text: In terms of the impact on the federal budget, the CBO estimates that deficits would reduce between 2011–2020, in part due to the risk-based assessment fees levied to initially capitalize the Orderly Liquidation Fund; after which, a growing amount of revenue for the Fund would be derived from interest payments (which are not counted as budgetary receipts, and therefore do not affect the federal deficit, having the effect of negatively impacting budget figures related to the Fund). As such, the CBO projects that eventually the money being paid into the Fund (in the form of fees) would be exceeded by the expenses of the Fund itself.


title: Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act

text: The cost estimate also raises questions about the time-frame of capitalizing the Fund – their estimate took the projected value of fees collected for the Fund (and interest collected on the Fund) weighed against the expected expense of having to deal with corporate default(s) until 2020. Their conclusion was it would take longer than 10 years to fully capitalize the Fund (at which point they estimated it would be approximately 45 billion), although no specifics beyond that were expressed.


text: The projection was a $5 billion or more deficit increase in at least one of the four consecutive ten-year periods starting in 2021.


text: Associated Press reported that in response to the costs that the legislation places on banks, some banks have ended the practice of giving their customers free checking. Small banks have been forced to end some businesses such as mortgages and car loans in response to the new regulations. The size of regulatory compliance teams has grown. The Heritage Foundation, calling attention to the new ability of borrowers to sue lenders for misjudging their ability to repay a loan, predicted that smaller lenders would be forced to exit the mortgage market due to increased risk. One Harvard study has claimed that smaller banks have been hurt by the regulations of the Dodd–Frank Act, saying "Community banks' share of the US banking assets and lending market fell from over 40% in 1994 to around 20% [in 2015]." These researchers believed that regulatory barriers fell most heavily on small banks, even though legislators intended to target large financial institutions. Though other experts dispute this claim noting that community banks have been consolidating since the Riegle-Neal Act of 1994 and even claim that community banks have been doing better since 2010 citing the decrease in community bank failures after the act was passed.


text: Complying with the statute seems to have resulted in job shifting or job creation in the business of fulfilling reporting requirements, while making it more difficult to fire employees who report criminal violations. Opponents of the Dodd–Frank Law believe that it will affect job creation, in a sense that because of stricter regulation unemployment will increase significantly. However, the Office of Management and Budget attempts to "monetize" benefits versus costs to prove the contrary. The result is a positive relationship where benefits exceed costs: "During a 10-year period OMB reviewed 106 major regulations for which cost and benefit data were available [...] $136 billion to $651 billion in annual benefits versus $44 billion to $62 billion in annual costs" (Shapiro and Irons, 2011, p. 8).


text: According to Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen in August 2017, "The balance of research suggests that the core reforms we have put in place have substantially boosted resilience without unduly limiting credit availability or economic growth."


text: Some experts have argued that Dodd–Frank does not protect consumers adequately and does not end too big to fail. Research also finds that Dodd-Frank's increased regulation of credit rating agencies negatively impacted financing and investment of firms worried about their credit ratings.


text: Law professor and bankruptcy expert David Skeel concluded that the law has two major themes: "government partnership with the largest Wall Street banks and financial institutions" and "a system of ad hoc interventions by regulators that are divorced from basic rule-of-law constraints". While he states that "the overall pattern of the legislation is disturbing", he also concludes that some are clearly helpful, such as the derivatives exchanges and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.


text: Regarding the Republican-led rollback of some provisions of Dodd–Frank in 2018, this move from increased regulation after a crisis to deregulation during an economic boom has been a recurrent feature in the United States.


text: The SEC's 2017 annual report on the Dodd–Frank whistleblower program stated: "Since the program’s inception, the SEC has ordered wrongdoers in enforcement matters involving whistleblower information to pay over $975 million in total monetary sanctions, including more than $671 million in disgorgement of ill-gotten gains and interest, the majority of which has been...returned to harmed investors." Whistleblowers receive 10–30% of this amount under the Act. A decade after it was created, the SEC whistleblower program has enabled the SEC to take enforcement actions resulting in over $2.5 billion in financial remedies and putting about $500 million in the pockets of defrauded investors. In addition, the incentives have generated more than 33,300 tips.


text: The Act established the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), which has the mission of protecting consumers in the financial markets. Then-CFPB Director Richard Cordray testified on April 5, 2017 that: "Over the past five years, we have returned almost $12 billion to 29 million consumers and imposed about $600 million in civil penalties." The CFPB publishes a semi-annual report on its activities.


title: The World Ends with You

text: The World Ends with You is an action role-playing game developed by Square Enix and Jupiter and published by Square Enix for the Nintendo DS. Set in the modern-day Shibuya shopping district of Tokyo, the game uses urban fantasy elements inspired by Shibuya and its youth culture. Development was inspired by elements of Jupiter's previous handheld game, "". It was released in Japan in July 2007, and in PAL regions and North America in April 2008. Later, an enhanced port by h.a.n.d. for mobile devices was released in 2012 under the title "The World Ends with You: Solo Remix", while another enhanced port for the Nintendo Switch was released in 2018 under the title "The World Ends with You: Final Remix," which was published by Nintendo outside Japan.


title: The World Ends with You

text: In the story, protagonist Neku Sakuraba and his allies are forced to participate in an event called the Reapers' Game, a week-long competition that will determine their fate. The battle system utilizes many of the unique features of the Nintendo DS, including combat that takes place on both screens, and attacks performed by certain motions on the touchscreen or by shouting into the microphone. Elements of Japanese youth culture, such as fashion, food, and cell phones, are key aspects of the missions and character progression.


title: The World Ends with You

text: "The World Ends with You" received critical acclaim upon release, with critics praising the graphics, soundtrack, and integration of gameplay into the Shibuya setting. It is considered to be one of the greatest video games of all time. The few common complaints were related to the steep learning curve of the battle system as well as the sometimes imprecise touchscreen controls. In the first week of its release, the game was the second best-selling DS title in Japan, and the top-selling DS title in North America. Shiro Amano, writer and artist of the "Kingdom Hearts" manga, later created a manga based on the video game. An anime adaptation by Square Enix, DOMERICA, and Shin-Ei Animation aired from April 10 to June 26, 2021.


title: The World Ends with You

text: A sequel game, "", was announced in late 2020 and released worldwide on Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 on July 27, 2021, with a Microsoft Windows release on September 28, 2021.


title: The World Ends with You

text: The game takes place in a fictional version of the Shibuya shopping district in Tokyo, Japan. While everyday life goes on in the Realground (RG), the chosen dead are brought to an alternate plane of existence called the Underground (UG). The UG is also the venue for the Reapers' Game. By offering their most treasured possession to enter the Game, the dead gain the chance to contest for the prize: to be brought back to life or to transcend to a higher form of spiritual existence. Most of those who choose to transcend become Reapers, the opponents of players in future Games. Lasting a week, each Game is a contest to judge the worth of humanity. Players set out to accomplish objectives under the rules created by the Composer, who is a god-like entity that maintains Shibuya. Another Reaper, the Conductor, tasks other Reapers to obstruct the players' efforts. Failure to complete a mission will disperse the mind and spirit of the player or Reaper, thus erasing his or her existence.


title: The World Ends with You

text: A player in the UG is invisible to the living in the RG, though one can sometimes read and influence their thoughts. The UG is frequented by creatures called "Noise", which are attracted by the negative feelings of the living. To progress in the Reapers' Game, players are often required to defeat Noise by killing or "erasing" them. However, each Noise exists in two parallel universes (or "zones") simultaneously, and can only be defeated by two players simultaneously fighting and defeating the Noise from these separate zones. To do this, players are required to form a pact with another player to survive the Noise. Players receive assignments via text messages sent to their cell phones, and their right hands are imprinted with a countdown indicating the time left in the mission. After a day's mission is complete, the remaining players find themselves at the start of the next day's mission, having no sense of the time that has passed in between.


title: The World Ends with You

text: The player assumes the role of , an initially asocial teenage boy who claims that he does not "get" people, and rarely interacts with others at first. Computer-controlled characters make up the rest of the cast, which includes players who are paired with Neku. In the first Game, Neku is paired with , a teenage girl who takes on the form of her best friend, as her physical appearance was her price of entry for the Game. In the second Game, Neku's partner is an intelligent and sly teenage boy, , who prefers to be called . Neku's final partner is , originally a player and ex-Reaper who calls himself . Beat became a Reaper to find a way to bring his younger sister, (nicknamed ), back to life. Rhyme had sacrificed herself to save her brother from a Noise attack. , the Producer, bound her soul to a pin from which her Noise could be summoned, and gave it to Beat. The final Game Master, , crushes her Noise form and transformed it back into a pin.


title: The World Ends with You

text: Besides the Composer and the Conductor, there are other high-ranking Reapers. For each week of the Game, Game Masters are assigned by the Conductor to lead the opposition to the players. Of the Game Masters opposing Neku, is the most dangerous. He willingly circumvents the rules in an attempt to supplant the Composer. Participating in the Games to earn promotions for their performance, the Reapers' goal is to ascend to the highest form of spiritual existence, the Angels. Angels supervise the Games and if the stakes of a Game are particularly high, they send down one of their own to serve as the Producer. For the three weeks of the game's story, Sanae Hanekoma is the Producer. Disguised as a Shibuya café owner, he guides new players and narrates the "Secret Reports" that are obtained by completing additional missions after completing the game.


title: The World Ends with You

text: The game's story follows Neku over the three weeks that he plays the Game, paired with partners Shiki, Joshua, and Beat for each week, respectively. Neku is confused at first, lacking knowledge of how he died or how he arrived at the UG. As he develops friendships with his partners, he starts to understand the rules of the Game. After the first week, only Shiki is allowed to return to the living, and she promises to meet Neku at the statue of Hachiko. He also recovers his entry fee, which was his memories, except for the events leading up to his death. However, Shiki has become what Neku values most, and she is used as his new entry fee for the second week; in addition, Beat defects to the Reapers hoping to find a way to revive Rhyme after she sacrifices herself to save him. During the second week, Neku recalls small details of his death; eventually, he recognizes that he was shot at by Sho Minamimoto, one of the Reapers he faced during the Game. At the end of the second week, Joshua seemingly sacrifices himself to save Neku from an explosion created by Minamimoto.


