Tap Trap Love Vol.02 - Crown

Tap Trap Love Vol.02 - Crown

Company: 5pb
Based on: Original
Released: 2012.05.23
Official site: http://5pb.jp/ttl/index.html


Tap Trap Love is set in an semi-apocalyptic world. After World War III, Tokyo slowly transformed into a lawless district where the two largest groups -the SS and the Horde- are fighting for dominance. Dance is one of the things that still inspire the young people in these bleak days, and our heroine joins a tap dance group. The CD is a mix of story parts, and tap lessons by the other members of the group.

While I say heroine, Nico has lost her voice and memories so the other characters basically talk directly to you. A character called “John Do” introduced her to the dance group Euphoria. When needed for the plot, Nico communicates either by tapping or by using her cellphone. The lesson parts are recorded with the dummy head mic, so those are really spoken directly to the listener.

You meet with John Doe (CV: Ishida Akira) a couple of times in this CD, and he seems to both want you to continue with dancing, and to stop. Just like he hopes that you will remember the things you forgot, but somehow hopes you don’t regain them. Either way your meeting remains mysterious.

Insert cool theme song at the beginning.

Everyone is practicing some new steps that Jackie (CV: Maeno Tomoaki) is teaching them. Joy (CV: Fujiwara Yuuki) and you are the only ones that haven’t remembered them yet, so Jackie shows you one more time, after which everyone tries it together. Jackie gives everyone a few more pointers, except for Joy who apparently still needs to practice more. But for now needs to head to Club Justice, where he is the DJ for the night.

While Joy Rushes out you get a lesson from Cap (CV: Kamiya Hiroshi) . He gives you a lesson on posture. Compared to his lesson in the first CD, he is unusually strict. Unfortunately the use of the dummy head mic is also less effective. After the lesson you go grab something to eat at Red Dogs (Nico her part time job, a hotdog stand)

At Justice you meet up with Leo (CV: Nakai Kazuya). While Cap is getting all of you drinks, you and Leo listen a bit to Joy his DJ-ing. When Leo remarks that Joy isn’t half bad someone called Anger (CV: Ookawa Genki) starts making fun of Joy. Leo almost makes a fight out of it, but Cap returns just in time to stop him. Leo hurt his hand though, so he visits dr.Ginger (CV: Itou Kentarou). Who also seems a bit different from last time, his interactions with Leo are quite comical. Also pun alert when dr.Ginger recommends ショウガ (shouga, ginger) for the wound to heal.

During the next lesson Jackie comes back with the list of participants for the next audition, and Joy suddenly says he won’t participate after seeing Anger his name on the list as a member of the group Edge. The rest tries to ask why, but Joy simply runs off. Turns out he goes to find Anger, as we discover that the two have some sort of past together that Joy ran away from.

After finishing the dance lessons with Leo and Jackie, you decide to try and find Joy at club Justice together with Jackie. You bump into Anger again, who makes fun of Nico but she retaliates by showing him some awesome dance moves. Joy finally shows up telling Anger to back off, and that he will participate in the audition. To make up for all the trouble he caused Joy takes you out for dinner, and on the way home he tells you about his past.

This CD seemed to focus mostly on Joy, which makes me wonder whether every CD will focus on one of the members of Euphoria. It would make sense, with everyone giving you lessons and each CD focussing on a different character you can choose your favourite on your own. (And then they can start releasing actual situation CD’s with only one character, haha). Except for John Do hinting that whatever it was Nico forgot really isn’t pleasant, we get to know little about Nico this time though.

Thanks to Joy his backstory there is also a little more background info on the city where they live. While divided by the wall it apparently isn’t impossible to cross it. The dance auditions are at the Atomic theatre in New Town (the ‘good’ side), and because Joy was born there it appears that it is at least possible to move from New Town to the other side, or maybe he really escaped over the wall, but either way he got from one side to the other.

Personally I thought the Dummy Head parts were executed better last time. Cap his lesson might have been a bit over the top last time, but this time all of the lessons somehow felt a bit lacking. We’ve got Joy giving Nico a hug at the end to make up for it though.


Conclusion:
It looks like we will be focussing more on the individual members in any upcoming CD’s (although no Vol.3 has been announced as of yet). If they make the lessons a bit more interesting again I think that is a good way to go. I hope they’ll continue - and I still think that this would make a good game. Also, I kind of like the ending theme.

Tap Trap Love Vol. 01 - Stray Dog

 Tap Trap Love Vol. 01 - Stray Dog

Company: 5pb
Based on: Original
Released: 2012.02.22
Official Site: http://5pb.jp/ttl/index.html


Tap Trap Love is set in an semi-apocalyptic world. After World War III, Tokyo slowly transformed into a lawless district where the two largest groups -the SS and the Horde- are fighting for dominance. Dance is one of the things that still inspire the young people in these bleak days, and our heroine joins a tap dance group. The CD is a mix of story parts, and tap lessons by the other members of the group.

While I say heroine, Nico has lost her voice and memories so the other characters basically talk directly to you. When needed for the plot, Nico communicates either by tapping or by using her cellphone. The lesson parts are recorded with the dummy head mic, so those are really spoken directly to the listener.

At the beginning of the CD the mysterious stranger John Do (probably not his real name, CV: Ishida Akira) takes Nico to see the tap dance group "Euphoria". A little later you contact the group that you want to join. Opinions on whether you should be allowed to join differ though, so they agree to all give you lessons until they have decided on a final answer.

The doctor you are staying with, Dr.Ginger (CV: Itou Kentarou) as well as you friend and fellow part-time worker Lee (CV: Shimozaki Nobunaga) are surprised but encourage you to do what you want. Meanwhile you see John Do again, who seems that dancing is the way to get your memories back.

The main interest of this CD are of course the dance lessons. They are recorded with the dummy head mic, and actual tap sounds. The four members of the dance group are all supposed to give you a lesson, and the first is their leader Jackie (CV: Maeno Tomoaki), his lesson is mostly stretching though. The flirty Cap (CV: Kamiya Hiroshi) is the second to give you a lesson, and the DJ Joy (Fujiwara Yuuki) the third one.

Leo (CV: Nakai Kazuya)is supposed to give you a lesson as well, but being the only member of the group who doesn't approve he doesn't want to. His track isn't a dance lesson, but the two of you walking home after he saved you from some troublesome guys. After learning that you are the one that makes the Soy Yakisoba that he loves so much at the place where you work as a part timer, he opens up a little to you.

I was quite surprised by this CD. When the project was first announced I expected it to be a sweet romance with a dance theme, but when I then the official site was updated with the story and I discovered that it was going to be post-apocalyptic romance instead.

I think that have made a good mix of the story and the dance lessons. There is enough going on that makes you curious about the story, Nico her past, what her relation to 'John Do' is, why Leo is partly deaf on his left side, etc. Meanwhile the tap lessons are fun to listen to, and the music they use is good as well.

Because Nico can't talk anyway, she is an easy way to link the plot and the lessons together. I still really felt like they are giving the lessons to 'me' and the rest of the plot happens to the character Nico. That is exactly the point of course, Nico is just a walking puppet made for self-projection, but I'm actually curious about her story.


Conclusion:
With everyone giving you lessons and explaining things about the world around you (you do have amnesia after all) this CD feels as an introduction. Now that we know everyone and the world around us the rest of the story can break loose. Or at least that is how I feel. Speaking of the rest of the story; vol.2 goes on sale today.