#utapri 6th anniversary

[utapri-hana]

Full designs 😉

Source

[thejournalmylife]

[6th Anniversary] Thoughts sworn with music, promises tied with songs.

UR bromides for everyone [My Oath in Song] are now available! Wearing anniversary live costumes, idols will sing their love for you. #shanilai#shanilai 6th anniversary

[hanahope101-2]

6th anniversary countdown

Quartet Night

[amisbro]

If UtaPri had/gets a 5th season...

What would it look like? So this is a question I have thought about for a while because of the fact that I think a lot of people (Myself included) believe there is more of a story to tell in the world of UtaPri.  I think with enough time we could get a very interesting idea for a season and honestly I think WHATEVER this project we got coming up actually IS could be an interesting testing ground for something. Let me explain

So if we think about how Season 4 ended it seemed rather definitive.  Like the way that message was wrote made you believe ,to a degree, that the series had ended as far as an Anime project.  Then we got the end card AFTER that and that kind of made things turn on its head cos no one knew what that was supposed to be until 6th stage happened right? One thing that always stands out to me is the fact that Season 4 was a bit of a mess and I say that in the most objective and neutral way possible because...when you have an Anime that is based on a Manga we typically get a story based around that in some fashion.  It might not be panel for panel and word for word but we get one and that is always fun to see how certain scenes get animated for sure.  When you do an Anime based on an Otome game you almost always do whomever is considered the “true route” or just leave it open ended so people will want to play the games (which is what I think DiaLovers did when it had its run). UtaPri has a very interesting situation because the series DOES have an idol component (and the Anime made sure to really focus on that mostly) but it is also an Otome game so the studio (A-1 Pictures) had that to work off of for the most part.  The problem is that when they were done with the material they DID USE it created a problem because Season 4 was a mess if I am being as objective as possible about it. So here was the problem You had 3 groups in play here STARISH QUARTET NIGHT HEAVENS Forget whom your group was for a second...this was going to be a problem because 2 of the 3 groups had content that was used in the first 3 seasons but Season 4 was going to be a problem.  How this would have been remedied I have no fucking idea!  Like if Broccoli knew they were going to do this season they needed to get something out BEFORE IT so people would have had something to go off of for HEAVENS so we could have had 7 episodes that made sense instead of episodes where it felt like they didn’t know how to have the HEAVENS member that was being featured in it not look like a complete ass!  If we are honest this is what happened and its frustrating to remember One of the biggest issues with the season was that you had a group that HAD been Antags during Season 2.  I said HAD because I genuinely believe that the marching orders for A-1 was to write a season where STARISH was still THE focus but HEAVENS could be rehabbed into a group that was more “likable/marketable” so when the time came to sell CDs and merch that they would fly off the shelves and could be a contender to at least QN if not both them and STARISH.  As we saw during the Oricon charts it was a puzzling time because the duet CDs sold like garbage in the sense that only TWO our the 7 actually charted in the top 10 Ren/Van - Lovely Eyes Syo/Yamato - Justice Impulse This was the most puzzling thing I ever dealt with because I tried to figure out WHY and to this day the best thing I could come up with is the fact that the CD releases were slated to come 10 days after the episode aired which seemed like the dumbest thing to do (IMHO) because when I looked at Season 3 all of the releases charted in the top 10 and a big reason for that was the gap between CD/Episode was only 4 days...well we got to QN and HEAVENS’ CDs they did VERY WELL in Season 4 and its because of how close they released them (I think) to the episodes...funny how that works! What was really weird also was during the “Duet Project” episodes the writers didn’t know WHO to make the focus of the episodes and that was weird BUT ,looking back on it, this whole season was gonna be weird because of how quickly the season was coming in the turnaround vs. its normal time for a season.  Typically a UtaPri season gets a 2 year window and this time they were going under that...about a year and 4 months so this was going to cause a crunch and also a mess of a message as to what the writers wanted to do!  