#masato kato

[acquired-stardust]

Chrono Cross Playstation 1999

[redsamuraiii]

Legal High S2E4

[indigozeal]

AT LONG LAST: the interview translations from the Baten Kaitos artbook are finally finished with conversations with composer Motoi Sakuraba and the Japanese voice cast. (If you haven't checked it out previously, this document also contains translations of interviews with illustrator Nakaba Higurashi, scriptwriter Masato Kato, and the producers & directors.)

For many, the interview with Sakuraba will be the highlight, but I personally found most memorable this spoilery bit below the cut from Kalas's Japanese voice actor Kousuke Toriumi, which explains precisely why he was chosen for the role:

In the middle of the story, there's a scene where you betray your comrades; your performance there must have been difficult, wasn't it? Toriumi: I didn't think it was particularly tough! I actually ended up enjoying that scene itself, and when I read it, I thought, "oh, wow, I betrayed them!! Yahoo!"

Congratulations, you absolute, perfectly-cast dick.

[mangolon]

Seasons of Kamen Rider Where a Rider’s Actor Sang a Song

1971

Hiroshi Fujioka (Takeshi Hongo) sings the first opening for Kamen Rider - Let’s Go! Rider Kick!

1973

Hiroshi Miyauchi (Shiro Kazami) sings the opening for Kamen Rider V3 - Tatakae! Kamen Rider V3

1980

Shunsuke Takasugi (Kazuya Oki) sings the opening for Kamen Rider Super-1 - Kamen Rider Super-1

Shunsuke Takasugi (Kazuya Oki) sings the first ending song for Kamen Rider Super-1 - Hi o Fuke Rider Ken

1987

Tetsuo Kurata (Kohtaro Minami) sings the opening for Kamen Rider Black - Kamen Rider Black

Tetsuo Kurata (Kohtaro Minami) sings the ending theme for Kamen Rider Black: Hurry to Onigashima -  Ore no Seishun

1988

Tetsuo Kurata (Kohtaro Minami) sings an insert theme for Kamen Rider Black RX - Kuroi Yuusha

2002

Satoshi Matsuda (Ren Akiyama) sings an insert theme for Kamen Rider Ryuki - Lonely Soldier

Ryohei Odai (Shuichi Kitaoka) duets with Tomohisa Yuge (Goro Yura) for an insert theme for Kamen Rider Ryuki - Dear Friend

Ryohei Odai (Shuichi Kitaoka) sings an insert theme for Kamen Rider Ryuki - Kienai Niji

Takashi Hagino (Takeshi Asakura) sings an insert theme for Kamen Rider Ryuki - Spinnin’ Around

2003

Masayuki Izumi (Yuji Kiba) sings an insert theme for Kamen Rider Faiz - Cross a river

Mitsuru Karahashi (Naoya Kaido) sings an insert theme for Kamen Rider Faiz - Yume No Kakera ~ Romantico

Yuria Haga (Smart Queen) sings an insert theme for Kamen Rider Faiz - I wish

Yuria Haga (Smart Queen) duets with Yoshika Kato for an insert theme for Kamen Rider Faiz - Taiyou no Kage Tsuki no Yoru

Ken Mizorogi (Keitaro Kikuchi) sings an insert song for Kamen Rider Faiz - Hang on

In 2018, Kento Handa (Takumi Inui) and Kohei Murakami (Masato Kusaka) sing a cover of the opening for Kamen Rider Faiz - Justifaiz

In 2020, Kohei Murakami (Masato Kusaka) sings a cover of an insert song for Kamen Rider Faiz - Existence ~KAIXA-nized dice

In 2020, Kohei Murakami (Masato Kusaka) sings a cover of an insert song for Kamen Rider Faiz - Red Rock

In 2023, Kohei Murakami (Masato Kusaka) duets with Masahiro Inoue (Tsukasa Kadoya) for a cover of the opening for Kamen Rider Faiz - Jusitfaiz - Kaixa Day Ver.

2004

Kousei Amano (Sakuya Tachibana) sings an insert theme for Kamen Rider Blade - Rebirth

Ryoji Morimoto (Hajime Aikawa) sings an insert theme for Kamen Rider Blade - Take it A Try

Takayuki Tsubaki (Kazuma Kenzaki) sings an insert theme for Kamen Rider Blade - Wanna Be Strong

Takayuki Tsubaki (Kazuma Kenzaki) duets with Terunosuke Takezai for an insert theme for Kamen Rider Blade - Shout it Out

Takahiro Hojo (Mutsuki Kamijo) sings an insert theme for Kamen Rider Blade - Hero

2006

Yuki Sato (Arata Kagami) sings alongside RIDER CHIPS for an insert theme for Kamen Rider Kabuto - LORD OF THE SPEED

2007

Toshihiko Seki (Momotaros), Koji Yusa (Urataros), Masaki Terasoma (Kintaros) and Kenichi Suzumura (Ryutaros) all sing the second opening for Kamen Rider Den-O - Climax JUMP Den-LINER Form

Takeru Satoh (Ryotaro Nogami) duets with Toshihiko Seki (Momotaros) for an insert theme for Kamen Rider Den-O - Double-Action Sword Form

Takeru Satoh (Ryotaro Nogami) duets with Koji Yusa (Urataros) for an insert theme for Kamen Rider Den-O -  Double-Action Rod Form

