#kagepro: fan pvs

[dittydipity]

what is kagepro? - a quick guide

you may be seeing the word "kagepro" around a whole bunch, especially during august, but what the hell is it?

you may have heard or seen something from kagepro without realizing it! you know that vocaloid song, kagerou daze, about the kids who get hit by a truck and are stuck in a timeloop of saving each other? that's actually one of the songs from kagepro.

kagepro, short for the kagerou project, is a series created by vocaloid composer jin (also known as shizen no teki-p). it's a mixed media series that has music, manga, an anime, movie, a radio talk show, books, etc but i’ll try to keep it simple!

basic premise: people who die on 8/15 are taken to another world called the kagerou daze and if they return to the real world, they will have gained a “snake ability” that will turn their eyes red when used. a group of teens that have these abilities form a little gang but are thrown into an endless timeloop.

THE MEDIA

if you want to get into it, there’s a bunch of different ways you can do it, but do keep in mind: each form of media is NOT just a different adaptation of the story.

kagepro is a timeloop story, and each form of media is actually a different timeline (or “route”). the music videos, the anime, the manga, the books - each one is only a piece of the whole story. that’s why many people may have seen the anime, mekakucity actors, and gotten super confused because the anime is actually one of the last routes haha.

but the order of media that has been generally agreed upon to be the most coherent is music videos -> manga -> light novels -> anime

a lot of kagepro media, esp the light novels and manga, are hard to find since they’re almost entirely out of print, but there’s translations or e-book versions of them available, or if you skip them there’s summaries that people have made. you can also ask me if you want :]

music videos

i’ve actually made a couple playlists for the songs! one is in release order and the other is in story chronological order (mostly).

release order: - i tried to get all the original ia/miku versions of the songs with the original pv if there was one - a couple might be a little out of order since some songs came out together in the same album

this is the order that fans got the music, so if you want to try to figure things out and put things together the way we did you can go with this order!

chronological order: - tried to grab some english covers where i could, but if you don’t like eng covers there are plenty of noneng covers or you can use the videos from the other playlist. there's plenty of really great covers out there! - exceptions to the “chronological”: children record acts as the cover/opening song for the series and summertime record is the ending song for the series - some songs aren’t in here bc they’re not part of the music route (they’re mostly from the newer albums and are kinda like ‘epilogue’ songs after the ending of the anime/good ending or are songs made for the anime)

THE STORY

if you don't want to go through all the media yourself, here’s a video explaining the whole story by breadbox/david toth! he also has other really great kagepro videos

[a bit of an extra] a very common misconception about the story/mechanics: people do not have to die in pairs or with somebody else on 8/15 to enter the daze. i didn’t realize this myself until super recently

all in all, the kagerou project is a story about finding strength and support from the people around you, moving on to look towards the future, and overcoming trauma.

there’s definitely other people who have also made guides or summaries or videos that are much better and cover much more than i did, but i hope this was a decent introduction!

feel free to reach out and/or ask me anything! i'm sure there are also plenty of people who would be willing to help newcomers understand kagepro as well :]

happy kagerou day!

[yuukei-yikes]

when i was a kid and first watched the pvs that were out at the moment, when i got to yuukei yesterday i thought i was in another project entirely and there was probably an error in the song guide i was using. so im once again thinking about the specific vibe of haruka and takane's story. teehee!

jin went out of his way to write a slice of life highschool romance that at first sets up an angst completely unrelated to the actual Red Eyes plot, and then throws those characters into the plot where they undergo visceral bodily transformations against their wills... crazy

everyone has a tragic story and some are so over the top in best kagepro fashion (kido's childhood, hibiya and hiyori's timeloop, ayaki's entire existence) and a lot of insane shit just sorta happens all the time. like as sick as i personally am of seeing the terrorist attack from reading it so many times, i can see any new kagepro fan like what the hell. like it's so fucking random

but man. haruka and takane's story has such a specific genre by itself and it's HORROR of all things. i wouldn't describe kagepro's genre as "horror", rather just sci-fi and drama with heavy themes and imagery. but haruka and takane's story has its own tone because it DOES feel like horror. their crazy scientist teacher is possessed and kidnaps them and "experiments" on them like Bro there's HORROR MOVIES WITH CRAZY SIMILAR PLOTS. i really truly think one of the reasons kagepro is this messy and full of plots that feel different from each other is that jin was really really REALLY experimenting with ALL the genres.

you know that thing about characters making bad choices because they don't know in what genre they're in, so they can be in a horror while they think they're on a romance drama. that's sort of it with them. haruka and takane's biggest problems up to that august 15th were haruka's health and takane's poor eq. and then all of a sudden they're both half alive inside some tank in the secret underground lab. wtf. hilarious honestly

[euporie-art]

Hi what's kagerou project about? I tried to get into it a while ago but it was a little overwhelming (got halfway through the anime, stopped and forgot almost everything) but I'm curious it seems interesting and fun

YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU HAVE UNLEASHED.

okay so, the thing is with kagepro is that it's a multimedia project. it started as a vocaloid song series, but also has manga, light novels, audio dramas, the anime, and a short film that nobody cares about.

the entire project is a time loop, essentially, with each piece of media showing a different (or multiple) loops. the anime timeline is the very last timeline so you started at the end. common mistake, don't worry!!! the songs tell whats considered the standard loops, but it can be a bit tricky to piece everything together, especially for someone who hasn't been into it for as long as i have

I've been a huge fan of kagepro since I was around 11? 12? the characters are all very dear to my heart but my favourite is tsubomi kido! She was my transmasc awakening (shes canonically cis but.... trans man in my heart) and has a storyline of learning to trust other people and exist as a person instead of just wanting to vanish all the time.

for a good summary of all of the lore, I recommend this summary by the bread box on youtube. ( he also has a lot of good character analysis videos on there!) if you'd rather go by the media yourself and piece things together in your own time...

