Th08/omake.txt English

○東方永夜抄 (Touhou Eiyashou ~ Eastern Long Night Vignette) 　～ Imperishable Night

Afterword    Shanghai Alice Correspondence vol. 4

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Team Shanghai Alice Leader ZUN
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　        2004/08/15
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～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～
  There's lots of spoilers here, so if you haven't  finished the game, read it or don't.
～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～
  Also, the REAL spoilers are all collected in characters_setting.txt.  So, the people who read that 
  should either have cleared the game, given up on clearing, or don't really care about the story.

====================================================================
■0．Special Afterword Table of Contents
====================================================================

　■1．Special Afterword
　■2．Secret Music Comments
　■3．Extra Stage Story


====================================================================
■1．Special Afterword
====================================================================

		Hello, as a one-sided introduction, I'm ZUN.

		Touhou has now reached its 8th edition. The contents of the series haven't really changed
	a lot despite lasting over such a long time. I'm not certain whether this is a good or bad 
	thing, but regardless of the gameplay, I'm having fun.

		In other words, it's as ever, a refreshingly incomprehensible game full of "what are they
	saying" moments. *handshake* This game's danmaku are a story waiting to be told.

		I've worried before whether Touhou is truly enjoyable. This game particularly, although the
	people within it may understand, uses danmaku in ways that I've never used before. The 
	number of people who'll be able to fully understand this type of gameplay will be a big
	question. Danmaku is a means of communication by the story and characters, as wave
	after wave of dazzling attacks are dealt and returned, I want to give the player motivation to 
	progress through the game by letting them "see what danmaku is up next". Because of 
	that, the most important element for danmaku in Touhou will always be that of its "name"
	and its "meaning", with "a fitting appearance" following after.

		Without much notice, games have started to be separated into "games" and 
	"performances". Perhaps it has something to do with how the formerly despised and 
	ostracized games, deemed as unhealthy influences, seem to have slowly worked their way 
	into becoming a normal, everyday part of culture. Right from the time where the NES was 
	called the enemy of mothers, to now when adults and children all play games, and the game 
	machines' capabilities are vastly increased. Part of the allure of games back then was their
	association with antisociability and rebellion, thus they became interesting. (I wasn't the 
	only one, right? *sweatdrop*) The reason why I'm not interested by games now can be
	simply put as when games became a major force, and advertised on TV commercials
	regularly, the current swept away my original motives and my interest. However, at this
	era where lots of so-called "poor games" are mass-produced and sold, the mistaken
	concept that "games aren't demos, focusing too much on graphics and appearance is
	the enemy of games" has been started, spread and repeated frequently.

		This is an extremely regrettable and erroneous concept. With that line of thinking,
	games will rapidly degrade and lose their charm. In fact, that seems to be the direction
	games are heading in currently. Games should be made with more freedom, to keep 
	their attractiveness.

		The most work I spend is trying to remember and draw out the charm of the STGs, 
	wherever they were. By remembering what attracted me to those STGs, I used those
	old methods to create Touhou. To make "danmaku" attractive, I "packaged" the
	danmaku as what is now called a spellcard, gave it a "name" and "appearance" that
	carried its meaning, eliminating things that did not fit within the game through
	"characters and abilities", giving it narrative and sense of overbearing the 
	"portrayal and conversations", matching the characters and danmaku with game via 
	"music", all of these come together to create complete danmaku (spellcards). 
	All for the charm of danmaku, that charm is the charm of games.

		The aforementioned "games aren't demos, graphics and appearances are extras, the 
	gameplay is what makes the game" erroneous concept, would see danmaku as nothing
	more than items to gain points, or otherwise as an exhilarating way to release stress, at 
	most evolving to a puzzle but growing no further. If you speak about current STGs, the
	games that follow that concept are indeed multiplying, and while they may be made well,
	the people who evaluate these games have started to evaluate not just on things within
	the game but on things outside of it as well, that may be the kind of game it is. In fact,
	that may be how gamers in general see games nowadays.

　		　If the core of any game may be its gameplay, and the current methodology of
	attracting people is by creating good graphics and production values, then using everything
	what makes a game - the gameplay, graphics, the system, all created to
	serve as "ingredients to show what we want to highlight", may just be more 
	similar to the old methodology than one might think.

		But, I think that having a small group of people who are still willing to receive and enjoy 
	my old ways of thinking and methodologies means a lot.

		However, since it's a doujin game, there's a freedom for concepts like "20th century STG extending
	into the 21st century". The game has not been commercialized yet.


　――――
		Changing the topic, this time around, the game became one that uses a lot of
	evil-looking bright colours...

