Catchup Roundup
Well, maybe I've been a little harsh - but the last couple of weeks didn't seem to have that many strong songs, especially once you remove the Gumi songs out of the mix to give her her own birthday post. Still, there's plenty to catch up on and all of these have been specially skimmed off the top. In many senses it was a week for the twins, as they've pretty much outpaced Miku for the week. As mentioned, there's also a whole lot of other stuff in this post, as the MMD charts fair exploded with really, really good stuff, including Diva Gumi.
Regarding AX - the lists just keep growing and growing, as hachi suddenly popped up to say he was getting on a jetplane and going to the states. Chances are he isn't a panel guest so much as he's just going to the concert, but even so there seems to be no end to the number of potential faces that will be there. If anyone's going to be there and fancies getting us some shots and coverage that would be major internet brownie points and also allow me to vicariously live through you. Edit: wowaka as well!
Edit: Okay, I'm fairly sure Toyota aren't even trying anymore...
Videos:
【KAITO】悪徳のジャッジメント【法廷物語風オリジナル】
Corrupt Judgement (mothy, Kaito, Orchestral Pop)
A little late to link this, perhaps, but here it is anyway since we're catching up. Mothy's Seven Deadly Sins continue with Greed, expertly done by Kaito with the backing of a whole lot of fine instruments. Compared to mothy's recent videos this is a breath of fresh air for me - I liked it a whole lot better than Sloth and there's just something about it that makes it terribly charming. Kaito sounds solid and clear; top marks.
【鏡音リン・レン】エンクロージャー（enclosure）【オリジナル曲PV付き】
Enclosure (Dios, Rin + Len, Rock)
Dios is very much the poster child for the Appends, so it's only fitting that he provides one of the biggest tracks this catchup post, a massive rocking twins affair with two expertly done voices and a lot of style and energy. I really like the very strong violins in the background of the music, and the twins are sounding a mile above their usual, especially when asked to hold a note.
【初音ミク】骸骨楽団とリリア【オリジナル曲】
Skeleton Band and Lilia (tohma, Miku, Big Band)
A staggering performance. This track will start off very wild and very chaotic, but don't let that put you off; they just need a little while to work together and suddenly all the dissonance will melt away into a gorgeous chaotic melody with a million little touches to pick out of it and a catchy chorus. For such a crazy track it's executed impeccably, not missing a note anywhere; look out for the madcap piano solo and the crescendos right afterwards.
【巡音ルカ】 魔女 【オリジナル曲】
Witch (suzuki, Luka + Ensemble, Orchestral Rock)
Luka is flanked by almost everyone in this punchy and stylish storytelling track. There's some serious power in the chorus sections here, with latin chanting and tremendously strong stringwork. The sheer range of duets and harmonising on offer is substantial enough for anyone and there's a whole heap of baw to be had here, if that's your thing.
【鏡音リン】水葬カタルシス【オリジナル曲】
Sea Burial Catharsis (yucha, Rin, Rock)
A tuneful rock number from Rin; this is somewhat soft and slow rock, but nicely overlaid with some well-placed piano and a well-tuned Rin. Yucha's always been a solid bet; aside from a rather generic air to the music, there's absolutely no reason not to give this a listen.
【初音ミク】pianissimo【オリジナル】
pianissimo (marasy, Miku, Piano)
No other genre is really needed - this is marasy doing what marasy does best, which is providing an absolutely gorgeous piano composition for Miku to sing to. Lyrics by clear and a softly tuned Miku are just the icing on the cake of some top-notch playing.
【鏡音リン】 社会主義★だーりんっ 【オリジナル曲】
Socialism ★ Darling (Zaneeds, Rin, Chillout Trance)
If marasy's track is somehow not enough in the way of chillout, bliss music for you, then here's zaneeds to follow right up with a wonderfully soft and gentle track consisting of little more than some silky smooth bass, some gentle drums and snares popping between both sides of your speakers, and a far-off Rin crooning gently over the top of them. The rises are falls are pitched perfectly to carry you off.