There are three albums! the order is absolutely not chronological, but in release order:

Mekakucitydays (spotify, youtube+ music videos if applicable*)

Mekakucity records (spotify, youtube+ music videos if applicable)

Mekakucity reload (spotify, youtube+ music videos if applicable)

some of the subtitles in the videos may be a little janky, my apologies. if anything seems wonky, i reccomend checking the fanwiki's translations.

there is also mekakucity M's 2, which is just the anime soundtrack plus human vocal covers of some preexisting kagepro songs

you can find english scans of the manga here

you can find english translations of the light novels here

you can find the anime here

also, here's the wiki link! fandomwiki sucks but the kagepro one is well-kept imo

it can be a little tricky to get into since most of the eng translations rely on fandom sourcing since its primarily a jp fanbase. and also its old as fuck. also, the project has pretty much reached its conclusion, so new media is extremely sparse. to my knowledge, the last time we got anything was a 2021 remix version of the song children record. there was supposed to be a new anime and a new manga and light novel, but no word on that since 2019 unfortunately.

i reccomend starting with the songs! I can't think of a single kagepro song i dislike honestly, they're all pretty solid early vocaloid rock songs.

if you have any questions at all, my dms and askbox are open!! i love talking about kagepro :D

(also, fun side note! most of the events of the story take place in a time loop of august 14th and 15th, so these days are considered fandom holidays. the kagepro fandom is practically non existent unless its august)

*note on the music videos: a few early kagepro PVs were made before JIN began working with good artists on the project so they kinda... suck ass a bit. i'll be using popular fan PVs in their place, especially JIN ended up working with the artists who made a few of them for future releases

[bluebeerg]

2

2. Eine Kleine, English Cover by rachie

okay now THIS is the song i thought would be number 1 .. it’s a song that i keep coming back to because i��m either 1) blorbo thinking about it, or 2) i’ve got the first two verse stuck in my head .. which. i will say, kind of a long song

i will say, i don’t particularly care for the piano arrange in rachie’s cover but, as far as english covers go (i need them for the mind PMVs), lyrically i do like this one the best

very funny, for my years of being into KagePro, i think this year is the first time i’ve ever really listened to/gotten into this popular fan PV. my favourite frames have to be in the first two verse again, where Azami faces Tsukihiko and especially Hibiya and Hiyori lying there peacefully in death. I really do like Shintaro and Ayano’s little bit too .. and Azami praying .. this is all kind of evident by my favourite lyrics haha .. it just goes so well .. very good PV

speaking of which, they would either have to be “If I were to go through life living just to take somebody else's place / Then I would rather have been born as a pebble, living out my peaceful days / Then maybe we could then avoid misunderstandings too / And then maybe I would never have ever gotten to know you” or “Pretending not to understand, we turned the other cheek / I’m sure one day we’ll laugh again as the cycle then repeats”

Give me a number (1-100) and I’ll give you the corresponding song from my Spotify Wrapped YouTube Recap 😁

[dittydipity]

adding onto this bc kagepro my love my light my everything. that's a great overview/summary of kagepro but i'll go a little more in depth if you're interested:

kagepro is a project created by vocaloid composer jin (also known as shizen no teki-p) is indeed a mixed media series that has music, manga, an anime, movie, radio talk shows, books, etc but i'll try to keep it simple

THE MEDIA

if you ever want to get into it, there's a bunch of different ways you can do it, but do keep in mind: each form of media is NOT just a different adaptation of the story. since kagepro is a timeloop story, each media (music, anime, manga, etc) is actually a different timeline (or "route"). each one is a piece of the whole story. that's why many people may have seen the anime, mekakucity actors, since that is one of the most accessible forms of media, and been super confused because the anime is actually one of the last routes haha.

but the order of media that has been generally agreed upon to be the most coherent is music videos -> manga -> light novels -> anime

a lot of kagepro media, esp the light novels and manga, are hard to find since they're almost entirely out of print, but there's translations or e-book versions of them available, or if you skip them there's summaries that people have made. you can also ask me if you want :]

music videos

i've actually made a couple playlists for the songs! one is in release order and the other in story chronological order (mostly).

release order: - i tried to get all the original ia/miku versions of the songs with the original pv if there was one - a couple might be a little out of order since some songs came out together in the same album

this is the order that fans got the music, so if you want to try to figure things out and put things together the way we did you can go with this order!

chronological order: - tried to grab some english covers where i could, but if you don't like eng covers there are plenty of noneng covers or you can use the videos from the other playlist - exceptions to the "chronological": children record acts as the cover/opening song for the series and summertime record is the ending song for the series - some songs aren't in here bc they're not part of the music route (they're mostly from the newer albums and are kinda like 'epilogue' songs after the ending of the anime route or songs made for the anime)

THE STORY

here's a summary of the plot by breadbox/david toth! he also has other kagepro videos that are great

what blazernot said in the prev rb is essentially the main plot of kagepro! people who die on 8/15 are taken to another world called the kagerou daze and if they return to the real world, they will have gained a "snake ability" that will turn their eyes red when used. a little gang of ability users are trying to break out of the timeloop they've been thrown into.

