Just Be Friends - Human Covers

Hi everyone! Today two of my friends brought up the topic of being hooked on to the Vocaloid song "Just be friends", so I thought I'll chime in too!

I'll be frank, initially I didn't like the song because I didn't like the English lyrics "Just be friends, all you gotta do is just be friends. It's time to say goodbye, just be friends...". I just thought that in reality when you break up with your partner it's really difficult to say "hey, forget everything that happened between us and we'll just be friends". This is of course skewed with my bias of not believing in "love/falling in love" (this is a matter I will not ponder about in this post).

But what I do want to share with everyone today is a cover that Clear did of the song JBF (Listen here!). I really like this version of the song. The tempo is slowed down a lot from the original song. It contains plain piano accompaniment, which I think brings out the pain of breaking up with someone you love. Adding on Clear's beautiful and moving voice listening to this version will definitely make you cry!

Another cover of JBF is by NicoNicoChorus (in fact if you do a Youtube search you'll find many NicoNico covers). This one is one of favourites. I feel that the various human voices have been mixed in successfully, nothing seems out of beat or out of tune. I am also biased because Halyosy is part of the team singing this song.

One day I would like to make my own "Chorus". Go gather up a few friends, sing covers of Vocaloid songs and record them. But of course that is one naive dream. For starters I don't know Japanese so pronunciation is a problem, and secondly I can't sing ;_;.

Anyhow, I'll stop being depressive and leave you guys with a cosplay photo based on JBF.

Disclaimer: I don't own this photo. All credits goes to the cosplayers and photographer.

Kid Icarus: Uprising review

Hi! Rhycen here!
OK, so this is my first video game review, and I'm just doing this out of excitement, so it's not going to be the most comprehensive review, they are merely my thoughts on the game.

Kid Icarus: Uprising is a fast paced shooter/action adventure game developed by Nintendo for the 3DS, released in Australia on the 29th of March. You play as Pit, an angel and also the captain of the goddess Palutena's personal guard. The gameplay consists of flying shooter levels, where you just shoot the enemies that appear on the screen, and ground levels, where you have to find your way to the boss at the end. The gist of the story is, Medusa, the goddess of the underworld, is attacking, and it is up to Pit, with the aid of Palutena, to save the world.

I bought Kid Icarus uprising today, and I don't regret it one bit! At first I was slightly sceptical of getting this game based on reviews that complained about the terrible control scheme. However, a 20% off sale was too good to miss and I bought the game. As I expected, the reviews were quite exaggerated. The controls are nowhere near as bad as they make it out to be, although the camera is quite a handful to control and point in the right direction, but I imagine this can be perfected over time. The stand that comes bundled with the game certainly does help make gameplay more comfortable, although it doesn't help the fact that in exciting battles, I push my console on an angle, obscuring the 3D view. The gameplay is very fast paced, and you'll find yourself flying through the chapters at a blistering pace. After only about an hour of playtime I have already cleared 5 chapters, and also thoroughly explored all of the games features. The cut-scenes and animations are extremely well done and polished. The graphics are stunning, and the level design is interesting and non-repetitive. The game loads up very quickly, which is a plus for people like me who like to play games in short bursts. Also, the user interface is well designed and colourful, with large buttons that just beg to be tapped.

The action is heating up!

When beginning the story mode, after a short tutorial video on movement, you are thrust straight into the action of the first stage. There is no lengthy cutscene explaining the backstory  of this game. You are learning about the scenario at the same time as Pit. Palutena and Pit, and occasionally other characters, will constantly have conversations while you fight your way through each chapter, teaching you about enemies or how to get around obstacles, or even just joke around among themselves. I found this feature quite ingenious, as it provides information during gameplay, as well as additional "ear-candy" over the already beautiful soundtrack. The difficulty adjustment is also quite unique in this game. To raise the difficulty of the stages, you must spend "hearts" which is the basic currency of the game. This may seem a bit redundant, after all, why spend hearts to make it harder? Well, the harder the difficulty, the better weapon rewards you get for completing the stage. Having a strong weapon very important in this game so you can dispatch enemies quickly before they can hurt you. Speaking of weapons, the variety of weapons in this game is quite impressive. There are 9 different classes of weapons to choose from: Blade, Staff, Claws, Bow, Palm, Club, Cannon, Orbitars, and Arms. Each weapon has it's own advantages and disadvantages. There should be a weapon out there for any type of gamer. You can choose to fuse different weapons together to create even better weapons. I find this kind of collecting and combining very engaging.

The multiplayer is a very strong aspect of this game as well. After barely any wait at all, I was thrust into a beautiful arena with 5 other contestants. Although I did not fare as well as the more experienced players out there, I found the combat to be smooth and enjoyable. There was no lag at all during the match, which is awesome considering I am running on slowed down wi-fi as I am capped for the month.

Let the games begin!

