Line #30 Music/WatashiNoKoko


1	%%so, despite being a fan of this band I don't actually speak Japanese. I would appreciate if someone who does could add more lyrical tropes or tropes related to the lyrics in general.
2
3	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/a0038189126_10.jpg]]
4	[[caption-width-right:350:I have something to tell you, please look at these eyes. Please remember me. [[note]] Front: [=LaLa=]. Back, Left to Right: Keyboard Girl, YOSU, Self-Proclaimed Sister. [[/note]]]]
5
6	->''"My name is [=LaLa=].\
7	I am obsolete, and no longer in use.\
8	My name is [=LaLa=].\
9	I will sing you a song.\
10	It's a little monotonous,\
11	And I'm not very good with tone or rhythm,\
12	But I will do my best to sing for you.\
13	So please, listen to the end."''
14	-->-- ''"ららとあそぼ -Lonely Shy Girl-"''
15
16	わたしのココ ("Watashi no Koko", approx. "Here Is My" or "Where I Am" in English) is a mysterious, independent and [[GenreMashup experimental/industrial/ambient/pop-noise/piano ballad]] virtual band from Japan, combining influences from J-pop, IDM, videogame scores, harsh noise and old-school industrial, with strong emphasis on melodic arrangements and harsh digital noise.
17
18	It started in 2007 under the name Kesson Shoujo ("Damaged Girl"), debuting with an album of dark ambient and bleak IDM titled ''An-Min.'' A year later, they followed it up with ''Childhood in Housing Complex,'' a comparatively upbeat album that marked the beginning of their strong melodic bent. Their signature sound, however, was debuted on ''[=LaLa=] Sings,'' later that year. This EP included vocals from a long-abandoned voice synth, akin to [[Music/{{Vocaloid}} Vocaloids]], known as [=LalaVoice=].
19
20	Following the [=LaLa=] Sings EP, they released a full-length album in that style, titled ''わたしのココ.'' The following year, they reworked it, rereleased it, and named themselves after it. This also marks the beginning of the fictional band; singer [=LaLa=] (ララ), keyboard player [[ShapedLikeItself Keyboard Girl]] (鍵盤娘), Self-Proclaimed Sister (自称妹), whose role was never specified,[[labelnote:*]][[RiddleForTheAges and no one knows whos sister she is...]][[/labelnote]] and YOSU, the producer.
21
22	This album expanded remarkably on the EP, to the point of sounding very different from their work as Kesson Shoujo--a BloodierAndGorier, DarkerAndEdgier image supported by a much heavier, far more challenging sound. Lyrics, sung from [=LaLa=]'s own perspective, revolved around the feeling of being forgotten, broken, the despair of not being heard, and a longing for death.
23
24	After their first album, わたしのココ would go on to release a few compilations and [=EPs=] of unreleased tracks, a few of which are hard to come by. By this point, their sound had become gradually more accessible--while they hadn't outright sworn off their influences, they began to place stronger emphasis on production. The result was a more diverse, yet coherent sound, as showcased on their first CD, ''カラダは正直,'' the following year's ''Zombie Magic,'' and the [=EPs=] released around this time. They put out one last compilation in 2014 before disappearing almost entirely off the net.
25
26	Two years later, they released ''hue drone,'' a loose collection of tracks ranging from instrumentals and sketches to unedited versions of recordings from ''An-Min.'' Comparatively few tracks featured the use of [=LaLaVoice.=]
27
28	2017 marked the project's return, with the ''10th Anniversary of WTKK'' series, four-track [=EPs=] of newly-recorded material. The works at once embraced their earliest roots and the know-how they'd acquired in their later years. Following this, the band's output would resume at a steady pace, with near-yearly releases and a constant social media presence via the band's Twitter [[https://twitter.com/watashino_koko]].
