Team Shanghai Alice

Team Shanghai Alice, formerly known as ZUN Soft, is a Japanese dōjin game developer. Since 1995, the sole member of the group, Jun'ya "ZUN" Ōta, has independently developed and self-published the Touhou Project, a bullet hell shoot 'em up series, as well as collaborated with other circles to produce related print works and music albums.

Name

"ZUN Soft" was originally created as a generic developer name for each Touhou Project game. After Touhou's PC-98 era, ZUN changed the name of the team to "Shanghai Alice". According to ZUN, this name was chosen to fit the overall theme of the Touhou Project. "Shanghai", to him, is a multicultural city where Western and Oriental styles meet, and "Alice" evokes a feminine or gothic lolita feeling. "Fantasy Ensemble" stems from ZUN's unsuccessful attempt to register the group as a music circle for Comiket 61 in December 2001; he decided to keep the name while applying as a game circle for Comiket 62, where he would release Embodiment of Scarlet Devil.

Productions

Games

As ZUN Soft:

Title	Genre	System	Release date	Developer	Ref
Highly Responsive to Prayers	Block breaker	PC-98		ZUN Soft Amusement Makers
Story of Eastern Wonderland	Shoot 'em up	PC-98		ZUN Soft Amusement Makers
Phantasmagoria of Dim. Dream	Shoot 'em up	PC-98		ZUN Soft Amusement Makers
Lotus Land Story	Shoot 'em up	PC-98		ZUN Soft Amusement Makers
Mystic Square	Shoot 'em up	PC-98		ZUN Soft Amusement Makers

As Team Shanghai Alice:

Title	Genre	System	Release date	Developer	Ref
Embodiment of Scarlet Devil	Shoot 'em up	Microsoft Windows		Team Shanghai Alice
Perfect Cherry Blossom	Shoot 'em up	Microsoft Windows		Team Shanghai Alice
Imperishable Night	Shoot 'em up	Microsoft Windows		Team Shanghai Alice
Immaterial and Missing Power	Fighting	Microsoft Windows		Team Shanghai Alice Twilight Frontier
Phantasmagoria of Flower View	Shoot 'em up	Microsoft Windows		Team Shanghai Alice
Shoot the Bullet	Shoot 'em up	Microsoft Windows		Team Shanghai Alice
Mountain of Faith	Shoot 'em up	Microsoft Windows		Team Shanghai Alice
Scarlet Weather Rhapsody	Fighting	Microsoft Windows		Team Shanghai Alice Twilight Frontier
Subterranean Animism	Shoot 'em up	Microsoft Windows		Team Shanghai Alice
Undefined Fantastic Object	Shoot 'em up	Microsoft Windows		Team Shanghai Alice
Touhou Hisoutensoku	Fighting	Microsoft Windows		Team Shanghai Alice Twilight Frontier
Double Spoiler	Shoot 'em up	Microsoft Windows		Team Shanghai Alice
Fairy Wars	Shoot 'em up	Microsoft Windows		Team Shanghai Alice
Ten Desires	Shoot 'em up	Microsoft Windows		Team Shanghai Alice
Hopeless Masquerade	Fighting	Microsoft Windows		Team Shanghai Alice Twilight Frontier
Double Dealing Character	Shoot 'em up	Microsoft Windows		Team Shanghai Alice
Impossible Spell Card	Shoot 'em up	Microsoft Windows		Team Shanghai Alice
Urban Legend in Limbo	Fighting	Microsoft Windows		Team Shanghai Alice Twilight Frontier
Urban Legend in Limbo	Fighting	PlayStation 4	:	Team Shanghai Alice Twilight Frontier
Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom	Shoot 'em up	Microsoft Windows		Team Shanghai Alice
Hidden Star in Four Seasons	Shoot 'em up	Microsoft Windows		Team Shanghai Alice
Antinomy of Common Flowers	Fighting	Microsoft Windows		Team Shanghai Alice Twilight Frontier
Antinomy of Common Flowers	Fighting	PlayStation 4		Team Shanghai Alice Twilight Frontier
Antinomy of Common Flowers	Fighting	Nintendo Switch		Team Shanghai Alice Twilight Frontier
Violet Detector	Shoot 'em up	Microsoft Windows		Team Shanghai Alice
Wily Beast and Weakest Creature	Shoot 'em up	Microsoft Windows		Team Shanghai Alice
Sunken Fossil World	Bullet hell and platformer	Microsoft Windows		Team Shanghai Alice Twilight Frontier
Unconnected Marketeers	Shoot 'em up	Microsoft Windows		Team Shanghai Alice
100th Black Market	Shoot 'em up	Microsoft Windows		Team Shanghai Alice
Unfinished Dream of All Living Ghost	Shoot 'em up	Microsoft Windows	August 13, 2023	Team Shanghai Alice
Fossilized Wonders	Shoot 'em up	Microsoft Windows	August 17, 2025	Team Shanghai Alice

Music CDs

ZUN's Music Collection

Dolls in Pseudo Paradise
Ghostly Field Club
Changeability of Strange Dream
Retrospective 53 minutes
Magical Astronomy
Unknown Flower, Mesmerizing Journey
Trojan Green Asteroid
Neo-traditionalism of Japan
Dr. Latency's Freak Report
Dateless Bar "Old Adam"
Rainbow-Colored Septentrion
Taboo Japan Disentanglement

