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engineer-in-space · 3 years

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a simple call of the wild review that is totally professional and not way too detailed by me (February)

It's gonna be a bit of comparing to previous powerwolf albums/songs and remember everything is my own opinion. If you disagree/agree we may talk about it in a civilized way, I actually love talking to others about this shit!

But otherwise (hate, insults, etc.) you can keep your opinion somewhere where I can't see it :) Also, the album has barely been out for a day and things change with time and I may grow to like certain things more. (but there's not too much that I don't like tbh) But I hope you enjoy this metalhead-gremlin's ramblings!

Faster than the flame

I had to listen to it quite a few times before I could say anything about it. It's a powerful start into the new album, however, it is (as previously stated) powerful but didn't blow me away like the first songs on the previous albums. (Fire &forgive, Blessed &possessed, amen & attack - wait am I just now noticing a pattern here? oh my god. Anyway.) Maybe I got that personal feeling that I want it to be Fire & Forgive, which is, of course, not possible and would be boring. So i think I'm not even critizing the song but rather the order of the songs.

It feels like a typical powerwolf song; both lyrics and instrumental. Fast, heavy, something about flames and burning - awesome. The two Latin parts (I think it's called the pre-chorus? man, I have no idea and will just throw around these words because my internet connection is too bad to look this up. But if you listen, you'll know which parts I mean.) already give me goosebumps. I also really, really liked the bridge (again?? idk??) aka the "flame, flame, burning wild in heavens name" part. This was the most memorable part for me after the first time listening. Of course, the guitar arrangement throughout the whole song is just... god bless. I must say that using the word "pastor" is dangerous because my stupid brain keeps thinking Attila is singing about "pasta" again... Oh well, moving on!

Beast of Gevaudan

Man, I've been listening almost non-stop since it was released as a single! At first, my head was comparing it somewhat to army of the night but after a few times this feeling was gone and it became an awesome new idea/song. The choir and orchestra part are so well placed and support the rest of the instrumental and Attila's voice perfectly. Again, much fast, very powermetal. I've grown very fond of the guitar solo. The lyrics tell us a little about the story of the beast and I. Love. Storytelling. In. Songs. Glad matthew finally came around to put his idea out there!

This song also has a video, which left me speechless at first. I love Attila's acting so much??? And making this sort of their own story of Jesus was such a cool idea. Production is high quality as well (didn't expect anything less after The Sacrament of Sin MVs) and there were really nice shots in there. I doubt that I will get tired of this song and this video anytime soon!

Dancing with the dead

That choir stuff in the beginning, following by that awesome guitar riff already had me. I couldn't stop listening to this one either. This might be, in my opinion, the most catchy song on the whole album. The intruments are in perfect harmony with Attila's heavenly voice. The transition into the guitar solo is so damn smooth and well done. I'm having a whole crisis about how good this song is.

The lyrics are interesting too! Again, there's a story to be told. As far as I can interpret it, being introduced to some darker powers and growing to enjoy them, despite previously having lots of faith, is what's going on here. It has this slight feeling of... corruption (in a good way of course). This makes me want to go dancing (with the dead)

This one also has a video! Once again, very high quality. Every band member had their "special moments/shots" and just looked stunning. But Attila left them all behind this time. Slow dancing, in a suit, with that smirk on his lips??? Well done, my dude.

Varcolac

This one's dark and heavy. It brings me back to the good ol' times of Lupus Dei and Bible of the Beast. Just with more orchestra, choir and overall harmony. It makes me so happy that Powerwolf is using so many real life legends and figures on this album! And they did such a good job with them as well. If this song was alive, it would be a scary beast.

The typical metal elements and orchestra/choir parts are very well balanced. And the organ throughout the whole song is fitting. It supports the dark and sinister feeling of the whole thing. My favourite part may be the "And as army we bing fire..." parts! Man, I just love werewolves. Also, I think Attila's famous gibberish singing made a return in this one!

Alive or undead

Oh boy,here we go. The piano in this one is incredible. "Here we STAAAAAAND!" Goosebumps and shivers. Everything about this is so emotional andreading the lyrics while listening just makes me want to cry, ok?! T_T Powerwolf has become so flexible, exploring different ways to make music. This could have been some kind of typical powermetal song but it's not and I'm glad about it.

Even if it's a little different, they never stray to far from what makes them special. The few parts, reminding one of typical church music would not have been necessary but are appreciated! They know when to leave out the guitars and go slowly. What bothers me a little, is that it somehow feels like Attila's voice had a tiny bit more potential up to the chorus. It could've been a little bit softer? if i can put it that way. But honestly this song is raw emotion and everything still fits together. If you thought their first ballad was emotional, buckle up, this one kicked me right in the feels.

Blood for blood (Faoladh)

Powerwolf ventures again into the folk metal territory and successfully conquers it! Could be a headline of something. Anyway, this song is a very worthy successor of Incense & Iron! It just makes me happy, its melody is so light - combined with your typical Powerwolf lyrics. Perfect song to start jumping up and down! It radiates motivational energy. Just like Dancing with the dead, this song has a very smooth transition to the guitar parts.

The melody is strong but still easy enough to quickly get into it! I can barely sit still and write this aaaa. Seriously, I am just happy with this song and will go jump and headbang a while to it!

Glaubenskraft

I have returned from jumping and oh no. It's a German song. Bold of them to go all out on that Latin beginning... it works really well though! It might be because I'm German but this song hits hard. Very hard. It's not easy to make this language sound good and ( if you don't happen to know much about German) the lyrics consist of a bunch of old words and grammar you wouldn't normally use anymore. But they made it fucking work!!! The quiet verses only make the pre-chorus and chorus itself heavier and blow me away. And SOMEHOW this super epic song with (made up, at least I'm pretty sure they don't exist like that) Latin words is about.. you know what Powerwolf writes about a lot. And I LOVE that. It's so subtle and only if you read into it, you're like "wait a minute".

This song has a feeling of corruption too. But not in a good way this time. It feels evil and intimidating and - honestly, I can't get enough of it. Everyone of my neighbours will think I'm some kind of weird Christian fanatic because I WILL yell "Glaubenskraft" just as much as I yelled "Stossgebet". Worth it, tho.

Call of the wild

The song with the same title as the album! (or the other way around, whatever.) This song is just catchy from the beginning to the end. Like many other songs its fast and hard. Just how I like it. Don't take that out of context.

The lyrics and instruments go wild (haha get it), with a really neat Latin pre-chorus. It's very fun to listen to. Personally, it makes me feel like I belong to the pack. That we're strong together, that we can say fuck it once in a while and just go crazy. The chanted part near the end of the song reminds me strongly of Sanctified with dynamite (ya know "die, die dynamite" and "call, call, call of the wild") and it's really cool they pick up on old things once again. Be it intentional or not. It's a reminder that they still are who they were back then - and their music is still fucking incredible.

Simply an epic song, strong vocals, strong guitars. I really, really like the intro. Attila has to sing so many words in such little time, does he even need to breathe now and then?

Now I'm wondering what came first; the album title or the track title? Chicken or the egg?

Sermon of swords

First of all: WHAT IS THAT OMINOUS VOICE IN THE BEGINNING. Mark me down as horny and scared. Ahem.

I really like how the verse and the chorus have their own theme and melody going on and yet they're connected. The chorus is super catchy too! And just say it yourself "Sermon of swords", how cool does it sound??? The choir in the beginning is a really neat introduction into the whole song. The lyrics match the whole album, very much a soundtrack to go on a crusade to, like Raise your fist, Evangelist or Christ & Combat. Just... "AAMEEN!" Ok, I'm actually going insane here, calm down, Feb. These might be my favourite lyrics of the whole album I think?? (unless I said that somewhere else already, then i have more than one favourite.)

The whole song has a more "classical" feeling to it, not only in the Powerwolf sense but also in the Heavy Metal sense in general. BUT. Orchestra and choir are prefectly mixed, especially supporting Attila in the chorus. The guitar solo is really cool and sounds very Greywolf-y, if you know what I mean. It's just Matthew's style.

Undress to confess

The name of this song says it all. This is your friendly reminder that no matter how much they preach about Jesus or the Devil, Powerwolf should not be taken too seriously. When I first saw the title I couldn't help but chuckle a little.

The melody is pretty catchy and easy to remember, the organ and general approach reminds me of Demons are a girl's best friend. I absolutely love how the lyrics are on that thin line of somewhat poetic and ridiculous. Let me provide two examples here: "all the world we posess for desire and sin we carress" - man, this sounds pretty.

And there's also "dressed to hide the dark, and obsessed to ride him hard on the.... crucifix." Yeah, I... I don't know what I expected here. Anyway, this is how you describe church sex without actually using explicit words. (why are you booing me, i'm right)

Still really nice to listen to and have a good time!

Reverent of rats

We arrived at the last song of the album! And here we picked up on the speed and power again! The way the organ is played during the verses makes it so... sinister. Again, this piece reminds me of Lupus Dei. The verses keep the sinister feeling while the chorus picks up more... drama? An epic melody mixed with epic words make my soul ascend to heaven.

This guitar solo is also the absolute good shit. It might be my favourite from all the songs of this album?! Additionally, the drums? I don't know why but they really stand out here. Love how fast paced they are.

Aaaaand that's it! If you've read all the way through holy shit, you are actually a badass. Thank you for staying with me, my werewolf friend. Maybe we'll meet where the wild wolves have gone. But always remember: Metal is religion.

#powerwolf #call of the wild #album review #well sort of #come talk to me about it i love the whole thing!!!!

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vaguely-concerned · 3 years

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The Mandalorian Chapter 11; the rewatch edition

I have found a bit more enthusiasm for this one on the rewatch, so here goes!

- din snapping ‘I’m trying my best here!’ in a vaguely annoyed tone as his entire ship is going up in flames around him because he mostly doesn’t get angry as much as sulky... the height of cinema

- I love frog husband’s clothes, because they’re in a very similar style and colour scheme to frog lady’s but also incorporate the knitwear we see on the people of trask, so it both underlines his belonging with her and implies that he’s been on this moon for quite a while, they may have been apart for some time

especially his scarf is a darling detail and there’s a bit of contrast in texture to it next to his wife’s, it’s nice. he’s wearing a similar kind of vest to what we see on the fishermen later, too

- I think my favourite part of this entire episode (well second after din cradling the baby against him after nearly drowning) is just the design and Vibe of the planet and especially this harbour

for one I LOVE that it’s shown that even in the middle of the day it’s dark enough that the electric lights are still on when it’s overcast (it reminds me a bit of norway during the winter, actually, when dawn just never quite breaks and then slinks off in embarrassment before it’s even noon). and there’s also the... sails? nets? hanging around looking almost like flags, which are very Aesthetic but god knows what they’re for. maybe for drying fish on in the summer?

I think the building in the distance behind frog husband’s back here is a lighthouse? or it could be one of those towers for loading you see when they scout out the empire ship too, I suppose!

and one for my strange obsession with Texture on this show: these fabric-covered crates!!! they look exactly as dingy and moldy as you’d expect them to be in this climate, I wonder what they’re for (& I vaguely want to touch them)

- from the sound of it din’s vibroknife is uh ‘on’ when he pokes the squid thing, and he also goes for the tentacle the furthest away from the baby <3

proof the calamari flan have been scratched up a bit during all that time in din’s pockets! (the attention to detail in this show sometimes istg)

- this is 100% me reading too much into things again, call the overthinking police I’ll do my time meekly lol, but the boat looks a little bit like the mudhorn signet from this angle:

again din keeps his hand on or sooo close to his blaster in this entire scene, he knows this is sketch as all hell

a) once again I want to praise the effects team for how GOOD the aliens look in this episode holy shit and b) the hell is this dude wearing on the straps of his overalls tho

- the dude mando (axe woves) uses his little... wrist launcher thing to shoot with to finish two off the fishermen, so my theory that they can be loaded with other things than the whistling birds for slightly less effective use (maybe without the level of honing we’ve seen din’s be able to do?) is looking good!

- din actually has quite good form when diving into the water, I’m guessing he can swim at least tolerably when not in full armour, being stabbed at from all directions, having just had his son eaten by a sea monster and also being trapped in with said sea monster (I’m a strong swimmer and I can tell you that there’s a reason they make you swim with clothes on from time to time to see how hard it is, it sucks. with metal plates strapped all over you as well? yeah good luck) people don’t tend to hit the water that gracefully without some kind of training in my experience lol. might be some of the training with the jet pack has carried over too, considering he throws himself off that cliff in chapter 12 with similar confidence?

it’s interesting that they’re once again showing us a threat where the armour doesn’t help and even hinders him. we’re so used to the ways it can make him near-invincible, but it can also drag him down (literally, in this case. aha ha ha. well if I’m not here for my own entertainment then what am I here for honestly)

- din’s voice sounding like he’s just on the verge of crying as he cradles the baby (and the sound he makes as he realizes the baby’s alive) is my kryptonite, turns out. fucking breaks my heart into tiny pieces every time, I would die for this man and he wouldn’t let me

- in support of din’s paranoia: so far this season we haven’t been able to go five minutes without someone talking about peeling the precious beskar off a mandalorian corpse, I can see why his mind was primed to move in one particular way there

- I think the fabric of din’s cape has been treated with something that makes it waterproof; the water seems to pearl on top of it rather than soak in! can you imagine how heavy it would get if it did absorb water tho christ

(a bit hard to see at this size but that’s what it looked like to me close up anyway! could also be that it’s wool and that’s why it looks that way but I prefer an elaborate sci-fi explanation here, because it doesn’t look particularly weighed down afterwards) might also explain why he doesn’t seem worried about it catching on fire when he uses the jetpack haha, maybe this is something the mandos do with fabric they’re going to use for a long time

I also enjoy part of the gambeson/undersuit thing poking up from under the shoulder pauldron and cape; I think this is about as disheveled as we’ve seen him since immediately post-mudhorn

- the sound mixing in this scene, where din’s breathing is layered a bit over everything else so you almost feel like you’re in the helmet with him listening to what the others are saying........ oh my GOD, it embeds you so deeply in his POV but so subtly

- not to be biased or anything... but din and the armorer’s armour design is so vastly superior to these guys it shouldn’t even be a competition lol

din looks like an honest to god knight in shining armour except also sci-fi western and the armorer looks like a fucking war goddess from a time beyond memory; the clone wars mandos look like high end cosplayers (eh maybe it’s just my dislike for the boobplates that has me so 😒 lol. also a lot of dudes were very shitty about that whole thing and I don’t say anything but the ‘vaguely-concerned will remember this’ telltale message pops up in the corner every time)

moment of saltiness over: I do like the differentiation between their individual character designs

the differences in body type and helmet design is nice! they look like a unified team, but with individuality. I suspect the ladies have those belts and their armour plates on the hips instead of the front of the thighs to emphasize the ‘female’ silhouette, which. okay fine whatever

- bo katan looks very pointedly down at the baby after saying ‘a group of religious zealots who want to return to the ancient ways’ which makes me VERY nervous for reasons I can’t quite articulate

- the mournful guitar version of the mando theme as din watches the sunset...... hmmmmngh (this might be some Symbolism happening to us folks strap in for the identity crisis he still hasn’t processed)

