#design technology (DT)

[ego-sum-ex-altiora]

So my DT assignment (final) is due in four days. Here’s where I’m at now;

32/50 pages

3/6 sections

50 drawings

Biggest cram session yet!!! Will update tonight on how it goes.

[vmantras]

Citroen eC3 Shine DT Review: Affordable Electric Hatchback

₹13.35 Lakh Design and Build Quality Exterior:The Citroen eC3 Shine DT boasts a contemporary design with dual-tone color schemes and chrome accents, giving it a premium urban vibe. The bold matte black front grille and LED daytime running lights (DRLs) enhance its road presence. Wheel arch cladding and skid plates add a touch of ruggedness, while the body-colored bumpers and ORVMs (Outside Rear…

[topibtutor]

[mrblazeflappybird]

I smell of burnt wood because I was forced to finish my DT coursework. I wasn't even doing woodworking, I was sitting at a laptop writing smh

[directdogman]

hi doggo! i keep wondering, as technology develops, would typewriter heads be eventually replaced with laptops, and would landline/cell phone heads be replaced with smartphones?

I could see it potentially happening one day, but no time soon. There already are laptop + smartphone heads of course (the demo title screen shows someone with a laptop head!), but the irony is that most people already have smartphones and laptops, so they're not really 100% necessary.

There's a lot of complex reasons why rotary phone + typewriter heads never died out, but a core reason why they never ended up being replaced by a similar, but more useful device (say a TV head or something with a screen) is that humans are beings of habit and that most people won't get their head changed unless it's super important to some part of their character. Phones and typewriters are the default given at birth, after all, because it's always been that way.

You could argue that the phone heads aren't really useful for the same reasons smartphone/laptop heads wouldn't be either, for much the same reason (the final DT route has a throwaway line from Karen where she brings up her smartphone) but given that inorganic heads are no longer the default (by Crown's design, of course), people tend to go for the default... unless they have a reason to change.

Lots of people do, of course, but for the average person, it's an expensive procedure to get done to you, and very difficult to perform on oneself. This is why you could view the head as more of a display of complete identity than a completely 1:1 replacement for gender. Most people with atypical heads in Dialtown have their entire lives structured around their head in some way.

Practically, vacuum tube + landline technology has the obvious advantage of being far cheaper to maintain/repair. This is the main second reason why modern tech heads haven't really caught on.

When I worked in antiques, I spent a lot of time with an old repairman who specialized in vacuum tube TV/radio repairs and he told me how circuit-boards basically annihilated his old job. Back then, you could be a repairman as a trade and actually change out individual parts when something went bad. As long as you understood how a TV or radio worked, you could repair any device by isolating the part that wasn't working and then swap it out. Nowadays, tech is made to be used for a few years and then discarded outright + replaced.

Gabby mentions in her store that poorer folk have to opt for doing self repair sometimes, in the same way poorer folks in OUR world might have to cut their own hair or god forbid, pull out their own teeth, if they go rotten. So, head-type (to a large extent) can be tied to class too, since a newer device (if it went faulty) would be a nightmare to repair, and it WOULD need to be repaired eventually, as laptops + phones tend to slow down somewhat in only a few years of operation and even deteriorate to the point of being obsolete in less than a decade! Not ideal for the thing housing your brain, no?

Hope this helps!!!

[brokehorrorfan]

4K UHD Review: The Guyver

Following in the wildly successful footsteps of Batman and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Guyver takes a (relatively) grounded approach to its outlandish source material — in this case, a Japanese manga series — without divorcing itself from its comic book roots. Produced by Brian Yuzna (Re-Animator, Society), the 1991 film is directed by special effects wizards Screaming Mad George (Society, A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master) and Steve Wang (Predator, The Monster Squad).

As the Star Wars-esque expository opening crawl explains, mankind was created by aliens as an organic weapon. The evil Chronos corporation is further developing a technology that allows humans to change into "super monster soldiers" known as Zoanoids for world domination. The only viable defense against them is The Unit, a piece of bio-booster alien armor that increases a human's natural powers a hundredfold, turning them into The Guyver.

Mark Hamill's top billing may lead you to believe that he's the titular hero, but he instead plays a supporting role as a CIA agent investigating Chronos. The real lead is Jack Armstrong (Student Bodies) as Sean Barker, an amateur martial artist who's the only person that can activate The Unit. When his girlfriend (Vivian Wu, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III) is endangered, Sean utilizes his newfound powers to take down Chronos and the Zoanoids.

Armstrong is a bland lead, but it's not entirely his fault. In addition to a mustachioed Hamill channeling Colombo, he has to compete with several scene-stealing character actors. Re-Animator's David Gale chews the scenery as the malevolent head of Chronos, briefly reuniting with Jeffrey Combs as the company's scientist, Dr. East (get it?). Michael Berryman (The Hills Have Eyes) plays Gale's right-hand Zoanoid with Jimmie Walker (Good Times) as his rapping goon. Linnea Quigley (The Return of the Living Dead) cameos as a scream queen.

But the real stars of the show are the creatures, the designs of which showcase boundless creativity. The Guyver looks like Ultraman by way of Clive Barker, and each Zoanoid adopts a different animal's traits. While a number of other artists were employed to pull off the myriad of monsters, George and Wang's fingerprints are all over the effects, imbuing the alien superhero movie with some disturbing body-horror.

Jon Purdy's script deviates significantly from source material not only in terms of story but also tone. While some of the manga's dark atmosphere and violence remain intact, it's undercut by goofy humor in an attempt to appeal to a younger demographic. Fans of Yoshiki Takaya's original creation were no doubt disappointed (Wang attempted a bit of a course correction with his 1994 sequel, Guyver: Dark Hero), but the tonal confusion is actually charming.

Originally cut down to a PG-13 rating in the US, The Guyver has been newly restored in 4K from the original, R-rated 35mm camera negative with DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and 2.0 options for Unearthed Films' 4K UHD + Blu-ray release. Far removed from the days of Jaws and Alien in which the monster was largely hidden in shadows, George and Wang put their creations on full display — and even with a crystal-clear restoration, the in-camera effects shine.

Two new audio commentaries are included. The first is a lively one with George and Wang, moderated by Budget Biomorphs: The Making of The Guyver Films author Dom O’Brien. It's not the most informative track — the filmmakers admit to not having seen the film in over two decades — but they're enjoying themselves so much that it hardly matters. The second commentary features creature crew members "Evil" Ted Smith and Wyatt Weed, who delve into the nitty-gritty of the effects.

Yuzna and George each sit down for thorough new interviews. Yuzna reveals that he's been approached about a remake, but the rights are complicated, while George's infectious energy lasts the entire 56 (!) minutes. Creature suit camera test footage is included with commentary options from George and Wang or Smith and Weed, while outtakes and a gag reel feature George and Wang commentary.

Other extras include: alternate title sequences in English, German and Spanish; English, German, Spanish, and French trailers (all carrying the alternate title Mutronics); and extensive promotional and production galleries. The collector's edition also comes with the soundtrack CD composed by Matthew Morse (Silent Night, Deadly Night 5: The Toy Maker) and a booklet featuring liner notes by O’Brien and Morse.

The Guyver is available now on 4K UHD via Unearthed Films.

[aotopmha]

Spoilers for the entire Dawntrail MSQ!

Here's my post on the side characters.

Wuk Lamat's character isn't as bad to me as some people seem to think it is, but I think I did end up "liking" a lot of the side characters better.

This is actually also an opinion I have about Stormblood's story – eventhough I don't dislike Lyse, either, I take Gosetsu, Yugiri and the Azim Steppe cast above her (except Hien, I think he's really boring).

I just think a lot of the DT side cast is extremely effective in terms of screentime.

Koana's arc about being his honest self comes together when he gives up his position as a Dawnservant candidate to help Wuk, but the campfire scene with him and Thancred and Urianger is still one of my favourites in the expansion because it also ties together with their character arcs.

Aside from acting beyond his mask, he also gains nuance in terms of his absolute perspective regarding the value of technology.

It's a downright layered arc and I enjoy it very much.

I think people are really finger-waggy at Bakool Ja Ja's story because "it solves a bad system in 10 minutes", but I read it as more of a first step, especially in tandem with an aether current quest in the area, which had someone's whole world essentially crumble.