【鏡音リン】 Equation×** Full 【オリジナル】
Equation×** Full (powapowa, Rin, Piano Trance?)
Holy crap. I'm a completely terrible person for not linking this last post, and for leaving it so long until it got a link in this post - this is a truly fantastic twins track that hits everything I could ask for, from a soft and well tuned Rin to a track that's super fun and super bouncy and super catchy. I dare you not to smile at this; it's absolutely gorgeous. Can't say I'm sure about the video...
【初音ミク】SPARKS【オリジナル曲PV付き】
SPARKS (autoputto, Miku, Pop)
This track's in much the same boat, honestly - while I don't like the actual music as much, it feels a little fuzzy and overwrought - the lower, calmer kind of club style of pop doesn't come along that often and makes for a very pleasant change, and you'll be hard pressed to find a video that looks as good as the effects laden one this track has garnered for itself.
「キミナシビジョン」【鏡音リンオリジナルPV】
You Without Vision (Kulfi, Rin, Rock)
I continue to really like Kulfi's songs when they don't include Miku. Rin's voice is pretty excellent here, and the song as a whole is a much more hard-hitting and energetic affair than I would have ever expected from Kulfi, which makes for a very pleasant change. Great guitars and a solid video.
【鏡音レンPower】トゥルリラタリラトゥルラ【オリジナル】
Tururira Tarira Turura (giga, Len, Club)
The twins takeover of the week continues with this thumping track. Append Len sounds absolutely fantastic here, if autotuned to hell and back, for a eurobeaty, popcorny club track with some grungy slow notes that suddenly slams straight into random yelling guys and bizarre effects. I'm fairly sure the title's just meant to be onomatapeoia, but if anyone's got a better idea, have at it.
【初音ミク】想色メロディック【オリジナル曲PV付き】
Melodic Colour Layer (Various, Miku, Pop)
As a break before the weirdness almost immediately kicks back in with Luka's track below, a lovely little bit of heartwarming pop here. The guitar and drums are nothing to sneeze at, and the video's seriously delightful with some great bits of animation. As a whole, the song is a fairly standard piano-ful pop track, but it's clear and crisp and will raise a smile very easily.
【巡音ルカ（ラップもあるよ）】 Femme Fatale 【PV付きオリジナル曲】
Femme Fatale (sat, Luka, Engrish R+B)
I'm so pleased that a bandwagon exists around having an engrish-spouting Luka do R+B and rap, often in the same song at once. First Niymoriy, now Sat gets in on the action with this super-smooth song. Luka's accent here is really curiously done - a kind of low warble that doesn't sound too brilliant but really matches the song very well indeed.
【初音ミク】ロマンちっくブレイカー【オリジナル曲】
Romantic Breaker (pisuton, Miku, Rock)
I dare you not to like this track when the immensely heart-warming and catchy guitar kicks in, and that's even before you include the Miku dancing along to the tune in the most ridiculous possible manner.
【VY2】家の裏でマンボウが死んでる【イケメン】
An Ocean Sunfish is Dead Behind My House (uramanbou, VY2, Rock)
... yes. Well. uramanbou (also known as ie no ura etcetera etcetera, or more strictly by the same name as the song) throws out an attempt at a 'cool guy' VY2 voice, with a design to match and a completely silly song. I suppose if you're going to have an ungainly long producer name, you might as well go for broke and make it one of your song titles at the same time.
【初音ミク】Mr.wonderboy【オリジナル】
Mr. Wonderboy (豚, Miku, Club Pop)
Yeah, there wasn't a whole lot of competition for what would be at the very end of the update today. Mr. Wonderboy is unashamedly cheesy as hell, but carries it off well with a melody and synths that are both absolutely made for dancing in your seat and letting yourself get carried away. You might want to skip this if extensively autotuned Miku isn't your thing, though.
MMD / PV / Covers:
第7回MMD杯開催告知・テーマ発表
MMD 7th Cup Announcement - Beyond The Future
It's coming! MMD 7th Cup is officially announced, with previews going up at the very start of August and the main event being held from the 19th to the 26th of August and I cannot wait. In a break from tradition there are twice the number of themes to normal, those being - 'demons / evil', 'truth', 'a room or space', 'a Rube Goldberg machine(!!)', 'The Jomon period of Japanese history(!!!)', and 'the letter M'. With a selection of topics like that, I can't imagine how this will be anything but amazing.