Takeru Satoh (Ryotaro Nogami) duets with Masaki Terasoma (Kintaros) for an insert theme for Kamen Rider Den-O -  Double-Action Ax Form

Takeru Satoh (Ryotaro Nogami) duets with Kenichi Suzumura (Ryutaros) for an insert theme for Kamen Rider Den-O -  Double-Action Gun Form

Takeru Satoh (Ryotaro Nogami) duets with Shin-ichiro Miki (Sieg) for an insert theme for Kamen Rider Den-O - Double-Action Wing Form

Toshihiko Seki (Momotaros), Koji Yusa (Urataros), Masaki Terasoma (Kintaros), Kenichi Suzumura (Ryutaros) and Hochu Otsuka (Deneb) all sing an insert theme for Kamen Rider Den-O - Double-Action Climax Form

Dori Sakurada (Kotaro Nogami) duets with Daisuke Ono (Teddy) for an insert theme for Kamen Rider Den-O - Double-Action Strike Form

Hiroyuki Watanabe (Gaoh) sings an insert theme for Kamen Rider Den-O: Ore Tanjou! - Double-Action Gaoh Form

Yuuichi Nakamura (Yuto Sakurai) duets with Hochu Otsuka (Deneb) for an insert theme from Kamen Rider Den-O - Action-ZERO

Takeru Satoh (Ryotaro Nogami) sings an insert theme for Kamen Rider Den-O - Real-Action

In 2010, Yuuichi Nakamura (Yuto Sakurai) duets with Hochu Otsuka (Deneb) for the opening for Chou Den-O Episode Red: Zero no Star Twinkle - Action-ZERO 2010

2008

The band TETRA-FANG is created to create music for Kamen Rider Kiva, with Koji Seto (Wataru Kurenai) on vocals

TETRA-FANG performs an insert theme for Kamen Rider Kiva - Destiny’s Play

TETRA-FANG performs an insert theme for Kamen Rider Kiva - Individual-System

TETRA-FANG performs an insert theme for Kamen Rider Kiva - Shout in the Moonlight

TETRA-FANG performs an insert theme for Kamen Rider Kiva - Innocent Trap

TETRA-FANG performs an insert theme for Kamen Rider Kiva - Supernova

TETRA-FANG performs an insert theme for Kamen Rider Kiva - Roots of the King

TETRA-FANG performs an insert theme for Kamen Rider Kiva - Silent Shout

TETRA-FANG performs an insert theme for Kamen Rider Kiva - Message

TETRA-FANG performs an insert theme for Kamen Rider Kiva - Rainy Rose

TETRA-FANG performs an insert theme for Kamen Rider Kiva - Exterminate Time

TETRA-FANG performs an insert theme for Kamen RIder Kiva - Eternity Blood

TETRA-FANG performs an insert theme for Kamen Rider Kiva - No Matter Who You Are

TETRA-FANG performs an insert theme for Kamen Rider Kiva - Prayer~Message 2

TETRA-FANG performs an insert theme for Kamen Rider Kiva - Beginning~Message 3

TETRA-FANG performs an insert theme for Kamen Rider Kiva - Mind Garden

TETRA-FANG performs an insert theme for Kamen Rider Kiva - Lightning to Heaven

Koji Seto (Wataru Kurenai) is a featuring artist with Crimson-Fang, singing an insert theme for Kamen Rider Kiva - With you

Keisuke Kato (Keisuke Nago) sings an insert theme for Kamen Rider Kiva - Fight for Justice

Keisuke Kato (Keisuke Nago) sings an insert theme for Kamen Rider Kiva - Don’t Lose Yourself

Kouhei Takeda (Otoya Kurenai) sings an insert theme for Kamen Rider Kiva - This love never ends

Yu Takahashi (Yuri Aso) duets with Nana Yanagisawa (Megumi Aso) for an insert theme for Kamen Rider Kiva - Feel the same

Keisuke Kato (Keisuke Nago) sings an insert theme for Kamen Rider Kiva - IXA-cise

Kenji Matsuda (Jiro) sings an insert theme for Kamen Rider Kiva - Keep alive

Yu Takahashi (Yuri Aso), Kouhei Takeda (Otoya Kurenai), Nana Yanagisawa (Megumi Aso) and Keisuke Kato (Keisuke Nago) all sing an insert theme for Kamen Rider Kiva - Inherited-System

2009

Masahiro Inoue (Tsukasa Kadoya) sings an insert theme for Kamen Rider Decade - Ride the Wind

Kimito Totani (Daiki Kaito) sings an insert theme for Kamen Rider Decade - Treasure Sniper

In 2021, Masahiro Inoue (Tsukasa Kadoya) covers the opening of Kamen Rider Decade - Journey Through the Decade

In 2021, Masahiro Inoue (Tsukasa Kadoya) duets with So Okuno (Sougo Tokiwa) on the ending theme of Rider Time: Kamen Rider Decade vs. Zi-O - Decade Mansion’s Death Game - INSIDE-OUT Decade ver.