Akyu's Untouched Score

Akyu's Untouched Score vol.1
Akyu's Untouched Score vol.2
Akyu's Untouched Score vol.3
Akyu's Untouched Score vol.4
Akyu's Untouched Score vol.5

Collaborations with Twilight Frontier

Immaterial and Missing Power OST
Scarlet Weather Rhapsody OST
Touhou Hisoutensoku OST
Hopeless Masquerade OST
Urban Legend in Limbo OST
Urban Legend in Limbo OST 2
''Antimony of Common Flowers OST''
Member

Team Shanghai Alice consists of a single member, ZUN, who serves as the programmer, writer, artist, and composer for the group's productions. His real name is Jun'ya Ōta; he picked the pseudonym due to its similarity to his given name. He was born on March 18, 1977, in Hakuba, Nagano, and is well known among fans for his fondness of beer and his penchant for wearing flat caps. He has sometimes playfully referred to himself as the "Hakurei Kannushi". In 2012, ZUN revealed that he had recently married a programmer, with whom he has 2 children.
His interest in creating music began in elementary school, when his parents gifted him an Electone as a birthday present. In junior high school, he played the trumpet in a brass band and began composing his own music. In 1995, he began developing a series of bullet hell video games under the name "ZUN Soft" while studying mathematics at Tokyo Denki University. The games, which would become the first five entries in the Touhou Project series, were developed for NEC PC-9800 personal computers and published by Amusement Makers, a student video game development club:

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

After graduating in 1999, ZUN was hired by as a video game programmer by Taito. He is credited in the production of several titles:

'
Magic Pengel
Bujingai
Graffiti Kingdom
Exit

During this period, he contributed soundtracks to several games developed by his junior classmates in Amusement Makers, notably the Seihou Project, a series of bullet hell games for Microsoft Windows by Shunsatsu sare do?. The series was intended as a counterpart to the Touhou Project, featuring highly similar gameplay as well as cameo appearances by Reimu Hakurei, Marisa Kirisame, and Yuuka Kazami:

Shuusou Gyoku - part of the Seihou Project

Torte Le Magic - a bullet hell game by Pietoro based on the manga '
Kioh Gyoku - part of the Seihou Project
ZUN's Strange Works - a collection of six MIDI tracks for the Roland SC-88 Pro, including unused music from Shuusou Gyoku

In 2007, he left his job at Taito to focus on the development of the Touhou Project. Later that year, ZUN provided programming for Uwabami Breakers, a beer-themed bullet hell game published by "The Drinking Party". The game uses the same engine as Mountain of Faith and shares many similar gameplay features, including a "Beer Gauge" that increases shot power based on damage dealt.
In addition to the Touhou Project games, ZUN has provided writing for several official Touhou Project print works, produced in collaboration with various illustrators and publishers:

Touhou Project#Print media
Touhou Project#Print media, which consists of:
*Eastern and Little Nature Deity
*Strange and Bright Nature Deity
*Oriental Sacred Place
*Visionary Fairies in Shrine
Touhou Project#Print media
Touhou Project#Print media
Touhou Project#Print media
Touhou Project#Print media, which consists of:
*Silent Sinner in Blue
*Cage in Lunatic Runagate
*Inaba of the Moon and Inaba of the Earth
Touhou Project#Print media
Touhou Project#Print media
Touhou Project#Print media
Touhou Project#Print media
Touhou Project#Print media
Touhou Project#Print media
Touhou Project#Print media
Touhou Project#Print media
Touhou Project#Print media

The releases of Bohemian Archive in Japanese Red, Perfect Memento in Strict Sense, Strange Creators of Outer World Volume 2, and The Grimoire of Marisa were accompanied by bonus CDs containing arrangements and compositions by ZUN. Additional CDs were included with several tankōbon releases of official manga: Eastern and Little Nature Deity, Strange and Bright Nature Deity, Silent Sinner in Blue, Oriental Sacred Place, and Forbidden Scrollery.
Rarely, ZUN has collaborated in the production of unofficial Touhou works, creating tracks for two fangames and four dōjin albums:

Cradle - album by sound sepher
Seasonal Dream Vision - compilation album by Comic Toranoana, included with Seasonal Dream Vision fanbook
Magus in Mystic Geometries - shoot 'em up game by D.N.A.Softwares
Touhou Unreal Mahjong - mahjong game by D.N.A.Softwares
Touhou Unreal Mahjong OST - album by Disaster and D.N.A.Softwares
8BIT MUSIC POWER FINAL - album by Columbus Circle

Since December 2009, ZUN has written the monthly column "Which Came First, Hakurei Kannushi's Games or Beer?", in which he discusses his favorite locations for food and beer, his daily life, game development, and topics related to the Touhou Project''. The columns are often accompanied by photos and/or guest artist illustrations; it was serialized in Comptiq magazine until July 2013, and in Comp Ace since September 2013.

Team Shanghai Alice

Name

Productions

Games

Music CDs

Member