This is such a great documentary even if I haven’t played basically any of these games. It’s a bit heartbreaking hearing some of the stories, like how they didn’t know how much their music was beloved and so they quit music altogether, only to find out later how many fans they had.
I had no idea the composer for Street Fighter 2 was a woman and that is just so damn cool. It was heartwarming to hear her say how much joy it brought her that people learned Japanese phrases through the game.
In episode 4, the guy saying “Do I remember the moment I got my first Genesis? Yes I do. It was like getting married as a child. I now pronounce you Man and Sega.”
I also now want to check out the bands Rebecca and Dreams Come True.
I just got to the episode with Nobuo Uematsu!! Very exciting. Almost finished but not sure if I will tonight.
EDIT: Nevermind. I just finished it. What a great doc.
I rewatch it every now and again. It’s excellent. Informative, entertainingtt and never excessively long.
Yoko Shimomura’s resume is incredible. She is hands down one of the most important game music composers in Japan, but she’s rarely as talked about at her male counterparts. She did Final Fight, Breath of Fire, Live-A-Live, Legend of Mana, all of Kingdom Hearts, contributed to Xenoblde Chronicles and so, so much more. The sad thing is that a fair number of game composers in Japan are women but they don’t benefit from the same visibility as the men.
Oh, that’s why her name was familiar! I saw her in-person, though I was very very far away from her, at a Distant Worlds concert I went to a couple years ago. I knew about her work with Kingdom Hearts but didn’t realize how many other games she’s contributed to. That’s really awesome.
EDIT: I think she worked on a Final Fantasy game too…
Yoko Shimomura rules! Love her recent work on Mario + Rabbids, and I’m just now finding out that she also did like half the soundtrack for Front Mission 1.
I’ve been really really enjoying this series. I’m working on the hour long Wall Market video now. I think you may have turned me on to a whole genre of translation videos that I hope there is more content for.
Kind of arguably “good”, but I suddenly remembered this anti-piracy ad that ran during the trailers at the top of VHS tapes. I must have seen this hundreds of times. Got some sort of weird nostalgia ASMR response from seeing and hearing it again.
I love this one too, it’s so iconic. That kind of edgy, aggressive aesthetic and messaging was a real calling card of that pivot to ATTITUDE that started happening mid-90s all the way through the 2000s.
A couple years ago I bought a DVD at a used bookstore (I think it was Snake Eyes With Nicolas Cage) and I popped off so hard seeing this Shadow the Hedgehog edgelord looking-ass ad again. I love that stupid Quake II trailer sounding guitar riff. It’s like seeing an old friend every time.
What is that in Australia and the US, kindergarden? “Raubkopieren” (robbery copying) is not a joke in Germany!!!
Translation:
“hard but fair” (nope)
“Robbery piracy will be punished with up to 5 years in prison” (also nope except you have a website with 20.000 illegal streams a day or alike and even then rather not)
Kid: “Mommy when does Daddy come back?”
Mommy: “After we sing four more times.”
Of course the harder they push(ed) the louder we laugh(ed). I am not sure what the current messages are, but I doubt they are more reasonable now.
