Arcade Station (English Version) Episode 11

Episode 11: Time to Party in Anime Convention! -3y3s JMBS FUNKOT Mix-

 “Welcome aboard to the second day of AnimeCon in *place’s name censored*! We’re glad you’re all lining up for this prestigious and most anticipated event! Remember, you’re allowed to enter the gate at 10 AM! So, let us hear your anticipation!” shouted the announcer via intercom which was heard in front of the building, especially for those who lined up for AnimeCon.

“WOOOOO!!!” shouted all visitors lining up for AnimeCon.

It was 7:30 AM when the gang finally arrived. As expected, the lines that only separated by ropes were already long. There were two lines, one for those who only visited exhibition area which already that long, one for those who also visited stage and concert which got not too long.

Several visitors who already purchased the tickets from the booths or the previous days quickly ran joining the line. The visitors also included screaming anime fans and cosplayers. Most of them took their pictures lining up using their phones.

Hans asked Ward who looked for Gavin to arrive, “You sure you want to wait for Gavin.”

“Gavin will be here soon with my concert ticket …. I bet.”

Ward quickly looked at Gavin’s LINE message saying otherwise, Stuck in the traffic jam near the convention center like for an hour. Gavin became anxious whether Gavin would come there immediately.

Ward exclaimed, “I need a VIP pass already.”

Ian showed the lines got turned due to the ropes. “I think we might get a shot to arrive at Arcade Station’s booth first.”

Toshi looked back and shouted in panic, “More people coming! We should line up immediately! We should line up! Or else we’re not going to play any of BEMANI games in Arcade Station’s booth!”

“C’mon, guys! We have to go!” Ian immediately walked joining long line.

“Oh boy! It’s going to be crowded!” shouted Xephyr walking following the others except Ward.

“C’mon, Gavin, please arrive ….” Ward got his fingers bit waiting for Gavin to arrive.

“Hey, Ward!” greeted a short haired guy who wore glasses and red t-shirt arriving with a brown haired Chinese faced guy and long haired guy. “You’re alone?”

“Aren’t you just with Ian and the others?” asked the brown haired Chinese faced guy.

“They’re already lining up. I’m waiting for Gavin for my ticket concert,” Ward replied.

“Alright, Ward, we’re gotta go before it’s getting more crowded.” The short haired guy immediately noticed more people running to line up.

“We’ll see you inside!” the Chinese faced guy greeted before walking away to line up.

***

MOVEMENT RHYTHM COMMUNITY (90)

Melanie Keegan

Is there anyone also coming to AnimeCon today? (7:59 AM)

Ian Hunter

There’s me, Hans, Norcross, Xephyr, Dave, Toshi, Aishiro, Don, Ed, Amy, and Ward (8:03 AM)

Zeke

Me too (8:05 AM)

Ken and Corneil too! (8:05 AM)

Raven

Why can I come? ☹ (8:07 AM)

***

“Finally!” shouted Ward upon seeing Gavin arriving right after he looked at the chat group on LINE.

“I’m arrived!” shouted Gavin.

“Whoa! Gavin ….”

“No time to stand here! Let’s go!” Gavin quickly walked joining the line for the visitors who also got their concert and stage tickets. “Here’s your ticket wristband!” He gave Ward a red concert ticket wristband.

“Wow! It’s different than I expected!” shouted Ward. “By the way, you’re not buying the ticket for yesterday’s concert?”

“Too bad I couldn’t make it. I got an evening class yesterday. Last night, I finally arrived in this city! It’s too bad last night the concert had livetune+, Mamoru Miyano, yanaginagi, and JAM Project. Tonight, it’s even better! Haruna Luna, Aimer, Kishida Kyodan and the Akeboshi Rockets, Wake up, Girls!, and Kradness.”

“WOO!! Lucky me! I can watch Haruna Luna and Kishida Kyodan and the Akeboshi Rockets! You’re right! It’s even better!” shouted Ward as they began lining up to wait.

