shuuenpro brain poison never wore off. clearly. not only bc i will go insane about it if i choose to interact with it but also. i am now doing the exact same thing with An Even More Obscure Series

""If I look you in the eyes, you'll turn to stone," I said, but they just smiled. "I've been living afraid as well, afraid I'd turn to stone. But wouldn't the world be so much better without that fear?""

my feelings for kagepro are very mixed bc on one hand i do think this story is complete, utter dogshit that ultimately treated it’s female characters like absolute accessories. i can appreciate the unique concept and premise behind it, but in the end that’s all that it is, a creative, interesting, and thought-provoking premise. this is however not that uncommon and there are loads and loads of stories with great startups and concepts, but what makes a story actually emotional and memorable is that it actually works itself out in the end, which kagepro has completely failed to do.

on the other hand, as i grow up, i begin to better understand just what type of circumstances kagepro was created in. jin is ultimately a music producer, not a writer, and was creating all these stories in his very early 20s. its hard to get the full story especially since only very few anecdotes have been translated into english, but its starting to look as though jin was very taken advantage of during the peak of kagerou project (2012-2014 ish), which honestly explains a lot of things. it explains why mca turned out like That. it explains why jin doesnt use IA anymore. it doesnt take the blame for the many gross parts of kagepro away from jin, but considering his circumstances, i can still feel an amount of sympathy towards him.

i can and will still hate the very, very gross parts of kagepro, but i will admire it’s artistic vision. i will never stop hating shintaro and hibiya as characters but i will still enjoy their songs and (admittedly boring designs). ill still be in love with sidu’s 2014 era artwork and wannyanpuu’s artwork forever. kagepro has played a massive role in my life and its not something i can just disregard just like that. i still fucking hate shintaro tho

SERIOUSLY ILLEGAL

I guess the thing I'm taking away from these two MV incidents (Mafumafu and Zuttomayo) is that even though the utaite community has been growing a lot in recent years and these artists are getting more attention they're still operating at a weird "indie pseudo professional" status? And as such there is an unknown when it comes to how much goes on behind the scenes with the production of the music videos alongside the music. We don't know how or why an artist gets selected for the projects, which is where my interest lies because I grew up with Kagerou Project- where Sidu was the artist on all the MVs until Wannyanpuu made her fanmade MV for Kagerou Days and got asked to join the project. Then Jin worked with Sayuki on a different project and that work carried over into the more recent Reboot MV.

Nowadays we don't really see a slow integration like that. There are so many more animators getting jobs for different music video projects today, which is great for the animators. But the selection process is done largely through Twitter, and we sort of are left to speculate why an artist chose one animator over others. I speculated that the reason Porter Robinson worked with Waboku for "Musician" was because Waboku by that point had been established online for a few years then with Eve and Zuttomayo's works, but I have no idea if Porter Robinson specifically listened to or saw either of those animator's works or if someone who helped manage Porter helped select the animator. Wooma worked on Niru Kajitsu and Hiiragi Kirai and then did Ado's MV. All of these animators are selected likely because of their previous works/portfolio, which is a much more professional way of hiring them. But they're often hired through Twitter or other social media (which although many animation studios have been doing the same during crunch times) is a more unprofessional way of commissioning for this type of work. Although many of these utaites do use the same animators frequently and end up with that animator’s art associated with their own work (like Eve being more associated with Waboku and Mah’s art styles), they still go through many more animators for each music video than was common in the 2010s. (Despite Sidu’s work for Jin, she has always been tied to Neru’s work more so. Compared to Eve who has had a production by Wit Studio, songs sponsored by chocolate companies, small animation studios like Trif, and so forth). 

My question is mainly can we know how much communication goes on behind the scenes? Animators might get commissioned based of their previous works, but how professional are they actually operating at? Does the artist who works with them expect a certain professionalism even if selecting a smaller animator, do they demand more because they expect that professionalism? With cases like Mafumafu, is there a management team that helps select or suggest animators to the artist? (At this point you can’t convince me Mafumafu doesn’t have some kind of management. He had a Tokyo Dome performance). While I don’t doubt some artists still do have friendships or a closer collaboration experience with their animators, I always think about why are artists switching animators so much. What’s prompting the decision to choose smaller artists, rather than consistently sticking with one or two like in the past? With how many new animators I see on MVs, it honestly feels like sometimes they are scouring Twitter looking to extend a hand to someone underrated, which again isn’t bad! It just makes me wonder what is the decision making that led to this sort of massive change in the utaite community.

