Bad Apple!!

Last updated

"Bad Apple!!"
Song by ZUN
Released14 August 1998 (1998-08-14)
Genre
Length1:22
Label ZUN Soft
Composer(s) ZUN

"Bad Apple!!" is the sixth track in the soundtrack of the 1998 shoot 'em up video game Lotus Land Story , the fourth entry in the Touhou Project series created by Team Shanghai Alice. The instrumental theme was originally designed to be played during the third stage of the game, as chiptune on the Japanese NEC PC-9800 computer platform, at 161 beats per minute using a frequency modulation synthesis chip. [1] The Lotus Land Story version that has more than 1.4 million views on YouTube [2] is a remake of the song from an official Touhou album named Akyu's Untouched Score Volume 1 and was released on 21 May 2006.

Contents

It is notable for leading to a much later cover by Alstroemeria Records and a subsequent accompanying black-and-white shadow puppet-video – commonly called Shadow-art. The video became a Japanese internet meme in the late 2000s, correlating with the peak of Touhou's popularity, and experienced a resurgence in the mid-2010s when the black-and-white video was ported to esoteric media such as obsolete hardware, displays created within sandbox video games (e.g. Minecraft ), and other unusual media (such as a mechanical television) [3] as a graphical test. As of January 2025, it has achieved more than 100 million views on YouTube. [4]

Pop song

"Bad Apple!! feat.nomico"
Lovelight Alstroemeria Records.jpg
Album cover for Lovelight, which contains "Bad Apple!!", depicting Reisen Udongein Inaba.
Song by Alstroemeria Records featuring nomico
Released20 May 2007 (2007-05-20) (Reitaisai 4)
Genre
Length
  • 5:17
  • 3:39 (music video edit)
Composer(s) ZUN
Lyricist(s) Haruka
Producer(s) Masayoshi Minoshima
Music video
"Bad Apple!! feat.nomico" on YouTube

On 20 May 2007, the day of the 4th Reitaisai convention, a longer cover version featuring the Japanese singer nomico was released on the album Lovelight by the doujin circle Alstroemeria Records, led by Masayoshi Minoshima. [5] [6] According to YouTuber Megapig9001, it shared little similarity with the original soundtrack, borrowing few melody samples, and was notable as being the only vocal song in the album, and for its lyrics dealing with depression and apathy. [7]

From May 2017 to August 2018, Alstroemeria Records released a series of 10th Anniversary Bad Apple!! albums consisting entirely of remixes and covers of their version of "Bad Apple!!". [8] [9] [10]

Music video

On June 8, 2008, a user from Nico Nico Douga uploaded a video of a crude storyboard based on Alstroemeria Records' version, asking for anyone to animate it. [11] Several animation videos started appearing, with relatively few successes. [12] [13] [7]

Between October 2008 and October 2009, a collaborative group led by Anira (Japanese : あにら) created a shadow-art (black and white) animation video based on the storyboard, which was released on Nico Nico on 26 October 2009. [14] [15] It quickly grew in popularity as an internet meme – as of September 2018, the original Nico Nico upload had been viewed more than 26 million times [16] [11] and a YouTube reupload that recently (as of January 2025) hit 100 million views. [17] Per YouTuber Megapig9001, the video itself shows many of the Windows-era Touhou Project characters up to Scarlet Weather Rhapsody as they transition between one another. [7]

On May 21, 2020, the animation by the group Anira became the official music video and was released by Alstroemeria Records. [18]

Use of video as a graphical and audio test

The song saw a rise in popularity in the mid-2010s, when the shadow-art video was ported to several second-generation video game consoles and graphing calculators – presumed to be incapable of playing back full-motion video – for retrocomputing demoscene competitions. Per programmer Peter Dell, who contributed to one such port, this resulted in the video becoming a graphical equivalent to "Hello, World!" programs. [19]

