And now, we finally arrive at the second Windows generation of Touhou, my personal favorite era as far as music is concerned. The stretch from Touhou 10 to 13 is pretty phenomenal in the sound department, with even the fighting games (Scarlet Weather Rhapsody) and some of the spinoffs (Double Spoiler) reaching truly towering heights for the series. While Mountain Of Faith may not be the best on a gameplay level, I just love the aesthetic and presentation of it, and its soundtrack is easily one of my favorites. It goes for a comfy naturalistic vibe that just screams autumn, you can't hear a single one of these tracks without imagining bold orange and red trees and leaves flying over the place. It's just plain pretty.
Sealed Gods
Sealed Gods does a great job of setting up Mountain Of Faith's more naturalistic vibe, with ambient rain sounds in the background, and a very grounded guitar melody carrying the song along. Even with how relaxing the Windows title themes are, this is one of the most relaxing.
5/5 Stars
A God That Loves People - Romantic Fall
I love the PC-98 sounding synth that's used at the start and end of this track, it gives Romantic Fall a lot of energy and momentum while also creating the vibe of a new start for the series. The rest of the song is great too though, from the catchy ZUNpet melody to the complex piano bits in the pre-chorus.
4/5 Stars
Because Princess Inada Is Scolding Me
This is one of the shortest themes in the entire series, so you'd think I'd find it lame and repetitive, right? Wrong, this song slaps! It's crams so much into a short amount of time, and has one of the most catchy and cheerful melodies in the series. This adorable remix only bolstered my appreciation of this track, it just makes me happy.
5/5 Stars
The Road Of The Misfortune God - Dark Road
While not one of my favorite Stage 2 themes, Dark Road is just plain catchy. It's hard not to clap along with the chorus, especially the second time around. I like how the opening riff seems menacing in a vacuum, but the upbeat instrumentation and fast pace makes the overall track feel more whimiscal than anything.
4/5 Stars
Dark Side Of Fate
That drop after the intro is so good. I don't know how ZUN managed to make a song that sounds like spinning but yeah, Dark Side Of Fate is a spinning song. With the mindblowingly fast piano melody, brisk percussion, and relentless pacing, Dark Side Of Fate is an incredibly energetic banger of a second boss theme.
5/5 Stars
The Gensokyo The Gods Loved
This is yet another iconic track that is absolutely deserved of its praise, and the point where the stage themes really step it up a notch (which makes sense considering you start your climb up the mountain now). It feels like the definitive Gensokyo theme, so proud, grand, sweeping, and flat-out beautiful. There's so much to love like the booming ZUNpets, the patriotic-sounding melody, and the lovely flutes, but man, that piano solo in the bridge is just too good.
5/5 Stars
Candid Friend
It's a testament to how good this soundtrack is that I find Candid Friend a bit unremarkable by its own standards because it's still a great theme with a cute waltz-like melody and a powerful ZUNpet chorus. It kinda just suffers from being right in between two of my favorite tracks of the series.
4/5 Stars
Fall Of Fall - Autumnal Waterfall
Fall Of Fall is an easy Top 3 favorite track in the franchise. For a while, it flat-out was my favorite. There's just something so nostalgic about it, maybe it's how it's a rare woodwind-centric piece, maybe it's the melancholy melody, maybe it's the pleasant autumn vibes, maybe it's the stellar piano solo. Whatever it is, it hits every time I listen to it.
5/5 Stars
Youkai Mountain - Mysterious Mountain
As per the usual, Aya's theme slaps. It lacks the distinct PoFV percussion but it has that same energy you'd expect from her themes, as well as one hell of a ZUNpet chorus. The swing melody, intense guitars, and romantic-sounding chorus makes for a theme that kinda sounds pirate-y, if you get what I mean? Either way, it's badass as hell.
5/5 Stars
The Japanese Wilderness The Girl Watched
Oh, boy, this theme... This is the only Touhou theme that can bring me to tears, it's so emotional and sweeping, and manages to accomplish so much all at the same time. It captures the sense of wonder of making it to the top of the tallest mountain in Gensokyo (that godly intro), it captures Sanae's tragic backstory and her unfamiliarity with Gensokyo (I like how her main boss motif is slightly shakier in this theme), and it's a climactic stage theme befitting Stage 5 (yet another booming ZUNpet chorus). And the fast-paced outro is just the cherry on top of an amazing song.
5/5 Stars
Faith Is For The Transient People
And Sanae's actual theme ain't half bad either. As a matter of fact, it's nearly as good. I mentioned how a shakier version of Sanae's leitmotif is used in the Stage 5 theme, but for her boss theme, it's given a more intense rock edge to it. It's cool to see ZUN slowly get better and better at pulling off his obligatory rock number, but this is the most convincing one yet, completing with heavy guitars, intense percussion, and even drumsticks knocking together.
5/5 Stars
Grave Of Being
Like many Stage 6 themes, Grave Of Being is a bit on the short side, but it has an enough energy and drive to keep it memorable. With a exhilirating ZUNpet chorus and the rock instruments from Sanae's theme being brought back, this final stage theme does a great job at hyping you up for the final battle ahead.
