Double feature again this week! Both songs this time relate to the same story and the same game too. Think you already know what I'm talking about?
Warera Muteki no Dokon Dan (われら無敵のドコン団)
| Version |  |  |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Taiko 13, 14, Taiko DS 2, Taiko Wii 1 | x4 (112) | x5 (133) | x6 (290) | x8 (540) |
| Taiko iOS, Taiko 3DS2 | x3 (112) | x4 (133) | x5 (290) | x8 (540) |
Taiko 13, 14, Taiko DS 2, Taiko Wii 1, Taiko iOS, Taiko 3DS 2, CD 2008 
145
none
ds2bs1The Dokon Dan ('dan' meaning 'gang' or 'team') is Taiko no Tatsujin's first real group of bumbling villains, comprising of three members. Dorabot (drum bot), the giant robot drum, Nyanki, the ninja cat, and Botan, the woman who seems to lead the two. Their leader is a little blue monk-like person called Dokon, who although looks evil and sinister, has a lighter side to him. They're just out to make noise and cause general mischief, in other words, some circles would liken them to the equally wacky Team Rocket from Pokemon. They're only villains in Taiko DS2 and became part of Don-chan's social circle thereafter, making cameos in most, if not all, subsequent games, whether as NPCs or as dancers.
They may not be the best bad guys ever created, but they're definitely colorful characters and have their very own theme song! As with most villain theme songs it's repeated throughout DS2 and is used in three boss fights with each of the three members of the gang, each with its own spin. Warera Muteki no Dokon Dan has been likened to a 'bad guy version' of Densetsu no Matsuri, and both songs do sound similar if you listen to them. The intuitive beats and great song landed Dokon Dan a spot on the arcade song list too, which does not happen very often with console-specific songs. Two composers were involved, Kaku Ryoichi (加来量一) and Masubuchi Yuuji (増渕裕二). The vocals are of Botan and Nyanki, provided by Takahashi Chiaki (たかはし智秋) and you can hear the deep voice of Dorabot in the back as well.
Warera Muteki no Dokon Dan is a song with intuitive and easy to hit note clusters, and the score can be pushed to a very high limit with the crazy number of drumrolls, big drumrolls and big notes. You can either score very low, or very high, with an FC depending on how well you do with the rolls.
Yami no Tamashii (闇の魂)
| Version | | | | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Taiko 12.5 to 14, Taiko DS 2 | x5 (122) | x7 (187) | x8 (335) | x10 (591) |
| Taiko Wii U3 | x4 (122) | x7 (187) | x7 (335) | x9 (591) |
Taiko 12.5 to 14, Taiko DS 2, Taiko Wii U 3, CD 2008 142 none ds2bs2 (DS 2 boss only) / ds2bs3 (DS 2, Wii U 3)Taiko DS2's final boss song, and this explains why Dokon Gang were up to no good in the first place...(here comes spoiler) They are just a music-loving group, and their leader Dokon was being controlled by the mighty evil spirit Gigadon, which you fight at the end of Taiko DS2's story mode. (spoiler end) Yami no Tamashii means 'dark soul', and that's exactly what this song sounds like, with nondescript lyrics of a made-up language, similar to evil villain songs of many other games. Gigadon's defeat meant that Dokon Gang reverted to the side of good. If you can still call them good.
Like all 10* difficult songs, Yami no Tamashii gained automatic entry into arcades from 12.5 onwards, making it the first console story boss song to make it into arcade, followed by Dokon Dan, Hikari no Kanata e, and lastly Dr. Waruru. It occupies the niche for unsettling, evil songs on the arcade and so far no other song has tried to take its place. The song is composed by Yoshito Yano (矢野義人), the same guy who made Konya wa Homi, another Namco Original. It was taken out after the HD Taiko was released, with its status as 10* Oni notwithstanding.
Yami no Tamashii, for a 10* song, has a really low BPM and is thus populated by dense, continuous 1/16 and 1/24 clusters which should be no problem for the seasoned player to pass, but FCing the song takes some effort as there are one or two places which can potentially mess you up, especially the short mixed streams. The two balloon notes are also notoriously hard to break, and the second one can really put the strain on the poor DS touch screen. Interestingly, this song has two Song IDs, 'ds2bs2' (DS2 boss 2) and 'ds2bs3', the first one referring to the lyric-less dummy version of the song when you fight Dokon. ('ds2bs1' is Warera Muteki no Dokon Dan)
