Really cool EVO this year, unfortunately I couldn't go because the family has a vacation planned for Taiwan during November so money is really tight. Had to watch everything on stream pretty much. Historic event for Melty players, as it was the first time MB was a major event at Evolution.
Melty had 146 entrants, so it was divided into 4 pools. Unfortunately Pool 1 and 4 were extremely stacked, so many good players weren't able to make it to Top 8. Sadly Melty got no stream time at all pre-Top 8, which was expected, but EVO also did not let the community set up their own personal streams because of G4 or something like that... pretty dumb if you ask me.
Garu and Chelsea from Japan were able to make it over for this event, which is pretty amazing. On Thursday night, Tempered set up a casuals stream and Garu basically ran a train on everyone, only losing once to Brandino during a 4-5 hour period. Before coming over, Garu stated on IRC that he was starting to play H-Kohaku more than his main(H-VSion), but I was expecting him to play HVS over here since he would be more familiar with the character. H-VSion is also considerably easier to play, and I thought that Garu would get frustrated over the PS2 input buffer and not play H-Kohaku. But he proved me wrong and stuck to his guns, and also played a bit of H-Shiki as well.
Chelsea is Garu's friend, and is nowhere near as well known but he has appeared in a couple of videos. He plays F-Arc in videos, but he was able to run a bunch of characters at EVO like C-Shiki, C-Arc, and C-Sion. I was expecting him to be a bit stronger, but he ended up being about mid-level by US standards. Chelsea however was hilarious and provided some amazing commentary, and it seemed like everybody really enjoyed hanging out with him.
The final top 8 for Melty was pretty much what I expected, although I was expecting bell and sp00ky to get farther in their pools. Top 8 for Melty was unfortunately streamed first on Sunday at 10AM in the morning, but people were able to get up for it and I think it peaked at around 14K viewers. Stream was handled very well, though apparently the player camera was broken so we couldn't get shots of player reactions and the commentator's table like all the other games. bell did a great job commentating and keeping it clean for the EVO stream, but Sp00ky was obviously very tired from streaming SSFIV the previous night so he was pretty quiet. Some people captured some of the matches of the stream and put them on Youtube, but the vids are mostly 1)incomplete and/or 2)bad quality. Luckily someone saved it on JustinTV.
http://www.justin.tv/unowner/b/266597281
http://www.justin.tv/unowner/b/266603408
Very exciting Top 8, as almost every match was amazing. Unfortunately the Grand finals between LordKnight and Garu was terrible as not only was it an H-Kohaku mirror, both players' execution just went down the drain so it was dropped combos everywhere. Very ugly finals, and sadly it gave the impression to many non-MBAA players that the game was very broken. I feel that LK should have chosen a different character, like C-Warc, after he lost the first set, since Garu plays regularly with the best Japanese H-Kohaku, Hagi. It would have also made the grand finals a lot more interesting as well.
Melty getting into this year's EVO was kind of a miracle, and I don't see Melty getting back in ever again, but it seems like the game was able to make an overall good impression. From what I heard, Garu and Chelsea seemed to have a very good time so maybe they can encourage more Japanese players to travel over here in the future.
Friday, July 16, 2010
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
BlazBlue
BB is Arc Systems Works' newest fighting game series. From the very beginning, it looked to be very Guilty Gear inspired, from the artstyle down to the character designs, Ragna and Jin being the most obvious. Many people thought it was going to be Guilty Gear's successor, but it turned out to be a very different game.
My opinion of BlazBlue is of intense disappointment. I really wanted to like the game, and I had a lot of faith that it was going to be great since the creators of Guilty Gear were making it. Anyway, I guess I'll start with what Blazblue did right.
The presentation and graphics. The game looks gorgeous, the sprites are really detailed, and like Guilty Gear there's an all-star voice acting cast to support the characters. All of the winscreens are voiced, and Rachel, Litchi, Ragna, and Taokaka in particular have great performances.
The amount of support that ArcSys and its American counterpart AkSys are pouring into promoting the game is amazing. I really wish that all fighting games had the same advertising campaign as BB. To mention only a few things, BB has a semi-frequent radio show called Bururaji, it has an official comic that is also translated, the BB website has 4komas and also has special images everytime a character's birthday comes up, and the limited edition American release of the game came with a tutorial DVD created by the top US Blazblue players.
BB also has, without a doubt, the best console port of a fighting game I have ever seen. The netplay is good(for console fighting game standards, at least), the training mode is great and has tons of options, and lastly I should mention the story mode. While BB's story isn't exactly a very deep one, it avoids the story that 99% of all other fighting games have, where someone organizes a big tournament to see who's the strongest warrior or whatnot. The story mode in BB is perfectly executed, as a somewhat complex plot like BB's is best told in the visual novel style. The Teach Me Miss Litchi tutorial segments are also golden.
Unfortunately, the good stuff ends here. BB fails in the most important department, which is its merit as a fighting game. As a fighting game, BB is terrible: it is not fun to play or watch, the gameplay is clunky, and characters spend way too much time in the air as opposed to the ground. The game honestly reminds me much more of Melty Blood than it does Guilty Gear. It's really clear that Mori wanted to make BB a very different game than GG; however, I get the impression that some of his design decisions were made just for the sake of being different, without really thinking them through. One prime example is being able to throw during hit and blockstun, which is pretty much unheard of in fighting games. While this doesn't seem like a big deal at first because of the much wider throw break window for these type of throws, it led to things like Carl's clap-loop infinite in Calamity Trigger. The burst system was horribly handled in CT, and the new bursts are just as bad in CS.
I also have to mention the ukemi system. There are no true knockdowns in BlazBlue, as every knockdown that can't be comboed after is ground techable and rollable, like Vampire Savior. While this doesn't seem like a problem at first, it is indeed one because BB is a very slow paced game. Many characters can't punish tech rolls, and the slow nature of the game makes it very difficult to maintain offense after an opponent rolling, in contrast to Vampire Savior where the attacker can still maintain pressure after a roll because of the frantic pacing. This pretty much makes BB have very little in the way of okizeme, with some exceptions. In an interview with Mori before the first iteration of BB came out, he stated that he did not want the game to center around okizeme and knockdowns, so it seems this was intentional. He probably wanted the game to not be as momentum based as Guilty Gear, and have the focus be in the neutral game. However, it doesn't work out because the neutral game is extremely shallow and sluggish, as jumping is way too strong and throws are terrible.
The balance in BB is also really terrible. In both Calamity Trigger and Continuum Shift, it's the case of the top tier characters being really good and braindead, while the bottom tier characters are horrible. The gaps between the tiers are huge and the tournament results are a good reflection of this.
