#funky music japan

[zenkaze-japan]

Police Raid…

The time had come for another session at Cassie’s. I enjoy these small sessions, for several reasons. They are small enough that people get to play more than once, second I get to practice piano. Third I can also play a couple of songs on the shakuhachi and even Bass if I want. Also of course harmonica. So I can cover almost my full spectrum of instruments. The freedom on the keyboard is a big…

[apollosbirthdayplaylist]

藤井風 (Fujii Kaze) - Tiny Desk Concert (full show)

[killjoywasit]

Just some silly art lol while listen to Caitlin myers city pop cover , I recommend listening to them I they are so fucking good, also New hoodie ( shoutout to @moxielynx for the hoodie hood gift)

[jpopstreaming]

🚫「 もう君がいない 」 single by FUNKY MONKEY BABYS is still not available outside Japan, and we understand the frustration! Tell us which release/artist you're most eager to stream globally. 🎶

[joffartac]

there was a short lived japanese virtual band called "Funky Horror Band" and the members are made up of wacky alien figurines.

The artist behind those figurines is Chiaki Saji : https://www.instagram.com/chiaki_saji/

[theunderestimator-3]

The Underestimator Mixtapes - Post Punk Dancefloor

Two hours of mostly-'80s post punk, new wave & funk/disco/jazz-related sounds guaranteed to spin you round like a record.

Available for online streaming on Mixcloud:

https://www.mixcloud.com/the-underestimator/the-underestimator-mixtapes-post-punk-dancefloor/

Download as separate mp3 tracks in a zip file on Mediafire or Mega:

https://www.mediafire.com/file/en6l3od3e3mci8x/THE+UNDERESTIMATOR+MIXTAPES+-+POST+PUNK+DANCEFLOOR.zip/file

[Don’t be alarmed if you are denied access: In case you get the error message “Permission Denied” prompting you to download a copyrighted song via Amazon or sth, you should be aware that this is a Mediafire trick to discourage you from downloading when the uploaded file includes copyrighted material, so they can appear legit in the eyes of the copyright holders. If you close the tab and try a couple of times or more, the link will eventually appear (don’t refresh the mediafire page, it doesn’t work that way, just open the link from the underestimator post to a new tab, then close it and re-open it in a new tab a couple of times or more).]

or

https://mega.nz/file/PuwCSBwJ#m4Ywwi9aRyvsiYZhIPB7YQBaUFrYYl_yJ4CSwFd46X8

Download some more playlists posted on The Underestimator Mixtapes series, here.

Lost In Music (Sister Sledge cover) – The Fall (1993)

Adolescent Sex – Japan (1978)

Heart Of Song – Josef K (1981)

Do The Du (Casse) – A Certain Ratio (1980)

We Got Soul - Big Boys (1982)

Shoot You Down – APB (1981)

Tear You Apart – She Wants Revenge (2005)

OBCT –Sleaford Mods (2020)

Heart & Soul - Joy Division (1980)

Optimo – Liquid Liquid (1983)

Same Beat – Marine (1982)

(secret track)

UFO – ESG (1981)

Wipeout Beat – Alan Vega (1983)

Nerve – Shriekback (1984)

Funky Stuff (Kool & The Gang cover) – Lizzy Mercier Descloux (1982)

The Comb – The Waitresses (1978)

You Fascinate Me – The Offs (1980)

Crosseyed & Painless – Talking Heads (1980)

Overpowered By Funk – The Clash (1982)

Black Arabs – Black Arabs (1979)

You’Re My Kind Of Climate – Rig Rig & Panic (1982)

Black Leather - Nightmares In Wax (1985)

Love Song – Simple Minds (1981)

Bostich – Yello (1981)

Der Mussolini – DAF (1981)

Some Aspects – Chain Of Command (1983)

The Night Watch – The Bellewether Syndicate (2012)

50:50 – Sad Lovers & Giants (1984)

I Found That Essence Rare – Gang Of Four (1979)

Super – NEU! (1973)

(Cover photo: dancing in the early-'80s at Duke’s in Austin, Texas, by Ben Desoto).

[osamucide]

DAZAI HCS! ⊹

cw: talk of mental illness and substance use/abuse, speculation about Dazai’s f’ed up past, Dazai-typical references to suicide, references to self harm, probably a lot of projection on the author’s part

reid: i feel like yapping about Dazai tonight so here’s a non-exhaustive list of general headcanons i have about him. no word count because i’ll probably update this periodically lol

he does not listen to music from this century. he just doesn’t. not that he goes out of his way not to, he’s just drawn to a certain sound that only older music seems to have—I think The Smiths, Blondie, Tears For Fears, The Smashing Pumpkins, King Crimson, and Led Zeppelin are among his favorite artists

I think he also really enjoys classic jazz/blues/bebop music—Charles Mingus, Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, etc.

he’s anemic. I’m of the firm belief that Kunikida buys him a 100 ct bottle of iron tablets every 100 days which Dazai always graciously accepts. however, he only actually takes them when he gives enough of a shit to (which is not often) so the bottles are just accumulating on his bathroom sink/in the cupboard beneath

nail biter, cuticle picker, hair twirler, thigh bouncer, etc. I don’t think he really sits still unless it’s absolutely necessary

children love him, much to his dismay. they think he’s entertaining. he thinks they’re like puppies (and he canonically hates dogs). he won’t treat them badly, but he’s just not super interested in interacting with them. unwilling older brother vibe when faced with them. shithead kids can stoke his rage much faster than Chuuya ever could

he cannot take care of a fucking plant. has one succulent in his apartment. it’s surviving out of pure unadulterated spite. he hasn’t watered it in over a year

wearer of funky socks. his favorites are either the ones that say "I love my job ha ha just kidding" or the custom ones Yosano got him as a gag gift one year for white elephant at the office christmas party (they have Kunikida’s rage face on them)

really sad that, despite his criminal record being scrubbed clean, he is still banned from driving in the nation of Japan for the rest of his life because he wants a Ford Explorer so bad

