Lurker > TsunamiXXVIII

Revenger
Invitation Flower ~ Autumn

Finally, I&E runs into an opponent strong enough that it has to pay for its weak start.
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Also known as Cyberchao X.

Pulp Fiction
Princess Bride
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Dead Neon Hell City
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Sagittarius
Slag Dance

All three matches have only one good song in them.
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Invitation Flower ~ Autumn
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Nope.
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Dracula's not a newcomer. He was in CBIX and made it to Round 2.
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Good match.

Battle!!
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steelchambers2
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Chloe
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Well, the good thing about being near the end of the contest is that even my crappy short-term memory can recall the last time a song was in a match, so I knew right away to just skip to about the 2:20 mark for I&E. Which is longer than the entirety of Douwa Kairou.

Vote: Innocence and Emptiness
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Also known as Cyberchao X.

Don't look now, but the Marlins are 12-5 over their last 17. (Also they set a new franchise record with their 11-run 5th inning.)
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Also known as Cyberchao X.

Wait, so the Ar series and the Atelier series are the same company? Man, it's nice to have such a convenient scapegoat...even though both series have produced some good songs, too.

This first match is kind of depressing. It'd be an enjoyable match in Round 1, but neither of these is really deserving of retirement.

The second match, on the other hand, would not be an enjoyable Round 1 match, because I'd have to vote for something that, on the surface, I'd consider an acceptable Round 1 fodder and nothing more. That's because its opponent is trash that has no place in this contest.

Votes:
Field of Hopes and Dreams
Escaping the Courtyard Garden

Rankings:

Don't Turn It Off > Fairytale Poison and Solitude > Sky of Twilight > Uwabami >>>> Field of Hopes and Dreams > Dead Neon Hell City > Escaping the Courtyard Garden >>>>>>>> Class::EXSPHERE_NOSURGE;

Now this is the Board 8 I remember!
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Okay, maybe soon.
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Ignith of the Final Attack
Invitation Flower ~ Autumn

Aren't matches supposed to get tougher in the later rounds? These are clear mismatches to me.
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Battle!!
Flash Frost

Rankings: Battle!! > Flash Frost > Studiopolis > Kill Command

Don't even need a relisten to know both of those things. This is as clean cut as it gets from past opinions. One song I actively disliked and have voted against every round, one that's just okay, one that's pretty good, and one that I'd consider an acceptable champion.
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Also known as Cyberchao X.

Wow. How is steelchambers2 still in this? Old-school type stuff like this usually bombs hard in VGMC. This is a tough decision, though.

This second match is just full of sadness. Either of Chocolate Missile's last two opponents would be an infinitely better retiree than either of these two songs. That said, this match is at least marginally easier to decide than the other one.

Votes:
steelchambers2
Chocolate Missile

Rankings:
steelchambers2 > Break the Limit > Chocolate Missile > Soaring Through the Sad Blue Sky
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Also known as Cyberchao X.

Probably not; things are getting busy.
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Wow. If this isn't the exact match I'd want in this position based on the starting bracket, it's damn close--NWO definitely belongs here, and the only other one from EotRW's six-pack that I remember liking a lot was A. Rene. This is some high-quality stuff and I would be happy to see the loser return for another try next year. Also, somehow Touhou's resident master of disguise has snuck her theme into this contest under an assumed name yet again. It's a pity, then, that this is still a rather easy decision!

The second match...not quite. Certainly, both are good songs, but the one I really wanted to retire here was eliminated last round. ...No, not Id ~ Purpose--I like that song too, but I voted against it last round. I'm talking about A to Z. Silver Surfer, it's good, it deserved to reach Round 3, but in my mind it was clearly behind its Round 3 opponent and both of its potential Round 4 opponents as of the end of Round 2.