29
30	!! Main Discography:
31
32	* 2007 - ''an-min'' [[note]] As Kesson Shoujo [[/note]]
33	* 2008 - ''childhood in housing complex'' [[note]] As Kesson Shoujo [[/note]]
34	* 2008 - ''わたしのココ'' [[note]] Originally released as Kesson Shoujo, re-recorded and re-released in 2009. [[/note]]
35	* 2012 - ''カラダは正直'' [[note]] Originally released only on CD [[/note]]
36	* 2013 - ''Zombie Magic'' [[note]]Originally released only on CD-R[[/note]]
37	* 2016 - ''hue drone''
38	* 2020 - ''○保育唱歌●　―日本近代の夜明け―''
39	* 2022 - ''僕がいて良かったと言ってほしい''
40
41	!! Misc Discography:
42
43	* 2008 - ''[=LaLa=] sings'' (EP) [[note]] As Kesson Shoujo [[/note]]
44	* 2009 - ''名称未設定'' (EP) [[note]]A split with MO"R"TALITY. Was never uploaded to Bandcamp[[/note]]
45	* 2010 - ''愛してるって言われたいの'' (Compilation)
46	* 2012 - ''まごころを君に'' (Compilation)
47	* 2013 - ''恋愛の神様'' (EP) [[note]]Removed in 2014, but included in full on ''落穂拾い2010-2013.''[[/note]]
48	* 2013 - ''きせつのうたのアルバム'' (EP) [[note]]Removed in 2014, but reuploaded in 2016, with all the songs retitled, plus a bonus track.[[/note]]
49	* 2014 - ''落穂拾い2010-2013'' (Compilation) [[note]]Removed in 2016, but reuploaded later that year with a bonus track.[[/note]]
50	* 2016 - ''[=KIHA28 EP=]'' (EP) [[note]]Only given to YOSU's close friends on CD-R[[/note]]
51	* 2017 - ''29'' (EP)
52	* 2018 - ''30'' (EP)
53	* 2020 - ''平成の落穂拾い (partⅡ)'' (Compilation)
54	* 2020 - ''街の歌'' (EP)
55	* 2023 - ''ララのうた～THE BEST OF わたしのココ VOL.1～''
56	* 2024 - ''残り火～THE BEST OF わたしのココ VOL.2～''
57
58	!! ''わたしのココ'' provides examples of:
59	* AlbumTitleDrop: "コンプレックス'' off their self-titled album contains one in the first line.
60	--> ''ほら、見て、わたしのココ''
61	--> ''Look, look at me, at my “thing”''
62	* [[AllLowerCaseLetters all lowercase letters]]: The majority of their English song/album titles are styled like this.
63	* {{Ambient}}: ''an-min'' and ''hue drone'' mostly consist of Dark Ambient pieces. Other ambient works show up sporadically across their other albums.
64	* AnthropomorphicPersonification: [=LaLa=] is this to [=LaLaVoice=], the outdated text-to-speech program the band uses.
65	* ArcSymbol: A four-leaf clover with its top petal discolored has appeared in most of their artwork in some way since the ''[=LaLa=] sings'' EP.
66	* BloodierAndGorier[=/=]DarkerAndEdgier: Right as they started using [=LaLaVoice=].
67	* {{Deconstruction}}: Of [[Music/{{Vocaloid}} Vocaloids]] to an extent. Basically, [=LaLa=] is what happens when a seemingly sentient robot built for singing like a Vocaloid is abandoned and forgotten.
68	* CoverVersion: ''[=LaLa=] sings'' features a cover of "Sora no Yume," an ED from ''Anime/EfATaleOfMemories.'' It was later included on the redo of their self-titled album.
69	** "おっふぇるとりうむ" covers a movement from Robert Schumann's ''Mass in C Minor, op. 147.''
70	** "あき," the bonus track from ''きせつのうたのアルバム'' is a cover of UNCO BEACH's "安住"
71	** ''○保育唱歌●　―日本近代の夜明け―'' is a cover album of traditional Japanese songs.
72	* CreepyMonotone: "ららとあそぼ -Lonely Shy Girl-" features this on the verses.
