Taiko Time 4th Anniversary Questions

Hello everyone!

Taiko Time turns 4 this year, and so we have the annual quiz, with questions compiled by myself, tetsu and Pikaby! There are actually a few minor adjustments to the back-end of the site, but it doesn't affect the overall layout or anything; just a thought for the future! The biggest announcement for the site this year is the opening of our Twitter account, which we've already mentioned.

But enough of that; take a crack at your Taiko knowledge once more! Have fun!

1) Yesterday's Song of the Week feature is surely messy, isn't it? However, some crucial information still managed to pop in, as valid indicator of the song we wanted to feature. Which song is it?

2) Taiko DS 3 boss Wanyudo and Namco Original Jigoku no Taiko Jiten share something in common; what is it?

3) From which parts of the videogame Genpei Toma-Den come from the three themes that are being remixed together in the all-time popular Game Music song KAGEKIYO?

4) The most recent console games have cropped some of the Ura songs' features. Which are the last two songs (in order of the base song's appearance on Tako) to have both Kantan/Futsuu/Muzukashii Ura modes and custom preview points for the songlist menu?

5) Name a 4-song credit on AC0 (as of Kimidori ver. 1.05) that gives 430 DonPoints from titles relating to song choices alone, but requires less than 1765 hits to achieve. Use only Oni notecharts.

6) What are the Oni notecharts that has the most large notes by proportion (divided by total number of notes) in AC0 (as of Kimidori ver. 1.05), Wii U1 and 3DS2 respectively? All unlockables, time-limited appearances and DLC as of August 31 2014 are included.

7) What is the only song on any console version Taiko to be time-unlocked? (i.e. play a certain number of days for the song to be unlocked)

8) Name two songs whose Ura Onis have less notes than their normal Onis.

9)Which songs by Kyary Pamyu Pamyu that are in Taiko no Tatsujin are the original voice and not covers?

10) Which song has 8 extremely short Go-Go Times (all lasting one beat each) before the chorus?

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You can send the answers of this quiz to pikaby/aquabluu, through the e-mail address reported in our FAQ/Contact section. You can also send by Twitter Direct Messages to @taikotimeblog if you so prefer. The deadline is set on next Sunday (September 7th)!

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!

Quick Takeaways: August 28 Livestream

This post will be removed when the full coverage is ready. Meanwhile, feel free to contribute screenshots and information to help out!

• All comment goals met.
• 30K: Title part voted as no Ran (ノ乱) (voted by audience)
• 76.5K: RPG da-don
• 87.6K: Rate up for rare title parts in AC0 gasha
• 100K: Mirai e no Kagi open in AC0 (including Asia) for 8/29~9/7
• New songs: Kenka Joutou (喧嘩上等) by Kishidan, FUTURE FISH from Free!, World's End Dance Hall, Mugen no Sora by Silver Forest (reported earlier)
• Funassyi gift campaign and excited new CM
• New song by Tatsh: Xa (read as Ikusa) (both spelling and pronounciation voted by audience)
• New song by Zeami: Souryu no Ran (双竜ノ乱), with special feature Sou-uchi (双打, i.e. playing on two drums) ("Sou-uchi" voted by audience)
• Dedicated folders for Professor Sakamoto and Tatsh/Zeami respectively.
• September 3DS2 DLC: Fuuga and Mirai's Deserted Island Training
• Songs: Ponytail to Shushu, HOT LIMIT, BLUE TOPAZ, Tenohira wo Taiyou ni, dance storm
• 22 ranks in Kimidori Ranking Dojo, still can skip ranks, comes about Sept or Oct
• 4th Outfit Contest results announced. Winner: a 40-year-old demon, or your mother (voted by audience)
• Perhaps livestream will become monthly stable

Taiwan Tourney 2014: T'was the Night Before the Finals

Well more like the evening before the Finals because it's only 5pm as of this writing. But it is true that the Finals is just tomorrow (August 30). Let's check out some more last day news!

From Sume's Facebook post

First the more adverty news: sets of these KATSUDON- and Sorairo-styled Banapassports will be sold at the venue. Each set is priced at 300 NT dollars. Stock is limited!

