes is pretty good, but not one of my favorite first stage themes. It does mostly stick to that one melody, but the driving percussion, eerie atmosphere, and strong instrument choices do still carry it.
4/5 Stars
Stirring An Autumn Moon
Pretty good first boss theme, but just like the character herself, not super remarkable. While short, Stirring An Autumn Moon has a lot of pretty great musical flourishes like the plucky acoustic intro, those ghostly synths that pop in at points, and the great electric guitar accompaniment that shows up in the second half.
4/5 Stars
Song Of The Night Sparrow
Imperishable Night's central instrument is the piano and this is the first song where that really becomes apparent. Song Of The Night Sparrow is already great for its fast pace and sense of urgency, but it's the numerous absolutely bonkers piano solos that really make the track.
4/5 Stars
Deaf To All But The Song
As far as the early game goes, this is easily my favorite theme. It's such a banger from start to finish, with an endlessly catchy main motif that's just melodic enough to fit Mystia, and a fantastic blend of elegant piano, brilliantly-used ZUNpets, hardcore guitars, and even a bit of a techno element that would only get heightened in the Phantasgmagoria version.
5/5 Stars
Nostalgic Blood Of The East
The stage themes just keep getting better. Nostalgic Blood Of The East starts off as a pleasant breather after the high intensity of Mystia's theme, with a super catchy melody to boot. But then the chorus comes in and the song just kicks into high gear, with some energetic percussion and a great piano tune to end the song on a high note.
4/5 Stars
Plain Asia
Plain Asia is a song I like more and more as I continue to listen to it. While I initially passed it off as yet another repetitious single-melody boss theme, the way the track resembles some of the final boss themes is really cool, and that piano solo bit is absolutely fantastic. It also helps that the melody itself is pretty good and once again makes great usage of IN's staple piano.
4/5 Stars
Retribution For The Eternal Night - Imperishable Night
And here we are, the point at which IN's soundtrack officially becomes perfect. Hearing this song for the first time and discovering that ZUN turned the Theme Of Eastern Story into a fast-paced heart-pumping stage theme was absolutely mind-blowing. I love how relentless this track is, it's one of the speediest songs in the series but by focusing on piano and ZUNpets, it doesn't cross the line into overwhelming either. And if you've played this stage before, you'll probably know that this theme also has hands down the finest stage sync in the franchise. I adore Retribution, it's a high point in an already outstanding soundtrack.
5/5 Stars
Maiden's Capriccio - Dream Battle
Reimu and Marisa's themes are remixes from the PC-98 era, but I think they're both vast improvements on the original versions solely for how energetic and bombastic are. Far faster-paced and featuring way more electric guitar, these boss themes feel like ZUN just cranked the original themes up to eleven and I love that about them. Maiden's Capriccio - Dream Battle in particular is noteworthy for some truly godly piano solos, even by this game's already high standards.
5/5 Stars
Love-Colored Master Spark
But if you thought Maiden's Capriccio was good, holy crap. Love-Colored Master Spark is just so bombastic and that fits Marisa perfectly. The intense percussion and electric guitar, the blaring ZUNpets, the sheer volume of all the instruments, this track is loud, fast-paced, exciting, and above all, badass. It's impossible to not bang your head like mad during this tune. And similarly to Retribution, kickstarting the chase phase of the boss fight just as the song reaches its apex is a transcendent experience.
5/5 Stars
Cinderella Cage - Kagome Kagome
While a bit slower paced (emphasis on a bit, it's still frantic as hell) than the last few themes, Cinderella Cage is still phenomenal. It might be the best and most majestic ZUNpet showcase of them all, showing that they can and will carry an entire piece almost entirely on their own. The way it uses a pre-existing nursery rhyme and makes it sound badass is also absolutely genius.
5/5 Stars
Lunatic Eyes - Invisible Full Moon
One of the most iconic themes in the series for a reason, Lunatic Eyes is noteworthy for the sheer dissonance between its first and second halves alone. The first half is a pretty menacing piano-heavy bit, and then the second half is a burst of ZUNpets and guitars in a triumphant chorus. Both halves are equally iconic in their own ways, but I mean come on, that chorus is pretty amazing.
