🎼 Thank you Lyn for the Patreon Request! www.patreon.com/drumrolltonyreacts

“I know it’s not real, but it’s still cool”. That is the essence of vocaloid

As a fan of Kikuo, I can say that this song is just the tip of the iceberg of Kikuo's work, as it has been about 10 years since "Love me" was uploaded, and the current compositions have reached an even higher level. And don't worry, with Kikuo, anyone can learn to appreciate Miku's voice hahaha

funfact: kikuo has no idea about music theory because his teacher said his music will be boring if he learns it. kikuo does have experience making music since 2003 though, even his oldest albums are absolute bangers

If vocaloid isn't your style, you should try listening to KikuoHana, Hanatan's voice is amazing.

if youre interested in doing more kikuo reactions i think "hole dwelling / あなぐらぐらし" would be interesting to see

Tony anytime an element of the music isn't performed by a human being or physical instrument: "oh that's.... fine.. that's that's interesting :)"

if you like Kikuo's production but not really the vocaloid stuff, you should listen to KikuoHana, especially their song Desert Theater.

I think we started off on the wrong foot. Vocaloid is more often than not about style rather than aesthetics or rhythm. Some go deeper into aesthetics like MitchieM or 40meterP (Noiseless Heart) and others into style, the original flavor of the producer (PinocchioP or Kikuo) So you have to find the middle ground for someone who is not used to it or does not like it. If I had to recommend for instrumental I would say Maretu The point is that your subscribers should be more sensitive to this topic. Personally, what I like the most is the immense variety of music, the inhuman interpretation of vocaloid and I will not necessarily always like it, but I insist that you must find your taste.

You know I was so used to the sound of vocaloid that I didn't like the utaites (real singers) covers. Of course it's not like that anymore and honestly I would recommend hearing the covers if the vocaloid sound isn't working for you, but anyway I'm glad you are reacting to more producers ^^

I truly respect how you can separate certain musical preferences when listening to a song to appreciate it's composition. Vocaloid isn't something I like much, probably for the same reasons as you, but there are so so many amazingly composed songs by vocaloid-focused artists that it'd be a shame not give them a try and the respect they deserve. This song in specific has a good number of covers by singers that I love. Great breakdown as always!

İf you don't like vocaloids there are a lot of covers and I would recommend Miyashita Yuu. His voice is just amazing

YOU HAVE TO REACT TO MORE KIKUO! My favourite vocaloid producer for sure!

This video makes me think something is going to crawl out of my screen and kill me in 7 days.

if you like the sound of vocaloid songs but not vocaloid itself Ado has a lot of songs created by vocaloid producers that she sings (+her voice is amazing!!)

Holy shit, no freaking way, kikuo? Hell yes

Kikuo is a musical genius, so creative.

Vocaloid is definitely an acquired niche taste so the duo KikuoHana would be more palatable I’d say. Basically Kikuo’s masterpiece arrangements with Hanatan’s voice.

vocaloid is kind of hard to get used to but the music produced with it is always Something that's for sure. Though vocaloid is getting more versatile i still enjoy the robotic sound when integrated into certain songs. some producers practically turn it into an instrument to blend along with everything else, such as abu-se-ken

since you’re a percussionist, i think it would be super interesting to see you react to some hitoshizuku and yama songs! it’s more vocaloid, but considering you don’t mind the sound if the composition is interesting i think you might find it entertaining. one of their more popular songs, bad end night, has a lot of crazy parts that i think would be fun to see broken down on a fundamental level.

Yuu miyashita has a cover of this song that I think is phenomenal, if anyone’s interested in checking it out without the vocaloid.

Thank you for the Kikuo review! Kikuo's music is an experience, rather than something that you just listen to. I happen to understand Japanese so whenever I listen to Kikuo's music it is very immersive. And thank you for tolerating the Vocaloid singing voice. To be honest, I feel every Vocaloid Producer, such as Kikuo, is always the star at their own music, not the Vocaloid, so your focus on the instrumental and rhytmical analysis is very appreciated, and thank you for not getting turned off by the vocals. If you're not a fan of the Vocaloid voice, I recommend an actual human singer collaboration with this producer, Hanatan, they both as KikuoHana. The song "きくおはな - のぼれ！すすめ！高い塔 " (KikuoHana - Nobore! Susume! Takai Tou (Climb! Advance! To the Tall Tower)). In my opinion it perfectly expresses Hanatan's abosolutely talented voice manipulation and Kikuo's playful eerie composition. I really really recommend it if you would!

