Round 2: what do you think about Shinra-Bansho? (Music group discussion)

[CountVonNumenor]

Since the first thread, about Akatsuki Records, has proved to be a success, I have decided to continue with another music group.

 

So, where do I begin...? Shinra-Bansho has proved to be an interesting experience until now. I remember first discovering the group in my early days as a Touhou fan thanks to their 24/7 music livestreams. It still brings me memories of late December 2020 - early January 2021, when I was studying for coming exams while listening to Shinra like some do with lo-fi music.

 

There are at least 2 songs that always come to my mind: Junjo Arumeria and the Three Fairies song. Those two, in high contrast between each other. They create me a rollercoaster of emotions.

 

The former brought me back sad memories and the feeling of rejection (some bad experiences of the sentimental past), all packed in a wonderful song both in sound and visually and with a bitter-sweet conclusion. Very beautiful, but which made me feel sad for a few days. It was also the time when I started learning more about the characters, and started growing more fond of Youmu Konpaku. Even now, more than a year later, whenever there is a long silence followed by the sound of disk scratch and the song starts, I still feel my stomach empty for a moment. And just to show how much of a mess it turned me into at the time, this is what I was writing in a different forum entry directly in the middle of all ongoing emotions. When I wrote it, I was still new into the series (weeks at most), in a period when I was starting to settle towards my first favorite 2hu, so writing might be all over the place:
 

Quote

Did it ever happen to you to find a song that managed to have a string impact on you? Today, I found this nice song (it will be linked at the end). However, it makes me sad for some reason, and I cannot really understand why. Perhaps it is the story and message itself. Having to carry an interior battle between the sense of duty and your feelings, which are clashing violently, as the song reveals to be the case for the character (for context: she is Youmu Konpaku, the half-human-half-phantom gardener and protector of Hakugyokurou, the domain of Yuyuko and place of the gateway to the Netherworld; the song itself is based on her theme music from the video game Touhou: Perfect Cherry Blossom, stage 5 boss fight against Youmu herself - interestingly enough, one of my favorite characters of the franchise too...) (perhaps I should talk once about how I got into Project Touhou).

The idea that you know you cannot follow your feelings, because they would prevent you for following duty, is something sad, worth of the scenario that came straight out of an old classical opera. And knowing that even the simple concept of falling in love with someone, yet having to reject and deny this entire idea just because it would make you problems in fulfilling your duty is something sad, if not outright tragic. 
In the end, I guess I am finding this whole thing quite bittersweet. A nice song, with wonderful animation and a stunning voice, yet with a sad, maybe even tragic message that can hit close to home in some cases. I guess the whole purpose of music and poetry is to wake up feelings inside you through the lyrics and instrumental part, and in this case, it has been an absolute success. 

This could have been a simple, yet nice conclusion, had this strange feeling I am going through would still persist at a very intense level inside me, as if I am the one having to carry on the fight between mixed feelings. It may have also brought a bit of an old feeling of sadness I have felt only once in life, when I got rejected by someone I had a crush on many years ago. It is a similar heeling, that can no longer leave my mind, just like the protagonist of the song having to go through her struggle.

Anyway, here is the song itself. Enjoy! 

 

 

The latter, through a very light-hearted and colorful PV, made my entrance into 2021 much better. It was exactly the kind of happy thing I really needed. Even now, whenever I need something to make me feel better, I come back to this song. I really wish to find more songs like this one. And the more recent one drawn by same artist, with the drunk oni party at Hakurei Shrine, brings the same energy and makes you wanna have a great time. (also how in the world can Joyful so easily het from doing Osana Reimu to... this?)
 

(I absolutely love the Three Fairies SAY YA!!! song any music video. It gives you just enough energy and positive vibe whenever you might be feeling down) 

 

I do have a few questions though:

• how did this band come to be? I have never seen a full explanation, but I have heard the story is a bit messy and complicated
• how does it come they are singing and remixing songs of other bands? One of the example I can still remember is "Marisa Stole the Precious Thing (Shinra-Bansho Version)". Also, is it just me, or they are doing a lot of song collaborations? The collaborations with beatMARIO being some of the most obvious ones
• and as a whole, what do you think about this music group?

Edited April 24, 2022 by CountVonNumenor

[Isaac]

I think Shinra-Bansho's music is great! Even if I'm more of a Akatsuki Records fan, I still occasional check out their music.