From Sume's Facebook post

Also noteworthy is that a special guest will come all the way from Japan to be at the competition! Who would it be? Takemoto (who has once been to Taiwan already for Asian ver. Day 1)? Etou? Or perhaps even a composer/singer? We'll have to wait and see!

Stick to Sume's Facebook page for more!

Taiko AC0 Asia: Monthly Facebook Tournaments!

Asian Donders is really missing out a lot without the Donder Hiroba eh? No DonChare, challenge sending and online tournaments... So the title above should be a big eye opener!

Namco Taiko Blog (28 August 2014) - Back to School with Chopin's Donchare

September is upon us, and so is a new slew of monthly challenges for the latest arcade generation! Which unlock will grant this time?

Everyone Comments! August 28 livestream comment goals

【速報】明日の太鼓チーム公式ニコ生のコメント数に応じたごほうび、みんなでチャレンジ＠ニコ生版(8/28)が用意できました！早速公開だドン！ドンドココメしたくなる放送内容を準備しています！一緒に盛り上がろう♪ #taiko765 pic.twitter.com/NTTfIOBw7u
— 太鼓チーム (@taiko_team) August 27, 2014

Livestream day tomorrow! Another comment challenge is upon us, whose goals you can see from the @taiko_team tweet above.

Most of the goals are similar to previous runs, save for the big SECRET tagged to the 87,600 goal. Guess we'll have to find out on the spot.

The song for limited pre-unlock is an oldie: Mirai e no Kagi, a CS Anime 2 debut! The last and only time it was on a Taiko game it bears 7☆, with some hefty 16th clusters around the place.

Everyone Comments! Livestream Challenge (August 28) goals
10,000 comments: Twitter icon
20,000 comments: 500 Shopping Points
30,000 comments: Title part
50,000 comments: Smartphone wallpaper
76,500 comments: Etou appears ??????????????? wearing Tatsudon T-shirt
87,600 comments: SECRET
100,000 comments: Limited pre-unlock of Mirai e no Kagi on AC0Ki

Wadaiko Master

Thanks to Milton for the email with the video and pictures  and the guys at Taiko no Tatsujin Malaysia (Facebook) for the first information!

Taiko Momoiro was released, on early 2014, to several different countries in Asia...but might it have spread even further than most people initially thought?

First video of Theme of Lupin III '78 (Ura Oni)

It's already August 25th in the land of the Rising Sun, which means that Japanese players are now allowed to download the latest DLC pack for the latest Taiko 3DS title. While the second Popular Song pack is full of console repeats once again, the only brand-new addition is an Ura mode for the iconic theme of Monkey Punch's earliest animated transposition of Lupin the 3rd. For your interest, the regular Oni mode got a star rating update to 7 stars, in a similar fashion to the revived main theme of Abarenbou Shogun last month.

We'll update Taiko 3DS 2's songlist (and the related pages) with the new content very soon!

Song of the Week! 23 August 2014

Another arcade collaboration is in the air! A quick look back at one of the previous events with today's song sounds fitting in order to welcome this new event, doesn't it?

Taiko-related Composers in Smash Bros. (3DS)

Before our weekly song feature, here's a list of all the artists from Bandai Namco that is contributing in some fashion or another to the incoming 3DS Smash Bros videogame, taken from the latest Smash Bros games' official website. Can you spot any familiar names in there?

If the 'Taiko: Drum Master Series' taglines aren't enough for you, here's the skinny: resident composers Yano Yoshito, Yuji Masubuchi and 2000-series personality Linda AI-Cue are all in Nintendo's major gaming project of the year! Torine (Theremin Rhapsody, SORA-V, Time to dine) from the Namco Sound Team is here too, as well as some external contributors like Rio Hamamoto whose works appear on Taiko as Game Music tracks.

3DS2 August DLC Pack Info Found

Photo from this Plurk

It's nice to see 3DS2 continues to get print coverage two months after its relea... hold on, is that Princess Soprano?

[RUMOR] Taiko Wii U 2 in the works?