		To keep with the theme as it is, I wanted the entire game to display varied and dazzling
	colours. Since it takes place at night, I thought light would be the best way to show it.

		Because of that, certain spellcards are to put it simply, so dazzling they're possibly 
	hard to read (I won't specify which for those who haven't played the game yet). 
	This is intentional. I think the visual difficulty is part of the enemy's dazzling
	technique. (laugh)

		Normally, a game which is painful to look at is a huge minus. The information the player
	receives is mostly visual; if the intended message deviates from what is actually seen too much,
	it raises questions about the game itself.

		Well, as a compromise, from the final stage onwards, the scenery was designed to 
	make the area around the player's character easy to see. (laugh)



　――――
		This time, a new Spellcard Practice mode was added. However, this is a very 
	dangerous system indeed. This is so because there is a possibility that it may end
	up degrading the game.

		At some point in time, the feeling that the principles that guided extras and rewards have 
	gone beyond that of being just "extras" is undeniable. After clearing a STG once, why would
	one want to continue playing it? It isn't to unlock extras or to score more points (although 
	they're available), but because the game itself simply feels good to play.

		With Spellcard Practice available, there is a hidden possibility that the main game will be 
	reduced to "The mode to fill out Spellcard Practice". This will undoubtedly lead to a game
	where the main constituent is the extras. Recently (though it's been a while) those
	kind of games have been increasing. The minigames in RPGs are a good example of this.
	Although the short missions in these games are interesting, they don't end up leaving
	an impact on players. I might be the only one who thinks that those games lack fulfillment,
	and give off the feeling of "Ahh, I've managed to waste some time".

		This time, knowing the principles of extras, I still dared myself to add this mode. Well, my
	gut feeling is that it won't eat up the main story, though. Touhou itself has already become 
	a game being eaten up by spellcards, so spellcards will not end up being extras. 
	Instead, I imagine it as an aid to playing part of the main game.
	(Well, at first when EoSD was being made, Spellcards were meant to be the one and only
	system, but somehow it ended up being swallowed up by the game.)

		Thus, I rebuilt the Spellcard Practice, so it is integral part of the game and not just
	an extra. Firstly, Spellcard Practice aims to be as close to the main game as possible. To 
	prevent any special ways of playing, it attempts to incorporate the flow of the main game.
	Spellcard Practice's goal is to serve as practice for the main game, in order to progress 
	through it, thus enriching the spellcard experience. Although it seems simple at first 
	glance, in this current world of consumption, placing such care and thought into the game's
	production is important.

		In any case, the status of the main game is the status of the overall game, and thus the
	status of the overall production. While trying to pursue that ephemeral element of "fun", it's
	easy to accidentally hurt that status and damage the attractiveness of the production. Ever
	since EoSD's time, the reason I've repeatedly said that such a mode like this would only be
	added at the very end, is for that reason. Trying to pursue the fun in front of your eyes may
	make things not very fun at all.


		But well, this mode. Whenever you obtain something, an incomprehensible commentary gets added, 
	making it eerie and causing you to lose interest. (*laugh*). I wonder if that's fine?
	(This kind of meaninglessness is what a true "extra" is.
	By the way, the harder the spell card, the weirder the commentary is.)


　――――
		Next, the music.
		This time, there's a lot of high-speed tunes. Wanting to evoke a sense of urgency 
        throughout the entire game resulted in this kind of impression. It gives a sense of fatigue 
        after playing the game many times.

		In some ways, it feels like a return of Touhou in PC-98, and gives off a huge sense of
	nostalgia (for me). Recent games' music have been dripping in coolness, so occasionally
	a game like this with very game-like songs is good, isn't it?

		Music carries its own style. Naturally, the composer and the listeners both 
	follow with the flow of the style. If they like the style or they don't, it's the same. 
	Whichever reaction, it stems from the music's flow.

	　	Similarly, games carry their own style. But by nature, musical style is unrelated
	to the style of a game. The game music that I think of is in the end, a game, and not music.
	Game music must be thought out carefully to follow the flow of the game, and not any 
	particular musical flow. Because of that, if you pull out the music from the game, it will
	lose connection to that flow.

		Although saying that, maybe I'm behind the times? (*laugh*)


　――――
		Speaking of which, I am often told I look like a phantom or a corpse, but I am a living person.





　――――
　		What shall I do for next time, I wonder.

		As my general plan of 3 works has been achieved, I'm thinking of undergoing some 
	reconstruction for the time being. I have an outline for what the next work will be like (but not 
	works beyond that). It'll take me a while to think about it.

