Stoic

stoic

Song Information

Artist: TaQ
Composition/Arrangement: TaQ
BPM: 155
Length: 1:56
Genre: TECHNO
VJ: VJ GYO
First Music Game Appearance: beatmania IIDX 7th style
Other Music Game Appearances: None.

Lyrics

None.

Song Connections / Remixes

• stoic is part of TaQ's "-ic" series of songs.
• A shorter, slightly different sounding version of stoic, titled stoic (EXTREME version), can be found in DanceDanceRevolution EXTREME.
• A long version of stoic appears on TaQ's album, bounce connected.
• stoic's video is briefly parodied in the video for Twelfth Style from beatmania IIDX 12 HAPPY SKY.

Trivia

• stoic's video features TRAN interacting in live-action with a monk (played by TaQ himself) dancing through the entire video.
  • GYO admitted that he inserted TRAN next to TaQ without the latter's knowledge.
• At the time of its release, stoic's Single NORMAL chart had the most notes of any Single NORMAL chart in beatmania IIDX. This would not be beaten until beatmania IIDX 13 DistorteD with 嘆きの樹, which has 902 notes.
  • This does not include Scripted Connection⇒H mix from beatmania IIDX 12 HAPPY SKY CS, whose chart was not added to the arcade release until beatmania IIDX 14 GOLD. It has 875 notes, beating out stoic by one.
• stoic's Single NORMAL chart is the first to be rated 7 on the old beatmania IIDX difficulty scale.

Song Production Information

TaQ

Say what you will with stoic.

Video Production Information

VJ GYO

The production of this movie was made possible with the full cooperation of TaQ, from the idea to the filming.
We would like to take this opportunity to express our gratitude.

We have received a great number of e-mails with questions about this movie, so we would like to provide a detailed explanation of the movie.
(※A long description will be written below this point.)

TaQ suggested the theme of "zazen (Zen meditation posture)", a posture that embodies the "abstinence" of the song's title. And so, we began by bouncing ideas off each other, saying, "We wanted a movie that was simple, silly, and cool."

We started with a lively exchange of ideas, taking what emerged in the heat of the moment and comparing them to whatever conditions was available.
Then we tried to put all the ideas together, but they just didn't seem to fit.
In the end, we threw everything away, except for the "zazen" theme.

Then came the day of the shooting. The basic idea was to "continue meditating", so I asked them to keep doing zazen for the time being.
I was thinking of using a fast-paced version of this as the basis for the film, but I felt like something didn't feel right.
So, on the spur of the moment, I said, "Try dancing out in that zazen position!" I told him to do it, and this ended up being too cool (and too funny)!
TaQ, on the other hand, strongly suggested that "stoic" actually contains the concept of "a song that turns the aura of abstinence into hop dancing."
So, with three cameras (shiro and GOLI were holding them with their hands), we filmed various patterns in addition to the dancing. More than two full hours worth.

During and after the filming, TaQ and the team gave us a lot of ideas and opinions on video processing and editing, but something just didn't feel right.

I was struggling with this and that in the office at dawn when I was alone, rolling a tape that included TaQ's voice saying, "It's very tiring to dance while sitting in zazen posture."

I want to fill it to overflowing with delicious shots! (Would it be awful if I didn't?)
In the name of "abstinence," I proudly (and secretly) discarded all thoughts of "I'm not going to do it again," and ended up making the film with only two shots and a little over two minutes of material (while keeping the rest of the content a secret).
(The story of him performing with Tran is actually a secret as well.)

And I didn't even ask TaQ to check the monitor, but just said, "See it at the game center after it goes into operation..." I haven't heard his impression yet.

Difficulty & Notecounts

beatmania IIDX to 10th style difficulty rated from 1 to 7+ from 7th through 9th style, 1 to 8 in 10th style, 1 to 8+ in 11 IIDX RED, and from 1 to 12 from HAPPY SKY onwards. (Ratings and notecounts obtained from TexTage.)

Game	SP Difficulty					DP Difficulty
	BEGINNER	NORMAL	HYPER	ANOTHER	LEGGENDARIA	NORMAL	HYPER	ANOTHER	LEGGENDARIA
Notecounts	341	874	1250	1302	-	874	1126	1497	-
beatmania IIDX 7th style→10th style	-	7	7+	N/A	-	7	7+	N/A	-
beatmania IIDX 11 IIDX RED	-	7	↑8+	N/A	-	7	↑8+	N/A	-
beatmania IIDX 12 HAPPY SKY→13 DistorteD	-	↑8	↑10	12	-	7	↑10	12	-
beatmania IIDX 14 GOLD→18 Resort Anthem	-	8	10	↓11	-	7	10	12	-
beatmania IIDX 19 Lincle→Present	-	8	10	11	-	↑8	10	12	-
beatmania IIDX 7th style CS	-	7	7+	7+	-	7	7+	7+	-
beatmania IIDX 8th style CS	-	7	7+	7+	-	7	7+	7+	-
beatmania IIDX 13 DistorteD CS	3	8	10	11	-	7	10	12	-
beatmania IIDX 16 EMPRESS + PREMIUM BEST	3	8	10	11	-	7	10	12	-

TaQ's "-ic" series of songs
Holic - stoic - symbolic