But I liked it for being an honest, earnest exchange between him and Wuk. He's the kind of minor villain trope that isn't the most graceful "redemption arc" because it is too close to a switch flip, but I also see him as pretty strongly in the side character bracket that doesn't really try to be a hyper-complex character.

He got a dark story, but to me it never felt like they wanted for you to cry super hard for him. Be shocked for sure, it is the first tone shift, but not really weeping your eyes out.

It reminds me a lot of the one-off Monster of the Week villain that might eventually become part of the main cast.

I ended up finding him super entertaining after he started supporting everyone in his own way, so I think he's actually not a misinformed redemption arc because he never goes back to being the same asshole, it's just not very gradual or "nuanced".

Next, I really liked Krile's journey.

The lalafell lore was neat.

But her getting to reunite with her parents was the highlight regarding her character and made me cry a bunch because it was both expected and unexpected; I was wondering where the story was going with her character the entire way through and it made so much sense to lean into her origin as an orphan.

On an emotional level, it was closure you would never expect.

I also really like the initial Echo cutscene with no dialog that first revealed her to be from another reflection. I love that kind of "show, don't tell" storytelling.

Otis is another favourite of mine. I love the contrast between his design and personality and just find his knightly behaviour super fun.

I know Zoraal Ja's child is another divisive character, but it's his relationship with Otis that sold his character to me. The campfire scene with them is super sweet. And doing the play with him was good closure. Not quite as tearful to me, but sweet nontheless.

Finally, there is Erenville. He was in a similar situation as Krile to me. The entire way through, I was wondering what they were going to do with him.

And it turns out, pain.

We learn about his mom early on and the entire way through Heritage Found and Solution 9, there is this feeling of unease when we meet her as "a robot".

In fact, I knew there is probably tragedy waiting in regards to her.

She's an absolutely wonderful character. Adore her teasing and "embarrassing mom" energy.

And Erenville is simply another example of how people face loss. And well, he simply couldn't face it.

Who could properly face everything he went through in the short time it is revealed in?

He went home the first time in years and was met with a completely different place he left with the person he probably cares about the most in the most morally horrendous situation you can think of.

His entire role in this expansion was suffering.

So when he finally honestly talked to her at the end, it was another really impactful scene to me.

I mentioned it in another post, but I know there is another pretty prominent complaint about some characters getting too little time in this expansion, but so many of them have just these really strong and meaningful scenes to me.

I'd rather take a character with 3 really meaningful scenes than 10 "simple" ones.

And I really, REALLY hope they don't walk back any of the deaths. Because this time around it really is intrinsic to making the story's point.

And these stories also left a lot of room for exploration for these characters.

Erenville has a newfound motivation for exploration I wholly believe.

Krile has an entire new civilisation to look into.

And I think Koana's interest and perspective on technology could still be explored.

And I actually think they really could do more with Bakool Ja Ja and Gulool Ja, too.

I'm a little worried about there not yet being setup for new true big picture 10-year stuff because all of this could be resolved in the patches, but I get the feeling that key might lead us to it.

I think a lot in the big picture perspective with this story and in that sense, I enjoy that DT left us with so many possible leads.

[kisiel-z-kosmosu]

Maybe warp doors will have some story significance in deltarune, but I honestly like the idea of npcs helping you travel more, so here are my efforts to design them (thanks ribbit for inspo).

Ch1. Let's just calll her ms. Hazard. She's a pachisi game in light world (or other annoying luck-dice-based board game), and has a temper of middle shool kid who can't accept being defeated. She decided to help Fun Gang on a bet; she helps with transport for free, but if they fail to close dark fountain (die), all their belongings and inheritance is her. The actual transport device are animal pawns (last 3 she didn't sold to pay debts off). One of the heroes does teleporting animation, then screencut (to keep it short). After teleportation there is a small event of lucky or unlucky nature, mostly just narrator text.

Alt colors; casino, paschisi (aka.Mensch ärgere Dich nicht aka.chińczyk).Pawns with coresponding characters, pashisi board, pixelart.

Ch.2 Typin! Search bar! The personification of old people on the internet (nicer half). Seems like they stucked in seeing cyberworld like it was ~30 years ago. They uses old steam powered machines and are invertor and owner of teacup technology (correct me if I missed some fact in dt). They help you out of kindness and in travel cutscene (similiar to undertale) tell you anecdotes about ol'good times. Discussion is sometimes annoying, with them constantly mishearing and correcting everyone (did you mean..? google thingy).

Alt way of steering teapot, close up and first design I still like.

Kaoconi and my workspace after enambling all layers.

This evolved from mine old post^

[supper122]

FROSTTALE: Master Post

Frosttale is an au I made over two years ago now, and quite a few things have changed since i made the original concept on discord. At this point nearly every character has a finalized design and the story is complete, so i think its time i made it more mainstream!!!

Opening Cutscene:

Long ago, two races ruled over earth: humans and monsters

One day tragedy struck, a blizzard worse than any before it struck the human village and the humans believed the monsters to be the cause.

The humans fought the monsters, and sealed them into a cave, using magic to curse them with eternal cold

Many monsters suffered, and more died.

PRESENT DAY:

Legend has it that a furnace powered by seven human souls could stop the winter and break the ice barrier that seals them underground

MT. EVEREST, 202X

They say those who climb this mountain may never return.

(Thingy of chara falling into the underground blah blah blah game starts)

Ok so time for the changes!!!

this au centers around everything being cold, duh.

The most major change is that undyne is dead due to the extreme temperatures, and that drives nearly every other change in the au.

Alphys found her goop stuff after she died, scooped it up and saved it. Since then has been secretly using the royal scientist funds not for technological development but in an attempt to revive undyne.

One day, papyrus is walking around in waterfall, looking for undyne in a hope that somehow, he could find her (he doesn’t know that she’s dead, sans told him she’s just missing). Alphys sees him, and sees an opportunity (he has a similar body shape to undyne), she persuades him to come to the lab, then she knocks him out cold (see what I did there)

Papyrus wakes up a few hours later tied to a table and has a couple of wires and containers hooked up to him, most notably two labeled “remains” and “DT”

Due to the fact that he’s tied down papyrus is stuck there.

A few minutes later Alphys walks into the room and tells him that he will be ok, and tells him that if the procedure works, papyrus can be part of the royal guard, when papyrus asks what the procedure is, Alphys doesn’t answer.

Slowly, papyrus goes back to sleep, and the vials are all injected into him.

Once he wakes up again, he is now in a bed in a room that is similar to undynes, and is wearing a suit of armor also similar to undynes clothing.

Alphys walks in and tells papyrus that she cannot tell him where he is, and that he will stay here for the next few months.

Over the next few months papyrus is nurtured by Alphys, but notices something, Alphys is getting increasingly more stressed, and is now preforming daily checkups on him, and soon papyrus starts to notice something else.

Flesh.

Papyrus is growing flesh on his bones.

Flesh with scales.

And something else, papyrus feels much more determined and stronger in general, along with the sudden ability to be able to summon and throw spears as well as bones now.

However, the flesh doesn’t completely cover him, only parts of his limbs and face. He also loses vision in his left eye and needs an eyepatch, soon the changes stop.

Alphys realizes that her attempt at bringing undyne has failed and slowly realizes what she has put this innocent monster through. she leaves the lab and takes after her mentor, jumping into the core and killing herself.

Alphys has created Papyryne (name is a wip lmao).

Papyryne never found the key to leave the true lab, and has turned to be the caretaker of the other amalgamates, He has a lot of physical traits of undyne, while keeping most of the personality of papyrus, meaning he is now actually able to do the good deeds he once wanted to do. He makes the true lab look nicer, and treats the amalgamates like family

During all those shenanigans Sans has become very very lonely and quite depressed. He looks for papyrus everyday and can’t find him. He spends most of his time in his house or the judgement hall, or at least, he did.

Sans does end up meeting toriel, and in fact is at the door when you fight her, However sans never made his promise to not kill a human to toriel, as he feels that if there is an opportunity to melt the ice, he should take it.

After you leave the ruins, sans will have run away and back to his house. As you go through Snowdin, all of papyrus’ puzzles are completely frozen over and easily passable, and there are no monster encounters.

