Dancemania EX × Trance Paradise

A lot of goings-on the in the world of Exit Tunes lately, some of which I’ve mentioned in the comments. I thought I’d summarize them in a blog post for convenience.

The biggest news is that DJ Uto has left Exit Tunes. The founder and president of Quake Records (now Exit Tunes) made the announcement on April 2 on twitter. He has since been removed from the Exit Tunes Artists page. DJ Uto was a huge proponent of trance, and I’m very much worried that he was the only one keeping Speed Anime Trance Best on life support. Without his influence the series may go away altogether. Of course, when DJ U*Hey? left FARM Records and started a new label, Star Music, he still kept ties with FARM. It’s entirely possible that DJ Uto left to go back to his trance roots, and will continue to collaborate with Exit Tunes in the future.

With the departure of DJ UTo, Exit Tunes is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Pony Canyon. The new Exit Tunes president is Shusaku Yoshida (also the current head of Pony Canyon), whom DJ Uto said was a “nice guy” on twitter. Yoshida might be nice, but he likely has no allegiance to trance. Expect the Bemani-related releases to continue, but the fates of Exit Trance and Quake Trance remain up in the air.

Exit Tunes has a launched a new sub-label, melt Lab. It appears that the new label will be focused on drama CDs, namely the Mafia’s Blood series which I’ve posted about before. Exit Tunes is no stranger to drama CDs, what with that really weird Sekihan storybook CD from a while ago, but to devote an entire sub-label to it suggests even more of a divergence from the label’s origins.

So, yeah, it’ll be interesting to see what the future holds for Exit Tunes.

Exit Trance presents Speed Anime Trance Best 21
Release Date: 4/2/14
Price: 1905 yen

Update (4/1/14): The album is up on iTunes Japan, and despite the fewer tracks it’s still 1800 yen. Also, the track lengths I posted previously were apparently for the iTunes release. The CD version is definitely a non-stop mix, as the edits are a bit shorter than the digital release.

The first SATB release of 2014 is out this week, and the announcement that it’ll only have 15 tracks is like an admission that the series is on its last legs. Cutting the number of tracks is a frequent cost-saving measure when sales slow down. Dancemania went from ~25 down to 18, Super Eurobeat went from 18 to 15, and even the original Exit Trance series went from 48 to 24 to 20 before they stopped completely.

MK gets the most tracks with 4, with Dizzi Mystica not far behind with 3. Icon, plazma, and Hommarju get 2 each, while the remaining tracks are split between Flash back dominant and kinoto. Acid=Stone Valley, who only made his return to the series a couple of albums ago, makes no appearance here. The Exit Tunes website is still advertising the CD as a non-stop mix, though the edits are quite long given the number of tracks.

Bonus items include a strap, bath poster, and postcard. They can’t even afford the clear files anymore ;_;

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Exit Trance presents Speed Anime Trance Best 21
Release Date: 4/2/14
Price: 1905 yen

The first SATB release of 2014 is coming out in a few weeks, and the announcement that it’ll only have 15 tracks is like an admission that the series is on its last legs. Cutting the number of tracks is a frequent cost-saving measure when sales slow down. Dancemania went from ~25 down to 18, Super Eurobeat went from 18 to 15, and even the original Exit Trance series went from 48 to 24 to 20 before they stopped completely.

MK gets the most tracks with 4, with Dizzi Mystica not far behind with 3. Icon, plazma, and Hommarju get 2 each, while the remaining tracks are split between Flash back dominant and kinoto. Acid=Stone Valley, who only made his return to the series a couple of albums ago, makes no appearance here. The Exit Tunes website is still advertising the CD as a non-stop mix, though the edits are quite long given the number of tracks.

Bonus items include a strap, bath poster, and postcard. They can’t even afford the clear files anymore ;_;

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Exit Trance presents Speed Anime Trance Best 21
Release Date: 4/2/14
Price: 1905 yen

The first SATB release of 2014 has just been announced for an April release, which puts the series on track for 3 or fewer releases this year. Bonus items include a strap and a bath poster. Track list details are scarce, though the official site mentions 20 tracks are scheduled.

Pre-order at CDJapan.

Apparently it launched last November, but I only just noticed that Starving Trancer now has an official website up at www.starvingtrancer.com The site has a rather extensive discography, including stuff he’s released outside of Exit Tunes. They kind of gloss over his contributions to Exit Trance, though.

