Supercell (album)

Supercell
Studio album by Supercell feat. Hatsune Miku
Publication (s)	2009
Label (s)	GT music
Format (s)	CD
Genre (s)	J-pop
Title (number)	12
running time	48:34
occupation	see section Participants
production	Kazumitsu Shimizu
chronology - Supercell Today Is A Beautiful Day (2011)

Supercell is the debut album of the same name by the Japanese J-Pop band Supercell . Supercell originally released it as a dojin album (self-released independent album) on Comiket  74 on August 16, 2008, before they received a recording contract with Sony Music Entertainment Japan and was relocated there on March 4, 2009 again. This major album contains twelve tracks composed and written by Ryo and sung by the vocaloid vocal synthesizer Hatsune Miku . The major release of the album contained two other tracks, Melt and Hajimete no Koi ga Owaru Toki, which were not featured on the independent version, but had previously appeared online and on the video portal Nico Nico Douga . All pieces in the independent version were remixed and mastered for the major version to improve the sound quality. The album was released in a normal and a limited version, both of which included a bonus DVD with music videos of four tracks. The independent and limited major versions also came with a booklet with illustrations called Supercell Works . Supercell entered the Oricon Weekly Charts at # 4 and was awarded gold status by the Recording Industry Association of Japan in June 2009 for more than 100,000 sales in one year.

production

The original recording of the songs on Supercell dates back to the publication of the piece Melt online on the video portal NICONICO on December 7, 2007. The composer and lyricist Ryo use the Vocaloid -Gesangssynthesizer Hatsune Miku for the vocals and used the program for the other songs on the album. The Melt video posted online used an illustration by Miku without the artist's permission 119 ( pronounced Hikeshi ). After Ryo contacted 119 with an apology, 119 responded with a keen interest in Melt and began working with Ryo to form Supercell.

Supercell recruited additional members - including illustrators Shirow Miwa , Redjuice and Huke - and released three more songs online in 2008: Koi wa Sensō on February 22nd, World is Mine on May 31st, and Black Rock Shooter on June 13th. Ryo remained the only member who took care of the composition and writing of the lyrics, while the other members contributed illustrations, animations, design and photography for booklets, covers and video. On the Comiket 74 on August 16, 2008 Supercell finally released a dojin album with the three previous pieces, as well as seven previously unreleased pieces; Melt was not included on this indie album. The album was also released on a DVD with music videos for the three pieces. On December 12th, 2008 Supercell released Hajimete no Koi ga Owaru Toki on Nico Nico Douga, which was the last song to appear on the Supercell website.

At that time, signed a record deal with Sony Music Entertainment Japan, which announced plans for a re-release for March 2009 with remastered tracks to improve sound quality, as well as including Melt and Hajimete no Koi ga Owaru Toki on the new album. With the exception of the synthesizer drums used in the songs, the five songs originally published online and the songs on the indie album are substantially different from the major album. Like the indie version, the major album came bundled with a DVD with music videos for four of the songs, including the six music videos in the indie version and three others. When Supercell made their major debut, the group consisted of 11 members, excluding 110, who left the group after the indie release.

composition

The Supercell album covers a variety of topics in terms of lyrics and musical style. Koi wa Sensō ("Love is War") is about the concept of never giving up love, and was composed with the intention of being the first track on the album. Ryo wanted the song to be “cool” and named the song Blue Orchid by the rock band The White Stripes as an influence, which was also the first track on their fifth album Get Behind Me Satan . Ryo wrote the lyrics on New Year's Day 2008 and completed the composition in mid-January. Sono Ichibyō Slow Motion ("that one-second slow motion ") is about love at first sight - especially about the actual moment. Of all the songs on the album, Ryo described this as a typical pop song.

Ryo also experimented with other genres of music, such as the energetic performance of garage bands in Usotsuki no Parade ("Liar Parade"). Heartbreaker ("Heartbreaker") should sound like the song of an old-fashioned band and Hinekuremono ("Rebel") like an oldie. Other tracks on the album also deal with strong emotions such as Koi wa Sensō : Melt ("to melt") represents the fluctuating emotions of a lively girl, while World is Mine ("the world is mine") the concept of a selfish, like one Princess performing, but still sweet girl picks up. The theme of separation is used in Hajimete no Koi ga Owaru Toki (“When My First Love Ended”) to tell the story of an unrequited love . Ryo composed this piece in half a day, with mixing and arranging taking up most of the time. In contrast to the other pieces, Kurukuru Mark no Sugoi Yatsu should convey the impression of a funny song. Black Rock Shooter is based on the character of the same name created by the illustrator Huke.