I personally believe that the writers wanted to make HEAVENS all the more sympathetic and they were able to get SOME of the backstories in that they could for certain characters but a few others (Nagi and Eiichi for example) “kind of” tried to show you the “why they were acting the way they were” but it felt (at least Internationally) that the episodes didn’t register or if they did not as well as they hoped.  I do wonder if a big reason that the content is as out of sorts in terms of balance for HEAVENS vs. the other two groups is because of how jacked up that season got.  I genuinely wish I could sit down and discuss that season with someone that was in the room when they were given the orders on how that season was supposed to go vs. what actually happened after the fact! So this brings me back to the “What would a 5th Season look like if we got/get one in the future?” The weird thing is I think A-1 already knows but they have to get the reference materials FIRST before they start writing it.  I genuinely think they saw/heard about what happened Internationally when it came to the “NEXT DOOR” saga and they didn’t want to see that happen again so NOW they want to work on these projects to get the idea other there right now that all the groups are separated as first we have STARISH and then no doubt QN but the big question of course is HEAVENS...can they do a concert with them at some point with hopefully more songs under their belt OR will Broccoli start to really consider them a lost cause and that the fandom just doesn’t want them.  You can only go with the “Round peg/Square Hole” philosophy so much before people get mad and don’t want to deal with the series (or at the very least HEAVENS) anymore. The other big issue is HEAVENS’ role in Dolce Vita because, As of this writing, we still don’t know ANYTHING about that game...like we don’t know if its a straight up VN or is there going to be something similar to the original La Corda back in the day which ,fun fact time, had Kishou and Mamo in it.  Like if anyone would know how a game like that worked it would be them (And they ARE in the new game “Starlight Orchestra” btw) so they HAVE to have had given some input about how the mechanics worked and all that...right?! (Oh and unrelated but Kishou’s original character in Len Tsukimori is a special character in that game.  He was unlocked through a campaign we had in that fandom a bit ago) So again...what would Season 5 look like? Well my guess is that it would have to be a STARISH/HEAVENS season again but with new duets unlike last time.  The other possibility (And I think they were teasing this at the end of Season 4) is that it would somehow be a HEAVENS/QN season which could be interesting especially if they did something like how Season 2 was probably supposed to go...and in a way didn’t because of how the story worked. The thing is its been almost 5 years since we had a proper season...FIVE! Let’s assume that the “Anime Project” as we know it is over alright?  STARISH and QN’s brand is already established so what do you use to help HEAVENS’ get on the same level?  That’s a big reason why I don’t think they could/should end the “Anime Proper” because to do that you literally would be cutting off a way to properly market a group that actually needs it vs. the groups that clearly don’t.  I won’t go so far as to say that the STARISH/QN Animated concerts are going to be “Vanity Projects” because they aren’t.  They are clearly something that Broccoli believed in as far as a project to do for the series BUT I will say that having 7th Stage so close to this project is a bit...weird?! Like okay to be fair this probably was planned well in advance and the Pandemic fucked everything up because it was supposed to be announced at 7th stage in 2020...okay cool fine but let’s say it was right?  What stopped them from revealing it at 10th Anniversary when it would have been a bigger “Holy Shit” moment?  What was really so important that they had to do EVERYTHING ELSE and not that?  Just seemed weird to me. But anyways HOLY SHIT did we go around the block here...I need to stop If you were going to script out a proper 5th season when would you do it and how?  The thing to remember is we have a 3 group scenario and now HEAVENS is trying to become an even better group to finally beat STARISH and QN so do you have QN and HEAVENS do a thing together or do you do a 3 cour season where each is dedicated to a particular group? Love to hear your answers on this and take care

[hidekari]

UtaPri’s 6th Anniversary in a few days! Not sure what they are exactly doing yet (a page isn’t up) - I want to do something though aside from anthology + fanbook translations I’m currently working on but woah...

It’s been six years already. I am honestly so grateful to live in such time. Throughout middle school until now, as a second year high school student, I grew with Utapri. I heart the franchise, the fandom... everything.

