Synchronica songs' arrival in Taiko no Tatsujin has mainly happened due to special collaboration and events, most of which involving Bandai Namco's two series sharing songs with each other and, during Synchronica's post-termination times, as yearly inclusions coinciding with the release anniversary of its first arcade firmware. The majority of the Synchronica songs coming to Taiko gaming are composed/arranged by Taku Inoue (井上拓), a former Bandai Namco musician in activity since the early years of the 2010s.
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Yoake Made Ato 3-byou Synchronica
夜明けまであと3秒 /「シンクロニカ」より
| Game | Genre |
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| AC0 Mu Wii U3 DL PS4 DL |
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★4 (135) |
★5 (189) |
★7 (537) |
★9 (814) |
- |
177-182
syyoak (Synchronica Yoake)Synchronica
The very first track from Synchronica grounds has been ported to modern Taiko arcades thanks to the second edition of the Tekaichi Otogesai music games tournament, which has seen the rise of this game and bemani's SOUND VOLTEX as participating newcomers. Going under the English-translated name of 'Three Seconds Left Until Dawn', Yoake Made Ato 3-byou has been inspired by a real-life situation occurred to composer Taku Inoue shortly before its creation, as also being noted in the Authors' Comment section of the 2nd Tenkaichi's first round of songs.
During the 2nd multi-franchise AOU tourney's preparation, Taku Inoue and other NBGI employees have had their offices moved to the Monzen-Nakachō district in Koto (Tokyo), making for them an everyday habit to come back home with a peaceful night sight of the Sumire river flowing under a bridge and urban buildings on the background, which gave the inspiration to the song's album cover and its video on Synchronica. When the song's early concepts were already set in the composer's mind, its actual tempo was kindled by a nighttime fishing session with other Bandai Namco employees at the Sumire river, where Inoue's relaxation upon trying to catch fishes in a cloudless night with such an inspiring new panorama was balances with his anxieties about the moskitoes flying around the area, attempting to pinch the newcomer visitors for some nourishment. Inoue wanted to translate on piano this mixture of sensations until the 2nd AOU tourney's Synchronica plans came to life and gave to the composer the occasion for a new boss-sounding track.
Yoake Made Ato 3-byou's Taiko port is emphasized by some of the highest BPM/scrolling speed modifiers combinations ever registered in the Game Music genre, be it for the song's gradual pressing rhythm inception or for its sudden-note moment. Apart from those eyecandy visual flairs, signatures from 1/12 to 1/24 are featured in equal measure on the song's Oni mode for a varying succession of stamina-draining note clusters.
Synchronicity Synchronica
「シンクロニカ」より
| Game | Genre |
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| AC0 W PS Vita PS4 DL |
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★3 (103) |
★3 (174) |
★6 (281) |
★8 (441) |
- |
130 sysync (Synchronica Synchronicity)Synchronica
As already anticipated, Taiko gaming has received the largest portion of the transplanted Synchronica songs due to inner-arcade collaborations, involving Banapassport players to try out both rhythm game franchises in order to receive special unlocks in both fronts. During the second of those events, which has occurred between December 2015 and January 2016, Taiko games have started receiving Synchronica tracks, with one of them being the arcade's main theme.
Composed by Taku Inoue, Synchronica's flagship "Bandai Original" is named after the eponymous concept coined by psychiatrist Carl Jung, explaining the idea of Synchronicity that sees life's events as "meaningful coincidences" if they occur with no causal relationship, but yet seem to be meaningfully related to each other. Being one of Synchronica's launch songs, Synchronicity also had a peculiar treatment during 2016's April Fools day, where an extra difficulty for the song, dubbed as Pandora (link), was added to that song alone as a joke. Synchronicity's Pandora mode was later revived for two weeks during May in the same year, while also spawning a special poll for everyone to vote which other songs in the arcade may be elected to receive the Pandora treatment in some form in the future.
In Taiko grounds, Synchronicity's Oni mode fares like your average low-notecount 8* challenge, as repeating note patterns and low BPM make more accessible the song's cluster formations for a pleasant play.