“Whoa! It’s a drone!!” shouted majority of visitors in the lines.

“KYAAAAAAA!!” shouted most of the visitors waving hands facing the drone’s camera.

“We better check out Sound Voltex before going to the stage!” said Ward.

“Alright! That would be a nice idea!”

***

Once the time finally reached 10 AM, the security guard finally opened the gate for AnimeCon. One by one, the visitors immediately entered the convention after passing the security guard by showing their tickets.

The visitors immediately walked looking around the convention in cheers. Ward and Gavin who were in the line for concert and stage ticket holders immediately walked visiting Arcade Station’s booth.

Luckily, there were only two players in line in front of Sound Voltex cabinet, one in front of Beatmania IIDX, and none in front of Museca yet. Ward and Gavin got number three and four respectively to play Sound Voltex.

“We made it! At least we’re one of the first players! We’re going to play Sound Voltex earlier!” shouted Ward.

The rest of the gang immediately arrived right after Ward and Gavin lining up in front of Sound Voltex cabinet. They eventually lined up for the games that they wanted to play. Xephyr and Norcross lined up for Museca right after the first player immediately started playing the game. Hans, Ed, and Ian lined up for Beatmania IIDX. Dave, Toshi, Aishiro, Amy, and Don lined up for Sound Voltex.

Aishiro looked back and noticed more players coming for either Sound Voltex or Beatmania IIDX. “Damn, they’re coming for more! More players!”

“Beatmania IIDX and Sound Voltex are the most anticipated games coming to Arcade Station soon. The hype is strong!” said Don.

Dave added, “Maybe … too strong.”

More people immediately lined up for Sound Voltex. The staffs who were on duty in Arcade Station’s booth immediately noticed. But the line for Beatmania IIDX was almost as long as for Sound Voltex.

“Whoa! It’s Ken and Zeke!” pointed Aishiro.

Ken and Zeke were also the ones who were about to try Sound Voltex as well. While Corneil lined up for Beatmania IIDX. The long lines for both Sound Voltex and Beatmania IIDX almost surprised the crowd who were walking around the convention.

“At least one player spends less than nine minutes to finish three stages,” Amy estimated.

“Nine minutes for three stages?” said Aishiro.

“Also includes the time to pick the song,” Dave added.

Several minutes had passed when first two players finished playing Sound Voltex, it was Ward’s turn to play. He immediately tapped his eAmuse card and inserted his PIN. He chose Standard Start mode to start playing the game.

He decided to play Scarlet Moon with ADVANCED level 10 difficulty for the first stage, which he cleared with AA+ rank. Later, he played Archive::zip with with ADVANCED level 10 difficulty for the second stage. He also cleared the second stage with AA rank.

For the final stage, Ward finally found EOS -Infinite Edit-, the edited version of EOS on Sound Voltex. EOS was composed by ginkiha as part of the annual BMS of Fighters contest in 2012, it turned out that the edited version of the song also competed in the KAC2013 Original Song Contest.

“What?! There’s EOS by ginkiha?!” shouted Dave.

“What? You know the song?” asked Toshi.

“EOS is also playable on Sound Voltex! I recently know that!”

“It’s one of the BOFU songs, right?” asked Don.

“I often played it on osu!!” shouted Amy.

Ward eventually decided to play EOS -Infinite Edit- with ADVANCED level 11 difficulty before saying, “They also added EOS to Sound Voltex!”

“For real? I didn’t hear it wrong, right?” asked Gavin.

Ward immediately began the third stage as he also enjoyed the song lyrics. He immediately turned the knobs as shown on the screen correctly as well as pressing the buttons with moving his body.

This is the night where we belong

It goes on and on and on

We see the days merge into one

It goes on and on and on

This is the place we have to go

It goes on and on and on

The time is everlasting now

It goes on and on and on

In the middle part, turned out that Ward began struggling with the buttons. He missed most of the notes that he had to press after turning the knobs. As the lyrics began to showed up again, he later found his groove again.

