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Saturday, October 20, 2012

Song of the Week! 20 October 2012


Another Ura song from the latest arcade generation awaits our readers!

 Juumensou colorful ver. (十面相 colorful ver.)
Version
Allx3 (256)x5 (328) x3 (453)x6 (752)
Taiko 0.5 to 0 Y, Taiko Wii U3, Taiko Switch, Taiko +
144-173
Variety -> Vocaloid
 gumi10


Vocaloid has had representations in Taiko since Taiko 12.5, mostly through Hatsune Miku, and they have all been fairly popular. A run down on the history of the vocal synthesizers can be found in song series.The Katsu-Don arcade HD upgrade introduced another virtual idol from another musical family: GUMI (グミ), mascot character of the synthesizer software Megpoid, released on June 2009 by INTERNET Co. Ltd. It's not a Crypton-made software, but the Megpoids are also powered by Vocaloid 2.0. Gumi's illustrator is Masami Yuuki (ゆうきまさみ), and her symbol vegetable is the carrot.

Her voice is provided by Japanese voice actress and singer Megumi Nakajima (中島愛), and that's where the names 'GUMI' and 'Megpoid' come from: in fact, GUMI was Nakajima's nickname in her childhood. Nakajima is also known for singing some anime opening/ending themes, like Kampfer and Macross F (the OP theme of Macross, Lion, is on Taiko no Tatsujin too!)

First uploaded on Nico Nico Douga on January 14th, 2011, the original version of Juumensou (lit. 'Ten-Faced') is made by YM with the V2 Megpoid software and was one of the first Gumi songs to achieve over 1 million views on its original broadcast. The succeeding 'Colorful Version' - the one featured in Taiko - is based on V3 Megpoid software and originally appeared in the CD pack Vocaloid-P Data Series, with a variety of songs by different producers. The song tells a story of "a girl" who has ten different personalities. They fell in love with one boy, though unfortunately the boy can only love one of the girls. The "ten" girls didn't even know each of the personalities existed; and tried to find a solution. In the end, the girl rids herself of her 9 other personalities and is left with the original her.

The latest Taiko arcade already got Taiko players used to a higher note range for the modern 6* Oni songs (eg. My Mine), and with Juumensou, Namco again tops the record with a whopping 753 note total! This is also possible due to the song's unusual length - 3 minutes and 42 seconds - which makes room for a lot of notes like other extended version Uras from before, except this is not a Ura. Juumensou's regular Oni offers basic clusters and 1/16 spacing throughout the entire song, also ramping up the speed halfway to BPM 173.

The song features Gumi as a special dancer, like for her other songs on Taiko, Matryoshka (with Miku) and Mosaic Roll. Like for Miku, Gumi is the central dancer, surrounded by four small Taiko drums. A full Tamashii gauge in-game shows three other Vocaloid characters available from INTERNET Co.'s software on the left (the blonde Lily, the red-haired CUL and Kamui Gakupo) and some traditional Taiko no Tatsujin characters on the right (Donko, Mask Kid and Lantern Eel) while wearing the Vocaloids' wigs.

  Juumensou colorful ver. (十面相 colorful ver.)
Version
All


x8 (999)
 Taiko 0.5 to 0 Y, Taiko Wii U3, Taiko Switch, Taiko +
144-173
Variety -> Vocaloid
 ???


Today's featured song and one other song are the first two Variety genre songs to have Ura modes in four years, after Yawaraka Sensha Ura. Filled with even more 3 and 5-note clusters, this extra Oni mode is more an update for the regular one than a harder version. However, it's the first notechart for the genre to reach the triple-digit note limit, leaving Yawaraka Sensha's Ura mode behind by over 100 notes.