Extra Hyper Game Music Event 2008

17.10.2008 by Patrick W. Galbraith

When an especially friendly ex-pat says, “Let’s go to Shin-Kiba,” gamers typically have to scramble for an excuse not to go down to the seedy clubs by Tokyo Bay. But that all changed one glorious fall afternoon with the advent of Extra Hyper Game Music Event 2008, a remarkable and eclectic gathering of some of the biggest names in game music past and present. Over 2,000 gamers coming off Tokyo Game Show and into a Monday holiday were beating down the doors October 13 to get into the cavernous Studio Coast (known for its ageHa event) to see The Idol M@ster troupe, Trio the DS-10 and H. (from SEGA), among others. And line up for the limited artist goods. The pace was fast, with two alternating stages to keep the goodness rolling for over four hours. There were regular breaks announced with atmospheric and nostalgic gags such as, “Rebooting. Please wait 15 minutes to restart.” Moreover, perhaps for the first time in Studio Coast history there was no idiotic posing or preening, just people clapping and swaying along to favorite tunes. Some even seemed to be entranced, closing their eyes to take in the live BGM. Things ended around 8:30 so hipsters could make it to work the next day.

The show started off tight with a stunning performance by Trio the DS-10, a group consisting of Sano Nobuyoshi, Mitsuda Yasunori and Okamiya Michio of the Black Mages. This time around that famous group was not doing symphonic or rock covers of Uematsu Nobuo’s FF music, however. Even better than that, the three men remixed game music live using nothing but six DS machines, two each, equipped with the “KORG DS-10” synthesizer software. Despite all, they were rocking the house, banging out some incredible sounds with their tiny styluses. The scene was just incredible to see – three men marched out on stage in tuxedos, introduced themselves as so and so “on DS,” and then they awed the audience with “The Chocobo Theme” from the FF series and “Grip” from Ridge Racer. Cameras on their music stands projected their magic-like movements onto large screens. At one point, Okamiya, feeling the grove, took one of his DS machines off the stand and went into a riff, holding it like an air guitar as he engaged the audience. The set was one of the highlights of the show, but sadly ended after about 20 minutes. The group will be holding some more events in coming weeks and months, including a club showdown October 26 in Shibuya with creators who make mad videos on Nico Nico Douga and mimicking them.

After a performance like that anything would be disappointing, but Betta Flash, of “Ghouls 'n Ghosts” fame, was really just a waste of time. A mediocre idol singer was accompanied by one keyboard that basically just played up-tempo beats and layered her voice into some manner of harmony. Think See-Saw, only half as talented and not nearly as creative. It got old real quick, as did the video mixing her face with game characters. By the time she got around to plugging her My Space store the audience was completely lost. They didn’t even bother to answer when she asked if they knew the community site. At one point he lights came back on, further diminishing what atmosphere the duo had. The duo spent an entire song – was it prerecorded? – tossing gachapon into the crowd, which came off as lazy and pathetic.

With the best and worst out of the way, it was all just cherry from then on out. Hibino Norihiko conducted an earthy, bossa nova ensemble (strings, two keyboards, percussion and a great acoustic guitar) that mostly performed music from “Labyrinth of the World Tree” (sekai jyuu no meikyuu). Hibino then went moody and solo and played songs from popular anime on his sax. Hose Shinji did his DJ thing, with a particularly inspired mix of “Samurai Warriors” (with shamisen), “Crazy Climber,” “Let’s Tap” and “DJ Max Technica.” His rendition of “Fantasy Zone” was superb, all the better because salty rockers H. (from SEGA) came later and did a 10-minute medley (including the hilarious ska-like “Ya-da-yo!”) from that famous series. H. maintained there ‘80s macho cool, despite introducing their new drummer as a 13-year-old girl. Along the same lines was classic rockers Voyager with guitarist Furukawa Motoaki, who played a selection of hits from scrolling shooters and the “Castlevania” theme. Front man Nakayawa Freddy dressed as Dracula for the occasion, and was as random as ever. DJs quad (luvtrax) and KPLECRAFT mixed up retro-sounding tracks from “Gradius,” but it was Hip Tanaka.ex who ultimately won that front. His trippy, 8-bit (or as he said “pico pico”) mixes were sublime, including “Donkey Kong,” “Chemical Mario,” “Balloon Fight” and “Wrecking Crew.” All were very funky and danceable, with pumping beats that didn’t drown out the unmistakable melodies.

The atmosphere in the venue suddenly changed drastically with the last and most highly anticipated number of the evening: Imai Asami, Nigo Mayako, Hirata Hiromi and Hasegawa Akiko, four of the dozen or so idol voices in the smash-hit “Idol M@ster” series. People broke out dew rags and color-coded glow sticks to support their favorites; there were reports of spontaneous outbreaks of otagei, but luckily no one was seriously injured. Those familiar with the game can likely imagine the pomp and grandeur of an actual “Idol M@ster” live event – the entire series is training people how to promote idols, so the organizers had a lot to live up to. It came off better than expected, however, with some really great renditions of game music including solo and duet performances of “Pac-man,” “Dragon Spirit” and “Sky Kid.” The best thing was keeping the physical singers in standard idol outfits doing simple dances while the big screens in the venue ran streaming videos of the characters from “Idol M@ster” in costumes inspired by whatever game the song came from and dancing robotically. Kiraragi Chihaya (Imai) and Takatsuki Yayoi (Nigo) are popular characters, but it was the second string that really blew the roof off the place. Kikuchi Makoto (Hirata) and Hoshii Miki (Hasegawa) sang pumping covers of “Xevious” and “Agent comes in the night” the latter of which made it into the Nico Nico Douga favorites last year (“…anata dake no tsukaeru technique de…”). Cute little Hasegawa turned in the sexiest and catchiest song with “FA.” Extra ended with a shower of confetti and the four girls together singing “Go my way.”

Critical reviews have been good, and hopefully the event will return next year. For those who can’t wait, most of the performers either have CDs out or will in coming months.