Konoha: IM AT WANNYANPUU Konoha: WHAT DO U MEAN UR AT WANNYANPUU Konoha: I MEAN IM AT WANNYANPUU Konoha: WhAT STORE ARE U IN Konoha: IM AT THE WANNYANPUU STORE Konoha: WHY ARE YOU BUYING CLOTHES AT THE WANNYANPUU STORE Konoha: FUCK YOU

hey, in the middle of all these odd anons, id just like to personally thank you for translating things in the fandom, as well as sharing art from the team! your hard work really helps keep this fandom alive, especially when we don't have a lot of people to do that these days to begin with, and you aren't obligated to, you know? so thank you and please make sure to take i easy!

I think they were all the same person. XD

You’re very welcome! I barely have any time to translate so I normally pull all-nighters for it. That’s why it’s nice to see it being appreciated. :>

I like that you said “from the team”, because many people are still sleeping on the fact that Asahimachi is indeed an official illustrator of KagePro, just like Sidu, Satou Mahiro and Wannyanpuu (and now Saiyuki too).

I’m taking it easy, don’t worry. Also, thanks!

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.)

Digimon Adventures AMV - Kagerou Days / Kagerou Daze Parody (Wannyanpuu’s Version / NicoNico 50 Chorus Person Cover Version) (*also featuring the slightest hint of Tri, but no spoilers past the 1st film/OP)

MY SECOND TAISHIRO 2K18 AMV IS COMPLETE !! (after my much calmer/prettier earlier Taishiro amv comes this one) Featuring Taichi & Koushiro angst, timeloops, and psuedo-character deaths (not really, though, because certain people keep i n t e r f e r i n g) (basically: ‘gdi Koushiro’) (Koushiro: ‘goddammit Taichi-san!’) ”Well, you know, I kind of hate summer.” [”stop, don’t…! don’t sacrifice yourself to protect me!!!”] [(”why won’t you let me fight?!!”)] [”it’s my fault, because of me not realizing, we…”] [”this time, I’ll protect…..” “I failed this time, too.”] [”why?! why can’t I save him–?!”] [”it doesn’t matter. because I don’t want to see your face like that…!!”] (or, Koushiro, for the love of god, please stop breaking the Digital World, the real world, multiple universes/parallel worlds in general and the fabric of space-time itself to save your best friend/boyfriend) (Koushiro: “No.”) Notes:

* the original music video is, uhh kinda gory in parts (featuring similar psuedo character deaths often involving vehicles and …metal poles and impalements… and falling from high places …. and a lot of blood and crying yeah…) so please take caution if watching it! (it’s well worth a watch in terms of fiction/an extended series, though! Kagerou Project is one of my most beloved favorite series ever and that main boy character from the KageDaze song is a top fav, so yeah!! [ah, please note that version is actually fanmade by an artist who’s helped out with the actual series too, though - similar story elements (including the lyrics’ overall story) / certain frames/expressions / artistic elements / etc. / those characters (with the girl modified, and sans that version of the “heat haze” - thus far, anyway) were still used in the overall series though!!)] * I made a similar Kagepro amv parody for the series/song video itself wayyy back in 2012 using scenes from its anime/episode that also referenced the song - some inspiration for this Taishiro version came from my earlier amv as well! * the version here isn’t as gory (thanks Taichi for interfering with my amv plans and almost literally never letting Koushiro get seriously hurt like… ever….. seriously Taichi, the few times he does nearly get hurt aside from group things are when you’re taken by surprise/not there in the moment and can’t help in time???) but uhh the feeling might still be there without the visuals? (I kinda took a lot of scenes and manipulated them a-ahaaaa but a lot of the moments are from Taishiro-related or solo Taichi & Koushiro scenes too) * the preview Taichi is way too happy but it’s from a significant moment anyhow * if you compare to the original you might see what I did there re: certain scenes (I’m sorry) * (I’m also sorry for the Koushiro adoption scenes seriously protect Koushiro Izumi [thank god for how the show handled it at least]) ([ok but still the baby Koushiros nO (Taichi voice ‘NO’)]

(lyrics under the cut!!) (you should probably read these alongside if you can)