Votes:
New World Order
Servants of the Scourge

Rankings:
Servants of the Scourge > New World Order > End of the Raging Waves > Level 1
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Chloe
DNF FW15C (ALL PHASE MIX)
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1NF3S+@+!0N (Theme of Crabulon)
Passing Through the Forest
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Oh, crap, I did miss a day. And bad things happened.
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...Really? Yeah, I usually do the "rankings" thing as a check on myself, but with a tiebreaker in the mix, there's no way I'm listening to nearly 7.5 minutes of Innoncence and Emptiness to decide how it stacks up against songs from Bracket D when I knew pretty much from the moment I first heard it in Round 2 that I wouldn't be voting for Mt. Vesuvius...hopefully ever. Pretty sure that out of the eight things that could've possibly retired in this spot after Round 1 was done, Mt. Vesuvius was a clean #8. Sad thing is, Innocence and Emptiness just might be #7! It gets good eventually, but starts much too slow, not to mention this was seemingly a fairly strong region. Innocence & Emptiness isn't a bad choice, but I'm pretty sure that if Mt. Vesuvius had lost in either of the previous two rounds, I wouldn't be voting for it.

This still isn't Frozen Hillside. :( But it's still a pretty good KAR track. That said, this isn't a tough match, either. Or is it? Douwa Kairou started out so promising, but turned into a bunch of noise. It's amazing that a song that short can do that; Douwa Kairou as a whole is shorter than the amount of time it takes for I&E to really get going.

Dead Neon Hell City is still just so generic.

Votes:
Innocence and Emptiness
Machine Passage
Sky of Twilight

Rankings:

Sky of Twilight > Innocence and Emptiness > Dead Neon Hell City > Machine Passage > Douwa Kairou > Mt. Vesuvius
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Also known as Cyberchao X.

Maybe soon.
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Also known as Cyberchao X.

Shonen_Bat posted...

Oh, good result. I could never really get anywhere in Zelda 1 because you have to burn one random tree out of 30 every time you want to find your car keys.

It's honestly a lot less random than it seems; only certain patterns of trees can produce a burnable tree. It's the bombing random walls that's the real killer in Zelda 1 randomizer, since you can get entire screens of walls that could potentially be bombable.
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Also known as Cyberchao X.

Damnit, forgot about this topic series. Come back to see one good result (64 winning the Mario series) and one awful one (Z1 gone already).
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Also known as Cyberchao X.

All of these songs are pretty good. Only one is a remotely tough decision, though, and that's still not that tough a choice.

Votes:
Fairytale Poison and Solitude
Sky of Twilight

Rankings:

Sky of Twilight > Fairytale Poison and Solitude > Dead Neon Hell City > Field of Hopes and Dreams

Huh. I guess it did still end up being 1 vs. 3 and 2 vs. 4, so I'll clarify: Fairytale Poison was the one that was a truly easy choice. If both of my picks win, though, it'll be a very tough choice next round (You can see how I'm leaning today, but I've already voted oppositely in a tiebreaker to my original vote once so that's hardly an indication of anything.)

All four would be worthy retirees, though. Field of Hopes and Dreams less so than the other three, but it's far from the "I am only okay with this retiring because it means it can't come back to darken these contests again". So far, I've only gotten to that point once, when Seymour Battle retired (I don't remember what it was up against in Round 4 but I didn't like that much, either, so I just voted for the one I hated more so it couldn't come back.)
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Also known as Cyberchao X.

Well, if nothing else, I've put my foot in my mouth yet again. I almost reflexively vote against Ayesha/Shallie at this point, and Gallant Gunshot is decent, but Invitation Flower is really good! Hard to believe that's the same soundtrack as YOATI.

Today's daily dose of terrible instead comes courtesy of Aliens Go Home Run. Luckily it's just the one awful song, so it's an easy pick to vote for its opponent.

Votes:
Invitation Flower ~ Autumn
Where the Sky Ended

Rankings:
Invitation Flower ~ Autumn > Where the Sky Ended > Gallant Gunshot > Go Run Home Aliens
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Also known as Cyberchao X.

Hmm...a bunch of early hype that this could be the best year ever by a mile, and then suddenly the later rounds come and everything sucks. Maybe I shouldn't have held back the rant yesterday; apparently I haven't left Idolforums after all!

