Ito

Ito's quick unfiltered thoughts! Watch as I lose my ability to think and describe!
 
Green = mhmm
Yellow = hmmm
Orange = uhhhhh
Red = uuuugh

VK
Develop One's Faculties - "insert memory"
A case of annoying vocals hampering a great track. I want to like this, but there is just something about those vocals that I find grating.

GRIMOIRE-グリモア- - "ぼくとタルパ (boku to tulpa)"
Marginal VK with crappy production. I'll pass

umbrella - "軽薄ナヒト"
At least umbrella took the time to find a have decent sounding synth violin, even though I think it would do that song's characters wonders if they just paid someone to come in and actually record the parts. The chorus is pretty bland, but the rest of the song is fairly decent, just a bit stale imo.

yazzmad - "Re:ハルシオン (re:halcyon)"
I mean, it's art kei alright, but that doesn't give it an auto pass. There really isn't anything here that is interesting - the song just feels so bland. It's certainly not bad, just feel like the filler track you would normally skip on an album.

アカシジア (akathisia) - "Inner C"
Is it just me, or is the balance on this track just off? Like the guitars just feels so loud compared to everything else that I feel like it is all I am listening too (I wonder if the music player we are using is doing something to the tracks?). The song makes me feel like this band has promise, which makes me happy since I enjoy the idea of another all female VK band (man, those female vocals are refreshing). But I will give it another release or two...

the GazettE - "UGLY"
much heavy. very edgy. tries too hard in parts but is solid on others
 
 
 
Rock / Metal / Punk / Indie/ Alt
A Ghost of Flare - "Fall Asleep"
Feels like a song I have heard a 100 times before.

Day and Buffalo - "雷熊 (kaminari kuma)"
This had me intrigued until I hit the vocals. I feel like I would enjoy this more with different pairing of vocals...they sound so bored. Dig the instrumentals though. 

KANA-BOON - "PUZZLE"
I'm not sure how I felt on this one - gunna go with I liked it lol.

Mono - "Death in Reverse"
This song is tits.

fox capture plan - "In the Darkness"
this feels far more mature than their earlier work, and I still liked that.

きのこ帝国 (Kinoko Teikoku) - "ドライブ (drape)"
At first I really didn't like the pop approach this album took, but after I got over it and stopped trying to compare the shoegaze to pop rock and took it for what it is, I found that I really enjoyed this album. Not my favorite track on the album, though I do enjoy it.

シナリオアート (Scenarioart) - "ナナヒツジ (nana hitsuji)"
oh damn, I really like this. Such a fresh feel to it. But fuck you guys for making me out so much green in a row lo.

バックドロップシンデレラ (Backdrop Cinderella) - "激情とウンザウンザを踊る (gekijou to unzaunza wo odoru)"
Fun but not really for me.

ヒトリエ (Hitorie) - "シャッタードール (Shutter Doll)"


ペトロールズ (PETROLZ) - "Fuel"
Funky, though not quite my style.

マカロニえんぴつ (Macaroni Enpitsu) - "鳴らせ (narase)"
A bit too sugary and generic for my tastes.
 
 
 
Pop / Electronic / R&B / Hip-Hop / Other
BENI - "DEEP SWEET EASY"
Now we enter the section where it is going to take a lot more for me too like something since I am not really fans of most of these genres. This does not make the pass for me.

Jimanica - "Warp Stairs feat. 山田杏奈 (Anna Yamada)"
The vocals sound off  to me and I can't say there is anything about the rest of the music that makes up for it.
 
Qaijff - "After Rain"
Decent piano pop - much much else to say imo.

Rie a.k.a. Suzaku - "Passion"
Kind of sounds like a mess to be honest. That bass feels like it has no idea what it is suppose to be doing, and it like a nerd trying to hang out with the cool kids and just ends up looking stupid.

muffin - "6月の物語 (Story of June)"
I can dig it. 

いとうかなこ (Ito Kanako) - "Cherish"
Ito? Auto 10/10
legit though I actually dig her voice, though I feel the song is a bit too basic.

