Along with Roman, Marchen really got me into Sound Horizon. MeruCon was the first Sound Horizon live I watched from start to finish and I think it did a great job of hooking me in. For the longest time, it was my second favorite Horizon, even...

Looking back on it, I've come to appreciate some other releases more, but there's still plenty of things to discuss about the 7th Story. For one, it's the most Freudian release with references to ego, id, and the idea of unconscious desires and impulses really fit amazingly well in Sound Horizon. I strongly feel as though even more can be discussed about it, as I found out just a few days ago that Freud said some very interesting things about fairy tales himself. But overall, I'm pretty glad that Marchen is going to take a bit of a break from being in the spotlight for so many years with the release of Bastet. Hopefully we can all take a look at it in the future as a release in the past instead of "the newest Horizon"--which it has been to me for all my time as a SH fan.

Just a fantastic release from a musical standpoint. The instrumentation was absolutely lovely throughout, and the "prankster melody" that plays through all the revenge sequences just...my god, it fits them so well in every song. The overarching story is really emotional and really the ONLY release I feel that has a beautifully happy ending. MeruCon had some really amazing acting performances by Joelle as Elisabeth and Miki as Therese and almost every other villain in the Horizon. Joelle and Miki were stars in every sense of the word and I really hope they return in future Sound Horizon works.

Marchen always struck me as an easy release to introduce people to, because of its style of storytelling and how recognizable the fairy tales are. I've used it to bring in many of my friends, and I'm even going to show the concert to my family tonight. It's not as difficult to understand as many other Horizons, all while having a lot of deeper meanings if you really want to get into it and compare it to past releases. I think these are all very great things, and it's a good album to draw in new blood for the fandom.

It's sort of amazing how popular this album is. Everything there is to say has probably been said, and yet I still find it amazingly easy to continue enjoying to discuss the 7th horizon. I wonder if there will still be the same love given to this horizon after the 9th comes, though. Regardless of what happened with Roman and Moira, Märchen has always been a sort of exception. I'm not the only one who was around when it came out, or even before, but it was a mysterious sort of release, hyped to the sky and back by the exceptional quality found in IdoIdo. In the end, I'm just really glad that Jimang came back after many worries that he wouldn't be involved. Sort of hoping he's in the 9th as well, but that's a story for another day.