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Strange Creators of Outer World/Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom interview with ZUN

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Strange Creators Interview 01
ZUN

Strange Creators Interview 01
ZUN

これまでの作品と比べ、さまざまな点で挑戦が盛り込まれた
最新作『東方紺珠伝』について、あれこれ聞いてみた。
なお、ゲームのエンディングについてもガッツリ触れているので、
未クリアの方はご注意ください。

We asked a few things about the latest work, Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom,
which incorporates challenges at various points in comparison to previous works.
Note: The game endings are discussed a lot, so non-clearers should take caution.

――

前作『東方輝針城』では、作品的には「原点回帰」、キャラ的には「二面性」がテーマということでしたが、今回はストーリー的には「復習劇」、世界観的には「三すくみ」が要素としてはあるのかなと。あと、以前から名前が出ていた月の偉い人こと嫦娥関係で、中国系のキャラクターが出てきたり、ギリシャ神話の女神が出てきたりと、作品世界がひろがった印象でした。

In your last work, Double Dealing Character, the themes were "back to basics" in terms of the work itself and "two-sided personality" in terms of the characters, but this time they appear to include "revenge drama" in terms of the story and "three-way deadlock" in terms of the worldview as factors. Also, we've seen characters from Chinese and Greek mythology appear in relation to previously mentioned Lunarian bigwig Chang'e, so I've gotten the impression that the world of Touhou has grown.

ZUN ("Z" from below)

今回、組み立ての順序的にはお話が最初じゃないんです。時間が経てばゲームを遊んでくれている人もだんだんと入れ変わっていくのに合わせて、ゲームのスタイルも変えていきたい、追及していきたいと考えているんです。そういう意味では、前回が「原点回帰」なら今回は「挑戦」。そこが最初に決まった部分というか、根底に据えたものでした。そして、そういう変化にマッチしたストーリーとはどういったものだろうか、と考えて作ったお話です。

This time, I didn't start off by writing the story. As time passes, the people who play games keep changing, so I felt that I wanted to try changing the style of the game, and pursue something new. In that sense, if the goal last time was "back to basics", then this time it would focus on challenge. That was the first thing I decided upon, which would be the foundation for the rest of the game. After that, I came up with a story based on what I thought might fit such a change.

――

EXステージまでクリアしないとストーリーが完結しないというのは珍しかったです。

It seemed unusual that the story wasn't concluded until you cleared the Extra stage.

Z

まあ、あんまりストーリーも無いんですけどね。雰囲気さえ味わえればいいんですよ。

Well, there isn't much of a story in the first place. It's fine as long as you can savor the atmosphere.

――

いやいや、ちゃんとクリアしないと、なんとも落ち着かない感じじゃないですか。

No, no, if you don't clear it, then doesn't it just feel like nothing settles down?

Z

基本的に落ち着かない内容ではありますけれどね(笑)。

Fundamentally, there are elements that just don't settle down (laugh).

――

キャラクターの名前には別に「紺」も「珠」も「伝」も入っていませんでしたけれど。

By the way, the character names don't have "紺 (kan)", "珠 (ju)", or "伝 (den)" in them.

Z

そんなルール、いったい誰が決めたんだい?(笑)

Who came up with a rule like that? (laugh)

『紺珠伝』の挑戦

The Challenge of Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom

――

挑戦ということで「完全無欠モード」についてなのですが。

By challenge, I'm referring to the "Pointdevice Mode".

Z

あの手のやつを入れたら確実に批判を受けることになるだろうとは思っていたんですが、とにかくやってみたかったんです。

I knew that I'd be criticized for putting something like that in, but I still wanted to try it.

――

おまけテキストには「アイワナ」に代表される理不尽な高難易度と、すぐに復活して繰り返し遊べるリトライ性について触れていました。

In the omake text, you mentioned I Wanna Be The Guy as an example of a game that had unreasonably high difficulty but where you could immediately revive and keep retrying.

Z

ああいうタイプのゲームはけっこう多くなったし、ジャンルとして熟成されてきた感じがするんです。でもストーリー的に意味があってそういう、何度も死んじゃって何度も蘇る――再挑戦するシステムがある、というゲームを見たことが無かったので、そこに挑戦してみたくなって。

There are a lot of those types of games now - I get the feeling that they've become their own genre. But I never saw a game where they explained dying and reviving many times - the re-challenge system - as part of the story, so I wanted to take that challenge.

――

たくさんリトライできることの意味が伴ってない、ということですね。

So you're saying they never gave a reason for being able to keep retrying.

Z

そこがしっくりきたらどういうゲームになるんだろうなと思ってね。

I wondered what kind of game it would be if that was fit in.

――

そうしたら「紺珠の薬」ができちゃって。

So you came up with the 'Ultramarine Orb Elixir'.

Z

大変な敵とか変なやつばっか、どんどん出てくるし。まあ、みんながきついきつい言いながらプレイするんだけど、結果的にはこれまでの作品の中で一番多くの人がクリアすることができたタイトルになっている、それがゲームを作る時の最初の目的だったんです。「あれはひどいよね」「ひどかったよね」とみんなから言われてるんだけど、結局は多くの人に遊ばれている、という風になればなって。遊んでる人が少ないゲームほど名作って言われちゃうんだけど、それは避けたかった。文句を言う人ばかりなんだけど、遊んでる人が多いゲームはどういうのかって考えたら、ああいうシステムのゲームができちゃって、まあ今回は、そういうことを試す土壌ができたんですよね。昔は成功するかどうかを試していたけれど、今はもう単純に試したいから試す、ということができる。ストーリーに関してもそうで、わりと冒険的な内容になりましたね。オーソドックスな感じから外そうともしていないし、かといってそこを狙ってもいない、すごく変な感じ。そういう不思議な感じを、これが東方のストーリーである、世界であるって感じられるように作ってみたかった。……できたかどうかはまた別の問題なんですけれど(笑)。

Since only difficult opponents or weirdos kept showing up. Well, everyone played it while complaining about how hard it was, but in terms of the result, out of all my games, it became the title with the largest amount of people to be able to clear it, and that was my first objective as I was making the game. Everyone can tell me "that was awful" and "that was terrible", but it'll be fine as long as lots of people can play it in the end. The less people there are to play it, the more likely it gets called a masterpiece, but I wanted to avoid that. When I thought about what kind of game would have lots of people playing despite everyone complaining, I came up with that kind of system, and, well, I was able to lay down the foundation to test those kinds of things. Before, I would just test whether they would succeed or not, but now I'm able to just simply test them for the sake of trying it out. And that's the case for the story, too, so the contents came out being relatively more adventurous. It doesn't try to break away from an orthodox feeling, but it doesn't strive for it either, so it's a strange feeling. I wanted to make it so that you could feel that kind of mysterious feeling in Touhou's story and world. ...although whether I succeeded or not is another story (laugh).

