T2 does not always refer to Judgment Day.

Sometimes it can refer to a Japanese illustrator who goes by the name of Tony Taka. Now for those of you who know him, this blog post is absolutely worksafe, so don't hit that Back button on your browser if you were expecting that. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the man, the best one-sentence description I can give to you is that he is a modern-day Satoshi Urushihara. And like Satoshi Urushihara, Tony is also well-known for the female designs of a particular JRPG series, except substitute Langrisser with most of the post-Sega console Shining "(Insert Noun Here)" games.

So the reason why I bring up this particular artist during Hardcore Gaming 101's Vocaloid Week is because he did an illustration of Miku for Comic Market 77, which was last winter:

What's really amusing for me about this illustration though is that this is actually the most non-sexually provocative pose of a female character I've seen this guy make. And for good reason: Sega told him to draw that for Comiket 77 because they wanted to not scare away Vocaloid fans from their booth since they used that illustration to sell a CD called White and Shadow, which contained two tracks that were composed by Hiroki Kikuta (Seiken Densetsu 2 and 3, Romancing Saga). The sad part is I haven't listened to that CD yet either. Woe is me.

Oh yeah, there's a figure of this illustration up for preorder, but you already knew that before you read this, didn't you?
Sometimes it can refer to a Japanese illustrator who goes by the name of Tony Taka. Now for those of you who know him, this blog post is absolutely worksafe, so don't hit that Back button on your browser if you were expecting that. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the man, the best one-sentence description I can give to you is that he is a modern-day Satoshi Urushihara. And like Satoshi Urushihara, Tony is also well-known for the female designs of a particular JRPG series, except substitute <a href="http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/langrisser/langrisser.htm" target="_blank">Langrisser</a> with most of the post-Sega console Shining "(Insert Noun Here)" games.<br /><br />So the reason why I bring up this particular artist during Hardcore Gaming 101's Vocaloid Week is because he did an illustration of Miku for Comic Market 77, which was last winter:<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.goodsmile.info/cgm/ecommerce/goodsmile/images/large/bcee158e4d050202ce990ba8924c4462.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://www.goodsmile.info/cgm/ecommerce/goodsmile/images/large/bcee158e4d050202ce990ba8924c4462.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 290px; height: 300px;" /></a><br /></div><br />What's really amusing for me about this illustration though is that this is actually the most non-sexually provocative pose of a female character I've seen this guy make. And for good reason: <a href="http://sega.jp/topics/091228_2/" target="_blank">Sega told him to draw that for Comiket 77</a> because they wanted to not scare away Vocaloid fans from their booth since they used that illustration to sell a CD called White and Shadow, which contained two tracks that were composed by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiroki_Kikuta" target="_blank">Hiroki Kikuta</a> (Seiken Densetsu 2 and 3, Romancing Saga). The sad part is I haven't listened to that CD yet either. Woe is me. <br /><br />Oh yeah, there's a figure of this illustration up for preorder, <a href="http://www.goodsmile.info/product/en/2920/Miku+Hatsune+Tony+ver.html" target="_blank">but you already knew that before you read this, didn't you? </a>

Okay, I think Sega's mad at me

Want to know why?


Because this theme does not match the color of my PSP. At all. They did that ON PURPOSE so they'd force me to get this.
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYu9Q6SnUW4wAVPmZS9aSsSAsI0CgQ14gNeQqbamOIYCppMfd7vvsj9zSAkjRCL-r0eVvhE_TPR3fLoup-b_M8tfhDwa4qV8as7pcSlBXPMLTufbLvfbwx11cK6IiAhZih5V3g5y_H1WZo/s1600/5312857d.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491461264553445202" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYu9Q6SnUW4wAVPmZS9aSsSAsI0CgQ14gNeQqbamOIYCppMfd7vvsj9zSAkjRCL-r0eVvhE_TPR3fLoup-b_M8tfhDwa4qV8as7pcSlBXPMLTufbLvfbwx11cK6IiAhZih5V3g5y_H1WZo/s320/5312857d.png" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 102px; height: 92px;" /></a><br /><center>Want to know why?</center><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhptrXx-5GT_RicuEHEy_W8a5y4cXGbSOlX81Dj-ItKZ7bVH7xrKlOqbv3uFElRnHMz_fuXdEAq-UB0mpfejRqh6W7_1EK5YYrOa5UgsUp9PgI8y3-y96uNFtwGXCnKPtMsZ9aOYFV2ok6Y/s1600/snap007.bmp" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491461454548729538" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhptrXx-5GT_RicuEHEy_W8a5y4cXGbSOlX81Dj-ItKZ7bVH7xrKlOqbv3uFElRnHMz_fuXdEAq-UB0mpfejRqh6W7_1EK5YYrOa5UgsUp9PgI8y3-y96uNFtwGXCnKPtMsZ9aOYFV2ok6Y/s320/snap007.bmp" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 182px;" /></a><br /><br />Because this theme does not match the color of my PSP. At all. They did that ON PURPOSE so they'd force me to <a href="http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-13-71-12x-49-en-70-3qf9.html" target="_blank">get this.</a>