- I Cannot get over din being so unimpressed by and uninterested in bo katan’s ‘retake mandalore’ sales pitch from literally the first moment dfhasdkjfhsad sorry lady kryze this man just does not do main quest shit, he’s all side quests all the time and that’s why I love him

- as someone who after chapter 8 wrote a whole-ass fic that was wholly & exclusively about din telling the baby he’ll always come back for him... some of the shit he’s been saying this season does feel like it’s been written to mercilessly victimize me, personally and specifically

- guessing this structure in the background is the traffic control tower! doesn’t really matter, I just thought it was neat

- this part of the soundtrack is called ‘ship o hoj, mandalorians!’, which I found incredibly charming haha (it’s ‘ship ahoy’ except how you write it in swedish, good one herr göranson)

- bo katan is vague about who exactly the new mand’alor would be if they took back mandalore to begin with, she doesn’t specify she is planning to be the ruler until she’s already got din on the ship and in no position to refuse to help. gotta respect the grift at least lol

I do love her voice, though, it reminds me a bit of jennifer hale as shepard

- “I need to get back to my ship, with the foundling” your honor I uh love him so fucking much

- frog lady stroking the baby’s back a bit as she holds her hand behind him to make sure he doesn’t fall backwards while playing with the tadpole ;___________;

and also frog husband and frog lady reaching out to hold hands and frog smooching as din and yodito leave ;____________________________________________;

- when din says the exasperated “mon calamari. unbelievable” line, the baby makes that little blowing a raspberry sound he does as if to agree ‘uh-huh unbelu -- unbelly -- unbelievable dad smh’ and it is very very adorable

- there’s quite a bit of Stuff in the concept art that didn’t make it in this time around; I wonder if maybe they cut some stuff for pacing or whatever and that’s why this episode is so short? water leaking into the cockpit of the razor crest, something that looked a bit like whaling going on on the docks and more spaceships taking off (maybe there were originally meant to be some smaller ships defending the big empire one?), there’s quite a bit here

#star wars #the mandalorian #the mandalorian spoilers #the mandalorian meta

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dandyvespa · 4 years

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I-Land Final Episode and Thoughts *SPOILERS! duh*

For anyone who has kept up with I-Land, I understand how emotional and nerve-wracking this episode was for them. After developing a connection with a lot of the participants and sharing in their memories, its hard to see anyone being let go. It has been just as much of journey for them as it was for the fans who supported them and at the end of the day, regardless of who debuts, there will be people who will be disappointed by the final results. But please please PLEASE understand that you should not put the blame on them or even break them down just because your favorite did not make it. All of these boys worked hard to get where they are and though it stings for those who did not make it, please support whatever flower path any of them have taken and continue to support and spread love. With that being said, I would just like to use the rest of this post on my final thoughts on the episode and debut line. If you are caught up with the show, please read ahead. Thank you :)

First I would like to say that the preparations done for the final performance, the OT22 interaction and performance, the funny bits of preparing PR videos, dividing roles, and playing Truth or Dare, and the home-cooked meals sent from their parents were all just an emotional roller coaster. I laughed and I cried. To see those boys grow was something very special to me and to see their individual selves shine through personalities or skills were always a treat. Having these segments were really meant to lighten the mood for the final lineup to come. Personally, Sunghoon developed the most out of his shy exterior and his personality was so confident and funny in the pre-recorded videos. I also thought Jay... could never escape his dark history LOL. Also Heeseung’s brother teasing him and telling him to tell Jay he adores him was very cute. Seeing everyone help each other with the PR videos was adorable and heart-warming (Heeseung even had a whole production team haha). Jungwon dressed up as a sheep still sticks with me though haha. Seeing OT22 come together also had me in tears and stitches. It was so cute seeing them all hang out in I-land and despite how whack it was for the Grounders to never experience it, they looked so happy being with their friends and taking part in this little world even if it was for a short time. Also loved how they would easily throw others under the bus during Truth or Dare and the Questions they voted on. The love and support their parents got and how each of them could not hold back their tears was really the icing on the cake. No matter where these boys go, their family will always be their for them more than anything else. Just all those moments leading up to their debut lineup really put a toll on me and it just made me feel like a proud mom

Okay the team name? I am sooooooooooo glad its not Dragon Gee or Dee or whatever that speculated name was going around on Twitter. Enhypen is odd but in a good way. Its different and it will stick with time even though I still may just call them the I-Land group for now lol. Pretty curious about what the fandom name will be too (but honestly I think I would still call myself an Eggie haha).

TXT and BTS’s presence was neat. I wish more of the TXT member’s got to speak but having them all physically there was nice. Though I will say it was just awkward not seeing them cheer as much. I also felt like BTS was just bored at some points or were just glazing over when having to wait on each member getting called out. They did have their humorous moments which was nice to see, definitely lifted the tension in the room and I’m glad they joked a bit (especially Suga losing it lol) instead of remaining completely serious. Their advice and encouragement were all appreciated too. Jhope being an avid viewer really showed. Also plus points for Jungwon getting Jungkook’s attention uwu. I still wish they could have interacted more and mentored some of them over the course of the show. The slim TXT interactions with Heeseung such as Taehyun and Yeonjun’s reactions made me wanting more damn it. But hey, at least we get to see them more often in the BigHit building. I love a good family.

So the Calling performance was A M A Z I N G. I personally thought they were so coherent as a group and made me wishing OT9. There were some who really shine in their parts, but I think all of them stood out one or more times to me. The dance was pretty powerful and a lot of them improved vocally. Again, it makes me feel like a proud mom seeing them all at this point, grown and amazing. The Into the I-Land performance also made me feel that way as well. They all looked so good together and were pretty in sync given that they were fucking 22 of them. The nostalgia was really hitting in me and I also teared uo like a big ass baby. But can I just say... and let’s be real here.... Every single song on this show has been a bop and I would be thrilled to see a whole Soundtrack Album for I-Land on Spotify. Like P L E A S E.

Now onto the debut line! I was S H O C K E D. You can clearly tell these votes were not rigged in the slightest and this was solely based on global votes always shifting which was appreciated. I did not see this order coming and it did turn out slightly different then my post on my preferred I-Land debut line. So starting with number 1.... YANG FUCKING JUNGWON. I was pleasantly surprised and I literally jumped out of my bed when I heard him place first instead of Sunoo. This was the complete definition of people who initially slept on him finally waking. I was soooo thrilled. Bro really came in last by the last Producer vote and then climbed all the way to first. Our lovely sheep garden and hidden ace, a big congrats!

Jay also left his cursed 6th spot and got second! Again another well-deserved man who gave it his all from the beginning and was no stranger to being straightforward and a go getter. His stubbornness and hilarity will lead this group lol.

Jake getting third was a big shock as well. Our icon of improvement! To think he was always on the verge of getting placed out of the top 7 members and made it here? Also considering his benefit put him in 7th once when he literally could have been the eliminated member that episode. UGH. Our Aussie boy did great and seriously improved performance after performance.

Next up.... NIKIIIIIII. Now I’m gonna be real I thought it was gonna be K. I never placed Niki in my debut prediction, but his Flame On performance really change everything for me. Actually, just the whole second part of I-Land was very impactful for him. I was always hesitant about his sportsmanship and whether he was too selfish in the first part (the constant evil-editing did not help, Mnet...), but thanks to other members, he really matured and took a greater lead in things. I really began to fall for him when we got to see him more playful and interactive with other members. Like I really thought he was much happier and understanding throughout the second half of the show. So kudos to him!

Coming in 5th place was Heeseung. I was actually confused man. When he was called first at this point, I just knew this global vote line up will be verrrry different. I was still relieved that he made it and seeing him choke up, this boy who has been going at it the longest among the 9 participants at 3 years to finally debut.... Gosh I could not. As someone who is also Heeseung biased, I was so so so happy for him. Think we all know regardless of which place he got, the boy was destined to debut. My Ace heart feels full ^^. Go get him Leader!!!

Now 6th place... my Ice Prince... Sunghoon! I was actually the most nervous for him. I saw so many people saying that Sunghoon was last in votes or was in danger because a lot of people had the mentality that given his popularity they should reserve the votes for the people who would most likely be eliminated. I think that’s why Heeseung and Sunoo were scored low too. Now I am also biased towards him. I was thinking like what would I do if none of my favorite Bighit trainees (Heeseung, Jay, Sunghoon, and Jungwon) do not make it? But when he was called to take up the last spot in global voting, I did a back flip (not really but yeah lol). Given that Sunghoon has never gotten any brutal feedback from the Producers and has always adapted to each concept, he deserved this. Just everything he has been through... And shifting his life from being an ice skater of 10 years to this path as an idol.... hold up let me get some damn tissues. May he continue to break out of his shell and show his continuous charms!

Ok the producer choice for 7th place... Again did not see that coming. Sunoo constantly ranking high in global votes only to be one of the deciding factors was another big surprise. I have said that Sunoo’s sunshine personality would be needed, especially if the group were to do cute or youthful concepts. His health had been concerning, but he was able to manage himself so well. Even with powerful choreo! He is not really one of the best dancers but he had always been able to do his part. I really thought the Producers would choose K, but I really thought Bang PD boiled it down to overall skill and personality appeal. He even claimed that Sunoo would connect best with the world with his joyful outlook. I honestly could not agree more. I just people do not rail him for being picked as they should now understand he is not just some cute face and has proven that multiple times. Sunshine Fighting! :)

The eliminated trainees were K and Daniel. Though I thought Daniel has improved a lot, he was just outshined. I also think at his age he should have more time spent in sharpening his skills. What was more devastating was K. He looked like he was obliterated. I mean both of them were naturally sad, but K was just gone to me. I was really hoping that he would make the debut line. K has shown himself as a performer multiple times and was praised for his choreography skills. He even showed to have learned from past behaviors and matured more as a person when taking the leader role. To see him grow and understand where he went wrong.... ugh I really could not bear him looking that way. His thoughts were all over the place and he could barely choke out what he wanted to say. I just hope he meant what he said and actually continues to enjoy music and develop himself as a performer. I knew how much his mom was initially livid at the idea of him becoming an idol so I hope he gets another chance at showing her that he can still do this. Now understand this does not mean you should blame Sunoo for being chosen or complain that Sunoo does not deserve it. I already feel like he is gonna be haunted with the grim reminder that he was chosen instead and think that he doesn’t deserve this because he is not as skilled as K. And people are gonna bandwagon hate on him... and again I say please DO NOT DO THAT. At the end of the day, no matter how much you want OT9 or OT22, this is a survival show and these participants signed up for this. Yes there will be fans who are disappointed, but you shouldn’t waste your anger on the other trainees who were able to succeed instead of your faves. I don’t want this moment to completely wreck K or Daniel’s chances at being an idol again. Same goes for rest of the eliminated I-Land members. This is definitely not the end for any of them so please go on with hope guys because I know you will still have many people’s support! They will end up on the same stage as their colleagues one day.

The last thing I want to say is that though this has been a tough journey and though there may be people who will not be satisfied with the debut line, everyone worked hard. From the participants to the fans and even the Producers, all of them played a special role in making I-Land bearable and exciting to watch. This is a big congrats to everyone who took part in the show despite having to go through many hardships. With that being said let us continue to support the futures of the eliminated I-Land members as well as the grand success of Enhypen. I smell 4th gen leaders :D. Welcome to the BigHit family Enhypen and may your fans, your wings, fly you even higher once you officially debut. F I G H T I N G!

Now... will you guys join in during the next season of I-Land for the next global girl group? :3

.... Ya’ll already know I am lol.

#I-land #iland #enhypen #jungwon #jay #jake #niki #heeseung #sunghoon #sunoo #bts #txt #kpop #kpop survival show #kpop thoughts #kpop opinions #bighit #mnet

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kaiowut99 · 3 years

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5D’s Episode 29… With an “Uncut” Dub?! (Re-Edited 4Kids Dub/Japanese OST)

“A Looming Threat! The Dark Signer Ushio?!”/”Good Cop, Bad Cop”

Everybody listen!

Well, after over 2.5 years now (...welp), this little mini-project is finally wrapped up! (Well, not totally, as I realized I have to go back and fix a few things for consistency, but y’know) It’s been neat editing these to throw the Japanese OST back in, and while I might do a few clips here/there now for fun, unless 4K/Konami Cross Media decide to flub up more episode uploads without their dub OST, I probably won’t be doing more full episodes. (Need to work on finalizing my GX subs finally, haha.)

But in case this is still the first you’re hearing about my mini-project here, let’s get you up to speed:

So, the official Spanish YGO channel on YouTube flubbed a few uploads of the 5D’s dub such that they ended up uploading a few episodes of the English dub instead of the Latin American dub (21-29)–but with none of 4Kids’s background music! Which meant that I could swoop in and re-insert the original Japanese soundtrack (which I did by matching each track to how it was looped in the episode), but I wanted to do more by also tweaking the dub itself so that not only was it matching the original footage, but the dialogue was more in line with the original dialogue timing-wise (since I couldn’t salvage much of what they changed). Hence, the “dubbed uncut” gimmick here. To this end, I’ve also used dialogue from Duel Links where applicable, or even borrowed audio from other episodes with the vocals isolated to lend to that effect.

Check out the masterpost of episodes here!

Check out this episode’s WIP videos! WIP #1 WIP #2 WIP #3

This was an interesting one to work with, and I was looking forward to it because of the Jack/Carly scene at the end over Jack Battle; it was also neat working in OSTs like Ceremony off Sound Duel 2 and mesh it with the dub, while recreating some of the OST tweaks they did (like speeding up Carly’s theme or sputtering Rua/Ruka Battle 2 as Jack calls Carly out lol). Dialogue-editing-wise, this wasn’t as bad as 28, thankfully, as most of the dialogue was more or less adapted well, though I still did need to grab dialogue from other sources to cover for some dub fails, and I did grab audio from episode 30′s dub for the preview. I also translated the “Road of the King” poster shown in four scenes (two outside the gala that happens and two inside as Godwin talks), using the dub’s “Atlas Rising - The Rise of Jack Atlas” name. And since this is the last episode I’m working on, I thought it’d be cool to make use of Mark de Groot’s awesome Last Train - A New Morning English cover to really channel more of that “what if uncut” energy (just a shame no solid English CROSS GAME cover exists, but hopefully my eventual full translation when I post it will help that along). Full breakdown below, if you’re curious.

So, yeah... Enjoy, folks! Now that these are all done, I’ll be focusing more on my finalizing my GX subs and looking into finally reuploading my 5D’s sub/dub comparisons onto a new site, though this has made me want to revisit my 5D’s!DBZ Kai project occasionally, lol (I do want to see about using TheMilkman’s reduced-filler cut of Kai, though, as I thought it was a much more streamlined way to watch the show, but we’ll see). I do have ideas for clips to create later on, but for now, enjoy these and think of what could have been (and could still be if we ever miraculously get a redub...)~

*cracks knuckles*

So, in the Noteworthy Cards section, the twins’ dialogue is still all from Duel Links, as I stitched together a “What will this Monster be?” line for Luna to match Ruka’s line, and recycled the “You get to see!” edit I used in 27 for Leo.