――

これまで以上にエンディングがキャラごとにしっかり分かれていたというか、役割分担みたいなものを感じました。一人一人にメッセージが込められていたというか。霊夢が一番今まで通りでしたが。

It seems like the endings branch more for each character compared to previous works, and I felt like it was a distribution of roles. Like each person had a message decided for them. Reimu's was the most similar to before.

Z

霊夢のエンディングは、ちょっとスッキリ終われないよね。まあ手が出せない相手だからしょうがないんだけれど。あれは終わり方としては『儚月抄』と同じですよ。

In Reimu's ending, it doesn't really end with a refreshing feeling. Well, since the enemy is someone she can't touch, it can't be helped. It ends in a similar way to Bougetsushou.

――

コテンパンにやられてるんだけど、まあいいかみたいな。

It's like going "oh well" after being beaten black and blue.

Z

『紺珠伝』は、どちらかというと『永夜抄』『儚月抄』の流れにあるからね、こうなるよ。仕方ないね。

If I had to say it, Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom follows along the same lines as Imperishable Night and Bougetsushou, so it ends up being like that. It can't be helped.

――

「全部月のせいだ」って?(笑) でも霊夢含めて、エンディングにはいろいろと未来につながっていきそうな枝葉がちりばめられていて、楽しいですよね。魔理沙のエンディングなんて、これまで影も形も無かった紫が出てくる。

You mean, how it's "all the Moon's fault"? (laugh) But including Reimu's ending, the endings have lots of different issues set in them that look like they can be connected to the future, so it's fun. In Marisa's ending, Yukari appears after not having shown herself for all this time.

Z

むしろ、あそこからオープニングだったよね(笑)。まあ魔理沙のエンディングだから、あれが正史かどうかはわかんないけどさ。

It's almost like that should be the opening, right (laugh). Well, since it's Marisa's ending, it's not really clear if that's canon or not.

――

でも、パワーストーンについて明確に触れてるのは他にいないじゃないですか。

But there aren't any others that touch on the subject of the Power Stones so clearly.

Z

そうなんだよね。むしろ魔理沙の話は、今回は『深秘録』の話の続きなんだね。『深秘録』から続いている理由も、『鈴奈庵』や『茨歌仙』にあった都市伝説の話が、主に魔理沙の担当だったからです。

You're right. It's like Marisa's story is a continuation of Urban Legend in Limbo instead. The reason it continues from Urban Legend in Limbo is because, in the urban legend stories in Forbidden Scrollery and Wild and Horned Hermit, Marisa was the one in charge.

――

あとの二人は?

And what about the last two?

Z

鈴仙はストーリー的に出すことが決まっていたので、エンディングでは全部説明されるし、一応主人公扱いです。

I've decided to bring out Reisen in the story more, and everything gets explained in her ending, so for the time being she's basically a main character.

――

キャラのネタ元から何から説明されるとは思ってませんでした。

I didn't think that the origins of the characters would be explained that far.

Z

そこを説明してくれるのは鈴仙くらいしかいなかったからね。それだけだとストーリーの本筋がよく見えなくなるので、もう全く関係ない外側から見ているキャラクターとして早苗が必要だったんです。これまでの作品を引きずった、ストーリーの裏側を説明するキャラクターとしての鈴仙に対して、表側から見るキャラクターですね。

That level of explanation only shows up for Reisen's ending, though. If it was just that then the main plotline of the story would be harder to see, so we needed a character that had nothing to do with anything that could look in from outside, which was Sanae. If Reisen is a character that explains the story from the back side, then Sanae would be the character that looks at it from the front side.

――

早苗のノーミスエンディングを見ると、『風神録』からつながる深い話なのかなとも思うのですが。

Looking at Sanae's no-miss ending, it makes you wonder whether it's a deep story that has ties to Mountain of Faith, too.

Z

実は早苗はすごいやつなんだ、ということになるわけです。天孫降臨を防いじゃうんだもんね。早苗のエンディングでは、守矢神社の人たちが月の都にいるやつらがどういう存在なのかを計りかねているわけです。そしてあそこは天津神たちの世界なんじゃないか、ということがわかる。読者やプレイヤー側からしたら、知ってるよって話なのかもしれないですけれど、守矢神社側から考えてみればそういう話にいきつく。そうすると『風神録』とちょっとつながる話が、設定的に見えてくるわけなんです。

Sanae is actually a pretty amazing person, is what it's telling you. She had prevented the second coming of the Divine Emperor and all that. In Sanae's ending, the people in the Moriya Shrine are unable to measure what kind of existence of the guys up at the Lunar Capital. And they understand that up there is the world of the heavenly gods[1]. When you look at it from the point of view of the reader or player, you might not see it like that, but once you look at it from the Moriya Shrine's point of view, you end up with that story. So it's slightly connected to Mountain of Faith, but it's something that just shows up as part of the setting.

――

早苗は諏訪子の子孫ですからね。中央の神ではない、まつろわぬ者。

Sanae is a descendant of Suwako, after all. Not one of the central gods, but a rogue god.

Z

一応神様ですからね。土着神なんです。そんな彼女が、月からの遷都を防いだという話は、すごいことですよ。

But she is a god. She's a native god. And for a girl like that to prevent the relocation of the capital from the moon, it's a really amazing thing.

――

さりげなく『紺珠伝』の中で一番でかい話になってませんか?

Hasn't Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom inadvertently become one of the biggest stories?

Z

本筋ではないですけどね(笑)。幻想郷を守ったといえば守ったというシンプルな話です。

The main plotline isn't, though (laugh). In terms of protecting Gensokyo it's the simple story of having protected it.

表情で煽り過ぎ問題

The Problem of Provocative Expressions

――

あと早苗といえばキャラ性が荒ぶっているような気がするんですが。

Speaking of Sanae, it seems like her personality has gotten a bit wild.

Z

もともとああいうキャラクターだからね。しょうがない。

She's had that character from the beginning. It can't be helped.

――

昔はもう少し大人しくなかったですか?

Wasn't she a bit milder before?

Z

敵として出てくるときは大人しいんです。で、どんどんはっちゃけてくる。

She was a little mild when she appeared as an opponent. Then, she gradually began to do as she pleased.

――

あと早苗もそうなんですが、今回キャラクターが敵味方全員、とても表情豊かですよね。

Also, not only Sanae, but all the characters, allies and enemies alike, seem to have a lot of expressions.

