I'm pretty split on Lotus Land Story's soundtrack. I'd probably rank it over SoEW for its uniquely magical vibe and for having some of the best tracks out of the PC-98 games, but it can also feel a bit repetitive in how many of its tracks use similar melodies and tempos. It also contains a whopping eight bonus tracks this time, the most out of any Akyuu album, so prepare for a beefy post for this one.
Gensokyo - Lotus Land Story
Even my least favorite of the PC-98 title themes is still pretty great. The first thirty seconds are the highlight, it's super ominous and does a great job at getting you pumped up for the game ahead. The chorus that introduces the game's main leitmotif isn't anything too special, but I love the slow-paced bridge before the song loops.
4/5 Stars
Witching Dream
One of the more iconic first stage themes in the series, Witching Dream's main melody is so catchy and memorable that it mostly makes for the lack of a chorus. That key change just feels so distinctly Touhou.
4/5 Stars
Selene's Light
Marisa's first stage theme is a bit more fast-paced and propulsive than Reimu's. The main melody is super fast and energetic, and I honestly like it a bit better. However, Selene's Light is also a lot shorter, and the entire second half of the second is kinda just build-up, so it evens out.
4/5 Stars
Decoration Battle
Decoration Battle is a pretty great first boss theme. It's super dramatic and the main melody is incredibly addictive, once again making up for its short length and slightly repititous nature.
4/5 Stars
Break The Sabbath
This song is actually way better than I remembered it being. Break The Sabbath is pretty much all build-up, but it's a fantastic build-up. The song just keeps escalating and increasing in complexity at a great pace, and culminates in a pretty hype Mystic Oriental Love Consultation reprise at the end. It's the perfect length too, it doesn't drag on but it's nowhere near as short as the last few songs. Oh, and the percussion is absolutely wild.
5/5 Stars
Scarlet Symphony - Scarlet Phoneme
Well, so much for length. This entire song is just a pretty short melody repeated at different pitches. As with Decoration Battle, it's a great melody and the varying accompaniments do a decent job of keeping it reasonably fresh, but I do wish it had more meat to it.
4/5 Stars
Bad Apple
Everyone knows Bad Apple, it's one of the series' defining tracks. And while it's hard not to immediately picture that iconic music video, the original version of Bad Apple is still fantastic in its own right. I love the frantic feel the song has, that intro riff is so addicting, and the all-original chorus is a real banger. Definitely one of my favorite PC-98 tracks.
5/5 Stars
Spirit Battle - Perdition Crisis
Easily the best boss theme so far. Spirit Battle feels like it would fit perfectly if it was played by an orchestra, with a sweeping intro and an intense operatic verse. It's just as frantic as Bad Apple is, if not even moreso. The chorus is probably the weakest part of the song but at least there is one this time.
4/5 Stars
Alice Maestra
Why this song has the same name as a character ZUN would introduce in the next game I'll never know, but it's a fantastic little number. It's oddly chill for a stage theme, going for a more melancholic tone that works really well. The choice of synth used here also really helps give the song a real nostalgic vibe. It's long too, with lots of different segments that are equally memorable.
5/5 Stars
Maiden's Capriccio
Maiden's Capriccio will always be Reimu's defining theme, it just fits her character so well. It's fast-paced, upbeat, and has a slightly majestic feel to it. While I do prefer the more dramatic Dream Battle version, this is still a fantastic version of the theme, if anything for that distinct verse that it shares with Marisa's theme.
5/5 Stars
Vessel Of Stars - Casket Of Star
While not one of my favorite Marisa themes, Vessel Of Stars is still pretty amazing, which I guess is just a testament to how good Marisa's themes usually are. Compared to Capriccio, this theme is a lot grittier and more intense. It's super fast-paced, the shared leitmotif has a darker vibe to it, and the backing track goes absolutely nuts. I also think the original/Akyuu versions haven't really been topped, even the SWR versions is arguably one of the weaker remixes in that game.
