We've had SotW features in the past where the featured track was the Song of the Week, in the sense of it being the only brand new addition for the Taiko scene for the week... but today, we're going one step forward from there.
Enjoy our detailed introduction for the very first "Song of the Day", as in the fact that its Taiko debut has happened on this very day!
Mezase Pokemon Master -20th Anniversary- (めざせポケモンマスター -20th Anniversary-) Pokemon the Movie 20: I Choose You!| Version |  |  |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All | x2 (52) | x4 (119) | x6 (193) | x8 (302) |
Taiko 0 Y
120～240
none
???Yellow Version's latest public debut is on our weekly spotlight, leading once again to talk another song that would have been part of its own song under more... how should I say, more friendly circumstances for other Anime-related articles of the past. Quite a pity as well, since the long-standing trend of Anime Pokemon themes manages to come full circle with this entry, both series and Taiko-wise!
Indeed, Mezase Pokemon Master (translatable as 'Aim to Be a Pokemon Master') is quite the pivotal track for the Anime brand, as it's actually the very first opening theme that was used for the very first season of the show (dubbed as 'The Original Series' worldwide), back in 1997. The original version was composed by Hirokazu Tanaka (田中宏和) and lyricised by Shogo Toda (戸田昭吾), with the track being sung by the long-standing dubber of the animated series' protagonist Satoshi (Ash Ketchum overseas): Rica Matsumoto (松本梨香), whose prominent dubbing contribution for the series went on to this very day.
The original Mezase Pokemon Master was used for the first 81 episodes of the series, with other arrangements being made to cement its pioneering place in the animated series' musical department. The first of those has been one of the rare instances of music from the Anime series into the official videogames, as an 8-bit arrangement of Mezase Pokemon Master by longtime game series composer Go Ichinose (一之瀬剛) was used in the 1999 Game Boy spin-off Pokemon Pinball, as the Capture and Evolution theme for the Blue Version pinball board. Two years later, the original opening theme was re-arranged for the Original Series' third opening theme under the title of Mezase Pokemon Master 2001, covering episodes 194 to 240 and being arranged/performed by Whiteberry (that's right: Natsu Matsuri-renowned Whiteberry!). Flashforward to 2017 and the song gets remade a second time for the long-standing Anime series tradition, this time around being arranged by the nick-named Saku and starring Rica Matsumoto as the returning singer for this theme's latest incarnation, which went on to be used as the 2nd OP theme of the currently-running Pokemon Sun & Moon series as well as the 20th movie of the series, whose lineage is also referenced in the song's Taiko subtitle.
With the 20th Pokemon movie getting released with the 20th-Anniversary rendition of the original founder of the Japanese Pokemon opening themes tradition, the song with its most up-to-date official title got out in Yellow Version in the same day of the movie's release! Its Oni mode sports an 8-star Oni chart which is based around simple 1/16 note/cluster formations that follow more closely the singing action, topped of with a Yuugao no Kimi-reminiscent Go-Go Time portion where the BPM is doubled! Beware not to be fooled by the speed shift.
Mezase Pokemon Master -20th Anniversary- (めざせポケモンマスター -20th Anniversary-) Pokemon the Movie 20: I Choose You!| Version | | | | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All | x8 (416) |
Taiko 0 Y 120～240 none ???Wonder of all wonders, the latest incarnation of Mezase Pokemon Master also manages to become the first Pokemon Anime theme with an Ura Oni chart... built in from Day 1, no less!
Unlike the regular Oni treat, this one is packed with more notes so that it follows the instrumental accompaniment of the track in a similar guise to the notecharts for rap-based J-Pop licenses. As a result of that, clusers are now appearing in more trickier forms for an handswitch-based experience with that slight dash of 1/24 spike treat that is hold dear to the current arcade generation's difficulty standard. Watch out for even more dense clusters in the sped-up Go-Go Time section, though!