Z

煽る。みんな煽ってくるよね。

They're provocative. They're all look like they're trying to start something.

――

誰かさんにLINEスタンプで煽られる感覚を思い出します。「ニヤニヤ」とかね。なんでそこで煽ってくるんだよ! みたいな。

It reminds me of that feeling of someone using a sticker on LINE to provoke me. With a "smirk" sticker or something. Like, why are you trying to start something over there!

Z

あのね、煽らないと戦闘が始まらないの(笑)。

I mean, if you don't provoke them then there won't be a battle (laugh).

――

(笑)。

(laugh).

Z

ほら、敵が直接の敵ではないじゃないですか。敵同士が会うときは、どちらかというと冷静なんですよ。冷静な怒りって感じなの。でも敵じゃないのに説明して戦うってことになるには、煽らないといけない。だからゲームの特性みたいなもんです。

You see, the enemies aren't direct enemies, right? In the case where mutual enemies meet, they'd be composed. You'd feel a calm rage between them. But to explain how two people end up fighting each other even when they aren't enemies, there has to be some sort of provocation. So it's like a special characteristic of the game.

――

ゲームそのものの話に戻りましょう。

Let's go back to discussing the game itself.

Z

前にも言ったけど、見かけの上で奇抜な事をやるのは本当のチャレンジではないんですよ。その思いが僕の中にずっとあって、そうじゃないチャレンジは何かというものを模索したのが『紺珠伝』でした。

I've said this before, but trying to do something that looks unconventional was not the real challenge. Since that's something that I always keep in mind, Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom was a way to explore what other kinds of challenges there were.

――

そしたら「紺珠の薬」ができちゃった。

And then you came up with the "Ultramarine Orb Elixir".

Z

あれ使っちゃったらだめだよね。何が起こるかわからない。使っていたら結果はどうなったんだろう? 『紺珠伝』の次回昨に続くストーリー的には、あの薬を使わないでノーミスでクリアした時点から始まることになるからね。

It would be bad if you used that. You don't know what's going to happen. If you used it, what would the results be? The story that follows in the next work after Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom starts from the point after doing a no-miss clear without using that Elixir.

――

難易度高いんですけど(笑)。

That's a really high level of difficulty, though (laugh).

Z

レガシーモードでノーミスでクリアするのが正史です(笑)。ノーミスでクリアしたストーリーでは、「紺珠の薬」は登場しませんからね。使ったか使っていないかはどうでもいいんです。で、ミスがあるエンディングは、薬の説明が多い。あれもだいぶメタ的な内容で、いわゆる「アイワナ」のようなゲームを始めると、昔ながらのゲームが難しくてクリアできなくなる、戻れなくなるんですよね、体が。まあ戻れなくなったからなんだっていう話なんですけど。別にレガシーモードでクリアしなければならないってわけではないですから。

Doing a no-miss clear on Legacy Mode is what's canon (laugh). Because the "Ultramarine Orb Elixir" doesn't appear in the story when you do a no-miss clear. It didn't matter whether you used it or not. And, the endings where you do get hit have a better explanation of the Elixir. The reason for that is mostly meta, because when you start games like I Wanna Be The Guy, the other kind of game becomes harder to play and you can't clear them. Your body can't go back to those. Although, you might ask why it's necessary to go back to those in the first place. But it's not like you have to clear the game on Legacy Mode or anything.

――

今回、システム的に残機を増やそうと思えばかなり増えるじゃないですか。これまで以上にボムをつかって切り抜ける場面が増えた印象です。

This time, doesn't the system give you a lot more chances to gain more lives? And I get the feeling that there are more times you use bombs to struggle through than before.

Z

ボムを使っても残機は増えるからね。基本的にはボムを使って死ぬゲームになってるんです。本当はゲーム的には面白くなくなっちゃうんだけど、そうすることで完全無欠モードとの差がすごく出ていますよね。最終的に悩んだ結果、そうなるように調整してました。

That's because you gain lives whether you use bombs or not. It has fundamentally become a game where you use your bombs and die. That actually makes the game a little less interesting, but as a result it draws out the differences from Pointdevice Mode a lot more. Since I was worried about that, I adjusted it to have that effect in the end. After worrying so long, the eventual result was adjusting it to be that way.

――

別のゲームみたいなプレイ感ですよね。

It's almost like you're playing a different game.

Z

そうしないと、ただ単に難しいだけのゲームになっちゃって、なんだかなあという感じでしたから。

Without it, you just get a game that's just ordinarily difficult, and you get this "I wonder why" feeling.

――

それでかすろうとして抱え落ちしたり。

And when you try to graze, you die with bombs in stock.

Z

まあ、ストーリー的なこともあって特殊なシステムになりました、くらいの感じなんですけれど。

Well, since it's also important story-wise, it became a special system, or something along those lines.

――

しばらくこんなシステムは無いだろうなと思いました。

I was thinking that we won't see a system like this again for a while.

Z

同じようなシステムを作るためのストーリーがもうできないから、やっぱり無いですね。こういうちょっと変わったゲームもあってもいいかなって。

I won't be able to do another story that allows me to use this system, so probably not. But it's nice to have something a little different once in a while.

――

その時は宮古芳香あたりが主人公になってですね……。

In that case, you could use a character like Yoshika Miyako as the protagonist...

Z

もう死んでるだけで、やられても戻らないから(笑)。死ぬという概念が無いかもしれない。あとは妹紅を主人公にして、死なないだけの主人公にする。そして爆発させて……。

Since she's already dead, even if you take her out, she won't stop (laugh). Or maybe the concept of death wouldn't exist. Or I could use Mokou or someone else who can't die as protagonists. And then make them explode...

――

ひどい(笑)。

That's terrible (laugh).

Z

自爆して進むの(笑)。残機は無い(笑)。まあ、無限に死んだり、死にまくったり、残機が無いゲームは10年くらいにいっぱい出てきて、そういうゲームはみんな言ってしまえば「奇抜なゲーム」でしたよ。みんなアイディアを生かしすぎちゃうんですよね、「このアイディアがウリのゲームなんだ」って感じが強すぎる。

They do a suicide bombing and then keep going (laugh). There won't be any extra lives (laugh). Well, I think there have been lots of games where you can die infinitely with no extra lives that have come out in the last 10 years, they've all been called "unconventional games". Everyone wants to capitalize on their ideas, and the feeling of "this idea will make the game sell" is strong.

――

アイディアが先行しすぎてプレイ内容を省みていない?

Because the idea comes first, they don't consider the gameplay?

Z

結果面白ければ問題は無いんですけれどね。

If the result is interesting then there aren't any problems, though.