When you reach snowdin, no one is there either, they all either left or died, sans and papyrus, being skeletons, are the only ones who were able to survive the cold.

The river is completely frozen solid, and the ice cube machine is backed up with ice. When you reach the area where you would normally fight papyrus, sans will sneak up on you and start a battle.

The battle is different depending on weather you killed toriel or not. If you haven’t, sans is simply fighting you out of obligation, and the fight is very easy. After a few turns of acting and sparing, sans starts to cry a little. He doesn’t want to kill anyone, stating the underground has lost enough, and spares you. If you attack, the screen turns black and then you go back to the overworld. no sans in sight. If you do not attack, sans will not say anything, and go back to his house.

If you did kill toriel, the fight is a bit harder, but after a few turns, sans will run away regardless of what you do to him.

Entering waterfall, everything is frozen over, and again there is no life to be seen. There are two places of intrest, the old tem village (the new one will be mentioned later) where you can grab some nice items, and the village.

Upon entering the main area (the one with the save point and houses) you will encounter all three ghost characters, alphys was too obessed with reviving undyne to build mettaton, and undyne wasnt alive to need a training dummy (mad mew mew still happens post game btw).

Mad dummy forces the other two to attack you, napstablook being shy and mettaton being generally depressed (due to lack of body) dont really care too much, but fight you for their cousin anyways.

At the end of waterfall, they fight you one at a time (mirroring the multiple undyne fight segments). You can spare them by promising MTT and Mad Dummy that youll get them bodies (witch then becomes a pacifist quest), and letting blooky show you dapper blook.

Entering hotland youll notice everything is mostly ashen and gray, most of the lava having been turned to stone. You begin by passing through alphys's lab (nothing happens there... yet) and making your way to where MTT resort would have been, youll notice that as you enter hotland (now called "The Refuge" by most monsters) you can encounter monsters from anywhere in the previous areas.

Approaching the MTT resort location, youll instead find a bustling town called "New Snowdin", featuring Grillbys 2, a closed down nice cream stand, a royal guard sign up center, and... a massive cemetary.

In the cemetary youll find graves for muffet and lesser dog, as well as memorials for alphys, sans, and papyrus (the latter two being presumed dead by the public)

When attempting to enter the core, the door will be locked and have a sign saying "ROYAL GUARD ONLY", promting you to visit the sign up center.

You can sign up to the royal guard and enter the core, eventually getting on the elevator to the castle.

When you reach the top, youll be met by a hill, climbing on top of it youll find sans, he will explain that youre standing on top of the judgment hall, its been covered in snow

He says that for a long time, monsters have hated the king for his "wait out the humans" idea, and activley tried to revolt, promting the closing of the core to the public. He says that you are the final human needed, and sadly, you must die.

He then sends you off to asgore.

When you arrive, asgore brings you in for tea, sitting down with you in front of a large unpowered furnace with seven heart shaped slots, and explaining youre the first person willing to do so in quite some time.

He then escorts you to the barrier, and the fight begins. During the fight, your hp will drain very slowly due to the proximity of the barrier, being that it is what emmits the cold.

At the end, he reaches his final bit of hp, and then does something drastic.

You may have noticed a lack of flowey while reading this and thats because, well, he doesnt exist. flowers dont grow in these temperatures, and even if they could, alphys wouldnt have made him.

Asgore turns his back, and swings his trident, destroying the containers of souls, destroying them.

A second phase begins, he is now much powerful and has much more health, but eventually soul segments similar to those omega flowey has occur, and you can eventually defeat him.

You are then given the option to kill or spare him, if you kill, you recive the six souls and can break the barrier, if you spare, he takes you in as his own, and the game ends with you going to sleep in his castle.

This means that yes, there is no true pacifist run (but there is something similar...)

(Almost) PACIFIST EXCLUSIVE EVENTS:

If you have spared everyone, the elevator to the hill will collapse, bringing you to the true lab, where you can meet papyryne, he will treat you with kindness... at first.

He eagarly shows you around the lab, introducing you the amalgamates who he has lovingly named Puppy, Birdy, Snowy, Goopy, and Whispy.

However, as he shows you around youll begin to notice times where the font he is speaking in changes, and he becomes more agressive.

You can see the following entries on the walls:

Entry 1:

I found what I believe to be undynes remains today, something’s off though, it isn’t dust… it’s goop

Entry 2:

I’ve stored her remains down here, I plan to begin doing tests on it, seeing how she could have possibly gained DETERMINATION

Entry 3:

The DT extractor broke today, it will be a while untill it is fixed

Entry 4:

The memory heads keep looking around my shelf, spouting nonsense like “still there” or “don’t forget”

Entry 5:

The DT extractor is up and running again, I’m preforming some diagnostics, then tests begin tomorrow

Entry 6:

This is impossible

Entry 7:

I’ve made a discovery, in undynes remains, although there is only a fragment… her SOUL… is still there.

Entry 8:

The tests have been stopped, I’m attempting to recover some old files about the amalgamates

Entry 9:

Just as I thought, the records show that monster souls, when in their weakened state, can fuze, the most dominant soul taking the consciousness

Entry 10:

I took a small portion on undynes remains today and gave it to one of the amalgamates in their food, so far, nothing has happened

Entry 11:

It’s no problem, I simply need a bigger sample size, and perhaps a more stable monster with a complete soul, unlike the amalgamates

Entry 12:

I found a shyren today, I’ve lured it here and and captured it, I will be preforming the same experiment I did with the amalgamate

Entry 13:

…

Nothing is happening

Entry 14:

The shyren lost Vision in one eye today, though I am not sure if this is related to the experiment

Entry 15:

The shyren has been knocked out for 3 days now, I’ve hidden her body in the bathroom

Entry 16: I beleive I have found a new candidate for an experiment, this next experiment could be very very interesting.

As you are about to leave with him, freeing him from the lab, undyne takes over and he fights you. the fight is difficult by interchanging blue and green soul mechanics, the final attack using a combination of both.

You are forced to spare, as you cant damage him, and his fit of rage will end, he then will leave the lab with you and youll fast travel back to snowdin, reuniting him with sans.

You can then go back to the elevator and everything else will play out the same, with some additional sans dialouge at the end.

GENO EXCLUSIVE EVENTS:

You have to do like. a shit ton of grinding in hotland. You also have to do the ghost quests so you can kill them.

You reach level 14 and thats the highest you can get, you then take the elevator.

Once you reach the hill, you meet sans. He doesnt say anything, and a fight begins.

"it was a nice day today"

"can you see the snow sparkling in the light?"

"..."

"of course not"

"no one like you would stop to appreciate that"

"it was already bad down here, why did you have to make it worse"

"..."

"not much of a talker..?"

"me neither"

"but..."

"heres the thing"

"you see... king asgore needs one more soul"

"and youve got a nice one ripe for the taking"

"so... heres what im going to do"

"i am going to fight you"

"and i wont stop..."

"...UNTIL HELL FREEZES OVER"

then you fight, and at the end a similar cutscene to the one in UT will play, exept he doesnt ask papyrus if he wants anything.

you then go to asgore, and everything will play out as normal, exept you arent allowed to spare him.

EPILOUGE:

Holy fuck, that took so long to write. pleasepleaseplease if you have any questions feel free to ask, and i dont usually ask but if you liked it please reblog, i spent a lot of time on this.

ill be posting designs soon, and fanart would be much appreciated!!

sans design

[thealogie]

so here's a little rant & i wanna gauge your opinion on the matter. i just finished watching civil war (it's finally available digitally) and... it doesn't look like ass. not that i expected it to but you know how everything looks overly HD right now and it's just awful? well it wasn't like that. and that got me wondering what's really happening with camera/lenses quality right now because i was beginning to think the move to everything looking overly crisp and awful was kinda forced by the way they make camera equipment/technology now, but there are many things that still look fine, not 80s-mid00s amazing, still a bit too HD for my taste, but fine. meanwhile there are things like good omens that look so bad it's legitimately triggering some kind of ocd for me and physically hurts my soul. like apart from lighting/director decisions it's just so damn sharp, it makes MS and DT look grotesque (even though they are objectively good looking, or at least on the nice side of normal looking, guys). do you have an opinion / some technical knowledge on the matter? why is this happening?????? if select movies can still get their cinematography looking nice then what's the deal with all these other productions being offensively ugly looking? i don't get itttttt. like obviously one assumption would be budget differences but you'd think then they would get older equipment that's not ultra HD shit. or is ultra HD shit cheaper. help me out here because i honestly can't watch most things made post-covid they are so terrible looking. iwtv is another example of something that looks too HD to me btw, just so you don't think my issue is like with bad direction (but rather image quality? idk how to put into words my hate of ultra HD in technical terms)

I had the same reaction when I watched challengers yesterday!