title: The World Ends with You

text: However, because Joshua was never actually dead, the Game is nullified and Neku is forced to play the game a third time. His entry fee this time is all of the other players, meaning Neku cannot form any pacts and stands no chance against the Noise. However, Beat immediately defects from the Reapers and rejoins Neku. Neku and Beat find that the Reapers and the entire population of Shibuya are wearing special red pins that brainwash them into thinking the same harmonious thoughts. Without any missions to complete, the two venture to the fabled "Shibuya River", which Joshua was looking for during the second week. At the river, they find , the Game's Conductor. Kitaniji explains that he created the red pins in an attempt to remake Shibuya, which the Composer challenged him to do. If he fails, both he (as his price for losing the Game) and Shibuya will be erased.


title: The World Ends with You

text: At that moment, Joshua reappears and reveals himself to be the Composer. Joshua returns the missing part of Neku's memory of death: Joshua himself shot Neku, choosing him to be his proxy in his challenge with Kitaniji. Minamimoto, who had been trying to usurp the position of Composer, was trying to kill Joshua in his weakened state as a human. After Kitaniji fails to defeat Neku by using his friends against him, Joshua gives Neku one last challenge: To fire upon Joshua to determine the fate of Shibuya. Neku is too conflicted to make a choice, and is shot down by Joshua. Neku finds himself once again at the scramble crossing, confused by events, but alive this time.


title: The World Ends with You

text: The game's credits show scenes seven days later in the RG. As Neku walks from Udagawa to Hachiko to meet Beat, Rhyme, and Shiki, he discusses how the past three weeks have changed him for the better. In a statement directed at an absent Joshua, Neku says that although he will not forgive him for what he has done, he trusts him. Neku then asks if Joshua will be present at Hachiko as well. Secret reports that can be obtained by completing additional missions after beating the game reveal that Joshua, after seeing the change in personality of Neku over the weeks of playing the game, decides to spare Shibuya, now believing the city to be ideal. The game ends with Neku abandoning his headphones before a title card appears entitled ""The World Begins with You"".


title: The World Ends with You

text: The "Final Remix" version of the game adds new storyline content taking place after the main game. Neku and Beat awaken in a geographically distorted alternate version of Shibuya and are assigned a mission to escape Shibuya within 24 hours. Accompanied by a Reaper named Coco Atarashi, the two begin to make their way through the alternate Shibuya while encountering Shiki and Rhyme along the way. As they progress, Neku has visions of a city being destroyed and a strange girl with Shiki's stuffed animal, as well as what seem to be distorted flashbacks of his death and Rhyme's sacrifice. When Rhyme sacrifices herself to save Beat in a manner identical to Neku's vision, Neku realizes that he is having visions of the future. Neku and Beat arrive at Mr. Hanekoma's café, and he reveals that the Shibuya they have been traversing is one giant Noise created by Coco. Neku and Beat defeat the Noise and return to reality. An enraged Coco shoots Neku dead but is driven off by Joshua. Joshua meets with Mr. Hanekoma to discuss recent events; they reveal that Shinjuku has been erased and Noise are starting to appear in the RG and that the strange girl from Neku's visions was a survivor of the incident who they theorize caused Neku's visions and was helping him along. Elsewhere, Coco plots to continue using Neku for her plans and resurrects Minamimoto to serve as his partner.


title: The World Ends with You

text: "The World Ends with You" is an action role-playing game, arranged into three chapters based on the three weeks that Neku is involved in the Reapers' Game, with each chapter further divided by each day of the week. The player controls Neku and his partner as they explore Shibuya to complete each day's mission. Although most missions require completion within a certain time for Neku and his partner, this timer is not correlated to the passage of time for the player.


title: The World Ends with You

text: Shibuya is divided into several districts, some of which may be inaccessible on certain days or blocked by a wall that can only be removed by satisfying the request of a nearby Reaper, such as erasing Noise symbols, putting on a certain brand of clothing, or bringing an item. Neku can scan the area by activating a special pin. This scan reveals the thoughts of the non-player characters in the Realground and memes, hints which may help to progress the plot. The scan also reveals random Noise symbols that drift about the area, or in some cases, float around a specific character. The player initiates a battle by touching Noise symbols; each symbol constitutes one round of battle. Selecting more than one Noise symbol at a time results in a multi-round battle (referred to in-game as multiple noise "reductions") that gradually increases in difficulty with each round, but conversely leads to greater rewards upon success. Altering the difficulty of the Noise and the amount of health for Neku and his partner also alter the benefits conferred.


title: The World Ends with You

text: Each district has fashion trends that affect gameplay. By wearing pins or clothing from the more popular brands in that district, items' effects will be improved; wearing the least fashionable items will do the opposite, and items from brands in between are not affected. However, the player can increase a brand's popularity in one district by repeatedly fighting battles in that district while wearing items of that brand. The player can enter shops to buy new pins, clothes, and food items that are gradually consumed during battles to improve the characters' basic attributes.


title: The World Ends with You

text: After completing the game, the player can return to any day in the story and play those events again, keeping the characters' current statistics and inventory. "Secret Reports", written segments that reveal background elements of the story, can be unlocked through this mode by completing specific missions during each day. Completing the game allows the player to access "Another Day" from the game's menus, an additional day of missions that explains certain events related to the main storyline. "The World Ends with You" has one minigame called "Tin Pin Slammer" (or "Marble Slash") that can be played against computer opponents or with up to 3 others via a wireless connection. Tin Pin Slammer is similar to the marble game ringer, in that each player attempts to use their pins one at a time to knock the other players' pins off the game board.


title: The World Ends with You

text: "The World Ends with You" features "psych pins", decorative pins which possess powers that only Neku can activate while wearing them. Psych pins are used for combat, for "Tin Pin Slammer/Marble Slash", or as trade value for money or equipment. Most pins, particularly those used in combat, can become more powerful as the player accumulates "Pin Points" (PP) which can also lead to the evolution of the pins into more potent versions. Pin Points are commonly earned through battle, but can also be earned through a period of inactivity with the game, by interacting with other DS players or randomly if none are found. Each of these methods influences the growth of pins within the game.


title: The World Ends with You

text: The game's combat system is called the "Stride Cross Battle System". The combat takes place across both screens of the DS, with Neku on the touchscreen and his partner on the top screen, representing the different "zones" of the same local area; the two characters battle the same enemies that exist in both "zones" simultaneously. Neku and his partner are synchronized during battle; they share the same health bar so that even if one character does not take any damage, the pair can fail in battle if the other takes too much. A green "light puck" will pass between the characters during battle; by alternating battle between the character who possesses the puck, damage is increased. The movement of the light puck is determined by the "sync ratio" between Neku and his partner; the puck stays longer with the character with higher ratios. The player can equip Neku and his partner with clothing that can alter the light puck's speed. The light puck also can magnify Neku and his partner's attacks as long as when they hold the puck, they are not attacked by an enemy and can continue this in a volley.


title: The World Ends with You

text: The player controls Neku by performing touchscreen actions based on the currently equipped pins. These actions may include slashing across an enemy, tapping the screen rapidly to fire bullets, holding down on an enemy to inflict damage or shouting into the microphone to cause a full-screen attack. Other pins need to be touched to activate them, such as for health restoration. Each pin has a limited number of uses before it must recharge for a certain time. Other pins may only be used a fixed number of times during a series of battles, and do not recharge until the battle sequence is over. Neku can only be equipped with a maximum of two pins at the game's start; this can eventually be upgraded to a maximum of six.


title: The World Ends with You

text: Neku's partner on the top screen can be controlled by the player using the face buttons, although players can use options to have the computer assist them. Each of Neku's partners has a card game-based mechanic; for example, Shiki's card game requires the player to match face-down Zener cards. The partner can make a basic attack after the player navigates through a pathway of arrows to select one of several shown cards using the directional pad or face buttons. By navigating to a card that fits within the card game rules, the player earns a star. Once enough stars are collected, the player can launch a powerful "Fusion" attack using both Neku and his partner through the "Harmonizer Pin" that appears on the upper right of the touchscreen (assuming that the player has not rearranged where it is displayed). The player can also help the partner character dodge attacks.


title: The World Ends with You

text: In the game's re-releases on single screen systems (mobile and Switch), the battle system has been modified to reflect the lack of a second screen. The current partner instead acts as a separate pin among Neku's other pins, which the player can call in to perform attacks by similar touchscreen actions like tapping on an enemy or slashing down on one. The player must balance the use of the partner pin with Neku's attacks, going to their partner repeatedly to build up towards the Fusion attack. The Fusion attack is launched by tapping the partner pin on the screen; the player then has a limited period to complete card-based minigames to build up a damage multiplier. For example, with Shiki as their partner, the player is shown one Zener card, along with several other Zener cards that are shown face-up for a moment before being turned over. The player must select those face-down cards that were matches for the shown Zener card. Furthermore, the Switch version offers a local cooperative mode, where a second player using a second Joy-Con has control over the partner character and a limited set of pin attacks during battle.


title: The World Ends with You

text: "The World Ends with You" was developed by the same team that created the "Kingdom Hearts" series, with input from Jupiter, the company that developed "" for the Game Boy Advance. Development of the game started two and a half years before its Japanese release, during the development of "Kingdom Hearts II" and as development of "Chain of Memories" was concluding. At that time, Nintendo had announced their next handheld system, the Nintendo DS, but it was not yet available to the market; Square Enix requested the team to develop a game specifically for the handheld system.


title: The World Ends with You

text: The creative team — consisting of Tatsuya Kando (director), Tomohiro Hasegawa (co-director), Takeshi Arakawa (planning director), and Tetsuya Nomura (character design and creative producer) — were able to experience the DS during the "Touch DS" event in November 2004. From this demonstration, they had envisioned a version of "Chain of Memories" in which the card game aspects would be present on the bottom screen and an action role-playing game on the top. As they continued to work on the game, the developers realized that they wanted to use the touchscreen more, to make "a game that can only be played on the DS". However, they also encountered the problem that by focusing heavily on the touchscreen, the top screen would be ignored. From this, the idea of the dual-screen battle system arose. Several other options were explored for the top screen gameplay, including command-based battles or a rhythm game, but once they reviewed the game from the eyes of the player, they ultimately settled on the card-game approach with the player having the option to control the game if they wanted to.


