Kagerou Project

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Fandom
Name: Kagerou Project (カゲロウプロジェクト)
Abbreviation(s): KagePro, Kagepro, カゲプロ
Creator: Jin/Shizen no Teki-P
Date(s): February 17, 2011-present
Medium: Vocaloid song series, Anime, Manga, Light Novel
Country of Origin: Japan
External Links: Official Website Anime Official Website
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Kagerou Project is a multimedia franchise that started as a Vocaloid song series. It is primarily aimed at teenagers, but the fandom also includes older fans who previously discovered the series as teens and are still fond of it.

Canon Overview

Jin, the Vocaloid producer who created the series, uploaded the first of the Kagerou Project songs to NicoNicoDouga on February 17, 2011.[1] As of March 2022, the main song series includes 36 songs grouped into three albums. Jin has also released live albums and singles featuring Kagerou Project content. Many of the early songs were released with accompanying videos, often illustrated or animated by Sidu or Wannyanpuu, but fewer MVs were released along with later songs.[2].

Starting on May 30, 2012, Jin published a series of light novels titled Kagerou Daze and illustrated by Sidu that expanded on the story presented in the songs.[3] The series is comprised of 8 novels and is still ongoing as of March 2022.

Starting in June 2012, a manga, also called Kagerou Daze, began serialization in the manga magazine Monthly Comic Gene.[4][5]. Unlike the novels, this manga is written and illustrated by Saito Mahiru, but based on Jin's original story. It covers the part of the story that happened before the novels began.[5] Both the novels and the comics were licensed in English by Yen Press.[6] [7]

In April 2014, a 12-episode anime based on the Kagerou Project series aired on Tokyo MX BS11. [8] The anime was animated by Studio Shaft and directed by Shinbou Akiyuki and Yase Yuki, with a script by Jin and character designs by Abe Genichiro. [9] The series was later made available to stream overseas on Crunchyroll, Aniplex Channel, Daisuki, and hulu. [10]

In 2018, a movie directed and written by Sidu called Kagerou Days -in a day's- was released to MX4D theatres.[11] This movie was later released on Blu-Ray in Japan. [11]

Licensed Derivative Works

Jin has officially approved several short story and comic anthologies featuring the characters and setting of Kagerou Project, but written by other authors. [12][13] These collections are generally considered to be deuterocanon by the fandom.

Synopsis

Kagerou Project follows a group of teenagers who call themselves the Mekakushidan (lit. Blindfold Gang), all of whom have powers related to their eyes. In the days surrounding August 15th, they meet each other, become close, and then die at the hands of another person with similar powers. Soon, we find out that they exist within a time loop, and have repeated their meetings and deaths several times. One of them has a power that might be able to stop the time loops. Unfortunately, he's a depressed hikkikomori NEET who spends all his time online.

Fandom Overview

Character Names

Many characters in Kagerou Project use more than one name over the course of the series. Rather than being the result of simple name changes, these different names often arise from situations like physical transformation or possession. Because of this, it is common in the fandom to use the changing names to be specific about which version of the character they are referring to.

The nickname "Kuroha" (a portmanteau of the word "black" and the name "Konoha") is a popular way of referring to the version of Konoha that is possessed by the Snake of Clearing Eyes. [14] The character's official name is Kuro Konoha (lit. "Black Konoha") but by the time this information was released, the nickname had already become popular.

The Snake of Retaining Eyes is often nicknamed "Yaki" by the fandom, due to that being a shortening of the character's Japanese name Me ni Yakitsukeru Hebi. Some fans also call this character "Ayaki" because of her connection to the character Tateyama Ayano. [15]

Shipping

Some of the most popular pairings in Kagerou Project include:

  • Kisaragi Shintarou/Tateyama Ayano (ShinAya)
  • Kisaragi Shintarou/Kokonose Haruka (KonoShin)
  • Kisaragi Shintarou/Kano Shuuya (KanoShin)
  • Kisaragi Shintarou/Snake of Clearing Eyes (KuroShin)
  • Kokonose Haruka/Enomoto Takane (HaruTaka)
  • Kano Shuuya/Kido Tsubomi (KanoKido or Knkd)
  • Kido Tsubomi/Kisaragi Momo (KidoMomo
  • Amamiya Hibiya/Kisaragi Momo (HibiMomo)
  • Amamiya Hibiya/Asahina Hiyori (HibiHiyo)

