Legacy Of Lunatic Kingdom is an immensely polarizing game. Its brutal patterns are a ton of fun... until you get to Junko and it goes too far. Its dramatic story is one of the coolest in the series... until you get to Junko and it gets a bit shakier. Its Pointdevice Mode is a super unique take on the series... but it leads to a pretty unbalanced Legacy Mode. But despite its many flaws, it still stands out as one of my favorite entries for how complete a vision it feels, and a big part of that is its uniquely relentlessly intense soundtrack. LoLK is ZUN at his most ambitious and grandiose, almost as if this is some sort of end to an era for Touhou music. Hint, hint.
The Space Shrine Maiden Appears
What a title theme. LoLK wastes no time introducing its main instrument, this beautifully spacey synth that fits the game's setting pretty much perfectly. This is an intense title theme, boasting choirs, heavy percussion, and an absolutely stunning synth solo halfway through. The Theme Of Eastern Story is pushed a bit to the background here and is given a minor tint to really sell the gravitas of this game.
5/5 Stars
Unforgettable, The Nostalgic Greenery
Most Stage 1 themes tend to be breezy but fast-paced, but this theme bursts out of the gate as if it's from Stage 4 or 5. The dramatic melody and intense synths make for a track that just sounds really arcade-y, like it exudes that balls-to-the-walls shoot-em-up energy. Like with the title theme, there's a brief moment to breathe halfway through, but even it is rich with drama and gravitas.
4/5 Stars
The Rabbit Has Landed
A pretty fun first boss theme with a memorable opening riff and breezy piano solo. It's a bit short, but it's got a lot of energy to it.
4/5 Stars
The Lake Reflects The Cleansed Moonlight
The Lake Reflects The Cleansed Moonlight peaks pretty early on with that first 25 seconds, it's so magical and uplifting. The rest of the song is pretty good too, though, super fast-paced and the big ZUNpet ends the track on a strong note.
4/5 Stars
September Pumpkin
September Pumpkin is a super frantic theme with some bonkers piano solos and constant sense of momentum. Like with the first boss theme, it's not super long, but it is a ton of fun to listen to.
4/5 Stars
The Mysterious Shrine Maiden Flying Through Space
As per the usual, the Stage 3 theme is absolutely transcendant. Mysterious Shrine Maiden is such an elegant and triumphant theme that perfectly fits the first space stage in the game, with a lovely central riff, intense bridge, and a dramatic chorus played to perfection by the UFO saxophones.
5/5 Stars
Eternal Spring Dream
Eternal Spring Dream is yet another super frantic-sounding boss theme that's elevated by its phenomenal soundfont. I can't tell what instrument plays the opening riff but it's so satisfying to listen to. The jump from ZUNpet to piano near the end is also pretty stellar.
5/5 Stars
Frozen Capital Of Eternity
Frozen Capital Of Eternity reminds me a lot of DDC's Stage 5 theme, particularly since it uses the same lead synth. It's a bit more chill and less haunting though, with a laid-back trap beat, a heavy emphasis on saxophones, a beautiful piano Theme Of Eastern Story reprisal, and a stunning chorus. Easily my favorite track in the game.
5/5 Stars
The Wheel Of Fortune Turning Over
The Wheel Of Fortune Turning Over is a pretty good boss theme that definitely captures Sagume's chaotic energy but I don't really find to be anything incredibly memorable. The one part of it that really sticks out to me is that chorus with the downward scale which is just absolutely brilliant.
4/5 Stars
Faraway Voyage Of 380000 Kilometers
Faraway Voyage Of 380000 Kilometers puts the LoLK synths back at the forefront for an exhilirating track that definitely feels like a voyage. There's like four different melodies at play and they're all each better than the last. The main melody is super catchy and iconic, the piano solo is super uplifting and happy, the ZUNpet is energetic and adventurous, and the chorus is pretty iconic in its own right. Really just one of the defining Touhou themes for me.
5/5 Stars
Pierrot Of The Star-Spangled Banner
Speaking of defining Touhou themes, man is this one iconic! It's menacing and chaotic in all the right places, while also being surprisingly experimental and ambitious too? The first half is great and boasts a super fun melody but it does feel a bit standard, but then the second half shifts to this incredibly dramatic melody with constant pauses, the percussion gets cranked up to eleven, and the ZUNpets get thrown in for that big final chorus. The way this track builds on itself and evolves is remarkable even by ZUN's standards. Like Clownpiece's fight itself, I mark this as the climax of the soundtrack.
5/5 Stars
The Sea That Reflects One's Home Planet
Now this is an amazing final stage theme, genuinely chill-inducing. The gusts of wind that kick off the track, the heavenly synth lead, the beautifully sorrow melody, surprisingly well-implemented dubstep elements, and that godly chorus all add up to a true emotional powerhouse. It's such a high bar that I kinda overshadows the actual final boss theme for me!
5/5 Stars
Pure Furies - Whereabouts Of The Heart
Pure Furies... Okay, so I like this track, I think it's good, and I have a lot of praises for it, but it might also be my pick for most overrated track in the series. It's just a hit-or-miss final boss theme. It starts off well enough with a great and memorable opening riff, but the electric guitars don't sound all that great and the melodies used for the verse and bridge don't quite do it for me. The highlight is the stellar chorus which takes the Stage 6 leitmotif and amps it up with wailing ZUNpets, heart-pumping percussion, and a climactic synth accompaniment, but that's not the whole track. It's still not a bad theme, but it's disappointing, especially after such a stellar streak of songs. But hey, I guess that's Junko in a nutshell, huh?