5/5 Stars
Voyage 1969
I've been raving about the final boss themes and how they feel like the full encapsulation of everything the game had been building up to musically, but in the case of Imperishable Night, it's this theme. As the main cast finally takes off into space, you get this absolutely blissful and atmospheric piece of music that's pretty much all piano and ZUNpet. The piano flourishes are on another level entirely, the ZUNpet chorus is majestic, and the whole song keeps the fast pace that the rest of the game's soundtrack while introducing a more spacey vibe that fits the stage's aesthetic. To put it simply, this is one of the finest stage themes in the series and absolutely deserved of the praise many pile on it.
5/5 Stars
Gensokyo Millennium - History Of The Moon
Imperishable Night has a whopping two final boss themes this time, a rarity in the series, but I think Gensokyo Millennium is the better of the two. It is so grandiose and majestic, kickstarting off with a dramatic ZUNpet verse that just screams "YOU ARE IN OUTER SPACE", then continuing on with yet another Theme Of Eastern Story reprisal, and ending off with a godlike chorus that's almost on the same level as the Lunatic Eyes chorus, with just as much blaring ZUNpets, intense guitars, and insane piano solos. What a theme...
5/5 Stars
Flight Of The Bamboo Cutter - Lunatic Princess
Eirin has the super intense final boss theme, while Kaguya's final boss theme is far more elegant. I think the intro is the highlight here, it's such a simple but effective melody that encapsulates Kaguya's character perfectly, but the rest of the song is pretty stellar as well. The pre-chorus using the Voyage 1969 motif is great, and it uses the same loud triumphant chorus trick that the last two boss themes did. And damn it, it still works.
5/5 Stars
Voyage 1970
While I still adore the Border Of Life guitar solo, I do like Voyage 1970 a bit better solely for the fact it's based on one of my personal favorite themes. It's also a bit longer than Border Of Life, with a pretty fantastic electric guitar appearance in its second half.
5/5 Stars
Extend Ash - Hourai Victim
Did you think the streak of 5/5s would be over with the final boss themes? Hah! Tense and exciting, Extend Ash is one of the best extra stage themes in the series, with a super catchy piano riff, some fantastic ZUNpet usage, and a godly chorus.
5/5 Stars
Reach For The Moon, Immortal Smoke
Mokou's theme is just as intense as you'd expect from a character like her. While not as chaotic as the last two extra themes, I personally think it packs a bit more of a punch from how impeccably it's crafted. The main melody is so good, catchy, dramatic, and utterly beautiful. The distinctive ping-pong backing track is genuinely really good and keeps the tune moving at a brisk pace. The synths are biting and harsh without being ear-grating. The ZUNpet chorus is great as you'd expect it to be. And of course, that goddamn piano solo. Have I mentioned how much I like this soundtrack yet?
5/5 Stars
Evening Primrose
Okay, we made it through the best of it. Evening Primrose is a super chill Theme Of Eastern Story reprisal that might not be one of the best ending themes in the series, but still does its job really well. I don't love the slightly off-beat melody but the guitar and piano accompaniment are blissful enough to more than make up for it.
4/5 Stars
Eternal Dream - Mystic Maple
Maple Dream remix time! While I do think this version gets pretty vastly overshadowed by the godly album remix, and the main melody can similarly feel a bit off-beat, the iconic riff that made Maple Dream such a phenomenal credits theme is still here in spades, beautifully reimagined with Imperishable Night's token piano.
5/5 Stars
Eastern Youkai Beauty
This is the only game to have a Last Word theme, and that does end up doing Eastern Youkai Beauty a bit of a disservice. Without a theme to fit with, a character to apply to, or any other songs of its kind to compare it with, Eastern Youkai Beauty kinda just exists. However, it's still a pretty fun theme with a catchy melody and some great percussion.
4/5 Stars
Now this is a banger cast of characters, rich with history and lore, not a bad one in the whole group. Even some of the lower level bosses are great! And I've only grown to like them even more over time thanks to some stellar fan creations like The Immortal Who Saw The Death Of The Universe.
