Performance Critique: Mezase Pokémon Master feat. Maestoso

I've already explained the band history behind a breakthrough collaboration, so now it's time to make a self-critique of the performance. Technically, I don't need to critique this one since the performance was purely for entertainment, but because I strive to do as well as possible, it becomes somewhat necessary for me so that I can glean insights from the execution. As well, I performed a Pokémon song, so it becomes all the more reason to do so. This is in order to show my further appreciation for everything related to it, including things that I conceived myself, or in this case alongside a local band.

"Come on up!"

This self-critique is made possible by a recording of the performance. The recording for the performance was graciously assisted by a friend, who so happened to be the same one I tasked for recording the ill-fated one for the J-Karaoke competitive performance. The biggest difference is that this recording is complete from the time I was called by the band to come up on stage for the collaboration, up to the end as we wrapped up. While it's regrettable that the competition performance recording wasn't complete, it's rather appreciable that this one was, as it ended up becoming the real "prize" of the day. Likewise, this one should have been recorded on the "master camera", but I'm not too worried, since this recording is also pretty good.

"Ore, Masara Taun no Satoshi da!
Mezase Pokémon Master!"

Now onward to the particulars. First, I don't know whether it's an issue of me, the equipment, or the recording, but it does seem like I sometimes can't hear myself fully, including the initial introduction of myself as Ash, a carryover from my singing performances, of course. Yet I also feel like I've given as much as I can. The next performance will have to demand even more. Still, I'd say that the best parts would have to be the choruses, bridge, and coda ("Aa, akogare no..."). I also enjoyed having the band's female vocalist as my accompanying vocalist, though there were still a few missed lines (one example: the "furui to wa nanjaa~!" remark mid-way through the second chorus). For a first-time collaboration, everything was still really good.

The performance was also as it was intended to be. The band's arrangement of the song is unique: the intro is doubly extended, including the melodic portion. This also enabled me to conveniently place my introduction in the second repetition of the melodic portion. In exchange, the post-chorus breaks are shortened, except the first one before the second verse. The "outro" also had an extended and amazing drum solo by the drummer before the final flourish. Other additions by yours truly include the "Rock it!" shout as the guitar break started and the salute after the flourish ("Give it up for Maestoso band!!") certainly adjusted to the band I collaborated with; these too have been planned - for this exact song, no less - ever since I envisioned a collaboration such as this. And the neat thing is that they all came true as well.

One part with a popular audience cheer.

Yet, there were other particulars regarding the performance, though these were not detrimental to it; they instead added flavor. One of them is recording quirks: the recording that I have was created using my phone through accessing the camera directly, and late in the performance, there were alert sounds from my phone that made it into the recording. Next time, I may consider silencing my phone before a recording session. Then there were shouts or cheers by the audience, which were either supportive or in jest, but were still quite positive; these could be heard in the recording as well. The last one is that this performance occurred before I competed in the J-Karaoke competition, which made it a warm-up of sorts. They might seem rather odd, and yet that's the way things played out.

"GIVE IT UP FOR MAESTOSO BAND!!"

This collaborative performance was not a performance for a competition, but some things about it can still be pointed out. Doing so inspires me to be able to do better (one-up this one) in the next one, whenever that may be. And though I've yet to be able to furnish a recording and a critique for a winning performance, I feel that with this performance, I can be considered to have won the hearts of certain people. In fact, some people I know have said that this has been pretty much the case with my cosplay over the years. In that sense, I'm glad that I've been able to to win their hearts, just as Pokémon has won my heart - so much that it resulted in a collaboration such as this one.

One year ago: Rediscover Cosplay
Two years ago: Cosplay: Japan Pop Culture 2017