PROFOUNDLY SOUND KNOWLEDGE OF MEDICAL TERMINOLOGY

he’s fluent in Japanese and English, proficient in French and Italian, and learning Russian

I think he also enjoys learning math/researching random shit/reading anything he can in his free time when he feels up to it. he never received a formal education and his IQ is through the roof—his yearning for academia is almost like an itch he has to scratch every once in a while. also, he just likes knowing things

he never learned how to ride a bike. wahhhh wahh

BPD king. look at him. my beautiful princess with a disorder. I doubt he’s diagnosed but he strongly suspects it seeing as he’s so self-aware; if not borderline, he just assumes he has severe PTSD. either way, he really won’t do anything other than what he already knows about how to manage it

along the same lines—he’s been a functional alcoholic since an alarmingly young age (I’m talking 16-17). I think it probably got a lot worse post-defection when he was underground, but he hardly had to function then anyway; he gets somewhat better after joining the Agency but still has a dependence, it’s just not severe enough to debilitate him

has a bin of art supplies in his apartment. he only ever pulls them out once every few months, but he rather enjoys painting and wouldn’t mind getting better at it

master at darts. don’t take him to a bar where there’s a dartboard. he will stand in front of it all night and obliterate everyone who challenges him

insatiable sweet tooth. he especially loves anything maple, butter pecan, or butterscotch he’s a grandpa

[sarahalainn]

MAY this be an eventful May! 

5月に入り1st of Mayだけで盛り沢山の発表があって埋もれそうですが〜

是非色々チェックしてenjoy!

🟢 【サガ エメラルド ビヨンド】

サントラが発売！

早速ゲームチャート🥇１位に！👏

sqex.to/5NMsy

SaGa: Emerald Beyond OST - OUT NOW!

1st in the VGM charts!

🟢サガエメから「Crazy for Who? 」

歌唱、作詞、ラップしてるサラなるスタイル🎤

カッコ良いいMusic Videoも是非チェック！

SaGa: Emerald Beyond

I’m singing Diva No.5’s hit track! Check out her dance moves in her funky music video!

‘Crazy for Who?’

Sarah Àlainn (lyrics, rap, vocals)

Kenji Ito (composer)

Koji Yamaoka (arranger)

Hidenori Iwasaki (music director)

🟢 「Crazy for Who? 」踊ってみた⁈💃🏻

歌と踊りが得意なメカです🤖

あなたもサラッと踊ってみて！SNSにアップして！

jp.square-enix.com/saga_eb/dance/

Now you can dance to ‘Crazy for Who?’!

Show us your dance moves!

🟢ロマサガRS今夜生配信

冒頭でサラっと出てます😉

sqex.to/aeRmy

Appeared at the beginning of this LIVE stream. Talking about SaGa: Emerald Beyond and Diva No.5 (Japanese)

🟢サラ・オレイン カルテット

Sarah Àlainn Quartet

〜MAY there be jazz & harmony〜

いよいよ5月で日本で当分最後のソロ活動!!!!!🥹

新曲ももちろん、初披露🎤💃🏻

🟩Billboard LIVE - Tokyo / Osaka / Yokohama

今年のサラ・オレイン　オリジナルカクテルは、エメラルドにちなんだいっぱい💚🍸

※5月のサライブのメンバーは異なりますw

#サラバンド

🟩Nagoya

My last show in Japan this year! 

Will be jazzing up the new tracks from my recent game music too!

My billboard signature cocktail this year will be.. Emerald based💚🍸

🟢5月生まれのMay Babies🌿

1/f ファンクラブでサラカル動画チェックしてね

Emerald is the colour of the month - and birthstone!

Join the official fanclub for exclusive content! 

I edit all my vids. This one was a first so not perfect..but learning!

🟢サラジオ復活！待っててくれてありがとう 📻🥹

緑とエメラルドで音楽の森林浴🌳♪

緑は私達にとってのPeace of Mind

植物にとってのPeace of Mindは？

大切なもの、

守って行きたいものに触れられますように

エメラルド繋がりで #サガエメ 

からディーヴァの新曲もお届け！💎🎤🤖

#PeaceofMind土曜の朝のサラ・オレイン

After a hiatus, I am back to my SaRadio!

4th May - may the force be with you - is also “Green/Emerald Day” in Japan.

Played Diva No. 5’s forbidden song and hit track too. 

Peace of Mind for us, Peace of Mind for the plants, Peace of Mind for the world🌳

[moodboardmix]

Ryuichi Sakamoto (January 17, 1952 - March 28, 2023)

Professor Sakamoto was one of Japan’s most successful musicians, acclaimed for work in Yellow Magic Orchestra as well as solo albums and film scores.

As a member of Yellow Magic Orchestra alongside Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi, Sakamoto created joyous and progressive electronic pop in the late 1970s and early 1980s, alongside solo releases. He acted alongside David Bowie in the 1983 film Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence and composed its Celebrated theme, the first in a series of film scores including Oscar-winning work in 1987 with David Byrne and Cong Su for Bernardo Bertolucci’s The Last Emperor.

