Touhou PC 98/Awesome Music

Return to music index here.

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Highly Responsive to Prayers

• The very first Touhou game might've been lacking in danmaku, but it wasn't devoid of awesome music. Check out Strange Oriental Discourse and Magic Mirror.
  • For those who prefer ZUN's modern style, here's the remastered version of Magic Mirror.
  • The same for Strange Oriental Discourse.
• Going back a little, we have A Sacred Lot, the main menu theme and the very first touhou music in the series (from the players' perspective).
• Eternal Shrine Maiden, the very first stage music, shows how ZUN was a master from the very beginning.
  • TAMusic expectedly uses it to create another nexus of emotion, and circle Kissing the Mirror gives the theme a very kickass classical rock treatment.
  • This piano arrangement manages to be extremely similar to the original tune yet is very calming and beautiful, outlining the sorrowful impressions of the melody such as nostalgia, melancholy, sadness and regrets.
  • EastNewSound made a beautiful rocking song out of it.
• Shingyoku's The Positive and Negative, the first boss theme in the series.
  • Here's a nice remix.
• The first set of Makai stages has Highly Responsive to Prayers and its probably one of the few tracks where Akyuu's/TH 05 music test version is genuinely better.
• Yuugen Magan's and Mima's shared boss theme Angel's Legend.
  • The Remastered version is quite nice.
• Oriental Magician, Elis' stage (well, set of stages) theme.
  • Here's the Remastered version.
• The second set of Hell stages has Blade of Banishment.
• The Legend of KAGE, the theme of the final Makai stages.
  • It was remixed in Concealed the Conclusion.
  • TAMusic gives us this remix.
• Hell route final boss Konngara's theme, the Swordsman of a Distant Star.
  • The Remastered arrangement.
  • The Akai EWI (Electronic Wind Instrument, aka Power Flute) remix.
• Still, nothing from the first game quite beats Sariel's two themes, Now die, for the debt you have accumulated and Civilization of Magic. You get the feeling that she... he... whatever was intended to be the absolute final boss of the game.
  • Here is a fan's remastered version of Now, until the moment you die.
  • And here's a version with power metal and vocals (or without the vocals, if you prefer)
  • Here's a ZUN-inspired remix of Civilization of Magic
  • Alstroemeria Records does their techno/vocal thing with Civilization of Magic.
  • Now we have here a remix of Now, Until the Moment You Die that makes it sound like a church mass music.
• Iris, the nice ending theme. Made awesome with this remastered version.
• When ZUN made Mystic Square, he included all of the music from previous games in the music test, except the original music from this game. Instead, he re-arranged them. Akyu's Untouched Score uses this version of the soundtrack.
• What's better than PC-98 Touhou music? Updated remixes of it by ZUN himself, of course. Check out Oriental Bizarre Tale and Eternal Shrine Maiden.

The Story of Eastern Wonderland

• Hakurei - Eastern Wind is good, but usually ignored in favor of unused track below.
  • Its remix from Concealed the Conclusion may help change this.
• Rika's theme, She's in Temper!.
  • The Remastered version.
• Another gem from Story of an Eastern Wonderland would be the Stage 2 theme End of Daylight.
  • Alstroemeria Records did such a cool remix for it, several well-done fanvids have been made for it!
• Meira's theme, Power of Darkness.
• Here is World of Empty Dreams, the feel of which you can guess from its title. Here's an alternate in-game MIDI version.
  • The Remastered version.
• The stage 4 music, Himorogi, Burn in Violet. An epic tune... which everyone refuses to acknowledge because it's obviously ripoff of Final Fantasy VI's boss theme. Because, you know, the first few bars have a vaguely similar melody.
  • Hey, it's not all bad. Somebody did a mashup.
• One of Marisa's original themes, Love-Coloured Magic. It's so good, her current Leitmotif Love-coloured Master Spark is a remix of it.
• The Stage 5 (Final stage in this game) theme, Recorded Sealing of an Oriental Demon ~ A Phantom's Boisterous Dance.
• Mima's boss theme from Story of Eastern Wonderland, Complete Darkness, is very dramatic and suited to her epic fight with Reimu.
  • Check out what Alstromeria Records does to it!
  • This one is a beautiful arrange done by some genius from Nico Nico Douga.
  • Complete Loudness rocks all the way out.
  • South of Heaven delivers the epic.
• The Extra stage theme, Extra Love, does a good job of conveying a raid on a mechanical fortress. ZUN's MIDI remix of the same song is also good.
• The Extra boss theme, The Tank Girl's Dream, reuses the same short motif over and over again in different keys for most of the song, but the intro is unique and well-done.
• Hakurei Shrine Grounds, the awesome, but unfortunately unused, stage 1 theme.
  • The Remastered version.
• This game has a option of using the external MIDI (assuming you had the necessary hardware) instead of PC-98's soundcard. Besides the already mentioned World of Empty Dreams and Extra Love, here's End of Daylight, Himorogi, Burn in Violet and The Tank Girl's Dream. Unfortunately, there is no FM versions of unused themes.
• While the Story of Eastern Wind is less of direct remake and more of Story of Eastern Wonderland with Windows characters replacing the old ones, it has some nice remixes of SoEW, like the ones of Sunfall, Himorogi, Burn in Violet, Love-Coloured Magic and Complete Darkness.