Why do these always end up looking ugly?

Considering I paid money for this, I'd hope to get something that doesn't look... bland:

The unique icons don't help either.

<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhikAxi2i-IAKYAeh_AsagPhsRGBasaT_BMcFDPN_SBXJ4w6A6frhHGO9-C6avVoadLYTssJ_f3XSoZ6uXu4Qy80N65WwCVPhpjwsl9YM_-VcXmuHxZ28Bfjs4Gpr49exJxX7CZS_8baFU/s128/Dobato.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhikAxi2i-IAKYAeh_AsagPhsRGBasaT_BMcFDPN_SBXJ4w6A6frhHGO9-C6avVoadLYTssJ_f3XSoZ6uXu4Qy80N65WwCVPhpjwsl9YM_-VcXmuHxZ28Bfjs4Gpr49exJxX7CZS_8baFU/s128/Dobato.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 128px; height: 128px;" /></a>Considering I paid money for this, I'd hope to get something that doesn't look... bland:<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnm0lKlcU-kUA2OllQXnH7pyCUIO0g2oE1u8EkZyAT2rt4q1DIhPqb3_hhV8JMlv0HmAaZeJ7MxWyE9Kyup9jeeb6aWQNWN_qw795sEc9uGgz44ixHIk5R7ki7kSWrPYaMkRp9m7RW6rjE/s1600/snap001.bmp" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" target="_blank"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452842172820270018" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnm0lKlcU-kUA2OllQXnH7pyCUIO0g2oE1u8EkZyAT2rt4q1DIhPqb3_hhV8JMlv0HmAaZeJ7MxWyE9Kyup9jeeb6aWQNWN_qw795sEc9uGgz44ixHIk5R7ki7kSWrPYaMkRp9m7RW6rjE/s320/snap001.bmp" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 182px;" /></a>The unique icons don't help either.</div>

The phenomenon expands even more

If we were to believe what this guy says about it anyway:

Tripshots was the last person I mentioned in my Project Diva article who has quickly become one of the prominent faces of Miku because of both his excellent 3D models of her as well as how dead serious he is about her mythos. If you checked his website at around the time I created the article, he mentions putting up music for iTunes. And they're all expensive. But they're worth it. Almost.

You can watch his promo vid for this release straight from the creator himself right here. If you want to see more complete versions of the original songs on this release, you can check them out here, here, and here.

But you know what's really interesting about Tripshots? On Christmas Eve of this year, Sega announced that this guy designed the arcade cabinet for Project Diva, which apparently will begin location testing during the middle of January. That explains why I saw a higher-quality 3D model of Miku used for both the Animelo concert and the dance choreography comparison. Guess they didn't want that to go to waste.