Votes:
It's Not Over 1
Ignith of the Final Assault

Rankings:

It's Not Over 1 > Ignith of the Final Assault > Distorted Happiness > Yesterday's Board 8 Trash Is Today's Violent Food Poisoning
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Also known as Cyberchao X.

banshiryuu posted...

inanimate dream please god (actually grimoire of alice is my favorite that would actually do well)

Yeah, I was planning on doing some MS stuff because that's one that hasn't gotten any in. I love PoDD's soundtrack but Strawberry Crisis already has two first-round exits and Reincarnation has one. I prefer trying new things.
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Also known as Cyberchao X.

Seven minutes of this? Really? It's certainly not unlistenable, unlike other things that have reached a wide consensus of being "good" through means that I have never quite figured out (and no, I'm not talking about B8Taste for once, which is the only reason I'm not naming names--it's a rant for a different forum), but it's certainly not pleasant. It's the type of thing that I'd probably only vote for as an anti-vote to something else.

Nanohemu, on the other hand, is nice, and exactly the type of tune whose continued survival in this contest encourages me. I was very surprised to find that this obscure game was actually only from 2014; it sounded like a PC-98 tune. (Furthermore, Dynamix the game's only appearance on Wikipedia is as a redlink on the disambiguation page, but the "main" page that simply putting in the word "Dynamix" sends you to is a video game company.) To be honest, though, this still isn't great.

For some reason, even though this song is pretty good, I feel like there's an injustice in here somewhere and that the rightful retiree from this segment was already eliminated. I'm looking at the bracket, though, and nothing's standing out to me; must've been the other 7th Dragon tune. Though I think I have been on the losing end in most of these matches, including being on the receiving end of a blowout in R1 with Kill Command over Calamari Inkantation.

Yeah, definitely the other 7th Dragon song. Ugh, that's a painful one. That's the one where it seemed like everyone said they didn't care about it as much as the other matches that didn't end in ties; I changed my vote in the tiebreaker and wound up on the losing end. Though I'm angrier about its third round opponent not being Ryoshima Coast, angrierer that Yesterday's Opponents is still a potential fourth-round opponent for the winner of Distorted Happiness-Ignith of the Final Assault, and angrierest that even I have to concede that regardless of the winner of the first-round match, Yesterday's Opponents probably did deserve to win its R2 match because seriously that was an awful threepack.

Votes:
Nanohemu
Re:Vanishment

Rankings:
Re:Vanishment > Flash Frost > Nanohemu > Kill Command
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Also known as Cyberchao X.

Oh yeah, I nearly forgot about this.
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These results are tragic.

One stupid vote. That's all that Chocolate Missile survived by last round. Ill Omen losing to Murderswarm would be an acceptable result, and I'm not even mad about RFTMIS losing; it was still an encouraging run for a Touhou song. (Though I'll still stick to nominating PC-98 era songs next year, at least for primary noms. I'll support Windows-era stuff of course.)
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Also known as Cyberchao X.

And now, in stark contrast to yesterday, we have a song that I hated in round 1 (but still voted for because I hated its opponent more) that I'm actually kind of liking now! Don't get me wrong, Rhuzerv is still weird and doesn't belong in a retirement match. But when its opponent is a half-baked "retro" Sonic song? ...Eh, maybe I still won't vote for it. I'm hoping that the strength of the second match means I won't have to worry about either of these retiring. It still stings that actual Genesis-era Sonic has pretty much been shut out (I think there's a retired song from the Genesis 3D Blast?) while post-Adventure 2 has multiple retirees including an inferior remake of an S3&K song.

Because this second match, these two are amazing. I'm voting, because of course I'm voting, but I wouldn't be disappointed if my vote lost, as long as it's back again next year and the winner gets its retirement next round.

Votes:
Studiopolis Zone Act 1 ~ Lights, Camera, Action!
Knight of a Foreign Country

Rankings:
Songs in second match > Songs in first match
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Also known as Cyberchao X.

Argh I forgot to vote for the second time in three days. But at least I make it for a RFTMIS match for once!

An Ill Omen is some really cool atmospheric stuff. Though now I'm sad that Ryoshima Coast is gone.

I vaguely remember falling hard for Chocolate Missile in R1 and I have no idea why. It's not good. It's not like it was facing something bad in R1; hold that match again today and I wouldn't hesitate for a moment to vote against it.