The visuals for their MV's are so vibrant and well presented to match the songs. I can understand your feelings when listening to Youmu's and the Three Fairies' song for the first time. The visuals were again bringing everything nicely together. I think the band took a break around 2010 before having new singers join years later.

I'm also loving the collaborations they are doing with BeatMario and others. Sake monster with BeatMario has become one of my favourites cause of how fun the entire MV was. Although, I'm biased towards a certain song since it focuses on my favourite person. I think you'll know which one I'm talking about.

The only thing I'm not a fan of is the psycho portrayals of some but that's just my opinion. We've already discussed about disliking certain depictions in other threads already.

Edited April 25, 2022 by Isaac

[Gou the frog]

8 hours ago, CountVonNumenor said:

So, where do I begin...? Shinra-Bansho has proved to be an interesting experience until now. I remember first discovering the group in my early days as a Touhou fan thanks to their 24/7 music livestreams. It still brings me memories of late December 2020 - early January 2021, when I was studying for coming exams while listening to Shinra like some do with lo-fi music.

They really have a way to found you: those music circles. Mine was also in late 2020 December. They popped up in my recommendation. So, naturally I took a listen. This was after I discovered Akatsuki Records roughly 2 weeks in between.

The two song you mentioned above had me thinking for quite a few weeks. The emotions are set perfectly in place. The two song tell great story with a different approach. That's when my fondness of a character increased that being Youmou. The latter was so good at setting up a wholesome vibe like you stated above.

1. I don't know the history of the band sadly.

2. They do a lot of Collab with BeatMario and others like IOSYS? (Sorry, memories are once again a bit foggy) 

3. They're pretty nice. The songs are chef kiss and the PVs are really filled with emotions. They're overflowing with life. One of my favorites consist of the ones you and Issac, mentioned  Three Fairies SAY YA!!!, the Youmou one, Sake Monster☆RaiRai!!, Netaminity Theatre "666" Those have one of the best animations filled with so much effort and passion. 

5 hours ago, Isaac said:

The only thing I'm not a fan of is the psycho portrayals of some but that's just my opinion. We've already discussed about disliking certain depictions in other threads already.

Aye, I agree with Good old pardner Issac. Sometimes, curiosity can get a hold of us. Remember, Balance will save your cat. 

 

9 hours ago, CountVonNumenor said:

The latter, through a very light-hearted and colorful PV, made my entrance into 2021 much better. It was exactly the kind of happy thing I really needed. Even now, whenever I need something to make me feel better, I come back to this song. I really wish to find more songs like this one. And the more recent one drawn by same artist, with the drunk oni party at Hakurei Shrine, brings the same energy and makes you wanna have a great time. (also how in the world can Joyful so easily het from doing Osana Reimu to... this?)

Hehe.... Joyful can turned anything grimdark to a vibrant of feelings, making you ride a roller coaster of emotions. Truly has the talent and the passion.

[Tenkko]

What I know is for most of its life Shinra Bansho was a sub circle of Liz Triangle, both featuring kaztora as the main arranger. Eventually due to health issues the vocalist of Liz Triangle lily-an stepped down and the circle disbanded, after which kaztora made Shinra Bansho his main focus. Liz Triangle then reformed around 2020 so now you got two fully fledged different circles with one person in common.

Far from being my favorite circle but I like them... on a very surface level (aka what they upload to Youtube) but hey it's good. Of course the PVs are what they're known for and I love them, I think they're a great complement to the songs. Joyfull's changed a lot since the Osana Reimu days lol. My favorite of those is probably Charisma Rengoku Tenshin, mainly for how flashy it looks (and overall it's a neat take on WBaWC).

Collabs... happen between bigger circles like this. I assume anyways. BeatMARIO in particular is a very big name in the scene so it doesn't surprise me to see him everywhere.

 

 

三妖精YA!　SAY YA!　SAY YA!

Edited April 25, 2022 by Tenkko

[Siti778]

Heyo, big Shinra-Bansho fan here since 2019. They're after all what introduced me to Touhou, i'll give you my remarks.

14 hours ago, CountVonNumenor said:

The former brought me back sad memories and the feeling of rejection (some bad experiences of the sentimental past), all packed in a wonderful song both in sound and visually and with a bitter-sweet conclusion. Very beautiful, but which made me feel sad for a few days. 

 

Oh man, Shinra-Bansho sad songs. If Junjo's Arumeria (Pure-Hearted Armeria) is the only sad song you've heard from them, You've definitely missing out.