――

今回チャレンジしている部分が多かった一方で、ラスボスの純狐の能力に代表されるように、シンプルな部分はすごくシンプルですよね。曲もそうで、なんというか力で押して来る感じというか、正当派な感じがありました。

For one example of the many challenges you took this time, the simple parts are extremely simple, as the last boss Junko's ability may represent. Her music is like that, and it feels like she's just simply pushing forth with all her might, or like she's on the side of justice.

Z

純粋にラスボスとは何かを考えないといけないタイミングが来た感じの曲でした。キャラの外見からしたら、もっと中華っぽい曲にすればいいかなとも思わなくもなかったんですが、わりと無国籍で単純に盛り上がる方向に行きました。

The music was something that came to me at a timing where I had to think of something for her as a last boss. Looking at her outward appearance, I did consider if it would be good for the music to go in a Chinese direction, but I ended up going in the direction of simple excitement without any particular country in mind.

――

あと弾幕が単純に酷い。密度が濃いからですかね?

Also, the danmaku is simply cruel. It's because the density is so high, right?

Z

密度が濃いのは純粋な酷さだよね。他の弾幕よりも、実際にはそんなに密度は濃くないんです。でも、純粋に均等に詰めてあるから、避ける側には本当に精密な作業を要求するんです。もちろんこれもわざとで、もしあの精度の弾幕がいままで通りの密度で撃たれたら、避けられないんです。たまにしか出ないけど、すごく難しい。あれはマシンの性能が低くて、弾が多く出せないんだけど難しくしたいっていう時に、ああなります。しかも速くしたりしてね。

High density makes for pure difficulty. It's not actually that dense when compared to other danmaku. But because it packs itself in so purely and uniformly, you need really precise movements to avoid it. Of course, this was intentional, but if you took such precise danmaku and brought it to the same density it was before, then you wouldn't be able to dodge it. It only shows up every once in a while, but it's really difficult. It ends up like that when I want to make something difficult even when the machine performance is low and can't shoot too may bullets. Or I can make them fast.

――

弾が交互に配置されたりしていると、間を通り抜けられますけど、途中から無くなりますよね。

When the bullets are positioned alternately, at first there's a path in the middle you can go through, but at some point that path disappears.

Z

あれはもう「リズム天国」みたいなもので、テンポよくポンポンポンと、避けるしかない。

At that point it's kind of like Rhythm Heaven; you need the right tempo to dodge, like tap-tap-tap.

――

やっぱりそうなんですね……。今回大人しくEASYでクリアしました。

That's pretty much what I expected... This time, I decided to swallow my pride and go clear Easy mode.

Z

EASYでクリアしても普通にEXTRA出ますからね。ここがストーリーとそれに見合った難易度設定の難しさで、今回はストーリー的にゲーム部分を難しくせざるを得ないんです。そこで、初心者救済が無くていいのかということで、EASYも若干難しいけれど、クリアすればEXTRAには行けるしコンティニューしてもエンディングは見られるようにした。

Well, even if you clear Easy mode, you can still unlock Extra mode. That's where the difficulty setting becomes appropriate for the story, and this time I couldn't help but make the game difficult to match the story. I wondered if it was okay that there wasn't anything to help beginners, and since Easy was a little difficult on its own, I decided that if you cleared it you could go to Extra mode, and you would still be able to see the endings even if you used continues.

――

弾幕ではどうですか。月を投げてくるとは思いませんでしたが。

What about the danmaku? Didn't you think about having the moon be thrown at players?

Z

弾幕も悩むところが多かったなぁ。キャラクターの能力もよくわからない奴が多いから、どういう弾幕にしたらいいかなって。

I worried about the danmaku a lot, too. Since there are a lot of characters where their abilities are kind of hard to understand, I wondered what kind of danmaku would be good.

清蘭&鈴瑚

Seiran and Ringo

――

STAGE 1、2のボスは色に意味があったりするんですか? 例えば信号機のような。

Is there any meaning to the colors of the bosses of Stage 1 and 2? Like they're the colors of a traffic light or something.

Z

そんなことは特に無いね。

I didn't have anything like that in mind, no.

――

清蘭は、鈴仙=ゼロ戦からの流れで清蘭がネタだったりするんでしょうか? 兎の名前は戦闘機つながりみたいな。

For Seiran, did you come up with her with the joke that "Reisen"="Zerosen (Zero fighter plane)"? With rabbit names being connected to fighter planes.

Z

それも特に無いね。兎の名前はペットの名前程度だから、あんまり意味は無い。どこか中国っぽくしたかったんですよね。鈴瑚もそう。別にガッチリ中国っていうわけでもないんだけど、月の都の見た目がそうだから、月の兎は中華風の名前のイメージなんです。

There's no particular meaning in that either. The rabbits' names are just along the lines of names for pets, so there really isn't any meaning to them. But I wanted to make them feel a little bit Chinese. That also goes for Ringo. It's not completely Chinese, but even the appearance of the Lunar Capital feels that way, so the moon rabbits have names with a bit of a Chinese feel.

――

そういえば『儚月抄』で月の都の町並みは中国っぽく、という指定がありましたね。「イーグルラヴィ」はアポロ計画?

Speaking of which, in Bougetsushou the Lunar Capital's streets did seem to look a little bit Chinese. Is "Eagle Ravi" from the Apollo Project?

Z

「鷲は舞い降りた」ですね。

It would be from "the Eagle has landed", yes.

――

鈴瑚についても、さっぱりわからないんですが。団子食ってるなーくらいしか。

As for Ringo, I have no idea what to say. She eats dango, huh~ is all I can think of.

Z

清蘭もそうなんですが、月の兎と言えば団子なんです。清蘭は餅を搗いてるから杵を持ってるんだけど、鈴瑚は食ってるだけっていう。

It's the same for Seiran, but they're moon rabbits so dango is obviously going to come up. Seiran pounds mochi so she's carrying a mallet, but Ringo just eats it.

――

月の兎にとっては課せられた義務的労働なんですよね、餅つき。

The moon rabbits have mandatory labor imposed upon them, don't they? Mochi pounding.

Z

基本、嫦娥のためにみんなで餅をついてるんです。

The idea is that they're pounding mochi for the sake of Chang'e.

――

嫦娥は……月の都ではヒキガエルの姿なんですか?

And Chang'e is... in the shape of a toad in the Lunar Capital?

Z

ヒキガエルにされちゃってるからねえ。

Since she was turned into a toad.

――

あれ、でも嫦娥って月の都のボスじゃ……いや、ボスは月夜見でしたっけ。

Wait, wasn't Chang'e the boss of the Lunar Capital.... No, or was the boss Tsukuyomi?