[hanahope101-2]

From the countdown videos on twitter

A class ^^

[hanahope101-2]

6th anniversary countdown

S class + Cecil

[amisbro]

Deep Dive:  Utapri Movie and beyond

So earlier today I was telling a friend of mine on twitter in @heavens-saved-my-life that I was going to be talking about UtaPri because its that time when we get closer to the start of all the chaos with all the big releases coming out and I have to start to think about WHAT is possibly going to happen soon. Now before we get started I must make mention of this The title is “UtaPri Movie and beyond” BUT we are going to start with the buildup FIRST and THEN get into the actual movie and beyond cos a lot of crazy s**t is about to go down for UtaPri and we need to really take hold of it Let’s get started

Alright so between NOW and the end of the year the big things that we already know are happening/coming out are as follows Shining Live’s 1st Anniversary around the end of this month QUARTET NIGHT’s Duet Dramas in October A Shuffle Unit MV CD set in November And the first Drama CD for Oto/Van/Ai on Van’s birthday no less...interesting time for his birthday to be sure! You will note that I omitted for now the “STARISH BEST” CD and the HEAVENS “Mini Album”.  I did that because as of now we don’t know when those are coming out but I think its safe to say that they are going to be sometime at the end of this year but its a matter of “When”.  It should also be noted that the QN event will be taking place in November as well so that is definitely something to think about when we look at how jammed up this year is with events and releases THIS however brings us to the Duets and thinking about the idea that ,with the releases ending February of 2019, that the Movie couldn’t be that far behind right? WELL... Something I have been thinking about recently is that Broccoli has had the project for Dolce Vita going LONGER than the movie coming up.  The game was announced at the 6th Anniversary with HEAVENS being revealed at the Anniversary before this one.  Now when you take into consideration also that ,at least for Western markets, the gamecards for the VITA stop production as of March of next year then things get interesting. Now...how would this effect the movie? One thing I keep thinking about is HEAVENS’ role within the game and the movie coming up.  The CDs are “trio” CDs and that could lead for some interesting potential given that they are going to be considered “drama” CDs. One thing I have wondered lately is this:  Are the CDs just going to be the song for the units and then the Drama OR...could they do this  Track 1 is the Trio song 2-4 would be a solo song for the members of the units track 5 is the drama then a couple more for the off vocals Another way they could do it (if they wanted to) would be like this Track 1 is the drama Track 2 is the main song 3-5 are solos 6-9 would be the off vocal versions. THIS is something I was thinking about for the CDs and if this is what they would do then I’m cool with it.  If they do just the “dramas” and the one song that’s fine too...but there is something I considered over the past few months IF (and I mean IF) they are using the CDs to do the the story and then the movie is the concert...that could be an issue.  The reason is that because the CDs are never sold with an English translation on the booklet (and this CAN be done...I own a couple of CDs that have the JP lyrics and the English or Romanji so its NOT like that can’t be done) then the fans are fucked unless someone LITERALLY buys each CD with the intent to translate all the dramas and even then by the time those get posted are you still interested in them? Now let’s talk about the game and why I was wondering about the track listing For at least the first two seasons the CDs had one song which was the insert for that character/group and the other was used for a game.  If I remember right the ones for S1 had songs from “Debut” in them and then 2000% was for one of the All-Star games...so far those are the only ones of memory I remember being used for games that were on the Anime singles.  If they are planning to have songs for all the characters in the game then you need to create a B-Side for each one of them UNLESS Brocc intends to use the songs from S4 for that purpose but then that would be weird cos you are using “old songs” to market for the game...see the problem? Now this is just Dolce and MLKingdom I’m talking here...we haven’t even DISCUSSED beyond that! Well before that we have to go over this as it pertains to HEAVENS 2019 is going to be a very interesting year for the group that you could argue SHOULDN’T be in the position they are.  They are a group that ,let’s be fair, WAS an Antag group in Season 2 that got beat ,should have disbanded but got saved, and then reappeared at the end of Season 3 cos apparently Shining and Raging were in cahoots the whole time up until all hell broke loose with the EiiOto episode.  Ironically THAT has become a pretty popular ship in Japan with all the fanart I see for them together (even the fem versions which is interesting). (and for anyone curious Yamato/Kira and Eiji/Yamato is apparently a thing over there too) The thing is that HEAVENS SHOULDN’T be in the position they are and even I can freely admit that.  Brocc has allowed them to remain long enough where they are gaining a following (at least on twitter) and now they have a store coming and their own radio show next year.  THIS makes me wonder Brocc’s plan with the series because you CAN’T just stop it after starting to give HEAVENS their own store and stuff now.  Maybe if they were kept as pure Antags and they were beat in S2 and gone I don’t think anyone would care but now the group is about 5 years old in total with 3 being a 7 member unit and getting traction.  