#retrospective 53 minutes

[every1sno1fangirl]

Why did ZUN not make Retrospective 53 Minutes last 53 minutes? Is he stupid?

#touhou #hifuu #renko usami #maribel hearn #retrospective 53 minutes #r53m #this is just a dumb shitpost I love ZUN dearly I don't think he's stupid

[monikatouhou]

#retrospective 53 minutes #touhou #touhou project #renko usami #maribel hearn #merry hearn #hifuu #own art

[touhoutunes]

Title: YOU&Iのdistance

Arrangement: シンゴ

Vocals: パイン & ケニー

Album: FAR EAST JOURNEYS

Circle: マッカチン企画

Original: Hiroshige No.36 ~ Neo Super-Express

#touhou #touhou project #touhou music #Hiroshige No.36 ~ Neo Super Express #retrospective 53 minutes #マッカチン企画 #FAR EAST JOURNEYS #ケニー #パイン #シンゴ #sorry for same source song in a row but i liked how these 2 went together

[godginrai]

GET IN THE RING & TUMENECO - ポラリス (Polaris)

Another World 2

2013

Original: Hiroshige No.36 ～ Neo Super-Express

#Touhou #GET IN THE RING #TUMENECO #Retrospective 53 Minutes

[sukimas]

i don’t think it’s plausible for merry to ever be separated from renko for the rest of her life simply because saigyouji yuyuko exists. that woman does NOT let things go when they’re important to her

#and they are important to her. else why does retrospective 53 minutes exist? #yukaribel

[ayakashibackstreet]

(Retrospective 53 minutes, Cage in Lunatic Runagate chapter 3, prologue to Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom, afterword to Unfinished Dream of All Living Ghost)

ZUN sure has been focused on that 'perfect yet fake and sterile' vs 'imperfect and therefore real and organic' dichotomy for quite some time now, huh

#sorry I was thinking about things and then my brain decided to think about Touhou instead #and so I reread Retrospective 53 Minutes and Well.... #anyways next Hifuu story should be about AI I think #it's clearly on his mind lately lol #Touhou #so that I can find this later in case I need it lol

[moonsidesong]

i actually quite like the little whirring sound my cd drive makes heheh

#i already ripped all my music cds so im just installing my games now #i mean like. i have them on steam already. except perfect cherry blossom which isnt. on steam yet. guess im finally gonna own it legally LOL #but having extra backups never hurts! #i dont think im gonna start super-publicly sharing around my cd rips but if anyone happens to want some cute little wav files of zun's music #im happy to throw them up on google drive for ya if you shoot me a dm #currently i have bohemian archive in japanese red + perfect memento in strict sense + grimoire of marisa's cds #as well as all 5 akyu's untouched score cds #and ghostly field club + changeability of strange dream + retrospective 53 minutes #aaaand finally gouyoku ibun/sunken fossil world's ost #planning on going shopping for more soon tho hehehehheheheh

[pinkcultgirl]

i made a Retrospective 53-minutes inspired collage to put in my scrabbook! i'm super happy with how it turned out and i definitely want to do more hiffu club themed papercrafts in the future, i think the themes of magical astronomy will work well with a lot of alchemical/esoteric ephemera i've collected recently :-)

would yall be interested in seeing my other papercrafts and collages lemme know sjkdkfjskj i would love to show them off hehehehe :333

#touhou #my art #collage #papercraft #ephemera #hifuu club #renko usami #maribel hearn #renmerry #tradtional art #vintage ephemera #scrapbook #yuri #zun's music collection #2hu

[laplaces-lovecraftian-dick]

re: arcs in touhou

this is a personal way of packaging the events of touhou for convenience. literature not explicitly mentioned, I'd place in the corresponding release chronology.

1. PC-98

We all now by now that pc-98 canon is deemed mostly canon unless contradicted. It is also quite outdated and left for much of interpretation. Either way.

- Reiiden, (The) Highly Responsive to Prayers. What do we know? Reimu can seriously kick some ass. Also, joyful spherical creature.

- Fuumaroku, (the) Story of Eastern Wonderland. What do we have? Mima was apparently unsealed from Hell, and it's established that the Hakurei is famous for better or worse. Moreover the "true powers" of the orbs are quite curious.

- Yumejikuu, (The) Phantasmagoria of Dim. Dream. What do we have? Professor Yumemi Okazaki from a world that resembles the foundation of the Hifuuture. Also some insight into the whimsy of this world.