Alongside YMO, Sakamoto continued releasing solo albums including 1980’s B-2 Unit, another influence on the robotically funky sound of electro that also foreshadowed other dance music styles. After focusing purely on solo work, he forged further connections in the west, collaborating with musicians including Iggy Pop, Robert Wyatt, Laurie Anderson, David Sylvian and more. Sylvian contributed Forbidden Colours, a vocal version of one of Sakamoto’s most famous works, the theme to second world war drama Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence. Sakamoto also starred in the film as a prisoner of war camp commander.

Following The last Emperor (in which he also had an acting role), he collaborated with Bernardo Bertolucci again for The Last Buddha, and with Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence director Nagisa Oshima for Gohatto. He also scored two films by Brian De Palma (Snake Eyes and Femme Fatale), plus Wild Palms for Oliver Stone, High Heels for Pedro Almodóvar, the 1990 film adaptation of The Handmaid’s Tale, and more. His 2015 score for Alejandro González Iñárritu’s film The Revenant was nominated for Golden Globe, Bafta and Grammy awards. In 2019, he composed the music for an episode of dystopian TV drama series Black Mirror. He took no further acting roles, aside from appearing as a film director in Rain, a music video for Madonna.

Mr Sakamoto released a steady schedule of solo releases throughout the 1990s and onwards, and wrote a piece for the opening ceremony of the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona. In 1999 he debuted the multimedia opera project Life, in collaboration with artist Shiro Takatani with contributions from Bertolucci, Pina Bausch and more. He and Takatani extended the concept into installation work from 2007 onwards.

Also in 2007, he began the ambitious Schola project, curating 17 compilations of global music ranging from composers such as Ravel and Beethoven to Japanese pop. It was released via his record label Commons, set up in 2006, which has also released work by artists including Boredoms and OOIOO.

In 2002, he began a fruitful partnership with German musician Carsten Nicolai, who used his Alva Noto alias for four collaborative albums of minimalist electronica.

Mr Sakamoto was also an environmental campaigner, opposing the use of nuclear power, and creating the forestry project More Trees to enable carbon offsetting.

Ryuichi Sakamoto - Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence

[number1villainstan]

Adolescence of Utena: First Time Watcher Reactions

Finding the movie and figuring out a way to get the file to play was an Educational Experience, to be sure, but I have it now! I've already watched through the series (reactions in this thread) so that should be helpful in understanding the movie. Real-time reactions below the cut:

how many times have i seen those bells now? things kept Not Working

the cock tower got ripped off at the base. lmao get rekt akio

wait is that utena and dios as shadows? with utena kneeling before kid-looking dios too

yo this intro music is fire

all the little stamp-sized pictures look like they're exploding/going up in flames. memories maybe? getting sacrificed? my first thought is nemuro hall from the series

wait wait this one picture. taller than the others, the biggest of them all even if it's not as wide. castle in the background. a small-looking boat, i can see the planks, getting tossed on huge waves in the stormy night. and right in the middle, the shadow of utena (i think) in the doorway--ready to jump out? god the boat seems like a noah's ark reference but idk if the creators would like. already know the noah's ark story? given cultural differences and all. and it's the only picture that moves (sliding backwards) AND the only picture that doesn't go up in flames. oh god. oh my god. is utena okay???

those blackboards are funky

WAKABA! she already knows utena's name but this is the first time they're meeting??

oh this is a dub. hm. well it's better than no movie at all lmao. and it doesn't seem like a bad dub either don't look a gift horse in the mouth after all

this entire school is on some escher shit. escher if he lived to make animations instead of still images

E-ko and F-ko, huh? no D-ko? (or is it linked to superstitions about 4 being unlucky in Japan cuz it can be pronounced like "death") that is assuming, of course, that the corresponding Shadow Girls from the series are A-ko, B-ko, and C-ko

lmao at that broadcast though

"it's the prince!" and the fighters are orange and blue. is juri the prince? miki?

nvm the dub is not actually that good

oh JURI'S the prince here! instead of wakaba! and she seems to be pretty close with miki--does that mean she has a better relationship with shiori here? (or at least a better relationship with her memories of shiori?)

oh damn touga showed up--black and gold uniform, a lot like utena's uniform in the show actually, but without the red on her uniform cuz his hair's already red--

damn there even looks like there's blood on the base of the cock tower where it got ripped off lmao

touga showing up as a ghost, with a dark red rose on his lapel--and the dark red roses piled up in the middle of that inaccessible(?) courtyard, like a grave

"our promise in the planetarium" akio's planetarium??? from the series??? i don't remember them ever meeting there, unless the dueling arena counts--

idk what they're supposed to be saying there. "we have yet to go" ???

that picture again--that's not utena in the doorway though

so touga's the one with the ring this time, instead of utena. "you must be engaged to someone" "this ring led me to this academy" calling back the "perhaps the ring was an engagement ring" part of the storybook intro and utena's "i came to this academy to find my prince" thing from the series

the rain stops and touga is gone. and that single white rose wasn't opened yet, was still just a bud until Utena came along, one white rose among a thousand red ones (and all the red rose petals falling), and that rose gives her the ring like dios did--standing out from the crowd of course, but is it utena or dios? or perhaps simply the ideal of a prince?

