Team Shanghai Alice (上海アリス幻樂団 Shanhai Arisu Gengakudan, meaning "Shanghai Alice Ensemble") is a one-man Japanese dojin game development team specializing in 2D shooter games. The team's only releases thus far have been the Touhou Project games and related merchandise.
Productions
Games
- The Embodiment of Scarlet Devil (東方紅魔郷, 2002)
- Perfect Cherry Blossom (東方妖々夢, 2003)
- Imperishable Night (東方永夜抄, 2004)
- Immaterial and Missing Power (東方萃夢想, 2004) - Collaboration with Twilight Frontier.
- Phantasmagoria of Flower View (東方花映塚, 2005)
- Shoot the Bullet (東方文花帖, 2005)
- Mountain of Faith (東方風神録, 2007)
- Scarlet Weather Rhapsody (東方緋想天, 2008) - Collaboration with Twilight Frontier.
- Subterranean Animism (東方地霊殿, 2008)
- Undefined Fantastic Object (東方星蓮船, 2009)
- Touhou Hisōtensoku (東方非想天則, 2009) - Collaboration with Twilight Frontier.
- Double Spoiler ~ Touhou Bunkachou (ダブルスポイラー ～ 東方文花帖, 2010)
- Fairy Wars (妖精大戦争 ～ 東方三月精, 2010)
Music soundtracks
The soundtracks are mainly composed of ZUN's synthesized music remixed from his games and original tracks. As there are some loose references to the rest of the Touhou Project in the stories in the CD jacket, the CDs are still considered part of the Touhou Project.
- Dolls in Pseudo Paradise (蓬莱人形 Hourai Ningyou, lit. "Hourai Doll") (2002)
- Ghostly Field Club (蓮台野夜行 Rendaino Yakou, lit. "Lotus Pedestal Field Travels in the Night") (2003)
- Changeability of Strange Dream (夢違科学世紀 Yumetagae Kagaku Seiki, lit. "Not Certain Whether a Dream or Reality in a Science Era") (2004)
- Gensōkyoku Bassui (幻想曲抜萃 lit. "Collection of Illusionary Music") (2005) - Collaboration with Twilight Frontier; Immaterial and Missing Power OST
- Akyu's Untouched Score vol.1 (幺樂団の歴史１ Yougakudan no Rekishi `, lit. "History of Yougakudan 1") (2006)
- Retrospective 53 minutes (卯酉東海道 Bouyu Toukaidou, lit. "East-West Tokaido") (2006)
- Magical Astronomy (大空魔術 Oozora Majutsu, lit. "Celestial Wizardry") (2006)
- Akyu's Untouched Score vol.2 (幺樂団の歴史２ Yougakudan no Rekishi 2, lit. "History of Yougakudan 2") (2006)
- Akyu's Untouched Score vol.3 (幺樂団の歴史３ Yougakudan no Rekishi 3, lit. "History of Yougakudan 3") (2006)
- Akyu's Untouched Score vol.4 (幺樂団の歴史４ Yougakudan no Rekishi 4, lit. "History of Yougakudan 4") (2007)
- Akyu's Untouched Score vol.5 (幺樂団の歴史５ Yougakudan no Rekishi 5, lit. "History of Yougakudan 5") (2007)
- Zenjinrui no Tenrakuroku (全人類ノ天楽録 lit. "Celestial Music Record of All Humankind") (2008) - Collaboration with Twilight Frontier; Scarlet Weather Rhapsody OST
- Kakunetsu Zoushin Hisoutensoku (核熱造神ヒソウテンソク lit. "Thermonuclear Deity Hisoutensoku") (2009) - Collaboration with Twilight Frontier; Touhou Hisōtensoku OST
Member
There is only one member of Team Shanghai Alice, who goes by the pseudonym "ZUN" and is the main programmer, scriptwriter, graphic artist, and music composer. His real name is believed to be Junya Ōta (太田 順也 Ōta Junya), as seen in the credits of his early games. He was born in Hakuba, Nagano.[1] Fans respectfully call him "Kannushi" (神主), a name he has sometimes used to refer to himself.
While not using the Team Shanghai Alice name, ZUN has also participated in the making of the following dojin games for Amusement Makers, a game development club in Tokyo Denki University:
- Highly Responsive to Prayers (1996) - Part of Touhou Project
- Story of Eastern Wonderland (1997) - Part of Touhou Project
- Phantasmagoria of Dim.Dream (1997) - Part of Touhou Project
- Lotus Land Story (1998) - Part of Touhou Project
- Mystic Square (1998) - Part of Touhou Project
- Shuusou Gyoku (2000)
- Kioh! Gyoku (2001)
- Torte Magic - A dojin shooter for the manga 10 Carat Torte!
ZUN also worked for Taito Corporation, and had participated in the production of their games such as:
- Greatest Striker (PlayStation 2, 2000)
- Magic Pengel (PlayStation 2, 2002)
- Bujingai (PlayStation 2, 2003)
- Graffiti Kingdom (PlayStation 2, 2004)
- EXIT (PlayStation Portable, 2005)
He also uses the pseudonym "ZUN" instead of Team Shanghai Alice when publishing commercial works:
- Curiosities of Lotus Asia (東方香霖堂)
- Touhou Sangetsusei (東方三月精), which consists of:
- Eastern and Little Nature Deity
- Strange and Bright Nature Deity
- Oriental Sacred Place
- Bohemian Archive in Japanese Red (東方文花帖)
- Perfect Memento in Strict Sense (東方求聞史紀)
- Touhou Bōgetsushō (東方儚月抄), which consists of:
- Silent Sinner in Blue
- Cage in Lunatic Runagate
- Inaba of the Moon and Inaba of the Earth (月のイナバと地上の因幡)
- The Grimoire of Marisa
In 2007, he was in a team named "The Drinking Party" (呑んべぇ会) to make "Uwabami Breakers" (黄昏酒場～Uwabami Breakers～), a shoot'em up game about drinking—one of ZUN's greatest passions. Since November 2009, he runs a column about beer on the manga magazine Comptiq called "Which Came First, Hakurei Kannushi's Games or Beer?" (博麗神主のゲームが先かお酒が先か).
ZUN also collaborated with doujin circles other than Twilight Frontier and participated in some of the games they produced. So far, only two games by D.N.A. Software got him involved:
- Magus in Mystic Geometries (神魔討綺伝 ～ Magus in Mystic Geometries ) (2008)
- Touhou Unreal Mahjong (東方幻想麻雀) (2009)
Name
The name "Team Shanghai Alice" was chosen to fit the overall theme of the Touhou games. "Shanghai", in ZUN's mind, is a multicultural city where the East and the West meet. "Alice" can be a child living in the foreign concessions, but the name Alice also suggests a fairy-tale element. So together, "Shanghai Alice" encompasses the blend of oriental and western aesthetics along with fantasy. As for "Ensemble" (幻樂団, in the team's Japanese name), ZUN originally intended his team to be a musical ensemble so he named his team as such. As a piece of trivia: one of Touhou Project's characters is a magician/puppeteer named Alice, and one of her dolls is called Shanghai.
References
- The Dawn of Touhou (東方の夜明け), ZUN's Meiji University Touhou lecture.
- ↑ Akiba-tsu in Nico Nico Douga 002 (あきば通 inニコニコ動画 002), 2009-02-04.