New World Synchronica
「シンクロニカ」より
| Game | Genre |
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| AC0 W 3DS 3 PS4 DL |
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★3 (134) |
★6 (224) |
★7 (403) |
★9 (725) |
- |
177 syclsn (Synchronica Classic New World)Synchronica
Always from the 2nd Taiko x Synchronica collaboration event comes yet another launch-day default track from Bandai Namco's second arcade rhythm game. The title and the song itself already are big hints in discovering this song's nature, which in reality is an instrumental rock arrangement of Czech composer Antonín Leopold Dvořák's Symphony No. 9 in E Minor "From the New World", which already got some Taiko recognition in form of a playable song in the Classic genre. While we forward you to this Song of the Week entry for more details about the original, here we'll digress on the independent unit which has remade the song for Synchronica.
Founded on April 2010 in Tokyo, the progressive rock band LAGITAGIDA is currently formed by guitarist Kohhan Ohtake (大竹康範), bassist Takehito Kono (河野岳人), drummer Takayoshi Yazawa (矢澤孝益) and keyboard/supporter kAoru ikArAshi (五十嵐馨). The band's name came out with the idea of having something that was never heard before, with its own rhythm and musicality in its pronunciation. So far, the unit has one album and two mini-albums with both original songs and other Classic works custom arrangements such as Cracked Nuts, a remix of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite. It's possible to know more about the band from their official website.
In Taiko gaming, New World is the second Synchronica song to receive portable console ports, after Synchronicity's V Version appearance. Its 9-star Oni notechart heavily relies on two factors: a main 1/16 cluster regimen that tends to follow the original drum percussions of the song and 1/12 note patterns that may or may not give a wink or two to the infamous 6* Oni mode of Taiko games' cover of From the New World.
Canon (Synchronica Remix) Synchronica
カノン (シンクロニカ Remix) /「シンクロニカ」より
| Game | Genre |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AC0 W 3DS 3 DL |
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★3 (130) |
★6 (192) |
★7 (334) |
★8 (543) |
- |
124-224 sycano (Synchronica Canon)Synchronica
Always during the White Version firmare's lifespan, a third Taiko x Synchronica campaign was issued, with the Taiko side -once again- receiving another instrumental Classic cover from Synchronica, based on Johann Pachebel's Canon in D Major. As Taiko games have already let us talk about the original song for the Kare Kano Kanon Song of the Week feature, here we'll be talking about the artist who re-made it for Synchronica.
This jazz arrangement of Canon has been made by Takeshi Nakatsuka (中塚武), formerly employed by Namco as a planner and currently an independent musician. Born in Yokonawa on June 27, 1973, he started his solo career as a composer/singer in 1997 upon presiding over the band QYPTHONE and making his overseas debut in Germany. Nowadays, he's the owner of the Delicatessen Recordings label, under which his albums are published. Among his other works in gaming grounds are arrangements of songs that have been featured in special Konami and Namco soundtracks, including Katamari Damacy collections and Xevious's 30th Anniversary album! Head over to Takeshi Nakatsuka's official website in order to know more about the artist's works.
The song's swing rhythms make for a rampant return into Taiko of fast 1/12 patterns mostly made of small clusters alongside single notes, with the ending more akin to the 4-beat stanzas and a slower 1/16 long clusters portion.
Surf Zapping t+pazolite / Synchronica
t+pazolite「シンクロニカ」より
| Game | Genre |
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| AC0 B 3DS 3 DL PS4 DL |
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★4 (190) |
★6 (280) |
★7 (498) |
★10 (840) |
- |
100-200 sysurf (Synchronica Surf Zapping)Synchronica
After witnessing the debut of many Synchronica-spawn tracks on the Taiko arcade scene, the hardest of the bunch was instead unleashed as a console-first feature! Surf Zapping is the very first boss song of Bandai Namco's second arcade music game franchise and, much like with the case of Garakuta Doll Play for maimai, it's made by -core music composer Tomoyuki "t+pazolite" Hamada (浜田知幸). An 'Uncut Edition' for the song was released by the same artist for his REALLY Don't waste me! album.