チャラン･ポ･ランタン (CHARAN-PO-RANTAN) - "メビウスの行き止まり (Mobius no Ikidomari)"
I have no idea what to think of this. Kind of reminds me of Wakusei Abnormal. 

ハジ→ (hazzie) - "記念日。(Kinenbi) feat. miwa"
I have never cared for this style of vocal lead pop over generic symphony and piano. It always feels just so uninspired - like we have the budget, let's check this type of song off of the box.

一十三十一 (HITOMITOI) - "ミステリートレイン (Mystery Train)"
It took everything in my power to not skip over this one after the first five seconds. Man, I can not stand this. Made it to the vocals just to make sure that it was 100% safe to jump off of this train.

原田ひとみ (Harada Hitomi) - "Overdrive"
 Calling these vocals overdone feels like an understatement. This dish tastes charred. I'll pass on this "Oberdry."

水曜日のカンパネラ (Suiyoubi no Campanella) - "西玉夫 (Nishi Tamao)"
Now this is interesting. There are certainly things that I feel don't work in this track, but its overall uniqueness and charm win out.

Day 7: グリーヴァ (Grieva) - 妄想主義者ノ背徳。(Mousou shugisha no haitoku.)

 



Release Date: 2015-07-01
Label: MadWinK /Ains
Genre: Alternative metal, metalcore, visual kei
 
 
Impressions from @Peace Heavy mk II:
 
Sample song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fg3TkSRrXQs
 
Buy the album:
http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/product/DAKAMWK-20'>CDJapan

Welcome to the 25 days of MH-mas! What is that you might ask? Well, the MH official reviewers and the staff have gotten together in an attempt to create a list of out favorite releases from 2015 (excluding December). Every day of the month we will be posting a new album until we reach the number one release on our list on Christmas day. Each album will come along with a little blurb from different staff members explaining why the release made it on the list (and an occasional dissenting opinion). Keep in mind that it is impossible to really create a list that captures all of the diverse tastes of the our individual staff members, so you will have to wait for the staff member's individual lists if you really want to know a certain member's favorites. Also, the list was limited to only Japanese album (cause, I mean, this is a Japanese music forum).
 
This post will serve as the "directory" with all of individual albums being featured in each reply post. The discussion for this will go in THIS THREAD.
 
And without further ado, the list!
coldrain - VENA Chara - Secret Garden 水曜日のカンパネラ (Suiyoubi no Campanella) - ジパング (Zipang) PELICAN FANCLUB - PELICAN FANCLUB Kidori Kidori - ![雨だれ] (amadare) IX-NINE- - VIDYA グリーヴァ (Grieva) - 妄想主義者ノ背徳。(Mousou shugisha no haitoku.) for example you sell the sea - たとえば海を売るなら (Tatoeba umi wo urunara) FACT - KTHEAT Envy - Atheist's Cornea DEZERT - 「暫定的オカルト週刊誌①」(Zanteiteki occult shuukanshi (1)) COHOL - 裏現 (Rigen) The fin. - Days With Uncertainty SEKAI NO OWARI - TREE BRADIO - Power of Life BLU-SWING - FLASH THE NOVEMBERS - Elegance a crowd of rebellion - Daphne KAMIJO - Royal Blood ~ Revival Best ~ sukekiyo - VITIUM 和楽器バンド (Wagakki Band) - 八奏絵巻 (Yasou emaki) the piqnic - ZyouK Chanty - Chantyの世界へようこそ lynch. - D.A.R.K.-In the Name of Evil- KEEL - R'lyeh

Day 7: グリーヴァ (Grieva) - 妄想主義者ノ背徳。(Mousou shugisha no haitoku.)

 



Release Date: 2015-07-01
Label: MadWinK /Ains
Genre: Alternative metal, metalcore, visual kei
 
 
Impressions from @Peace Heavy mk II:
 
Sample song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fg3TkSRrXQs
 
Buy the album:
http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/product/DAKAMWK-20'>CDJapan

Day 7: グリーヴァ (Grieva) - 妄想主義者ノ背徳。(Mousou shugisha no haitoku.)

