And here we are, my favorite Touhou game. Subterranean Animism is borderline perfect in my eyes, it's got a great cast, a sick partner mechanic, super creative weapon types, a nice variety of biomes, stunning bullet patterns, one hell of a boss lineup, and hands down the best soundtrack in the series. I spend a lot of these music reviews gushing, but prepare for gushing like you've never seen it before.
Awakening Of The Earth Spirits
For the first time since the PC-98 days, we finally get another intense and fast-paced title sequence, and it's so good. By simply spacing out the individual notes of the Theme Of Eastern Story, this track manages to give an oft-remixed melody new life and gravitas. I love how there's no intro, the song just bursts out of the gate with shamelessly dramatic choir samples as its lead instrument. Easily one of my favorite title themes.
5/5 Stars
The Dark Blowhole
And the first stage theme is pretty phenomenal too. The echoing piano, melancholic tone, ambient sounds really give this track a subterranean feel, with an intriguing and magical melody that makes you feel like you're exploring an entirely new place. It's also got a stellar drop, starting off subdued and menacing before bursting into its fast-paced and exhilarating main verse. It's got all the briskness you'd want from a good first stage theme, but with a bit of an edge to it for good measure.
5/5 Stars
The Sealed-Away Youkai
This is just a really energetic theme, with a fast-paced upbeat melody, hard-hitting guitars, a godly choir prechorus, and a soaring high note at the end of the track. Like most Stage 1 themes it's not super long, but the sheer intensity and denseness of it makes for another one of my favorites.
5/5 Stars
The Bridge People No Longer Cross
Stage 2 themes are rarely the most memorable tracks in the game, but ZUN went so hard with this one in particular. It's so haunting and dramatic, with a chill-inducing marimba intro, a powerful rhythmic melody, and once again, lots of choirs. The Bridge People No Longer Cross is beautifully composed and a perfect example of how consistently stellar this soundtrack is.
5/5 Stars
Green-Eyed Jealousy
Definitely one of the best fitting boss themes, with a sorrowful waltz-like melody that gives off really bitter vibes. And yet it also works as just a great boss theme, with fast-paced piano and percussion instrumentation keeping the whole song moving. It's that blend between a slow-paced waltz melody and blisteringly fast background instruments that make Green-Eyed Jealousy sound super novel and fresh to this day.
5/5 Stars
Walking The Streets Of A Former Hell
Yuugi's themes aren't my favorites in the game but they work perfectly as a breath of fresh air in an otherwise intense soundtrack. Walking The Streets Of A Former Hell has got a super catchy and festive main melody, a pretty iconic background riff, a powerful last chorus, and the introduction of the amazing UFO saxophones, one of personal favorite instruments in ZUN's arsenal.
4/5 Stars
A Flower-Studded Sake Dish On Mt Ooe
This theme is fun. It's not super long or complex, but it's got a great flute intro, cute melody, breezy vibe, some great ZUNpet usage, and a stellar piano solo around the halfway point. It perfectly encapsulates Yuugi's carefree attitude.
4/5 Stars
Heartfelt Fancy
Satori's themes are shamelessly gothic, filled to the brim with harpsichord. Compared to its more fun boss theme, Heartfelt Fancy is atmospheric, melancholic, and somber, with a slow haunting melody filled with held notes, and chill-inducing choirs in the background. However, this is still a stage four theme, so the main riff is catchy enough that the track also feels somewhat urgent and propulsive. Definitely a highlight in an already stacked score.
5/5 Stars
Satori Maiden - 3rd Eye
Satori Maiden is just the Halloween Touhou theme, it captures that spooky vibe so well, with harpsichord as its lead instrument and eerie ghostly sounds in the background. There's a lot to like here, from the moody yet catchy melody to the fantastic piano solo in the pre-chorus to that amazing ZUNpet chorus.
5/5 Stars
Lullaby Of Demonic Hell
This is one of those Touhou songs where it's hard not to sit back in awe every time you hear it. In an already moody and atmospheric soundtrack, nothing really tops those first few seconds of just wind, followed up by one of the most beautiful melodies in the franchise (which sounds like it takes cues from folk song Scarborough Fair, not that it's a bad thing). The ominous acoustic riff, the dramatic ZUNpet chorus, and of course, that amazing flute outro, all make for an incredibly atmospheric and impactful piece of music.
5/5 Stars
Corpse Voyage
The mood whiplash between Lullaby and this theme is absolutely hilarious. Coming off the heels of possibly SA's darkest track is possibly its lightest, with a catchy and cheery melody, a fun piano bridge, and just the right amount of ominousness to keep Rin feeling intimidating.
4/5 Stars
Hellfire Mantle
The weakest favorite stage or boss theme in the game which is a testament to how good the rest of the soundtrack this is. I like how unrelentingly frantic and intense it is, with booming instruments that almost sound disorganized at points. The whole song sounds like it's in panic mode, which is fitting given what comes next. There's also a pretty great piano solo near the end.
4/5 Stars
Solar Sect Of Mystic Wisdom - Nuclear Fusion
Similarly to Mystic Square, the last three main themes in this game form one hell of an impressive streak, starting off with Utsuho's phenomenal theme. Nuclear Fusion is my favorite final boss themes in the series and one of my favorite themes in the series period. It's so bombastic and grand, with an empowering melody, frantic instrumentation, and loads of moving parts. This theme is badass, it makes Utsuho seem like a badass, and it makes you feel like a badass for fighting for. Everything about Utsuho's fight is one of the coolest things Touhou has ever done, and this really is the only theme that could've done it justice.
