The VocaLords

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

Gumi and her best friend Miku front a rock band called The VocaLords. Using her cherrywood Les Paul guitar as a weapon, Gumi also pursues a pressing agenda -- sending deserving souls to Hell, where they belong. Everything starts going wrong when a violinist with a God Complex named VioLinja is allowed to join the band.

A very big God Complex.

Thanks to VioLinja, Gumi must set Hell loose on the world she had sought to save. On her own and half alive, without her bandmates or her best friend, Gumi struggles to contain the havoc VioLinja wreaks.

Things start going right when a mysterious, sea-faring man who goes by the acronym of T.O.P. comes to Gumi's rescue. Aboard his research ship in the Sea of Okhotsk, T.O.P. helps Gumi prepare for battle against VioLinja and her reign of terror.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

The VocaLords is written as if it were a series of thirty minute animes. Each Episode consists of a sixty second teaser, followed by three to five chapters of about ten minutes reading time apiece.

Each Episode will also contain one or two songs I've personally written, with the lyrics incorporated into the storyline.

I hope you have as much fun reading The VocaLords as I have had with writing it. 💙🎸💙

Information

Status: Completed
Year: 2021
Author: ArDeeBurger

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.8/ 5.0
Followers: 24
Views: 21,236

Chapters(21 total)

Reviews

No reviews yet. Be the first to share your thoughts!

Community Reviews(5)

StrawberryRainRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This story takes "listening to rock music will send you to Hell" to a whole new level. Whether or not Vocaloids mean anything to you, this one grabs you by the throat from Chapter 1 and just keeps on running.
Standard fare doesn't stay standard for long, and we go from zero to 100 almost immediately. The story doesn't mess around and gets going ASAP. From there, there's no brakes; it's hard and fast all the way through, with no slow periods or unnecessary filler. The mysterious power we're introduced to is tackled from several ideological angles, and this is probably one of the best examples on this site I've seen of genuine showing over telling in its truest form. No big textblocks or exposition dumps overtook natural dialogue exchanges and subtle internal reflections that helped unravel the world rules. There were no points where the plot or rules became confusing, let alone difficult to follow--and that in no way is a trade-off for a story that can dive deep. The base concepts the story presents are more than enough for it to expand upon phenomenally.
Grammar and prose are spectacular. I didn't notice any grammatical errors at all! Very well-written.
Gumi's thoughts fill in where her voice is hindered, when applicable. She's goal-oriented, badass, and gets the job done. With so many scenes centered around her clawing her way through just to survive, it's extremely refreshing to earn the sporadic bursts of her softer side when she does have the chance to breathe around allies or those she pities. She contrasts wonderfully with our antagonist in terms of ideologies. As to VioLinja, the violin-wielding antagonist in question, her interactions with Gumi are always engaging to witness when they're in the same room as one another. Her own ideals, too, hold water beyond a simple "for the sake of being evil" rationale of action. Both in tandem really tend to steal the show in any chapter they're both in simultaneously.
Everything thus far is wonderful, and many of the co
srwoodsRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This was by far the craziest thing I read in a while and I loved it. The plot involves cyborg babes that can send people straight to hell with their music all while bouncing around, lots of bouncing and a few jiggles too lol, it really knocked the whole anime vibe out of the park. So if you’re in the mood for a light-hearted read give this one a try you won’t regret it.
A.X.RawlinsRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
The VocaLords is a fantastically weird and creative concept that reads like a mix of FLCL, Metalocalypse, and a Vocaloid fever dream. The "Anime Episode" format is a brilliant framing device that justifies the pacing and the melodramatic shifts in power. The opening episode successfully establishes the status quo where the VocaLords send people to Hell and immediately breaks it when VioLinja usurps Gumi. While the style and concept are top-tier, the story suffers from character passivity regarding the supporting cast and some pacing drag caused by the song lyrics.
The structure works perfectly, mimicking a pilot episode exactly with the Teaser, Concert, Betrayal, and Cliffhanger beats. Gumi falling into Hell is a great hook that sets the stakes high. The ideological conflict is also clear, contrasting Gumi’s view of "Obliteration" as a holy duty against VioLinja’s view of it as a game. However, the inclusion of full song lyrics in Chapter 1 slows the narrative significantly. In an actual anime, music plays over the action, but in a book, the reader has to stop visualizing the scene to read stanza after stanza of lyrics, which halts the momentum right when the concert should be most exciting. Additionally, the resolution of the conflict in Chapter 2 feels abrupt. VioLinja takes over the band via hypnosis almost instantly, which feels a bit like plot armor for the villain rather than a tactical struggle.
Gumi is a strong protagonist because she is flawed, dealing with drug addiction and a rotting face, yet remains dedicated. VioLinja makes for a fantastic villain who is chaotic, petty, and arrogant with her "God Complex" fully on display. The biggest weakness in the episode, however, is the "Prop Problem." The synopsis describes Miku as Gumi's best friend, but in the story, Miku and the other band members act like stage props. When VioLinja hijacks the music, the band switches sides instantly without emotional resistance. To make the betrayal hurt, I think we really n
KathyRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
I'll start by saying that I've been known to enjoy some choice vocaloid tunes in my time. A part of me is just happy to see these characters I enjoy do things in a unique world. When I say the world is unique, I mean that. There's a lot of cool conceptual stuff going on in The VocaLords.
My critique really is just that it verges on being shallow. There's a lot of cool factor and epic concepts but because character's reactions or set-up for emotional drops aren't there, it feels a bit disconnected from itself. We start off very much in media res and the story continues very fast paced and dramatic. But the beats where we build up interest and compassion for the characters were kind of skipped over. There are many moments where someone must be lost for the greater good or was making a heartfelt plea, but as a reader I wasn't sure how much I was supposed to care. Gumi as a protagonist is hard early on to get a grasp of. I'm not exactly sure what kind of person she is. Side characters are definitely a bit on the flat side, but they are entertaining enough.
The writing itself though I thought was quite good! I could definitely see the scenes that were playing out. No grammar stood out to me. I think some of the concepts of the world were interesting, if needing a little more fleshing out to be fully consistent internally. It feels kind of like magical girls, in a way! It's the kind of story where you're there for the next wild thing. I feel like it might be the kind of story where only through the journey do we start to care more for the characters and the payoff for following the journey may well be worth the emotional distance we start out with. I definitely can see the passion for the story shining through in the writing and with that, I can definitely see it getting more fleshed out and the characters coming into their own the further on you read.
Overall, I was entertained! Got some neat visuals, cool ideas. It could improve, but if what you care about is the cool a
lemniscateRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
This checked a few boxes for me from the cover (colorful) and genres. The summary gives a lot a way in terms of the first few chapters but leaves room for the writing to make it come to life. A pretty good start.
Style
I like the writing. It's easy to read and quite descriptive in places. There's also pretty good voice here. All that together makes it feel like you can "see" it playing on a screen, which I think is the vibe going for here. I do wish there was a bit more interiority from the MC, what she's thinking not only about her situation but about the motivations of other characters.
Grammar
There weren't any grammar issues that stood out to me or got in the way of my understanding of the story. I almost forgot to even comment on this part it was such a non-issue.
Story
I like how the story really delivers on the promises made in the cover and summary about being vibrant and action-packed. A lot happens in each episode, which is great for keeping my attention. However, there are times where it feels like the story is going really slow, like the first part of episode one, while other times going incredibly fast, like the second part of episode one. It also seemed like to me that I didn't really figure out what was going on until the second part of the first episode. Maybe a more even balance of information and details and action between the two parts of the episodes could be nice, or even a having more of a sense of what the MC's life was like before it all goes down the drain.
Character
I really liked the MC. She was badass but compassionate. Smart but not shrewd. However, I didn't get a good sense of the other characters since we haven't had a chance to spend much time around them as readers. I especially would've liked to get more about the antagonist.
Over all, the author says this is meant to feel like an anime, and it's a definite success in that. It is colorful, full of action, and has a unique world that's getting set up. There's a lot of room still to l