For the cold open, I tweaked Trudge’s dialogue to remove more of the “working together” fluff from the subplot they added (I removed the more overt mentions in 28 since I couldn’t edit around it).

*cue Last Train*

In Carly’s scene with the officer, I recreated the Carly Nagisa theme as used here, which was pitched and sped up by nine seconds, and replaced the one officer’s line about her needing to go outside with Carly gasping (since the officer was originally silent). Once outside, I used a mix of lines from 27 and Duel Links to stitch together a better line about her fortune matching the original more, then did so again over the transition shots to the Road of the King/Atlas Rising red-carpet event (where the dub inserted a commercial break).

At said red-carpet event, I used a Duel Links line to make Carly’s “Angela! Didn’t see you!” line after bumping into Angela “No way! Angela!” to match the original.

Once the ROTK/Atlas Rising gala starts, I used the Japanese audio from the transition to it to after Godwin steps down the stairs to remove dub!MC’s added lines, then shortened Goodwin’s lines hyping up the movie so it all finished while he was onscreen, using the Japanese audio as the audience clapped. When Yusei and Jack start hearing the movie on their TV screens, I used Duel Links lines to make Jack’s movie dialogue match what was said in those scenes originally (and the dub was inconsistent), and after Angela calls bull on the movie’s “Jack was born in the Tops” narrative, I kept the reporters prodding Godwin in Japanese with a subbed line because of how 4Kids edited them such that they kept speaking in turns within a shorter scene. As Carly looks up at the movie before running off, I used a Duel Links line for Jack in the movie, and as she talks with Misty, I shortened Misty’s (fluffed in the dub) foreshadowing line to Carly to match the flaps.

I didn’t edit the scene with Yusei and Trudge much, and then as Carly bumps into a reporter outside Jack’s hospital, I wanted to remove the cameraman’s “We’re still live!” (since he was originally quiet, and you wouldn’t talk over a live shot like that lol) but the reporter’s “I’ll show you sorry” line overlapped with it, making a clean cut hard. When Carly makes it inside, I shortened her (fluffed in the dub) line about her costume working, then as Trudge walks in, I switched to the Japanese audio to remove his “only doing this to get close to Goodwin” dub-only line, and kept the dub’s Dark Signer birthmark SFX as it appears on Trudge (since the JP version seems to just use the regular Signer one for it).

After the eyecatch, I used the Japanese audio as Mikage peels the apple (since Mina was humming), then switched to it again after Jack says he wants to be alone to deal with the dub cutting Mikage’s bow and removing Mina’s “call me if you need... anything” line). Once Jack’s outside with Carly and possessed!Trudge walks up to them, I redid the Dark Signer birthmark SFX and the glowing right after to remove the dub’s added zoom-in SFX, then after Jack gasps, I switched to the Japanese audio to remove the dub’s added flashback-transition SFX. As Carly flashes back to possessed!Dick’s dueling in 28, I added in the “whooshing” SFX and recycled some SFX from 28 to remove “Wipe his mark clean!” from possessed!Dick’s dialogue and adding "Blizzard Strike!!” from my edit in 28 to it, also recycling Yusei’s yelling/groaning to keep Carly quiet--her on-screen “A glowing mark like Yusei” line right after is recycled from 28 (Carly’s original line was “That glowing on his arm...”). Used Japanese audio as Ushio activates his Disk, then stitched together a “You’re a Dark Signer?!” line for Jack to replace his “I seriously doubt [I’ll be the first to fall]” line to Trudge. I vocal-isolated Carly’s “Yusei won” line after Jack asks when Yusei’s happened and put it just before he does, replacing Carly introducing herself (which doesn’t happen originally until just before the last turn), and using the Japanese audio for the SFX as Jack looks determined. I used a Duel Links line to cover Jack using Carly’s name just before he has her use his Duel Disk, and then the duel starts.

I recycled a Trudge “It’s my move” line from later to remove his “Let’s cut the conversation” line (I did what I could to remove how conversational they made possessed!Trudge) over the 4000 LP shots, and then I vocal-isolated parts of Carly’s excited lines about dueling with Jack to remove the dub’s flashback-transition SFX (which they used over a vision...), recreating the Rua/Ruka Battle 2 theme playing here and the sputtering that happens when she declares her turn only for Jack to correct her and say it’s his, lol. I vocal-isolated Jack dialogue from later in the series to use a proper Vice Dragon effect explanation over Jack’s trash-talk line to Trudge, then did the same for a Carly line in 37 to fix an error where she mentions Vice Dragon having 2400 ATK (as I thought it’d sound better than “twenty-hundred” lol). I shortened Carly’s and Jack’s (fluffed-up in the dub) lines about his being a “once-great duelist,” then recycled some Trudge laughter to cover for his “Hey, has-been!” line; as Carly sends cards to the Graveyard for Warm Worm’s effect, I redid the Graveyard-sending SFX to remove her “That’s how this works” line and the dub’s add-on to that SFX, adding on a Jack “What’s going on?” thought per the JP script. As Carly reacts to having to send more cards per Shield Worm’s effect, I switched to the JP audio as the split-screens happen and the cards are sent to use those SFX.

As Carly declares another turn but catches herself, I used an “It’s my turn!” line from Jack to remove his “Let me see my cards” line, then tweaked Carly’s line to fix an error where she has Strong Wind Dragon take out Shield Worm in a “direct attack” so it’s “take out Shield Worm and attack!”; I vocal-isolated the resulting “Dimwit!” and “Did I mess up?” lines from Jack and Carly to remove the dub’s split-screen SFX. As Trudge brings back Shield Worm with Regretful Rebirthborn, I moved his line about its effect so it started while he was onscreen per the JP script, also removing his “you and your little assistant” fluff, and I vocal-isolated Jack’s “Not as sorry as Trudge is going to be” thought to remove the dub’s added zoom-in SFX, using part of the JP audio to use that SFX, and then using the JP SFX as Carly sends the cards to their Graveyard. Having removed Jack’s fluff here as there was a dub commercial break inserted, I tweaked a Duel Links “From my hand” line to use before he declares his Twin-Shield Defender summon, using the JP audio for the summon itself.

I moved Trudge’s “It’s my turn then” a second or two earlier, then used the JP audio after he summoned his Worm Tokens as the split-screens and counter fly-ins happen, then vocal-isolated part of Trudge’s line after to remove the dub’s split-screen SFX, and I used the “chaos” part of one of Trudge’s Duel Links lines to try and fix the dumb “Dark Tuner Chaos-Rogue Catastrogue” error (which I do 2-3 more times), using the JP audio as Chaos-Rogue’s summoned. I moved Jack’s “What’s this Dark Tuning business all about?” line a second or two later to remove his use of Carly’s name, then used the JP audio from where Chaos-Rogue starts tuning to the Worm Token glowing to remove Carly’s added line about Dick Dark Tuning, and used the JP audio as Dark Diviner/Pitch-Dark Zumwalt’s summoned. I redid the SFX as Carly sends cards to the Graveyard per Chaos-Rogue’s effect to move part of Trudge’s line attacking with Dark Diviner earlier (since 4Kids cut a second or two from this shot), and then vocal-isolated part of Trudge’s line about Dark Diviner’s effect to remove the dub’s split-screen SFX. I switched to the JP audio as Carly sends cards to the Graveyard after as I moved Trudge’s line a bit to shorten it, then after Carly shields Jack from the attack, I vocal-isolated part of his line to Trudge to remove the dub’s split-screen SFX and used a Duel Links line to extend his dialogue (which 4Kids shortened); I also vocal-isolated Trudge’s line after to remove the dub’s split-screen SFX.

As Carly apologizes to Jack, I used a “Well?” from Duel Links for him to remove his guessing Carly’s name now that she properly introduces herself, and then vocal-isolated their lines as they start their turn to remove the dub’s split-screen SFX. I used the JP audio after they draw, then again when they activate Mind Trust, vocal-isolating part of Jack’s line to remove the dub’s split-screen SFX and stitching together various lines to extend Jack’s explanation of its effect by adding a mention that it’s a Tuner with half the Level of the Monster he releases that he’s adding to his hand (4Kids cut this short and he just says “to pull a weaker Monster”). I added a whoosh as the screen goes up Strong Wing Dragon to match the original audio, then as Dark Resonator’s summoned, I used the JP audio as the ATK counter flies in (but at a lower volume, since 4Kids moved Jack’s dialogue about the summon to during the summon itself, since Jack’s lips weren’t moving when he originally said them while onscreen), and stitched together a “Dark Resonator tunes with Twin-Shield Defender” line to remove the “tune-up” line, using Duel Links lines for Jack’s Exploder Dragonwing chant. I vocal-isolated part of his explanation of its effect to remove the dub’s split-screen SFX, and then his line having Exploder Dragonwing attack to remove his “Of course [I still have it], I only lost yesterday” line to Carly, using his Duel Links “King Storm!!” shout for its attack, and switching to the JP audio as the attack hits and causes the explosion.

As Trudge comes to, I added a Duel Links grunt over a second of lip-flaps that the dub cut, then no real dialogue edits to Carly’s and the reporter’s lines as she runs out with Jack. Then, as Goodwin meets up with Yusei, I edited his “It’s time I told you the whole truth” line to match the flaps, adding a vocal-isolated “You see” from 26 just before “It’s time I told you the truth,” and used the JP audio after Yusei gasps looking to where he points to end the episode.

In the Preview, as mentioned, I used dialogue vocal-isolated from episode 30 to recreate the JP dialogue, though I did want to use Crow’s “Ready! Set! Duel!” from Duel Links but it wasn’t working too well, so I stuck with his “Time to ride!” from 30 that hopefully still sounds good.

*phew*

#yugioh #yugioh 5ds #yugioh 5d's #ygo #ygo 5ds #ygo 5d's #5D's #my work #5Ds dub uncuts #yu-gi-oh 5D's #yu-gi-oh 5ds #yu-gi-oh! 5ds #yu-gi-oh! 5d's #[i'm nothing if not a perfectionist even for a mini-project lol]

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servinglemonade · 3 years

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HAMILTON ON DISNEY+

BEWARE: SPOILERS AHEAD FOR HAMILTON ON DISNEY+

Hi everyone! I’m back with a very exciting post that I thought I would not be writing for a very long time. My review of the filmed Hamilton Production on Broadway with the OBC!! After the unexpected announcement that the Hamilton film would find it’s home on Disney+ instead of being released in theaters in 2021, I was ecstatic. I could not believe it! I have been listening to the album with the OBC for years now. I never get tired of it, it always puts a smile on my face and the occasional comfort whenever I need it. I have watched Hamilton four times now and I just love it so much. So let’s go...

Overall reaction

Even after watching four times now, my reaction is still the same. I truly believe that it is a brilliant masterpiece. That is high praise for sure, but Hamilton deserves it. I will never forget experiencing it for the first time on July 3rd. I was blown away and could not take my eyes off the screen. It was exhilarating to finally see this, after listening to it for years. It is the little details that you do not get to experience when listening to the album that I loved the most. So overall, I was blown away by it and exceeded all of my expectations.

Film

I have never seen a filmed stage musical, so I do not have a reference. However, I thought this was beautifully filmed. It showed the whole stage when it was needed and zoomed in on the actors when necessary. It was an intimate experience. You get the best seat in the house, so to speak.

Cast

I already knew the cast was phenomenal due to listening to the cast album. Seeing them perform all the songs was even better than I expected! Here is an itemized list (hehe) of all the cast members, because they all deserve a chance to shine! Special shout-out to all the ensemble members, without them the show would just not be complete!

Lin-Manuel Miranda as Alexander Hamilton Favorite performance: Hurricane (so beautifully staged!!)

The man, the myth, the legend! I am a huge fan of Lin and his work (even beyond Hamilton)! I thought his Hamilton was great and very funny at times. The emotion in his performance was really good! Lin wrote this whole thing!! It all came from his mind, which is incredible in and of itself.

Phillipa Soo as Eliza Hamilton Favorite performance: Burn (iconic)

Phillipa is so talented. She has an amazing voice and pair that with her amazing performance and it is practically perfect. Her acting and singing during the final song, Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story, was so emotional. It had me crying all the three times I have seen it.

Leslie Odom Jr. as Aaron Burr Favorite performance: Wait For It (this is one of the songs that made me a Hamilton fan)

Leslie Odom Jr. is one of the most talented people ever. He is so amazing on that stage. Everybody always said that The Room Where It Happens is a true masterpiece and I always liked the song, but it was not my favorite. Seeing Leslie and the Ensemble cast perform it, WOW! Incredible. Leslie is the perfect Burr and had me crying and laughing many times.

Renée Elise Goldsberry as Angelica Schuyler Favorite performance: Satisfied (what else?!)

I always found Renée’s voice so damn powerful in Satisfied, which made me love the song more. Seeing Satisfied performed was magical and I will never get over how amazing that song is and how perfect Renée performs it. She is a true powerhouse whenever she shows up and confirmed that Angelica is one of my favorites in the show.

Daveed Diggs as Marquis de Lafayette/Thomas Jefferson Favorite performance: What’d I Miss (this was hard)

Daveed Diggs. Daveed Diggs. Daveed Diggs. Oh my gosh, he was even more perfect than I thought. Daveed is one of the cast members everyone always raved about and now I know why! If I had to describe his performance, I would say it is electric. He just immediately captures your attention. For both Lafayette and Jefferson!

Christopher Jackson as George Washington Favorite performance: One Last Time (this was so powerful)

The first time Chris emerges on the stage as Washington, you are just immediately drawn to him (at least I was haha). He just has a very powerful presence. Especially in Right Hand Man, his entrance is EVERYTHING! History Has Its Eyes On You has always been one of my favorites on the soundtrack and it was even better seeing it. However, his moment is One Last Time. It is truly a defining moment of the entire show.

Okieriete “Oak” Onaodowan as Hercules Mulligan/James Madison Favorite performance: Yorktown (his part is so good)

Oak has some fantastic moments in the show! His Hercules Mulligan is so great and full of energy. As I said, his part in Yorktown gets me so hyped! I loved James Madison’s parts with Jefferson, they had awesome energy together. Another fave Madison line is in The Election of 1800. The first line is Jefferson saying if they can get back to Politics since a lot of drama and sad stuff happened in the past few songs and Madison is like uhh, please with a soft voice because he has been crying. So funny and relatable!

Anthony Ramos as John Laurens/Philip Hamilton Favorite Performance: Blow Us All Away (funny in the beginning and ends so sadly)

I enjoyed Anthony Ramos’ performance quite a bit! He was great in conveying emotions as both Laurens and Phillip, with both roles having quite emotional endings. I was shocked to find out there was a part just before Non-Stop that showed Hamilton learning about Laurens’ death, that was so sad and Anthony Ramos did it so beautifully. I was very impressed by him and I cannot wait to see him in In The Heights!

Jasmine Cephas Jones as Peggy Schuyler/Maria Reynolds Favorite performance: Say No To This (her vocals are so great here)

Peggy and Maria might not be the biggest roles in the show but Jasmine slays in both of them! Especially as Maria, her vocals in Say No To This are even better than on the cast album. She was amazing!

