HRtP Konngara's Theme: Swordsman of a Distant Star 

Konngara: And this, Reimu, is a sword.

when you beat him or her, it should say KONNGARATULATIONS!!!!!!

This theme is a real gem, nothing else quite like it in Touhou.

Headcanonish: Since I have too much spare time, I believe that Konngara was a posssible former enemy of the Hakurei shrine that was eventually killed, most likely by some spike or trap. and went on to rest in hell, and then in the future when she/he had too much spare time, they decided to send Mima to destroy the Hakurei shrine which ended up getting Reimu to investigate the incident, resulting in a climatic battle. Eventually after losing, Konngara would come to teach Meira her ways and send Meira to attempt to attack Reimu, resulting in an ultimate fail. Since Konngara hasn't recieved much of any personality at all, I'd imagine them being Intimidating, patient during battle, yet hotheaded when it comes to people making a fool out of them. Which would be the reason to Meira getting so easily angered by Reimu after growing up with Konngara's hotheaded personality. Of course, this is just a headcanon.

I like to imagine Konngara as a deceased warrior of some description who was sent to Jigoku, otherwise known as hell, due to being a merciless fighter without honor. this also ties into the whole "spike driven through her forehead" thing having been impaled by a bladed weapon of some description through the back of the head so that the blade protrudes like a horn. It helps that she has a formless lower body, which seems to be a common characteristic amongst fictional ghosts.

Can we all agree that konngara has one of the coolest designs AND themes in the whole franchise? Thanks.

Konngara has one of the best portraits in Touhou, in my opinion~

Random head-canons that happen when one spends too much time on youtube and has an overactive imagination: Konngara was one of the four Deva of the Mountain, and fought in Yukari's war with the moon, as one of her generals. However! Konngara and a Lunarian noble ended up falling in love. Konngara the Traitor and the Lunarian noble were both slain for their treachery, but they managed to save their child, Meira, and send her to earth. Hence why Meira looks so much like Konngara and tried to slay Reimu to obtain the power of the Hakurei. She wished to take vengeance upon Yukari and the Lunarians for killing her parents! This has been your "Random head-canons that happen when one spends too much time on youtube and has an overactive imagination". Thank you, and tune in again.

everyone else is making theories so here’s mine. konngara was one of the earlier hakurei shrine maidens, and was friends with kikuri when they were young. but because a shrine maiden was poorly protected, konngara’s mother died at the hands of an oni- leaving her young daughter to fend for herself. kikuri was more gentle and kind than her friend, but konngara insisted on using a sword over the yin-yang orbs and grew more merciless and sadistic when killing youkai. it was only after a fight with her deares friend that made her see the error of her ways- and sweet, defenseless kikuri was the one who was killed by the very same oni that attacked konngara’s mother. sickened at the sight of her dead friend, konngara killed the oni and drove the horn through her head as a way of killing herself: “with this, kikuri and I will at least be together in jigoku.” the two were indeed sent to hell and the maiden kikuri was sealed in a bronze disc as her punishment for not doing a thing to stop the sinner.

INCREDIBLY UNDERRATED THEME AND CHARACTER

**Instantly skips to **1:00**** WAIT, I'M STILL HEARING THE SAME THEME?!??

Theory-Headcanon: What if HRtP is the first and last Touhou game in the timeline, so in HRtP there are 2 rutes Hell and Makai, so I think these 2 could've been 2 different incidents one happening at the beginning of Reimu's career and one being the last. I think the hell route it's the beginning, I think Konngara was in life the last shrine maiden before Reimu, she had an extremely hard and painful life as a shrine maiden and a particularly gruesome death, this made her a vengeful spirit with the mission to destroy the Gensokyo that tormented her all these years, all Gensokyo panicked by such an incident and the absence of a shrine maiden to solve it so Yukari (or who ever was in charge) elected an orphan as a provisional shrine maiden to distract Konngara until they could find someone more capable, but the orphan miraculously bought peace to Konngara's soul and solved the incident and with a miracle Reimu's career started. Shrine maidens are destined to die young and Reimu wasn't an exception and she should've died a long time ago but Reimu always won miracle after miracle, you know it's said that everyone has a protective angel well I think we also have an angel of death that sets the time when we'll die but Reimu defied so many times her death hour so many times that her actual angel of death "Sariel" manifested to take her but Reimu refuses to die one more time destroying her angel of death making herself inmortal, this also transformed her into a yokai (one of the strongest to ever exist), this made herself no longer worthy to be the shrine maiden and thus her story ends

