I know this is random but idk who else to send this to,
So I had a dream I don’t remember much of, but one part I do remember is Reko doing the Memory Dance, dance, and then Sou was just dead next to it (like the sprite where he got “knocked out” by the wood plank thing.
here's a little (urk, 50+ minute 500+ mb) samurai yaiba playlist i compiled at the request of @allbrows04. while i do have specific reasons i choose each of these songs (listed in massive paragraphs below the readmore) disclaimer that these are all kind of a proof of concept/very very loose vibes of what samurai yaiba could feel like or have elements of and some of these songs are things that either blatantly contradict my personal theories on sy sound or the actual canon. that said, i hope its fun to listen to and makes you think of them.
authors notes below:
le tigre - on the verge: prominent keyboard / electronic sounds. unlike most of the songs on here, the one could arguably kind of align with most of the members skills, ignoring that thats mostly because the drums and bass arent present here at all. you could hc it as a demo, maybe? reko having to structure songs around her strongest player (besides herself) would make a lot of sense. pretty hard to find bands that dont have prominent drums nowadays which is significant since alice is supposed to be not that great with them, but there are various ways to superimpose that issue here (like how i pretty much ignored that same fact for strongholds shitty bass playing not being able to handle most of these songs). it also wasnt intentional initially, but the sound effects present here and on some of the later entries really make me rthink about what @allbrows04 was saying alice's interest in music production. that all aside, i really enjoy kathleen hanna's vocals; the way she seems like shes passionately shouting them even though its mostly high energy nonsense feels very fitting for samurai yaiba. her raspy voice and connections to the riot grrrl movements of the 90s feels very fitting thematically as well. this is even moreso for the other le tigre track later on on this playlist.
genesis - no reply at all
reko would strangle stronghold over this bassline but i dont care. this song really stands out on genesis' acacab album and its easily my favorite track on it. its a song with a really bright party like instrumental but its mourning over insurmountable relationship issues, and the lyrics themselves reminds me very much of how alice must feel toward reko at this time, unable to connect with her or read her because shes so angsty and guarded. i saw someone once refer to samrai yaiba as '80s inspired' so i guess this song fits well with that too.
otoboke beaver - akimahenka
i really deliberated over whether or not to put this one in the playlist at all because i so often wax about how samurai yaiba probably wasnt "that" punk but i felt like since it had a relatively short duration, it worked well representatively to showcase reko using her "growl" as a vocal flair in the middle of her otherwise more twee songs. the letters the singer is shouting are "T.P.O" which was noted in eng translation as a business term. felt fitting given that i imagine she'd be especially frustrated with that kind of thing around this time.
buzy - one heart
this song is honestly not very samurai yaiba at all but im addicted to it and the imagery of reko shouting out these super hopeful jpop lyrics with a super pissed look on her face is so funny to me that i cant not have on here. i love the sound effects, and the keyboard at the forefront with the sudden guitar riff towards the end feels like something reko would do. bonus points if this was reko's single begrudging j-pop song and it ended up being a hit because of its catchy appeal. its not brought up often, but this song also feels very dance-able, and we do know reko is a dancer on top of everything else- whether that was moreso in samurai yaiba or skullnutz is up for interpretation. its honestly hard for me to imagine her as a dancer AND the lead singer AND lead instrument AND songwriter in either band, but thats reko for you. if you guys could see the animatic in my head rn
polkadot stingray - i cant remember at all:
another jpop band technically, but this song stands out quite a bit on their capacity album. the smoothness of the lead singers voice versus her screams later in the song really give a good concept of "angelic voice with a hellish growl" imo. the lyrics are about getting black out drunk and waking up next to somebody you dont remember; the power behind the singers voice is less meant to be passionate or angry, but moreso convey the feeling of being suddenly scared/really shocked by something you werent expecting which kind of reminds me of some of rekos sprites where even when shes nervous she defaults to looking defensive. i couldnt find a proper translation, but supposed the talking in the middle might be the main singer giving one of their guitarists crap. big if true.
le tigre - deceptacon: mostly the same reasons as the previous le tigre song, though i think the shoutiness is even more emphaiszed here, and i actually picked this one before the other. i really like this feeling where even when rekos singing these dance-y hype lyrics thats there still so much anger behind it. the line "your lyrics are dumb like a lineoleum floor / ill walk on it / ill walk all over you" really encapsulates this
385 - Greed society:
another japanese punk band i snuck in there. i was hesitant but the temptation of an angry japanese band with a number name i ahve to assume is a pun and a leading keyboardist with a womans screaming vocals was just too on the nose for me to not include them. i think its at least slightly subsided by the fact that despite 385 being a punk band, theyve got a really groovy sound and even a keyboardist. i can definitely feel the jazz influences in this, which leads into some stuff ive theorized about reko having a preference for the genre. in a fictional context, this would definitely be a more experimental piece that i could see her scrapping either a. in fear of it being less popular, b. because strongholds fingers would fall off and he'd go deaf from reko yelling at him, or c. it actually being published and that being the case so they never play it at concerts. the lyrics themselves really play in reko's explicitly noted hate of greed.
meloimage - effervesce:
some extra context: meloimage as a music group, as far as i can tell, is not a real band. they only have about 7 songs of which were all used and constructed for the rhythm game cytus in order to produce more songs to pad out their genre selection. i dont know if the clunky lyrics are just a result of japanese songrwiting styles being different than in the west + possibly some sloppy translation, or these lyrics are really just a bunch of english phrase smooshed together to create the desired aesthetic.
