#the song akito is singing is kashika from ‘find a way out’

[atalina-falling]

some project sekai doodles i’ve been drawing between lectures

[slightlytoastedbagel]

top 5 commissioned project sekai songs?

*rubs hands together* oooh boy. no one is going to agree with this list.

(Also I'm doing top 10 because I talked about my favourite songs in the notes of a post a while back but some stuff has changed. Also I just have a lot of thoughts.)

10. Samsa

They made us wait over 2 years for a Kanade comm to get a 3DMV and it did not disappoint. KAITO's "Zuki" and each of Nightcord's solo line at the end with Kanade reaching out to Mafuyu stick out in particular for me. Samsa is just a really good song. Also the metamorphosis reference is genius, especially since Mafuyu's third comm is 'Bug'.

(Bug is not on this list but it is easily top 20)

9. Stage of Sekai

This was my favourite Leo/Need comm, but we'll get to that later. Honami songs are just really good and I really like Len here as well. Also this song is really fitting for them I think. I especially love that one instrumental bit near the end.

8. Machi

Vivid Old Tale my beloved. An my beloved. This song is just really nice to listen to. It feels nostalgic. (Also now that Light Up The Fire has happened this entire event is painful in the good way). An's alt for this song is also one of the best in game.

7. Momoiro Key

I popped off when a Iyowa comm was announced, and it did not disappoint! The song itself is really good, but the MV is also just beautiful. I tend to just listen to this song on repeat for the MV. Especially that bit in the last chorus when Airi is seen by herself with the morse code background.

6. Niccori^^ Survey Team Theme

It's catchy. Like really catchy. I could give more reasons but also I don't think I need to. I will anyway though. This song just really fits Wonderlands x Showtime I think, especially Emu and her dream to make people smile. Sometimes I get "nikkorikorikorikori koriandaa" stuck in my head. It got stuck while I was writing this actually. Also fun MV.

5. Hitsuji Ga Ippiki

This was Beat Eater a while ago, then I kept listening to this song almost daily. Kick It Up A Notch is an event I am really looking forward to (if that wasn't obvious from the amount of times I Kohane post) and this song is also just incredible. Especially Kohane's rolled r at the end. I really want Kohane and MEIKO alts at some point (because I also really like MEIKO's tuning here.)

4. If

Oh hey look it's the song in my blog header. Who would have thought. I can't really explain why I love this song so much. Haruka's voice is pretty, the backing is really nice, I LOVE the chorus. Also the original version of this song is beautiful as well so listen to that (on Yurrycanon's channel).

3. Kanadetomasusora

Kanade gets two songs on this top 10 just because. This song almost made me cry the first time I fully listened to it. There have only been two other times I've felt that way, with Minori's latest comm (Teammate) and the number 2 spot. It also has this music box feel which really fits considering the event it was made for.

2. Made To Order

The full version came out a month or so ago and it changed me. It's just so beautiful... Ichika's voice is stunning here and Luka fits really well. Not to bring up the MVs again but the sun slowly rising at the end is stunning. I could go on but yeah. I love this song.

1. Kashika

Akito Shinonome. That is all.

But in all serious, December last year is probably when I went from 'I just enjoy this game alot :)' to 'full blown Vivid Bad Squad fan' and this song is partly to blame. It just left me speechless and Find A Way Out is another event I am really looking forward to. I was also just really happy to see MEIKO singing with them more. Also just to shoutout the VAs, Imai Fumiya's high notes are just stunning. Can't wait for the full version soon. Also the MV again. Amazing.

[jagi11]

"Kashika" Appreciation Post

Something weird happened lately.

As some of you might know, I'm a Project Sekai player. And lately, VBS got a new event song, called "Kashika", or "Suspended Animation". It made a great impression on me and I think it's my new fav VBS event song. Like, it was very delicate, but had so much power at the same time! And as an MMD creator, I love this MV animation-wise - I think it really shows how creative the team has gotten over time. Like, words can't describe how much I love the Sekai version.

But then, the official version got released.

I've never been so speechless.

There is a difference between Sekai versions and official versions. When you have a Sekai version, you interpret the song through the characters. Basically, you can't fully appreciate ID Smile without knowing Mizuki's relationship issues and how they can't find a way to both stay true to themselves and live a good social life. You can't fully appreciate Bug without knowing that Mafuyu is constantly controlled by her mother, who's made her the emotionless and suffering being she is, and this is the "administraitor" she's singing about. And, just like that, your interpretation of Kashika relies on your knowledge of Akito's story.

The official - or "producer" - versions don't obey such rules. They're fully independent from their side of being "character songs". And that lets you perceive them differently.

What I like is that when both Ryo Haruka and Miku sing, it doesn't feel like they're just singing. It's not an MV for a song. It's a story. A story about loneliness, but wanting to live. And the music video also encapsulates it, to an unbelievable extent for a commissioned song.

Now, for lack of better terms, I'm gonna call the characters Rabbit Girl and Lizard Boy (I don't know if they have official names). They do seem to care for one another, but they both have problems that made them drift apart from each other. Lizard Boy seemed not to pay enough attention to the Rabbit Girl, and she didn't want to confront him about it, distancing herself instead. Lizard Boy has his ears covered, and Rabbit Girl doesn't open her eyes, except for when she casts the boy away. I think this is intentional, as it presents both of them as being unable to notice certain things, mainly about each other.

At this point I have to point out that I love is that the song is a duet of the producer and the Vocaloid. This isn't like the VBS cover. The characters do voice their feelings, through the singers, yet they don't have any, let's say, "tag" attached. I think this makes the song much stronger in meaning, as it can speak to anyone.

At this point in the video, the symbolism of the heart is very much present in the story that's being told. Both the characters seem to have a half of a heart-shaped gem. And this gem shows that they're incomplete without each other. In a similar way, I want to believe that all the other gems represent all the other people in those characters' life, mainly the ghost-like figures. Some of the gems are broken, some are pearl-like. All of them are important, all of them are formed into notes of a song. And yet one person sticks out. It's those two for each other, yet they drifted apart.

They both want to go back to each other. And when it happens, you really do feel the sheer power power of this song.

It's pitch black. The Rabbit Girl is at her lowest point. And at that moment, she realises that she made a mistake. That the reason for her rage was that she felt left out. And that she longs for connections with others. And so, she reaches out, letting the light shine through, opening herself to the Lizard Boy, literally, as he is let to go inside the giant body that the girl resides in.

The beat is there, they keep screaming, the chorus of so many people sings. I checked the wiki, there are 16 people singing at once, including VBS voice actors, various producers and Kagamine Len for God's sake. You can feel the sheer willpower of the Lizard Boy as he jumps in to see the girl.

And then, they connect, hug each other, and form a heart, an anatomically correct heart for the body to have.

They have been designed in such a way so that when they hug, they form the shape of a human heart. Which is not a cartoonish heart that's the symbol of love, not the one that was present throughout the whole video. It's a realistic one, one that gives life to the body.

The whole song was about loneliness. And about desire to live, even when you feel like you shouldn't. About wanting to move your heart.

They connected, and they made the heart beat.

So, you can say, connections make you truly live.

I'm a very pathetic human being, I tend to cry a lot.

Jagi's song appreciations series: [Magical Girl and Chocolate] [I’m Glad You’re Evil Too] [Kashika] [Bug]