Wriggle Nightbug
Wriggle is the only IN character I'm not huge on and she's not even bad, just not super memorable outside of her uniquely androgynous design. The cape that looks like firefly wings is pretty clever though, and her ability to accidentally kick you out of the sky is pretty funny.
2/5 Stars
Mystia Lorelei
Mystia is one of my favorite Touhou characters and the easy highlight as far as the low-level cast goes. Her design can jump from adorable to menacing at a moment's notice, her boss fight is ridiculously fun, her music slaps, and she has so many hidden depths revealed through the books, like how she runs an eel stand or how she's in a freaking punk rock band with Kyouko (my favorite pairing in the series, by the way). Criminally, criminally underrated.
5/5 Stars
Keine Kamishirasawa
I've warmed up to Keine a lot over the years. I initially found her to be kinda dull, but the more I learn about her, the more I find her to be pretty cool actually. Her all-blue design is super pleasing, her were-beast form is a pretty badass gimmick, the fact that she teaches in her spare time is a great hidden depth similar to that of Mystia, and most of all, her odd friendship with the otherwise lonely Mokou is incredibly sweet.
4/5 Stars
Tewi Inaba
As far as mini bosses go, Tewi is definitely the one ZUN has fleshed-out the most, seeing as she would appear in two more mainline entries and well as a bunch of the mangas. Tewi is memorable for a similar reason to Remilia or Yuyuko. On the outside, she's a childish playful mischievous prankster who likes to put Reisen through the ringer. And yet, she's also one of the oldest and most knowledgable characters in the franchise, an incredibly skilled leader of all the other rabbits, and has a hidden mature side that she'll pull out when you least expect her to.
4/5 Stars
Reisen Udongein Inaba
Reisen is another one of my favorite Touhou characters because Stage 5 bosses are pretty much always amazing. She's a gun-wielding bunny girl in a suit who can make people go crazy which is already badass as hell, but it's really her backstory and personality that I find especially interesting. She's the relative straight man of the Eientei crew, but she's also dealing with some real trauma from her time as a slave under the Lunarians. The fact that she actually gets a full-on resolution to this in Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom where she returns to face off against the Lunarians and heads back home to officially declare herself a rabbit of Gensokyo is even cooler. ZUN rarely ever revisits a character like this and makes Reisen all the more special.
Though I do have to say, I despise how often Reisen gets abused especially in the fanworks. Abuse jokes aren't even funny to begin with, but it's especially not funny considering everything Reisen had to deal with on the moon.
5/5 Stars
Eirin Yagokoro
I'm split on Eirin. On one hand, she's a super intelligent and calculating character with a great final boss fight and theme, a terrifying backstory, and some really great moments in Silent Sinner In Blue. She also often plays the role of Gensokyo doctor which is pretty fun. However, her abuse of Reisen especially in the Inaba comics is dreadfully unfunny and does make me like her less as a character.
3/5 Stars
Kaguya Houraisan
Kaguya is yet another one of my favorite Touhou characters because this cast just does not let up in the slightest. Plenty of Touhou characters are based on actual fictional characters from myths and stuff, but none of them are as blatant as the series' Princess Kaguya pastiche. Kaguya's design is perfect, easily one of my favorites in the series, her carefree personality is a ton of fun especially when she drops it to fight Mokou the billionth time, and because she has all that lore behind her, her backstory is super deep and developed.
5/5 Stars
Fujiwara No Mokou
There's a lot to unpack about Mokou. There's her deep hatred for Kaguya, her wholesome friendship with Keine, her badass fire powers, her introverted loner personality, her similarly very complex backstory, but as a whole, it all adds up to a fascinating portrait of the consequences of being immortal. Mokou is alone because of her immortality, her friendship with Keine is as sweet as it is because she's able to get Mokou to open up despite all her baggage, and while Mokou does very much despise Kaguya, it's often mentioned that she also can't live without her either. Kaguya and Mokou are the only ones in Gensokyo (though Eirin is also immortal, she's not taking it as hard at least right now) who understand what each other is dealing with, so despite all their fighting, they need each other for their own sanities.
5/5 Stars
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