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Saturday, November 16, 2013

Song of the Week! 16 November 2013


Another user request feature awaits this week, as we cover two very recent Anime tunes requested by Yusri Khairi. Off we go!

 Preserved Roses Valvrave the Liberator
Version
Allx3 (101)x6 (173)x6 (283)x7 (410)
 Taiko 0 S to 0 W
 167
 none
 ???


The arcade Taiko has always kept a good selection of licensed songs, featuring the popular new songs and the classic loved by everyone; the current HD arcade sticks to this trend, thanks to the possibility of adding new content through updates. The two anime songs in this feature were introduced by update into Taiko Sorairo, releasing at the same time on Game Version 5.04

This first one is the first opening theme of the anime series Valvrave the Liberator (started April 2013), produced by Sunrise and known in Japan as Kakumeiki Valvrave (革命機ヴァルヴレイヴ, 'Revolution Machine Valvrave'). This is yet another mecha-centric science fiction story, set in a remote future era (the 'true era', or Shinreki '真暦') where over 70% of planet Earth's population has migrated to other planets, while the last residents of the blue planet live in what has become an endless war

The main character of the anime is Haruto Tokishima, a student from Sakimori High School living in the neutral nation of JIOR, inside a Dyson Sphere built to unite part of the population who left Earth due to the war. When the Dorssia Military Pact Federation -one of the superpowers- invades JIOR's Dyson Sphere, Haruto Tokishima discovers a series of highly-advanced robot warriors inside his high school -the Valvraves- which are used to protect the Dyson Sphere with the help of many other pilot allies against the Dorssian forces.

Even as a fledgeling series, Valvrave the Liberator developed quickly, generating a light novel and manga based on the anime (and a second season airing too!), and even a localization in English by Aniplex for the American audience (almost immediately), after also being streamed with English subtitles in websites like Crunchyroll and Hulu.

Preserved Roses is one of the very few songs in Taiko games to reference both its creators and the anime name as the song's subtitle. The singer/actor Takanori Nishikawa (西川貴教) and songwriter/voice actress Nana Mizuki (水樹 奈々) are the main voices for the song, which was composed and arranged by Daisuke Asakura (浅倉大介). While the former is credited with the art name of T.M.Revolution (an acronym for 'Takinori Makes Revolution'), Nana Mizuki is the seiyuu of one of the anime's characters (named Kriemhild).

What makes this song's Oni mode quite challenging in Taiko is the almost-uninterrupted flow of both single notes and clusters, though for experiences players it's still a walk in the park.

 Guren no Yumiya (紅蓮の弓矢) Shingeki no Kyojin
Version
Allx5 (182)x6 (237) x6 (301)x8 (510)
 Taiko 0 S, Taiko 3DS 2, Taiko Wii U 1, 2, Taiko PS Vita
 181
 none
 shing2 (cover) / shingk (original)


And now, here we are. Today's big one. The magnitude this song had over the Internet had spawned endless video renditions and in-jokes thanks to the epic mood this song suggests to many fans, almost overshadowing the related anime in popularity. To have a glimpse of what I mean, search for the the anime on Google!

Anyway, Guren no Yumiya is the opening theme for the anime adaptation of the manga series Attack on Titan (進撃の巨人, 'Advancing Titans'), written by Hajime Isayama (諫山創) since September 2009 for Kodansha's Best Shōnen Magazine. The anime was first aired on April 2013, and is a story  set in a dystopian world, where humanity had been forced to retreat into a system of concentric walls to avoid the threat of giant man-eating humanoid creatures simply known as the Titans. A century after the retreat, the outermost wall is breached by a huge Titan attack, resulting in the destruction of several towns and many victims, including the mother of the manga's main character Eren Jaeger. Vowing revenge against the monstrous creatures, Eren joins the elite soldier group known as the Survey Cops with his adopted sister Mikasa Ackerman and their long-time friend Armin Arlert to repel the menace and learn the history behind the Titans, the Walls and his own persona in the process.

The many themes touched in the manga's story resulted in an ever-growing popularity around the world, and the story has been recreated in many different media. Light novels, drama CDs, the aforementioned Anime series, additional spin-off stories, movie/OVA productions and even videogames (the latest one slated for this December on Nintendo 3DS in Japan) were made from Attack on Titan...and it just doesn't seem to end! The series also won the Kodansha Manga Award for the shōnen category in 2011, among several other nominations and awards.

Guren no Yumiya (lit. The Crimson Bow and Arrow) jumped into Taiko together with Preserved Roses and three winning songs from CreoFuga's 2013 contests thanks to a software update. The song is performed by Linked Horizon, a 2012 Japanese symphonic metal band which originated from another past band named Sound Horizon. The song itself is composed and arranged by the two bands' main member, nicknamed Revo. Outside from Taiko, the song can also be found on BNSI's Synchronica and two of bemani's rhythm game series: pop'n music (Lapistoria) and REFLEC BEAT (groovin'!!).

Etou stepped in for the creation of this song's Taiko charts, resulting into a powerful-sounding clusters array on Oni mode, which is more focused on 3 and 5-note clusters.