Koji Kikkawa (Sokichi Narumi) sings an insert theme for Kamen Rider W - Nobody’s Perfect

Renn Kiriyama (Shotaro Hidari) and Masaki Suda (Philip) perform an in-universe cover of an insert theme for Kamen Rider W - Finger on the Trigger

Mitsuru Matsuoka (Katsumi Daido) sings the ending theme for Kamen Rider W Forever: A to Z/The Gaia Memories of Fate - W

Mitsuru Matsuoka (Katsumi Daido) sings the ending theme for Kamen Rider W Returns: Kamen Rider Eternal - cod E ~E no Angou

Mitsuru Matsuoka (Katsumi Daido) with Koji Kikkawa (Sokichi Narumi) for the chorus sings the ending theme for Fuuto PI - Tsumi to Batsu to Underground

2010

Shu Watanabe (Eiji Hino) sings alongside Maki Oguro for the opening for Kamen Rider OOO - Anything Goes! Special Edit

Shu Watanabe (Eiji Hino) sings an insert theme for Kamen Rider OOO - Regret Nothing ~ Tighten Up

Shu Watanabe (Eiji Hino) sings an insert theme for Kamen Rider OOO - Got to Keep It Real

Shu Watanabe (Eiji Hino) sings an insert theme for Kamen Rider OOO - Ride On Right Time

Shu Watanabe (Eiji Hino) sings an insert theme for Kamen Rider OOO - Sun Goes Up

Shu Watanabe (Eiji Hino) duets with Ryosuke Miura (Ankh) for an insert theme of Kamen Rider OOO - Time Judged All

Shu Watanabe (Eiji Hino) sings an insert theme for Kamen Rider OOO - Shout Out

Shu Watanabe (Eiji Hino) duets with Akira Kushida for an insert theme of Kamen Rider OOO - Power to Tearer

Hiroaki Iwanaga (Akira Date) duets with Asaya Kimijima (Shintaro Goto) for an insert theme of Kamen Rider OOO - Reverse/Re:birth

Shu Watanabe (Eiji Hino) and Ryosuke Miura (Ankh) sing alongside Ken Matsudaira for the ending theme of Kamen Rider OOO Wonderful: the Shogun and 21 Core Medals - Ole! Te wo Tsunagou

In 2019, Shu Watanabe (Eiji Hino) duets with Ryosuke Miura (Ankh) for an insert theme of Kamen Rider Heisei Generations Final: Build & Ex-Aid with Legend Riders - Time Judged All ~ 8 Years Later

2013

Gaku Sano (Kouta Kazuraba) sings an insert theme of Kamen Rider Gaim - Rise Up Your Flag

Yutaka Kobayashi (Kaito Kumon) sings an insert theme of Gaim Gaiden: Kamen Rider Baron - Unperfected World

Mahiro Takasugi (Mitsuzane Kureshima) sings an insert theme of Kamen Rider Gaim - Point of No Return

Gaku Sano (Kouta Kazuraba) duets with Yutaka Kobayashi (Kaito Kumon) for an insert theme of Kamen Rider Gaim - Ranbu Escalation

Yutaka Kobayashi (Kaito Kumon) sings alongside Gaku Matsuda (Zack) and Saku Momose (Peko) for an insert theme for Kamen Rider Gaim - Never Surrender

Yutaka Kobayashi (Kaito Kumon) sings alongside Gaku Matsuda (Zack) and Saku Momose (Peko) for an insert theme for Gaim Gaiden: Kamen Rider Knuckle - Dance With Me

2014

Mitsuru Matsuoka (Yongo) sings the opening for Kamen Rider Drive - SURPRISE-DRIVE

Ryoma Takeuchi (Shinnosuke Tomari) sings alonside Yuu Inaba (Go Shijima) and Taiko Katono (Chase) for an insert theme of Kamen Rider Drive - Spinning Wheel

Mitsuru Matsuoka (Yongo) sings the ending theme for D-Video Special: Kamen Rider Yongo - time

Mitsuru Matsuoka (Yongo) sings the ending theme for Kamen Rider Drive: Surprise Future - re-ray

Mitsuru Matsuoka (Yongo) sings the ending theme for Kamen Rider Drive Saga: Kamen Rider Chaser - good bye little moon

Mitsuru Matsuoka (Yongo) sings the ending theme for Kamen Rider Drive Saga: Kamen Rider Mach and Kamen Rider Heart - eternity (~from SURPRISE-DRIVE)

2016

Ruka Matsuda (Poppy Pipopapo) sings an insert theme for Kamen Rider Ex-Aid - Pinple Pell

Ruka Matsuda (Poppy Pipopapo) sings an insert theme for Kamen Rider Ex-Aid - PEOPLE GAME

Ruka Matsuda (Poppy Pipopapo) sings the ending song for Kamen Rider Ex-Aid Trilogy: Another Ending - Para-DX and Poppy - Real Heart

Hiroyuki Takami (Masamune Dan) sings an insert theme for Kamen Rider Ex-Aid - JUSTICE

Hiroyuki Takami (Masamune Dan) sings an insert theme for Kamen Rider Ex-Aid - Wish in the dark

Hiroyuki Takami (Masamune Dan) sings the theme song for Kamen Rider Ex-Aid Trilogy: Another Ending - Genm vs. Lazer - Believer

Hiroyuki Takami (Masamune Dan) sings the theme song for Kamen Rider Genms - The Presidents - GAME CHANGER

2018

ISSA (SOUGO) is a featuring artist on Shuta Shueyoshi of AAA, singing the opening for Kamen Rider Zi-O - Over “Quartzer”

So Okuno (Sougo Tokiwa) sings an insert theme for Kamen Rider Zi-O - Zi-O, Toki no Ouja

Gaku Oshida (Geiz Myokoin) sings an insert theme for Kamen Rider Zi-O - FUTURE GUARDIAN

