Updated: April 4, 12:39am
March 18 was the highly anticipated and first of its kind Club Inferno event featuring hot remixes from the Shadow Hearts series and the currently underdevelopment and Kickstarter funded new title Penny Blood. None other than the super awesome VGM composer himself, Yoshitaka Hirota, performed these glorious tunes live to a more than enthusiastic crowd, ready to soak up any and all music from these series as utterly possible.
Event Details
- Penny Blood -Club Inferno Osaka-side-
- Saturday, March 18 – 17:00-22:00
- Bar Fader OSAKA
Main Act:
Yoshitaka Hirota (Composer/Sound Designer)
DJs:
G☆E
xanadujin
Hamuichi Ishiyama
DJ Takuma2000
The Road to Osaka
Once I heard there was going to be a Penny Blood event that would be open to anyone who wanted to attend, I knew I had to go. I live in Yokohama, which is a bit of an expensive trip to get over to Osaka (about $300 there and back on the Shinkansen), but I pulled out all the stops to make it happen.
This was the first time in a long time to purchase non-reserved tickets, which means you can sit anywhere you want in the designated car, but you’re also not guaranteed to get a seat if they’re all taken. It would be a complete nightmare if that happened–you’d be standing for over an hour at a time… The car was pretty packed, but I managed to find a seat. Actually, there were two young guys, one in the window seat and the other on the isle seat with their bags on the center seat. I asked if anyone was sitting there, and they moved over for me to take the isle seat (thanks, boys).
I bought an “eki ben,” or station lunch box, and drink to enjoy on the train, and it was an uneventful trip until the first stop at Nagoya, where more passengers got off and I was able to move to an empty window seat on the other side.
Rocker Mode: ON
Arriving in Osaka
I’ve been to Osaka many times, but this was my first time back since going to see the final show of YoRHa Ver.1.3a in July 2019. Traveling around Japan is usually super easy and it wasn’t hard at all to find my way to the local area of the venue, which only required one transfer to one of the subway lines.
Also, this is something that I’ve known for years but it’s always shocking in the moment when you realize that people in Osaka stand on the RIGHT side of the escalators rather than the LEFT everywhere else… It gets me every time…
Killing Time: Starbucks, Osaka Castle
Once I got closer to the venue, I still had a lot of time to kill, so I took a break at Starbucks, after which I walked down to find the bar. At that time, I still had about an hour before opening, so I decided to take a walk and ended up walking down to Osaka Castle. It really wasn’t that far of a walk, but it wasn’t exactly close either, so I had to be very conscious of the time. I had about enough time to take a quick photo and turn around and walk back.
Gathering at the Venue
Shortly before 5pm, I was the first to start a line to enter the venue when would open at 5pm, and it didn’t take much longer after that for more fans to come join me in line! Most of us already knew each other from the Discord or Twitter, but this was the first time for us to actually gather and meet everyone face to face. Everyone was so nice and easy to talk to!
Club Fader OSAKA – A Chill Place
The venue took place at Club Fader OSAKA, which was just a short walk down from the nearest station exit. I originally walked from Honmachi Station, but I believe the nearest one was actually Sakaisuji Honmachi Station, but both are super close, so either one should suffice.
When the bar opened at 5pm, we were already greeted by sweet VGM remixes by the great Justin Pfeiffer, whom I had known briefly from simple conversations on social media, but this was the first time for me to get the chance to meet him in person.
Below are a couple photos that I and other fans too inside the venue. Many thanks to Iroha and Fuuyan for allowing me to use their photos!
Who’s that fashionable fellow in the hat? 😀
After Justin’s set, each of the other DJs cycled through their sets as the crowd danced along to the music, chatted amongst themselves, or enjoyed some of the limited time only Penny Blood inspired food and drink items! The time rapidly passed by.
Unfortunately for fans who were not able to attend the event in Osaka, since the portion that was livestreamed for Penny Blood backers was Hirota-san’s set, so it’s really unfortunate that you couldn’t also experience the great tunes that came before.
What’s on the Menu?
Now let’s take a look at the special food and drink menus!
Limited Time Food: Roger Bacon – 600 yen
Asparagus, garlic sprouts wrapped in bacon with tomato & potato salad
- Ham Egg: 500 yen
- Chicken Nuggets: 500 yen
- Tanuki Yakko (tempura bits on tofu): 400 yen
- Spicy Nuts: 300 yen
- Qingdao Beer: 600 yen
- Wine Pack: Paradise, Red/White: 500 yen
Great match with sophisticated ladies
Today’s Limited Cocktails
- Penny Blood Ver.1: 600 yen
Burdock shochu x tomato juice - Penny Blood Ver.2: 600 yen
Lemon sour x grenadine - Penny Blood Ver.3: 500 yen
* Non-alcoholic – Calpis x grenadine - Spicy Nuts: 300 yen
- Qingdao Beer: 600 yen
- Wine Pack: Paradise, Red/White: 500 yen
Great match with sophisticated ladies
Penny Blood Ver.1 
Penny Blood Ver.2 
Penny Blood Ver.3
Cute Fan-made Plushies Made by Sasamoto
Post: https://twitter.com/kanbashi3h/status/1636677986232713217
Matthew: Yuri, the heck you doin?
