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Saturday, May 3, 2014

Song of the Week! 3 May 2014


Though it's a little late, another school year came to an end, and with it, another batch of students leave the comfort of school, going separate ways from their friends heading towards a brighter future. Today's song is about that!

Sotsu Omeshiki (そつおめしき) feat. unmo
Version
Allx4 (159)x6 (319)x7 (442)x10 (797)
 Taiko 0 M, Taiko 3DS 2, Taiko +, CD March 2014
200
 none
 so2ome


The female vocalist with the sweet calming voice, simply called 'unmo', is on a roll. Right after providing her voice for Sorairo's final DonChare song, Jikuu Chou Jikuu 1-Ka, she pairs up with composer Kawamoto Yoshinori (川元義徳, also known as Kawagen Collagen) right after to produce this lovely song as the final unlockable song for Taiko Momoiro's Don Point collection.

Sotsu Omeshiki is a mashup of three different phrases: 'sotsugyou' (卒業) 'omedetou' (おめでとう) and 'shiki' (式), which mean 'graduation', 'congratulations' and 'ceremony' respectively. It has pretty much the same meaning combined (con-grad-ulation ceremony, among other combinations), and the theme of the song and lyrics reflect the title accurately, speaking of high school students reminiscing about the three years they've spent together on the same routine, which suddenly feels special in hindsight, and singing their school anthem together one last time.

With the soundtrack CD for Sotsu Omeshiki being released recently, there are also brief remarks from the composer and vocalist regarding their works. Kawagen Collagen is a newbie to composing songs for Taiko no Tatsujin, and is largely inspired by prolific contributor Oogami Masako (who is most known for the ac. series of Namco Original songs). unmo remarks on the highly abbreviated nature of the song title, and liked the cute, girly, yet hopeful nature of the song, which is clearly aimed towards the high school female group.

The charts however, are aimed dead straight at Taiko no Tatsujin veterans and those transitioning from one difficulty to the next. With a very high BPM of 200, it's a great hurdle to clear no matter what your current skill level is. The Muzukashii chart is cluster-heavy, with hardly any breaks in the song, while the Oni chart features unrelenting streams of 5-note clusters and 3-note clusters in succession. Those are easy to get used to with practice, but the main attraction in the Oni chart is a long stream filled with tons of Kat notes towards the end of the song, a significant threat to those aiming for a Full Combo due to its speed. The stream outstrips the difficulty of other similar songs such as mint tears, and the stamina requirement is on par with that of Black Rose Apostle (Ura), though this is still easier.

The total note count on the Oni chart is 797, which is pronounced as 'na-ku-na' (泣くな), meaning 'don't cry' in Japanese, once again sticking beautifully to the school graduation theme.