eXceed 3rd -Jade Penetrate- is a PC game that also has a soundtrack released for it.

eXceed 3rd -Jade Penetrate- Black Package is sort of an updated game and the soundtrack likewise has been updated but probably not significantly enough (only one song I've heard so far is unique, albeit a nice one) to warrant another official release.

Here are the files in the directory:

And here are the first two files to experiment on (right click on links and save):

1.mv
2.mv
Files will be deleted once they've served their purpose.

If 1.mv is renamed to 1.ogg (or any other music file extension e.g. mp3), then it can be played in any media player properly and without a problem (loops twice, fades out, etc). The following information can be gleaned from the file:

Codec: Xiph.Org libVorbis I 20020717
Sample Rate: 44100 Hz
Bit Rate: 152 kbps

However, this trick does not seem to work with 2.mv or the rest of the files.

Furthermore, most of the files are around 5MB so I doubt any decoding is necessary but I could be wrong.

Anyone want to have a try?

I think I got it. The first four bytes should be 4F 67 67 53 (OggS), but for some reason they're 43 7E 67 53 (C~gS) in 2.mv. Open the file in a hex editor and correct the first two bytes (437E should be replaced by 4F67) and the file plays correctly. Dunno if the same holds true for the rest, but it works for 2.mv.

Great music, btw. Are the games themselves any good?

Aha! That was so obvious I would've figured it out myself if I knew how to hex edit.

Well now I know (as of 10 minutes ago), and the whole soundtrack is now playable.

Thanks for that.

I personally don't care for SHMUPs (Shoot Them Up games), I only got this game for the music and to hear the music within the context of the game. Having said that, based on what I've read on the Internet, the eXceed series of games are generally well regarded by doujin SHMUP fans.

The soundtrack is composed by S.S.H. and it turns out there are four unique tracks, which is nice.

I'll be properly tagging and renaming the whole soundtrack later, but for now, here are the first of the four unique tracks:

eXceed 3rd JDBP Title Screen (will be deleted after some time)

I like to call this the "higher quality" S.S.H., because well, there's an undeniably higher technical quality in the instrumentation compared to his older stuff.

Anyone here 上手 at the Japanese language?

Here's the context:

I wish to e-mail S.S.H., composer of the music above. As stated above, 4 of the tracks are unique and appears unlikely to be officially released (along with the others), and I would like to seek confirmation on whether these unique/new music were created by the composer. Additionally, I would like to ask the composer if he has given these unique songs track titles or names. (The other songs have been officially released [sort of] and thus, have track titles. These unique songs have not, so they are untitled so far).

I think they deserve track names, at the very least, instead of being forgotten as mere file names/track numbers from an installation of an obscure game.

Here's what I'm trying to say in Japanese:

Hi S.S.H.-san, how are you?

My name is layzee and I love all of your music. The music of [eXceed 3rd -JADE PENETRATE] and [eXceed 3rd -JADE PENETRATE- BLACK PACKAGE] were great. Keep up the good work!

May I ask you a question?

About the music of [eXceed 3rd -JADE PENETRATE- BLACK PACKAGE], they are in the [eXceed3rd-JADE PENETRATE-BP\BGM] folder. Because [12.mv], [14.mv], [15.mv], and [16.mv] are not in any original soundtracks, (they are) possibly new music. Did you compose these tracks? If so, (do these songs) have names/track titles?

Thank you for your time,

layzee (Sorry, I only understand a little Japanese)

Here's my attempt at translating the above to Japanese:

こにんちは 埼玉最終兵器-さん、 はじめまして。

わたしの名前はlayzee「レイジイ」であなたの全て音楽が大すきですよ。(1)「eXceed 3rd -JADE PENETRATE」や「eXceed 3rd -JADE PENETRATE- BLACK PACKAGE」の音楽はすてきです。[Keep up the good work!](2)

質問をすることができますか?(3)

「eXceed 3rd -JADE PENETRATE- BLACK PACKAGE」の音楽は「eXceed3rd-JADE PENETRATE-BP\BGM」フォルダの中にあります。「12.mv」と「14.mv」と「15.mv」と「16.mv」はオリジナルサウンドトラックにありませんから新曲かもしれない。これらのトラックをあなたによって作曲した? [If so/If you did]、(4)名前/トラックタイトルがありますか?

あなたの時間をありがとうございます、

layzee(ごめん、日本語を少しのみ分かります)

(1) Based on what I understand, I mean to use 「で」 as merely a sentence connector. Should I use 「が」 instead? Or something else? Or just separate them?

(2) I can't find a good way to say "Keep up the good work!" in Japanese. Most of the examples online sound like employer/employee interactions (which obviously cannot apply here).

(3) I have a feeling this statement might sound unnatural and/or perhaps ungrammatical. Is it?

(4) I can't find a way to express a "positive confirmation conditional", e.g. "If so", "If that is so", etc... Ones that come to mind but don't sound right include 「だったら」 and 「そうなら」.

Feel free to correct/add/suggest/(constructive) criticise anything.

Hi layzee, I touched up your Japanese message a bit.  I can't promise it's perfect (I rarely write even semi-formal letters) but it should be close enough.

