Shiokara-Bushi/ Squid Sisters Melody: Lyrics and information

Squid Sisters: The iconic pop due of Splatoon

Splatoon, the one game I bought an entire system for, just recently came out with their CD soundtrack aptly named Splatune.

Within the 2 CD soundtrack you get various songs and SFX from the game. Mainly you get most of the multiplayer/lobby songs on the first disk. While the second disk is filled with the Splat-Fest, single player campaign, and special SFX and two special songs. But out of everything I was most excited for the Squid Sister battle song. The song's tittle is actually called Shikoara Bushi.

Shiokara-Bushi or Sea O' Colors Bushi is an interesting title itself. Shiokara deals with Sea O' Colors, or what the Squid Sisters are known as in Japanese and bushi is the suffex for folk songs in Japanese, but along the word simply stands for melody. Either way, bushi can be used in both context on this CD soundtrack, since we do get an alternative, or rather a more traditional version of the song.

Track 19: Shiokara-Bushi
Track 35: Shiokara-Bushi (Traditional)

The traditional version of Shiokara-Bushi is more what you would hear during a festival; taiko, shamisen, and the flute along with the singing of the song and bursts of traditional chanting show how varied the song actually is. Though on the tracklist it is just the one I typed above but when putting it in my player you get an interesting title, Ganso Seicho Shiokara-Bushi (which contains kanji I don't know the entire meaning) but people have translated it to Original Traditional Salted Fish Melody. I'll go look up the kanji later and see if the common translation is accurate.

But honestly, that isn't the thing that I was the most excited for. The lyrics are in the booklet. Here is a picture of the lyrics that I took, it may not be the best; but here it is.

Shiokara-Bushi lyrics: In hiragana only

From what I can gather, this is a bunch of gibberish, but I'm not exactly sure; there are no words I can actually pick up to translate and there is no actual sentences and verbs or anything. But I'm not exactly sure.

I initially bought the CD soundtrack just for this single track, but I haven't listened to everything yet. I will make an actual review once I listen to the entire 2 CD soundtrack. But I do actually like the music in Splatoon, so most likely this purchase wasn't bad for me.

Monthly Purchase for March

Well I haven't done one of these in a long time. I just got in a huge amount of stuff from AmiAmi and I thought I would share it with you. Well it's not huge, but my box was pretty big. Inside contained a figure and some other things inside.


All the images have been taken with my iPhone, so hopefully the images look good. Also who doesn't love the cute Amico illustrations that Amiami sends people, because I know I love them.

So with my package I got a little bit of all sorts of things, and lets' just start out with the two things that kind of are different from all the rest; a CD and a game case.

I ended up getting the 24 card case for the 3DS from Hori and the Persora: The Golden Best 2 album. Oddly enough I actually found the first volume at Kinokuniya and bought it. I personally like volume 2 better because it has songs like Backside of the TV and Light the Fire Up in the Night from Persona Q. If you like P4 you should get volume one and volume two for P3. Though both have a good mix of songs, so honestly get both if you're into music collecting from video games.

 I also started to collect Gugure Kokkuri-san Bluray and poster collection. I haven't opened any of the posters yet but probably will pretty soon. If I have any duplicates I'll probably sell them online, because what am I going to do with all those posters. it's a pretty full box. The Bluray itself is pretty cool, I haven't watched any of my new Bluray's yet, but out of all of them, I think Gugure Kokkuri-san has a pretty interesting box style.

 I also bought an Otome game for the PC. It's called Taisho x Taisho Alice. This is volume one and I have ordered volume 2 as well. I haven't done anything besides looked at case itself and it seems like a genderbent version of fairytale characters. On the cover is Cinderella and Red Ridding Hood. But on the back is more fairytale characters. I'm sure this is going to be quite an interesting game, I hope to have either some sort of review or in progress shots as I go along. It should be a pretty good time as I really love Alice in Wonderland.