- Gensoukyou, Lotus Land Story. There isn't that much other than the name (!!!), Yuuka, and the existence of a dream world.

- Kaikidan, Mystic Square. There is once again not that much lore other than Makai having more of a structure and Alice appearing for the first time. Perhaps the mention that Yuuka doesn't use magic is of vague interest (and so would be Mima's words about being a god if she hadn't disappeared).

2. Spellcard Arc

Immediately following the Vampire Incident (which in and of itself is quite interesting for a variety of reasons) we get to watch as Gensokyo becomes used to this new system. This is an arc for Exposition.

- Koumakyou, (the) Embodiment of Scarlet Devil. We get it, Remilia wants to show off. We are introduced to Patchouli and Flandre, who are for now important to the lore.

- Youyoumu, Perfect Cherry Blossom. Of importance, we expand upon the fact that Gensokyo has History and that it has Connections to other worlds, at least one of which seems to be manageable by Yukari Yakumo (whom we also meet here and we get some interesting interactions with Reimu). We also see Alice again, and this implies a possible connection to Makai somewhere.

- Suimusou, Immaterial and Missing Power. We meet Suika, who has a great deal of importance as an oni, as Yukari's friend, and as one of the four that once controlled the mountain.

- Eiyashou, Imperishable Night. Oh, where to even start. We get more insight on Yukari through Stage 3, we learn of the Human Village (protected by a hakutaku, mind you), we learn about the Lunarians, and we learn about Mokou. This is Chekhov's gun, I dare say.

- Kaeizuka, Phantasmagoria of Flower View. Clearly there's not really a Major Incident per se, but we do get insight on Reimu's duties, the nature of Gensokyo, how Yuuka has become relatively quiet, and we get insight from Yukari through Seasonal Dream Vision.

- Bunkachou, Shoot the Bullet. Here, I'd also place the literature of this era as more exposition with fun bits of lore.

- Hourai Doll ~ Dolls in Pseudo Paradise, Night Trip to Rendaino ~ Ghostly Field Club, Changing Dreams in the Age of Science ~ Changeability of Strange Dream, East-West Tokaido ~ Retrospective 53 Minutes, and Celestial Wizardry ~ Magical Astronomy. Boy oh boy do we have a fun ride learning about the Hifuuture and our dear protagonists, Maeriberii "Maribel" "Merry" Hearn and Renko Usami. This is of great importance for Yukari and Gensokyo lore later on, plus it's a good segue into the more philosophical arc next.

(yes I know DiPP isn't strictly Hifuu but!)

3. Religious Arc

- Bougetsushou. This expands on Lunarian lore, which is especially important when we try to understand Yukari Yakumo and Gensokyo, and it complements well the established setting in the first half of Hifuu. We also get insight on Patchouli's magic-science unification, more on religious setting (as seen in Yorihime and maybe Yuyuko loopholeing the concept of purity), and more on History such as Mokou's past and Eirin's growth.

- Fuujinroku, Mountain of Faith. Well, other than welcoming a more divine side into Touhou, we establish properly the dynamics of the Youkai Mountain, especially the tengu's presence. Moreover, we meet Kanako and Suwako, who are living proof of gensokyo's concept of adaptation and self-definition, as well as of gensokyo's sustainable balance. Sanae is also a good way to expand on the relationship with the Outside World.

- Hisouten, Scarlet Weather Rhapsody. We are introduced to Tenshi and the philosophy of the Celestials, and also we see Yukari having a bit of an obvious interest in keeping the shrine as is.

- Chireiden, Subterranean Animism. We learn about Former Hell, continue to see Yukari and Suika being suspiciously helpful, meet Yuugi, and continue the trainwreck caused by Kanako's arrival.

- Seirensen, Undefined Fantastic Object. Makai returns! Byakuren is here! With her arrival, the Trainwreck continues, there is a vague connection to the Blood Pools via Murasa, and we get to see the side of mythology about humans and youkai (as seen with Byakuren's approach to it, and Ichirin existing).

- Hisoutensoku, Unthinkable Natural Law; Bunkachou, Double Spoiler; Sangetsusei, Great Fairy Wars. Naturally, we must see Gensokyo adapting to it's new state of affairs as things change and forces tug at it.

- Shinreibyou, Ten Desires. Much more lore regarding History and self-definition as seen in Miko; also, we meet Mamizou, who can somewhat play with the Hakurei Barrier.

