#takanori makes revolution

[lunamikk69]

SCANDAL ✖ T.M.Revolution; Takanori Nishikawa Shunkan Sentimental collaboration making of studio live.

[akumanoken]

@inseparableduo

Resonance

Had to look it up and I can see it!! I love me some TMR

[azuretl]

B-PROJECT

I am honored to announce that I was part of the fantastic localization team that's bringing Ryusei*Fantasia to the west!

With Ryusei*Fantasia announced, I thought I could write a little bit about my experiences with B-PRO and the interesting coincidences that led me to this fantastic franchise. Since I wasn't sure what I was going to do with this blog, and I'm deadly sick still, I might as well do a bit of random writing and talk a bit about the project! Weird rambling under the cut.

So, I actually knew about B-PRO when it was first announced years ago. My sister and I are huge fans of TMR (TM Revolution, aka Takanori Nishikawa) which stemmed from our love for the Sengoku Basara franchise. (I can go on forever about that one... We did cosplays, photoshoots, nightly gaming sessions [we had all the games in Japanese], I wrote fanfics... um yeah. It was...*a time* :P ) We caught wind that TMR was producing a new virtual idol group...and that's when I learned about B-PRO.

I didn't know the boys, but I did know that the music was going to be FIRE... And after seeing images of the characters, they didn't really have a lasting impression (except for Korekuni... At the time, I recognized him as "Kishio Daisuke's character" :'D I'm also a seiyuu fanatic, so...).

(Ahhh...the Daisuke team for KITAKADO...)

Fast forward to a few years later, B-PRO was still in its infancy, and, being the huge seiyuu fan that I am, I listened to a lot of seiyuu music. (I-CHU, Actors franchise, i7, etc. etc...) When just playing a random song list, I ran into some B-PRO music. That's really the extent of what I knew about it... It had a great voice cast and the music is FIRE.

I also found out that Kato Kazuki is voicing in it :O (And then I was certain the music was going to be SOOOO GOOOOD). I'm also a huuuge tenipuri fan (POT head here :'D. Cosplays, fanfics, fanart, dream novels [do people even remember those?] I've done it all.) and naturally, I became a huge Tenimyu fan as well (Prince of Tennis Musicals... I even got a group of friends together to cosplay + reenact some dances from Tenimyu for cosplay contests...and won quite a few of them too ;) ). My favorite Tenimyu cast was the Dream Live 3 group. (I guess they're considered season 2 Seigaku?) with the D-boys and Yanagi Kotaro/Endou Yuya as their Ryouma. (People who don't know Tenimyu, sorry for all the terminology that probably doesn't make sense to you lol... *sweat*) And my favorite school happened to be Hyoutei.

Now, for those who don't know, Kato Kazuki (voice of Aizome) played the captain of Hyoutei's tennis club in the musicals (Atobe Keigo) and he EMBODIED that smug, ore-sama sonuvabitch <3 aura. If you don't know PoT, Atobe is basically Aizome but younger and filthy rich. And naturally, Tenimyu being a musical, meant Kato Kazuki had to sing live... and I fell in LOVE with his voice. He is such an amazing singer! And actor! (I also started watching Kamen Rider Kabuto because of him... he plays one of the Kamen Riders and he is, again, a smug, ore-sama sonuvabitch... I guess he gets typecasted a lot...)

All this is to say, I really really really like Kato Kazuki...as an actor, singer, performer... he excudes sexy and he has so. much. presence. Seeing him working in an idol franchise was pretty refreshing and exciting!

(Side note, Goshi's voice actor- Toyonaga Toshiyuki is also in the Prince of Tennis musical... and he shared the stage with Aizome's voice actor, Kato Kazuki, quite a lot. They also interacted a lot in the backstage behind-the-scenes videos. They're really good friends so... queue my utter surprise when I found out how Goshi and Aizome interact in the stories >>;;;; )

So that was really the extent of my knowledge of B-PRO. Great music, great cast, great character designs. So when I was approached about joining the team, I was very eager to throw my hat into the ring. (PLUS my absolute favorite voice actor, Kakihara Tetsuya is in it... I HAD TO!!!) But boy, oh boy, was I hit with UTTER SURPRISE when I found out how much DRAMA and INTENSITY and STORY the franchise actually has!!!

What I thought might've been "just another idol game" turned out to be so full of drama... It was such a nice, pleasant surprise. I won't go too much into the process and the stories, since you'll all have to play the game to find out! But wow, all the boys were *nothing* like I thought they were at first.

Just for fun, here's what I thought at first vs what I think of them now. (Opinions are my own... and I'm sorry that some of my earlier opinions were...for lack of a better word, *dumb* )

THRIVE:

Goshi Typical bad boy chara -> I would love to have this character as a bigger brother. He's caring and really looks out for his kouhai... How can anyone NOT like him??? He's my second favorite...!

Aizome It's Kato Kazuki...so the typical Ore-sama kei, smug, flirty -> Ore-sama kei, smug, (playfully) flirty, and someone with so, so much depth. I want to be his friend...just to be there for him. He needs Goshi and Ashu more than he thinks. And you'll never convince me that he and Goshi aren't an old married couple that gets into fights literally every two seconds.

Ashu Genki boi #1 -> I remember his scenes very strongly, oddly enough. THRIVE needs him. Aizome and Goshi need him. He may act like a happy-go-lucky boyo with too much energy, but he's the water that helps keep the other Aizome and Goshi flowers alive, whether they realize that or not. He's also a really, really good senpai :')

KITAKORE

Kitakado Prince-kei. It's Ono Daisuke so...guessing we're gonna get something like his Starry Sky counterpart. -> Pretty much that... but he's also sooo silly whenever Korekuni is involved. Has a silly side to him, and a very loving and charming side too. He's a good guy XD and no one can convince me that he's NOT a married couple with Korekuni ._.