The song's changeling-speed nature is channeled into the Taiko series by the use of two base BPM value and scrolling changes from x0.5 to x2.0 the default speed, making room for a cluster-heavy notechart that still has its calm moments along the way to completion. Years after its console debut, Surf Zapping made its arcade debut as one of the boss tracks for Blue Version's Performance Battle mode.
God Ray Synchronica
「シンクロニカ」より
| Game | Genre |
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| AC0 Y |
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★5 (152) |
★6 (243) |
★7 (413) |
★10 (777) |
- |
73.5-172 godray (God Ray)Synchronica
While the console front's first Taiko top-rated Synchronica boss song was from an outsider composer, the arcade front's hi-tier challenge debut is manifesting the work of a NAMCO SOUNDS-affiliated musician, all for Synchronica's very first Technical 18 challenge!
The name and concept of the God Ray came to life due to a misunderstanding by Synchronica series director KimizuP (キミズP), mistaking the song's prototype title as a manifestation of the Synchronica director himself's merciless chart-making suggestions, manifesting to its players in form of a godly-looking beacon of light. God Ray is the debut track for the series for the nick-named kyo, already known for its work in the iDOLM@STER series as well as Taiko gaming's 'Zero no' songs with Sariya-jin. The singer of this track, however, is the vocalist/songstress Miki Tsuchiya (土屋実紀), currently working both on commission and as part of videogame developer company INTI CREATES's musical unit III. In the later years, Synchronica got two God Ray sequel songs: one in 2017 that would eventually find its way onto Taiko years later and another in 2019 titled Genesis Ray, with kyo returning as its solo composer.
The next 10-star Oni to run behind the 777-notes trail after Namco Original Calculator, God Ray proves that there is still space for repeating-pattern charts for the current hi-difficulty meta, as mixed 1/16-to-1/24 clusters have multiple instances to shine through, together with some dense cluster spikes and slightly-increasing scrolling speed variations for the performance's very end.
Sakura Secret Touhou Project x NAMCO SOUNDS - Taku Inoue / Synchronica
サクラ・シークレット / 東方Project×NAMCO SOUNDS Taku Inoue
「シンクロニカ」より
| Game | Genre |
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| AC0 G |
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★2 (106) |
★4 (183) |
★5 (349) |
★9 (673) |
- |
145-160 thntak (Touhou - NAMCO SOUNDS - Taku Inoue)Synchronica
As we've added with time to the top of this very Song Series Showcase series, the Synchronica series is no longer active as of September '19, marking this Touhou Project-related song transplant to the Taiko gaming sphere as its first posthumous one, composed by an artist who has also left Bandai Namco a couple of years ago. Complete the trifecta with the factoid that this arrangement is based around the main theme of one of the Touhou games' ghostly ladies and you can argue you can't possibly get a more dead combo in our music game series!
The song chosen as the base model for Sakura Secret is the Stage 6 Main Boss theme of Perfect Cherry Blossom -the 7th official entry in the series- going by the English-translated title of 'Bloom Nobly, Ink-Black Cherry Blossom ~ Border of Life' (幽雅に咲かせ、墨染の桜 ～ Border of Life). Bearing this somber-titled song as that game's incident maker and main-game final boss is Yuyuko Saigyouji (西行寺 幽々子), a ghost of the Netherworld acting as the princess of its ghost shrine -the Hakugyokurou (白玉楼)- thanks to her manipulatory abilities to control death and the departed souls' behavior. In later games of the series, she was also made playable in both danmaku games and some of the fighting entries and even came back as a Stage 1 boss for the 13th game (Ten Desires), expanding on her knowledge and cunning skills being just as big as her appetite. For Taiko gaming's custom Touhou dancers set, Yuyuko appears as one of the Fever dancers (2nd one from the right), joined on the left by her trustworthy retainer Youmu Konpaku from the same debut game.