THAT could have either BEEN in the plan from the start with them OR it could have been something that was pure accident...I’m very close to thinking the latter. HEAVENS’ future I think will be determined with their single coming up near the end of this year (and the possible concert for them after that) because if they start to really get traction in Japan (and Korea as well from what I have seen which shocks me somewhat) AND they can start to become more accepted in the West like STARISH or QN did then we have the makings for a genuine rivalry because you will have 3 very strong and healthy fanbases that want to see what is next for their groups. THIS brings me to “What should Broccoli do after the movie?” Let’s say the movie does well enough (and with three years production time it kind of better at this point) and Brocc sees that UtaPri is still being supported strongly at least Domestically in Japan (and to a lesser extent internationally) they might consider doing a “10th Anniversary season” for the Anime in 2021 which ,if they do, I would LOVE for them to do one season that is purely HEAVENS and no distractions and the reason is this IF we are to assume that this movie will be the “send off” for STARISH (and possibly QN and I am not sure about either right now) then it would be nice to see HEAVENS get a run on their own so we can develop them NOT as Antagonists anymore but more as people that want to establish their own identity and brand.  I think that is part of the issue Broccoli kind of has with them now is they are so stuck on doing things for them like they are STARISH or QN that all people might see them as internationally is “carbon copies: and that is what I want to see them get away from.  Show US that HEAVENS is more than just a “rival group” and show us what makes them special.  I think some of us kind of ALREADY know but some might still need convincing and I get it but how is going to be the important part. Do I think Broccoli has a plan for HEAVENS right now?  I do but what is going to be interesting because if they keep tying them to STARISH then they can’t grow as a group cos they will live in their shadow to be honest.  Now they have QN members to deal with and ,even though they stuck up for them at the Triple S, the idea that QN would want to see them “grow” would be an interesting development. Keep this in mind too In a good number of these its one HEAVENS member to a STARISH and a QN member.  The ONLY one that is different is the one with Nagi/Shion/Syo and its a very interesting thing there because the question I would ask then is this “What role will the QN members play in these dramas?  Are they the buffers between HEAVENS and STARISH members or are they going to side with their Agencymates?” I still think that it would be interesting for them to introduce a manager for HEAVENS and come up with some plotline where they get infatuated with Nanami and that could cause a unique bridge for Season 5 because ,if you want to keep it going, you could have now two separate things going with Shining and Raging offices going at it for the ultimate popularity...okay STARISH might win in the end in that season BUT as we know in the real world HEAVENS has beaten STARISH in the peak ranks before.  There are #’s to back this up. Again though everything I am going on is speculation.  I think for now its going to be interesting because of the fact that the “Drama CDs” are ending at the end of February so I’m wondering when you would air the movie?  One idea I had was in July because ,look it up, and its the 8 year Anniversary of Season 1 next year in July.  I think that would be a fitting bookend for the Anime for sure. OH...there is ONE OTHER THING I thought about recently While the Anime hasn’t been officially/publicly declared as “ended” I did recent;y think about this The month that the season STARTED in was October One thing I have noticed at times is that when some Animes air any other time of the year they usually are going to get another season.  Now...I looked it up and one of the last Animes I remember watching start to finish that has had a “definitive end” at this point is K Project because ,despite the OVAs that are coming out, there has not been a new season announced. For those of us that forgot K Project’s “final season” aired from 10/3/2015 to 12/26/2015...almost parallel to UtaPri no? The difference between K Project and UtaPri was that when they showed Adolf Weismann sitting in Shiro’s old apartment they basically said about K Project “Game Over” The thing is that at least made some kind of sense cos you got to meet JUNGLE in the Movie a little bit and we saw them TRULY get theirs in “Return of Kings” so that ending fit like a glove The end of Season 4 for Utapri for SOME might probably signify the end of the series (and if it is then fine I can live with it somewhat now) but the thing is with UtaPri there was no one that NEEDED to “get theirs” and in reality all the groups should have been allowed to be happy.  Okay we know what one of the final scenes for the season was with all of them singing “Legend Star” together but think about this from the perspective of a HEAVENS fan after watching your group get the crap kicked out them to a degree with the ending not so much being “happy” but one of those you reluctantly come to terms with cos you think eventually you get YOUR moment and you are happy with it. I think that is why I am reluctant to think Brocc is just gonna pull the plug on the Anime when it no doubt still makes them money along with their CDs...I defy you to show me that it doesn’t and if you can then great but right now I think its probably one of their more popular franchises so why can it?  If they think Classical Stars is going to blow up like UtaPri they MIGHT be setting themselves up for a cold dose of reality BUT we’ll wait and see. I think for a lot of fans (myself included) the day we have to accept UtaPri is “over” is gonna be hell.  Like when it happens we are gonna be in tears because of the fact that ,no matter what group you affiliate with or who your “best boy” is, UtaPri is going to be such an integral part in all of our lives that NOT hearing from any of the members of STARISH ,QN or HEAVENS would SUCK! What does Broc have in store for us after the movie in 2019?  Hopefully a lot more content musicwise and hopefully they keep expanding UtaPri because there is still A LOT of growth for it to have but they have to be willing to not pull the plug before it reaches its peak potential. Anywho I believe I kept you long enough.  I hope you all have a grand rest of your night and I will see you in the next post take care my fellow Princes and Princesses

