What a rush! Man, my arms are cramped now from all the frantic waving. T_T

If you look closely enough, you might be able to see me and Fariz waving our extra-long leek lightsticks in the front row. If you’re having difficulty, though:

Anyway, here are my thoughts on the concert.

The Fail:

While I was nearly deafened by the music, I can hand-wave it away with my inexperience with concerts and the fact that I was sitting in the front row (and didn’t have earplugs).

I thought the bass was way too deep and the VOCALOIDs’ voices could barely be heard over the accompanying band music. I guess out of all the things they tested, they goofed in the aural portion. Thankfully I was familiar with most of the songs so I could make out the words very easily.

Len sang Migikata no Chou. Alone. In fact, Rin and Len had no duet together. What the hell is this blasphemy.

Also, the concert could’ve used a little more hardcore fanboyism/fangirlism, IMO.

The Great:

I attended the concert expecting really great covers by the band, and I wasn’t disappointed. I’m not too sure who they are (couldn’t hear Miku introducing them), but they sure know how to rock out, especially the lead electric guitarist on the left. Thankfully, I sat near him so his guitar solos were more prominent throughout their performances.

The song selection was quite good, though I believe fans who have followed the past MikuPa concerts will find most of the songs and dance sequences very familiar.  I managed to predict a few after watching the free test stream (like Yellow and ARiA) but Miku Miku ni Shite Ageru as the first encore was a pleasant surprise (though Melt was a given). I totally didn’t see it coming, and man, did I cheer the loudest.

The projection and special effects were impressive, too! I was afraid we couldn’t see the VOCALOIDs clearly since we were sitting at a wide angle relative to the stage, and especially because we were sitting so close to the stage. Thankfully, we got to watch them dance in all of their virtual glory.

Afterword:

Although the concert lasted a full 2 hours, it didn’t feel very long when the time came for Miku to perform her encore songs. I was satisfied otherwise though, and I hope they’ll be able to pull off a concert again next year. And they probably will.

And hopefully even better than before.

P.S. To the stranger who snagged Project DIVA Extend from me: I actually thought you were my brother’s/friend’s friend LOL. Ah well, have fun with the game anyways.

And now for the first day of AFA itself.

I was originally planning to do a little write-up about this in the morning, but there’s no time for that now!

If you haven’t caught the last MikuPa (in Sapporo), here’s your chance to view a live (and free) screening! Head over here to watch it!

EDIT: It’s over now.

Also, I’m back, b*tches. For the time being.

Well, that stream was short-lived. No encore either. It was apparently a broadcasting test for the real concert tonight, and by the looks of it, the servers seem stable enough.

But enough about free-yet-outdated streams, the Promised Day has come.

We have seen Singapore’s 15-minute version of Miku’s part in Animelo on a video screen, with extra lagging-goodness!

We have seen gameplay videos representing Miku’s very presence at I LOVE ANISONG (and nothing else)!

But finally…5pb has answered our prayers! Now we’re getting a full-fledged, hologram-equipped concert, worthy of being referred to as a real Hatsune Miku Party concert. Hell, it’s actually a sequel to the last MikuPa in Sapporo.

Those overseas need not despair, Nico Nico Douga will also be streaming the concert itself! On two different sites, one for the Japanese and the other for the rest of the world!

With an event as big as this (and not to mention AFA itself), the Kyouran Kyōdai have come prepared!

I’ve applied for leave! (gasp!)

We’ve got VIP tickets! (shock!)

We’ve got front row seats! (awe!)

If you’ve managed to do the same (more or less) and are attending the concert too, yay-fications to you too! If you aren’t though…wait right there!

There’s still the exclusive MikuPa merchandise.

The KKnM-run booth will be located outside the concert hall, and will sell that delicious bag (and all those other things). In fact, there’s a rumour that they might start selling even before the concert starts. Hint hint.

We’re not sure which of the official MikuPa merch will be sold, though COSPA’s definitely confirmed at this point, being a KKnM0-run booth.