(LYRICS) On August 15th 1st, 12:30 in the afternoon, The weather was incredibly nice And amidst the sickening rays of the dazzling sun I spoke with you, for I had nothing else to do "Well, y'know, I kind of hate summer," You boldly murmured while petting a [cat?] Ah, you pursued that [cat] as it ran away from you And what jumped out was the traffic light that changed to a glaring red Suddenly, [a truck] came out of nowhere and struck you as you screamed Your scent, now mingled with sprayed blood, choked me In the haze of lies, [the haze of heat laughed], ["It’s not a lie!"] With that, like a cricket's sound being disturbed, the light blue of summer darkened away. I woke up upon my bed to the sound of a ticking clock What time is it now? On August 14th 1st, sometime past 12 in the morning I recalled the sound of [an awfully annoying cricket] But, y'know, it's a little strange. Yesterday, in a dream, I saw us walking in this same exact [park] "Why don't we go home now?" The second you stepped off the pathway, Everyone surrounding us turned their heads up to the sky and opened their mouths From the sky, down dropped [an iron pole] that [pierced your body straight through] The sound of windchimes and your ripping screams filled the spaces between the park trees In this unnatural scene, [the shimmering heat] laughed, ["This is the real thing!"] (”It’s not a l i e!”) As my vision blurred away, [I glanced at your profile, and thought] [I saw you smiling] (Taichi [thinking]:) “Ah...?! Yume [dream?--]” (Koushiro:) “Good morning-!” (Taichi:) “HURRY!!” [running, panting] (”Heat Haze”:) “It’s pointless.” [(Koushiro:) gasping] (Taichi:) “AHHHHHHHHHHHH--!!” (Koushiro [thinking, realizing]:) “..Is this happening to just m e ?...” (Koushiro & Taichi [thinking to themselves, with growing dread]:) “I wonder if this period of time kept repeat and repeating itself?” (Taichi [thinking to himself, desperately]:) “It doesn’t matter [anymore].” (Taichi [out loud]:) “Because I don’t want to see [your face] like that!!” Countless times have had me black out in the laughing heat like this [This cycle has repeated for decades. I'd realized that a long time ago.] In this kind of clichéd story, [there must only be one ending.] Beyond this repeating summer day, it has to exist. Suddenly, [I] pushed you aside and [jumped into the street]; at that moment, [the truck] slammed into [me] [Your eyes] and my twisted body were like hazy reflections of the blood that sprayed everywhere [If that praiseful heat haze laughed, "Serves you right!" again] Then this would be what you'd call [a normal summer day.] [But all of that ended today.] On August 14th 1st, [a boy] awoke upon [his] bed And [he] said,"I failed this time, too..." as [he] [cradled a single (cat)?]