BB is also pretty notorious for being an extremely easy game, lowering the execution requirements a la Street Fighter IV. While I don't exactly have a problem with making games easier, I do feel that BB went too far in lowering the execution barrier. Not every game has to be as hard as Hokuto no Ken or Eternal Fighter Zero, but being able to hold a button for 5 frames to get a repeat input is silly, and the easy barrier/throw option select on defense makes blocking way too strong in this already slow paced game.
I should also mention the sound in this game.. to be more specific, the voice looping. BB has the worst voice looping I have ever heard in any fighting game. Characters talk way too much, as they have voice clips every time they attack, move, and block. They even say stuff when they're idle. Voice clips repeat and cut each other off. For example, a character that has the clip "Muda yo" when blocking... if you made them block a multi hit blockstring, you would then hear something like m-m-m-mu-mu-muda yo. Rachel is easily the biggest offender, since there's basically three people talking everytime she does something.
So yes, disappointment. Or rather, wasted potential. There are so many good things about BlazBlue(like Litchi!), but unfortunately BB fails when it comes to the most important things about fighting games: the gameplay. I remember when people were just discovering the little details of the plot and the game presentation(like all the character specific quotes and the intricate story mode), calling BB a fighting game with visual novel elements. However, the way the game is now, it's really the other way around.
My opinion of BlazBlue is of intense disappointment. I really wanted to like the game, and I had a lot of faith that it was going to be great since the creators of Guilty Gear were making it. Anyway, I guess I'll start with what Blazblue did right.
The presentation and graphics. The game looks gorgeous, the sprites are really detailed, and like Guilty Gear there's an all-star voice acting cast to support the characters. All of the winscreens are voiced, and Rachel, Litchi, Ragna, and Taokaka in particular have great performances.
The amount of support that ArcSys and its American counterpart AkSys are pouring into promoting the game is amazing. I really wish that all fighting games had the same advertising campaign as BB. To mention only a few things, BB has a semi-frequent radio show called Bururaji, it has an official comic that is also translated, the BB website has 4komas and also has special images everytime a character's birthday comes up, and the limited edition American release of the game came with a tutorial DVD created by the top US Blazblue players.
BB also has, without a doubt, the best console port of a fighting game I have ever seen. The netplay is good(for console fighting game standards, at least), the training mode is great and has tons of options, and lastly I should mention the story mode. While BB's story isn't exactly a very deep one, it avoids the story that 99% of all other fighting games have, where someone organizes a big tournament to see who's the strongest warrior or whatnot. The story mode in BB is perfectly executed, as a somewhat complex plot like BB's is best told in the visual novel style. The Teach Me Miss Litchi tutorial segments are also golden.
Unfortunately, the good stuff ends here. BB fails in the most important department, which is its merit as a fighting game. As a fighting game, BB is terrible: it is not fun to play or watch, the gameplay is clunky, and characters spend way too much time in the air as opposed to the ground. The game honestly reminds me much more of Melty Blood than it does Guilty Gear. It's really clear that Mori wanted to make BB a very different game than GG; however, I get the impression that some of his design decisions were made just for the sake of being different, without really thinking them through. One prime example is being able to throw during hit and blockstun, which is pretty much unheard of in fighting games. While this doesn't seem like a big deal at first because of the much wider throw break window for these type of throws, it led to things like Carl's clap-loop infinite in Calamity Trigger. The burst system was horribly handled in CT, and the new bursts are just as bad in CS.
I also have to mention the ukemi system. There are no true knockdowns in BlazBlue, as every knockdown that can't be comboed after is ground techable and rollable, like Vampire Savior. While this doesn't seem like a problem at first, it is indeed one because BB is a very slow paced game. Many characters can't punish tech rolls, and the slow nature of the game makes it very difficult to maintain offense after an opponent rolling, in contrast to Vampire Savior where the attacker can still maintain pressure after a roll because of the frantic pacing. This pretty much makes BB have very little in the way of okizeme, with some exceptions. In an interview with Mori before the first iteration of BB came out, he stated that he did not want the game to center around okizeme and knockdowns, so it seems this was intentional. He probably wanted the game to not be as momentum based as Guilty Gear, and have the focus be in the neutral game. However, it doesn't work out because the neutral game is extremely shallow and sluggish, as jumping is way too strong and throws are terrible.
The balance in BB is also really terrible. In both Calamity Trigger and Continuum Shift, it's the case of the top tier characters being really good and braindead, while the bottom tier characters are horrible. The gaps between the tiers are huge and the tournament results are a good reflection of this.
BB is also pretty notorious for being an extremely easy game, lowering the execution requirements a la Street Fighter IV. While I don't exactly have a problem with making games easier, I do feel that BB went too far in lowering the execution barrier. Not every game has to be as hard as Hokuto no Ken or Eternal Fighter Zero, but being able to hold a button for 5 frames to get a repeat input is silly, and the easy barrier/throw option select on defense makes blocking way too strong in this already slow paced game.
I should also mention the sound in this game.. to be more specific, the voice looping. BB has the worst voice looping I have ever heard in any fighting game. Characters talk way too much, as they have voice clips every time they attack, move, and block. They even say stuff when they're idle. Voice clips repeat and cut each other off. For example, a character that has the clip "Muda yo" when blocking... if you made them block a multi hit blockstring, you would then hear something like m-m-m-mu-mu-muda yo. Rachel is easily the biggest offender, since there's basically three people talking everytime she does something.
So yes, disappointment. Or rather, wasted potential. There are so many good things about BlazBlue(like Litchi!), but unfortunately BB fails when it comes to the most important things about fighting games: the gameplay. I remember when people were just discovering the little details of the plot and the game presentation(like all the character specific quotes and the intricate story mode), calling BB a fighting game with visual novel elements. However, the way the game is now, it's really the other way around.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Utattemita (Part 2)
Some of my favorite covers and originals are:
メルト (Melt)
Vocaloid: Hatsune Miku
Music and Lyrics by: ryo of supercell
ガゼル (Gazelle) cover, 3M mix
ちょうちょ (Choucho) cover, 3M mix
rockleetist cover, 3M mix and English translated lyrics
Gazelle's version is the classic one and easily the most well known cover of Melt. Melt is a ridiculously difficult song, and it's amazing how she can hit all the high notes during the chorus without destroying her voice. Choucho's cover is also amazing, though her voice does falter a bit during some of the high parts. I also included rockleetist's english cover because she does a good job singing it and the english translation is really good.
