Category Archives: FIREPRESS EXCLUSIVE

Long-form news articles and more.

Hana Hope 2023: The new chapter

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Hey, guys! It’s Blaze! We’ve got a really cool report to share with you! This is Rekka’s recap of the latest live performance by the talented Hana Hope, who sings the opening theme to the anime The Kingdoms of Ruin. Check it out!

Since the beginning of the fall anime season, I’ve written several posts regarding The Kingdoms of Ruin and the great themes for both the opening and ending sequences. It’s thanks to doing a little research for these articles that I discovered that the vocalist for the opening theme was planning on doing a live show in Shibuya, but it just happened to be during a really busy time in my schedule and I wasn’t sure if I could go. I waited as long as I could before buying a ticket, but I was able to go without any problems!

The funny thing is, I was at the same venue location the day previous for work! Such a small world, especially in Japan!

So, below is my brief introduction to the vocalist Hana Hope and my impression from the concert!

Continue reading →

The Game Awards 2023

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EDITORIAL

Over 866K people are currently watching the TGA2023 stream, so I’m going to tally up my thoughts on the various topics. This page will be incomplete while I’m adding more information live, so be sure to reload the page every so often to see the new additions!

*** Beware of spoilers! ***

▶︎ Metaphor: ReFantazio

We got a really nice new trailer, and I’m getting awesome vibes similar to the Digital Devil Saga. At the Shin Megami Tensei concert last year, they did tease that we might get a new game along those lines, so maybe this is what they were hinting at! Call me hyped!

But this confused me from the very beginning, but I don’t understand why this will only be released on Xbox/Windows first. I mean, I do understand exclusivity rights and such, but still… I just feel like we’ve moved on from that. People should be able to play whatever they want on whatever system they want, no? Is that too much to ask, I wonder…

And for anyone who’d like to hear the original Japanese dialogue, you will instantly hear a familiar voice, Hanae Natsuki! Other notable voices include Yui Ishikawa, Shuichi Nakamura, Kazuhiko Inoue, Tomokazu Sugita, and many more. You can view the Japanese version of the new trailer below:

And check out who it is! The great concept artist from NieR:Automata fame, Koda Kazuma! I’m also super excited to see what goodness he’ll bring to the table for this game, too! It’s going to be nuts!

And there will be a live stream on Monday, December 11 at 8:30pm (JST) with several of the voice cast:

  • MC: Chiaki Matsuzawa
  • Natsuki Hanae (Protagonist)
  • Sumire Morohoshi (Garika)
  • Kensho Ono (Stroll)
  • Saori Hayami (Hulkenberg)

▶︎ Visions of Mana

Right when we got a glimpse of that Rabite, I knew that this was going to be a new Mana game, and it is!! This looks absolutely gorgeous and a lot of fun! I’m really excited for this one! This is actually a BRAND NEW GAME in the Mana series! And from this tweet, it seems like Hiroki Kikuta may be back to score this soundtrack as well! Yay!

Actually, on the official site, there are three people credited for the soundtrack:

  • Hiroki Kikuta
  • Tsuyoshi Sekito
  • Ryo Yamazaki

▶︎ Persona 3 Reload

(ENGLISH)

▶︎ Final Fantasy VII Rebirth – New Trailer

This new trailer showed gave us a ton more clues of exactly how much story material is going to be in Rebirth.

We saw appearances by Vincent, Cid, Cait Sith, lots of Zack… and a comatose Cloud, where Marline tells Zack that when “she” wakes up, somebody’s going to kill her. I can only imagine this is referring to Aerith… unless this is a blatant misdirection because, of course, that’s what we’d expect. But at this point in the story, Aerith should already be dead…

Actually, I think this was just an illusion. I think he’s just sleeping, so it makes a little more sense…

So, I’m going to keep with my original speculation that Sephiroth is going to kill Tifa this time, I mean, we already have those scenes of him talking about killing her, right? I think these early scenes are going to be after the event that seems to have obliterated Avalanche (including Barret & Tifa, Red isn’t on the list that we see in the trailer because he wasn’t a member of Avalanche), so that’s likely why both Cloud and Aerith are unconscious– plus, it could also have something to do with the merging of realities, allowing both Zack and Biggs to sort of be… reborn.

They also seemed to go all-out with Clerith moments in the trailer, though, but if you notice, I believe these are the unique scenes that the player can directly influence, like the fireworks date scene and the play. So, I would hold off from claiming these are “canon” to the narrative just yet simply because they appeared in the official trailer.

And for an added bonus, here’s the trailer in Japanese!

Oh, and it seems like SQEX just posted a bunch more photos and information on the official blog here.

▶︎ Final Fantasy XVI DLC Story Expansion Packs

We got a great look at two up-coming DLC story expansions, the first of which, entitled Echoes of the Fallen, is out later tonight! The 2nd DLC, The Rising Tide, will be released sometime next spring! Below, you can catch the Japanese version of the trailer.

(Japanese)

▶︎ Purchase the DLC Below
　Please note that the following links are to the Japanese PlayStation Store.

⭐️ UPDATE:
I was just able to play through “The Echoes of the Fallen” this weekend, and it felt really great to get back into the FFXVI world and see the characters again (especially Joshua!). As far as the DLC goes, you’ll get about 3 hours worth of gameplay out of it. The story is interesting and the mini-bosses and final boss fights were a lot of fun. I’d say it’s definitely worth the money!