It’s film v. digital. I haven’t watched civil war but even to be untrained eye I could guess that challengers was shot on 35mm film, not digital. That’s why it has that beautiful warm grainy quality. I would say 95% of movies and tv shows are now shot digitally - it is much cheaper overall. No risk of the film being damaged or worrying about the literal cost of physical film you’re burning through. and in digital you can choose a lot of your setting when you’re shooting.

Now within digital, you have 2k and 4k (ultra high def) as you call it. And this is where we reach the limits of my technical knowledge because like…better call saul was mastered in 4k and it still looks fucking fantastic!! This is why I will still blame light design/directing because we have proof that 4k can look good. It’s just the way everyone else is color correcting/lighting the scenes that’s the problem

[alex-richey]

Blog Post #5 (Due 10/3)

How does the merit system in “Nosedive” parallel our perception of social media following?

In the “Nosedive” episode of Black Mirror, each person ranked everyone they interacted with, and one’s overall ranking determined how they were perceived and interacted with by others. This immediately reminded me of how social media status dictates our interpretations of one another. As few people would admit it, I know of many people who when looking at someone’s Instagram account for the first time, make judgments about them based on how many followers they have. Furthermore, when it comes to influencers, many companies only want to collaborate with those who have a certain amount of followers, leaving smaller social media creators to work extra hard to build their platforms. In “Nosedive,” each character’s rating offered benefits to those with particularly high ratings, such as reduced rent, access to certain buildings, and better overall social standing. This is an eerie, but realistic, example of how we let social media standing guide our interactions with people in the real world.

Why is language especially important when discussing social problems and feminism?

The language we use when discussing social issues is very important because it can make the difference in acknowledging or dismissing nuance in these issues. As we read two weeks ago, intersectionality is vital when discussing feminism to ensure that “women’s rights” include all women. As discussed in The Revenge of the Yellowfaced Cyborg Terminator, the authors argue that Haraway’s position as an established, respected white feminist grants her the privilege of an audience: people want to listen to her. However, if a woman of color made the same arguments, she’d likely have a much more difficult time gaining that same audience. When discussing social issues like sexism, it’s important to think critically about the language we’re using and how it may be interpreted to build stronger, more nuanced arguments.

How is voice-based racism more prevalent now than ever?

In her TedTalk, Dr. Lisa Nakamura explains voice-based racism in reference to the judgments we make about someone’s race based on their voice. She argues that with the rise of video games with live audio features (where you can play with friends and strangers), there’s also a rise in voice-based racism online. When we believe we know someone’s race simply from their voice, we open the door for stereotypes and prejudice to guide our interactions with that person. Furthermore, everyone is prejudiced, and these prejudices continue to exist online. I believe making judgments on someone’s voice online is relatively similar to making judgments about their appearance in real life, so voice-based racism is especially important to analyze and acknowledge when we are guilty of it.

What is ludo-Orientalism and how does it work?

→ In The Race card: From gaming technologies to model minorities, the author defines ludo-Orientalism as the way that the “design, marketing, and rhetoric of games shape how Asians as well as East-West relations are imagined,” as well as how Asian people are constantly depicted as “other.” It also refers to the way social constructions of race are perpetuated through games and disguised as “play.” This can be particularly harmful because when something is deemed fun, we assume it to be lighthearted, and we often even assume it to lack any real, societal effect. However, the portrayals of racial groups through video games are often disguised versions of stereotypes, that then get perpetuated for the sake of “a fun game.”

Fickle, T. (2019). The race card: From gaming technologies to model minorities. New York University Press.

Richter, M. (2016). Black Mirror: Nosedive. episode.

Nakamura, L. (2011). TedXUIllinois - Dr. Lisa Nakamura - 5 Types of Online Racism and Why You Should Care. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DT-G0FlOo7g

Ow, Jeffrey A. “The Revenge of the Yellowfaced Cyborg Terminator: The Rape of Digital Geishas and the Colonization of Cyber-Coolies in 3D Realms’ Shadow Warrior.” Asian America.Net: Ethnicity, Nationalism, and Cyberspace.

[vmantras]

Citroën eC3 Feel DT: Affordable Electric Hatchback Review

₹13 Lakh The Citroën eC3 Feel DT is an electric hatchback that blends practicality, eco-friendliness, and affordability, making it a compelling choice in the growing EV market. Let’s explore the vehicle in detail across various aspects. Performance and Powertrain Motor: The eC3 is powered by a Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor delivering 56.22 bhp and 143 Nm of torque. While modest, this…

[unclefathersantateddy]

4, 5, 13, 14 (resent!! don't worry I've gotcha, amigo)

Aaaa DT you're the best!!! Thanks so much for asking (twice) for my technologically clumsy ass lmao😅😅

4. How many different styles/medium (e.g., digital art, traditional art, comics, sculpture, paper craft, etc.) did you try this year?

Fooouurrr,,, I think? Pencil sketches, and digital (CSP/ibis) illust. are my comfort mediums, buUuUt I experimented with polymer clay for a few months, and recently got into posca! I did spend a couple weeks playing around with acrylic paints, but it did not spark so much joy. There was also a few nights where I made some Bob's Burgers print-out crafts which was great, but that maaay have been end of last year (time is a concept) lmao.

5. What work are you most proud of (regardless of likes/reblogs)?

Has to be the piece I did when processing my dad's death. I didn't care about the "rules" of art when doing it and it resulted in fluidity and texture and I love that in my art

13. What pairing/character/subject/body part/ object gave you the most trouble this year?

Alex Papasian for sure, someone asked for a drawing of him mooonths ago as like a request and I said I'd do it but it has just sparked no joy whatsoever 😭 but that just may be a me issue with commitments addgghdsscksks

14. What's one pairing/character/subject/body part/object you want to explore next year?

I know I've already mentioned but I'm REAL excited for Geneuary!!!! He's been sparking a lot of creativity in me recently (must be his diverse design range) but I am excited to treat him like a 2007 Paper Doll fashion game LOL (pic for a sneak peek of some ideas!! Idk who to credit it was a Pinterest repost)

[cameron4818]

Thanks for the tag @bluntblade

WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? Nope

WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? I can’t remember. It was probably work related tbh

DO YOU HAVE KIDS? No

WHAT SPORTS HAVE YOU PLAYED/DO YOU PLAY? Swords! Just started longsword. Been doing sabre 5 years, dabble in epee, sometimes my club makes me foil. Just got into bouldering. Just started running to train for a mud run. And gym. Oh and swimming.

DO YOU USE SARCASM? Me? Use sarcasm? Never

FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE? Eyes probably?

WHAT IS YOUR EYE COLOR? Supposed to be blue but grey

SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Love happy endings. Don’t like horror movies

ANY TALENTS? Lego maybe? I design my own sci-fi models and I wrote some lore to go with

WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Ull

WHAT ARE YOUR HOBBIES? Lego, gamering, making stuff but I’m usually too lazy. I should share my Prussian bob the builder at some point. And cooking but only for myself

DO YOU HAVE ANY PETS? None

HOW TALL ARE YOU? 6’1” which is like 186cm or something

FAVORITE SUBJECT IN SCHOOL? Tech or design and technology or dt or whatever you wanna call it. And physics

DREAM JOB? Nerd at a space agency

Hmm who can I tag uhhh @the-magpieprince hopefully you haven’t already done one

[hambrababy]

Diving into the Digital Trip

“This series was conceived with the intention of taking impressions from animation, comics, and other visual works and developing them into a completely fresh musical world using synthesizers.”

