Touhou 19: Unfinished Dream of All Living Ghost - Zanmu Story

[@Jann75]

Good news for the editor, vs dialogue confirms that yes zanmu is taking the rocks everywhere

[@DoctorNovakaine]

I suspect, even though it wasn't really mentioned, that Zanmu conceded because Reimu proved to her that she didn't have the level of control she thought she did without effort. Zanmu figured that it would be simple to get into everyone's head and start making them do her bidding without questioning it - but when Reimu didn't bite at the end, she realized "Oh, crap, I'm actually going to have to WORK for this? Heck with that, I'm out." That might also be why Reimu reminded Zanmu of herself - Reimu has a reputation of "powerful but lazy" and Zanmu gives me that same vibe in the end.

[@lunarrain1567]

Geez I've never noticed there are some plants on Zanmu's rock too. She brought her favorite garden arrangement with her everywhere.

[@Zsaver3]

At 31:25 I think it's not simply just "Zanmu is cool" and more that "Zanmu is this force of nature you do not mess with." They think highly of her capability and her capacity... even as Yuuma even in this incident seems to detest actually listening to Zanmu. Saki Kurokoma feels either both simple-mindedly accepting Zanmu's superiority or just doesn't know enough to consider better. And Yachie was dominated by force. Remembering Yachie's ending, she didn't even realize it well herself from when her goals changed.

[@Zsaver3]

Orin you might recall is practically quivering in fear once she's met Zanmu, and possibly this is because she's seen what has happened to people who've met Zanmu previously, perhaps back when "old hell" was the current one. Even the three spies don't realize how fast they've been left behind. Suika puts it well that people are impressed by Zanmu's acts, even if the residents of old hell don't necessarily think much of her. As for those in New hell, Zanmu asked the other oni to leave all the affairs to her. Clearly the other oni respect her given they allowed this.

[@Sparkfox-]

And thus, our UDoALG adventure finally comes to an end...! Congratulations! It was really great, seeing you come back and finally catch up to all of the official Touhou games (which you've been trying to do for so many years now, haha)! I'm guessing now we get to visit some fangames now. But honestly, I'm just inspired that both you and the editor continued to try your best to keep uploads as much as on a weekly basis as possible. Hope the schedule smooths out eventually for the future :D

[@popcioslav]

For all of UDoALG's faults, I really fell in love with Zanmu's character, theme and playstyle and her story mode starting off with matriarchs is pretty great to familiarize the player with her 'double-edged sword' approach. Lookin' forward both to what you guys and ZUN have in offer next~

[@crystaljon]

So 2024 didn't have any new game announcements, and this year will be the end of the typical two-year gap between main-numbered games. So from the looks of it, there may NOT be a Touhou 19.5, and the series will instead go straight from 19 to 20. If it's true, then it's probably for the best. After 17.5's (no pun intended) hellish development, and 18.5 being so polarizing, I wouldn't be shocked if ZUN decided to take a break from spinoffs.

[@x-nimator9997]

Besides, this was a good move for ZUN to keep all his focus into touhou 20. I wonder what will it be...

[@UberLoaf]

I would find it extremely funny if ( and am also hoping for ) 20 to be a game similar to Highly Responsive to Prayers

[@cchieffkiefbeff]

@@x-nimator9997though he usually only gives himself a couple months for each release, hence why th19 felt so unfinished(definitely pun intended) on release, because the sheer size of it definitely caught up to his august deadline, though i highly doubt Touhou 20 WiP will be as large, unless… Also dont forget that he is still actively writing two different manga at the same time as well, both having started publishing before he even started making UM and are both already over 5 years old, he has a lot already going on at the current moment

[@williewillus]

the Hifuu CD + udoalg patch was the 2024 content. ZUN essentially never patches his games so late after development so it's evident the udoalg patch was meant to be a holdover for the rest of 2024 until the next maingame.

[@radalrrayan]

I think we may get 19.5 being a camera game, seeing how none of the newcomers really got to have proper spell cards and the first camera game was 9.5

[@korohacker]

Finally it ended. Dang what a journey fraught with strife, both the story, and Omega's and Bee's lives. I'm just glad you're able to finish the backlog of official games at last! And I never thought of that, Zanmu would be a great manga character with all the scheming. From last I heard, Miyadeguchi is really causing a scene in the current doujinshi storyline, and it's only because of her hatred towards Gensokyo apparently? Imagine what an actual mastermind would do to the narrative if given the chance to cook. And I agree, I love this game as an upgrade and a different take on the Twinkle Star Sprite genre for Touhou. I miss the straightforward yet chaotic nature of PoFV, but this game finally gave the side characters some time to shine and expand on their personalities. It's a fun jaunt, one I still play from time to time. Can't say that to most games and fangames out there

[@lunatic0verlord10]

11:31 Took the words right out of my mouth.