And it looks like Namco's going to be in trouble real soon.
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDOXui4fDf5WKGt26p-iMmiDU5V4AijPQhSMd9qEPT95W-QOwt7ZIR-gZU7yGDlSgrGfc2RV1V8vlCTWoHvq4dfU5UhYIclRGIFKQnqxpCJbwTC0dwyE9Lf4ClvPy_RjepAPwNCxV8gvY/s128/2009%20calander%20extra%20copy.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDOXui4fDf5WKGt26p-iMmiDU5V4AijPQhSMd9qEPT95W-QOwt7ZIR-gZU7yGDlSgrGfc2RV1V8vlCTWoHvq4dfU5UhYIclRGIFKQnqxpCJbwTC0dwyE9Lf4ClvPy_RjepAPwNCxV8gvY/s128/2009%20calander%20extra%20copy.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 128px; height: 128px;" /></a><br /><br />If we were to believe what this guy says about it anyway:<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQKwTzaaiNdYGQYKRo1kCqn2gRX8h37-02l1rlyarRbf0j0C58w1JQ3awcmoHa6hTTmcKaZrDpJnakHz2Ol6hTPmgJ2LM6PcpRUa9PZtmQ0CuYMtYdBBG6CFZbO8KXFZARascqTfGHYYal/s320/Synthesis+-+EP.bmp" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" target="_blank"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421590975725798194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQKwTzaaiNdYGQYKRo1kCqn2gRX8h37-02l1rlyarRbf0j0C58w1JQ3awcmoHa6hTTmcKaZrDpJnakHz2Ol6hTPmgJ2LM6PcpRUa9PZtmQ0CuYMtYdBBG6CFZbO8KXFZARascqTfGHYYal/s320/Synthesis+-+EP.bmp" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 240px;" /></a><br /></div>Tripshots was the last person I mentioned in my Project Diva article who has quickly become one of the prominent faces of Miku because of both his excellent 3D models of her as well as how dead serious he is about her mythos. If you checked his website at around the time I created the article, he mentions putting up music for <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/synthesis-ep/id318788535" target="_blank">iTunes.</a> And they're all expensive. But they're worth it. Almost.<br /><br />You can watch his promo vid for this release straight from the creator himself <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhcvQhj5PVc" target="_blank"> right here.</a> If you want to see more complete versions of the original songs on this release, you can check them out <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNFCsJ16crc" target="_blank">here,</a> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVJBC4X_IMw" target="_blank">here,</a> and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oO4tbqYkgD0" target="_blank">here.</a><br /><br />But you know what's really interesting about Tripshots? On Christmas Eve of this year, Sega announced that this guy designed the arcade cabinet for <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNYspfOA3YI" target="-blank">Project Diva,</a> which apparently will begin location testing during the middle of January. That explains why I saw a higher-quality 3D model of Miku used for both the Animelo concert and the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYYUCktRgL4" target="_blank">dance choreography comparison.</a> Guess they didn't want that to go to waste.<br /><br />And it looks like Namco's going to be in trouble real soon.

Comer el puerro no fué una buena idea...

I swear, it wasn't me who did it! My friend told her to!

Now Miku's paying for it.

In all seriousness though, I wasn't expecting this context when I posed it like that in order to get shots of the back since that won't be seen when I put it on the base the figure was designed for.

So what is this, you ask? It's Good Smile Company's (I sincerely hope that you didn't click on that link since you probably have doomed yourself to a life of financial poverty and eternal envy) long-overdue figure based on an illustration by redjuice which ryo used for one of his songs called World is Mine, and in turn, is also the first track of the Free Play list for Project Diva. As for the sculpture itself, it's gorgeous and so well-designed that when you do plop Miku into the provided "stand," it'll hold onto her for dear life so even if flipped upside down, she won't fall out (disclaimer- I've never tried this myself yet nor do I plan on doing that anytime soon). And this is without using those annoying pegs that have to fit into specified holes and are really an eyesore if you're trying to take pictures.

On a side note, I find it amusing that her face looks more Spanish than Japanese for this model.