This is the night where we belong

It goes on and on and on

We see the days merge into one

It goes on and on and on

This is the place we have to go

It goes on and on and on

The time is everlasting now

It goes on and on and on

Uh oh yeah… Bah boh yeah yeah

Uh oh yeah… Bah boh yeah yeah

This is the night where we belong

The days merge into one

Uh oh yeah… Bah boh yeah yeah

Uh oh yeah… Bah boh yeah yeah

This is the night where we belong

the days merge into one

Into one

Into one

Into one…

Ward finally completed the final stage with rank AA, which made him satisfied what he’d achieved so far playing Sound Voltex. He finally ended the game as his data on eAmuse server got saved.

THANK YOU FOR PLAYING!

Right after Ward finished playing, a staff member immediately set the Sound Voltex cabinet. Due to early popular demand during the convention, the staff member set the number of stages on Sound Voltex to only one. Beatmania IIDX also got the number of stages set into only one.

“What happened?” asked Ward.

“He’s setting the number of stages to only one,” Gavin replied.

“Only one? That’s ridiculous!” shouted Toshi.

“I know, but many people are coming to try both Sound Voltex and Beatmania IIDX,” Dave replied.

“Hold on, why Museca is not as crowded as both IIDX and Sound Voltex?” asked Amy.

Don revealed as he looked at his phone screen. “Don’t know. Players are anticipating both IIDX and Sound Voltex. While Museca … like few people are talking about.”

“Damn, after just playing one stage, we have to line up again?” asked Aishiro.

“It’s a bummer only just due to popular demand,” said Amy.

“Ah! I’ve planned what songs that I want to play, but it’s ruined!” shouted Dave.

“Okay, it’s my turn even though just only one stage,” Gavin immediately tapped his eAmuse card after the cabinet turned back on.

Because the game was set for only one stage, he immediately got his final stage playing Sound Voltex. He eventually decided to play Setsuna Trip with ADVANCED level 10 difficulty. He just tried to enjoy the game with only one stage.

Gavin finally done playing the final stage getting AA rank. He finally finished playing the game once he walked from the cabinet.

“Want to go to the stage area now?” asked Gavin.

“You bet!” shouted Ward.

“But first, want to go to the maid café?”

“Whoa! Of course!”

Hans also read the schedule of today’s events in the convention when a player started playing Sound Voltex after Ward and Gavin left. “By the way, it’s said that Arcade Station will showcase BEMANI game on the mini-stage at 2:30 PM.”

“So the cabinets will be brought to the mini-stage for the showcase to the audience?” asked Aishiro.

“You bet. But the staffs said only Sound Voltex.”

***

“Hi, everyone! Our next event in this mini-stage is the showcase from Arcade Station! I bet you need to visit to their booth to try their latest games coming to Arcade Station near you. Let me present you their one of their new games, Sound Voltex!” shouted the female host.

“ORYAAAAAA!!” most of the players who watched the event facing the mini-stage cheered as one of their staffs and the top-ranking player immediately walked to the stage.

“WOOO!!” shouted Toshi and Aishiro.

“Wow … the crowd already got pumped up,” Dave got shocked.

Hans added, “That’s because Sound Voltex and IIDX are the most anticipated game coming to Arcade Station. Now, with this, let’s just hope more BEMANI games coming.”

Aishiro said, “I actually preferred Neon FM than Museca instead.”

“By the way, where’s the rest?” asked Hans noticed most of their gang were missing during the stage event.

“Xephyr and Norcross are looking at EXIT TUNES’ booth, maybe buying BEMANI game soundtrack or Vocaloid CD. Ian, Don, and Ed are looking for more Touhou stuffs. Amy … last time I’ve seen her in Aniplex’s booth. By the way, you guys wanna stay for a little longer? I have to leave with Ken, Zeke, and Corneil to Arcade Station, playing Taiko,” Hans said.

