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But enough about free-yet-outdated streams, the Promised Day has come.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

Meiko’s “latest” 3DPV titled “Palette” is an awesome piece of work that was recently released on NicoNicoDouga.. It is quite nice to see a 3DPV of Meiko; Usually it is either, Hatsune Miku, Kagamine Twins or Megurine Luka.. I really love the song after my friend recommended listening to this old song..

Just like usual, lemme show you the epic PV~

【MEIKO】 – Palette:

Here is the lyric (Romaji) to the song..

“Palette” Lyrics:

たりない色は水色
閉じた瞼に広がっている
雲の切れ間から覗く澄み切った空の水色

こんなにも不確かで不完全な私という存在は
「貴方」で形成されてた

想い描いたガラス製のパレット一つ
貴方との記憶が鮮明に映った

繋いだ手の暖かさが　貴方とのつながりが　そこに残っていた
繋いだ手の暖かさが　私という生命のたった一つの証明
貴方との記憶は色彩に満ちていた

望んだ色は赤色
この体に流れている
私という存在が生きてると実感する色

掠れた声で歌ういつか聴いた子守歌
伝えたい言葉が浮かんでまた消えた

今でもそっと目を閉じればいつでも思い出せるあの時見た景色
触れた手のひら　目を閉じればいつでも思い出せる貴方の体温

もう二度とは戻れない日々の事。色褪せた写真が残る
もう大丈夫、笑えるよ。このまま歩いて行ける

Now, regarding the music itself.. The song was actually made 2 years ago.. Thats right, it was created way back in 2007, dated 12th December by composer “作者” or “nocchi1031″.. Being an early VocaRock song, I find it very sweet and melodious.. The chorus on the other hand is very well-tuned and I find it very catchy.. The intruments played perfectly well together, complimenting Meiko’s voice.. A true wonder for quite an old song..

For the animation itself, one initially think that the graphic looks like those from the old Resident Evil games.. Thats what I also think of when I first watched it.. Even the backdrop where Meiko is singing seems like one.. Meiko’s movement in this PV is quite fluid; no rigidity or perhaps little or no lag at all, apart from one part where her mouth didn’t synchronize with the song.. Other than that, I love the singing part during the chorus, very surreal..

Well, thats all I have for today’s review.. Very sorry to those who always visit my blog to see it hanging there.. Abit busy with schedules for this month but most probably everything should be sorted out within the end of next week.. Till then enjoy~

Ame no Kisetsu was an event held by Piapro’s KarenT Network based on the rainy season, hence the name.

KarenT, by the way, is a distribution network set up by Piapro, and is also the label budding music artists can publish their works under on stores like the iTunes store. I’ll cover this in greater detail in a future post (if I can, that is).

Anyway, a total of 12 rain-themed tracks were compiled in the event, and previews for each one can be heard in the promotional video above.

I gave each track a listen, and I gotta say, TawashiP’s Hecto-Pastel impresses me the most, with U-ske’s Rain*Sweet*Umbrella getting a close second. It’s kind of refreshing to listen to tracks that aren’t in the VOCALOID Weekly Rankings, or accompanied by an awesome PV.

The tracks are on sale on several sites, though if you can’t read moonrunes (that probably means most of you), you can get the tracks from HearJapan:

• Rain*Sweet*Umbrella by U-ske
• Ame, Irodoreba by wato
• my rain by Wonderful★opportunity!
• Hecto-Pastel by TawashiP
• Broken rain by ShinjouP
• Ameoto to Itsuwari no Waltz by KidP
• skip;drop by BIRUGE
• Rainy Day by ValP
• Saka no Machi to Ame by Inashiki Joshu
• Ameoto Kishikan by X-Plorez
• in the rain by TeraKomuroP
• Amedoki Lover by Buriru

Each track in each album costs 150 JPY, including the off-vocal/instrumental tracks, though you have the option of purchasing each track separately. Do keep that in mind, especially if you’re short on cash.

HearJapan took the liberty of forwarding us their press release too. The page they linked to seems a little corrupted though, so here’s what they intended to show you:

As June brings rain to Japan, HearJapan brings rain-themed Vocaloid tracks to your ears!

The rainy season in Japan (known as “tsuyu” or “plum rain”) begins roughly around June and runs through July. It is a time when things slow down and some people might spend a little more time inside with someone special.

HearJapan is enjoying this time with a shower of new Vocaloid material. 12 new releases have just landed from a wide range of artists working in many different genres. For instance, there’s the traditional sounding folk of “Saka no Machi to Ame” by InashikiJoshu that features a duet with Hatsune Miku and MEIKO on vocals. Buriru’s “Amedoki Lover” celebrates having to be stuck inside together with a jazzy number. If it’s a dance party you’re looking for, the cue up the euro-trance track “Ameoto Kishikan” by X-Plorex. Or if it’s something more literal your want, then the gently shimmering “Broken Rain” by Shinjou-P is sure to evoke pleasant visions of the gently falling rain.

So take a moment to admire the rain, or simply enjoy the comforts inside, with your favorite Vocaloid tunes from HearJapan as the soundtrack.

Yokohama, Japan – June 8th, 2010

Sources:

• NotCliche (Yup, it’s a first for us too, guys)
• HearJapan (Press Release)

P.S. I personally feel the rainy seasons here suck, what with the flash floods and all.

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]

As you all know, Sega’s PSP rhythm game DLC data for your PS3, titled 「Hatsune Miku -Project DIVA- “Dreamy Theater“」 will make your gaming experience more interesting. You’ll be able to play as your favorite virtual singing idols in full HD, from Hatsune Miku to Megurine Luka~ All you need is your PSP and the 「Hatsune Miku -Project DIVA-」 game, connected to the Playstation 3 system.