Keisuke Watanabe (Woz/White Woz) sings an insert theme for Kamen Rider Zi-O - Black&White

Shieri Ohata (Alpina Tsukuyomi) sings alongside Kamen Rider Girls an insert theme for Kamen Rider Zi-O - Tsuki no Michiru Toki

Hideya Tawada (Rentaro Kagura) sings alongside Sakuramen for the opening for Rider Time: Kamen Rider Shinobi - IZANAGI

ISSA (SOUGO) sings alongside Masayuki Tanaka, Shinichi Ishihara, Rica Matsumoto, Nanase Aikawa, Akira Fuse, YU-KI, AAA, Tourbillon, Gackt, Aya Kamiki, Takuya, Maki Oguro, Anna Tsuchiya, Shou Kiryuuin, Shonen no Kaze, Mitsuru Matsuoka, Kishidan, Daichi Miura and Beverly for the opening for Kamen Rider Heisei Generations Forever - Kamen Rider Heisei Generations Forever Medley D.A. Re-Build Mix

In 2021, So Okuno (Sougo Tokiwa) duets with Masahiro Inoue (Tsukasa Kadoya) for the ending theme of Kamen Rider Zi-O vs. Decade - 7 of Zi-O! - INSIDE-OUT Zi-O ver.

2019

Manyard and Blaise Plant (MetsubouJinrai), the lead singers of MONKEY MAJIK, sing the ending theme of Zero-One Others: Kamen Rider MetsubouJinrai - S.O.S.

Manyard and Blaise Plant (MetsubouJinrai), the lead singers of MONKEY MAJIK, sing the ending theme of Zero-One Others: Kamen Rider Vulcan and Valkyrie - Frontier

2020

Syuichiro Naito (Touma Kamiyama), Takaya Yamaguchi (Rintaro Shindo) and Ryo Aoki (Kento Fukamiya) all sing an insert theme for Kamen Rider Saber - Rewrite the Story

Rina Chinen (Sophia) sings an insert theme for Kamen Rider Saber - Story never ends

Syuichiro Naito (Touma Kamiyama), Takaya Yamaguchi (Rintaro Shindo) and Ryo Aoki (Kento Fukamiya) sing alongside Asuka Kawazu for the ending theme of Kamen Rider Saber: Trio of Deep Sin - Bittersweet

Robin Furuya (Storious) sings alongside Kairu Takano and Koji Saikawa for an insert theme for Kamen Rider Saber - Rock Scissors Paper

2021

Subaru Kimura (Vice) is a featuring artist on Da-iCE, singing the opening for Kamen Rider Revice - liveDevil

Kentaro Maeda (Ikki Igarashi), Wataru Hyuga (Daiji Igarashi) and Ayaka Imoto (Sakura Igarashi) with backing vocals by Subaru Kimura (Vice) sing an insert theme for Kamen Rider Revice - Go with the flo

Kentaro Maeda (Ikki Igarashi) and Subaru Kimura (Vice) sing an insert theme for Kamen Rider Revice - VOLCANO

Kentaro Maeda (Ikki Igarashi) duets with Junya Komatsu (Hiromi Kadota) for the ending theme of Kamen Rider Revice the Mystery - Without You

Junya Komatsu (Hiromi Kadota) sings the ending theme for Kamen Rider Revice: Dear GAGA - Without You Dear GAGA ver.

Wataru Hyuga (Daiji Igarashi/Kagerou) sings an insert theme of Kamen Rider Revice - Mirage Mirror

Ayaka Imoto (Sakura Igarashi) duets with Miku Ito (Lovekov) for an insert theme of Kamen Rider Revice - Cherry-ish!

Subaru Kimura (Vice) sings an insert theme for Kamen Rider Revice - #GekiyaVice

Hikari Kabashima (Hana Natsuki) sings the ending theme of Kamen Rider Jeanne and Kamen Rider Aguilera With Girls Remix - Riot in bloom

Subaru Kimura (Vice) is a featuring artist on Da-iCE, singing the ending theme for Kamen Rider Revice: Battle Familia - Dance Dance

Noritaka Hamao (George Karizaki) sings an insert theme for Kamen Rider Revice - George Karizaki’s Rider System

Noritaka Hamao (George Karizaki) sings an insert theme for Kamen Rider Revice - George Karizaki’s Rider System Dark ver.

Kentaro Maeda (Ikki Igarashi) sings an insert theme for Kamen Rider Revice - Kimi wa Sono Mama de

Wataru Hyuga (Daiji Igarashi/Kagerou) duets with Junya Komatsu (Hiromi Kadota) for the opening theme for Kamen Rider Revice Forward: Kamen Rider Live & Evil & Demons - Come alive

Kentaro Maeda (Ikki Igarashi), Wataru Hyuga (Daiji Igarashi/Kagerou), Ayaka Imoto (Sakura Igarashi), Junya Komatsu (Hiromi Kadota), Hayata Seki (Olteca), Kurodo Hachijoin (Go Tamaki), Hikari Kabashima (Hana Natsuki) and Noritaka Hamao (George Karizaki) all sing the ending theme for Kamen Rider Revice Forward: Kamen Rider Live & Evil & Demons - Love yourself

Noritaka Hamao (George Karizaki) duets with Hayata Seki (Olteca) for an ending theme for Kamen Rider Juuga VS Kamen Rider Olteca - Itoshi no Frenemy