title: The World Ends with You

text: Even with the completion of the Japanese version of the game, the team felt the dual-screen system was too much for overseas audiences, and attempted to change the card-game mechanic into a special meter that would fill up with normal attacks from Neku, but this was not completed in time for release. However, the team was able to alter the "information overload" of the numerous tutorials at the start of the game in the North American release, reducing the amount of text presented as well as allowing the tutorials to be skipped. The "Active Encounter" system, the ability for the player to select when and how to go into battle, was developed specifically to avoid the issues of "grinding" that are common with most standard RPG systems. While they included the mechanics of being able to scan non-playable characters to see their thoughts, the team was not able to integrate this mechanic more into the game.


title: The World Ends with You

text: The team decided to stay with two-dimensional sprites instead of three-dimensional models for this title, believing it would help differentiate themselves from other Square Enix titles as well as better represent their vision for the game. When first approached with the task of creating the art for the game, background art director Takayuki Ohdachi thought the modern-day setting would be too boring, and opted to use highly skewed and angular images of Shibuya to avoid this; the rest of the creative team found this approach to fit the game quite well. For combat, the background of the top screen was selected for visual interest, while the bottom touchscreen background was designed to emphasize the gameplay. Ohdachi was also responsible for the artwork for the psych pins, and used a mix of pop art and tribal designs for the various graphics.


title: The World Ends with You

text: Character designs were handled by Tetsuya Nomura and Gen Kobayashi. Character designs were made to match with the real-world Tokyo setting, after which their outfits were designed based on the character's personality. Kobayashi was also in charge of designing the game's non-player characters and noted how most designs made it to the final product.


title: The World Ends with You

text: Hasegawa was responsible for creating the designs for the Noise creatures, and he wanted to have them recognizable as creatures before they decay into skeletons. In keeping with the theme of human emotion in the game, Hasegawa selected creatures that conveyed such feelings, such as wolves and crows. Representation of the Noise in the game required drawing the 2D sprites from several angles to match the action on screen as well as using rotoscoping on pre-rendered sprites, and took several iterations between Square Enix and Jupiter to make sure that the sprites' art matched the style of game, with Kando making the two-hour trip between Tokyo and Kyoto weekly to check on the progress.


title: The World Ends with You

text: In addition to creating unique gameplay, the designers wanted to build the game around a real location. Initially, they had planned to use a large number of locations across the entire world as the setting. They narrowed down the settings to specific cities due to practicality issues. Ultimately, Kando selected Shibuya as the main setting within the first year of development, despite concerns that overseas players would find the setting unfamiliar. The team wanted to make sure the city was represented accurately within the game, and went on "location hunts" onto building rooftops without permission to get photographs.


title: The World Ends with You

text: The layout of Shibuya was duplicated for the game, retaining the real-world landmarks while rebranding the names of stores and buildings for copyright reasons; for example, the 109 Building was renamed to be the "104 Building", while one of the busiest Starbucks, adjacent to the scramble crossing, was renamed "Outback Cafe". The success of the game has led to fans going on tours of the district to match physical locations in Shibuya with those in the game. The selection of Shibuya led to the incorporation of much of the game's other features, including food, clothing, and cell phone usage. The team initially thought of the idea of using graffiti around Shibuya as the source of the player's power in the game but had difficulty representing it; this led to the creation of the psych pins used in the game.


title: The World Ends with You

text: The developers knew that for the story they wanted to "throw the player right in the action, with things he had to do without explanation" in addition to creating a sense of urgency and mystery for the player. They developed an initial draft of the game's plot and gave it to scriptwriter Sachie Hirano and scenario event planner Yukari Ishida to expand on. The returned version was very close to the initial vision for the game's story. However, there were still difficulties in filling out the story, only achieving some smooth development about halfway through the process, and even then, there were still changes made just before creating the master image for the game. Several inconsistencies with the game's story were found in the final quality checks that had to be resolved. The Square Enix localization team preserved many Japanese elements while translating most of the dialogue and interface items into English and other European languages to avoid losing the culture of the game. The team was also limited by the size of the dialogue balloons used in the game and took several steps to avoid losing the meaning.


title: The World Ends with You

text: As "The World Ends with You" focuses on the character of Neku Sakuraba, to create a believable story the developers put a lot of focus on his development, such as how he would feel, what thoughts lie behind his actions, how he interacted with other characters, and how the people around him feel about him. The developers included aspects and daily concerns, hoping that they could be things that players would have to deal with their personal lives and therefore would let them relate with Neku.


title: The World Ends with You

text: The soundtrack to "The World Ends with You" was composed and produced by Takeharu Ishimoto. The game's music encompasses many genres, combining rock, hip hop, and electronica and was designed to fit the various moods of Shibuya. The song appearing during the credits of the game is "Lullaby for You" by Japanese pop artist, Jyongri. Vocal artists featured in the game include Sawa Kato, Makiko Noda, Leah, Ayuko Tanaka, Mai Matsuda, Wakako, Hanaeryca, Cameron Strother, Andy Kinlay, Nulie Nurly, and Londell "Taz" Hicks. The developers used CRI Middleware's Kyuseishu Sound Streamer, a compression algorithm normally used for voice-overs, to compress the soundtrack and fit more songs on the game media, while replacing full motion video cutscenes with Flash-style animations to save more space. The ADX-compressed soundtrack and cutscene audio on the final version of the game take up approximately one-fourth (32 of 128 total MB) of the game media.


title: The World Ends with You

text: The official soundtrack of the game, was released in Japan on August 22, 2007 and is on sale in most English-language iTunes Stores. This release, however, does not include the four tracks unique to localizations outside Japan and is simply a digital version of the Japanese soundtrack. Square Enix, however, released the digital 6-track EP on June 25, 2008 through the Japanese iTunes Store. This release contains the four songs unique to the international version of the game, along with the English version of "Owari-Hajimari" and a remix of "Twister". A 19-track version of the album was given a physical CD and iTunes release on July 30, 2008.


title: The World Ends with You

text: The Japanese title, translated as "It's a Wonderful World", was not used internationally due to copyright issues. Instead, the game was released in North America and Europe under the name "The World Ends with You". The game was officially announced on September 13, 2006 by Square Enix, and premiered at the 2006 Tokyo Game Show two weeks later. On December 5, 2007, Square Enix announced that the game would be released for Europe and Australia in April 2008, while a similar announcement was made for a North American release on December 17, 2007.


title: The World Ends with You

text: A special "Wonderful World" edition of the "Gloss Silver" Nintendo DS Lite was created and sold as a bundle with the game as part of its Japanese release. The game's early plot was adapted into a two-chapter one-shot manga by Shiro Amano, published over two issues of "Monthly Shōnen Gangan". In North America, the manga has been released online via the Square Enix Members website, along with mobile phone ringtones. Both Nomura and Tatsuya Kando stated that they hoped they would be given the opportunity to create a sequel to the game.


title: The World Ends with You

text: Neku, Shiki, Joshua, Beat, and Rhyme appear in the 2012 Nintendo 3DS title "" as non-playable characters who are challenged to a task similar to the Reapers' Game. The cameos are the first non-Disney and non-"Final Fantasy" characters to appear in the "Kingdom Hearts" franchise. Three of the tracks, "Someday", "Calling", and "Twister", were rearranged for "Dream Drop Distance", with "Calling" and "Twister" also remixed as downloadable tracks for "". A revised soundtrack, "The World Ends With You - Crossover", was released on September 20, 2012. It includes the original tracks from the DS game, the "Dream Drop Distance" versions of "Calling", "Someday", and "Twister", and the remixes from the iOS version. The "Dream Drop Distance" arrangement of "Calling" was also featured in the 2020 rhythm game "".


title: The World Ends with You

text: A port for mobile devices, entitled "The World Ends with You: Solo Remix", was released on iOS on August 27, 2012, and on Android on June 26, 2014. This version was developed by Square Enix's mobile development team and h.a.n.d. within the course of the year. The game's combat system was reworked to accommodate the lack of a second screen.


title: The World Ends with You

text: In addition to combat changes, "Solo Remix" includes redrawn high-definition sprites and is optimized for the Retina display of iOS devices. The original soundtrack and additional remixes of these songs are included. Wireless and social media features are also included: the Tin Pin Slammer can be played with other players via wireless connections, and the game can connect with the player's social media applications to display these as scanned thoughts from non-player characters within the game. The "Solo Remix" version features a remixed soundtrack from the original DS release. A new character, the Reaper Coco Atarashi, is introduced and is a shop owner dealing with microtransactions. New assets at the conclusion of the iOS game include the appearance of Tsugumi Matsunae, a character later appearing in the sequel, "Neo: The World Ends with You". The iOS version of the game was delisted from the App Store in February 2015 due to an issue that prevented the game from working with the iOS 8 operating system launched in September 2014, though the Android version remained available. It returned to the App Store in June 2015.


title: The World Ends with You

text: Another port for the Nintendo Switch, entitled "The World Ends with You: Final Remix", was announced in January 2018 and released on October 12, 2018. The port, based on the "Solo Remix" version and with additional development from Square Enix and h.a.n.d., includes a new control system adapted for the Switch, specifically allowing for the use of the Joy-Con in docked mode in addition to the touchscreen and optional co-op support for Neku's partner. An additional new scenario featuring Tsugumi and Coco Atarashi was added to this version.


title: The World Ends with You

text: An anime adaptation was revealed with a teaser website on June 25, 2020, and officially announced on July 3, 2020 as "The World Ends with You the Animation". It aired worldwide from April 10 to June 26, 2021 through Funimation, as well as the Super Animeism block on MBS and TBS.


title: The World Ends with You

text: "The World Ends with You" received positive reviews and has been commercially successful. "Game Informer" named the game its Handheld Game of the Month award for May 2008. "IGN" gave "The World Ends with You" its Editors' Choice Award, and named it the DS Game of the Month for April. In Japan, the game premiered as the second-best selling DS title during the week of July 27, 2007. Nearly 193,000 units were sold in Japan by the end of 2007. "The World Ends with You" sold 43,000 copies during April 2008 in North America. The first shipment of the game sold out mid-May and a second shipment was made in mid-June 2008. The game was the top-selling DS title the week of its release and again two weeks later. As of September 30, 2008, "The World Ends With You" has sold approximately 140,000 copies in North America and 20,000 copies in Europe.