If you want to listen more of their sad songs (and cry), i can recommend you "ははうさぎ" (Mother's Right Heron, a story between Seija and Sagume. Illustration and Animation made by Joyfull), "aurora" (a sad story ft. Okuu), and "カルテット" (Quartet, a story about Layla Prismriver, and it ends in an happy ending). There are more sad songs but these 3 are the ones I'm a big fan of.

For their high-energy songs... boy there's a lot of them, like a lot. There's some hidden gems too; i.e. songs you cannot normally get when purchasing their albums. I recommend checking out "ラッキーピースワールド" (Lucky Piece World. There's 2 versions, Pop/Rock and EDM, but the Pop/Rock version is more energetic. Also a collab between Shinra-Bansho and Inorai), "ぐる☆ネーション" (Guru☆Nations originally a Groove Coaster song. Thank god they included it in Shinra Museum 2), "ttei! ~ Shinra-Bansho Ver." (ってゐ !, a remix from Sekken'ya's ってゐ !), and "O!WEN!～がんばれ☆がんばれ☆オーエンソング" (O!WEN!～Ganbare☆Ganbare☆Owen Song, a collab between Shinra-Bansho, COOL&CREATE, and DiGiTAL WiNGS, the best of them all).

 

And finally, for the questions:
1. kaztora was originally from Liz Triangle. And i quote from en.touhouwiki.org: "ShinRa-Bansho was once the name of Liz Triangle itself, but in 2008 the circle's name was changed to its present form. The ShinRa-Bansho label would see no use and no releases again until 2012, and then only exclusively by kaztora and azuki from among its former members.". In 2017, lily-an got into health issues, and Liz Triangle got disbanded, making Shinra-Bansho kaztora's primary circle. It originally had only ayaponzu* as their vocalist, and they tend to have special guests from other circles to do their vocals for them, such as Ranko, Meramipop, Mie, etc. Ayo joined the circle in late 2016, first appearing on the album "Shiawase Egoisuto" (The Happy Egoist), and from this point on, they decreased their reliance on special guest doing their vocals from them.

2. No idea either. What i can tell you is that there is an album dedicated with remixing some of the popular Touhou songs, hilariously named "東方歌ってみた" (I tried Singing Touhou) which has 10 tracks in it. For the collabs, yeah there's a lot, but the fun aspect of them all is that most of them are hidden gems. There's a COOL&CREATE x Shinra-Bansho album titled "愛を取り戻せ!!東方" (Regain Love!! TOUHOU) but that's mostly what you're going to get, alongside some in the Shinra Museum albums. 

3. They're what keeping me in the Touhou Fandom, and they're what introduced me to Touhou as well. So pretty much, they're my favorite circle of the Touhou Doujin Music industry.

[Isaac]

Agreed with Gou!

 

Edited April 25, 2022 by Isaac

[Isaac]

1 hour ago, Tenkko said:

What I know is for most of its life Shinra Bansho was a sub circle of Liz Triangle, both featuring kaztora as the main arranger. Eventually due to health issues the vocalist of Liz Triangle lily-an stepped down and the circle disbanded, after which kaztora made Shinra Bansho his main focus. Liz Triangle then reformed around 2020 so now you got two fully fledged different circles with one person in common.

Far from being my favorite circle but I like them... on a very surface level (aka what they upload to Youtube) but hey it's good. Of course the PVs are what they're known for and I love them, I think they're a great complement to the songs. Joyfull's changed a lot since the Osana Reimu days lol. My favorite of those is probably Charisma Rengoku Tenshin, mainly for how flashy it looks (and overall it's a neat take on WBaWC)

 

1 hour ago, Siti778 said:

Heyo, big Shinra-Bansho fan here since 2019. They're after all what introduced me to Touhou, i'll give you my remarks.

Oh man, Shinra-Bansho sad songs. If Junjo's Arumeria (Pure-Hearted Armeria) is the only sad song you've heard from them, You've definitely missing out.

If you want to listen more of their sad songs (and cry), i can recommend you "ははうさぎ" (Mother's Right Heron, a story between Seija and Sagume. Illustration and Animation made by Joyfull), "aurora" (a sad story ft. Okuu), and "カルテット" (Quartet, a story about Layla Prismriver, and it ends in an happy ending). There are more sad songs but these 3 are the ones I'm a big fan of.