73	* DroneOfDread: "コンプレックス" features this in lieu of a melody.
74	** ''An-Min'' and ''hue drone'' both feature this pretty heavily.
75	* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Their earliest years as Kesson Shoujo. Even putting asides the lack of [=LalaVoice=] until ''[=LaLa=] sings'', ''an-min'' and ''childhood in housing complex'' are very different mood wise from their later material (discounting ''hue drone'', which contains many recordings from around that era). ''an-min'' is a very straightforward Dark Ambient album and ''childhood'' is scattershot and lighthearted in a way not much of their later work would take from.
76	* EpicRocking: While not exactly rock, a few of their songs pass the 6 minute mark.
77	** In order, #11 from ''an-min'' is 6:43, the full version of "君のように" is 8:19, "raining part1-4" from their soundcloud is ''10:23'', and finally "omatsuri" from ''hue drone'' is ''10:27.''
78	* EyepatchOfPower: [=LaLa=].
79	* EyeScream: There are a few videos/images where we get to see exactly ''why'' [=LaLa=] wears that eyepatch. [[NightmareFuel It isn't pretty.]]
80	* FlawedPrototype: While not directly involved in their development, the [=LalaVoice=] program was essentially this to the Vocaloids. The complete abandonment of [=LalaVoice=] (and, in turn, [=LaLa=] herself) is a recurring theme in the band's lyrics.
81	* GratuitousEnglish: "walk to death," whose title is a butchering of "work to death."
82	* GratuitousLatin: "おっふぇるとりうむ"[[labelnote:*]]"Offertorium," lit. [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Offertory "offertory"]] [[/labelnote]] is sung in dubiously transliterated Latin.
83	* GreatestHitsAlbum: Two of them, released in 2023 and 2024, the 2nd of which also containing a small selection of new tracks.
84	* HumanoidAbomination: Asides from explicitly being robotic/digital in some fashion, [=LaLa=] is implied by a few music videos to be something along these lines. [[MindScrew Assuming it's not entirely metaphorical that is.]]
85	* HarshNoise: Their self-titled album featured this the most of all their releases, but special mention goes to "君のように" and "五月雨ブルドッグ" which both go from a barely audible melody of [=LaLa=] singing to one of the loudest noise walls in their discography in an '''instant.'''
86	* IntentionallyAwkwardTitle: ''カラダは正直,''[[labelnote:*]]"The Body is Honest"[[/labelnote]] whose title is a Japanese expression about declining sex despite being sexually aroused.
87	** As for individual tracks, there's ""自慰" [[labelnote:*]]"Masturbation"[[/labelnote]] and "わたしのうんちをたべてください"
88	* LighterAndSofter: Over the course of their career, their sound got less noisy, with greater focus on production values and a diverse sound.
89	* LyricalDissonance: The band is known for this, having an odd hybrid of calm, cheery or uptempo melodies alongside harrowing digital noise--and themes of shame, self-hatred, and extreme depression, all rendered through [=LaLaVoice=]. If you didn't speak Japanese, you wouldn't suspect a thing. For example, "神様お願い" ("Please, God"), is an upbeat, straightforward piano-and-organ waltz without any noise or effects, in which [=LaLa=] questions the point of a life witnessing, but never experiencing love and prays for God to "shut [her] off completely."
90	** Discussed in "ララのうた"
91	--> ''The songs are always happy,''
92	--> ''But nobody listens to [the singer]...''
93	* MayDecemberRomance: "マイ・オールドマン"
94	* MindScrew: A lot of stuff related to the band being perfectly honest, but especially the music videos.
95	* MinisculeRocking: They have a decent amount of songs that barely run over a minute in length. The shortest example is ''ストア'' from "街の歌" at a mere 37 seconds, followed by the intro track to ''hue drone'', "wh", which clocks in at 57 seconds. Other examples include "檻" and ''いろは'' (1:09), "k11" (1:11), "April" (1:12), "May" (1:14), and "My Fair Elise" (1:19).