title: The World Ends with You

text: Critics praised the departure from other popular titles such as Square Enix's "Final Fantasy" and "Kingdom Hearts" series. Both the graphical presentation and the soundtrack were very well received. Reviews also commented that initially, the character designs were too similar to previous Square Enix titles and may be off-putting to some, though in the Shibuya setting they were "absolutely in their element". Some reviewers also complained that the Stride Cross Battle System was too complex for new players; "Eurogamer"s review felt the "sink or swim" reliance on learning the complex battle system was a significant stumbling block for the game. "GamePro" noted that the stylus input was imprecise, often mistaking movement and attack actions. On the other hand, the system was praised for its approach, and for the ability to alter the difficulty of the system within the game. Neku Sakuraba's character arc was praised by several reviewers, such as "G4TV" editor Jonathan Hunt, who praised his growth from a "mute teenager" to a "civil human". "1UP.com"s review summarized that the game is much more than the sum of its parts: "By all rights, "The World Ends With You" should be an annoying disaster, a bundle of tired gimmicks and trite clichés. Yet somehow all the things that should be unbearable fall into place and create a game that's far more unique, interesting, and addictive than it has any right to be".


title: The World Ends with You

text: "IGN" gave "The World Ends with You" multiple awards, including best Nintendo DS role-playing game, best story for a Nintendo DS game, best new IP for the Nintendo DS, and the best DS game of the year. It was also nominated for other awards, including best original score for a Nintendo DS game and best artistic design for a Nintendo DS game. It was ranked as the tenth best game of the 2000s released on a Nintendo system by "Nintendo Power".


title: The World Ends with You

text: "The World Ends with You: Solo Remix" received a score of 9.5 and an Editor's Choice from "IGN", who praised the port and its additions, although criticized its price point and lack of universal compatibility (the iPhone/iPod Touch and iPad versions of the game must be purchased separately). "Kotaku" also criticized the high price and lack of universal compatibility as 'indefensible', though it praised the port for its controls, saying "in many ways, it feels more suited to (the iPad) than it ever did on the DS".


title: The World Ends with You

text: "The World Ends With You" was nominated for Best RPG at 2008 Spike Video Game Awards, but lost to "Fallout 3".


title: The World Ends with You

text: A sequel, "Neo: The World Ends with You", was announced in late 2020 and was released worldwide on July 27, 2021 for Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4, with the PC version released on September 28, 2021. It features a new cast of characters playing the Reapers' Game in Shibuya, and uses three-dimensional graphics. Tatsuya Kando returns as series director. Tetsuya Nomura returns as creative producer, along with Gen Kobayashi as character designer, and Hiroyuki Itou as director. Takeharu Ishimoto, the composer for the original game, though no longer a full-time employee of Square Enix, also returns as composer for the sequel.


title: Rui Patrício

text: Rui Pedro dos Santos Patrício (; born 15 February 1988) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Serie A team Roma and the Portugal national team. He is often nicknamed "São Patrício" ("Saint Patrício") for his saves for club and country.


title: Rui Patrício

text: A product of Sporting CP's youth academy, Patricio made his first team debut at the age of 18, and went on to appear in 467 official games. He won five trophies during his 12 years with the club, including two Portuguese Cups, before moving to England to join Wolverhampton Wanderers in 2018. In 2021, he signed for Roma, where he won the Europa Conference League in his first season.


title: Rui Patrício

text: Patrício earned his first cap for Portugal in 2010, after Paulo Bento's appointment as head coach, and his 100th in 2021. He represented the nation in three World Cups and four European Championships, winning the 2016 edition of the latter tournament as well as the 2019 Nations League.


title: Rui Patrício

text: Born in the village of Marrazes in Leiria, Patrício played as a striker at a young age. Reportedly, a Sporting CP scout was in the area and saw him play in goal, being impressed enough to sign the 12-year-old to the club's youth academy. He made his Primeira Liga debut on 19 November 2006, in a 1–0 away win against C.S. Marítimo in the tenth round: standing in for habitual club and country first-choice Ricardo, he saved a penalty kick 15 minutes before the end of the game.


title: Rui Patrício

text: In the 2007–08 season, after Ricardo's departure to Real Betis, Patrício beat competition from Sporting veteran Tiago and new signing Vladimir Stojković to become the undisputed starter. He made his UEFA Champions League debut on 27 November 2007, in a 1–2 group stage loss at Manchester United.


title: Rui Patrício

text: During the 2008 off-season, Patrício was the subject of a rumored transfer to Italian giants Inter Milan. Nothing came of it, however, and in that year's Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira final, against FC Porto, he stopped a Lucho González penalty in a 2–0 final success, also being an everpresent fixture in the league.


title: Rui Patrício

text: In the qualifying rounds of the 2009–10 Champions League, at FC Twente, Sporting were trailing 0–1 in the 94th minute, after a 0–0 tie in the first leg: Patrício rushed to the opposing area for a corner kick, where he went up for a header with Nikita Rukavytsya. Both players seemed to make contact with the ball, and it was helped into the net for an own goal via the boot of Peter Wisgerhof as the latter side qualified for the last games prior to the group stage.


title: Rui Patrício

text: On 20 December 2012, Patrício was awarded Sporting's Footballer of the Year award for a second consecutive year. On 18 October 2014, with the score at 2–1 for his team, he saved a penalty by Jackson Martínez to help oust Porto from the Taça de Portugal with a 3–1 win at the "Estádio do Dragão".


title: Rui Patrício

text: On 24 October 2016, Patrício was one of 30 players nominated for the 2016 Ballon d'Or award alongside Portugal teammates Pepe and Cristiano Ronaldo. The following 18 February he appeared in his 400th competitive game with Sporting, putting on a Player of the match performance in a 1–0 home win against Rio Ave FC.


title: Rui Patrício

text: On 15 May 2018, Patrício and several of his teammates, including coaches, were injured following an attack by around 50 supporters of Sporting at the club's training ground after the team finished third in the league and missed out on Champions League qualification. Despite the events, he and the rest of the team agreed to play in the Portuguese Cup final scheduled for the following weekend, eventually losing 2–1 to C.D. Aves.


title: Rui Patrício

text: Patrício's record of 467 official games was the second-highest in Sporting's history, behind only Hilário da Conceição.


title: Rui Patrício

text: On 1 June 2018, Patrício submitted a request to terminate his Sporting contract with grounds for just cause, due to the dressing room violence from supporters as well as seeing an €18 million move to newly promoted Premier League team Wolverhampton Wanderers fall through, after Sporting president Bruno de Carvalho pulled out of negotiations at the last minute. He completed the move on 18 June, on a four-year deal, and it was announced on 31 October that both clubs had agreed a €18 million deal as settlement of his departure to England.


title: Rui Patrício

text: Patrício opted to wear the No.11 shirt for Wolves as opposed to the habitual No.1, in honour of Carl Ikeme, who had just retired following treatment for acute leukaemia. He made his league debut on 11 August 2018, in a 2–2 home draw against Everton. He kept nine clean sheets – a club record – as they finished his first season in seventh place and qualified for the Europa League.


title: Rui Patrício

text: In 2019–20, Patrício increased his number of clean sheets to 13, and conceded 40 goals compared to 46 the season before. On the European front, he helped the team to a first continental quarter-final since 1972. On 19 February 2021, he played his 100th Premier League match in a 1–0 win over Leeds United.


title: Rui Patrício

text: On 13 July 2021, Patrício joined Italian side A.S. Roma, signing a three-year deal. He made his debut on 19 August in the first game under compatriot José Mourinho, a 2–1 win away to Trabzonspor in the first leg of the UEFA Europa Conference League playoffs. Three days later he made his first Serie A appearance, a 3–1 victory at home to ACF Fiorentina; he was one of seven players to feature in every game of the season while only Empoli F.C. counterpart Guglielmo Vicario matched him for playing every minute. He played all bar one of the 15 fixtures as the team won the inaugural Conference League, including the 1–0 final win over Feyenoord in Tirana.


title: Rui Patrício

text: From 2007, Patrício started appearing for the Portuguese under-21 side. On 29 January of the following year, senior team coach Luiz Felipe Scolari called him up for a 1–3 friendly defeat against Italy in Zürich, although he did not leave the bench; on 12 May he was picked to the squad for UEFA Euro 2008, but did not play in the tournament.


title: Rui Patrício

text: Although not part of the provisional 24-player list for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, Patrício was named in a backup list of six players. He made his debut on 17 November 2010, playing the second half of a 4–0 friendly win against Spain.


title: Rui Patrício

text: After Eduardo was relegated to the bench at his new club, S.L. Benfica, Patrício became the starter under national team boss Paulo Bento, and both players finished the Euro 2012 qualifying campaign with five games (450 minutes) as Portugal qualified for the final stages. He was the starter in the finals in Poland and Ukraine, conceding four goals in five matches in an eventual semi-final exit.


title: Rui Patrício

text: Patrício was included in Bento's 23-man squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup as first-choice, and made his debut in the competition in the first encounter against Germany, which ended with a 0–4 loss. He missed the second game against the United States, due to injury.


title: Rui Patrício

text: Patrício appeared in his 50th international on 30 June 2016, during Euro 2016: after the 1–1 draw to Poland at the Stade Vélodrome during the first 120 minutes, he saved Jakub Błaszczykowski's attempt in a 5–3 penalty shootout win that qualified to the semi-finals. Having won the tournament with a solid display in the final, he also made the squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. On 17 November that year, he captained the side for the first time in a goalless draw with Italy in the UEFA Nations League.


title: Rui Patrício

text: As Portugal defeated the Netherlands in the 2019 UEFA Nations League Final on home soil at the "Estádio do Dragão", Patrício earned his 81st cap, thereby surpassing Vítor Baía as the nation's most capped goalkeeper. After keeping his place at the delayed UEFA Euro 2020 in 2021, he reached 100 caps on 12 October that year in a 5–0 World Cup qualifying win over Luxembourg, becoming the seventh Portuguese and first goalkeeper to the landmark. In March 2022, he did not play in the World Cup playoffs, being replaced by Porto's Diogo Costa.