Compound clusters are commonplace for Sakura Secret's Oni setting, intertwining different tempo signatures on longer clusters for this Kat note-dominance chart (61.36% note ratio).
Synchronica Airlines Synchronica
シンクロニカ・エアライン / Taku Inoue「シンクロニカ」より
| Game | Genre |
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| AC0 N NS2 |
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★4 (124) |
★6 (192) |
★7 (398) |
★9 (759) |
- |
140 syairl (Synchronica Airlines)Synchronica
Another post-mortem Synchronica addition, and it comes from the hands of Taku Inoue once again! With the theme of 'Wind' in mind, the once-BanNam musician molded this song by mashing up together another trio of Synchronica songs of his making: the already-digressed-upon Synchronicity, Yoake Made Ato 3-byou and Minna no Uta (みんなのうた), a 'title song' of sorts that was made for Synchronica's major firmware update.
From the 'Ready?' call that is found at the start of any Synchronica play down to the Minna no Uta-reminiscing instrumental virtuosism, this song's Oni mode has one job to carry out and one alone: to make players crumble in front of its many, MANY mixed cluster combinations of colors and tempo signatures! The accompaning scrolling speed variations and the lenient BPM pace, however, make for a safer landing in comparison to other songs with the same gimmicks, such as No Gravity and ouroboros -twin stroke of the end-.
Yurame Mifumei / Synchronica
ゆらめ / ミフメイ「シンクロニカ」より
| Game | Genre |
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| AC Nijiiro (Y2) |
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★5 (165) |
★7 (262) |
★8 (394) |
★9 (614) |
- |
61-121 syairl (Synchronica Airlines)Synchronica
From 2021 onward, the yearly Synchronica porting action became an arcade-only affair and slightly expanded its operations, now sticking with two song releases per year which were planned a few weeks away from each other on the Taiko release timeline.
The first one to come in 2021 is this quirky tune by the nicknamed Mifumei (ミフメイ), art name for Yusuke Yamauchi (山内祐介). Later on, this ex-Capcom composer will be spotted in Taiko for dedicated songs as well, such as Mirai Komachi's future tone and Namco Original Isso Kono Mama de. The artist was also interviewed in great length about the making of Yurame, with the resulting article being posted on Synchronica Lab, the dedicated Synchronica Team blog.
Being a river person himself, the idea of making a 'river song' came while strolling and gazing upon the light refracting from a river's surface, prompting him to capture the feel of a river's flow in its music form, 'Swaying' just as its title nods! In order to reach such lengths, Mifumei even went on filming the sound of the Sumida river's waters on a cloudy day with helicopters and many boats bustling around, with the recorded fluid sounds making it into the final track. The song title was settled on hiragana characters way before the river idea came in, as the author wanted to have a song with a title that was easy to read in the midst of more complex titles.
It's easy to be swayed around with 3/4 beat stanzas if the mind falls on the tracks of "120 BPM? That's easy!", as the really close cluster combinations may be deceptively deadly to a perfect play in conjunction with the slow scrolling speed!
Kakenukete-yuku SueP / Synchronica
駆け抜けてゆく / すえP「シンクロニカ」より
| Game | Genre |
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| AC Nijiiro (Y2) |
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★4 (165) |
★5 (262) |
★6 (394) |
★8 (614) |
- |
178 ???Synchronica
We've heard from time to time about the exploits of one Bandai Namco staffer going by the nickname of SueP (すえP), one of the ongoing more prolific modern charters in Taiko whose first experience at the company was for charting Synchronica songs. This one song, however, is the first time when he was at the composing chair, too!
By the time of Kakenukete-yuku's release, SueP was about to turn 30 and he was in the process of realizing how days and weeks pass by in a really fast pace... hence the 'Running By' title and its motif! It's meant -in fact- to be that one kind of piece where one looks back to the accomplishments of the past while being moved in a sentimental way, one that by advice of ex-NAMCO SOUNDS member Taku Inoue was composed as seen from the composer's perspective and style rather than anyone else's!