When writing the songs, Ryo paid attention to deviating as little as possible from his underlying idea, since the singer - a computer program - cannot feel embarrassed with regard to the lyrics. In the beginning, Ryo had difficulties with lyrics of songs sung by young women. He admitted that his friends laughed when he played the pieces, but thought that if they were sung by a 16 year old girl, it would be best if she sang about romance.

The music also comes mainly from Ryo using a synthesizer, with guitarist Okiya Okoshi and bass guitarist Miruku "Hime" Kokumaro being named for the pieces Line and Sono Ichibyō Slow Motion , as well as Sariya who contributed the breath sounds to the vocals for greater realism. The guitar in World is Mine and Hajimete no Koi ga Owaru Toki comes from an unnamed friend of Ryo's. For the major version of Supercell , Keiji Kondo, Yasuo Matsumoto and Okuda Supa were mixed, while Hidekazu Sakai did the mastering .

Artwork

The limited major version by Supercell as well as the indie version came with a 36-page booklet with illustrations called Supercell Works . The booklet contains color illustrations for ten of the pieces, comments by the illustrators, an interview with Ryo, as well as further details on the respective song and its artwork, including the lyrics. The two pieces Hajimete no Koi ga Owaru Toki and Mata ne are excluded. The packaging of the album, designed by Yoshiki Usa, also contains the lyrics and some of the illustrations from the booklet, although the lyrics for Mate ne are included, but no illustration. The illustrators for the songs are members of the band Supercell, with the exception of artist 119 who left earlier, and are listed in the track list below. The cover image contains an illustration of Hatsune Miku by Shirow Miwa on a background with a cloudy sky designed by Maque.

Publication and reception

The songs first gained prominence on the video platform Nico Nico Douga. The greatest popularity was Melt, which had 2.5 million views in August 2008 before the independent album was sold. By the week the major album was released in March 2009, these had risen to 4 million. Also Koi wa Sensō , World is Mine and Black Rock Shooter had until December 2008 to NICONICO more than 1 million views.

The major album Supercell was released on March 4, 2009 by Sony Music Entertainment Japan as a CD in a regular and a limited version together with a DVD with a music video of four of the songs. On the first day the album sold 20,000 times and started at number 2 on the daily Oricon album charts. In the first week of the chart on March 16, 2009, a total of 56,000 copies were sold, bringing the album to number 4 in the weekly charts. This set the previous record for a Miku Hatsune album, which was number 5 with the album Re: package by Livetune from 2008. For the chart week of March 30, 2009, Supercell had sold over 70,000 copies and was at number 24. In the following April 6, Supercell was at number 36 in the charts with three other Hatsune Miku albums: Re: Mikus by Livetune (18th place), Unformed by Doriko (26th place) and Exit Tunes Presents Vocarhythm feat. Hatsune Miku from Super Producers (# 96).

In June 2009, Supercell was awarded gold status by the Recording Industry Association of Japan for more than 100,000 CDs sold in one year. The Asahi Shimbun reported that Supercell's online pre-orders showed a gender ratio of 55% men to 45% women, which is noteworthy in that, according to the producer of the album Kazumitsu Shimizu, products with origins in internet culture are typically 90% bought by men while the album also managed to appeal to women.

Track list

Independent publication # title length 01 Koi wa Sensō 恋 は 戦 争 03:57 02 Heartbreaker ハ ー ト ブ レ イ カ ー , Hātobureikā 04:39 03 Black Rock Shooter ブ ラ ッ ク ★ ロ ッ ク シ ュ ー タ ー , Burakku Rokku Shūtā 04:50 04th Kurukuru Mark no Sugoi Yatsu く る く る ま ー く の す ご い や つ , Kurukuru Māku no Sugoi Yatsu 03:42 05 Line ラ イ ン , Rain 04:53 06th World is Mine ワ ー ル ド イ ズ マ イ ン , Wārudo izu Main 04:13 07th Usotsuki no Parade 嘘 つ き の パ レ ー ド , Usotsuki no Parēdo 03:53 08th Sono Ichibyō Slow Motion そ の 一秒 ス ロ ー モ ー シ ョ ン , Sono Ichibyō Surō Mōshon 04:08 09 Hinekuremono ひ ね く れ 者 04:12 10 Mata ne ま た ね 00:41 Total: 39:08