"what is that?" utena says about the floating duel arena, which is high up, unlike all of the other floating islands and parts of Ohtori

oh the stairs! unconnected to anything solid aside from their end points, like the spiral stairs in the series, but it's straight up unlike the spiral staircase, and there's no elevator that i see. like it's lost its central support

practically a carpet of red roses. so that's where the petals were falling from? that's gotta hurt to walk through though, so many thorns. plus like--flowers in general don't grow that densely? they're nutrient and energy intensive, just like fruit, cuz they're reproductive organs. Something Fishy Is Going On

anthy is holding a pink rose. pink for utena this time for sure

"i'm the headmaster's sister, so i get special treatment." idk if i can trust the dub's voice acting (doesn't sound like it) but she does not sound happy about that 'special treatment'

"I'm the only one captive to the roses" a) are you sure you're the only one? b) is captive to the roses referring to Rose Bride bullshit or just being trapped in Ohtori in general

damn saionji sounds super rough in the dub. which makes sense ofc it's saionji lol

and there's anthy's mask again. shows up around saionji, but she dropped it for utena

is saionji eating anthy's hair >.>

the sounds of machines that come as utena puts on the ring. of course. of course. the machinery of ohtori is starting up once again to claim another cog

oh wait huh. saionji's wearing the same outfit as touga, so it's not special to him after all

"this is your chance to take it off" it's like the "good luck" in the first duel in the series, but instead anthy's actively warning utena away from the duels--because utena is new, instead of a recurring student? because anthy remembers utena from before and feels guilty from trapping utena in the game? because anthy herself has gained a taste of independence and desperately wants to reclaim it? it's fascinating how anthy is acting as her own person, actively utilizing her agency in a very visible way despite being in the role of Rose Bride, as opposed to the series where she very much sticks to being passive at first (at least when the camera is on her)

the bells again, but they start the duel instead of mark its ending like in the series

aaaand there's the slap. specifically after anthy actively attempts to interfere with the duel, rather than saionji just slapping her for wishing good luck to utena. i honestly really like this new anthy

"my possession?" oh so it's said even more out loud here than in the series

saionji looks downright insane here

the series is transmasc utena the movie is transfem utena and they're both butches

"I'll never lose to anyone who hits a girl!" still that prince mindset. still that association of femininity with weakness and masculinity with abuse. in this specific case it holds true, but in the general--what about people who hit boys?

saionji looked normal for half a second there

anthy is actively taking charge of her own destiny here, kissing utena to give her the sword of (dios? anthy? just A Sword?)

and it's with the sword that utena finally wins (and gets hair extensions). in the series utena won even with a broken practice sword

oh my god they LITERALLY put saionji on the other side of a dividing line. goddamn

underwater moment? we sunk down to the new dorm? so utena isn't living with anthy this time around. it's just normal unpacking stuff

utena and touga were childhood friends...

okay so utena wants here there. which maybe anthy anticipated cuz she really just walked right in lmao

"i'm not gonna let you go home tonight" that was unexpectedly sinister

damn, anthy really just went "hey order me to fuck you utena :)"

shiori and touga are conspiring...don't like that

touga was under a white sheet. don't they usually put white sheets on the dead?

"the prince was killed" juri? touga? ruka? THE BOY FROM JURI'S STORY. which she said happened to her older sister--

"i'll make her be the prince for the rest of her life" ...damn, shiori, tf are you doing to juri

the shattered frame with the picture of utena

wait was that a show that just floated by? a lot of underwater motifs here with scene transitions

wakaba trying to swordfight lmao

utena don't leave the water on even if you're talking to your childhood friend

ah, swimmers. I see, oh it's in the pool. an empty pool. and anthy's flirting with touga. ah yes, the hypersexuality, i remember reading a meta about this

different frames in the pictures--pink roses, then candy, and baby anthy's wearing utena's yellow dress from the storybook scene--and dios being exhausted, but they're in a castle, not a barn like in the series--and the guy talking on the phone to touga, that has to be akio/dios, cuz his story is being told in the painting

oh, witch, not wish--and dios was the the lord of the flies first, akio (evil) first rather than starting as dios (good) (for all that evil and good don't really mean anything in this world)

kozue and miki are. really different in this cycle. i think kozue's hair color is different, and so is miki's hair? miki looks older, more wild, much less like the "girl-shaped boy" from the show. and the dialogue suggests that he's let go of his need for the Sunlit Garden, like how he was introduced fencing with Juri rather than playing piano

also i forgot to say this way earlier but like man, anthy and utena both look way different. i think it's their face shapes being different. rounder cheeks and points for chins. maybe it's cuz they both left last time?

"i was sold to [my father] when i was young" OH YES THE PROMISED TOUGA BACKSTORY I'VE HEARD ABOUT THIS

"the customer" too, like jesus fuck touga are you saying you were prostituted around to pedos??? the touga-anthy parallels are painful

and shiori calling juri disgusting :/ for what, having a gay crush? being a lesbian? liking shiori? the pendant? just a rumor?

the bugs on the cabbage. shiori being a bug? and growing wings from the white cloth (death cloth?) of the room--oh no, moths. white moths. with black spots. (the defilement of purity? the ugly evil on a canvas of nothing?) landing on touga. somehow i feel like even if they had sex that touga wasn't properly into it. that it was just a bargaining chip.

juri and miki's outfits are red and blue, not black like touga and saionji's--

the mirage of dios--and just half an hour in we get the Revolution foreshadowing

the name kozue behind miki as juri's asking about his motivations. and the (blue? purple?) bath duck and water splashes in the red light. this feels like machinery.

