#orangestar

red through cyan genderstar terms

redstar - a term under genderstar (link) for when ones gender is related to stars and the colour red, stars decorated with the colour red, being a star and the colour red, etc.

orangestar - a term under genderstar for when ones gender is related to stars and the colour orange, stars decorated with the colour orange, being a star and the colour orange, etc.

yellowstar - a term under genderstar for when ones gender is related to stars and the colour yellow, stars decorated with the colour yellow, being a star and the colour yellow, etc.

greenstar - a term under genderstar for when ones gender is related to stars and the colour green, stars decorated with the colour green, being a star and the colour green, etc.

tealstar - a term under genderstar for when ones gender is related to stars and the colour teal, stars decorated with the colour teal, being a star and the colour teal, etc.

cyanstar - a term under genderstar for when ones gender is related to stars and the colour cyan, stars decorated with the colour cyan, being a star and the colour cyan, etc.

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?