[amisbro]

Broccoli and May (2017/2018)

Alright the title sounds confusing af but I promise I’m going to make it work for ya Ready...let’s go So last year during this month UtaPri was BUSY...how busy you ask? WELL If you remember back around the beginning of the month Broccoli released Volume 5 of “Legend Star” on DVD in Japan.  ORIGINALLY this was supposed to be the ONLY DVD for the season during the month but Broc pulled a fast one on everybody! What’d they do? Originally the 6th (and final) DVD for the season was to come out the following month but I guess to try and maximize their profits they decided to put out the final DVD days before 6th stage would happen...that’s not all that came out though and this brings us to THIS YEAR in Shining Live Alright...what’d they do? Again go to the beginning of the month...what was the event that happened? “No More to Say” Remember who the characters were in it? Camus and Reiji Hmmm Why would they do that? We’ll discuss this in a second Did you notice though that they didn’t have another event announcement until recently with the “No More Bets” event with Ranmaru and Ai?  NOW let’s talk So for those that forgot around this time last year for like 2 weeks QN had two singles that came out.  The first one was Camus and Reiji’s which was called “Killer Kiss” which came out on 5/17 (so for those keeping score 2 days ago was its anniversary) and the second one had Ranmaru and Ai called “Haru Hana”.  THAT ONE came out a week later (so its anniversary will be DURING this event. Do ya get it yet?  The events and pairings didn’t happen by happenstance but more because Broc wanted to celebrate in some way the release of those CDs.  To do it they did pairings specific to the CDs that came out a year ago and now we got to have the events and I hope everyone that participates in the event gets the cards they want.  Its sure to be a really fun time and for those just shooting for Ai I hope you get him...I got like 11 of the dude so I’m good for a little but but you never know with the RNG of my next pull right? Oh Broc...one of these days you’ll REALLY be able to fool me

[amisbro]

5 Days away

Or soon to be As of 10 AM EST we will be 5 days away from the anniversary of Season 4 of UtaPri.  One the few episodes (episode 11 being the first) that I DID NOT rewatch in the subbed version but that isn’t why I am talking about this. In 5 days will be the anniversary of the endcard that, until 5/27 this year, we had no idea about until it was revealed that it was going to be a movie for (arguably) one of the standard bearers as far as Otomes and Idol Animes on the Male Side in Japan. Christmas Eve is when the anniversary comes and we wait and watch as the light at the end of the tunnel POSSIBLY comes with new info about the movie or maybe some other goodies. 5 Days/120 hours until maybe the next part of the Utapri mystery comes because you see I, the UtaPri detective, will not rest until we have SOMETHING to figure out...and I also get ready to think about my first commish of 2018 and I got some interesting ideas ESPECIALLY if you think about a cross between Triple S and 6th Stage involving yours truly...and the Majestic Purple Prince himself in Ichinose Tokiya! 5 days friends...its going to be NUTS!