title: Rui Patrício

text: Patrício married Joana Pereira in June 2011, after a seven-year relationship. He filed for divorce on 24 December of the same year, aged 23. As of 2019, he is married to television sexologist Vera Ribeiro, with whom he has a son and a daughter.


title: Allison Tolman

text: Allison Cara Tolman is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Molly Solverson in the first season of the FX television series "Fargo", earning Emmy and Golden Globe nominations.


title: Allison Tolman

text: Tolman has two older brothers and a younger sister. Her family moved to England when she was a few months old and stayed until she was four years old. She spent the next five years in Oklahoma and West Texas, before moving to Sugar Land, Texas. She started taking acting classes when she was 10 years old at the Fort Bend Community Theatre. She attended Clements High School, graduating in 2000.


title: Allison Tolman

text: She graduated from Baylor University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in theatrical performance. After college, she moved to Dallas, where she was one of the founding members of Second Thought Theatre.


title: Allison Tolman

text: In 2014, Tolman starred in the first season of the FX black comedy crime series "Fargo". Inspired by the classic 1996 Coen brothers film of the same name, "Fargo" starred veteran actors Billy Bob Thornton, Martin Freeman and Bob Odenkirk. Tolman received accolades for her performance as Minnesota police officer Molly Solverson, with "Vanity Fair" writing that she "calmly and assuredly stole the entire show". For her role, she won the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Movie/Miniseries and received Best Actress nominations at the Emmy Awards and for the Golden Globes.


title: Allison Tolman

text: The same year, it was also announced Tolman would have a two-episode guest role on "The Mindy Project" as Abby Berman, a romance novelist. In 2015, she had a supporting role in Michael Dougherty's comedy horror film "Krampus", in which she co-starred with Adam Scott, David Koechner, Emjay Anthony, and Stefania Owen.


title: Allison Tolman

text: Following her breakout role on "Fargo", Tolman declined several supporting parts as mothers, wives and best friends, looking for a more unusual role. In 2017, Tolman starred in ABC's "Downward Dog", based on the Animal Media Group web series, It was canceled after one season.


title: Allison Tolman

text: She starred in the ABC drama series "Emergence", which premiered on September 24, 2019, and was cancelled after one season on May 21, 2020, despite getting "pretty solid" ratings according to Tolman on Twitter. She also guest starred in NBC's "Good Girls".


title: Allison Tolman

text: In 2021, she starred as Alma Filcott in the second season of the drama series "Why Women Kill", and played Natalie Green in "The Facts of Life" portion of the third edition of "Live in Front of a Studio Audience".


title: Lee Hyori

text: Lee Hyo-ri (; born May 10, 1979) is a South Korean singer, record producer, activist, actress and television presenter. Dubbed as the "Nation's Fairy" during her "Family Outing" days, she debuted as a member of South Korean girl group Fin.K.L, but has since become a solo artist. In 2003, she released her debut solo album "Stylish" which won several "Artist of the Year" awards. In 2006, Lee was the highest-paid female singer in South Korea when she signed a contract with Mnet Media.


title: Lee Hyori

text: Lee was born in 1979 in Osong-ri, Cheongwon County, North Chungcheong Province, South Korea, as the youngest of three daughters. Lee grew up impoverished, in a barbershop of about 8 pyeong (approximately 285 square feet). After being expelled from middle school once, Lee worked part-time at a restaurant and was scouted by an agency and cast by the manager of H.O.T. (band). She prepared for a girl group debut while living as a trainee of SM Entertainment before eventually debuting as the leader of Fin.K.L.


title: Lee Hyori

text: Lee began her career as part of South Korean pop girl group Fin.K.L. As the eldest member, she was the leader of the group. Lee was discovered while taking sticker pictures with her friends and was the last member to join Fin.K.L, just before their debut in January 1998. Fin.K.L debuted officially on May 22, 1998, with their first single "Blue Rain". The second release from their debut album, "To My Boyfriend", became the first of their multiple number one hits. Fin.K.L became one of the most popular and successful South Korean pop groups of all-time, rivaling fellow popular girl group S.E.S.


title: Lee Hyori

text: A year after Fin.K.L's fourth studio album "", her solo debut album was released in August 2003, entitled "Stylish". The lead single "10 Minutes" became one of her signature hits and the singer nearly swept the Daesangs, the most prestigious South Korean music award, winning more than seven of them, including three of the four most prestigious Daesangs. "Stylish" sold 144,182 copies in South Korea alone, according to the Music Industry Association of Korea in 2003. Her popularity in her various activities eventually was dubbed as the "Hyori Syndrome" in South Korea, and the Korean Media nicknamed 2003 "The Year of Hyori" as she was rarely out of the news all year.


title: Lee Hyori

text: In January 2005, Lee made her acting debut in the SBS TV series "Three Leaf Clover", starring opposite Ryu Jin, Kim Jung-hwa, Kim Kang-woo, and Lee Hoon. However, the 16-episode drama received low ratings (less than 10%) and Lee was criticized for her acting, with viewers saying she was miscast as a downtrodden but cheerful steel mill worker.


title: Lee Hyori

text: In February 2006, Lee released her follow-up album, "Dark Angel". The first single, "Get Ya!", was accused of being plagiarized by the songwriters of Britney Spears' single "Do Somethin'".


title: Lee Hyori

text: It was reported that Lee had signed a three-year contract with Mnet Entertainment (currently Stone Music Entertainment) for , becoming the highest-paid female singer in South Korea (approx. per year).


title: Lee Hyori

text: Despite the failure of her previous drama "Three Leaf Clover", in 2007, Lee starred opposite Lee Dong-gun in the mini-drama "If in Love... Like Them". Although originally announced as being only one episode long, it aired for four episodes on Mnet. An edited two-episode version of the drama also ran on SBS. During filming, part of a roof Lee was standing on collapsed. Only her foot fell through, but reportedly the fall might have been fatal if co-star Lee Dong-gun had not rescued her.


title: Lee Hyori

text: In February 2007, Lee announced her new digital single which would essentially be the soundtrack to "If in Love... Like Them". She performed all three main tracks from the single on "Inkigayo" on February 25, 2007. The lead song was "Toc Toc Toc" (). Despite the single's genre being R&B, Lee began to sing more ballads afterwards, slowly moving away from her "sexy superstar" image. The single, although initially given a digital-only release, was given a limited retail release of only 30,000 copies. It was released on March 6, 2007, and in addition to the three tracks found in the digital single, it included a reworked version of "Toc Toc Toc." It was the best-selling album for that month, selling 27,845 copies.


title: Lee Hyori

text: Although her single was commercially successful, her drama was heavily penalized for violating advertising guidelines, as "If in Love... Like Them" had several instances of overt product placement, in addition to using Lee's songs in the soundtrack. The Korean Broadcasting Committee ruled that the drama should not be aired in South Korea again, and that the network must apologize to its viewers.


title: Lee Hyori

text: Lee also did promotions in Japan when Japanese network Fuji TV aired "If in Love... Like Them", where Lee was given the same VIP treatment offered to other international stars. The drama was broadcast on CS Fuji, a smaller satellite channel that Fuji TV owned.


title: Lee Hyori

text: During breaks in her solo music career, Lee also hosted various television programs, including "Time Machine" and "Happy Together", which she co-hosted with Yoo Jae-suk in 2006. On April 8, 2008, she joined KBS's "Sang Sang Plus" as a co-host alongside Country Kkokko members Shin Jung-hwan and Tak Jae-hoon. She was one of the original co-hosts of "Change", a show on SBS's "Good Sunday" line-up, before leaving in early July. She is also a former cast member of the variety show "Family Outing", appearing in only the first season. Mnet ran a 12-episode show called "Off the Record: Lee Hyori", which documented Lee's life on-set for three months; the show's purpose was to lessen the gap between the singer and her fans/anti-fans by letting them see that she is just another human being like everyone.


title: Lee Hyori

text: On December 20, 2008, Lee held her first solo concert "Lee Hyori the Invincible" at the Jamsil Arena. Upon release, tickets to the concert sold out in five minutes.


title: Lee Hyori

text: Her third studio album, "It's Hyorish", was released on July 14, 2008. "U-Go-Girl", the first single from the album, peaked at number 1 on online and offline charts, including various television music shows.


title: Lee Hyori

text: In November 2009, her contract with Mnet Media was set to expire. Lee planned to sign a contract with Gil Entertainment (currently B2M Entertainment) and work with Gil Jong-hwa, Fin.K.L's co-manager who had worked with the group since its debut. However, her 2010 album was released under the label of Mnet Media.


title: Lee Hyori

text: Almost two years after her previous album, Lee returned with "H-Logic" on April 12, 2010. The album has 14 tracks, including collaborations with Daesung from Big Bang, Jeon Ji-yoon from 4Minute, Bekah from After School, Gary from Leessang, and Sangchu from Mighty Mouth. The singer worked also with E-Tribe, the team behind "U-Go-Girl", the lead single from her previous album.


title: Lee Hyori

text: A music video was released for "Swing" (), featuring Gary from Leessang, on March 31, 2010. The lead single "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" and its music video were released soon after. The self-penned song, which features Ceejay (from Freshboyz), was released the same day as her album. She won two Mutizen Song awards on "The Music Trend" for her lead single within two weeks.


title: Lee Hyori

text: Soon after the release of the album "H-Logic", seven of its songs, composed by Bahnus, were accused of plagiarism (among the allegedly plagiarized songs was "Bring It Back," performed by Canadian girl group Cookie Couture). On June 21, 2010, Lee admitted that the plagiarism accusations against her album were true, saying she had been "deceived"; she temporarily stopped all her activities as a singer and suspended her TV appearances.


title: Lee Hyori

text: While on hiatus, Lee began to grow as a cultural influence. She wrote online columns for vernacular newspapers such as The Hankyoreh that mixed her thoughts on life and career with social commentary, and was well reviewed for her simple prose, humor and intelligence. She also became an increasing presence in the civic community, emerging as one of the country's most high-profile animals rights activists. In 2011, Lee released two charity songs for donation to animal shelters, "Please Stay Behind" () and "Remember" ().