Korekuni Kishio Daisuke!!!! The Daisuke combo! Pretty boy. Guess he's snobby? -> I see a lot of myself in him. He's highly professional and demands the same level of professionalism from his peers, though that can come off as strict. He's so much more than his appearance, and he's not afraid to show that.

MooNs

Masunaga (I'M SO SORRY FOR SAYING THIS)I thought he looked...kinda boring...? -> He was one of the characters that I did the most research on because I wanted to grasp his character and who he really is...and when I did, boy... the tears were everywhere. I just want him to be happy. His side story is one that I remember MOST vividly. He's a good leader and a good person and I just really really really want him to be happy.

Onzai KAKKIIIIIII *screams and flails my arms around* I thought I would love him the most because of his voice actor. (I am obsessed with Kakihara Tetsuya) -> *pats his head* You're a good boy. I wish you will love yourself and realize how much everyone loves you ;~; He's more than his pretty looks... and he's very insightful. He really understands his teammates and cares for them deeply.

Osari The last time I heard Morikubo Shotaro voice a genki boy was GET BACKERS. [I KNOW I'M SHOWING MY AGE BY SAYING THAT...] Genki Boi #2. -> The mood-maker and a ray of sunshine. His crazy nicknames almost drove me nuts 8'D but he's such a lovable character. It's impossible to dislike him. I know one of the TLers on the team REALLY likes him and I can understand why!

Nome I love this character design SO MUCH!!! He's so good-looking! -> He's still really good-looking...I love his hair color...his build...his everything. Character-design wise, he's still my favorite. Was funny when I found out he's a gym buff :'D makes sense... He would also make a good big brother to the boys ;u; Though I THINK he has a big brother?? If I remember one of the special events I translated right...

Sekimura I'm usually not a fan of megane-types. He's okay. (I'M SO SORRY FOR SAYING THAT...AND I HATE MYSELF FOR NOT APPRECIATING HIM MORE BEFORE) -> WOW where to start. I want him to be successful. I want him to be happy. He has SO, SO, SO much depth. He deserves SO, SO, SO much. He breaks the usual megane-type trope and he's his own self that stands out SO MUCH. I appreciate him so much for his faithful, loyal support of his friends and I just REALLY want him to be happy. And no one can convince me that he's NOT madly obsessed with Onzai. He'd date him if he got the chance. :P

KiLLER KiNG

First off, before diving into characters, can I say that THESE BOYS ARE THE FURTHEST THING FROM SOMETHING AS EDGY AS "KILLER KING" I expected super edgy boys in this band... ._.;;

Haruhi Genki Boy #3. Ah, I think this will be my favorite genki boy. -> He is not my favorite genki boy :'D He's still great of course!!! But it's funny how that didn't turn out the way I thought it would. He's also a giant ray of sunshine, though a bit selfish, but that's part of his charm. The side story for him though... *Haaah* Haruhi... just...whyyyy... But I really really really liked his backstory. He admits his faults and grows to overcome them and I truly, really respect that.

Yuduki The gloomier of the twins. Lack self-esteem? -> He does lack self-esteem, but he grows from it too. I actually really like Yuduki...I was surprised because I didn't expect that. Again, he's another boy that had way more depth than I imagined. He takes good care of Haruhi, but he's not limited to being Haruhi's shadow. His individual stories away from Haruhi are where he really shines, I think. Go for it, Yuduki! Ganbare!!!

Akane Genki boy #4. -> MUST. PROTECC. AKANEEEE. *HISSSSS* The BIGGEST surprise for me is that Akane became my TOP. FAVORITE. BOY. His background story and his interactions in the special event stories made me empathize with him A LOT. He has INTENSE imposter syndrome and he doesn't know when to stand up for himself...so he needs his friends to help him. And in response, he LOVES his friends and will do anything to help them. He's selfless for his friends but tends to forget to care for himself. I can go ON AND ON but please, please PLEASE check out his backstory when the game comes out!!! That hit me really hard... and it resonated with me a lot. It might not with others, but it really did with me. Akane love. *sob sob sob*

Shingari Ah, it's Egu... Egu? With that kinda character design? I guess he's the silent type then? -> There's more depth than I imagined. I remember his backstory quite well, too, because it showed a more vulnerable side to him, and I came to understand Shingari really well after it. *pats his head* He's a good boy. I hope him success. Don't worry, you'll have your friends and your senpai with you! It's okay to be a bit vulnerable sometimes!

So...that was my evaluation of the characters before and after working on the series. It's okay if you don't agree with my views on the boys, I'm not saying they're the only view and the right view...it's just *my* view, after working on the select parts of the game that I did. It was *amazing* how much my opinions changed. No one was really entirely what I thought they were like...that just shows how much depth the characters really have. They're not bound to just their trope, but there's so much more about them... and I came to appreciate them and the franchise EVEN MORE than ever.

I am so genuinely blessed to have gotten the chance to work on this series and I am so genuinely grateful to PQube and the team that was put together for this title. I can't wait for all of you to play the game and experience this yourself, whether you're new to B-PRO or a veteran fan.

[shibuyashotos]

Character Playlist (2024)

Wanted to do one of these again, not gonna lie. I think I did this a couple years back, so once again I'm doing a playlist for everyone's favorite buff lady, Amara Alistratova. I also wanted to do this to help reflect where I think she's at nowadays in terms of where I see her writing. This is a list of 20 songs not intended in a specific order.

Breaking the Habit - Linkin Park

Another Day in Paradise - Phil Collins

Wrong Side of Heaven - Five Finger Death Punch

The Hell Song - Sum41

Falling Apart - Zebrahead

Who We Are - RED

Owner of a Lonely Heart - Yes

Kryptonite - 3 Doors Down

Sacred Worlds - Blind Guardian

My Hero - Foo Fighters

Savior - Rise Against

North Country - Anitek

For Face - Hidenori Shoji

Heart of Madness - Kodomo Band

Believe Yourself - Naoto Fuuga

REAL x EYEZ - J x Takanori Nishikawa (T.M. Revolution)

Heart of Sword - T.M. Revolution

Hero's Comeback!! - Nobodyknows+

Indestructible (The Next Door) - EXILE

Undefeatable - Tomoya Ohtani (Feat. Kellin Quinn)

Everyone has their own way of expressing their characters, some make playlists, others might make mood boards. Every method is valid and I want people to know that.