[amisbro]

Tokiya: Evening Curtis-San

Joshua: Well hello Mr. Ichinose...what is on the mind of the "Purple Prince" tonight?

Tokiya: Actually I was wondering if I could pick YOUR brain about what you think is going to happen in the next year when it comes to STARISH, QUARTET NIGHT and HEAVENS.

Joshua: Well you came to the right guy...I don't call myself the "UtaPri Detective" for nothing you know?

Tokiya: Oh I've heard. You seem to be really good at piecing together clues about things before its revealed so this is why I came to you.

Joshua: Very well...should we go over where we are presently and then do projections from there?

Tokiya: I Like that idea.

Joshua: Alright so...if we were to go back to say...December 24th which at this point is about 7-8 days depending on your side of the international dateline we KNOW that IS the Anniversary of the "Mysterious Message" that came about for the next "Animation Project" right?

Tokiya: Correct and we found out later that was going to the Movie right?

Joshua: Right and then some overzealous fan THOUGHT since it was announced at the stage that the Movie would be THIS YEAR and posted it on the wikipedia page which has since been removed.

Tokiya: WOW! That would have been a 7 month turnaround wouldn't it?

Joshua: Correct and the turnaround would have been SHORTER than the one for Season 4. We know that one was from January to October so that is about 10 months or thereabouts and then we had the stage announced after Episode 1 of Season 4...and I must apologize in advance but of the three parts of that BIG group song...I liked HEAVENS' the most. The harmonies seemed in a weird way more lively

Tokiya: Oh I understand. It was actually really good and even I admit theirs is really good so no worries there.

Joshua: Well that's cool. So we get through the season and then of course this year and the Stage where the movie was announced AND...like 3 months later Shining Live dropped in Japan! That caught EVERYONE off guard!

Tokiya: Yeah it did! You're waiting for the English version right?

Joshua: Correct and I NEED the TokiyaLock and Mad Scientist cards for that (boop boop) game! I think those are legit my faves right now from what I saw.

Tokiya: I'm honored.

Joshua: I'm glad...now I just wait on the translation

ANYWAYS

So now since that game came out...oh and in June before we forget we had the announcements of the update on Dolce Vita which is AWESOME and the Shining Masterpieces which I nearly went through the roof on!

Tokiya: HEAVENS is going to be in Dolce Vita now right?

Joshua: YEP! I wonder if they are going to keep with the tradition of NOT making them dateable like they did with QN in Debut OR are they going to allow them in from the jump?

Tokiya: I have to admit myself that I would like to learn more about them and also see how they work with Nanami and this OBVIOUSLY means Eiji.

Joshua: That kid is too good for his own liking. It makes you WONDER if its a front but I don't think that's like him. BTW...did you hear who his hair style is a mix of?

Tokiya: No...who?

Joshua: Apparently Otoya and Cecil!

Tokiya: O_O

Joshua: That's what I said. MOVING ON!

Tokiya: HEAVENS Sky came out in November right?

Joshua: Correct and while it didn't stay LONG on the Oricon it actually placed in the top 5 which I'm fine with. That shows me that people liked it enough for that point on the debut and I wish it could have stayed longer for sure

Tokiya: Maybe their next single will do better

Joshua: We can hope. Okay now we are in December and the last update to the TV site was Halloween. Y'all get any trick or treaters this year?

Tokiya: Actually we did and Masato doled out the Candy this time! I was going to do it but Ren asked for my help on something so I couldn't do it sadly...next year hopefully

Joshua: I was going to say you seem like you'd be a good parent but when Brother Ren calls you gotta go help him. Ren is usually good about NOT doing that but sometimes if its urgent well...yeah!

Tokiya: So now we get to 2018

Joshua: HOLY COW is this going to be a year...like the FIRST FIVE MONTHS of the year are going to be nuts NOT COUNTING the 8th Anniversary in June!

