Song of the Week! 9 May 2020

Two tracks from the last CreoFUGA competion are on our spotlight today!

 Kagayaki o Motomete (輝きを求めて) Versus.

Version
All	x5 (141)	x6 (208)	x6 (294)	x8 (471)

 Taiko 0 W, Taiko 3DS 3, Taiko Switch, Taiko +, CD CC-4
 80-200
 none
 kagmtm


Kagayami o Motomete (lit. 'Seeking Shine') is one of the contest-borne tracks whose composer's perseverance made it possible to shine through the Taiko franchise, even at the face of heated defeats in previous Taiko-oriented competitions! The nick-named Versus., in fact, already tried his mettle on the 2013 CF song-making contest with the drum'n'bass-centric Takami e no Chōsen (高みへの挑戦) (link active until the website lasts), only to come back a few years later with this tune. The other people contributing to the song's creation are vocalist Kaho Nishina (仁科華穂) aka Fuko (ふーこ), guitarist Hayashi "Carlos" Ryuji (林"カルロス"隆治) and bassist Tagawa Daichi (田川大地) aka Taicha (たいちゃー).

The thought process behind the making-of the song was the question of 'What kind of task should my song carry on, while I'm making it?', leading to a female-lead vocal composition made both as a challenging track and as a morale support to the World Championship 2016's players. This track's original submission on the contest's website sported a slightly different title, with the addition of two elongation lines to the final title (輝きを求めて――) as a means to stretch out the pronounciation of the last 'e'. By admission of Versus. himself, this track's submission to the conest was rushed to the application period's very last day, proving that a winner can be found even among late risers!

With the song starring artists who've had former experience into Anime-related works, the song sure feels like an OP theme for some kind of series with a Showa Kayo flair, a sentiment that was also shared by contest judge Yuji Masubuchi for the winners' comment section. This is also reflected into the notechart's structure for Taiko gameplay means, similar to many an Anime pick from the past; lots of small clusters and interlocking note stanzas repetitions have the lion's share for this speedy piece, but be careful not to be thrown off by the portion lying between the ending's giant notes!

 Hiyokko Fantasy (ひよっこファンタジー) Tsuyomi

Version
All	x5 (175)	x6 (231)	x7 (404)	x9 (583)

 Taiko 0 W, Taiko 3DS 3, Taiko Switch, Taiko +, CD CC-1
 188
 none
 hi4kko


With CreoFUGA's closure, the original versions of many a Taiko-awarded song are on the verge of disappearing for good, if not ported elsewhere. This rings more true for those tunes whose original version has more changes from the definitive one than just slight instrumental changes of the sorts!

A member of the fusion band Casiopea, the 24-aged (at the time of joining CF) Tsuyomi (つよみー) shares his passion of classical music with Versus., with the addition of game music pieces from Nintendo and Rare titles. His first version of Hiyokko (lit. 'Chick') Fantasy, the one that was used as a contest entry, has been made with Ameya/Ayame's vocal-synthesis tool UTAU and starred one of the Yamaha-competitor program's more prominent voice banks: Kasane Teto (重音テト), the infamous 'troll VOCALOID' born as an April Fools joke in 2008 that managed to gather a following and its place in the Project DIVA series over the span of 3 years.

Hiyokko Fantasy was Tsuyomi's first UTAU work, for which he plasmed its unique structure by 'cutting and pasting multiple songs' of his own, in order to give it an RPG-like feel. For the same game-y feel, he wanted to incorporate additional bits like an opening fanfare or a last boss BGM, but due to its lyrics' nature (and the will not to stuff too much pizzaz to it), Tsuyomi settled to the "First Village BGM" mood instead. With its lyrics body describing the situation of wait for your first love's first date, the composer himself express his embarassment upon letting people hear it in such a public way! Contest judge Linda AI-CUE praised Hiyokko Fantasy for its polite atmosphere and refreshing lyrics, wrapped together into a quality composition. The version of the song that became playable in Taiko gaming was performed by a different person on the vocals: Bandai Namco's Mitsu, already involved in Taiko gaming for a handful of vocal roles -including Portable DX, as the VA for the heroine Miko-chan for its Story mode- as well as a handful of image songs in the Idolm@ster franchise's Cinderella Girls branch.

Kuboken (くぼけん) was the man in charge of Hiyokko Fantasy's charting process, implementing several half-speed scrolling portions for its Oni mode as well as a handful of cluster-based passages that touch a bit of the 10-star tier's more aggravating gimmicks at an easier state, from long clusters to the occasional 1/24 spikes.