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Saturday, July 7, 2012

Song of the Week! 7 July 2012


Our blog's new graphics are pretty nice, aren't they? I'm going to test them immediately with July's Ura pick! About today's song, I remember pikaby labeling it once as 'the nerdiest song ever'...

Linda wa Kyou mo Zekkouchou (リンダは今日も絶好調)
Version
Allx4 (129)x6 (166)x7 (281)x8 (444)
 Taiko 10, Taiko PSP DX, CD 2008
 160~176
 none
 skaska


It is common to have a Namco Original as a console exclusive, but it is very rare to have one as an arcade exclusive, though the situation is changing with all the new songs popping up all over the place. This is one example of an old arcade exclusive. Composed by Yuri Misumi (みすみゆり), Linda wa Kyou mo Zekkouchou (lit. 'Today Linda is Feeling Perfect') is a lively ska piece introduced on the 10th arcade. Then nothing for five years. Absolutely nothing, it was one of those obscure titles which players would just glance over then shift aside to play something more well-known and/or challenging. If it was not for its revival on the third PSP game, this song would remain forever alone on Taiko 10, being one of the only songs to be left behind there together with Dragon Soul and Symphonic Motos, both of which also have very scanty appearances elsewhere, if at all.

Its lyrics are focused on the stereotypical 'otaku', referring to someone extremely obsessed with Japanese anime, manga and videogames, to the point where he would speak and act like fictional characters. Even the singer, nicknamed Linda (リンダ) (no relation with Linda AI-Cue or the Blue Hearts's Rinda Rinda) describes otaku culture with geeky stuff they normally fawn over; giant robots, live action shows, adding silly suffixes and words in back of the sentences, as well as using an imaginary language from Xevious.

The BPM change is insignificant, it occurs in the noteless beginning of the song. The actual notechart follows a constant speed, featuring some odd 1/16 spacing and some clusters to the mix, making Linda wa Kyou mo Zekkouchou 's Oni mode lively and fun to play. This is also one of the few songs where more than half of its chart is covered by Go-Go Time, divided in three different sections.

  Linda wa Kyou mo Zekkouchou (リンダは今日も絶好調)
Version
Allx5 (123)x6 (213)x7 (356)x9 (594)
 Taiko PSP DX
 160~176
 none
 exskas


Five years without any attention, and finally the song gets the treatment it deserves on Taiko PSP DX, where a Ura mode was added to it, making the chart resemble the confusing stuff on Metal Police Oni (both have the same note total too). Now even the very beginning of the song is filled with notes!

Linda Ura also has an occasion or two for referencing Taiko's 2000 series as well. Two areas in the song are Saitama 2000's famous Don-Katsu Kitai, but without any rests between the notes. This song's title is also referenced in a 2000 song, Mata Saitama 2000, in one of its hidden phone messages! For further details, you can see the Feature article about Mata Saitama.

But surely the most remarkable threat of Linda Ura is at the end of the song, where the notes are gradually sped up to x4 scrolling, in a similar way to Mori no Kumasan's Ura mode. With the exception of one cluster, this portion is actually identical to the corresponding patterns on regular Oni, so if you've been playing it a few times, this part should not present much trouble.