		I will say this much, I think the next work will have a sudden drop in scale. Perhaps down 
	to the level of EoSD. It's likely that many old characters, aside from the main cast, won't come
	back in it. I intend to show you a new world. That's just the way it turned out. (laugh)

		The clean sweep transition from MS to EoSD was also for a similar reason. As the 
	Touhou world tends to always gets bigger and more diverse (and since no one disappears),
	you eventually have to go back to a certain point.

	Well, the characters from EoSD onwards will still show up in IaMP, so please enjoy them there
	too. (*laugh*)

	Otherwise, they might still be able to show up in supplementary material, and trolli^h^h^h^h^h^h 
	other special STGs.


　――――
		Regarding Touhou's derivative works.　　

		When PCB was released 1 year ago, derivative works started to be produced, and that
	revelation totally shocked me (even now I'm still surprised).  Touhou itself up to IN has gone 
	according to plan save a few minor details, but... the 3-year plan was hypothesized to attract a 
	small cult-like following among part of the STG enthusiasts by the time IN was released. When 
	EoSD neared its "peak", it was meant to be a work showcasing the past and how there's more to it
	than people think... things have turned out not quite what was expected.
	(During the time of EoSD, its concept from the start up to the very end, was that of a STG 
	designed for the shooter fans (*laugh*))

		Dear me, I have underestimated the scope, power and flow of information in doujin and shooter
	communities. (Especially since I have recently took a break in making doujin works ^^:). I'd never
	imagined that it would be so widely accepted and that derivative works of my work would be produced.
	This current situation has left me more bewildered than surprised. On the other hand, making
	the games skilfully might not always be the way. If you genuinely think about making something
	for a group, even a niche one, it might end up being liked by others too. It's not about making
	a game skilfully, but about enjoying the process of creating it.


		All the characters have their own intricate stories and little details created for them, 
	and not really being able to use them has been a regret. Especially since there isn't much room 
	to show them off in the game (*laugh*). In general, danmaku is how the story and the characters
	are communicated, but that's actually rather unique for a STG. I wonder how many can actually
	keep up with this method. That's why there's characters with personalities that wouldn't
	appear in a game. (People like Rinnosuke would be hopeless in danmaku (*laugh*))

		That's right, the establishment of the characters' potraits and conversations, all is for 
	the purpose of putting on a danmaku show. If someone speaks about manipulating cold, you can
	be sure that they will use a cold-related spellcard after. That's why danmaku is enjoyable to 
	look at. Without the conversations, half of the spellcard system would be dead and buried. 
	If it was done that way, danmaku would be no more different than shots from a tank, curving
	and stopping without meaning. It would be a half-dead status worthy of Youmu. Conversely,
	the conversations were created for the purpose of danmaku, thus with such a poor
	story (*sweatdrop*) I wonder how people can make derivative works out of it? ^^;


		Furthermore, those who play Touhou may feel some sort of unnaturalness? of sorts to it.
	Touhou doesn't have a very large-scale story. The endings as well having a seemingly
	meaningless flow to them, perhaps making one ask "what did you endings do with the main
	story?". Could there be people who don't feel this "forced" feeling about it?
	(Those who played the PC-98 Touhou games are excepted (*laugh*))

		In works in general exist a lack of common sense in an area full of it, and from that 
	extraordinary presence of lack of common sense gives birth to its story. But Touhou is 
	different, in that lack of common sense is the norm. The non-conversational parts can also
	lack common sense, but the whole work in general carries a single normal (although lacking 
	in common sense) theme. That's why the story is nothing amazing, and when it ends, the 
	usual lack of common sense will always await you.

		I greatly enjoy these eternally tepid works. My life lacks in common sense after all.


		But that's another case altogether, how this tepid series spawns derivative works is a far
	hotter topic (*laugh*). As was said before, the main feature of the games is the reciting of 
	characters and stories through danmaku. Whether this meaning has been consciously understood 
	isn't clear, but I enjoyed the works showcasing pleasant and strong characters that I received. 
	A character being strong is a synonym for their danmaku being fierce. (For every work I 
	received, after I looked at it, I stored it away safely. That amounts to hundreds of works
	already.) My impressions of each and every of these individual works from my standpoint
	isn't really fit for a formal correspondence like this, but perhaps for when we meet as 
	individuals......

		That's also the part that surprised me the most, on how the derivative works span several
	different genres, with much will, ambition and potential within them, and a surprisingly small 
	amount of erotic works (*laugh*). Touhou is ultimately a series of danmaku STGs, but I feel 
	that within the doujin community lies a strange and wonderful world as well. This border 
	between strangeness and normalcy, common sense and lack of it is quite reminiscent of the
	Gensokyo boundary itself.