With the latest console entry only two months old, it looks like a new game for Nintendo's latest home console is already in the works! Like for what happened in the past, a test page website has been issued for an hypotetical page of the second Taiko Wii U game.

We don't know anything else on the subject matter at the moment, but further details about this game won't be late coming up if it's proven to be true!

Taiwan Tourney 2014: Finals Rules Now Out

Rules slide cover from Sume Facebook Fan Page

As summer closing in on the end, it's time to let out the long-awaited Taiwan Tournament Finals! Today Sume released a set of slides detailing the rules and regulations. Let's go through them quickly together!

Namco Taiko Blog (21 August 2014) - August '14 Stream's Special Guests

The next Taiko Team stream session is airing in 7 days from today, but that doesn't stop the Taiko Team from promptly updating the event's schedule with special guests!

Taiko no Tatsujin: Don to Katsu no Jikuu Daibouken Version 1.2.0

Another firmware update for Taiko no Tatsujin 3DS2 is out on the eShop, and like the first one, it's nothing major. 1.2.0 fixes a few 'stability issues' with the game, probably some minor glitches here and there. It's 17 blocks large.

On a side note, if you received the notification for the update via Spotpass, the scrolling message on the main menu of the game will be Don-chan saying about how hot the weather is every day.

Nation-wide Rhythm Game Festival: More info

That was some announcement eh? Hope you are as excited as we are about the upcoming Nation-wide Rhythm Game Festival (天下一音ゲ祭, read as Tenkaichi Otogesai) event! The surprise Taiko Team blog post alone is kinda skimpy on the details, so we did some further snooping to bring you some more!

First to Twitter: @taiko_team is not the only excited Twitter feed to release this piece of news. In fact all the participating games' Twitter feeds has also done so, and in pretty good sync! In case you do not recognize, it's the Game Music Triangle trio again with Groove Coaster (EX) and maimai (Orange), plus the proud addition of jubeat (saucer fulfill) from Konami's BEMANI family.

【速報】AOU主催による「天下一音ゲ祭 全国一斉認定大会」が開催決定！太鼓の達人が参加だドン！ http://t.co/JP0gaPHqWC #taiko765 pic.twitter.com/Wk0Ihxd6JU
— 太鼓チーム (@taiko_team) August 18, 2014

大ニュース！！！ 全日本アミューズメント施設営業者協会連合（ＡＯＵ）主催による「天下一音ゲ祭 全国一斉認定大会」が開催決定！ KONAMIからはその大会にjubeat saucer fulfillが参加することが 続きは→http://t.co/Gh7T5x0tLz
— jubeat staff (@jubeat_staff) August 18, 2014

【速報】 「天下一音ゲ祭 全国一斉認定大会」開催！ 「グルーヴコースター EX」参戦決定！！！ http://t.co/45mzYoyIPx 詳細は下記をご覧下さい。 http://t.co/2MDRNTVNee #グルコス pic.twitter.com/YqbPqNo4Uv
— グルーヴコースター公式@8/12新曲 (@groove_coaster) August 18, 2014

maimai公式にて『【特ホウ】『天下一音ゲ祭 全国一斉認定大会』開催 ＆ maimai ORANGE参加決定！』を公開しました。 なんだかどえりゃあ事になったがね http://t.co/xNrueDumU0 #maimai pic.twitter.com/khij3RyOIq
— maimai公式ニュース (@maimai_official) August 18, 2014

Next we check out with the main organizer of the collaboration event, the All Nippon Amusement Machine Operators' Union (全日本アミューズメント施設営業者協会連合会, AOU in short). In their August newsletter a full page (Page 5) has been allocated for the event. Here are the extra details we have from this:

• A total of 7 new songs will be added for each game: Each game will put up one song to pass between the games, and one brand new song will be created by each game's composer. The songs will be added late-October first-hand to participating stores.
• The key activity of the event is a(nother) tournament, hosted within designated blocs across Japan. Each arcade center member of the AOU will each host a Store Preliminary on AOU's Games Day (November 23) together. Winners will proceed to a late-December Bloc Finals showdown to determine the champion of each game within the bloc.
• The tournament will accept "online entry", a first in AOU game tournaments.
• Arcade centers completing the union's membership application by September 19 will be eligible to hold the Store Preliminary

There will be more news as the event draws near, so stay tuned at all the usual outlets, as well as these notable links!

