Overview
白ゆき (Shirayuki) is a VOCALOID song by n-buna, the producer who would later co-found the acclaimed rock band Yorushika (ヨルシカ). Featuring Hatsune Miku on vocals, the track was originally released on n-buna's 2016 album 月を歩いている (Walking on the Moon) before joining the maimai songlist with the MURASAKi PLUS update on November 21, 2017. The title translates to "white snow," and the lyrics paint a stark portrait of despair: a narrator consumes poison while recalling memories of a past love, haunted by the refrain "snow white." The music video, created by the artist あわしま / No.734, reinforces the track's cold, melancholic atmosphere with visuals that mirror its wintry themes. At 210 BPM, 白ゆき is among the faster VOCALOID entries in the maimai library, and its MASTER chart, designed by ぴちネコ (Pichineko), leans into that pace with a dense 114-slide-note layout, a distinguishing feature among charts of its era. The song's difficulty has been re-evaluated several times across maimai versions; the MASTER chart started at level 11+ in MURASAKi PLUS and gradually rose to level 13 in later editions, while the EXPERT chart, designed by はっぴー (Happy), underwent a similar ascent. Outside maimai, 白ゆき also appears in Sega's CHUNITHM series, where it uses a longer song cut and features charts designed by すきやき奉行 and écologie.
Videos
Charts
Trivia
- n-buna composed, arranged, and wrote the lyrics for 白ゆき entirely by himself, a hallmark of his early VOCALOID solo work before forming the band Yorushika with vocalist suis.
- The title 白ゆき is written with the hiragana ゆき rather than the kanji 雪, giving the word 'snow' a soft, ambiguous visual quality.
- The song originally appeared on n-buna's second album 月を歩いている (Walking on the Moon), released in 2016.
- The music video was created by the artist あわしま (Awashima) / No.734.
- In maimai Asian English releases, the song's title is romanized as Shirayuki.
- The MASTER chart, designed by ぴちネコ, features 114 Slide notes, roughly 16% of its total 719 notes, making slide-heavy patterns a defining characteristic.
- The EXPERT chart was designed by はっぴー (Happy), who has contributed numerous charts across the maimai series.
- The song's difficulty ratings have been adjusted multiple times: the MASTER chart started at level 11+ in MURASAKi PLUS, rose to 12 in MiLK+, then 13 in でらっくす PLUS, dropped back to 12+ in Splash through UNiVERSE, and settled at 13 from UNiVERSE+ onward.
- 白ゆき was added to CHUNITHM PARADISE on February 18, 2021, and later to CHUNITHM SUPER STAR PLUS on December 23, 2021, the CHUNITHM version uses a longer cut (2:31) compared to the maimai version (2:08).
- The lyrics center on a narrator who has consumed poison and reflects on memories of a person with black hair sleeping on a riverbank bench, described as 'ebony', imagery that evokes both death and a distorted retelling of the Snow White fairy tale.
- The line 'snow white' appears throughout the lyrics as a repeated refrain, bridging the song's title with its thematic content of purity, poison, and loss.
FAQ
- Who composed 白ゆき (Shirayuki)?
- 白ゆき was composed, arranged, and written by n-buna, featuring Hatsune Miku on vocals. n-buna is the VOCALOID producer who later co-founded the band Yorushika.
- What album is 白ゆき from?
- 白ゆき originally appeared on n-buna's 2016 album 月を歩いている (Walking on the Moon), released before he formed the band Yorushika.
- When was 白ゆき added to maimai?
- 白ゆき was added to maimai with the MURASAKi PLUS update on November 21, 2017.
- What is the BPM of 白ゆき?
- 白ゆき has a BPM of 210.
- Who designed the MASTER chart for 白ゆき?
- The MASTER chart was designed by ぴちネコ (Pichineko), while the EXPERT chart was designed by はっぴー (Happy).
- Does 白ゆき appear in other rhythm games?
- Yes, 白ゆき was added to CHUNITHM PARADISE on February 18, 2021, and later to CHUNITHM SUPER STAR PLUS. The CHUNITHM version uses a longer song cut (2:31) compared to the maimai version (2:08).
- What does the title 白ゆき mean?
- 白ゆき (Shirayuki) translates to 'white snow' in Japanese. The title is written with hiragana for ゆき rather than the kanji 雪.
- What are the lyrics of 白ゆき about?
- The lyrics describe a narrator who has consumed poison while reflecting on a past love and a memory of someone with black hair sleeping on a riverbank bench. The recurring 'snow white' motif and imagery of poison, despair, and coldness evoke a dark, melancholic retelling of fairy-tale themes.