Read more...
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDOXui4fDf5WKGt26p-iMmiDU5V4AijPQhSMd9qEPT95W-QOwt7ZIR-gZU7yGDlSgrGfc2RV1V8vlCTWoHvq4dfU5UhYIclRGIFKQnqxpCJbwTC0dwyE9Lf4ClvPy_RjepAPwNCxV8gvY/s128/2009%20calander%20extra%20copy.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDOXui4fDf5WKGt26p-iMmiDU5V4AijPQhSMd9qEPT95W-QOwt7ZIR-gZU7yGDlSgrGfc2RV1V8vlCTWoHvq4dfU5UhYIclRGIFKQnqxpCJbwTC0dwyE9Lf4ClvPy_RjepAPwNCxV8gvY/s128/2009%20calander%20extra%20copy.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 128px; height: 128px;" /></a><br /><br />I swear, it wasn't me who did it! <a href="http://mognetcentral.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">My friend</a> told her to!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://i917.photobucket.com/albums/ad19/hardcoregaming101/Hatsune%20Miku/World%20is%20Mine/_MG_2384123009.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" target="_blank"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://i917.photobucket.com/albums/ad19/hardcoregaming101/Hatsune%20Miku/World%20is%20Mine/_MG_2384123009.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 255px; height: 169px;" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><i>Now Miku's paying for it.</i></span><br /></div><br />In all seriousness though, I wasn't expecting this context when I posed it like that in order to get shots of the back since that won't be seen when I put it on the base the figure was designed for.<br /><br />So what is this, you ask? It's <a href="http://www.goodsmile.info/top/eng/" target="_blank">Good Smile Company's</a> (I sincerely hope that you didn't click on that link since you probably have doomed yourself to a life of financial poverty and eternal envy) long-overdue figure based on an <a href="http://i917.photobucket.com/albums/ad19/hardcoregaming101/Hatsune%20Miku/World%20is%20Mine/898570.jpg" target="_blank">illustration</a> by redjuice which ryo used for one of his songs called <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JW-bFg06Qgc" target="_blank">World is Mine,</a> and in turn, is also the first track of the Free Play list for Project Diva. As for the sculpture itself, it's gorgeous and so well-designed that when you do plop Miku into the provided "stand," it'll hold onto her for dear life so even if flipped upside down, she won't fall out (disclaimer- I've never tried this myself yet nor do I plan on doing that anytime soon). And this is without using those annoying pegs that have to fit into specified holes and are really an eyesore if you're trying to take pictures.<br /><br />On a side note, I find it amusing that her face looks more Spanish than Japanese for this model. <br /><br /><a href="http://s917.photobucket.com/albums/ad19/hardcoregaming101/Hatsune%20Miku/World%20is%20Mine/" target="_blank">Read more...</a>

Extended Play releases are expensive

This iTunes release is called Digital Colors, created by someone named yasuo:



If you can't afford it, the good news is that all of the songs here can be found on nicovideo Smile Video, so you can listen to it there if you want. Now onto the review:

First track- I prefer the translation found in that link I found since the name sounds more Touhou-ish compared to what they put in the iTunes store, as this track sounds like one anyway. The song gets bad further down because it becomes a jumbled mess of tones at that point (like how ZUN tends to do it anyway, so I can't fault the composer for keeping true to the style). In short, it sucks.

Second track- Hey, this sounds familiar... oh yeah, it was part of the Free Play list in Project Diva. Silly me. Also sounds Touhou-ish, but at least it remains focused unlike the previous track. That's probably why Sega picked it.

Third Track- Sounds like the opening song to an RPG that has lots of Blue Skies. I like blue skies.

Final Track- A nice slow-sounding track. It's like, good enough to negate the first track altogether.

