Reitaisai 14 will be held on May 5th,2017
My break didn’t turn out well. I said I want to take a break. Actually, I still worked like a maniac.
Reitaisai has come? Time does fly. It feels like Comiket 91 was just yesterday. For me, Comiket 91 wasn’t as good as I expected. C90 was still better. I like RTS more because it’s an only-Touhou event. We could get more Touhou stuff. My first event with Touhou was RTS13 which is last year. That was the time when I had a clearer look about doujin music circles. Now, it’s already RTS14.
Another Roundup post. A lot of things I’d like to talk and discuss about. This year also celebrates the 10th anniversary of Subterranean Animism. Works related to SA have been announced. SA is my favorite Touhou game. In addition, this event, ZUN will release the demo for Touhou 15.5 AND Touhou 16. I might pay more attention and expectation to RTS14.
I’m adding the “Highlighted track(s)”. The songs are mentioned in this section are just my personal favorite songs in the album and songs I want to translate if I had the chance to get or somehow have the booklets/scans.
1) 魂音泉 (TAMAONSEN)
I was expecting something new from TAMAONSEN. However, Elysion is my favorite album so far, having a remaster version and a second version of this is so good. The Remaster album I think it is the instrumental version of Elysion. ゆけむり魂温泉 II, I love the original version which features たま (Tama), Coro and ytr. The second version has only ytr… I always think that TAMAONSEN without Tama is a big loss. Well, I’ll get used to it. There’s a Necrofantasia track too!!
- Highlighted track(s): ゆけむり魂温泉 II; 少女祈祷中; トラウマ
About “she saw”, first of all, the album cover is so beautiful. I love the design so much! Most the arrangement are very good. I wish “Colorless World” was a vocal track because I like “Desire Drive”. There’s a Hourai Legend track!!
- Highlighted track(s): She Saw the Future feat. 妖狐, AO; Changes feat. Romonosov? , 抹; Touch feat. TINY PLANETS,
Official Site || XFD (Elysion II only) || XFD (Elysion II & She Saw)
2) FELT
Increase Beat
Honestly, full album of “Fluster Escape” wasn’t as good as the crossfade. The album last inside me just for two weeks.
Raiko is on the cover album. I recently have interested in “Pristine Beat”. W.Nova features three tracks in the album. FELT would never be out of my Roundup post. I love their music. Unlike Diao ye zong or BUTAOTOME, it takes me time to get into their music. FELT is a “necessity”. Without their work, I always feel like I’m missing something very crucial.
Hopefully this time, their songs last in me longer than “Fluster Escape”.
- Highlighted track(s): pulse, Oblivion, Stellar Flower, The Ray of Light
Official site || XFD
3) 発熱巫女〜ず (Hatsunetsumiko’s)
桜花ノ下 (Beneath the Cherry Blossoms)
Continue on with the Western side. Their last album on C91 “TWICE” left in me a lot of emotions. The music was good. It’s pretty bad that I like their music until now. millie has been one of my favorite Touhou vocalists after “TWICE”. Therefore, I want to focus on what they are going to release.
The cover of the album is flawless. This probably one of the best cover illustrations appears in RTS14. Unfortunately, millie doesn’t participate in this album. SAKURA_bot…? A peculiar stage name (?). Ark Brown’s voice is unique too. So, I’m in for the album.
- Highlighted track(s): カラフルセカイ, So let go, Come to the dark, 桜花ノ下
Sad news: ORANGE★JAM won’t release albums in this event due to the members’ time-zone, as you know they live in different parts of the continent. memories Ⅱ was good, even though it features old songs with new remixes. Still good. We’ll wait until C92 then~
Official Site || XFD
4) FROZEN STARFALL
VIBRANT DANCEFLOOR
Thanks to ORANGE★JAM’s “memories Ⅱ”, I have second thoughts to add this album in this post. Babbe’s arrangements are good. I first knew his work from Yonder Voice’s 春の亡骸～Ember of Spring. The remix of “re-imagine” was arranged by Babbe, that’s when I want to take a closer look to his work. I also have a soft spot for Touhou EDM, Trance and Hip-hop music.
The tracklist features many of my favorite Touhou themes. Yaoshanbailing and Anzu Sora from Yonder Voice are guest vocalist and lyricist. Couldn’t be better!
Remember to support the Western circles too! They are very good!
