Weekly Roundup
Sorry about the lateness: I suddenly lost premium at the weekend, and had to wrangle myself a new payment method. On the one hand, it slowed down my working through my shortlist massively - on the other, I can report that the recurring Paypal payments are basically the most painless way to pay for Nicovideo I've encountered yet.
I guess I'm forced to eat a little crow on the whole Toyota thing. Last I checked, it was at a staggering number of views - and World is Mine had jumped its way up well into the iTunes store World Singles top 10, so certainly as advertising campaigns go it's a whole lot more successful than many of us thought it would be. Further on the Miku-in-the-US front, those of you going to Anime Expo are in for a whole range of treats. Not only is there going to be the entire damn concert there, but ZANEEDS will be making another US appearance, and Penguins Project and sunzriver will be holding performances right before it that same day, making for a jam-packed Saturday. Honestly, I'm still tossing up the idea of throwing out an awful lot of cash to jet over there.
Videos
【sasakure.UK】ガラクタ姫とアポストロフ【Music Video】
The Junk Princess and Apostrophe (sasakure.UK, Miku, Chiptune Pop)
Sasakure leads the way this week with this stunning track; a signature fusion of chiptune beats and piano-heavy pop with a glorious chorus and a gorgeous video. Given that sasakure tends to be an expert at tugging on the heart-strings, don't expect this video to be any different; it's powerful and extremely effective. Be aware, though, there is a moment which may shock.
【巡音ルカ】 Sacred Secret 【オリジナル】
Sacred Secret (無力, Luka, Techno Pop)
The most stunning Luka song in ages, at least as far as my own preferences go. A thumping and stomping track full of energy and style, flicking from traditional techno-styled pop back and forth to breakbeat interludes or gentler pauses. Luka sounds a little funky - autotuned dramatically, perhaps - but it fits the song and doesn't feel too out of place.
【GUMI】behind me【オリジナル曲PV】
behind me (oryo, Gumi, Angst Rock)
Gumi breaks out the engrish for a scorching bit of hardcore rock from oryo. I can't put this under the vocaloemo genre because it never quite sinks to the same sort of low screaming and thrashing - it remains tuneful and energetic throughout with some truly excellent guitar moments from psycho.
【鏡音リン】恋ごころぼっと【オリジナル】
Love Robot (oichan, Rin, Pop)
Words can't describe how much I love oichan's videos. One of the few producers absolutely guaranteed to get me to sit through a twins song every single time, they always feature super heartwarming pop and entirely silly and wonderful animations.
【初音ミク】 奈落と唄 【オリジナル】
Eternity and Song (uz, Miku, Rock)
A brilliantly haunting meola video accompanies a tremendous new track by uz. I loved the hell out of this, which is doubly impressive given the very floating dark voice used that will usually put me off. The hanging pauses and crescendos are handled expertly and the whole thing is a blast.
【巡音ルカ】 philosophoid 【オリジナル】
philosophoid (hal, Luka, Funk Techno...?)
I really and honestly hope that the collected producers of 0108 never stop making ridiculous Luka videos. They've given us the fantastic Absolute, the completely bonkers Au Pas Camarade, and now this absolutely arresting track with a super-catchy if grungy beat and what might possibly be some of Luka's best English pronounciation yet. I'm not actually sure if I like the track on balance, but I sure could listen to it all day.
【初音ミク】少年モラトリアム【オリジナルＰＶ】
Moratorium Boy (hernia, Miku, Rock)
Yet more silly producer names. Anyway, you could be forgiven for finding this track, um, a bit familiar. Between the video's style and the rapid pace of the music you could be forgiven for considering this some combination of Rolling Girl and Two Breath Walking; it has a lot of the same feel and energy of a wowaka track but a far deeper Miku and a more conventional melody line. Also, stabbing people with scissors.
【オリジナル曲】境界線とイノセント【男性ボカロ】
Boundary Line and Innocent (pantan, Len + Kaito + Gakupo + Kiyoteru, Suave Crooning)
Oh guys, you are so fabulous. Crooning their way expertly through a jazzy lounge number full of wah-wah guitar and brass instruments, this had me grinning from start to end. As you might expect, some of the voices wobble from time to time - especially poor Len's first solo - but Kaito especially stands out as sounding fantastic. I honestly can't even remember what the actual music sounded like; the vocal performance is so strong it's forced out any memory of the rest.