2022

Hideyoshi Kan (Ace Ukiyo) sings an insert theme for Kamen Rider Geats - Star of the Stars of the Stars

Ryuga Sato (Keiwa Sakurai) sings an insert theme for Kamen Rider Geats - I Peace

Yuna Hoshino (Neon Kurama) sings an insert theme for Kamen Rider Geats - Beat of My Life

Kazuto Mokudai (Michinaga Azuma) sings an insert theme for Kamen Rider Geats - Undead Fire

Hideyoshi Kan (Ace Ukiyo) duets with Fuku Suzuki (Ziin) for an insert theme for Kamen Rider Geats - Live for the moment

Weather Hearts, which has Tsubasa Sakiyama (Win Hareruya) and Kaname Futaba (Hiroki Amamiya) on vocals, performs an insert theme for Geats Extra: Kamen Rider PunkJack - ROLLIN’ ROLLIN’ PUNK KING

Ryo Kitamura (Niram) sings an insert theme for Kamen Rider Geats - Non-fiction

Kazuto Mokudai (Michinaga Azuma), Ayaka Namiki (Beroba), Dai Goto (Daichi Isuzu) and Shihou Harumi all sing an insert theme for Kamen Rider Geats - Odds n’ Ends

Ryuga Sato (Keiwa Sakurai) duets with Hideya Tawada (Rentaro Kagura) for the opening theme for Geats Extra: Kamen Rider Tycoon Meets Kamen Rider Shinobi - IZANAGI Geats ver.

Ryuga Sato (Keiwa Sakurai) sings an insert theme for Kamen Rider Geats - IZANAGI - Ballad Version

Hideyoshi Kan (Ace Ukiyo), Ryuga Sato (Keiwa Sakurai), Yuna Hoshino (Neon Kurama) and Kazuto Mokudai (Michinaga Azuma) all sing alongside Kokoro Aoshima for the opening theme for Kamen Rider Geats: Jyamato Awakening - CREATORs

2023

Junsei Motojima (Houtarou Ichinose), Reiyo Matsumoto (Rinne Kudo/Mercurin), Yasunari Fujibayashi (Spanner Kurogane/Jupitta), Oto Abe (Kinkiravina), Rikia Tomizono (Sabimaru Tsuruhara/Televi), Alisa Sakamaki (Lachesis/Buglesia), Kanon Miyahara (Clotho/Vanfenrir), Rikuto Kumaki (Minato/Sayzombie) and Amon Kabe (Firemars) sing alongside Saki Fukuda and BACK-ON for the opening of Kamen Rider Gotchard - CHEMY × STORY - Gotcha Version

Jyutaro Yamanaka (Zukyumpire) sings an insert theme for Kamen Rider Gotchard - Kimi ni Zukkyun

Seiichiro Nagata (Houou Kaguya Quartz) sings an insert theme for Kamen Rider Gotchard - Living Legend

Junsei Motojima (Houtarou Ichinose), Reiyo Matsumoto (Rinne Kudo/Mercurin), Rikiya Tomizono (Sabimaru Tsuruhara/Televi) and Oto Abe (Kinkiravina) all sing an insert theme for Kamen Rider Gotchard - Gotcha! Let’s Go!

Yasunari Fujibayashi (Spanner Kurogane/Jupitta) sings alongside Saki Fukuda for an insert theme for Kamen Rider Gotchard - Blaze up

Rikuto Kumaki (Minato/Sayzombie) sings an insert theme for Kamen Rider Gotchard - One Hint

Junsei Motojima (Houtarou Ichinose) sings an insert theme for Kamen Rider Gotchard - Dream Hoper

Alisa Sakamaki (Lachesis/Buglesia) sings an insert theme for Kamen Rider Gotchard - Sunao ni I love you O

Kanji Ishimaru (Fuuga Kudo) sings an insert theme for Kamen Rider Gotchard - Kaze no Shugousha

Itono Okita (Atropos), Kanon Miyahara (Clotho/Vanfenrir) and Alisa Sakamaki (Lachesis/Buglesia) sing an insert theme for Kamen Rider Gotchard - CRY SIS

Kenta Kamakiri (Geryon) sings an insert theme for Kamen Rider Gotchard - God’s Rain

[wandringaesthetic]

Let's try to talk about Baten Kaitos some more (i think I'm near the end of it):

I'm tempted to say the plot is bad, or simple, or that it feels like it would have been brilliant in the 16 bit era but is made ridiculous with a lot more text and voice acting than it can support (and the fact the voice acting is Notably Bad doesn't help).

And I guess that's true.

But there is also some Really Interesting Stuff here. Take Magnus, the gameplay concept, the cards. When you are attacking a monster you are not hitting them with a sword but with a copy of the core idea of a sword, do you understand? (It's okay if you don't, I don't really)

We could leave this as a gameplay abstraction and it might be best to do so and not worry how or if this idea interacts with the universe of the game. But we don't. It turns out the protagonist's parental figure, his grandfather, was a researcher of these Magnus. It was thought that one couldn't capture the Magnus of a person (though you can apparently do it with an animal. one of your cards is a chicken don't think about it too hard), but he was trying to find a way. He didn't manage it, but he did create a Magnus, and from one of those Magnus he created the protagonist. Kalas was born from the idea of a person. He was supposed to be An Ideal, but he kind of sucks, actually. He's emotional and immature and impulsive. He sells his soul to the evil god for revenge or something. For a little bit he leaves your party and you have to kick his ass and save his soul with a magic mirror. In a world where people have two wings that are supposed to be some kind of reflection of their soul, he's just got one. (WE'LL COME BACK TO THIS) He was Too Much. Too Human. But grandpa took care of his little Frankenstein's monster accidental son anyway, until his past with the empire came back to bite him.

