[Personal] My feelings about Algeki events
Apr. 9th, 2019 02:28 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
writtentofreedomI wanted to make a blog post addressing how I feel concerning recent events with Tsukicro and Algeki, along with what I think has been happening. Keep in mind that there isn’t any concrete proof. This is all just my own theories and opinions.
So there’s precedent to my theory, and I guess I should explain that too. If I get any details wrong, please feel free to shoot me a message? It’s been a while.
So sometime in Spring 2018, it was announced that the mobile rhythm game Band Yarouze! (Banyaro) would be shutting down. Prior to the announcement, Banyaro had been doing well. Along with the phone game, there were CDs, merch, and live shows from bands made specifically for Banyaro. However, once the announcement came, the bands were suddenly disbanded.
Banyaro was a collaboration between Aniplex and Sony Entertainment. I’m not actually sure if we ever got confirmation as to what happened. Qooapp’s article states that it was Sony Entertainment that left. Whatever had happened behind the closed office doors, Sony Entertainment made their decision and acted without a single word to the public, leaving Aniplex to handle the downfall of the game and all of the fans.
Aniplex was therefore left to handle the game without the bands and management that made the music. (Heck, I’m not even sure if they could continue using the music, as it had been under Sony Entertainment.) I really doubt they had many options at point, since it was a difficult time for all mobile games due to the new iPhone forcing all games to redo their programming. There certainly wasn’t budget for replacing Sony Entertainment. They therefore had no choice but to shut the game down.
2018 was an odd time for Algeki and Tsukicro. They released a new CD in March, and had a few events across spring. However, there was little news or activity from them otherwise, up until August. Something happened in August.
Whatever happened behind closed office doors then, caused both Algeki and Tsukicro to become active. Algeki began tweeting short stories for birthdays in August. The combination Algeki and Tsukicro fanclub Alcro released a series of video messages starting at the beginning of September. (Does this seem foreboding?)
Then October came, and there was announcement for the closing of the Alcro fanclub. There were tweets from the voice actors reassuring that Algeki would continue despite the closing of the fanclub. The Japanese fans pointed out that despite the reassurances, the tweets from each voice actor in response to the announcement felt too emotional, like goodbyes. For instance, Izumo’s voice actor Fuukun had tweeted, “This doesn’t mean Tsukicro and Algeki will cease to exist! It’s a very precious place. I absolutely don’t want to cry, so I’ll do my best for its sake! Everyone please continue cheering me on!!” The tweets all had that same bittersweet feeling. Fans on both sides were confused as to what any of this means, as no explanation was given. (And doesn’t that feel like deja vu?)
There was a series of live events to mark the end of the fanclub, with a last event held in December 2018. And then, once it became January 2019, Tsukicro’s website was gone. It was both predictable to anyone who had seen what had happened to Banyaro, but at the same time, I kept hoping that everyone was right, that the fanclub shutting down didn’t mean anything.
I feel like I should also mention AGF 2018. There was a Japanese tweet that I thought was interesting. The fan had wanted to buy Algeki CDs, but the vendors all said that there were no Algeki CDs because there was only Tsukipro being sold. This could’ve been because Algeki is a collab unit, except Swiiiiiits, Tsukipro’s collab unit with Pocky, had been sold at the event. I wonder now if Sony Entertainment had not allowed the CDs to be sold.
Sony Entertainment’s decision had been made in August of 2018. There was nothing to be done for it. However, their decision had given Tsukipro freedom. All those months of silence were most likely months of discussion between the two companies. Now that the decision has been made, Tsukipro knew for sure that there would be no more new songs for Algeki from Sony Entertainment. They could focus on tweeting short stories.
Those tweets gave me hope that Tsukipro would do their best to keep Algeki however they could. Sony Entertainment had been managing the song production for a group of 19 talents, though, and just gathering together the 19 of them would be difficult, much less putting together new teams to make songs. I doubt Tsukipro would be allowed to include the old songs in Tsukipara, as all of the old songs were made under Sony Entertainment. I’m not familiar with the Japanese legal system though, so please take this with a grain of salt.
Tsukipro’s been put in a difficult place with Algeki. I don’t know for sure what they can and cannot do at the moment. There’s been rumors about Algeki’s future in Tsukipara, but from my understanding any official tweets made about it have been deleted, so I really don’t know what’s what with that. Again, all of this has just been my take on the events of the last year. This is my personal theory, along with my personal thoughts and opinions.