"my wish is always to obtain more power" miki doesn't just have ruka's hair, he's acting like ruka. i don't like this

"that's so male" and yet again the gender roles

miki says he wants to simply gain more power. juri says she wants to gain power to free herself from Everything. and then--"unromantic things" are they dating?? is this just something weird about the dub or was it intentional on Be-Papas' part???

they are not, in fact, alone

oh fuck

(and shiori's flirting with juri--shiori's manipulating both touga AND juri. but miki seems to see right through it)

"those things" you mean sex? like cmon utena sex isn't something shameful

"touga started to act strange because of you" and then we cut to the moths over the lamp. oh no. it was shiori made touga "act strange"

"i thought he would only be beside only me" possessive much?

stars--"there is no prince"--callbacks to the show again

she cut the water line! not utena's neck thank god

utena mentions the stars so anthy gives her the stars oh my god

the long haired utena with the red trim that short-hair utena doesn't have, and anthy's reflection has the rose bride dress--which is white instead of red like the series--is the long-haired utena supposed to represent her "true self?" transfem utena fr

wakaba also looks a bit different, so maybe it's just all the girls ("girls") who look different, cuz the boys don't look very different

"capture your partner's essence" what? oh this is art class

anthy always above utena during the walking scene

"i want to be your friend": the "i don't like this engaged business" part in the series came early, during the student council arc--the "if you have any problems come to me, okay" part came much later, during the akio arc. the movie be speedrunning their relationship. but anthy's not cooperating, cuz she interrupted utena to ask to switch

"let's keep no secrets" used to get utena naked. damn. a bit of anthy's manipulativeness coming in

THAT PAINTING AGAIN

is that the sound of a car? and the paintings from the intro--

no that's an airplane taking off

oh god, there's a hole in her chest. the swords of hate?

the shadow girl broadcast! and a 'scandalascious tape'

the nanami cow! and chu-chu, and the triplets as elephants too lmao

i'm surprised they didn't use actual cow sounds. it's just a dub of someone saying "moo" over and over again :/

chu-chu got ate?

wrong tape lmao

Akio! "I lost the key to my car. Oh well!" lmao. and is that girl with him, is that nanami? looks like her. but it's probably meant to be kanae instead. and all the obvious performativeness, even as E-ko and F-ko call him a "textbook example of a prince", yeah that fits him

oh, did he just use the police as an escort? i thought he was getting arrested for half a second (sadly no)

the skip with the "starts, starts, starts...starts here!" huh.

and now the record is skipping--and then the tape skipping--

and now juri and utena are dueling. utena of course pulls a sword from anthy, and shiori gives juri a sword--i'm reminded of the akio and apocalypse arc duels, but the motivation is similar to juri's stuco arc duel

miki standing with touga... except he can't see him. i also think maybe ruka got folded into miki's character

"eternity, miracles, everything that glows" eternity, the power of miracles, and the shining thing. of course.

oh so utena actually properly wins against juri in the movie, by calling on the power of dios subconsciously. naturally.

and then the revelation that Akio is dead? and kanae crying over here. anthy doesn't seem to like her very much this cycle either

oh my god, anthy killed akio? or at least buried his body--no wonder she's so much more active this time around mwahahaha

oh now akio's car key is much more important

oh. no. akio killed anthy. damn. in a drunken stupor it seems. cuz he was taking advantage of her when he thought she was asleep? yay, more sexual trauma /sarcasm

chair with a sign on it, turn for the elevator--black rose arc callback?

OH SHIT IT REALLY IS THE BLACK ROSE ARC! evil elevator time??? but different cuz no mikage i bet

ahhhh this makes shiori's "i'll make her be the prince forever" make so much more sense

the boat from the picture!

dividing line between touga and utena

"the end of the world" name drop!

ah, touga was the one who drowned. their relationship is way different this cycle

the lighting used to be yellow in the elevator, now it's pink instead. and huh, the elevator wasn't evil this time around

"you really were my prince" Your Honor I Would Like To Object

and now utena's the prince--as long as she stays in this world. is this anthy's world then? but utena still wants to go to the outside world

ZETTAI UNMEI MOKUSHIROKU!

utena's getting turned into a car let's gooooooooo

these scenes are where all the implied machinery comes to light fr isn't it

utena nearly went to rust before anthy took up her offer

the road from the show! is it staying stop i can't read japanese

the shadow girls now all have pink hair lol

oh my god it's shiori! that's not black, that's purple though, and the insides are pink with frilly lace on the edges, hm

"the only one who deserves to escape is me" and then she takes herself out

oh no, more cars. actually black this time, sounding like bots--creepy bots? compared to bugs--and a swarm--but the radio girls implied that they've seen them before--

is that shiori again? nope

she got help! from the student council of all people! but how did they know what they were trying to do, and what made them decide to help them--this movie requires so much prior knowledge of the series to make any sense. like when did they become friends this cycle even? when utena defeated saionji and miki??

"high goals attract good people" okay but do they? we only have the one instance, and we have a counterexample in touga and shiori don't we?

"i will be there to seduce you" saionji you're like the worst seducer on the planet lmaoooooo

i don't think the magical looking castle is the landmark for the exit somehow

i was right

rondo revolution! and car makeover!

anthy's got some serious dodging skills to get through those tires

oh no, not the treads--and there's dios/akio.

damn does utena feel pain as a car? cuz she must be hurting right now

"a living corpse" huh? a closed world where death and life are conflated--

ohhhhh being a living corpse is how you be a princess....does that mean dios was a princess? lmao

end of the world and "grant me the power to revolutionize the world" name drops

oh my god all the radio girls are literal strawmen. strawwomen? strawpeople? no wonder their faces/skin were blacked out

oh, those are the ruins of the black cars--and the castle too, probably

"a world without roads" huh?