MY HEAD MOVES AS YOU MOVE

In the game we can see, that Konngara is easier than Sariel and Kikuri, that's why some people tend to think of him as not so cool as other characters. But! In the staff roll we can see the picture where Reimu is hurt and frightened while fighting Konngara. The first and last time of actual bloodletting in touhou series (maybe). While other characters in the staff roll depicted more casually. Was ZUN trying to tell us something by this? Also, Reimu used Kuji-in to seal Konngara, while Sariel was beaten up only by orb. The whole battle with Konngara gives a feeling of incompleteness, as if the battle was interrupted suddenly. Maybe sealing with Kuji-in is some kind of cheat? Why would ZUN put a picture of a frightened Reimu in staff-roll if the fight was so short? I think that Konngara was supposed to be much stronger than in the game. Some trivia: japanese wikipedia says, that Kongara-douji symbolizes not just obedience, but religious FANATISM. No wonder that she attacked Reimu and all levels are composed of siddham-script tablets. And i think that horn is actually vajra - Kongara-douji holds it in many depictions.

Far and away the best song produced by PC-98.

Konngara used BRAVER! It's super effective!

I HOPE SHE COMES BACK IN A WINDOWS GAME SO MUCH I LOVE HER AND HER THEME

There was a fancomic that had her as Konngara Douji, right hand to the Wisdom King Fuuso Myon, sent by Hell to spy on the Four Deva but ending up going native, I liked that idea

My favorite stage boss theme and probably my favorite theme off all Touhou series. This piece is so beautiful, I don't know why, but it's sounds like a real last boss fight. It's intense, sweet, dramatic, strong... I can't define this song in words, great job ZUN.

From what I understand Konngara destroyed Reimu's shrine out of "pure sinful jealousy" which is the reason why she's probably in Hell in the first place.

no .... konngara .... you're a swordswoman ....

Ah. The theorized fourth Deva. Or first since she came before the other three...

Touhou 17 will be set in Hell. ̶M̶i̶m̶a̶ Konngara for Touhou 17 pls ZUN

Yuugi Hoshiguma v0.5

This is such a good theme but it’s sad how quick it ends and so abruptly too.

gOOD PC-98 sHIT

Maybe Konn will return as an Oni introduced to Reimu by Suika? That horn really look like a lollioni, what creepy is a swordman waiting for reimu deep in hell.

The part before the loop sounds like a precursor to Maiden's Capriccio.

13th touhou theme review " I can feel this theme up to composure, discretion,Concentration and not being shaken by anything But when the chorus appeared can show a lot of power that is ready to crush the opponent! , It's a really weird theme." _ Grade points : SSS

You can also listen hrtp remix version like this in touhou 5 music room.

If someone made a remake of this, I'll be very glad. I'll name it Swordsman of A Distant Star ~ Demon Orion

This theme goes hard

Konn and Sari are both underrated. ESPECIALLY KONN. (S)he has among, if not the, coolest designs AND themes in the series. My theory is that Sari and Konn are the same being. (specifically a yaksha) Sari is the good side, Konn is the evil side.

Sounds like something that could be in a side-scrolling action game with ninjas or some shit.

Zun should’ve mentioned how these characters from hrtp are inspired from.

I can't help but picture Konngara and Youmu having an epic sword battle when I'm listening to this. Don't even get me started on once the song's BPM goes ballistic. All in all a very enjoyable, high-energy song. =D

someone needs to make an arrange of this where it loops twice and the pitch goes up after the first loop

The picture looks like she's giving a lesson. "This is a sword. You cut people and sometimes carve wood at high speeds with it."

