“COLORxCOLLIDE” is filled with awesome songs – plenty of surprises in the instrumentals, vocals direction, and even compositions -, keeping listeners on their toes.

Review

Title: COLORxCOLLIDE
Release date: 23/07/2025
Label: Reisen Records
Genre: Hip-hop/Rock/Pop

Tracklist:

1. Gold Rush
2. サカサマ・トイボックス (Sakasama Toy Box)
3. プレイバック・メモリー (Playback Memory)
4. 微睡みディスコード (Madoromi Discord)
5. Be Ploud

Track by track analysis:

1 – Gold Rush

Brass opens the doors for “Gold Rush”, an old-school hip-hop with funky guitar riffs and a punchy bassline that will instantly make you jam along to it.

The verses thrive on the breakbeat and addictive guitar riffs, with the bassline – once again – being a big feature. This section flows smoothly into the chorus, and oh boy, this is a massive chorus. Please listen to it because this is sooooo good.

Shunsuke Takeuchi goes off in this song, not only rapping as he means it but also exploring an R&B-style of singing, riffing, showing his range, and even going for high notes in falsetto. And the outro is just… wow, Takeuchi. WOW.

2 – Sakasama – Toybox

For “Sakasama Toybox” we have Ryohei Kimura leading the way in yet another incredibly groovy and addictive pop tune with jazz and R&B undertones. 

Funky guitar riffs, a groovy bassline, and relentless drums lead the way in what is a set of really short verses.

The chorus is everything a jazz fan loves – the bassline going off, the jaunty piano melody, and the arpeggios in the background, as well as the fun on the vocals (slightly chaotic but working amazingly well).

The second verse tones things down, the beat slowing down and bringing some hip-hop vibes into a loungy sound, but soon after, the song morphs into the chaotic yet super fun jazz-pop in “Sakasama Toybox”.

When it comes to the vocals, I was feeling more the deeper – warmer – tones than the high – almost upbeat child-like ones – but both together worked well, by the end showcasing Kimura’s vocal range (in case anyone has forgotten how Kimura has been a menace in projects like aoppella!? And Dear Vocalist).

3 – Playback memory

“Playback memory” tones things down yet again and brings a Rhodes piano to the spotlight for a loungy, downtempo song that will instantly grab your attention with its soft approach to EDM music.

And if you’re a bass fan, you’re going to enjoy this song a lot. The verses are practically the bassline’s stage, groovily leading the way as the guitars add a touch of funky and nostalgic vibes, fleshing out the dreamy, nostalgic vibe that the Rhodes piano is responsible for.

The chorus is a ton of fun, with both gentle voice tones by Chikahiro Kobayashi working well together, fitting into this dance tune and delivering a fun overall performance.

4 – Madoromi Discord

Now this was a big surprise, especially with how the song kicked off and how it evolved. We have not only two contrasting vocals – the rough, screamo-like ones that are tied to the heavy rock sound, and the soft, gentle ones that are tied to the jazz sound that you’ll find in this song.

The song is going to give you whiplash with how much it changes in tone between the two characters, as the song is more about discord than harmony. As a result, the chorus may arrive as weird, shifting between rough vocals and screams and softer ones. The shock between the heavy guitar riffs and the soft piano notes is gonna leave you wondering how something so polarizing actually worked fairly well by the end of it.

What impresses the most in this song is by far the vocals – showcasing Hiiro Ishibashi’s vocal prowess and versatility, going from ethereal vocals to solid screams and rough vocals that we’ve never heard before. This was amazing to listen to and made me wish we could get more rock that really begs for that sort of performance. 

Still, all things considered, the instrumental gives whiplash and is fairly hard to enjoy on a first listen – something that further listens and getting used to the contrasts end up helping enjoy the song.

Be prepared to be surprised in more ways than one.

5 – Be Ploud

And wrapping up this release is “Be Ploud”, song that brings Daiki Yamashita to the microphone for a nostalgic rock tune that begs to be sung along.

The verses are slow-paced and dramatic with distant guitar riffs, impactful drums, and a deep bassline playing in the background. The vocals raise the tension, taking us to an epic chorus.

I’m not kidding, this is a simple formula – this sort of inspiring style of rock with a dramatic edge – but it hits me every time, especially when strings join in with the electric guitars. The vibe is epic, and you can’t help but be invested in the song.

As far as the vocals go, Daiki Yamashita knows how to deliver an emotional performance that will make you both sing along and weep, and the way he performs this song is the perfect example of that.

Final considerations

This second season of the VS AMBIVALENZ franchise impresses me a lot. What an amazing showcase of individual talent, unique personalities, and singing styles for all characters!

Of course, the song that steals the show for me is “Gold Rush”. Not only is Shunsuke Takeuchi a force to be reckoned with in his lower range, but his higher one makes him unrecognizable, which is something I value in voice actors: the ability to mask their voice tone and do so while performing flawlessly in both his and the other tones/voices. Also, the rapping is off the charts on top of an extremely fun hip-hop instrumental. 

I keep on saying this, but don’t sleep on Shunsuke Takeuchi. What a massive talent he is. This performance only solidified it for me.

I was also completely sold to Hiiro Ishibashi’s vocals thanks to his performance in “Madoromi Discord”; while it’s far from being my favorite song, the vocals are easily the highlight in this release. He can sing clean – and almost sound like Daiki Yamashita – while also going for screamo and rougher rock vocals. This is too cool. He left me wanting to hear more of him, and for sure, the rock style of singing, which I feel the final group would benefit a lot from having.

All in all, this release is filled with awesome songs – plenty of surprises in the instrumentals, vocals direction, and even compositions -, keeping listeners on their toes while showcasing the quality and variety in the VS AMBIVALENZ franchise and, most specifically, this second season.

What is VS AMBIVALENZ?

VS AMBIVALENZ is a 2D music project by NIZISTA. Only 7 out of the 14 members were selected via fan voting from 2021 to late 2022. This was the very first time a 2D music project embraced such a format.

XlamV (read: Kranve) consists of Jintaro (CV: Chiaki Kobayashi), Nagomu (CV: Shintaro Asanuma), 39YEAH↗ (CV: Makoto Furukawa), Issei (CV: Kengo Kawanishi), Lion (CV: Tasuku Hatanaka), Auguri (CV: Ayumu Murase), and Subaru (CV: Reiou Tsuchida).

And since 2024, the franchise welcomed two new groups: Fun4re and illuvista.

Fun4re (read: Fanfare) features vocals by TAIYO (CV: Reiou Tsuchida), MIO (CV: Kengo Kawanishi), FUTABA (CV: Ayumu Murase) and KAZU (CV: Tasuku Hatanaka).

illuvista features vocals by REY (CV: Makoto Furukawa), CION (CV: Chiaki Kobayashi), and CUC (CV: Shintaro Asanuma).

VS AMBIVALENZ’s 2nd season features the following characters:

• SHIMBA vs MIKERA (CV: Daiki Yamashita)
• AKASHI vs MEGURU (CV: Chikahiro Kobayashi)
• RIAM vs LUVNOSUKE (CV: Shunsuke Takeuchi)
• KYOUYA vs MONET (CV: Hiiro Ishibashi)
• CATE vs HIROMI (CV: Ryohei Kimura)

To get to know more about this project and its groups, please refer to THTFHQ’s extended article about VS AMBIVALENZ.

“COLORxCOLLIDE” is available on Spotify.