Just Be Friends
Vocaloid: Megurine Luka
Music and Lyrics by: Dixie Flatline
ちょうちょ (Choucho) cover
うさ (Usa) cover, Band Edition
rockleetist cover, English translated lyrics
Legendary Luka song, the song is about breakup if you can't tell from the title. Choucho's cover is my personal favorite, but Usa's is also really good as I love the Band edition. Also posted rockleetist's cover to see just how depressing the lyrics are! I could never have guessed how sad the song was before I read those lyrics, since the song is so upbeat. However, rockleetist did take a few liberties with the translation, since JBF is originally written from the guy's point of view, but she rewrote the lyrics from the girl's POV. Some people have a big problem with this, but I don't mind it since sometimes it has to be done to keep rhyme and meter.
ルカルカ★ナイトフィーバー (Luka Luka Night Fever)
Vocaloid: Megurine Luka
Music and Lyrics by: samfree
実谷なな (Mitani Nana) cover
Luka Luka Night Fever is a eurobeat song describing her nightlife. I'm not a big fan of eurobeat(I can't stand it, actually), but this song is pretty well written and it fits Luka rather well. This song got so popular that the people on nico actually went and created an elaborate dance routine for it. There's also a vid of Nana Mitani herself trying to dance to herself singing it(by recording, of course).
初めての恋が終わる時 (Hajimete no Koi ga Owaru Toki, or Hatsukoi)
Vocaloid: Hatsune Miku
Music and Lyrics by: ryo of supercell
ちょうちょ (Choucho) cover
IMO the best cover that Choucho has done and the best cover of this particular song. Not much to say, it's a beautiful song and Choucho's performance is spotless as always. I'm not really sure what the song is about that, since the lyrics are kind of vague.
MEGANE
Vocaloid: Megurine Luka
Music and Lyrics by: ultra-noob
ゆず茶 (Yuzucha) cover
Megane is a fairly obscure Luka song. If you think girls with glasses are hot, this is the song for you. I actually don't like Yuzucha very much, but her cover of Megane is pretty much perfect.
ブラック★ロックシューター (Black Rock Shooter)
Vocaloid: Hatsune Miku
Music and Lyrics by: ryo of supercell
ちょうちょ (Choucho) cover, Band Edition
Another legendary Vocaloid song from ryo, this song got so popular that there's going to be an anime about it.
ggrks-ググれカス- (Gugure Kasu)
Vocaloid: Megurine Luka and Kamui Gakupo
Music and Lyrics by: Aamin-P
ヲタみん (Wotamin) and clear cover
This is a really cute song about a guy hitting on a girl on the Internet, asking her silly and personal questions, while the girl responds everytime with Gugure Kasu(Just google it, you moron). Tsundere Luka is delicious, and so is Wotamin's performance.
ワールドイズマイン (World Is Mine)
Vocaloid: Hatsune Miku
Music and Lyrics by: ryo of supercell
うさ (Usa) cover
Quintessential tsundere Miku song portraying her as a princess falling in love.
恋は戦争 (Koi wa Sensou)
Vocaloid: Hatsune Miku
Music and Lyrics by: ryo of supercell
Fye cover
This is an intense song about Miku declaring that one must fight for love. The most popular cover of this song by a Japanese nico artist is Yamai's, but I actually don't like it all that much. I think the best cover is done by Fye, who is actually Russian. Her pronunciation is really good, though not perfect, but it's her performance that blows the other covers out of the water imo.
ニコニコ観測(ββ) (Nico Nico Kansoku)
Based on the song 天体観測 (Tentai Kansoku) by BUMP OF CHICKEN
recog
This is a hilarious song about the life of a nico addict. I can totally relate to it since I spend way too much time on nico myself.
Super Mario RPG Rawest Forest
Based on the song "Rawest Forest" by Martin Hagwell, video by Kirbopher15
"Rawest Forest" an arranged version of 森のキノコにご用心 (Beware the Forest's Mushrooms) on the Super Mario RPG OST
僕太 (Bokuta) cover
One of the coolest things ever. Rawest Forest was a song based on the Forest Maze music from SMRPG about the joys of playing the game. Kirbopher15 made a flash video of it that can still be viewed on Newgrounds, and this video apparently got so popular on Nico that people started covering it.
組曲『ウメハラ動画』 (Kumikyoku Umehara Douga)
Based on the song 組曲『ニコニコ動画』 (Kumikyoku Niconico Douga)
僕太 (Bokuta) cover
This is a hilarious song about the greatness of Daigo Umehara and his dominance in the fighting game scene. The song is based on the that big nico medley that was popular a few years ago. The modified lyrics were written by somebody else; Bokuta supplied the vocals.
メルト (Melt)
Vocaloid: Hatsune Miku
Music and Lyrics by: ryo of supercell
ガゼル (Gazelle) cover, 3M mix
ちょうちょ (Choucho) cover, 3M mix
rockleetist cover, 3M mix and English translated lyrics
Gazelle's version is the classic one and easily the most well known cover of Melt. Melt is a ridiculously difficult song, and it's amazing how she can hit all the high notes during the chorus without destroying her voice. Choucho's cover is also amazing, though her voice does falter a bit during some of the high parts. I also included rockleetist's english cover because she does a good job singing it and the english translation is really good.
Just Be Friends
Vocaloid: Megurine Luka
Music and Lyrics by: Dixie Flatline
ちょうちょ (Choucho) cover
うさ (Usa) cover, Band Edition
rockleetist cover, English translated lyrics
Legendary Luka song, the song is about breakup if you can't tell from the title. Choucho's cover is my personal favorite, but Usa's is also really good as I love the Band edition. Also posted rockleetist's cover to see just how depressing the lyrics are! I could never have guessed how sad the song was before I read those lyrics, since the song is so upbeat. However, rockleetist did take a few liberties with the translation, since JBF is originally written from the guy's point of view, but she rewrote the lyrics from the girl's POV. Some people have a big problem with this, but I don't mind it since sometimes it has to be done to keep rhyme and meter.
ルカルカ★ナイトフィーバー (Luka Luka Night Fever)
Vocaloid: Megurine Luka
Music and Lyrics by: samfree
実谷なな (Mitani Nana) cover
Luka Luka Night Fever is a eurobeat song describing her nightlife. I'm not a big fan of eurobeat(I can't stand it, actually), but this song is pretty well written and it fits Luka rather well. This song got so popular that the people on nico actually went and created an elaborate dance routine for it. There's also a vid of Nana Mitani herself trying to dance to herself singing it(by recording, of course).