(i will however dispute a very common misconception: people do not have to die in pairs or with somebody else on 8/15 to enter the daze. i didn't realize this until super recently)

all in all, the kagerou project is a story about finding strength and support from the people around you, moving on to look towards the future, and overcoming trauma.

sorry if this went on long, but i hope it made sense?

there's def people who have made guides or summaries that are much better than this, i tried to keep this brief and didn't go much into the story so hope this was okay too!

what is kagepro

[fuckyeahkagepro]

Kagerou Project Fandom History ~ Fanmade Covers & Mixes Kagerou Days Fanmade PV (Wannyanpuu) x Rolling Girl PV (Wowaka) original title (for this fanmade pv x Vocaloid edit): 【マッシュアップ】カゲロウガール【カゲロウデイズ×ローリンガール】

“ Kagerou Girl ” (“ Heat-Haze Girl ”)

from here *; this fanmade video originally uploaded January 07, 2012 (*not by Wannyanpuu; by a fan, keybow)

Rolling Girl pv subbed in English: here

Wannyanpuu’s fanmade pv was originally uploaded Dec. 17, 2011 (*Note: Wannyanpuu’s pv was non-canon for the main Kagepro series.)

Sidu’s original pv for Jin’s song was originally uploaded Sept. 30, 2011.

The original producer of “Rolling Girl”, Wowaka, has passed away.

Please help support if you can ;;

[mint1eaves]

I just saw the blog and your milk post and proceeded to think you know everything about milk and began to question everything about milk. That's why I sent my ask in, anyways. I'm just a boi with no account, but you've made me curious about the law of anime milk.

well then im glad i got to be the one to introduce you to the ~mysterious role of milk in anime~ or something

and sadly i do not yet know all there is to milk in anime BUT once my exams are over i am going to be watching a lot and writing down every mention of milk so stay tuned, im gonna share my findings

[lemystical-puffle]

*kicks down door*

It’s my tumblr and I get to choose my content

So here we go

Assigning the Kagerou Project Songs to each group from Project Sekai

(VBS gets 1 less from everyone else because they have Yobanashi Deceive already)

(Songs are in no order)

Lost Time Memory: The style of songs I’ve been seeing in Leo is this kind of indie rock, songs with a lot of instrumentals and guitar, along with being on a more darker side. I feel like Lost Time Memory perfectly fits this description and wouldn’t be surprised if it gets assigned to them in the future.

Headphone Actor: Like LTM, this song fits the aesthetic of indie rock to a T, but I feel like the lyrics fit as well. With the song being about running towards a goal, discovering feelings, and: well honestly I don’t have anything else I just feel like the style fits and I like the song leave me alone

Toumei Answer: Another one I can’t really explain, it’s just a gut feeling. There’s not much I can put here, I just... I don’t know man I just feel like this song goes here

Summertime Record: I love summertime record, way to much, and I love the voices of Leo/Need sooo.... (Jkjk this isn’t biasy I swear. Plus my favorite is wXs but no one asked), yet again, I feel like it’s the vibes here that makes me put this song here. Just the idea that the ending being with the beginning, if that makes since, I just... I goes here.

(There was going to be only 4 for each but I feel like I should give Fireworks at the Summers End an honorable mention here)

Kiseragi Attention:wow look at that the idol characters song goes in the idol group, who would have guessed. Well you know what, it fits. A group of girls who quit being idols, a song about a girl who’s an idol and hates the attention, It just feels perfect. Not to mention the vibes are fantastic

Yuukei Yesterday: listen, out of context, this song is nothing more than a cute song about a Tsundere wanting to tell her crush she likes him. And I feel like the up-beat vibes fit in with MORE MORE JUMP perfectly :) Also I mean- Airi-

Imagination Forest: I was debating putting in this song, with it being so plot heavy and since project Sekai shortens the songs, it may feel weird, especially since the song itself has very different vibes than the other MORE MORE JUMP songs, but I feel like if cut right, then it could be seen as a simple cute story song. Now I don’t think this would be a song to get a PV or be an Event Song, but more one of those songs that just appear in the shop that you vibe to occasionally.

Lost Day Hour: or as I call it, “summertime record but I don’t want to cry as hard.” I feel like this song is one of those where it sounds so chirpy and the music doesn’t fit the lyrics, and I feel like that works so well with MORE MORE JUMP, so uh yeah it’s here now. Shut up I never said this was going to be a good list.

Outer Science: I know, shocking. Okay okay sorry, I know a lot of people have said this before, but I mean come on. Outer Science in VBS, please. Let them scream the womb. Though my one thing is I don’t know who would sing it. I can’t imagine any VS other than IA singing this song, but I don’t want it to feel to similar to Yobanashi Deceive. Maybe a girls solo? Maybe a group song? I don’t know but I know it needs in.