こにんちは 埼玉最終兵器さん、 はじめまして。

わたしはlayzee（レイジイ）といいます。埼玉最終兵器さんの音楽が大すきです。「eXceed 3rd -JADE PENETRATE」や「eXceed 3rd -JADE PENETRATE- BLACK PACKAGE」の音楽はすてきです！

一つ質問してもいいですか？

「eXceed 3rd -JADE PENETRATE- BLACK PACKAGE」の「eXceed3rd-JADE PENETRATE-BP\BGM」音楽フォルダの中にある「12.mv」、「14.mv」、「15.mv」、「16.mv」はオリジナルサウンドトラックにありませんから、新曲かもしれないと考えていますね。これらのトラックを埼玉最終兵器さんが作曲しましたか? もしそうでしたら、名前/トラックタイトル教えていただけませんか?

次の作品も楽しみにしています！どうぞよろしくお願いします、

layzee(日本語が上手じゃなくてすみません)

Some notes about the Japanese...

"Anata" can have an almost condescending tone so it's generally best to avoid it when addressing someone who you're not really familiar with.  Use the person's name instead.  As 埼玉最終兵器 appear to be a unit it's a bit tricky deciding whether to use the full name with "san" tagged on all the time... you might consider just using their alias "SSH" in later references.

I don't know an often-used equivalent to "keep up the good work" for this situation so I just used "I'm looking forward to your next project!"  (Also I stuck it at the end in order to end on a flattering note. )

新曲かもしれない sounds like you're informing them of the fact, so it's better to add an "I think" at the end to designate it as conjecture on your part.

For your fourth question, "moshi sou dattara/deshitara" should do fine.

I'm not sure if a literal translation of "thanks for your time" works or not in this situation so I just went with the standard "yoroshiku" for the closing.

If you have any questions feel free to ask.  It may be best to just mail me directly, unless some other members here are interested in having a Japanese language discussion.

Hi Adam,

Thank you for reviewing and editing my draft. I just finished examining what you wrote and it looks fine to me, more than fine actually. Also, good call on a few things such as レイジイといいます (I am called layzee) and ...教えていただけ (Let me know/inform me of [these track titles] only).

The only things I have changed after yours was to use S.S.H. (as you suggested) and to convert かもしれない to かもしれません (informal to formal) to make it consistent with the rest.

I have only one small question before I send the email off:

Should there be a を? i.e. 名前/トラックタイトルを教えていた. Or is it okay without it?

If there's any, it will probably need a new thread. I for one, would be interested in following it, if one is made. Speaking from a (Japanese) game music point of view, I believe there is a wealth of useful game music-related information in Japanese, not just online but offline too. For a start, game music composer interviews in various Japanese game guidebooks. Ones that come to mind include interviews with Yasunori Mitsuda (Chrono Trigger - Ultimania ISBN978-4-7575-2469-9), Kenji Ito (SaGa 2: Hihou Densetsu - Goddess of Destiny Official Guidebook ISBN978-4-7575-2673), Takeharu Ishimoto and the rest of the music team (Dissidia: Final Fantasy - Ultimania ISBN978-4-7575-2488-0) and Yoko Shimomura (Seiken Densetsu: Legend of Mana - Ultimania ISBN4-925075-64-0) (Her favourite character, as with just about everyone else, is Saboten-kun AKA Little Cactus).

I can't read any of it, of course. But hopefully one day.

And for anyone that cares about my thoughts enough to continue reading this post:

I just went through my original draft and didn't realise I had a total of three anatas! (I thought I only used anata once, but to be fair I typed the letter 2 or 3 weeks ago hence the incorrect memory). Anyway my point is that this is bad form because I was actually already aware of the fact that "anata" should not be used. I guess using anata even once should be discouraged so I'll take your advice on that and leave it out altogether.

The above fact was actually cemented onto me last night, when I watched the Studio Ghibli anime movie "Mononoke Hime" (Princess Mononoke). At the end of the movie, an English subtitle read "I like you, but..." but in Japanese, San the Wolf Girl said "Ashitaka wa suki da. Demo..." (I like Ashitaka. But...). In English, saying the person's name directly instead of saying "you" sounds a bit weird, so it's just quirks of the languages I guess.

I used this opportunity to find out once and for all the differences between omou (to think) and kangaeru (to think). In general, one could say that omou means the act of thinking using emotions while kangaeru also means to think but with less emotion and with more reason.

In my case, I came up with a conclusion after using a logical thought process so kangaeru is fitting, so good choice on that one.

Yeah I've thought before of searching for Japanese VGM-related interviews and articles to translate, both for the benefit of those interested as well as to kick-start my own Japanese studying.  If anybody comes across something they'd like to see translated feel free to shoot me a link!

Online material would be better as it makes looking up unknown kanji a lot quicker.

You're right, the を should be in there.  Japanese people drop particles all the time in casual conversation so I dropped it out of habit.  But it's better to include it.

Yeah that's one of the bigger differences.  It throws plenty of Japanese people for a loop too - I've had people (especially students) ask me "What did Adam do last weekend?" and that sort of thing.

I get the impression "kangaeru" generally involves more detailed thought or consideration than "omou".  Either would work fine in your sentence, I think, just as long as you use one or the other.