初めての恋が終わる時 (Hajimete no Koi ga Owaru Toki, or Hatsukoi)
Vocaloid: Hatsune Miku
Music and Lyrics by: ryo of supercell
ちょうちょ (Choucho) cover
IMO the best cover that Choucho has done and the best cover of this particular song. Not much to say, it's a beautiful song and Choucho's performance is spotless as always. I'm not really sure what the song is about that, since the lyrics are kind of vague.
MEGANE
Vocaloid: Megurine Luka
Music and Lyrics by: ultra-noob
ゆず茶 (Yuzucha) cover
Megane is a fairly obscure Luka song. If you think girls with glasses are hot, this is the song for you. I actually don't like Yuzucha very much, but her cover of Megane is pretty much perfect.
ブラック★ロックシューター (Black Rock Shooter)
Vocaloid: Hatsune Miku
Music and Lyrics by: ryo of supercell
ちょうちょ (Choucho) cover, Band Edition
Another legendary Vocaloid song from ryo, this song got so popular that there's going to be an anime about it.
ggrks-ググれカス- (Gugure Kasu)
Vocaloid: Megurine Luka and Kamui Gakupo
Music and Lyrics by: Aamin-P
ヲタみん (Wotamin) and clear cover
This is a really cute song about a guy hitting on a girl on the Internet, asking her silly and personal questions, while the girl responds everytime with Gugure Kasu(Just google it, you moron). Tsundere Luka is delicious, and so is Wotamin's performance.
ワールドイズマイン (World Is Mine)
Vocaloid: Hatsune Miku
Music and Lyrics by: ryo of supercell
うさ (Usa) cover
Quintessential tsundere Miku song portraying her as a princess falling in love.
恋は戦争 (Koi wa Sensou)
Vocaloid: Hatsune Miku
Music and Lyrics by: ryo of supercell
Fye cover
This is an intense song about Miku declaring that one must fight for love. The most popular cover of this song by a Japanese nico artist is Yamai's, but I actually don't like it all that much. I think the best cover is done by Fye, who is actually Russian. Her pronunciation is really good, though not perfect, but it's her performance that blows the other covers out of the water imo.
ニコニコ観測(ββ) (Nico Nico Kansoku)
Based on the song 天体観測 (Tentai Kansoku) by BUMP OF CHICKEN
recog
This is a hilarious song about the life of a nico addict. I can totally relate to it since I spend way too much time on nico myself.
Super Mario RPG Rawest Forest
Based on the song "Rawest Forest" by Martin Hagwell, video by Kirbopher15
"Rawest Forest" an arranged version of 森のキノコにご用心 (Beware the Forest's Mushrooms) on the Super Mario RPG OST
僕太 (Bokuta) cover
One of the coolest things ever. Rawest Forest was a song based on the Forest Maze music from SMRPG about the joys of playing the game. Kirbopher15 made a flash video of it that can still be viewed on Newgrounds, and this video apparently got so popular on Nico that people started covering it.
組曲『ウメハラ動画』 (Kumikyoku Umehara Douga)
Based on the song 組曲『ニコニコ動画』 (Kumikyoku Niconico Douga)
僕太 (Bokuta) cover
This is a hilarious song about the greatness of Daigo Umehara and his dominance in the fighting game scene. The song is based on the that big nico medley that was popular a few years ago. The modified lyrics were written by somebody else; Bokuta supplied the vocals.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Utattemita (Part 1)
歌ってみた, or utattemita, was something I discovered last year. It roughly translates to "to try singing", and it's the category on ニコニコ動画(nico nico douga) where people record themselves singing popular songs. So it's like karaoke, basically. Supposedly in the old days, most people on utattemita did anime song covers, but nowadays it's mostly Vocaloid songs.
I'm actually not a fan of Vocaloid at all. Well, I really like Megurine Luka, but I can't stand hearing any of the vocaloids sing because well... they're computer programs. No matter how good the songs are, it sounds terrible to me whenever that robotic voice is singing. However, Vocaloid is remarkable because it allows people with a lot of talent to create songs and share their works with other people when they normally wouldn't have been able to, either because of the composer's own inability to sing or the difficulty in finding a person willing to sing. Similarly utattemita is great because it allows amateur singers a chance to shine with some really professional sounding works(it's not hard at all to record yourself singing and then layer it over an off-vocal track).
So I first discovered utattemita last year when I watched a really good Toradora Ami MAD, which can be viewed here. The song used in this video is "World Is Mine" sung by Usa. I was really interested as to who sung the song, so I did some research and the rest, as they say, is history.
Some of my favorite female singers in utattemita are:
ちょうちょ (Choucho)
Easily my favorite nico singer, she has a really pretty voice, amazing range, and she's quite cute to boot. Her most famous cover is Miku Hatsune's Last Night, Good Night, but I think the best cover that she's done is Hatsukoi.
うさ (Usa)
Another fairly famous singer, her range isn't on the same level as Choucho's, but she's a great singer and has some really good material. Her singing voice(which is somewhat high and cutesy) is actually really different from her normal voice(which is really deep), but there are some songs where she sings in that deep voice. She does doujin music work under the name Hana, and also has a band with Yamai, Tolie, and other singers called Usa Colony. Her most famous covers are of World Is Mine and Dear.
ヤマイ (Yamai)
Yamai is another very famous singer. She has a nice deep voice, but her range is pretty good and the image I get from hearing her voice is that of the beautiful older sister. She's done a lot of Meiko covers in the past, which might be the reason why some people call her the real-life version of Meiko. She and Usa do radio shows together pretty often, and they act pretty yuri together. Whether it's real or if it's just teasing the fans will never be known, but it's definitely delicious~ Yamai's blog is also really cool because she puts up lots of WIP pieces of her songs, so you can hear how much they change in the final product.
ガゼル (Gazelle)
Gazelle is a legendary nico singer that unfortunately doesn't upload any more covers because of some drama. She has a clear, beautiful voice, and has covered some great material. Her most famous cover is Melt, both the original and the 3M mix. Even though she's quit nico, she still does work as a doujin artist under the name Yanagi Nagi. But most notably, she's actually somewhat broken into the mainstream, being the vocalist for the group supercell. Bakemonogatari's legendary ending theme is sung by her.
ヲタみん (Wotamin)
Not much to say... she's a great singer, has covered A LOT of material and releases new covers pretty frequently. She seems to like singing Luka material. Her most famous song is actually a duet with clear on the song ggrks.
As for male singers
I don't actually listen to male singers, for whatever reason... it might be because I don't like any of the songs that were composed for the male vocaloids, and it feels weird to hear a male sing a song that was composed for a female vocaloid. So basically, all of the male singers I like are ones that do parodies or come up with original songs.