Now let’s just hope the concert will be worth the sudden gaping hole in my bank account. –_–

If you’ve been keeping up with the local times, you would’ve realised that the arcade machines have already been set up in arcades around the mainland. If you haven’t though, now’s the time to take a look at the official list.

The above photo shows the machines in TIMEZONE at West Mall. Which happens to be a five-minute walk from where we live. I’d imagine Fariz is going to clock his hours like crazy (as if he didn’t already during the location test).

Those machines have been laying dormant for quite a while now. Well, that ends (approximately) tomorrow. It’s time to bring out the tap cards.

The only reason I know is because fellow comrade nutcase23 SMSed me very recently that a couple of these machines were already up and running. While he didn’t tell me where exactly, it’s obvious at least a couple of operators have taken the liberty of turning their machines on early.

And when the arcades listed in the Project DIVA Arcade website open their doors next morning, well, you know what to do. Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan, you’ve had your fun. Now it’s our turn.

Everyone else… >_>

Of course, on the off chance that I’m jumping the gun and the machines don’t turn hordes of fans into money-burning zombies just yet, do point it out, and I’ll edit this post accordingly.

P.S. Oh, and since this is a popular question, if you don’t have the Project DIVA Arcade card, you can likely get it from the arcade counter. Like other arcade games with progress tracking. Yeah, thought I’d point this out.

Games still cost about $2 each.

The details for the second Thanksgiving concert were released not too long ago (yesterday, in fact).

Right now it’s all just information on a single webpage, complete with a leek countdown timer, but I’ll machine-translate it to the best of my ability. >_>

The concert is officially titled “Hatsune Miku Live Party 2011 –39’s LIVE IN TOKYO-”, though apparently that mouthful can be shortened to “ミクパ♪”, or “Mikupa♪”.

Mikupa♪ will be held on the 9th of March next year at ZeppTokyo (again), and the concert halls open at 6PM. The concert itself will be approximately 2 1/2 hours long, lasting from 7PM till 9.30PM.

This year, it’ll cost 5,390 JPY to attend, but the cost not only earns you entry; it earns you a single drink (at least, that’s what I think it means) and a Hatsune Miku Nendoroid Plus Charm Sakura Version! I do believe it’ll be similar to the charm distributed with Project DIVA 2nd, except probably either simply pink or donning the kimono costume featured in the game.

If you’re interested in ordering tickets, the early bird orders will open on the 27th this month at 12PM on e+, but they’ll close on the 5th of January at 6PM. Regular orders will (tentatively) open on the 30th of January (elsewhere?).

If you’re curious, Mikupa♪ will mainly be sponsored by 5pb, but Crypton, SEGA, Good Smile Company and AG-ONE will all have a hand in it, so expect heavy merchandising, too.

The website also promises that the outfits the virtual divas will don next year will also be different, to celebrate the concert’s one-year anniversary. Either that, or I’m mis-reading the message totally. >_<

There are no details of any available live streams as of yet, but assuming it’ll be held the same way as last year’s concert, Nico Nico Douga will open up that live stream for us.

Looking forward to Mikupa♪? =3

Well, apologies for that really terrible post earlier! I’m deciding to cut the posts into parts!

This one is the photos that seem to have no relation to anything at all.

Followed by Cosplays of Day 1.

Cosplays of Day 2.

Kaname(Star) & -aira-. (Because I need to crop and maybe it’ll suck.)

Cosplay Competition. (Because everyone fought it, it really sucks cliches.)

Stickmens will be mixed in somewhere. I apologise for the horrible time schedule since any posts 1 week after AFAX is technically obsolete.

Meanwhile… WTF FEIDAMU YOU  THING YOU BETRAY THE POORKIND AND NOW YOU MOONKIND FFFFFFFFFFFFF

So what happened on Day 1?

Basically, there was a terrible lack of queueing this year. Ticketing had a queue thankfully but the way in was like one giant Spawning Pool. @Hit_TP and I kinda stood at the side while @Feidamu, @TheFuzzy and @FarizAsuka just swam in the front.

Then the doors opened and one faggot shouted “SCRUM”. Idiot. Don’t insult rugby with your baka-weebs. I bet you all wouldn’t last under a scrum probably anyway.

