Around Japan in Five Days, Part II

Event

Greetings, everyone!

Camate here with more tales from the adventures of Sound Director Masayoshi Soken! Continuing on his journey across Japan, Soken stopped into a couple more cities to spread the love for "Heavensward: FINAL FANTASY XIV Original Soundtrack," bringing the total to seven different cities.

If you would like to catch up on the story thus far, read the blog entry about the first segment of his quest.

Saturday, March 5: Tower Records Sendai Parko in Miyagi

Before heading out to the Tower Records Sendai Parko store, Soken and crew made a pit stop in the morning at Tower Records Urawa.

Heading into the store they were all welcomed by this fat chocobo wearing a Tower Records apron that the employees kindly set up.

Soken couldn't stand seeing it caged up, but he had a bit of trouble carrying it when setting it free.

Around the afternoon, they headed to their main destination in Sendai. While there was no fat chocobo to greet them, there was a big stand promoting the soundtrack that had hand-written messages.

One of them pushed the boundaries a bit noting that "even if the servers are down, you can always listen to the soundtrack." I suppose that's true.

The mini-concert and talk session was a hit, and everyone at the store had a great time. The signing session afterwards had many fans giving their passionate support, and there were also a lot of requests.

Right after the event concluded, Soken and crew headed straight to the Sendai airport to hop on a plane to their next destination. An hour and thirty minutes later they arrived in the cold northern lands of Hokkaido. With the fresh snow piled up from a snowstorm a day or so prior, it was looking a lot like Coerthas--a perfect setting for the Heavensward soundtrack event.


Sunday, March 6: HMV Sapporo Steller Place, Hokkaido

Arriving to the location to hold their final event, Soken and crew were once again greeted with another surprise--a giant poster board promoting the new soundtrack right next to the store's entrance. But this wasn't the only spectacle!

As soon as they headed inside there was an immaculate display--a veritable soundtrack altar being held up by a troop of paissas!

It's... it's marvelous! The crew was left speechless.

Further inside the store there was also a game section that had yet another altar decked out with a collection of FFXIV-related images and goodies.

Soken was shocked beyond belief. This store was just too good to be true.

When the event began, the fans crowded in to begin the ritual to summon the great primal Soken.

Hearing the chants of the fans, Soken suddenly materialized from the aether donning the evoker's horn that he has been bringing along with him on his journey. (The horn has seen better days and all the travel took quite a toll on it. It might just be time to say farewell and retire it at this point.)

The excitement at the venue was so high that the talk and Q&A sessions lasted longer than planned. Even the staff were so wrapped up in the fun that they nearly forgot they had to work.

Heading into the main attraction of the event, the mini-concert, the fans were treated to a surprise when a special someone took to the mic.

Megumi Ita, the person who sang the theme song for the Nintendo DS version of FINAL FANTASY IV, accompanied Soken and gave an exhilarating performance singing Oblivion.

Soken also performed a special Sapporo version of Heavensward.

Finishing off the final concert of his journey across Japan, Soken wrapped things up with one last signing session that had fans lining up around the store.

After taking numerous commemorative photos, Soken and crew finally departed the venue and got some much needed rest, but it was back to work the next day. Thus is the life of a rock star!

It was a long journey that spanned nearly a full week in total, but seeing the fans' excitement and happiness at each stop gave him all the energy he needed to keep going!

You can grab a copy of the new soundtrack from the Square Enix Online Store as well as from iTunes.

-Camate

Search Blog

Search by Category

Monthly View

Select Month

  • March 2024
  • February 2024
  • January 2024
  • December 2023
  • October 2023
  • September 2023
  • August 2023
  • July 2023
  • June 2023
  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012

Search by Tags

  • Start Your Free Trial
  • Mog Station
  • FINAL FANTASY XIV: Dawntrail