Z

まだまだボスがいるかもしれないけどね。イメージとしては高天原だから、もっと大きなやつがいるかもしれないけれど、出てくる気がしないかな。居ることは容易に想像がつくんだけどね。高天原でいうと、永琳もそんなに高い地位にいるわけではないんです。神様以外もたぶんいます。

We don't even know if there is a boss. Seeing it as Takamagahara, there might be someone even greater who just doesn't feel like showing up. It's easy to imagine that someone is there, though. In terms of Takamagahara, not even Eirin has that high of a position. But there are probably more than just gods there.

――

今回は一応1面、2面のボスもストーリーに関係ありますよね。今までだと「通りすがりにいたから倒す」みたいな展開でしたけど。

This time even the Stage 1 and 2 bosses are related to the story. Past games tended to start off with just "beat up whomever you meet along the way".

Z

珍しいですよね。まあそのおかげでEXまでストーリーに関係あることになっちゃうっていう。

It certainly is rare. Well, because of that, the story is connected all the way to the Extra Stage as well.

ドレミー・スイート

Doremy Sweet

――

ドレミーの手に持ってるものは、なんなのでしょう? うにょうにょしてて、倒されたらぐったりしてるのがちょっと面白いんですが。

What is Doremy carrying in her hand? It's all squirmy and blobby, and when you defeat her it looks exhausted, so it's kind of funny.

Z

あれは『茨歌仙』にも出てきた夢魂ですよ。

That would be those dream souls that also appeared in Wild and Horned Hermit.

――

あれに当たったら寝ちゃうんですか?

Do you fall asleep when you get hit by one?

Z

あれは人の夢のイメージなんです。

It's the image of a person's dream.

――

恰好がちょっと旧作的なデザインですよね。

Her appearance seems a little like a design from one of your old works.

Z

バクっていうとどうしても動物のマレーバク的なものに引きずられますけど、デザイン的には不思議ですよね。きっちり白と黒が分かれている。でも実際には妖怪の「獏」がさきにあって、この動物じゃないかって名前を充てられてる。そういうの結構ありますよね。

When you hear the word "baku", you'll probably think of something that looks like the Malayan tapir, so her design is a little strange. White and black being perfectly split. But since she's actually the youkai "baku" foremost, I gave her a name that didn't remind people of the animal. Things like this happen a lot.

――

体験版のときは、たまに通常弾幕の密度が殺しにかかってくるレベルでしたが、製品版では薄くなってましたね。

In the trial version, the density of her normal danmaku seemed like it was out to kill you, but it's gotten lighter in the full version.

Z

あのペースで最後まで行ったらひどいことになってたから、修正しました。

If that pace kept up until the end of the game then it would be terrible, so I adjusted it.

稀神サグメ

Sagume Kishin

――

背中のアレは翼ということでいいんですよね?

Would it be all right to call that thing on her back a wing?

Z

髪の毛ってことは無いんじゃない?

Well, it's not part of her hair, right?

――

彼女は天津神の部分と国津神=土着神の部分が両方ある、ということなんですか? で、どちらかというと天津神の方に羽が生えてる。

So she has a part of her that's heavenly god, and a part of her that's earthly god=native god, is that correct? So, I'd have to say that the heavenly god side is where her wing comes from.

Z

「私の天津神としての部分が~」って言いますからね。結局表裏があるから、両方の属性があるということなんですよ。天邪鬼よりも、もう少し純粋な存在で、神様でもある。

She says something like "The part of me that's a heavenly god~", after all. Since she has two sides, it's kind of like she has both attributes. She's a little more pure than an amanojaku, and she is a god.

――

元は巫女の神格化みたいなものでしたよね、でもちょっと貶められている。

At first she was something like the deification of a shrine maiden, but she was a little looked down on.

Z

僕のイメージでは「サギ」なんだよね。鳥の「鷺」でもあり、人を騙す「詐欺」でもある。天邪鬼の「詐欺」の部分もちゃんとある。

The image I have of her is 'sagi'. She has the 'sagi' meaning 'heron', and the 'sagi' that means 'swindler'. The 'swindler' of the amanojaku is also there.

――

天邪鬼というと偏屈な性格というイメージですけれど、積極的に騙していくんですか?

I can't help but think of amanojaku as having a contrary personality, but does she actively try to deceive people?

Z

騙した結果良くなることもあれば、悪くなることもある。結局、世の中は変わるんです。自分にとっていいかもしれないし、相手にとって悪いかもしれない。そういう、何が起こるかわからないイメージなんです。だから彼女はしゃべるかどうか最初は悩んでいて、でも心の中で賭けたんです。しゃべった方が良い方向になるだろうと。

There are plenty of times where the result is deception, but they're not always bad. In the end, the world is what changes. It could be good for her, but it could be bad for her allies. So her image is something like she has no idea what's going to happen. So at first she was worrying about whether to speak or not, but she took a gamble inside her heart. That it would be better for her to speak.

――

なんで早苗だけ心を読まれているんですか?

Why is it that she can only read Sanae's mind?

Z

早苗は、そうとしか読み取れない顔をしていたから(笑)。顔に全部出ちゃう子なんです。

Because it's hard not to read Sanae's mind (laugh). Her thoughts are plastered all over her face.

――

サグメは負けても服がボロボロにならないですよね。

Even when Sagume loses, her clothes don't get messed up.

Z

そうなんだよね。絵はあるんだけど、使ってないんだ(笑)。とりあえず流れ作業的に描いたんだけどね、もったいない。

That's right. I have a picture of her, but I didn't use it (laugh). I drew it as part of my workflow, but it was a waste.

――

強いから?

Because she's strong?

Z

戦う前の会話が短くて、戦った後の会話が長いから、ずっと負けポーズっていうわけにもいかなかったんだよね。力を試しただけなのに、ボロボロになってたら恥ずかしいし(笑)。もちろん外の妖精とかよりは全然強いんですけれど。でも、月の都の住人には、穢れに満ちた都の外には行けないどころか見ることもできなかった。今回は本当に賭けだったんですね。

The dialogue before the battle is short, and the dialogue after it is long, so I couldn't have her stay in the defeated pose the whole time. And it would be embarrassing if her clothes were messed up when she was only testing their powers (laugh). She's definitely stronger than the fairies outside, but the inhabitants of the Lunar Capital couldn't even look outside the capital since it was filled with filth, let alone go there themselves. This time it was really a gamble.

――

意味のない話ですが、賭けが失敗していたらどうなっていたんでしょう?

This is kind of a meaningless question, but how would it have turned out had she lost the bet?