ヒャダイン (Hyadain)
Linked his user profile because there's no mylist that contains all of his songs. Hyadain is hilarious and mostly creates songs based on existing videogame pieces. Most of his works have become wildly popular everywhere, evidenced by the sheer amount of Youtube vids of his works with foreign language subs in them. He's a very good singer, and is also really good at singing as a female as well. His most famous song is his original composition about Street Fighter II, which incorporates various sound effects from the game and has him singing as every character in the game.
recog
recog is another great singer that mainly does parody songs. My favorite recog piece is Nico Nico Kansoku, a song about the life of a nico addict, parodying Bump of Chicken's Tentai Kansoku.
I'm actually not a fan of Vocaloid at all. Well, I really like Megurine Luka, but I can't stand hearing any of the vocaloids sing because well... they're computer programs. No matter how good the songs are, it sounds terrible to me whenever that robotic voice is singing. However, Vocaloid is remarkable because it allows people with a lot of talent to create songs and share their works with other people when they normally wouldn't have been able to, either because of the composer's own inability to sing or the difficulty in finding a person willing to sing. Similarly utattemita is great because it allows amateur singers a chance to shine with some really professional sounding works(it's not hard at all to record yourself singing and then layer it over an off-vocal track).
So I first discovered utattemita last year when I watched a really good Toradora Ami MAD, which can be viewed here. The song used in this video is "World Is Mine" sung by Usa. I was really interested as to who sung the song, so I did some research and the rest, as they say, is history.
Some of my favorite female singers in utattemita are:
ちょうちょ (Choucho)
Easily my favorite nico singer, she has a really pretty voice, amazing range, and she's quite cute to boot. Her most famous cover is Miku Hatsune's Last Night, Good Night, but I think the best cover that she's done is Hatsukoi.
うさ (Usa)
Another fairly famous singer, her range isn't on the same level as Choucho's, but she's a great singer and has some really good material. Her singing voice(which is somewhat high and cutesy) is actually really different from her normal voice(which is really deep), but there are some songs where she sings in that deep voice. She does doujin music work under the name Hana, and also has a band with Yamai, Tolie, and other singers called Usa Colony. Her most famous covers are of World Is Mine and Dear.
ヤマイ (Yamai)
Yamai is another very famous singer. She has a nice deep voice, but her range is pretty good and the image I get from hearing her voice is that of the beautiful older sister. She's done a lot of Meiko covers in the past, which might be the reason why some people call her the real-life version of Meiko. She and Usa do radio shows together pretty often, and they act pretty yuri together. Whether it's real or if it's just teasing the fans will never be known, but it's definitely delicious~ Yamai's blog is also really cool because she puts up lots of WIP pieces of her songs, so you can hear how much they change in the final product.
ガゼル (Gazelle)
Gazelle is a legendary nico singer that unfortunately doesn't upload any more covers because of some drama. She has a clear, beautiful voice, and has covered some great material. Her most famous cover is Melt, both the original and the 3M mix. Even though she's quit nico, she still does work as a doujin artist under the name Yanagi Nagi. But most notably, she's actually somewhat broken into the mainstream, being the vocalist for the group supercell. Bakemonogatari's legendary ending theme is sung by her.
ヲタみん (Wotamin)
Not much to say... she's a great singer, has covered A LOT of material and releases new covers pretty frequently. She seems to like singing Luka material. Her most famous song is actually a duet with clear on the song ggrks.
As for male singers
I don't actually listen to male singers, for whatever reason... it might be because I don't like any of the songs that were composed for the male vocaloids, and it feels weird to hear a male sing a song that was composed for a female vocaloid. So basically, all of the male singers I like are ones that do parodies or come up with original songs.
ヒャダイン (Hyadain)
Linked his user profile because there's no mylist that contains all of his songs. Hyadain is hilarious and mostly creates songs based on existing videogame pieces. Most of his works have become wildly popular everywhere, evidenced by the sheer amount of Youtube vids of his works with foreign language subs in them. He's a very good singer, and is also really good at singing as a female as well. His most famous song is his original composition about Street Fighter II, which incorporates various sound effects from the game and has him singing as every character in the game.
recog
recog is another great singer that mainly does parody songs. My favorite recog piece is Nico Nico Kansoku, a song about the life of a nico addict, parodying Bump of Chicken's Tentai Kansoku.
Monday, June 28, 2010
History of Melty Tiers
I'm mainly making this post because there's no page on the Internet out there that documents all of the "official" or accepted tier lists of the game, so hopefully the search engines will pick this up so that more misinformation doesn't get spread. But it's also interesting because it shows which characters have historically been favored by the designers.
I don't think there were any tiers in the very early versions of Melty Blood, because the game was full of so much broken stuff that no one really bothered. The earlist semblance of tiers I remember were in ReACT, a bit before Final Tuned 2.501b. Akiha was undisputed #1, as her high damage output, clash frames on 2c, high/low mixup, and best defense modifier made her easily the most complete character in the game. I remember watching tournament replays during this time and seeing that half of all vids were Akiha mirrors. Warc, Shiki Tohno, and the maid part were also considered pretty good during this time.
Now comes the main games, where MB was no longer a doujin game anywhere and became an arcade game.
Melty Blood Act Cadenza Version A
The only tier list made during this time was from Arcadia... forgot which issue it was from.
S: Warc Shiki
A: Sion Satsuki VAkiha
B: Arc Wara Nero Akiha Maids Nanaya
C: Aoko Kouma Mech Len Ciel VSion Miyako Kohaku Hisui
D: Neco
Pretty similar to the ReACT list... the main difference is Akiha moving down to B. Warc was S because of ease of use, very high damage, and unbeatable normals. Her j.b throughout the entire MB series is arguably the best, or one of the best air normals in the game, and it was at its peak in this version, with the fastest startup and containing clash frames. Shiki was also rated high because of high damage, ease of use, good normals, good defensive options(easily the best backdash in the game), and good defense modifier. Sion was interesting because she wasn't considered S tier, but was the only character in the game to have a reliable infinite. Satsuki was really silly in this version, as her normals had very little proration, so her damage potential was through the roof. She got minimum 4K damage from her antiair 5a mash into EX Tornado Grab. Finally, there's VAkiha, who had unparalleled rushdown, movement, and damage/lifeleech potential with her EX pits and throw.
Melty Blood Act Cadenza Version B
There were no official tierlists done for this version of this game as it was rather short lived. However, Sion and Kouma were undisputedly top tier because of an oversight by the game developers in superarmor properties. Specifically Sion 2c and Kouma 236 specials had superarmor that pretty much lasted the entire duration and started up immediately.