初音ミク - Figure(オリジナル曲 PV)
Figure (kyotn, Miku, Soft Rock)
After the ridiculous onslaught of memes followed by his last high-energy release, it's a little weird to hear kyotn put out something slower and more relaxing. Gentle synth scales and catches underpin a simple but very effective guitar track while Miku's only real problem is being a little too quiet; in all other respects this is an excellent listen.
【初音ミクオリジナル】 姓 名 言 っ て み ろ ！ 【666名】
Surname Roll-Call! (maretu, Miku, Rock)
【初音ミク】姓 名 呼 ば れ な か っ た【便乗乙ジナル】
My Surname Wasn't Called (kyotn, Miku, Pop)
Speaking of which... this week maretu tried yet again to take over nicovideo with another rollcall, a stomping rock track during which 666 common family names are called out at breakneck pace by Miku. Out of the responses, kyotn's was the most eye-opening yet again - a soft piano and vocal affair with some excellent tuning.
【猫村いろは】 びんた 【猫村いろは誕生祭スペシャル】
Slap In The Face (akiba ota, Iroha, Rock)
In the excitement of my week, I totally missed Iroha's birthday. Fortunately, plenty of producers didn't, and out of all of them akiba ota's latest track was the one that topped the tag. Iroha's voice turns what would otherwise be a standard if punchy rock track into an almost operatic performance, with some great guitar throughout.
【猫村いろは】【miki】AHSクレイジー【歌愛ユキ】【氷山キヨテル】
AHS Crazy (akiba ota, Iroha + Miki + Kiyoteru + Yuki, Rock)
And then, um, he did this as well and now I'm not sure what to think about anything. Except possibly that I don't really ever want to see Ronald McKiyoteru ever again.
「Neverland」 - KEI feat.VY1
Neverland (KEI, VY1, Rock)
At this point, I'm fairly sure Kei is the most prolific VY1 user, and it's easy to see why - even since Invitation he's shown a knack for the software and works well with her voice. Neverland isn't incredible, but is solid, and VY1 can hold notes like a champ.
【鏡音リンAppend】ソーシャルパラノイア【オリジナル曲】
Social Paranoia (L-tone, Rin, Rock)
I... really? This didn't even break five thousand views? When I first heard it I basically threw it onto my shortlist immediately, certain it would do well. Starting off as a strong cross between chiptunes and wowaka's brand of rock, the song loses its way a little halfway through but recovers and stays fairly strong throughout, with a neat video and an unusual Rin tuning.
【天羽ソラ】ウタウソラ【UTAUオリジナル】
Singing Sky or possibly just UTAU Sora (NOB, Sora, ?!)
Um. Wow. I'm going to preface this by saying that I'm not really a fan of the music as a whole, and I'm not entirely sure if I'm sold on Sora's voice, either... but certain snatches really cling to my brain, and the video itself is an amazing clusterfuck of bizarre effects that works very well.
裏表ラバーズ reverse Edge remix 【アンハッピーリフレイン収録】
Uraomote Lovers -reverse Edge remix- (kyapumira, Miku, Rock)
Stuck up on nicovideo along with the crossfade for wowaka's album, and taken from the album itself, this is a dirty, scratchy, chaotic and fantastic arrange of the track that could probably be said to have started the wowaka craze.
【初音ミク】君に届くまで【オリジナル】
To Reach For You (tsudatakuma, Miku, Pop)
A little bit of club-piano-pop will close us out nicely; tsudatakuma isn't a name I've previously encountered but this is very promising work, a joy of a track to listen to. Perhaps a little sugary for most, which is why it's going down at the bottom of the page, but fun and catchy.
【初音ミク】君がそばにいるように【オリジナル曲】
Like You're By My Side (john, Miku, Daaww)
If you're not in the mood for bouncy sugary music to finish up your robots for the week, john has you covered - this is a slow and heartful piano-and-vocal track which only a couple of cracking notes to really ever drag it down, expertly made up for with some lovely crescendos and self-duets.
Covers/MMD:
【MMD×バトルドーム】ボカロドーム【モデル紹介・配布動画】
Vocalodome (akiel, Fun With MMD Physics)
BATTLEDOME!!! CHOO EXCITING!!!