[manabingu]

🧡SEPTEMBER IS TAKANORI MONTH!🧡

As many of you know Takanori Nishikawa is my favorite singer of all time so what better way to honor him than by sharing his music! I’m gonna try to share a song per day.

Episode 2: BLACK OR WHITE?

In 1995, Daisuke Asakura signed on with Nishikawa under the FunHouse label, now owned by BMG Japan.

They released one single, Black or White?, under the name Daisuke Asakura expd. Takanori Nishikawa.This song was rerecorded in 1997 and also rearranged in 2000 as TMR’s twelfth single (Black or White? version 3). The original “Black or White?” song also appears as the third track on TMR’s first album Makes Revolution (1996).

[turbo-systems]

Haiiii, this is my archive for TM Revolution. For any new coming fans or in general, friends who are looking at this abomination, this archive was started with the intention of replacing Turbokunland who had deleted their account. I really want to do a solid and take their place into archiving, so here’s where I’ll stay.

For people not familiar, T.M.Revolution is the alias of the singer Takanori Nishikawa. With the help with the well known producer Asakura Daisuke, the project lifted off and created sensations across the globe.

This blog will be dedicated towards concerts, songs, turbo issues or information found relating to TMR. I will sometimes make comments and such but mostly would give out information about these stuff.

Here are the tags that I will be using. For any submissions, please ask me and I will put them in the blog. Thank you!!

[blaserables]

Journey to the West: The Search for the Kingdom of Khura’in

Aug 20, 2016 // Janet Hsu

Hallo, hallo! This is Janet Hsu, localization director of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Spirit of Justice, back with another behind-the-scenes entry! Join me as the dev team and I journey towards finding the look and feel of the Kingdom of Khura’in. Are you ready? Because here we go!

When last time we met, Mr. Yamazaki and Mr. Fukuda talked about how they slowly made their way towards the game’s overall theme and plot. But they weren’t writing the game in a bubble of their own! No, sir! They had to work with all types of artists to figure out what this new, fictional country would look like and what kinds of people would inhabit it.

Picking up from Kellen’s excellent write-up of Rayfa, I’m happy to say that the art director and co-director of Spirit of Justice, Mr. Fuse, was kind enough to tell us a little about her rough-and-tumble, and very humble beginnings.

———————————————-

 Rayfa’s Beginnings

Hello, I’m Takuro Fuse, art director of Ace Attorney: Spirit of Justice. I’m sad to say that I’ve been rather busy working on some art after the release of the Japanese version of the game, so I haven’t had the time to write much. However, I’d like to share a little with you today about how I went about designing Rayfa Padma Khura’in during the game’s development.

Around the time it was decided that there would be a sixth mainline game, but before we had decided on the theme of “courtroom revolution,” or even that the game would be set in a country called the Kingdom of Khura’in, we knew we wanted to include a teenage girl as a key character in this game. This is one of Rayfa’s initial designs back when we were toying with the idea of setting the game in an underground court – one that would deal with cases no normal court would dare take on because they involved the seedy underbelly of society.

Because the only thing we knew about her at the time was that she was going to be an Asian girl, there was nothing especially special or unique about her design. But we were thinking that we wanted her to be a shady character who liked to meddle in various affairs.

This initial design is something I pulled out of my drawer of ideas, so I feel like it’s rather easy to see my design aesthetics through it. The final version of Rayfa doesn’t really resemble this initial Rayfa… Although, now that I really think about it, I guess maybe she did serve as the model for Rayfa’s final design.

In time, once we decided to go with the theme of “courtroom revolution” and set the game in the Kingdom of Khura’in (a deeply religious country where the core tenants of its beliefs are rooted in spirit channeling), Rayfa’s character changed into that of a spiritually powerful priestess who was to dance a sacred dance during a special rite. Her design went through a number of drafts and revisions, and we tried out all sorts of different looks for her, but unfortunately, I’m going to have to leave it here for today…

Until we meet again, everyone!

———————————————-

Wait, that’s it?! *gasp!* Oh, don’t you worry, Mr. Fuse. I know where you sit. I will chase you down for more juicy stories later, you can be sure of that! Mwahahaha!

…*ahem*

I mean, thank you for taking time out of your incredibly busy schedule! I won’t be by again later to ask you more about character designs on the sly…

In the meantime, I’ll go and see what lead background artist Mr. Ishikawa is up to.

———————————————-

 Far and Away in the Kingdom of Khura’in

Hi, everyone, I’m Takanori Ishikawa. On the heels of Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies, I’m back once again as the lead background artist on Spirit of Justice .

When I first heard we were making this game, a number of thoughts ran through my mind: “All I have to do is do what I did for Dual Destinies! With my experience and the in-game assets I created last time, this is going to be a cinch!” But just as I was thinking these things…

“Wait, what?! This game’s going to take place in a foreign country?! A spirit channeling-based country call the Kingdom of Khura’in …?!”

It would seem that Spirit of Justice was to take place in a foreign land, and it would seem that the many, many months of work it would take to create the look of such a mysterious country from scratch were waiting right there, just for me!

This new country is said to lie on the western edge of the Far East – a far, far, faraway land. And yet, the name “Khura’in” made me think of something really familiar. That’s right, it reminded me of everyone’s beloved Kurain Village. It would seem that Khura’in is connected to our Maya’s hometown of Kurain Village somehow.

So, exactly what kind of country is it, I wondered. Little by little, the team came to a consensus on a few key aspects of the kingdom.