Jonathan Groff as King George III Favorite performance: I Know Him (Jonathan’s performance makes this song work so well)

Jonathan was funny on the album but when you see the performance with it, it just completes it! He was phenomenal, and I loved that he showed up during some other songs as well, for example in The Reynolds Pamphlet, absolutely hilarious! I also enjoyed his little announcement at the beginning, where he said Enjoy MY show, that was a neat thing to include here!

Favorite Musical Numbers

Okay, so these are all my favorite performance, taking into consideration the song itself, staging, choreography, and production. I love how seeing the show made me love songs that were not my favorites before! So here they are in a non-particular order:

My Shot

So powerful, I think I almost jumped off the couch at the end because I was so hyped!

The Schuyler Sister

Even better than I thought it would be! From the use of the rotating stage, the performances, and choreography.

Farmer Refuted

This was the one song I always skipped on the album, however, seeing it here makes me lol every time! It’s great.

You’ll Be Back, What Comes Next?, and I Know Him

Give me all the King George content, soooo funny, I just love these moments in the show!

Helpless and Satisfied

Satisfied is still my favorite of the two, however it was breathtaking seeing how well the two are connected. Especially Satisfied, first the toast, then rewinding to see Helpless from Angelica’s perspective, and lastly coming back to the toast. I just thought it was stunning to see! The staging here is phenomenal.

Wait For It

The song that made me love Hamilton. Seeing Leslie performing it, made me love it, even more. He is so talented and amazing here. I had goosebumps. Even though the staging and production for this number are simple, it just makes it even better because you can just focus on Burr!

Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down)

Every time I watch it and Yorktown ends, I always shake my head in awe. It such a powerful moment in the show and it just makes me very hyped (especially Mulligan’s part). SO good.

Non-Stop

I know I keep talking about how great the staging is, but I feel like the staging from Satisfied, Non-Stop, and another one is the best ones in the show. The ending of Non-Stop on the stage with all the characters standing above Hamilton, stairs being moved from one side to the other all so seamlessly... *chef’s kiss*

Cabinet Battle #1 and #2

The energy between Hamilton and Jefferson here is so good, and I love they look into the audience and make them a part of it. Lin and Daveed just nail these songs!

The Room Where It Happens

Two things: LESLIE and THE CHOREOGRAPHY. That is all.

Washington On Your Side

I just really started loving this song after seeing the show. I also loved the beginning of the song where Burr joins Jefferson on stage, starts singing and Jefferson is just standing there confused thinking: “Where did you come from all of a sudden?” This is Chris’ moment in the show, he just conveys so much emotion in every line.

One Last Time

This is Chris’ moment in the show, he just conveys so much emotion in every line.

Hurricane

I just love this song and the use of the rotating stage here is excellent, same goes for the lighting.

The World Was Wide Enough

Seeing this for the first time was so emotional, the part where only Lin is singing and you onlyhear his voice... Pfff, amazing! Also how Leslie ends the song, WOW!

Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story

The way I sobbed during this... I just thought it was a beautiful ending for the show itself.

Okay, that was a long one! But I love talking about Hamilton and if you read the whole post, I guess you like reading about it! Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed it! What were your favorite moments from the show?

Have a festive day and stay safe!

Yenai

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rike-with-love · 4 years

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Melody of our Hearts (chapter 2)

Author’s notes: Here’s the second chapter as my apology for being MIA for so long!!

Pairings: Okikagu, Gintsu (minor), Takaban (minor)

Rating: M for mature content, bad language, fluff, light angst, enemies to friends to lovers

Disclaimer: I don't own Gintama or it's characters, Sorachi Hideaki does. I only own this story.

Chapter 2

<- Previous Chapter ~~ Next Chapter ->

”So the stage is reserved for us from 4pm to 6pm.”

”Okay,” Gintoki said to his loyal assistant, Shimura Shinpachi as he presented a piece of document in front of the silver haired CEO.

”And Kawakami-nim will take care of the soundtracks as we spoke earlier,” Shinpachi said and placed another paper on the desk.

Before Gintoki could answer him, third, fourth and even fifth paper was gently swiped to rest on the wooden surface.

”Here are the receipts we need to copy for our accountants – here's the official approval from the city to hold the concert – here's a bill of the advertisement for the concert.”

Shinpachi's words spiralled through Gintoki's ears, so much to remember and so much more to do. ”Oi oi,”, he wailed. Then, from the corner of Gintoki's eye, he saw yet another paper coming. ”Ne! Shinpachi!”

”What is it Sakata-nim?” Shinpachi asked and straightened his almost oval-shaped glasses.

”Please, you can call me Gintoki”, the man said, discreetly guiding the conversation to somewhere else. ”I'm not that into the honorifics.”

”But Sakata-nim, you're my boss now. I don't want anyone to think that I'm disrespecting you.”

Gintoki turned with his chair towards the young black-haired man. ”Shinpachi, we've been friends for years, you don't have to worry about that”, he said. ”Just leave the honorifics for the public stuff, ne?”

Shinpachi smiled and his brown eyes sparkled. ”I guess I can do that...Gintoki”, he said.

There was no-one who could call the young man rude in any way. He was a polite and hard-working person, someone Gintoki could really count on.

Shinpachi was also quite good with computers. Actually he was a lot better than Gintoki could ever imagine. In addition to his diligentness and computer skills, he had a decent sense of style. Actually he was the one who made Gintoki dress like a boss should.

Gintoki's taste in clothes was pretty casual, so he went with a white dress shirt and a light grey suit. A tie was an enigma he wasn't ready for, but maybe someday in the distant future.

Shinpachi on the other hand liked to dress up. He wore a light blue dress shirt with a beige cotton vest. He also claimed that his pants were dark blue rather than black, but no-one really cared.

Gintoki felt like he had successfully turned the tides of the conversation. But he was wrong, oh so wrong.

”Now, can we get back on the preparations of the concert?” Shinpachi asked, he knew very well his bosses lazy agendas.

”Haha, certainly”, Gintoki said with a forced smile.

Shinpachi flashed his shiniest smile and began to bombard Gintoki with documents. As the papers kept piling up, the easy-going CEO got lost in his thoughts.

Gintoki had always known it wasn't a cakewalk to run a business, especially not a record label, but that was the exact reason he had hired people to work for him. For Gintoki's salvation and headache, his employees worked faster than his mellow brain could adapt.

Maybe I could hire someone to be the boss so I could just jump on a plane and enjoy some parfaits under the sun in Bahamas, Gintoki thought to himself.

Not that he could afford a trip to the Bahamas. Or a plane. Or a parfait for that matter. More importantly, if Gintoki would distant himself from the company, he wouldn't be able to help Kagura in achieving her dreams as an idol. He was his manager after all.

When the Yorozuya Entertainment was founded, it was difficult to just get by. It took time to find idols, it took time to make music. There wasn't a possibility to hire more people and that was the exact reason Gintoki decided to become the manager for the label's idols. Just for the time being anyway, he had said. To get things started you know, he had also added.

The voice of Shinpachi finally snapped Gintoki out of his trip down memory lane and the pressing worry of the massive loan he had taken for the company.

”A bill from the security firm – a bill from the equipments we bought for the concert – a bill from the fabrics...”

Shinpachi's words sounded all the same to Gintoki. Why am I so lousy with these things, Gintoki thought to himself.

”GINTOKI!” A loud shout came from the door, startling both Gintoki and Shinpachi momentarily.

At the door was non-other than Shimura Tae, the head of public relations of YE, the older sister of Shinpachi and the one keeping Gintoki's laziness in check. ”I need you to sign these papers right now,” she said with a ominiously calm smile.

Tae, who more commonly went by Otae was a sharp young woman. After moving to Seoul she had graduated from business school with impressive papers.

Otae was one of the first persons Gintoki wanted to hire, she was a ball of endless ideas with an unwavering drive to make them happen. There wasn't anyone who could have been a better fit for the head of PR than her.

She looked very similar to her little brother, aside from her brown hair and her not needing any glasses. She liked to wear a tight pencil skirts and a matching blouse. Today's colors were purple and white.

Otae had shoulder length hair, often worn in a neat ponytail. She had bangs to frame her petite face nicely. Also, she wasn't shy with accessories, usually sporting a tiny scarf around her neck with a matching color as the rest of her outfit.

”Hello ane-ue*!” Shinpachi said. The siblings were originally from Japan, so they liked to refer to each other in Japanese. Sometimes it was funny to observe when the two got into an argument and the language switched immediately back to home shore.

”Hello Shin-chan*, did you give Gintoki all the papers?” Otae asked and pushed a dark brown strand of hair behind her ear.

”Almost there”, Shinpachi chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck a little.

As the Shimuras chatted, Gintoki was halfway sliding down from his chair.

”Uh, Gintoki?” Otae asked.

A single call of his name froze Gintoki right up. Otae had a flair in her voice, soothing but chilling at the same time. A perfect voice for tortu-...uh...negotating with people.

”Yes, Otae?” Gintoki asked and magically sat up while casually fixing the sleeves from his shirt.

”Would you mind signing this?” Otae asked and tapped a piece of paper with her pen. ”It's a permission to-”

Gintoki raised his hand at Otae, who stopped talking out of surprise. It was rare for Gintoki to act all bossy and condescending towards employees, friends – towards anyone really.

”Me and Shinpachi here,” Gintoki said and began to fondle the documents on his desk. ”We're a little busy at the moment.”

Gintoki didn't have anything against the adamant woman, he just wasn't in the mood to handle another important matter. It was probably something urgent as it came from her.

Shinpachi glanced at his boss with wide eyes. All of a sudden Gintoki was very into the paperwork.

”Yes, thank you for taking things seriously for once,” Shinpachi said.

Gintoki looked at the young man standing next to him. ”But I always do.”

”No you don't.”

”Nope, not even little bit.”

Gintoki huffed. He knew they were right, but he also wanted to be the boss. ”I'll forgive you this time, okay?” he said. Both Shimuras nodded as they were trying to take him seriously and Gintoki took what he got.

”Alright Shinpachi, give me all the details,” Gintoki said and actually took one paper into his hands.

”Ah, wait,” Shinpachi said and searched the stack of papers he was holding. ”Just one more.”

Gintoki elevated one hand, ready to receive the last document. ”Take your time Shinpachi.”

”Hah! Here!” Shinpachi cheered and offered the paper to Gintoki. ”Here's the rent-”

Gintoki moved like a shadow the second he heard the word 'rent'. Before anyone could say another word, Gintoki had grabbed his gray jacket from his chair and suddenly stood next to Otae, carefully examining the permission note she tried to offer him a moment later.

”I'm in a meeting right now Shinpachi, take care of those for me”, Gintoki said and walked out of the office with Otae.

”Heeeyyy!” Shinpachi yelled after them, a vain effort that he pretty much new from the start. ”You can't run from the rent forever!”

It had been a busy week at the YE building. After the release of Kagura's first single, Eli & Zura and Sugar Addicts released their first singles as well. Otae's PR plan for the company was to come out to the k-pop scene with a bang. Three new artists debuting at once was a real bang to say the least.

On top of everything, the free outdoor concert was well on its way. Almost everything had been taken care of, but Gintoki was a ball of stress on every single little detail. Yes, he appeared that he didn't care or had any interest on the matter, but that was just his defence mechanism. Honestly, he felt a little overwhelmed by the paperwork and stuff like that, but he cared.

Luckily he had Otae and Shinpachi. They were a power house together - and separately. They took care of running errands, permissions, equipments, all of that. This way Gintoki could focus better on the idols or as he so endearingly called the 'moneymakers'.

Gintoki helped everyone to prepare with the best of his ability. He wasn't a singer or a dancer, but he was a long time fan on k-pop. Yes, he was a grown man in his late twenties, but that didn't stop him from enjoying the music.

Gintoki understood showmanship, he was good at looking at the big picture, but he needed help with all the separate parts to build the idols into a functioning package.

Sugar Addicts had a member called Tsuu, going by the stage name Otsu. She had been dancing for several years. She sort of became the unofficial choreographer of the group and pretty much a choreographer for the whole company.

Apart from Sugar Addicts, none of the other idols had any prior professional dancing experience. However with Gintoki and Otsu's help, the rest of the idols; Kagura and Zura & Eli were able to add enough movement for their performances to pop.

Kagura had the rhythm and she had the spark, but learning steps wasn't really her strong suit. Still, she was better in dancing than Eli & Zura, a duo consisting of Katsura ”Zura” Kotarou and Elizabeth ”Eli” Dragonia.

Zura was a peculiar rapper/singer and an old childhood friend of Gintoki's. He was...how to put this nicely...he was a total corky lovable weirdo. Zura did all the vocals for the duo and Eli, well Eli played a synthesizer*. He couldn't really participate with the vocals as the man was mute.

When Gintoki was trying to get Zura to join his label, he explained that all the music could be produced by computers, but Zura didn't really care. He had only one condition before signing any papers, Eli and him would form a duo together, no matter how weird it sounded to anyone.

Gintoki knew it was a risk, there wasn't anything like that in the k-pop scene, but Zura managed to convince Gintoki that they would become the next big thing, the k-pop version of Modern Talking*. It sounded too interesting for Gintoki to pass by, so he agreed to debut the duo.

It was still a mystery where Zura had found a mute man named Elizabeth, but they seemed to be inseperabtle friends despite it all.

After Kagura's demand on finding someone to help with the costumes for the idols, Gintoki found Tsukki. She was a talented stylist who never told anyone her full name, she just went by with Tsukki. She was a beautiful woman with blonde hair and sharp purpleish eyes. She also had a scar on her left eye , but no-one dared to ask anything about it.

Tsukki was a woman shrouded in mystery.

And what it came to making music, Gintoki was totally at loss. Luckily the company found a musical genius to work for them.

Kawakami Bansai, a graduate from Korean National University of Arts. He was a prodigy. The young man was courted by many big companies when he was close to graduating. His future promised great things for him, he could have worked for anyone in the entire music industry, that's how talented he was. But...after graduating, he simply vanished.

No-one ever knew why did he go or where did he go. Well, there was one person who knew why he disappeared, but that's a whole another story.

So how he ended up working in a new, rather unsure record label? Gintoki and Shinpachi didn't know Bansai or his background in music when they met him for the first time. The man was playing a shamisen* in a park, eyes hidden behind sunglasses, expression telling of his fondness for the instrument he was playing.

Gintoki liked his music and he asked if the man wanted a job. Bansai paused his song and looked into the silver-haired man's maroon eyes. There was nothing suspicious in the way the man looked at him. For some reason Bansai felt like trusting this man, thou he wasn't even sure what trust even meant anymore.

Only after Bansai signed his contract in Gintoki's office, he casually mentioned his degree in music. Gintoki practically and literally fell off his chair, how could he have known the man was a mastermind in music.

Otae suggested on upgrading his contract and salary, but Bansai refused. The only thing he desired was to make music without crazy expectations and no questions from his past. Gintoki and Otae both agreed to his terms, they would have been fools to decline.

And there it was, the group of people who together formed the Yorozuya Entertainment and Gintoki couldn't be any prouder.

In a nice cozy office/work space of Tsukki, a final fitting was well on its way. Kagura twirled in front of a mirror and admired her outfit for the concert.

