number one harugo fan

this was a writeup i originally wrote back in july-august 2024, sent to people who uhh did not really care about vocaloid or surges. decided to tidy some things up and add my own notes here and there about 1.5 years later to hopefully make things cleaner.

foreword; i can’t believe this song is 5 years old this year

surges is a song by Orangestar featuring IA and miku. characterised with super bold violins in the instrumental and an insane range for the vocalist (C3 to A6 is wild) (i don’t think IA’s voice is suited to hit C3 you can barely hear her then), it’s an upbeat song about persistence in the typical summery Orangestar style. really love the bass hopping around in the first instrumental solo and the layered section with different lyrics that merge into one in the next bar especially. surges has a respectable 19 million views on youtube, making it Orangestar’s 6th most viewed vocaloid song. 

HOWEVER, surges was also made for a caloriemate ad, with a different version sung by Kase and Loin that was uploaded on his channel. this version has 65 million views and a different arrangement and instrumental compared to the original - starting with a more muddy piano rather than a crisp bass. the guitar and bass solo has been replaced with the simpler rhythmic piano pattern, and the final buildup to the chorus is also much shorter. instrumental wise i prefer the first version the violins are really iconic and the solos are great.

while having both an official human vocal and vocaloid version isn’t uncommon anymore (especially with project sekai commissions pumping out one song like that every 2 weeks or so) the instrumental used tends to be the same between these versions*; definitely not with different lengths anyways.  considering its own origins as a cover it shouldn’t be a surprise that surges has been covered by many vocalists many many times. so back in 2024 at least instead of studying for chinese i went to compile 80 versions of this song (including the original) and listened to them to check for:

if the instrumental used is from the webmovie or the vocaloid

if the instrumental was rearranged

if the key was the same

any other interesting things

and comment out which ones are my favourite (and least favourite) or which ones stand out

*author’s note: this just made me remember boku no kamisama’s different versions that is an exception hanyuu maigo my beloved

there isn’t really a point or goal to this ““““survey”””” of covers of surges beyond that it’s just kind of funny idk.

playlist for reference: surges

instrumental:

webmovie original: 8

vocaloid original: 65

rearranged: 7

key:

same key: 56

different key: 24

weird categories:

number of covers that included DAYBREAK FRONTLINE halfway: 5

has a rap: 8

favourite covers: 

note that the number represents the index on the surges playlist

bold represents standout for each category

12) hakase fuyuki  (idk i like the voice alot it’s smooth, fits the song.)

15) azusagawa and co. (the rap part is slightly sung and it sounds so gentle and good oh my god. all three people singing together is goosebumps inducing. easy standout)

24) rougenest (counted as custom cover as they liveband the guitar and drums. the mv is a treat to watch and the added guitar solo is nice.) (drums are abit much though please tone down the cymbals in the chorus and let the other instruments breathe)

43) a.k.a.s.a (the part post first instrumental solo is actually ASMR. the rest of the cover is nice too but that part is great the 1min 5s mark. i can feel their voices in my heart it’s kind of hot.)

47) amamiya otowa (this one feels amatuerish but charming. the mix has made the voice so much louder than the instrumental so it stands out alot. voices is pretty good too)

57) そーま/souma (who the hell made the rap here. i cannot stop laughing what is the lyric "pandemic yeah” this was released in 2023 wtf was covid still that relevant) (the chorus is really autotuned i don’t think he can hit those notes but in a way it makes it even funnier.) (THE CONTRAST BETWEEN THE RAPPING PARTS AND HIS SINGING IS GLORIOUS HE MOVES SO MUCH WHEN RAPPING AND IS SO SMILEY WHILE SINGING) (this guy’s yt name is soumarap0808 he might have written the rap) 

least favourite covers:

10) mapo tofu (slowed down. it went from 137bpm to 120bpm and it feels so unbearably sluggish as it’s trying to maintain the same intensity as the original.)

28) kyo hanabasami and eruse (the mixing is weird. the backing voice is too loud so the chorus melody just sounds like parallel 6ths. as a duet i guess but it's not pleasant; doing this through the whole chorus makes the whole song feel so flat.) 