 



Release Date: 2015-07-01
Label: MadWinK /Ains
Genre: Alternative metal, metalcore, visual kei
 
 
Impressions from @Peace Heavy mk II:
 
Sample song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fg3TkSRrXQs
 
Buy the album:
http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/product/DAKAMWK-20'>CDJapan

Day 7: グリーヴァ (Grieva) - 妄想主義者ノ背徳。(Mousou shugisha no haitoku.)

 



Release Date: 2015-07-01
Label: MadWinK /Ains
Genre: Alternative metal, metalcore, visual kei
 
 
Impressions from @Peace Heavy mk II:
 
Sample song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fg3TkSRrXQs
 
Buy the album:
http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/product/DAKAMWK-20'>CDJapan

Day 7: グリーヴァ (Grieva) - 妄想主義者ノ背徳。(Mousou shugisha no haitoku.)

 



Release Date: 2015-07-01
Label: MadWinK /Ains
Genre: Alternative metal, metalcore, visual kei
 
 
Impressions from @Peace Heavy mk II:
 
Sample song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fg3TkSRrXQs
 
Buy the album:
http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/product/DAKAMWK-20'>CDJapan

Day 7: グリーヴァ (Grieva) - 妄想主義者ノ背徳。(Mousou shugisha no haitoku.)

 



Release Date: 2015-07-01
Label: MadWinK /Ains
Genre: Alternative metal, metalcore, visual kei
 
 
Impressions from @Peace Heavy mk II:
 
Sample song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fg3TkSRrXQs
 
Buy the album:
http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/product/DAKAMWK-20'>CDJapan

Day 7: グリーヴァ (Grieva) - 妄想主義者ノ背徳。(Mousou shugisha no haitoku.)

 



Release Date: 2015-07-01
Label: MadWinK /Ains
Genre: Alternative metal, metalcore, visual kei
 
 
Impressions from @Peace Heavy mk II:
 
Sample song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fg3TkSRrXQs
 
Buy the album:
http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/product/DAKAMWK-20'>CDJapan

Day 7: グリーヴァ (Grieva) - 妄想主義者ノ背徳。(Mousou shugisha no haitoku.)

 



Release Date: 2015-07-01
Label: MadWinK /Ains
Genre: Alternative metal, metalcore, visual kei
 
 
Impressions from @Peace Heavy mk II:
 
Sample song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fg3TkSRrXQs
 
Buy the album:
http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/product/DAKAMWK-20'>CDJapan

Day 6: IX-NINE- - VIDYA





Release Date: 2015-03-12
Label: Independent
Genre: Rock
 
 
Impressions from @fictioninhope:
 
 
Sample song:

Day 6: IX-NINE- - VIDYA





Release Date: 2015-03-12
Label: Independent
Genre: Rock
 
 
Impressions from @fictioninhope:
 
 
Sample song:

Day 6: IX-NINE- - VIDYA





Release Date: 2015-03-12
Label: Independent
Genre: Rock
 
 
Impressions from @fictioninhope:
 
 
Sample song:

Day 6: IX-NINE- - VIDYA





Release Date: 2015-03-12
Label: Independent
Genre: Rock
 
 
Impressions from @fictioninhope:
 
 
Sample song:

Thanks!
 
Here's another new one

Conspiracy time. I reckon VII started development at the same time Nomura got taken off of Versus. I imagine they greenlit VII, assigned Nomura as the director, realised he couldn't handle three AAAs at once (Versus, KH3, and VII) and so they took him off of Versus and replaced him with Tabata. Then Nomura decided that he wanted to use the battle system he'd been using on Versus in VII, and so they decided to have Tabata just come up with his own action-RPG system for Versus instead. At that point they decided to just rebrand the latter game as XV since it was essentially becoming a different game anyway. This would explain why the gameplay in VII looks extremely similar to Versus' original gameplay (command-based action RPG, character switching, etc) whereas XV's has become increasingly different since Tabata took over (direct input-action RPG, no character switching, etc). It would also explain why the game looks so far along in development now. Rumours about Versus being canned and repackaged started making the rounds as early as 2012, so if my theory is even remotely close to being correct then VII should have had a decent amount of development time already.
 