A scenic landscape featuring a chain of tall mountains and blue, clear skies

A country with a unique culture that was developed as a result of how secluded they were due to the lay of the land

A land where the art of spirit channeling still thrives today, to the point where they’re even using it to conduct trials in court

And a place where a cute priestess performs a sacred dance

It sounded like a truly mystical country… I wondered if I could draw such a locale.

These are two of the initial pieces of concept art I drew.

Everything was so ginormous! I daresay these were more on the scale of something an ancient civilization would’ve built. But, while it may have looked cool, it apparently didn’t match up with what we had all agreed on. Honestly, though, I think it would’ve been fun if we could’ve had a big adventure in a place like this. Phoenix could’ve climbed up that giant stone statue, slipped past some traps in the ruins, fought with some people over the same ancient treasure… by which point, I guess this game would’ve become something out of a totally different genre.

I even created this wonderfully gigantic statue, but…

…sadly, it has been lost to the sands of time.

Aaaargh! It was so hard! Try as I might, I couldn’t figure out what kind of country the Kingdom of Khura’in should be. I kept on drawing and drawing, but the answer wouldn’t come to me.

“I don’t know… I really just don’t know…! Where the heck is this ‘Kingdom of Khura’in’ we’re looking for?!” I yelled inside my head.

And then, for some reason, I drew a courtroom that sits atop a pyramid-like structure… and then I drew yet another giant statue… You can tell just how lost I was by this point. But if you take a look at that white thing in the bottom right corner of that picture, you’ll see the beginnings of a “ magatah’man ” or “soul bun,” which appears in this game! Yup, it was around this time that the idea for those buns Ahlbi carries around with him was born.

As I was drawing this “soul bun,” I began to wonder, “Does this thing even taste good? What kind of people would make these? What kind of people would eat these? And what kind of face would they make when they do?” That’s when I realized I had forgotten to consider something important: the citizens of Khura’in!

I was so caught up in coming up with all these designs for this country that I’d completely lost sight of the most important thing of all – that of course I can’t create anything without knowing who was going to inhabit this landscape first. The truth had finally dawned on me.

It’s not me who creates the Kingdom of Khura’in; it’s the people of Khura’in who will create their own country.

A few months pass… and finally, the Hall of Justice is complete.

This is the courtroom that the Khura’inese people built.

In its solemn splendor, it looks more like a temple than a courtroom. Those intricate ornaments, the vibrant colors, all that incense-laden smoke, and there behind the judge’s bench is the sacred symbol of Khura’inism (the religion that is practiced throughout Khura’in), the mark of a butterfly that carries the souls of the dead to the Twilight Realm. It was a struggle to get to this point, but I think I managed to create a courtroom with a completely different feel from the one back home.

Even though this courtroom does have the usual benches and witness stand, I also created a space here for the Royal Priestess to perform her duties. That’s right, I’m talking about the Pool of Souls in the middle of the room. As the Royal Priestess, Rayfa usually stands in front of the pool during a trial, and as she performs the Divination Séance, she projects the final memories of the dead into it.

By the way, if you look really closely at the detailed ornamentation, you’ll see that a number of them feature flame-like shapes called “ magatama ” and Khura’inese butterflies. I hope you’ll look for these motifs throughout the game.

Just what kind of hard battles will be fought in this unusual courtroom? And what sort of truths will be revealed?! Sadly, I can’t tell you here, so you’ll just have to play to find out!

———————————————-

Thank you, Mr. Ishikawa! It really does sound like it was a lot of hard work! After all, you can’t conduct investigations in a new country without locales to visit, and that courtroom looks spectacular.

Actually, if you’ve never seen the inside of a Buddhist temple, they do look an awful lot like that Khura’inese courtroom in certain regards. Different sects across different Asian countries have slightly different looks, but there are definitely some common traits they all share, which make this courtroom feel new and unique, yet strangely familiar to someone like me.

Speaking of someone like me, I guess now would be a good time for me to share just how the look of the Khura’inese language came about in the English version.

 ———————————————-

 Khura’in vs. Kurain: Bringing the Khura’inese Language to Life

Much like everyone else on the team, my first thought upon hearing that the game was going to take place in a foreign country was, “Uh… So I have to come up with how to represent this new country’s language in Roman letters???” But I quickly got over my shock as it dawned on me that my language nerd skills were finally going to be of some use! Because, you see, there’s a whole discipline in the field of linguistics devoted to how to Romanize languages that don’t use Roman script (or what we English speakers call the alphabet) in a process called Romanization .

But why was I all nervous in the first place, you may ask. Why didn’t I just simply Romanize the Japanese source text and call it a day? Well, if I did that, then the Khura’inese language would really be little more than a Romanization of the Japanese language, and I couldn’t do that! Just as the designers had created a visual look for each letter of the Khura’inese alphabet and even some single-character words like Prosecutor Nahyuta Sahdmadhi’s interjection “ Satorha! ”, I knew that Khura’inese had to have a distinct linguistic look and identity of its own.

Is the mean ol’ prosecutor picking on you again with a word you don’t know? Welcome to Phoenix’s world.

The dev team drew their inspiration from a number of Asian cultures in designing the look and culture of Khura’in, which is exactly what my team and I did as well in designing the look of Romanized Khura’inese. Being a Taiwanese-American with 2.5 languages under my belt (Mandarin Chinese listening and reading = passable at best, my kindergartener-level speaking and writing skills = brings nothing but great shame on my ancestors) and a medium level of familiarity with East Asian religions and culture, I had a rough idea going in of how Khura’inese might eventually look.

The Kingdom of Khura’in is situated somewhere on the western edge of the Far East. Combined with the many tall mountains you often see in the backgrounds, this effectively places the small country somewhere in the purple zone below.

It’s a little like playing “Where in the World is Khura’in?”

In our real world, there are hundreds of languages and dialects in that purple region alone, but narrowing it down to the most prominent languages and dialects, including Tibetan , Nepali , Hindi , Pashto , and Urdu , reveals commonalities in how the writing systems of that region are Romanized.