- Shinkirou, Hopeless Masquerade. The Trainwreck comes to a close as Kokoro puts an end to the religious wars. This event (by which I mean a tsukumogami and a satori accidentally solving everything with some nudges along the way) show the way Gensokyo works: nothing truly Bad can happen to it.

- Suzunaan, Forbidden Scrollery. This further shows that there are forces at play which ensure the balance of Gensokyo. More on that in other official literature.

4. Gensokyo Arc

We are back to seeing the nature of this fantasy land through a much larger scope. Gensokyo has been established as a setting and as a concept, so now we get to see it in full action.

- Ruins of Torifune ~ Trojan Green Asteroid, Izanagi Object ~ Neo-traditionalism of Japan, Swallow stone Naturalis Historia ~ Dr. Latency's Freak Report, Old Testament Tavern ~ Dateless Bar "Old Adam". What a better way to start this era than through the moment in Hifuu where the Renko-Merry dynamic takes a turn, and Merry's true colors start to show more clearly?

- Kishinjou, Double Dealing Character. An independent incident, really; we are given a refreshment as to what a Gensokyo Incident feels like. No intervention from any other worlds, simply put. It's quickly resolved, as expected, and even quicker does the world adapt. (Insert ISC here).

- Shinpiroku, Urban Legend in Limbo. Much to discuss! From a new Outsider in the form of Sumireko Usami, to the scale that an incident can reach when there are other worlds at play! Especially, the Moon and an Outside World that ever so slightly drifts from what Sanae knew and into what Merry will know. Also, we get a proper game appearance for Kasen, which means...

- Ibarakasen, Wild and Horned Hermit. Sure, the story began much earlier, but it's worth nothing a few things here and now, such as the insight we get on being a hermit, a sage, and an oni all from the same person: Kasen, another prime example of self-definition. Also, a fun little peek at Hell and Heaven.

- Kanjuden, Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom. Well, among many other things, this brings us Hecatia, who offers good insight on the dynamic of connected worlds, which we have been seeing quite a lot of; as well as a comparison between the rigid Lunarian culture, the unique lawlessness of Hell, and the adaptable Gensokyo.

- Hyouibana, Antimony of Common Flowers. Well, with this incident we get to see more of Kasen and Yukari's current dynamic, their relation to Reimu, and two very important points shown through the Yorigamis: anyone can cause an incident (which, we kinda already knew, but bear with me), and the Dream World takes importance. Tenshi can freely desire to reshape the world into something better (albeit through odd means), is that not reminiscent of Reimu's desire?

- Tenkuushou, Hidden Star in Four Seasons. What was that about anyone crafting an incident? Oh yeah, another sage appears, and makes incision on the nature of Gensokyo. There is also, albeit not as directly, insight into self-definition in Okina, who embodies so many concepts.

- Hifuu Nightmare Diary, Violet Detector. More Sumireko shenanigans that showcase the adaptability of Gensokyo and the meddling of the sages when things are tricky. Moreover, the importance of the Dream World for Gensokyo is highlighted: both in universe, as the Yukaribel story grows, and out of universe, for the very conception of Gensoukyou involved a dream world.

- Kikeijuu, Wily Beast and Weakest Creature. Woop woop, there's no time to keep musing about sages and dreams, Hell is here! Is this a consequence of Hecatia and Okina's quarrel? No, it was actually the Beasts. However, we do get to see a curious phenomenon involving Keiki and the human spirits.

- Gouyoku Ibun, Submerged Hell of Sunken Sorrow. Once again, the sages meddle when things are tricky. There's also something to be said about their wisdom - are they not very clever with Flandre's power? They must've quickly learnt in order to devise such a plan - Kasen learnt to solve the Urban Legend Incident, Yukari learnt to solve the Perfect Possession Incident, surely Okina can do the same. And yet... perhaps, and just perhaps, the knowledge was always there. The Vampire Incident was long ago, and Gensokyo is fundamentally an accepting place. Had they wanted to, they could've kicked the Scarlets out, and yet. This is how they built Gensokyo. This is how they work with it. But let's move on - more Beast lore, and we utilize obscure mythology to our advantage.

This, we have already seen. Vampire lore is not exactly commonplace, so they didn't know how to deal with them. Oni lore was forgotten, therefore Suika and Kasen were tricky to deal with. The sages are masters of self-definition through their mythology. The entirety of shinpiroku and hyouibana was based on working with the mythology of the incident. More on this later.

- Kouryuudou, Unconnected Marketeers. Another instance of "anyone can create an incident if they try hard enough," of "redefining oneself" with Chimata and not too unlike what Kanako herself showed, and of Reimu finding more about her own power.

