[JP News] 10/25/2023 3.5 Anniversary Live Stream Recap ft. ZUN!

Welcome one and all to the 35th Touhou LostWord JP Live Stream, which is a special one! This is because it is a 3.5 Year Anniversary special, and it also features the one and only ZUN as well as Japanese Screenwriter Tōru Zekū!

And of course, given that this is a half-anniversary edition, it's time for that obligatory spoiler warning, but a heavier one because of the following contents, like some that blew my mind when I watched it for the first time, and I'm probably not the only one! Will the next Dev Letter for Touhou LostWord Global introduce these contents in a few weeks? Only time will tell. But with that said, it's time to jump into the recap of this exciting live stream!

How ironic that after Byakuren Hijiri's MV, her Taoist rival that is Toyosatomimi no Miko is next in line! Speaking of which, her MV has been released and it is called Sentimental Signals by Touhou LostWord feat. Yumiri Hanamori × Touhou Jihen! This one has a bit of a different vibe to it, and perhaps it is somewhat fitting to the Halloween times of now, but it's a cool listen!

If you desire this MV, you can watch it below, and in addition there is a Video Letter by vocalist Yumiri Hanamori!

Don't wound me too badly

Don't you know who I am?

Inside my head, ding-dong

Sentimental signals echo

Last month introduced an exciting feature that people were hoping for, and it is the Buddy System! Since it was last covered, there is more info to delve into when it comes to it, such as when it can be used, Buddy Points, using this to bring 2 of the same unit, and more.

A few extra tidbits of information regarding the Buddy System that we are aware of as of now are the following:

• You cannot play a stage with just a Buddy.
• Spirit Points consumed like normal for Buddies. In addition, the Spirit Point Cost Cut will be ineffectual on teams that include Buddies.
• If a Buddy has a Costume, we will not see it and it will default to the standard one.
• A Buddy is unaffected by Friendship and Morale.
• Buddies cannot be used in Scarlet Devil Tower, Hakugyoku Arena, VS Divergent Spirits, Daily Stages, Mirror of Rebirth Stages, Ruins of Memory Stages, and the Witch of Scarlet Dreams Story. Generally speaking, content like Story and Event stages are fair game for your Buddies.

To celebrate this new system, let's get into the Buddy System Commemoration Campaign that gives you up to 100 Rituals that will go towards Praying for potentially some Friends up to Festival and Ultra Festival, as long as they are released by December 2022 or earlier in JP. 

With ZUN as our very special guest for this livestream, the opportunity arose for him to answer some questions he was asked by Touhou fans in Japan, overseas and even by staff. Credits and thanks go to IceFairy on the platform formerly known as Twitter for translating these questions as this would be a lot more difficult to cover otherwise!

Japanese Fan Q: When did you first create the concept for Touhou?

ZUN: Around the time entered university (18 years old)... Maybe even before that. I started making it at around 18. I decided that it was going to be called "something Project" pretty early on.

Japanese Fan Q: My dream is to make a doujin game. Any tips on what I have to do and what to avoid?

ZUN: This is a difficult question... Since doujin games are about putting out things you like into the world, you need to figure out what you like and what you want to make. As for what you should avoid doing, you shouldn't make your goal as narrow as "make a doujin game" you might end up having to make it in a different form.

Comp: You should also avoid committing crimes, right?

ZUN: Crimes, huh... Yeah you should avoid doing crimes.

Zekuu: Why did you seem uncertain about that?

ZUN: Because doujin games exist in legally grey area. So if you have to avoid doing crimes... Well it's complicated.

Japanese Fan Q: Why did you decide to make your derivative work guidelines so lax?

ZUN: Because of the vibes/climate at the time. I think most creators would be happy being told "I loved your works so much I made this". So while it's a legal grey area, there was no reason to say no.

Overseas Fan Q: Has fan created works ever changed how you feel about certain characters?

ZUN: Not really. But my own image of a character might change without me realizing it. I think there are also a few times my own works change the fans' image of a character.

Overseas Fan Q: Was there a song that inspired you to learn and make your own music? Also what was your first instrument? (For me it was Shanghai Teahouse that made me learn to play music, thank you for making that song).

ZUN: I learned music from Middle School (Junior High School). I played the brass trumpet. As for why I choose the brass trumpet, it's cause I've always liked music. My favourite subject in elementary was music and the school even gave me their organ. I still have it at home. As for what made me think "I wanna make something like this", I think it was a Konami Kukeiha Club song.

Staff Q: Is there anything you watch out for or you prioritize on when making danmaku?

ZUN: The concept is important. Things like "This danmaku needs to look beautiful" or "it's fine even if you can't dodge this danmaku".

Staff Q: Which character would you say is an underrated gem?

ZUN: Are you planning to use that character for the game? Hahaha. Well, I don't really recall any.

Possibly the most exciting news in this entire live stream! Firstly, the long-awaited and long-anticipated Hifuu LostWord now has brand new content! Coming in the form of "Hifuu: Code L?", we are introduced to a new trailer with Renko and Maribel once again, but with a new look! Meanwhile, we see Shinki and Mima once again (foreshadowing?) as well as a new Aya look. And who is that at the end? It looks like Sanae, but...

And now it's time for something completely unexpected! Now, some people out there wanted PC98 characters to be playable, and others might have wanted Renko and Maribel to be playable too. However, what are we about to go over? A combination of the two! Yes, this is real, I couldn't believe this was happening when I first saw this too!

So what do we have here? Firstly, LR1 Renko Usami (A Theory on a Certain Makai God) arrives and in a twist of events, she is accompanied by the Makai God of old, the one and only Shinki from the PC98 era! This new 2 in 1 Friend (or Friends?)'s Class is Attack and will have Rank II Yang ATK, gains offensive buffs when inflicted with Poison and Blind anomalies, effective elements get a 40% boost in power and more!