- Highlighted track(s): WUNSCHTRAUM, BELL OF AVICI, CAMOUFLAGE, HEAVENLY DREAM, EWIGE NACHT, CORPSE VOYAGE, FINALE
Official Site || XFD
5) 暁Records
少女救世論 (Girl’s Theory of Salvation)
Their albums on C91 were excellent. KilLove Fireproof and GIRLS ALBUM –ONE–. It took me a very long period of time to really enjoy GIRLS ALBUM –ONE–. It was a collaboration album with other vocalists such as ななひら (Nanahira), cheluce , 謎の人物K (Nazo no Jinbutsu), めらみぽっぷ (Meramipop), etc. It’s very new for Akatsuki to have collaborations like this.
Unfortunately, we only have one album for this event. When I took a look to the vocal PV for the first time, I got the feeling that it might be related to KilLove Fireproof! The PV has some details related to KilLove Fireproof! (silhouettes of Mokou, Remilia, Sakuya – maybe some of the characters starred in Imperishable Night). The concept is about “karma” and “salvation”. Not sure what concept are they using this time…
Stack is good as always, so do ねこ☆まんじゅう and Stack Bros’ arrangements. I have expectations for this album since I’ve loved so many tracks in this album already.
- Highlighted track(s): 少女救世論, 幽鬼傀儡、あるいはその愛と再生, Supernova, 縁 〜Spring has come at last, Lullaby for Lost child
Official Site || XFD || 少女綺想曲 PV
6) Yonder Voice
桜風の誓い (The Oath of The Cherry Blossom Wind)
Vima is back for the album illustration yay! The demo of No grave was released with 白い海 (Shiroi Umi) before Comiket 91. The full version has been released in 無名の楽園 〜 Piano Arrange Collection Vol.1. This album features guest vocal 小峠 舞 (Kotohge Mai) from 舞音KAGURA!! Honestly, I don’t like Mai’s voice so much, but when combining it with Yaoshanbailing’s voice, it is perfect. I don’t remember if hopechong has sung any tracks for Yonder Voice before… Her voice is similar to Yaoshanbailing’s.
Yonder Voice’s piano album back on C91 was good. I wish they could do more piano albums. I’m having expectations to this album like usual. And hopefully, the lyrics would appear somewhere on the Internet early so I could translate them.
- Highlighted track(s): No grave; 落砂; 縹色スカイウォーカー
Official site || XFD (Full) || XFD (Track 1&5 – Track 6&2 – Track 4&3)
7) 豚乙女 (BUTAOTOME)
疑似家族入門 (Pseudo Family Introduction)
Was I surprised when I saw The Komeiji Sisters on the cover? Half yes and half no.
People’s reactions to the new album are not so excited… That’s how I see. However, I think they are doing well. “Pseudo Family Introduction”? A concept that makes me curious and eagerly want to check it out. The cast of the album are pretty unique – Reimu, Marisa, Patchouli (or Flandre or maybe both), Meiling, Satori, and someone in Double Dealing Character (maybe Shinmyoumaru). That’s just my guess. What are your thoughts about the “members of the Pseudo Family”?
For me, I think the crossfade is good. I think it would be a potential album. We’ll soon find out when the whole album is out.
- Highlighted track(s): 中道歩行, つぶれるりゆう, 二人だけの言葉, トゲ , 春愁
Official site || XFD
8) SOUND HOLIC
As expected. Another album cover features the Komeiji Sisters. Not so amazed. But, the illustration is good though.
However, what surprised me is the tracklist. There’s Mayumi Morinaga (for someone who doesn’t know, she is senya from Yuuhei Satellite), guest lyricist Renko from ORANGE★JAM. The eighth track of -CHIREI- is the collaboration track of Nana and Mayumi! I can’t decide which tracks I would like the most since they haven’t release the crossfades. But I think I would like Swing and Jive !, DARK HALL DISCO, 死体旅行へようこそ
I want to focus on CHIREI. I usually pay less attention to the 709sec. album because the theme doesn’t interest me much. I’ll just put it there so everyone can know. Also, SOUND HOLIC is releasing an album features their best tracks from the beginning. Please check it out if you are interested.
- Highlighted tracks: 廃獄ドリームランド; HAZARD☢AREA; GOLD THREAD OF SPIDER; エメラルドの涙
Official Site || XFD || Announcement on Twitter
9) Alstroemeria Records
IGNITION DANCEHALL was okay, not so good and not so bad. I bought the album with Diao ye zong’s -tsutae- from the event thanks to an online shop on Facebook. I still prefer ENGAGED DANCEHALL and ULTRA DANCEHALL more. On c91, they released SOL ET LUNA – a Mei Ayakura collection album. This time is ayame’s turn. I like Mei’s unique voice more than ayame’s. The overall crossfade is okay to me.