In we go!

After just strolling in, we find the KKnM already long enough to go around a corner and edging into the exits. @TheFuzzy and @Feidamu inside queue. Tasked to find @FarizAsuka. Ran off.

There he is!

Mikuloard playing

There was the figurines on display inside. Typical GSC airing their figurines to lustful eyes.

Back to KKnM and OMFGGWTFBBQ to be had.

Ran away from the humans. I haz homosapiennophobia.

“Quick! Someone explain to me how lightsabers are anime related!”
“Umm, because Saber is a very well-known FSN character?”

Ita-buggy. For like, the itasha guys who play golf.

The Shrine of Toohoo

The first cosplayer I saw! Yay! Nanoha! (Turns out she was with Bushiroad or something?)

A Certain Malwarez Site makes its presence known. Oh, the pictures are cute. I think they are by someone from Bobkurasu Brigade.

Wandered back to the display figurines. More people there now. This is the one Figma I actually want but stopped myself from getting.

Dropped back to SEGA’s area and @TheFuzzy said this guy is playing a slow song to drag out his time which makes him a douchebag.

Is that even a guy playing? o_o I have no idea anymore. It is playing. IT.

60 MINS!?! O-O SEGA, PLZ PUT MOAR BOOTHS. PEOPLE WILL LIKE, SUCK YOUR TOKENS TO PLAY.

But not me.

A New Queue Has Spawned! .o. This one goes into the Stage zone.

So there was also this shad shad ronery ronery machine here.

@TheFuzzy being coaxed into buying a 15 dollar poster. This salesman is HARDCORE.

But he sucks at maths because he accused @TheFuzzy of paying short. WTF? FUZZ MCSCROOGE NEVER COUNTS WRONGLY.

My two Dead(blog)Masters

Legendary MIRAI itasha is appears! Nano takes 3 shots!

So when they said Ministage, I think they meant Microstage

KTV. THEY ALWAYS HAVE ONE. AND IT’S LIKE, ALWAYS GUYS SINGING THOSE LOVELY FEMALE SONGS. WTF. MY EARS ARE BLEEDING FUCK.

Cafe McCreepy

Mikuloard goes back to fight the SEGA! But no Disappearance. Loard, I am disappoint.

This song. I don’t know what. I like, need to update ALL the songs. i only know StarrySky now and that’s not Vocaloid! /o\

Then we went in for Gundam 00 Trailblazer. I got to sit all the way at the back and I swear it was so small that I went blind so when FlowerFuck began I was like, 3.3 and didn’t receive any damage.

So that’s the Day 1 UnCosplays+1!

I seriously need help with my camera. Someone teach me! ;o;

–

P.S. Oh yeah, you know that SGMalwarezCafe mascot pictures I took? Yeah, this lovely lady did it AND I think she was that Kirino cosplayer @TheFuzzy and I (And SGAmirul) saw and went like, “Woah, this is good stuff.” Yeah, this blogger/artist/cosplayer is like GOD. Go over to her comic log first to tide over your addiction for pictorial coverage.

Salutations!

I know it’s been a while since I actually laid my fingers on the keyboard for the sake of the blog. Recently it’s all been Nano slaving away (and I’m pretty damn impressed with the AFA rundown post he did), so I thought I’d drop by and stuff.

Seriously though, I realize it’s pretty irresponsible of me (and my brother) to leave you guys hanging like that. No news updates, no personal rants, nothing.

My reasons are simple, though. Firstly, National Service equals less free time for yourself, and even less free time at home. I don’t need to elaborate here.

Secondly, these days when I sit in front of the PC, I’m more inclined to game, surf and watch some animu, rather than hammer away an essay-long post on the keyboard. I remember that I used to spend hours crawling the Internet to grab at almost every single detail regarding anything I was willing to talk about, and feel satisfied when I hit the “Publish” button.

Sadly, it seems I’ve lost that spark, partly from NS-stress, partly from pure boredom, I admit. I do hope that I’ll get it back though; I do miss the joys of finding out stuff few realize is just sitting in some obscure web page waiting to be discovered.