Without getting into too many details (oh, I’ll go into full-on Linguistics Ema mode in a few paragraphs, trust me), at a glance, it looks like there are a lot of h’s and apostrophes used in the Romanization of these languages. But just knowing what they looked like wasn’t enough for me. All those h’s and apostrophes weren’t there just to look pretty, that’s for sure; they’re tied to how those words are pronounced. So what I needed to do next was to mesh how Romanized Khura’inese would look with pronunciations provided by the original Japanese source text. This is where the distinction between the real Khura’inese pronunciation and the Japanized and Anglicized pronunciations of Khura’inese words come into play.

Wait, what “real pronunciation,” you might ask. Well, let’s consider a real-life example.

Take one Mr. Johann Sebastian Bach – classical composer of German origins. It’s pretty easy for an English speaker to pronounce his name, and for the most part, they’d come pretty close to how a native German speaker would pronounce Mr. Bach’s name because we have similar sounds in the English language (English and German being relatives of each other linguistically). But for a Japanese speaker, they will never be able to accurately replicate the sounds for “Bach” if they are using the Japanese syllabary. That’s because that final “ch” sound simply does not exist in the Japanese language. Instead, they must render the name Bach according to their rules like this:

Bach ⇒ バッハ (bahha)

Sounds more like a laugh than his actual name, doesn’t it?

Now, going in the other direction, how well can a Romanization system really represent the sounds of a language like Chinese or Japanese? In the case of Chinese, rendering the word for “small” (小) as “xiăo” doesn’t even come close to looking like its actual pronunciation. But using “shăo” wasn’t an option since there is another, very similar sound that’s already monopolizing the “sh” Romanization, making shăo (少) a totally different word that means “less”! (Ironically, that one is pronounced more like “shr”…) So yeah… Roman letters are not so great at representing a language like Chinese.

As for Japanese, it’s also kinda terrible too, in some instances. Take for example, everyone’s favorite letters, らりるれろ. Are these “ra, ri, ru, re, ro” or “la, li, lu, le, lo”? You often see words like “ramen” spelled with the letter “r,” but when you listen to a native, the sound is best described as a “dla” where it’s a strong “l” sound said with your tongue touching the top of your mouth like you’re saying “d” instead.

Romanization can also fail when it doesn’t tell the reader how to parse a word correctly. Take the name “Junichi.” Is his name really pronounced as “ju-n-i-chi” or is it “ju-ni-chi”? At least for this problem, there is a solution: we can use an apostrophe to show what the original Japanese intended. In this case, the former parsing could be Romanized as “Jun’ichi” for clarity.

I think astute linguists among you are beginning to see how all of the puzzle pieces are coming together, so let’s return to my original dilemma: How do I mesh the pronunciation of Khura’inese words as provided by the Japanese source text with the Romanized text aesthetic I’ve devised for the Khura’inese language? Let’s take the word “Khura’in” itself as an example, shall we?

Japanized spelling: クライン (Japanese Romanization: kurain, pronounced: “koo – dla – een”)

Romanized Khura’inese spelling: Khura’in (pronounced: “khoo – RA – een”)

As you can see, the apostrophe is there in order to bring out the separation of the last two syllables so that the pronunciation remains as similar as possible to the Japanese, and (hopefully) prevents them from getting mashed into one syllable that sounds like the English word “rain.” But that’s not its only function in Khura’inese – the apostrophe can also denote a glottal stop, which slightly affects the pronunciation with a small, voiceless “hiccup” as it were.

As you can see, in the case of “Khura’in” and some of the other Khura’inese words you’ll come across in this game, I did take a few liberties when adapting the Japanese into the Romanized Khura’inese. Sometimes, I imagined a longer vowel sound that doesn’t exist in Japanese to exist in the original Khura’inese, like a longer “ah” sound or a “short i” sound like in the word “kin,” which is not perfectly replicable in Japanese (it comes out sounding more like “keen” in Japanese). These adaptations are similar to the Bach example, where I’m trying to “deduce and extract” the original “real” Khura’inese pronunciation from the Japanized spelling.

But don’t worry! At least Khura’inese looks like how it sounds, unlike Tibetan…

As for words that were originally meant to be puns in the Japanese source text? Well… you’ll just have to see what sorts of puns they’ve been adapted into for yourself next week when the demo is released on August 25th!

Yes, you heard that right. The demo can be yours NEXT WEEK!

You know what else can also be yours next week? Another trip with me through the development of Spirit of Justice! Next Friday, we’ll explore the creation and localization of the user interface, or “UI,” and the magical visual effects that were used to add that extra layer of mystery to the land of spirit mediums and channeling.

Until then!

Catch up on previous blog entries here!

[dontforgetoctober3rd]

Oh lord it’s happening again I’m going on a T.M. Revolution binge and it is gloriousssss

[turbo-memes]

Some just wear bondage-like black spandex things that leave little to the imagination. Doesn’t make them any less awesome though.

[margridarnauds]

Talk about ONE thing you like best per your favorite version of main characters in MA.

Thank you for this! I’m going to cheat and assume that you meant ONE THING per each individual main character. Fortunately enough, my favorite takes on all of the main characters can actually be found in a single cast, the Toho 2018 A Cast - 

Marie Antoinette - Rena Sasamato plays the role with a great deal of dignity and poise. She can be snobbish, naive, proud, and when she’s hurt, lashes out, but she’s also kind, warm, and genuine. She makes you feel pity for Marie without demanding it, which is a balance that not everyone is able to maintain, and she plays the role with an elegance and polish that makes it feel authentic. (Now, I know of course that her mother helped her with The Fan, which doubtlessly helped. She’s mentioned The Fan in at least two interviews.) 