I can't talk about this game too much without talking about Chrono Cross. Masato Kato directed that game and wrote this one. (He also worked on Xenogears and Final Fantasy VII--this is about to be relevant) The games share some other personnel, but without going down a rabbit hole of interviews and game credits and writing some fanfiction about Squeenix and tri crescendo and MonolithSoft in the early oughts I'm not going to know who else to lay all this at the feet of, so Kato is going to be the assigned face.

Both games are both nearly perfect in presentation. Colorful and evocative in setting and music. They both have gameplay that is Probably Good But Weird Ideas that needed a few more iterations of refinement. They both have Very Lofty ambitions that they Do Not attain most of but still attain a pretty impressive number of.

Must a game be good? Can it not be a series of beautiful and evocative locations?

Both games also make a plot point of their gameplay abstractions. Chrono Cross in terms of FATE/records of FATE, i.e. save points (Xenogears does a similar thing), Baten Kaitos in the form of the aforementioned Magnus and the fact that you, yes YOU, the person playing the game, are a character in it, a sort of spirit that is accompanying the heroes on their journey and whispering in Kalas' ear.

And about those wings. Xenogears has IIRC an in universe creation myth where mankind originally had wings, but only one each, so that in order to fly they had to cling to one another. And then there's Final Fantasy fucking Seven, where, idk whether to lay "One Winged Angel" at the feet of Kato or not, (that probably has more to do with Nobuo Uematsu and Tetsuya Nomura). But Kato was probably in the room where Angel Wings But Just One happened at least three times now. That has to mean something. That has to be significant.

When it comes to boss design of the antagonist's super-powered monstrous form, much has been said and extrapolated about Safer Sephiroth and maybe it would be better to say less. Both "try to create a perfect being with imperfect hands and imperfect ideas of perfection and you create something useless and monstrous," and "we are made cracked and flawed and that's where the love gets in."

Just like this game! (Just like this transition!) Both this game and Chrono Cross have a sense of the unattainable about them. Chrono Cross deals with alternate timelines and the things that happen in some future or past that will never be. Beyond that it seems somehow yearning for something it can't depict. Gorgeous as it is it doesn't look like that opening FMV attract reel. Nothing in its story reaches the heights of "Time's Scar." With Baten Kaitos it's mostly in the strangeness and beauty of its world. People have soul wings that look like a peacock's or a dragonfly's or a hawk's. They live in islands in the sky. One of your characters is a simple fisherman--of a river that flows out of a pocket dimension and through the clouds. Another of your characters attacks with what looks like a futuristic gun, but are actually Magnus of brass instruments, and the structures of the imperial city he hails from recall the tubes and valves of the same. Villages look like storybook pages, or ice cream. But the lofty settings are pinned down by a pedestrian plot. The evil emperor is resurrecting the evil god with five macguffins because of.... Reasons. You must take revenge on your evil half brother.

But again. Must a game be good? Don't we need flaws for the light to get in? Maybe Kalas is perfect with his one mechanical wing and his mangled soul. Maybe that's the point.

[imgibbon]

been thinking about Sands of Destruction for the Nintendo DS.

first of all, it's bad okay? just, not great lol. Possibly one of the worst JRPGs on the platform.

BUT

It's so close to being good lol

For those not in the know, it was made almost entirely by former Xeno devs, but Takahashi himself wasn't involved. But one of the other Xenogears writers/leads, Masato Kato, was, and it reads & plays as a spiritual sequel.

From a gameplay perspective - it has the same sort of setup; character sprites in a 3D world with rotatable camera, and semi-turn-based random battles. The battles use the same action points and combo system, but with way more customization options in your characters' abilities and such. As well as a neat new system, the "quips", which turns battle voice clips into a moddable system, where triggering them to play can cause various effects depending on what the quip is, from new attacks, to healing, to buffs, to other things.

All sounds very cool, right?

But it's not balanced at all. Fights are either laughably easy or punishingly difficult, and the quip system is woefully skewed towards a few really powerful ones that make you not ever want to take them off and experiment with anything else.

As for the story... well, it's a world that some time ago saw discrimination against beastfolk done away with, but in the ensuing generations, some vengeful beastfolk have risen up and become the dominant race in the world, treating the rest like cattle. In some cases literally, as early versions of the game script and the manga/anime tie-ins feature some beastfolk eating their human slaves after fattening them up.

The main characters start off trying to fight this system and bring some order to the world, and of course get caught up in wider and grander events, in true JRPG fashion.

The basic world setup could, if one didn't examine it too greatly, be read as the world of Xenogears a few generations later. But with important names changed for legal reasons, since this very much wasn't made at Square, natch.

But, notice how I mentioned "early versions of the script?" Yeah, it got revised late in the day, as higher ups decided they wanted to go for a younger target audience/lower rating for the game, and so they had to scrub a bunch of atrocities from the plot and massage some events, and not everything flows smoothly in the final edit. That and a lot of the budget & time that could have gone to polishing the game went instead to the aforementioned anime and manga adaptations and securing all the big names on the dev team. Oh and the game's full motion cutscenes. Had I not mentioned those?