-Obi Strip Digital Trip Series Description, 1983 (SDF Macross DT, translated by Windii)

Intro

When I first started listening through tokusatsu soundtracks, I was going through the two-disc set for Uchuu Keiji Sharivan’s BGM and noticed that the second disc began with a set of songs titled “DIGITAL TRIP Uchuu Keiji Sharivan SYNTHESIZER FANTASY.” Upon playing those curious tracks, I was greeted with a very electronic, synthesized, and striking series of compositions. They were still recognizable as variations of the OST and BGM I’d heard earlier, yet they sounded almost otherworldly.

Years of anisong searching and listening later, and now as an avid music enthusiast, I’ve plunged into the huge range of the Digital Trip – Synthesizer Fantasy albums. Though only lasting around five years, the series saw many releases from a variety of arrangers offering their own, synthesizer-heavy takes on anime and other Japanese media music.

Some of the albums recently received worldwide streaming releases for the first time, but I wanted to write about this series anyways because of how much I enjoyed listening through and discovering so many favorites. I love synthesizer music of all kinds, especially ones that aim for their own distinctive style. The Digital Trip series is unique among both electronic and anime music, and I think it’s worth highlighting as a creative and entertaining series of albums.

This retrospective is a mix of contextual overview, notes on the styles of the main arrangers, a look at some of the tech used, the end of the line itself, and ten personal album recommendations.

(VGMDB is the source for most of the credits and dates in this post.)

Overview

Digital Trip – Synthesizer Fantasy is a series of instrumental image albums released by the Nippon Columbia record label in Japan from December 1981 to May 1986. 51 albums (and one compilation) were produced for it, with each receiving a simultaneous vinyl and cassette release. At its peak, multiple albums were released almost every month, though the typical schedule had more gaps.

Befitting the name, the albums are synthesizer-focused re-arrangements of vocal, BGM, and image songs for select anime, manga, and even tokusatsu. A few albums have original compositions, but the majority are reinterpretations of existing songs and scores. The albums feature some of the newest emerging synthesizers, samplers, sequencers, and drum machines of their release years, though a rare few have more traditional instruments mixed in. Despite the “digital” name, older analog synthesizers are used on some albums alongside newer digital synths.

Nippon Columbia had other similar image album lines that started running concurrently in 1983. The Jam Trip series is the same concept as the DT albums but with jazz-fusion rearrangements instead of synthy ones, and the Roman Trip series is image songs for manga and books that had not received animated adaptations yet. Some of the early DT albums are original image albums for manga, but they soon switched to covering anime while the Roman Trip line focused on new image songs for non-animated works.

Image albums were common music releases throughout the late 70s and 80s onwards, but the DT series is focused on a more specific, overarching concept of making distinctly electronic renditions. The potential of synthesizers and newer computer technologies was captivating for musicians and audiences across the world at the time, so the DT series served as a chance to both experiment with these new tools and to showcase the kind of layered and unique compositions synthesizers were capable of.

This concept is also reflected in the album art, which tends to feature more abstract designs and lots of futuristic grid lines and shapes that aren’t always obvious reflections of their source anime. Most of the anime selected were science fiction and fantasy given the nature of the concept, but several non-fantasy anime also received albums.

The tracks on DT albums are mostly based on the existing works of composers, but the actual arrangements and performance are handled by different arrangers, with a few exceptions. While the original compositions still influenced how each album ended up, the arrangers played the largest role in shaping them through their own skills and visions. The music in each album ranges from more conventional rearrangements, airy ballads, electro-dance, faster rock, atmospheric soundscapes, longer suites, and a whole host of other styles.

I don’t think any of the DT albums are bad, but the less unique ones fall into the trap of keeping the compositions too similar to the originals. The least interesting tracks sound just like the original songs with the instruments swapped, but those are thankfully rare. While the DT albums can be listened to without any knowledge of their base soundtracks, comparing them with their original scores highlights how creative and varied the rearrangements can be when working with a totally different sonic palette.

At their best, the DT albums strike a balance of being faithful enough that the original compositions are still recognizable while also transforming them such that they stand on their own. Sometimes multiple songs are mixed into larger suites, and other times each vocal song and chosen BGM gets its own track, but each track contains new flourishes and notes that add to the original compositions, as well as going into unpredictable directions and styles. The rearrangements of vocal songs are some of the livelier ones, but part of the enjoyment is seeing all kinds of songs reinterpreted though this “Synthesizer Fantasy” concept.

The Main Arrangers

While there were several one-off arrangers, the Digital Trip series had a rotation of regulars that carried their own styles across multiple albums. A few of the more prominent ones included:

Osamu Shoji (“The Galaxy”): 20 albums

Osamu Shoji was the primary arranger of the DT series and handled a plurality of the albums. As the first and last arranger of the series, his progression throughout the run is interesting to track as he adopted many newer synthesizers and changed his sound the most.

Shoji’s arrangements are mostly straightforward, but that helps them maintain a solid base structure no matter how different the styles are from one track to the next. It reflects his adaptability that he was able to integrate so many different composers and genres into his DT albums that are distinct from both each other and their original soundtracks. Lots of his tracks tend to be more sequenced, but they use that to their advantage to create complex rhythms, tight grooves, and sturdy percussion backing the more active main melodies. His music’s audio mixes sound deep and well-rounded despite their many different sound tones. Shoji remained the most versatile and reliable arranger in the lineup, shaping the bulk of the DT series.

Shoji released many solo electronic albums and other assorted anime image albums, including the two “Synthesizer Fantasy” image albums that were not in DT series. He composed for a few anime including Adieu Galaxy Express 999, Cobra, and Wicked City.

Nobuyoshi Koshibe & Takashi Kokubo: 11 albums + 1 Koshibe solo

The second-most frequent arrangers, Nobuyoshi Koshibe and Takashi Kokubo used some of the wider varieties of synthesizers in the DT series. Their albums have a very crisp and buzzy sound, and their tracks often undergo several instrumental and style changeups throughout. They also feature some of the hardest rocking tracks in the DT series, especially with their louder use of sharper and heavy FM synth tones, but also with very processed, effects-heavy guitars for accents and solos. That said, their albums still have considerable range beyond their rock tracks, with many slower and more atmospheric songs that are gentler when needed.

Koshibe was already an extensive anime vocal song and soundtrack composer prior to the DT series for shows in the 60s and 70s, including giants like Saze-san and Mach GoGoGo/Speed Racer, and he continued working in anisong music afterwards. Kokubo only contributed to one other anime album outside of his DT work, and he was more focused on his solo electronic and new age albums.

Jun Fukamachi: 4 albums

Though his albums were few, Jun Fukamachi had one of the most distinct and beautiful sound palettes in the entire DT series. Compared to the others, Fukimachi’s albums emphasize a much more “live,” almost classical performance with lots of gentle and expressive keyboard flourishes. His arrangements are mostly scarce on percussion and instead aimed for a more symphonic sound with layers of pads and arpeggios backing his sweeping synth leads and solos. While he has more upbeat and harsher songs, most of his works are ethereal and lush. Fittingly, three of his four albums are based on works by Leiji Matsumoto, and his arrangements excel at capturing the grand atmosphere of space opera.

Fukamachi made a couple of other image albums and never composed any anime scores, but he did have an extensive jazz-fusion and electronic career spanning dozens of albums.

Goro Ohmi: 4 albums

Goro Ohmi was more involved in the early run of the DT line. His first few albums have some accompaniment from live instruments while his later ones were more synth-centered. His works are some of the more accessible ones in that they tend towards more straightforward covers that stick closer to the original compositions. Still, they’re solid reinterpretations with enough creative additions. His synths are a touch more primitive than the others, but he still managed to make his arrangements sound full and varied.

Ohmi pivoted to handling many of the Roman Trip albums for Guin Saga, which he continued into the 90s. He composed a few anime and tokusatsu soundtracks afterwards, including Ginga Nagareboshi Gin, Grey: Digital Target, and Hikari Sentai Maskman.

Akira Ito: 2 albums

Akira Ito only composed two image albums of original music near the start of the series before he left the rotation early on. His works are some of the less “digital” in that they contain lots of traditional rock instrumentation, with the synths usually playing only the leads. His style is most akin to 70s progressive rock, with lengthier songs that all flow into each other to form large suites. His two albums have a very fantastical, journeying sound that’s not too representative of the DT line overall but remain interesting outliers.

