Re: Japan | 日本 | WV69: Yuuhei Satellite NF (Pg96)
Whoa, suddenly only five days until the deadline. I'd better get cracking with things!
NF68 Wrap-up
First, of course, one last thanks to those who supported me with Ayane!
::subc
::wscs
I suppose you could say I'm crying 'Endless Tears' about missing the final with what I thought was a rather strong entry, but... well, I'm pretty sure everyone thinks that about their own entries.
Still, I'm thrilled to see a bunch of people enjoying the song despite achieving my lowest SF placement to date. I think I just got a little unlucky here - having grabbed 19th in regular voting but a lovely 7th in REJU, it seems most of my supporters were in the other semis for this edition. Ah well; 'ya win some, 'ya lose some! A huge thanks again, and I'm hoping my next entry will be able to broaden my appeal a little bit while not letting down my stalwart supporters. Now, that makes for quite a nice transition: NF stuff!
NF Stuff
Only three voters have sent their votes at this point, and there's no unanimous favourite - so while things are starting to separate a little, every song is still clearly in it to win it. Thanks to
for getting in early!
Now, it's time for everybody's favourite: some good old mention spam! Just going to mention any previous voters + those who may be interested for other reasons. If you don't think you'll be interested in future, you can unsubscribe from the Zobo NF Pester List if you want to (in which case just tell me) - otherwise, expect to keep popping back up each edition! I'd love to have your votes (or anybody else's, of course).
[MENTION=7797]AdelAdel[/MENTION] [MENTION=12072]Amir[/MENTION] [MENTION=5527]Charlyje[/MENTION] [MENTION=13314]DaFlo[/MENTION] [MENTION=10742]daniels1000[/MENTION] [MENTION=15323]Eulaliya[/MENTION] [MENTION=4724]EurovisionSmile[/MENTION] [MENTION=12536]Evangeline[/MENTION] [MENTION=8763]Gera11[/MENTION] [MENTION=15070]John1[/MENTION] [MENTION=14007]lavieenrose[/MENTION] [MENTION=9461]nekoisneko[/MENTION] [MENTION=9441]RainyWoods[/MENTION] [MENTION=13024]revallsay[/MENTION] [MENTION=15013]Ringdalen[/MENTION] [MENTION=7176]RomanFromRussia[/MENTION] [MENTION=8036]Salmon[/MENTION] [MENTION=8534]theCONWEL[/MENTION]
With the entry submission deadline looming, I'm going to set my NF voting deadline to
September 19th, 14:00 CET. Hoping to hear back from some more people before then!
As usual, shoot me a message or something if you want me to vote in your own NF - I can't promise anything due to university work and the sheer flood of NFs this edition, but I'll try my best to send votes & feedback.
Pondering Future Editions
Now, while we're at it - I'm still snowed under by all different plans for future entries, and I'd like to get an idea of what people are more interested in. I'd love any feedback as to what you'd all want to see! I'm trying to stay away from rock/atmospheric electronic stuff for now, since I sent the former in WV68 and have something from the latter group coming from this NF, but there's lots of other stuff on the table. The current 'shortlist' consists of:
1) 'Weird upbeat stuff' NF - cheesy fun with silly lyrics/concepts or just unusual sounds. Something along the lines of a comedy NF. Most things in here would probably be rather divisive, but I can imagine some people having a lot of fun with the stuff here.
2) Funk & Ska NF - Get your groove on with some upbeat brass sounds! It'd be something along the lines of my rock NF, where I've got an overarching genre and then some different sub-genres within - while everything fits within the theme, it's about half rocker sounds and half bubblegum J-pop.
3) Emotional instrumentals NF - I could take this in a lot of different directions depending on which songs I include, but either way there'd probably be a spectrum ranging from the melancholic and depressing to the uplifting and powerful. I'll have to have one of these NFs soon enough either way, because I've got so many things from this category I want to send. In terms of my previous entries, expect some more like Believe Me and Sanka along with a couple of different sounds.
4) Power ballads (either NF or internal; undecided so far) - I do quite love my power ballads, yet I haven't really done much with them yet aside from chucking the odd one or two from outside my toplist into some past NFs. For big, sweeping sounds, powerful vocals, strings and piano, this is what you want. I've definitely got enough entries here for a strong NF, but there's also one beautiful song that's well-loved in Japanese pop culture and is just begging to be sent at some point. Could go either way. Regardless: power ballads!
5) Pop (either NF or internal; undecided so far) - Similarly to the above, there's quite a bit of pop I enjoy, yet everything I've sent to WV so far has been more on the alternative side of things. I'd be leaning towards an NF here, just since I have such a range of subgenres and so on, but I've got one song with spectacular melodies and harmonies just sitting there and asking to be sent internally. Either way, expect something a little more conventional than my previous entries (but no less beloved) with this option.
6) 'Crap Anime, Good Songs' NF - Having watched plenty of anime series over the years, I've come across a lot of great music cursed with being the theme song to a mediocre or downright terrible anime. I figure an NF would be a good way to showcase them and give them a little exposure outside of their disappointing context! There's a lot of rock pop on this list for some reason, but also a couple of midtempos and ballads.
7) 'Self-referential anime themes' NF - In a sense, the opposite of the above - anime music that feels right at home in its source series. While most anime series just grab a song with a vaguely-fitting sound to act as its theme, these are the exceptions: stuff with lyrics about characters, the plot and so on. This would be my most stereotypically 'anime-ish' choice for obvious reasons. Expect a lot of fun and cheese here; it'd be about 50% bouncy bubblegum pop girl groups and 50% adrenaline-filled men shouting things. Could be good for something different!
8) Semi-retro NF - Most of my Japanese music library is fairly recent, and I think the oldest stuff I've got dates back to the mid-90s or so. That said, this would be something with a very different sound to my usual things, and it'd be rather varied. Essentially, I'd be putting anything that doesn't sound modern here - some older anime themes, J-pop from the turn of the century (which sounds rather different to the current stuff), 8-bit game soundtracks, recent music written intentionally with an old-fashioned sound, some Western-styled swing; apart from the actual release dates, it's retro in just about every way.
9) [Secret album] NF - I'm assuming I might not be allowed to reveal specific artists and stuff this early on (correct me if I'm wrong and I'll add it in), but there's one particular album that I'm just itching to send as an NF. There's a particular concept album from a few years back where one of my favourite Japanese singers worked with one of my favourite Japanese composers to make a bunch of rock pop and power ballads that all tell stories on a certain theme. This'd probably be a shorter NF - three songs or so - since despite the strength of the album I've got a few tracks here I just adore, and some of the later tracks reference lyrics from earlier ones. This is something I'll be sending sooner or later, but I thought I'd add it onto the list for now.
Okay! So... there's my not-at-all-short shortlist, if any of you want to weigh in on what would be a better choice. I've got some slight preferences, but they're all ideas I want to push forward at some point - I'm just wondering about what people want at the moment, and how I should prioritise these. I've got a list of powerful songs ready and waiting for all of them, which I can't wait to share. Trying to make the decision is killing me. So much lovely music, in so many genres, and yet such little time. If you want to give feedback, just do it however you want - vote for the ideas, rank them, just pick out an individual one you like or hate, whatever.
Anyways, I get that there's a lot to look through between my NF and this list, so just respond to whatever you're interested in. The help would be much appreciated!
I admit, I didn't see this one coming. I guess people really did appreciate something beautiful and traditional from Japan, and i'm so glad that they did. I can imagine the excitement you must have felt. It's kind of shocking and sad how cursed Japan is/was... lets go with the "was" as i've a feeling you can keep this hotness up.