Which is a shame, since, as I said, it's almost a really good game, and could have been a worthy sequel to Xenogears. As it stands, it still kinda works as one, it's just, a somewhat less impressive younger sibling sort of deal...

[satoshi-mochida]

The Legend of Legacy HD Remastered launches March 22, 2024 in the west - Gematsu

Gematsu Source

The Legend of Legacy HD Remastered will launch for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Switch, and PC via Steam on March 22, 2024 in the west, publisher NIS America announced.

In Japan, The Legend of Legacy HD Remastered will launch first for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and Switch on February 1, 2024.

Pre-orders for the $79.99 limited edition are currently available via NIS America Online Store. It includes a copy of the game, digital soundtrack, mini art book, 55-page “Chronicles of Avalon” art book, one-disc original soundtrack composed by Masashi Hamauzu, cloth poster, seven art cards, and a collector’s box.

Here is an overview of the game, via NIS America:

About

Discovered ten years ago, the island of Avalon is shrouded in mystery. It is said the continent was forged by the gods and elementals, and is home to many fabled treasures with immense powers. Numerous brave souls have attempted to venture and investigate the lands of Avalon. Will you be next? Follow the stories of seven upcoming heroes as they descend upon the untrodden lands to fulfill their unique desires. Each of them have their own individual skills and stories to tell. Manage battle formations and instruct specific combat roles to develop the upper hand in battle and seize victory, and utilize the ancient power of the elementals by forging contracts mid-battle to call down powerful skills. Take part in an epic journey unlike any other!

Key Features

Legendary Storytelling – Illustrator Tomomi Kobayashi, renowned composer Masashi Hamauzu, writer Masato Kato, game designer Kyoji Koizumi, and Masataka Matsuura all come together to create a one-of-a-kind adventure!

Seven Heroic Journeys – Each character in The Legend of Legacy HD Remastered has their own motivation for exploring Avalon, as well as their own individual conclusion at the story’s resolution. Play through as each character to see how their tales unfold!

Combat Innovation – Battle enthusiasts can discover a new level of challenge during combat by using formations and stances to assign flexible combat roles instead of fixed classes!

Watch a new trailer below.

Gameplay Trailer

[legiongamerrd]

#Gamefemerides

Hace 24 años, se lanza en América Chrono Cross. Un RPG desarrollado y publicado por Square (Square Enix) para el primer PlayStation. Es, alegadamente, el sucesor de Chrono Trigger, que saliera en 1995 para el Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Chrono Cross fue diseñado principalmente por el escritor y director Masato Kato, quien tuvo asistencia de otros diseñadores que también participaron en Chrono Trigger, incluyendo al director de arte Yasuyuki Honne, y al compositor Yasunori Mitsuda. Nobuteru Yuki diseñó a los personajes.

#LegionGamerRD #ElGamingnosune #Videojuegos #Gaming #RetroGaming #RetroGamer #CulturaGaming #CulturaGamer #GamingHistory #HistoriaGaming #GamerDominicano #GamingPodcast #Podcast #Square #SquareEnix #Chrono #ChronoCross #ChronoTrigger #PlayStation #PS1 #PS3 #PSP #PSVita #PSTV #PS4 #Nintendo #NintendoSwitch #RPG #JRPG

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[turtleduck-inc]

It's a bit hard to credit that due to being translated from Japanese, so I guess it would be Masato Kato who wrote the original Japanese line and then translated/localized by Richard Honeywood. It's from a poet NPC in Chrono Cross who is part of a small sidequest to get one piece of the best material for making equipment.

i see.

it's a good paragraph, definitely did some stuff to my brain, not sure if that's a good or a bad thing yet.

[lettieriletti]

Jinmen 1

IL NUOVO MANGA HORROR DI KATO TAKAHIRO, TRA SCIENZA MALATA E TERRORE METROPOLITANO Masato Jinguu ha sempre amato gli animali, ed è andato allo zoo fin da quando era bambino, dove ha fatto amicizia con l’elefantino Hanayo. Dopo sette anni torna nella sua città, ma lo zoo si è trasformato nel Fuji Safari World, un luogo dove gli spettatori possono avvicinarsi agli animali. Ma quando Masato porta il…

[bukulyngaming]

Here goes my rambling about the game I've played (yes, until now, even tho I'm quite rarely these days to play it due to my struggle to achieve stable financial condition, and now I'm being poor financially).

I'm playing AE because of Masato Kato and Yasunori Mitsuda. Before I played this game, I was already a fan of Chrono series, such as Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross. I grew up with old-school JRPG. Don't ask me how old I am now!

I have hiatus from this game for more than 2 years back then, several days after the first release, due to my busier time in real life. Then, I came back when they announced Chrono Cross collaboration. I was very excited, and gladly they offered difficulty settings.

Sadly, when I'm continuing to play this game, times by times, I'm not good with gacha games and due to their price for monetisation, I feel losing motivation sometimes to play, or even following their contents. I'm not good at boss battle, meta, and games with too much content or mechanism. Now, I can't being a FOMO with this game or keep following their contents anymore. I also prevent myself from the toxicity environment among the community by leaving servers which are related to this game.

I'm still playing this game, because of the story (even though there are some stories I'm still stuck with), character quest, music, and of course the most important factors: SIMP!

I don't care about people judging my simp, which character I want to 255, the reason why I only play it for 255, I DON'T CARE.

