Back in January we opened the month with a Namco Original song that has a Ura and a twin partner. We've been planning to use this twin song to bookend 2012 properly. Remember which song it is?
Lightning Passion (らいとにんぐ ぱっしょん)| Version |  |  |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All arcade, Taiko 3DS 2 | x4 (192) | x5 (275) | x6 (421) | x7 (577) |
| Taiko Wii 4, Taiko + | x4 (192) | x6 (275) | x6 (421) | x8 (577) |
Taiko 0.5, Taiko Wii 4, Taiko 3DS 2, Taiko 
166
none 
rgodComposed by Ayako Sasou (佐宗綾子) - aka Sampling Masters AYA - Lightning Passion is an instrumental trance song mixed with traditional Japanese vibes, very much alike to dance storm covered in January and is a character theme song introduced in Taiko no Tatsujin Wii: Ketteiban.
Without delving into Wii 4's story details again (which are already explained on its dedicated page), Lightning Passion is the theme song of Mirai, Fuuga's younger sister and also the lightning god of the Taiko World (its songID is rgod, where 'r' is the initial for Raijin, the lightning god of Japanese mythology). Unlike her cool and calculated brother, Mirai is rash and fiery, and she gets into fights with her brother often, though she finds a liking to the mysterious Arashi. Mirai's personality traits are also well reflected in her aggressive style of playing Taiko songs, using her strength and stamina rather than any planned strategy.
Like on many other occasions, the debut of a Taiko song by Sampling Masters AYA is always side by side with another song by her colleague from Super Sweep records, Mega. Besides her other original Taiko songs - Rumble Ranbu and Samba Alegria - Sampling Masters AYA worked together with Mega on early Rigde Racer soundtracks (for the record, Kamikaze Remix is made by AYA), as well as composing songs for other rhythm games, focused on the Konami rhythm series beatmania (Wow Wow 70's and Debtty Daddy). Ayako Sasou also collaborated with Linda AI-Cue in the making of X-DAY 2000.
After their console debut, both dance storm and Lighting Passion were ported on the arcades as unlockable songs after November 2012's version update. The two songs were cut down to 7* Oni along the way as well.
The main differences between Wii 4's twin songs are in the songs themselves; dance storm focuses on simpler patterns with a higher speed, and Lightning Passion has a slower rhythm with simple 1/16 note stacking, some occasional clusters and several hand-switches. Lightning Passion also holds the merit of being the third song overall in Taiko which has no drumrolls on all four difficulties, preceded by Kiseki and Yuujou Pop.
Both Taiko 3DS 2's full Story mode and its demo version feature this song as the tune used for the boss fight against the Ashihara Kid, during the Sengoku time period.
Lightning Passion (らいとにんぐ ぱっしょん)| Version | | | | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All arcade, Taiko 3DS 2, Taiko + | x9 (765) | |||
| Taiko Wii 4 | x5 (239) | x7 (342) | x8 (507) | x9 (765) |
Taiko 0.5, Taiko Wii 4, Taiko 3DS 2, Taiko + 166 none exrgodMirai's signature song also has an Ura difficulty with the exact same notecount (the Nam-combo 765) as its twin dance storm. But again, the gimmick for its 9* Oni is different: never-ending successions of notes and small clusters (mainly with 2 and 4 note clusters for extra confusion) picture Lightning Passion's Ura mode as a training gound for clearing similar charts at a higher speed, for example Taiko Time and its own Ura.