Although there isnt any news if this will also be compatible with the upcoming 「Hatsune Miku -Project DIVA- 2nd」 PSP game which is coming out in July, I doubt Sega will forget about doing the same for the 2nd game.. XD 「Dreamy Theater」 will be available for purchase on June 24th at the Japanese Playstation Store; priced at 3,000 Yen or at about SGD$45.

A promotional video was just released quite recently by Sega and its available to view below. Enjoy~

Hatsune Miku -Project DIVA- “Dreamy Theater” PV:

UPDATE: Longer version here:

By the way, it’s out right now.

Yup, SEGA released another promotional video for the game. It’s the longest and most extensive so far, so check it out.

The first game is definitely paling in comparison now. Two-handed controls, duets, duets with costumes, the improved “DIVA Room”, you name it, they have it. There’s even a short demonstration on the in-game editor features too; if you wanted to make Miku wave her leeks in a fire, you can now! >_>

Also, not only is there a matching set and costume for kz’s yellow, but apparently there’s a miniaturized city set for 40mP’s 巨大少女 as well? Holy damn, SEGA’s definitely not going easy on this one.

Also, to refresh your memory (and mine), the video confirms over 100 costumes and over 50 songs. Dunno whether they’ll include all the old ones in the first game, though.

Also, the keen-eyed will notice this new costume in the new PV. It’s actually part of the second batch of costumes from the SEGA x Piapro contest.

This one just screams the Nostalogic PV. I know it’s not the same costume, but it sure does remind me of the one Yumiko wore.

This costume warrants my one and only reaction: ( *A*)

And here are the rest of them. There are still 10 more un-converted contest winner submissions, so stay tuned, since we’ll post them as the later batches are released.

…not to mention that we’re only about halfway from 100 costumes, even with the costumes in the first game added in.

If you’ve yet to pre-order the game, get it now! You don’t even have to get the first game, just get this more superior one! ( *A*)/

Also, protip: if you ever need a load of 1280×720 VOCALOID wallpapers, check out the accepted “Now Loading” screens on Piapro.

Sources:

• The Banzai Effect!
• moetron
• Piapro Developer Blog

Although I got these a few weeks ago, I didn’t manage to find the time to post about them till now.. I have here 2 illustration books; “Hatsune Miku Graphics” by a collaboration of Piapro & Crypton and “Project DIVA Master Book” by SEGA.. Both are very interesting books since they have their own unique contents but I’ll do a review on them individually some other time..

As for now, I shall help Fuzzy gets his new Rin shirt he just spotted~ XD

A webcam stream was recently posted featuring sneak previews of the upcoming Project DIVA 2nd and Project DIVA Arcade games, as well as the Dreamy Theater PSP-to-PS3 add-on.

There’s only 48 seconds of Dreamy Theater, followed by some Project DIVA 2nd gameplay footage till the Project DIVA Arcade opening video starts at 05:28.

I’m looking forward to playing Project DIVA 2nd; it looks more challenging than the first game. Also, who can’t resist Miku and Luka dancing together?

I don’t think I’ll ever get to try out Dreamy Theater (which Fuzzy posted before in his Thanksgiving Day coverage) though since I don’t own a PS3. I guess I can always try to look for a friend who owns one. XD

Love the Project DIVA Arcade opening video. The song is Night of the Magic by shu-t. I’m surprised they decided to use a SweetAnn song, though I guess we’ve all forgotten about the English Vocaloids~

I can’t wait to see what they come up with for the Project DIVA 2nd opening video~

Source: moetron

I can’t even recall the last time I’ve reviewed a VOCALOID PV (other than in the comments), so here goes nothing.

The Nostalogic PV (embedded above) is a collaboration between yuukiss (composer), Masataka-P (video editor), and Yumiko (cosplayer/dancer). Those in the know may recognize these names, so you can’t say they popped out of nowhere to make this happen.

Yumiko choreographed the entire dance in this video, and I seriously dig her moves. I like it when there’s a ‘flow’ maintained between scene ‘cuts’. While that ‘flow’ isn’t maintained throughout the entire video (at some points it’s a tad too jarring), it’s still enough to impress.

I know I’m not exactly a big fan of Meiko, but for some reason, I love this particular song. yuukiss did a good job on composing the music, and tuning Meiko’s voice so it fits nicely. It’ll probably be stuck in my head for some time now (which is a first for a Meiko song, hurr hurr).

Unlike his recent works (like his Chaining Intention PV), Masataka-P kept the video editing in this one relatively simple, which is a good thing.

Also, is that bearded man Masataka-P himself? I lul’d when he put on Meiko’s outfit at 3:00 (though I admit it may make eyes bleed).

I was surprised to learn that the video was shot in France; typically you’d expect a Japanese music video to be shot in Japan. I wonder what the French were thinking, seeing a cosplayer dancing in their streets. XD

As the title of this blog post implies, there is an earlier version of the PV. In fact, the song itself officially began production way back in September ‘07, and the first PV was uploaded only in June ‘09.

Unlike the latest one, the first PV only featured Yumiko in a single costume, and the video editing isn’t as refined either. The song was incomplete too (though it still sounded good).

Overall, the completed Nostalogic PV turned out to be pretty awesome. I applaud the three of them for pulling it off, and if you still haven’t clicked the play button, I recommend that you do and give it a go.

I promise it won’t disappoint.