Short description: 1998 video game soundtrack

"Bad Apple!!"

Cover art of Lotus Land Story

Song by ZUN
Released| 14 August 1998 (14 August 1998)
Genre| Electronic, chiptune
Length| Script error: No such module "hms".
Label| ZUN Soft
Composer(s)| ZUN

"Bad Apple!!" is the sixth track in the soundtrack of the 1998 bullet hell 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]

It is notable for leading to a much later remix by Masayoshi Minoshima (jp) and singer Nomico and, following the remix, a subsequent accompanying black-and-white shadow puppet-video – commonly called Shadow-art. The video became a minor 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 as a graphical test.

Since then, the song's remix has been licensed to various other video game companies who picked up a Touhou licence, as it has been guest featured in many Rhythm games such as Groove Coaster, Muse Dash and even officially licensed spin-offs such as Touhou Spell Bubble as the game's tutorial track and free play song.

## Contents

* 1 Pop song
* 1.1 Music video
* 2 Use as a graphical and audio test
* 3 References

## Pop song

"Bad Apple!!"

Song by Alstroemeria Records featuring nomico
Released| 20 May 2007 (20 May 2007) (Reitaisai 4)
Length| Script error: No such module "hms".
Songwriter(s)| Alstroemeria, ZUN
Producer(s)| Masayoshi Minoshima (jp)

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 artist group Alstroemeria Records, led by Masayoshi Minoshima (jp).[2] It shared little similarity with the original soundtrack, borrowing only a little of melody samples, but nonetheless it was notable as being the only vocal song in the album, and for its lyrics dealing with depression and apathy.[3]

### Music video

In August 2008, a user in Nico Nico Douga uploaded a video of a crude storyboard based on the remixed music, asking for anyone to animate it.[4] Several animation videos started appearing, with relatively few successes.[5][6][3]

Between October 2008 and October 2009, a collaborative group led by Anira (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.[7][2] It quickly grew in popularity as a minor internet meme – as of November 2021, the original Nico Nico upload had been viewed more than 29 million times[8][4] and a YouTube reupload more than 56 million.[9] The video itself shows many of the Windows-era Touhou Project characters up to Mountain of Faith as they transition between one another.[3]

In 2017, the Alstroemeria Records group released a 10th Anniversary Bad Apple!! album consisting entirely of "Bad Apple" remixes.[10]

## Use 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 and demoscene competitions. In this way, the video became a graphical equivalent to "Hello, World!" programs.[11]

* In June 2014, the "8088 Domination" demo included a section rendering the "Bad Apple" shadow video on an 1981-era IBM 5150 at 640×200 resolution and 30 frames per second.[12][13]
* In June 2014, about two minutes of "Bad Apple" have been ported to the Commodore 64 as 2000 frames at 12 frames per second on a single side diskette.[14]
* By 2015, "Bad Apple" had been ported to the 1982–Vectrex console;[15][16] along with ports to the 1977–Atari 2600, 1985–Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), 1988–Sega Genesis, and Texas Instruments TI-84 Plus series graphing calculators.[15]
* In 2017 fenarinarsa released an Atari STE demo rendering the video at 320×200 resolution at 30fps with 50 kHz audio.[17][18]
* Also in 2019, an Arduino Mega was programmed to render the video (without sound) at 128×176 resolution and 60 frames per second.[19]
* In 2020, an Amiga AGA demo was released at the NOVA2020 demoparty.[20]

