So, this week’s recap won’t be dedicated to BUTAOTOME for the most part. There is a couple of news, but I’ll talk about them at the end of the post.
This time, I want to talk about the TC Crew. Those little, wonderful mascots. I think I came up with the term “TC Crew” during the first anniversary of the website. At the time, there was just Chibi Muse and Buta the round pig.
I’ve always been quite the plush person, and I’ve always put plushies in my pictures (mostly those of doujin stuff), as a sort of sign that claims the ownership of the picture. However, there was one plush that was always featured in those pics, and that plush is Chibi Muse.
Chibi Muse was born as your typical Sakuya FumoFumo. I bought it in 2011 specifically for that purpose, given the fact that Muse and Sakuya look very much alike, (at the time I didn’t know about Fumo customization). But in her heart she was always Muse, so stop calling her Chibi Sakuthings, thanks!!!111 Anyway, for those who aren’t familiar, Muse is a character from Seihou and also one of my favourite characters ever. Even though Seihou characters don’t have a deep backstory or whatever, I think this little alchemist has huge potential-not just because she is one of the few Seihou characters who are not generic human beings, but also because she has a lot of traits that could be used for something interesting. The fact that she is an alchemist, the magic vs science conflict, what the fuck a space vampire is doing in the Seihou world, her puppeteer trait… I have a lot of headcanons about her and I want to give them life one day somehow. Maybe I should start to write fanfics… Anyway, one of her traits is that she is named after the Greek goddesses of music and her attacks in Kioh Gyoku have music-related names. Because of this I use her as an embodiment of the music I love (also, she has the same name as my favourite western band so it fits even more ?). Also, I sometimes picture her cosplaying Ranko (with an unamused face), for some funny stories. That’s why Chibi Muse is part of the Crew, even though there is no BUTAOTOME song where she is at least vaguely mentioned and she will probably never have one.
Buta is just a cute round pig. There isn’t much to say about it, and I remember my ex-boyfriend bought it for me, but I still keep it without any sentiment or whatever. It’s just a cute round pig that fits the website for a band called Pig Girl!
And now, let’s talk about the third member: Chibi Ranko. I remember my boyfriend and I (at the time he was just a friend… buta nyway) were impressed by a fanmade Ranko plushie made by a Japanese fan. It was so cute that it made me want one, for hugs and cuddles. Scott wanted to say that he has a bit of experience with sewing and that he could have tried to make one, but he preferred to keep it secret. He secretly worked on his own take on a Ranko plushie and managed to finish it right in time for my birthday, in March 2017. And thus, Chibi Ranko was born. She immediately joined the crew not just because she’s the perfect fit for the website (being a fanmade plush of the singer), but also because I consider her one of my favourite presents ever. It was something I wanted but never expected to have one day, and a lot of work has been put into it, just for my happiness. By the way, I don’t sleep with her. She has her own futon!
The weekly recap was born 2 years ago, after I ran out of weekly Utau Namahousou recordings. It was a way to deliver all the news from the World of BUTAOTOME. My original plan was to include a screenshot of the weekly ButaNama, but since at the time of the first recap there was no livestream, I came up with the TC Crew Theater as a replacement. I wanted the readers to imagine Chibi Muse and Chibi Ranko discussing the latest news, just like Comp and Pap in the ButaNama. Over time, the theater evolved. I included guests, I made more pics outside, I tried to give more personality to the chibis. It’s always fun to try to come up with new ideas for them, and I hope to give some more cool weekly pics in the future!
Okay, now to the actual focus of a weekly recap!
Recordings for the C96 albums have started!
Also, a new version of maimai will be available in Japanese arcades tomorrow (the 11th, so basically today as I’m writing this post). It’s called “maimai DX” and unlike the typical arcade rhythm game upgrade it uses a completely different machine. It’s still the washing machine game, but it has some new features (mostly notably the touchscreen notes). Some old songs have been recharted to fully use the new functions, including Gensou no Satellite!
And that’s all. See you on Saturday with the 3rd part of the rank(o)ing!