От имени автора клипа: Получился клип о флирте мальчиков и девочек. Моей первоначальной интерпретацией была распутная девушка, у которой была «одноразовая» ночь с большим количеством парней. Она не знает, что такое настоящая любовь, не считает, что ее хоть кто-то любит, и знает только о физических отношениях — похоже на мое одинокое состояние. Но есть один парень, который всегда пытается соблазни��ь ее, но она не замечает его, хотя он действительно ее любит! «Долго и счастливо»! Вот, что я имела в виду. Теперь правда неловко, когда я выразила все такими словами.... Но если бы я взяла такую интерпретацию, потребовались бы сексуальные изображения, когда дело дошло до создания видео... и тогда клип уже не будет для всех возрастов, поэтому я немного изменила сюжет, и получилась история, которую вы видите. В этот раз нет никаких привлекательных боевых сцен, я планировал сделать это аккуратно и подробно, и в конечном итоге потратила немало времени, чтобы закончить. …Да, и оно до сих пор не доделано. Сожалею. Я не смогла даже закончить часть, которую придумала для короткой версии. Сцена, на которую хотелось бы обратить больше всего внимания, расположена во время припева, и я не могла даже разместить ее так далеко! Мне очень жаль!! Я планирую загрузить завершенную версию чуть позже, но я не думаю, что смогу закончить к тому времени, как выйдет эта книга, так что я даже не знаю, что нужно здесь сказать...! Мне действительно очень жаль... !! (Прим.: И почти ровно год спустя, она, наконец, закончила! Поздравляю Wannyanpuu-san!!!) Девушка Обычная девушка. Я создала ее, потому что хотелось анимировать девочку, покрытую ранами. Так как это песня Луки, я добавила красные тона в цвете ее волос. У нее больше волос на одной стороне, потому что я хотела придать ей растрепанный вид. Не прикасайтесь к ее правой руке. Парень Мрачный мальчик. С грязными волосами. Сначала он был в очках и с родинкой, но тогда добавилась бы дополнительная работа при анимации, так что я избавилась от них. Он заметил, что-то с девушкой давно что-то не то, и ждет, пока они останутся одни, чтобы поговорить с ней. Он очень привязан к ней. Любовник Похож на парня-показушника. Студент университета и ученица средней школы с разницей в возрасте. «Почему ты улыбаешься?» Подвергшись насилию от своего возлюбленного, девушка психически достигла своих пределов и воспринимает всю боль как любовь/привязанность. У нее заклинивают эмоции, она не в состоянии выразить себя со внешней стороны. Тем не менее она всегда улыбается, потому что она убеждена, что счастлива и любима. Но когда парень говорит, что он знает, что на самом деле это не так, она не в состоянии скрыть шок и постепенно начинает проявлять себя. Она не хочет, чтобы к ее правой руке прикасались, потому что не желает забывать то чувство, когда она держалась за руки со своим возлюбленным. Парень и это в какой-то степени понимает, поэтому он насильно хватает ее за руку. Отношения между двумя Они вместе пошли в среднюю школу. Девушка подумала: «Значит, мы идем в ту же школу? Какое совпадение!» А мальчик, скорее: «Нет смысла ходить в среднюю школу, где нет тебя». Он очень привязан к девушке, но поэтому не желает причинять ей новые травмы, ему достаточно просто наблюдать издалека. «Даже если у нее уже есть любимый, я не против, пока она счастлива». У него к ней что-то вроде родительской любви. Он действует только из опасения за нее, но когда он начинает вмешиваться в проблемы девушки, парень начинает терять контроль и над своими чувствами. И все заканчивается чувством противоречия. Разум (внутренний мир) девушки Красная девушка — это будто другая личность девушки. Воплощение ее истинных мыслей и чувств. У нее пустой взгляд, потому что эмоции девушки заморожены. Ее состояние тесно связано с тем, когда девушка чувствует панику или шок, и она начинает медленно приходить в себя. Конфеты и цепи Конфеты представляют привязанность, поэтому это значит, что девушка привязана к своему возлюбленному (зеленые конфеты). В душе (разуме/внутреннем мире) она кашляет кровью, потому что начинает понимать, что конфеты — яд (что ее не любили вообще). Тогда цепи рассматриваются как взаимодействие между мальчиком и девочкой... On behalf of the author of the clip: A clip about flirting boys and girls was made. My initial interpretation was a slutty girl who had a "one-off" night with a lot of guys. She does not know what true love is, does not think that someone at least loves her, and only knows about physical relationships - it looks like my lonely state. But there is one guy who always tries to seduce her, but she does not notice him, although he really loves her! "Happily ever after"! This is what I meant. Now the truth is embarrassing when I expressed everything in such words .... But if I took such an interpretation, it would take sexual images when it came to creating a video ... and then the clip will not be for all ages, so I changed the story a little, and the story that you see turned out. This time there are no attractive battle scenes, I planned to do it neatly and in detail, and eventually spent a lot of time to finish. ... Yes, and it has not been completed yet. I'm sorry. I could not even finish the part that I came up with for the short version. The scene I would like to draw the most attention to is located during the chorus, and I could not even place it so far! I'm sorry!! I plan to download the completed version a little later, but I do not think I can finish it by the time this book comes out, so I do not even know what to say here ...! I'm really sorry ... !! (Note: And almost exactly a year later, she finally finished! Congratulations to Wannyanpuu-san !!!) Girl An ordinary girl. I created it, because I wanted to animate the girl, covered with wounds. Since it's Luke's song, I added red tones in the color of her hair. She has more hair on one side, because I wanted to make her look disheveled. Do not touch her right arm. Guy The grim boy. With dirty hair. At first he was wearing glasses and with a mole, but then I would add more work to the animation, so I got rid of them. He noticed that something is wrong with the girl for a long time, and waits until they are left alone to talk to her. He is very attached to her. Lover Looks like a guy, a showcase. A university student and a high school student with an age difference. "Why are you smiling?" Being subjected to violence from her beloved, the girl has mentally reached her limits and perceives all pain as love / affection. Her emotions are jamming, she is not able to express herself from the outside. Nevertheless, she always smiles, because she is convinced that she is happy and loved. But when the guy says that he knows that in fact it is not so, she is not able to hide the shock and gradually begins to manifest herself. She does not want her right arm to touch, because she does not want to forget that feeling when she held hands with her lover. The guy understands this to a certain extent, so he forcibly grabs her by the hand. The relationship between the two They went to secondary school together. The girl thought: "So we're going to the same school? What a coincidence! "And the boy, rather:" It makes no sense to go to high school, where there is no you. " He is very attached to the girl, but therefore does not want to cause her new injuries, he just has to watch from afar. "Even if she already has a beloved, I do not mind, as long as she is happy." He has to her something like parental love. He acts only out of fear for her, but when he starts interfering with the girl's problems, the guy begins to lose control over his feelings. And everything ends in a sense of contradiction. Reason (inner world) girls A red girl is like another girl's girlfriend. The embodiment of her true thoughts and feelings. She has an empty look, because the girl's emotions are frozen. Her condition is closely related to when a girl feels panic or shock, and she begins to slowly recover. Sweets and chains Candies represent affection, so it means that the girl is attached to her lover (green candy). In the soul (mind / inner world) she coughs up blood, because she begins to understand that sweets are poison (that she was not liked at all). Then the chains are seen as the interaction between a boy and a girl ...