that said, thats kind of why i put it on here. i can see reko either having super direct non ambiguous lyrics or much more poetic esoteric ones like these. the lyrics themselves are about reminiscing on somebody you used to really care about, which again, reminds me of reko and alice's dynamic, though i questioned putting it on here because that would probably be more post-samurai yaiba.
love outside andromeda - starseeds:
this band was used as a voice claim for reko by @/rekofan101 and now im obsessed with them and own their entire discography, so shout out to them. i honestly dont have a super in depth reason for this one, its just easy for me to imagine them to a song like this.
batta - chase (english ver):
not only is this a super catchy track thats stuck in my head regardless, i liked it because i thought it really fit this up-beat j-rock feel i was going for with them (as opposed to being closer to punk or metal. i kinda fumbled that though). the lyrics are very good for putting energy into but actually pretty nondescript and simple, which i think would fit her resentfully-trying-to-become-a-popular-band attitude at this time.
meloimage - imprint:
purple cover, to be fully honest. but also, theres something deeper about the sound of this song i feel would be something samurai yaiba plays with, that i dont quite have a good enough grasp of music to properly explain. its got like, a sense of impending doom- maybe its in a minor key or something? the instrumentals feel like a dark thunderstorm, with is imagery i really associate with the band for some reason.
heavenly - hearts and crosses:
i really wanted to get a heavenly song on here given that theyre the band who wrote 'p.u.n.k. girl', a song people connect with reko all the time. its honestly a little too soft but its a nice break from the other more intense songs on this playlist. at the very least, i can see sort of this kind of lyric writing style for reko. a lot of the songs on this playlist talk about romance and sex, which is whatever, but i dont think it really fits reko in the sense that i headcanon her as not have personally experienced either of those at this point of her life. i can see her doing something similar to this song where she plays into the idea of romantic lyrics and then subverts it at the end- though i dont think she'd be comfortable getting quite as dark as this song gets, as edgy as she is.
heavenly - trophy girlfriend:
GRANNY DRESS BLEACHED HAIR ALWAYS KNICKS HER UDNERWEAR SHESS KISSING BOYS AND GIRLS CNAT DECIDE WHICH SHE PREFERS SHE POUTS A LOOOTTTT TREOS TO SEEM PENSIVE AND PRETTY JUST LOOKS MEANNN. i really like thsi song. anyway, this is definitely one of heavenly's more rock-y songs, so it arguably fits better than hearts and crosses. i really like this band in general for their pessimistic, sarcastic lyrics over twee instrumentals. the lyrics sound like theyre purposely mocking the person theyre talking about even though theyre also clearly self directed, which i think fits rekos attitude at this time really well. the lyrics themselves i feel can describe her as well, in bits and pieces; stands out in a crowd, ignores her health, fails whenever she tries to get along for once, scared of being a loser despite her success/tries to 'look like a loser' (could be her snobbishness coming out with her seeing popular stuff as for losers and emulating it anyway), and trying so so hard to be what she wanted- or maybe what her dad, or what alice wanted. by the end of the song, the lyrics sound overwhelming and stressful despite the song being upbeat, which is something i can imagine being applied to her experience in samurai yaiba as a whole. also the music video looks really good with this filter. EATS A LOT THEN STARVES-
mitski - remember my name:
i put this on here because that way everyone will go 'oh my god mitski' and forget about all the other songs not fitting perfectly. jk. mitski herself is another artist on here that as a whole feels like an easter egg for those who are in the know; she was originally a jpop idol living in japan before getting fed up with the pointlessness of the empty songs they were feeding her and going solo to create now very well known, emotionally heavy works. as such, the nature of this song reflecting on wanting to finally be able to be 'all done' working to prove herself to others is not just coincidentally very fitting for reko, but kind of a direct connection to being a disillusioned talented artist in of itself. unlike a lot of other mitski's music, this song is a bit more energetic and grandiose, which couldve actually been an intentional artistic choice given the topic of the song.
love otuside andromeda - third dimension color scene:
a song about a strained relationship, implied to be due to being overworked either physically or emotionally (based on the context of the ep its in, likely related to music, but maybe im just in too deep). could represent reko reflecting on her relationship with her father and even alice as well. this was supposed to be before remember my name but then i messed up the track order and its too late for me to fix it.
love outside andromeda - mercury 2 degrees:
a little low and slow for this lineup but it is what it is. i mean i could say its actually meant to represent the burn out experience by reko by having all the super intense fast paced songs at the beginning but thats up to you. the song is practically on here obligatorily considered this was what inspired my 4k word samurai yaiba fic from a couple months ago. the meaning of the song being about being used as a tool and having to forcefully prove yourself as worthy of being loved feels very samurai yaiba reko to me.
i went on for a really long time... i hopefully it was interesting.
bonus: if you interpret the vocalist in all of these songs to be reko, she ends up having like 4 different english speaking accents: american, australian, british, and japanese. truly a woman of many talents
okay, i think its finally time to post my whiteboard drawings- the reko ones at least, theres a ton more, so if theres something you thought i mightve drawn and its not on here thats why. apologies in advance for how i drew shin, i didnt bother looking up a reference and he got kinda skrunkled
