Favorite 2hu Circles and their songs

[宇佐見 蓮子@C94]

Im bored, let's do a Top 10 (also discuss your picks and stuff etc)

 

1. 暁Records - 神様Stories-INNOCENT- (God's Stories -INNOCENT-)

Akatsuki's been my fav circle for a while, filling my niche for alternative/hard rock that FgE left (yes i know FgE is post-hardcore but shush) and for me their best song has got to be 神様Stories. It's a Greenwich and Magical Astronomy arrange, so it's gotta be good. Neko and Stack did such a great job with the song, and it's honestly my fav 2hu song right now.

 

2. TUMENECO - 星さえ掴むこの瞳で (With Our Eyes, That Can Grasp Even The Stars)

TUMENECO is the best RenkoxMerry circle, no doubt about it. They're also the best acoustic circle, even though their acoustic arranges are quite rare, they're always super good. In the end though, their best work is defo 星さえ掴むこの瞳で. I had a hard time between that and 星を回せ月より早く, but I think the latter's just better overall. That beautiful opening piano is <3

 

3. GET IN THE RING - ミクロコスモス (Microcosm)

GET IN THE RING and TUMENECO go hand in hand so much they have 3 collab albums of sheer excellence. But when it comes to solo work, GITR is still amazing. Best song is Microcosm from the best album, About A Girl. It's pretty much the only Little Princess vocal that doesnt suck ass, which is nice.

 

4. RD-Sounds - The Beautiful World

RD-Sounds is beautiful. Tadori is a beautiful album. The Beautiful World is terrifying, but it fills me with near-uttainable ecstasy when I listen to it. The instrumentals are godly, Merami's voice is a treat, but most importantly, the lyrics are just... Divine.

 

5. 豚乙女 - ひとり(Alone)/饗縁 (Mirrored Bonds)

I'm pretty sure Buta-Otome needs no introduction. Everyone knows Paprika's piano skills, Ranko's unique vocals, as well as Ranko Ane's mindfuck-level lyrics. That said, I'm cheating here with including 2 favorite songs because Alone isn't a Touhou arrange, but an Original composition instead. So, Mirrored Bonds gets my pick for their best Touhou arrange. Two Cinemas, Selfish Human Nature and Flower almost got it though, they're incredible songs too.

 

6. Liz Triangle - 大切な歴史 (Precious Time)/ハレーション•リモーション(Halation, Remotion)

Alright, I'm 100% cheating here because I cant decide between these two. Precious Time has, well, the best lyrics to a Touhou love song arrange, while Halation is probably Kaztora's best arrange yet. What more can I say, Liztora's pretty hit & miss but when it hits, it's amazing.

 

7. ZYTOKINE - I, SCREAM CROW'SCLAW Hard Rock Rearrange ver.

The first of two EDM-focused circles on the list, as well as the first to have their best song not be in their usual style. While ZYTOKINE's Electronic arranges are nice and all, the rock version of I, SCREAM is by far and away the best Little Princess vocal out there. Powerful vocals, great arrange that keeps the strength of the original, and an amazing guitar solo. Shoutout to CROW'SCLAW for the rearrange.

 

8. Hatsunetsumiko's - Innocent World ft. Vivienne

Now, Hatsunetsumiko's is probably the most relaxing circle here. Wide variety of songs ranging from R&B (Anything with Ark Brown), Western Pop (FELICIDADE, Libertus) to pure chill (Innocent World, Missing Piece). Personally I think their chillax songs are the best, and Innocent World having Vivienne vocals makes it that much better. Even though it's literally about suicide. Oops.

 

9. Halozy - 宇宙のこども (Space Children) ft. Emaru & Asahi

Halozy's nice and all, but the Emaru & Asahi duo is the best. Their songs are by far and away the most relaxing vocal arrange in all of Touhou doujindom, and the lyrics being surprisingly deep and rather poetic helps too. They're not very well known but definitely worth checking out.

 

10. TAMAONSEN - Q. ft. Romonosov?/ゆけむり魂温泉 (Steamy TAMAONSEN)

Only rap circle here, and the best in doujin community. Really cant think of any other circle that does rap as well as these guys and their songs are always so energetic and catchy. Again, cheating here with two songs but I gotta mention their two styles. Romonosov? Songs are really different from the rest of TAMAONSEN it deserves a special mention.

 

Special Mentions to:

FELT - Crescent Moon

DiGiTAL WiNG - Three Magic ft. 3L

[Maeriberii Haan]

Alright then, I'll do it. Trying my best to not put repeats on circle.