Due to the nature of the powers present in Kagerou Project, several characters undergo transformations during canon. Some fans distinguish between ships involving pre- and post-transformation characters in a way similar to the "love square" ships in Miraculous Ladybug fandom. For example, some people may ship Shintarou with Ene but not with Enomoto Takane, even though Ene and Takane are different versions of the same character. Fans of ships involving Haruka or Konoha are particularly prone to this, as Konoha does not remember being Haruka and thus is often treated as a separate character.

Kagerou Project fandom has had its share of shipping controversies. The most controversial ships are KanoKido and Hibimomo. Both pairings have 'shippy' moments in canon, but also have elements that some fans find problematic. In the case of Hibimomo, one character is 11 while the other is 16, while in the case of KanoKido, the two characters are childhood friends who were adopted by the same person, leading some to call the pairing incest. [16] Objections to these pairings are particularly common among anti-shippers.

Anime Controversy

Although many fans looked forward to the anime adaptation of Kagerou Project, it was not well received by the fandom. Fans criticized the show as having uneven pacing, unbalanced character focus, and a hard-to-follow story. [17][18]

"Okay get ready for my first review to be chock full of ranting and raving because in short, Mekakucity Actors SUCKED. Not like oldies, cheesy, ten thousand episode anime sucked--more along the lines of did they hire actual animators or did they trace pictures to do it, did they have more than one track for the background sound, and most importantly, was the script for the entire anime written by the director's 5 year old kid???"

MangakaNotlora on MyAnimeList

"I feel SHAFT kinda butchered it. I've been keeping up with the manga, and absolutely love the Kagerou Project, but this was disappointing. It didn't explain much at all, and I was really hoping it would. Also, it went right to Summertime Record (the good end), only alluding to Outer Science and route xx (the bad end), and it failed to make Kuroha (Dark Konoha) very menacing. I feel the series could have been put together better, but oh well. What can you do, right?"

CaraSam on CrunchyRoll

Episode 10, which featured an out-of-place CGI sequence that many found visually unappealing, was a particular focus of fannish ire.[19]

"Also, I should also mention the animation present in episode 10, i.e. The Worst Use of CGI I Have Ever Seen. A small segment of this episode is cheap CGI animation used to accompany the song which the episode is named after: Ayano's Theory of Happiness. They somehow manage to make what was supposed to be an emotional song into an excruciating 3-minute watch."

Philosophorum on MyAnimeList

Fan Communities

Conventions

Dazecon is a free, all-day online convention focused on Kagerou Project that takes place every August 15th.

Example Fanworks

Fanfics

Fanart

Fanvids

Meta

Archives

References

  1. ^ Artificial Enemy NicoNico upload
  2. ^ Jin Official Youtube
  3. ^ Kagerou Project Official Website: Novels
  4. ^ Monthly Comic Gene: Kagerou Daze
  5. ^ a b Kagerou Project Official Website: Comics
  6. ^ Yen Press: Kagerou Daze Manga
  7. ^ Yen Press: Kagerou Daze Novels
  8. ^ Mekakucity Actors Official Japanese Site
  9. ^ Mekakucity Actors Official Website: Staff
  10. ^ Mekakucity Actors Official Site
  11. ^ a b Kagerou Project Official Site: -in a day's-
  12. ^ Kagerou Project Official Website: Novel Anthologies
  13. ^ Kagerou Project Official Website: Comic Anthologies
  14. ^ Kagerou Project Wiki: Snake of Clearing Eyes
  15. ^ Kagerou Project Wiki: Snake of Retaining Eyes
  16. ^ Thoughts on ships like hibimomo and kanokido?
  17. ^ MangakaNotlora's MyAnimeList review of the series
  18. ^ Mekakucity Actors Review by CaraSam
  19. ^ Mekakucity Actors Review by Philosphorum
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