in the forest of light and shadow

Long time no see! I bring you... the I've Special Box Departed to the future!

2009-05-01T02:09:50Z

Wow, this took me forever to sort through. Basically I've ripped all the lossless files I found of this entire CD box into lossy files for easier enjoyment.

What's amazing about this entire box is that "Departed to the future" is actually a full movie! That's right, an hour & thirty minutes worth of acting and music together. And the best part is that it features the I've girls' music throughout the entire film.

Each zip file contains the mp3 files of the single in addition to scans of the jacket. The mp3s of singles will be available on mediafire and megaupload. Sadly, since the PVs are so big, they'll only be on megaupload - same with the Departed to the future movie chapters.

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L'Oiseau bleu - 川田まみ [Kawada Mami]

01. L'Oiseau bleu
02. 風と君を抱いて -I'VE in BUDOKAN 2009 Live ver.-
03. L'Oiseau bleu -instrumental-
DOWNLOAD: [MEDIAFIRE] / [MEGAUPLOAD]

L'Oiseau bleu PV

DOWNLOAD: [MEGAUPLOAD]

'Departed to the future' Chapter 1: MAMI

DOWNLOAD: [MEGAUPLOAD]

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snIpe - KOTOKO

01. snIpe
02. Close to me… -I'VE in BUDOKAN 2009 Live ver.-
03. snIpe -instrumental-
DOWNLOAD: [MEDIAFIRE] / [MEGAUPLOAD]

snIpe PV

DOWNLOAD: [MEGAUPLOAD]

'Departed to the future' Chapter 1: KOTOKO

DOWNLOAD: [MEGAUPLOAD]

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Paranoia - 島みやえい子 [Shimamiya Eiko]

01. Paranoia
02. To lose in amber -I'VE in BUDOKAN 2009 Live ver.-
03. Paranoia -instrumental-
DOWNLOAD: [MEDIAFIRE] / [MEGAUPLOAD]

Paranoia PV

DOWNLOAD: [MEGAUPLOAD]

'Departed to the future' Chapter 3: EIKO

DOWNLOAD: [MEGAUPLOAD]

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殻の蕾 - MELL [Kara no Tsubomi]

01. 殻の蕾 [Kara no Tsubomi]
02. 美しく生きたい -I'VE in BUDOKAN 2009 Live ver.- [Utsukushiku Ikitai -I'VE in BUDOKAN 2009 Live ver.-]
03. 殻の蕾 -instrumental- [Kara no Tsubomi -instrumental-]
DOWNLOAD: [MEDIAFIRE] / [MEGAUPLOAD]

殻の蕾 PV

DOWNLOAD: [MEGAUPLOAD]

'Departed to the future' Chapter 4: MELL

DOWNLOAD: [MEGAUPLOAD]

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end of refrain ～小さな始まり～ - 詩月カオリ [end of refrain ~chiisana hajimari~ - Utatsuki Kaori]

01. end of refrain ～小さな始まり～ [end of refrain ~chiisana hajimari~]
02. Senecio -I'VE in BUDOKAN 2009 Live ver.-
03. end of refrain ～小さな始まり～ -instrumental- [end of refrain ~chiisana hajimari~ -instrumental-]
DOWNLOAD: [MEDIAFIRE] / [MEGAUPLOAD]

end of refrain ～小さな始まり～ PV

DOWNLOAD: [MEGAUPLOAD]

'Departed to the future' Chapter 5: KAORI

DOWNLOAD: [MEGAUPLOAD]

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'Departed to the future'
Note: This is the entire movie put together in one continuous movie rather than just the respective chapters from each of the girls' DVDs. The conclusion to the entire movie can be found in this file - scroll to around 1:00:14 if you've watched the Chapter segments for the ending.

DOWNLOAD: [MEGAUPLOAD 001] [002] [003] [004] [005] [006] [007] [008] [009]

Join these files up with hjsplit for Windows or Split & Concatenate for Macintosh.

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BONUSES:
Departed to the future bonus booklet + DVD case scans:
DOWNLOAD: [MEDIAFIRE] / [MEGAUPLOAD]

HYDIAN WAY - Love Planet Five PV
DOWNLOAD: [MEGAUPLOAD]

HYDIAN WAY - Love Planet Five mp3 rip
DOWNLOAD: [MEDIAFIRE] / [MEGAUPLOAD]

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I've really put a lot of time in uploading and quality checking these, so please leave a comment if you take anything! It'll encourage me to upload a lot more stuff to here. I've also taken an uploader's position at nijiiro_bus, but I don't intend to let rurutia die out.

