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Saturday, March 8, 2014

Song of the Week! 8 March 2014


International Women's Day is today, so we've decided to feature a song that has female vocals. There's too many to choose from, so I'm just spinning my wheel of randomness and....alright, this song it is!

Everyday, Katyusha (Everyday、カチューシャ)
Version
Taiko 0 x3 (156)x2 (211)x4 (365)x6 (630)
Taiko PSP DXx3 (156)x4 (211)x4 (365)x7 (630)
Taiko Wii 4x3 (156)x4 (211/209/203)x4 (364/362/352)x7 (630)
Taiko+x3 (156)x2 (211)x4 (365)x6 (630)
 Taiko 0, Taiko PSP DX,Taiko Wii 4, Taiko+
 172.4
 none
 akbkak / akbkcs (Wii 4 only)


Our second AKB48 song feature, after Kaze wa Fuiteiru! This piece was put into Taiko no Tatsujin at around the same time; it made its debut in the same set of Taiko games, all within the 10th Anniversary period.

Unlike its more moody-sounding counterpart, Everyday, Katyusha ('katyusha' being a Russian word for the female name 'Catherine') is an upbeat song and the 21st single of the pop idol mega-group. The song was used as the theme of a film based on a book, called Moshidora, which is short for...*deep breath* Moshi Koukou Yakyuu no Joshi Manager ga Drucker no "Management" o Yondara (もし高校野球の女子マネージャーがドラッカーの『マネジメント』を読んだら, lit. What if the Manager of a High School Baseball Team Read Drucker's "Management"?)...*phew*. The plot? Exactly as described in the full title! (on a side note, Peter Drucker is a very well-known author of management books) It was used because two of AKB48's members held starring roles in the film. A spring baseball tournament in 2012 also voted this song to be its entrance theme.

The song was a huge hit, and the album sold nearly a million copies on its release day alone. Yes, all in one day. The general positive vibes and hopefulness the song gives off must have had something to do with it. Anyway, it also shares something with Kaze wa Fuiteiru, in that a part of the proceeds from the sales of the album are also donated to the victims of the 2011 tsunami and earthquake in Tohoku.

The Taiko chart for Everyday, Katyusha is rather long for a licensed song, and also has the highest notecount among the AKB48 songs on the game, at 630 on Oni difficulty. Although cluster-heavy, it's all pretty easy stuff and you'll spend most of your time on this 6* chart trying to get as high a score as possible, as there are many long drumrolls and a sizable Go-Go Time (all the rolls are inside it!) to bump your score up. Not to mention a large quantity of big notes; this song is quite a score-attacking heaven.