Kagerou Days: Yes VBS gets both iconic songs I’m sorry but where else could a song about death go??/j I feel like VBS has the right vocal range to do this song justice, maybe make it into a duet for both Hibiya and Hiyori, though I don’t know if this is the type of song to get a MV or not, because while it technically has an official one, the fan made one is more well known and the official one could distract the player with the fast text.

Children Record: I have 3 main reasons. 1) VBS is a mixed gender group and so the lyrics “boys and girls.” Don’t feel as weird. 2) A rock-ish song about a group of people with powers with an aesthetic of street art and graffiti??? 3) Daze isn’t an option so this is my second best choice. (I would totally make them do Daze, they could do Daze so well and I would kill for it, hOwEvEr I don’t know how much it counts because it was originally sung by MARiA and the IA version is only a cover.

There’s no 4. They have Yobanashi Deceive

Otsukimi Recital: I was struggling with wXs, with both the group and Kagerou Project having such different vibes that it was hard to figure out what would go here, but I feel like this song is one that definitely belongs. While yes, it’s an idol song, it has the right about of cheerful vibes, those of wanting to make people happy, that I feel like it fits right in with the bright wonderland group.

Konoha’s State of the World: Okay listen, I know this song is really hecking dark, but you know what? wXs has some dark songs, so they can have some Konoha No Sekaijijou thank you very much. I feel like this could be a a Tenma, Rui and KAITO song, simply because I can’t see any of the girls singing this song.

Shonen Brave: Listen, a song about a scared boy who finds courage in helping a scared girl, thats what this song is (leaving out the whole eye powers and dying and medusa bits), and I feel like this could be a Rui and Nene song, since Rui had made the Nenerobo since she couldn’t talk to people, and the song is about finding courage, but then again I’m not all to familiar with the story so I could be wrong.

Imaginary Reload, Shissou World, or My Funny Weekend: I feel like either one of these songs has potential to be a wXs song, but I don’t really have any reasoning behind it, hense why there are 2 songs here but nothing else. Oops 

Jinzou Enemy: This song just screams 25-ji to me. The dark yet somehow hopeful lyrics, the dark aesthetic, I feel like this is the second most fitting song for this group (we’ll get to the first in a bit), and I also feel like this song is criminally underrated, so having it be reborn and covered would just be amazing in its own right. 

Additional Memory: Now the most fitting song for 25-ji is Additional Memory and I will not be taking criticism. The lyrics of Additional Memory talk about being trapped in some unknown world, being lost angry confused, and living with regrets. I am sorry but if that doesn’t just scream 25-ji then uh well I don’t know the story so don’t tell me and ruin my fun. I feel like the Daze and their Sekai have a lit of similarities in just vibes alone, so having a song that takes place in the daze feels just given. Please let them sing Additional Memory.

Ayano’s Theory of Happiness: Okay okay, I know this sounds weird. A song about sisterhood where only one character is a sibling and their relationship doesn’t mirror Ayano’s and her siblings at all, but here me out. I feel like them singing about these kinds of connections, songs about self sacrifice, regret and dreams, I just feel like it fits. I really have nothing else to say here.

I know I already used Lost Time Memory but you know what screw it I’m using it twice because I absolutely can. I feel like if Shintaro were to go in any group, he would be put right into 25-ji despite being a male and I think his song deserves to be mentioned here. I really don’t have much to say, other than Kanade is also a Hikikomori so she should get center.

Not really a 5, just briefly mentioning Marry’s fictional world here because I feel like I absolutely should.

Afterwords: This is 100 percent not a “songs that should be in project sekai” post. As you could see, a lot of the songs I had mentioned were based on vibes alone and don’t really fit. This post was simply me sorting Kagepro songs into Project Sekai because I thought it would be fun, and needed somewhere to put these thoughts I’ve been having. In conclusion, let 25-ji Night Chord de sing Additional Memory.

[dapperrokyuu]

Yesterday was Kagepro Day, but I was too tired/preoccupied to do anything, lmao. Here’s this playlist I made a bit ago of Kagepro covers I thought best fit the song (note: does not necessarily mean it’s the best cover imo). Then I added some fan PVs and then songs I enjoyed a lot and then some covers that I thought were the best of each song (this part is unfinished tho, burned out, lmao). If you enjoy this, I’m glad!

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOLf53RDMAt0yKJOjUSYkmVv7KuICXCOM

[yoomster]

Who is yaki? I can't find much of anything on her??

Hello! This information is in my About page and i’ll just copy and paste it here:

Q: Who’s Yaki?A: To sum it up, Yaki is Shintaro’s eye ability, the Snake of Retaining Eyes (“目に焼き付ける, Me ni Yakitsukeru”).

“Yaki” is her fandom nickname.Her existence has been known since Mekakucity Actors, just not explicitly stated. 

She is actually the Ayano that speaks at the very, very start of MCA Episode 1 and is depicted as Ayano in her black middle school uniform WITHOUT a scarf. She also is shown explicitly as a snake in the Route XX scene in MCA Episode 11, where she explains to Shintaro who she is.

For a long time the fandom knew that she was a sentient being that looks and sounds like Ayano but doesn’t act like her and no one really knew why, so the Japanese fandom created a personality for her, which is the Yaki I like to draw now. People (including me) tend to like to draw her with the classic red Kagepro eyes, snake scales on her cheeks (like Mary), and sometimes fangs.