I also bought a few Hello Kitty x DRRR covers for my phone. I will be honest, I really only got an iPhone just for the cute covers along with the fact that I've been using the same phone for about 5 years without getting a new one. I did need one, so I bought an iPhone since the camera on it is pretty ok too. I was pleasantly surprised though, that the covers were all made in Japan. Right now I'm using the Heiwajima Shizuo one right now, but I probably will switch it to the white one or the other one in a couple of weeks. I actually have quite a few anime covers already, and will most likely be getting more in the future.

There is one thing I did get that made the majority of the box, but I just couldn't take a good picture and that's of my Sol Badguy figure. Hopefully once I open it, I can take pictures of it. But as of right now I cannot.

I do have more Blurays coming in but that's not really anything of a big deal. Hopefully during Sakuracon I should have images up of what I buy or things that I do, so look forward to that.

Hatsune Miku V3 1/4 Figure Impressions

I was browsing the Good Smile Company website when I saw another Miku figure out. I thought it looked really pretty and have not ordered any sort of default looking Miku figure before, so I thought this one looked really nice from the thumbnail. I was more surprised when I clicked the link.

Miku is HUGE, 1/4 the size of a human or also standing at 43cm or almost 17 inches tall. The fact that Good Smile put a CD next to her so that you can see the difference in size is a really good thing if you're not sure what the measurements actually meant. But having such a bigger figure can do much more for the actual design more than anything else. The details are very well sculpted so far the actual details that we can see so far, they're very meticulous. I really love how much detail they've put into the hair, as Miku's hair usually looks rather static sometimes, now it looks free flowing and rather whimsical.

Costing about 27,000 yen after tax and before shipping it's probably not something that much people would purchase unless they're a huge fan of Miku's. For me I purchased it because I do enjoy bigger figures and Miku but also the details in the hair is just something that amazes me. I am all about simple things with attention to detail as much as I like cute things. 

With a base price of 25,741 yen from Good Smile directly, with tax being about 27,000 it doesn't mainly differ between purchasing it from them directly or going to Amiami.

I ended up going with Amiami for a few reasons. The sale price of the item is 21,360 yen though with shipping it will most likely end up being about the same as ordering it from Good Smile. But mainly the reason for me going with Amiami has to deal with points. Receiving points from prior purchases, I can use it to make Miku cheaper and also the points I get from purchasing Miku as well. It may not seem like a good reason for most people, but I do shop at Amiami almost every month for my otaku needs.

Hatsune Miku V3 1/4 Figure is sculpted by FREEing and distributed by Good Smile Company, slated for a release of September 2015 for the base price of 25,741 yen.

Project Mirai Release Date & Vocaloid Talk

In case you aren't one of the many people who enjoy Vocaloid, or if you're like me and can't wait for the next Vocaloid based game to come out to the US. Well Sega has the answer depending on what country you are in. But for sure... Project Mirai is being released late May this year.

Project Mirai's Cover from Japan

From the article from Niche Gamer North America is getting it on May 26th while Europe is going to be having it on the 29th. While there is no date for preorders yet, this is good news and a rather promising outlook with Miku and the Vocaloids.

The reason why this is promising is because Sega of Japan and Crypton are realizing that Vocaloid is a world-wide phenomenon. While some people may not like it, the ones that do, will buy the merchandise and go out to see her, as shown with the Mikunopolis and the Miku Expo 2014. Otaku culture has spread out from Japan, and in the US we're known to be fans of something regardless if it's the thing that is in or not.

Hopefully in the future this will lead to even more US Vocaloid concerts or just even more events or screenings for anime movies and such.

Senbonzakura- Rin and Len Kagamine Scale Figure Impressions

FREEing had just released for preorder today the twins from the Senbonzakura video. I've honestly been waiting for these two to come out along with Kaito since the Senbonzakura is one of my favorite songs that has been written but even more so I loved the character designs. But I accidentally missed the Miku version of this, so when the twins came out for preorder today I jumped on the chance to order them.

Rin's design is super lovely dealing with the sepia tones in her outfit and the ruffles on her billowing sleeves and her sailor tippet is so adorable. I've always loved how she looked in the video... But seeing how gently they colored her, it makes the figure feel really nice.