Hmm, so lately, Konngara has been growing on me. A lot. At first I didn't really care for her, I didn't hate her but I just didn't think much of her. But after listening to her theme a lot, and thinking about what her personality is, etc. she's slowly becoming one of my favorite characters. Now if only ZUN would talk more about her. I need to learn more ; w ;

I love touhou pc-98. And she is one of my favorite character.

The intro is so badass

That's a fantastic theme, wow

Maybe Konngara is a combination of Lucifer and a famous demon swordsman from Japanese mythology. The first version of this theme is called Distant Angel, which sounds like just another way to say fallen angel. The Muramasa swordsman was possessed by the Lucifer's soul in the sword is a possible interpretation of this combination.

It's a movie where all sorts of video game characters, obscure and famous, appeared.

Wait... Isn't her blade a little misplaced?

Here comes Santa Claus, here comes Santa Claus, right down Santa Claus lane

Ah, it is good to know that Konngara-sama is still well.

Random comment about this song being used in Undertale DDD for the fight with Eanardo (i think that’s how it’s spelled) and it is a very fun fight!

That is a really damn thin sword.

This sounds so nostalgic but I've never got to this boss in hrtp

At the beginning,i can hear some parts of Rikako's theme

"Now, allow me to demonstrate..." *evil grin*

Came from Love the Beat, found this gem. Nice.

Konngara, likely the remaining deva of the mountain.

I heard a rumor somewhere that Konngara may not be an Oni at all, and she might actually be a Yaksha.

Star? where?!?. oh wait. that's your sword point shining. *Are you few Hidden Big Four of the Mountain in Past??!?

Ya know, I've always sorta though of HRtP to be one of the more fancy looking touhous. Just the way it is is coo to me, don't mean i can play it worth a dang but still. Wish i could T.T

Anyone here from KONNGARAGIRL PV? 😄

this theme is really good

it sounds awsome and yay your back!

You can tell that this song was made earlier on in ZUN’s career. The loop isn’t clean, transitions between sections of the song with different rhythms are a bit sudden, and it’s overall rough around the edges. That said, I feel like ZUN’s talent and intuition for creating music shines a lot in these early tracks. I *really* like the musical ideas present in Konngara’s theme. It’s almost breathtaking just how simple yet effective the main melodies are, and how the surrounding instruments support that melody.

Finally I found the Eanaro distortion battle theme from Undertale DDD!

One of the four devas perhaps......

gOOD PC-98 SHIt

*[Astral Knight]* KONNGARA Konngara is a being that Reimu Hakurei encounters at Hell's Silent Shrine in Highly Responsive to Prayers. Konngara is the final enemy Reimu confronts before returning to her shrine in the Hell route of the game. Due to Konngara's lack of dialogue, little is known about them. (from TouhouWiki) ZUN's comment about the track: "This song unfolds so fast, it's like, "Are you kidding me?". It puts together short phrases. And yet, did arranging it make it much better?"

Thanks to the EWI mix, I discovered how bouncy this song is, if only because Suika was so bouncy in the mix.

My sworn enemy Akyuu, are you watching!?

Probably one of the 4 devas of the mountain imagine if she comes back as such still with no sign of Mina ever coming back lol

I think he's just saying that he's one of the people of the Touhou community that hoped for an older touhou character to have an appearance, such as Konngara since she was from the first game and the whole thing of Wreck it Ralph was mostly retro-type themes. Although, if I would've expected a Touhou to make an appearance, I would've thought it to be Reimu considering she's been around since the start.

Its interesting to look back here and see everyone's old(ish) headcanons for what tf Konngara is. Yet as time went on, a few people eventually figured out what the hell Konngara is based, and they are a Buddhist figure (fitting, considering th1's hell route is Jigoku). Konngara's basis is likely Kongara-Douji, whom is an utter pain in the ass to research (read: I don't know the sanskrit version of their name to make that probably easier) but from what the hell I can find is one of the chief attendants to Acala (Fudo Myoo in japanese), one of the 5 Wisdom Kings and isn't an utter pain to look up. So....I think Kongara-Douji is a Yaksha or atleast something of that sort? you definetly do get results but putting the name "kongara doji" into google, so i don't think i'm talking out my ass. there is definetly someone out there who has figured out way more than me and boy would I welcome them to explain further Or put down the link to the touhou Amino post that I know for a fact exists and is actually helpful even though Amino is...probably cringe idfk i'm assuming it is

I've been here all this time...sigh...humans.