Definitely recommend checking out more songs from Kikuo.

Someone needs to make him react to Hitogawari by KikuoHana Some really nice chords, drums and then the bridge is pretty wild with all the detuning

KIKUO YEEEEEEES. His Kikuo Miku 6 album is quite an experience I highly recommend.

As an avid Kikuo fan, I’ll tell you this song is just the tip. Definitely recommend "Knife, Knife, Knife" / "ナイフ、ナイフ、ナイフ" by him, the way he tunes Miku in it is so raw, and the “guitar noises” at the beginning are actually him twisting her voice bank.

I always love how Tony always attempts a breakdown of the songs even with something as “complex” as kikuo, don’t know if complex is the right word cause it’s all coded basically but still takes talent either way you view it

If vocaloid isn’t your thing, I will mention that not only non robo and english covers of this song exist. Either the version by jayn or will Stetson are great

even if you don't like vocaloid because it's not real singing, you still gotta appreciate the people who are producing those notes, doing so intentionally while also having their own distinct style

omaiga, this is so epic for me, im recently became a big fan of kikuo, and i follow this chanel for a few years ago, its so cool seeing more people listening songs of kikuo, i know of the vocaloid vocie is not for every people, but the melody and the music of kikuo are made with so much quality, i recommend to listen pitfull cave of kikuo, that song has a very good arrangements, sorry for my bad english, good vibes to you from mexico

Please do more Kikuo reactions whenever you can. The song “Hole Dwelling” is one of his best

NO WAY I FUCKING LOVE KIKUO MY FAVORITE ARTIST HOLY SHIT NO WAY TONY

Finally! Kikuo!

6:44 i thought he was finaly gonna talk about the lyrics SINCE ITS HUGE ON YOUR FACES ,but nah background music is important (i cant even folow up with the musical terms ,i chose to follow the sound of the bass ,xylophone and acordeon bcs theyre most iconic)

Esto ya lo habia escuchado antes,pero detenerme a escuchar todos sus detalles,es asombroso

As one of the biggest Kikuo fans out there, this song never gets old. The instrumental is CRAZY GOOD and i had an era where the only music i listened to was this song’s instrumental. It is so detailed that it’s impossible to get bored of listening to it, for me

I’m hyped to hear what you think about the background bassy layer in this one

Not gonna lie I've been waiting for this one since I found your channel.

With vocaloid learning how its made and that it isnt just cut paste or a filter really gave me apreciation. (The filter parts especiallt dont like covers when its a filter) Anywho. Love your reaction/breakdown. Love the layers and how it all works in music

I used to hate vocaloid. I thought it just sounded robotic and unpleasant. Now I am an avid Hatsune Miku fan. I think what changed my opinion was how I viewed the vocaloid sound. I used to think of it as a cheap imitation of human singing. As I began to hear more, I realised vocaloids are not about imitating humans as much as it is a way for artists, humans, to convey messages through music they otherwise couldn’t have. Each vocaloid song has its own voice, both literally and figuratively. To me, vocaloids are as much of an instrument as they are a voice. Then I stopped comparing the vocaloid sound to real human singing, and rather treated it like an instrument, used by the artist to convey something other instruments could not.

It's too bad you reacted to this only two months ago, Nerissa Ravencroft released an english cover of this song just after her debut and absolutely CRUSHED it. She translated the lyrics herself, and since this song uses so many phrases and idioms that only really work in Japanese, it's always interesting to hear another artist's take on the (frankly disturbing and personal) lyrics. The song's lyrics are about struggling with low self-worth and how people slide into near-insanity from craving affirmation. The pre-chorus talks about how worrying about people's view of oneself is "tightening like a noose on my neck" which is... blunt. Another part talks about how "no matter how big you get you continue to grow, but the noose stays just as small" which is a similar but entirely different metaphor - as you get older, people are less likely to praise you. Japanese songwriters don't hold back, and this song really shows that. Any western artist would skirt around the raw emotion, giving a glimpse into their mental state without outright laying out their emotion. However, Kikuo and a lot of other Japanese artists are, comparatively, extremely honest about how they feel. It's simultaneously refreshing and almost uncomfortable, which I love.