## References

1. ↑ "東方幻想郷" (in ja). https://w.atwiki.jp/tohomusicdb/pages/155.html. "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. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Bad Apple!!". https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/bad-apple.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Bad Apple Explained: History and Analysis. Megapig9001. 20 July 2020. Archived from the original on 31 July 2021. Retrieved 4 August 2021 - via YouTube.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "【Uploader want to watch】Bad Apple!! PV【Please someone picturize it】". 8 June 2008. https://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/nm3601701.
5. ↑ "【東方】Bad Apple!! PV を描いてみた。ver.1.1【線画だけ】" (in ja). 21 September 2008. https://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm4693242.
6. ↑ yange (8 November 2008). "【東方】Bad Apple!! ~ver.short~ PV【完成版】" (in ja). https://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm5178867.
7. ↑ あにら (27 October 2009). "【Touhou Project】"Bad Apple!! feat. nomico" – Silhouette PV" (in ja). https://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm8628149.
8. ↑ "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. https://originalnews.nico/132086. "As of the time of writing [2018], it has been viewed more than 26 million times."
9. ↑ "【東方】Bad Apple!! ＰＶ【影絵】". 27 October 2009. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtutLA63Cp8.
10. ↑ "10th Anniversary Bad Apple!!". https://en.touhouwiki.net/wiki/10th_Anniversary_Bad_Apple!!. "Released: 2017-05-07 (Reitaisai 14); Tracks: 11"
11. ↑ Dell, Peter (2018). "Bad Apple HD". https://www.wudsn.com/index.php/productions-atari800/demos/badapplehd. "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."
12. ↑ Pardo, Lisandro (23 June 2014). "8088 Domination: Vídeo full motion en una IBM PC" (in es). Neoteo. https://www.neoteo.com/8088-domination-video-full-motion-en-una-ibm-pc/. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
13. ↑ Benchoff, Brian (21 June 2014). "(Better) Full Motion Video on the First PC". https://hackaday.com/2014/06/21/better-full-motion-video-on-the-first-pc/. "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."
14. ↑ "Bad Apple 64 – A mighty impressive C64 demo!". 30 June 2014. http://www.indieretronews.com/2014/06/bad-apple-64-mighty-impressive-c64-demo.html. "over 2000 frames packed to a single disk, with each frame packed to around 70 bytes and running at 12fps streaming fully from disk"
15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Williams, Carl (16 July 2015). "Bad Apple Ported to the Vectrex, Something that Should Technically not be Possible". Retro Gaming Magazine. http://retrogamingmagazine.com/2015/07/16/bad-apple-ported-to-the-vectrex-something-that-should-technically-not-be-possible/. 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".
16. ↑ Fabio, Theodora (24 April 2015). "Extreme Vectrex Multicart Plays Bad Apple". https://hackaday.com/2015/04/24/extreme-vectrex-multicart-plays-bad-apple/. "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,"
17. ↑ Gray, Richard. "Bad Apple!!" (in en). https://demozoo.org/productions/180988/.
18. ↑ Gray, Richard. "Bad Apple!! by Fenarinarsa" (in en). https://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=72741.
19. ↑ Day, Lewin (8 January 2019). "Bad Apple!! Via The Arduino Mega". https://hackaday.com/2019/01/08/bad-apple-via-the-arduino-mega/.
20. ↑ "You Mad, Apple? Demozoo.org". 5 June 2020. https://demozoo.org/productions/279423/.

* v
* t
* e

Touhou Project by Team Shanghai Alice

Main
series|

| PC-98|

* Highly Responsive to Prayers
* Story of Eastern Wonderland
* Phantasmagoria of Dim. Dream
* Lotus Land Story
* Mystic Square

|

Windows|

* Embodiment of Scarlet Devil
* Perfect Cherry Blossom
* Imperishable Night
* Phantasmagoria of Flower View
* Mountain of Faith
* Subterranean Animism
* Undefined Fantastic Object
* Ten Desires
* Double Dealing Character
* Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom
* Hidden Star in Four Seasons
* Wily Beast and Weakest Creature

Official
spinoffs|

| Fighting|

* Immaterial and Missing Power
* Scarlet Weather Rhapsody
* Touhou Hisoutensoku
* Hopeless Masquerade
* Urban Legend in Limbo
* Antinomy of Common Flowers
* Touhou Gouyoku Ibun

|

Shoot 'em up|

* Shoot the Bullet
* Double Spoiler
* Fairy Wars
* Impossible Spell Card
* Violet Detector

Related|

* Bad Apple!!
* List of characters
* Rensenware
* Team Shanghai Alice
* Twilight Frontier

* v
* t
* e

Standard test items

* Pangram
* Reference implementation
* Sanity check
* Standard test image

Artificial intelligence|

* Chinese room
* Turing test

Television (test card)|

* SMPTE color bars
* Indian-head test pattern
* Test Card F
* Philips PM5544

Computer languages|

* "Hello, World!" program
* Quine
* Trabb Pardo–Knuth algorithm
* Man or boy test
* Just another Perl hacker

Data compression|

* Calgary corpus
* Canterbury corpus

3D computer graphics|

* Cornell box
* Stanford bunny
* Stanford dragon
* Utah teapot

Machine learning|

* ImageNet
* MNIST database
* List

Typography|

* Hamburgevons
* Lorem ipsum
* The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog

Other|

* EICAR test file
* GTUBE
* Harvard sentences
* Lenna
* "The North Wind and the Sun"
* "Tom's Diner"
* SMPTE universal leader
* EURion constellation
* Shakedown

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