The wiki said Konngara's gender is unknown.

0:59 dangerous seed - 1:16 thunder force.

@FlandresOldWorld Cool. Can't wait for Mystic Square!

Is Kongara the last of the 4 onis who made caos in Japan? Suika, Yuugi, Kasen and Kongara?

Now that I think about it, I would say that PC era Touhou's darker tone was likely a product of common relevance tied to the platform it was associated with. PC-98 had a lot of dark games. Hentai shit especially. Cyberpunk horror even. Abandoning the crown genre of airborne shooters that NEC was known for on its console platforms (PC Engine and PC Engine CD / Turbografix-16 and Turbografix-CD). Touhou was strangely enough one of the few games on that computer keeping that style of gameplay alive. Interesting.

Would be great if ZUN decided to at least write something about the characters of pc-98. most touhou fans dont know any except mima marisa and reimu :( and I agree and orchestrated version would be really nice

It is art modern.

Based on a picture I saw, I'd say she cares more for Kikuri than Meira. I mean, it's my own crazy headcanon, but it can explain why Kikuri is pretty much a rock.

@forevereon Hey, did you miss me? Hehe, hopefully I can upload more frequently now.

I would like to see a battle at sword Youmu VS Kongara! (and a Maid contest Yumeko VS Sakuya)

Yoooooo sound intensifies

Yuugi hoshiguma: ...

a few days ago i managed to pass tohou 1 in lunatic with sariel first and later vs kongara. But with kongara was a so awesome battle, and the most amazing part of that battle was my score, 10054780!!!!

Strictly speaking, one, two, six and either four or five could be simultaneously correct. I like the idea that Meira is the daughter of Reimu's father and Konngara. That would make Meira a Hakurei like Reimu, but illegitimate/not of the female line, and that's why she didn't inherit the Hakurei Legacy. Naturally, she would feel cheated by her birth and attempt to replace Reimul

Tenshi sword

@Sab2Intros ...lol. Konngara appeared in HRtP, you probably heard the theme in MS's music room, which has all the music from the PC-98 games.

oh boy are we posting silly fantheories?! So my theory is that Konngara used to be a Hakurei (perhaps even a Shrine Maiden), but she ended up executed via traditional Hakurei Shrine Ritual impalement through the head with a spike. So, since she's such a restless spirit, she has to be sealed into someone in the bloodline pretty much each generation. And currently it's Meira. So that's why Meira is so intent on stealing Reimu's position as Hakurei Shrine Maiden and why she looks like Konngara.

Dear FlandresOldWorld: Where do you get your pictures? You ALWAYS have the best ones. At least, the ones you use for these are my favorites that I've seen of each character. (?) Er, just, where do you get them? I can't ever find them.

Her Color palette awfully resembles Reimu's.

Danbooru, Safebooru, Zerochan, Konachan and Pixiv mainly.

Are there other PC-98 that used arpeggios like this track? Never did I expect ZUN to use those lol

How did you get the sound to be like that? It's extremely different from the sound in my game.

1:30 wow pretty good theme

@Sab2Intros Oh. ...I've never gotten to Konngara in HRtP, so I didn't know there was a difference. Now I'm embarrassed. Oops. XD

Truly a representation of today's society.

*_Kongara Polaris_* _紺柄 北極星_ ¤ Yaksha ☆ Turning cosmic energy into weapons As a yaksha, she serves Acala, Shinto god of the north star. She was sent as an assassin to kill Reimu, but she killed some other people (Mima and Kikuri included) and also took part in destroying the Hakurei shrine. She was alerted that Reimu was in hell, so she went there via the now-defunct Silent Altar for the kill. Her attack on Gensokyo led its residents to run a pike through her head. Apparently, she's quite clumsy for her job. Didn't bother to ask if anyone saw Reimu around.

HER SWORD. IS BROKEN. thats all i have to say

I used to think that this was the ending theme. Bruh.

Is it just me, or does this song sound more like a Staff Roll Theme in the beginning?