Soaring Through the Sad Blue Sky is...there? It's not bad, but I honestly thought I'd have more trouble bringing myself to vote for Reach for the Moon. I'm all for Touhou music doing well, but I don't know if I want to encourage this meme because there's so much better Touhou music out there.

Which is not to say that RFTMIS is bad, because it isn't. It's very good. Maybe I just find it disappointing because it's natural to compare like to like, and Mokou's the extra boss so "like" means things like Cute Devil ~ Innocence, The Grimoire of Alice, U.N. Owen was Her, and Necrofantasia.

Votes:
An Ill Omen
Reach for the Moon, Immortal Smoke

Rankings:

Reach for the Moon, Immortal Smoke > An Ill Omen > Soaring Through the Sad Blue Sky >>>>>> Chocolate Missile
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Also known as Cyberchao X.

Or not.
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Yeah, past results are no indication of future performance. For example, look at this list of the top ten blowouts by votes/percentage thus far:

By votes:

1. R2: Servants of the Scourge defeats Challenge to the Vertex 40-9
2. R1: Kill Command defeats Calamari Inkantation 38-8
3. R1: Revenger defeats Everything's Alright 41-13
4. R1: Maze Cave defeats Bomber Girl 41-15
4. R1: In the Final DX defeats de Vaca 41-15
4. R1: Challenge to the Vertex defeats The Best Is Yet to Come 38-12
4. R1: Break the Limit! defeats icicle 39-13
4. R1: blackstarlight defeats Lifelight (English Version) 39-13
9. R1: Full Steam VENGEANCE!! defeats Girl 38-13
10. R1: Battle!! defeats Divine Beast Vah Ruta 35-11
10. R2: Knight of a Foreign Country defeats Battle! Ultra Recon Squad 36-12

By percentage:

1. R1: Kill Command defeats Calamari Inkantation 38-8 (82.61%)
2. R2: Servants of the Scourge defeats Challenge to the Vertex 40-9 (81.63%)
3. R1: Battle!! defeats Divine Beast Vah Ruta 35-11 (76.09%)
4. R1: Challenge to the Vertex defeats The Best Is Yet to Come 38-12 (76.00%)
5. R1: Revenger defeats Everything's Alright 41-13 (75.93%)
6. R1: Break the Limit! defeats icicle 39-13 (75.00%)
6. R1: blackstarlight defeats Lifelight (English Version) 39-13 (75.00%)
6. R2: Knight of a Foreign Country defeats Battle! Ultra Recon Squad 36-12 (75.00%)
6. R3: 1NF3S+@+!0N (Theme of Crabulon) defeats Don't speak her name! 33-11 (75.00%)
10. R1: Full Steam VENGEANCE!! defeats Girl 38-13 (74.51%)

(I was going to put a longer list a couple days ago, but my post got eaten somehow. I've got a record of all doublings thus far.)

See something interesting? Yeah, Challenge to the Vertex over TBIYTC is #4 on both lists...and in both lists, its own loss in Round 2 is one of the three ahead of it. (The idea that one of the songs that's been in every contest has a very good chance at finishing last in the X-stats is pretty funny, too--it's at 8.82% even if Servants of the Scourge wins it all.)
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Sad that it took so long to get rid of the worst game, but of the ones from the full list that I've played (which is to say, all of them but 3D World and Odyssey), the three best are still alive.
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Also known as Cyberchao X.

Dang, I miss a day and there's a tie.

Oh, ha, I noticed people wondering if Infestation and Scourge would meet each other after seeing how badly the former whupped Don't Speak Her Name. I didn't expect another battle of the same pair of games, though! Servants of the Scourge is pretty amazing in the first half, but it kind of goes sideways in the middle. But then it returns to what it was doing before for a bit.

Id ~ Purpose has a bit more of that epic feel, though. This definitely isn't as easy a choice as the last Terraia-FE:A match.

Well, at least the second match isn't tough.