I like these vocaloid songs because they use the voice more like an instrument then a stand in for a real singer

Я удивлена. Он сделал реакцию на эту вещь. Она классная, надеюсь, еë оценят по достоинству.

i know im really late, but you should try listening to ado's aishite cover! Since you said you dont really like vocaloid that much

the fun thing you might like is hearing covers of vocaloid/utauloid songs with humans singing them. tho not all covers are equal or have good vocal mixing or a fitting voice for the song , some do! that way you get the human voices you prefer with still the excellent instrumental production. and there are also some cases where vocaloid/utauloids are almost indistinguishable from a human voice depending on who tuned the vocaloid/utauloid tho this is very difficult to pull off. "Kyaami" is often known as the queen of Tuning vocaloids/utauloids so her covers ( they are vocaloid/utauloid covers so it doesnt use her own voice tho she has used her real voice once i think ) would be a great way to start with that. ( 【VY1V4】Donor Song【Cover】 being my personal recommendation and it uses a vocaloid ) P.S Utauloid is basically Vocaloid but it is more Indie and is free/opensource and can be used with your own voice too. it often has a bit of a different sound than vocaloid too but its still in the same ballpark.

Vocaloid musics are like treasures waiting to be discovered. Wish to see more reaction about that!

You should check out the kikuohana colab they did. Same fun arrangements with a fantastic vocalist.

Nerissa Ravencroft just did an English Cover of this, i think it would be easier to understand that version :D

you should totally react to more kikuo stuff!! all his music has a variety of silly sounds! very entertaining to disect!

I like how he's vibing and talking about the snare drums when the captions says stuff like, "It is painful" and "It hurts".

kikuo's one of my favorite music producers, you should check out his song kara kara kara no kara, theres some really silly and funky noises in that song haha, great video as always 👍

If you get unconfortable with vocaloid, you could try covers. Same composers, instrumentals and etc, but human voice. Just... sometimes the cover changes the instrumentals aswell, but is an option.

i was ;istening to this song like couple of years ago and benn watching you for an year and somehow havent seen this reaction this all time

Kikuo has actually made a few instrumental-focused albums too, like kikuoworld 1, 2, 3 and bell of the dream! While in addition to kikuohana (which is amazing both for his music and Hanatan's extraordinary vocal rage, so definitely worth checking out!) there's the ikitama project (kikuo ft. si_ku), and in the newest album he made many songs with a much more realistic sounding voicebank called Qi Xuan. Anyways, than you for the great reaction and analysis!

KIKUO YES!! I've loved kikuo for so long this makes me so happy! tho I noticed that the robotic voice isn't of your liking haha, so I recomend songs like Hitogawari, O Light, The girl who brings misfortune or It's another maze here, all of these are composed by Kikuo and sung by a human voice :) as a fun fact, Kenshi Yonezu, the one who made Kick Back, started his career as a vocaloid producer under the pseudonym of Hachi

Honestly one of my favorite songs

Why is no one mentioning Kanade Izuru’s cover?? Its so amazing and VERY UNIQUE LIKE DAMN DUDE

Jayn does really great covers of Kikuo! You should hear her frantic, anxiety-heavy cover of O Light/Hikari Yo. It's perfect for the song, and she nails the high notes, even the long high notes. At points, she sounds like she's about to burst into tears and fall into pieces. Perfect for the song.

I love your reaction to Vocaloids, especially producers like Wowaka and Kikuo, because they make the most of Vocaloids and make songs that no one else does. And the way you break down every detail of the song is really cool, there are a lot of reactionaries who look at the picture and try to understand the meaning of the song, and you break down the music. It's really cool. I would like more feedback on Vocaloids, especially the unique Vocaloids songs. And there are actually a lot of them. I want to see the reaction to my favorite Vocaloid song "Magical Girl and Chocolate". P.S: sorry for the bad english, I'm from another country, so there may be errors in the text.

Very cool reaction to a great song/artist

Oh, this is going to be good 😮

KIKUO REACT LEZ GOO Edit: it seems the vocaloid voice isnt in your liking, then i recommend utaite (ppl who covers vocaloid song and theres much more info about them) best cover for this song aishite is miyashita yuu and kanade izuru

“Interesting..” HAHAAH I LOVE HOW NEUTRAL YOURE TRYING TO BE😂 you should try reacting to covers of vocaloids.