Ito has a few anime image albums credited to him, but he was more focused on his solo electronic albums that continued this same style.

Appo Sound Project: 2 albums

Appo were a production group of composers and arrangers that arrived near the end of the series, but they still carved out a distinctive treble-focused, more high-NRG sound relative to the others. Their arrangements use sharper digital synthesizers that are very bright in their sound mixes, if occasionally on the thinner side. A lot of their arrangements were more up-tempo and not as subtle, but they have a constant energy that’s still enjoyable, especially in their tracks with multi-suite melodies.

Also of note is that the group features Kohei Tanaka in one of his earlier arranging roles. In fact, a lot of the synth sounds of their work are used in the electronic tracks he composed for his Choushinsei Flashman soundtrack soon after. Tanaka remains one of the most well-known anime composers of all time and went on to compose many, many soundtracks afterwards, though none really sound like his DT work.

Tech

(From the Adieu Galaxy Express 999 DT Album)

Given their concept, the Digital Trip albums are tied to the synthesizer technology of the early 80s, with all their quirks and limitations. The albums are rather accessible for early electronic music, but their sounds are challenging for those not as predisposed to synthesizers. Nevertheless, exploring aspects of the synth technology at the time illustrates the ingenuity needed to make the albums.

Early synthesizers and sequencers were trickier to operate and program compared to later advancements. All settings for sounds had to be individually connected with cables, tuned with knobs, or programmed with basic keypads. On the few units that had them, display screens were minuscule and had few lines. Storage banks were also limited, so saving any sounds to reuse for later often required meticulous notetaking.

Keys on older synthesizers were also not as touch-sensitive, meaning the notes would sound the same regardless of how fast or hard the keys were pressed. Pitch and modulation control were often present but rather basic. Polyphony, or the ability to play more than one key at once, varied widely by keyboards, which also made full chords harder to play.

(Osamu Shoji, from the Adieu Galaxy Express 999 DT Album)

Many of the albums were made before the MIDI standard was codified in 1983. Pre-MIDI sequencers had limited interfaces that required all aspects of each note to be programmed individually, though this did allow for finer precision. Timing sequences with live playing was also a challenge for units that had variable sound consistency and different communication formats.

This made configuring each part of a single song with only synthesizers a laborious process, especially for albums that were 30 to 40 minutes long. The arrangers not only had to rearrange the original notes to work within the technical capabilities of each synthesizer they wanted to use, but they then had to make sure each synth was attuned and set up correctly for recording and mixing. Some DT albums have additional engineers credited who assisted with the tedious work of configuring these different systems and note sequences, but the arrangers were still responsible for the bulk of the work in planning and connecting all of these machines.

The liner notes for some albums include lists of the synthesizers and instruments used, which also reflect the habits of their respective arrangers. While going over the instruments for every album would be lengthy, comparing two albums that were both released in 1983 yet contained wildly different sounds illustrates these varying sonic approaches.

(Osamu Shoji using the Fairlight CMI, from the God Mars DT)

The Macross DT album by Osamu Shoji only lists the Fairlight CMI sampler, the Linn Drum II (the “classic” LinnDrum), and the Roland MC-4 sequencer. This means every non LinnDrum sound on the album is produced just from the CMI’s digital sample library, albeit with his own modifications and even his own sampled noises.

The album’s diverse styles and instruments, from the upbeat pop and action to the grander slow songs, reflect both the CMI’s depth and Shoji’s skill as an arranger and programmer. Shoji’s equipment range is broader on works like his Adieu Galaxy Express 999 and Gundam DTs, but the Macross DT demonstrates how it was still possible to make a wide-ranging album with such a small selection of tools that had expansive capabilities in the right hands.

(Koshibe using the Roland System 700 and MC-4)

By contrast, the Urashiman DT by Koshibe & Kokubo has a longer and more peculiar list of instruments, and it also includes the recording and mixing equipment. The first synth listed is the analog Roland System 700 from 1976, an older modular synthesizer that required connecting streams of wires between each individual sub-unit and lots of manual tuning to get the desired sounds. A picture in the liner notes shows Koshibe working with both the System 700 and the MC-4 sequencer. The rest of the list contains a mix of synthesizers, both analog (Roland JP-4, SVC-350 vocoder) and digital (Yamaha CE-25, DX-7, Korg PS-3200), with vastly different sound tones, many of which show up across the duo’s other albums. The amount of moving parts to sequence, tune, and play is daunting, but the album’s layered sound reflects this approach well.

Not all the albums list the synthesizers used. Most of Fukumachi’s albums only have a generic “synthesizers” credit, which is frustrating considering how distinct his style is. Some albums have liner notes describing the process and approach taken for every track. The Macross DT liner notes go into the techniques Shoji used with the CMI and sequencers to make the album.  I hope to get more of those translated in the future, but the depth of the arranging process is still reflected by the structure of the tracks.

While the technical craft in employing all of these tools is remarkable, there are limitations. Some albums unapologetically use presets that became cliched as the decade went on; the DX7’s tubular bells, the Fairlight CMI’s panflute samples, and the LinnDrum’s tom-toms show up quite a few times. The depth of the sounds and tones varies across the albums and arrangers, and many presets were at lower bit resolutions and sample rates than what future samplers were capable of. However, the use of digital instruments and sometimes recording does give most of the albums a better mix clarity than many of their associated soundtracks.

Knowing about the technical aspects is not needed to enjoy the albums on their own, but it does give deeper insight into how certain sounds and stylistic choices were possible. While it is easy to lump all early synth music of this kind as being generically “80’s,” the actual process was much more varied and evolving. The changing styles in the DT line reflect the technological advancement and programming refinement spreading throughout music at the time, which the arrangers furthered through their continuous work.

Other Uses

While some Digital Trip albums came out long after their respective anime and movies, most were released a short time after the first batches of official soundtracks. This meant they tend to cover music from the earlier episodes of 40-50 episode shows, though a few got sequel albums that covered later music.

Because the DT albums are image albums, their music was not intended for use within their respective anime, especially for shows with more traditional and orchestral soundtracks. I haven’t seen all the anime, shows, and movies with the associated albums, but I have seen enough to know it is exceedingly rare for any DT tracks to appear.

However, there are a few exceptions. Urashiman uses a few tracks from its DT album in some episodes across its endgame arc. The most memorable scene is in episode 45 where a stylish non-binary assassin demonstrates their skills to the villains, set to the DT version of the villains’ vocal insert song. It’s a great choice that makes the scene even punchier. Episodes 46-49 also use other more sweeping tracks from the album to accentuate more dramatic scenes.

Sharivan also starts using DT tracks in episode 35, which uses a lengthy portion of the final song on the album for a heartfelt montage. More of the DT songs are used as insert songs in episodes throughout the rest of the series, making it likely the most extensively used DT album for its respective show. Sharivan does have lots of one-off synthy songs that aren’t the DT songs or on its official soundtrack, but the DT ones are still discernable with a keen ear.

In both cases, the respective shows’ soundtracks already had numerous synthesizer songs, so the DT albums fit more naturally in with the rest of the music. Coincidentally, both shows had their original soundtracks released by Nippon Columbia, but that’s a sample too small to make definitive claims about. Though rare, hearing DT tracks used in the shows is always a nice touch.

(If I ever find other examples of DT tracks used as insert songs, or other people are aware of some, I’ll update this section.)

The End of the Series and the Changing Landscape

The last album released in the Digital Trip series was the Arion album in May 1986. I can’t find a source on why the series ended, and it’s not helpful to throw out baseless speculations on why. That said, the changing landscape around the DT albums is still interesting and reflective of the series’ legacy.

As the 80s rolled along, synths became more conventional parts of anime scores rather than getting used primarily as accents, a change facilitated as the technology advanced and got easier to use. Some of the original novelty of hearing electronic-centered albums was dissipating as some anime scores themselves became very electronic. Nevertheless, the DT series was still dedicated to making unique arrangements on their own that differed from the synth work in their respective anime.

