Next Phantasm

It’s a weird feeling.

Before Touhou got me into shooting games, I was a huge IIDX fan. There’s a two year period of my life that I like to characterize as me going crazy and getting good at IIDX, then going crazy again and getting really good at IIDX. I also did translation work in the IIDX community, I was a rigorous VJ Army user, and at my peak I was able to clear Beyond the Earth[A]. Basically all of my disposable income went to IIDX, I toyed with making a IIDX sim, and I even helped run a rhythm games club at school.

A few months after graduation, things started changing. My TV was next to the door, and Jehovah’s Witnesses had this uncanny ability to come around in the middle of a song. A lot of typing AND IIDXing made my wrists start hurting … so, since I type to eat, I started playing less IIDX. My scores started sliding, I put in ten months’ worth of time in nine months at work, and so on. I was trying to keep up with my own status quo, but it was obvious that without putting alot more time back into IIDX I’d just get a lot worse. Still, I kept track of what was going on, speculated with others about who the Cardinal Gate composers were, followed kors k’s Teranoid career, and shamelessly promoted IIDX characters. Yet, I never got around to getting Happy Sky, even though it had tons of songs I really liked on it, and never really paid enough attention to DistorteD to know a lot of the songs. I’d bought Goliallize, but was really hoping MAYA came out with an art book.

At about this point I went a little crazy again and idly read /b/ just enough to get sucked into DollAnon threads. (Yes, I know, scum of the earth, etc.) I found the Touhou image board (+ Rozen Maiden) and scoured a bunch of RM pictures off of it, but didn’t pay much attention to the Touhou threads.

About a year after graduating, Axem Rangers on the VJ Army forums was going on about Touhou hardcore remixes. Since I was a big Teranoid fan, and since I’d been getting kind of curious about what the Touhou image board was all about, I started paying attention. At this point several things should be clear:

• I like intense, catchy music
• I like games that let you show how much you hate yourself
• I like really pretty things

In other words, at this point I got hooked on Touhou. This was right around C70, so shortly thereafter Touhou exploded on the Western otaku scene thanks to Otomebayashi videos. (Mostly Marisa Stole the Precious Thing, but people seem to forget about Border of Death nowadays, sadly.) The fandom was insane, and I started getting into translations pretty quickly - first some untranslated game scenarios on the wiki, but then comics. (While not actually the first comic I did, the first one I usually remember is VISIONNERZ’ Lunatic Girls - which is why I need to remix Zuntata’s VISIONNERZ some day.)

At some point I bought Happy Sky and DistorteD and noticed I was now having trouble passing hard 10s I’d been pretty much okay with before.

Fast forward almost two years now. A friend of mine was trying to make me start spending ridiculous amounts of money on figurines, so I was browsing on Play-Asia for fun and noticed that IIDX GOOOOOOOOOLD was out.

Wait, IIDX GOLD special edition has a Hifumi (lol) poster.

Wait, IIDX GOLD special edition has a beatnation live summit DVD, with SOTA playing PLASMA. And Akira Yamaoka, Akira. Yamaoka. And etc.

Wait, IIDX GOLD special edition comes with the LED album. And I need IIDX-style goa to meditate on for yet-unnamed projects.

Wait, IIDX GOLD comes with - a MAYA artbook!? Holy crap, when did this happen? Er, well, I guess it’s happening now.

But pre-orders were closed. So I noted that it went back on sale on 30 May and went about my life. (The next few weeks were busy, but that’s been dealt with.)

Well, today is 30 May. And, today, for probably the last time, I’ve spent money on a IIDX special edition release. Probably, for the last time, spent money on a IIDX game release. Ending with a release that has a character whose name is also a Touhou joke seems mighty appropriate, and DJ TROOPERS seems a little silly (though I’m sure it would be awesome if I could still actually play IIDX). I’d hoped I might spend some time getting into Pop’n, but I never did get around to getting a controller, I need to save money now, and I really only have the energy to follow one fandom really closely (though I still need to keep an eye on what Jun Wakita et al are doing). So, I suppose it’s time to admit to myself that I don’t really play much IIDX anymore, and probably won’t very much. Ah, but it was splendid, and too cool, and still is.

ps GET IT

*edit* Later stuff screwed up and that didn’t work out.  How ignominious an end it’s become!