Judgement: yasuo should stop emulating ZUN. Also as mentioned in the header of this post, it's kinda pricey, so you really need to either be a Vocaloid fan or have a lot of disposable income to buy it.
<img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDOXui4fDf5WKGt26p-iMmiDU5V4AijPQhSMd9qEPT95W-QOwt7ZIR-gZU7yGDlSgrGfc2RV1V8vlCTWoHvq4dfU5UhYIclRGIFKQnqxpCJbwTC0dwyE9Lf4ClvPy_RjepAPwNCxV8gvY/s128/2009%20calander%20extra%20copy.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 128px; height: 128px;" /><br /><br />This iTunes release is called <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/digital-colors-ep/id316175244" target="_blank">Digital Colors,</a> created by someone named <a href="http://yasuokiba.vs.land.to/" target="_blank">yasuo:</a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5v0T7iZjzENrGBYGYTr7sbv7yU4WLTwJE9SG97Dc4HHY6GSJz-tRdO7_KdfjKtrbtRi98n09GVTa4pOfYRqU-tb5mzqV-E8CvNreJyK3lZaVnff16VWYmvKm_J66it-4TLqW1K3yMZjFP/s1600-h/Digital+Colors+-+EP+1.bmp" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" target="_blank"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5420528397204770322" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5v0T7iZjzENrGBYGYTr7sbv7yU4WLTwJE9SG97Dc4HHY6GSJz-tRdO7_KdfjKtrbtRi98n09GVTa4pOfYRqU-tb5mzqV-E8CvNreJyK3lZaVnff16VWYmvKm_J66it-4TLqW1K3yMZjFP/s320/Digital+Colors+-+EP+1.bmp" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 240px;" /></a><br /><br />If you can't afford it, the good news is that all of the songs here can be found on <strike>nicovideo</strike> <a href="http://www.nicovideo.jp/" target="_blank">Smile Video</a>, so you can listen to it there if you want. Now onto the review:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBfQvZsDpr8" target="_blank">First track-</a> I prefer the translation found in that link I found since the name sounds more Touhou-ish compared to what they put in the iTunes store, as this track sounds like one anyway. The song gets bad further down because it becomes a jumbled mess of tones at that point (like how ZUN tends to do it anyway, so I can't fault the composer for keeping true to the style). In short, it sucks.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxKXfdvhuwE" target="_blank">Second track-</a> Hey, this sounds familiar... oh yeah, it was part of the Free Play list in <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oaUXsEzL7E" target="_blank">Project Diva.</a> Silly me. Also sounds Touhou-ish, but at least it remains focused unlike the previous track. That's probably why Sega picked it.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=314qiMa3r1c" target="_blank">Third Track-</a> Sounds like the opening song to an RPG that has lots of <a href="http://www.ukresistance.co.uk/2005/11/blue-sky-in-games-campaign-launched.html" target="_blank">Blue Skies.</a> I like blue skies.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E06nCluId1U" target="_blank">Final Track-</a> A nice slow-sounding track. It's like, good enough to negate the first track altogether.<br /><br />Judgement: yasuo should stop emulating ZUN. Also as mentioned in the header of this post, it's kinda pricey, so you really need to either be a Vocaloid fan or have a lot of disposable income to buy it.

Miku's hair can turn into wings?! Crazy.

Next up on the iTunes store is this album called haneito by someone who goes by the name of Clean Tears:

The art is so purty.

This person is also pretty important as one of their songs is the first one played during Project Diva's ending credits. How that came to be will be saved for another time; besides, this song isn't in the album anyway.

Aside from electronic pop, this person can also can churn out some really good trance music such as the first track on this album which became one of their most iconic songs. Then I was surprised by the R&B pop tracks in the album as they're not bad at all.

So what's the verdict? It's pretty good for quite a steal if you're buying it at the album price through the US iTunes store.
<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDOXui4fDf5WKGt26p-iMmiDU5V4AijPQhSMd9qEPT95W-QOwt7ZIR-gZU7yGDlSgrGfc2RV1V8vlCTWoHvq4dfU5UhYIclRGIFKQnqxpCJbwTC0dwyE9Lf4ClvPy_RjepAPwNCxV8gvY/s128/2009%20calander%20extra%20copy.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 128px; height: 128px;" /></a><br /><br />Next up on the iTunes store is this album called <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/hane-ito/id309978470" target="_blank">haneito</a> by someone who goes by the name of <a href="http://piapro.jp/bpms" target="_blank">Clean Tears:</a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDbqYYHnNp9pEBrt-2CcPuh5a7EWgA5aczd4pDAIJeNQZ7mA21fTxyrEeFZliFLBWmZDABMDP69QNPzkjSlQNXWodWwuSZdNY0aAH5h2OJq-JxbCdj3nBvrPa9ltxZSUtdJKIkug5DCVv1/s1600-h/jacket_13.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" target="_blank"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5419532656707340738" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDbqYYHnNp9pEBrt-2CcPuh5a7EWgA5aczd4pDAIJeNQZ7mA21fTxyrEeFZliFLBWmZDABMDP69QNPzkjSlQNXWodWwuSZdNY0aAH5h2OJq-JxbCdj3nBvrPa9ltxZSUtdJKIkug5DCVv1/s320/jacket_13.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 240px;" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">The art is so purty.</span></span><br /></div><br />T<span style="font-size:100%;">his person is also pretty important as one of their songs is the first one played during <a href="http://hardcoregaming101.net/projectdiva/projectdiva.htm" target="_blank">Project Diva's</a> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_yXDdr5eH8" target="_blank">ending credits.</a> How that came to be will be saved for another time; besides, this song isn't in the album anyway.</span><br /><br />Aside from electronic pop, this person can also can churn out some really good trance music such as the first track on this album which became one of their <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0Yo3SfhaRs" target="_blank">most iconic songs.</a> Then I was surprised by the R&B pop tracks in the album as they're not bad at all.<br /><br />So what's the verdict? It's pretty good for quite a steal if you're buying it at the album price through the US iTunes store.

