Vocaloid Highlights: October 2024
Canter? Sure you can!
========== Stand-Outs ========== CANTER My Neglected Garden Hot Wind Freaka I Wish That I Could Fall Sleepwalking Submersible Bridge Muu Catch Up Now C-I-T-Y Red-White Revolution: The Furasu Burn Nothing Things The Person on the Outside Phantom It's Fine! Sing It Loud Luxury, You, and Cappuccino Madly-Laughing Tricksters Stop. Growing Pains Uprooted Girl Identity in the Goldfish Bowl Fuel Observing Entity Just Praise Me For Living, Please (2024 Remix)
(For many more songs that are still Worth Your Time, view all this month's highlights on my site!)
An interview with Sugaru Miaki (Fafoo) about his new novel, The Town of Sakura.
NOTE: Contains spoilers for elements of the premise behind The Town of Sakura, some of which aren't introduced until several chapters in.
Source: hon-hikidashi.jp
Sugaru Miaki's "The Town of Sakura"
The Town of Sakura (or "A Town of Fake Cherry Blossoms") is a novel by Sugaru Miaki, also known as Fafoo, writer of stories like Three Days of Happiness, Pain, Pain, Go Away, and Your Story.
A man who works as a professional faker is told about the suicide of a girl from his past, and he returns to his hometown to confirm its veracity. There, he encounters someone who's the spitting image of the girl he once knew. It all seems set to play out again - only this time, the roles are reversed.
(As you might expect, content warning for suicide as a central element and dark moments in general. Also, a translator's note: the book makes use of the dual meanings of the Japanese word "sakura." Not only does it mean "cherry blossom," it's can also refer to "fakers," specifically in senses like "paid crowd." People should hopefully get the gist, but it may help to know that usage wasn't just invented out of nothing for the story.)
I encourage you to buy the book yourself to support the author. (Rakuten Kobo) (Kinokuniya) (Amazon.co.jp)
I decided I'd post the whole story at once this time, but still split the chapters up into roughly even parts. You can start from Part 1 here. Or you can read my translation as a PDF here.
Vocaloid Highlights: September 2024
(Squall Leonhart voice) I dreamt I was a bug's wife...
========== Stand-Outs ========== Es It Was All A Dream! Bug's Wife Sweet Fever Ailagoyust Beast-of-Burden Phone Call Ahhh Sea Frontier (Thiefrontier) Days Now Spica and Ammo Cartridge Free-Range My Last Train Wave-Wave Epilogue Stagnatems Daybreak and Despair From Night Walk I-Dunnight☆Fever?! Poison Flower Just 1dB Louder The Lifeform Burns Longing Fall Summer and Transparency FAKE HEART GRADATION I Saw Memories
(For many more songs that are still Worth Your Time, view all this month's highlights on my site!)
Vocaloid Highlights: August 2024
Why am I smilevideo this month, fellas? Because of that old good treat to see known only as simply "Dogua."
========== Stand-Outs ========== Smile Video Blue Sky Poppin' Summer Lead Gray pastel Diving Flower Say Needs Producer Teniwoha The Ultimate Summer's Arrived! Peerless Drill. Retention-Seeker (Damatte-chan) Let's Grow Opera! Space Opera! Slander Maniac Flatterer I Want to See Life Typhoon Zero Stripes Understudy Syrup Standard Zombie Bat Nobly Bloom Girls May Cry Ghostly Summer echo Short Night About to Hara-Kiri! Anti-Money
(For many more songs that are still Worth Your Time, view all this month's highlights on my site!)
A short Kenshi Yonezu article/interview from Yahoo News about LOST CORNER, how he creates tie-ins with other media, and topics surrounding AI.
Source: Yahoo! Japan
A Kenshi Yonezu interview with Billboard Japan about LOST CORNER, focusing on what you can control, it being okay to live regardless of productivity, and not engaging with metrics.
Source: billboard-japan.com
A long Kenshi Yonezu interview with Natalie.mu about LOST CORNER, it being fine if it's broken, self-deprecation, and having something that no one can take away.