Episode.0 フルPV
Episode.0 (Gackt, Gakupo Cover, Gosh Is It Hot In Here Or Just Me?)
Episode.0 is one of the big, big Gakupo songs from 2009, and could very easily be called one of his classics - sufficiently so that it recently won a vote as to which song Gackt should cover for his next single. True to his word, Gackt belted it out and totally knocked it out of the park - it's a fantastic cover of a fantastic song.
【MMD】まままGUMIとかでHONEY
HONEY (less, mamama Gumi + Ensemble)
Dang, I almost didn't catch this, but I'm glad I did. The Diva stable of models gets a welcome boost with the latest Gumi model, which looks like it could come right from the same family. As if that weren't enough, halfway through she suddenly starts belting out the Chinese version! Now we just need Diva Luka and I'll be a very happy man.
【ＭＭＤ】エレベーターアクション【初音ミク】
Elevator Action (MMD: Black Knight, Miku + Ensemble)
The producer that brought us Tower Climber and Ice Climbers, together with a whole slew of other fine MMD movies and I think the MMD Cup Lemmings now turns his parody eye to action games and first-person shooters. Miku has to go save Rin from the evil clutches of Kaito's nefarious plans - but more importantly, how many references and jokes can you spot?
【ミリオン記念にPV】アンハッピーリフレインの歌詞動かしてみた
Unhappy Refrain - Kinetic Typography (wowaka, PV: Magic Pen, Miku, Rock)
A very stylish kinetic typography PV for Unhappy Refrain. This goes rather beyond the standard amount of effort by dragging in a bunch of other effects and the odd neat little graphical touch above and beyond simple text manipulation; it's very fitting, and smooth as anything. It really picks up in the second half something fierce; be sure to stick around for it.
初音ミク -Project DIVA- Ver2.5 新モジュール
Strobo Nights (schwarz, Fei-Yen Miku (Virtual-On), Pop)
You know, I don't think the Diva model has ever been more suspicious. I'm fairly certain this video came out before the announcement that there would be a Fei-Yen Miku in Project Diva 2.5, and the timing is seriously suspicious. How bizarre would it be if someone was leaking information and clandestinely making MMD models?
【MMD】higher【信号機】
Higher (nerudora, Miku + Luka + Lily, DDR)
I... excuse me, the memories of a decade ago just came flooding back in the worst way.
【ＭＭＤ】 C_mellリンレンルカで『BREEZE』
C_mell Models do BREEZE (yuuho, Len + Rin + Luka)
Chances are you've already seen the C_mell models if you watch this community - it turns out they're the bleached jpop-idol-style Len and Rin we've most recently seen in MyGod's videos. Now they've got a Luka model to match, and... well... I kind of like it? It's a damn sight better than some Luka models, though it's a bit too angular and the hair's kinda funky. Still, a good solid try.
【MMD】誰!? 動作test【教えて!!魔法のLyric】
Who!? (toriten, I-Style project)
It's a very strange world when Vocaloids get MMD models before they even get a name.
【ＭＭＤ】幸せなブラック★ロックシューター【Heart Beats】
Heart Beats (Tes, MMDPV: masamasa, BRS + DM, Pop)
To finish up: BRS dancing is still utterly hilarious to me for no reason I can readily fathom. With bonus Dead Master and Skulls! It still can't beat the many, many videos of them doing a Manzai routine, though.
Other:
【MMD】星間ヒーロー【TIGER&BUNNY】 モデル配布
Interstellar Hero
If you even vaguely know Macross Frontier and Tiger + Bunny, you owe it to yourself to click this MMD link.
台湾のFFストップモーションアニメが凄すぎる件
Sephiroth the World's Enemy
This excellent piece of stop-motion work has a ton of cool touches and special effects, and is currently doing the rounds amongst english-speaking sites as they pick up on it. Where else can you see a Cloud figma decapitate a Zaku?