Votes:
Servants of the Scourge
A-to-Z

Rankings:

A-to-Z > Servants of the Scourge > Id (Purpose) > Level 1

Really wanted to vote for Id (Purpose), because it's still not the retirement round yet and because it's a game I've actually played. But I just couldn't pull the trigger. The more I listened to them, trying to confirm my vote for Id (Purpose), the less I liked the song, to the point that it was closer to falling below Level 1 than actually getting my vote.
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Also known as Cyberchao X.

Dialga's Fight to the Finish!
Skyclad Observer
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JebronLames posted...

Leafeon13N posted...

There is basically no such thing as pro life since almost everyone who is "pro life" supports letting the baby die once it is born anyway.

yeah i kinda agree with you, but why do they do that? idk

Because the only thing more important than birth to them is guns. Lots and lots of guns. People misusing guns? The only logical solution is to give everyone guns! Gunsgunsguns.

Guns.
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Also known as Cyberchao X.

Leafeon13N posted...

There is basically no such thing as pro life since almost everyone who is "pro life" supports letting the baby die once it is born anyway.

Yeah, I agree. I call them "pro-birth". It's really "pro choice" vs. "anti-choice".

As for me? I'm pro-consequences. I believe that abortion is not an acceptable method of birth control, but that the mother's health--and that includes mental health if the baby is the product of rape--comes first.
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Also known as Cyberchao X.

Soon enough.
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Love Don't Speak Her Name, but this is an easy choice because I'll always take good and upbeat over good and atmospheric.

I nearly considered this to possibly be another example of "says something, is instantly proven wrong", but then Killing Two Birds decided to do a fade-out not even half a minute in and come back as something different. So it might be more upbeat than Confronting Myself, but it's not that good!

Votes:
1NF3S+@+!0N
Confronting Myself

Rankings:
1NF3S+@+!0N > Don't Speak Her Name! > Confronting Myself > Killing Two Birds
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Also known as Cyberchao X.

When you see the words "All Phase Mix", you know you're in for trouble, because it's going to be really long and it's probably going to have parts that are amazing and parts that are awful. ...Well, it got the "really long" part, at any rate. This was awesome all the way through. Which means it hits my classical sensibilities perfectly, enough so that I went against my base instincts and listened to the full 8:35 without anything else taking my attention.

What Am I Fighting For is also pretty amazing, and it has vocals. Good vocals. There's something in the instrumentals after the first chorus that doesn't sit right with me. Still a good track, but this isn't really close.

ENDYMION is interesting. Starts off sounding like it'll be classical, then turns into hard rock/techno. I kind of love it, but it'll still be easy to beat.

I'm not entirely sure Revenger is the song to do it, though? No, it isn't.

Votes:
DNF FW15C (ALL PHASE MIX)
ENDYMION

Rankings:

DNF FW15C (ALL PHASE MIX) > What Am I Fighting For >/= ENDYMION > Revenger
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Chloe is just so generic. This is a pretty easy match.

This second match is kind of easy, too. I thought it might be a tough decision before Life Will Change's vocals kicked in.

Votes:
Raging Spirits
Maze Cave
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Recollections
Douwa Kairou
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Soon enough.
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Also known as Cyberchao X.

Oh dear, I remember this song. It's nearly 7.5 minutes and I was just about to write it off when things started getting good. Damnit I have ADHD I can't be left waiting for that long. It really is something once it gets going, though.

Its opponent is no better at this. Well, I guess it's better in that it only takes 30 seconds to get going (which means that both songs get going with about 5.5 minutes left...crazy long songs). That said, its schtick isn't good. How is it that in Round 3, "lol B8taste" manages to return? This one's not even close.

This second match isn't close, either. How not-close? Not-close enough that the previous not-close match is actually the closest of any of the six possible matches that could be created from today's four songs.

(Will: I&E; Want: Ethereal Dance)

Votes:
Innocence and Emptiness
Ethereal Dance

Rankings:

Ethereal Dance >>>> Innocence and Emptiness >>> TIGAR >>>>>>>>>>> Mount Vesuvius
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Also known as Cyberchao X.

Uwabami
Don't Turn it Off
The Final Song ~ Black Song, White Scales
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Also known as Cyberchao X.