And Fariz? Well, he’s more focused on his other hobby: cosplay photography. You can check out the stuff he’s churning out, and while this doesn’t mean he’ll no longer blog, he’ll just be a lot less around than I’ll be. I don’t blame him though, he’s just being passionate about the thing he loves.

And don’t worry, he’s still the Miku Lord.

Neither of us plan to let the blog just die off, however busy we are. We promise you that, at least.

Thank you, all of you, for continuing to visit the blog. It’s good to know we’re still being remembered. =D

Anyway, the doors to AFAX open in less than 9 hours from now. I can actually go, thanks to a brilliant stroke of luck, which is all I can tell you. Hooray for SAF’s administration, for once! XD

Nano’s already done the general coverage, so I’ll just go over something he didn’t cover.

Miku at AFAX

Once again, Miku will appear again on Side A of Anisong (that’s today). It’s said to be a “bonus performance” though, so expect the fabulous quality we got last year. I really do hope they’ll try to render the performance on something stronger than an Acer notebook, though.

Also, Project DIVA Arcade will make an appearance at the convention. If you look at the AFAX map Nano shamelessly hot-linked from KKnM, you’ll see a SEGA booth in the bottom right of the festival hall. I assume this is where they’ll place the machine, so if you want to get dibs, I suggest you run there.

Oh wait, I suggest you walk really briskly instead, otherwise the security will just shout at you or something.

You won’t catch me playing it I’m afraid; if my performance in Project DIVA 2nd is anything to go by, I’ll just end up embarrassing myself. Fariz will definitely be playing it though; he’s played the machine during the previous location tests here, long enough to unlock the Miku Append module. I think I’ll just be satisfied watching him own the high scores. XD

Well, time to get some shut eye. We’ll be headed down there really early, armed with cameras (thanks for lending me yours, Hexlord!), and hopefully we’ll be able to cover the event here afterwards as well.

Hopefully. >_<

Mine and Fariz’s Twitter accounts will definitely be active during the event though, so keep an eye out!

PS: How the hell is anyone supposed to cosplay with this much space available? FFFFFFF-

EDIT: Apparently ZANEEDS is coming down too! YATTA!

Sega has recently announced a new costume model of the Hatsune Miku Append Module for both the 「Project DIVA 2nd」 PSP rhythm game and the 「Project DIVA Arcade」. For the PSP game itself, it should be available on August 31st at the Japanese Playstation Store – on the 3rd anniversary of Crypton’s 「Vocaloid 2 – CV01 Hatsune Miku」 software.. XD

Left: Miku Append for the PSP ; Right: Miku Append Module for the 「Project DIVA Arcade」.

*Hatsune Miku -Project DIVA- 2nd DLC:

* Module: Hatsune Miku Append
* Release Date: August 31st, 2010
* Price: 300 yen (tax included)
* Available at: Japanese Playstation Store

*Hatsune Miku -Project DIVA- Arcade Add-on:

* Module: Hatsune Miku Append
* Release Date: August 31st, 2010
* VP: 300 points
* A fee is required to play

Here are some screengrabs of Hatsune Miku Append in both the PSP game as well as the Arcade version as well.. Enjoy the pictures~

Hatsune Miku -Project DIVA- 2nd DLC:

Hatsune Miku -Project DIVA- Arcade Add-on:

I’m so gonna get this DLC for my Project DIVA 2nd game.. Would most probably be suited for the song, “Intense Song of Hatsune Miku”.. Here is the how one get Perfect for it in “EXTREME” mode…

“Intense Song of Hatsune Miku [Perfect - EXTREME]:

Source: Miku.Sega.Jp via Moetron

After months of waiting, I finally got my hands on these wonderful collection.. Not just any standard collection; It’s the Project DIVA 2nd “Super” Collection which I painstakingly tried to get since most of the usual sites don’t offer such products.. It was thanks to my brother, “Fuzzy” for his ultra knowledge and our good friend, “Zh3us” for helping us get the stuff via AmiAmi..