For their high-energy songs... boy there's a lot of them, like a lot. There's some hidden gems too; i.e. songs you cannot normally get when purchasing their albums. I recommend checking out "ラッキーピースワールド" (Lucky Piece World. There's 2 versions, Pop/Rock and EDM, but the Pop/Rock version is more energetic. Also a collab between Shinra-Bansho and Inorai), "ぐる☆ネーション" (Guru☆Nations originally a Groove Coaster song. Thank god they included it in Shinra Museum 2), "ttei! ~ Shinra-Bansho Ver." (ってゐ !, a remix from Sekken'ya's ってゐ !), and "O!WEN!～がんばれ☆がんばれ☆オーエンソング" (O!WEN!～Ganbare☆Ganbare☆Owen Song, a collab between Shinra-Bansho, COOL&CREATE, and DiGiTAL WiNGS, the best of them all).

 

And finally, for the questions:
1. kaztora was originally from Liz Triangle. And i quote from en.touhouwiki.org: "ShinRa-Bansho was once the name of Liz Triangle itself, but in 2008 the circle's name was changed to its present form. The ShinRa-Bansho label would see no use and no releases again until 2012, and then only exclusively by kaztora and azuki from among its former members.". In 2017, lily-an got into health issues, and Liz Triangle got disbanded, making Shinra-Bansho kaztora's primary circle. It originally had only ayaponzu* as their vocalist, and they tend to have special guests from other circles to do their vocals for them, such as Ranko, Meramipop, Mie, etc. Ayo joined the circle in late 2016, first appearing on the album "Shiawase Egoisuto" (The Happy Egoist), and from this point on, they decreased their reliance on special guest doing their vocals from them.

2. No idea either. What i can tell you is that there is an album dedicated with remixing some of the popular Touhou songs, hilariously named "東方歌ってみた" (I tried Singing Touhou) which has 10 tracks in it. For the collabs, yeah there's a lot, but the fun aspect of them all is that most of them are hidden gems. There's a COOL&CREATE x Shinra-Bansho album titled "愛を取り戻せ!!東方" (Regain Love!! TOUHOU) but that's mostly what you're going to get, alongside some in the Shinra Museum albums. 

3. They're what keeping me in the Touhou Fandom, and they're what introduced me to Touhou as well. So pretty much, they're my favorite circle of the Touhou Doujin Music industry.

Great to see all your recommendations, I'll check out the ones I've haven't heard yet that you guys mentioned. Also thanks for clearing up how the band was formed and ongoing, I wasn't sure myself.

Edited April 25, 2022 by Isaac

[CountVonNumenor]

One thig that impresses me is that this thread seems to be getting much more attention than the one about Akatsuki Records. Which is a little odd, since they seem to be the more popular/better known music group out of the two discussed until now. 

 

16 hours ago, Isaac said:

The only thing I'm not a fan of is the psycho portrayals of some but that's just my opinion. We've already discussed about disliking certain depictions in other threads already.

If you mean stuff like Unconscious Requiem, I can see very well where you are coming from. I have heard that song multiple times in the music livestream, but never checked the actual video. And when I did, well... it sure deserves the "Content Warning" part included in the very title of the PV. As for another video you were mentioning in previous videos, were you referring to the one with Yachie (Charisma Rengoku Tenshin)? 
 

16 hours ago, Isaac said:

Although, I'm biased towards a certain song since it focuses on my favourite person. I think you'll know which one I'm talking about.

Netaminity Theater 666 is quite a neat song, and I love the PV for it as well. 

 

11 hours ago, Gou the frog said:

They really have a way to found you: those music circles. Mine was also in late 2020 December. They popped up in my recommendation. So, naturally I took a listen. This was after I discovered Akatsuki Records roughly 2 weeks in between.

I cannot remember exactly who I discovered first, Shinra-Bansho or Akatsuki Records, but I know it happened soon one after the other (about as much as in your case). All I can remember is that I found Shinra at one point, listened to them for a while, then took a break, and then came back. 
 

5 hours ago, Tenkko said:

Of course the PVs are what they're known for and I love them, I think they're a great complement to the songs.

Their PVs are quite interesting. Is it just me and discovered, or they are among the few who are still making fully (or much more) animated PVs compared to other music groups? I feel like quite a lot of PVs nowadays are mostly like PowerPoint slides, with limited animation (I will admit, Akatsuki Records does that limited animation/PPT presentation too; I just forgive it because I like the visuals - Harano is doing quite an awesome job with his illustrations)

 

5 hours ago, Siti778 said:

Oh man, Shinra-Bansho sad songs. If Junjo's Arumeria (Pure-Hearted Armeria) is the only sad song you've heard from them, You've definitely missing out.