Z

うーん、月の民が眠りっぱなしになるか、本格的に幻想郷に遷都するか……。幻想郷を乗っ取るか。その時には幻想郷は何も生き物が住まなくなるので、その結果、外の世界に働きかけていくことになるでしょうね。それが惑星浄化になってしまう。それをしたくないので、幻想郷を浄化すると脅しているんです。

Hmm, would the Lunarians continue to sleep, or would they do a full-blown relocation of the capital to Gensokyo...? Would they completely overtake Gensokyo? In that case, there wouldn't be any living things in Gensokyo, and that would affect the outside world, too. That would end up causing the purification of the planet. Since she didn't want to do that, she only threatened to purify Gensokyo.

クラウンピース

Clownpiece

Z

クラウンピースに関しては、だいぶデザインに悩みましたけどね。いろいろと考えていたけれど、とりあえず妖精にすることだけは決まっていました。

As for Clownpiece, I was really troubled by her design. I thought about a lot of things, but the only thing that was decided was that she would be a fairy.

――

元ネタはヘカーティアの部下の妖精、ランパースですよね。

Since her origin is she's a fairy that works for Hecatia, she would be one of the Lampads, right?

Z

そう。松明で人を狂わせることができる。

Yes. She can drive people mad with her torchlight.

――

服の印象が強烈なんですけれど。

Her outfit certainly leaves an impression on you.

Z

静かの海に行って星条旗を見てから、あのデザインになった……という設定なんです。そうすると、自由の女神もちょっと含まれてくる謎デザインになっちゃった。いろいろなこと考え過ぎて、どうしようかなって。

She chose that look after seeing the American flag at the Sea of Tranquility... is how the story goes. After that, it became a rather puzzling design that also included a little bit of the Statue of Liberty. I was thinking about too many things, and wondered how it would turn out.

――

『三月精』で月の旗を抜いたのは、結局誰なんですか?

In the end, who was it that pulled the flag out in Eastern and Little Nature Deity?

Z

それが本当に月の旗かどうかはよくわからないからね。ここで面白いのは、今回のストーリーの肝でもある「アポロ計画捏造説」を幻想郷に広めると、月にはアメリカ国旗が無いことになる。だから、アメリカ国旗が存在していたとして幻想郷に投げられたものなのか、存在はしているけれどクラウンピースが月面で見て衣装に反映しているのか、わからなくなるんです。本来、都市伝説の本当の恐ろしさとは、何かが出たり何かが起こったりすることではなくて、過去を変える力があることなんです。

It's not clear whether that flag actually came from the moon. What's interesting here is that for the guts of the story, the "Apollo Project Hoax", to spread throughout Gensokyo, the American flag on the Moon would have to be not there. So we don't know if the American flag was thrown to Gensokyo after having been on the Moon, or if it was seen by Clownpiece and influenced her because it was still there. Essentially, the true terror of urban legends is not from something showing up or happening, but its power to change the past.

――

ええ!?

Eeh!?

Z

サグメはその力を使って遷都しようとしているわけです。そこはあくまえも本気ではなく、「月の都が幻想郷を人質にとってなんとか敵を倒そう」としたわけで、そこに入ってくる星条旗は、かなり重要なアイテムなんです。

Sagume was using that power to relocate the capital, too. In the end it wasn't a full-blown attempt, but done in the sense of "The Lunar Capital can just take Gensokyo hostage and beat up any opposition", so the American flag that comes into play is a very important item.

――

星条旗を見なかったらクラウンピースはあんな恰好をしてないでしょうね。でも、何年か前には「何かの旗」が引っこ抜かれている

If Clownpiece didn't see the American flag, she wouldn't have started to dress like that. But wasn't some sort of flag pulled out years ago?

Z

実際の話、今回のストーリーがどういう流れで、いつから計画が進んでいるかわかりにくいんです。少なくとも半年前から遷都計画は進められているんだけれど、だとするとそのもっと前から月の都は攻撃を受けていることになる。でもまあ、みんなどれも本気ではないんです。「純粋な怒り」が原因だから、敵を倒すことはあまり重要じゃなくなってる。

In reality, we don't know how the story occurred and how long ago the plan started. At the very least, the capital relocation plan began half a year ago, and if that's the case then the capital must have been under attack long before that. But, well, no one was being completely serious. The cause of everything was "pure rage", so actually defeating the enemy wasn't too important.

――

怒りの発散が目的だったと? で、発散したからとりあえずはいいや、みたいな。

So the objective was to let out their rage? It sounds like it would be something like, "Since I let it all out, I'm fine for now".

Z

そうそう。それを繰り返すんだよね。たぶん長く生きるっていうのはそういうことなんだと思う。

Yes, that's right. And then it would happen all over again. I think those that live for a very long time end up doing that sort of thing.

純狐

Junko

――

純狐はかなりの曲者だと思いますけれど。

Junko seems like quite a villanous person.

Z

そうだよね。名前のフォントが他よりちょっとデカいし。威圧感あるよね。

That's right. Even the font for her name is a little bigger than the others. It's a little intimidating.

――

そこ!?(笑)

That's why!? (laugh)

Z

スペルカードにも二つ名が無いし。符の名前が無い。純粋なんです。

Even her spell cards don't have two names - there's no prefix. She's very pure.

――

「純化の力」って結局なんなんですか?

In the end, what exactly is the "power of purification"?

Z

なんなんだろうね。一番気になるところだよね(笑)。

I wonder. That piques your curiosity the most, doesn't it (laugh).

――

ちょっと(笑)。何かの性質を突き詰めるということなんですか?

Maybe (laugh). Is it something like completely bringing out a certain property?

Z

『香霖堂』で少し触れましたが、言ってしまえば神の力です。モノに名前が付く前にあった、純粋な力。名前が付いてしまったら、神としての性質は無くなる。その純粋な部分をずっと持っているし、他に与えることができる。神を生むくらいの力です。

I touched on it a little in Curiosities of Lotus Asia, but if I have to say it then it would be the power of the gods. A pure power from before things had names. When you give a name to something, its godly nature disappears. But she held onto that pure aspect all this time, and she can bestow it upon other things. It's a power that's almost like giving birth to a god.

――

復習心のみで動いているみたいなキャラですが、東方では珍しいですよね。

She's a character driven solely by revenge, but that seems unusual for Touhou.

Z

幻想郷の外のキャラだからね。幻想郷には居ないタイプ。

That's because she's a character outside Gensokyo; it's not something you'll find inside.

――

あ、そうか。「仙霊」というのは神霊の一種?

I see. Is a 'sagacious spirit' a kind of divine spirit?