【手描き】madokaaaa◕ ‿‿ ◕
Madokaaaa ◕ ‿‿ ◕
Madoka Magica takes on IIDX's smoooooooch!.
Regarding AX - the lists just keep growing and growing, as hachi suddenly popped up to say he was getting on a jetplane and going to the states. Chances are he isn't a panel guest so much as he's just going to the concert, but even so there seems to be no end to the number of potential faces that will be there. If anyone's going to be there and fancies getting us some shots and coverage that would be major internet brownie points and also allow me to vicariously live through you. Edit: wowaka as well!
Edit: Okay, I'm fairly sure Toyota aren't even trying anymore...
Videos:
【KAITO】悪徳のジャッジメント【法廷物語風オリジナル】
Corrupt Judgement (mothy, Kaito, Orchestral Pop)
A little late to link this, perhaps, but here it is anyway since we're catching up. Mothy's Seven Deadly Sins continue with Greed, expertly done by Kaito with the backing of a whole lot of fine instruments. Compared to mothy's recent videos this is a breath of fresh air for me - I liked it a whole lot better than Sloth and there's just something about it that makes it terribly charming. Kaito sounds solid and clear; top marks.
【鏡音リン・レン】エンクロージャー（enclosure）【オリジナル曲PV付き】
Enclosure (Dios, Rin + Len, Rock)
Dios is very much the poster child for the Appends, so it's only fitting that he provides one of the biggest tracks this catchup post, a massive rocking twins affair with two expertly done voices and a lot of style and energy. I really like the very strong violins in the background of the music, and the twins are sounding a mile above their usual, especially when asked to hold a note.
【初音ミク】骸骨楽団とリリア【オリジナル曲】
Skeleton Band and Lilia (tohma, Miku, Big Band)
A staggering performance. This track will start off very wild and very chaotic, but don't let that put you off; they just need a little while to work together and suddenly all the dissonance will melt away into a gorgeous chaotic melody with a million little touches to pick out of it and a catchy chorus. For such a crazy track it's executed impeccably, not missing a note anywhere; look out for the madcap piano solo and the crescendos right afterwards.
【巡音ルカ】 魔女 【オリジナル曲】
Witch (suzuki, Luka + Ensemble, Orchestral Rock)
Luka is flanked by almost everyone in this punchy and stylish storytelling track. There's some serious power in the chorus sections here, with latin chanting and tremendously strong stringwork. The sheer range of duets and harmonising on offer is substantial enough for anyone and there's a whole heap of baw to be had here, if that's your thing.
【鏡音リン】水葬カタルシス【オリジナル曲】
Sea Burial Catharsis (yucha, Rin, Rock)
A tuneful rock number from Rin; this is somewhat soft and slow rock, but nicely overlaid with some well-placed piano and a well-tuned Rin. Yucha's always been a solid bet; aside from a rather generic air to the music, there's absolutely no reason not to give this a listen.
【初音ミク】pianissimo【オリジナル】
pianissimo (marasy, Miku, Piano)
No other genre is really needed - this is marasy doing what marasy does best, which is providing an absolutely gorgeous piano composition for Miku to sing to. Lyrics by clear and a softly tuned Miku are just the icing on the cake of some top-notch playing.
【鏡音リン】 社会主義★だーりんっ 【オリジナル曲】
Socialism ★ Darling (Zaneeds, Rin, Chillout Trance)
If marasy's track is somehow not enough in the way of chillout, bliss music for you, then here's zaneeds to follow right up with a wonderfully soft and gentle track consisting of little more than some silky smooth bass, some gentle drums and snares popping between both sides of your speakers, and a far-off Rin crooning gently over the top of them. The rises are falls are pitched perfectly to carry you off.
【鏡音リン】 Equation×** Full 【オリジナル】
Equation×** Full (powapowa, Rin, Piano Trance?)
Holy crap. I'm a completely terrible person for not linking this last post, and for leaving it so long until it got a link in this post - this is a truly fantastic twins track that hits everything I could ask for, from a soft and well tuned Rin to a track that's super fun and super bouncy and super catchy. I dare you not to smile at this; it's absolutely gorgeous. Can't say I'm sure about the video...