wakaba is still trapped in ohtori :( with what looks like onion prince dude lol

"the world will get bigger by that much" ah, so that's what "end of the world" means here--it's not a literal world, it's their experience that's the world. living at the edge of their experience

and that's the end of the movie! Overall Impressions: I'm...honestly not impressed by it. I do like the touga backstory, cuz we didn't get that in the series, but it felt like it took on too much and ended up cutting vital things cuz nothing fit. Maybe my experience was colored by the lackluster dub voice acting, but it seriously felt like the characterization was lacking, and not just because of the dub--there were important scenes missing that give context to character changes. Most specifically I'm thinking of the heel-face turn of the Student Council. Why did they do that? Why did they help them? Utena and Anthy's desires to go to the outside world also aren't properly explored. That's probably the biggest flaw with this movie, is the way important character arcs aren't fluid--they have big jumps that don't feel right, that only make sense if you have the show's context, and even then don't make sense within the world of the show. We leave a character at point A, and then when they reappear somehow they've jumped to point 27 and the viewer only has any idea how they got there if they've watched the show. That and whatever happened to Miki's character, and the fact that Wakaba only shows up as exposition (and I think the Student Council's car? that wasn't clear though). Absolutely criminal what they did to Wakaba. My girl deserves better than that.

I did like Touga's backstory, though. Makes a lot of sense for his character (even when that calls a lot of Nanami's character into question, like did she suffer the same fate??). And also Saionji's willingness to Throw Down with Utena immediately. If he were anywhere except Ohtori he'd be a delinquent with like 18 fights on his record lmao

[zenkaze-japan]

May 2024, The Session @Cassie’s

It had been a while since attended a session at Cassie’s. Not because I did not want to, but because there was the accident, bad timing, my laziness, cold, rain. A bunch of kinda lame reasons, sometimes I just had other stuff to do at Komyoji. There is always my first priority. Last month there was a lot of rain and I sort of had a cold. I in fact canceled going to another much more local Jazz…

[sageistri]

How did aespa have a bigger come back than new jeans? Heck overall lesserafim, illit and baby monster even seemed to have done better than them.

Is this just a setback or the start of their decline because it's way too early. Not that they aren't doing ok, but that's the problem with instant success, sometimes it's not sustainable or you could just be going through a temporary "flop era" and everyone would just assume you're dying out.

A lot of their streams came from armys who were casual listeners so that could have affected them, no tth this time too further proving that while new jeans blew up because they brought something "new", a lot of their mind-blowing success came from the behind the scenes support they were getting from hybe, because they only got less playlisting than before but still more than most kpop acts and their numbers declined drastically even though they still have stability, but girl groups in general have stability so it's nothing special. It could also be that we are all getting tired of the old skool/y2k funky fresh concepts and monotonous music which is to be expected (I loved how sweet though)

Also it's wild how new jeans fans act like mhj is a genius and new jeans makes the best music anyone's ever heard when their new songs are perfect examples of music being geared towards tiktok and social media aesthetic posts, also the songs and mv were literally ads for a shampoo brand and coca cola to promote them in Japan ahead of their japanese debut, but of course mhj is an "artist".

For now (before mhj convinces hybe to bring back their support) new jeans are literally pulling the exact same numbers as their peers, I wonder how their stans are going to cope considering a huge part of their fandom are made up of armys and kpop stans who started stanning them because they were pulling not only the best numbers but they were miles ahead of their 4th gen peers and seemed to be well on their way to competing with black pink. While their new concept was a huge draw, the instant success they got was the main reason why a lot of armys unstanned BTS for them. A lot of these people feel an attachment to hybe because of BTS, so trust that the one successful girl group some armys decided to Stan had to be from hybe. This must be dark times for new jeans stans.

I love when stans like that get humbled for a while and learn that musical success is fickle especially for artists without huge fandoms to cushion them during moments like these when they don't do as well, because now everyone's going to act like they are declining when it could just be one of those temporary moments but you also can't blame anyone considering they went from 2m-3m+ debuts to not even cracking 2m streams after a full tracking day and a lot of playlist reach when illit, aespa and le sserafim all reached 2m streams.

[randomvarious]

Today's compilation:

Out Patients 2 2001 Future Jazz / Acid Jazz / 2-step / Deep House

Oh my goodness, folks. Last week I made a post about UK drum n bass label Hospital Records' foray into stuff that they weren't typically known for with a 2000 release of theirs called Out Patients, but today I'm back with Out Patients 2, which came out the following year, and actually turns out to be on a whole different plane. I mean, I thoroughly enjoyed a lot of the stuff that was on the first installment of this series, but this near-exclusive crop of 11 songs here is just incredible—everything is a flat-out banger.

Now, while both of the first two volumes in this series are primarily comprised of future jazz joints, the secondary genres are a bit different. Out Patients provided a bunch of broken beat and a couple drum n bass tracks, but for this one, Hospital gives us some acid jazz, stuff with 2-step breaks—which they'd successfully utilize in their dnb output as well, as they played an integral role in the whole liquid dnb wave—and a couple fantastic pieces of deep house too.

And the deep house tune that happens to close out this whole shebang, "Shinobi," by Japan's Jazztronik, really just might be one of the greatest pieces of deep house that I've ever heard in my damn life. This is, like, a deep house track with different movements, you guys: a long, tribal open; followed by an extremely smooth section with a funky bassline, bleepy and snaky synth work, and leading flute improv; a little Brazilian breakdown; and then a tribal closing. Such a sublimely varied excursion that I can't believe Jazztronik didn't actually first save for one of his own releases.