“ BLUE ” and “ RED ” are the colors of the “ KAGEROU DAZE ”

[so HIBIYA became BLUE] [and Hiyori became RED ... PINK]

- OLD MCA INTERVIEW RE: HIBI+HIYO’S CONCEPTS

ME SHOOTING STRAIGHT UP AS I REALIZE SOMETHING ELSE

..... maybe irrelevant ? ( I DON’T TRUST JIN AND SIDU THOUGH )

( anyway I think I’m effectively banning myself from tags and blogs that aren’t character / pairing / song titles etc. tags now )

I HAVEN’T TOLD YOU GUYS ABOUT MY HEAT HAZE!/OLDER!HIYORI + MOMO HEADCANONS YET BY THE WAY RIGHT-------

just kagerou project things

Jin: how can we make it any more obvious that Saeru (“Kuroha”) is (maybe) involved with the Heat Haze somehow (other than what he’s already done w/it) before we inevitably redeem him or otherwise at least “explain” him just like we’ve done with (almost) everything else in this entire song series Jin: .... oh, I know !! Let’s give him the E X A C T L Y the same color hues in his new design as the Heat Haze!Hibiya had in Wannyanpuu’s old fan pv (which absolutely didn’t inspire us in any way at all even though we keep reusing thematic elements from it since the very start, nope !! ) We’ll even use the exact same gradient effect to emphasize this total unrelation! Then in Manga Route 2 we’ll a) have him possess Hibiya Amamiya, of all characters, who is totally unrelated to “Kagerou” still, and b) give Saeru a chapter title of “no title” even though most chapter titles become songs, then we’ll not show the song in the actual album ! When we decide if we do want to release a song for him, we’ll do it when they least expect it, just like with Outer Science! We’ll go through all the trouble of giving Saeru an exciting new form and character design, a (single) backstory chapter in the manga (while still keeping things vague), and then not even include a song for him in the album to drive up the suspense !! They’ll fall for it just like before !! Sidu: perfect !! They’ll never guess it !! Sidu: ( and then I’ll get to draw M O R E K O N O H A S )

( “one of the things we’ll never explain in the canon ! ” )

bonus:

“Me? Saeru? still having a connection ? haha, whatever makes you think tha”

“-- just a coincidence, they’re just INSPIRED, you see --”

“‘what ? that old ‘Mary’s Imaginary World’ mini manga is so outdated thou--’”

“that means NOTHING, ok, look, in the end, don’t they just repea--”

“... they’re just inspired”

... the 50 person chorus (eng sub version) video of Wannyanpuu’s KageDaze was made private? .......

( ... I think I just [partly] [maybe] solved Mary’s age issue ) ( SEE TAGS RAMBLE )