Conspiracies aside, the game looks decent. I'm not a fan of the voice acting but otherwise it seems to be progressing nicely. I'm glad they had the balls to scrap the original battle system. I've never seen the point in remaking something but then keeping it exactly the same in all areas except for graphics; it's both shallow and a waste of time/resources that could have been spent on creating new things. I'm curious as to who's re-arranging the OST. They already said that it isn't Uematsu which is a good thing; he's just not a very capable arranger (hence why he doesn't even arrange his own compositions any more). It doesn't sound like Hamauzu too much based on that track, and I don't think they'd give a game of this scale and importance to Ishimoto. My only guess at the moment is Narita since he's one of Uematsu's most trusted arrangers (XIV, The Last Story, X HD). Either way, I'm excited to hear more from the OST.
 
EDIT: That track is from Distant Worlds, so disregard my comment about Hamauzu.

Thanks! And Oki-Cospi is awesome, I have shot with her a decent amount.
 
 
 
Thanks! Let's keep it going!
 
 

Day 5: Kidori Kidori - ![雨だれ] (amadare)

 



Release Date: 2015-06-03
Label: Polka Dot records/HIP LAND MUSIC
Genre: Garage rock, indie
 
 
Impressions from @fitear1590:
 
 
Impressions from @doombox:
 
 
Sample song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqfBnE1cxDU

Buy the album:
CDJapan | iTunes

Day 4: PELICAN FANCLUB - PELICAN FANCLUB





Release Date: 2015-08-05
Label: Daizawa Records
Genre: Indie rock, indie pop, shoegaze
 
 
Impressions from @fitear1590:
 
Sample song:

 
Buy the album:
CDJapan | iTunes (JP)

Day 3: 水曜日のカンパネラ (Suiyoubi no Campanella) - ジパング (Zipang)

 



Release Date: 2015-11-11
Label: Tsubasa Records
Genre: Pop, Hip Hop, Electronic
 
 
Impressions from @CAT5:
 
 
Impressions from @fictioninhope:
 
 
Impressions from @beni:
 
 
Sample song:

Buy the album:
CDJapan | YesAsia

Day 2: 
Chara - Secret Garden
 
 



Release Date: 2015-03-04
Label: Ki/oon Records
Genre: Pop
 
Impressions from @beni:
 
Sample song:



Buy the album:
CDJapan | iTunes

Day 1: coldrain - VENA

 


Release Date: 2015-10-23
Label: Hopeless Records
Genre: Alternative Metal/Metalcore
 
Impressions from @doombox:


Impressions from @fictioninhope:


Sample song:




Buy the album:
CDJapan | iTunes

Day 5: Kidori Kidori - ![雨だれ] (amadare)

 



Release Date: 2015-06-03
Label: Polka Dot records/HIP LAND MUSIC
Genre: Garage rock, indie
 
 
Impressions from @fitear1590:
 
 
Impressions from @doombox:
 
 
Sample song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqfBnE1cxDU

Buy the album:
CDJapan | iTunes

Day 4: PELICAN FANCLUB - PELICAN FANCLUB





Release Date: 2015-08-05
Label: Daizawa Records
Genre: Indie rock, indie pop, shoegaze
 
 
Impressions from @fitear1590:
 
Sample song:

 
Buy the album:
CDJapan | iTunes (JP)

Day 5: Kidori Kidori - ![雨だれ] (amadare)

 



Release Date: 2015-06-03
Label: Polka Dot records/HIP LAND MUSIC
Genre: Garage rock, indie
 
 
Impressions from @fitear1590:
 
 
Impressions from @doombox:
 
 
Sample song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqfBnE1cxDU

Buy the album:
CDJapan | iTunes