The clashing sensation of looking back in the past while the ongoing life comes at you fast is emphasized in the Taiko Oni chart by a number of notes and hitballoons scrolling faster in your face, but the real accuracy threat lies on the hefty dose of handswitching required towards the end!
Sekai no Oto -sekai note- FILTER SYSTEM / Synchronica
せかいのおと - sekai note - / FILTER SYSTEM「シンクロニカ」より
| Game | Genre |
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| AC Nijiiro (Y3) |
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★1 (70) |
★2 (140) |
★4 (283) |
★8 (463) |
- |
160 syairl (Synchronica Airlines)Synchronica
Synchronica's post-mortem Taiko journey in 2022 has started with one of the songs which was made while keeping in mind the arcade game's key tagline of "two people working together" for a greater harmony.
The world is seen by the nick-named FILTER SYSTEM as many sounds ('timber', or 'oto'), each being divided in different scales ('note') and clashing together as concepts in order to find the right balance to draw the best harmony. Thinking to the defunct music series' play-together-focused tagline, the lyrics body was built with the engrained idea of a certain someone which hasn't been met in a very long time, with the conviction that if it was possible to meet that person again, one could go achieve a lot of feats that would be impossible to accomplish by oneself. Prior and after the Synchronica experience, FILTER SYSTEM has dabbled a bit in the bemani-sphere a couple of times, once with a contest-winning, GUMI-powered arrange of a pop'n music song for SOUND VOLTEX (Artemis) and another for an actual pop'n music original tune, later on (Carbonara Dorobou).
A more mellow 8* trial to face, this steμ-charted job prides itself in offering both 1/16 and 1/12 charting in equal but non-lethal parts. It's also one of the few songs in Taiko gaming where one mode's rating is double the rating stars of the easier setting right below it!
Libera Ray steμ feat. siroa / Synchronica
「シンクロニカ」より
| Game | Genre |
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| AC Nijiiro (Y3) |
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★4 (142) |
★5 (234) |
★7 (434) |
★10 (860) |
- |
116-232 syairl (Synchronica Airlines)Synchronica
The other Syncronica track for the third millennium's second Year of the Tiger is also a second on its own right, more specifically the 2nd track in the 'Ray' original boss song genos, following God Ray. Instead of the previous Ray track's ensemble, for this one we got the familiar due of steμ and siroa, strong of the fame they built up in Taiko upon giving light to a certain Taiko Drum Monster.
With the images of heavien and an angelic ladder in mind, Libera Ray picks up the same Italian-choir-inspired vibes with a title based on the English word 'Liberty' but with a similar Italian-sounding word to top it off. Once the lyricless version of the track was finished and made it listen to vocalist siroa, the impression left by the song was that it puts yourself in somewhat of a "I'm fighting someone" kind of mood, so the scenario for the lyrics body became about a hero fighting in dartkness, a ray of light shining down to make him realize how there still was hope even if he was unaware of it, followed by a sudden fall to nothingness. Libera Ray is also notable for being the only non-Tenkaichi Otogesai song to be transplanted outside of Bandai Namco grounds, seeing how it got ported on Taito's Groove Coaster arcade branch a few years later (link).
Despite the higher number of notes than God Ray, this is arguably an easier top-star hurdle to tackle on Taiko than its predecessor, mostly due to the less-cluster-leaning charting approach which seldon lends itself to some truly vicious handswitching fragments.
Crystal Hail Nhato / Synchronica
「シンクロニカ」より
| Game | Genre |
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| AC Nijiiro (Y4) |
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★4 (210) |
★6 (337) |
★7 (533) |
★9 (817) |
- |
150 ???Synchronica
As Summer approaches in 2023, the Nijiiro arcade line has received another couple of Synchronica songs in a short time distance from each other. It's also a tune that shares its birthing grounds with the very first Synchronica song to ever land on Taiko shores...