96	** Infact, ''all'' of the "街の歌" EP qualifies as such, with only a single track (個性ヶ丘) clocking in over 2 minutes.
97	* MoodWhiplash: A common theme from album to album, or even track to track, dating back to the Kesson Shoujo years.
98	* MotorMouth: The ''カラダは正直'' version of "ぎぶみー☆LOVE."
99	* NewSoundAlbum: Almost all of their albums are radically different in some way. Even the closest thing to a constant (the use of [=LalaVoice=]) didn't turn up until just before they changed names, and is almost completely absent from ''hue drone.''
100	* NoiseRock: "walk to death" falls under this genre.
101	* OddballInTheSeries: Even for a band as often eclectic as WNK, ''○保育唱歌●　―日本近代の夜明け―'' is very odd when compared to the rest of their albums, being a collection of traditional Japanese folk songs with no subversion other than [=LaLa=] being the one singing them. This is likely one of the reasons it was a limited-time release.
102	* PerverseSexualLust: Deconstructed:
103	** "踊ろう", in which the recipient of such tells their admirer that, while it may not be right away, one day he'll have to move on from them in favor of real life.
104	** "天使のいない街", which is about a fictional (in-setting) MsFanservice who wants to be remembered as something more, but knows that such is not her purpose.
105	-->''On TV, a girl dances,\
106	And when I see her beautiful smile,\
107	I know we're both bound for the same end\
108	But I've still chosen to dream for a little longer.''
109	* RearrangeTheSong : A constant throughout their career--Kesson Shoujo-era instrumentals routinely turned up in わたしのココ releases WithLyrics. Numerous songs, even ones that fall under that category, also feature several alternate mixes. The most notable is "January;" itself a rework of track 2 of ''An-Min,'' it's been reworked into no fewer than three separate songs, one of which, "わたしと歩いていると恥ずかしいの" has four known versions.
110	** Their debut album as わたしのココ was this, having first been released under that name as Kesson Shoujo.
111	** ''きせつのうたのアルバム,'' save for bonus track "あき," consists entirely of rewritten songs from ''childhood in housing complex.''
112	* RedEyesTakeWarning: Mostly subverted, both [=LaLa=] and 自称妹 have rather striking red eyes. Neither of them are exactly dangerous, even accounting all the NightmareFuel that surrounds them.
113	* SensoryAbuse: From late 2008 to around 2010 or so, this was pretty much par for the course. It shows up in later works, too, but not as heavily.
114	* ShrinkingViolet: The now long-defunct website for the band portrayed [=LaLa=] as this to a very high degree.
115	* StepUpToTheMicrophone: YOSU sings the second verse of "walk to death" solo, then sings along with [=LaLa=] for the ending.
116	* StylisticSuck: "ららとあそぼ -Lonely Shy Girl-" features a repetitive, mechanical backbeat, with monotonous verses.
117	* SurprisinglyCreepyMoment: The music video for "[=HisBBA=] -ヒスババア-" is fairly lighthearted (if not very weird) through it's runtime, then in the last few seconds it cuts to [[spoiler:[=LaLa=], looking very much like she did in the "Complex" video, part of her a pile of wires and a good chunk of her flesh ripped off.]]
118	* SurprisinglyGentleSong: Subverted early on: Their less-challenging songs musically tend to be their heaviest lyrically.
119	* TakeThat: "妄想デート" takes its name from a popular Vocaloid song.
120	* TitleDrop: The opening tracks of ''愛してるって言われたいの'' and ''カラダは正直''.
121	** TitleTrack: "まごころを君に"
122	* TrashCanBand: The live instruments on "変なおばさん."
123	* VocalEvolution: An odd case--while they never changed or modified their text-to-speech software, their increasing production values meant that they could make [=LaLaVoice=] sound a lot better over time. This began pretty much right after their self-titled album.
124	----

Context Music / WatashiNoKoko