Koi-kurenai Lyrics

Composition, Arrangement: Daisuke Kurosawa (黒沢ダイスケ)
Vocals: Kanako Kotera (小寺可南子)

Japanese lyrics sourced from the official Taiko Team Twitter (@taiko_team)

Song of the Week! 27 January 2018

Today's guest star on our weekly feature set is t+pazolite! Find out with us the artist's rhythm gaming origins with his first transplanted-to-Taiko hit as well as his most popular Namco Original to date.

Namco Taiko Blog (26 January 2018) - Taiko Blue Ver. @ JAEPO 2018

The earlier news tease we had today was pointing at today's blog entry, mentioning some more details about the Taiko no Tatsujin arcade experience at the incoming JAEPO. Not only will the current Yellow ver. cabinets be featured for the Tenakichi Otogesai Finals, but the soon-to-be-released Blue ver. firmware can also be tried out by the audience as well, both on Saturday 10th (h. 10-18) and Sunday 11th (h. 10-17). For the younger series fans, look out for a plushy Don-Chan mascot as well during the fair!

As the blog entry's actual new content is already over, after the jump we're spotlighting another couple of tasty tweets from the Taiko no Tatsujin profile, both concerning the Blue Version firmware.

Tenkaichi Otogesai 4 National Final Showdown Abound

Closing in on the JAEPO weekend (February 9~11) and it's time for the JAEPO x Tokaigi coverage. The first to be introduced in our blog is the conclusion for the fourth Tenkaichi Otogesai, culminating in the National Final Showdown (全国頂上決戦) on the expo show floors across 12:00~15:00 on February 10.

Before that happens, here comes the main song choices to be had in the Taiko no Tatsujin front:

Tenkaichi Otogesai 4 National Final Showdown: Taiko no Tatsujin Yellow ver.

Stage	Song(s)
Preliminary	セイクリッド ルイン Sacred Ruin (Ura)  Taiko Drum Monster
Semi-finals	天照 Amaterasu
Finals	月読命 Tsukuyomi

Again, check the Tenkaichi Otogesai main site for the full listing including the other games, as well as general rules and a showcase of the competitors.

And that's not the only JAEPO news we have for you! Stay tuned to the Namco Taiko Blog released today for more!

Twitter Snippets (25 January 2018) - No More Pack DLCs for Taiko Plus

ぱっく販売終了とかふざけるな！！(怒)#太鼓の達人#太鼓の達人ios
#taiko_app pic.twitter.com/48deEtaEwQ

— 影虎 (@newSilvertiger) 25 gennaio 2018

Following up the deletion notice for the Taiko PSP games' downloadable content, more news about long-lasting DLC services coming to an end for Taiko titles have surfaced through Taiko Plus in-app notices, such as the screen captured in the tweet shown above.

In the near future, the Taiko no Tatsujin Plus app will see the removal of every single song pack release that has ever been made for the i-device version thus far; those who have already bought and downloaded the songs on their game version can still play the owned tracks to the heart's desire, but once that the packs have been removed from the servers, these cannot be re-downloaded anymore. Users from the Japanese Taiko wiki Wikihouse are stating that the mass song pack removal will occur in late February, but as we don't have any visual evidence to show on this regard, we'll be waiting for the official announcement of the removal date.

Together with the song packs for the i-device version of the game, both it and the Android version will see the removal of the Lucky Draw side mode on the same day, formerly used for in-game rewards in conjunction to the Lottery system.

Thanks to Taiko no Tatsujin Discord user Bankslammer for the find!

First Video: Otomushi o Tsukamaero!

 音虫をつかまえろ！ Otomushi o Tsukamaero! (3/5/6/9; 646 notes on Oni)
Session de Dodon ga Don's 4th Donder Pack made its debut today, and so does this newcomer Namco Original as well! Featuring a blend of mainly 1/16 note patterns, this cluster-heavy Oni challenge has some tricky note formation to handle, broken down in averagely-long note clusters.

Taiko no Tatsujin in Taipei Game Show 2018... sort of?

 

If you are thinking of revelations on the levels of the long-teased Nintendo Switch Taiko no Tatsujin console release, we thank you for your patronage but you can leave now.

This year's Taipei Game Show (January 26~29) features only trivial appearances from the Taiko no Tatsujin franchise, with show floor trial plays of PS4 Session de Dodon ga Don, one stage event planned on January 26 15:30~16:00, and these side campaigns happening across the BNEI booth:

• Trial-play any BNEI game on the show floor and get commemorative postcards and stickers. Collect five different postcards/stickers and you stand a chance to redeem limited prizes including the Taiko no Tatsujin messenger bag and hand warmer
• Presenting a liked BNEI Facebook Fan Page and claim a pair of Taiko no Tatsujin Fai Chuns

BNEI Taipei Game Show 2018 special site

Namco Taiko Blog (24 January 2018) - Taiko x Osomatsu-san Collaboration Beginning Now!