The koppori she wears looks very amazing as well and looks like it has a traditional lacquer finish to them, even though I know it's plastic. Overall I do love the feeling it encases between western and eastern fashion.

Len is also cute with his traditional military school uniform on along with is cape. The type of gakuran Len wears was popular during the time of war up until the 1990's when they ended up being for middle school students while high schools wear blazers and ties.

FREEing has the initial release for June 2015 and each figure is 1/8th scale and is about 10,800 yen roughly (depending on where you order). Also since these are the Kagamine twins FREEing does give you the option of purchasing them together and giving you a slight discount so it would be 19,800 yen (again depending on where you order) for both.

*+New+* Nintendo 3DS Ad- Featuring Kyary Pamyu Pamyu

If there's one thing Japan has the corner market on, it's creating fun and crazy commercials to promote all sorts of things. And this time they have Kyary Pamyu Pamyu helping with the advertisement.

KPP and the various covers that are coming out in Japan in October

Basically the ad has KPP do what she does best, turn regular things into crazy, colorful and cute. Which the function of the New Nintendo 3DS has you being able to switch face plates along with the slight changes in its schematic. The price for the plates themselves start at 940 yen to almost 3,000 yen (wooden looking one that is shown next to toad costs 2,750) but the average design plate costing 1,400 yen which is about the same range as most covers for the current 3DS and 3DSXL.

Though the commercial is about the New 3DS the Nintendo characters just shined throughout the whole thing. Here are a few images taken from the commercial.

Everyone is so bright and colorful transformed

I have to hand it to Nintendo they made everyone look so fun and stylish, I really personally like Toad, Zelda, Villager, Isabelle, and Bowser the most. Though Yoshi looks like he's about to sell you some ice cream though; seriously he looks like a 1950's soda jerk and Luigi looks like a weirdish looking hipster with that beanie, but yet oddly enough it still works because of his mustache. But the image I liked the most has to deal with Toon Link.

A very cheerful and happy Toon Link

Personally I really love Toon Link and how expressive he is in his faces. So even though he looks like he could be the new poster boy for Willy Wonka, that huge bow and top hat with the triforce on the side; topped with holding KPP's hand. It was just adorable.

Also there was Kirby who absorbed KPP's likeness but I couldn't cap a good enough image to use for it, but it's really adorable.

This marketing strategy of using a famous idol in Japan will reach more viewers and hopefully encourage more sales of the New 3DS. I will probably get one myself once it hits US shores, but first I'll have to see the difference of screens and everything else before I decide. But those switchable face plates for the 3DS version, I've gotta say, if there's an ample enough screen for me to see (I wear glasses and like to play without them on) then it will seal the deal with me.

Here's the commercial directly from Nintendo if you wanna take a look at it yourself.

Samurai Jam:Bakumatsu Rock- Feelings so far

Well I may be one of the few... But I really like this show. Overall for me it's a breath of fresh air in what seems like a huge stagnation of forced drama in a whole bunch of shojou/josei shows. Honestly I've read a lot of peoples reviews about the first episode and everything talking about how corny it is and bad animation.

Sometimes it's good to have a little fun, yeah I know premise doesn't sound all that promising when it boils down to...

Japan wants to control the people by using a song called "Heaven's Song" and quickly outlaw musical instruments and Rock n Roll.

Now here's the thing, it's originally a PSP rhythm game, now the plot doesn't sound so out of place. A rhythm game for girls dealing with guys who rock out against the system, that sounds like a totally viable idea.

As much as I seem to enjoy this there are a few things that make me frown. First off is the weird use of 3D in the musical performance scenes. You can see it episode 1 when they Ryouma first sings Rolling Thunder and again when the main three play against Hijikata and Okita with all of them singing Intersect.

Rolling Thunder is actually a really fun song and you get to hear Ryouma sing, while I hear a few friends of mine say he sings funny I rather enjoy his accent.