His most recent non-Another Infinity song, “Fall of Gust,” is pretty awesome piano trance. I’m glad he’s stayed true to his roots and hasn’t become Starving EDMer.

Blue Dragon
Artist: Seiryu
Release Date: 12/25/13
Price: 1905 yen

Santa’s bringing a special present this year for Ryu* fans. Back when Plan 8 was released I speculated that the relatively small number of tracks would mean they would release two Ryu* albums this year, and it ended up being true. Seiryu is the alias that Ryu* uses for 190+ BPM tracks, and Blue Dragon will focus on songs he’s released under the alias as well as his other dragon aliases. Like Plan 8, this album will contain 15 tracks, many of which have previously appeared on various Konami music games.

Bonus items include a cell phone strap, signed seal, pass case, poster, and clear file. The official site has samples and more info. There are also retailer-exclusive bonuses available, ranging from can badges to special remix CDs:

Animate
– Kouryu Special Remix CD – Blue Dragon (Kouryu Remix)

Tsutaya Records
– Rairyu Special Remix CD – Blue Dragon (Rairyu Remix)

Tora no Ana
– Hakuryu Special Remix CD – Blue Dragon (Hakuryu Remix)

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Exit Trance presents Speed Anime Trance Best 20
Release Date: 12/4/13
Price: 1905 yen

A final list has been revealed for the 20th release in the SATB series. Thankfully, Acid=Stone Valley’s return back in SATB 19 wasn’t just temporary, though he still only has one track. Airportexpress has been allocated the most, with five total tracks. Other artists include Hommarju (3 tracks), plazma (3), kinoto (2), Flash back Dominant (2), MK (2), Dizzi Mystica (1), and Icon (1). It also appears that there’ll be some new vocalists/aliases present, like Yuuji and Goneko.

Bonus items include a cell phone strap shaped like an ornament, a poster, and a special item (most likely a clear file) if you send in the included survey card. The official website has also been updated with samples.

For SATB fans, I’ve compiled a list of chart performances of each of the previous 19 titles. The data come from Oricon, which track physical sales data from most, but not all, of Japan’s retailers.

More after the break.

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Exit Trance presents Speed Anime Trance Best 20
Release Date: 12/4/13
Price: 1905 yen

A final list has been revealed for the 20th release in the SATB series. Thankfully, Acid=Stone Valley’s return back in SATB 19 wasn’t just temporary, though he still only has one track. Airportexpress has been allocated the most, with five total tracks. Other artists include Hommarju (3 tracks), plazma (3), kinoto (2), Flash back Dominant (2), MK (2), Dizzi Mystica (1), and Icon (1). It also appears that there’ll be some new vocalists/aliases present, like Yuuji and Goneko.

Bonus items include a cell phone strap shaped like an ornament, a poster, and a yet-to-be-revealed special item.

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Blue Dragon
Artist: Seiryu
Release Date: 12/25/13
Price: 1905 yen

Santa’s bringing a special present this year for Ryu* fans. Back when Plan 8 was released I speculated that the relatively small number of tracks would mean they would release two Ryu* albums this year, and it ended up being true. Seiryu is the alias that Ryu* uses for 190+ BPM tracks, and Blue Dragon will focus on songs he’s released under the alias as well as his other dragon aliases. Like Plan 8, this album will contain 15 tracks, many of which have previously appeared on various Konami music games.

Bonus items include a cell phone strap, signed seal, pass case, poster, and clear file. The official site is already up with more info.

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Exit Trance presents Speed Anime Trance Best 20
Release Date: 12/4/13
Price: 1905 yen

The landmark 20th album in the Speed Anime Trance Best series has just been announced for a December release. That’s pretty remarkable considering that 2012 only had 2 SATB releases. In fact, this will the first time ever that 4 mainline CDs have been released in the same year. Not many details yet, though hopefully they continue to return to their roots and bring back more composers and vocalists from the past. B.U.S. and Ryu*, please?

Also, for some reason the catalogue number is QWCE-315, compared to SATB 19’s QWCE-342. It’s almost as if they planned for the 20th release before they did the 19th. -_-

Pre-order at CDJapan.