Tenkaichi Otogesai page, under the Games Day site

AOU main website

Namco Taiko Blog (18 August 2014): Kimidori joins rhythm game collab!

Summer holiday is over for the Taiko Team, and they seem eager to post this instead of on the usual Thursdays. It's a breaking piece of news; Taiko no Tatsujin Kimidori will be part of a massive collaboration known as the Nationwide Rhythm Game Festival (天下一音ゲ祭), abbreviated to AOU.

It's something like the Game Music Triangle, except on a much larger scale; the AOU involves:

• One song from each of their respective rhythm games crossing over into other games (something GMT failed to address)
• Composers from each of their respective game publishers making one new song for each respective rhythm game in the collab

The collab starts September 19th, 2014. More will be explained over time, but having songs crossed over from other rhythm games into Taiko, and exporting songs from Taiko into other rhythm games..finally, that is happening!

Link to original post

Namco Original Showcase: Dragon Songs

The Dragon series began its life on the 3rd generation Taiko arcades, and are all instrumental pieces composed by Azu♪ (あず♪). The naming convention seems similar to another Namco Original series (Kikyoku), however unlike it, the English word between the two tildes are simply how the Japanese phrase in front is supposed to be pronounced, rather than any direct translation. The first four tracks follow the leitmotif of seasons, with succeeding pieces being loosely themed onto other attributes such as natural elements and time.

Born in Kobe, Japan on April 1983 (real name unknown), Azu♪ is a freelance composer mainly focused on piano music, which he has studied since age 7. Aside from personal compositions and arrangements, his first works between 2009-2011 were mostly related to videogame BGMs, most notably for the XBox 360 scrolling shooter game Otomedius Excellent. Some years later, after the debut of some of his works on Taiko, Azu♪ began to contribute more often as a guest composer for many albums, both instrumental and vocalized, for emerging Japanese idol groups like Rynryn Midoroppu (Rynryn☆ミどろっぷ). Among his musical preferences are Japanese and Western musicians and bands, as well as classic composers like Maurice Ravel, who have deeply influenced his composition skills. For more information about Azu♪, check out both his website, blog, and his Twitter profile.

Each song has consistently been released one year apart from each other, one for each of the seasons in the yearly cycle.

Song of the Week! 16 August 2014

Summer's heat is still on, so here's a frosty pick for chilling things up!

Staff Interview: nigelliusnitrox

Who are you and what are you doing here?
Nigellius Nitrox here! It's just a pseudonym, as is "tetsutaro" and "Hisashi Yarouin" in other parts of the interwebs. Let's keep RL details to a minimum, like that I have access to AC0 Asia version cabinets, okay? Okay.

I write a little, sometimes make customs for MBY and also recently curates the @taikotimeblog Twitter. Also the resident hipster, for that matter.

When did you start playing Taiko?
Weirdly, I remember that as being "4 months into the release of DS2", which is also the first one I own.

What was your first Taiko arcade version?
AC14, pwned by Maneki Neko no Uta, even when I think I can after all those DS3-ing.

What are the versions of Taiko you've played?
Arcade: AC9~14 including 12 Asia and excluding 12, and AC0 (Asia)
Console: DS1~3, Wii1, 3DS2. If you say "technically played" I also played Wii2 and Wii U1, but like just one song on each.

What's your favorite console/arcade version?
Arcade: AC0 of course, for having like everything.
Console: 3DS2 for, again, having everything (re DLC).

What's your favorite control method?
Was Button Set A, then changed to B when shortly before starting with arcade.

What about on the arcade?
2P Shin-uchi Abekobe is my default. Also I do like a 75% hand switch, only messing up in even-number clusters where I often start with right regardless.

How long do you usually play Taiko?
Around half to one hour each time.

What's your favorite genre and why?
Variety. I like exotic and quirky things. Also great memories of Maneki Neko no Uta (see above), Onara Hazukashikunai Yo carrying me through 7★ and Caramelldansen takes over through 8★.

