I was wondering if there would be explanations of the weebs associated with us all, good to know xx

 

Results for this first batch have gone mostly as I would have predicted, glad that Sovarasma have indeed made it and a great qualifier from Rolloland too <3 the other three qualifiers are all solid as well.

 

I did hope that Singerpurear would have made it as well tho, that did just miss my votes but was one of my faves among the retro songs aw. (Definitely surprised that it was that far off qualifying... Harmonica on the other hand came a lot closer to qualifying than I thought they would, oof)

Next up, a trip to the crypt:

 

Zombieland Saga

 

The Zombie show that named Semi 2, I showed off these ones, like the horses, with numbers, so you may know who you are. This time, 4 ‘fake’ zombies in Semi Final H, actually more than the real ones, but that’s just how the random draw goes.

 

Elëdan - 0 – Tae Yamada - because Tae is often referred to as LEGENDARY (capitals implied), and Eledan’s artist is EXTREME

Land Of DW - 1 – Sakura Minamoto – as the main focal point, poison/zombies, right?

Trifoski - 2 – Saki Nikaido – looks like DJ Sabrina, is effortlessly cool

Thelonia – 3 – Ai Mizuno – from the 00s, act I associate with the 00s

Bøtanikkä - 4 – Junko Konno – – song name beginning with ‘ZO’ meant I needed to assign it to a zombie.

Pagasa - 5 – Yuugiri – lost a love one dying young in the 19th century before being revived

Mulgracia - 6 – Lily Hoshikawa – – colourful colour scheme

 

 

Which ones are in, which ones didn't make it? All or none?

Yes at Danaeviia! Feel sad for Harmonica though :(

 

We open with a DNQ and a Q. Elëdan came very close but was just three points off, finishing 21st in Semi Final Z with 41 points.

 

Land Of DW meanwhile, is qualified, congratulations to them!

 

oh jackie extreme making it so close!

 

Two Qs and a DNQ, Trifoski is safely through, as is Bøtanikkä.

 

However, Thelonia unfortunately finished 24th in Semi Final Z with 36 points, and will not be progressing to the next round.

 

Harmonica is a big loss already :(

Probably AIs are going to take over production and songwriting in a few years :kink:

Oop Thelonia. I liked that :(

 

And finally, Mulgracia is through, but Pagasa misses out. Pagasa came 28th in Semi Final Z with 30 points.

 

So as it turns out, if you were assigned a zombie character and then got put in Semi Final ZOMBIE, you did not qualify. This is not good for my concept. However, if you were in the Horse semi as a Zombie, then you did qualify.

 

Idk about you but I think the horses won that round.

 

Great to see Trifoski through and Botanikka too!

Elëdan and Thelonia both also only just missed my votes oops, lost 3 of my 11th-14th ranked songs from the semi already. So close for JACKIE EXTREME :snif: the AI overlords are definitely not showing us mercy now

 

Yasss for Trifoski and Bøtanikkä tho, 2 of my highlights of semi 1 <3 hoping Trifoski can have similar success to the previous DJ Sabrina entry ~ Land of DW was also a good Pendulum alike. x

 

edit: and Pagasa was 15th for me in the semi so make that 4 of my 11th-15th placed songs DNQing... (I think the other one in that region should be safe though lol)

I blame Iz for the jinx on zombies!! :kink:

Higurashi – When They Cry (+ Umineko – When They Cry)

 

The third-most represented series in this line-up of characters is my ever-favourite Higurashi (‘Cicadas’), a mystery series that is the first entry in noted author/evil genius Ryukishi07’s list of works called ‘When They Cry’, a series initially released as sound novels with the author’s own (iconic yet... questionable quality) art.

 

They’re in the thriller/horror genre and are built around repeated time loops, insane foreshadowing, mysteries with multiple layers and themes of friendship, social injustice, class politics (the series are set during the 80s and when they touch on politics, are critical of Japanese post-war conservative/nationalist policy particularly on education and social services but also foreign policy – and people say anime has no politics!), and what it truly means to tell a story and interpret characters and their actions.

 

Out of all Japanese authors, I think I’m most inspired by him, and so it was very easy to assign characters here – in fact the only main character from Higurashi I didn’t assign is my avatar character Mion Sonozaki (I used her for one of the examples, the other example was another pic of Shion). One of the characters is from the second entry in the ‘When They Cry’ series, Umineko (‘Seagulls’) which I need to get back to reading as many people say it’s even better than Higurashi but I keep finding other things to put in front of it even though it is super good so far. The anime version sourced my old entry ‘Naraku No Hana’ by Eiko Shimamiya.

 

We have Keiichi Maebara, representing Flynonnda, as while he doesn’t represent normativity exactly, he does represent normality, at least at first. Rena Ryuugu, representing Bhangra, as her birth name is Reina but she’d ‘rather be’ called Rena (no deadnaming), Shion Sonozaki for Ultraviolenceland, as Mion’s twin sister – what is ‘the difference’ between the two?

 

Then we have Satoko Houjou for Jadakissnia, if only because Satoko enjoys adding complicated words to her vocabulary to seem more well-learned and ‘ya’ made me think of language/accent, and then the two more ‘wild’ members of the group, Rika Furude gets given to N DNTN, something something ‘re’ plus being close to nature as she’s the village shrine priestess, while Hanyuu with her horns is probably the closest thing I can think of in anime to a FAUN (plus she’s v. close to Gaia) so she gets Lotunia.

 

Finally, Battler Ushiromiya from Umineko, given to Suedeonia because Battler is close to ‘Butler’.

 

 

In any case, which of these have qualified? All? None? Most? Only a couple?

 

Aww elëdan is the first one I pointed to DNQ :nocheer:

 

First up, Flynonnda is out, apologies Harry, Flynonnda finished 26th in Semi Final H with 25 points. Bhangra however, despite a deduction, is safely through.

 

 

Shion and Satoko are a great (and unlikely) pair when they interact, and it’s appropriate as both Ultraviolenceland and Jadakissnia are safely through to the final.

 

#endflynnondaracism (not a surprise to see that song out again sadly but I did think this was one of their better entries of late so hoped that it could defy the odds, bah humbug)

 

Bhangra's song was alright and grew on me a little on second listen but I am surprised it was popular enough to withstand a full deduction!

 

Jadakissnia's is great because ofc it is x and UVland is a fairly good pop entry so happy to have that through too.

 

And finally, N DNTN, Lotunia and Suedeonia are all through giving When They Cry a 6/7 strike rate. Success and lack of tears, mostly!

 

Then we have Satoko Houjou for Jadakissnia, if only because Satoko enjoys adding complicated words to her vocabulary to seem more well-learned

Iiii don't know if this is supposed to be shade or not :lol:

 

...but very happy to be through :cheer: my streak is back up to 8 in a row yay, thanks guys