Kagepro Manga spoilers below:

Manga chapters 69 revealed that Yaki is actually Ayano from the second route in the manga (also called Manga Route 2 by other fans). She traded her life to become Shintaro’s eye ability so that he can remember the Tragedy and one day stop it. This also means that this manga route took place way before Mekakucity Actors and even the timeline(s) shown in the song PVs, or at least Lost Time Memory.

Since then her personality and appearance is shown to be completely different from that of fanon Yaki’s, but I still enjoy fanon Yaki a LOT and even wrote an entire fic where she more or less can still fit in canon.

[a-bagel-with-a-fedora]

👖📕😔📖

👖 if you had to wear one character’s clothes for a month, who would you pickprobably depends on if i can take layers off ?????? since it’s summer lol (why are they all wearing jackets in the summer????? kagepro questions that will never be answered)but i already have kano’s hoodie and i love it, and it’s pretty light so not too bad to wear in the summer as well :3📕 favorite retelling of Azami’s storyim not super sure what this means >:0 but uhh yeah shinigami record is nice (?)😔 most underappreciated songcopy pasted from my twitter where i’ve answered a few of these already:UH… i dont think i have any good opinions since the ones i like are the most popular ones… but maybe gunjou rain or marry’s fictional world? they’re both pretty good but i found like no covers of them when i looked((my answer now is definitely gunjou rain. all the songs without PVs seem underrated though))📖 how and when did you find out about kagepro/what got you into it GHKSKDGHKJS IT’S A REALLY CONVOLUTED STORY (fittingly enough)so when i was 13 (2014) i was in Flipnote Hatena, an old animation community for the nintendo DSi, and there were a lot of gorgeous japanese animations using kagepro characters… but it was ONLY japanese, and i had no japanese knowledge at the time - so i had no idea how to even find out the name of the series??but i was really drawn in by konoha’s design (wow i got obsessed… the only other character design that’s done that to me was komaeda) and once again the animations. were. REALLY goodlots and lots of google translate and hard work later i finally came up with “mayfly project” and i think i found the real name soon after that, after which i proceeded to read the entire wikipedia page on it (without even knowing which names were who lol)even then, i still set it aside for a while because there was an anime coming soon and i had no patience for manga (i dont remember what my deal was with the song series - if i even knew it existed or if i watched it at that point - but i was really sucked in when i did watch it, THAT was a crazy experience)SO i finally got into it when mekakucity actors came out!!! that doesn’t mean i’m an mca fan lol but i got super into it and got to share that experience with a bunch of other fans i met in a facebook RP group… that was very very good times (hibi/tortillakun is from that group and still my best friend!!!!!!!!!!!)thank you for asking!!!!!!!!!!

[kaghero]

🎥🗣️🚌📷 i know u said u dont require asks but i thought i'd send u some anyway 😊 thanks for reblogging my ask game!

Oh! Thank you, that's so sweet of you!

And thank you for making it!

Favorite PVs:

I really like Lost Time Memory, it's very dense with information and raises just the right amount of questions for me to chew on. The art and depth of meaning of each second of visual is also really nice

On the flipside I really like Toumei Answer. Mostly for the song, but I enjoy the very personal visuals as well. There's a lot of small things with big significance, like her wrapping the scarf around him (which is also in LTM) and the oragami. I'm also a fan of the chain link fence

Which character/story do you think the next song should be about

Oh this is tough. A lot of characters would do great with a song, but who needs it most? I'd love a song from Tsukihiko, but that's unlikely. Seto deserves one, but he needs more content first.

I'd say either Kano or Hiyori

Kano's past and a lot of his present is covered in Night Tales, but that's broad stokes. Something to do with his future, if he wants to change or not, would be nice. Or a song that's more personal, about his feelings and experiences in the dan, showing his resolve to be a liar or something.

Hiyori is more obvious, she really doesn't get a lot of anything outside the novels

What random thing always makes you think about the project

Oh this is tough... my merch is usually a sure fire way, but that's not very random! 

Some songs have a few notes that in my mind perfectly match a kagepro song, and some take me back to them without fail. Can't remember which ones right now though!

Favorite design of a character

They all have very good, iconic designs if you ask me. Favorite...

I think it has to be Kano, I just love that hoodie. And I'm a sucker for his odd peasant shirt under it too. Asymmetrical haircut and 'fox eyes' don't hurt his case either

Thank you for the ask! It's always fun ^^

[starspatter]

Main ships from kagepro?

Hoo boy.  I’ll preface this by saying I don’t strongly ship anyone in Kagepro and personally prefer all their relationships to remain platonic within the story itself.  (Which isn’t to say I don’t wish them happiness with a potential romantic partner someday if they so choose, but it’s not my main objective of the series.)

That said, let’s get the first out of the way…

ShinAya: I have a lot of mixed feelings on this pair.  As much as the tragedy of it hurts me, as far as attraction goes I don’t understand why Ayano would fall for Shintaro in the first place (pun not intended).  He honestly treated her like shit before she died (although he’s definitely improved a lot since then as a result), so it doesn’t make sense to me why she’d harbor romantic feelings towards him initially. >.> As a friend she wants to help through his depression, certainly.  But wanting to pursue anything beyond that at the time is unhealthy IMO, and I really wish Jin hadn’t officially confirmed she had a crush on him/made it the entire focus of her new song…

KanoKido: I used to kinda ship this when I first got into Kagepro, but in the “angsty” sense where I liked the idea of Kano being jealous over Kido actually having a crush on Seto? *shrug* Nowadays I just see them all as siblings, although I don’t deny there’s a special spark there.  The banter bw them is cute (if a bit uncomfortable when it crosses into violent territory given Kano’s past).  I’m mostly indifferent to it now, although the amount of hate the pair gets kinda scares/puts me off significantly. =/ It just makes me sad to see so much fighting within the fandom itself over something like this, and wish people would just let others ship what they want in peace.