title: Lee Hyori

text: Beginning March 4, 2012, she and singer-songwriter/pianist Jung Jae-hyung hosted the music show "Jung Jae-hyung & Lee Hyo-ri's You and I" on SBS. The show aired its final episode on October 14, 2012, ending its ten-month run due to low ratings.


title: Lee Hyori

text: After her comeback was pushed back several times throughout 2012, it was announced that Lee would return to the stage with her fifth full-length album in May 2013. Five video teasers were released on YouTube on April 23, 2013. On May 6, 2013, she released her pre-release track for the album, titled "Miss Korea" (). Lee herself wrote and composed the sophisticated retro-jazz song (it was arranged by her then-boyfriend, guitarist Lee Sang-soon), and the full-version music video released on the same day was a black-and-white video depicting Lee as a circa 1950s-type glamorous Miss Korea pageant crown holder. She personally selected 30 non-celebrity women "with love and respect for themselves" who she saw as the genuine Miss Korea's to perform the song with her on stage at the 2013 SBS Gayo Daejeon televised concert.


title: Lee Hyori

text: Her fifth studio album, "Monochrome", was released on May 21, 2013. Lee wrote the lyrics for eight of the 16 tracks on the album, and reportedly used a full band instead of using electronically generated sounds for the songs. Upon its release, eight tracks were ranked in the top 10 on Bugs, Olleh and Naver Music, while its lead track, "Bad Girls" topped the charts on Melon, Naver, Olleh and Bugs. She performed "Bad Girls" as part of a highly praised collaboration stage at the 2013 SBS Gayo Daejeon televised concert along with CL from girl group 2NE1, who had also released a bad girl themed song that year called The Baddest Female.


title: Lee Hyori

text: On April 2, 2014, SBS announced she and actress Moon So-ri would host a talk show "Magic Eye". The show started filming in April. Due to low ratings, the show aired its final episode on November 18, 2014.


title: Lee Hyori

text: In February 2015, Lee's representatives announced that her contract with B2M Entertainment had expired in 2013. In May 2015, Lee announced that she closed her blog as well as her Twitter account. Along with shutting down her social media, she stopped all of her television activities. In October of that year, Lee's representative told media outlets that she would be taking a 2-year hiatus from her entertainment career, "in order to have time for herself."


title: Lee Hyori

text: In October 2016, Lee hinted at working on new music. In November, it was confirmed that Lee had signed with Kiwi Media Group with a new album due in 2017. In December, Lee made a return to social media with posts on Instagram.


title: Lee Hyori

text: In January 2017, Kwi Media's CEO Kim Hyung Suk revealed on MBC's "Video Star" that Lee was taking on the bulk of the responsibility for her new album as executive producer while working with him and "10 Minutes" songwriter Kim Dong Hyun.


title: Lee Hyori

text: In April 2017, it was announced that Lee would be starring with her husband in a new variety show entitled "Hyori's Homestay". In June, Lee's agency confirmed her comeback for early July as she prepared to film a music video for the single. Later the same month, her agency announced that singer-songwriter Lee Juck would be featured on one of the tracks.


title: Lee Hyori

text: A few days later, Lee released a teaser image and video teaser for the album's pre-release track "Seoul". The self-composed electro-R&B song was released on June 28, 2017, alongside the music video featuring the contrasting visuals of Seoul and Jeju Island. The album's tracklist was revealed along with a series of visual teasers for the album a few days before the album's release.


title: Lee Hyori

text: On July 4, 2017, her sixth studio album, "Black", was released alongside the rustic-themed official music video for the title track. The mature, experimental sound started with "Monochrome" continues as Lee wrote eight and composed nine of the ten album tracks.


title: Lee Hyori

text: Lee and her husband, Lee Sang-soon, turned their house in Jeju Island into a guest house to film Hyori's Homestay. In season 1, IU joins the show as an employee. In season 2, the employee position was replaced by YoonA, also in this season Park Bo-gum came to worked as a temporary employee.


title: Lee Hyori

text: On May 15, 2020, Lee announced that she had signed a contract with ESteem Entertainment. Through MBC's "Hangout with Yoo", she, under the stage name "Linda G", founded the summer project co-ed trio named SSAK3 with Rain and Yoo Jae-suk. They released a debut single "Beach Again" on July 18, 2020 and officially debuted on July 25 with a debut stage on Music Core. SSAK3 is a special summer project, and they announced that all proceeds from their songs and promotions will be donated to communities in need.


title: Lee Hyori

text: After SSAK3 project, "Hangout with Yoo" programme has a spin-off from Lee naming Uhm Jung-hwa, Jessi and Hwasa as the members she wanted in her dream girl group during the SSAK3 segment. The four women formed another girl group named Refund Sisters (환불원정대) with Yoo Jae-suk as a producer. They released a debut single "Don't Touch Me" on October 10, 2020.


title: Lee Hyori

text: On October 13, 2021, it was announced that Lee will be hosting the 2021 Mnet Asian Music Awards on December 11, 2021, making her the first woman to host the show solo.


title: Lee Hyori

text: After the disbandment of Fin.K.L., Lee's style has been categorized as Urban Pop and dance-pop. With the release of "H-Logic", Lee began to experiment with her sound by incorporating hip-hop into her music. Later releases have been influenced by country, blues, disco, folk and rock music. At the beginning of her solo career, Lee would sometimes write or co-write material for her albums alongside other songwriters. Later in her career, she began self-composing and producing much of her own material. Thematically, Lee's songs have ranged from love and heartbreak to empowerment to social commentary with a female perspective.


title: Lee Hyori

text: Lee's vocal range can be classified in the mezzo-soprano range. In spite of her sexy image, she has been recognized for her emotional delivery in songs like "Swing" and "Amor Mio". Lee has been criticized for her vocal ability, which she responded with "I think everyone thinks differently, so they can think so. Before, I felt like I was hiding behind the instruments. It felt uncomfortable otherwise. But starting from a point, I started liking my voice. Since I like it, it didn't really matter what other people thought."


title: Lee Hyori

text: As a member of Fin K.L, Lee became known for her sex appeal. This image has allowed Lee to lend her face and image to advertising for various company endorsement deals, and in 2005 she was chosen in a consumer survey as the female entertainer with the strongest brand power. In late 2003, Lee signed an advertising contract with Samsung, for which she would make three musical commercials and songs for their Anycall cell phones, which became some of her most prominent commercials. The first commercial and song, "Anymotion", was released in early 2005, featuring Eric Mun from Shinhwa. In early 2006, the follow-up commercial "Anyclub" featuring Teddy Park from 1TYM was released in two parts; the music video starred Eric Mun and actor Kwon Sang-woo. The songs from the commercials served as singles for Lee in between her albums. The final commercial was released in December 2006, titled "Anystar" and differed from the first two in that it featured mostly dialogue. The commercial starred actor Lee Joon-gi and YG Family trainee Park Bom (2NE1). Her contract with Samsung ended in December 2007.


title: Lee Hyori

text: For five years, Lee was the model for Lotte Liquor, making her its longest-serving endorser. According to Lotte, the market share of the company's soju brand rose from 11 to 15 percent while Lee modeled for it. Her contract ended in November 2012.


title: Lee Hyori

text: In 2007, she starred in a commercial with Jessica Alba for South Korean cosmetics company Ĭsa Knox, which was shot in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Lee also modeled for cosmetics company Biotherm (her contract ended in February 2007), and Black Bean Therapy, a health drink. She then signed with KB Card, and has starred in commercials along with Rain. She was a model for Calvin Klein Jeans, modeling for the "Pure Calvin" Collection. She was also briefly featured in a 2010 Adidas commercial. Over the years, Lee has appeared in music videos for artists like Davichi and Leessang.


title: Lee Hyori

text: During an episode of "Hangout with Yoo", Lee Hyori was brainstorming stage names for the project group Refund Sisters. During this conversation she said, “How about a Chinese name, since we could go global? How about ‘Mao’?” In response to this, Chinese viewers of the show expressed their discontent as the name was reminiscent of Mao Zedong.


title: Lee Hyori

text: Lee Hyori has appeared on the Korea Power Celebrity 40 multiple times throughout her career, including placing within the top 15 in 2009–2011. Lee has been citied as an inspiration or influence by numerous artists, including Kara, Jeon Somi, Chungha, Jessica Jung, Dalshabet, Nada, Cherry Bullet's Jiwon, Oh My Girl's Jiho, Laboum's Solbin, Elris's Sohee, Jung Eun-chae, Jin Se-yeon, and Huh Chan-mi.


title: Lee Hyori

text: Lee has been recognized as one of South Korea's leading socialtainers for her charity work and raising her voice for social causes. She adheres to a pescetarian diet according to her personal ethics and health beliefs and is an advocate for animal welfare and animal rights. In 2012 she published "Closer", a photo-essay book that focuses on her everyday life with her dog Soonshim whom Lee adopted from an animal shelter. In the book Lee wrote her thoughts on animal rights and animal shelters as well as her sentiments toward wearing animal fur. She has given money to shelters along with taking in stray and abused animals. Her work in animal activism has led her to interviewing Jane Goodall.


title: Lee Hyori

text: When SsangYong Motor laid off workers in December 2014, Lee gave public support of the workers via Twitter, announcing that she wanted to see the new car Tivoli sell well so they would be hired again, adding that, if it happened, she would dance in front of the car in a bikini.


title: Lee Hyori

text: During the 2012 presidential elections, Lee encouraged her fans to vote through a series of tweets and re-tweets. This drew both admiration and annoyance from others on social media.


title: Lee Hyori

text: In a June 2012 poll by Panelnow, Lee was listed as one of "the socialtainers that best represents Korea" alongside broadcaster Kim Je-dong, singer Kim Jang-hoon, and actress Kim Yeo-jin.


title: Lee Hyori

text: She married musician , guitarist of rock band Roller Coaster, on September 1, 2013, at their vacation home on Mt. Halla in Jeju Island. Both of them are members of an animal rights group and began dating after they collaborated in July 2011 on a song that Lee recorded to support animal shelters. In 2021, "South China Morning Post" estimated her net worth to be around US$30–40 million.


