Jin & IA: It’s All Just the Beginning!

So… Jin finally made it to my personal list of Vocaloid producers for whom not a single drop of my tears are wasted.

After “Kisaragi Attention”, “Ayano no Koufuku Riron”, and “Otsukimi Recital” sparkled my interest months ago, “Shounen Brave” recently got me one step closer and “Inner Arts” finally won me over.

To be honest, when I first came in contact with Jin’s works and his Kagerou Project, while I was at least intrigued in the novelty of his pieces and the concept of intertwining themes on a series of songs, I didn’t consider him to be more than a decent VocaP who mainly uses IA and has a considerably large fanbase — especially regarding his Mekakucity-esque works.

However, as I listened more to some of his songs, I discovered something that I once found in a certain producer – someone who inspired me since the first time I got involved in the world of Vocaloid until this moment. As I discovered this, I think I finally understood why lots of people from a really diverse range of background came to love Jin’s music — even those who have never heard of Vocaloid before. Although the form might be substantially different, it is certainly there — the ‘power’ to sublimely convey emotions through his music. Jin throws all the hope, despair, happiness, sadness, anger, loneliness, and other powerful feelings towards people who listen to his music — putting it all together in the form of a beautiful, painful, breathtaking–and sometimes, ironic–storybook of feelings, sorta. Then, as you dwell deeper and go through the process of identifying with the characters in the story, it’ll give you the experience you wouldn’t want to miss.

Another source of my prior skepticism about Jin is the fact that he mainly utilizes IA for his works. While I like IA’s voicebank capability and have several favorite works from other VocaP’s using her for the vocals, I was never really sure with her capacity in creating an impact huge enough to bring a breakthrough that might rival Miku’s influence in the industry; after all, our green-haired twin tail diva has practically monopolized the world’s attention regarding Vocaloid towards herself.

Talking about this actually reminded me of another VocaP who I favored for his powerful ballads: MikitoP. MikitoP used to be a user of Miki instead of Miku and produced a couple of songs using the not-so-popular Vocaloid; the result? He was recognized as an unseen talent due to the lack of recognition… until he made a decision to move on to Miku. Guess what, he is now a rising star in the industry with a bunch of popular works like “Sarishinohara” and “Yonjuunana“. These contrasting circumstances might be one of the main reasons I was formerly pessimistic, despite the fact that IA’s popularity is still rising. At the very least, I think Jin’s music might become a certain niche and have a specific audience from the Vocaloid community who prefers certain genre or style that Jin’s works characterize, taking kous for an example.

But in the end, Jin exceeded all those expectations of mine: currently, he even has his own fanbase from all over the world for his line of works! Now, as I face IA rising up step by step to follow the footsteps of GUMI, and possibly Miku, I can declare with brimming confidence that this is all just the beginning. With the release of IA/VT Colorful, IA’s songs and Jin’s music will be able to spread even more all over the world — and as the theme song, “Inner Arts” is nowhere near disappointing. If I were to put it this way, it is like IA finally got her equivalent of “Tell Your World” or “ODDS & ENDS”.

Yup, I might be exaggerating, and I might not. But for now, I believe that the future will be a brighter one, both for IA and for Jin.

______________________

Inner Arts

heibon na jinsei ni ibitsu na namida nagashi nagara
okubyou de sensai na ubugoe wa kyou mo utau
senmei ni natte iku monokuro no yoru wo koeta nara
hiekitta kanjou mo mata ugokidasu deshou?

ashita he

heibon na jinsei ni obieta bokura wa dai sorete
yakitsuita kankaku de sorezore no ai wo utau
kakumei no mainichi ni kodoku no aria ga naita nara
shoikonda shoudou wa wasurezu ni motte ikou

kimochi wo uta ni shite kotonoha ni sotto koishita
itami darake no kioku ga atta nara
tomedonai DAMAGE mo yari basho no nai jirenma mo
kimi no motte iru shin heiki sa sono namida ni mo makenai

hajimeyou, mi taiken no STAGE wo
kanadeyou, shinkankaku no sono yume wo
tobikomou, futashikana mama de ii
osorenaide, mayowanaide
tadayou you na, sono IMAGE no mama de

kimi no kansei ga kizamu BEAT wo tsura nukeba
machigatta sentaku mo tsubasa ni naru no sa
shunjun na jinsei wo gamushara ni kyou mo oikakete
ikiatta joukei wo egaku jutsu wo utau uta wo sagasu

tomedonai tameiki mo warawarete shimatta SENSE mo
hitori yogari no yarikirenai hibi mo
fushigi na iro ni shite yubisaki de sotto aishite
kimi no zenbu ga kagayaitara sono namida mo teki janai

tsutaeyou, shin kankaku no IMAGE wo
kanaeyou, hazukashikatta ano yume wo
sore wa sa, muzukashii koto janai
kimi shidai de, kono sekai ni
kitto narihibiku kara

hajimeyou, mitaiken no STAGE wo
kanadeyou, shinkankaku no sono yume wo
tobikomou, futashika na mama de ii
osorenaide, mayowanaide
tadayou you ni, tada you you ni
mata kyou kara hajimatte iku
fumikonde ikou sono IMAGE no mama de

mikansei no ashita he