#this PV is not quite good enough for the dance tag

[arbitrarygreay]

Actual Dance Club song PV! (It's all about that bass)

[twotwinks]

rules: list ten songs you’ve been listening to a lot lately and tag ten people

Me? Actually doing a tag game for once? Listen I always plan on doing them I just get distracted but right now I’m procrastinating on my final projects and also this gives me a chance to scream about my current hyperfixations so here we go tagged by @supergeekytoon lov u also I’ve included links in case you wanna listen but don’t wanna exert effort (aka me)

1. Pokémon Sword and Shield - vs Gym Leader

I’d love to tell you who composed this but unfortunately Bulbapedia is still lacking in specifics outside of “The game's music was primarily composed by Gō Ichinose and Minako Adachi. Additional music was composed by Keita Okamoto and Toby Fox, the latter of which only composed one track.” I don’t know how trustworthy the credits in the description of this video are either. ANYWAY this gym leader theme is a fucking BOP and I live for the cheering crowd it just makes it feel so real!

2. Pokémon Sword and Shield - vs Hop

I haven’t gushed about Hop on this blog yet but trust me I’m getting ready to. He’s now the second rival I’ve adopted and ugh I just love him. He doesn’t deserve all the shit this game is putting him through and he CERTAINLY doesn’t deserve all y’all’s hate just because he’s the Tutorial Boy like have you looked at his smile just leave him alone already! Also his themes have them Latinx vibes and it’s to die for. And yes, I did say themes, which leads us to...

3. Pokémon Sword and Shield - vs Hop (v2)

HAVE YOU NOTICED A PATTERN YET listen I just really love Hop ok. In unrelated new I’m gonna kill Bede with my own two hands and I hope Opal makes him cry himself to sleep every night because that little fucker deserves it. This theme has them dance vibes, but I’m not well versed enough in dance to tell if it’s salsa or tango or flamenco or what. Also it makes me wish I’d done Latin dance one semester instead of swing. It also has the return of the cheering crowd! I know they’re saying “woah” but it’s fun to pretend they’re saying “Hop”.

4. Pokémon Masters - Battle! Barry

Again, I tragically can’t seem to figure out composer information, but Bulbapedia gives music credits to Haruki Yamada and Shota Kageyama. Anyway Barry was my first rival son, and this is the first official remake of his theme from D/P/Pt we’ve ever gotten, and LORD does it do him credit. It’s unbearably hype and full of so much energy, and it’s still recognizable as his theme even though it also adds loads of new motifs, and it just works so well. 10/10 would get fined and then bubble beamed into another dimension again.

5. Together — あきよしふみえ (Fumie Akiyoshi)

What, you thought I was done with Pokémon? SURPRISE, I’M NOT! This is the first opening for the original Japanese version of the Diamond and Pearl anime, which I’ve been watching religiously because my aforementioned son Barry appears in it. Tragically he doesn’t show up until the 101st episode, which is why I’ve been trying to tear my way through the first part of the series. (If you’ve seen my Discord status, it’s literally just a countdown to Barry’s debut. I’ve still got a long way to go.) As a result of this I’ve now got this theme ingrained into my brain matter. At least it’s v good and you bet I catch feels over “Fog Clear the sad feelings” every time.

6.  ルマ (Ruma) — かいりきベア (Kairiki Bear)

Away from the Pokémon now, we have the NEWEST track from my favorite Vocaloid producer, Kairiki Bear! He’s normally not great at tuning Miku, but this one is actually really good. Definitely his finest Miku work yet. It’s also got that crazy guitar Kairiki is known for, and the subtle animations in the video are as good as ever. It’s also got super catchy repetition and just. Well. Every Kairiki song is a gift and as usual I’m hooked on this one even though I can’t explain it really well. ROAR!

7. ゴキブリの味 (The Taste of Cockroach) — MARETU

THE TRIUMPHANT RETURN OF MARETU TO VOCALOID AFTER OVER A YEAR OF NOTHING BUT ONE OUT OF THE BLUE INSTRUMENTAL ALBUM! Basically MARETU ended up in a bit of a scandal where he was caught cheating on his girlfriend with a minor with an undisclosed mental disability. (It’s important to note that the minor was over the age of consent, but below 20, thus still considered a minor in Japan...at least as far as I have been led to believe.) He did the whole public apology thing and then disappeared. Now it seems like he’s back! While I definitely have mixed feelings on him as a person now, I can’t deny that he’s a hecking great producer and one of the absolute masters of Miku tuning. You’ll notice in this song alone he’s tuning her in three different styles. The mastery. Anyway, all of MARETU’s songs are edgy as fuck, and this one is no different, this time tackling bullying in Japanese schools. The questions throughout the video fucked me up, man.