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References

  1. ↑ "東方幻想郷" [Bad Apple!!]. Toho Music database (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 21 September 2019. Retrieved 21 September 2019. BPM: 160.73 (TimerB：202); 拍子: 4/4拍子; 再生時間: 1:22; 調性: 【0:04～】変ホ短調(E♭m), 【0:58～】ト短調(Gm); 使用楽器: 矩形波、@54、@74、@99、@101、@181、ドラム音
  2. ↑ LLS Stage 3 Theme: Bad Apple!!, 26 August 2011, retrieved 8 November 2022
  3. ↑ "Touhou - Bad Apple! on 18-line Arduino Mechanical TV (30 FPS)". 26 February 2023. Archived from the original on 7 May 2023. Retrieved 8 May 2023– via www.youtube.com.
  4. ↑ 【東方】Bad Apple!! ＰＶ【影絵】, 26 October 2009, archived from the original on 19 January 2018, retrieved 26 May 2024
  5. ↑ "Alstroemeria Records » Blog Archive » ARCD0016,ARCD0018 Release INFO". Alstroemeria Records. 18 May 2007. Archived from the original on 15 October 2007. Retrieved 2 January 2025.
  6. ↑ "Alstroemeria Records » ARCD0018 / Lovelight". Alstroemeria Records. Archived from the original on 15 October 2007. Retrieved 2 January 2025.
  7. 1 2 3 Bad Apple Explained: History and Analysis. Megapig9001. 20 July 2020. Archived from the original on 31 July 2021. Retrieved 4 August 2021– via YouTube.
  8. ↑ "ARCD0056 – 10th Anniversary Bad Apple!!". Alstroemeria Records. Archived from the original on 7 October 2024. Retrieved 5 October 2024.
  9. ↑ "ARCD0060 / Bad Apple!! feat.nomico 10th Anniversary PHASE2". Alstroemeria Records. Retrieved 5 October 2024.
  10. ↑ "ARCD0065 / 10th Anniversary Bad Apple!! feat.nomico PHASE 3". Alstroemeria Records. Archived from the original on 7 October 2024. Retrieved 5 October 2024.
  11. 1 2 "【Uploader want to watch】Bad Apple!! PV【Please someone picturize it】". Nico Nico Douga . 8 June 2008. Archived from the original on 27 August 2008. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  12. ↑ "【東方】Bad Apple!! PV を描いてみた。ver.1.1【線画だけ】". Nico Nico Douga (in Japanese). 21 September 2008. Archived from the original on 1 October 2008.
  13. ↑ yange (8 November 2008). "【東方】Bad Apple!! ~ver.short~ PV【完成版】". Nico Nico Douga (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 28 February 2021. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  14. ↑ Manry, Gia (11 September 2010). "Daily Video: Touhou 'Bad Apple' Video Collection (Updated)". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on 26 January 2021. Retrieved 2 January 2025.
  15. ↑ あにら (27 October 2009). "【Touhou Project】"Bad Apple!! feat. nomico" – Silhouette PV" (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 30 October 2009 – via Niconico.
  16. ↑ "これは便利！ 霊夢・魔理沙etc…『Bad Apple!!』PVに影絵で登場する東方幻想郷メンバーをまとめてみた" (in Japanese). 14 September 2018. Archived from the original on 21 November 2021. Retrieved 21 November 2021. As of the time of writing [2018], it has been viewed more than 26 million times.
  17. ↑ "【東方】Bad Apple!! ＰＶ【影絵】". YouTube . 27 October 2009. Archived from the original on 19 January 2018. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
  18. ↑ "[Alstroemeria Records]Bad Apple!! feat.nomico(Shadow Animation Version)[ACVS.008_Tr.00]". 21 May 2020. Archived from the original on 6 January 2024. Retrieved 6 January 2024– via YouTube.
  19. ↑ Dell, Peter (2018). "Bad Apple HD". WUDSN. Archived from the original on 29 November 2022. Retrieved 21 December 2019. Bad Apple advanced to the modern "Hello World" for the retro computing demoscene. It has been converted to even the most obscure platforms including Atari VCS and Vectrex.
  20. ↑ Pardo, Lisandro (23 June 2014). "8088 Domination: Vídeo full motion en una IBM PC" [8088 Domination: Full motion video on an IBM PC]. Neoteo (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 21 September 2019. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
  21. ↑ Benchoff, Brian (21 June 2014). "(Better) Full Motion Video on the First PC". Hackaday. Archived from the original on 22 December 2019. Retrieved 22 December 2019. display video at 640×200 resolution at 30 frames per second on a 30-year-old computer. … playing the 'Bad Apple' animation on an 8088.
  22. ↑ "Bad Apple 64 – A mighty impressive C64 demo!". 30 June 2014. Archived from the original on 11 November 2020. Retrieved 4 December 2020. over 2000 frames packed to a single disk, with each frame packed to around 70 bytes and running at 12fps streaming fully from disk
  23. 1 2 Williams, Carl (16 July 2015). "Bad Apple Ported to the Vectrex, Something that Should Technically not be Possible". Retro Gaming Magazine. Archived from the original on 8 January 2021. Retrieved 21 September 2019. Bad Apple has also hit the Sega Genesis … Bad Apple hitting the Atari 2600? The Nintendo Entertainment System? Texas Instruments 84+? … Bad Apple has been ported to all of those platforms
  24. ↑ Fabio, Theodora (24 April 2015). "Extreme Vectrex Multicart Plays Bad Apple". Hackaday . Retrieved 19 September 2019. audio was possible by having the Vectrex's 8-bit DA-converter perform double duty both for the video circuit and the audio. … volume must be turned to the max … DAC can only output audio in this scenario when vectors are not being drawn,
  25. ↑ Day, Lewin (8 January 2019). "Bad Apple!! Via The Arduino Mega". Hackaday . Archived from the original on 21 September 2019. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
  26. ↑ Glaze, Virginia (24 July 2023). "r/place recreates iconic Bad Apple music video with jaw-dropping timelapse". Dexerto. Archived from the original on 25 July 2023. Retrieved 14 January 2025.
  27. ↑ Zehrfeld, Maik (27 July 2023). "In r/place 2023 wurde ein komplettes Musikvideo mit Pixeln animiert". Langweiledich (in German). Archived from the original on 27 July 2023.
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