Melty Blood Act Cadenza Version B2
This version has several tierlists done for it, as the game lasted a long time and is the final game in the Act Cadenza series. Earliest list comes from Tougeki Damashii Volume 5.
A: Sion Akiha VAkiha Kouma Ciel Len
B: Hisui Mech
C: Everybody else
D: Necos
Main interesting thing to note here is Ciel and Len rising to top tier. Ciel in this version was pretty much the most well rounded character: she had an answer to everything. Len was a different case, as she gained some very strong tools in VerB2 and her gameplay was getting a lot of development(she was one of the more underused chars in previous versions).
The Japanese MBAC BBS eventually agreed upon another tier list some time later, which is:
S: Sion Len Ciel Warc Miyako Akiha
A: Hisui Kouma VSion Mech
B: VAkiha Arc Aoko Nanaya Shiki Nero Satsuki Maids
C: Kohaku Wara WLen
D: Necos
Main thing to note is Miyako rising to S. She gained some very good tools in VerB2, and people were finally beginning to understand how to play her.
Later on, around January of 2008 Tougeki Damashii published a matchup chart created by 46 top Japanese players. It can be viewed here.
The final official tier list for this game was made around May of 2008. Since I actually have the original text I thought I'd post it:
参加者 20人
かんな、すずめ、にく、ぶぶ、はぎ、ぼぶ、ゆとり、芳乃、SAT、スシ、ひでぶ、かいまーと、洋、レオ、はと、千神、あげは、丸やん、ねむとら、レイ
方式は前と同じで適当にS、A、B、Cで分けて貰ってSが4点、Aが3点、Bが2点、Cが1点といった感じでランク分けは四捨五入で
Ｓ:シエル(79)、レン(77)、シオン(74)、ワルク(73)
Ａ:都古(66)、秋葉 (64)、メカ翡翠(63)、軋間(57)、翡翠(55)、ネロ(51)
Ｂ:Vシオン(45)、七夜(42)、アルク(42)、さつき(39)、青子(37)、赤主(34)
Ｃ:ヒスコハ(25)、志貴(25)、ワラキア(23)、白レン(22)、琥珀(22)
Basically what happened is that top Japanese Miyako player Kanna asked 20 top japanese players to rank every character, and he averaged those results to make a tier list. Characters were rated from S(4 points) to C(1 point). The top JP players that participated were:
Kanna, Surume, Niku, Bubu, Hagi, Bobu, Yutori, Yoshino, SAT, Sushi, Hidebu, Kaimaato, You, Leo, Hato, Chikami, Ageha, Maruyan, Nemutora, Rei
S: Ciel(79) Len(77) Sion(74) Warc(73)
A: Miyako(66) Akiha(64) Mech(63) Kouma(57) Hisui(55) Nero(51)
B: VSion(45) Nanaya(42) Arc(42) Satsuki(39) Aoko(37) VAkiha(34)
C: Maids(25) Shiki(25) Wara(23) WLen(22) Kohaku(22)
Main point of interest is that throughout most of VerB2's lifespan, Sion was undisputed #1 for her unrivalled damage, strong pressure, good normals, and defensive options. Only in the final year of the game(when this list was released) was she considered lower than Ciel and Len.
Moving on to Actress Again...
Melty Blood Actress Again
Only one tier list for this game as it was incredibly broken and very much an incomplete game. This list made by Yukinose, and published in either Arcadia or Tougeki Damashii, I don't remember which.
S: H-Akiha H-Shiki H-Nero H-Wara H-Ries H-Aoko
A: C-Ciel C-Mech C-WLen F-Kouma H-Roa H-Sion H-VSion C-Arc H-Nanaya C-Warc H-VAkiha C-Kohaku
B: H-Hisui C-Maids C-Miyako H-Len C-Satsuki
It's very obvious that Half Moon is broken in vanilla MBAA. Instant life regen on autoheat and ridiculous meter gain on all 6aa combos made them way too strong.
Melty Blood Actress Again Version A
There are numerous official and accepted tier lists for this game, as it's been out for a while. The first one was made in February of 2009, and the process was very similar to the final tier list of MBAC. I also have the original text, so here goes:
キャラランク（そのキャラの1番強いと思うスタイルでのランク）
猫アルクは強い弱い関係なしに欄外
A、B、Cで分ける（個人的にVER.Bよりも差がないと感じるので）
Aを3点、Bを2点、Cを1点として加算。
A:Vシオン（59）、メカ翡翠（58）、志貴（54）、ネロ（54）、七夜（53）、琥珀（53）
B:都古（49）、ワルク（41）、ヒスコハ（40）、アルク（40）、白レン（38）、翡翠（38）、シエル（37）、軋間（36）、青子（36）、リーズ（35）、さつき（35）、赤主（34）、シオン（32）、ロア（31）、秋葉（30）、ワラキア（30）
C:レン（23）
参加者（敬称略）:かんな、レイ、かいまーと、うどんげ、丸やん、SAT、芳乃、がる、シュウ、めっしい、ジン、キリト、ぶぶ、平田、ぼぶ、するめ、にく、新屋、深空、洋
聞いてない人に会った際にランクを聞いてまた更新する可能性もありますが、おそらく更新はしないと思われます。
Compiled by 20 top jp players, characters were rated from A(3 points) to C(1 point)
Players: Kanna, Rei, Kaimaato, Udonge, Maruyan, SAT, Yoshino, Garu, Shuu, Messhii, Jin, Kirito, Bubu, Hirata, Bobu, Surume, Niku, Niiya, Misora, You
A: VSion(59) Mech(58) Shiki(54) Nero(54) Nanaya(53) Kohaku(53)
B: Miyako(49) Warc(41) Maids(40) Arc(40) White Ren(38) Hisui(38) Ciel(37) Kouma(36) Aoko(36) Ries(35) Satsuki(35) VAkiha(34) Sion(32) Roa(31) Akiha(30) Wara(30)
C: Ren(23)
Those characters in the top 7-8 would remain very consistent throughout the game's lifespan, the main exception being Nanaya who would eventually start moving down about a year later. Also notable is Akiha's extremely low ranking.
A month later, the first tier list that actually separated all the moon phase versions of the characters was made. I forgot who actually wrote it, though.