A tasty appetizer

As promised earlier, here's one interesting Vocaloid album found on the iTunes store:



Minato's album called Delicious can be summed up pretty much by what this reviewer said about it. So how prominent is this person, you ask? The third track to this album is found in Project Diva. You won't find this song in the Free Play list as it's one of the unused ones, but it can be played as background music in Miku's Room or can be used to create an original music video using the Rhythm Game Edit interface.

The rest of the album is a pretty good combination of fast and slow pop songs with various instruments that use either Miku or the Kagamine twins for each track. Its weakest link for me is like with a lot of Vocaloid songs I've heard, the singers at times sound a little bit too soft and tend to blend into the music. That, and the 6th track has a prominent beat in it that never really goes away and nearly drove me up a wall the first time I heard it (well, I felt compelled to drive my car into one anyway). Don't let that deter you from checking it out though. Well, don't drive while listening to this album for the first time.
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDOXui4fDf5WKGt26p-iMmiDU5V4AijPQhSMd9qEPT95W-QOwt7ZIR-gZU7yGDlSgrGfc2RV1V8vlCTWoHvq4dfU5UhYIclRGIFKQnqxpCJbwTC0dwyE9Lf4ClvPy_RjepAPwNCxV8gvY/s128/2009%20calander%20extra%20copy.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDOXui4fDf5WKGt26p-iMmiDU5V4AijPQhSMd9qEPT95W-QOwt7ZIR-gZU7yGDlSgrGfc2RV1V8vlCTWoHvq4dfU5UhYIclRGIFKQnqxpCJbwTC0dwyE9Lf4ClvPy_RjepAPwNCxV8gvY/s128/2009%20calander%20extra%20copy.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 128px; height: 128px;" /></a><br /><br />As promised earlier, here's one interesting Vocaloid album found on the iTunes store:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEnoBHCA4xMEeikYkU-qjvgYvWirvDqas1Yj_sjc94x-IPai6mbA-Ch-2SXA95_BZpaJbwI3Hgy1Y7fEmW34xAS90wJA5RLK1jAjq_grHLbrKFTek4w3TumOQUH4dyM0bh0XnlFibpDRA/s512/Delicious%203.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEnoBHCA4xMEeikYkU-qjvgYvWirvDqas1Yj_sjc94x-IPai6mbA-Ch-2SXA95_BZpaJbwI3Hgy1Y7fEmW34xAS90wJA5RLK1jAjq_grHLbrKFTek4w3TumOQUH4dyM0bh0XnlFibpDRA/s512/Delicious%203.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 295px; height: 295px;" /></a><br /><br />Minato's album called <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/delicious/id308811477" target="_blank">Delicious</a> can be summed up pretty much by what this reviewer <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAtjqhmuWCmSPIfkpq9KgqWs_1IgU67PLsLx8bEhDpeK8R85SczncXCh7bN_BcUYDuVw5cAbCO6mpgkYs5T4zKriQNtc2oL2qbvFaX26GD50J5U221sMZVeWI0TlRPQ2-MeNVZAHiLaRQ/" target="_blank">said about it.</a> So how prominent is this person, you ask? The <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCnMBkzCysg" target="_blank">third track to this album</a> is found in <a href="http://hardcoregaming101.net/projectdiva/projectdiva.htm" target="_blank">Project Diva.</a> You won't find this song in the Free Play list as it's one of the unused ones, but it can be played as background music in Miku's Room or can be used to create an original music video using the Rhythm Game Edit interface. <br /><br />The rest of the album is a pretty good combination of fast and slow pop songs with various instruments that use either Miku or the Kagamine twins for each track. Its weakest link for me is like with a lot of Vocaloid songs I've heard, the singers at times sound a little bit too soft and tend to blend into the music. That, and the 6th track has a prominent beat in it that never really goes away and nearly drove me up a wall the first time I heard it (well, I felt compelled to drive my car into one anyway). Don't let that deter you from checking it out though. Well, don't drive while listening to this album for the first time.