”Well, what do you think Gura?” Tsukki asked.

Kagura had her long vermillion hair done with her signature look. Two small buns on top of her hair. It was like she had small round ears made from hair. The rest of the her puffy hair was flowing free, reaching all the way to her lower back.

The outfit Tsukki had sown for her was a perfect fit. Kagura had a red, off-shoulder shirt with long sleeves. Tsukki styled a high-wasted black cotton skirt to accentuate her small frame.

The skirt reached just over Kagura's knee, the length matching nicely with her black ankle boots. No heels was Kagura's only wish for Tsukki when the design for her outfit was being created.

”It's really pretty Tsukki, I love it,” Kagura said as she played with a black velvet collar around her neck. It even had a cute golden heart in the middle.

Tsukuyo crossed her arms and smiled. ”I'm glad to hear that,” she said and walked to her desk.

It was hard to tell it was a desk from all the sewing equipments and drafts of clothing covering the whole thing. She really needed a bigger room to work in, Kagura thought, but she very well knew this was all they could afford at the moment.

”You were the last one to do a fitting, every costume is now done for the show.”

”You're very efficient, yes,” Kagura pointed out to the blonde woman wearing a black form-fitting suit, hair cut into a short bob to fit the look.

Tsukki hummed happily. ”It wasn't that big of a project, there's only eight idols to dress after all.”

”That's true,” Kagura said and returned to posing for the mirror.

Tsukki began to dig out some papers to deliver for Gintoki. Probably more bills to pay for the poor CEO.

”Tsukki?” Kagura asked and looked at the ever elegant woman through the mirror.

”Yes Gura?”

”Don't tell A-Gin...but I'm a little nervous about the concert.”

Tsukki lifted her gaze up. ”Why would you be nervous?”

”It's just that...the interview for the radio went well, but...”Kagura paused.

”But what?” Tsukki asked. She seemed to be seriously nervous. Sure, Tsukki hadn't known Kagura for a very long time, but the girl was like an open book when it came down to reading her emotions. She was one of the most confident and robust personalities Tsukki had ever seen, so seeing her falter worried her.

”You can talk to me,” Tsukki said and connected eyes with Kagura through the mirror.

”Well...this is the first time I'm performing live and...what if I screw it all up...”

Tsukki abandoned her papers and walked straight to Kagura. She placed her hands on her bare shoulders. ”Listen to me Gura”, Tsukki said in a really empowering voice. ”Look at the mirror.”

Kagura did as Tsukki said, and looked at her reflection. She sure looked like an idol...it felt almost surreal. ”What do you see?” Tsukki asked her.

”I see...me and you.”

”Yes, that's true. What else?”

”I see...your pretty clothes, yes.”

Tsukki shook her head a little. ”Those are not my clothes anymore, they're yours to wear, yours to feel confident in.”

”O-okay...” Kagura answered unsurely.

”You don't have anything to worry about Gura, you know you were born to command a stage.”

A smile sneaked on Kagura's pink lips. ”Uh-huh...”

”Just be yourself and sing the crowd into a bliss, okay,” Tsukki said and squeezed Kagura's shoulders slightly before letting go.

Kagura turned to look at Tsukki as she returned to her desk to get back to work. ”Hey...” Kagura said.

”What is it now?” Tsukki asked. She didn't even spare a look at Kagura, but that didn't bother the young starlet. Tsukki was all about keeping up a tough exterior, rarely allowing many feelings out.

”Thanks for the pep talk,” Kagura said.

Tsukki glanced at the redhead. She had a pleased look on her face, but it lasted only for a second. She's a complete softie inside, Kagura giggled to herself.

A knock on the door drawed the attention of both women in the room. ”Come in,” Tsukki said.

It was Gintoki coming in. ”Ne, how are we doing in here?” he asked and rolled his shoulders a little.

Kagura cocked an eyebrow. Was the ever lazy Gintoki being nervous. A thought of something being seriously wrong immediately crossed her mind. It was the day of the oblivion when Sakata Gintoki would stress openly about something.

Suddenly Tsukki turned her face away from the door. "We're doing perfectly fine here Sakata-nim," she almost mumbled.

”Uh, great...” Gintoki said and gulped a little.

Kagura stared at Tsukki for a moment. Where did the ever calm Tsukki went, she wondered. ”A-Gin...can we talk a little?” Kagura asked and walked closer to Gintoki.

”Oh, Kagura...I didn't see you there,” Gintoki said.

”What?” Kagura almost laughed.

”I-I mean of course I saw you there, that's not what I meant jeez...”

”Let's go already, yes”, Kagura said pulled her foster-father towards the door.

Tsukki cleared her throat behind her desk and tried to get up quickly. ”Before you go-” Tsukki said before she bumped her knee on the wooden table. "Tsk!"

"Tsukki!" Kagura called.

Gintoki moved by instict as he rushed to check on Tsukki. He went to her side to see if he could help in any way. "Are you okay?"

"It's nothing," she hissed and turned to Gintoki, who was closer to her than she had expected for him to be.

Kagura watched in complete silence as the usually super serious stylist slithered away from her desk, with a flushed face. Her completely black suit just made her blush more apparent.

"I-I'm fine," Tsukki said and tried to compose herself. "Uh, there's some documents for you on my desk Sakata-nim."

Kagura noticed a sudden shift in Gintoki's behaviour.

”Ne, Tsukki...when will you drop those unnecessary last names and stuff like that,” Gintoki said and leaned his right arm's elbow against the wall. ”You can call me Gintoki.”

Tsukki rolled her eyes at the surprisingly suave boss. Kagura felt equally amused by him as Tsukki was agitated.

Without any warning Tsukki grabbed Gintoki by his open jacket, never breaking eye-contact with Gintoki. ”Listen Sakata-nim,” she said, face still adorably pink. This felt like the right time to take a step back for Kagura.

”I-it's Gintoki.”

”For gods sake, do you understand you are my boss? I don't want to raise any rumours by calling you anything else than Sakata-nim."

Gintoki opened and closed his mouth like a confused goldfish in its glass bowl.

"Do you understand?" she snapped and shook him a little.

Gintoki laughed nervously at the woman. ”Ahaha...I know, I'm...I'm just joking...haha...” he said and slowly quieted his laughter down.

Tsukki let the man go and pointed her finger at the documents she was talking about.

Kagura was waiting outside Tsukki's office. She had seen and heard just about everything and all of it tickled her funny bone. ”Let's go A-Gin!” Kagura shouted to draw his full attention.

”Ah, yes! We have to go now. Have a nice day Tsukki!” Gintoki said and shut the door behind him as fast as he could.

Gintoki exhaled deeply through his mouth. Kagura crossed her arms and waited for him to say something and to try to explain himself out of everything that just happened.

”Well...?”

”Well what Kagura? We should be going already?” Gintoki hissed a little. ”We need to go and check out the stage at the park and-”

”No no no...wait”, Kagura grinned at the man. ”Do you have anything to tell me...anything at all?”

Kagura was a young woman with a quick mind. She was excellent at picking up on things, not that anything about Gintoki's behaviour was hard to read. She had known him for most of her life after all.

Gintoki squinted his eyes at Kagura. ”What are you talking about brat?”

Kagura rolled her eyes. ”Well you obviously have the hots for Tsuk-” Kagura's statement was muffled out by Gintoki's hand blocking her mouth.

”Shhhhhhhhhh! Shhhhhhhh! Someone could hear you”, Gintoki whispered. He wasn't actually blushing...but there was a some kind of glow on his cheeks.

”Mmmffhghmmmmm!” Kagura tried to point out.

”What?”

Kagura pushed his hand off her mouth and frowned at him. ”You heard me.”

”I don't know what you're talking about”, Gintoki brushed her words right off. ”You kids nowadays think you know everything.”

Kagura was familiar with Gintoki's ways of handling difficult situation. He wasn't old, but he was an old(er) soul to say the least. He began to blame the youth when it was about remote controllers, computers or crushes.

”So are we going to the park now?” Kagura asked, graciously pretending she hadn't pointed out anything.

Gintoki smiled at her. ”Yes, we definitely are”, he said.

”Great, let me just change clothes,” Kagura said and pointed out her new outfit. ”I don't want anyone to see this yet.”

”Of course,” Gintoki said and walked Kagura to her dressing room.

Before closing the dressing room's door Kagura couldn't help but to tease Gintoki just a little bit more. "Oh, A-Gin!"

"Hmm?"

"I'm pretty sure she's into you too," Kagura said and vanished before Gintoki could do anything.

"H-hey!!!"

* *

Kagura stopped teasing Gintoki about the Tsukki thing, he seemed to prefer not to talk about it. Maybe some other time he could confess his crsytal clear feelings, but now he had so much more on his mind.

When Gintoki and Kagura got to the company's car, Gintoki had a simple question for Kagura before they entered the vehicle.

”Can I ask you something Kagura?”

”Uh-huh, ask away.”

”The concert is only one week away”, Gintoki said to her, voice remaining as calm as he was talking about puppies. ”How do you feel about it?”

Kagura smiled. ”Well...I'm very excited.”

”Good...good.”

”Yeah.”

”You're almost a fully debuted idol.”

”I guess I am,” Kagura felt like Gintoki was tiptoeing about something and it annoyed her. ”Where are you getting with these questions A-Gin?”

”Kagura, you're like my daughter...do you really think I'm not worried about your well-being? This industry is very stressful.”

”Worried?”

”Yes, I feel like you're not telling me everything.”

Kagura knew what he meant. So he had seen her nervousness through her smile, she thought.

”I...I'm just afraid.”

Gintoki's eyes sharpened at her words. ”Afraid?”

”...I know how much effort you've put into me, this company and everything...”

”That's true...but what are you afraid of Kagura?” Gintoki asked.

Kagura could feel her eyes getting watery. This was one of her biggest fear and talking about it made it feel more real. ”Well what if I screw the show up or something else? I don't want to let you down and-”

Kagura's rambling quieted down as Gintoki pulled her into his arms.

”Silly girl...” Kagura listened to Gintoki's voice. It was deep and endearing. Also fatherly. It was just what she needed to hear.

”You could never let me down, no matter if things won't work out the way we planned.”

Kagura answered his hug by latching her fingers into his gray jacket. Even the stupid soft fabric felt comforting.

”I'm still going to work my ass of, yes”, Kagura said and sniffed quietly.

”I know that already Kagura..I know,” Gintoki said and patted the back of her head.

”Can we go to the park already A-Gin?” Kagura asked and tried to calm down her voice. She didn't want to cry over stupid things, she was too busy to do that.

”Yes, let's go then.”

A/N:

*ane-ue: a honorific for a sister in the Japanese language *chan: a honorific for someone younger in the Japanese language *Modern Talking: a German duo consisting of singer Thomas Anders and arranger, songwriter and producer Dieter Bohlen *synthesizer: an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals that may be converted to sound *shamisen: a three-stringed traditional Japanese musical instrument derived from the Chinese instrument sanxian

#okikagu #gintama #kagura #okita sougo #okita x kagura #kagura x okita #au #fanfiction #k-pop au #alternate universe #fluff #drama #romance #light angst #slow burn #i repeat slow burn

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leapingtitan · 5 years

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Promare Original Soundtrack Review

Alright, it’s been a while since I’ve done one of these and this is the perfect candidate. I have waited for this Sawano OST for almost 8 months, ever since Sawano was confirmed to compose for Promare, and now it’s finally here.

A little side note to my followers who aren’t aware: Promare is an anime film by the duo behind Kill la Kill (Hiroyuki Imaishi and Kazuki Nakashima) and the 2nd time they got Sawano to compose for their project. And boy, was it worth it. I have been hyped about Promare since I first saw the announcement after finishing KLK and before Sawano was confirmed as the composer. And at long last, it’s here. The movie is still gonna take a while to come out internationally, be it at the movies or as a disc release, but the soundtrack is out and that’s what I’ll be talking about today.

This marks the first original, non-sequel Sawano anime work since Re:CREATORS which was... almost 2 years ago. That’s a lot of time, and 2018 was a... questionable year for Sawano’s discography filled with average and low-effort sequel works and an abundance of Jpop songs as part of the [nZk] project. But anyway, here is the review to the soundtrack of Promare, composed by Hiroyuki Sawano! As usual, I’ll be sharing my thoughts on each track individually before discussing the soundtrack as a whole. Let’s get right into it!

01. Inferno (vocal: Benjamin, mpi)

Here is what I like to call the “sub-theme vocal track” of Sawano OSTs that follow this pattern. This is basically the “Track #1 that’s a vocal song that could be the main theme but actually comes before the main theme” (similar to God of ink from R:C and Perfect Time from NnT), and a pretty neat one at that. I was looking forward to this track ever since I heard it in the OST CM and it’s honestly very pleasant. Ben and mpi have a lot of synergy as vocalists and the lyrics, plus overall tone and production are very good.

I am generally not a fan of more bright, upbeat and playful vocal songs but this one doesn’t really come off to me as that kind of track. It’s very “everyday” especially the verse and the chorus is super catchy and memorable. Overall, a very solid track. I also really like how Ben and mpi alternate now and then especially with the first and second verse/chorus instead of just having them all sing the same thing. They do that, but only in the last chorus and it sounds like a nice ending to it. The choir in some of the parts (which Sawano himself is part of) is also very nice.

I have two complaints about this track, however. The first one is that outside of the guitar chords and drums, the instruments are barely audible in the mix because of the percussion. You can make out some of the guitars but overall it sounds a bit drowned out. That, and it ends a bit suddenly without a proper outro to tone down the last chorus. Those are still very much nitpicks though, great track otherwise but not my favorite vocal song on this soundtrack.

02. PRO//MARE

And now we come to the actual instrumental main theme of the movie. I have genuinely missed original Sawano works because most of the modern ones have this thing where he names the main theme after the show it’s made for, and it’s just a really cool pattern that never gets old to me.

PRO//MARE is the newest entry to this category and it’s the orchestral track that was heard in the first half of the 2nd trailer. Part of it was also showcased at AnimeJapan at the Promare section. Personally, this is one of my favorite tracks in the album. I love how unpredictable the structure is and the subtle synths and guitar give it a unique flavor that make it stand out from the typical Sawano orchestral tracks. The strings part at 1:55 is my favorite part and it’s just amazing. The main melody is also very nice and overall, it’s a very solid main theme that gets its purpose across. On top of that, this has to be one of the best uses of fake choir Sawano has integrated into an orchestral track.

On top of that, it also does not have a 2nd half and has a pretty good length for an instrumental track. This actually makes it more solid and doesn’t give the feeling of Sawano not knowing how to make a track longer without a 2nd slow half. Overall, very good and again, a big highlight on the album for me.

03. GAL-OTHY-MOS

After 3 years of no woodwinds, it was time to go home.

Okay, here is an absolute banger. Galo (the protagonist)’s theme marks the return of woodwinds in Sawano’s works which is something we didn’t think would happen at this point. And oh boy, this one is big.