- Highlighted track(s):LOUD SPEAKER(EXTEND REFIX), ETERNAL VERITIES, missing Pages, lumière ambrée, Visions (ARM Remix), REDSOUL
lumière ambrée: Official Site || XFD
10th Anniversary Bad Apple!!: Oficial Site || XFD
STRUCTURED DANCEHALL: Oficial Site || XFD
10) 紺碧studio (Konpeki Studio)
COLOR RING DAYS
Konpeki Studio is a very new circle. They first released their album “Guilty or cutie” on Reitaisai 13. Last time was ANSWER//TALKER from Imperishable Night. You can guess this time is Phantasmagoria of Flower View. Also, there is a PV. They release PVs on every single event. I think, this is a good way to promote their works since everyone like “moving pictures”.
- Highlighted track(s): DOUBLE HEROINE, COLOR RING DAYS, 天風語り、天空語り
Official Site || XFD || COLOR RING DAYS (PV)
11) GET IN THE RING
For Aria, 羽々斬 (uu uu zan) illustrates the beautiful cover art for the album. There are so many amazing album illustrations this event don’t you think? Looking at the full tracklist, I’m pretty amazed to see there are many original tracks one song. For example, 狭霧の灯火 includes 5 characters theme from EoSD. It’s amazing. How could GCHM do that? I can’t wait for the full track to be released. There’s also guest vocals in this album. I was so hyped when I knew 抹 from 魂音泉 collaborated with Mie. They are very strong vocalists. So, I’m excited to see the whole thing.
- Highlighted track(s):狭霧の灯火, LWCO feat.抹, Moonscraper
The Activity Case series is back! Beautiful cover illustration from nakatani as always. The first track “Diagonal Idol” is very haunting and impressive. I love how versatile Mie voice is. She can sing in different tones and give you different emotions. I think I like the first track best. But, let’s wait and see.
- Highlighted track(s): Diagonal Idol
Aria: Official Site || XFD
“Activity” Case:07 -Dominated Realism-: Official Site || XFD
12) 幽閉少女アクティブNEETs (Yuuhei Shoujo Active NEETs)
Another collaboration with Active NEETs? Yuuhei and Fractal are going on the right way. Their collaboration album on Comiket 91 had most of the hits (色は匂へど散りぬるを, 彷徨いの冥, 三千世界,…) That’s a good start and a good way to draw our attention.
For this album, there are tracks I haven’t listened before even though they appeared in previous albums. For example ただひとつの天衣 and オブリヴィオン. There’s a new track based on Pure Furies, also a new vocalist – 兎明. In the demo video, she wears a black veil… very mysterious~ Again, I will cross my fingers for the lyrics.
- Highlight track(s): 月に叢雲華に風; ただひとつの天衣; 胸の中で誰かが
Let’s go on with Yuuhei and Fractal below, shall we?
Official Site || XFD
13) Yuuhei Satellite & Shoujo Fractal (幽閉サテライト & 少女フラクタル)
I wouldn’t be so surprised when both album covers are characters from SA. This year is the 10th anniversary of the released day of SA. So far there are 3 albums which features Satori and Koishi.
Yuuhei and Fractal’s cover, I mistook them at first. I though Yuuhei’s cover is Fractal’s and vice versa. In Yuuhei album, there’s the original Pure Furies vocal track I mentioned on the Orchestra Collaboraion Album.
I like their singles more than albums. Only 2 tracks each album, hopefully it would be great. (It’s only 2 tracks, so I don’t need to include “Highlighted tracks”)
Shoujo Fractal: Official Site || XFD
Yuuhei Satellite: Official Site || XFD
14) 交響アクティブNEETs
東方フィルハーモニー交響楽団６ 風 第一幕
(Touhou Philharmonic Orchestra 6 -Wind- Act 1)
One more thing before I head on with Yuuhei and Fractal. Active NEETs also releases their own album. This time is based on Mountain of Faith. I highly recommend this album. Active NEETs always releases good orchestra album. If you are a fan of orchestra arrangement, please check out this circle!
Official site || XFD
15) ぴずやの独房 (Pizuya’s Cell)
境界のクロスゲート (Crossgate of Boundaries)
I really enjoy 交錯ディストーション from the last event. Futoumeido impressed me with her voice and the illustration for the cover. I’m glad that this time is something different from the Hifuu girls. Each track includes two themes. For example, 境界のクロスゲート is based on Colorful Path and Love-colored Master Spark, which is Reimu and Marisa. There are other pairs in the tracklist. It’s pretty interesting.