If you want to listen more of their sad songs (and cry), i can recommend you "ははうさぎ" (Mother's Right Heron, a story between Seija and Sagume. Illustration and Animation made by Joyfull), "aurora" (a sad story ft. Okuu), and "カルテット" (Quartet, a story about Layla Prismriver, and it ends in an happy ending). There are more sad songs but these 3 are the ones I'm a big fan of.

Actually, I actually listened to quite a few of their songs, and most of the ones you have linked are familiar to me. Thing is I did listen to a lot of them through the 24/7 livestream goin on their channel. And since I do not know Japanese, most of the time I just miss the whole message of the song, therefore it sounding like background noise to me unless I have the lyrics or subtitles in English. 
 

However, there are indeed quite a few good songs. For me, probably one of the greatest surprises has been Snowdome. It is that weird moment of after listening to a whole sea of Japanese songs, you are getting into "suddenly English".  And not just "Engrish", but actually quite good English. Do they also have any other songs in languages other than Japanese?

 

5 hours ago, Siti778 said:

And finally, for the questions:
1. kaztora was originally from Liz Triangle. And i quote from en.touhouwiki.org: "ShinRa-Bansho was once the name of Liz Triangle itself, but in 2008 the circle's name was changed to its present form. The ShinRa-Bansho label would see no use and no releases again until 2012, and then only exclusively by kaztora and azuki from among its former members.". In 2017, lily-an got into health issues, and Liz Triangle got disbanded, making Shinra-Bansho kaztora's primary circle. It originally had only ayaponzu* as their vocalist, and they tend to have special guests from other circles to do their vocals for them, such as Ranko, Meramipop, Mie, etc. Ayo joined the circle in late 2016, first appearing on the album "Shiawase Egoisuto" (The Happy Egoist), and from this point on, they decreased their reliance on special guest doing their vocals from them.

2. No idea either. What i can tell you is that there is an album dedicated with remixing some of the popular Touhou songs, hilariously named "東方歌ってみた" (I tried Singing Touhou) which has 10 tracks in it. For the collabs, yeah there's a lot, but the fun aspect of them all is that most of them are hidden gems. There's a COOL&CREATE x Shinra-Bansho album titled "愛を取り戻せ!!東方" (Regain Love!! TOUHOU) but that's mostly what you're going to get, alongside some in the Shinra Museum albums. 

3. They're what keeping me in the Touhou Fandom, and they're what introduced me to Touhou as well. So pretty much, they're my favorite circle of the Touhou Doujin Music industry.

Thank you for the explanation. It is much more clear now.

Edited April 25, 2022 by CountVonNumenor

[Isaac]

1 hour ago, CountVonNumenor said:

One thing that impresses me is that this thread seems to be getting much more attention than the one about Akatsuki Records. Which is a little odd, since they seem to be the more popular/better known music group out of the two discussed until now. 

 

If you mean stuff like Unconscious Requiem, I can see very well where you are coming from. I have heard that song multiple times in the music livestream, but never checked the actual video. And when I did, well... it sure deserves the "Content Warning" part included in the very title of the PV. As for another video you were mentioning in previous videos, were you referring to the one with Yachie (Charisma Rengoku Tenshin)? 

I should discuss more of my favourites in the Akatsuki Records thread and check what you guys thought of them too.

I was so confused when I checked the Unconscious Requiem MV for the first time. The song was cool but I was thinking 'Do people really see Koishi as a psycho?'  The content warning made everything seem over the top as well. I thought the same with the last parts of the Netaminity Theatre MV too. These depictions were the ones I was referencing before and the ones I'm not a fan of.

The 24/7 livestream is how I usually check out the songs now. It's nice to have it in the background when working or relaxing.

Edited April 25, 2022 by Isaac

[CountVonNumenor]

18 hours ago, Isaac said:

I should discuss more of my favourites in the Akatsuki Records thread and check what you guys thought of them too.

Cannot wait to see further contributions to that one. 
 

18 hours ago, Isaac said:

The song was cool but I was thinking 'Do people really see Koishi as a psycho?'

Yes, they do. BIG TIME. Seems to have become a thing especially since Koishi's appearance in the fighter games, especially with the "Koishi with a knife" depiction and her Last Word thing about Mary and phone calls followed by death (some urban legend apparently). And from this, fandom just went with its classic flanderization, turning Koishi into a second Flandre in terms of "psycho younger sister". But if we are strictly referring to Unconscious Requiem, it is from her Last Word thing. 
 