39) libre nocturne (i got jumpscared by english lyrics mid japanese lyrics. they just alternate between them whenever, and sing japanese and english lyrics at the same time. but the voices lack the payoff of the buildup, and the english parts sound really undercooked. nice idea, but get a better english cover-er to write the lyrics next time/choose english words you actually know how to pronounce. the buildup to the second chorus was great though)

41) kaz hoshinouta (the three voices are not in the rhythm and also not in sync with each other. they sound like they’re competing for who is louder idk not a fan)

42) かにちゃんねる (sounds like the nerd emoji (i cannot describe this in any other way.) those notes are just a little high for the vocalist. )

50) ANN (this one might actually be the worst one. the singer is singing early sometimes and late sometimes. why are you singing a fast, rhythmic song like surges and not fitting the rhythm correctly. the melody is wrong at multiple instances. the mic quality is actual dog shit. all the overlap portions try to sound airy but just sound muddled. the chorus is especially bad - octave down, bad mixing, rhythm issues. this is a bad karaoke session.)

62) FM-kun (horribly, horribly out of tune it sounds constantly flat and out of energy. jesus christ sing better. especially the overlap parts in the chorus are bad. the rap is mediocre.)

67) jitsu (out of tune, i understand that it’s an acoustic version but this song slowed down in this way does not sound good; the chorus especially is really draggy as a result. (this one is 110bpm)  the two voices do not synergise well. the instrumental cover is sweet though, so this isn't too terrible.)

is there a point to this

most of them are decent but don't stand out. this is a song that's easy to show what makes a vocalist special with the multiple overlap parts. due to overlap parts duet/group sing is probably the better way to go about this song.

covers that don't hit high notes in the chorus instantly get marked down. fast range song.

after listening to so many of these i think adding a rap to stand out makes sense. also i did not count extra "woos" or other sound effects since rap has lyrics. also some of them use the same rap and some of them seem to write their own raps. but alot of covers added their own "woos" during instrumental.

other notes:

multiple of them has rap lyrics during the instrumental. i think that's hysterical. some include includes DAYBREAK FRONTLINE halfway. the singers are not allowed to break. [see: 8) 初兎×-hotoke-]

some of the custom versions just incorporate DAYBREAK FRONTLINE instrumental in some parts. halfway during the instrumental 16) umikun started randomly singing a line from DAYBREAK FRONTLINE. i think the songs might be similar idk could be.

the voices are not extraordinary, but the 37) pista custom arrangement is better than the original imo. based on webmovie. love the string ensemble in the background

40) sumi did a cover with kafu, tuned by adeliae. did not expect a vocaloid and human cover but ig pjsk has been doing that for a while now. it sounds okay. kafu is hard to mess up.

honestly i prefer the covers with both male and female voices. adds some spice. VBS would never cover this this is leo/need or MMJ territory but maybe? #author’s note keeping this in because VBS ended up singing this and i do like the VBS cover actually i should stop trying to predict covers

conclusion and final thoughts:

Q: how do you feel after listening to 80 versions of surges?

A: surges is still great. genuinely didn't get tired of the song over this period. i guess it helped that i did not listen to exclusively surges, and took some breaks. some covers are better than others, but in the end i might just go back to same ol’ same ol’, maybe return to the good ones from time to time. #author’s note i never listened to any surges cover after this my go to is the fukane arrangement or the vocaloid one

Q: what makes a good cover of surges?

A: rhythm is on point, speed is the same, melody can shift abit here and there. oh and chorus needs to be the octave up version or it lacks the buildup payoff. i'm basic i just like if it's similar to what i'm used to (webmovie/vocaloid surges)

Q: is surges your favourite Orangestar song?

it surprises me so much that "vocaloid" was the third choice of name, and somehow "daisy" was first. i cannot imagine talking to other fans of the medium and saying "oh hey who's your favourite daisy" it's not a new word or anything.

