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the legacy of powapowa-p / siinamota : a thread
i originally planned to post this on july 23rd, which marked the 4th anniversary of his death, but i had to make sure i put in the right information. i did a lot of fact checking and research, so i wasn’t able to get this out in time. i’m sorry about that.
i wanted to make this thread in honor of him, and to introduce more people to the words he put out into the world through his music, i just hope you listen.
powapowa-p (also known as siinamota, and in the early days, highcolor_sunz) was a japanese music composer who worked at the record label GINGA.
he was a vocaloid producer, mainly using hatsune miku, rin kagamine, and gumi megpoid in most of his works. the first song he posted was “good morning*good bye” featuring hatsune miku.
having dropped out of school, he was only 14 years old when he started to compose music, using it as a way to cope with his mental illness.
some of his most notable works include Q (sung by kagamine rin) and the strobe series (which include strobe hello, hello strobe, strobe last, and strobe light, all sung by hatsune miku).
over his short time as a vocaloid producer, he was able to put out around 60+ songs onto his nico nico douga page, and was even able to produce his own albums. those albums include alive, sepia record, alterour setsuna pop, powapowaworks, award strobe hello, and many others.
a lot of his songs share similar themes/ tones. some have to do with a character trying their hardest to follow their dreams, not succeeding, and ultimately becoming distraught with themselves. “year 3 class c-14, chiyoko kubozono’s joining of the cabinet” is an example of that.
another similar theme that’s shown is how society can be damaging to ones mental health, and how people want to become different versions of themselves because they view their current self as less. that’s shown through “a pallete full of you”.
of course there are uplifting themes in many of his songs too, showing how you can lift yourself out of bad situations and find your meaning in life, being happy. including his song “strobe light”.
he used his songs as a way to express how he was feeling. kind of like a journal or a diary in a way. but even through his songs, people didn’t realize right away how he felt until his death became known.
in early 2015, he released a song titled “goodbye everyone” featuring gumi megpoid. a song about struggling to come to terms with growing up and life. this is also the first song of his where we hear a voice that is not a vocaloid. that voice, is siinamota singing himself.
the last song he posted to his nico nico douga page was “please give me a red pen” sung by hatsune miku. as you listen, you can tell right away the almost eerieness to mikus voice and the instrumental. different, compared to his other works.
on july 23, 2015, the same day he uploaded his last song, powapowa-p was found deceased. cause of death has never been disclosed, but it’s very apparent that he died due to suicide.
many fans look back at “please give me a red pen” as essentially his suicide note, his last thoughts on his life... it’s still hard to listen to that song.
two months after his death on september 23, 2015, a new powapowa-p song was uploaded. titled “healthy end”, it featured hatsune miku and was written by powapowa-p, it was only after his death that his friend yuma saito put together an mv for the song and released it.
the lyrics in this song indicate that this was the true last song he wrote. a song that he must have wanted put out into the world after he was gone.
this year on the 4th anniversary of his death, GINGA released a new siinamota album that is filled with his unreleased music, titled therefor. songs he left unfinished due to his death, that thankfully became finished with the help of his friends at his record label.
also included on the album are healthy end and please give me a red pen. the title track for the album is “for now, before you’re gone”.
near the end of the for now, before you’re gone mv, the tv headed character flips through the cover art/mvs of past siinamota songs on their screen. showcasing all of the amazing work he created in his life.
a little fact about the therefor album is that a lot of his unreleased songs are songs that he sung himself. maybe he sung them before he programmed a vocaloid to sing since these were unreleased songs/demos?
or was he going to release full music sung just by him? i don’t know if we will ever know... but it’s nice to hear his voice, no matter how bittersweet.
i want to continue this thread by showing some of my favorite songs of his. if you read through this thread, thank you so much. we keep his spirit alive by enjoying all of his music and by telling others about him.... i’m sure he’s smiling up there.
ryo mizoguchi, you did extremely well, and after all this time, we’re still giving you the applause you deserve. thank you for everything.
thank you for everything.
rararara feat. hatsune miku
from the space between 6 & 1/2 tatami mats feat. hatsune miku
i care because feat. hatsune miku
a person who sings a song feat. hatsune miku
phantom theif chiyoko absolutely doesn’t make mistakes feat. kagamine rin
at the mercy of a dream feat. hatsune miku
drag score feat. hatsune miku
i am feat. gumi megpoid
nee feat. hatsune miku
ghosts in the forest (1 up suicide remix) feat. hatsune miku
6:59 travel feat. hatsune miku
girl a feat. kagamine rin
a dream inside a dream feat. hatsune miku
sky fish feat. hatsune miku
express good morning feat. hatsune miku
the price of a dream