Right off the bat, the flute establishes itself very nicely alongside the overall Japanese/ethnic sound the track is going for, which I need to talk about on its own. It’s so freaking cool how unique this theme sounds like with the whole ethnic soundscape mostly because of how appropriate it is for Galo as a character. A side note about Promare, the movie is basically about firefighters who use mechs called “MATOI” which, aside from being a cheesy Kill la Kill reference, are banners used by Firefighters in the Edo period. It’s just so sweet how the overall sound comes together as a character theme.

The track itself is dope. Aside from the ethnic melodic elements it focuses on standard band percussion and orchestra, which is pretty nicely mixed if I might add. The arrangement of the strings stands out among Sawano orchestral tracks and I love the ostinatos throughout the track. Structure and melody iis also very strong.

The 2nd half leaves a bit to be desired as it’s basically a slower version with some instrumental changes, but other than that it’s not that interesting. Still, overall very nice and another highlight for me.

04. Λsʜᴇs (vocal: Gemie)

Another vocal song, and this time it’s Lio’s theme... well, of them. I like to think of this as the main theme among all the other tracks that use the same leitmotif. Anyway, right off the bat, Λsʜᴇs instantly reminds me of RE:3343 and ABYSSwaltz from Re:CREATORS. This also marks the return of a very nice vocal technique that I’ve missed in Sawano works which is layering a whispering of a vocal line alongside the main vocal line with both lines being the same. Adds a very interesting “ethereal” sound to the vocals in a track that is already pretty ethereal on its own.

The strings here are nice but of course, Gemie’s voice is the highlight and boy did I not know she can sing this high. The wailing/non-lyrical part after the chorus is very powerful and personally this is one of the best Gemie songs for me. There is another version of this song later on which I prefer more, but this one is also very nice.

Lyrics are also quite interesting, as expected of cAnON. and her particular choice of vocabulary.

05. WORLDBIGFLAMEUP

Say hello to the track with the best song name on the OST and one that perfectly describes the Sawano fans’ reaction to the soundtrack dropping. This is the initial teaser track that played all the way back then and our first sample of Sawano’s work for Promare. (Well, technically it was the strings part in GAL-OTHY-MOS but we just assumed it was the same track).

WORLDBIGFLAMEUP is, to put it short, awesome. Instead of an all-out bombastic orchestral Sawano track, it’s more of a tense, emergency and action type of piece that goes at a fast pace and overall delivers a feeling of uneasiness and chaos, which perfectly captures the whole “Fire” aspect of the movie’s concept.

Instrumentally, I have to say this is one of my favorite instrument choices Sawano has done for an orchestral track outside of the usual strings and brass. It partially has some ethic elements here and there with the dulcimer which adds a whole new layer to the rhythm of the piece.

And then there is the gamelan which is probably my favorite instrument in this entire track and what makes the whole track what it is for me. It’s so cool and the little quiet sections where it’s more audible are probably my favorite. That’s just all I have to say. It’s awesome.

The 2nd half of the track was a thing I had a problem with initially because it’s another “2nd slow half” to fill up track space, except this one has grown on me. I like the piano addition though overall it sounds like the track was slowed down in Audacity or something... I just think the overall arrangement makes it a better fit for the fast pace of the first half and not the way it’s presented in the 2nd half.. that is until it gets to the main part with the band percussion. This is where I would make a PotS/<X9> joke, but this one is actually pretty cool and pure headbang material, especially the last part. I mostly have to thank @shifter-lines for getting me to like this as much as I do now, haha. Yet another highlight for me and a very good track.

06. PROMARETHEME

So, GAL-OTHY-MOS was the first of two tracks to have woodwinds return and that’s something we’ve known about since the initial recording tweet. This is the 2nd, except it’s a tin whistle instead of a flute and boy does it sound good.

PROMARETHEME legitimately sounds like Sawano went full Zimmer/Powell and made a Kung Fu Panda track because it’s so awesome with the tin whistle it’s hard to put it into words. Oh yeah, and it’s an orchestral version of Inferno that was actually made before Inferno itself. This is one of Imaishi (the director)’s favorite tracks as far as my knowledge goes and one of the sub-themes for the movie.

Overall, it has a very powerful start with, again, the tin whistle and the choir part after the main chorus is equally awesome. I initially thought it was going to go into a 2nd half after that pause but it was just that, a pause. Overall, a pretty neat track... again, that tin whistle.

07. BangBangBUR!...n?

Hoho boy, here it is. I am not ashamed to use this joke for the 10000th time since this OST released last week, but this piece is an absolute Banger. It’s pure fire and is my favorite instrumental track on the Promare OST.

This was initially first played in a very obscure CM in Japan that came out around the same time as the initial teaser and didn’t show any new footage, but it had a bit of this track playing and I loved it.

BangBangBUR!...n? is one of those tracks that don’t need a good and powerful lead melody to stand out. The overall sound design and instrument choice for this piece is freaking amazing and I highly recommend listening with headphones for the full experience. The bass, the beat, the synths and the guitars, plus the synth ostinato and combination of electronic kicks with additional distorted drums to add to the rhythm is absolutely incredible. It’s an awesome track in every way.

The strings portion makes it even more awesome by adding a melody to it and repeating the previous part, essentially building onto the foundation it sets for itself beforehand.

The 2nd half is probably the best 2nd half Sawano has ever done if we count slow arrangements in the same piece. Instead of just slowing down the first half, it changes up the arrangement a bit and sounds like a semi-ambient dark piece while maintaining the coolness factor of the first half. The strings are equally awesome. By the way, this is the director’s other favorite track and he loved the demo Sawano initially showed him. Of course he did.

Overall, absolute banger and again, best instrumental track on the OST for me. Go listen to it, and if you haven’t seen the first 5 minutes of the movie online yet, go do that as well. This track is used perfectly as an establishing piece for Promare and what it is.

08. NEXUS (vocal: Laco)

We come to the first original Sawano Laco song to be officially released! (Because Zero Eclipse is taking forever). NEXUS initially gave me a much different impression than the one I have right now. When I heard it in the OST CM, I didn’t really like it to be honest.

Like I’ve said in the past, I generally dislike “happy”, playful vocal songs because it doesn’t feel like they have any emotional impact for me while I’m listening to them and this is pretty much what I expected.

Instead, I get a 90s pop song that has one of the sickest drum productions I’ve ever seen. Seriously, those drums are insanely good. It sounds like typical four on the floor type of beat at first, and that’s what it mostly is in the chorus, but the drums in the verse are insane. You can, to quote someone else here, internally feel the rhythm and it’s amazing.

The synths are super catchy and compliment the vocal line really good and, again, sound straight out of a 90s pop song. Laco’s singing itself is also pretty good and I think she stands out as an OST Sawano vocalist with a different tone to her voice than Gemie, Eliana and... someone else whose name I can’t remember. Weird.

Anyway, the vocal effect in the intro with the reverb/semi-choir sounds dope. The lyrics for the song itself are kind of weird, though.. and from what I’ve heard, this track was kinda overused as a battle theme in the movie. And, although I think it can fit under said circumstances, I don’t think using it for every battle scene would benefit it, especially the chorus which is my least favorite part compared to the rest of the tracks. It just sounds... but overall, the track is great, Laco’s singing is great and the production quality is very high. Great piece overall.

09. BAR2tsuSH

We come to the big baddies (well, some of them) villain theme. This and WORLDBIGFLAMEUP are the closest to being a KLK-esque track on this OST and this one is pretty good. It’s the “group villain theme” for the Mad Burnish, also part of the song name and it’s a pretty neat one at that.

Instrumentally, it goes ham with the scratchy synths and the edgy guitar chugs around the middle of the first half. Also, the rhythms of this song are sick. I like how it goes into a different drumming pattern after the first two measures in the synth portion and the main part is also a nice Sawano orchestral vocal track. Great alternating melody between the synths and brass with a nice ending to it.

The 2nd half is unfortunately a bit weak and doesn’t really do anything interesting with the first half other than the typical “slow it down, change up the instruments” thing. It’s not bad, just nothing outstanding either. Overall, a nice piece. That’s all I have to say.

10. DeusPRO召す

Next up we come to the theme of a character who is so important to the plot, they have barely shown anything about him and his last name, Prometh, literally has the name of the movie in it.

Deus’ theme is super cool and unique. Right off the bat it establishes a unique soundscape with some interesting synth ostinatos that make you think you are listening to a factory/laboratory theme in a video game. The rhythm elements with the brass coming on later on are also very nice and this is another like I think can hold its own without a powerful lead melody in a similar matter to BangBangBUR!...n?. Not quite as good at it but still very good nonetheless. I can totally lay back and listen to this.

The 2nd half gets interesting because it brings up the PRO//MARE (main theme) melody and does some interesting things by layering the synths and drums from the first half over it and it works pretty well.

I mean... you know you’re an important character when your character theme rearranges the main theme of the movie you’re in.

Overall, this is a dope track. Wish I could say more but I’d be repeating myself.

11. fanFAREpiZZA

Next up is the track with the most questionable song name for someone who hasn’t listened to it. The first half is exactly what it says. A fanfare sort of victory theme and a pretty good one with some cool synth over it that almost sounds like it’s a continuation from DeusPRO召す. The only thing that’s weird is that the brass here is sampled... not entirely sure why when all the other orchestral tracks have actual brass recordings. It’s a bit weird but it doesn’t really sound that bad. It’s a pretty nice track. Can’t say anything else.

...Except about the 2nd half. “piZZA” is in the title as well and... it’s a comedic track. Harmonica, catchy beat and nice guitar going on in the left channel. I love it. It’s the only comedic/everyday laid back track on the OST and a pretty good one at that. Watch the 11-minute prequel to the movie if you want to see how it’s used. It’s pretty darn sweet. Again, I want to say more but.. that’s about it.

12. Λsʜᴇs ～RETURNS～ (vocal: Gemie)

And here is the better version of Λsʜᴇs, in my opinion at least. At the cost of the ethereal feel of the original, this one slaps on distorted drums and some really cool synths over it and makes it more like an orchestral bombastic track, and a really tragic but good one at that.

One thing that I absolutely love about this one is how the strings and especially Gemie’s vocals are re-recorded instead of reused from the original track. You can tell by the tone of her voice and especially in the chorus where she sings louder and the wailing part which is completely different. Overall, this is a much more chaotic version of the original and an excellent arrangement. I love 6/8 orchestral Sawano tracks and this one in particular reminds me of Ω from Guilty Crown which is one of my all-time favorite orchestral Sawano pieces.

Very good piece and yet another highlight of the soundtrack.

13. 燃焼ING-RES9

The Burning Rescue theme is yet another arrangement of Inferno which I guess fits-context wise. Anyway, on my first listen-through, this was my least favorite track because unlike PROMARETHEME it didn’t do anything interesting with the Inferno melody. At least, those were my thoughts at the beginning. Also, it kinda sounds like it borrows the drumline from Before my body is dry in some parts.

Regardless, like NEXUS, this track has grown on me and I think the guitars in the start make the whole thing a lot better for me. It also has a nice little outro section going on there which I also like.

Overall, I don’t have that much to say about this one apart from what I wrote above. I prefer Inferno and PROMARETHEME more to this one but it’s still alright.

14. BAR2NG4女14yoN

Next up we come to yet another absolute banger and a highlight for me. When I first saw the teaser visual for Promare and informed myself about what it was and from who it was after watching Kill la Kill, this track is very close to the kind of music I initially imagined for Promare. A fast, electronic, upbeat sort of battle theme that’s super uplifting. Also, another one I recommend listening to with headphones.

The drums in this track, like NEXUS, have insanely good sound in the mix and are basically the main instrument of this piece. Overall, it’s a more rhythm-focused track rather than a melodic one. Also has some sick guitars going on there that remind me of bL∞dy f8 a little bit. Then comes Gemie with the (uncredited) vocals that add a sweet layer to the already upbeat piece and a melody so it’s not purely rhythmic. Overall, very uplifting and an absolute banger.

I can mostly say the same about the 2nd half which is also quick and synth-focused but doesn’t have vocals. It’s more neutral/concentrated in terms of sound and less “playful” than the first half and imagine some high-altitude, high-speed fight scene happening in the movie with this playing in the background. The synths add to the overall mood of the piece and it’s great. Again, great drums and great rhythm all around. Definitely a highlight in the OST.

15. 904SITE

...I don’t know guys, he still might not be the villain.

Okay seriously. There was a point before the Promare premiere where they stopped trying to hide the fact that Kray was the antagonist of the movie and this theme playing in the OST PV was basically like “nah nah fam what are you talking about.”

Anyway, right off the bat, this is my least favorite track on the soundtrack. It’s not bad, I just prefer everything else over it. And the track itself is a bit...well... it’s an arrangement of BAR2tsuSH and a slow one at that... and that track already has a 2nd slow half.

Thing is, this is more of a mood-setter made for a certain scene in the movie. Personally, I don’t enjoy it that much as a standalone track because it just feels very raw and weak, especially since I had the expectations it would be a full-length character theme like GAL-OTHY-MOS, which it isn’t, and it’s not even an original melody for the most part. Overall, it’s not a bad piece, just underwhelming, but regardless, was probably important and used well for the movie, which is what’s important on its own at the end of the day.

16. REG-GIRT

The track that spells “Trigger” backwards. Classic Sawano.

Okay, so for the record I had much lower expectations for this track based on what I heard in the OST PV. Because it’s literally PRO//MARE with synths, drums and guitars layered over it which screams 2018 Sawano and we don’t talk about that here.

But anyway, that’s not entirely what it is. For once, said synths, guitars and drums are actually pretty great even when you do hear that it arranges the main theme instead of being an original track. On top of that, some of the string sections are new and not in PRO//MARE. The main part is probably the weakest for me since it’s very much the original track with the drums over it. This was played in the 3rd PV and honestly, this part in particular is just uninteresting.

The outro itself is cool but for goodness sake... remember my complaint about Inferno ending suddenly? This one ends so suddenly it sounds like it immediately cuts off into silence which is just weird... at least let the instruments echo/fade out. Makes me think it was made for a scene which ends on an unexpected note... wouldn’t be surprised if that was the case.

17. RE:0

No, this is not a Re:Zero reference.

Judging from how Sawano names character themes after the character themselves, you’d assume this would be Lio’s theme but for me... that’s Λsʜᴇs, and this is the piano version of it. Yep, classic Sawano making a piano arrangement of an existing track. And this one is really good.

I don’t have that much to say about piano solos in general but this one is definitely up there with the likes of omake-pfadlib for me and overall perfectly executes the emotion for me and is a great rendition of Λsʜᴇs. Favorite out of the piano solos on the OST.

18. PIROMARE

The last arrangement of Inferno on the album and a pretty good one at that! It’s another piano solo with some nice touches to the original track, especially towards the ending. Really like it, but I wish it was more of a medley that included more melodies like PRO//MARE rather than just Inferno, but it’s still a very pleasant piece to listen to. Again, not much else to say.

19. Gallant Ones (vocal: Benjamin, mpi)

And here it is. This is the Holy Grail of the Promare Original Soundtrack and the one song I have been most looking forward to ever since hearing the instrumental in the 2nd half of the 2nd PV.

Gallant Ones is, without a doubt, my favorite song on this entire album and by default my favorite vocal song. It’s also straight-up one of the best vocal songs Sawano has ever written for a soundtrack work and I would easily put it up there with the likes of theDOGS. Not quite too close to it but still a huge favorite for me.