Margrid - Sonim played Margrid very bitter, with there being very little that’s delicate or dainty about her. I feel like in Toho in particular, it can be very tempting for actresses to default to a general “Eponine” mode when it comes to this kind of character, where you can strike out, you can be a little different from the usual lady, but only in a way that is still attractive. Margrid...isn’t, bless her. She can be callous, cruel, vengeful, and crude. She actively enjoys seeing Marie suffer at times, and she bats away any sign of affection, whether it’s from Orléans or Fersen (presumably out of a fear of being hurt). When she cries, she UGLY cries, with tears splotching all over her cheeks, snot, everything. It’s great. It’s human. And with a character who’s, frankly, as much of a bitch as Margrid can be, it’s JARRING in the best way, as you see her develop. Her Margrid definitely had the longest running arc of any of the others, because she in particular emphasizes Margrid’s hatred. 

Axel von Fersen - Furukawa Yuta strikes me as a Fersen who really thought outside the box with his role. He didn’t confine himself to just playing The Heroic Lover, but he played Fersen as an aloof war veteran, someone who’s terrified of losing Marie to the Revolution, with a passive aggressive sense of humor. He adores Marie, but he can also be frustrated with her unwillingness to listen, but when they have an argument, he’s very cautious, tentative with approaching her again. It’s also a love that could be interpreted as courtly love as opposed to a raging affair, with Marie really reminding him of the good in he world. There’s nothing Alpha Male about his Fersen, he’s more of an actual CHARACTER than I think I’ve ever really seen Fersen before, and, coincidentally, a little truer to life as well. 

Orléans - Mitsuo Yoshihara is, I feel, one of perhaps two Orléans in the show’s entire run who looked at Orléans as a character in his own right, as opposed to a straightforward Villain. With his Orléans, you can GET how he thinks the way he does and takes the actions he does, even if those actions are totally unforgivable. Even when he does those things, there are very few times that he’s really, actively enjoying it, and I would argue he doesn’t cross a REAL point of no return until midway through Act 2. He plays the role very WARMLY, where he genuinely appreciates Margrid and Hébert, can be seen patting the shoulder of his other employees at the shop, seems to be at least a little GENUINELY hurt by Margrid’s “betrayal” at the trial. He’s not evil for the sake of being evil, but is acting out of (1) ambition and (2) a belief that, frankly, Louis and Marie are idiots who are going to drive the country into the ground. He’s bold, self-confident, charismatic, slick, pragmatic, and friendly, so long as things are going his way. As such, it makes what comes later, as we see his ruthlessness unfold, painful, because we, like Margrid, have gotten used to him. It doesn’t hurt that Mitsuo Yoshihara has a VERY strong stage presence, so every time he’s on stage, you have to take notice of him. Basically, if the script were flipped EVER so lightly, you would be looking at a situation where Orléans was the tragic hero of his own musical, and you can see how that works in his own mind. He definitely doesn’t see himself as the villain. 

Louis - Takanori Sato is someone I always enjoy seeing on stage, but his Louis sold him for me, because he played the role very GENUINELY, as a loving husband and father, someone who isn’t really there just to be comic relief or an obstacle for Fersen/Marie, and is very aware of how out of his depth he is. He genuinely loves Marie, she genuinely loves him as well, it’s just that she loves Fersen in a different way. 

If I was to put it to a tl;dr: They all treated the characters as PEOPLE, and it really gave us a very rounded, unique dynamic. 

[putschki1969]

Takanori Nishikawa no Bokura no Ongaku ~ Wakana Cut

Huge THANK YOU to @ mowskyuu for providing a link.

Get it here 〈(•ˇ‿ˇ•)-→ CLICK ME

First we have a talk session with Takanori Nishikawa, Satoshi Takebe and Wakana. Takanori Nishikawa says he is a huge fan of Satoshi Takebe and then he talks about how it has been quite a while since he has last seen Wakana. Apparently Kalafina and him took part in some events together. Can’t really remember though. Takanori Nishikawa  knows a lot about Wakana’s past music career, he surprises Wakana by talking about her solo FictionJunction WAKANA songs. Then Wakana explains how it was a strange feeling to have a solo debut but she got a lot of support by various composers (including Takebe who she has known properly since March 2018, they met each other before on a Music Fair episode tho). Then Takebe explains a little more how he has been collaborating with Wakana ever since. He has been in charge of her live productions and he will also produce future lives. Nishikawa notes that Takebe has been responsible for many great debuts in the past so it’s a good thing he is also involved in Wakana’s solo debut. He is apparently really helpful in finding yourself, in finding your own style. Wakana is greatful he is by her side because there are still so many things she doesn’t know (about herself and what she wants). Nishikawa is super surprised to hear that this was Wakana’s first time write lyrics.

「翼/Tsubasa」

Vocal wise I think that this performance far exceeds the one from the single. It doesn’t feel as rushed, there is less nervousness. There is more strength and gravitas in Wakana’s voice. Her low notes are neat and there are a few more gritty parts where she does that growling thing with her voice. I LOVE IT!

Then we have some more talking. Takebe explains how he wanted Wakana to have a chance at expressing herself as a solo artist. That’s why he felt like it was necessary for her to write the lyrics herself. Wakana should be able to make the songs her own. Wakana talks about how she is constantly discovering new things about herself and how she is rediscovering the joy of music. She wants people to see that she loves singing. Nishikawa says her joy really comes across. So far the image of Kalafina has always been super fierce and now she comes across as a little more “friendly” and such.