Now, let's talk about the AR card feature. This feature was strongly advertised as a main focus of the game. It can take a while for the camera to register an AR card, but that could have been a result of my shaky hands. The models that appear above the card are well animated. A feature of these AR cards is, when two cards are placed head to head, a combat sequence initiates. During this sequence, you can view the cards' combat stats, which are health, attack and speed. When you press the fight button, the cards proceed to auto-attack one another, with their damage and rate of attack corresponding to their stats. The first card to lose all health points is defeated. Besides a big red X covering the card that last, there are no other effects after the cards are reset to full health. I find this feature kind of gimmicky, as there really isn't much use for it.

AR cards. Just a gimmick?

I have yet to complete the storyline, but I am going to enjoy every bit of it. This is a definite must buy game for 3DS owners, and one of the best 3DS games released to date.

Gameplay: 9/10
Graphics: 8.5/10
Cut Scenes: 9/10
Sound: 9/10
Controls: 6/10
Story: 7/10


Overall: 8.5/10


(This review can also be found at http://haveanicedaydotirl.blogspot.com.au/ )

What!? You haven't heard Nanoir or Last Color yet?

Nanoir and Last Color...the two Vocaloid albums I've had on repeat for the past three days.

Nano's album - Nanoir.

SCL Project feat. VanaN' Ice - Last Color.

Firstly, Nanoir is a twelve track album by Nano (ナノ), and includes collaborations with producers such as Yuyoyuppe, buzzG, and neko. The great thing about this album is that Nano took well known Vocaloid songs and rewrote the Japanese lyrics with his/her own English lyrics. Nano's English lyrics are very meaningful and full of emotion, listening to them makes me feel like crying. These lyrics reflect my own thoughts and feelings, and they bring back distant memories from my past. This is a very rock-based album. The songs on this album reminds me of songs by the rock singer Avril Lavigne and the Japanese rock band ONE OK ROCK. I believe Nano him/herself provided the vocals for this album. Nano concludes Nanoir with a calming piano version of Calc., a big contrast with the other heavier songs in the album, and the song brings happiness to the listener.

Secondly, Last Color is the latest, and sadly the final collaboration album by VanaN' Ice and SCL Project. This album features well known Vocaloid songs from their first album "VanaN' Ice", such as Imitation Black, Arrest Rose, Setsugetsuga and LovelessXXX. This album is sung solely by the three most famous male Vocaloids Len Kagamine, Kaito and Gakupo. This is also the main reason why I love this album, because I am forever a fan of "GxKxL". The vocals of the three Vocaloid boys work so well and so harmonious together. Of the various new songs SCL Project composed in this album, my favourite would be the third track "Le rouge est amour" because the style of the song reminds me of the Visual Kei band Malice Mizer. I would classify the style of music of this album under Visual Kei, especially considering the apparels of the three boys on the album art. I will sorely miss the collaboration team VanaN' Ice and SCL Project, however it has been reported that both groups will continue to produce more Vocaloid music individually - something I'm definitely looking forward to!

[Edit (30/03/2012): Okay, so it turns out after some snooping on Google that Nano is a girl!! Wow her voice is amazing, I think it is on par with trap-singers like Valshe. By trap-singers I mean that the person can sing in ranges of both genders.]

Piko (ピコ) to release a new single in April 2012

Piko (ピコ) is a Japanese male singer who first came to fame through the Japanese equivalent of Youtube, NicoNicoDouga by posting cover songs. Piko also provided his voice for the Vocaloid Utatane Piko. Piko has a rare talent of being able to sing in both masculine and feminine vocal tones, see for example Piko - Nisoku Hokou and Piko & Sekihan - Cendrillon (the female-like voice is Piko, yes, the high notes at the beginning too! :3). 

Piko has released so far two albums and four singles. He will add to his collection of singles on April 25, 2012 when he will release his 5th single called「咲色リフレイン」（エミイロリフレイン）(Emiiro Refrain). 

This single was produced by L'arc en Ciel's bassist TETSUYA. This is TETSUYA's first time producing music for another artist. This single is a bonus for Piko because he is a huge fan of the Japanese rock band L'arc en Ciel.

TETSUYA expressed his hopes that everyone will enjoy the new song by Piko. He commented that Piko's wide vocal range allowed him to produce a beautiful song, and that he is happy with the final product.

Piko said that he never imagined to be able to work with TETSUYA, let alone sing a song he wrote. It has been reported that Piko has given this song his very best effort.

"Emiiro Refrain" will be sold in three versions, a limited edition, regular edition, and a limited time offer edition.

Source: http://natalie.mu/music/news/66402

Vocaloid Laboratory (ボーカロイド ラボラトリー)

Vocaloid Laboratory is a compilation album (released in 2011) of very well known Vocaloid songs which are covered by human voices. The tracklist includes:

• Double Lariat (Original: Luka)
• Mozaik Role (Original: Gumi)
• Butterfly on Right Shoulder (Original: Len)
• Eh? Aa, sou (Original: Miku)
• Nisoku Hoko (Original: Miku)
• Sweet Devil (Original: Miku)
• Fire@Flower (Original: Len)
• ...plus many more.

