Hello everyone, welcome to the Otaku Mind. Man three Otaku Minds in one month, it has been a busy month folks but at the same time it’s been an enjoyable month nonetheless. So once again we are here to celebrate the birthday of another Vocaloid, Gakupo Kamui. Considered by many to have the best voice out of the male Vocaloids, Gakupo is often seen as one of the most underrated Vocaloids which is shocking because he’s one of the most unique Vocaloids. He’s a samurai who likes to sing and dance. Tell me that doesn’t sound cool? Why isn’t this guy more popular, his gimmick alone makes him stand out from the others. On top of that his voicebank as well as name comes from a professional and popular singer/actor/songwriter in Japan, Gackt. If you like rock songs this is your guy and definitely check out his mature conversations about sex, it’s both educational and informative. In fact, Gakupo’s concept also comes from Gackt. He goes on record saying his philosophical way of life is similar to that of a samurai. So one could say Gackt is a modern day samurai. Anyway, Gakupo was released in 2008 by Internet Co. the same people who made Gumi so you would think fans would ship these two together. Well some do but most of them prefer to ship him with Luka which yes they do make a great duo and a cute couple. At first Gakupo was ignored due to the lack of high demand for male Vocaloids. That, and he was the most expansive Vocaloid at the time due to the popularity of Gackt. Once the demand for the male Vocaloids started to hit he quickly became a hit becoming as popular as Miku and the other Cryton Vocaloids. While Gumi stills beats him in popularity he’s still considered a fan favorite and the second most popular Vocaloid to come from Internet Co. and today I’m here to name my top 11 Gakupo Kamui songs. Why top 11? Because even when I’m not in character I still like to go one step beyond. Get ready to see the hidden skills of the samurai, these are the top 11 Gakupo Kamui songs.
#11. Madness of Duke Venomania
Yep, the Story of Evil is back and this time we’re focusing on everyone’s favorite sin, lust, said to be the easiest sin to commit in the world. In this song Gakupo plays a duke who made a deal with the devil to have every woman he makes eye contact with fall in love with him. With this power he begins making women fall in love with him and then brings them back to his mansion to have sex with them and add them to his personal harem. This isn’t a song this is a dark hentai, make it happen. He eventually meets his end at the hands of Kaito who got his woman stolen from him by Gakupo. This releases the spell on the women and as he lays on the ground everyone walks out on him thinking of him as scum. Even his childhood friend who secretly loved him leaves him there to die because the person she fell in love with died a long time ago and the person on the floor dying is now just a stranger to her. This might just be my favorite song in the Story of Evil just for how batshit mad it is. On top of that the beat in this song is amazing. It’s almost as if Gakupo is dancing with a female and seducing her to his will. Gakupo’s voice may sound a little drowned out at some parts but for the most part his voice sounds great here. Matching the dark tone of the song while also sounding seductive and in control until the very end where he dies. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Great song, great series, and great Vocaloid.
#10. Secret Dance
It’s the return of MineK and not his last appearance on this list. Besides being a great user of Meiko, MineK is also a great user of Gakupo and it shows in this fun song. From what I can gather Gakupo is trying to charm Meiko with his dance moves or trying to get her to dance with him. Hard to tell. As always with MineK’s songs the beat is exciting, addicted, and fun to listen to. Along with Gakupo’s voice in fast pace it’s a song you really find yourself getting into. Also, I do like Gakupo’s voice through the song as it sounds as if he’s having fun singing this song or rather he’s taking it seriously but also having fun while singing. One thing’s for sure this is a samurai who loves to dance and speaking of dancing join in the next song would you?
#9. Dancing Samurai
https://youtu.be/HDnAeiKw-T8 (live)
My first Gakupo song as well as his character song. This song kind of serves as a basic introduction in who Gakupo is and where he comes from. In the song we see that he comes from a place where there are those who rule and those who serve. Not wanting to be the ruler or the follower and wanting to dance to the tune of his own beat he decides to leave and venture out into the world to find a place where he can be himself. Throughout the song he talks about how he’s just a novice samurai but someday he will become a true samurai dancing to his own beat and not the beat of others which is the message I think he’s trying to get across throughout the song. Many people jokingly think Gakupo is telling them to kill themselves because they can’t dance but I interpret it differently. He’s telling us not to dance to the tune of other people but instead dance to our own tune. Basically, be yourself and everyone will accept you. If you can’t do this and instead decide to match the dance moves of others or not dance at all than we’ve got a problem. Dancing Samurai is a fun song to listen to and it was great introduction to Gakupo.
#8. Nocturne
Here’s a genre of music I never would have expected Gakupo to try out, jazz. In my mind I always viewed Gakupo as a guy who would sing more traditional Japanese songs with a modern twist to it or sing more tragic opera-like songs since his voiced matched up perfectly with them. But here, he sings a jazz song and not only is it a good song Gakupo’s voice goes perfectly with the song. The piano really enhances Gakupo’s voice and the way he goes from low to high notes is realistic. This song really caught be by surprise and showed me that Gakupo’s range has a lot of potential.