Major publication # title illustrator length 01 Koi wa Sensō 恋 は 戦 争 Shirov Miwa 03:58 02 Heartbreaker ハ ー ト ブ レ イ カ ー , Hātobureikā Redjuice 04:21 03 Melt メ ル ト , Meruto 119 04:17 04th Black Rock Shooter ブ ラ ッ ク ★ ロ ッ ク シ ュ ー タ ー , Burakku Rokku Shūtā Huke 04:53 05 Kurukuru Mark no Sugoi Yatsu く る く る ま ー く の す ご い や つ , Kurukuru Māku no Sugoi Yatsu Suga 03:43 06th Line ラ イ ン , Rain Maque 04:55 07th World is Mine ワ ー ル ド イ ズ マ イ ン , Wārudo izu Main Redjuice 04:13 08th Hajimete no Koi ga Owaru Toki 初 め て の 恋 が 終 わ る 時 Shirov Miwa 05:15 09 Usotsuki no Parade 嘘 つ き の パ レ ー ド , Usotsuki no Parēdo Shirov Miwa 03:55 10 Sono Ichibyō Slow Motion そ の 一秒 ス ロ ー モ ー シ ョ ン , Sono Ichibyō Surō Mōshon Shirov Miwa 04:08 11 Hinekuremono ひ ね く れ 者 Huke 04:14 12 Mata ne ま た ね - 00:42 Total: 48:34

DVD

Independent release:

1. Koi wa Sensō ( 恋 は 戦 争 )
2. World is Mine ( ワ ー ル ド イ ズ マ イ ン , Wārudo izu Main )
3. World is Mine with subtitles ( ワ ー ル ド イ ズ マ イ ン (字幕 入 り) , Wārudo izu Main (jimaku iri) )
4. Black Rock Shooter ( ブ ラ ッ ク ★ ロ ッ ク シ ュ ー タ ー , Burakku Rokku Shūtā )
5. Black Rock Shooter with subtitles ( ブ ラ ッ ク ★ ロ ッ ク シ ュ ー タ ー (字幕 入 り) , Burakku Rokku Shūtā (jimaku iri) )
6. Koi wa Sensō Rough Sketch Slide Show ( 恋 は 戦 争 ラ フ ス ケ ッ チ ス ラ イ ド シ ョ ウ , Koi wa Sensō Rafu Sukecchi Suraido Shō )

Major release:

1. Koi wa Sensō ( 恋 は 戦 争 )
2. Koi wa Sensō with subtitles ( 恋 は 戦 争 (字幕 入 り) , Koi wa Sensō (jimaku iri) )
3. World is Mine ( ワ ー ル ド イ ズ マ イ ン , Wārudo izu Main )
4. World is Mine with subtitles ( ワ ー ル ド イ ズ マ イ ン (字幕 入 り) , Wārudo izu Main (jimaku iri) )
5. Black Rock Shooter ( ブ ラ ッ ク ★ ロ ッ ク シ ュ ー タ ー , Burakku Rokku Shūtā )
6. Black Rock Shooter with subtitles ( ブ ラ ッ ク ★ ロ ッ ク シ ュ ー タ ー (字幕 入 り) , Burakku Rokku Shūtā (jimaku iri) )
7. Koi wa Sensō Rough Sketch Slide Show ( 恋 は 戦 争 ラ フ ス ケ ッ チ ス ラ イ ド シ ョ ウ , Koi wa Sensō Rafu Sukecchi Suraido Shō )
8. Melt ( メ ル ト , Meruto )
9. Melt with subtitles ( メ ル ト (字幕 入 り) , Meruto (jimaku iri) )

Involved

Supercell: Ryo - composer, songwriter Shirow Miwa ( 三輪 志 郎 ) - cover illustration, illustrations Huke - cover and label artwork, illustrations Redjuice illustrations Suga ( ス ガ ) illustrations Maque ( マ ク ー ) - cover background, illustrations Yoshiki Usa ( 宇佐 義 大 ) - packaging design Hei8rō ( 丙 8 郎 ) - photography 119 - illustrations Other musicians: Okiya Okoshi - guitar Miruku “Hime” Kokumaro ( こ く ま ろ “姫” み る く ) - bass

Production: Kazumitsu Shimizu - producer Toyohiko Arimoto - Executive Producer Yu Tamura - Executive Producer Keiji Kondo - mix Yasuo Matsumoto - Mixing Okuda Supa - Mixture Hidekazu Sakai - Mastering Yukiko Takata - product coordination Takayasu Kuroda - Director, Artist Management Yoshiaki Fukuda - Product Management