[@kizunechao279]

And with that, Omega has once again caught up.

[@cchieffkiefbeff]

i love the two times that both zanmu and yuuma’s cut-ins synced perfectly, almost like a tag team or aocf, except it wasnt

[@elegant_lilligant]

And now we shall wait and see what ZUN will have up his sleeve for this year, Touhou's 30th anniversary, in terms of Touhou 20. Hopefully we get an early announcement (February-March) like some games had.

[@lunatic0verlord10]

15:48 LOL, she acknowledges the sudden shift in personality XD

[@lunatic0verlord10]

7:10 So she's fully planning on bring that long forgotten tradition of ending feasts, huh?

[@lunatic0verlord10]

22:47 And that lecture made them feel like trash doomed to Hell.

[@lunatic0verlord10]

28:40 Considering that Reimu LOST to her and hasn't solved an Incident in a while (remember, Marisa canonically solved UM and 100BM), Gensokyo is gonna be in a crisis moments after Zanmu leaves.

[@mitamamagaharathebrain9238]

Zanmu is a very good character, which is expected since both Yumemi and Eiki were also really good back in their debut games. Zanmu's level 2 is funny, because while it was already good in the original version, the new update buffed her level 2 so that the spirits are actually real spirits, which makes fighting her hell since even doing stall strats can still lead to many spears being sent to your screen. Zanmu's route is free until Reimu. Her level 2 neutralizes the gang leader fights, while Hisami and Suika are easy opponents in general. Reimu though is a pain. Of all the non-Zanmu final bosses, Reimu is by far the hardest thanks to her last two spells. While Zanmu's final was slightly nerfed, there was zero change done to Reimu's penult and final if I'm not misremembering. It's hard to believe that it's over already. I don't know much about the next fangame, so this'll be it for my long comments.

[@cchieffkiefbeff]

1:21 but chiyari thought saki was okuu, so close enough

[@Eltipoquevisteayer]

The biggest bum was knowing how there was no mention of Keiki or the Yama. If there were posibilities of DLC/expansion characters those were

[@lunatic0verlord10]

18:49 This is the sound of Suika mist-punching you to deny you that sweet SWEET no damage run, one very last time. Does she hate Zanmu that much?

[@Iris_Descent]

And who would have thought, that my least liked character of the newcomers outside of gameplay... would be my entirely favorite character to play as in this whole game. Zanmu is an absolute _blast_ to play as personally, even before... whatever ZUN was having when he decided to buff her in 1.10. See, nowadays, when she turns all enemies and stuff into spirits with her Lv2, _all of that_ counts towards the chain of spirits you need to bust to automatically send an Extra Attack, or even a Boss Attack. In 1.00, however, enemies didn't count. It was still only spirits that were pacified for it, so all that Zanmu's Lv2 was for was explosion damage. And honestly she was already fine at the time. She already hard-countered 4 whole characters... So now she's basically probably the best character in PvP... If not banned, that is... That said, she has a glaring issue in Story Mode: as mentioned, all the shit she throws can be thrown back and royally screw you over really badly. And do NOT get me started on Reimu's fight... I knew ZUN's favoritism for her was blatant in this game, but holy FUCK are those last two spells horrendous. What the hell is this??? How is this meant to be even dodgeable even with just small outside interference from other bullets and enemies??? It's already this bad on Normal, don't get me started on Lunatic. I did an LNB with Zanmu on 1.10 that basically amounted to "get through first five stages unscathed, and then spam Lv2s to bury Reimu alive before I get killed". Obviously, I needed 1.10 to even LNB with Zanmu at all, since it was a goal I wanted before the 1.00 days, but without the buff, no dice. Reimu is just way too bullshit. Anyway, hoo boy, finally, more fangames! Until TH20 inevitably comes out in 7 months, anyway... Sticking to my Seihou guns on the poll still... IT'LL WIN EVENTUALLY OK, IT'S BEEN ALMOST 10 YEARS SINCE SG ON THE CHANNEL

[@lunatic0verlord10]

20:21 *AND* she denies you the satisfaction of dealing the finishing blow. She *REALLY* hates Zanmu, doesn't she?