5/5 Stars
Lotus Love
Lotus Love is pretty great, even if its melody is a bit on the simple side. It's really all the little touches that make it for me, like how the main melody cuts out for a bit in the intro, or the dreamy instrumetation for the main verse.
4/5 Stars
Sleeping Terror
Here we go, this is the good stuff. Yuuka's themes are so freaking good, easily the highlight of the game for me. Sleeping Terror's central riff is brilliant, and the way it's used in that slow intro to build up tension is just masterful. And once that main melody kicks in, man, it's so good! Eerie, intense, thrilling, it's an easy candidate for best theme in the game.
5/5 Stars
Dream Land
What a unique final stage theme. Where so many other games try to build up tension for the final boss, Dream Land is oddly relaxed. It's a great "calm before the storm" piece, all the while still having the gravitas to make it work as great build-up for the final battle against Yuuka. There isn't too much to it, but Dream Land does its job pretty well.
4/5 Stars
Faint Dream - Inanimate Dream
While Sleeping Terror (and a certain other version of the track) is a bit better, Faint Dream - Inanimate Dream is still one hell of a final boss theme. The main melody is absolutely chill-inducing, super dramatic and intense. Probably my favorite thing about the Lotus Land Story score is just how much gravitas and importance it lends to the Yuuka incident.
5/5 Stars
The Inevitably Forbidden Game
The Inevitably Forbidden Game is a solid but unremarkable extra stage theme. The verse is decently intense and I really like some of the compositional flourishes, but I kinda feel like it's not intense enough. TIFG could've been a real head-banger with some more forceful instrumentation and maybe a slightly faster tempo.
3/5 Stars
Illusion Of A Maid - Icemilk Magic
Illusion Of A Maid is kinda really lacking for an extra boss theme. It's got a solid intro, but the actual melody itself is pretty repetitive and simple. There isn't much intensity or excitement to it, and it does help that it gets far blown out of the water by the other extra theme.
2/5 Stars
Cute Devil - Innocence
Now that's more like it! Cute Devil - Innocence is one of my favorite extra boss themes, and packs an absolutely godly build-up and pay-off. The first two thirds of the song is mostly just the same ominous riff repeated over and over, though it keeps increasing in intensity, volume, and complexity. It starts getting really good once the percussion cuts out and the main instrument is replaced with a lower tone, but then it keeps building and building until it culminates in absolutely godly reprise of Sleeping Terror. That final segment is so perfect it makes the whole build-up worth it.
5/5 Stars
Days
Yep, that's a bad ending theme alright. Days is a very depressing piece of music, super sorrowful and melancholic. The dour riff, the wailing melody, it all adds up for a pretty good ending theme.
3/5 Stars
Peaceful
Peaceful is one of the, if not the least memorable ending theme in the series. It's definitely calm, but doesn't quite hit me in the feels like some of the better ending themes. The only really noteworthy part for me is how the melody interrupts itself at one point. Otherwise, it's eh.
2/5 Stars
Arcadian Dream
This is another theme I don't find super memorable. The verse sharing slight resembles to Witching Dream is pretty neat, but otherwise, it doesn't too much to really stand out.
2/5 Stars
Those Who Live In Illusions
While the shortest and probably the weakest of the name entry themes, Those Who Live In Illusions still packs a pretty great melody not unlike the one in Cute Devil. It's nice and eerie.
3/5 Stars
Bonus: Lotus Road
It's kind of a shame Lotus Road got dropped because it feels like it's so close to being a really good theme. It's got a pretty great melody and a fast pace befitting a first theme, with some Sleeping Terror similarities for good measure. The only issue with this version specifically is that it sounds empty, as if it could've used a few more instruments.