Meanwhile, Merry the Magician, or rather LM1 Maribel Hearn (Interpretation of a Certain Evil Spirit) serves as the literal Yin to the above's Yang, plus she is accompanied by a PC98 being of her own, the Evil Spirit known as Mima! This unit will be a Destroy-Class one, and she has her own Rank II buffs with CRIT ATK II, gains offensive buffs when inflicted with Burn and Blind anomalies, effective elements get a 40% boost in power and again, there is more where that came from!

However, what these two have in common is that they are the first of a new rarity known as Genic! The overall stat total of these kinds of Friends is 7575 which is the exact same as a Relic. In addition, these kinds of Friends will also be using Relic Paper Disks for Limit Breaking, meaning that if you already have enough Relic Paper Disks to pull this off, you can still use however many you may have cultivated for one/both of these Friends!

Since the Touhou LostWord JP Channel recently uploaded a bunch of BGMs, let's take a moment to appreciate all the uploads, from LR1 Renko and LM1 Marivel's themes (with vocals by the way!), to awesome music we hear in the game like Membrane and Gravity Effect, to a new one in the Hifuu Trailer above!

Song: Miracle Object

Original Work: Touhou Project (Team Shanghai Alice)

Original Music: Izanagi Object

Circle: Buta-otome

Arrangenent: Comp (Butaotome)

Song: Membrane

Original Work: Touhou Project (Team Shanghai Alice)

Original Music: The Taboo Membrane Wall

Circle: Alstroemeria Records

Arrangenent: Masayoshi Minoshima (ALR)

Song: Gravity Effect

Original Work: Touhou Project (Team Shanghai Alice)

Original Music: G Free

Arrangenent: Zyukucho

Back to the gameplay and content side of things, we have more VS Divergent Spirits stages to take on, and we have not 1, but 2 new ones followed by a plethora of rerunning ones. For now though, our newest challengers are Mima (LM1) and Shinki (LR1)!

In addition, the first 8 Relics will be making themselves available via reruns in the near future as we are ever so slightly getting further towards the barrage of Relic-Themed Divergent Spirits Stages.

We have a lot of awesome stuff to enjoy for the next month due to this being 3.5 Anniversary for Touhou LostWord JP, including a Login Bonus for both returnees and regulars, a bunch of Relic Paper Disks and Divine Paper Dolls to gain just by logging in, 2 songs appearing in Reimu's Great Exorcism, Everyone Wins Campaign for JP, EXP Boost Stages and more!

And now it's time for our monthly servings of Fantasy Rebirth news! Firstly, the Four Temples of Hifuu: Code Bm3 are receiving their own Fantasy Rebirths: Watatsuki no Yorihime (B3), Watatsuki no Toyohime (B3), Sagume Kishin (B3) and Kaguya Houraisan (B3), and they will arrive for JP at the end of the month. Next in line are the Grassroots Youkai Network Trio that is Wakasagihime, Sekibanki and Kagerou Imaizumi! I wonder who will be next...

And now for 3 brand new costumes: Hecatia Lapislazuli, Junko and Clownpiece! The Goddess of Hell looks surprisingly angelic, the Sagacious Spirit is as pure as well, and the Fairy of Hell looks like she fits in perfectly with the rest of the fairies with their Rebirth Costumes already in place! Meanwhile, Mononobe no Futo and Soga no Tojiko will be getting their costumes next month, following in Master Taishi's footsteps!

And last up is Fantasy Rebirth 2.0 Upgrades! No newcomers this time, but after the upgrades from the previous batch, it will be fascinating to see what will come next for Koishi, Junko, Clownpiece, Z1 Marisa, R2 Yuyuko and R8 Youmu!

Speaking of Fantasy Rebirth, 1000 Nameless Mirrors of Rebirth were given out for free to JP Players after the stream ended!

It's Event Time! We have some new event information for November, but before we jump into that, let's remind ourselves of the current ongoing on and its 20th Century Fox similarities! Tsukasa, Megumu, what is the meaning of this?! Anyways, let's remind ourselves of their little event and their new costumes!

And now it's time to eat up some event rerun information! First up is Eat Up! Three Hostesses of the Pot, with Nemuno, Mystia and Mokou's cooking costumes, serving as somewhat of a sequel to Dine and Dream Nemunoki! Following that is a JP-Exclusive event with Eiki, Eika and Narumi unofficially titled Healthy Cooking in Paradise ~With Prayers and Well Wishes~!

Now that we are reaching the tail's end of event info (yes), let's revel in Ran Yakumo and Mamizou Futatsuiwa's new costumes appearing in the next new event in November!

For a few more cool tidbits, we have confirmation that Floor 400 of the Scarlet Devil Tower will have an Epic Paper Doll for its clear reward! In addition comes our monthly dose of Gensokyo Tales of Fantasy, as well as some cool art from young prodigies and some additional packs!

And as we are almost ready to wrap up, it's that time for merch madness again!

From posters to even more characters, to some new Fumos of E9 Remilia, E1 Flandre and Lady Peacock, to more about Smile Base Cafe and all it's goods and collectibles!

Well...what a mind-blowing yet awesome live stream! Completely unexpected news that came, like with certain new friends with new universe codes and new rarities (while still requiring Relic Paper Disks), it's been such a huge revelation but one I'm sure a lot of people are looking forward to! In addition, JP will be having their first look at the Buddy System, and yeah, the next 30-ish days are going to be fruitful for sure!

As usual, it is expected that the next live stream will be at the end of next month, and hopefully you all enjoyed this one, and/or the content announced!

With that said, thank you as always for supporting Touhou LostWord! Now back to the Secret Sealing Club...