SetoMarry: This pair means a lot to me symbolically since Imagination Forest was one of the first songs that got me into the series, and it never fails to make me cry as a result.  As far as actual compatibility goes, it is a little bit squicky if you think about the deeper implications - and even sadder when you realize Marry will eventually outlive Seto. ;( As they are currently though, they are the pure definition of “adorable”.

HaruTaka/KonoEne (for the sake of simplicity I’m counting them as one even though I’m aware Konoha is technically a different entity): I didn’t think much of HaruTaka at first, seeing it as simply a typical “tsun-tsun” ship.  However, I do like that Takane has a legitimate reason for liking Haruka, in that he brightens her day by being able to smile despite his pain/approaching death, and she genuinely admires him for that.  It’s something I think was only really addressed in the manga, so I wish MCA would’ve also explored her inner emotions, showing how he inspires her to keep living life to the fullest (her supposed “suicide” in the manga notwithstanding…)

HibiHiyo: While I thought the pair would be cute at first based on Wannyanpuu’s PV, the more I learned about the characters’ actual personalities the less appealing it became to me.  Hibiya is honestly pretty gross in the novels, and Hiyori’s domineering demeanor can be especially off-putting (although I admittedly like her a lot more in the manga where her bossiness came in handy to drive off Momo’s fans).  Nowadays I prefer to ship her with Damian from Batman instead. *shot*

HibiMomo: I actually quite like this pair, since they’re a mirror of ShinAya, and thus also representative of the theme of “moving on” IMO.  (Assuming we ignore MCA’s ending, since I honestly think both Ayano and Hiyori should’ve stayed dead.)  They remind me a lot of Damian’s and Steph’s dynamic, and while the “bratty little brother” trope might not work in a serious relationship now, I do think Hibiya has room to grow and mature, which Momo can help him with.  (Whereas Shintaro has less of an excuse to act shitty due to his age IMO.)

[fuyuyuu]

Have I mentioned it here before? I love Yobanashi Deceive and Kano so much that I transformed from a KagePro fan to a fervent *cough rabid cough* KagePro fan. I lost 4.5 kg in 2 weeks after getting too attached to the song. It even gave me the motivation to go Japan to study and well get the 100% tuition scholarship for 4 years at my university.

I can list the above so lightly now but even now I still really appreciate the song, the PV and those who created it from the bottom of my heart. Thank you...!!

[polandspringz]

The Problem with Kagerou Project

The title of this post may make people sort of wary, considering I’m posting this on what is supposed to be a celebratory day, but let me be clear: The problem I have with this series is possibly one of the biggest things that makes me love it and hold it so dear.

It’s confusing, I know. But at the same time, I feel it’s very simple and obvious. Something other, early Kagerou Project fans will understand as well.

Ever since I discovered Mother’s Basement’s “Adapt or Die” series on Youtube, my subconscious have been slowly piecing together some of my nostalgia with the various failures of mine to get my friends into a Vocaloid song series, that also has a series of novels, and a manga, and a very disheartening anime adaption- but oh, no, you have to listen to the songs first, or else you won’t- and at this point in my passionate, albeit complicated, explanation to my friends about how great Kagerou Project is, I realized the fault in this series. It is quite possibly the fault- to some extent, in some other series as well.

Part of the fun and love I feel for Kagerou Project was the experience.

This is where I have to be a little specific to differentiate what I mean when I say that other series might have it to some extent. A lot of a show’s appeal is not only its general construction in technical things like sound, music, animation, story, and characters but also the journey it takes you on. While things like enjoyment scores have been faded out of many Youtube Anime reviewers score systems, it is still a topic that is prominently brought up in other debates. Videos by Glass Reflection and Mother’s Basement on the Anime Strike and Netflix debacle in licensing shows have presented the reasoning at Netflix that they want seasonal anime weekly instead of in a binge set up is because the consumers want to be able to make theories and discuss things right after they happen. This happens all the time with manga, of course, as those who read chapter by chapter instead of by tankobon join in on forums and post on Reddit or talk on podcasts all about what each individual frame or image could foreshadow or how emotions were portrayed and etcetera. It is even possible for shows that aired a long time ago to be appreciated by newcomers who could talk to their friends about what happened and avoid spoilers to have their own private analytical sessions so that the longevity of a show’s enjoyment factor can keep going even once a series has laid out all its cards and concluded.

The problem with Kagerou Project is that it is quite different.