「時を越える夜に/Toki wo Koeru Yoru ni」

This is a bit shaky compared to the studio version (could be written off to the studo acoustics tho) but there is a LOT more emotion in her singing so I don’t really mind. Her singing style is slightly different to the one she used for the recording. A bit more fragile I guess but not necessarily in a bad way. Anyways, just look at all her expressions. Seeing her perform this song live is amazing, you can clearly tell that the song means a lot to her. The bridge and the final chorus literally killed me. All the feels!! ｡：ﾟ(｡ﾉω＼｡)ﾟ･｡

Takebe praises Wakana’s voice and says that he really loves working with her. As diehard Takebe-fan Nishikawa seem to be quite jealous that Takebe holds Wakana in such high regard. XD They talk about how Wakana’s debut is a new step in her life, a new anniversary, a sort of birthday. Then there is a smooth transition where they celebrate Satoshi Takebe’s birthday. Nishikawa wonders if it’s okay to ask his age, he guesses for guys it’s fine. Takebe replies that he turned 62 and Wakana is like, “WOW! Sugoi!” They then talk about the TM Revolution song Wakana chose to cover. She says that she loves it, it really touches her heart but it’s very difficult to sing. She had a hard time choosing between Winter Dust and Kaze no Yukue. Takanori Nishikawa is very flattered to hear Wakana praise his songs. 

「雪幻/Winter Dust」

I don’t know the original but I love Wakana’s rendition. I actually got goosebumps during some of the chorus lines, they really struck my heart.

[sandreeen]

Nishikawa Takanori (T.M. Revolution), the singer of the Touken Ranbu movie's theme song, told the director that he'd love to be one of the Sword Warriors in the sequel, if they were ever to make one. The director speculated Nishikawa-san would probably be in short shorts; more specifically, he'd be wearing his famous "slim, black outfit" 😂:

[leapingtitan]

R∃/MEMBER (Individual Song Thoughts) - SawanoHiroyuki[nZk] 3rd Album

I made a review on the 2nd album, 2V-ALK a while ago so here is the next installment. This is mostly for the Sawano Discord server but I’m posting it here for convenience and safekeeping purposes.

01. Glory -into the RM- (violin: SUGIZO from X Japan; vocal: Yosh)

I really love the instrumental parts of this track. It works well as an introduction piece and is up there with ~prologue~ for me. The vocal parts with Yosh are a bit weak and turn the track from a badass instrumental piece to a stadium football game chant. The track can do without it. However, there is that one section after the chorus where Yosh whispers like he’s singing in a 2000′s alternative rock band and the vocals do this cool panning effect. SUGIZO from X Japan is on the violin and his parts are really good and have a lot of synergy with the sampled bagpipes and piano. The guitar chugs are also pretty cool and remind me of TBFworld a bit. Overall, it’s a good track despite the vocal section being a bit unnecessary. Speaking of, them lyrics. “Honor of dying alone”? Was this made for Thunderbolt Fantasy or something?

02. EVERCHiLD (vocal: Akihito Okano from PornoGraffiti)

I admit the track has grown on me a bit and I definitely like it more than I did when the first preview video of it showed up. Still, as I’ve stated many times, I don’t really like happy and bright songs too much and prefer something with a stronger emotional impact. Still, the track is nice and again I’m glad Sawano did something different with the drums for once rather than layering electronic beats over an acoustic kit. My biggest problem with the track is the last chorus and the outro. “Tiny world is so stuffed all day, but nothing’s gonna change my story” is sung 6 times back to back and gets repetitive after the 2nd one. Should have just kept it as an instrumental. Other than that, I’m not the biggest fan of Akihito Okano’s voice. I like him more in the first Bnha OP for instance.

03. never gonna change (vocal: SukimaSwitch)

One of the tracks I’ve been most hyped for since the preview has dropped and boy does it not disappoint. I love the guitar and the drums and SukimaSwitch’s voice is really nice. It honestly reminds me some of the pop-ish music I used to listen when I was younger. The “2nd chorus” in the original PV was actually the bridge, to my surprise. The 2nd verse, which is new here, is really good. Love the guitar that comes in after the first few measures. Overall, the track is great.

Lastly, that instrumental outro section with the piano and guitar was completely unexpected but it’s amazing. It sounds like it would be a track rearrangement if never gonna change was an OST piece. Really good and honestly adds a whole new dimension at the end of an otherwise great track. My favorite so far.

04. narrative (vocal: LiSA)

Now we get to some of the tracks which have already been heard before in other releases. I’d be repeating myself if I go in detail like with the other tracks so the tl;dr version would be that I don’t think LiSA’s voice fits this type of Sawano music at all. Not that it’s a surprise considering the track wasn’t even composed with her vocals in mind. The instrumental is, for all it’s worth, actually not that bad. I don’t really mind the strings, or “casio pad strings” as dante calls them and it makes the song at least a bit more interesting.

05. i-mage (vocal: Aimer)

It’s been a long time since an Aimer and Sawano collab and unfortunately I don’t think the wait was that worth it. For the record, I really love Aimer’s voice but the song composition itself is what I dislike. Similarly to EVERCHiLD, the song just doesn’t have enough emotional impact, at least for me. I can see the appeal of it otherwise but personally it doesn’t do much on my end. The intro and verse are alright but the chorus is where it gets too playful for me to take it seriously and I found myself spacing out and losing focus on the actual track which hasn’t happened with the other songs so far. The 2nd verse has some cool bass going on but it sounds really noisy in the mix for some reason. Lastly, again, same problem with EVERCHiLD where the standout English portion of the lyrics, in this case “Light and dreams that children hold tight, now you have them in your right hand” repeats way too much in the last chorus and outro portions. Same formula.

Despite all of these complaints I think if I listen to the track enough it might grow on me. Might. But other than that, a bit underwhelming and personally my least favorite Sawano and Aimer collaboration for now.

06. NOISEofRAIN (vocal: swan with nishi Takanori Nishikawa from TM Revolution)

I’m gonna be honest here, it’s really hard for me to talk about this song without any irony and memes to go with it. This song just slaps. That’s it. I listen to it on an almost daily basis and have been doing so since it came out at the end of November. Can’t really say much other than it’s my favorite [nZk] song and Takanori Nishikawa is the OG.

One thing I have to point out though is that the mix in this album’s version is slightly different than the one in the narrative/NOISEofRAIN single, specifically the start of the first verse where there’s two synths that are either made really quiet or missing. Yeah, I’ve listened to this track way too much in order to notice the smallest things like that..