8. エイリアンエイリアン (Alien Alien) — ナユタン星人 (Nayutalien)

My favorite song of this quirky little alien series, Alien Alien has the cutest little dance and I’m super excited to see it in the next Project Diva game, even though it’s getting a dance pv instead of a story one. At least it fits with the original pv for once (stares at Sea Lily Deep Sea Tale). Anyway the story of a little telepathic alien who doesn’t quite understand human emotion falling in love with a human and realizing that not even impending oblivion can negate this feeling is just so sweet. I hope they’re happy.

9. ハウトゥー世界征服 (World Domination How-To)  — Neru

I was obsessed with this song a while ago, got out of it, and now I’m back into it again. Just when I think I’m used to what Neru has to offer, he goes and sucker punches me with a song like this. I don’t even know how to explain it. The hopelessness of the pre-chorus compared to the sheer power of the chorus. The concept of looking at your past, present, and future selves and trying to decide where you stand and where you want to stand. The “let’s promise no matter what from now on that we’ll tear off the price tags on our backs”  — a motif from the earlier Abstract Nonsense of being priced and labeled. It’s just so good. Definitely worthy of being the title track of its album.

10. シティー・ボーイ (City Boy)  — Mitchie M

This last song was really hard to pick, because I’ve really only been listening to the first eight songs on this list over and over, occasionally throwing in World Dominaiton How-To, and outside of that everything else is mostly just listen-once-when-I’m randomly-in-the-mood-then-back-to-repeating-the-others. But of the rest of the songs in my giant music library, this one has been randomly played more often than anything else. It’s extra strange because it’s actually a cover that was done for a New Wave Vocaloid album, but Mitchie stuck it on one of his albums and then I was hooked. Mitchie is another master of Miku tuning, though you’ll notice that his specialty is making Miku sound ungodly realistic, whereas MARETU specializes in using her voice in unique ways. I would have liked to talk about Seraphim on the Ring or Assassin Princess here instead, since they’re way newer and also Mitchie’s original work, but that just wouldn’t have been truthful to my current music tastes. Sorry, Mitchie.

Alright, that’s officially it. I’d tag people but I’m pretty sure most everyone has been tagged already as usual but if by some fluke you were missed consider yourself now tagged. Ok bye y’all I’m gonna go cry about Hop

[quell-tea-salon]

SolidS QUELL Party (SQP) event report~! (Warning: I ramble. A lot.)

The concert was over a month ago and unfortunately I have a memory on par with a goldfish, but it was one of the best experience I’ve had in Japan so far and I’ll try to recall as much as I can ;;;

The event took place on July 16th at the Kokugikan in Ryogoku. I was blessed enough to win tickets for the afternoon session, and arrived early to queue so I could enter the hall without standing in the sun for too long. There was a booth outside selling official concert merchandise like character goods and light sticks; I didn’t buy any, but there were loads of people near the booth who had laid out their purchased merchandise for trading (since most of the character goods are blind boxes). I should’ve brought along my SolidS merch to give away, since I’m really only into QUELL. (OOT: QUELL and SolidS are usually grouped together in blind box merch. I love everyone in QUELL so my chances of getting something I like is preeeeeeeetty high, but for some reason I keep getting Shiki?! So if anyone wants Shiki merch, let me know. I have... lots.)

There was probably life-sized standees of the characters somewhere in the lobby but I couldn’t find them ;; I went to look for my seat which was on the 1st floor and quickly realised that half of my view of the stage was blocked by the speakers...grr. Couldn’t complain too much though, since I was lucky just to be there. The photos above were taken while waiting for the rest of the crowd to take their seats. In the meantime, SolidS and QUELL PV’s were played on the projection screen. Every time SolidS appeared on screen, the audience screamed lol. There was some noise for QUELL too, but definitely not as loud... I was quietly cheering for my sons in my heart ;w; Started chatting with the girl sitting next to me and found out that she was a SolidS fan (of course), and that her favourite was Dai-chan (good taste). I really wanted to give her my SolidS merch.......

About 15 minutes before the show started, the two Lizz squirrel mascots (purple for SolidS, blue for Quell) emerged on stage, dressed in sumo gear (in reference to the venue, which is usually a sumo wrestling ground), to say hi to the arena audience. They were so big and round... ;w; I was super jealous of people who had tickets for arena seats, they got to be so close to the stage!!

The lights dimmed and SolidS appeared on stage as the audience went crazy. They opened the set list with KARA DA KARA, followed by Quell’s HIKARI. My heart was about to beat out of my chest, I was just so happy to be able to see my Quell sons in the flesh ;_______; I don’t know if my seat position in relation to the speakers had anything to do with this, but I couldn’t really hear the vocals well ;_; The music was too loud and vocals sounded muffled.... Nevertheless, getting to hear the groups sing live was a magical experience.