やなことがあっても
Then It Happened (tachi, Ensemble)
I'm not usually one to link narrative MMD videos here, working off the assumption that they might be touch to understand - but this is almost purely visual comedy and the expressions are so well done that I couldn't resist. Everyone's bright and expressive and the whole thing's great, from Haku manifesting a shield of suffering to Meiko solving everyone's problems.
【PV】アンハッピーリフレイン MIXしてみた
Unhappy Refrain (wowaka, Miku, Rock)
Still don't know which Unhappy Refrain PV to go look at first? Let this video be your guide, mixing together the major PVs into a medley of styles ranging from hand-drawn to kinetic typography through to the traditional wowaka-style grey backgrounds, and links to all of them in the description.
【MMD】年長組でBad Apple!!【DIVAっぽいど】
Bad Apple!! (MAO, Kaito + Meiko, Rock)
【MMD】年長組でねこみみスイッチ！【DIVAっぽいど】
Nekomimi Switch (daniwell, MMDPV: MAO, Kaito + Meiko, Pop)
I think it's kind of fantastic that the Kaito and Meiko DIVA models are getting so much more exposure than the Miku DIVA model; she's still trying to break through the spectre of Lat, but they're living large, covering dances and songs and generally popping up all over the place.
【MMD】 初音ミクXSに「Packaged」踊ってもらったよ【第3回ラジP杯】
Packaged (kz, MMDPV: benchmark, Miku, Pop)
MMD continues on its path to be the single most stunning-looking open source animation package out there. Sure, by now I imagine everyone on the comm has seen Packaged, but the point is more the breathtaking visuals plastered throughout this amazing video.
And Finally...
I've decided I don't really find enough other videos to keep up a whole other comm, so I'm going to just dunk a couple at the bottom of the post each week.
人類には早すぎるランキング～17thシーズン～
I didn't actually realise there were monthly rankings for the 'Too early for humanity to understand' tag. As with any ranking it's a long video, but if you've ever wanted to spend the entirety of a ranking giggling like a maniac, HERE YOU GO.
魔法少女まどか☆マギカ -the ultimate modification-
Taking over from last week's video as the Madoka MAD to go watch, this is extremely well produced and has a billion things in it.
【手書きタイバニ】ペルソナ４（ゲーム）【OPパロディ】
An excellent Tiger and Bunny version of the Persona 4 OP.
I guess I'm forced to eat a little crow on the whole Toyota thing. Last I checked, it was at a staggering number of views - and World is Mine had jumped its way up well into the iTunes store World Singles top 10, so certainly as advertising campaigns go it's a whole lot more successful than many of us thought it would be. Further on the Miku-in-the-US front, those of you going to Anime Expo are in for a whole range of treats. Not only is there going to be the entire damn concert there, but ZANEEDS will be making another US appearance, and Penguins Project and sunzriver will be holding performances right before it that same day, making for a jam-packed Saturday. Honestly, I'm still tossing up the idea of throwing out an awful lot of cash to jet over there.
Videos
【sasakure.UK】ガラクタ姫とアポストロフ【Music Video】
The Junk Princess and Apostrophe (sasakure.UK, Miku, Chiptune Pop)
Sasakure leads the way this week with this stunning track; a signature fusion of chiptune beats and piano-heavy pop with a glorious chorus and a gorgeous video. Given that sasakure tends to be an expert at tugging on the heart-strings, don't expect this video to be any different; it's powerful and extremely effective. Be aware, though, there is a moment which may shock.
【巡音ルカ】 Sacred Secret 【オリジナル】
Sacred Secret (無力, Luka, Techno Pop)
The most stunning Luka song in ages, at least as far as my own preferences go. A thumping and stomping track full of energy and style, flicking from traditional techno-styled pop back and forth to breakbeat interludes or gentler pauses. Luka sounds a little funky - autotuned dramatically, perhaps - but it fits the song and doesn't feel too out of place.
【GUMI】behind me【オリジナル曲PV】
behind me (oryo, Gumi, Angst Rock)
Gumi breaks out the engrish for a scorching bit of hardcore rock from oryo. I can't put this under the vocaloemo genre because it never quite sinks to the same sort of low screaming and thrashing - it remains tuneful and energetic throughout with some truly excellent guitar moments from psycho.