18 hours ago, Isaac said:

I thought the same with the last parts of the Netaminity Theatre MV too.

I have not seen the PV for Netaminity Theatre in quite a long time. Can you please explain a little bit that specific part of the animation until I manage to re-watch it?
 

18 hours ago, Isaac said:

The 24/7 livestream is how I usually check out the songs now. It's nice to have it in the background when working or relaxing.

Very much the same for me too. Quite good if I want to have something on the background, and at the same time stay up to date with their new songs. 

[Isaac]

5 hours ago, CountVonNumenor said:

Yes, they do. BIG TIME. Seems to have become a thing especially since Koishi's appearance in the fighter games, especially with the "Koishi with a knife" depiction and her Last Word thing about Mary and phone calls followed by death (some urban legend apparently). And from this, fandom just went with its classic flanderization, turning Koishi into a second Flandre in terms of "psycho younger sister". But if we are strictly referring to Unconscious Requiem, it is from her Last Word thing. 

Your right about the flanderization and a lot of people agreed too when I checked the Last Words again. Now I see koishi with a knife every once in a while.

5 hours ago, CountVonNumenor said:

I have not seen the PV for Netaminity Theatre in quite a long time. Can you please explain a little bit that specific part of the animation until I manage to re-watch it?

It's the moment of cursing someone with a straw doll. I get there was mythology behind the hashihime cursing someone just like how it was shown and I've seen this in other anime too. However, it's now heavily associated with her and she's often seen as a psycho as well. There is more for me to discuss but I'll save it for that other thread.

Depictions aside, I can't wait to see more of their music. It's awesome that their songs are in games like Danmaku Kagura and Lost Word.

Edited April 26, 2022 by Isaac

[CountVonNumenor]

2 hours ago, Isaac said:

It's the moment of cursing someone with a straw doll. I get there was mythology behind cursing someone just like how it was shown and I've seen this in other anime too. However, it's now heavily associated with her and she's often seen as a psycho as well. There is more for me to discuss but I'll save it for that other thread.

I did not know that is an actual depiction of Parsee in fanon. But to be fair, I really do not know how she depicted by fans in general outside of being jealous of anything. The straw doll cursing, together with the outfit used by Parsee in the PV, funny enough, is an actual thing in canon. It did appear at least twice, but however, it was never about our favorite Hashihime. 

First appearance of such an outfit (or at least a partial one), together with the associated nailing of straw dolls, appeared in Bohemian Archive in Japanese Red. It was part of the article about Alice ("Large Number of Straw Effigies Found in Forest Behind Shrine"), in which it was told about her nailing such dolls behind the Hakurei Shrine at night. 



More on the article can be found on the wiki, including a translation of it https://en.touhouwiki.net/wiki/Bohemian_Archive_in_Japanese_Red/Alice


Second time I saw such on outfit, even if it was a brief appearance and without the intended purpose, was in Oriental Sacred Places. This time, it was Reimu wearing the Ushi no toki mairi costume. In context, this happened in Chapter 4: What's Under the Rocks (Part 2), during the test of courage scene (or in short, how everyone is trying to scare Youmu). With this,  got to read a little bit out of the Three Fairies manga, and it look much more interesting and fun than I thought.







Unironically, Reimu does actually look pretty good in that outfit. The chapter itself - https://mangadex.org/chapter/6a8c2b01-aece-43c4-a51e-4610ab6559a7/1 (good thing MangaDex still has the official manga translated in English)

 

3 hours ago, Isaac said:

Depictions aside, I can't wait to see more of their music. It's awesome that their songs are in games like Danmaku Kagura and Lost Word.

Nice to see them getting featured in fan games. However, I am not sure I actually saw them in Lost Word. What song do they have in there? As for Danmaku Kagura, I see it as almost impossible not to be in that game since it revolves around music, and Shinra-Bansho is quite a big group. They might also have songs in Touhou Spell Bubble?

[Isaac]

On 4/26/2022 at 9:52 PM, CountVonNumenor said:

I did not know that is an actual depiction of Parsee in fanon. But to be fair, I really do not know how she depicted by fans in general outside of being jealous of anything. The straw doll cursing, together with the outfit used by Parsee in the PV, funny enough, is an actual thing in canon. It did appear at least twice, but however, it was never about our favorite Hashihime. 