Not quite the MADWorld I was expecting...

A MAD is essentially a music video that either attempts to juxtapose characters from a completely different series into an existing opening video from another or use a song that was meant for something else and make a completely "original" music video with it using characters from a random series.

... Maybe it's better if I just showed you an example of a MAD instead. THE iDOLM@STER has festivals dedicated to this stuff on Nicovideo, and a lot of them are pretty amazing:



And if you're wondering, yes, they literally recorded those animations from the 360 port of the game, somehow pulled them out from the background stage, and did lots of clever tricks to make it look like that. And since Project Diva has been released into the wild, someone decided that maybe it was a good idea to apply this technique using Sega's 3D models of Crypton's Vocaloids. Hopefully events dedicated to this will start popping up more so I can talk about it later:



And with this post, I officially declare Vocaloid Week to be over. Hope you enjoyed my random discoveries.
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdOY8N4GOMY1SdTkogG1jKRAgYo04y9rQD9lqTRkhSd2LJjS01ElGANwp59EhNML5wzsXJ4ABZiRXJhU4ehL-qzktqK2lhi-KZa_OzQGsnKGzr2eOTHRPg3N8S6REzIhtDOatpw0QJINo/s128/04.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdOY8N4GOMY1SdTkogG1jKRAgYo04y9rQD9lqTRkhSd2LJjS01ElGANwp59EhNML5wzsXJ4ABZiRXJhU4ehL-qzktqK2lhi-KZa_OzQGsnKGzr2eOTHRPg3N8S6REzIhtDOatpw0QJINo/s128/04.png" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 128px; height: 127px;" /></a><br />A MAD is essentially a music video that either attempts to juxtapose characters from a completely different series into an existing opening video from another or use a song that was meant for something else and make a completely "original" music video with it using characters from a random series.<br /><br />... Maybe it's better if I just showed you an example of a MAD instead. THE iDOLM@STER <a href="http://idolmaster.tdiary.net/" t="" target="_blank">has festivals dedicated to this stuff on Nicovideo,</a> and a lot of them are pretty amazing:<br /><br /><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZSMGZCPlY3M&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZSMGZCPlY3M&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />And if you're wondering, yes, they literally recorded those animations from the 360 port of the game, somehow pulled them out from the background stage, and did lots of clever tricks to make it look like that. And since Project Diva has been released into the wild, someone decided that maybe it was a good idea to apply this technique using Sega's 3D models of Crypton's Vocaloids. Hopefully events dedicated to this will start popping up more so I can talk about it later:<br /><br /><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/5WlCZEBH4-Q&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/5WlCZEBH4-Q&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />And with this post, I officially declare Vocaloid Week to be over. Hope you enjoyed my random discoveries.

Hachune Miku plays her own song

Well, not really:



Even though that was kind of a bad performance, the person's programming skills improve to the point where it perfects a song I haven't been able to on Hard yet because, well, it is HARD! The hardest in the entire game, actually!


<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgibqMb2n0J4ZkXOpajAgizX8-u-8hOYyaPXDM9qM5-gXx0XeMTKfKep5TZ9VHCvKd5PIkD8LRMK05htnlVbj2pU7UqeFNlQ3_vdE6tJ22zZWQ7umvurhYs-7QtqYKZkag3n3FI4lle-UM/s128/03.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgibqMb2n0J4ZkXOpajAgizX8-u-8hOYyaPXDM9qM5-gXx0XeMTKfKep5TZ9VHCvKd5PIkD8LRMK05htnlVbj2pU7UqeFNlQ3_vdE6tJ22zZWQ7umvurhYs-7QtqYKZkag3n3FI4lle-UM/s128/03.png" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 110px; height: 128px;" /></a><br />Well, not really:<br /><br /><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/UYRHiOqC-fk&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/UYRHiOqC-fk&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />Even though that was kind of a bad performance, the person's programming skills improve to the point where it perfects a song I haven't been able to on Hard yet because, well, it is HARD! The hardest in the entire game, actually!<br /><br /><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/cr_QVsBrfEI&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/cr_QVsBrfEI&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>