What's your favorite song and why?
Samba Alegria, per being exotic heat-filled fun samba. GERMINATION and Tsukikage SASURAI comes in close seconds

What's the song that gives you the most trouble?
Before AC0 hits Asia I was struggling with No Way Back (probably still am but never checked again). Now I am swimming in the AC0 ocean of 9★ looking for newer obstacles.

What's your least favorite song?
Only one song? Can I just outright push the whole line of AKB48 songs down to the hate pit? No? OK, then I will choose Entrance of the Gladiators for myself being the c-word. coulrophobic

Do you actually like any of the side modes/minigames in Taiko?
Story modes are nice. I like having context in games. Although, the gameplay part could quickly run out for heavy players. I like DS2 when they ramp up the bosses to Oni when you extensively cleared the thing.

What song would you like to see in one of the future Taiko games?
More Gershwin in Classic is nice. In fact, more original Classical (i.e. not arranged, especially not rock/metal arranged) would be cool too.

Purupuru Simple lyrics

Artist: Her Ghost Friend
Composer/Lyrics: Yuusuke Isabe (磯部祐介)

List of Title Parts in Taiko no Tatsujin (Kimidori Version)

From Momoiro Version 2.04 onwards, arcade Banapassport players are able to set titles for their personal nickname either with one of the titles previously unlocked by doing specific tasks or by creating a new one by scratch by using specific title parts.

These title parts are basically divided into two different groups: nouns and phrases ('Group A') and symbols or connectives ('Group B'). Players can use up to 2 words from Group A and a symbol/connective from Group B to construct a custom title, following the scheme A-B-A. Any spot of said scheme can be left blank and the slots for Group A words can be filled with the same word.

While all the units from Group B are unlocked by default, players have to get the title parts from Group A through the rewards shop. Certain Group A parts can be unlocked only by achieving specific goals just like regular titles, whose unlocking requirements are explained into Kimidori Version's unlock page.

Taiko no Tatsujin Kimidori Version (International) songlist

This is the Asian equivalent of Taiko no Tatsujin Kimidori, released in Japan on July 2014 and in Asia just one month later. Due to licensing problems, the songlist is significantly smaller than its Japanese counterpart, however some progress has been made as all the licensed songs that were released on JP Kimidori on Day 1 are present in this version. Non-promotional event extra folders are also added to this build, in line with JP Kimidori.

Feature-wise there is not much change or major upgrade from Momoiro; Donder Hiroba and all its associated features such as DonChare and the Ranking Dojo are still absent. Due to how Rewards Shop costumes were handled in Momoiro, Don Points could not be reset for Kimidori, instead the rewards for Kimidori were placed after the final one for Momoiro, unlike the JP equivalent where the points are reset.

Song of the Week! 9 August 2014

As last week's Saturday Anniversary feature was about our faithful readers, this one is about the Taiko Time staff as a whole. We never really mentioned how I and the other contributors got together to begin with for this project in four years we're running the blog, so I hope that both today's triple feature and the following abridged story of how we met each other are enough to paint a bigger picture of Taiko Time's roots.

Kimidori Asia Version Update Post

Hooray for more Donders getting Kimidori (as version 0.04 shown above)! For this update we are going to do something slightly different: checking off what we know against the Japanese version for hidden items. Feel free to provide us with more info!

Last update: August 10

What We Know

• 12 songs from the Kimidori poster from the official Asia Version FB
• From this Plurk, these Kimidori-default debuts/revivals also made it:
• RPG
• Imagination
• Katte Rock
• Ama no Jyaku
• GO MY WAY!!
• ONLY MY NOTE
• super star shooter
• Puru Puru Simple
• Denshi-drum no Tatsujin
• Caramel Time
• Choujikuu Adventure
• Also from that Plurk we see Honey Heartbeat ~10 Stars Remix~ finally made a late appearance
• Again from the above Plurk, these new outfits also made it:
• Takkun Ride
• Tikkun
• Hakurei Reimu
• On a sadder note, wikihouse commenters also reports that the Korean song list might be even smaller, without Senbonzakura and Diamond Happy
• DonPoint unlock songs are all in, as well as all the outfits along the way:
• Sacred Ruin
• Gashadokuro
• Dokadoka
• Newly unlockable Yokuderu 2000 is in.
• Touhou dancers are also in.
• Funassyi outfit is absent
• Sacred Ruin-related titles are absent Sorry, they are in. Remember to hit confirm 1 second early to make the timer stop at the double digit!