As I mentioned above, we do have a light novel, manga, and anime series, all of which can fit into the appeal I described. However, there is another sector of this series, the earliest, and something of which only a select few of series at the time had: The songs. Nowadays we’ve got series like Honeyworks, Mikagura, and even one that went before Kagepro (and did not achieve the same fame), Shunennpro. Kagerou Project began with the song “Jinzou Enemy”, which was not only Jin’s first work, but also the first in the line of many different works to come. It was released on NND on February 17, 2011, and what were we given: A Vocaloid song by Miku with a girl that looked very much like Miku for the art. Not a lot to speak of. However, flash forward two years to March 29, 2013, and we’ve got the release of “Lost Time Memory”, the tenth song to be released, and what do we have now? Well, not only do we have ten songs in a series, but we’ve got a fully animated PV by the artist and animator Sidu and a fairly well established timeline that puts Jinzou Enemy in the middle of the Lost Time Memory PV in all the scenes where the character Shintarou is wearing a black sweatshirt, dubbed as Route XX. We also have two light novels now, but they are very early on in the series’ plot, and take place in the future, after the events of both songs, but in the second timeline occurring in the Lost Time Memory PV, probably.

With that alone, I hope I can help to start draw one’s eyes to the main difference Kagerou Project has over other series. Instead of getting a simple story that developed naturally, we were given one scrambled. For the earliest fans, you got essentially a plot diagram, a rather barebones one, to create a plot from. We had songs that told us sometimes about a certain character’s life or a main event in the series, and in a story about many timelines, many of us theorists had to struggle to figure out which song existed in each route or each branch of the timeline, only for Jin to throw us another bone and curveball with an animated video for one of the songs. “Kagerou Days” is probably the most notable example of this, and not just because it gave the series its name. The shocking imagery presented in the lyrics described to the listeners a major event, one that occurred for every character in some shape of form, on this exact day, August 15th. The strange thing about this song is that it took something that was not cannon, and it became cannon, as Wannyanpu’s PV for the song was originally a fan work, so despite it being rather fascinating, originally we had to only pull from the lyrics, and not the amazing animation we wanted to couple it with. And then, Wannyanpu was brought on the team, and suddenly we were allowed to use this animation as cannon- even if Hiyori’s and the “Heat Hazes’” appearances were not.

I entered the Kagerou Project rather gradually. I was a big Vocaloid fan at the time, and I remember listening to these songs and their videos but not connecting the dots quite yet. A lot of those Tumblr 30 Day Challenges often ask me what was the first song I heard, but I’m not even sure, because it could have been “Kagerou Days”, “Kisaragi Attention”, “Imagination Forest”, “Children Record”, or “Headphone Actor” which if we go by the creation of my Tumblr, places me at some point in 2012 when I first really discovered the fandom lying beneath this whole series of songs I was enjoying independently. At this point, I had missed out on about eight songs, each with their own long stretches of time in between them that forced fans all over to struggle to grasp some sort of story from these songs. It was after “Kisaragi Attention” that the first light novel was released, and I missed that and the second one too, and I’m sure at the time, old fans of the series might have been experiencing the same thing many of us now are dealing with now that the series is largely concluded. When new people come in, there is so much catching up to do, and while you are explaining what the person missed, explaining things that are now chronological and linear that you had so much fun piecing together for months, over a course of a year, you start to realize that, although this series is amazing to you, and might soon become amazing to that new person, there is a chunk of it they are missing. A chunk of it that you can only explain, a chunk they cannot experience, not ever in the same way the community did, when it fought to translate lyrics liberally or directly to get the most out of song’s meaning, its story. All the fun you had with that, all the work you did, you just helped make the story easier to understand, and while that person may be able to read that part of the story in the light novel or watch the songs and produce theories of their own before they hear yours, it’s pointless really. We know what the songs mean, we know where they fit. We know your theories are wrong. What the new people don’t know is that you had the same theory a year ago, back when we only had one or two or three songs and no light novel. What they cannot experience is those intense periods of joy when a new song comes out that gives you more to work with. Well, they could, I could, because at that time, we were only eight songs in.

I was in the side of the fandom that only really paid attention to the songs. I never could get into the light novel at the time, because it hadn’t been licensed in the US yet, and wouldn’t be for another three years. It was hard to find good translations online at the time, and it was hard to enjoy something that I had been introduced to as an audio and visual work in a literature format, despite myself having no problems with books. Light novels themselves bothered me, and I did not quite yet grasp the difference between them and normal “western” novels. So, whatever theories were brewing during each new release, I for the most part ignored, and learned along the way when I made an error in a theory I published because I was missing a crucial detail revealed in a novel. I learned from fanfictions, from things other people wrote and what they thought, and together as a community we turned the plot diagram into a story as Jin continued to fill in the pieces. I was an active reader of the manga when I could find a fan translation, but that got hard to find as well, and it was not up as fast and lyrics were. So, I continued to stick mainly to the musical side of the series, the original side. And it was there that I found the section of time that revealed to me how much I loved this series and how different it was from other.