Tokiya: Right cos we got what...3 Shining Masterpieces coming out with Lost Alice...

Joshua: Three Musketeers and the Red Riding Hood one which is going to be crazy enough BUT then we get to around my birthday AGAIN in May!

Tokiya: You mean the Joker Trap Stage right?

Joshua: OOOOH YES! I am so looking forward to that you have no idea!

Tokiya: Is it true that is your favorite Shining Theater from "Gen 1"?

Joshua: One of them...the other is Masquerade Mirage

Tokiya: That's right! You got good taste if no one ever told you that

Joshua: I work with Camus...you either HAVE good taste or he sits you down and educates you for 3 weeks straight

Tokiya: Which were you?

Joshua: Oddly...somewhere in the middle so my course was only a week and a half but I've seen him grill Natsuki and HOLY CRAP MAN!

Tokiya: Can't be taught?

Joshua: Oh he can be...but if you asked me if it was going to take NEARLY AS LONG as it did...WOWZERS!

Tokiya: Gotcha. So when do you think we learn more about the movie?

Joshua: Well...we still have TWO possibilities for this year and one could be after the 6th stage DVD comes out and the other is during the Shining Countodwn. If THOSE don't happen then we go into next year playing the "is it today?" game

Tokiya: Let's assume there is going to be news but its not till next year...when?

Joshua: I can almost say without falter its NOT going to be in the first three months because of those CDs coming out which we will be EAGERLY anticipating (and I need to get my pre-orders in on)

Tokiya: Could it be April/May

Joshua: ...Possible but I would still say "no" and the reason is cos of the Anticipation for those...then again with the way Broc does HEAVENS with their birthdays it can be iffy but EYYYY!

Tokiya: I think I know what you mean and its all good. So the best chance would BE...

Joshua: 8th Anniversary in June. I think we will find out about the plot for the movie sometime around there and I think what will ALSO happen is the Movie details MIGHT be announced but the date won't be till the FOLLOWING year!

Tokiya: K-Pro right?

Joshua: Right! IF it is I dunno how it will do cos K Pro is really popular I think so we will have to wait and see. I think at this point the latest is going to be 2019! IF it is put out in 2018 its going to be like the Holiday season but for some reason I can't picture it

Tokiya: I gotcha. If there are anymore HEAVENS projects do you think we get them next year?

Joshua: Its Possible but when I can't say...I can't say because of the fact that I dunno how Broc sees them and the fact that Season 4 got pulled from Crunchyroll BUT we have to wait and see

Tokiya: Wait...season 4 isn't on Crunchyroll?

Joshua: NOPE! I dunno what happened but for some reason the season (which is part of the canon) ISN'T on there anymore

Tokiya: Okay well now I have to go see if I can solve this case...talk to you later Joshua

Joshua: Talk to you later Tokiya

[amisbro]

Broc and “Going Dark”

Alright just so we don’t have confusion here I feel the need now to bring up this so when you read it you’ll get it Broc - Nickname I use for Broccoli (The company behind UtaPri) “Going Dark” - When no new info about a release is given for a period of time (at least my interpretation of the term) This post is more of a “vent post” because Broccoli has a history of doing this and the (Western) fandom doesn’t seem to think much about it.  I do mainly for reporting purposes but there are other reasons too and I would be lying if I said they didn’t involve my group With that said let’s get started and if you don’t want to read this post just scroll by otherwise this continues under the cut