Web links

• Album website with audio samples (Japanese)
• Website of the independent versions with download option:
  • Melt (Japanese)
  • Koi wa Sensō (Japanese)
  • World is Mine (Japanese)
  • Black Rock Shooter (Japanese)
  • Hajimete no Koi Owaru Toki (Japanese)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ メ ル ト :: supercell. Supercell, accessed March 24, 2010 (Japanese). 
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g} supercell feat. 初 音 ミ ク 1st album "supercell" Special WEB. Supercell, accessed March 24, 2010 (Japanese). 
3. ↑ ^{a b} 音 声 合成 ソ フ ト 「初 音 ミ ク」 を 使 っ た ア ル バ ム が 初 日 2 位 に . Oricon, March 5, 2009, accessed March 24, 2010 (Japanese). 
4. ↑ ^{a b c} 『流行 り モ ノ 調査 隊 第 54 回 話題 の ネ ッ ト ス タ ー PART2』 . Oricon, Aug 5, 2008, p. 2 , accessed March 25, 2010 (Japanese). 
5. ↑ ^{a b} Ryo: オ リ コ ン! ヤ フ ー! . Supercell, August 12, 2008, accessed March 26, 2010 (Japanese). 
6. ↑ ^{a b c} About Supercell. Supercell, accessed March 26, 2010 (Japanese). 
7. ↑ コ ミ ッ ク マ ー ケ ッ ト C74 頒布 物 に つ い て . Supercell, August 7, 2008, accessed March 24, 2010 (Japanese). 
8. ↑ ^{a b c d} 初 め て の 恋 が 終 わ る 時 :: supercell. Supercell, accessed March 24, 2010 (Japanese). 
9. ↑ ^{a b c} そ ば に い る ね 、 キ セ キ を 凌 ぐ ネ ッ ト で 最 最 再生 再生 さ れ た 曲 発 売 . meVIEWsa radio, December 25, 2008, archived from the original on December 28, 2008 ; Retrieved March 24, 2010 (Japanese). 
10. ↑ ス ペ シ ャ ル イ ン タ ビ ュ ー ryo (supercell) . In: DTM Magazine . Terajima Joho Kikaku, April 2009, p. 20-22 .
11. ↑ ^{a b c} 恋 は 戦 争 :: supercell. Supercell, accessed March 25, 2010 (Japanese). 
12. ↑ 恋 は 戦 争 . Supercell, accessed March 25, 2010 (Japanese). 
13. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Supercell: Supercell Works . Ed .: Sony Music Entertainment Japan. March 4, 2009.
14. ↑ ワ ー ル ド イ ズ マ イ ン :: supercell. Supercell, accessed March 25, 2010 (Japanese). 
15. ^ Daniel Robson: Supercell's synthetic pop wins real fans. The Japan Times , February 5, 2010, accessed March 25, 2010 . 
16. ↑ ^{a b c} supercell 【初 回 生産 限定】 . Sony Music Entertainment Japan, accessed March 24, 2010 (Japanese). 
17. ↑ 『流行 り モ ノ 調査 隊 第 54 回 話題 の ネ ッ ト ス タ ー PART2』 . Oricon, Aug 5, 2008, p. 1 , accessed November 26, 2010 (Japanese). 
18. ↑ 音 楽 シ ー ン に 異 変? 「初 音 ミ ク」 チ ャ ー ト イ ン の 理由 . In: Nikkei TrendyNet. March 13, 2009, p. 2 , accessed November 26, 2010 (Japanese). 
19. ↑ supercell ( 通常 盤 ). Sony Music Entertainment Japan, accessed March 29, 2010 (Japanese). 
20. ↑ ^{a b} 「初 音 ミ ク」 最高 記録 チ ャ ー ト ４ 位 に . Asahi Shimbun , March 19, 2009; accessed March 24, 2010 (Japanese). 
21. ↑ Supercell. Oricon, accessed March 24, 2010 (Japanese). 
22. ↑ 『初 音 ミ ク』 を フ ィ ー チ ャ リ ン グ し た ア ル バ ム が TOP10 入 り . Oricon, September 2, 2008, accessed March 24, 2010 (Japanese). 
23. ↑ 【編 集 長 の 目 っ!】 メ ジ ャ ー シ ー ン で も ブ レ イ ク 、 、 ネ ッ ト ス タ ー ・ supercell っ て? . Oricon, March 27, 2009, accessed March 24, 2010 (Japanese). 
24. ↑ 初 音 ミ ク 、 オ リ コ ン 4 作 同時 ラ ン ク イ ン . Oricon, April 1, 2009, accessed March 24, 2010 (Japanese). 
25. ↑ 初 音 ミ ク の ア ル バ ム が ゴ ー ル ド デ ィ ス ク 認定 . IT media, July 13, 2009, accessed March 24, 2010 (Japanese). 
26. ↑ ^{a b} Yoshinobu Tanji, Daisuke Takehara: 世界 に 広 が る 仮 想 歌 姫 「初 音 ミ ク ク」 新 進 ク リ エ ー タ ー に 迫 る . Asahi Shimbun, March 21, 2009; accessed March 26, 2010 (Japanese).