This track borrows some of the percussion from BangBangBUR!...n?, as well as the ostinato pattern, except it changes the key and makes a freaking guitar play it. And speaking of guitars, this is without a doubt some of the best guitars Sawano has written in ages, mostly because of the fact that there are more melodic elements than rhythmic ones and that’s something you just don’t see Sawano do with electric guitars nowadays.

Going into the guitars again, one of my favorite production techniques when writing guitar parts is writing two semi-improv lines with one on each side of the panning (channels). And when played together, it sounds like pure fire. Gallant Ones does this with the verse guitars which were originally showcased in the 2nd half of PV2. It’s pure groove.

The percussion is another thing that makes the track what it is. It has a bunch of stuff going on that’s very similar to BangBangBUR!...n? like I already said, but the beat itself is dope and I love it so much.

Vocal-wise, this is far better than Inferno and Suck your blood from Kill la Kill for me. Ben and mpi make an even better duo here, combined with sick lyrics and absolutely lit chorus/vocal melody, this track is amazing in every sense.

If there is one thing I had to mention it would be my initial complaint about the length of Gallant Ones. The track is a few seconds short of being 3 minutes long which is pretty short for a vocal song that starts off like this. However, the more listen to this track (I’ve heard this well over a few dozen times at the time I’m writing this) the less it bothers me. If it had the standard structure of Sawano vocal songs where it repeats the chorus two or three times, it would have gotten repetitive really quick so I think the length is actually a plus here.

Despite all of that, if it was up to me I would have given it an extra 40 seconds or so by adding in the parts from the PV, specifically an instrumental version of the chorus where the guitar ostinato can be heard clearly, or the guitar outro which is better than the actual outro in this song. However, even now those are just nitpicks. Gallant Ones is incredible. Go listen to it.

“YOU ARE THE ENGINE AND THE POWER, LET’S FIGHT THIS TRUTH AND NAIL”

“I AM THE PILOT IN THIS GAME AND THIS TEAM WILL NEVER FAIL!”

...Had to get that out.

20. stRE:0ings

This is another one of those tracks like 904SITE where I don’t doubt that it was used well in the movie but still find its position in the OST a bit meh. It’s basically exactly what it says... a strings + piano version of RE:0 which is a piano version of Λsʜᴇs, which... also has strings and piano. What.

Okay seriously, I don’t mind it on its own, I just think it’s a bit too similar to Λsʜᴇs for me to fullly enjoy it, but it’s nice regardless. Don’t have that much else to say.

21. 火-YO!人

At last we come to the final track, which is the 3rd piano solo on the Promare OST and a pretty interesting one. It’s very dissonant and sounds like it’s from a Guilty Crown Another Side album. Overall, I think it’s nice. Really like how it sounds like it’s gonna go off into a melody then abruptly stops, and the closing section is nice.

Overall, a nice finisher to a great OST.

Conclusion

As a whole, this soundtrack is amazing. This is the kind of music Sawano can make when given proper direction. Of course, he’s worked with Imaishi before on Kill la Kill, and that OST turned out great. This one did as well. It’s a very fresh Sawano soundtrack with a lot of interesting elements, amazing vocal songs and diverse instrumental tracks.

Since KLK is a 2-cour anime show with more music, the music itself is all over the place and there’s a lot of tracks. Promare, on the other hand, likes to keep thinks in flavor but also concentrate on certain aspects, since it’s a movie and has to have a higher level of consistency.

Anyways, after a tough year of average low-effort sequel OSTs, getting this originality back again was very welcome and was well-worth the wait. I highly recommend checking this out if you haven’t listened to it already.

Also, I made a poll for the soundtrack! Make sure to check it out if you do get around to listening to it. Always like hearing what other people think!

Favorite vocal song: Gallant Ones

Favorite instrumental track: BangBangBUR!...n?

Favorite piano solo: RE:0

Favorite song name: WORLDBIGFLAMEUP

Least favorite track: 904SITE

Other highlights: PRO//MARE, GAL-OTHY-MOS, WORLDBIGFLAMEUP, NEXUS, DeusPRO召す, Λsʜᴇs ～RETURNS～, BAR2NG4女14yoN

Overall Album Rating: 9/10

#hiroyuki sawano #music review #promare

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westcoastbroadway1443 · 5 years

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Be More Notes: my very long ramblings on BMC as I finally listen to the whole thing

Ok! I’m finally doing it! Now that the cast album is out I’m going to really give all of Be More Chill a listen, try to put the things that annoy me about the show aside, and give it a fair chance. And have decided to do running commentary here for the nobody who gives a shit lol. Going in I wanna say I’ve heard 4 full songs and random bits of other songs from the original soundtrack. And I’ll be listening now to the OBC album plus watching a b**tlg, I’m not totally sure when it took place I just know Will Roland is in it so at the very least New York. Keep in mind whatever I think of this show, if I end up hating it, if you like it you’re right. My opinion in no way invalidated anybody else’s or is above anyone else’s in my eyes, frankly I don’t enjoy not liking things, it just means I don’t get to come to the party and that’s not fun. So I might be poking fun at the show sometimes but if this speaks to you, that is fucking awesome! Also I’m old now and I guess no longer the target audience for stuff like this.

Spoilers for those who haven’t watched the show and don’t want to know stage stuff because I’ll be commenting on that. This ended up being really long, eh.

More Than Survive -ok this song I’ve heard before, and it both turned me off the show and also made me respect the hell out of it, because much like I give a salute to Black Mirror having the balls to make pig sex their pilot, I salute a musical that starts with jerking off -So far like Roland a little more than the previous guy. From what I’ve gathered from clips, while that dude is hella talented and cute as a button I kind of buy Roland as a terrified, desperate, frustrated high school kid more -Man I really do dig the hell out of the score and there is no denying this is catchy but some of these lyrics are so cringe -WHY IS A TEEN IN 2019 REFERENCING JOE PESCI?! -Ok I love the idea of a short bully calling somebody “tall ass” -I do like Jeremy’s body language better in this one. Also does he vocally remind anyone else of Max from Goofy Movie? Maybe this song just reminds me of “After Today” for no reason. -“super pimp” “mac daddy game”....OK! I’m going to try not to list every time I cringe. I just have questions -You don’t want to be Clooney...high school child in 2019 is Clooney really your reference for cool? Sorry I just struggle with this stuff because I keep hearing how this show is so in touch with kids these days but I just see:

-lol Michael came on and people went apseshit in the audience. All my nitpicks aside I bet this room probably has some great energy. -..Michael the clerk at 7/11 doesn’t pour your slushie, it’s self serve. Are you trying to seem cool to Jeremy right now? -Aah the boyfriend backpacks. I know of this ship -Yeah Christine brings the flutes!!! I was a flute player, we never get love -HAHA when Christine is doing her weird ass dance, in the recording I’m watching somebody right in front of the person recording just went “I don’t get this show”. Like me too darlin, but you got 2 hours left so suck it up -Oh but sir, check the playbill. The story is indeed about you -in summation this song kind of encapsulates everything I feel about this show, good performances and catchy as fuck and musically interesting and a lot of me asking “why”.

Play Rehearsal -Well Christine is adorable -wow wait what? wtf was that weird self harm comment??? Are we just gonna skip that??? -Ok I was a band kid in HS so I guess I don’t get this level of extra. Band rehearsal is just tuning and then fucking around until somebody makes you play Bach -...is Christine ok??? -Ok I think at least for now I may hate her. But I like that Jeremy likes her, likes her passion and such. I approve of her conceptually! I just don’t wanna be around her -I thought play rehearsal was gay, Rich?! WHAT YOU DOIN AT PLAY REHEARSAL RICH?! -...I mean I’ve seen Romeo and Juliet as a zombie wasteland movie, I would watch Midsummer zombies

More Than Survive Reprise -”least I didn’t have a breakdown and have to go the nurse” Ok fair, I can relate to that high school experience -this set is kind of working for me, basic but fun and the floor is neat -I know high school bullies are a thing I guess? But I always just saw them in movies? Now Middle School bullies were legit and terrible and I got the shit kicked out of me, but by HS I feel like everybody was too into their own shit to care much about anyone else?? Maybe that was just my school -Will Roland’s body language is real good in this show

The Squip Song -Oh! Surprise Rich lisp. Creative way to show how this thing alters you -..ok now we know about Rich’s dick size. I mean hon your short, maybe your penis is just proportionate? -DO I DETECT SOME THEREMIN IN THIS ORCHESTRATION?! Gimme all the theremin! -Ok so the squip made him be an asshole? Does he secretly want to be buddies with Jeremy? -Ok what the fuck are the people in the background doing here?!? -I know people ship Michael and Jeremy but I feel like Rich kinda wants to jump that tall ass??

Two Player Game -Ok the little sign for the game that came up was cute -These guys are kinda cute, even if I wish they’d tone down Michael’s “I’M QUIRKY!! YOU GET IT?!?” shtick -That is accurate! Y’all will be cool in college and I don’t see that brought up often -This is the first time I’ve found the choreography fun -...why is this dad allergic to pants?? -ah. Depression=no pants. And now I get why Jeremy’s so desperate not to stay as he is. Well points for making it not just about the girl -awww Michael is his bae -bro I’ve heard Loser Geek Whatever, you’re tellin lies right now to your buddy -LOL! WTF IS THIS WINDOWS SCREENSAVER OF A VIDEO GAME?!? -oh wow dancin went off the rails here at the end

Squip Enters -Mountain Dew? Well, better than Surge I guess. -Ok the Ecto Cooler line legit made me laugh. And I guess I could come down on the show for making Michael psyched about a drink that came out before he was born, but I have a pretty intense Crystal Pepsi obsession and that shit came out when I was maybe 4? So I get it Michael, you go enjoy your liquid ghosts -well that squip thing doesn’t look fun -Oooooh Ok Keanu is like factory setting, alright I’ll accept this. Though I will say this show would be 35% better if he was dressed like Keanu from Bill and Ted

Be More Chill Prt 1 -Hey stop shitting on Jeremy. I think I kinda like him -wow Keanu, I didn’t think you’d be so mean -I mean everyone chanting “everything about you sucks” is just how peeps with anxiety feel constantly. Eminem shirt ain’t gonna fix that -”Jerry-me” ok Will Roland is kind of making this work for me. -Him repeating everything the squip said is a fun little sequence. Like I dig this conceptually, scifi musicals are rare and can be neat - Lol the hate who they hate thing is pretty accurate

Do You Wanna Ride? -hey Jeremy what about Christiiiiine

Be More Chill Part 2 -the beginning of this song broke me a little. Hey! I’m feelin a thing! -this song is pretty fun! It works! -though the cast of like 10 people that just keep putting on different wigs make it feel like a high school play or a starkid production

Sync Up -ok so now I know I’m watching previews? Because sync up isn’t here -I do think this song is a really good addition. I mean it’s not like a stand out fantastic song but it does a good job getting across the themes and drives home the whole “everybody has problems” thing too which I like -Ok..dairy line was weird.

A Guy I Could Kinda Be Into -Ok the weird girl fighting stuff about Jake is unpleasant and sort of unnecessary -a squip gives you a deep voice and the ability to kinda do accents. Cool -ooo this is catchy, this is gonna make the spotify playlist -the goofy background hearts are cute. I still don’t know why she’s into Jake or why she’s friends with Jeremy or if they should be together since legit the only thing she thinks they have in common is theater which he doesn’t care about..but this song is still cute -lol squips understand friend zone

Upgrade -DID THIS SHOW JUST KILL EMINEM?! -How did the squip know that?! Does Eminem have a squip?? I mean it kinda makes sense.. -Don’t you see Jerbear?! The key to popularity is in this girl’s vagina! Happy they cut the “I’ll tenderly guide you just take me inside you” thing, little creepy -Why did Jake make a kicking motion to illustrate cricket? I’m like 85% sure Jake doesn’t know what cricket is... -the “feel all the feels” like is a little goofy but I really like the rewrite for this song, showing some depth of character. Good job, show! And I’m seeing some chemistry between these two, but I don’t know if I’m meant to? -Oh no! The whole “you looked at me” thing from Brooke was so sweet and sad. And the player two thing. Yeah this OG version of this song can go fuck off, the rewrite is a really good tune. I’ll admit the original maybe built up the horror a little, the squip sounds more threatening coming in at the end but I like where there going making this about everyone and not just Jeremy

Loser Geek Whatever -Squip blocked Michael?? You’re a dick, Keanu Reeves -I didn’t love this song when I first heard the single but hearing the version on the album and the stripped down piano version, I really really like it. Gives me some of those old geek feels from back in the day -sort of surprise by how little is happening on stage though? I sort of assumed something was happening as the song built? But nope, just Will rocking his wee heart out -LOL! What is Squip’s new outfit???

Halloween -Ah, it’s this show Big Fun. This is a lot catchier than Big Fun though -I went to exactly one of these kinds of parties in HS, just replace Halloween with punks after a rock show and add a lot more drugs. I didn’t hide in a bathroom but I did hide next to the stairs until my mom came and got me. Memories!! You know what this show is succeeding I suppose, it’s making me have HS feels -...is Jake dressed as Thomas Jefferson? -Jenna you’re too cute for that costume. You should get to wear something sexy too! Unless you just dig clowns in which case enjoy yourself hon -Ooooooh Prince, I get it -this is not this show’s fault at all but I struggle with dancing in shows. I mean the title of my blog is The Girl Who Used to Hate Musicals because I did, and while I love them now extended dancing sequences still take me out of a show real fast. I know I’m in the minority here -...what the fuck is that weird fuzzy thing with the big teeth -Hot damn! Go Rich! Dancin fool

Do You Wanna Hang? -I don’t like any part of this plot line... -Ok! Didn’t realized she was dressed like a “sexy baby” so the diaper line sort of horrified me. I mean it still does! I just understand it now

Michael in the Bathroom -hey the bathtub! Ok I know enough to know what happens now -Jeremy why you gotta be so mean -I mean what is there to say, great song. I wondered if they’d change anything for the new recording and I dig the arrangement, especially the stripped down acoustic guitar and piano parts!! Also as a lady who maybe once or twice since discovering this song has gotten tipsy and sung it karaoke-like, appreciate the slower and the higher. It’s not a lot, just a bit, but makes it less of a struggle to match. Thanks bro!