Z

あまりキャラクターがジャンル分けしにくいんだよね。神霊の一種ではあるんだけれど、分けづらいからとりあえず霊にしちゃってる。今回、そこの扱いがすごく難しくてね。こいつが何者で何をしているのかを、誰が説明するんだろうって。

It's hard to separate the character from the genre. She is a type of divine spirit, but it's hard to make a distinction so at the very least she's a spirit. In this case, it's a little hard to handle her. Who could there be to explain who she is or what she does?

――

永琳かなあ(笑)。

It could be Eirin (laugh).

Z

永琳に説明させるしかなかった(笑)。まあ月の都は長いこといろいろあって病んでるんです。その片鱗がちょっと見えちゃった。もしかしたらこれから先に、外の世界の病んでる状態を見るかもしれないですけれど。まあ菫子は今の日本の病んでる感じを詰めてますが、あれは外の世界の我々としてはわかりやすいですよね。ラノベとかにありそうな設定というか。

It could only be Eirin (laugh). Well, the Lunar Capital has a long list of troubles; you get a little glimpse of that. Perhaps from now on, you'll be able to see a little more of the problems of the outside world. Well, Sumireko is filled with gripes towards modern-day Japan, but as denizens of the outside world they're easy for us to grasp. It's the kind of thing you might see in a light novel.

――

ラノベ読んで無さそう(笑)。

You don't seem like the type of person to read light novels (laugh).

Z

読んでないけどさ(笑)、昔からのジュブナイルにありそうな内容ということえ。そういう病んでる感じを幻想郷に持ち込んでみたんです。それが今回の作品。

Well, I don't read them (laugh), but it's the type of thing that used to show up in Young Adult fiction. I tried bringing that feeling of discontent into Gensokyo. That's how it is this time around.

――

EXになったら憑き物が落ちたみたいになってますけどね。あー、はいはい、楽しかったです、みたいな。

When you get to the Extra Stage it just seems like she's become a fallen spirit, though. Something like, "Ah, yeah, yeah, it's been fun".

Z

あの後、絶対に何か起きそうだよね。起きる気しかしない。

After that, it definitely feels like something's going to happen. You can't help but think that.

――

終わり方も、「お互い月の民ってムカツクよね」で終わるですが。

Even the ending is kind of like everyone telling each other, "The Lunarians really make me angry, you know?"

Z

そうなんだよね、月の民らしいやつってサグメしかいない。かなりやっかいです。基本的に月の民と幻想郷は敵対していますよ、ずっと。幻想郷というよりも地上とかな。どちらかというと、月の民側から一方的に敵対しているんです。「あいつらとは絶対会いたくない」「あいつら穢れてるよね、エンガチョ」みたいな。そりゃ、ずっと一方的にそういう扱いされたら嫌いにもなりますよ。

That's right, the only person that is actually a Lunarian is Sagume. It's very troublesome. Fundamentally, the Lunarians and Gensokyo have always been hostile. Well, it's not so much Gensokyo as all of the surface. Although if I had to say it, then it's really the Lunarians being one-sidedly hostile. Like "I totally don't want to meet them" or "Those people have cooties, gross". Of course, if you're one-sidedly treated like that, you'd end up hating them in return.

――

そんな関係だから、石とか酒とか持ち帰ったら「良くやった」ってなる。

Thanks to that relationship, if you bring back a stone or alcohol, you're told "good job".

Z

嫌いだから乗り込んでつぶそうなんて、誰も考えていないんです。お互い嫌っているなら隔離しておけばいい。誰も戦って得をするとは思ってないんです。もし月の都が戦わないで遷都するなら、気づかないうちに幻想郷の住人が全員消えてるね。

Nobody ever thought that they wanted to march over and beat them up, just because they hated them. If they mutually hate each other, it's better to just stay separated. No one thinks about gaining any advantage from fighting. If the Lunar Capital had tried to relocate without fighting, then Gensokyo's inhabitants would have disappeared before they realized.

――

怖すぎる。その時は、また夜が止まっちゃう流れですよ。

That's way too frightening. At that rate, the flow of things would have led to the night being stopped again.

Z

それは一つのゲームになっちゃうね。まあ今回のゲームはそこを解決する流れではあったんだけど、一応解決策はできたことになっているし。

That would become another game in itself, wouldn't it. Well, in this game the flow of things led to the resolution of the problem, but it was more that the solution strategy worked for the time being.

――

でも、攻めてきた敵を守る流れになっちゃってるじゃないですか。

However, isn't it more like the flow of things led to defending against the invading enemies?

Z

あの流れを、シューティングゲームの6ステージだけでやるのは、正直しんどい(笑)。説明しきれないよね。途中でどんでん返しがあるなら、もうちょっと長い方が良かったなあ。

It's a little bothersome to show that flow of things in only six stages of a shooting game (laugh). I wouldn't be able to explain everything. If there was a plot twist in the middle, it would be better to have something longer.

ヘカーティア・ラピスラズリ

Hecatia Lapislazuli

Z

変なTシャツヤロー」もかなり考えたんですけどね。ヘカーティアはドット絵を見ると、攻撃のたびに髪の毛の色が変化しているんです。頭に惑星をぽいぽい投げて変わるの。あれ、たぶんですけれど髪の色ごとに全部性格も違うんです。

It took a while to come up with this "freaky T-shirt weirdo" as well. If you look at Hecatia's sprite, her hair color changes during battle. She throws the planet on her head and changes it. Hm, this is just a possibility, but her personality might change alongside her hair color.

――

赤髪以外ではしゃべってないからわかりませんけど……。神奈子以来ですね、女神と戦うって。

Although she's never spoken without her red hair, so we wouldn't know... It's the first time we've fought a goddess since Kanako, isn't it.

Z

反則的な敵なので、勝負する段階に至っていない。お遊びなんです。幻想郷とか月の都とかいうレベルを完全に超えている。結局やれなかったけど、僕の中では髪の毛の色が変わるのと同時に、Tシャツも変化しているという設定です(笑)。

Since she's an enemy that doesn't play by the rules, you can't even call it a proper match. It's just playing around. She's completely past the level of anyone in Gensokyo or the Lunar Capital. Though I ended up not doing it, I personally wanted to make it so that whenever she changed her hair color, her T-shirt would change too (laugh).

――

どんなTシャツになっているのやら……。

I wonder what kind of T-shirts they would be...