Next, everyone came back out onto the stage for introductions and opening talk (while admiring the 360 degrees seating). I only realised this after the concert, but they were all dressed in the same clothes as the characters in the official concert art! SolidS all slick and deadly in urban monochrome outfits, and Quell looking all breezy and relaxed in loose charcoal and blue. The twins of course were wearing matching clothes, down to the accessories....... ugh... angels..... Nogami even had Ichiru’s hairstyle T_T

The Lizz squirrels popped up on stage occasionally and the cast members gave them lots of love; Takeuchi kept hugging the Quell Lizz and squeezing his tail lol (he really loves cute animals). Nishiyama and the twins took turns holding his hands or gently guiding him around the stage (family aura!!). SolidS......... grabbed their Lizz by the crotch....

Moving on to the solo performances. Shiki took the lead with Tide, followed by Tsubasa with Canaria. I wasn’t familiar with any of the songs, but i could tell that the audience loved them. I don’t particularly appreciate Eguchi and Saito’s singing styles, but they had a lot of energy and really knew how to work the crowd.

After that, it was QUELL’s turn. First to perform was of course Shu, with End of Night. Takeuchi was completely at home on stage, strutting around and engaging the audience. I was surprised that he had backup dancers and i don’t know if he was meant to know the choreograph, but he danced along with ease and at other times swayed his hips in a way that made my inner mom voice want to yell at him to behave lol (I can’t help it, he’s so young). In recordings, Shu’s vocals are bold and precise; during the concert, Takeuchi was singing as himself - messing around with the melody, using short, breathy notes, and just having lots of fun. It sounded very different from the recorded version of End of Night, but it was a great performance regardless. 

Issei took to the stage to sing Hoshizora (starry sky) as the audience changed their light sticks to blue. IMO Shugo gave the most solid performance of the show. Issei’s voice was clear and powerful, but sweet and delicate at all the right moments. And he thanked us for showing him a beautiful starry sky with our light sticks T_T At this point the CD actually hadn’t been released yet so all we had was the demo. The full song was incredible. FYI, Shugo played the guitar for Hoshizora; I would’ve died if he had actually played the guitar at the concert too...

After the song, the rest of Quell joined Issei on stage. Ichiru ran STRAIGHT at Issei and gave him a tackle hug T___T I can’t deal with these two...

The next segment was SoriRaji (SolidS radio) and QueRaji (QUELL radio). Again, my memory is pretty fuzzy, but I’ve tried to jot down as much as I can remember. 

Eichi was probably nervous and kept messing up his lines. The twins cheered him on together with “Eichi, faito!” godddddddd so cute ><

Question for Shu: When did you realise that the twins had opened up (to you/Quell)?

Shu: I took a nap on the sofa one day, and when I woke up I found the twins asleep next to me

Ichiru: WAAAAAAAAAAAAA DON’T SAY ANY MORE

Issei: You looked so comfortable sleeping there, we couldn't help joining in...

Ichiru: Though it was creepy waking up to find Eichi STARING at us

Eichi: I was so jealous!!! I wanted to join in but there wasn't enough space on the sofa ;_;

There was a question directed at Shu, I don't quite remember what it was but it had something to do with Shu's schedule being busier than the others and whether it was hard for them to spend time together.

Eichi: Shu's usually the first one awake and out at work before the rest of us are even out of bed.

Twins: We should try to get up earlier sometimes and have breakfast together!

Shu: *Weeps into hands* My children are precious... (#Mychildrenareprecious became the official twitter hashtag for SQP lmao)

Question for the twins: What kind of cakes do you like?

Issei: I like mille crepe and cream puffs

Ichiru: I like cream puffs too! And mont blanc, and chocolate cake, and strawberry short cake! Anything with whole strawberries on top!

Mom, dad & audience: Aww...

Ichiru: W-what?! I just like desserts with lots of cream, what's wrong with that?!!!

Shu: That's cute ^^ I don't eat a lot of sweets but if I had to pick one, it'd be rare cheese cake

Eichi: Ti. Ra. Mi. Su <3

Question for the twins: Issei, as the older sibling, have you ever wanted Ichiru to call you "oniichan?"

Issei: I’ve never really thought about it before and I don’t think that it’s necessary, but now that it’s been mentioned I kinda want to hear it...

Ichiru: .....Hear what

Issei: You calling me oniichan

Shu: I’m filming this :)

Ichiru was reluctant ofc, but after some prodding from mom and dad (and the audience)...