While I do enjoy the main three and their designs I have to say that so far, I hate the Shinsengumi designs as a whole and I'll show you why.

 First of Hijikata just... He looks like an old man, but they gave him a deep voice so it works at first. But then you hear him sing... And then it just seems, so off and weird. Also the Shinsengumi uniforms are very western (how backwards) and look like they come from Nazi Germany. But Hijikata isn't my main problem.

It's Okita that I have a beef with. He looks like a Visual-Kei ripoff of Gakupoid. Also got to love that his special skill is winking and he likes taking baths. Now I usually like Okita whenever he's in things, but this is one incarnation of Okita I really can't seem to deal with.

Even in Intersect I loved listening the rock side more than the Shinsengumi side, but it is all down to preference.

Overall I am enjoying this, and I hope that others will give it a try. Even if it is for something that is a little bit different.

Monthly Purchase June-Part One

I know I will have quite a few purchases from June so they're going in parts, there should be three parts if I end up not combining them, but I tend to though. As usual the purchase is from Amiami and contains an assortment.

Yotsuba&! Figure, Little Busters Nendoroid, Steins;Gate CD single and traveling mug, Kill la Kill BD and shirt, Hozuki no Reitetsu BD

Mostly everything that I got from this package, there is a book that isn't pictured but I will go into that later.

Yotsuba Figure and Kamikita Komari Nendoroid

While I was really excited for the Yotsuba figure I was rather sad seeing how small she stands in comparison to other scale figures. But I guess at the same time I am going to be standing her between two different Danboards so it shouldn't be that much of a problem in comparison, after all Yotsuba is just a child after all, so I guess she should be small in comparison to other figures.

As for the Little Busters nendoroid, I haven't watched Little Busters yet, nor have I played the VN as well. But it is on my backlog things to do. I must say though, I actually just bought her because she looked so adorable and her expressions are completely moe I could just die.

Stiens;Gate "Hacking to the Gate" CD single, Kill la Kill BD vol. 5 and Hozuki no Reitetsu BD vol.3

I've talked about my Steins;Gate mug in detail, so I'm not going to be talking about it anymore... But if you want to know why I bought it, here is the main reason.

Along with that I also bought the Hacking to the Gate CD single from the anime, I actually like the OP theme a lot and wanted it so I ended up buying a copy, while I should have bought the "Best Vocals" album I also like the idea of starting up again a CD collection but since the US is getting rid of CDs (or at least it seems that way) it looks like my entire collection is going to be Japanese CDs and CD singles; which isn't a bad thing to me.

Kill la Kill volume 5 BD is really cool as it features Gamagoori and Sanageyama not only on the cover but each are on a respected disk, Sanageyama is on the Original CD Soundtrack Vol. 2 while Gamagoori, accompanied on his head by Mako and Guts, is the actual BD disk itself. I personally haven't listened to the CD soundtrack yet but will later this week.

The other BD is Hozuki no Reitetsu. I don't know how many of you watched the series as it was airing or are reading the manga, but Japanese supernatural stories are kind of something I have liked since I was smaller (loved Gegege no Kitaro). So watching a glorified assistant to King Enma doing his daily routine of helping out in the various hells was just a blast. Supposedly it was picked up by Sentai Filmworks but honestly it's a rather short series with only 13 episodes, so it's pretty much the standard two episodes per BD. But the interesting thing about the Hozuki BDs is that you were able to chose between A and B. A having the drama CD accompanying it while B has something they call "Jigoku Goods" featuring Hozuki's plant/goldfish hybrid plant. Volume three features a small pouch that you can use for pencils and cosmetics.

Kill la Kill "Kamui Banshou" book

This supplemental book for Kill la Kill is really interesting, not only does it contain the standard things you'd find in a supplemental book like character synopsys and episode details but also talks a deal about their process in general like the 3D in episode 3 among other things. Even if you can't read Japanese this is a good book as a point of reference for images for drawing or just in general to see how Studio Trigger does their thought process.

One thing is for sure though I do want Sushio to come out with a Kill la Kill artbook though.