Taiko Plus - New Song Pack! Bonus Songs! New Version!

Whoops, looks like we closed the case on iOS Taiko no Tatsujin Plus a wee bit too early, so here is a second post in one day about one same game! This scope is big, I tell you.

TL;DR
New song pack: Popular Song Pack 16
Summer Break Campaign: free songs with purchases
Ver. 2.4.0: Rewards Roll for outfits, themes and skins

Taiko Plus - Free Limited Songs with Taiko RPG Da-Don!

For i-device newcomer users who are trying to approach some of the most popular Taiko apps out there for the first time, here's a fancy event which grants a couple of free songs by playing the recently-released Taiko no Tatsujin RPG Da-Don.

By installing both Taiko Plus and RPG, the latter game will unlock a promotional voice that can be bought with the Musical Stones that are normally supplied to players as daily gifts. Upon the purchase, just open Taiko Plus to download Natsu Matsuri and Angel Dream (with Ura Mode) for free! Both the songs were already featured in some of the app's song packs as well.

The two songs will be playable for free until the end of the campaign, on September 4th.

Namco Taiko Blog (7 August 2014) - August 2014's Stream Session and Special Title Parts Gacha!

For today's blog entry we have two announcements that surely will affect Kimidori arcade players! The Taiko Team will have another Nicovideo stream session, mostly focusing on the creation process of the latest Namco Originals.

First videos of Kimidori Version 1.05's new songs

Finally, we are at today's main event! All the early video footage about today's newly-added songs is inside this post. Enjoy!

Namco Taiko Blog (6 August 2014) - Taiko x Funassyi Collaboration

Hya-haa! With today's anticipated Kimidori Version update, a small blog entry has been made in order to offer a quick recap of the collaboration event with Funabashi prefecture's hyper-energetic mascot.

Taiko no Tatsujin Kimidori (Asia) Launch Notice

A new post was made today on the official Taiko no Tatsujin Asia's Facebook page, describing what will happen during the transition between Momoiro Asia to Kimidori Asia. This is similar to the blog post made for JP Kimidori, except on Facebook instead of there.

The transition is slightly different from the JP counterpart because of the missing features in the Asian version.

• There will be a server maintenance tonight (read: right now) to move all player data to be compatible with Kimidori.
• All clear and full combo data from Momoiro will be maintained.
• Don Points from Momoiro are not reset, and carry over into Kimidori.
• Don Point rewards from Kimidori are added on to after the end of Momoiro's rewards chain (meaning players who have not gotten MAX Don Points on Momoiro yet continue to accumulate and obtain Momoiro's rewards until they finish at Sotsu Omeshiki, then go on to unlock Kimidori's rewards)

After 8am Japan time tomorrow, any sign in to Kimidori Version will render the card inoperable on Momoiro Version. However, as long as you have not used the card on Kimidori yet, you can still play on Momoiro until you upgrade.

As expected, when the upgrade is actually carried out depends on the local operator's purchase and the time it takes to ship the firmware installation CDs to their respective countries.
---

The major difference between the JP and ASI transitions into Kimidori is the Don Point system; since Momoiro's rewards are not being taken down, it means there will still be no Donder Hiroba or Rewards Shop for the Asian region yet, which is disappointing (and players who have not yet completed Momoiro's unlocks will have an even longer grindfest awaiting them). However it also presents the possibility of Momoiro's Rewards Shop songs being added into Kimidori's unlocks, which I believe many players would appreciate as they would not have access to those songs otherwise (things like Toccata and Fugue and Rock, Kimi no Akari, Yumeiro Coaster, Stage 0. ac11 and others).