If you haven't seen it yet, Nerissa Ravenscroft does an English version of this (was her debut song) and it was really good. She also did a beautiful cover of some of down by the river from Baldur's Gate 3, which I'm pretty sure got a shout out from the original composer or singer for being great.

This song lives in my head no joke

Great feedback! I'm surprised he didn't mention "chaotic" nature of the percussion or the feelings of disarray that the song evokes because of it... the arrangement aligns perfectly with the dark and almost sinister lyrics. Wonderful composition overall. Quite unsettling. :)

Kikuo is just so talented!! Definitely check Kikuohana, the song is done by Kikuo with all the greatness but with human vocals done by Hanatan whose voice is just so amazing. I feel like you would like their songs.

kikuo is so good even the subtitles are dancing

One of my very favorite artists.

And this is why we stan Kikuo🫶

Thank you Lyn, we all love you

Ado covered this song in her new album, its definitely a must watch sooooo good

its time

Another bop song of kikuo is don't look at me like that even tho it's pretty old it just sounds so good

Amazing analysis

I always loved how wild it is

You absolutely have to check out Desert Theater by KikuoHana!! Hanatans voice is amazing, and I think you would enjoy it a lot!!

i tell my own thing, i'm dancing with the song while smiling, then i read the lyric and meaning behind it and i crying while smiling:). these kind a song maybe give the other me some fun while listening it:).

The subtitles are also a banger

Omg kikuo! Wow I never thought i would see someone reacting to his music. Vocaloid is not for everyone but the people behind the music are honestly awesome, i suggest you listen to some wowaka songs, that would be interesting truly. KZfaq randomly recommend me your chanel and I can say i will definitely watch your streams and videos, you make me enjoy even more the music with those explanation, good job 🖤

Love this one. Vocaloid is so fun

there/s a new eng vturber that did this song and her cover might be the very best out of all english cover songs ive heard, especially the changes in arrangements to suit the language

if you’d like to hear more amazing composition from kikuo i’d recommend kikuohana!! it features hanatan, an incredibly talented vocalist

The subtittle was so cool

I feel like he would definitely enjoy the instrumental of Hole Dwelling

If you don't like vocaloid but like how this composer did this arrangement, you could react to something from his KikuoHana collabs, like "The Girl who Sells Misfortune"

Hi Tony, I know that u like Ado, she did a great cover of this song "Aishite, aishite, aishite"...I suggest u to hear and react to that cover

Finally, Kikuo

If you liked this one then maybe you'd also like hole-dwelling by kikuo. The voiced is a bit deeper but the music is a whole other level!

more kikuo please!!

4:17 "Yeah that Vocaloid sound..." lmao yep. and never would have thought we'd get someone like Ado replicating such wild range either 😂

Please check out Ado's recent cover of this song too!

It would be really cool to see you react to the girl who sells misfortune also by kikuo, but the kikuohana version instead (with a real person singing) it’s a really amazing song.

I wonder what he would think about the song "Kara Kara no Kara" of kikuo..... that instrumental is so chaotic

Kikuo really translate the theme of Mental sickness into composition, theres something really feels off almost in all the of the song troughout. and as of mental sickness its there obviously but you wont see it right there out in the open. its hidden benetah layers and layers of what seems to be "normal stuff" damn thats really hard to do, and it turns out to be a banger too.

You should react to Miyashita Yuu! His singing style is amazing! he always adds additional wonderful things and details to the songs! He often covers Vocaloid songs but he definitely achieves things that the synthesizer couldn't! Miy_Yuu is an excellent singer! you should take a look!

You should listen to O Light, by Kikuo! The og version has a real person singing it :o

I REAAALLY encourage you to listen to "desert theater" by kikuohana. its by the same person but with absolutely beautiful vocals from an actual singer!!!

There's a vocal cover of this song that makes this song even better, you can search for Yuu Myiashita on KZfaq and listen to he's awesome cover

if you dont really like the sound of vocaloid, kikuo is very popular and theres plenty of covers by utaites (real people covering vocaloid songs) out there! kikuos stuff is super unique, i recommend hole dwelling, kara kara kara no kara, a deep dark forest, and dance of the frogs. he really plays around with music like no other