Important Announcement

2009-01-15T22:23:01Z

I've lately lost the drive to upload music here. I offer my sincere apologies for that, since I know there are people who are sincere fans of what I upload.

So, my plan is to start again with a slightly different format. I won't be making massive posts anymore - but more frequent little posts throughout. It'll make things easier for me since making long posts is quite a hassle for me when I really just want to upload this one single/album.

For singles, I'll upload all the tracks on sendspace+mediafire separately.
For albums, I'll upload all the tracks to sendspace+megaupload as a single zipfile.

As a result, using the Tags page will be more important. I would like to keep rurutia going, of course.

That's basically how it'll work for now on. I'll still have the reviews and what not, but updates will hopefully be more frequent.

I think 2009 is a year for change, and this is how it'll work for me. :)

~~The only entry that won't be surviving the deletion is the MELL discography. :p~~

MELL Discography

2008-09-07T04:57:23Z

Well, I'm back and I've decided to try a new format for rurutia. I get lots of complaint about files dying out, so here's a new host which you can try out. :p Today, I decided to feature a discography of the I've Sound singer MELL - who I think, does not get enough attention. (Actually, it's more of my boyfriend doesn't know her and I got completely shocked and I was like "Must... educate by uploading.")

For those of you who don't know, I've Sound is a collective of singers brought together by Kazuya Takase from Hokkaido. KOTOKO, Shimamiya Eiko/Peko, Utatsuki Kaori, Ayana, SHIHO, MOMO, AKI, Kawada Mami and MELL are all I've Sound singers. Lia has also collaborated with I've on a number of occasions and is considered by many fans as an honorary member.

By far, MELL is my favourite (Lia aside, haha). My personal opinion is that she is the best I've singer and she is just amazing and so beautiful and urgkjnakj, I love her voice so much. She has a lot of power and emotion behind her voice and she knows how to put it in good use (or rather Kazuya Takase does).

This is her "official" discography so it doesn't have her earlier eroge work before she debuted with Geneon. Sadly, I've only tracked like... half of it down, haha. I have also included the miscellaneous single by the I've Special Unit of which MELL is a part of (Along with KOTOKO, Kawada Mami, Shimamiya Eiko and Utatsuki Kaori) which isn't like her normal stuff, but I thought I'd throw it in.

All tracks are in 320kbps. Scans available, music videos too.

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Her singles are a bit strange, to be honest. Red fraction is the only one in which she doesn't have a B-side but I think this is a really good debut single. It's the opening theme for the anime Black Lagoon, which I started watching because of MELL's single, haha. Even though MELL's less than stunning English is cohesive, it is a bit engrishy, but somehow - it does fit the anime quite nicely, especially Revy, one of the main characters. This song is sung completely in Engl/(r)ish but MELL's sheer vocal power comes out really strongly. There's a load of distortion placed on her voice which makes her sound completely intimidating and it's in semi-speech rhythms and during the chorus it's her normal singing voice. The remix by the Growling Mad Scientists is really good - it's awesome, in fact. I like it in the way that it's a different take to the original. Hiiiighly reccomended.

Red fraction - MELL

01. Red fraction
02. Red fraction (instrumental)
03. Red fraction -G.M.S. Remix-
DOWNLOAD: SONGS ONLY ZIP FILE / MUSIC + SCANS ZIP FILE

Music Video (Red fraction):

Click on the images to download

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If you must get this for one song, get it for no vain. While Proof is the ending theme for the anime Hayate no Gotoku, it doesn't show off who MELL really is. It sounds like something that Kawada Mami or Utatsuki Kaori would sing, to be honest and it really does not suit MELL. At all. (That is to say, she can't do it but it's such a bland song. No wonder it didn't get onto MELLSCOPE.). no vain is the song to really watch out for here - it's six minutes of lovely MELL's voice in it's usual dark stylings and well.. Engrish. (Seriously, one of the verses is "In the world chain of pain vomit / ふと　重なる我が身" ) I think with MELL it's that her English generally makes sense but there are some odd phrases which sound like they sound better in Japanese. I generally tend to skip over this single but no vain's instrumental actually makes some good listening as well.

Proof / no vain - MELL

01. Proof
02. no vain
03. Proof (Instrumental)
04. no vain (Instrumental)
DOWNLOAD: SONGS ONLY ZIP FILE / MUSIC + SCANS ZIP FILE

Music Video (no vain):

Click on the images to download

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This is by far, my favourite MELL single. Virgin's high! is an energetic song that somehow combines MELL's voice with an energetic guitar rock backing which really works well for some reason. It's also the OP theme for the anime Sky Girls (Produced by Konami, the OVA's opening was done by Kosaka Riyu) But Virgin's high!'s awesomeness pales in comparison to kicks! which is where all the awesome is at on this single. I think kicks! is one of MELL's best songs ever because it's dark but it isn't too long unlike no vain (which, while enjoyable, means that you need to be in a certain mindset to listen to it) and kicks! features MELL's vocal power quite well and all these different vocal techniques which combine to make it a really really good song.

