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. –_–

…And it happened to be Hatsune Mix!

If you follow the manga as well (as in read it online), you’d realize that it wasn’t getting updated since the Graduation Mix chapter.

I happened to hear that volumes of Hatsune Mix were being sold at Kinokuniya a couple of months ago, and I played with the idea of scanning the newer chapters (whilst acquiring them for Onii-chan).

Woxxy (who happened to know me since he happens to be a Rin fan as well) happened to hear about my idea, and proposed that I contributed scans of the newest volume to his team.

And through a great deal of coincidences, FoOlRulez presents to you the scan-lated result! It’s just the first chapter, though; I haven’t gotten around to scanning the rest just yet.

There’s also the “prologue” chapter with all of ‘dem pretty pictures by KEI. Sorry SaLaNoS, you won’t be the only one with them anymore. =D

Also, goddamn is de-binding hard. ( *A*)

Okay, okay, I know, KK’s been dead for about…a month or so? I’m a terrible blogger, I get it.

Anyhoo, if you somehow forgot about MikuPa, it’s about to start! Yup. Right now. And I was lucky enough to get the rest of the day off for this. I do pray I don’t disconnect halfway though.

You can join the stream and watch it, and for those of you who are at the scene itself, have fun!

EDIT: It wasn’t a bad concert…but it didn’t live up to last year’s 39′s Thanksgiving Day either.

While they managed to cram 39 songs into the much shorter timespan, most of them were cut and/or part of a medley, and there was a ridiculous 30-minute intermission during which they looped a set of adverts till even the audience got sick of it.

They used a slightly different set of models this time round, and IMHO they’re an improvement over the ones used last year (which IIRC were taken from Project DIVA Arcade). While the fact that they used a screen (as opposed to a holographic projection) may be a disappointment to most, I don’t really feel the difference. The camera angles used during the stream were terrible, though.

There were a couple of epic moments though. The first was the end of one of the medleys, when they started playing Hatsune Miku no Gekishou. Miku transformed Panty-&-Stocking-style into a silver outfit and sprouted wings near the end. Avid Project DIVA players will know it’s a reference to the way the same song ends in the second PSP game.

The second was the final encore song, When the First Love Ends. I’m not going to spoiler this bit though; you’ll have to see for yourself. That is, if someone manages to leak a full recording. >_>

Here’s a taste of the concert. It’s one of the few portions that was streamed for free:

(Yes, I ended up watching it through UStream. FFFFF)

Here’s the songlist, courtesy of pKjD:

XX.) 「かくれんぼ / Kakurenbo」 – buzzG & Aizawa Mai
01.) 「Ievan Polkka」 – Otomania feat.初音ミク
02.) 「こっち向いて Baby /Kocchi Muite Baby」 – ryo (supercell) feat.初音ミク
03.) 「二息步行 / Nisoku Hokou」 – DECO*27 feat.初音ミク
04.) 「アルビノ / albino」 – buzzG feat.初音ミク
05.) 「え？あぁ、そう。 / Eh? Aa Sou.」 – papiyon feat.初音ミク
06.) 「ぽっぴっぽ / Po Pi Po」 – ラマーズP feat.初音ミク
07.) 「トリノコシティ / Torinoko City」 – 40mP feat.初音ミク
08.) 「キャットフード / Cat Food」 – doriko feat.初音ミク
09.) 「崩壊歌姫 -disruptive diva- / Houkai Utahime -disruptive diva-」 マチゲリータP feat.初音ミク
10.) 「白い雪のプリンセスは / Shiroi Yuki no Princess wa」 – のぼる↑ feat.初音ミク
11.) 「ワールズエンド・ダンスホール / World’s End Dancehall」 – wowaka feat.初音ミク＆巡音ルカ
12.) 「ダブルラリアット / Double Lariat 」- アゴアニキ feat.巡音ルカ
13.) 「No Logic」 – ジミーサムP feat.巡音ルカ
14.) 「RIP RELEASE」 – ryuuseiP feat.巡音ルカ
15.) 「Japanese Ninja No.1」 – デッドボールP feat.巡音ルカ
16.) 「ルカルカ★ナイトフィーバー / Luka Luka★Night Fever」 – samfree feat.巡音ルカ
17.) 「結ンデ開イテ羅刹ト骸 / Musunde Hiraite Rasetsu to Mukuro」 – ハチ feat.初音ミク
18.) 「ローリンガール / Rolling Girl」 – wowaka feat.初音ミク
***30-MINUTE INTERMISSION***
19.) 「trick and treat」 – OSTER project feat.鏡音リン・鏡音レン
20.) 「悪ノ娘 / Aku no Musume」 – mothy_悪ノP feat.鏡音リン
21.) 「悪ノ召使 / Aku no Meshitsukai」 – mothy_悪ノP feat.鏡音レン
22.) 「いろは唄 / Iroha Uta」 – 銀サク feat.鏡音リン
23.) 「炉心融解 / meltdown」 – iroha(sasaki） feat.鏡音リン
24.) 「ココロ / Kokoro」 – トラボルタ feat.鏡音リン
25.) 「メランコリック / Melancholic」 – Junky feat.鏡音リン
26.) 「リンリンシグナル / Rin Rin Signal」 – Dios/シグナルP feat.鏡音リン・鏡音レン
27.) 「SPICE!」 – minato(流星P) feat.鏡音レン
28.) 「Fire◎Flower」 – halyosy feat.鏡音レン
29.) 「Packaged」 – livetune feat.初音ミク
30.) 「ハロー、プラネット。/ *HELLO, PLANET.」 – sasakure.UK feat.初音ミク
31.) 「マージナル / Marginal」 – OSTER project feat.初音ミク
32.) 「初音ミクの激唱 / Hatsune Miku no Gekishou」 – cosMo（暴走P） feat.初音ミク
33.) 「歌に形はないけれど / Uta ni Katachi wa Nai Keredo」 – doriko feat.初音ミク
34.) 「Yellow」 – livetune feat.初音ミク
35.) 「タイムマシン / Time Machine」 – 1640mP feat.初音ミク
36.) 「ARiA」 – とくP feat.初音ミク
***ENCORE***
37.) 「カラフル×メロディ / Colorful x Melody」 – ちーむMOER feat.初音ミク
38.) 「メルト / MELT」 – supercell feat.初音ミク
39.) 「初めての恋が終わる時 / When the First Love Ends」 – supercell feat.初音ミク

You can check out more photos and information from his post, as well.

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:

After a long hiatus, I finally got a chance to write something on this blog.. So firstly, I’m celebrating my “little” return with a song review post.. For today’s post, I would like to talk about a new animated PV by Megurine Luka titled “Secret”.. A very catchy and interesting English song to listen to.. More on that after the jump..

As usual, lets go take a look at the music video itself.. Enjoy~ XD

“Secret” – Megurine Luka:

This is by far one of the best English song sung by Megurine Luka; It is done by a nico user by the name “Arth” way back in January this year.. Although some do already know that her program can be made to sing english words, only few can come out with such nice English songs such as this for example..

After listening to the song, I felt that the tune is almost similar to that of Lady Gaga’s, not all of them.. The way the song is playing and how Luka sings the song is pretty upbeat and funky in a way.. =3

Animation-wise, I felt that it is quite interesting in a way since she gets turned into a “nekomimi”.. Done by a user called “Jet” with his signature mouse in one scene, the animation has a mixture of 3D/2D in it and I like how well and smooth it is made.. However, I don’t find it very eye-appealing.. Well, it deserved some credits for having such nice graphics..

Thats all I have for this music review.. Do catch for more future reviews in time to come.. Till then, take care.. =D

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

The “Figma Megurine Luka” by Max Factory is finally opened for reservation after weeks since its preview.. A lot of people has been waiting to get her and now they get their chance to..

To those who don’t know her, she is the 3rd Official Vocaloid-2 character to appear after Hatsune Miku and the Kagamine Twins.. For more info, do visit her official site to listen to some of her demo songs.. =D

Yes, she comes with her own unique accessories, her very own tuna.. Just like Miku’s leeks, Luka can grab hold of the tuna and whack the hell out of anyone with it.. I wonder how does one attach the fish onto her hand?

Well, she is available for pre-order, priced at about 2,800yen which is about SGD$44.. Hobby Search, CD Japan and Otacute are now taking pre-orders as of today.. Don’t wait any longer, get her now!! XD

Now hoping for a 1/8 scale figurine of her.. =3

I haven’t picked up my copy yet, but since these scans seem to be circulating around the ‘Net like crazy, I’ll cover them anyway.

Tony’s Heroines Works Vol. 5 – Hatsune Miku by Max Factory

Oh snap! Here’s Tony Taka’s take on the most famous VOCALOID, in a 3-dimensional form. It’s certainly a more dynamic pose than the previous scaled iterations.