In today's blog entry, we're suddendly getting informed that the arcade-related collaboration with the Osomatsu-san is beginning... from today! See what's all about after the jump.

Behind the Drums: Hirokazu Koshio @ COSIO/E.G.G.

Born June 2nd, 1980, Hirokazu Koshio (小塩広和) joined the Kyushu Institute of Design in 2003, from where he graduated 2 years later. Right after obtaining his Acoustic degree, Koshio was hired as a member of ZUNTATA, the in-house sound musician unit of Taito for which company he has composed music for a number of its games, including mobile titles (Space Invaders Infinity Gene and Arkanoid vs Space Invaders among others) as well as Taito's music game series: Music Gun! Gun! and Groove Coaster. Together with ZUNTATA member Shohei Tsuchiya (土屋昇平), Hirokazu Koshio single-handedly created most of the original mobile Groove Coaster game's playable songs, signing his works under a number of different aliases while also being the sound director of the whole series for a number of years.

Hirokazu Koshio graduated from ZUNTATA on November 2015 in favor of a freelance musician career, with the creation of the COSIOTONE sound label; despite his departure from ZUNTATA, he's still contributing to different music games to this day, with both original tracks and custom theme arrangements from different videogames.

Song of the Week! 20 January 2018

Mobile gaming is the theme of this weekly feature, as we take a gander at a couple of songs available in Taiko titles that are (seemingly) coming from the smartphone-friendly music gaming sphere.

Namco Taiko Blog (19 January 2018) - Taiko no Tatsujin Blue Version's Official Reveal!

After yesterday's dreary news about some more DLC discontinuation, it's finally time to announce the next big arcade firmware that will be succeeding Yellow Version in a few months!

Today's blog entry carries only said official announcement, coupled with the splash screen art that is displayed above. With Taiko sibling Katsu busy floating around in the background, who is the sword-wielding, totally-not-Maple-from-V-Version lady that shares the foreground space with Don, and what this (and that menacing dragon in the background) means for the newcoming arcade firmware's play modes?

Link to original post

The End of an Era: Taiko no Tatsujin Portable 1/2's DLC Discontinuation

 

Freely-downloadable tracks for the PSP's first two Taiko no Tatsujin Portable titles have been openly shared with its players for a cumulative period of time that surpasses the decade, although it looks like this situation isn't going to last any longer.

The two notices above, available in the two games' respective websites, promptly inform that the DLC tracks will be removed from the official websites after January 31st. If you want to add the 40-or-so songs to your games before they're gone for good, you can check out one of our earliest guides on this blog, by following this link.

Credits to the Taiko no Tatsujin Discord user unknowwiiplayer for the find!

Twitter Snippets (17 January 2018) - Taiko x Ososmatsu-san Keychains

【プライズ】本日18日（木）より「太鼓の達人」とコラボした松たちのぬいぐるみ

「ドン松さん」が全国のゲームセンターに登場です！https://t.co/AlLOJIHzGW#おそ松さん pic.twitter.com/WgsCxpk6Q6

— 「おそ松さん」公式アカウント (@osomatsu_PR) 18 gennaio 2018

The Taiko x Osomatsu-san collaboration has yet to come, but that won't stop the beginning of some early crane game merchandise plans! As reported in the tweet above, Banpresto has already started the distribution of the six Taiko-themed keychains whose looks can also be appreciated in the coming arcade collaboration with the music game series.

Namco Taiko Blog (17 January 2018) - Yellow Version's Special Goods Campaign

With the official Taiko blog entries becoming more and more sparse in number, it may happen that we miss some of the newly-made posts on not-Thursdays and for that we want to apologize in advance...

Now that this notice is out of the way, let's talk about the latest Yellow Version-related campaign.

Twitter Snippets (16 January 2018) - Visual Team Teaser for the Taiko x IDOLiSH Collaboration

【アイドリッシュセブン×太鼓の達人コラボ】
1/9より稼働中「WiSH VOYAGE」のプレイ回数が目標達成したドン！
応援団に百くんが登場するドン！みんなたくさん遊んでくれてありがドーン！
「アイナナ×太鼓」コラボは2018年春頃、本格スタート！お楽しみに♪#taiko765 #アイナナ pic.twitter.com/LWMXJ2CJb5

— 太鼓の達人 (@taiko_team) 16 gennaio 2018

With the 7,777 plays threshold for the IDOLiSH song WiSH VOYAGE being reached, the collaboration art with the future collaboration has finally been revealed! As anticipated from last year, this event will kick off in Spring later this year.