However, other sublines of electronic rearrangement albums began emerging at the same time. The Animage label launched their own line of synth-focused image albums called the HI▾TECH series in 1984, although those albums often included more regular instruments than most of the DT entries. Because both the DT and HT lines were covers and rearrangements, some anime received albums in both lines. The HT series ended its regular releases in 1986, but it released a few other albums over the following years.

Additionally, other electronic-centered image albums were increasingly helmed by the composers of their anime’s soundtracks. As Joe Hisashi’s career began taking off, he started creating synth-focused image albums that were often released before their respective movie scores, in some cases functioning as “prototype” scores as he was still working on the main soundtrack, including ones for Nausicaa and Arion. He continued the practice through the end of the decade with albums like his Venus Wars image album.

Shiro Sagisu, another then-upcoming composer, took a similar route with his music for Megazone 23 under his TOKIO 23 unit. Megazone 23’s score was already very electronic, but he released two additional synth-heavy image albums in between the releases of the scores for Part I and II that were not only rearrangements, but also contained unique compositions. More composers were feeling confident and adept with synthesizer and electronic music to begin releasing their own image albums in addition to covers from outside arrangers.

The case of the Arion soundtracks illustrates this expanding field. Through the span of year from 1985-6, Arion had its partially synthy movie soundtrack, a Digital Trip album, a Hi-Tech album, and a separate synth “prototype” image album by Hisashi himself, not to mention an even earlier 1983 synthy image album based on the manga that predates the movie score. That’s a huge saturation of Arion synth albums, reflecting how more releases were competing for the same niche the DT series had occupied.

Now, I’ve had enough experience with nonsense internet anime rumors to say that none of this is verifiably connected to the reasons the DT series ended, and it should not be treated as such.

Nevertheless, these circumstances highlight how aspects of the DT series became featured in contemporaneous soundtrack and image albums, which to an extent succeeded the DT line after it ended. More producers, artists, and most importantly, consumers were now acquainted with and enthusiastic about synthesizer music than ever before. Synthesizers were now a core, if not predominant aspect of many anime and popular music albums compared to their marginal use earlier in the decade when the DT series began.

The Digital Trip Albums Now

After the initial run in the 80s, 14 of the albums were remastered onto CD in 1993 under Columbia’s Digital Trip 1800 series. The original LP art was shrunk within a wider blue border, but the booklets mostly contained the same liner notes. 10 of those CDs were reprinted again on CD-R’s under the R-Ban series in 2001.

A few were also remastered onto CD on other compilation releases: the Sharivan DT on the two-disc Sharivan OST and other compilations, both the Yamato and Final Yamato DTs on the Yamato Sound Almanac series, and the Harlock DT in the Harlock Eternal File series, to name a few.

In 2012, Columbia put out a digital-only compilation release that included a few tracks from DT albums that had no CD remasters. Curiously, the release has no tracks from Osamu Shoji and has a large chunk of its tracklist taken up by songs from the Ultraman DT album, except for its final one.

Unfortunately, the majority of the DT albums remain exclusively on their original vinyl and cassette releases and have not seen any official CD or digital transfers, and it is uncertain if they ever will unless Nippon Columbia decides to do so. The 2012 compilation is evidence that Columbia still has the materials available to make remasters for at least a few more albums, but there’s been no sign they’re considering any more.

Somewhat recently, the DT albums in the R-Ban series and two other CD-released ones were officially uploaded to streaming on Spotify, Apple Music, and Youtube Music. (6/5/24: The Sharivan DT was also released as a part of the uploads for the Metal Heroes Super Hero Chronicles, at the end of the fourth album). Curiously, the artwork on these releases is edited to remove all mentions of the phrase “Digital Trip”, both on the title borders and the original album cover. This does result in a few comically empty spaces, like on the Arion cover, but it’s an odd choice since they’re still titled “Digital Trip” in the album names.

As usual for anime fans, the best option to find most of these are through the varying places online. A fair number of them get uploaded to Youtube for the more casual listeners, but the majority are not too hard to find through other sources including conventions, digital stores, and fan rips floating around online.

Conclusion

There’s more to the Digital Trip – Synthesizer Fantasy line and its many albums, but this is about everything I wanted to touch on for now. The albums remain decently well known among retro anime music enthusiasts, but that’s about three layers of niches, so I think I can say that they are still relatively obscure to wider anime fans. The electronic nature of the series is its defining attribute, and that may take some time to get invested in. Still, this is a topic I wanted to cover mainly as a passionate fan but also to provide a decently comprehensive overview of a noteworthy anime image album series.

Synth-focused image albums appeared before and continued well after the Digital Trip series, but it stands as a noteworthy confluence of trends whose arrangers produced many unique, varied, and most of all, engaging albums. A DT album is appreciable irrespective of the original soundtrack it is arranging. Some of my favorite DT albums are for anime I haven’t seen or whose scores I haven’t heard because they were still that evocative on their own. Still, comparing the two highlight interesting aspects of the rearrangements needed to bring the music to synthesized soundscapes.

In the future, I hope to have more of the liner notes from the albums translated to shed even better details on the arranging process. Some of this overview involved generalizing, but I always want to get down to more precise details whenever possible. I may return to covering other aspects of the albums in the future, and I also plan to check out more of the non-DT works from all the respective arrangers.

After this section, I have ten personally recommended Digital Trip albums, in no particular order, as well as additional notes for a few external links, including a playlist of all the officially streaming ones on Youtube.

I encourage anyone interested in anime music, earlier electronic music, or those curious in general to check these albums out. The Digital Trip series is one of my favorite anime image album lines, and I think they carved out a distinct identity that remains interesting even so many years later.

10 Personal Favorites

SDF Macross (Osamu Shoji) – A solid selection of the show’s most famous vocal songs and BGM tracks (although curiously lacking “Watashi no Pilot”) that mixes idol-pop catchiness, fast-paced action, and grander spacey tracks. The bending and expressive keyboard basslines are a huge highlight. The Macross II: Minmay’s Songs album by Koshibe & Kokubo is also an interesting contrast in tech and style. (Translated liner notes for the album are here.)

Uchuu Keiji Sharivan (Koshibe & Kokubo) – My favorite of the Koshibe & Kokubo albums and the first I listened to, this one has lots of very sharp and buzzy FM synth tones. The rare splashes of electric guitars have tons of processing that make them sound roaring. Since Sharivan had a larger album of vocal songs to draw from than most of the other shows, the arrangements here are very lively and go through some fun changeups.

Umi no Triton (Osamu Shoji) – Though much later to its anime compared to the others, this album shines the most in its very catchy beats and rhythmic pulses. While not as atmospheric and sweeping, it still captures an oceanic feel with its twinkling arpeggios and chunky bass. It’s an unexpected combination of styles that works surprisingly well.

Gekkan La La Rensai Hiizuru Tokoro no Tenshi (Akira Ito) – This one is technically closer to the Roman Trip albums since it contains original compositions based off a historical fantasy manga and uses more traditional instruments in several parts. Still, it has a wide range of tracks that all connect into a continuous suite, making it one of the more cohesive and adventurous albums of the DT series, with lots of Japanese-styled instrumentation.

Mechadoc (Koshibe and Kokubo) – An underrated album that reflects the automotive feeling of its anime. Its highest energy tracks capture the grittiness and speed of racing and rally cars, especially some of the sharp FM lead solos, while the more mellow tracks round them out with gentle tones. The songs are lengthy but shift and develop in engaging ways.

Lensman (Osamu Shoji) – As well as having a more futuristic vibe overall, this album really excels with its rapid, complex drum and percussion patterns. Most of the album is a solid combination of upbeat action and funkier tracks, but towards the end there’s slower atmospheric cuts that balance things out.

Cat’s Eye (Osamu Shoji) – A more city-pop effort that’s very playful and even cutesy at times, most so with its danceable beats and bouncy basslines. The longer track list also allows for more songs that are focused and succinct. Shoji’s New Cat’s Eye album for the show’s second-season music continues a similar style.

Nausicaa (Junko Miyagi) – From the one-off (and only female) arranger Junko Miyagi, this one is among the most fantastical and soaring of the DT albums, especially with its thick bass pads and whistling tones. It’s also different from the many image albums Joe Hisashi made for Nausicaa, so it’s a good entry point for those already familiar with his music and curious about the DT albums’ overall concept.