First appearance of such an outfit (or at least a partial one), together with the associated nailing of straw dolls, appeared in Bohemian Archive in Japanese Red. It was part of the article about Alice ("Large Number of Straw Effigies Found in Forest Behind Shrine"), in which it was told about her nailing such dolls behind the Hakurei Shrine at night. 



More on the article can be found on the wiki, including a translation of it https://en.touhouwiki.net/wiki/Bohemian_Archive_in_Japanese_Red/Alice


Second time I saw such on outfit, even if it was a brief appearance and without the intended purpose, was in Oriental Sacred Places. This time, it was Reimu wearing the Ushi no toki mairi costume. In context, this happened in Chapter 4: What's Under the Rocks (Part 2), during the test of courage scene (or in short, how everyone is trying to scare Youmu). With this,  got to read a little bit out of the Three Fairies manga, and it look much more interesting and fun than I thought.







Unironically, Reimu does actually look pretty good in that outfit. The chapter itself - https://mangadex.org/chapter/6a8c2b01-aece-43c4-a51e-4610ab6559a7/1 (good thing MangaDex still has the official manga translated in English)

 

Nice to see them getting featured in fan games. However, I am not sure I actually saw them in Lost Word. What song do they have in there? As for Danmaku Kagura, I see it as almost impossible not to be in that game since it revolves around music, and Shinra-Bansho is quite a big group. They might also have songs in Touhou Spell Bubble?

Thanks for showcasing the times this appeared in canon. I didn't know about any of these events.

It's interesting to see Alice wear the crown and perform a curse, since she specialises in dolls. Although I have no idea why she's trying to curse someone. The only other time I've seen her like this was 'Marisa stole the precious thing' which got me into the series. Coincidence that straw dolls in that video are associated with my favourite character as well.

Reimu also looks interesting in that outfit. Being envious of Youmu and chasing her around makes the test of courage seem funny. I'd love to check these mangas out if there are more situations like this.

As for their music in LostWord, Shinra-Bansho worked with Konoco to make Sporadically Margaret.

Edited May 1, 2022 by Isaac

[Isaac]

There is a new MV releasing soon which I can't wait to talk about. I think Utsuho is the focus of this latest one too!

Here it is:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hFQk7S1SPaA

Edited May 1, 2022 by Isaac

[CountVonNumenor]

26 minutes ago, Isaac said:

It's interesting to see Alice wear the crown and perform a curse, since she specialises in dolls. Although I have no idea why she's trying to curse someone. The only other time I've seen her like this was 'Marisa stole the precious thing' which got me into the series. Coincidence that straw dolls in that video are associated with my favourite character as well.

I really wonder if Marisa Stole the Precious Thing got some inspiration from that short story with the idea of Alice and her straw dolls. I mean Bohemian Archive in Japanese Red appeared in 2005, and the IOSYS song came out in 2006 (at least the oldest CD I could find it on is from that year, Touhou Maidens' Orchestra). I am not sure when the PV was done, but I am sure it is not impossible to bear some influence from that imagery. 

 

31 minutes ago, Isaac said:

Reimu also looks interesting in that outfit. Being envious of Youmu and chasing her around makes the test of courage seem funny. I'd love to check these mangas out if there are more situations like this.

Reimu really looks nice in that outfit. I wonder if there is fanart of this specific one. But at how big the art gallery is, there sure has to be something...

 

32 minutes ago, Isaac said:

As for their music in LostWord, Shinra-Bansho worked with Konoco to make Sporadically Margaret.

Oh, so they were involved with Sporadically Margaret? That is quite a nice song.



Honestly, now that we got into IOSYS, I have a different question. In the original post, I was asking about how did Shinra-Bansho get to interpret some of the more famous songs created by other circles. Among those, Marisa Stole the Precious Thing (Shinra-Bansho ver.), Help me Erin! and that one Nitori song that sounded extremely depressive (I forgot its name). For the latter two, I first found them through Shinra-Bansho, and thought they were the original creators of those songs until finding out they are actually from Cool and Create/ beatMARIO. I know these songs came to be most likely out of collabs and the "I Tried Singing Touhou" and "Shinra Museum" albums, but a thing makes me feel weird. At the end of Help me Erin! (Shinra-Bansho ver), the song ends with the singer literally mentioning the name of the band multiple times after also mentioning a few times the names of the singers (Ayaponzu and Ayo). Where does this come from? That part does not appear in the official lyrics as seen on the wiki, but if you listen to the song, they are there.