		So from IN, IaMP, and all other future works, if you have interest, please feel free try it
	out as you wish. Touhou will not reject anyone who wishes for entry, nor chase down anyone who 
	leaves. As long as you have interest, only diving deep into Gensokyo when it's fun is fine, or 
	knocking at it carefully from the outside is also fine. Please be sure to treat newcomers well,
	and let those who walk away, leave peacefully.



――――

　		Regarding IaMP.

		IaMP is a collaborative work with Twilight Frontier, creating a Touhou fighting game.
	This time, unfortunately (but luckily for me (laugh)) a trial version means that there is no story
	involved. Because of that, my main job was to establish the characters, their abilities, and
	decide the names of their moves. My ideal method would be to prioritize and enjoy the 
	appearance and meaning of the danmaku(?) over the so-called balance and combos. 
	As long as the characters move energetically, it's fun for me. (Saying such things may turn
	off fighting game enthusiasts which Twilight Frontier wouldn't want though.) Well, my one
	true belief is that as long as the creators of the doujin games enjoy doing what they do, the
	game will surely turn out well. So perhaps I should make sure I enjoy what I do with IaMP
	as well. (laugh)

		The release date is set for winter Comiket, which is great because I don't have anything
	ready myself to showcase this time. I can't reveal which characters will appear, but the
	scenarios will have a suitably strange atmosphere to them.




====================================================================
■2．Secret Music Comments
====================================================================

	Song names are given through the border of noise and music, and the creator of the songs
	has the power to manipulate this border.
	Here's some suitable comments created using this power.

　♪1．Imperishable Night　～ Eastern Night.
		The eastern night.
		In general, the title song is based on the game title. Each time the song plays when the title logo appears, after all. The song title usually holds the game title as well.


　♪2．Illusionary Night　～ Ghostly Eyes
		Eyes of a ghost.
		Eyes able to capture the faintest things. These eyes can perceive the true appearance of 
	the night. This is the origin (げんし) of illusion (げんし). Thus was the original state of the night.


　♪3．Stirring an Autumn Moon　～ Mooned Insect
		A crescent-shaped insect.
		Just to make a simple rhyme, I used the characters for Spring and Autumn in the title to create a mysterious seasonal feeling. As for why the firefly is crescent-shaped...


　♪4．Song of the Night Sparrow　～ Night Bird
		Night sparrows are a youkai with a voice, yet an invisible appearance. It became known as a 
	bird's singing voice.


　♪5．Deaf to all but the Song
		Of course, a name that fits Mystia's danmaku well. Being deaf to all but the song is not due to
	the attractiveness of the song, but partly forced.


　♪6．Nostalgic Blood of the East　～ Old World
　　　	Ancient earth.	
		Although earth (ち) and blood (ち) are specified, the meaning is the same. The earth part
	is written by the user, and the blood part is of course written by me.


　♪7．Plain Asia
　　　		The east as you like it.
　　　		The song title itself is plain too.


　♪8．Retribution for the Eternal Night　～ Imperishable Night.
　　　	A neverending night.
		The night that the player has tampered with starts to show its influence on the varied 
	surroundings. The time for repentance has come.


　♪9．Maiden's Capriccio　～ Dream Battle
		Dream battle.
		The dream is Reimu's dream. Definitely not the player's dream.


　♪10．Love-coloured Master Spark
		Already, a story-unrelated song title.
		A black-clad girl is travelling along my path.


　♪11．Cinderella Cage　～ Kagome-Kagome
		The Japanese Cinderella's hidden cage is such that no matter how hard you try, you cannot force
	the princess out. That's the fault of the Kagome. However, one word from a celestial opens all the
	doorways.


　♪12．Lunatic Eyes　～ Invisible Full Moon
　　　	The invisible full moon.
		Everyone on the moon is supposed to be crazy, but they're just on different wavelengths
	that are seen as crazy by the normal. Redder than red, those are infra-red rays. They're 
	invisible to humans.


　♪13．Voyage 1969
　　　		Travelers.
		Reimu and co. suddenly realizing that they're outside the atmosphere, doesn't mean they wanted to travel there.


　♪14．Gensokyo Millennium　～ History of the Moon
		The history of the moon capital.
		The capital on the reverse side of the moon. A long history far beyond that of the relatively
	recent Gensokyo. And that capital is slowly but surely......


　♪15．Flight of the Bamboo Cutter　～ Lunatic Princess
		The princess of the moon.
		But this princess sure has done some bad things. And a lifestyle of hiding herself at the surface.
	By the way, this doesn't mean an old man flying through the sky. Just making sure.