▶︎ AWARDS

  • BEST SCORE: At long last, FFXVI finally won the award for best score, which was ABSOLUTELY deserved! Way to go Soken and everybody else on that gorgeous album!
  • MOST ANTICIPATED GAME: Final Fantasy VII Rebirth – YAY! I’m getting overly hyped about this right now… I hope we’ll see an actual new trailer by the end of TGA.

▶︎ Related Links

▶︎ English

▶︎ Japanese

INEI’s first solo exhibition in Shibuya from December 2-16

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INEI Exhibition in Shibuya
“Shibuya in another dimension” by Kenichiro Tomiyasu


Check it out! The conceptual art company INEI is hosting a solo art exhibition in Shibuya! They do such amazing work, please check it out if you have the chance! Here’s a quick look at what you can see there!

▶︎ INEI “Inspiration Exhibition” Details
— We don’t make art, we make a concept —

▶︎ The Entrance

▶︎ Shibuya in another dimension

▶︎ M100 1620mm x 970mm, Oil <2023>

“Shibuya in Another Dimension” is a unique masterpiece painted on M100, capturing the essence of both dreams and reality within the city. The viewer within the artwork draws upon the ambient blue-black glow emanating from the windows of a towering building, creating an enchanting atmosphere that transforms the entire city into a realm of magic. This luminous spectacle serves as a portal, inviting the observer into a world of unfamiliar challenges and uncharted territories.

This work evokes a sensation that the viewer is moving back and forth between consciousness and the world of dreams, navigating the blurred lines of reality and fiction presented by the city of Shibuya. Immersing yourself in the painting, you will feel that the consciousness of reality and the physical world intersect, and new possibilities will expand.

▶︎ Urban portrait Shibuya

▶︎ F50 1167mm x 910mm, Oil, Lacquer, Mixed Media <2023>

“Urban portrait Shibuya” is an expressive piece that captures the vibrant heartbeat of the city using a palette of vivid colors on canvas. Illustrating Shibuya Crossing as viewed from space, the artwork seamlessly weaves together the energetic commotion of the world with hushed serenity found in the hidden back alleys. Here, individuals resonate with the city, maintaining their distinctive identities.

The cityscape is adorned with illuminations mirroring the earth, and the interplay of shadows from buildings, while neon lights cast reflections on windows. People in motion transform into both shadows and sources of light, creating a captivating interplay between the city’s dynamism and tranquility. Through this artwork, the viewer discovers that within the bustling urban landscape, there exists a distinctive beauty and harmony. The piece conveys the message that the city itself is a profound work of art.

▶︎ Before Departure

▶︎ F50 1167mm x 910mm, Oil <2023>

“Before Departure” captures my inner preparations and emotions leading up to a journey, my expectations and fears for an unfamiliar adventure. Against the backdrop of a darkened screen, an unfamiliar yet colossal steam locomotive stands silently. This locomotive represents my internal vessel venturing into the unknown, discreetly fueling my internal combustion engine and nurturing my desire for new ideas and adventures. The darkness on the screen symbolizes the period preceding departure into an uncertain future.

Through this piece, I hope to inspire you to uncover the ideas and possibilities within yourself. I want you to sense the potential of an internal combustion engine that may explode at any moment and experience the thrill and creativity that precede embarking on an unknown adventure.

▶︎ Additional Art & Decorations

◀︎ (Left) The colorful plate of food was supposed to resemble the solar system, with the yellow one on the left representing the sun (I ate this one!), Earth in the middle, and the rest of the planets, although there are only 6…!

▶︎ (Right) This is an example of a bunch of paints, brushes, and other tools used in these pieces.

▶︎ Various Merch For Sale

They also had many different types of INEI T-shirts, postcards of the pieces on display, and more! I purchased a set of 7 postcards, and these were some of my favorite by Kenichiro Tomiyasu (富安健一郎), the head of INEI!

▶︎ Various Posts on Twitter

▶︎ Related Links

Experimentation with AI Generated Illustrations

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Hihi, it’s Blaze! I’m kinda slow today, but maybe this is an interesting topic for you! Have you ever tried to make AI generated art? Well, this pic of me is just one example! Let’s take a look at two of the most popular mediums that people are using in Japan!

First of all, I’ve just started dabbling in this, so there’s still a lot for me to learn. I’ll show you a couple illustrations that I’ve come up with lately and maybe we can discuss the pros and cons of each! I will split this up into several parts as a sort of discussion rather than all-out article so I can work on each piece more in depth as I go!

▶︎ Part 1: MidJourney – The First Edits

Starting off with MidJourney, since I’ve used it the most, here’s me attempting to get it to illustrate an original character.

#1
#2
#3

▲ Here is an example of revising a single image, having it redo specific parts until I’m satisfied with it.

  • #1: Original render but I didn’t ask it to draw armor, so that was the main thing I wanted it to fix.
  • #2: This time, the clothing design worked better, but it left some oddities like the symbol on his shoulder and the fingerless gloves.
  • #3: This version was much better, but I still wanted to touch it up some more myself, so I added some manual edits in Photoshop. There’s some work I can do on it yet, but I thought it turned out pretty nicely!


So, how do you think this turned out? Pretty neat?
Stay tuned for the next bit as I show of some more generations in MidJourney before I move on to Stable Diffusion.