If you are wondering how it got shipped here, below is what the box looks like~

If you are wondering why the box is freaking huge for such a loot, well “Zh3us” pre-ordered one more for one of our friends as well, the same whole collection as mine..

The whole collection consists of:

1 – “Super” Accesory Set and “Pouch” Set~

“Special” Accesory Set Containing:

1) Pouch,
2) Unique UMD case,
3) Cleaning cloth,
4) Special Project DIVA 2nd PSP cover,
5) PSP Strap, and
6) 4 decorative stickers (1 of each Vocaloid 2 characters, excluding Meiko and Kaito.)

“Pouch” Set Containing:

1) Monogram pouch, and
2) Another PSP strap.

2 – AmiAmi Special Goodies~

Containing:

1) Special DVD containing 2 full PV of the songs “こっち向いてBaby”　and “Yellow”,
2) Microfiber cloth printed with a Megurine Luka’s “Just be Friends” picture,
3) A card holder, and
4) A super nendo puchi Miku keychain.

To see how the items look like, we did a post 4 months back.. Total cost? SGD$283!! o.O

Well, forgot to add this one more stuff inside; the Black Rock Shooter’s “Rock Cannon” Metal Charm (below).. X3

Wait till Fuzzy comes back from Field Camp to post on the “Rock Cannon”.. Till then, here is the video that can be found in the DVD itself.. Enjoy~

“こっち向いてBaby” & “Yellow” PV – Project DIVA 2nd:

It has been quite a long while since the release of the preview for the Opening video of the upcoming game, Hatsune Miku – Project DIVA 2 - by SEGA.. Now just a few weeks before the release of the game itself, someone got a chance to grab a video of the full version of the video, with the song being played titled “こっち向いて Baby”..

Now, get ready to be mesmerized by the wonderful and awesome video itself.. Enjoy~

Project DIVA 2 Opening Full Version:

When I watched the whole video, I was totally awed by its wonderful animation, especially the band-singing sequence.. This is also a first time SEGA decided to make a whole Opening PV with a full song.. Unlike the previous “Project DIVA” which plays a shorter version of the song, “The Secret Garden”, the 2nd one plays at a more energetic note and so-called allow players to listen to the cool song composed by “Ryo” himself.. XD

I kinda love it when I saw they put Tako Luka in the video as well apart from the tiny chibi Mikus.. Another thing to note is that Miku, Luka and the Kagamine twins are more detailed in the video itself.. I hope to see something like that if it is possible to play “Project DIVA 2″ on “Dreamy Theater”.. =3

After hearing this, I’m so excited to play the gmae once I received it on its release date which is on the July 29th..

Thanks to “inferno0748″ for the info.. XD

I saw the videos and I was awed by their sheer awesomeness.. Although they aren’t as good as the Arcade version, at least its a graphical improvement for those who wished to watch it on their HD TVs via PS3 while playing the game from their PSP..

Even though I’m abit slow in reporting this, I have true intention in doing so which is to post the long-awaited videos uploaded by users playing 「Hatsune Miku -Project DIVA- “Dreamy Theater“」.. Like said in the above statement, a player is able to play their 「Hatsune Miku -Project DIVA-」 game in a much better 3D quality using the “Dreamy Theater” program on the PS3..

In order to get “Dreamy Theater”, you have to purchase it via the Japanese Playstation Store for about 3,000yen or about SGD$47..

Below here are some of the videos taken from the game played using “Dreamy Theater”.. Enjoy~

「Project DIVA “Dreamy Theater”」 – Bad Mood Waltz:

「Project DIVA “Dreamy Theater”」 – Dear Cocoa Girls:

「Project DIVA “Dreamy Theater”」 – Marginal:

「Project DIVA “Dreamy Theater”」 – Melt:

「Project DIVA “Dreamy Theater”」 – Moon:

「Project DIVA “Dreamy Theater”」 – Packaged:

「Project DIVA “Dreamy Theater”」 – World Is Mine:

「Project DIVA “Dreamy Theater”」 – Disappearence of Hatsune Miku:

I wish I have my very own PS3 to play Dreamy Theater.. =3

Source: Moetron