#7. Stargazer
This song was originally sung by Miku and if I’m not mistaken it was a much faster pace song than this version. But still, in my opinion Gakupo sings the song better. His voice just sounds so lovely and peaceful here that I find myself closing my eyes and just imagine myself gazing at stars as this song plays in the background. The slow pace also works for Gakupo as well. Gakupo can sing fast-paced songs but many people never use him that much for slow-paced which is a shame because I think he really shines when he sings slow-paced songs like this which shows off how peaceful, smooth, and lovely his voice can really be and why so many girls like his voice so much. Way to show off your gentler side Gakupo.
#6. Joker
Once again a Miku song but Gakupo’s version of the song is way more popular and his voice matches up perfectly with the flow of the song. In the song Gakupo plays what I believe is a poker game against a young lady where he wins and takes her life. The song is both scaring and daunting for three major reasons. One is Gakupo’s voice, just like in Madness of Duke Venomania his voice matches the dark tone of the song. Second, that disturbing music which sounds like a broken carnival ride really sets the disturbing and creepy tone the song is trying to create. Finally, the video. Throughout the video it looks like a filtered version of The Joker from The Dark Knight which given the title of this song wouldn’t surprise me. Seeing The Joker and listening to this song already put scaring images in my head that I don’t even want to think what horrific ways Gakupo is killing these women in the song. It’s a dark song and makes you think that if the Vocaloids ever did a Batman story would Gakupo be The Joker?
#5. Stainless Moon
Holy crap! The amount of awesomeness in this song is unbelievable. If you wanted to hear Gakupo sing a song that matched up with his character than this song is for you. This song definitely carries that traditional rock sound you would expect to hear from Gakupo and the slow melody matched up with Gakupo’s slow singing really sets the pace for a battle about to take place and as he prepares to fight by taking a moment to find peace with himself and take everything in as if this could be the last time he sees the moon and the stars. It’s hard to talk about what makes this song so awesome. All I can suggest is that you listen to it and you’ll see why everyone likes it so much.
#4. Breathe
One of Gakupo’s simpler songs and honestly one of his best songs. In the song a friend of Gakupo is going through a hard time and rather than just talk about it and get it off his chest he chooses to bottle up his feelings and take everything in not telling anyone. And that’s not good. You can’t bottle up all your negative emotions inside of you, you have to release them otherwise it’s going to kill you mentally and that’s what Gakupo is trying to get the person in the song to do. Get it off your chest, you’ll feel a lot better. In the past I kind of did this in my life, keeping all my feelings bottled up and not talk about them and it was killing me. We always say we could complain but who would listen well who cares who’s listening, it’s better than keeping everything locked up inside and slowly suffocating yourself. I say we listen to Gakupo and just get everything off our chest. Talk about it with someone or write it down in a journal or something. Do anything, just don’t keep everything bottled up because you will regret it later on.
#3. Christmas with you
MineK is back this time it’s a Christmas song and with all this hot weather I could use a little Christmas in July. The song is basically Gakupo asking to spend Christmas with you. Very similar to Meiko’s Christmas song only this time from a male perspective. It’s a nice change as you do sense the sincerity in Gakupo’s voice and can tell he doesn’t want to be alone this Christmas so why not have some fun and spend it with him. I don’t know how MineK does it but he just has this ability to bring the best out of any Vocaloid he uses in his songs. What else can you say but Happy Christmas Gakupo.
#2. Return to Moonlight/ Revival of the Moonlight
If you thought Nocturne was a good jazz song or didn’t convince you Gakupo should be given more jazz songs well than listen to this song. This is another awesome jazz song sung by Gakupo in which it’s hinted that he’s talking about someone who is passing away leaving a great legecy which some will remember but others will forget. The number of metaphors and symbolic lyrics are amazing to listen to and Gakupo’s voice just sounds so powerful and emotional here. Every lyric he speaks holds some weight and emotion to it and you feel all of it. Great song, one of my favorites, and one I think a lot of people skip over but need to listen to.
And the number one Gakupo song is. . .
#1. Fly me to the Moon
Yes, it’s not an original song. Yes, it’s just a demo song that comes with all the Vocaloids but my God nobody sings this song better than him. I mean it, out of all the Vocaloids Gakupo sings this song better than anyone and it’s ironic because he was a Vocaloid never intended to speak English yet his English is better than most Vocaloids who have an English voicebank. How ironic is that, the one character who everybody thought was going to be the most cringe worthy turns out to be the best version of the song. Everybody who hears him sing his version of the song falls in love with him and rightfully because his version is so good. It’s smooth, clear, understandable, and dare I say pretty charming.
Well that’s my list, I hope you enjoyed, let me know if you have a favorite Gakupo song. Thanks for reading, happy birthday Gakupo, and I’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj.
*All videos, clips, and music are not owned by me and belong to their respective owners. All rights reserved*
Thanks for reading. As always feel free to leave a comment in the comment section or send your comments, feedback, or request to iamprojectnitsuj@gmail.com