Phantasmagoria of Dim. Dream

• A Dream Transcending Space-Time, the nice menu theme.
  • The Remastered version.
• Reimu's classic theme Mystic Oriental Love Consultation from Phantasmagoria of Dim Dream. Both fighting games have it remixed and they still come out awesome. The Hisoutensoku version rocks out by only playing when the one-shot kill Musou Tensei comes out in the last round. As they say, you are already dead.
• Reincarnation, Mima's theme.
  • Unlucky Morpheus does a really rocking vocal rendition of Reincarnation with No Grudge Any More.
  • Alstroemeria Records did a song of it with haunting vocals.
  • Silver Forest's Holy My Reincarnation turns Reincarnation into something Nana Mizuki might bust out for Lyrical Nanoha.
  • C-CLAYS also give it a go.
  • Two remastered versions.
  • Someone mixed it with Love-Coloured Master Spark.
  • Here's one from Pocket Wars Evolution.
  • Also a really ominous remix by Tinzuka.
  • This remix is breathtakingly beautiful, mixing feelings of sadness and majesty. It really makes you wish you could listen to it from a real orchestra.
  • And of course, the updated version by ZUN himself. And another.
• Marisa's theme Dim.Dream.
  • The Remastered versions.
• Ellen's theme Tabula Rasa ~ The Empty Girl.
  • Crying for the Moon has a very jazzy and mature feel to it, sort-of-fitting to the never-aging child-witch.
• Kotohime's theme Maniacal Princess.
  • Arranges for Maniacal Princess are quite rare, but there's this funky techno number and this lively Windows-game-style cover.
• Remixes for Rikako Asakura's theme Visionary Game ~ Dream War are even rarer.
• Kana Anaberal's haunting Vanishing Dream ~ Lost Dream! Her theme is very haunting and sad, and shows off ZUN's ability to awaken emotions within his his fans. ^[1]
  • Of special note is this rendition from the album prima.
  • Despite not personally appearing in the fangame itself, her theme in Touhou Mother is quite nice.
  • And here one made by Takase of the Magnum Opus circle.
• Decisive Magic Battle! ~ Fight it out!, the theme for the decision match, before moving on to meeting the penultimate boss.
• Yumemi's assistant Chiyuri has a pretty cool theme of her own, and it's called Sailor of Time. Cue the Pluto/Setsuna jokes.
  • Here's a pretty rockin' arrange of it.
• Love of Magical Chimes may be short, but it gets you geared up for the big boss dual
  • It gets a lot of techno remixes. Here's one
  • ZUN's updated version.
• Phantasmagoria of Dim.Dream also brings us Yumemi's theme, Strawberry Crisis!!, and Dream's Museum's equally rockin' version (downloadable from the page). Even O-Life Japan tries their hand at it!
  • Touhou, if featured in a Hollywood action sequence.
  • The remix by dBu.
• The nighttime ending music, Eternal Full Moon. The Concealed the Conclusion remix shows why the old scores will never die.
• The staff roll theme, Maple Dream....
• Winds of Time, an unused theme which didn't fit anyone in the game.
  • The Remastered version.