"new daisy song dropped"

"i listen to lots of daisy music"

"i love daisyrock"

"yeah that daisytalk (talksy? like talkloid but daisy-fied) was so funny"

what the hell are these words

it's kind of like the "all my love said it don't" in the vivid bad squad airhead cover. it's so funny, probably because i'm used to that part being the same in the eve cover.

CW: long read, rant-y style, strong personal opinion.

tl;dr i like flos. i do not like the flos cover. i really do not like the flos cut.

introduction:

i think flos is one of the best vocaloid songs released purely by its tuning and instrumental. there really isn't any vocaloid song like this in my opinion. the guitar in the background playing the sequences of 4 notes has this sense of floppiness and playfulness. it feels like it's bouncing throughout the entire song. the sequence of 4 notes plays throughout the whole song (barring prechorus), with slight embellishments here and there, but always clearly heard, as if repeating the names of the flowers at the start alongside the song. the piano is clear and also free, albeit not as much as the guitar. the song has two instrumental solos, both distinct, both post chorus. one based around an electric guitar which leads into the verse reprise, the other a beautiful tango between a synth and the piano. even the percussion lacks any hard rigid snare sound, mostly compromising of toms and very light cymbals. it's not the focus. like with imperial girl also by R Sound Design, the melody switches between swing and straight time freely. it's a song free in nature, still structured but unique and taking its time to expand to the chorus. by the time 4 minutes has passed and we're back to the heavenly flower recitation, you barely realise it. the flower recitation is always soft and gentle, especially post final chorus where it's a simple background noise as the string instruments take charge after appearing in the final chorus as chords, a final climax. 

long story short, i like flos.

we don't talk about re:flos.

cuts, expectations and project sekai:

naturally, when the Project SEKAI Broadcast Station (i miss wondershow channel) announced flos as one of the upcoming songs i screamed. finally the best R Sound Design song will in project sekai! i mused. it's on my project sekai song wishlist as one of the first songs listed. More More Jump cover? fits the tone well enough! at least it didn't get shafted like dawn and fireflies' only virtual singer cover, when dawn and fireflies on youtube is flooded with covers (even VBS Archives did a dawn and fireflies cover)

in the days leading up to flos' release i had forgotten all the cautionary tales about why you should wait for the actual project sekai version to release before hyping at that moment until now.

iyowa's kyu kurarin was slandered through project sekai. More More Jump slayed through the cover with a fascinating key change and one of the cuts of all time. imperial girl, also by R Sound Design, also has a very middling cover. miku frankly sounds terrible in the imperial girl cover (please let R Sound Design tune miku and stop trying to simulate his tuning). the cut is actually not bad - 2min 26s is a good length and the main part cut was the instrumental portions. specifically the instrumental solo in between and at the end. hide and seek by 19iku has a really really good cover but a really terrible cut - compressing 2 minutes of music to about 10 seconds is never going to sound good. there is no buildup to the chorus anymore, and the one quiet bar of the chorus just sounds out of place.

there is one connecting thread between these three songs in project sekai. they all cut at the same spot. it's always at the in betweens. just take the first 2 bars and the last 2 bars and leave the rest of the glorious solo behind, clumsily connecting the intro and the outro. i understand that cuts cannot be 3 minutes long. but 2min 30s is absolutely possible. kyu kurarin's chunithm cut includes the full segments which the project sekai ones cut, and it's exactly 2.30 long. why project sekai's one is a minute forty-nine is beyond me. same with hide and seek - 2min 5seconds is still quite short and there's alot more you can do with the song than cut out basically the entire soft section. it's not going to be attractive to players. the structure of the song is lost.

cuts still need to allow the song to be coherent. a botched cut doesn't do the song justice, while also breaking the flow of those familiar with the song playing the song on rhythm game and confusing/alienating new fans from the original source material. it's a really bad idea. cuts are a representation of a song, and need to be prioritised more.

now back to flos.

flos, the tragedy:

it's partially on me for not thinking this through, for even having some expectation. i'm sure the tuning would be fine. how can more more jump ever disappoint? more more jump covers have never been disappointing. :D

here's the MMJ flos cover, in all its shame.