S: H-VSion C-Mech H/C-Shiki F-Nero H-Kohaku F-Miyako
A+: C-Nanaya C-Warc
A: F/C-Kouma C/H-Nero C/F-Kohaku F-Mech
A-: F-Maids C/H-Miyako F-Warc F-WLen H-Nanaya C-Ciel C-Aoko F-Arc F-VAkiha H-Roa C-Satsuki F-Shiki H/F-Sion C-Hisui
B+: Akiha C/H-Maids H/F-Ries F/C-VSion H-VAkiha F-Nanaya
B: H-Warc H-Hisui C/F-Wara H/C-Arc F/H-Ciel H-Mech C-Sion H-Kouma C/H-WLen F-Aoko
B-: H-Wara H/F-Ren C-Ries F-Roa H-Satsuki F-Hisui H-Aoko C-VAkiha
C+: F-Satsuki C-Ren C-Roa
Later on, Arcadia published a tier list made by MBAC top VAkiha/MBAA top Shiki player Hato in their August issue.
God: H-VSion
S: C-Mech
A: F/H-Nero H/C-Shiki C/H-Kohaku C/F-Miyako C-Nanaya C/F-Maids
B: F/H-Aoko C-Warc F-VAkiha H-Hisui F-WLen C-Satsuki C-Sion F-Arc
C: C-Ciel F-Kouma F-Ries C-Wara C/H-Akiha H/F-Roa H-Len C-Neco
There hasn't been an official tier list made after this, but the metagame has changed considerably. Most notably, H-VSion isn't undisputed #1 anymore, as there's a bit of debate as to whether H-Kohaku and H-Shiki should be ranked higher than her. The top 7 chars(VSion, Shiki, Mech, Kohaku, Miyako, Nero, Warc) are pretty much agreed upon by everyone, they just get shuffled around a bit sometimes. Akiha's ranking has also changed pretty dramatically: in the first few months of the game's release, she was often ranked as one of the worst characters or pretty low on the lists, but nowadays she's always considered mid-high at worst. Finally, there's also VAkiha, who was generally considered very good at first with her full moon style, but then went down. However, she is rising back up again as more people are playing her half moon style.
One thing to note from all these tier lists is that it becomes very obvious as to which character is consistently strong in every version. And that character is Warc. In nearly every single version of the game, she is either top or high tier. Whether this is because the developers like her or the nature of the game can be debated. However, Warc being consistently strong isn't a surprise considering MB's core gameplay. Probably about 85% of MB's game takes place in the air, and Warc is a character with nearly unmatched air mobility, with a good projectile and air projectile, good defensive options, the best air normals, and high damage. A character like Warc was pretty much made for this game.
I don't think there were any tiers in the very early versions of Melty Blood, because the game was full of so much broken stuff that no one really bothered. The earlist semblance of tiers I remember were in ReACT, a bit before Final Tuned 2.501b. Akiha was undisputed #1, as her high damage output, clash frames on 2c, high/low mixup, and best defense modifier made her easily the most complete character in the game. I remember watching tournament replays during this time and seeing that half of all vids were Akiha mirrors. Warc, Shiki Tohno, and the maid part were also considered pretty good during this time.
Now comes the main games, where MB was no longer a doujin game anywhere and became an arcade game.
Melty Blood Act Cadenza Version A
The only tier list made during this time was from Arcadia... forgot which issue it was from.
S: Warc Shiki
A: Sion Satsuki VAkiha
B: Arc Wara Nero Akiha Maids Nanaya
C: Aoko Kouma Mech Len Ciel VSion Miyako Kohaku Hisui
D: Neco
Pretty similar to the ReACT list... the main difference is Akiha moving down to B. Warc was S because of ease of use, very high damage, and unbeatable normals. Her j.b throughout the entire MB series is arguably the best, or one of the best air normals in the game, and it was at its peak in this version, with the fastest startup and containing clash frames. Shiki was also rated high because of high damage, ease of use, good normals, good defensive options(easily the best backdash in the game), and good defense modifier. Sion was interesting because she wasn't considered S tier, but was the only character in the game to have a reliable infinite. Satsuki was really silly in this version, as her normals had very little proration, so her damage potential was through the roof. She got minimum 4K damage from her antiair 5a mash into EX Tornado Grab. Finally, there's VAkiha, who had unparalleled rushdown, movement, and damage/lifeleech potential with her EX pits and throw.
Melty Blood Act Cadenza Version B
There were no official tierlists done for this version of this game as it was rather short lived. However, Sion and Kouma were undisputedly top tier because of an oversight by the game developers in superarmor properties. Specifically Sion 2c and Kouma 236 specials had superarmor that pretty much lasted the entire duration and started up immediately.
Melty Blood Act Cadenza Version B2
This version has several tierlists done for it, as the game lasted a long time and is the final game in the Act Cadenza series. Earliest list comes from Tougeki Damashii Volume 5.
A: Sion Akiha VAkiha Kouma Ciel Len
B: Hisui Mech
C: Everybody else
D: Necos
Main interesting thing to note here is Ciel and Len rising to top tier. Ciel in this version was pretty much the most well rounded character: she had an answer to everything. Len was a different case, as she gained some very strong tools in VerB2 and her gameplay was getting a lot of development(she was one of the more underused chars in previous versions).
The Japanese MBAC BBS eventually agreed upon another tier list some time later, which is:
S: Sion Len Ciel Warc Miyako Akiha
A: Hisui Kouma VSion Mech
B: VAkiha Arc Aoko Nanaya Shiki Nero Satsuki Maids
C: Kohaku Wara WLen
D: Necos
Main thing to note is Miyako rising to S. She gained some very good tools in VerB2, and people were finally beginning to understand how to play her.
Later on, around January of 2008 Tougeki Damashii published a matchup chart created by 46 top Japanese players. It can be viewed here.
The final official tier list for this game was made around May of 2008. Since I actually have the original text I thought I'd post it:
参加者 20人
かんな、すずめ、にく、ぶぶ、はぎ、ぼぶ、ゆとり、芳乃、SAT、スシ、ひでぶ、かいまーと、洋、レオ、はと、千神、あげは、丸やん、ねむとら、レイ
方式は前と同じで適当にS、A、B、Cで分けて貰ってSが4点、Aが3点、Bが2点、Cが1点といった感じでランク分けは四捨五入で
Ｓ:シエル(79)、レン(77)、シオン(74)、ワルク(73)
Ａ:都古(66)、秋葉 (64)、メカ翡翠(63)、軋間(57)、翡翠(55)、ネロ(51)
Ｂ:Vシオン(45)、七夜(42)、アルク(42)、さつき(39)、青子(37)、赤主(34)
Ｃ:ヒスコハ(25)、志貴(25)、ワラキア(23)、白レン(22)、琥珀(22)
Basically what happened is that top Japanese Miyako player Kanna asked 20 top japanese players to rank every character, and he averaged those results to make a tier list. Characters were rated from S(4 points) to C(1 point). The top JP players that participated were:
Kanna, Surume, Niku, Bubu, Hagi, Bobu, Yutori, Yoshino, SAT, Sushi, Hidebu, Kaimaato, You, Leo, Hato, Chikami, Ageha, Maruyan, Nemutora, Rei
S: Ciel(79) Len(77) Sion(74) Warc(73)
A: Miyako(66) Akiha(64) Mech(63) Kouma(57) Hisui(55) Nero(51)
B: VSion(45) Nanaya(42) Arc(42) Satsuki(39) Aoko(37) VAkiha(34)
C: Maids(25) Shiki(25) Wara(23) WLen(22) Kohaku(22)
Main point of interest is that throughout most of VerB2's lifespan, Sion was undisputed #1 for her unrivalled damage, strong pressure, good normals, and defensive options. Only in the final year of the game(when this list was released) was she considered lower than Ciel and Len.