 

1. うつろわざるもの ～true Conclusion (instrumental ver.) by RD-Sounds/Diao Ye Zong: RD is amazing. Amazing lyricist without sounding too pretentious most of the time, knows how to mess with the listener, and is a great arranger especially since his style usually takes the original song in a more unique twist compared to other circle's arrangers. Dude's knows how to make a certain atmosphere with a song, and Utsurowazarumono (That which remains unchanging) is my favorite out of the bunch (mainly since it's the first proper RD track I listened). It's one of his songs that are a lot better without vocals (meramipop sadly doesn't fit the song), but the utterly ridiculous instrumentation for this rearrange was love in the first sight.

 

I could cheat and put shitton of other RD songs here because they deserve it, but I guess I'll put up mentions instead to give chance to other circles.

Born to Love You, Uso no Susume, Shin'jitsu no Uta, At Least One Word, Tombstones, The Beautiful World, Rebellion ~ For What is Important to Me, Tomorrow Forever Close, Origin Sign, Stargazer, 100km/h, Hello My Friend, Lies and Lamentations, etc

 

2. 少女の見た夢桜 by Kitsune Workshop: Foxfactory's kinda hella bland as of late, but they have many stellar arranges back then, and this one's my favorite. It really feels like a nice ending song to close out a saga, and it was definitely a great closer to their great album, 東方幻想界 -妖々夢の音-. I'd love to see this used in an ending for a fanwork.

 

3. 誕生日の子供たち by Halozy: emaru's voice is heavenly, and with Asahi's arranging it brings out the best kind of childhood nostalgia whenever I hear this song. A kind of childish innocence that made it beautiful. Lyrics also supported this, and I love the duo's usual take on lyrics, most of the time seemingly as if written from a kid's perspective. As Toyo said, definitely a hidden gem.

 

4. 河童の川流れ by Floating Cloud Acoustic Band: The circle's specializes in chill folk instrumental arranges, and I think one of their best is this one, perhaps mainly due to the spin they used on the song's iconic climax. It's a pretty chill circle in general, so if you're up for it, definitely try this one.

 

5. ever after by hatsunetsumikos: Still on the opinion that Hatsunetsu's better off not doing wubs, and stuffs like this song and I Wish is a big part of my argument. millie has the most soothing engrish out of all Touhou vocalists, and even her japanese songs are nice too. Chill and ballad Hatsunetsu is still my favorite hatsunetsu.

 

6. Day and Night by FELT: Ayy, more engrish. Granted, aside from the chorus, the english pronunciation here is actually pretty nice. I would have posted about a song that's more to FELT's usual style like Lies in Reality or Crumbling, but this song's pretty unlike the circle's other songs, and I'm a sucker for heartwarming lovey-dovey song especially ones featuring Merry and Renko.

 

7. Next Memory by 暁Records: I feel like this song works best with First Memory but since Liz still has an entry here later, I'll only list the later part instead. I just only got into this circle lately, mainly due to this song. I usually feel that stack has a great voice (although it's not for everyone) but the arranges she's in doesn't really utilize it right. This one however, was almost perfect. You start from lily-an singing the first part about Sanae in the outside world, and then it beautifully transitions into Next Memory where stack's vocal narrates us through Sanae in Gensokyo, her powerful voice finally fitting the change in tone and makes the song really great. Like damn, that's one of my favorite intertrack transitions.

 

8. 極光の旅人 (Traveler of the Aurora) by 森羅万象 (Shinrabansho): Shinra Bansho is basically Liz-Triangle, but with merami instead of lily-an. And merami's great. Though this song's not by merami. Anyway, I have a soft spot for adventurous songs (which is why Distant Journey to You is my favorite FgE song), and this song is about that, and has a strong folk feel that brings the adventurous atmosphere more into the surface. This circle's great, and they also made several musical-like series of tracks, such as Doppel.

 

9. ありがとう (Arigatou) by Liz-triangle: I've mentioned Liz twice so far but they haven't had their entry yet. lily-an's voice, while not having much variation, is a bliss to hear, and a beautiful song about a long-lost childhood friendship is the best way to use it. As-is it's already very emotional, but in context of where the song was made for, Osana Reimu/Reireimu, then it becomes really damn heartbreaking. 10/10 would recommend breaking out and crying in a public library over a song.

 

10. Heart-Pounding Mystical Future by O-Life Japan: It's...kinda hard to describe O-life. I guess they're an instrumental rock group, but they also did a lot of other things too. It's kinda hard to describe this track too, especially since it's from one of their less popular albums. I guess a word I can use is...mystical. It feels really fun as a track, but yeah. I'm not sure how to describe it and it suddenly appears in my favorites list.

 

Notable Mentions: Genmu by TUMENECO, Prie a Dieu by Demetori, Light of Faith by Tutti Sound, Burning Tensoku Z by SOUNDHOLIC, and a song in weird language that I can't remember the name of by Riverside.