4/5 Stars
Suwa Foughten Field
Ah yes, the intro so good ZUN would continue to use it as the game over theme for the rest of time. You can't blame him, it's incredibly badass, and the rest of the theme is too. The first half as a whole is pretty good and plenty intense, but I can't understate how much the second half elevates this theme, from the brief moment of calm to the glorious ZUNpet chorus. Once again, it really feels like the culmination of Mountain Of Faith.
5/5 Stars
Tomorrow Will Be Special, Yesterday Was Not
This is one of the calmer extra stage themes but I think that works pretty well in its favor here. There's a real festive vibe to it that always manages to put me in a good mood, with a super catchy flute melody and percussion that almost sounds like clapping. It's definitely one of the more autumn-y themes in the game.
4/5 Stars
Native Faith
Dark Side Of Fate already had one of the craziest piano melodies in the series, but leave it to ZUN to one-up himself in the same game with a piano-heavy track that he didn't even think was possible to play in real life (marasy begs to differ). As any good extra boss theme should be, Native Faith is frantic and chaotic, but the unique focus on piano helps it stand out. The slightly calmer chorus is also great, fully encapsulating the cheery vibe of Mountain Of Faith.
5/5 Stars
Shrine At The Foot Of The Mountain
Even the ending themes are pretty great this time around. Similarly to the title screen, the focus on acoustic guitar makes for a really calming, comfy, and atmospheric track.
4/5 Stars
The Gods Give Us Blessed Rain - Sylphid Dream
This staff roll theme gets off to a pretty great start by bringing back the Kanako intro, only to abruptly shift gears into a more calming flute-heavy melody with the pouring rain sounds from Sealed Gods and even a brief bit from Dream Of A Spring Breeze. I do think that aforementioned transition is a bit too abrupt, but putting that aside, this is an absolutely lovely piece and a great way to cap off an amazing soundtrack.
4/5 Stars
Mountain Of Faith's cast is pretty good, lots of iconic characters here. But really, the stars of the show here is easily the Moriya family, one of my personal favorite sub-casts in the franchise.
Minoriko/Shizuha Aki
As per the usual, the first boss isn't much to write home about. The fall motif is nice, but aside from that, we really don't know much about this duo.
2/5 Stars
Hina Kagiyama
Despite being the misfortune goddess, Hina's kinda one of the sweetest youkai, taking other people's misfortunes and chasing them away for their own protection. She seems super sociable but by her nature, she has to isolate herself which is really quite sad. Also spin.
4/5 Stars
Nitori Kawashiro
Similarly to Rika and Rikako, Nitori is memorable for being the "tech guy" of the cast, constantly working on new inventions, tanks, and weaponry that otherwise probably shouldn't exist in Gensokyo. She can be a bit off-putting depending on how she's written (too greedy or withdrawn), but in general, I do think she's pretty great.
4/5 Stars
Momiji Inubashiri
Out of all the mini-bosses, Momiji is my personal favorite despite her not gettting all that much focus. Her design toes the line between cute and badass, her rivalry with Aya has a lot of potential to be pretty fun, and she's the only example we have so far of a non-crow tengu.
5/5 Stars
Sanae Kochiya
The sheer disdain some people have for Sanae kinda stuns me, especially those who go far enough to call her a slut because she has too much screentime? What is up with this fandom sometimes... Personally, Sanae's one of my favorite characters, Top 5 even. Her backstory is so compelling, someone who was essentially adopted by Kanako and Suwako and had to move to Gensokyo from the Outside World (the first to even travel between the worlds since Yumemi). There's a lot of mystery around what happened to Sanae's parents, but even outside of that, the found family dynamic between the Moriyas is something I find incredibly wholesome and endearing. Being knowledgable about science and Outside World concepts, Sanae can be a pretty big dork at times, but she's also lacking much knowledge on how Gensokyo works and seems to take pleasure in exterminating youkai just for the sheer novelty of it. It's that naivety, off-beat attitude, and at times misplaced cheerfulness that makes Sanae such a fun and interesting character, and her rivalry with Reimu in the mangas is an absolute blast.
5/5 Stars
Kanako Yasaka
And it's not just Sanae I like, I adore the entire Moriya family. Once again, I just love the found family dynamic that these three share. Kanako is the schemer of the trio, constantly trying to find ways to gain profit/faith, even if that leads to like three different incidents in a row. I like how despite being a god herself, Kanako is more of the cynical salesperson compared to Suwako doing all the divine heavy lifting. It's even funnier considering technically the Moriya Shrine belongs to Kanako now and she's still making Suwako do all the important work. Kanako's kind of a jerk now that I think about it, but she's a fun jerk, and her more composed personality contrasts well with both Sanae and Suwako.
5/5 Stars
Suwako Moriya
Suwako on the other hand is, as usual, the more mischievous and playful of the duo. Despite her childish appearance, however, she does all the divine heavy lifting and while still a schemer, takes her role with a bit more seriousness than Kanako does. It's neat how depending on the circumstances, any of these three could be the straight man of the group. I also absolutely love her dynamic with Sanae in the manga where she basically plays the role of the "cool mom" who can kinda be a bad influence at times, like when she encourages Sanae to get revenge on Reimu for not including her in the latest incident. Seriously, I love these guys, they're the best.
5/5 Stars
No comments:
Post a Comment