- Bulletphilia-tachi no Yami-Ichiba, 100th Black Market. Whimsical instance of Gensokyo adapts. Somehow, it always does, for better or worse.

- Juuouen, Unfinished Dream of All Living Ghost. Whuh-oh! This was the for worse! Now, the beast incident brewing in the background crashes into the ever fluctuating Gensokyo. Thankfully, even the other worlds have their own measures to remain stable, just like Gensokyo does. This means both through the dutiful shrine maiden and through this strange innate balance (Aunn saves the day! Okina will surely claim it was all according to plan). Everything passes.

5. The Future.

Who knows? Predicting touhou is famously not the best of ideas. However, I'm confident there will be constants: this is a place to determine oneself, and this is a place that will persevere.

On a more specific note, I imagine that Chireikiden, Cheating Detective Satori will bring an interesting plot, whether it be a conclusion to the arc or the beginning of a new one. We recently tackled Hell, so it may be the former option.

It seems to be shaping up a lore reveal regarding the Hakurei and Gensokyo's creation. Perhaps, there will be more on its connection to other worlds, specifically the dream world. The importance of change. The nature of the shrine. The balance established by the sages, of those who embrace otherness as seen in Hifuu, in DiPP, in Forbidden Scrollery.

#touhou #touhou project #gensokyo meta #goodness gracious who do i even tag #reimu hakurei #yukari yakumo #kasen ibaraki #okina matara #and many many others

[ofthenoseclan]

merry and renko go

OUGHHHHMY GOD OKAY. OKAY YOUVBE MADE A GRAVE MISTAKE IM NOT WELL ABOUT THESE GIRLS. these are my second favourite characters in the entire touhou franchise as a unit and i have LOADS to talk about with them

renko and merry are the main characters of the "zun's music collection" concept records (not counting vol.1 which is standalone). these albums are compilations of rearranged music from the franchise, featured along with original compositions unique to the records. alongside them is a story booklet, and the tracks in the album are composed to convey its narrative through their melody. the stories themselves are written a lot like the script of a radio play, consisting primarily of dialogue between the duo.

set in a near-future setting suffering hard from the impacts of late-stage capitalism, the narrative of the concept records follows these two chuunibyou university students as they muse on daily life in their current society. the albums' stories are pretty much entirely self-contained from the rest of the franchise, making them a great entry point.

the blonde-haired girl is merry hearn (her real given name is maeriberii, which is just a keyboard-smash of katakana zun came up with to sound like an unpronounceable european name, but is ironically pretty hard to actually transliterate), a well-mannered girl who's outspoken, but often anxious and unsure of herself. she has the unique ability to see unexplainable phenomena, travel to other worlds in her dreams, and even bring objects in and out of them. a good chunk of the narrative is spent detailing how these two explore the extent of merry's talents.

to her left is her girlfriend, renko usami, a hyperactive, analytical, and curious woman interested in all things occult. she's extremely precise and accurate at measurements—enough that she can tell the time just from the way the stars are placed in the sky. she encourages merry to delve deeper into testing her abilities partly because she wants to see merry succeed, but partly because she's hopelessly fascinated with her and her powers.

the most enjoyable part to me isn't their dynamic itself though, but how it's used as a catalyst to touch on political satire and discussion of capitalism and consumerism. as i explained above, the future they live in is on the verge of collapse. the details are never explained, as most of our insight into it comes from the duo, who are both probably at least middle class if they're in college, so our information about the state of the world is tinted from the lens of people who aren't as affected as some people might be. but we do know quite a lot—climate collapse has already occurred, and many parts of land are underwater. science has progressed to the point that it's considered "solved", and anything unexplainable by science is swept under the rug by society at large because it's not beneficial for humanity to spend money to research it further. world hunger is paraded around as having been eliminated, but in reality it was likely only fixed because those unable to be fed have passed on. despite the state of the earth, the wage gap continues to increase, and society marches on like usual.

the duo is unsatisfied by the way the education system is built, with science being pitched as a cut-and-dry academic study with no further discovery to be made, so as a form of escapism they set up a two-person school club, the hifuu (sealed secrets) club, and explore paranormal happenings, which often leads to commentary on the state of the world in comparison to the wonderful occurrences they explore.