　♪16．Voyage 1970
		Travelers.
		But the humans continue to travel. Youkai are always left as caretakers, the souvenirs of the
	humans' trips.


　♪17．Extend Ash　～ Hourai Victim
		The Hourai Elixir.
		The real reason why Mt. Fuji wasn't chosen as a world heritage site. It's because it's so sacred
	that even the world could not choose it. Speaking of which, stop littering on it.


　♪18. Reach for the Moon, Immortal Smoke
		Mt. Fuji erupting would be scary. The smoke from Fuji would have many different implications.
	The current Fuji is rife with impurities within now... If this smoke reaches the moon, the moon
	would become unclean as well.


　♪19．Evening Primrose
		It isn't just humans who watch the moon.
		The youkai watch it as well.


　♪20．Eternal Dream　～ Mystic Maple
		Of course, maples are always there to take in the light of the red moon. 
	They're red when you cut them too.


　♪21．Eastern Youkai Village
		Although humans are there too.
	Well, to go all the way there, you'd have to be pretty youkai yourself.




====================================================================
■３．Extra Story
====================================================================
	
With the real moon's light shining on Gensokyo in the night, the angle of the sun
during the day became lower.
This led to what humans called the perfect temperature.

Gensokyo was as peaceful as ever.


Reimu "Ahh, geez. It's so boring."

Hakurei Shrine, the shrine lying on the border of Gensokyo.
The shrine maiden there was as bored as ever.


Marisa "Yeah~. Isn't there anything happening?
Usually after a large-scale incident, there'd be aftershock-type incidents going on."
Reimu "It doesn't have to be an incident."

It appears Marisa also had nothing to do.


Sakuya "That's why this kind of setup is strange.
Nothing seems to be happening."
Marisa "Maybe it's scared cuz we're all ready for it to happen?"

The combination of a maid in a shrine was unexpectedly fitting.


Youmu "No, something will happen. Yuyuko said so."
Reimu	"......"

Not a very credible claim.


*ka-thonk*

It wasn't the sound of a bamboo tube, but still a sound reverberating through their heads.
That was how bored they were.


――――

Kaguya "If you're that bored, since tonight's a full moon, go undertake a trial of guts."
Reimu "Hey! When did you come into my shrine?"

The person that emerged from within the shrine was Kaguya. An alien.
An ordinary person could not fathom the actions and thoughts of an alien.

Marisa	"A trial of guts? There aren't many scary things."
Kaguya "Don't worry, when the real full moon is shining brightly tonight, come to the bamboo forest in the dead of night and see for yourself. You'll taste the true meaning of terror. It's wonderful."

Sakuya "Hmm, you wouldn't happen to be planning anything, would you?"
Kaguya "It's not a trick or anything, but... it's scary, really. Far more than your honourable mistress."

Youmu "A trial of guts... that's a bit..."
Reimu "How can a half-ghost be the one that's most scared about it?"


――――

Since everyone was bored, they were interested despite how they looked.
And Kaguya's actions clearly showed them that something strange was afoot.

Reimu "What'll happen if something occurs while we're undergoing this trial of guts."
Marisa "If she came to instigate us to this trial of guts, that means it's already the incident's entrance."
Sakuya "Whatever happens, as long as we take turns and the rest remain at the shrine, it'll be fine."
Youmu "Ehhh~, you're all really doing it~, it's a trial of guts~"

Everyone was motivated.

Kaguya "Oh yes, that's right. Make sure you go on this trial of guts as a 2-person team like you did when you came to me.
That way if anything happens to one of you, we'll find out quickly."
Reimu "This is definitely suspicious."
Marisa "Is this your revenge for that?"

Kaguya "What are you talking about? It's just to ensure the safety of you all."
Sakuya "That isn't something the instigator of the trial of guts should say."
Youmu "I definitely won't go alone."


――――

In the end, being bored and spurred on by Kaguya, they decided to set out in the dead of night that night to undertake the trial of guts.
For the time being, the 4 of them went to call on their partners.

In the first place, Gensokyo is filled with such things like youkai and phantoms.
What could this extremely scary thing be?


Kaguya "If they carry out the extermination, it'll be a real help for me."

As the true full moon shined brightly onto the bamboo forest, fairies and youkai ran rampant,
beyond the imagination of Reimu and co.
In a such noisy place, this is more like youkai extermination than a trial of guts.

Kaguya "Now, the trial of guts. Let your guts shine through."

It was said that eating a mermaid's guts would make you immortal...