There will (hopefully) be a big update post tomorrow covering both the Japanese update of Kimidori today (which added a whole slew of new songs), and the songlist of Asian Kimidori. Stay tuned, it's going to be an exciting ride tomorrow!

Taiko no Tatsujin IRL: Snacking and Exercising

The drumming game franchise we all know and love is going everywhere for collabs and events this summer! Today let's brief in on whatever happens with Taiko no Tatsujin IRL (in real life, for the less jargon-savvy)! Grab some snacks to go with the post!

Feature: Yuru-kyara: What's the big deal?

The cuddly side of Japan in a nutshell

Some very interesting developments in Taiko no Tatsujin's song library (the Variety genre) include characters which foreigners might not be familiar with. Who is Funassyi? Who is Kumamon?

Song of the Week! 2 August 2014

August is always a busy month for our humble blog, as it turns yet another year old! Anniversary special events are also approaching fast, but we'll discuss about it another time.

As for now, it's time for our usual Saturday feature! For this anniversary, we'll actually have a 2-part Saturday feature dedicated to what has made our blog stay strong for over 4 years. Of course, without our beloved readers there wouldn't be any Taiko Time blog to begin with, so here are some recently-requested songs from you. As always, thanks very, very much for sticking with us for such a long time!

First video of Summer Dragon ~Karyu~

The chart isn't being played, but it's capture quality so you can hear the music very clearly. It's 8* Oni with 673 notes.

There is currently no Ura Oni for this song, but then again Toryu made its debut without having one either (first seen on Katsu-Don but Ura Oni released months later on Taiko Wii 5). We'll see if they manage to make this a little harder soon! Enjoy for now!

Don Challenge List (Kimidori Version)

Don Challenge (shortened to 'DonChare' (ドンチャレ)) was introduced in the July 2012 update of Taiko no Tatsujin (HD) for Banapassport-equipped arcade players, which is a set of 11 goals that has to be cleared by playing the game and meeting certain criteria. The challenges change on a monthly basis, and once a certain number of them are cleared, the player can unlock new songs and titles for themselves too! 10 of the goals can be cleared by individual players, and the 11th one is a group effort, contributed by all players with Banapassports.

The songs unlocked through Don Challenge will be available to all other players in the following month when the goals are renewed, so it is an incentive for regular arcade-goers to clear goals so that they may be able to play new songs earlier than everyone else and unlock more new content.

Below is the list of Don Challenge goals made for the Taiko Kimidori Version firmware and the content they unlock. These will also be listed in the related unlock article.

Update: Taiko Kimidori coming to Asia

The Taiko Team have set up an official Facebook account for Taiko no Tatsujin Asia just last week, and made its first announcement today that Kimidori Version, the current latest one in Japan, will be released on August 6th, 2014 (of course, the timing of the individual shop updates will be delayed as it covers five different countries...Taiwan will get it first most likely)

What new songs will be on it? Some are shown in the poster above!

J-Pop

• Family Party (ファミリーパーティー)
• Koi Oto to Amazora (恋音と雨空)
• Mottai Night Land (もったいないとらんど)

Anime

• Wake up!
• SHINING LINE*
• Let It Go ~Ari no Mama de~ (Let It Go～ありのままで～)

Vocaloid

• Kagerou Days (カゲロウデイズ)
• Rokuchounen to Ichiya Monogatari (六兆年と一夜物語)

Variety

• Funa Funa Funassyi~♪ (ふな ふな ふなっしー♪)
• Necrofantasia ~ Arr. Demetori (ネクロファンタジア～Arr. Demetori)
• Kero⑨Destiny (ケロ⑨destiny)
• Tsuki ni Murakumo Hana ni Kaze (Arranged: Iceon) (月に叢雲華に風 (Arranged: Iceon)) 

No mention of new Namco Originals but fingers crossed the new ones are in, along with songs from previous firmware that were missed.

If the poster shows all the new licensed songs that are to be added, then the following new songs will be missing:

• RPG
• Amanojaku
• Kumamoto Surprise!
• Katte Rock!
• ONLY MY NOTE

We will keep updated on any developments and be well-prepared for the release!