4/5 Stars
A World Of Nightmare Never Seen Before
Similarly to the Stage 2 theme, this track peaks at the very start. That opening bass riff is so freaking good and I wish the whole song was like it, but even what we got was still pretty great. It's a tense extra stage theme with a tight melody and some absolutely insane bass and piano solos.
4/5 Stars
Pandemonic Planet
Where Pure Furies let me down, Pandemonic Planet picks up the slack and then some. This is a phenomenal track, straight-up one of my favorite extra boss themes. Most of the boss themes in LoLK are pretty frantic and chaotic, but Pandemonic Planet lives up to its name by being in another world entirely. The melodies at play at so far, the accompaniment is so fast-paced and all over the place, and then there's the drop. You know it, I know it, Pandemonic Planet has probably the best drop in the entire franchise. The way the song keeps building in intensity and volume only to cute out for two whole seconds before the absolute craziest ZUNpet chorus of all time blesses your eardrums. What a theme...
5/5 Stars
The Moon As Seen From The Shrine
This is a fine ending theme with a nice blend of upliftingness and ominousness, but it is pretty short and repetitive as well.
3/5 Stars
The Space Shrine Maiden Returns Home
And as per the new norm, the staff roll is a title theme remix, and a pretty good one at that. It's got all the same great instruments and a similar fast-pace, but it does take a bit of a while to reach the best part of the song this time.
4/5 Stars
As for the characters, Legacy Of Lunatic Kingdom has some of the wildest character designs in the series. Not everyone works for me (one in particular really doesn't), but there are some standouts as per the usual.
Seiran
Out of the two new bunnies we got in LoLK, I do prefer Seiran a bit more. Her blue design and star patterns are super pretty, and she wields a giant mallet stained with the blood (mochi) of her enemies. I like the Seiran and Ringo food stand rivalry a lot too.
4/5 Stars
Ringo
Since we don't have much on either Seiran or Ringo's personalities, my preference mostly just comes down to design. Thus, I'm not huge on Ringo's design. It's not like I'm anti-bright colors or anything but the pumpkin theming and all-yellow design is a bit of an eye-sore.
2/5 Stars
Doremy Sweet
Doremy is great, I love how smug she is all the time. Being essentially the ruler of dreams makes for a truly fascinating character with a lot of potential to play around with the nature of dreams and reality. Considering ZUN's whole thing is boundaries and that she'd play a decent role in the next few spinoffs, I wouldn't be surprised if he was partial to the character too.
5/5 Stars
Sagume Kishin
Sagume is a neat character for how cunning she is. Willing to go against her ideologies, you can never really know what's going through her head. The one wing design is pretty great too. However, with the power to a reverse a situation with her words, Sagume does kinda suffer from being the shadow of fellow opposite day-er Seija, especially with their debuts so close together.
3/5 Stars
Clownpiece
Like with most of the other fairies, Clownpiece is a mischievous, childish prankster, but because she's from Hell, she's got a bit more of a mean streak. As far as Stage 5 bosses go, there wasn't really too much to Piece outside of America jokes, so I'm glad she got a lot of focus in Visionary Fairies In Shrine. She meshes with the Three Fairies (+Reimu) pretty well, and adds a nice dose of chaos to their dynamic.
5/5 Stars
Junko
You've probably seen this coming, but I don't like Junko at all. Pretty much everything about her feels like a blemish on a game I otherwise love. Her boss fight is the worst in the series, absolute torture no matter how thematic it might be. I already mentioned how I found her theme underwhelming. The fact that she's not a Lunarian is kind of a let-down in a game about fighting the Lunarians, especially if you're playing as Reisen. And while she has a decently tragic backstory, it's hard for me to feel much sympathy when she tries to commit genocide after she had already gotten her revenge. And that's not even getting into the fanon portrayal. I rarely outright despise the fanon versions of Touhou characters, the only other one I complained about was Shikieiki (and I guess Sanae?), but the depiction of Junko as a creepy stalker who abuses Reisen (as you should know by now, I'm very anti-Reisen abuse) pretty much killed the character for me. It all adds up to Junko probably being my least favorite character in the entire franchise.
0/5 Stars
Hecatia Lapislazuli
And once again, Hecatia picks up the slack as the way more interesting "final boss". The whole three planets concept is super cool especially with the implication that each of her forms gives her a different personality, her political ideology is fascinating, she's remarkably powerful, and her dynamic with Clownpeace in Visionary Fairies is really sweet (especially whenever they fist bump). And of course, there's the divisive element of Hecatia's fashion sense and... I'm sorry, this is one of my favorite designs in the franchise. I love the literal planets hanging around her neck, that "Welcome Hell" shirt is pretty much iconic now, and there's something so charming about a character in a series known for its ornate dresses to just go for a casual look instead. And she's a literal hell goddess, it'd be weirder if she didn't have a punk goth look. Hecatia always had drip and I'm glad more people are coming around to her. Chimata next?
5/5 Stars
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