But I'm really not even sure that "Shinobi" is actually my favorite track overall on here anyway, because what Hospital's founders, London Elektricity (who also operate under the alias of Future Homosapiens), managed to cook up with their remix of UK acid jazzers Izit's 1993 tune, "Bird of Paradise," is the one song on this comp that *really* left my jaw scraping the floor 😮. This is just such a totally unrelenting, 8-plus-minute barrage of fierce, uptempo, and transcendent acid jazz-dance glory that's already a certified bop in the early going before Nicola Bright-Thomas even opens her mouth. And when she gets to doing her Brazilian-inspired scatting, this thing hits a different level, but then it manages to climb even higher in the second half with an absolutely deadly combination of peppery flute and ring-dinging hi-hats added to it all too. And unlike everything else on this album, this one wasn't actually an exclusive when it appeared on here; Hospital sublabel Galactic Disco put it out on a 12-inch in 1998. And would you believe me if I then told you that that release only has a 3.64/5 rating on Discogs with this unreal stunner on it?! That's not a good rating at all by Discogs' standards! What are people even thinking?!?

Really blown away by this whole thing here. Another dispatch that especially excels at music that its premier dnb label is not really known for releasing in the first place. Some other labels of a future jazz-and-lounge-type bent could only hope to ever put out something that sounds as consistently good as this 😤🥺.

Landslide - "Hear My People" Pulcinella - "A'Bboss" Swell Session - "Speak" Audiomontage - "Come With Me" London Elektricity - "Unreality" Les Gammas - "Fez" Solid Roots - "Samba Sun" Izit vs. Future Homosapiens - "Bird of Paradise" Danny Byrd - "Changes (Yukihiro Fukutomi Remix)" Future Homosapiens - "Talkbox" Jazztronik - "Shinobi"

[smash-64]

2022 Game of the Year Countdown 2. Panel de Pon Intelligent Systems Super Famicom, 1995

Yeah! FAIRIES!

In early January, @studentofthors​ said she wanted to try this game. I’m not into puzzle games, but I said I’d give it a shot. Between being completely lost and being stomped into the dust, I somehow developed a love for everything this game offers. Gorgeous visuals, overflowing charm, bright colors, funky bass guitar, and a depth to gameplay that far outreaches my humble skills. Panel de Pon is the greatest puzzle game I’ve ever played, and nothing else even registers on the scale.

Let’s start with the visuals. This game is so gorgeous, it’s hard to believe it’s a Super Famicom game. It has highly detailed and animated sprites, each one distinct from the others and displaying each fairy’s personality with the many reactions during games. The backgrounds are also gorgeous, and I just cannot understand why new Puzzle League games have removed this sort of thing. Just look at them!

Everything about this game is charming and upbeat. Positivity is kind of my thing, so seeing a character like Lip is really fun for me. And all of the fairies have detailed and colorful backgrounds.

Even the bad guys have a sort of charm to them. Thanatos is supposed to be scary, but some of his sprites are just ridiculous.

I cannot get enough of the music from this game. Neris’ theme is calm and relaxing, with a really funky slap bass beat when the panic theme kicks in. Flare’s theme is probably the most invigorating tune. Ruby has a great theme, too. And Walking on a Rainbow is one of my all-time favorite credits tunes. It’s just so calming and reassuring.

So, as everyone likes to point out, this game came West as Tetris Attack, rebranded as a Yoshi game. There was an N64 sequel planned, which ended up being rebranded as Pokemon Puzzle League, and while it did eventually get released on a Japan-only puzzle collection for GameCube, it seems like the developers had only one goal in mind for the series: remove ALL charm from sequels. No fairies anymore for Puzzle League games. This is supremely sad for me and honestly kills all desire for me to play the newer versions. I do like the actual puzzle gameplay, but the rest of the game was what really enticed me to begin with.

I cannot even begin to describe the gameplay to this game because it is so deep and complex. However, the basic concept is so simple, you can grasp the goal of the game in mere seconds. Yet, even after a year of playing this game, I’m probably considered barely even intermediate level. Watching tournament finals absolutely blows me away every single time. I’d lose to these people in literally 10 seconds. It’s absurd.

The VS mode is probably where the most fun can be found, as you can do the story mode against CPU opponents, or fight your friends. But there is an endless mode where you can go for a high score, and there is also a 1P puzzle mode where you are given a puzzle and must solve it within a certain amount of moves. There are an astounding 120 levels to this 1P puzzle mode. This game is 27 years old. I love it.

With the addition of this game to the Nintendo Switch Online subscription, you can play it online against anyone in the world. This was how I initially tried the game out, and it’s probably the best thing that ever happened to Panel de Pon. So many people are discovering the game this way, and are able to play against other people online. I even ordered a physical copy from Japan and swapped the board for a donor cart to be able to play it on my SNES. I brought it into work and we’re currently working on an interdepartmental tournament on break time! 

In the past year, I have gotten no fewer than seven people hooked on this game. I guess it’s similar enough to Candy Crush that people took to it quickly, but then stuck with it because it was more interesting and deeper. Take a break from your normal game rotation and check out something different.

[the-eclectic-wonderer]

7 comfort movies, 7 tags

A big thanks to my sweet friend Valentina @valentinaonthemoon for tagging me in this! Her list can be found here and it's got some true gems, definitely check it out!

The Sound of Music (USA, 1965. dir: Robert Wise) This is THE movie of all time for me. My absolute favourite, and the one I watch when I need to be reminded that there are good things in this world. It simply heals my soul, there's no other way to describe it.

Ponyo (Japan, 2008. dir: Hayao Miyazaki) It's not a comfort movie list without a Miyazaki movie. Ponyo specifically is a lovely fable about a goldfish, a boy, the beauty of nature and the power of true, pure, joyous love. Marvelously wholesome.