I am not even gonna ask about the whole mess with the song Paranoia and who created it, because there are like a million versions, each of them sung by a different music group (though in the Shinra version, they again did insert the name of their band among the lyrics like a dog trying to mark its territory).

[Gou the frog]

14 hours ago, CountVonNumenor said:

Reimu really looks nice in that outfit. I wonder if there is fanart of this specific one. But at how big the art gallery is, there sure has to be something...

I haven't seen that outfit in a long time in fanarts since the release of the manga. I too wonder if there're fanarts of this one. If not I will execute "fine I'll do it myself" in your thread about drawing. 

 

14 hours ago, CountVonNumenor said:

Oh, so they were involved with Sporadically Margaret? That is quite a nice song.



Honestly, now that we got into IOSYS, I have a different question. In the original post, I was asking about how did Shinra-Bansho get to interpret some of the more famous songs created by other circles. Among those, Marisa Stole the Precious Thing (Shinra-Bansho ver.), Help me Erin! and that one Nitori song that sounded extremely depressive (I forgot its name). For the latter two, I first found them through Shinra-Bansho, and thought they were the original creators of those songs until finding out they are actually from Cool and Create/ beatMARIO. I know these songs came to be most likely out of collabs and the "I Tried Singing Touhou" and "Shinra Museum" albums, but a thing makes me feel weird. At the end of Help me Erin! (Shinra-Bansho ver), the song ends with the singer literally mentioning the name of the band multiple times after also mentioning a few times the names of the singers (Ayaponzu and Ayo). Where does this come from? That part does not appear in the official lyrics as seen on the wiki, but if you listen to the song, they are there.

I am not even gonna ask about the whole mess with the song Paranoia and who created it, because there are like a million versions, each of them sung by a different music group (though in the Shinra version, they again did insert the name of their band among the lyrics like a dog trying to mark its territory).

Truly is odd like you said after watching the versions that you mentioned above, I too heard the band names multiple time throughout the end of song singers' names too. I'm tad bit curious about it.

I have no idea what a train wreck of Paranoia is? Indeed, there're too many versions; At this point I don't even know whio made the original. Is appears that the song is a gold mine for bands?, since every band in existence try to sing their version. (There's one version with a halo announcer voice in the beginning --> 【東方ボーカル】Paranoia【DiGiTAL WiNG】 - YouTube )

 

[CountVonNumenor]

1 hour ago, Gou the frog said:

I have no idea what a train wreck of Paranoia is?

I have called the Paranoia situation a "trainwreck" due to how messy it is in terms of who created the song and all the matter (I usually use "traniwreck" in order to refer to a mess)

[Gou the frog]

7 minutes ago, CountVonNumenor said:

I have called the Paranoia situation a "trainwreck" due to how messy it is in terms of who created the song and all the matter (I usually use "traniwreck" in order to refer to a mess)

If you may, Will you shed light upon me of the history: "Paranoia" 

[CountVonNumenor]

18 hours ago, Gou the frog said:

If you may, Will you shed light upon me of the history: "Paranoia" 

Honestly, I do not know either what the history of that song is. But I would really like to find out

[Siti778]

On 5/2/2022 at 6:06 AM, Isaac said:

There is a new MV releasing soon which I can't wait to talk about. I think Utsuho is the focus of this latest one too!

Here it is:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hFQk7S1SPaA

"The song of the Sun"

Ah, a Synchro 2 classic. Lyrically, this is Okuu's love song lol.

[Isaac]

2 hours ago, Siti778 said:

"The song of the Sun"

Ah, a Synchro 2 classic. Lyrically, this is Okuu's love song lol.

Yeah, I love how lighthearted everything was. The arrangement and the MV was so cute!

[Siti778]

More hidden gems huh?

I've just noticed that there was a C99 omake disc from Shinra-Bansho. It contains シアワセエゴイスト (The Happy Egoist) Cover Ver, which is sung by Ayo. And あうんどばいみー (Aund By Me) Cover Ver, which is sung by Ayaponzu*. They're a great cover and worth a check.

[Isaac]

New Keine MV! I really like this one and the presentation of their videos are always amazing!

 

[CountVonNumenor]

Huh, I think I really should check this one out. I did not know they got a new music video recently. 

[Alfa35]

To summarize my opinion, Shinra-Bansho is like a chill/wholsome version of Akatsuki Records