A Guy That I’d Kinda Be Into (Reprise) -Finally! They’re both giant doofs but I see some connection! And I mean my roommate and I have noises we always make at each other like a call and response, so I gets it -He asked it! So proud. Rejected but proud of the boy, and rejected for good reasons

The Smartphone Hour -Heard part of this song before. Really like this Jenna more than original Jenna, her performance was a little much for me -This is one of those songs where I really do feel like I’m watching a HS original production..but a good one? Maybe cause I haven’t seen something like this on Broadway, but that’s a good thing. Always good to see new kinds of things on Broadway -lol what is the middle of this song?! I feel like I’m suddenly watching a cheer squad or like a John Waters inspired musical, which from what little I know of Joe Iconis I think he’d be cool with that comparison

The Pants Song -Jeremy don’t be mean to your dad! -Yipes is this the Break in a Glove or Dead Gay Son of BMC?? -....yeah it totally is -”Do you love him??” Has Jeremy’s dad finally given up on finding a girl in Jeremy’s room? -Ok ok I’m gettin the ship

The Pitiful Children -So squip just looks like this now, I thought maybe he was just being fancy for Halloween -Hot damn Jenna! Why were we savin that voice?! -I feel like I’m missing something with these weird hand motions the squip is always, do they actually mean something? -goosestepping...alright. Oh no Jeremy did the hand motions, I think that means a thing

The Play -Jeremy is being so creepy but he means well? I guess? -lol using the play to spread the squips is pretty clever -wtf red mountain dew? Really? You know what fuck it, discontinued drinks for the win. Maybe my saved bottles of Crystal Pepsi will stop an apocalypse one day! -Michael’s entrance was cute, and hey he just happens to have code red. I wish ecto cooler was what shut it off. -The glitching voice is crazy when Jeremy is fighting Michael and I love the way Jeremy is sort of bobbing up and down in fighting stance like a video game character, Fun touch -squip is making Jeremy go all Idle Hands! -I prefer the recording version of the guys making up, the whole “I just wanted to be liked” “I just wanted to be seen” thing -the squip has to be so extra even in death

Voices in My Head -hey lispy Rich is back! And bi now I guess? -Oh is that why people think Michael/Jeremy are a thing? The squip blocked Rich’s bi thoughts from him and it blocked Michael from Jeremy’s vision? I mean it would be an interesting story, I’d take it. -This might be my favorite song and I don’t really know why, I don’t super love that Jeremy still gets Christine in the end but I just love how this song sounds -I’ve never heard a character wearing pants get an applause? -improved lyrics in the Broadway version, and since it got more into the popular kids as people you can kinda see why they’d still stay friend with Jeremy -”I’ll throw you a rope home slice if you need some dope advice” like is this parody? What is this?? Well..still my fav song despite this line. A line they liked so much it’s the one original popular kid line they kept in the new version??? -don’t know if I see much future for these two, but Jeremy’s reaction to the kiss was cute -”Of the voices in my head the loudest one is mine” is my favorite line of the show -lol Rich’s little sneak hug. I feel like Rich always wanted to be friends with Jeremy? Or had a crush on him and that’s why his squip made him beat Jeremy up? Is this pairing a thing?

Final thoughts: This was so stupid long, nobody read this but that’s ok! It was fun to take notes anyway. Listening to it all, I liked it more than I thought I would, especially with the lyric changes. I don’t know if I would like it as much if it wasn’t Will Roland, the dude just really made this character likable when he could very easily not be. Some of the lines still bug me, there’s still a lot of cringe here but there’s also a lot of good stuff. This show introduced me to Joe Iconis and I’m slowly falling in love with him from his other work and CANNOT WAIT for Broadway Bounty Hunter because that sounds so like my jam. Overall I do get why people like this show, especially younger people because you can relate to the characters but maybe you want something a little peppier than DEH. I don’t think this is a soundtrack I’m going to ever listen to all the way through, but I’m for sure grabbing a handful of songs and sticking them on my musical play list. And when this thing goes on tour and ends up in LA, I think it would probably be worth checking out if I can, looks like a fun watch. Though with all the young fans and internet fans if they’re smart they’re gonna record this bitch.

#Be More Chill #BMC #joe iconis #Will Roland #musicals #musical review #jess babbles about a thing

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nealdanderson · 6 years

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I actually really liked Samus Returns. What were your issues with it? Also, there's always AM2R to fall back on. It's on the Internet forever, whether Nintendo likes it or not

I’m glad you liked it!I have a lot of issues with it, so prepare for a lengthy answer, haha. And just a disclaimer to everyone- I played through the entire game and beat it 100%, so no one can say I didn’t give it a fair shot. Since it is a remake, it can’t be judged as entirely separate from the original, so here goes. Spoilers ahead.1. It largely misses the point of the original. Metroid 2 for the GB is far from a perfect or even great game, but it is an ambitious sequel as far as tone goes. M2 is easily the most ‘horror’ feeling entry in the franchise, and it directly correlates to how to the game treats your objective and how the map is laid out. Metroid 2 doesn’t feel like a heroic quest- you’re playing a character committing mass genocide of a species incapable of intergalactic travel and as she travels increasingly downward through the planet, the more desolate, lifeless and lonely it gets. Upon killing the Queen and finding the Baby Metroid, it is a somber moment and retroactively, the most unique ending in the franchise(no thrilling escape sequence, no enemies…etc.). Samus Returns abandons most of these unique aspects and paints your quest in a generically heroic light, the darker atmosphere is completely done away with, and the ending is totally botched. These tonal problems may only be a problem to a few people, and may come across as nitpicks to many, but I think it’s worth mentioning. 2. The map and item placement doesn’t make for an enjoyable experience. The original Metroid/Zero Mission, Super Metroid and Metroid Fusion have maps that are designed in a clustered fashion, meaning that traversing from one major area to another and backtracking to get previously unobtainable items feels organic and convenient. Metroid 2 on the other hand has a directly linear path descending through SR388. Due to this linearity, the designers didn’t implement the backtracking for items that the series would go on to be known for. I know this is a criticism Metroid 2 often receives, but this approach makes sense given the game’s map design. Samus Returns instead tries to encourage more backtracking, but due to the map not being designed for it, it always feels tedious to go back and find these items(usually normal missile packs that are extremely useless so late in the game). The teleporters only further illustrate the lack of organic interconnectivity the map has and feel like a lazy solution(this is something AM2R handles much much better). Basically, Samus Returns tries to make the original Metroid 2′s map do something it was not designed to accommodate.

3. The enemies and bosses are extremely repetitive, boring and/or tedious to fight. This is definitely a valid complaint and massive oversight on Nintendo’s part–Samus Returns’ enemy variety straight up sucks, which is made more pathetic due to the fact that its 25 year old gameboy predecessor and even the NES original have way more. The parry mechanic is cool to start out with, but after a while, it really becomes the only way to dispatch of enemies, and it is used the exact same way every single time- wait for tell, parry, kill enemy in one hit. The Metroids, well, let me say that they’ve always been the weakest aspect of Metroid 2- they’re boring, silly looking and really only serve to be an irritation. Samus Returns gives them a much needed visual facelift, but doubles down on how much of a chore they are to fight. Meeting a new Metroid form for the first time was pretty neat, but after fighting your 20th gamma, each fight taking longer than it should, it isn’t any fun. Each encounter is basically a tedious game of waiting for the Metroid to be parried, but if you miss that parry window, it makes the fight drag on way too long. And then to ‘mix up’ the experience a bit, the designers decided to have Gammas run away like cowards mid fight, only for you to play a very irritating game of hide and seek with the damn thing. The few bosses Samus Returns has aren’t that memorable or enjoyable, the robot in particular spends most of the time in a state that can’t be hit(like the Metroids), reducing the fight to being 90% running away and dodging. Ultimately, these boss fights and Metroid encounters don’t feel challenging and feel more like a test of patience. 4. The graphics are rather subpar or inconsistent and the overall aesthetic feels rather uninspired. Some rooms look really cool, while others are just ugly. Samus’ Redesign looks too edgy, haha. I love Super Metroid, it’s my favorite game ever made, but lately, most Metroid games just try to recycle moments, areas and music from it, and it really annoys me. Metroid 2 has a very unique soundtrack, but inevitably, they replace its tunes with more upbeat or heroic remixes, and and its worst, replace tunes with Super Metroid themes.

5. Ridley. Why.

—-

So yeah, I’m not saying I don’t like Samus Returns just to be a contrarian, I genuinely found the entire game to be a rather tedious and unenjoyable experience. I will commend the few things it does well- actually implementing different abilities in boss fights(like the spider ball), implemtning new uses for old abilities(spider ball+power bomb), the DS being a perfect fit for Metroid with its map and inventory screens, and the overall engine having a very solid and fluid feel.AM2R handled everything better, and the few things it misses the point of regarding the original Metroid 2, it still handles much better than Samus Returns. Just because AM2R exists and will continue to do so doesn’t make Samus Returns exempt from critique. Even if I thought that Samus Returns’ announcement was badly timed after Nintendo’s DMCA on AM2R(which was completely unnecessary, learn the difference between trademark and copyright), I was still excited that Nintendo, after 13 years, was finally making another 2D Metroid game. I’m more just disappointed that the company who created this genre, a genre that may be more popular than ever, generally refuse to capitalize on it, and when they do, it’s a sub standard effort. I may be harsh to Nintendo, but they’ve objectively treated this franchise like crap over the past decade, and I have a very hard time trusting them anymore. To those telling me to ‘lol, calm down dude’, like, I’m perfectly calm, I was never planning on ever buying a switch anyway, but Nintendo should seize on the opportunity to mend fences with the gaming community outside of their devoted fanbase(I’m a Metroid fan, but I’ve never been what you’d call a Nintendo fan). Since I’ve never been a Nintendo fan, E3 is really the only gaming event I’m fully aware of, and I felt it was a wasted opportunity for them to even merely mention that Prime 4(which isn’t even it’s final title, lol) was still being worked on. I highly recommend watching The Gamer’s Toolkit and Gamingbrit’s videos on Samus Returns, they illustrate the gripes I had with the game in ways more eloquent than I could.

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workshop-at-mahoutokoro · 6 years

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Pacific Rim Liveblog Thoughts

I watched Pacific Rim for the first time (yeah, I know) and told the mod of themonsterblogofmonsters that I’d liveblog/give my reactions so here they are.

-I’ll talk about the film in roughly 25 minute chunks.

0:00:00-0:25:00

This film is everything you could ever hope for in a mecha series. It’s quite fun to note all the mecha tropes and plot lines used because this movie executes them so damn well. I know I’ve heard of piloting systems like the one in PR, drifting, but the only one I can think of at the moment is Buddy Complex, which actually premiered in 2013, too. Well. PR’s drifting system is everything I wanted Buddy Complex’s to be. BC was a mess lol.

I’m not well-versed in music and soundtracks, but this one is awesome and memorable, even within the first 10 minutes or so. It’s definitely not one of those shows where you forget the entire soundtrack two minutes after you finish watching.

There were a lot of amusing little gems scattered here and there like: -The Jaeger pilots being like celebrities in the early years. Very realistic and reminds me that I have to watch Tiger & Bunny sometime (the non-Netflix version lol). -The kaiju, as living things, actually adapted to fight against the Jaegers and their pilots. I liked that. -The gallows humor: bad news is, we lost 3 guys; good news is, we have 3 job openings! -“I’m guessing that I wasn’t your first choice” -> you were his first choice! and his only choice! because all the rest are dead! well that was inspiring -Somehow, this woman is standing in front of a helicopter holding an umbrella and the umbrella manages to stay in perfect form. literally the most unrealistic part of the movie xD -Japanese!

0:25:00-0:50:00

Lots of stuff happened in this one. The pacing is excellent- we get through SO MUCH content but it doesn’t feel too rushed. It lingers on certain characters/scenes just long enough so to leave an impact and let it sink in, but it doesn’t belabor any particular conversation or interaction. That’s quite rare in a movie as fast paced as this one.

It was probably also really tricky to pull off the connection between Raleigh and Mako. They meet and bond within these 25 minutes, plus we have other characters who need a few scenes to progress the “kaiju brain” side plot. It really worked though? I think, by having them reach a sort of mutual understanding and not go at each other’s throats right from their first meeting, it makes it easier for them to get to the point where they’re compatible.

Glad they didn’t unnecessarily build tension between them for the drama.

-These two scientists/researchers are hilarious. -YES, let’s just merge our brains with a monster one. NOTHING CAN GO WRONG. -AND it worked! Sort of. Also seemed to be causing a seizure but.

0:50:00-1:15:00

Some more good character development here. I really like how Raleigh and Mako are on the same page, before and after the drift. Again, the story pauses a bit to build tension or connections between characters without lingering too long on one or the other.

I also appreciate how mature the characters are- which would make sense, they’re adults, but that’s not always the case and something that annoys me in other shows/movies/etc. Raleigh certainly tries to convince his boss to hear him out, but after he gave it his all, he does back down for the time being.

Also, there’s no pointless blaming of other parties here for the drama. Raleigh and Mako obviously don’t blame the other for things going south. And at least you can understand why that hotheaded other pilot is angry at them. If they can’t even safely move the Jaeger around in the hangar and have everything under control in a non-combat situation, would you really trust them to have your back when it comes to the real thing? His role is basically to be a sitting duck carrying a nuclear weapon.

-WHY WOULD YOU NOT DISABLE THE PLASMA CANNON?? THIS IS A TEST RUN. -“would you like to try again?” how ‘bout no we nearly all blew up thanks helpful computer lady -“you goddamn moron” <- everyone’s thoughts except the mad scientists guy exactly -You would think they would have figured out a way to deal with the tails smacking or impaling them from behind by now but apparently not. Also a quicker way of killing them aside from beating their heads in with metal fists. -welp, that’s two down. -On a side note, I really like how the water resistance is shown? It’s just neat to see the weight of all their movements, and how the kaiju, like normal animals, are more suited to move quickly through it. -The reactor blowing up couldn’t even act as a suicide bomb though, that’s sad. -lol THE KAIJU HAVE JAMMERS never thought I’d see that on one of them.

1:15:00-1:40:00

Lots of action in this part, so not much to say aside from my reactions.

-So. Uh. If it doesn’t move and doesn’t smell human, you might not need to destroy it? Is that how they work? Kinda funny how it just stops and sniffs them when they run out of power. -At least they ended up on land? Being in the water really slows the damn machines down. -I STILL THINK YOU NEED SOMETHING A LITTLE BETTER THAN A FIST AND A FEW MISSILES. Ok. that’s better. -YES. SMART. Bring a weapon! Why did no one think of this before. Granted he brought a ship but you know. Better than nothing. -whoops flying mecha. -Excuse me. if you had a sword. why didn’t you try to use it earlier. before you got carried 50,000 ft in the sky. -I thought you had to be compatible with the person you’re piloting with? Can you just randomly replace someone?

1:40:00-end

I really like how they gave the side characters scenes to expand upon them and didn’t just shaft them in favor of the main characters. I guess it worked because Raleigh and Mako got along from the start, so they didn’t need to waste time developing unnecessary drama with them.

Also, I always appreciate a movie that doesn’t place an inconvenient sappy kiss moment at the most crucial part of the mission/action. They saved the happy hugging moment until after everything was done! And notably they didn’t kiss? What miracle is this? Instead we got a really heartfelt hug and that honestly had more emotional impact than if they would have kissed. I really wish this happened more often.

-Ah. That explains the drift compatibility thing. -Underwater is a terrible place to be moving those clunky things omg. They move even slower than on land. -OH GREAT IT HAS TENTACLES. -How is that damn thing still alive?? -lol of course it’s up to manual detonation. -Did we figure out how to get past decompression sickness in this movie? xD -lol damn that guy survived? No one even tried to get him out haha.

Overall: This movie just blew me away. It’s phenomenal, not a single thing truly frustrated me like when I usually watch these sorts of movies.

#liveblog/reactions #i have nowhere else to put them so

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