The Intern (USA, 2015. dir: Nancy Meyers) A little gem of a movie about the unlikely friendship between a 70-year-old gentleman and the up-and-coming CEO of a recent fashion empire. Anne Hathaway and Robert De Niro are perfect in this one. It's got the vibes of a romcom, but with a platonic relationship at its core. Really endearing.

C'è ancora domani [There's still tomorrow] (Italy, 2023. dir: Paola Cortellesi) The most recent addition to this list! C'è ancora domani is the story of a normal housewife simply living her normal life in post-WW2 Italy and dreaming of a better future. You'll laugh, you'll feel, you'll cry your heart out and you'll be happy about it. A must-watch.

Sister Act (USA, 1992. dir: Emile Ardolino) This is one of my favourite movies of all time. There's no joy quite like singing and dancing along Whoopi Goldberg and her delightful choir of colorful nuns. It's impossible to come out of this movie without a smile on your face.

Knives Out (USA, 2019. dir: Rian Johnson) If there's one thing I always love, that's a good murder mystery with a funky detective and a cast of colorful suspects. Add in some really good performances from all the actors, some *incredibly* high-quality sweaters, and just the right pinch of rich spoiled people getting what's coming to them, and you've got a classic for the ages. I can't believe it took them this long to get Daniel Craig in this kind of role, he's a natural.

The Grand Budapest Hotel (USA, 2014. dir: Wes Anderson) What can I say about this movie that hasn't already been said? I find it impossible to describe - it *has* to be experienced first hand. It's perfect and delightful in every way.

Compiling this list was a lot of fun - I really need to rewatch some of these movies asap! They're all very dear to my heart and I absolutely recommend them all. I promise you won't be disappointed.

Thanks again @valentinaonthemoon for the tag! Anyone who wants to take a shot at this, feel free to use this post as your invite - and tag me if you do, I'd love to check out your favourite comfort movies! Have fun!

[xumoonhao]

i was tagged by @onedirecton to tag 10 ppl i want to get to know better and make a few questions :3 hehe, thank you sm alice :3

favourite colour: purple, hehe :3 alice i love that we have the same fav colour 💜💜💜 favourite food: ahhhh, i love most things!!! i do have a soft spot for soups and stews tho like they are so so wonderful……… mutuals pls gather round im giving you all a bowl of w/e soup or stew you like rn 🍲 song stuck in my head: babaero by randy santiago!!! its been stuck in my head since i first listened to it like it really is just so good, god… funky city pop music is really everything to me!!!!!!!! absolute best genre of music ever <<<333 i give it one thousand million hearts <- this was my last obsession bc i wrote all these answers down like. a week ago and forgot to post it so now the song stuck in my head is dagundong by alamat :3 its so good btw~! last long i listened to: hala by alamat!!! spotify did the only good thing its ever done by reintroducing me to alamat again like they are So Good oh my god...highly recommend their music!!! the way they work Filipino history into their videos and songs is soooooooo beautiful omg..... dream trip: hhhhhh i want to go to SO many places but my absolute DREAM is japan!!! id love to check out tokyo bc its so not like where i grew up - a bustling metropolis is what i want to live in like literally get me outta my small town this is not the place for meeeeee 😭 - but nara….the deer there……….god i need to go so BAD and i also just want to go to a cherry blossom festival once like pls…pls :( other than tho id LOVE to visit the great bear rainforest!!! like it just looks so so beautiful and its really not too far from me omg……. last tv show/movie: im currently watching the cherry magic anime (it is so good and so cute omg i forgot how much i enjoy the story….) and rewatching kyou kara maoh which is really and truly such a beloved anime To Me like its absolutely ridiculous god i love it sm!!! and i dont remember the last movie i watched?? i Think it was skinamarink but i could be wrong bc i watched that early last year and surely ive seen a movie since then…? but also maybe not bc i truly do only watch like 1 movie a year 😭 <- also update to this bc i watched sweet home a couple days ago!!! it was quite good and i really enjoyed the practical effects in it :3 older horror movies really have such a beloved place in my heart ahhh...also in writing this i remember i watched The Thing after skinamarink...i. only watched horror movies apparently spicy/sweet/savory: SPICY 🌶️🌶️🌶️ i do like all these things but if i had to choose id def go spicy over either of these!!! i do like spicy + sweet tho like omg one time i had spicy chocolate frozen yogurt and it was sooooooo good !!! idk what was used to make it spicy but i Adored it wahhhh~

also!!! in your lil tag game it said to make a few cool questions so i will make some <<<333

If you could be any animal, would you choose to be a domesticated animal or a wild one? Domesticated can extend to a wild animal that has been individually raised in a home, i.e., someone raising a raccoon a pet.

What is your favourite medium of creation? If you don't really engage in making things, pick whatever you're most interested in trying :3 And by medium I mean everything from drawing or making music or writing…anything creative!

What is/are your favourite(s) combination of colours?

Imagine your perfect summer day; what does it look like? Give as much description as you want :3

What is your favourite celestial object?

now, ill tag @grlfriends, @kwonhochi, @vampirebiter, @wonhosgrl, @librapropaganda, @honeydewtual, @heartual, @10281, @taengoo, @morgoth, @bixiaoshi, @ghostfeather, @ashmp3, @lovenee, @earlymay, @anglerfishare1inchto3feetlong, and @huiven!!! only if you want, ofc :3 and i know it said only 10 ppl but you see. i lost count while tagging ......... but thats fine <3