here's the original, for the purpose of recovery.

i don't think i've felt this aggravated at a song cover before. this gave me goosebumps in the opposite end of that spectrum. usually it takes me multiple listens to form an opinion on a cover THIS TOOK ONE. MY FIRST ONE. I HAD TO PAUSE WITHIN THE FIRST 8 SECONDS AND REWIND TO MAKE SURE I HEARD THAT TUNING RIGHT. WHAT THE HELL.

here is what i enjoyed about the cover/cut.

 the 3Dmv is good. i am not licensed to judge the choreography of the characters, but it looks pleasant enough. i love the flower patronuses(??) when they say the names of the flowers. the cuts when they take turns saying different flowers are also very nice. the colour choice is pleasant and aligns with the colours of flos. this is a pleasant interpretation of flos' 2Dmv.

the MMJ members don't sound bad either (except haruka). their voices together are nice, and overall the chorus sounds really decent. 

minori hanasato

not significant but they didn't change the key. i prefer it when song covers do not change the key, but i understand that this is done due to the range of vocalists singing it. good on colorful palette.

and here's what i didn't like.

issues with cover:

i take issue with the cut/cover from the very first 2 seconds. where is the static. where is the god damn static. the original flos starts with about 2 seconds of static and a black screen. i loaded the video and instantly had to rewind because there was no 2 seconds of static and the song started immediately. project sekai team can't turn the screen black for 2 seconds to play some static noise and then start the song?? where the heck is my 2 seconds of static???? the starting sounds weak because of this - the start just sort of crescendos to the volume, like an actor who forgot to get on stage before the curtains were drawn. 1/10 beginning even haruka doesn't sound that good saying "daphne". and then miku appears.

this is the same issue as with imperial girl. holy shit. please stop tuning miku yourself colorful palette get R to tune. don't try to tune like R Sound Design if you can't make it sound like R Sound Design. specifically let your miku pronounce ending noises like "s" more. the "s" in flos is not pronounced enough. the miku voicebank/tuning is not clear enough for this. R Sound Design's tuning is clear as heck and much easier to hear what flower is being pronounced. miku sounds too robotic and ungentle saying the word flos because of the tuning. there is no down sound. the sound stays in one place and does not drop or fluctuate. miku is, more than ever, robotic in this cover because of the half-assed tuning.

it's honestly even worse here. the cut for flos is not as long as the cut for imperial girl, so not-R Sound Design miku hogs up even more space. she's the leading voice for both of the prechoruses which appear TWICE IN FULL as well as the one who says "flos" at the start. and throughout she sounds like a rubber hose abraised onto a hard garage floor.

finally, the 1min 45s mark of the official 3Dmv. haruka says "daphne" in a Loud, Monotone, Uninterested voice. in the original version, miku says "daphne" incredibly softly, as the focus here isn't the voice but the strings with their melodic line. in this version, the strings take a backstage while the voices recite their flowers. why. was. this. totally creative. decision. taken. ?????. the point is for the strings to shine, after the singers had their turn to shine at the chorus. AND THEY DO SO IN THE MOST LOUD UNINTERESTED VOICE LIKE THEY'VE BEEN CALLED UPON TO ANSWER A MATH QUESTION. HARUKA PLEASE REFLECT ON YOUR ACTIONS.

actually i do have an idea on why they did this. it's because of the cut. it's all just to fit the cut. speaking of which...

issues with cut:

the idea for the cut is to condense the flower recitation down for what i hope is a very very good reason. since the flower recitation at the end is about 30s long and repeats all the flowers, on paper it should be possible to cut out the middle section and just have the flowers recite only once and end. and maybe on paper it is, if the paper was a .txt file with only the lyrics to the song. the repetition was for the first repeat to be clearing out the noise from the chorus with the strings concluding their melody, while the second repeat is a reprise of the first 10s of the song with the remaining flowers that had not been said yet. it's the structure of the song, going back home to end. this is why during the first repeat in the original, the recitation of the flowers is soft to let the strings shine, while the second repeat's voice is alot louder as the purpose is to say the names of all the flowers.