OUTRAGERS DRIVE ME NUTS

07. Binary Star (vocal: Uru)

This is the one older [nZk] song I can’t put my feelings into words for. I really like Uru’s voice and I hope Sawano collaborates with her again in the future, but the song itself is just... strange. Specifically the instrumental. It’s just really weird, having the strings and piano portion at first and then adding drums later on. I just don’t know what to think. I definitely don’t dislike it and I do enjoy it but that’s it. I actually really need to listen to it more often... 

You know what, Binary Star is really nice.

08. ME & CREED <nZkv> (vocal: Sayuri)

Okay... so... uhm. I guess this is it. This is the track. I’ve made fun of this song a lot back when we only had PVs to go on. I called it a lot of things and overall shared the server’s opinion that it’s not that great. But you know what? I listened to it once today, in the full album. Just once, didn’t really need to listen anymore to open my eyes.

By the way, little fun fact: It’s actually spelled Me & Creed in the original Blue Exorcist OST, or I guess if you want the full name.. “Exorcist Concerto First Movement”... something like that, don’t !songtitle me... but yeah I’m just delaying the inevitable here.

So, I have finally been able to have a fresh, reformed opinion on ME & CREED <nZkv> and express my true feelings. Because, well, the truth is...

...

It still fucking sucks.

Honestly... just.. why? First of all, out of all of the “High Pitched Jpop Vocalists That Do Not Match Sawano’s Composition Style” category members, Sayuri is by far the worst. And, you know, that might just be be for not preferring this kind of voice that a lot of Japanese singers, but I’ve listened to some of Sayuri’s own stuff and it’s not bad because the SONG ACTUALLY FITS HER VOICE.

Now, despite all of this the verse is alright. The chorus is where the harmonies really get out of hand and only make the already bad vocals worse. And it wouldn’t have been as jarring if the instrumental was decent but it’s not. Me & Creed is not at all the type of song that would benefit from overly punchy kick drums and toms and it loses its entire flavor just with the drums alone. It sounds like a below-average pre-rec demo of the original track and doesn’t even respect what kind of song the original is.

Also, this is made for a mobile game. I don’t know about you but if this was in a game as its main theme that would not give me a good impression.

Fun fact, this is the only track on the entire album that is under 4 minutes long. I guess you can say it came short in multiple departments. I give it an Aldnoah Zero out of 10.

09. Unti-L (vocal: ASCA)

After the traumatizing experience that is the previous track, I come to something that is actually good. Unti-L and never gonna change are my favorite new tracks from this album. I’ve been looking forward to this one since the first 5 second PV and I’ve been listening to the short version a lot for the past week. The song is incredible. 6/8 time signature, ballad-y sound, strings and good sound design in general makes for a solid and near flawless track. ASCA’s voice is very enjoyable and I find that it works well with the song since it was probably made with her vocals in mind unlike narrative and... the other thing.

I can’t really say much else, really. Great intro, verse, vocals, melody and overall sound. The instrumental break/bridge is also very pleasant with the simple guitar. Probably the most emotionally impacting track on the album and I love it.

10. Cage (vocal: Tielle)

The original Cage is interesting but I have to say I find it inferior to the <NTv> version from the narrative/NOISEofRAIN single. I’m not the biggest fan of the synth in the intro and the electronic drums don’t quite do it for me in terms of the overall sound. The <NTv> version is still superior in every way and has fits more with the melody and Tielle’s voice. Overall though, the composition is great but you can’t really look at the instrumental alone in both cases since Tielle’s voice makes the track what it is.

11. REMEMBER (vocal: mizuki, Gemie, Tielle, naNami, Yosh)

Should have just credited it as [nZchoir]. 

On a serious note, this sounds like something you would hear in a Disney Channel movie, especially the chorus. The track is surprisingly pleasant to listen to and I find it really catchy and easy to jam and sing along to. Also like the parts where there’s just one vocalist singing and the choir effect in the chorus is really nice as well. Again.. Disney movie.

I actually want to say more about this track but I definitely need to listen to it a bit more to make other comments. Other than that, it’s nice.

Conclusion

As a whole, this seems like a much more fresh album than 2V-ALK. It still doesn’t compare to the diversity and variety in o1 or how solid UnChild is, but I still think it’s at least on par with 2V-ALK despite not having all that many songs. Still, the new original tracks here (well, almost all of them) are interesting and despite my comments on some of them I do think they do their thing and make the album.. work, I guess. I definitely have some tracks I want to go back and relisten to a few of them though, which is a good sign.

I don’t have individual ratings for the tracks but in terms of ranking, a few hours after my first impressions and a few listens I would order them in the following fashion. The best is at the top and the worst is at the bottom.

NOISEofRAIN

never gonna change

Unti-L

Glory -into the RM-

Binary Star

REMEMBER

EVERCHiLD

i-mage

Cage

narrative

you know what goes here.

And that would be it. Thanks for reading!

[405blazeitt]

Y’know since you mention that, I’ve never had a bad dream involving Nishikawa. You may be on to something. They’re always happy, fun, and/or comforting. Or cool.

takanori “makes revolution” nishikawa defending his fans from bad dreams:

takanori “makes revolution” nishikawa after preventing a bad dream:

[manabingu]

🧡EP 4! SEPTEMBER IS TAKANORI MONTH!🧡

As many of you know Takanori Nishikawa is my favorite singer of all time so what better way to honor him than by sharing his music! I’m gonna try to share a song per day.

Episode 4: Hesojokujo -Venus- (Navel Venus)

Nishikawa’s performance on NHK’s music variety show Pop Jam (which he would, later in his career, cohost for eleven months) helped boost sales, eventually selling out all first press copies of the single. His second single, Venus (臍淑女 -ヴィーナス-) was released two months later, followed by the release of TMR’s first album Makes Revolution another month later.

I really love his cowboy hat guys 🤠 😂🧡🧡🧡🫂