Z

キャラクターデザインでは今回本当に悩みました。だいたいの僕の行動は何かのアンチテーゼなんですが、デザインについてもそうなんです。よくあるソーシャルゲームとかだと、キャラクターがパワーアップすればするほど、要素が盛られてゴテゴテしていくじゃないですか。せっかくいろいろな要素があるのに、全然その要素が活かされないんだよね。それが嫌でね。だからどうしても「シンプルだけど変な格好をしている」方向にしたかった。両手で惑星を持っているのと、頭に惑星が乗ってるところは決まってた。だから、他はシンプルにするしかないんだけど、シンプルにした部分が目立っちゃって、あのTシャツになっちゃったんだよね。本当は「I はーと Hell」っていう案もあったんだけど、これはやりすぎだなと思って、さすがにやめました。その名残で、Tシャツが黒いんです。

I really worried a lot over the character design this time. I think my actions are usually an antithesis to someone else, and that goes for my design process, too. If it was some other well-known social game, then the more powerful a character is, the more aspects they'd have, and it would be really over the top, wouldn't it? And even though they have so many aspects to them, you wouldn't be able to make good use of all of them. And I didn't want that. So no matter what, I wanted to go in the direction of "a simple but a little weird appearance". I had decided to have her carrying planets in both hands and having one on her head. So the rest of her had to be simple, but the simple parts kept standing out, so it ended up becoming that T-shirt. I actually had "I Heart Hell" as an idea, but I thought that was way too much, so I decided against it. The T-shirt being black is a leftover from that.

――

なるほど(笑)。でも純狐にはそんな遊びの要素は全然ないじゃないですか。

I see (laugh). But Junko doesn't have that playful aspect, does she?

Z

純狐はヘカーティアに対するキャラクターだから。中華風で、単純に強そう。それだけ。深刻で難しいストーリーのゲームを、面白おかしくしないと遊んでる側がツラいんです。深刻な話、深刻な曲、深刻な顔。そういうのが嫌で、表情も、はっちゃけちゃった。東方のメインはストーリーじゃないから、その意思がデザイン部分に出ているよね。

That's because Junko is a character to be contrasted with Hecatia. She has more of a Chinese feel, and she seems strong in a simple way. That's it. For a game with a serious and difficult story, if I didn't make it be a little comical, then it would be hard for the players. A serious story, serious music, serious expressions. Since I didn't want that, I did as I pleased with the expressions. The main aspect of Touhou is not its story, and that intention shows in its design.

――

「異界」ってなんですか?

What are these "Otherworlds"?

Z

いろいろあるよね。幻想郷も「異界」のイメージです。要は、我々が認識していない世界をひっくるめて「異界」と言っているので。月と地球「以外」ですね。

There are many of them. Even Gensokyo has the image of an "Otherworld". In short, all the worlds that we don't recognize can be lumped together as "Otherworlds". The "Otherworlds (ikai)" are anything "outside (igai)" the Moon and the Earth.

――

ギャグか! ヘカーティアの存在は嫦娥と純狐との話からさらに横滑りというか、世界観が広がっていますよね。

So it's a pun! Hecatia's existence is a little ways off from Chang'e and Junko's story, so it feels like the world-view has expanded.

Z

キャラクターの意外性を求めたら、いろいろと一周どころか何週かしちゃって、わけわかんないことになっちゃった。僕の悪い癖です。

If you put all the unpredictable parts of the characters together, it kind of comes full circle, or even makes multiple circles, and becomes something that doesn't make a whole lot of sense. It's a bad habit of mine.

――

なんかでもいい人? ですよね。サバサバしてて。

She's kind of a character that's fine with anything, isn't she? And very candid.

Z

あそこはお話的に、地獄のキャラを出したかったんです。地底とは違う地獄。鬼とは違いますけど、普通に地獄の女神です。偉さで言ったら映姫よりも断然偉いですよ。映姫は裁判官ですが、あれは鬼の組織なんです。でも、地獄は別に鬼だけで成り立っているわけではないので。地獄に関しては、まだ見えてないことが多いんです。実際、やろうとしたら作りやすそうですけどね。世界はいくらでも作れますから。その辺の謎の部分が、ヘカーティアの「異界」なんです。

As for that, I had wanted to bring a character from Hell into the story. A Hell different from the one underground. Though she's different from oni, she's just a normal goddess of Hell. In terms of status she's absolutely higher than Eiki. Eiki's a judge, but she's a part of a society of oni. However, Hell isn't limited to just oni. There are plenty of things we haven't seen yet in regards to Hell. And it would be easy to make new worlds if they wanted to. An infinite number of worlds can be made. All those mysterious aspects can be considered Hecatia's "Otherworlds".

――

「異界」の範囲、広くないですか?

Doesn't that make the scope of these "Otherworlds" extremely large?

Z

地球に比べたら、そんなに広くないんじゃないかな。仙人とかだって簡単に作れるやつですよ、異界(※仙界のこと)。

When compared to the Earth, I don't think it's that large. Even hermits can make these Otherworlds easily (* referring to Senkai).

そして次回作へ?

The Next Game?

――

今回、これから先へつながる要素が多かった印象ですが。

There seemed to be a lot of groundwork for future stories this time around.

Z

まあ広がりはあるよね。そんな気はします。同じ場所を掘る時は、広がらないで深くなるんですが、必要性はそんなにないんですよ。そういうことをしないとストーリー的に、東方的に面白くなる、というわけではないと思っています。今回は強いて言えば、『永夜抄』や『儚月抄』で広げた部分を掘った感じかな。最近はそういうのが多いかもね。昔広げた細かい部分を掘ってる。

Well, I think the scope has expanded. I feel like, when you keep returning to one spot, things become deeper instead of broader, but that's not always the best option. I don't think that sort of thing is absolutely necessary for an interesting Touhou story. Speaking of this time alone, I feel like I dug up and expanded on a few parts of Imperishable Night and Bougetsushou. Maybe there's been a lot of that recently - returning to a small portion of something from long ago and expanding it.

――

いきなりギリシャの女神が出たじゃないですか。

Like a Greek goddess suddenly showing up?

Z

ギリシャは経済的に幻想入りするかもね。

I guess Greece's economy entered the realm of fantasy.

――

こら(笑)。次回作にも期待ということで。

Hey (laughs). What is to be expected in your next work?

Z

どうだろう。今は私生活が楽しいから、なかなかゲームが作れるかどうかわかんないよ? まあ今回が一番大変だったとは思うけど、次回作を作っているときには、兄弟がいるかもしれないしね?

I wonder. Because I'm having such a fun personal life right now, I don't know whether or not I can make games. Oh well, I think this time was the most difficult. When I'm making the next game, there may be brothers?

――

日本のルナシューター人口が増えるんです?

Will Japan's population of lunatic clearers increase?

Z

アスリートに育てたいよね。お父さんがあんなんだからさ。……ならないよねぇ(笑)。

I want to raise athletes. Because I'm a father. ...that probably won't happen (laughs).

  1. As opposed to the native gods represented by the Moriya