one of my favourite moments is in the fourth volume, bouyuu toukaidou ~ retrospective 53 minutes, where the pair take a train trip to meet renko's parents. the train runs underground since the ground level it used to travel was flooded, so there's a fake screen projecting what the surroundings used to look like built into the tunnel. at the end of their trip, merry notices a credits sequence displayed and remarks about how ironic it is to replicate a scene of nature that humans wiped out, then take credit for the image. there's all sorts of moments just like this throughout the series that i adore for their message.

another thing about these two is how prominent they are in yuri culture. their relationship is left very much out of the picture in canon, but the fanbase goes absolutely wild for it. it has left its mark on so many yuri authors, with a huge number of them producing doujins for the pairing before breaking out into professional work—some even continuing to release hifuu content after making a name for themselves outside the fandom as well! notable examples being nio nakatani, famous for bloom into you, and iori miyazawa, author of otherside picnic (which even started life as a fanfic starring the hifuu duo, before having their names changed to sorawo and toriko to stay legally distinct). even azuma aya, who illustrated one of the official touhou manga that zun wrote, did a very sweet oneshot featuring the pair which i recommend as a quick read :]

im gonna cut myself off now before i type about them for the rest of the night, but in conclusion: my GOD these bitches gay. good for them! good for them. they will bounce around in my mind until the end of time and they are the driving force of my favourite part of the entire franchise. i owe them my life savings

#touhou #renko usami #maribel hearn #hifuu tag #blub #hydrophone

[morbid-dreamzz]

Tag game thingy; "shuffle your repeat playlist and post the first ten tracks, then tag ten ppl"

Idk what a repeat playlist is since I use yt music and only listen to files I have downloaded on my phone, so I'll just use the song randomizer option (⁠•⁠ ⁠▽⁠ ⁠•⁠;⁠)

1- Retrospective 53 Minutes (album by ZUN) - Hiroshige No36 Neo SuperExpress

2- Frenzy love - LiLAC

3- Iguamalolxd - won listenT_T

4- Anika - In the name of passion

5- Rammstein - Stripped

6- Night Tempo - Mint

7- Dan Forden - The tomb (MK4 OST)

8- In flames - Colony

9- MKDA OST - Quan Chi's fortress

10- Neo fresco - Sublimation

Thanks to @citrus-sprouts for tagging me! And uuuh I guess I'll tag @rockman-x @hatenayousei @merryfortune (pls don't feel obligated lol) and whoever wants to do this, I'm too shy to tag 10 users at once 🏃

#text #long post

[spiders-hth-is-an-outlier]

Am I about to stay up late watching a 1 hour 53 minute retrospective of Arrested Development, a television show I have never seen? Sure. Yes. I make choices, and a lot of them are like this, to be honest.

[monikatouhou]

Hifuu CD doodles, all together in one convienient post

Ghostly Field Club

Changeability of Strange Dream

Retrospective 53 Minutes

Magical Astronomy

Trojan Green Asteroid

Neo-Traditionalism of Japan

Dr. Latency's Freak Report

Dateless Bar "Old Adam"

#touhou #touhou project #renko usami #renko and merry #maribel hearn #merry hearn #hifuu #hifuu club #own art #yukaribel #i love these two weird women

[touhoutunes]

Title: ロマン逃避行 (Romantic Getaway)

Arrangement: NSY

Vocals: IZNA

Album: ESCAPE FROM WEST

Circle: 東方事変

Original: Hiroshige No.36 ~ Neo Super-Express, Blue Sea of 53 Minutes

#touhou #touhou project #touhou music #Hiroshige No.36 ~ Neo Super Express #blue sea of 53 minutes #retrospective 53 minutes #東方事変 #ESCAPE FROM WEST #IZNA #NSY

[himejoshikomaeda]

retrospective 53 minutes is my favorite secret sealing club album btw. both musically and writingwise

[sukimas]

Like. I must emphasize that the Hifuus really don't even like each other until Retrospective 53 Minutes. It's an alliance of necessity in a world that's wrong. Renko doesn't choose to not gaslight Merry because she cares about Merry, she chooses to be a huge enabler because SHE WANTS TO SEE THOSE OTHER WORLDS TOO! It's an entirely selfish sort of thing. That's also why she gets Merry hurt on TORIFUNE- because she's so excited about exploring other worlds (with Merry as a vector) that she doesn't really think of Merry's well-being. Merry, meanwhile, sees her as a research assistant and a font of Information that she can use to make her problems less problems. In a sense it's kind of the Chiyuri and Yumemi dynamic (but less problematic).

They're also simultaneously dragging each other into hell at this point now that they're properly in love but that's fine. They enjoy it. It's ok.

#touhou #hifuu