Merry Christmas, everyone!
Was busy compiling my portfolio, went to the gym and had dinner in Matsuya… alone. Yet another ronery Christmas for me. more >>
Category Music
Touhou Vid – Bad Apple
Even if you have no idea what Touhou is, watch it for the visuals. This has gotta be the most stylized and tastefully designed Touhou-related video I have ever seen. Features most of the popular characters in the Touhou universe.
Again, the power of doujin culture shines with bewildering creativity. Thanks, Zun.
How to Draw Cross Game’s Resident Kitty
I was watching the raws of Cross Game last night (couldn’t wait for the subs) and out came the drawing song of Nomo, the cute little cat of the Tsukishima family.
Thought it was smart coz the lyrics described a baseball match which follows the show’s premise.
I only saw the Japanese version in YouTube, so I took the liberty of ripping that, reuploading it to my own account and adding little subs of my own :) Hope they’re accurate. Enjoy!
Pop’n Wait
Playing Pop’n Music 17 while waiting for my clothes to be tumbled’n dried in a nearby laundromat.
All game centers were instructed by Konami last week to unlock all songs and bonuses. Those many plays to unlock these secrets, all go to waste!
Disney Classics in Moonspeak
(This beautiful wallpaper is courtesy of Mimi-na)
Recently my cousins and I were discussing about Disney princesses. Yes we talk about girls of all formats! Nothing like a bunch of macho guys talking about Disney princesses amirite.
A little trivia: Did you know that I watched Tarzan more than 10 times in the cinema? Don’t ask.
To satisfy my curiousity even further *ahem*, I went to Google Image Search with Safesearch off YouTube to check out some clips. Really brings back a lot of memories. Getting past the horribly mushy self-made music videos which I can’t stand watching 5 seconds of, I came across official Disney japanese dub clips.
Let’s watch them while reminiscing on Disney’s magic and wonderfully smooth animation.
The Little Mermaid. I know, should put the signature song Under the Sea. But Ariel’s japanese voice sounds great! … Sure
Beauty and the Beast. It doesn’t feel as magical as the English version though.
Aladdin. I’d say this is pretty well done! Aiyoh tarik bawah sikit…
The Lion King. A bit rushed rite the lyrics lol. Do note that some of these videos don’t have movie dialogue as the song was extracted from the soundtrack CD.
Pocahontas. Quite ngam!
The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Wow I quite like Quasimodo’s voice in this one! And even in the original it really feels like an intro to a musical. Charming!
Hercules. Dare ga ichiban tsuyoi? Herakuresu! Yes hontou! Too bad the sound effects were not there (again extracted from soundtrack CD). For Megara fans (me), watch this one!
Mulan. I’m guessing Mandarin would be more suitable for this :P
Tarzan. Surprise! It’s the Malay version, simply coz Zainal Abidin rox.
I watched the bonus materials on Daim’s Prince of Egypt DVD and saw the multilanguage version of When You Believe. Epic and inspirational! And I know it’s not Disney k!
Ok so it’s another YouTube-ridden blog post. Sue me.
A New Nico Nico Medley!
Well well, get ready for another installment of Nico Nico madness, by the name of Nanairo no (The 7 colours of) Nico Nico Douga. Made by the same guy who made the first two. Wonder if it’ll be more popular than its predecessors.
It has the usual NicoNico recent favourites: K-0N, Miku vids, Macross, Evangelion, Touhou and even Ponyo! Let’s test your otaku skillz. See how many anime, memes and MTVs (Genki Rockets w00t) you can identify! If you know more than half of it, you’re a certified otaku.
…wait, more than three quarters, THEN you’re an otaku :P
To help you out is a popular NicoNico VIP named HongKong (is she really from Hong Kong?!) who has lent her singing voice to many NicoNico vids in the past. Amidst all the chaos she tries her best to sing according to the original source. Then she digitally edits the tone, pitch, etc. The whole video is sung by her, and even some sequences have her trademark character. Cool!
Here’s the original song without HongKong’s voice: Click here.
I like the last part where the songs from the previous medleys are played in chaotic manner. Brings back memories of the countless wasted hours of surfing Nico Nico Douga ^^;;
What surprised me was the appearence of Tentai Senshi Sunred, a superb anime about a sentai superhero leading a normal married life, drinking tea with weird villains and all that xD
My Top 5 Polysics Songs
Ok, so I wanted to post about E3 and all that. Suddenly James, a guy I met on Lowyat.NET talked to me on MSN about my favourite Japanese music groups/singers. I’m not THAT much into non-soundtrack music, but first thing that hit my mind was Polysics.
