Monstrous fripSide Anthology includes unreleased Project! songs

Megalomania. Delusions of grandeur. Malignant narcissism.

Call it what you will, but the sheer gigantism of fripSide's upcoming 「nao complete anthology 2002-2009 -my graduation-」 is both an exercise in self-excess and blatant fan exploitation. Slated for release on July 17th 2009, the 10-disc anthology bears a weighty 19,740円 price tag (over 200$ USD) that basically represents 20$ per disc. When you consider the fact that their target audience (?) most likely already owns the greater majority of their songs in one form or another, this just begs the question: who the fuck's gonna buy this?

But that said, this anthology paradoxically represents the proper way to actually put a goddamn collection together. CDs have tons of space and are meant to be filled to the brink, not populated by a song or two. Take that I've Sound and your crappy, denpa-ignoring 「Departed to the Future」 boxset. At least fripSide aren't ashamed of their eroge past, as they included the full-length album 「Rabbit Syndrome」 in its entirety, clearly acknowledging it as an integral part of their lengthy existence, not a dark chapter best forgotten.

But therein lies the biggest fallacy of this so-called Complete Anthology: it's not complete by any means. It is missing (among others) the whole 「やっぱり世界はあたし☆れじぇんど！！」 single which was released in Summer 2008. I'd assume they somehow weren't able to obtain the publishing rights, but that's still quite the omission, given how much of a progression these songs represented over the previous ones. But at least 5 unpublished Project! songs will be available on the ninth disc. Four of them are out there in Bonus Disc format, but Red Data Girl does sound as though it's completely unreleased.

In related news, SAT said that this anthology officially marks the end of the fripSide Nao era and that the second phase is well under way. Sounds awfully Death Star-ish, but I still wish him the best, especially if more Project! songs are to be worked on. Hey, Rita's on board now, isn't she? Despite her septuagenarian pseudonym, she's got quite a few kickers under her belt, especially one that asks the fundamental question: What are little girls made of?