/jp/ - Otaku Culture

>>44556795
https://m.fanfiction.net/s/8996187/1/A-Day-in-the-Life-of-Yuuka-Kazami

>Yuuka Kazami was bored, so she decided to go for a walk around Gensokyo.

>This was a rather rare thing for her to do. Normally she stayed in her estate, walking among the sunflowers, but today, she decided that the rest of Gensokyo had spent far too long a time without her, and so she decided to visit it for a bit, so she picked up her umbrella and walked out the door of her mansion.

>First, Yuuka decided she would pay a visit to the gods on the mountain. Not just the two that lived at the top, oh no, but all of them, from the harvest god who lived at the base to the Celestials at the top. Or was this the mountain the Celestials lived on? It had been so long, Yuuka could hardly remember. She laughed quietly to herself. How silly of her; she should make sure to find them and make a note of where they lived. It was the right thing to do, after all.

>>44389615
She is!

>>44272296
Now, we get to the golden crown of the four, the creme-de-la-creme, the Heaven upon Mount Purgatory, Flower of Japan.

Unlike every other theme she has, this one in it's original mixing is very melancholic.
The piano is soft, almost like a lullaby, and the string (I don't know much about japanese instruments) that might in another song be uplifting quickly gives way to a violin that almost always plays primarily descending chords.
It's almost nostalgic, much like Alice in Wonderland, but unlike AiW, where it's sad because the story is just about over, but there's still just a little more left, new mysteries that will forever be unanswered, FoJ feels more accepting of the fact that the story is nearly over. Which, it probably was supposed to be, as MS was intended to be the final game, after which he'd work on his professional, "real" career, making games for his employer, with a few musical scores on the side for his old buddies at Amusement makers and Seihou, and oh-what'd-you know, they think it'd be neat to put in a few references to their previous works in the Extra stages, and it just so happens Yuuka is one of ZUN's favourites, so he puts her in Kioh Gyoku. Sorry Mima!
Of course, a character in a danmaku game needs a theme song, so he comes up with one, and here we are.
Touhou was over, oh so nearly.

But Yuuka gets the last appearance. As far as anyone can tell, this really is the end of the line.
How best then, to celebrate the characters you created, and yet close the final page on the final book without leaving behind a void?
By accepting it all, and moving on. This then, might be Yuuka's innermost face. Not as someone who is out for blood any chance she can get, but someone who loved flowers, and cared for them deeply.
There isn't much dialogue in Kioh Gyoku, but the title best sums it all up I think. Beautiful mound of Cherry Blossoms, Flower of Japan.
For a character most associated with violence, and her love & indulgence in it, it's an odd name. Normally, Yuuka is very proud, with titles like "Beauty of the Twilight", "the Oriental Demon", "Flower Master of the Four Seasons", but her theme is just a simple and honest callback to her main love and hobby, and what sets her apart from other strong youkai.

If ZUN had been accepted initially for DiPP as a music CD, without having to register as a doujin game dev to get into comiket that year, this would have been the last touhou song.
With that in mind, it's fitting. It's a lovely tune, well crafted, definitely with it's own feel to it. There is a feeling of longing, almost, throughout the whole piece, but not one of bitterness.
Rather, it's a lovingly made sendoff to one of ZUN's favourite characters, to the series he could call (Mostly) his own, but of acceptance that life must go on, and if there is one singular character who would embody that, it would be PoFV Yuuka, years later, understanding the deep cycle of life and death inherrant to the world.
It's also quite fitting that she be wilful enough to buck that logic when it comes to her own mortality, which is what Eiki ACTUALLY tells her.
After all, she cheated death once already, more than Eiki would know about~.

Overall, while this all reads as a definite loveletter to Yuukarin, I will die on the hill of her having the most expressive theme out of anyone in touhou, and she will always have just that hint of sadness about her, almost as if it's not there at all, but it is well earned that she calm down later in her life, and be more concerned with sleep and gardening than getting into fights every day of the week.
I could have not mentioned the metacommentary in this bit, but I think it's important to get a good grasp of why I think FoJ is what it is, and deeper than just an oddly named and sad-feeling song that isn't sad.
It's one of my favourites, might even be my #1. It's nice in a way I can't quite say, but definitely one I can put down once I've listened to it, to save for another day.

Without that though, all of her other themes are most definitely playful, rather than being singly meant to strike fear into you.
There is a lot to fear about Yuuka, but she isn't a monster. Figuratively, anyway. She'll forever be the eccentric girl who somehow combines flowers and violence into one, and defies any attempt to totally be understood. But you can try, and her themes all do a very good job at reflecting her, I think.

I see sleepy Yuuka and PC98 Yuuka posted every so often, but there's hardly any love for winged Yuuka.