Blatch

Late breaking news:

We have our first bit of animation from the Mystia's Izakaya fanime, still set for a 2025 release. Gaze upon thee:

Interestingly, while there is voice acting, they won't be using professional talent for this one, which gives it a leg up on the dialogue-less (well, initially) Memories of Phantasm. Also, there are hard subs and they seem competent, which his a win for people like me. Let's hope this summer is a good one, with an episode of this show plus a new Hifuu Club-isode for us to enjoy. Viva la Chinese!

Main review:

For the third straight year, I figured I'd wrap it up with another one-off post. But sadly, I don't have an extra-obscure and weird Touhou fanime to cover, so instead, I'll embellish on this series, which I rewatched in its entirety back in October. I didn't even intend it this way; an abortive attempt to write this as a distraction from the election failed, and then when I got this thing done it was held up for a few weeks for no good reason. Now then, let's dive in...

Episode 1: "Moon"

A good deal of fun, but also frustrating. I didn't know the canonical event this episode was based on until after the rewatch, or even that there was one. Turns out, before the second invasion of the Lunar Capital that was the basis of Silent Sinner in Blue (an official manga), Yukari did one hundreds of years in the past. She'd recently met Yuyuko, though Suika's status at the time is unknown. Funnily enough, the latter gets the best scene in the episode, as her fight with Lord Sasarae, and includes a bit of viscerality not really seen in the rest of the fanime. (Now that I think of it, I would say the end of Summer Day's Dream #4 is in a similar zone.) But alas, the Lunarians won in the past, so they win again here. They kind of won the rematch, too, but the Gensokyo crew claimed victory on a technicality. So if canon wasn't an obstacle, I think it would've been better for Yukari to get one up on the Lunarians, which would not only act as blatant wish fulfillment nice catharsis for anti-Moonie fans, it solves the problem of the Watatsukis being poorly-written invincible bastards. Imagine Yorihime in the present talking about how this is her only loss evar! And thus it's something she keeps with her every time she and her sister head into battle.

This episode was only released on DVD, and as a result the YT upload is in 480p resolution, something that also dogged the downloaded copy I watched two long years ago. I thought that wasn't the case. I assume they did produce the episode in HD, given later episodes are in progressively higher resolutions and the OP appears as-is each time. (E3P1 even has a "1080p Premium" option, which I took advantage of. How chic. I subscribed because I figured it'd be good for Secret Base videos.) But hey, even if a torrent source is better, it's fun being able to watch this on your TV this way.

Episode 2: "Wish"
[named "Priestess" here]

Actually did more for me the second time around, which is cool, but even though it held my attention I still think it could be shorter. This time, I wouldn't try to cut anything involving Sanae and Yayoi. Clearly there's gotta be a more efficient way to tell the past of Moriya Shrine, right? Some of the nerdier stuff (the Mishaguji, etc.) feels like padding out the runtime with stuff only the diehards (and Japanese mythology buffs) would appreciate. Also, the scene giving a glimpse into Kanako and Suwako's fight for the shrine feels like a tease. Really wish they'd hung on it some more.

Oh, what's this? It's what could have been!

I think this is the first Touhou fanime episode to feature a seiyuu who's passed away, sadly. Atsuko Tanaka, who voiced Kanako, died back in August. She was also the voice of the corrupt idol executive in that other show I was doing reviews for. I should get back to it.

Episode 3 [part one]: "Fate"
[lol I fucked up the title when I first posted that]

All three episodes benefit from punched-up subs, which are even color-coded using YT's advanced settings, but this one having that plus being in HD really makes it a treat to (re)watch. The subs are even buffed up further with a different font, though funnily enough this makes it harder to determine which character is saying it.

This episode slaps, my goodness. A great synthesis of things from the first two episodes, coupled with questy direction and some nice artistic choices, and there's even some fanservice for the haters to enjoy! Granted, it's tamer than Four Horrifying Minutes of Child Porn (or so they say) from Memories of Phantasm, but I think Renko and Merry sleeping together does more for me than the stuff in the other shows I like. Remember, A Summer Day's Dream features a naked Youmu in one of the OPs, plus a Patchy bathtub scene. I like The Raven more as a character now, and the scene where Merry is depicted as being inside her got me good. So the next episode is coming out at Winter Comiket Spring Reitaisai, right? Come on, I need this shit as a coping mechanism!

Some other stuff:

• The rest of Kyoto Fantasy Troupe's YT channel is worth looking at, and includes some fanime shorts that aren't part of this series plus behind-the-scenes videos. One unfinished video I originally thought was a promo for Episode 4, simply because it had the number 4 in the name, but it's actually a music video for a doujin group. So no, it's not confirmed the next sealed esoteric tale will be about Seija and Shinmyoumaru. On the plus side, this means my personal Myouren dream is still alive. Let's do it! Or maybe they could do an episode on the tsukumogami, or Hell becoming Former Hell, or something about the PC-98 characters, or...
• Narrative tropes I wish I hadn't used in my previous reviews include assuming that everyone's familiar with the source material as well as being overly self-deprecative about it. Next time, I'll be sure to downplay the smarm in favor of neutrality, m'kay?
• I mean, Episode 1's subs didn't need that much of a redo, but I did notice one interesting change: it lacks profanity. Maybe I'll do a clip of the revised version w/ a PGV rating? Of course, I need to get the logistics figured out for my next post first... or even if I want to keep doing them in the current style.
• Some great credit sequences here. Episode 2's has some color, but the others are sketched out like MoP's EDs. They look beautiful either way, adding some additional flair and worldbuilding to each episode. Episode 1's ED has a character that looks like Sagume, while E3P1's gives us a taste of what's to come with Remilia, Flandre, and their persecution for being vampires.
• I like that the Watatsukis' hair colors match with these two. If somebody hasn't drawn a crossover with these characters yet, they need to, especially because Roco is my favorite Million Live girl.
• And before we go, in lieu of a meme, here's another kig post:

I like this mask better than scarlet0rabbit's. This person also has a Kogasa mask, one of numerous I have seen, but it has the eyes made of mesh with stickers slapped on. That's how I want my mask to be like.

BTW, the first pic is unironically the dream for me: kigging as a booth girl at a convention and hawking somebody's doujin work. Maybe I wouldn't be locked to the table, though.  And what's up with the Renko cosplayer? I don't think that's a mask, but they remind me of a super-realistic one.