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tazmilied.bsky.social
Moonsided
@tazmilied.bsky.social
7 followers 42 following 40 posts
Sean. I'm here to browse art of things I like, mainly!
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Here’s some screenshots of my EX, and Phantasm Clear from February—The screenshots of my score didn’t work correctly, so I can’t share them, but they weren’t particularly impressive anyway. SakuyaA for both clears, and I got the 60 spellcards by playing on Normal, EX, Hard, and Lunatic. (6/6)
There’s a lot more you can dive into, including her relationships with others, or her role in incidents (Including something like Silent Sinner in Blue), but I’ll keep it short(er) for now. I like the gap youkai a lot! She’s very cool in terms of design and powers, and has neat nuances. (5/6)
Is Yukari’s dedication to Gensokyo the result of Maribel’s human experience and disillusion in the Outside World? is her outward presentation intended to disguise her truer nature? Is she always lazing around, or is it a cover to explore the Outside World and monitor Gensokyo? (4/6)
A lot of Yukari’s character is built on dualities—Responsibilities against whimsy, humans and youkai, Gensokyo and the Outside World, etc--So the dynamic of having been Maribel feels adds another layer. Are her actions merely that of a powerful youkai, or those of someone who was once human? (3/6)
As a disclaimer, I’m less of an expert on *everything* related to Yukari—I’m still kind of messing around in Early Windows Era Touhou, with only a couple of deeper forays into the later games/media, but I beat Phantasm for the first time this month and wanted to post some thoughts. (2/6)
I’ve talked before about how the Maribel-Yukari theory adds a lot to the Hifuu albums’ tone and atmosphere (ie. Ever-present, looming tragedy that takes place), but I think it also works really well in the reverse sense, too? Yukari Yakumo, the powerful sage, a youkai who once was human. (1/6)
Reposted by Moonsided
🐧It is time... for a 🐧 FUMO GIVEAWAY 🐧

I am giving away a Nue fumo and two lanyards from @colorfulkitten.bsky.social on this platform. Both lanyards showcase the characters from every game with Nue!

To enter, all you need to do is repost this post! I will draw the winner on March 7th.
This album also drops more hints that Yukari and Maribel are the same person, which is a theory I believe in. Specifically, Merry’s idea on how to visit the moon is direct foreshadowing to how Yukari makes the same trip in SSiB—Coupled with the use of Necrofantasia, it feels very self-aware. (7/7)
Who can afford to go on the album’s moon tour? Who benefits from the development of space? Certainly not the poor, or underprivileged. For all the future’s development, the world is facing the same issues as today. It’s a “Noah's Ark” of Capitalism—Something that TGA will get into next. (6/7)
The symbol of the elixir as a rebellion against authority also plays nicely with the album’s social criticism: Necrofantia’s story entry goes *hard*-- We’re discussing end stage capitalism, global economic inequality, and population control! (5/7)
With that in mind, Renko embraces the idea of immortality—Or rather, “Necrofantasia”—Rejecting the stories which define it as a curse. With the album’s connections to Imperishable Night, it serves as an interesting contrast to the trio of immortals in that game, especially Mokou. (4/7)
In their future, science has both discovered most Earth’s secrets, as well as hit a barrier of progress. Physics, as a field, is turning towards subjectivity and interpretation yet Renko is undeterred in her passion for life and discovery. Coupled with Merry, she still has so much to discover. (3/7)
I think Renko really steals the show in this album: You get a lot more insight into her, how she reacts to the state of the world in the future, and her envy for Merry’s abilities. I also really enjoy her take on immortality and rejection of nihilism. (2/7)
Holiday stuff delayed me writing, but I still want to give my thoughts on Magical Astronomy. I really enjoy it as an album, but also as an early part of Bougetsushou, and how it explores the interplay of contemporary Touhou and Hifuu’s usual commentary. (1/7)
Despite how loaded the album is with implications and worldbuilding (I haven’t even mentioned Tokyo or the old Toukaidou line!) it’s also just a passing hour for the Hifuu Club, told from a third party’s perspective. Retrospective is so interesting, and my favorite. (6/6)
There’s a lot of continuing themes about the difference between reality and fantasy, or more broadly, reality against perspective. Merry and Renko’s perspectives and majors also reinforce this idea and leave a lot to consider as the albums continue to develop their stories. (5/6)
The comparison of Hiroshige and Hokusai is complicated, and worth reading up on. I recommend this article, if anyone is interested: carnegiemuseums.org/magazine-arc... Is it better to depict something truer to life, or to create a personal account? (4/6)
The Bohemian vs. The Bureaucrat: Hokusai and Hiroshige
carnegiemuseums.org
Both in our real world, and in the album, the work of others is made into a personal commodity, without respect to the artist’s work. Hiroshige’s Fuji is modified to look like Hokusai’s, an AI generator strips countless example pieces to create a generic image, etc. (3/6)
In the album, the Japanese government using Hiroshige’s work and putting their own credits on it reminds me of a lot of issues with AI “art” in the modern day, and how readily art is stolen—And how individuals doing this is even worse than the album’s government project. (2/6)
Monday was the night for the Retrospective 53 minutes relisten; I've touched on the album on here before, but it's still such a good album that has a lot to say about art, how it’s used, and the difference between experiencing reality and its replication. (1/6)
Overall, I enjoyed the Changeability relisten! It sets up a lot while keeping the focus on the characters. I think I like Ghostly Field Club a little more on review, but both are still peak because they’re Hifuu. (5/5)
We also took a brief look at Perfect Memento in Strict Sense Memorandum—While published after Retrospective, it still adds an extra complication to Merry’s powers and the album’s setting—Not just where in Gensokyo, but when. (4/5)
(My favorite line is probably when Merry looks up to the sky while hopelessly lost and sees a night full of stars, remarking that “For the first time, I envied your eyes.” Another is when she asks “…if I’m going to end up forgetting my real name?”—Very on the nose for any Yukari readings.) (3/5)
I especially enjoyed the character insight this time around: Merry’s very real concerns about her ability and her reflection when lost; Renko’s deliberations on what to tell Merry about her dreams, and her envy for Merry’s ability in the ending, etc. (2/5)
Tonight we listened to Changeability of Strange Dream! I think the album is an interesting step in the albums’ early development—It develops more of the characters, the future’s setting and themes while using Touhou 6 and 8 as story backdrops. (1/5)