From here on? I’ll do my best to continue to translate Algeki content, and I’ll continue hoping that Tsukipro will continue to put out these tweets. Even if that’s considered the bare minimum, if that’s really all they can do, I want to help keep these boys going for as long as possible.
So there’s precedent to my theory, and I guess I should explain that too. If I get any details wrong, please feel free to shoot me a message? It’s been a while.
So sometime in Spring 2018, it was announced that the mobile rhythm game Band Yarouze! (Banyaro) would be shutting down. Prior to the announcement, Banyaro had been doing well. Along with the phone game, there were CDs, merch, and live shows from bands made specifically for Banyaro. However, once the announcement came, the bands were suddenly disbanded.
Banyaro was a collaboration between Aniplex and Sony Entertainment. I’m not actually sure if we ever got confirmation as to what happened. Qooapp’s article states that it was Sony Entertainment that left. Whatever had happened behind the closed office doors, Sony Entertainment made their decision and acted without a single word to the public, leaving Aniplex to handle the downfall of the game and all of the fans.
Aniplex was therefore left to handle the game without the bands and management that made the music. (Heck, I’m not even sure if they could continue using the music, as it had been under Sony Entertainment.) I really doubt they had many options at point, since it was a difficult time for all mobile games due to the new iPhone forcing all games to redo their programming. There certainly wasn’t budget for replacing Sony Entertainment. They therefore had no choice but to shut the game down.
2018 was an odd time for Algeki and Tsukicro. They released a new CD in March, and had a few events across spring. However, there was little news or activity from them otherwise, up until August. Something happened in August.
Whatever happened behind closed office doors then, caused both Algeki and Tsukicro to become active. Algeki began tweeting short stories for birthdays in August. The combination Algeki and Tsukicro fanclub Alcro released a series of video messages starting at the beginning of September. (Does this seem foreboding?)
Then October came, and there was announcement for the closing of the Alcro fanclub. There were tweets from the voice actors reassuring that Algeki would continue despite the closing of the fanclub. The Japanese fans pointed out that despite the reassurances, the tweets from each voice actor in response to the announcement felt too emotional, like goodbyes. For instance, Izumo’s voice actor Fuukun had tweeted, “This doesn’t mean Tsukicro and Algeki will cease to exist! It’s a very precious place. I absolutely don’t want to cry, so I’ll do my best for its sake! Everyone please continue cheering me on!!” The tweets all had that same bittersweet feeling. Fans on both sides were confused as to what any of this means, as no explanation was given. (And doesn’t that feel like deja vu?)
There was a series of live events to mark the end of the fanclub, with a last event held in December 2018. And then, once it became January 2019, Tsukicro’s website was gone. It was both predictable to anyone who had seen what had happened to Banyaro, but at the same time, I kept hoping that everyone was right, that the fanclub shutting down didn’t mean anything.
I feel like I should also mention AGF 2018. There was a Japanese tweet that I thought was interesting. The fan had wanted to buy Algeki CDs, but the vendors all said that there were no Algeki CDs because there was only Tsukipro being sold. This could’ve been because Algeki is a collab unit, except Swiiiiiits, Tsukipro’s collab unit with Pocky, had been sold at the event. I wonder now if Sony Entertainment had not allowed the CDs to be sold.
Sony Entertainment’s decision had been made in August of 2018. There was nothing to be done for it. However, their decision had given Tsukipro freedom. All those months of silence were most likely months of discussion between the two companies. Now that the decision has been made, Tsukipro knew for sure that there would be no more new songs for Algeki from Sony Entertainment. They could focus on tweeting short stories.
Those tweets gave me hope that Tsukipro would do their best to keep Algeki however they could. Sony Entertainment had been managing the song production for a group of 19 talents, though, and just gathering together the 19 of them would be difficult, much less putting together new teams to make songs. I doubt Tsukipro would be allowed to include the old songs in Tsukipara, as all of the old songs were made under Sony Entertainment. I’m not familiar with the Japanese legal system though, so please take this with a grain of salt.
Tsukipro’s been put in a difficult place with Algeki. I don’t know for sure what they can and cannot do at the moment. There’s been rumors about Algeki’s future in Tsukipara, but from my understanding any official tweets made about it have been deleted, so I really don’t know what’s what with that. Again, all of this has just been my take on the events of the last year. This is my personal theory, along with my personal thoughts and opinions.
From here on? I’ll do my best to continue to translate Algeki content, and I’ll continue hoping that Tsukipro will continue to put out these tweets. Even if that’s considered the bare minimum, if that’s really all they can do, I want to help keep these boys going for as long as possible.