title: Michael Rispoli

text: Michael Rispoli is an American character actor. He was a contender for the role of Tony Soprano in the HBO television series "The Sopranos," but was ultimately cast as Jackie Aprile, a recurring character in the show’s first season. Rispoli reunited with "Sopranos" co-star James Gandolfini in the 2009 thriller "The Taking of Pelham 123".


title: Michael Rispoli

text: Rispoli, a second-generation Italian American, was raised in Tappan, New York, one of eight children, and attended Tappan Zee High School, where he played football. He majored in theater at State University of New York at Plattsburgh and graduated in 1982.


title: Michael Rispoli

text: The feature film "Union Square" (co-written and directed by Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Award winner Nancy Savoca) premiered in 2011 at the Toronto International Film Festival: Rispoli co-stars with Mira Sorvino, Patti LuPone, Tammy Blanchard, Mike Doyle, and Daphne Rubin-Vega.


title: Michael Rispoli

text: He also starred in the Pulitzer Prize-winning play "Between Riverside and Crazy" by Stephen Adly Guirgis.


title: Yuri Bezmenov

text: Yuri Alexandrovich Bezmenov (; December 11, 1939 – January 5, 1993; alias: Tomas David Schuman) was a Soviet journalist for Novosti Press Agency (APN) and a former PGU KGB informant who defected to Canada.


title: Yuri Bezmenov

text: After being assigned to a station in India, Bezmenov eventually grew to love the people and the culture of India. At the same time, he began to resent the KGB-sanctioned repression of intellectuals who dissented from Moscow's policies and he decided to defect to the West. Bezmenov is best remembered for his anti-communist lectures and books published in the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s.


title: Yuri Bezmenov

text: Bezmenov was born in 1939 in Mytishchi, near Moscow, to Russian parents. His father was a high ranking Soviet Army officer, later put in charge of inspecting Soviet troops in foreign countries, such as Mongolia and Cuba. Bezmenov's father died in the 1970s. When Bezmenov was seventeen, he entered the Institute of Oriental Languages, a part of the Moscow State University which was under the direct control of the KGB and the Communist Party Central Committee. In addition to languages, he studied history, literature, and music, and became an expert on Indian culture. During his second year, Bezmenov sought to look like a person from India; his teachers encouraged this because graduates of the school were employed as diplomats, foreign journalists, or spies.


title: Yuri Bezmenov

text: As a Soviet student, he was required to take compulsory military training in which he was taught how to play "strategic war games" using the maps of foreign countries, as well as how to interrogate prisoners of war.


title: Yuri Bezmenov

text: After graduating in 1963, Bezmenov spent two years in India working as a translator and public relations officer with the Soviet economic aid group Soviet Refineries Constructions, which built refinery complexes.


title: Yuri Bezmenov

text: In 1965, Bezmenov was recalled to Moscow and began to work for Novosti Press Agency as an apprentice for their classified department of "Political Publications" (GRPP). He discovered that about three quarters of Novosti's staffers were actually KGB officers, with the remainder being "co-optees" or KGB freelance writers and informers like himself. However, Bezmenov did not do real freelance writing. Instead, Bezmenov edited and planted propaganda materials in foreign media and accompanied delegations of Novosti's guests from foreign countries on tours of the Soviet Union or to international conferences held in the Soviet Union.


title: Yuri Bezmenov

text: After several months, Bezmenov claimed he was forced to act as an informer while maintaining his position as a Novosti journalist. He used his journalistic duties to help gather information and to spread disinformation to foreign countries for the purposes of Soviet propaganda and subversion.


title: Yuri Bezmenov

text: Rapid promotion followed, and Bezmenov was once again assigned to Bila in 1969, this time as a Soviet press-officer and a public relations agent for the KGB. He continued Novosti's propaganda efforts in New Delhi, working out of the Soviet embassy. Bezmenov was directed to slowly establish the Soviet sphere of influence in India. In the same year, a secret directive of the Central Committee opened a new secret department in all embassies of the Soviet Union around the world, titled the "Research and Counter-Propaganda Group". Bezmenov became a deputy chief of that department, which gathered intelligence from sources like Indian informers and agents, on influential or politically significant citizens of India.


title: Yuri Bezmenov

text: Bezmenov stated that he was instructed not to waste time with idealistic leftists, as these would become disillusioned, bitter, and adversarial when they realized the true nature of Soviet communism.


title: Yuri Bezmenov

text: During that period, increasingly seeing the Soviet system as insidious and ruthless, Bezmenov began careful planning to defect to the West.


title: Yuri Bezmenov

text: According to a statement provided to the Delhi Police by the so-called Russian Information Centre, on February 8, 1970, Bezmenov was set to see a screening of the American film "The Incident" with two of his colleagues. However, it was reported by them at the time that he had not bought his ticket, and told them he would join them in a moment and try to purchase one from a scalper outside the theater. Bezmenov did not return to the theater. Instead, Bezmenov put on hippie clothes, complete with a beard and wig, before joining a tour group. By these means, he escaped to Athens, Greece. His defection was reported in the United States, with Soviet sources stating he was "not important" and did "clerical work", and American intelligence openly stating they believed him to be an agent of the KGB. At the time, his whereabouts were depicted in American media as unknown. After contacting the American embassy and undergoing extensive interviews with United States intelligence, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was able to help Bezmenov seek asylum in Canada, granted by the administration of Pierre Trudeau. The CIA and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) advised him to adopt a new name and identity for reasons of safety. In order to save face with the embarrassment of a defection within the KGB ranks, the Delhi residency officially reported he had been abducted, and his son, his closest surviving relative, was given financial compensation.


title: Yuri Bezmenov

text: After studying political science at the University of Toronto for two years, and working on an Ontario farm for three years, in 1973, Bezmenov was hired by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in Montreal, broadcasting to the Soviet Union as part of the CBC's International Service. This is when he met his wife, Tess. In 1976, Bezmenov was fired from the CBC at the request of then Prime Minister, Pierre Elliot Trudeau. The Soviet ambassador to Canada phoned then-prime minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau to complain about Bezmenov’s Russian-language broadcasts. This led to a phone call from the prime minister to CBC’s president and on down the chain until Bezmenov was fired on March 9, 1976. After the CBC, he began free-lance journalism. He became a consultant for Almanac Panorama of the World Information Network. Bezmenov claimed that the KGB successfully used the Soviet Ambassador to Canada to persuade Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau to apply pressure to have him removed from that position. He claimed that he received veiled death threats from the KGB.


title: Yuri Bezmenov

text: He moved to Los Angeles in the 1980s. In 1983, at a lecture in Los Angeles, Bezmenov expressed the opinion that he "wouldn't be surprised" if the Soviet Union had shot down Korean Air Lines Flight 007 in order to kill Larry McDonald, an anti-communist Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives. Around the same time, Bezmenov had a child in the West, a daughter named Tanya. He later had a son named Johnathan.


title: Yuri Bezmenov

text: In 1984, he gave an interview to G. Edward Griffin, titled 'Soviet Subversion of the Free World Press'. In the interview, Bezmenov explained the methods used by the KGB for the gradual subversion of the political system of the United States.The main emphasis of the KGB is not in the area of intelligence at all. Only about 15% of time, money, and manpower is spent on espionage and such. The other 85% is a slow process which we call either ideological subversion or active measures ... or psychological warfare.Under the pen-name, Tomas D. Schuman, Bezmenov authored the book "Love Letter to America". The author's biography of the book likens Bezmenov to Winston Smith, from George Orwell's "Nineteen Eighty-Four". Other books by Bezmenov are: "No Novosti Is Good News", "World Thought Police", "Black Is Beautiful, Communism Is Not".


title: Yuri Bezmenov

text: In 1984, the "Washington Post" reported Bezmenov publicly denounced admission of a Soviet cruise ship to Los Angeles during the 1984 Summer Olympics, stating that they were placed there under the guise of entertainment, but maintained electronic surveillance equipment aboard to monitor radio and telephone communications. In another interview, Bezmenov would describe a series of methods he posited that the KGB had used during the Games, including espionage by Soviet foreign journalists, as well as the use of other personnel to "provide better control against possible athletic defections."


title: Yuri Bezmenov

text: In 1989, he and his wife divorced. That same year he moved to Windsor, Ontario, while she stayed in Montreal. Two years later, he began teaching international relations at the University of Windsor. In late December 1992, Bezmenov visited Tess and their children in Montreal for Christmas. Two weeks later, Bezmenov's death was reported on January 6, 1993. According to the "Windsor Star", he died of a "massive heart attack", on Tuesday, January 5, 1993.


title: Yuri Bezmenov

text: Since his death, Bezmenov's "Soviet subversion model" has been studied and interpreted by faculty and staff at the Joint Special Operations University (JSOU) to analyze historical events, including the decade-long Russian campaign that preceded the 2008 Russo-Georgian War. His work has also been cited by senior director of UPenn's Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement, and former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, Dr. Michael Carpenter. His lectures have also been used by Yale senior lecturer Asha Rangappa, to illustrate the concept of active measures in Russia's historical disinformation campaigns in the United States.


title: Yuri Bezmenov

text: On August 19, 2020, Bezmenov's 1984 interview discussing active measures with a journalist G. Edward Griffin was used in the teaser for the video game "", in addition to its use in the main introduction on August 26. This in part has contributed to a renewed interest in both Bezmenov's work and lectures.


title: Blink-182 (album)

text: Blink-182 (also known as untitled) is the fifth studio album by the American rock band Blink-182, released on November 18, 2003, by Geffen Records. Following their ascent to stardom and success of their prior two releases, the trio was compelled to take a break and subsequently participated in various side projects (Box Car Racer and Transplants). When they regrouped, they felt inspired to approach song structure and arrangements differently on their next effort together.


title: Blink-182 (album)

text: Recorded from January to October 2003 with producer Jerry Finn, the album has been described as darker and more mature than the band's earlier work. It also marked a musical departure from their previous efforts, infusing experimental elements, inspired by lifestyle changes (the band members all became fathers before the album was released) and side projects, into their usual pop-punk sound. Its songs are sonically expansive and downcast, leading critics to view it as a more elaborate, mature side of the band. The songwriting is more personal in nature and explores darker territory, touching upon the realities of adulthood and unexpected hardships. In addition, its recording process was long and often unconventional.


