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Saturday, April 9, 2011

Song of the Week! 9 April 2011

 

This week is all for our followers! 4 months ago our reader has requested for this song to be featured... Sorry to keep you waiting, koocono!

Yozakura Shanikusai (夜桜謝肉祭)
Version
Taiko 11 to 14, Taiko PSP 2,
Taiko Wii 1, 2, 4
x4 (197)x6 (329) x8 (691,611,529)x10 (986)
Taiko 0 S
Taiko PSP DX, Taiko 3DS2, Taiko iOS
x4 (197)x6 (329) x8 (691,611,529)x9 (986)
Taiko 11 to 14, Taiko 0 S, Taiko PSP 2, DX, Taiko Wii 1, 2, 4, Taiko 3DS2, Taiko iOS, CD Donderful
145.5~170
none
 btu5ar


The 11th Taiko arcade gave birth to this peculiar song, and it really is a unique song like no other. This is the first and only Namco Original song so far to be made up of two different Namco Original songs remixed together to form a fusion, composed by Kakumi Nshigomi (西込加久見), the same person behind the composition of every single Garyoutensei song. Yozakura was quite a surprise when it first showed up as a secret song, and fans were initially taken aback, then followed a stage where people found it interesting because of the mix. It was hard enough to warrant being on the arcade all the way until Taiko 0, and has made quite a few appearances on console Taiko too. Before Taiko 12 and Rotter Tarmination Ura, the Ura difficulty of Yozakura was even considered for a god song.

The two songs involved are The Carnivorous Carnival and Hyakka Ryouran, and both songs have parts interspersed throughout the song which are super-easy to spot. Yozakura's Song ID is also a corruption of Hyakka Ryouran's ID, butou5. Yozakura's ID is btu5ar, 'btu5' coming from Hyakka, and 'ar' meaning 'arrangement'. The title of the song is also technically a combination of both songs, 'Yozakura' meaning 'night sakura/flower' and 'Shanikusai' means 'meat-eating carnival'. See where I'm getting at?

The 10* Oni involves a lot of mid-length clusters, following a fast rhythm intuitive both to hear and to beat with the drums. Although tiring, the clusters are mostly basic and comparatively easy to follow for a 10*, and it was downgraded to a 9* on Taiko PSP DX. A little change of BPM occurs between the final 2 notes.

Yozakura Shanikusai (夜桜謝肉祭)
Version
Taiko 11 to 14, Taiko 0 S
Taiko 3DS2, Taiko iOS



x10 (942)
Taiko Wii 2, 4, Taiko PSP DXx5 (327,267,197)x7 (599,508,329) x8 (691,611,529)x10 (942)
Taiko 11 to 14, Taiko 0 S, Taiko PSP DX, Taiko Wii 2, 4, Taiko 3DS2, Taiko iOS
145.5~170
none
 exbtu5


As one of the Ura mode pioneers, Yozakura Shanikusai holds some merits: it is currently the only song with more than 900 notes in both regular and Ura Oni, but also this is by far the only one with fewer notes than the regular version, excluding 2P charts.

However, its new note patterns are enough to prove that fewer notes doesn't necessarily mean an easier time- the clusters, although present in less places in the song, are longer and far more complex, and they involve a lot of tricky hand-switching, like the various 1/24 beat streams in the middle (which is the source of much frustration) and near the end. As mentioned before, it was hard enough to be considered a god song before the newer songs turned up.

Wii2's Ura Kantan to Muzukashii was basically the higher difficulty chart slapped onto a lower one, but Namco wasn't so lazy during the port to Wii4, as Muzukashii mode received new charts with forked paths that work the same way as the Garyoutensei songs.