MELL makes thigh high boots and fedoras look good. You have to admit.

Virgin's high! / kicks! - MELL

01. Virgin's high!
02. kicks!
03. Virgin's high! (Instrumental)
04. kicks! (Instrumental)
DOWNLOAD: SONGS ONLY ZIP FILE / MUSIC + SCANS ZIP FILE

Music Video (kicks!):

Click on the images to download

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MELLSCOPE is really a bit of a MELL retrospective because you have songs like repeat and Permit which hark back to MELL's eroge days (Which both feature new English lyrics so that the more hardcore MELL fans aren't too bored). repeat is really something from Kazuya Takase's early days. I can tell, haha. The title track of this album, is of course SCOPE which features a beautiful PV set in a church. If you want a collection of MELL's best songs, then this is it. (And yes, Proof is not included in this. Permit is better. :p) Way beyond there is similar to no vain, but a lot stronger and more rock-y. Under Superstition is a song with Maiko Iuchi, the person who composed Virgin's high! so it's energetic but quite dark and sinister. The first finale in me is a bit more gentle and though it is a bit boring, it's actually a nice song to listen to if you're in the mood. Utsushiku Ikitai -10Years anniversary mix- is an updated and rerecorded version of Utsushiku Ikitai, MELL's first song that was released back in 1998. One of the real gems in this album is the remix of repeat done by Deep Forest. You have to listen to it, it is amazing with MELL's vocal stylings and Eric Mouquet's instrumental backing, which really brings out the emotion in MELL's voice quite well.

The DVD in itself is actually quite interesting, because aside from containing a PV for SCOPE, it also features alternate versions of no vain and kicks!, MELL's previous PVs. no vain features more of MELL and doesn't feature the monk or the backflipping people spurting out of the ground. kicks! is a lot more energetic and features a lot more dynamic changes with MELL's behaviour in the PV in addition to the girl in the school uniform doing kicks and backflips (and I dare I say it, feature a few bits which might be objectionable to some people).

I've also included a bonus video - the video for the original repeat which features on this album. :)

MELLSCOPE - MELL

01. SCOPE
02. Red fraction
03. Way beyond there
04. repeat
05. Virgin's high!
06. no vain
07. Permit
08. Under Superstition
09. kicks!
10. The first finale in me
11. 美しく生きたい -10Years anniversary mix- [Utsushiku Ikitai -10Years anniversary mix-]
12. repeat -Deep Forest Remix-
DOWNLOAD: SONGS ONLY ZIP FILE / MUSIC + SCANS ZIP FILE

01. SCOPE

Click on the images to download

02. no vain -another side-

Click on the images to download

03. kicks! -another side-

Click on the images to download

BONUS: repeat

Click on the images to download

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Tenjou wo Kakeru Monotachi is the theme song for the Shakugan no Shana movie and it's... MELL in a different style. You can hear some really nice harmonies for this song and it's quite a nice song to listen to. Very uplifting. It makes a change from all the dark stuff. You can clearly hear MELL's voice every now and again and all five voices blend so nicely. Did I mention that MELL looks really angelic in the PV? :p It seriously contrasts with her normal image but she's still pretty. The Raven fly edit is a faster edit of the song with a stronger bassline and more of a dance feel to it.

Misc Single:

天譲を翔る者たち - Love Planet Five [Tenjou wo Kakeru Monotachi - Love Planet Five]

1. 天壌を翔る者たち [Tenjou wo Kakeru Monotachi]
2. 天壌を翔る者たち-Instrumental- [Tenjou wo Kakeru Monotachi -Instrumental-]
3. 天壌を翔る者たち-Raven fly edit- [Tenjou wo Kakeru Monotachi -Raven fly edit-]
DOWNLOAD: SONGS ONLY ZIP FILE / MUSIC + SCANS ZIP FILE

Music Video (天壌を翔る者たち [Tenjou wo Kakeru Monotachi]):

Click on the images to download

So yes, here we have MELL's current Geneon discography. :) Please comment if you take anything, it took me forever to get everything up all pretty and whatnot. Tell me if you prefer this way or if you prefer my older method of uploading stuff or suggest a way which combines both! Thank you. :D