【初音ミク】SPARKS【オリジナル曲PV付き】
SPARKS (autoputto, Miku, Pop)
This track's in much the same boat, honestly - while I don't like the actual music as much, it feels a little fuzzy and overwrought - the lower, calmer kind of club style of pop doesn't come along that often and makes for a very pleasant change, and you'll be hard pressed to find a video that looks as good as the effects laden one this track has garnered for itself.
「キミナシビジョン」【鏡音リンオリジナルPV】
You Without Vision (Kulfi, Rin, Rock)
I continue to really like Kulfi's songs when they don't include Miku. Rin's voice is pretty excellent here, and the song as a whole is a much more hard-hitting and energetic affair than I would have ever expected from Kulfi, which makes for a very pleasant change. Great guitars and a solid video.
【鏡音レンPower】トゥルリラタリラトゥルラ【オリジナル】
Tururira Tarira Turura (giga, Len, Club)
The twins takeover of the week continues with this thumping track. Append Len sounds absolutely fantastic here, if autotuned to hell and back, for a eurobeaty, popcorny club track with some grungy slow notes that suddenly slams straight into random yelling guys and bizarre effects. I'm fairly sure the title's just meant to be onomatapeoia, but if anyone's got a better idea, have at it.
【初音ミク】想色メロディック【オリジナル曲PV付き】
Melodic Colour Layer (Various, Miku, Pop)
As a break before the weirdness almost immediately kicks back in with Luka's track below, a lovely little bit of heartwarming pop here. The guitar and drums are nothing to sneeze at, and the video's seriously delightful with some great bits of animation. As a whole, the song is a fairly standard piano-ful pop track, but it's clear and crisp and will raise a smile very easily.
【巡音ルカ（ラップもあるよ）】 Femme Fatale 【PV付きオリジナル曲】
Femme Fatale (sat, Luka, Engrish R+B)
I'm so pleased that a bandwagon exists around having an engrish-spouting Luka do R+B and rap, often in the same song at once. First Niymoriy, now Sat gets in on the action with this super-smooth song. Luka's accent here is really curiously done - a kind of low warble that doesn't sound too brilliant but really matches the song very well indeed.
【初音ミク】ロマンちっくブレイカー【オリジナル曲】
Romantic Breaker (pisuton, Miku, Rock)
I dare you not to like this track when the immensely heart-warming and catchy guitar kicks in, and that's even before you include the Miku dancing along to the tune in the most ridiculous possible manner.
【VY2】家の裏でマンボウが死んでる【イケメン】
An Ocean Sunfish is Dead Behind My House (uramanbou, VY2, Rock)
... yes. Well. uramanbou (also known as ie no ura etcetera etcetera, or more strictly by the same name as the song) throws out an attempt at a 'cool guy' VY2 voice, with a design to match and a completely silly song. I suppose if you're going to have an ungainly long producer name, you might as well go for broke and make it one of your song titles at the same time.
【初音ミク】Mr.wonderboy【オリジナル】
Mr. Wonderboy (豚, Miku, Club Pop)
Yeah, there wasn't a whole lot of competition for what would be at the very end of the update today. Mr. Wonderboy is unashamedly cheesy as hell, but carries it off well with a melody and synths that are both absolutely made for dancing in your seat and letting yourself get carried away. You might want to skip this if extensively autotuned Miku isn't your thing, though.
MMD / PV / Covers:
第7回MMD杯開催告知・テーマ発表
MMD 7th Cup Announcement - Beyond The Future
It's coming! MMD 7th Cup is officially announced, with previews going up at the very start of August and the main event being held from the 19th to the 26th of August and I cannot wait. In a break from tradition there are twice the number of themes to normal, those being - 'demons / evil', 'truth', 'a room or space', 'a Rube Goldberg machine(!!)', 'The Jomon period of Japanese history(!!!)', and 'the letter M'. With a selection of topics like that, I can't imagine how this will be anything but amazing.