“Ward and Gavin are in the stage area. The concert begins at 7 o’clock,” said Dave.

Toshi pointed on a four-member band walking to the autograph session booth where the VIP visitors screamed and cheered, “That’s Kishida Kyoudan and the Akeboshi Rockets, right?”

“Really? Don got really happy right now,” Hans guessed.

“Whoa! DJ Yoshitaka!” shouted one of the players watching.

“KYAAAAAAA!!” the players cheered when the videotape got played on the screen showing DJ Yoshitaka’s face.

“What? DJ Yoshitaka?” asked Aishiro.

“Whoa, you don’t know him?” asked Hans.

“I don’t. I don’t even know the people behind video games,” Toshi used his poker face.

“He’s the composer of Flower and Jomanda, right?” Aishiro added.

“For BEMANI fans, DJ Yoshitaka is the face of BEMANI franchise. Mostly thanks to Flower which ended up added on several rhythm games. He’s also the head producer for IIDX, pop ‘n music, Reflec Beat, Sound Voltex, and Beatstream. Because being the face of BEMANI franchise, he is considered as the leader of the music.”

“Whoa,” said Aishiro and Toshi at the same time.

“WOOO!!!” cheered most of the players again.

“What? Arcade Station will bring more BEMANI game in this country!” shouted Dave.

“They’re planning to bring more BEMANI games in few upcoming events. Let’s just there’s a chance DDR and GitaDora are coming fast after this event,” Hans replied.

The top-ranking player immediately walked to the cabinet before tapping his eAmuse ID card right after the video ended. The host immediately asked the top-ranking player about the game. The top-ranking player immediately explained and showed the buttons and its’ functions. He also told a bit of history of the game.

Since he was given three stage, he immediately noticed that most of the players were ready to party up with the songs from Sound Voltex. First, he picked the most obvious song choice, Bad Apple!! with EXHAUST level 12 difficulty. Later, he picked Flower with EXHAUST level 18 difficulty. For the final stage, based on the crowd’s cheers, he picked 3y3s (JMBS Funkot Mix) with MAXIMUM level 17 difficulty.

Once the music started playing, most of the players watching in the front row facing the stage started dancing to the funky and cheerful mix of 3y3s, it was also considered as hard funk music by some players.

“Man, I love Sound Voltex music! Especially this one!” shouted Toshi also joined the dance. “Onii-chan, please play this song! I want to watch you play!”

“Yeah, maybe I’ll try the ADVANCED difficulty,” said Dave.

“What is funkot anyway?” asked Aishiro as everyone watching the showcase cheered on and danced.

“This is like a concert in a club!” shouted Toshi. “Just make sure we’re one of the first players playing Sound Voltex again!”

“Cool! After it’s over, let’s get back to Arcade Station’s booth!” shouted Dave.

“Guys, remember, I should also tell the others, don’t spend your money too much. We still haven’t paid for our two night stay in the hotel. We’ll go back home tomorrow morning, just remind them don’t waste your money, or their money,” said Hans.

***

hashiru gin no sekai o kin no kiseki de some 

asu o kirihiraite susunde iku dake darou

hito no tsugou nante ki ni shichainai ga 

sono chi ga subete o shitte iru no dakara

mada nanimo hajimatte inai no sa

The crowd cheered and clapped their neon light sticks watching Kishida Kyodan and the Akeboshi Rockets performing Blood on the Edge. The powerful performance from the band on stage made the crowd all pumped up.

“WOOO!! Watching concert live from here is awesome than watching it from DVD or YouTube!” shouted Ward. “Thanks so much, Gavin!”

“It’s totally worth it when I gave my free ticket for you. Anyway, I want to play Guilty Gear in your room. You’re lucky you got Guilty Gear Xrd for free once you bought PS4 in this city!” shouted Gavin.

“Perhaps I need to save more money for next year’s AnimeCon. I want to watch the concert again!”