Overview
メランコリック (Melancholic) is a VOCALOID song by producer Junky featuring Kagamine Rin (鏡音リン), introduced as a launch title for the original maimai arcade game on July 11, 2012. The track was originally released on the compilation album EXIT TUNES PRESENTS Vocaloanthems feat. 初音ミク (2010), a well-known series that helped popularize VOCALOID music during the early 2010s. The maimai version uses a shortened 1:45 edit of the full song.
Lyrically, the song captures the restlessness and ambivalence of adolescent infatuation, the narrator cannot grasp the person she cares about, oscillating between boldness and withdrawal. The title is a Japanese-coined English word meaning "melancholic," and the lyrics coin the playful term メランコリンニスト (melancholinist), blending melancholy with the suffix "-ist."
In maimai, メランコリック has undergone multiple level revisions reflecting the series' shifting difficulty standards. Its MASTER chart, originally Lv 10 at launch, has been rebalanced several times and currently sits at Lv 11+. The chart is notable for sequences that trap one hand on long hold notes while requiring the other to handle simultaneous taps and holds, a pattern that can force arm-crossing unless the player uses an intentional hand-switch technique. The Expert chart also weaves in short bursts of 16th notes that demand precise timing. Both the Expert and Master charts were designed by maimai TEAM.
The song's in-game genre has also evolved: it debuted under VARIETY, shifted to niconico during the GreeN PLUS era, and has been categorized as niconico & VOCALOID since maimai PiNK onward. Beyond maimai, メランコリック was added to SEGA's ONGEKI bright MEMORY on July 11, 2024, exactly twelve years after its original arcade debut.
Videos
Charts
Trivia
- メランコリック was one of three songs, alongside マトリョシカ and メグメグ☆ファイアーエンドレスナイト, that each had a 1/3 chance of being automatically unlocked on a player's first-ever play of the original maimai. Playing together with someone who owned a different one of the three would also unlock it. From maimai GreeN onward, it became available by default.
- The song originated on the compilation EXIT TUNES PRESENTS Vocaloanthems feat. 初音ミク (2010), a prominent VOCALOID anthology series that also featured other tracks later used in rhythm games.
- The maimai in-game video for メランコリック consists of a simple dancing routine animation rather than the original PV.
- In the Chinese 舞萌 and Asian English versions of maimai, the song's title is romanised as MELANCHOLIC.
- The song was added to SEGA's ONGEKI bright MEMORY on July 11, 2024, exactly twelve years to the day after its original maimai debut.
- A slightly rearranged version of メランコリック, covered by Saki Fujita (not Kagamine Rin), appears on the album 叶歌 by the collaborative unit Saki X Jun (Saki Fujita and Jun Abe).
- The song's genre classification has shifted through three categories across different maimai versions: VARIETY (maimai–GreeN), niconico (GreeN PLUS–ORANGE PLUS), and ultimately niconico & VOCALOID (PiNK–present).
- The MASTER chart's ending features a sequence of four straight slides where the final slide is notably slower than the preceding three, and its endpoint aligns with a cluster of four simultaneous taps.
- In Japanese wiki strategy notes, players recommend a hand-switch technique on the opening hold-note sequence: instead of alternating naturally (which leads to arm-crossing), shifting the right hand from the 2-hold endpoint directly onto the 3-hold avoids crossed arms entirely.
- The original maimai release included an EASY chart (Lv 3) that was later removed during the transition to the DX series; it had 87 notes with 73 taps, 9 holds, 3 slides, and 2 breaks.
FAQ
- Who composed メランコリック?
- Junky composed, arranged, and wrote the lyrics for メランコリック. The song is performed using the VOCALOID voicebank Kagamine Rin (鏡音リン).
- When was メランコリック added to maimai?
- メランコリック was added as a launch title for the original maimai arcade game on July 11, 2012. It was later added to ONGEKI bright MEMORY on the same date in 2024, exactly twelve years later.
- What is the meaning of the title メランコリック?
- The title is a Japanese-coined English word meaning 'melancholic.' The lyrics also coin the term メランコリンニスト (melancholinist), blending 'melancholy' with the suffix '-ist,' to describe the person the narrator pines for.
- What level is the MASTER chart for メランコリック?
- The MASTER chart is currently rated Lv 11+ with a difficulty constant of 11.6. It has been rebalanced multiple times over maimai's history, starting at Lv 10 in the original release.
- Who designed the Expert and Master charts for メランコリック?
- Both the Expert (Lv 9) and Master (Lv 11+) charts were designed by maimai TEAM.
- How was メランコリック unlocked in the original maimai?
- In the original maimai, メランコリック had a 1-in-3 chance of being automatically unlocked on a player's very first play, alongside マトリョシカ and メグメグ☆ファイアーエンドレスナイト. It could also be unlocked by playing together with someone who already had one of the other two songs. From maimai GreeN onward, it has been available by default.
- What album is メランコリック originally from?
- The song originally appeared on the compilation album EXIT TUNES PRESENTS Vocaloanthems feat. 初音ミク, released in 2010.
- Is メランコリック available in all maimai regions?
- Yes, メランコリック is available in the Japanese, International, USA, and Chinese (舞萌) versions of maimai. In Chinese and Asian English releases, the title is romanised as MELANCHOLIC.