Moving on to Actress Again...
Melty Blood Actress Again
Only one tier list for this game as it was incredibly broken and very much an incomplete game. This list made by Yukinose, and published in either Arcadia or Tougeki Damashii, I don't remember which.
S: H-Akiha H-Shiki H-Nero H-Wara H-Ries H-Aoko
A: C-Ciel C-Mech C-WLen F-Kouma H-Roa H-Sion H-VSion C-Arc H-Nanaya C-Warc H-VAkiha C-Kohaku
B: H-Hisui C-Maids C-Miyako H-Len C-Satsuki
It's very obvious that Half Moon is broken in vanilla MBAA. Instant life regen on autoheat and ridiculous meter gain on all 6aa combos made them way too strong.
Melty Blood Actress Again Version A
There are numerous official and accepted tier lists for this game, as it's been out for a while. The first one was made in February of 2009, and the process was very similar to the final tier list of MBAC. I also have the original text, so here goes:
キャラランク（そのキャラの1番強いと思うスタイルでのランク）
猫アルクは強い弱い関係なしに欄外
A、B、Cで分ける（個人的にVER.Bよりも差がないと感じるので）
Aを3点、Bを2点、Cを1点として加算。
A:Vシオン（59）、メカ翡翠（58）、志貴（54）、ネロ（54）、七夜（53）、琥珀（53）
B:都古（49）、ワルク（41）、ヒスコハ（40）、アルク（40）、白レン（38）、翡翠（38）、シエル（37）、軋間（36）、青子（36）、リーズ（35）、さつき（35）、赤主（34）、シオン（32）、ロア（31）、秋葉（30）、ワラキア（30）
C:レン（23）
参加者（敬称略）:かんな、レイ、かいまーと、うどんげ、丸やん、SAT、芳乃、がる、シュウ、めっしい、ジン、キリト、ぶぶ、平田、ぼぶ、するめ、にく、新屋、深空、洋
聞いてない人に会った際にランクを聞いてまた更新する可能性もありますが、おそらく更新はしないと思われます。
Compiled by 20 top jp players, characters were rated from A(3 points) to C(1 point)
Players: Kanna, Rei, Kaimaato, Udonge, Maruyan, SAT, Yoshino, Garu, Shuu, Messhii, Jin, Kirito, Bubu, Hirata, Bobu, Surume, Niku, Niiya, Misora, You
A: VSion(59) Mech(58) Shiki(54) Nero(54) Nanaya(53) Kohaku(53)
B: Miyako(49) Warc(41) Maids(40) Arc(40) White Ren(38) Hisui(38) Ciel(37) Kouma(36) Aoko(36) Ries(35) Satsuki(35) VAkiha(34) Sion(32) Roa(31) Akiha(30) Wara(30)
C: Ren(23)
Those characters in the top 7-8 would remain very consistent throughout the game's lifespan, the main exception being Nanaya who would eventually start moving down about a year later. Also notable is Akiha's extremely low ranking.
A month later, the first tier list that actually separated all the moon phase versions of the characters was made. I forgot who actually wrote it, though.
S: H-VSion C-Mech H/C-Shiki F-Nero H-Kohaku F-Miyako
A+: C-Nanaya C-Warc
A: F/C-Kouma C/H-Nero C/F-Kohaku F-Mech
A-: F-Maids C/H-Miyako F-Warc F-WLen H-Nanaya C-Ciel C-Aoko F-Arc F-VAkiha H-Roa C-Satsuki F-Shiki H/F-Sion C-Hisui
B+: Akiha C/H-Maids H/F-Ries F/C-VSion H-VAkiha F-Nanaya
B: H-Warc H-Hisui C/F-Wara H/C-Arc F/H-Ciel H-Mech C-Sion H-Kouma C/H-WLen F-Aoko
B-: H-Wara H/F-Ren C-Ries F-Roa H-Satsuki F-Hisui H-Aoko C-VAkiha
C+: F-Satsuki C-Ren C-Roa
Later on, Arcadia published a tier list made by MBAC top VAkiha/MBAA top Shiki player Hato in their August issue.
God: H-VSion
S: C-Mech
A: F/H-Nero H/C-Shiki C/H-Kohaku C/F-Miyako C-Nanaya C/F-Maids
B: F/H-Aoko C-Warc F-VAkiha H-Hisui F-WLen C-Satsuki C-Sion F-Arc
C: C-Ciel F-Kouma F-Ries C-Wara C/H-Akiha H/F-Roa H-Len C-Neco
There hasn't been an official tier list made after this, but the metagame has changed considerably. Most notably, H-VSion isn't undisputed #1 anymore, as there's a bit of debate as to whether H-Kohaku and H-Shiki should be ranked higher than her. The top 7 chars(VSion, Shiki, Mech, Kohaku, Miyako, Nero, Warc) are pretty much agreed upon by everyone, they just get shuffled around a bit sometimes. Akiha's ranking has also changed pretty dramatically: in the first few months of the game's release, she was often ranked as one of the worst characters or pretty low on the lists, but nowadays she's always considered mid-high at worst. Finally, there's also VAkiha, who was generally considered very good at first with her full moon style, but then went down. However, she is rising back up again as more people are playing her half moon style.
One thing to note from all these tier lists is that it becomes very obvious as to which character is consistently strong in every version. And that character is Warc. In nearly every single version of the game, she is either top or high tier. Whether this is because the developers like her or the nature of the game can be debated. However, Warc being consistently strong isn't a surprise considering MB's core gameplay. Probably about 85% of MB's game takes place in the air, and Warc is a character with nearly unmatched air mobility, with a good projectile and air projectile, good defensive options, the best air normals, and high damage. A character like Warc was pretty much made for this game.
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