Indeed, much like for Yoake Made Ato 3-byou's case, this was a boss song made for the now-discontinued Tenkaichi Otogesai crossover tournament series, being the representative for the Synchronica series in one of the tourney editions (the 4th one) where song-sharing between series was rather limited at the time. Crystal Hail was composed by Tatsuya 'Nhato' Fukumuro (福室達也; Twitter; SoundCloud), an independent DJ from Tokyo with bonds to independent labels for collaboration works (Alstroemeria Records and Diverse System among those), as well as one of the leading composers in the AMALGAM music production/design team. He made his debut in the early 00's as kyu until the transition to his main alias, although it's not uncommon to adopt shared aliases with other composers for duo/unit works, most commonly when signing as Edelritter for collaborative projects with the nicknamed Taishi, most prominent use of such alias for being with the main-plot-relevant song Ringed Genesis, for lowiro's Arcaea.
Nhato's music as a sole artist already touched selected series in the past, from the also-dead Crossbeat series with Heartstrings to the three non-Vocaloid Sega music game series (Round Round Spinning Around for maimai, Destination for CHUNITHM and Radiance for Ongeki). The bulk of his otoge works, however, lies within the beatmania IIDX series, for which he supplied with at least once song for every iteration since its 23rd installment (23 Copula), although he also got one-off jobs for other bemani series between DanceDanceRevolution, DANCERUSH STARDOM and jubeat.
The composer's impression on Crystal Hail's making-of were left on the Tenkaichi Otogesai website's dedicated section, alongside all the other songs for the event (archived link). The impression that Synchronica left on Nhato as a whole was "a sense of transparency with a gentle atmosphere", something he wanted to embody with his tourney-participation song while also integrating sharp-sounding vibes dear to the trance genre, his right-hand composing trend of choice. He was also working until the very end for something that would leave a long-lasting impression about the song's outro to its listener, ending up with he himself stuck with hearing his tune all over for quite a while!
Bearing the hope Crystal Hail's melodies would stick in the hearts of those playing along with them, Nhato's original wishes for this Synchronica-original have got a second chance with an arguably larger audience in this lucky Taiko transplant. Backing it up is a musical-notation charting mold that is sure to follow each beat with a drum's own... all the while scrolling imagery are on board to make the whole venue more engaging as a result!
AtoZ,I leave toZ Dr.Laintrigger Demo:MonA" / Synchronica
「シンクロニカ」より
| Game | Genre |
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| AC Nijiiro (Y4) |
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★3 (???) |
★4 (???) |
★6 (???) |
★9 (759) |
- |
190 ???Synchronica
Joining the Taiko family at the start of July 2023, the second of the Synchronica song shares the highest difficulty rating with the just-digressed-on Crystal Hail, both for their Synchromica Technical charts as well as their Taiko Oni ones. While usually the title spacing for a song across Bandai Namco games is indicative to their pronounciation, this "A to Z, I leave to Z" is worded in this squished state between both series, instead of the single-word reads that would transpire by looking at the title!
This one song is brounght us by the nicknamed Dr.Laintrigger Demo, one whose otoge presence would be later heard on in both VOEZ (After School -Mira Fillia-) and Groove Coaster (Ryoiki no Kanata VIICELL). The composer is joined by the nicknamed MonA" for the vocals, one figure just as hard to scout (read=not found) across online/social platforms just as the same Laintrigger of the demo doctor kind! Despite this song being one of those featured in the aforementioned Syncronica Lab (link), it's also one with the least amount of backstory talk about it, just with its lyrics about someone feeling the lingering presence of ghosts being posted and the composer's own impression that his spirituality grew stronger while making the song. If that's enough for the makers of the song to scroll the whole alphabet behind its origins, it sure is the same for us too!
Here we got a full-1/16-charting treat whose scrolling speed is always put on a leash, resulting into a more dense reading challenge not too far off the likes of the slow areas in Venomous Ura and DEBSTEP! (minus the difficulty degree, of course). While the required stamina might not be that taxing, combined with the ending portions it might be just enough to misjudge hits and lead to 1st-timers consecutive mistakes!
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