Ichiru: (smol voice) .....Oniichan

Shu, Eichi, Issei: *FIST PUMP*

Audience: *DEAD*

Question for everyone: If QUELL was to go on holiday together, where would you go?

Ichiru: Okinawa!! I reaaaaaaaally wanna go to Okinawa!!!

Shu: *fond dad face* Let’s go ^^

Ugh they were 1000000% Happy Family, it was the CUTEST thing to watch.... I was trying not to die from how cute the twins were and it was reassuring to see Shu also trying his best not to burst into tears whenever the twins did or said something cute (which was ALL THE TIME).

I don't remember much from SoliRaji (SolidS radio), but #PHO~! became the other designated SQP tag because Shiki kept yelling that word LOL. It started with Shiki answering a question about his favourite south east asian food or something, and his reply was Vietnamese pho ("PHOOOO~!!"). That became a running gag throughout the rest of the concert wwwww Dai answered Thai green curry :3c 

And oh, in response to a question about who had the biggest hands in SolidS, all 4 pressed their hands together to compare sizes (Tsubasa and Dai even snuck in a lovers grip). Cue lots of dying screams from the audience, haha. In the end, Shiki was the largest, followed by Rikka, Dai, and Tsubasa (obviously based on the seiyuus hands, though I was surprised that Hanae’s hands were bigger than Umehara’s). 

In a nutshell, Eguchi and Umehara were wrecking havoc by running their mouths, so Saito had his hands full running damage control... as usual ww

After a short break the show continued with the solo songs, starting with Rikka’s Good Night My Darling. I always enjoy hearing Hanae sing live, he has such a pretty voice! Next was Dai’s Jinsei Hard Mode. Umehara’s singing improves every time I hear it... and obviously we all know he’s ikemen, but in person he’s even more gorgeous, goddamn.

Ichiru’s Akaku Somaru Sora (red sky) was as energetic and straightforward as in the CD! Tbh i think singing as Ichiru stifles Nogami’s skills (apparent when you hear Nogami singing in his own voice, and yes, that’s Shugo next to him) but he’s great to watch live and i LOVE that he waves enthusiastically at the crowd as Ichiru!!

When it was Eichi’s turn to sing his solo, Niji (Rainbow), we were all super excited because the song’s demo isn’t even out yet, and here we got to listen to it live, in full!! It was a fun, summery pop tune, befitting its title, and the whole time Eichi was hopping around and waving at the audience with a huge smile. He really was emitting rainbows and flowers T___T Nishiyama’s not the strongest singer in QUELL, but he definitely embodies Eichi’s cheerfulness.

SolidS returned to the stage to perform Tokyo LOVE Junky, followed by Quell with Aoi Mizu. I had mixed feelings when I first listened to Aoi Mizu since it felt completely out of place on a Quell album, but i figured they probably needed at least one upbeat concert-friendly song, and sure enough it seems like Aoi Mizu was written for this purpose. It’s definitely a lot easier to shake your light stick in time with the song compared to Hikari, or even Believer ^q^

We were asked to participate in a recording for the Tsukipro anime that’s airing in October. They wanted us to yell out the characters’ names or scream “kya~!” to use during actual concert footage in the anime!!! They were only recording for SolidS in the afternoon which meant that Quell’s would get done during the night show... I wanted to be there for Quell too >< Anyway, SolidS took turns going up on stage and used hand signals to indicate when we should start/stop yelling. Each recording lasted 30 seconds iirc? The audience was happy to comply haha, we went WILD. Shiki went first, then Tsubasa. When it was Rikka’s turn, Hanae wanted some variation lol he asked us to whisper when he put his hand down, and tune up the volume as he raised his hand. It was a lot of fun, I was laughing half the time because he was contorting his body (bending over backwards etc) while moving his arm, just being a clown really. We did our best to match his hand movements and got praised for it at the end :3 Lastly, Umehara got up for Dai and his first words were “Don’t call me Dai-chan” JKSDGJLHGDFLJ CUTE he used the same system as Hanae and ofc most of us screamed “DAI-CHAAAAAAAAAAAAANNN” ^q^

The show came to a close with the obligatory event ending song Sexy☆Sense. Obviously performed by SolidS as it’s their song, but Quell stuck around to join in. There was a lot of activity on stage but I mostly kept my eyes on the twins ;w; I have to admit that SolidS’ music is not really my taste, but Sexy☆Sense is super catchy and it’s hard not to sing along. A supercharged ending to an amaaaazing concert!!!

I’ve pre-ordered the SQP DVD so that I can watch what happens in the night session >< Can’t wait!! To those of you who managed to survive my TL;DR, thank you for your patience!