Episode.0 フルPV
Episode.0 (Gackt, Gakupo Cover, Gosh Is It Hot In Here Or Just Me?)
Episode.0 is one of the big, big Gakupo songs from 2009, and could very easily be called one of his classics - sufficiently so that it recently won a vote as to which song Gackt should cover for his next single. True to his word, Gackt belted it out and totally knocked it out of the park - it's a fantastic cover of a fantastic song.
【MMD】まままGUMIとかでHONEY
HONEY (less, mamama Gumi + Ensemble)
Dang, I almost didn't catch this, but I'm glad I did. The Diva stable of models gets a welcome boost with the latest Gumi model, which looks like it could come right from the same family. As if that weren't enough, halfway through she suddenly starts belting out the Chinese version! Now we just need Diva Luka and I'll be a very happy man.
【ＭＭＤ】エレベーターアクション【初音ミク】
Elevator Action (MMD: Black Knight, Miku + Ensemble)
The producer that brought us Tower Climber and Ice Climbers, together with a whole slew of other fine MMD movies and I think the MMD Cup Lemmings now turns his parody eye to action games and first-person shooters. Miku has to go save Rin from the evil clutches of Kaito's nefarious plans - but more importantly, how many references and jokes can you spot?
【ミリオン記念にPV】アンハッピーリフレインの歌詞動かしてみた
Unhappy Refrain - Kinetic Typography (wowaka, PV: Magic Pen, Miku, Rock)
A very stylish kinetic typography PV for Unhappy Refrain. This goes rather beyond the standard amount of effort by dragging in a bunch of other effects and the odd neat little graphical touch above and beyond simple text manipulation; it's very fitting, and smooth as anything. It really picks up in the second half something fierce; be sure to stick around for it.
初音ミク -Project DIVA- Ver2.5 新モジュール
Strobo Nights (schwarz, Fei-Yen Miku (Virtual-On), Pop)
You know, I don't think the Diva model has ever been more suspicious. I'm fairly certain this video came out before the announcement that there would be a Fei-Yen Miku in Project Diva 2.5, and the timing is seriously suspicious. How bizarre would it be if someone was leaking information and clandestinely making MMD models?
【MMD】higher【信号機】
Higher (nerudora, Miku + Luka + Lily, DDR)
I... excuse me, the memories of a decade ago just came flooding back in the worst way.
【ＭＭＤ】 C_mellリンレンルカで『BREEZE』
C_mell Models do BREEZE (yuuho, Len + Rin + Luka)
Chances are you've already seen the C_mell models if you watch this community - it turns out they're the bleached jpop-idol-style Len and Rin we've most recently seen in MyGod's videos. Now they've got a Luka model to match, and... well... I kind of like it? It's a damn sight better than some Luka models, though it's a bit too angular and the hair's kinda funky. Still, a good solid try.
【MMD】誰!? 動作test【教えて!!魔法のLyric】
Who!? (toriten, I-Style project)
It's a very strange world when Vocaloids get MMD models before they even get a name.
【ＭＭＤ】幸せなブラック★ロックシューター【Heart Beats】
Heart Beats (Tes, MMDPV: masamasa, BRS + DM, Pop)
To finish up: BRS dancing is still utterly hilarious to me for no reason I can readily fathom. With bonus Dead Master and Skulls! It still can't beat the many, many videos of them doing a Manzai routine, though.
Other:
【MMD】星間ヒーロー【TIGER&BUNNY】 モデル配布
Interstellar Hero
If you even vaguely know Macross Frontier and Tiger + Bunny, you owe it to yourself to click this MMD link.
台湾のFFストップモーションアニメが凄すぎる件
Sephiroth the World's Enemy
This excellent piece of stop-motion work has a ton of cool touches and special effects, and is currently doing the rounds amongst english-speaking sites as they pick up on it. Where else can you see a Cloud figma decapitate a Zaku?
【手描き】madokaaaa◕ ‿‿ ◕
Madokaaaa ◕ ‿‿ ◕
Madoka Magica takes on IIDX's smoooooooch!.