I am certain a lot of what I’ve already said could be completely applied to anyone entering a series. Catching up to One Piece is a job in its own right, and as I’ve done it and then fallen away, I always find myself experiencing it in a new way than those who grew up with it, because nostalgia does play a large role in our enjoyment of things. But, I still believe the media difference in Kagerou Project compared to other series is what makes it special and this enjoyment thing so vastly different. The emotions that Jin drew from us, not from his writing, but from how he released the story and built it through this schedule, it felt like as he was creating this series, we too were creating it alongside him. It was something born from songs, and maybe our theories, those written on Japanese blogs, maybe they helped him write some of the different routes later on too. The feelings I have about this series, I see them summed up in the time between August 31, 2013 and September 2, 2013. Those who have gone through this will know what I’m talking about. On the first date, we were given the video for Outer Science. The song had already been released on an album, but it was now we got a music video. I remember being told by many upset fans it was to be the last video of the series, and that was it (I do not remember if the anime was announced before or after this, but it seemed liked the end was near for all of us at the time). What this song entailed was the “Bad End” of the series, similar to how many videos game have. We were treated to a song where the villain of the series, one of Azami’s snakes, who we dubbed Kuroha when in Konoha’s body, was killing all of the characters before the “Queen”, Mary, and how he kept taunting her to reset. Yes, the last music video we got for a series we all held dear was one were we could make out characters were getting tossed in front of cars and being decapitated, and while none of this was explicitly shown in gruesome, the mere idea that we could see Kuroha dragging Seto away by his collar but not visualize his head was too much for us. I, myself, joined in on the parade of people making really terrible fan art that depicted the blood as “jam” and Seto, Kuroha, and Mary were all sitting around jolly having a good time. It was one of the biggest disillusioned denials in any anime fandom. So, disheartened by the images we had been given and sad that our beloved series was coming to an end, this went on for two days.

And then-

On the second date, September 2, 2013, we were given a wonderful surprise.

The “Good End” of the series, the song titled “Summertime Record” was released with a music video, depicted Haruka Kokonose, back in his body, no longer Kuroha or Konoha, a slightly new appearance. Everyone was alive, everyone was happy. The whole song sang about the good memories shared and the video depicted reflection and spoke of nostalgia, and showed the entire gang in the future, back together again, going their separate ways. All of us began crying at the sight of this video. We had been played by Jin, Sidu, the whole team. They had evoked despair in us, and then toyed with us for two days and then said, “No, we can’t leave them like that”, and granted us our good ending. We were given a proper farewell to the series, or what would have been a proper farewell, and sent along with a message from the creators through dialogue that flashed on the screen at the end of the video.

One of the biggest issues I have with getting people into this series is I never know where to tell them to start. It’s so hard for me to tell them “Just go watch the anime”, because the 2014 anime was bad and although it helped bring more people into the fandom, it did not cause the same affect, it did not take us on the same journey that we had over the course of 4 years (now 7?) I also have the problem of telling them to read the light novels or manga, because, at the time of me writing this, we have one novel left to be published. The manga is more of a wild card, as many fans are angry at Jin’s writing of certain characters right now as it seems to be causing continuity errors and the constant decision to make everything a different “route” in the time line makes it more annoying than fun nowadays. It seems more as though Jin doesn’t know how to reach the good end as is going to keep hitting as many bad ends as he can until we get to the perfect one. We have been given some promise of an anime remake, one that makes me hopeful for the anime industry knowing that it is happening because Sidu, like us, was angry about how Mekakucity Actors ended. (At the time of me writing this, there has been no news since last August 15th in 2016, about the anime). I want to point them to the songs, but then I feel as though I have to point them to the wikia page to understand what each song means, and its honestly not a lot of fun to read the explanation when there is unknown out there, because everything has either been proven or disproven by the other media entries that already exist. I know that all series have this problem where it might be hard to let new people in because of spoilers and the fact that everything has already occurred, there is nothing to predict, but my point here is not really about that.

My use of this fact existing in any media was a way to explain my thought process, to justify my illogical nostalgia that makes me want to dictate how a person consumes this series. Perhaps the evangelical in me is the one that believes all of these stories are beautiful and that Kagerou Project in particularly needs to be experienced by everyone. Maybe it’s the self-centered part of me that just wants to be able to have everyone just talk to me about the series. I love Kagerou Project, and I know all day I’m going to be watching Mekakucity Actors and cringing at episode nine’s CGI while I take photos in my Momo cosplay and still cry at the ending when I hear Jin sing Summertime Record at the credits. I love this series, and I want everyone else to love it too. But, a part of me cannot stop thinking about that two day period in 2013, that time where we felt such anger and then such elation that we collectively cried over some stupid song that is part of a “Vocaloid song series”, which is possibly the statement that turns people off the quickest to this series. The journey Jin took us on, emotions we felt during that, maybe we will get to experience it again if we ever get Mekaucity Reload and it lives up to what all of us who love this series hopes it can be. Maybe then, we will be free from the “shackles” of Kagepro, as we all exclaim on this day while we anxiously wait for any piece of news about the series.

…

Maybe then-

I guess it must be goodbye now.

You won’t forget again, will you?

Don’t worry. I couldn’t forget a tale like this.

I wonder about that. I bet you’ll have completely forgotten about it by tomorrow

And is that so bad? I mean, if there are better days to come…

But, we’ll meet again somewhere, won’t we?

Of course we will. Well, I’d better get going now.

Right. I’ll see you later.

We will all meet again.

[mizuki-suteko]

15Aug is Kagerou’s day So today I am Konoha~ I have done the cosplay of Kuroha, haruka(school uniform), str haruka, but havent do Konoha yet, so this 15Aug I try out (He is my best boy in Kagepro!!) Havent do Kagepro cosplays for 2 years already, but I still love them And Kagepro fans should have known that Jin have upload the pv today, telling that the 3rd album is coming and there will be new series of animation!!!