Told James that I talked about them in the blog before, a little here and there, but he asked why I didn’t have a single post about Polysics. So yup, here we are!
They like to call themselves the “Technicolor Pogo Punk” group. In simple terms — trippy! Their songs remind me of old video game soundtrack. The reason I love them is that they’re focused on using their instruments to play high energy music rather than just have nice vocals. They are obviously enjoying themselves!
Possibly due to their whackiness, they’re one of the few Japanese groups that could do live tours in Europe and the US, and have their albums sold there too. You can see their live concerts on YouTube, in Japan, London, Portland, Bristol and California. You can read more about their worldwide success on their Wiki page.
Ok enough talk! Best to just look at the real thing, rite? Well here are my Top 5, starting from numero uno:
#1 — I My Me Mine
The song is just so catchy that it plays in my head every so often. And the dances LOL, love the road signs that come with them too, very symbolic. No surprise that it inspired Miku fans to create the popular MMD video.
#2 — Baby Bias
I love Kayo-chan! She has all the talents that suit 70s/80s trippy music: the keyboard sounds, her vocals and her actions. Just look at how she literally tramples on the keyboard! If you prefer more guitar riffs, you can check out their live concerts. This song is almost always played at the end, so you can see them already sweaty, tired and still going at it at full speed!
#3 — Computer Obaachan
Song title literally translates to “Computer Granny”. Quirky title indeed! The truth is that this song was taken from an old kid’s show Minna no Uta, but Polysics took it and brought it to a more awesome level! The MTV’s good for typography motion class too.
#4 — Electric Surfing Go Go
My mouth gaped wide open when I saw the MTV. ‘Nuff said.
#5 — You-You-You
The best intro song of Keroro Gunso. Love the 3D “You” jumping into your face, wonder why they didn’t do it often. But the 3d guy being hit by a bunch of balls was totally random lol.
Miku… in Shibuya?
Hearing Hatsune Miku’s voice in the streets of Akihabara is normal. Waaaaaaayyy normal. But how about along the street of Center Gai in Shibuya, the home of the young and trendy?
My cousins and I were having dinner there, and I thought I heard something familiar. It was Miku’s voice coming out from the speaker above, singing my fave Miku song “Melt” :3 Her voice resonated throughout the entire street!
To promote the latest album by the synthesizer-voiced wonder, advertisements were placed on the lamp-posts of this busy street. Supercell, a group of composer geniuses in NicoNicoDouga, remastered their Miku songs and came out with a major debut album.
Needless to say, it became a BIG hit. It became 2nd place in the ORICON album chart. It was sold out in Amazon and Sony Music Japan in an instant. Heck, even the TV commercial looks awesome. (Yes there’s a TV commercial!)
Looks like it’s Akiba time this week! ^_^ I’m just glad that Miku and Supercell are gaining the wider recognition they deserve.
Kodomo No Jikan and… Offspring?!
Kodomo no Jikan has sparked controversy in some parts of the world. Usually judged by its so-called “child softporn” surface, it’s a comedy drama about how a kintergarden teacher deals with children that have really serious household and personal issues. Kinda like GTO, but with children.
Yes I watch the show too. I watch it for its unique approach to child psychology. Really! Why won’t you believe me?!
Anyway, the first TV season had a really cute ending sequence, to which many fans followed up with many fanvids. Hanamaru Sensation by Little Non. That was back in 2007:
Now let’s rewind back to 2000 and listen to Offspring’s One Fine Day:
So Little Non, is this… coincidence? Borrowing a note or two, or a hundred maybe? Who knows. Regardless, I still like both singers (yes I like Offspring songs, u know!).
Little Non started off from singing in parks to having albums and singing official soundtracks, so she deserves my respect. And I love her latest song for Kodomo no Jikan 2nd season, so all is well!
Expect more NicoNico fanvids for this one. Getsu Ka Sui Moku Kin Do Nichi!
Windows Live Messenger + Nico Nico Douga
Just read the great news from Danny Choo. Apparently Microsoft is going to release a version of Windows Live Messenger that connects directly to Nico Nico videos! Yay~ :)
It’s the first time that a corporate company (apart from Crypton Future Media, duh) used Hatsune Miku in advertising. Microsoft picked out regular contributors of Nico Nico to create the online advert. Microsoft has announced that they’ll release it on TV this month.
Here’s the CM, showing Miku walking around in Microsoft’s Akasaka office:
Look at all those MSN icons flying about! The title is “The Song of Nico Nico Messe”, Messe being the abbreviation of Messenger. What better way to teach the software features than to have Miku singing it out. Glad to see a giant company recognize Miku’s kyootness :3
Sing along everyone! Messe, messe, messe, messe…