The singers of this album include:

実谷なな, ヲタみん, レナ, GARNiDELiA, 吉河順央, 霧島若歌, MARiA, ゼブラ, ささかまリス子, 宮崎りゅう，斉藤総助，森永明治 from AIZEN, リツカ, ef.

Personally, I don't recognise these singers other than Rena.

Why I like this album: The producers of this album have spiced up the original songs by making them more rock-ish and electronic by adding heavier percussions. For several songs they turn it into 'pop' and Jazz style. The heavier beats encourages me to dance when I listen to the songs. The real human voices give me more "feeling" towards the songs I'm very familiar with because the human singers put emotion when they sing the songs, as opposed to just the Vocaloids singing the words.

One song I wasn't too impressed with was the cover of Nisoku Hoko (二息歩行). I thought that they set the tempo too fast, and that they over emphasized the back beat of the song,. It was as if they were forcing out the guitar chords, drowning out the vocals. To me Nisoku Hoko is meant to be a relatively sad, but at the same time a happy song. It is a song about growth, love and hurt. The increased tempo made me lose the sad feeling of the song and the singer gave me the feeling of happiness, not the kind of sadness one feels regarding departure. Personally, I like the cover of Nisoku Hoko that Piko (or even Valshe) did instead (Will post another blog about Piko and Valshe soon! :D).

The album art depicts two girls sitting on a black and white checkered floor with one side covered in broken clocks and moss and the other side blossomed over with flowers. One girl appears to be a fairy with a broken wing and is holding a violin. While the other girl, presumably human, is holding a cello. It seems to me that the artist is saying that music can have both a beautiful side and a not so pure side. It all really depends on the person making the music and on the listener.

Overall, I give this album 9 out of 10 . This album is definitely going on my favourites list, and it will be one album I'll play when I have friends over.

Miku 39 Concert 2012 Review

Overall, it was an exceptional concert. Great songs, great musicians accompanying the Vocaloids: Miku, Luka, Rin, Len, Kaito and Meiko, and great graphics.


Personally I prefer day 1, the audience seemed to be more energetic in Day 1, and I may also be biased because Kaito sung on day 1 too. But Day 2 songs were much "better", in the sense that they were more catchy and famous songs.

Kaito singing Pane Dhriria.

I totally screamed when Kaito came out! I also fangirled when Rin and then Len sang respectively Daughter of Evil and Servant of Evil. Even more so when Len sang Fire@Flower. Miku wore this really pretty white princess dress when she sang Melt. It certainly made my heart melt, she looked so cute in it.
They gave Miku six pure white wings when she sang Hatsune Miku no Gekishou - a perfect angel.


Luka's performance was terrific. I loved her songs: Double Lariat, Luka Luka Night Fever - especially her dance, and RIP=Release.
When Rin came on stage with Kokoro and Iroha Uta I had a big smile over my face, I really fell in love with her outfit.

Miku singing Hatsune Miku no Gekishou.

Day 2 opened with livetunez's Tell Your World. I thought that was very well planned and appropriate considering all the promotion with MikuXGoogle lately.
Poppipo (English ver) was sung on Day 2, and Miku wore an American style cheerleader outfit. It wasn't my favourite outfit, more so that it just wasn't "Miku".
But then straight after was Romeo and Cinderella, and her outfit was amazing! I loved it! I want to have an exact same dress. It made Miku look so mature. Her dance steps for R&C was very sexy and seductive.
The jazz version of UraOmote Lovers was awesome. I love Wowaka's songs.
I preferred the original version of Moon rather than the jazz style which was played at the concert.


One thing that made me disappointed was that whenever Miku sang really high notes (like in World is mine, Moon) they dampened and dimmed her voice, so it was more like a whisper of a high note, rather than an impactful sound.
The choreograph for The disappearance of Hatsune Miku was very beautiful. Especially at the end when Miku "disappears", she literally shatters in pieces of red fragments.
I'm not a real fan of Meiko and I think that her character animation at the concert could've been better. She just seemed too stiff when she was dancing. I guess same could be said about Kaito. But it's the first time that these two characters appeared at a Vocaloid live.

Our princess Miku singing Melt.

I loved Len's outfit for Butterfly on Right Shoulder. His jacket looked so cool. But then I'm a shouta-con, so I'd fall in love with him easily.
Luka's Day 2 outfit was pretty sexy - leather jacket, leather mini skirt, black stockings and black military style boots.
Jazzed version of Magnet? Yes pur-lease!! I want a recording of this version! The only thing I found strange were the shoes that Luka and Miku were wearing. I didn't think it fitted with the Japanese style dress they had on.
Then followed Wowaka's World End Dancehall. I was very happy that another Wowaka song made it into the concert. This song was full of hip shaking from Miku and Luka ;), and very cute outfits.

The pianist/keyboardist - Jun Abe was really professional. Also, on Day 1 OSTER came up and played with Miku, LamazeP also played his harmonica when Miku sang Poppipo. It was very exciting to see the faces of the people who created some of my favourite songs.

Finally, I wish I was at the concert live. Hopefully one day the Japan music industry will ship some bands/vocaloids over here to Australia and have a concert. Because then, no matter what the price I will definitely go!