For now, I play this to 255 my simps and clear character quest. That's all.

[freethebook]

Masato Kato seems to really enjoy a lot of those tropes if the rest of the Chrono pantheon is anything to go by.

(and on that mention, shameless Another Eden plug goes here)

I actually really miss this kind of found family in media. The narrative has really kind of shifted to center on Chosen One narratives and hypercompetent lone wolf heroes.

What a family is according to late 1990s JRPGs:

Guy with sword

Girl who wields immense destructive power and is super autistic about it

Person who's tried to kill you on multiple occasions, but it's cool because they're, like, really sad

Person who calls you "thou" even though literally nobody else in the setting talks like that

Some sort of robot and/or cave person

Talking cat

[redsamuraiii]

Legal High S2E6

[jpophotakes]

Los clásicos J-Pop que más escuché en Junio 2023

Otro mes más, un año desde mi última entrada. Haré lo posible por actualizar a menudo. Este año debido a que ya finalmente puedo comprar goods de mis icons J-pop, he revisitado muchos de mis icons de años pasados; así que esta nota teniendo como base a mi last.fm, hablaré de las siete canciones que más escuché este mes. Aclaro que esto es 100% subjetivo y que mis gustos tiran al pop.

(pulsar el botón de seguir leyendo para leer la nota completa)

7. Crystal Kay - hard to say

Ya confirmé que Kuri es mi diva favorita y hard to say es una de las razones por las cuales lo es. Kuri tiene una voz súper dulce y cálida de escuchar, además que hace uso vérsatil de ésta en esta canción; es una canción un poco simple pero el carisma que tienen tanto el rapero como ella a la hora de cantarla, la hacen muy pegadiza y divertida de escuchar. Creo que nunca me cansaré de escuchar ese clásico del j-r&b.

6. Koda Kumi - TABOO

La discografía de Koda Kumi no es perfecta, pero incluso si no es perfecta cuando se lo propone pueda llegar a sonar muy bien y ese es el caso de Taboo. No tiene unos arreglos y estructura realmente original, por lo que es una canción muy típica de la época, pero es muy entretenida de escuchar, además que la armonía con los graves de Kuu le da una vibra súper cool, haciendo esta canción muy pegadiza. What a bop tbh.

5. Dreams Come True -  うれしい! たのしい! 大好き! (‘EVERLASTING’ VERSION)

Si haya algo que me fascina en el J-Pop, son los DCT de los 80s y 90s, sus canciones de por aquel entonces son recordadas por los japoneses y entiendo porqué; Masato me parece que no evolucionó bien como productor pero cuando se trata del peak del grupo, sus trabajos con sonidos tales como el funk, jazz, r&b, rock y pop, etc. realmente funcionaban muy bien. Creo que Ureshii, Tanoshii, Daisuki no es su mejor canción, pero si es una canción muy bonita, con una vibra genki contagiosa que está acompañada de los icónicos vocales de Miwa Yoshida que en ese entonces sonaban muy potentes y sólidos. Revisité esta canción por cosas de la vida este mes, y cuando vi tenía en loop este bop.

4. Mao Abe - Sakura Drops

Todos sabemos que el SD original es una joya, pero aunque la original me gusta, admito que este cover me ha parecido mejor realizado; para empezar, Mao Abe quizá tenga mejor voz que Hikki y ya por tema de gustos, me encanta el vibe movido que tiene esta versión. La verdad, no entiendo porque Mao Abe no tiene más canciones así porque esta canción le salió 10/10. 

3. Mariya Takeuchi - Broken Heart

Por mucho que me guste Plastic Love, lo cierto es que los álbumes de los 80s, Variety es de los que menos me gusta; pero por cosas de la vida volví a escuchar este b-side y me acordé de lo bueno que era. Es simple, pero muy elegante, además de que los insuales vocales de Mariya le dan una vibra delicada a la canción.

2. Miliyah Kato - CryBaby

Me encanta Miliyah pero con su última era estaba ligeramente decepcionada, BLONDE16 cumplió con la parte visual pero la mayoría de singles fueron... Aburridos y muy por debajo del nivel a lo que estaban en su era de WHO LOVES ME, la cual fue una era que se caracterizó por el lado experimental y adulto que se dejó de en BLONDE16, pero incluso si se bajó un nivel, los b-sides del álbum fueron bastante decentes; CryBaby está lejos de ser una de sus mejores canciones, pero es una pista de alt r&b con vibras melancólicas muy agradable de escuchar, no es la gran cosa pero es el tipo de canción que me gusta.

1. Jasmine - Bad Girl.

Siento que esta canción es una reminiscencia de Wait & See - Risk - (no ayuda mucho que en esta era compararan varias veces a Jasmine con Hikki, debido a su fuerte influencia del r&b) pero con más fuerza vocal y adaptada al pop de los late 2000s y early 2010s. Es una especie de mezcla entre rock y r&b que termina resultando bastante bien debido a lo poderosa que suena, mientras mejor conozco el álbum de Gold, más pena me da que la carrera de Jasmine no haya podido despegar porque realmente era una artista que merecía ser una de las grandes de su época; su era mainstream (o su intento por llegar a serlo) esta llena de canciones bien producidas, acompañadas de su voz que es bastante agradable de escuchar y es un tanto fuerte.

Hasta aquí este post y recuerden hacer streaming de J-Pop en Spotify para limpiar su piel y curar el acné.