Queen Emeraldas/Emeraldus (Jun Fukamachi) – My favorite of Fukamachi’s works, it features some of the lushest arrangements of the entire DT series, including several original compositions. The many glistening arpeggios and gentle keyboards perfectly evoke the feeling of travelling the immense galaxy with tracks that sound both forlorn and blissful. It also comes the closest to feeling like a “live” performance with its subtle, expressive keys.

Arion (Osamu Shoji) – The last DT album released, Shoji showcases his widest range in a lengthy tracklist covering almost every major cue from the movie score. The rapid and rhythmic drums accentuate many tracks nicely, the synth tones have greater depth and layers, and the varied arrangements capture the score’s fantasy atmosphere. It’s a well-rounded and solid album that’s also a fitting sendoff for the series.

Other Links and Miscellany

A playlist of all the officially streaming Digital Trip albums on Youtube, organized chronologically by release date. Lots of the others are available through fan uploads.

VGMDB is an invaluable database for these albums, even if many entries still need more complete details and could always use more contributors and enthusiasts. Note that viewing the full album art and insert scans requires an account.

The aforementioned 2012 Columbia digital release, which has some previews of some other DT tracks.

For a better introduction to synthesizer tech, I can recommend this two-part article from Yamaha on the history of synthesizers and an article from MIDI on the history of sequencing.

This video demonstration of the Roland MC-4 sequencer by Alex Ball is an excellent showcase of its programing process, as well as how arduous it was to make a full sequence. His channel in general is great if you’re into older synthesizers!

For a while only the R-Ban ones were on streaming, but two other CD ones were added to streaming as I was writing this post. Here’s hoping for more!

One oddity MartyMcFlies helpfully pointed out to me; there is a synthesizer album for the Odin: Photon Sailer Starlight film that’s titled “TPO Synthesizer” that has both original music used in the film and synth image covers of the film’s other BGM. “Digital Trip” is printed on the LP label itself, but without the “Synthesizer Fantasy” tagline (instead it’s “Digital Trip Original Soundtrack”). The DT tagline is not mentioned anywhere else in the album, and it does not seem to be included in any listings of the line. He has no idea what the situation behind this weird printing is, but he asked me to mention it regardless. Thanks Marty!

6/5/24:

As a part of the Super Hero Chronicles Albums for the Metal Heroes shows, the Sharivan Digital Trip is also now on streaming at the tail end of the fourth album.

[redinbluee]

Listen to me vent about my gcses (part 1)- (and there will definitely be more to come, so leave before I post again cause it won't be pleasant)

At this rate I'm actually gonna fail my gcses- just why the fuck did I promise my parents seven 9s out of ten gcses, how on earth am I supposed to do that. I have done absolutely nothing for the past month thanks to my executive dysfunction, but the problem is that my parents actually think that i did shit cause I've been lying (really shouldn't have), and they actually have faith in me?! Gosh the guilt is just piling up like a garbage dump and at some point it's just gonna all go tumbling down and crush my skull cause I kinda deserve it

(Here goes my annoying venting, I advise you to leave unless you enjoy my extra poetic storytelling and my insufferable personality)

So far I have only been confirmed two 9s, but that's fucking because these two 9s come from art and design & tech-oh I wonder why hmm well that's because art is literally my special interest so I've only been doing art this whole damn time (which it probably the reason why i got full marks which was just fucking extra, really should've devoted this time to something else). And the only reason why I'm not dying in Design & technology is because the tech assistant forced me to come up to the block three times a week to work on my project which actually worked and I somehow managed to accomplish some shit. Taking in account of the fact that I did DT and art together, you may probably tell that I am currently in quite an unfortunate situation if you are familiar with gcses

While I did manage to scrape three 9s in triple science in mocks, my brain is now telling me that it was a trap. There is a high chance that I won't be able to scrape three 9s again cause I actually fucking revised for those mocks, but I've gotten so lazy these past couple of months because of god knows what?! These mocks were evil isw it boosted my confidence wayy too much and now I just can't push myself to work because my brain tells me that "wEll iF yoU gOt 3 9s iN yOUr MocKs- you will DeFinAteLY get them again in the real thing! cause that's how it works right..." With my brain constantly in war with my body, no shit will be done- the only thing I would do is accidentally spark the beginning of WW3

Secondly, MaThs and GeOgRapHy. So I got 2 8s for maths and geo in my mocks which was kinda shit. According to my parents, I'm AsIaN, so I shouldn't be getting an 8 in maths- I've been making myself falsely believe that I'm actually good at maths but I'm simply shit. My dumbass was already forced into doing mountains of past papers thanks to my demonic hag of a teacher and I have absorbed absolutely nothing from those papers- Thanks to the fact that I chose the most amazing seat in the classroom where I appear to almost look invisible to the teacher, (guess what, it's the back corner seat) so she seems to have forgotten that I existed which may be both good or bad. But this ultimately does not help my current situation as this seat has made me wayy too comfortable- which is exactly why I didn't do shit in class for the past two months. Don't even get me stared with geography, I have done absolutely nothing for that.

FrEnCH

Now I have low hopes for French. This is one out of three subjects where it is simply impossible for me to get a 9. Over the course of two years, all I've accomplished was- annoy my partner to the point where we've just mutually decided to leave and switch seats. You may ask, Val how did you do that- thanks to autism, I was stimming (surprise surprise), but I was also constantly staring into her laptop because I had this chronic feeling that she was talking shit about me every lesson so I was just MoNitOrinG her behaviour (okay this is just simply messed up). Not only did I annoy my partner, I have also rightfully proven to my french teacher that I am simply insufferable and a waste of space and time. Due to my passive aggressive approach towards coping through these cursed french lessons, my teacher- obviously has given up on me. The bar is at rock bottom. Just last week, I had my french speaking exam- which I actually prepared for, god knows how I did that, but that's just the bare minimum. Allow me to recall exactly what happened.

I walk in, my hopes were low- they were drowning in the three metre end of the pool. I was given the photocard and roleplay and I was ushered into the opposite room to prepare for it. I flip the cards with my clammy, wet and disgusting hands- expecting to catch glimpse of hell. But hold up, these cards were- they were kinda easy ngl. So I had a vague idea about what to say and I was getting hopeful for the first time in months, my hands were moving like a fucking motor while I was squeezing out every ounce of vocabulary out of my brain. For once, I knew what the fuck I was doing. So 12 minutes passed and I was greeted by the presence of my french teacher (although she probably despises me, she is a wonderful teacher, really nice woman who smiled all the time, obviously, she didn't deserve my treatment, I love her as a person but I just simply hate the subject and the people my class) I stuttered quite a bit, jumbled up my tenses from time to time which was quite bad but my teacher was really encouraging. Finished the exam, and she told me I did well, couldn't tell if she was lying or not. I still have this feeling that she purposefully gave me the easy cards and questions simply because I have set the bar so low to the point where she had to selectively choose easier questions that would ensure me a pass- that's kinda sad lmao

Onto english- this is where it gets fucking messy

I have already accepted that I would probably completely flunk english. I hate the subject and got absolutely garbage grades in my mock. For english language, I wrote the most messed up creative writing my teacher has probably ever witnessed. All I did was- recycle the plot of Look Back by Fujimoto, but instead of murder I turned the death into a su*cide, I sprinked in some *personal trauma* and I subtly made it into a wlw fanfic. Not only that, I also recycled parts of Kat's poem from 10 things I hate about you and just stuck it in there because why not. You may imagine the mess that this writing actually is already. Under the pressures of time, my creativity was suppressed- making good use of my broad knowledge in films and manga, I bunched up my favourite plot points and quotes and cooked it up into something absolutely horrifying. This story was so messed up to the point where my teacher had to walk up to my desk after the exam and chat about my mental state. Wasn't fun, would not recommend- 0/10 experience. Ended up lying to her about the fact that this creative writing was half inspired by my life, told her that the piece was solely "inspired by my favourite works" and that I added in su*icide for "dramatic effect".

And I will 10/10 fail english literature without a doubt, I have given up long ago, and I will not willingly torture myself by forcing myself to learning these cursed texts. Expecting a 5 or lower. Don't care.