Source: natalie.mu
LOST CORNER Lyrics
I translated all the songs on Kenshi Yonezu’s 6th album, LOST CORNER!
1. RED OUT (Video) 2. KICK BACK (Video) 3. Margherita + Aina the End 4. POP SONG (Video) 5. Shinigami (Short Video) 6. Every Day (Video) 7. LADY (Video) 8. Half-Dreaming 9. Bye Now, See You Someday! (Video) 10. Stop, Look Both Ways 11. LENS FLARE 12. Moongazing (Video) 13. M87 (Video) 14. Pale Blue (Video) 15. Junk (Video) 16. YELLOW GHOST 17. POST HUMAN 18. Globe (Video) 19. LOST CORNER 20. Good Morning (has no lyrics)
Kenshi Yonezu - RED OUT
(WARNING: Video features numerous scenes with rapidly-flashing lights.)
Vocaloid Highlights: July 2024
Girl Crush? You got it, boss! (One tragic incident later:) Oh... Afterlife Lass...
It's a YouTube month again, as NicoNico's downtime continues - thankfully, it appears it'll be going back up on the 5th. Also, while I often do this to some extent, I notably "let in" a good number of June songs I missed, given the spottier nature of finding songs without the Nico rankings.
========== Stand-Outs ========== I Can't Go to the Opening Ceremony The Fox's Marrying-In Goodbye Last Episode Sudden Impulse Box Wanter Burn Comet in the Distant Sky Do-Re-Mi Factory Kaidan (Stayrs) Night Star Clear Skies, You Go Afterlife Lass All Night Recipe Antenna 39 You ShAAAAAll Be Judged! Girl Crush Hydrangea POUCH UTuber Is It Fine to Not Be the Star? Cadmium Colors salt-wound routine Not Enough of the Main Dish Postscript That's No Fun! Aino
(For many more songs that are still Worth Your Time, view all this month's highlights on my site!)
Vocaloid Highlights: June 2024
Senpai! Notice me, senpai!! (loud crash) ...Uh oh.
So as you may be aware if you've tried to use NicoNico in the past few weeks, it's been down most of the month as the result of a ransomware attack on their servers. All video data and the like is hosted elsewhere and seems to be intact, but the site's many systems need to be rebuilt using what data they can safely extract from the affected servers, a process estimated to take over a month. Wait, don't I do something involving Nico every month...?
Most artists these days post their songs to YouTube as well (and if they didn't already, are likely to for the time being), so I was able to locate YouTube links for all the songs I had on my list before Nico went down. But my usual method for finding Vocaloid songs is checking the NicoNico Vocaloid rankings for new songs daily. So while coverage of the first third of the month should be pretty "complete," the rest may be a bit spotty, as it's cobbled together from somewhat last-minute (since I was sort of hoping things might be resolved in time) searches for songs on YouTube and VocaDB. Regardless, I feel I got a pretty good selection given the circumstances!
========== Stand-Outs ========== Cinderella Urameshiya Cheap Properties GIMMICK GIRL Cliffhanger Love Runs BREAK ME DOWN!! The Ones Who Found the Moon Madrome (Doze Off) I'm Sayin' to Shut Up and Rock! On the Verge HAO Senpai! ___'s Picture Diary Net Empath Empurple Machine Love XXX (Hush) Cerberus BAD Re-Fiction-O Forgery Pilot Study Blaze Slowly Night The Long Jump Rope Kid
(For many more songs that are still Worth Your Time, view all this month's highlights on my site!)
A Kenshi Yonezu interview with Billboard Japan about Every Day, complex chords versus simple pop, the impact of the weekend, and yep, still coffee.
(As usual, this has some, but not total, overlap with the Natalie.mu interview, likely being a different "cut" of the same interview session.)
Source: billboard-japan.com
A Kenshi Yonezu interview with Men's Non-No about Every Day, paths not taken, feeling the presence of another person in music, as well as some Bye Now, See You Someday! talk.
Source: mensnonno.jp