Alright so...let’s get started First off we must remember when I started in the fandom it was around 2014.  This is also when I started to review Animes and such and do episode analysis.  Knowing THIS will help you understand why I hyperanalyze Anime and in this case UtaPri to the utmost degree.  I’m the type that leaves no stone unturned and when it comes down to it my “tinfoil” SOMETIMES has turned into FACT!  Kind of scary So where do we want to begin?  Let’s start with the end of Season 4? Why that recent?  Stick around! UtaPri in many ways has been wrote as 2 Season “Arcs”.  Seasons 1 and 2 were to get STARISH debuted on a “Domestic” Front (Read:  To the Japanese fans) while Seasons 3 and 4 became a battle to see what group was going to be the one that would get an “International Debut” effectively at the Anime’s version of the Olympics!  This can be looked at as “curious” but whatever right?  It happened so we’ll let that go Before Season 3 (”Revolutions”) what happened?  Broc “went dark” about the release date of the season in 2015.  This was curious because we kind of knew the story for it and eventually single titles and performers but that was it!  Eventually though we did get a date for the season so all was well there and THEN that season effectively ended on a cliffhanger of “Who won the Triple S” election AND THEN we don’t hear about the Season 4 date until January when 5th stage happened! Let’s put this in perspective Season 3 ended 6/27/2015 5th Stage happens - January of 2016 Season 4 of UtaPri - OCTOBER of that year Alright now here is the thing Between 5th stage and the Season 4 premiere we learned VIRTUALLY NOTHING!  I’m trying to remember when the story of the season came out but I want to say it was August.  We go from January of 2016 to August to find out what kind of season its going to be (A STARISH/HEAVENS season) but between that time if I remember there was no news about the season.  There might have been posts about the story before then but I don’t think that popped up till after the site switched over to the one currently up on the .tv site. So keep this in mind for me The time that Broc had their “dark period” from S3′s end to 5th stage was 6 months The time between finding out intel for Season 4 was about 7-8 (give or take a month since the release YEAR of the season was in fact given in January) Notice the pattern though?  UtaPri’s information always seemed to take longer to come out from between end of season/stage show to near the premiere. Now their could be a reason for this:  They want to make sure that all the parties that are going to be signed on are and that’s fine PLUS getting TV station clearance helps too!  I get that but when fans (probably more International than Japanese) are combing places to get info the idea of not having anything to go off of is...unusual! NOW let’s talk about Season 4′s end to the (IMO disastrous) 6th stage This time span was...shorter (5 months) so they learned their lesson when it came to announcing the new project which is a movie (I’ll talk about that in the next post) and someone discovered that the movie would be released December of this year (a FB post on April 1 claimed either this year or 2018...not sure if its 100% accurate about the 2018 thing) Here is the thing right:  Since the announcement of the Movie Broc has “gone dark” about it.   What is the movie about?   Are all three groups in it (the FB post claims yes but I want to hear it from Broc or I don’t buy it you get me)? (On a related note btw about the plot of the movie.  If its legit about a “concert” I’ll explain how odd that is in the next post and it will make sense...at least it does to me) What will the run time be of the movie? (IF this is a legit concert that is supposed to end the Anime I probably am thinking at least 2 hours especially if they do older songs) If all 3 groups are included then how much representation will they have? the BIG ONE will its soundtrack be officially available on CD for people to purchase? Broccoli has been very quiet about details and this is September.  IF the movie is to come out this yet they SHOULD have started the change over of the site to promote the movie or put up some kind of splash page.  The reason I say this is that by being quiet about it that could tell me that someone went “Wait a second...we’re doing a movie but do we really know WHAT we are going to do with it?”  This had to get people to stop and think because I noticed there was a fan meetup page slated for 2018 of next year on another site.  This ISN’T that big a deal BUT let’s think about this While yes you can have meetups if a series is over (and I’m sure Sailor Moon did this a lot when the Anime originally ended) for a series like UtaPri for some reason I found it suspect that there would be a fan meet 2 months after the movie!  THIS leads me to think the movie might be next year because right NOW...it would be the biggest rush job ever AND...look at all the stuff they have to promote between now and then! AA/SS Love! QUARTET NIGHT LIVE Shining Live Singles HEAVENS SKY single And those are JUST the things I can remember off the top of my head! IF the movie comes out this year it is liable to be the biggest “scramble job” that a company had to do to get out information about it.  Hell for it being on wiki that movie is coming out in December there is no info added to the sidebar about it if you look...at the movie would be less than 3 months away! I dunno...maybe its just me but Broc’s bad habit of NOT giving out the info seems suspect AT BEST but again that could just be me.  I find it interesting that we know nothing more about the movie even from the 7th Anniversary event BUT maybe someone has some info or is working on a translation of info and we just don’t have it yet...takes time I know Anyone else think this is odd behavior or just me?