Yuri: Whiskey coke bath, feels great. Wanna try?
Matthew: 😒
Yuri: 😈
The Main Act: Yoshitaka Hirota
The main event truly didn’t kick off until Hirota-san took the stage, and suddenly everyone who had been dancing in the center of the room all sat down for a little while so everyone could equally see and relish in the raw tones that was the opening of Hirota-san’s set. We wanted to respect everyone in the room and give all our undivided attention to him, and it was absolutly magical.
Eventually, the dial was turned up to the max and it was no longer possible to merely sit and watch– you had to get involved and dance along with the rhythm of the music. Of course, I’m no dancer, but I love my music and I’d be damned if I let this moment slip away without fully enjoying it, no matter how silly my dance moves might be.
Hirota’s set was roughly an hour, and honestly it was over way too soon. At that point, I was just getting warmed up and could have kept going all night. But alas, all good things must come to an end. There will always be next time!
Earlier in the evening, HIrota was signing a bunch of merch for fans. I didn’t really bring anything except the special shirt that I made to wear at TGS last year, so I asked him to sign it after the gig wrapped. I must now retire from wearing this shirt ever again.
Below is the image that I quickly whipped up to have printed on a T-shirt. I was dumb and didn’t think to use a QR code or something easier than the bitly link to the Kickstarter page. haha Fun times!
Reminiscense
Now, in order to properly convey how much this event meant to me, I also have to explain my experience with the previous Shadow Hearts series. I’ll try to be brief.
My first experience with Shadow Hearts came after my year study abroad in Nagoya. I had just come back and had some time off before going back to school, so I went to Best Buy and I came across a couple games that I was interested in buying. One that I specifically remember picking up, I noticed had some involvement by Mitsuda Yasunori, whom I knew from his previous work on Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross, so it was an instant sale right there. What I happily learned later was that he only did a few tracks and the majority was composed by someone whom, at that time, I never heard about: Hirota Yoshitaka.
Playing through the game as a massive eyeopener for me. Before this game, I had only played the typical “classics”, all of which are pretty benign in terms of darkness and horror… but this was really my first, however slight, taste of the horror genre… but that’s not all it was. It was so much more. I fell in love with the characters, each and every one of them had something huge to contribute to the overall theme or plot of the story. I think this was really my first experience of playing a game where there was a clear romantic pair… and I loved every bit of it. I absolutely loved how Yuri & Alice’s relationship developed, and I almost wish we could have seen more of that. Back in the day, I think it was difficult to dedicate time to really flesh out a character let alone two and to really develope them as authentically plausable individuals… I’m really hopeful for PB regarding this.
Since I was never able to attend or even express my love for the Shadow Hearts series back in the day other than setting up my silly little fan site for SH2, this was my first chance to get involved with other fans of a series that has meant so much to me over the years. It’s been so long and yet the feeling has never changed. The love that I had for this series or the people who made it a possibility has never faltered. I’ve simply become more aware of what it takes to put a game together, all the different parts that have to fit just right together. It’s hardly a simple task that anyone can do. I’m always so invigorated simply being around such talented and creative minds.
The Way Home
Store mistaking an E for an F. Woops. 
Getting compfy. 
Can just barely see Nagoya Station. 
Next Stop: Nagoya. 
Hi, Nagoya.
Bye, Nagoya.
Welcome back to Yokohama!
I spent the night at a relatively cheap hotel in Osaka before taking the trip back home to Yokohama. There really wasn’t anything I needed or wanted to do while in Osaka, so I just took the train home in the morning and got back early afternoon. It was a GORGEOUS day.
So, that’s pretty much the end of my recap of the PENNY BLOOD Osaka event! Hopefully, there will be many more to come!
Below you can find more comments and posts from various people at the venue!
Fan Comments About the Event and/or Series
I’ve heard many Western fans ask about the general Japanese fanbase, so I asked people to give me some personal comments about the event or their overall feelings about the series, so the following was translated by me.
“Whenever someone asks me what my favorite game is, I have no problem and answer Shadow Hearts right away. It’s absolutely the best game I’ve ever played and remains my favorite for over 20 years. I have no doubt Penny Blood, its spiritual successor, will captivate me just the same. I can’t wait ’til it’s released!” ーMeso
“As a fellow Shadow Hearts lover, thank you so much for supporting the Kickstarter! I’ve been waiting for a sequel for 18 years, so I’m very happy that my wish has come true. Thank you!”
ーAyato Fumitsuki
Additional Tweets & Photos from the Venue
Please note that this page may receive future updates and edits.