PS4-1 Update - Because It's Fourties: CoroCoro Comic 40th Anniversary Pack

 

Taiko no Tatsujin has been close with CoroCoro Comic for some longest time, and of course in their 40th Anniversary celebrations, Don-chan and Kat-chan will have to join in with new downloadable content on the latest console release:

コロコロコミック40周年記念パック CoroCoro Comic 40th Anniversary Commemoration Pack (Free, 2018/02/15~03/31)
コロコロコミック40周年のうた CoroCoro Comic 40th Anniversary Song NEW!
Full Body: コロコロコミック CoroCoro Comic
Petit-chara: コロドラゴン CoroDragon

Before that though, Session de Dodon ga Don will be featured on the show floors of Next-gen World Hobby Fair '18 Winter in late January through early February as part of BNEI's exhibition line-up. CoroCoro Comic 40th Anniversary Song can also be played first-hand.

 

Meanwhile, especially if you have missed the Taiko Team in person for some time now, Masubuchi has made a guest appearance on the official CoroCoro Channel for the world premier of the Oni notechart against the host. And yes, this will be our First Video on this.

(2/4/6/7, 304 notes on Oni)

Tsundere Cafe e Youkoso Lyrics

Artist: Nekojyaga* (ねこじゃが*)
　　　Composition, Lyrics: Fen (ふぇん)
　　　Vocal: Haxchi (はぁち)

Japanese lyrics sourced from original Creofuga submission.

Song of the Week! 13 January 2018

Today's featured pick was chosen because I randomly found said song playing during a weird dream sequence in a random Italian TV series I happened to watch a few days ago.

With that random trivia out of the way, let the fun begin...

Across Japan (January 10 2018) - Viva la Hiroba with the Idolm@sters: January 2018 Facebook Tournament

Well, the first foray of the Hiroba-nai Movement didn't really work. But it's a new year for us to newly try our collective hands at this!

Facebook Tournament: January 13~21 2018
　　　 Results Announcement: January 25 2018

 Brand New Theater! x8
　　　「アイドルマスター ミリオンライブ！」より The Idolm@ster Million Live!

Reason!! x3
　　　「アイドルマスター SideM」より The Idolm@ster SideM
Link to original post

Recount the rise of the Hiroba-nai Movement here. And if this is going to be your first run for the cause, welcome and here is how you name your player profile to be the campaign moniker.

Twitter Snippets (January 9 2018) - Wishing Upon Sevens: IDOLiSH7

【アイドリッシュセブン×太鼓の達人コラボ】サプライズ告知！
1/9(本日)より「WiSH VOYAGE」が太鼓の達人で遊べるドン♪
太鼓の達人でのプレイ回数が、7日間で7,777回以上達成すると…応援団にあのアイドルが参加する…かも！
みんなでドンドン遊ぶドーン★　#taiko765 #アイナナ pic.twitter.com/03bKP8O8Zo

— 太鼓の達人 (@taiko_team) January 9, 2018

If you are of the IDOLiSH7 fandom you might have seen this coming on January 7 when the TV anime aired, but the long-teased collaboration with the seven-piece idol-production franchise is finally realizing, with  WiSH VOYAGE (2/3/4/6, 300 notes on Oni) being added to Taiko no Tatsujin Yellow ver. starting from January 9th, 2018 in a surprise update.

Plus, if the Donder community can rack up 7777 plays within 7 days for this song, "that certain idol from that certain group" will be confirming their appearance in the "Taiko no Tatsujin Cheering Squad" as previously previewed. I wonder who that will be just from that silhouette... (no seriously I have no idea please tell me IDOLiSH7 fans)

Song of the Week! 6 January 2018

Here's a quick Namco Original feature to start off the new year right!

Literature Review: Manga Tokyo's Interview with Daisuke Kurosawa

Remember the Literature Review format? Yeah, me neither.

Back in early December 2017, the anime and otaku site Manga Tokyo got in touch with composer Daisuke Kurosawa to talk about his experiences and thoughts on music production.

The interview might have been done on the premise with Kurosawa's composition of the first Osomatsu-san opening (はなまるぴっぴはよいこだけ Hanamaru Pippi wa Yoiko Dake, which Taiko no Tatsujin did not get). However, Kurosawa was also asked about his involvement with previously Konami in the Bemani franchises and currently IZENE and INSPION, as well as the recent Taiko no Tatsujin collaboration with INSPION in which he has been heavily featured. That of course come into the obligatory talk about Infinite Rebellion, including the fact that it was composed to be a "gauntlet to players" that is "impossible to play" at conception because it is always the hardest songs that go viral.

Link to original post

Taiko Plus/STH - Post-Xmas '17 GTH Additions

The years may be passing, but some habits are just too hard to die, such as our lack of timeliness for the mobile Taiko branch's new song delivery notices...

Gakkyoku Tori Houdai Adds: December 26
 Uso (嘘)
 Butter-Fly
 Blood Circulator (ブラッドサーキュレーター)
 Tower of Druaga Medley (ドルアーガの塔メドレー)
 Ne~e Oshiete (ねぇ教えて)
 Kurukuru Kurokkuru (クルクルクロックル)