Record of the Phantom Ensemble Concert

The Phantom Ensemble concert was held at the Shanghai Commercial Building, and its brass section was strikingly present throughout. Several performers and many audience members came in Touhou cosplay: Reimu, Youmu, Sakuya, Marisa—and a Yukari Yakumo conducting from the podium, which was a delight. In the middle of one piece, the violin-Reimu leaped out to conduct the audience’s clapping, turning the concert hall into something like a festival.

What moved me most was the energy flowing between performers and audience. Everyone there, in some way, loves Gensokyo: that impossible place, always between the human world and fantasy, full of spell cards and music and danmaku. To share that love in the same room—through a Touhou-themed orchestra—is itself a kind of ceremony. The theme of the Phantom Ensemble is, naturally, emotion.

The day before, I had attended the Meichi Fantasy Expo, where I picked up some doujin CDs. The musical creators at the booths were genuinely charming—you could feel their delight in the work. The traditional instrument section of the expo was a quiet gem, easily overlooked amid all the bustle.

I had to leave before the encore due to my train, which I regretted—I’d heard the encores are often the best part. Those who stayed behind apparently did a spontaneous impromptu ensemble of their own in the lobby. That, too, sounds like a Gensokyo thing to do.