3/5 Stars
Bonus: Dreamy Pilot
As far as the original unused themes go, Dreamy Pilot is easily the best one. Originally meant to be the Stage 4 theme, it definitely has the intensity and fast-paced befitting the fight between Reimu and Marisa, more akin to Retribution Of The Imperishable Night. The transition from that tense pre-chorus to the loud and dramatic chorus is absolutely fantastic. The fact that it sounds a lot like a track from Twinkle Star Sprites makes it even better.
5/5 Stars
Bonus: Incomplete Plot
Incomplete Plot takes a long time to get going, with a build-up up over a minute that doesn't quite have the same level of escalation that Break The Sabbath or Cute Devil does. However, the pay-off in the chorus is enough to save the track, a super intricate and catchy solo.
4/5 Stars
Bonus: Border Land
Another one of those single melody tracks, with the loop this time resembling Maple Dream's intro but with a darker slant. The chorus using the pitches from Decoration Battle/Sleeping Terror is a really nice touch though.
4/5 Stars
Bonus: Magic Shop Of Raspberry
Yeah, this totally should've been the extra stage theme. Magic Shop of Raspberry has the urgency and intensity I wanted from that track in spades, and the similarities to Scarlet Symphony makes sense given Mugetsu and Gengetsu boasting similar designs to Kurumi. It's quite long too.
4/5 Stars
Bonus: Crescent Dream
Once again, why wasn't this the Staff Roll theme?! Crescent Dream is everything Arcadian Dream isn't. It has that same magical vibe as Maple Dream, with a haunting central riff that fades in and out over the course of the song. And that drop in the chorus is absolutely majestic.
5/5 Stars
Bonus: Decoration Battle Unused
This version of Decoration Battle has the same main hook, but has a different lead-in that doesn't quite flow as well as the finished version. It still sounds pretty great, but I do prefer the Decoration Battle we got.
4/5 Stars
Bonus: Faint Dream - Inanimate Dream Unused
Unlike with Decoration Battle, I actually like the unused version better! It's like the Necrofantasia to the original's Necro-Fantasy, with a lighter and more frantic tone and an entirely new and, in my opinion, better chorus.
5/5 Stars
Coming off the heels of Phantasmagoria's fantastic roster, the Lotus Land Story cast isn't nearly as developed, with one notable exception.
Orange
Her name is Orange. She's a youkai. She looks like Meiling. And that's pretty much it. Seriously though, it's kind of hilarious that LLS had a boss whose main gimmick is being a vague undefined youkai because man does that not age well when the series shifts to having a 90% youkai cast.
1/5 Stars
Kurumi
Kurumi is yet another vampire character, so she once again gets kind of overshadowed by the several other more interesting vampires in the series. Her design is pretty cute, but even that's overshadowed by Elis's star tattoo.
2/5 Stars
Elly
Once again, Elly isn't super developed as she's yet another gatekeeper like Kurumi. However, I can at least say her design is pretty great, pretty much solely for that badass scythe she carries with her. If you've seen my RWBY reviews, you should know by now that I think scythes are really cool.
3/5 Stars
Yuuka Kazami
Partially because she was brought back for Phantasmagoria, Yuuka is really the only Lotus Land Story character we know much about. She's not one of my favorites but I totally get her popularity, the juxtaposition of a flower-tending youkai being an incredibly deadly and at times sadistic force of nature is pretty great.
4/5 Stars
Mugetsu
Once again, we know nothing about Mugetsu. The extra stages in LLS in general feel weird and tacked on, Reimu and Marisa just go to her and Gengetsu's unspecified dream world that proceeds to never get explained. The concept of Mugetsu faking being a maid is pretty funny though, shame that didn't get explored.
2/5 Stars
Gengetsu
Similarly to Mugetsu, the only information we can actually glean on Gengetsu is from her theme. The song being called Cute Devil - Innocence only to actually be super dark and menacing paints a pretty interesting picture, only aided by her brutally hard boss fight. Definitely could've been a fascinating character if explored more.
3/5 Stars
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