Artists’ homepage: T2 Art Works

The 1/7 scaled figure’s based on this illustration Tony did. I’ve no real clue of the actual source, though; I grabbed this off of Safebooru. >_>

There’s no other release or pricing info though. I’m assuming the scale is 1/7, since the past figures in the same series use that scale as well.

Dead Master –animation version- by Good Smile Company

The second 1/8 scaled figure iteration of our scythe-wielding antagonist from the OVA is just around the corner. Probably end of this year. Probably.

It seems that Dead Master has to be suspended from a stick growing out of the back of the larger skull. I’m not sure if I’m comfortable with that; you’ll have to totally rely on the base (or some creatively-placed Blu-Tack) for a good shot.

Nope, no release date or pricing info confirmed for this one, too.

Dead Master figma by Max Factory

Finally, some (published) wind of the perfect companion for the B★RS figma! Finger-licking good!

Bad pun. I’m sorry.

The bad-ass figure comes with Dead Master’s signature weapon, and a couple of skulls with adjustable mouths. Once again, no release or pricing info.

Megurine Luka figma by Max Factory

Luka fans, your wishes have been granted! Assuming of course you wished for a Luka figma.

Luka outfit appears to be permanently affected by wind. I guess it’s better that way, since otherwise her legs would be trapped stiff.

The figure comes with a golden microphone and a giant tuna. Said tuna also comes with its own hole (for use with the figma stand), for reasons unknown.

Unlike the other figures featured in this post, this figma is scheduled for a September release this year, and is priced at 2,800 JPY. That’s about 44 SGD.

Black★Rock Shooter –original version- by GSC

This is actually just a re-release of the figure. If you’re regretting not buying this (unlikely, especially with the -animation version- around), now’s your chance!

No pricing or release date info, though. ( *A*)

Guess it’s time to start eating grass again-

OH WAIT THE B★RS CHARACTER CHARM

Image via Mikatan’s blog

There it is. I knew it was a keychain, though the prototype shot didn’t show the ring at the top, and had a stand. Strange.

Or maybe that’s an upcoming Nendoroid Petite. Maybe.

I just got a call that my copy of the magazine just arrived, too. I’ll post up pics of it, and do one last review…before I get enlisted.

Stay tuned!

Sources:

• Wcloudxkumo’s blog: [1] [2] [3] [4]
• Tomopop
• Futaba Channel (AKA 2chan)
• Figure / GK (less likely to be deleted than the 2chan thread)

Also, thanks to TP for helping me with the Tony’s Heroine Works bit.

At last, the designers behind Project DIVA have finally rendered the rest of the contest winners’ entries.

Let’s see how they look in 3D.

Angel Miku by Tomio

This one turned out as epic as I expected. Check out all those wings! I can’t wait to see this one dancing to a trance song.

Nurse+Spacy (Miku) by 奈良立鹿

Just to clarify, this one’s Miku. She barely resembles her, though.

Young Adult Dancer (Len) by only1

And then there’s this. I’m not sure how you can turn something so cool into something so…trap-worthy, but there you have it. Well done, SEGA. I suppose the Len fangirls will be all over this one. *runs*

Left to right:
Shirt and Tie and Glasses (KAITO) by あさひ
Geisha Style (Luka) by OHSE
Untitled (Rin) by eb
Idol Style (Miku) by 帯之

So now that there aren’t any more fan-made costumes to look forward to, it’s time to eagerly wait for the rest of the official costumes for the Project DIVA sequel. They’re probably not going to showcase them prior to the game’s release though, so you’ll probably see them only when you get the game yourself. Or if someone else does and uploads a few in-game videos or something.

Left to right:
White (Miku) by しんれい
Lady Luka by 箱（はこ）
70′s Moga (Modern Girl) Retro Pop (Meiko) by 志乃
Winter Ballad (Miku) by 壱飼ハノ

I just hope they don’t pull a fast one and make most of the rest of the costumes consist of the same one, only recoloured (read: P-Style). I mean, they will do it anyway (or at least just include the original P-Style), but I just hope they don’t overdo it. Seriously.

Here’s hoping. >w<

UPDATE: Apparently the developers thought it fit to re-render a couple of the costumes (namely the untitled Rin costume, and Luka’s Geisha Style) for Miku:

Sources:

• NotCliche
• Vocaloidism
• Piapro Developer Blog [1], [2]