5/5 Stars
Last Remote
Does anyone not like Last Remote? This theme is ZUN at his most shamelessly dramatic, intense, and powerful. It crams in so much, so many instruments and melodies, throwing every single trick in the book. You got an intense intro that bursts out of the gate, frantic instrumentation, a beautifully somber and calm piano solo, driving guitars, and one of the absolute finest ZUNpet choruses in all of Touhou. Nuclear Fusion is still my favorite track in the game but man does this come close. A jack of all trades and a master of all of them.
5/5 Stars
Hartmann's Youkai Girl
As far as the frantic extra boss themes go, I don't think anything really tops Hartmann's Youkai Girl. The frantic and all-over-the-place tempo-changing melody is so chaotic and weird, and yet, it still sounds great. It's intense, terrifying, and also a bit of a banger too. But the bit that really completes the track is that calm piano solo chorus, a perfect contrast from the rest of this chaotic mess of a song. The calm in the storm.
5/5 Stars
The Earth Spirits' Homecoming
A fine enough ending theme but not super remarkable, especially within an otherwise amazing soundtrack. It's lighthearted, chill, and catchy, but I don't love how the theme keeps starting and stopping. It's alright.
3/5 Stars
Energy Daybreak - Future Dream
On the other hand, this is one of the best staff roll themes in the series. Intense, exciting, powerful, and bittersweet. The flute chorus is super catchy and pleasant to listen to, and the exhilirating accompaniment keeps the song moving.
5/5 Stars
Subterranean Animism has a pretty great cast with some of my favorite characters, but what makes them even better is the fact that they kinda all live in the same living space this time around. Even the earlier bosses live underground, which I think works as a point in these guys' favors. And like with Imperishable Night, the amazing doujin At Chirei is so good that it made me like them even more.
Kisume
Kisume is just that one youkai in a bucket and I'm kinda fine with that. I don't think we need more depth to Kisume, her design and gimmick is cute and charming in its simplicity.
3/5 Stars
Yamame Kurodani
Once again, we don't know much about Yamame other than she's a spider. If I did this a few years ago, I'd probably give her a 2/5, but her depiction in 17.5 really won me over. Giving her actual spider legs under her dress makes her look way more unique and cool.
3/5 Stars
Parsee Mizuhashi
Parsee is interesting because I find her to be super unlikable, because that's entirely the point. Parsee is incredibly jealous and bitter pretty much all the time, which makes her a pretty un-fun youkai to be around. And yet, you can't help feel bad for her since she's basically stuck spending the rest of her life feeling shitty. I like seeing fan creations that group her with Yuugi because Parsee deserves that kind of positive force in her life.
4/5 Stars
Yuugi Hoshiguma
Speaking of which, on the complete opposite side of the spectrum, Yuugi is a simple oni who's immensely likable for her carefree and fun nature. There isn't much depth to Yuugi because she always wears her heart on her sleeve, and her upbeat attitude serves as a perfect contrast to pretty much everyone else in the underground.
4/5 Stars
Satori Komeiji
And now we get to the Komeiji Sisters, two of the most tragic characters in the series. As per the usual, Satori is my preferred of the two. Because of her ability to read minds, everyone fears Satori, which forces her to isolate and fall into what seems to be some sort of really bad depression. She's not even really a bad person from what we've seen, just dealt a very bad hand. Besides, anyone who's loved by animals has gotta be a good person, right? (Read At Chirei it's very good).
5/5 Stars
Rin Kaenbyou
Despite being a pretty popular character, I'm not really the biggest fan of Rin. As far as dead people transportation goes, I find her a bit less interesting than Komachi. However, her cheery personality is still pretty fun, her design has some pretty unique color choices, her dynamic with Utsuho and the Komeijis is sweet, and her dance in Hopeless Masquerade is glorious.
3/5 Stars
Utsuho Reiuji
Utsuho, on the other hand, is a Top 3 character for me. On one hand, she has one of the sickest designs complete with giant hand gun and galaxy cape, a badass theme, a bonkers fight, and some of the coolest abilities out of any character in the series. She's a dangerous force of nature so powerful that she gets a klaxon warning before all of her spell cards. And despite all of that, she's also one of the ditziest and most simple-minded characters in the series, having figuratively stocked all of her intelligence points into nuclear fusion and nowhere else. I'm a big fan of this kind of juxtaposition and it makes Utsuho super charming and fun.
5/5 Stars
Koishi Komeiji
Koishi, Koishi, Koishi... What a fascinating figure. Unlike her sister, Koishi got so sick of being hated that she stabbed out her own satori eye only to essentially have become forgotten. If no one's looking at her, Koishi is basically invisible, and those who do notice her will mostly forget of her existence the moment they look away. She has no thoughts, and spends her time playfully wandering around and at times scaring people with how unpredictable she is. Koishi is often portrayed as a deranged murderer not unlike how Flandre is, but once again, that's kinda limiting. Koishi could kill people, she has no thoughts, she could do anything. But I find it more interesting to think of her as a tragic figure who has no idea of the tragedy she's going through, not so much edgy as just... sad.
5/5 Stars
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