[@youdonotcare]

Til zanmu's pure spirit skill wasn't just a semi cosmetic change to enemies (I didn't think you could get spirit chains off converted regular enemies)

[@lunatic0verlord10]

3:06 Finally a new translation patch for Spell Card Names :D

[@LushieTilde]

I definitely feel like Zanmu was done a bit dirty story wise. It's true that the Touhou game format is very limiting, but I can't help but feel like there is a lot more that could have been done with Zanmu than just having her show up at the end of half the routes going "you aren't important, leave and don't get involved". You really could play Reimu then skip to the matriarchs (if not even skip them) and miss nothing of value. At least Eiki gave some kind of insight into other characters at the end of each of their routes. That being said I do really like Zanmu as a character. It has been a while since ZUN dropped a character with such a big background and with so many lore implications (we finally know who decided to move Hell, but we still don't know why or what her connection to other Former Hell characters is). There is a lot of potential for theories and headcanons here. Sadly I don't think the fans will try exploring all theorycrafting potential she has though, since the Touhou fandom is stuck only caring about Touhout 6-11, but I digress. As for why Zanmu is apparently so looked up to. From the bits we know about Gensokyo's Hell, it's full of meatheads that just want to fight and drink all day, the people who are supposed to punish sinners are broke and have no money to do so, and the goddess of Hell is a delinquent that doesn't do her job and hangs out with outcasts instead. So I can imagine when someone actually smart and competent shows up and starts fixing their problems then it's a huge deal. I still like the idea that Zanmu isn't all that smart but being surrounded by simple minded people has severely inflated her ego.

[@Jann75]

Spitting facts

[@Sparkfox-]

2:09 A-One reference spotted~ That song is so amazing!

[@mkarma9103]

What song is? I feel like i know it, but can't remember

[@Sparkfox-]

@@mkarma9103Time Will Tell

[@mkarma9103]

@@Sparkfox- oooooh, ok thanks

[@lunatic0verlord10]

27:54 Must be why onikind is her least favorite type of youkai. Considering that Reimu normally has a neutral opinion of almost everyone and generally judges species logically, *that's saying something!*

[@anonymousoff-brand7538]

the wild ride concludes, and so does the catchup

[@lunatic0verlord10]

You know? I realize that Yachie is the only Beast Leader who is fought at her original stage position, in this scenario.

[@greensky5328]

Hope the story gets wrapped up or at least elaborated on a bit in the future in some sort of written work as you mention at the end. This ending leaves me with a lot of questions about Zanmu's powers, (Not that they're interperative like most touhou characters, but seem inconsistent to me.), and the ending felt almost retconny in a way. It switched up a lot of what we know about Zanmu's shakily established character without much foreshadowing (Which could just as well be a shortcoming of the medium instead of ZUN's writing.). All and all I think she's very compelling character and hope she gets a meaningful appearance in some other official work soon, (Ideally with the Sages of Gensokyo or residents of old hell.). Ending aside I think this game was a great finale to the beasts arc, great music, great characters and great gameplay (compared to pofv.).

[@lunatic0verlord10]

15:58 Or someone who can outsmart her, really.

[@lunatic0verlord10]

28:45 Unless that youkai is an oni. Apparently, it's the one youkai species that she hates.

[@Jann75]

24:31 Cirno in touhou 19

[@goldenrain4402]

I hope you play blue devil at some point, I saw it in the poll!

[@robertvelasquez823]

Well, well. Seems like Omega is going to tackle Ephemeral Unnatural Balance for the next video.

[@pancakes4193]

Always been curious what/how's the relationship between Zanmu and Hecatia. Lots of focus on Hell/adjacent realms in the past few games and it's about time we see that freaky T-shirt weirdo be mentioned again.

[@NimonoSolenze]

6:24 nice

[@akenohononiku916]

Wow, it's been a long journey, huh? I remember back then I praised this game for finally giving Reimu _something_ to merit her protagonist status But now... ehh... I fully agree that Zanmu would probably be at her best in the manga, not in a game with how she's supposed to be complex Also as you can see Reimu is complete and utter BS, player or enemy Next is EUB!!! Probably one of the harder fangames, I feel That final boss in particular is... a lot Then again, she in particular tends to be quite hated for good reason whenever she appears anywhere Also PC-98 music appreciation, the game

[@alexandertugolukov]

There is no doubt that Zanmu is no different than Hecatia, unless. So it doesn't count.

[@lunatic0verlord10]

And so, you *NEVER* got that perfect run :(