The music is on point as usual. I want to see the full version of the album.
- Highlight track(s): 境界のクロスゲート, ひらかないツボミ, プライド
Official Site || XFD
16) 凋叶棕 (Diao ye zong)
随 -manima- (Complying)
There are so many things I want to talk about RD. –tsutae- let me down. The concept is good. But RD was not at his best. As I say, I like –utsutsu- more.
Let’s talk about 随 -manima-. The title contains different meanings, that’s what I think. Because the overall theme is “daily life of the Illusory Maiden”. 随 literally means “obey”, but I’ll go with “complying”. Hanada Hyou’s illustrations are perfect in every occasion. The artworks for each song from RD is the second thing I want to check out in his album.
The track list. It’s time for nayuta to shine. I remembered how she performed so amazing in -utsutsu-. I see there are potential tracks in this album. For the first time ever, there is a screenplay track, based on Dolls in Pseudo Paradise. I have never known this voice from Merami before. I’m excited for the whole thing. The concept. The music. The illustrations. Can’t wait for the event!
This is the post that I’ve translated from his official page, I do this in every event RD releasing something. Check out the message from RD to discover it on your own.
- Highlighted track(s): 「『仲良し村の八人の仲間たち』」,「遺された名前 ―とおりかぞえうた―」, 「千夜一夜」,「グラスホッパーズ」,「かぜのゆくえ」
Official Site || XFD
17) 彩音 ～xi-on～
UNDER FEST
-アンダー・フェスト-
As you can probably see from this post, this event doesn’t have many instrumental albums. Last time, was the Jazz album from LoLK. For RTS14 I’m guessing that, this is the 10th anniversary of SA. The album cover would be the Komeiji Sisters. I’ve never listened to orchestra arrangements from xi-on. I also personally love the original themes from SA.
Official Site || XFD
18) 東方事変 (Touhou Jihen)
ヤサシイウタ (Friendly Song)
Compared to the last album -限界パラドックス, ヤサシイウタ brings a completely different vibe. There are only three tracks but the second one is my personal favorite. Because this time is a single, not an album, I would check out their previous work to know more about Touhou Jihen.
Official Site || XFD
19) EastNewSound
Divine Lotus
I thought they wouldn’t release anything for this event. I love Ironic Relation. Especially 陰翳観測、密室ノ独 sung by Tsubaki. The song still haunts me up to now.
Divine Lotus. The album speaks everything. We don’t have a ____、__ノ_ formatted song. Instead, the title of the main song is very short -“ReFrain”. There’s another remix of 緋色月下、狂咲ノ絶, with -2017 nayuta ver.-. Last year it was 紫咲ほたる sung the remix features in “Blind Emotion”.
Ironic Relation makes me put high expectations for Divine Lotus. When I wrote this, the demo and promotional PV are still in preparation. I can’t decide which tracks are my favorite and how the PV would like. I’ll soon update them when they are out.
Official Site || XFD || ReFrain (PV)
20) 東方PARTYBOX
東方PARTYBOX 博麗神社ver.02 (Touhou PARTYBOX -Hakurei Shrine- ver.02)
The “All Stars” album, only two discs and no crossfade. I’m assuming that, this album features old and new tracks from selected circles (sadly, no RD this time). Because I’ve seen 虹の向こう from GET IN THE RING from -Aki- 秋. And there are tracks I found unfamiliar. Compared to previous Tohuou PARTYBOX, this one doesn’t excite me much.
Official Site || XFD
That’s all for Reitaisai 14 albums. I don’t know if this is a promising event for doujin albums. But overall looking, I want to think that it would be good. As I mentioned, ZUN will release the demos for Touhou 15.5 and Touhou 16. Last year, he didn’t published anything really noticeable – Alternative Facts in Eastern Utopia and the third volume of Strange Creators of Outer World. Having two new games in one event would excite us more.
I want to talk more about the albums. But, I think I should keep for myself since they are just my optimistic opinions. I don’t want to make the list too long because I always feel (somehow) guilty when I don’t listen to all the albums I’ve mentioned in the roundup posts. That’s just me.
Starting tomorrow, I’ll post the old requests as to “countdown” to the day of Reitaisai 14.
One last thing before ending this post. Because 2017 is the 10th anniversary of Subterranean Animism, I want to include two amazing illustrations from toutenkou and zounose: . And, have you checked out minusT’s “Subterranean Stars”? If you don’t, please do. It’s amazing.
Petalite Yuu 