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Saturday, August 30, 2014

Song of the Week! 30 August 2014


To wrap this August up, here's a little something from the current arcade generation! But first, a short disclaimer.

You see, I had to write this week's feature in a really nasty storm, and happened to publish the finished result at the same time my computer's power shut down after a black-out. Sadly, I won't be able to fix eventual issues with this post until next week... but until that, please enjoy today's feature. I just hope it's not messed up really bad!

EDIT: Being part of the Taiko Time 4th Anniversary Quiz (link), this entry was voluntarily left in shambles, save for some subtle hints for guessing the song. Now that the quiz event is over, you can enjoy the real feature!

 Gashadokuro (がしゃどくろ)
Version
Allx5 (180)x6 (242)x7 (444)x8 (614)
 Taiko 0 K, Taiko PS Vita
 236
 none
 gashad


Kimidori Version's only new unlockable Don Points tune, Gashadokuro is one of the first songs on Taiko made by Hisui (翡翠), a trainee composer on Taiko grounds who has already made a couple of Namco Originals in the past: Houjou Yayoi and SORA-VI Hinotori. The name refers to the namesake family of creatures in the Japanese folklore: mammoth-sized skeletons made of the bones of the lost travelers who died by starvation. After midnight, Gashadokuro roams around the land hunting for humans and their blood! Despite being indestructible and invisible (that is, unless you carry specific talismans, like specific types of Omamori), a Gashadokuro is said to be trackable -according to folklore tales- by hearing a bell ringing loud inside their ears, as a sign that the giant skeleton is looking after the victim.

Incidentially, it's possible to encounter a Gashadokuro in a Taiko no Tatsujin game! ...sort of. On the third DS Taiko game's Story mode, it's possible to fight a giant skeleton, but from the name given and its fighting pose in-battle, we can safely tell that said creature is more a reference to another flesh-less evil entity known as the 'Skeleton Spectre', as being portrayed in the ukiyo-e woodblock print 'Takiyasha the Witch and the Skeleton Spectre or Mitsukuni Defying the Skeleton Spectre Invoked by Princess Takiyasha'  (相馬の古内裏 妖怪がしゃどくろと戦う大宅太郎光圀), made by Japanese artist Utagawa Kuniyoshi (歌川 国芳) in 1844.

As a Taiko song, Gashadokuro finds its way to terrify its players with a wide variety of beat signatures and beat stanzas changes along the play, combining 1/12, 1/16 and 1/4 clusters all together for song where the rhythm changes happen when you least expect it..