【鏡音リン】恋ごころぼっと【オリジナル】
Love Robot (oichan, Rin, Pop)
Words can't describe how much I love oichan's videos. One of the few producers absolutely guaranteed to get me to sit through a twins song every single time, they always feature super heartwarming pop and entirely silly and wonderful animations.
【初音ミク】 奈落と唄 【オリジナル】
Eternity and Song (uz, Miku, Rock)
A brilliantly haunting meola video accompanies a tremendous new track by uz. I loved the hell out of this, which is doubly impressive given the very floating dark voice used that will usually put me off. The hanging pauses and crescendos are handled expertly and the whole thing is a blast.
【巡音ルカ】 philosophoid 【オリジナル】
philosophoid (hal, Luka, Funk Techno...?)
I really and honestly hope that the collected producers of 0108 never stop making ridiculous Luka videos. They've given us the fantastic Absolute, the completely bonkers Au Pas Camarade, and now this absolutely arresting track with a super-catchy if grungy beat and what might possibly be some of Luka's best English pronounciation yet. I'm not actually sure if I like the track on balance, but I sure could listen to it all day.
【初音ミク】少年モラトリアム【オリジナルＰＶ】
Moratorium Boy (hernia, Miku, Rock)
Yet more silly producer names. Anyway, you could be forgiven for finding this track, um, a bit familiar. Between the video's style and the rapid pace of the music you could be forgiven for considering this some combination of Rolling Girl and Two Breath Walking; it has a lot of the same feel and energy of a wowaka track but a far deeper Miku and a more conventional melody line. Also, stabbing people with scissors.
【オリジナル曲】境界線とイノセント【男性ボカロ】
Boundary Line and Innocent (pantan, Len + Kaito + Gakupo + Kiyoteru, Suave Crooning)
Oh guys, you are so fabulous. Crooning their way expertly through a jazzy lounge number full of wah-wah guitar and brass instruments, this had me grinning from start to end. As you might expect, some of the voices wobble from time to time - especially poor Len's first solo - but Kaito especially stands out as sounding fantastic. I honestly can't even remember what the actual music sounded like; the vocal performance is so strong it's forced out any memory of the rest.
初音ミク - Figure(オリジナル曲 PV)
Figure (kyotn, Miku, Soft Rock)
After the ridiculous onslaught of memes followed by his last high-energy release, it's a little weird to hear kyotn put out something slower and more relaxing. Gentle synth scales and catches underpin a simple but very effective guitar track while Miku's only real problem is being a little too quiet; in all other respects this is an excellent listen.
【初音ミクオリジナル】 姓 名 言 っ て み ろ ！ 【666名】
Surname Roll-Call! (maretu, Miku, Rock)
【初音ミク】姓 名 呼 ば れ な か っ た【便乗乙ジナル】
My Surname Wasn't Called (kyotn, Miku, Pop)
Speaking of which... this week maretu tried yet again to take over nicovideo with another rollcall, a stomping rock track during which 666 common family names are called out at breakneck pace by Miku. Out of the responses, kyotn's was the most eye-opening yet again - a soft piano and vocal affair with some excellent tuning.
【猫村いろは】 びんた 【猫村いろは誕生祭スペシャル】
Slap In The Face (akiba ota, Iroha, Rock)
In the excitement of my week, I totally missed Iroha's birthday. Fortunately, plenty of producers didn't, and out of all of them akiba ota's latest track was the one that topped the tag. Iroha's voice turns what would otherwise be a standard if punchy rock track into an almost operatic performance, with some great guitar throughout.
【猫村いろは】【miki】AHSクレイジー【歌愛ユキ】【氷山キヨテル】
AHS Crazy (akiba ota, Iroha + Miki + Kiyoteru + Yuki, Rock)
And then, um, he did this as well and now I'm not sure what to think about anything. Except possibly that I don't really ever want to see Ronald McKiyoteru ever again.
「Neverland」 - KEI feat.VY1
Neverland (KEI, VY1, Rock)
At this point, I'm fairly sure Kei is the most prolific VY1 user, and it's easy to see why - even since Invitation he's shown a knack for the software and works well with her voice. Neverland isn't incredible, but is solid, and VY1 can hold notes like a champ.