by merging these together, you get the strings in the background with their melody, as well as the loud recitation of the flowers. and it sounds laughably abrupt and terrible. suddenly 4 bars later everything changes, not going to the 8 bars of the original. the strings. appear. for a grand total of 8 BARS. AT THE SECOND HALF OF THE SECOND CHORUS AND THEN DISAPPEARING 4 BARS INTO THE FLOWER RECITATION. 0,4,4,0 SPLIT HOLY HECK. the final chorus in the original appears twice as well, second half to let the strings play. similar to the flower recitation, this is just abrupt and bad.

beyond this recurring repetition halved element of the cut, there's the multiple cut instrumental sections. imperial girl's cut allows for a section in between the first verse and second verse prior to the first prechorus to stay. this structure is exactly the same in both original flos and original imperial girl. however, the flos cut gets rid of this section entirely and instead goes from first verse to first prechorus, removing the in between flower recitation and second verse. it's probably not terrible for first time listeners but it's jarringly quick in my opinion. this leads to the short length of the cut, unlike imperial girl’s relatively longer cut.

another strange decision also occurs because of this cut. by using the first verse tune, the verse no longer leads to the prechorus, like with the second verse. this makes the prechorus even more abrupt, since there’s no longer an ascending melody towards the prechorus. if the second verse were to be removed, at least keep the transition and not instantly head to prechorus. this makes it even more abrupt

there's also the typical "take the first two bars of the instrumental solo take the last two bars of the instrumental solo and clumsily merge them together" like with the cuts mentioned above. please stop engaging in this. the instrumental solo in the flos cut is now 8 seconds from 16 seconds for no reason whatsoever it's barely a time save why cut it out at all. credit where credit's due though: they did not cut out the soft part like with hide and seek. but hide and seek's soft part was more important due to the instrumental build up, which flos does not really have at this section. the instrumental for flos is quite consistent throughout dynamic and energy wise, apart from prechorus which is the same throughout though slightly lower in terms of energy as well.

the introduction is also slashed but that's incredibly common in many cuts. in no part of this version does the full introduction/flower recital ever take place. it's disappointing and aggravating.

final thoughts and conclusion:

more more jump is capable of singing gentle songs well. i think. the lonely universe cover was generally alright, though the original is preferred. but their miku tuning needs work. the big reasons why i heavily dislike this cover is because of how amazing miku sounds in the original compared to how miku sounds in this version. this is also why the imperial girl version isn't the better version of imperial girl. R Sound Design tunes better than this - just rip from the original at this point. 

colorful palette, please work on cutting skills. the flos cut is alarmingly D:. the long wait for one of the best vocaloid songs to be added and released just turned out disappointing because of the terrible decisions made during the cutting process.

in a way i'm kind of glad that dawn and fireflies didn't get a cover. if they mess up miku's tuning there i'd actually cry. dawn and fireflies' cut also isn't that good but at least full versions release.

that's anothing thing: full versions do eventually come out. the imperial girl full version fixes the issues i had with the cut because, well, it isn't cut. but it does not fix miku's tuning. same with flos. flos' release in album in like 2025 or something would fix the god awful cut, but not the tuning. i at least know that when hide and seek's full version gets released i'll listen to it on a loop, but until the heat death of the universe i'll be haunted with haruka's "daphne" replaying in my mind as i try to sleep at night.

many a time the reason why people (myself included) get so worked up against cuts and covers is because of what they wish it could be like instead. the feeling that a song that you love and cherish being added to a game you play frequently is unmatched. it's like a form of validation, that your favourite song can finally get a chart and be introduced to so many more people. now everyone can listen to my favourite songs. i can't say a thing about gimmiexgimmie's cover because i've never heard of gimmiexgimmie prior to this, nor do i have any form of connection prior to listening to the version in game. but flos? i've known flos for a long time. i've loved flos for a long time. to botch this hard, feels like a betrayal. it's not a personalised attack to a fan, but it's damn heartbreaking still.

please stream flos original.