Exit Trance presents Speed Anime Trance Best 19
Release Date: 9/4/13
Price: 1905 yen

HOLY CRAP. It took them until 5 days before release to finally reveal a track list, but maybe it’s because they didn’t want to spoil the surprises. First of all, the Dizzi Mystica alias returns to Exit Trance with 4 tracks after skipping SATB 17 and 18 (though technically he was still present on those as Disco da Gama). The kinoto alias also comes back from retirement with a new song, though apparently Flash back Dominant and plazma were his aliases, so he hasn’t really been gone, either. MK represents with 4 tracks, while Booing Day features with 3. Hommarju gets a bum deal with only 2 tracks, thought Icon gets it worse with only 1. A new artist by the name of airportexpress also makes his debut.

Now, here’s the biggest shocker of them all: Acid=Stone Valley is back! I had to refresh the page a few times to make sure I wasn’t seeing things, but apparently Acid=Stone Valley will indeed be making his glorious return to Exit Trance after being M.I.A. since 2010. It’s only a single track, but it’s exciting to see him back as he was an old favorite of mine. I can’t help but wonder if Quake are purposely going back to their roots by heavily featuring old aliases and artists. Hopefully they make SATB 20 a proper anniversary release by asking back even more old ET artists.

The selected songs are mostly a good mix of recent anime offerings. I was admittedly rather perplexed to see “Uchuu Senkan Yamato” since it was already covered on one of the R25 albums, but apparently there was a recent sequel series that features a new arrangement of the old theme.

Oh, and why only a 1:15 edit for one of Dizzi Mystica’s tracks? The entire album clocks in at around 1 hour and 10 minutes, so surely they could’ve given it more time. 🙁

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Quake will once again be present with an Exit Tunes booth at the 84th Comic Market, where they’ll be selling exclusive merchandise. The event runs from August 10-12. There’s a big emphasis on the Yuyushiki anime this year. They don’t even have as much Vocalo or Utattemite merchandise as they have in the past.

Item #1: C84 Limited!! TV Anime “Yuyushiki” Original Picture Book. For 1,500 yen you can get a picture book featuring art from the anime, “Yuyushiki.” The book is 164 pages long, 8 of those being in full color.

More merchandise after the jump. There’s also a PV for the goods. At around 4:24 you can hear snippets from the new Another Infinity feat. Mayumi Morinaga song.

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Plan 8
Artist: Ryu*
Release Date: 7/3/13
Price: 1905 yen

What the hell? Ryu* only had 7 months to get this album together and somehow it still has a greater percentage of new tracks than his previous albums. The only tradeoff is that there are only 15 tracks instead of the usual 20.

Bonus items include an autographed card, rubber strap, pass case, clear file, and poster.

There are also retailer-exclusive bonuses available:
Konami Style
– Muffler Towel
– Smartphone/IC Card Sticker
– Konami Style Limited CD (Plan C (kors k Remix) / Ryu?)

Animate
– Ryu* Special Remix CD (Plan C (Another Infinity Remix / Ryu?)

Tower Records
– Can Badge

Tsutaya Records
– Ryu* Special Remix CD (Plan C (Seiryuu Remix / Ryu?)

Tora no Ana
– Ryu* Special Remix CD (Plan C (Starving Trancer Remix / Ryu?)

Don Quijote
– “Plan 8” Microfiber Cloth

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Exit Trance presents Speed Anime Trance Best 19
Release Date: 9/4/13
Price: 1905 yen

The 19th entry in the SATB series will be released in early September, so we’ll definitely be getting 3 releases this year instead of the 2 in 2012. No word on a track list yet. Interestingly, if you look at the catalogue number, QWCE-342, you might notice that it’s a pretty big jump over the next-highest allocated cataloque number, QWCE-309 (for 164’s upcoming album). That means they have at least 30+ other releases already planned. o_O Of course, they’ll probably all be Vocaloid albums anyway.

Pre-order at CDJapan.

Plan 8
Artist: Ryu*
Release Date: 7/3/13
Price: 1905 yen

Album art and early list have been revealed for Ryu*’s upcoming 5th album. According to descriptions sent out to retailers, the album is scheduled to have 15 tracks in all instead of the usual 20. That’s rather disappointing, albeit understandable since this album will come just 7 months since his previous album. I wonder if they’ll try to squeeze in 2 Ryu* albums this year, though? Otherwise I don’t get why they didn’t just wait until December so they could have the usual 20 tracks.

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