title: Blink-182 (album)

text: Fans were generally split regarding the band's "new" direction, but the album proved successful, selling 2.2 million copies in the United States. It received positive reviews, with critics welcoming its change in tone. Lead singles "Feeling This" and "I Miss You" received the most radio airplay out of the four singles released, and peaked high on "Billboard" charts. The worldwide touring schedule, which saw the band travel to Japan and Australia, also found the three performing for troops stationed in the Middle East. The album was the band's last recording with longtime producer Jerry Finn and their final original material before a four-year-long hiatus. It is also their longest studio album to date, clocking in at 49 minutes.


title: Blink-182 (album)

text: "Take Off Your Pants and Jacket" became Blink-182's first number one album in the United States upon its June 2001 release; it also hit the top position in Canada and Germany. Hit singles "The Rock Show" and "First Date" continued the band's mainstream success worldwide, with MTV cementing their image as video stars. However, guitarist Tom DeLonge felt that label limitations stifled his creativity, and sessions became contentious among the trio. They rescheduled European tour dates after the September 11 attacks, and they were called off a second time after DeLonge suffered a herniated disc in his back. With time off from touring, DeLonge felt an "itch to do something where he didn't feel locked in to what Blink was," and channeled his chronic back pain and resulting frustration into "Box Car Racer" (2002), a post-hardcore disc that further explores his Fugazi and Refused inspiration. Refraining from paying for a studio drummer, he invited Blink drummer Travis Barker to record drums on the project.


title: Blink-182 (album)

text: Box Car Racer, originally a one-time experimental project, became a full-fledged band with Barker behind the kit and Hazen Street guitarist David Kennedy on guitar. Blink bassist Mark Hoppus felt betrayed and jealous, and it would create an unresolved tension within the trio that followed the band for several years. "At the end of 2001, it felt like Blink-182 had broken up. It wasn’t spoken about, but it felt over", said Hoppus later. Barker, meanwhile, joined rap rock group Transplants in 2002 and was featured on their first album, "Transplants". In addition, Blink-182 co-headlined the Pop Disaster Tour with Green Day, alongside opening acts Jimmy Eat World, Saves the Day, and Kut U Up in 2002. It was an "uncomfortable" time in the band according to Hoppus, but they had "hundreds of discussions about it" and seemingly moved on. Barker felt the dynamics of the band changed with Hoppus and DeLonge's marriages: "Blink-182 were no longer just three inseparable guys who were touring together." Meanwhile, he began dating model Shanna Moakler, inviting tabloid attention, adding to the "awkwardness" present in the band.


title: Blink-182 (album)

text: The post-hardcore sound of "Box Car Racer" inspired the change in tone and experimental nature the band approached "Blink-182" with. Hoppus described his desire for the album to experiment with different arrangements in a 2002 interview: "Before, we got one guitar sound that we changed a little bit through the record. This time we want to try a whole different setup for each song." Hoppus recalled that Barker entered the production process by urging the band to "[not think of the album] as the next Blink-182 record — think of it as the "first" Blink-182 record." The members were also inspired after hearing "" by Bad Astronaut and its expansive sound. "Once the door was opened by Tom and Travis with "Box Car Racer", Mark started to be more on board with that concept. He was also more flexible and the next Blink album was able to be a pretty big departure from the previous two", said assistant engineer Sam Boukas. ""Box Car Racer" opened the door in that sense and I think the three of them wanted to be more creative and have more creative liberty on that next album."


title: Blink-182 (album)

text: In January 2003, the band rented a home in the San Diego luxury community of Rancho Santa Fe, planning to record the entire album there. In addition to the home being converted into a studio, pay-per-view pornography was on continuous play, and it included a space to "smoke hella weed" in the garage. The trio ditched their typical previous recording process (writing and demoing several songs and recording them in a studio one instrument at a time) and instead approached each song together. The band "attacked" each song and worked on three to four songs per day, simply moving on to the next one when feeling "burned out" on a track. The band also had fun at the home studio; DeLonge commented, "If I wasn’t smoking half of Colombia I probably ran up $3 million in adult film charges." The band recorded at the home until April 2003, when the owners of the house "kicked them out." Barker, unwilling to leave Moakler, would drive from Los Angeles to San Diego each day. He subsequently left that spring to tour with Transplants, leaving the band with a variety of drum tracks to listen to while he was gone. The band regrouped after being "kicked out" by the owners of the house they were recording in and began recording at Rolling Thunder studios until the band left to perform a couple of summer shows in Canada and Japan, where they premiered several songs live. The in-studio antics and behind the scenes moments were recorded and posted on the official Blink-182 website throughout 2003, as well as on a MTV album release segment.


title: Blink-182 (album)

text: The recording process of the album eventually lasted from January to August 2003, with an additional mixing and mastering period lasting until October. Previous Blink-182 sessions were recorded in three months. The band stated that being in a studio longer than three months gave them the luxury of experimenting with different methods of writing, playing, and recording. The band built each song with a minute attention to detail. Hoppus described the studio as a "musical laboratory": over 70 guitars, 30 amps, "30 or 40" different snare drums, up to six drum kits, various keyboards, turntables, and pianos were used in the album's production, a lot of which came from Finn's personal collection. Barker was responsible for the turntables and a copy of Pink Floyd's "The Wall". The group also enlisted the help of James Guthrie, an engineer behind "The Wall". The trio also sent The Cure frontman Robert Smith the bed track of "All of This" in hopes he would contribute; Smith makes a guest appearance and recorded his parts in England. The three initially believed their legitimacy would be in question due to the humor-oriented nature of their earlier recordings, to which Smith responded, "Nobody knows what kind of songs you are going to write in the future and nobody knows the full potential of any band. I really like the music you sent me." The band also collaborated with DJ Shadow and Dan the Automator, and Barker desired to work with The Neptunes. Jerry Finn, who had produced the previous two Blink-182 albums and the Box Car Racer album, returned to produce "Blink-182", which would be his final collaboration with the band.


title: Blink-182 (album)

text: As the record neared completion by August 2003, the band performed for a short time for the armed forces in the Middle East and premiered more new songs at their Reading and Leeds sets. The trio shot small, home-made videos for several songs on "Blink-182", as well as the official music video for "Feeling This", the song they picked as the first single. The band spent time to finalize the CD booklet and album artwork in September. Mark Hoppus stated that the album was so "personal to all three of us that we really wanted to be involved in every aspect of it." The release date kept getting missed and pushed back to the point where Jordan Schur, then-president of Geffen Records, made calls asking, "What is the absolute last possible second that we can turn this thing in and still make our release date?" DeLonge described the final days of mixing the album as "crazy stressful", with "literally hours to turn [the album] to have it come it out on time." The album was in production so late that final mixes were still being judged by Hoppus, DeLonge, and Barker the night before the album was sent to the pressing plant. For Barker, he later considered it his favorite time in the band's history, commenting, "That was a good time in my life. I was smoking "just enough" weed and taking "just enough" pills."


title: Blink-182 (album)

text: While still rooted in pop-punk, "Untitled" finds the band expanding their sonic template with darker, restless songs. The compositions on the record have been described as musically diverse and "borderline experimental," with sullen moodiness and off-kilter hooks the basis for many tracks. The record pulls from a variety of styles, including post-hardcore, electronic rock, jangle pop, and "reflective" alternative rock. Experimentation was constantly present: the band tried different mic techniques and toyed with harmonium organs, Polynesian Gamelan bells, and turntables. The band infused these experimentalist elements into their usual pop punk sound, inspired by lifestyle changes (the band members all became fathers before the album was released) and side-projects (Box Car Racer and Transplants.) In a full article about the album in the November 20, 2003 edition of the "Milwaukee Journal Sentinel", Ben Wener described the music of the album as "expansive, downcast, and sometimes spectral." "The New York Times" considered that the album may have been influenced by the growing popularity of emo pop, while AllMusic regarded it a delve into post-punk. "Much of the punk has been dissolved, the buzzsaw guitars faded into the corners, allowing room for staggering dynamics, cathartic guitar bursts and a weightier, more experimental and ambitious sound", wrote Tom Bryant of "Kerrang!".


title: Blink-182 (album)

text: The goal for "Untitled" was continuity: each song develops lyrically like chapters in a book, and songs segue into one another to present a cohesive feel instead of a regular collection of tracks. In addition to the side-projects, the music of the album was inspired by the September 11 attacks and the onset of the Iraq War. The mood was unsettling for DeLonge, whose brother is a Navy officer: "It was so weird because we'd all be glued to the TV, watching these bombs explode over another country. So I'd see all this and wonder where he was at, and then we'd have to go into the next room and sing or finish writing lyrics. I think it affected our moods throughout the day." In addition, it was inspired by the band simply socializing together: "We would just hang out for hours talking. It was really cool," said DeLonge.


title: Blink-182 (album)

text: Critics agreed that this album represents a more "mature" Blink-182, hence the absence of songs with toilet humour or jokes for which the band had been known. "We wanted to be different," remarked DeLonge. "Some of our fans were probably like, 'Fuck, maybe they should stop joking so people could hear why I like this band.' And I think this record is going to help those kids out.". In an interview with "MTV Album Launch", Hoppus said that the desired effect of the album was for people to listen to it and say, "Wait a minute...that's Blink-182?" The themes for the album include growing up and dealing with the realities of adulthood including relationship woes, daily pressures, and unexpected hardships.


title: Blink-182 (album)

text: The album is lyrically consumed with sorrow and uncertainty about the world. "Entertainment Weekly" described it as a concept album based on a dying relationship, a "self-meditation on romantic decay." "I think at this point in our career, we are better musicians and we've evolved our way of thinking as far as songwriting", DeLonge told "Billboard" in reference to the more mature lyricism. Hoppus, in his interview with the "Milwaukee Journal Sentinel", described the lyrics as the most personal he had written to that point. While past recordings tended to meditate on feelings from high school, the band felt it was akin to a safety net and desired to write about "what's going on […] right now." Lyrics continued to be autobiographical, but the band took more time than usual on their writing. DeLonge would routinely rewrite his sections upwards of four times.