Lotus Land Story

• Gensokyo ~ Lotus Land Story, the menu theme that sounds like it was lifted from the final stage.
• Witching Dream and Selene's Light, the Stage 1 themes for Reimu and Marisa respectively.
• Orange's Decoration Battle is proof that even an ordinary youkai can have extraordinary music.
  • This version didn't make the game, but showed up in Akyuu's Untouched Score.
  • And because IOSYS apparently just couldn't pass up the opportunity for an Incredibly Lame Pun, "Bad Apple & Good Orange".
• The Stage 2 theme for the Lake of Blood, Break the Sabbath.
• Kurumi's theme, Scarlet Symphony ~ Scarlet Phoneme, is dreadfully simple (a single 14-second motif repeated over and over in different keys), but this troper finds it catchy as hell. Time Limit ~ Momentary has a nice jazzy combination of it with the aforementioned Decoration Battle.
• I give you Bad Apple!!, Elly's Stage 3 theme from Lotus Land Story, and Alstroemeria Records's collaborative vocal arrange featuring nomico. And this version is a must watch for Touhou fans. And a three-for-one version.
  • A rendition by Marasy8, based on the Alstroemeria Records remix. Utterly amazing.
  • It even comes in a gorgeous piano version.
  • The album Time Limit Momentary features another strong arrange of it.
  • The remixers at Nico Nico Douga did a lot of Bad Apple!! remixes. This one is done in a capella. As for this one, if I hadn't told you it was a nico production, you might even have mistaken it for an official ZUN arrange!
  • Here is an awesome remix of the Alstromeria Records remix of Bad Apple!! uploaded by Something Unreal.
  • Even Cristina Vee has sung it!
  • And now, with a mashup of every appearing character's theme.
  • Now comes in a delicious clubroom flavor!
  • Or do you maybe like it more traditional?
• Elly's boss theme, Spirit Battle ~ Perdition Crisis gets no love, being overshadowed by Bad Apple.
  • Gensou Shoujou Taisen (a Super Robot Wars based fangame) gives us this remix.
• Reimu's best-known theme, Maiden's Capriccio, got its catchy start in PC-98.
  • Marisa's Vessel of Stars ~ Casket of Star is the counterpart to the original Maiden's Capriccio.
    • And here's an exquisite orchestrated update by kiyoma.
• Alice Maestra (which has nothing to do with Alice at all) plays in the stage 4 (and where Reimu and Marisa fight it out), and when someone wanted to hear how it would sound in one of the newer games, this was the result.
  • The awesome EWI arrangement.
• Yuuka's original theme, Sleeping Terror, the Stage 5 Boss theme. Sinister and majestic, very appropriate.
  • A very appropriate remix that captures the song's air perfectly.
  • I think you're forgetting Faint Dream ~ Inanimate Dream (Stage 6 Boss theme). And Lotus Love (Stage 5 theme). And Dream Land (Stage 6 theme). Yes, Yuuka has four themes in Lotus Land Story. Four and a half if you count the latter parts of Gengetsu's theme. Bump it up to five if you count the first version of Faint Dream that remained unused in the final game and sports an even more sinister melody.
    • O-Life Japan tried their hand at Faint Dream, too.
    • A wonderful orchestrated version made by a Nico Nico artist.
    • A wonderful piano version of Faint Dream.
    • Inanimate Dream translates awful well as a memorable opening, Yu-mu, for Kinema Kan 2nd Curtain through Kishida Kyoudan & the Akeboshi Rockets.
    • This arrangement of the unused version of Faint Dream rather nicely captures the aggressiveness of the battle.
• The Extra Stage theme The Inevitable Forbidden Game just swells with being a light hearted silly trek through untold barrages of bullets.
  • Here's what it would sound like remixed for one of the fighting games: The Inevitably Forbidden Game ~ Icemilk Magic and Innocence, from Touhou Nekokayou.
• Mugetsu's theme Illusion of a Maid ~ Icemilk Magic.
  • With a remastered version here. Enjoy.
• And for those who can't deal with Gengetsu Rape Time, here's Cute Devil ~ Innocence.
  • FactoryNoise's and AG's remix of it is supremely well done, while being quite faithful to the song.
  • Ever wanted to know what Gengetsu's theme would sound like from Embodiment of Scarlet Devil onwards? This remastering gives you the chilling feeling of a church organ as you come to realization there's no escape from Gengetsu Rape Time.
• Dreamy Pilot, the unused stage 4 theme. Here are the Remastered versions, a Remix and another one from Alstroemeria Records.
• Magical Shop of Raspberry, an unused Extra Stage tune from Lotus Land Story, gets a rockin' makeover from IOSYS for Futatsu no Tsubasa. Another group, known as kimino-museum, has also acknowledged this lost track's greatness.
  • A bunch of players in the MMORPG Mabinogi have done a rendition of the IOSYS arrange.
  • Once remastered, this track becomes even more haunting and impressive. Another Remaster by マドレーヌ gives it a more UFO-styled feel.
• Arcadian Dream, the staff roll theme.
  • The unused staff roll theme, Crescent Dream, is not bad either.
• Border Land, the unused stage 6 theme, is catchy as just about every other theme here.