【鏡音リンAppend】ソーシャルパラノイア【オリジナル曲】
Social Paranoia (L-tone, Rin, Rock)
I... really? This didn't even break five thousand views? When I first heard it I basically threw it onto my shortlist immediately, certain it would do well. Starting off as a strong cross between chiptunes and wowaka's brand of rock, the song loses its way a little halfway through but recovers and stays fairly strong throughout, with a neat video and an unusual Rin tuning.
【天羽ソラ】ウタウソラ【UTAUオリジナル】
Singing Sky or possibly just UTAU Sora (NOB, Sora, ?!)
Um. Wow. I'm going to preface this by saying that I'm not really a fan of the music as a whole, and I'm not entirely sure if I'm sold on Sora's voice, either... but certain snatches really cling to my brain, and the video itself is an amazing clusterfuck of bizarre effects that works very well.
裏表ラバーズ reverse Edge remix 【アンハッピーリフレイン収録】
Uraomote Lovers -reverse Edge remix- (kyapumira, Miku, Rock)
Stuck up on nicovideo along with the crossfade for wowaka's album, and taken from the album itself, this is a dirty, scratchy, chaotic and fantastic arrange of the track that could probably be said to have started the wowaka craze.
【初音ミク】君に届くまで【オリジナル】
To Reach For You (tsudatakuma, Miku, Pop)
A little bit of club-piano-pop will close us out nicely; tsudatakuma isn't a name I've previously encountered but this is very promising work, a joy of a track to listen to. Perhaps a little sugary for most, which is why it's going down at the bottom of the page, but fun and catchy.
【初音ミク】君がそばにいるように【オリジナル曲】
Like You're By My Side (john, Miku, Daaww)
If you're not in the mood for bouncy sugary music to finish up your robots for the week, john has you covered - this is a slow and heartful piano-and-vocal track which only a couple of cracking notes to really ever drag it down, expertly made up for with some lovely crescendos and self-duets.
Covers/MMD:
【MMD×バトルドーム】ボカロドーム【モデル紹介・配布動画】
Vocalodome (akiel, Fun With MMD Physics)
BATTLEDOME!!! CHOO EXCITING!!!
やなことがあっても
Then It Happened (tachi, Ensemble)
I'm not usually one to link narrative MMD videos here, working off the assumption that they might be touch to understand - but this is almost purely visual comedy and the expressions are so well done that I couldn't resist. Everyone's bright and expressive and the whole thing's great, from Haku manifesting a shield of suffering to Meiko solving everyone's problems.
【PV】アンハッピーリフレイン MIXしてみた
Unhappy Refrain (wowaka, Miku, Rock)
Still don't know which Unhappy Refrain PV to go look at first? Let this video be your guide, mixing together the major PVs into a medley of styles ranging from hand-drawn to kinetic typography through to the traditional wowaka-style grey backgrounds, and links to all of them in the description.
【MMD】年長組でBad Apple!!【DIVAっぽいど】
Bad Apple!! (MAO, Kaito + Meiko, Rock)
【MMD】年長組でねこみみスイッチ！【DIVAっぽいど】
Nekomimi Switch (daniwell, MMDPV: MAO, Kaito + Meiko, Pop)
I think it's kind of fantastic that the Kaito and Meiko DIVA models are getting so much more exposure than the Miku DIVA model; she's still trying to break through the spectre of Lat, but they're living large, covering dances and songs and generally popping up all over the place.
【MMD】 初音ミクXSに「Packaged」踊ってもらったよ【第3回ラジP杯】
Packaged (kz, MMDPV: benchmark, Miku, Pop)
MMD continues on its path to be the single most stunning-looking open source animation package out there. Sure, by now I imagine everyone on the comm has seen Packaged, but the point is more the breathtaking visuals plastered throughout this amazing video.
And Finally...
I've decided I don't really find enough other videos to keep up a whole other comm, so I'm going to just dunk a couple at the bottom of the post each week.
人類には早すぎるランキング～17thシーズン～
I didn't actually realise there were monthly rankings for the 'Too early for humanity to understand' tag. As with any ranking it's a long video, but if you've ever wanted to spend the entirety of a ranking giggling like a maniac, HERE YOU GO.
魔法少女まどか☆マギカ -the ultimate modification-
Taking over from last week's video as the Madoka MAD to go watch, this is extremely well produced and has a billion things in it.
【手書きタイバニ】ペルソナ４（ゲーム）【OPパロディ】
An excellent Tiger and Bunny version of the Persona 4 OP.