Mystic Square

• The Menu theme, Wondrous Romance ~ Mystic Square, which sets the tone for the rest of the game.
  • The Remastered version.
• The Stage 1 theme, Dream Express.
  • The Remastered version.
  • Concealed the Conclusion gives us an epic arrangement of it named Dream Express ~ Red and White, mixing it with Witching Dream and Dichromatic Lotus Butterfly ~ Red and White.
• Sara's theme Magic Formation ~ Magic Square.
  • The Remastered version.
• The Stage 2 theme, Dimension of Reverie.
  • The Remastered version.
• Luize's theme Spiritual Heaven.
  • A Rock Arrangement.
• All of Alice's awesome themes: Romantic Children (Stage 3), Plastic Mind (Stage 3 Boss), Alice in Wonderland of course (Extra Stage), and The Grimoire of Alice (Extra Stage Boss theme).
  • Speaking of which, FlanGoY's flute solo of Alice in Wonderland does the original justice, and almost sounds as though Alice herself was playing it.
  • An awesome remix of The Grimoire of Alice done for a fan-game called Mystic Chain.
  • TAMusic takes their violin to Alice in Wonderland, and weaves glorious emotion into it.
  • Le Cirque de Sept Couleurs, as done by Unlucky Morpheus, is amazing.
  • Hisoutensoku's remix of The Grimoire of Alice is pretty awesome.
  • Artificial Children by IOSYS is a very haunting remix of Romantic Children.
  • Have some piano versions of both Romantic Children and Alice in Wonderland.
  • Rei of Oriens delivers the awesome with Alice in Wonderland and Sealed Sword, the latter being an epic orchestral arrange of The Grimoire of Alice.
  • These remastered versions of the 3rd Stage's Romantic Children are certified by this troper.
• The Stage 4 theme, Maple Wise.
  • The Remastered version.
• Forbidden Magic, the shared boss theme of Yuki and Mai.
  • The Remastered version.
• Angry Yuki's theme, Crimson Maiden ~ Crimson Dead!!.
  • The Remastered version.
• This troper can't get over Treacherous Maiden ~ Judas Kiss, Mai's insanely catchy theme.
  • Alstroemeria Records does it again with a vocal remix of Mai's theme, Real Intension, portraying Mai's feelings for her counterpart, Yuki. Judge for yourself.
  • The two Remastered versions.
• Stage 5 theme, The Last Judgment.
  • Here are some remastered versions.
  • As well as a song produced by Alstroemeria Records, rythmed by a long intro before the core of the song kicks in.
  • Here is a nice remix named Dreaming to Return Again.
• Yumeko has a great theme in Doll of Misery, which also comes in Classical flavour.
  • The Remastered version.
  • TanB's remix puts Yumeko in battle mode.
• This remix of World's End by Pizuya's Cell and MyonMyon is epic.
  • And if you liked that remix try this version with added lyrics.
  • This troper is actually surprised that no one mentioned the excellent Dream Bottom from Syrufit.
  • Now with added heartbeat sound and a drop of UFO flavor.
  • And also a train.
  • The Remastered version.
• Legendary Illusion ~ Infinite Being, Shinki's theme from Mystic Square. It takes about 24 seconds for the epic to kick in.
  • This remix by O-Life Japan brings the HSQ to a whole new level.

Youtube commenter: Oh dear. My face appears to have melted.

• • The Remastered version.
• Mystic Dream, the Staff roll theme.
  • The Remastered version.
  • The epic sounding Pearl Remix.
• Peaceful Romancer, the Extra stage's ending theme (and therefore, some of the very last songs of PC98), is absolutely beautiful. Too bad I can't find a nice remix for it.

1. ↑ There were some flame wars that Akyu's version is different from the ingame version. Akyu Untouched Score does use the game version, it is just that it was recorded at the highest settings (FM(86)), while those who complained heard the lower setting version (FM(26) and 11/22KHz) with fewer channels, which arguably makes some themes better, Vanished Dream ~ Lost Dream being the prime example.