Virtual Rabbit

As an enthusiast for both the new age movement and computer graphics, Susumu Hirasawa gradually came to believe there are similarities in ideas from both fields, with virtual reality as their common ground. The Moon rabbit folktale came to his mind when thinking of something natural he wanted to see in a computerized world, so he created a situation where there was a rabbit in virtual reality and wrote the song from there. With a mythical figure inside a logical device, he had a formed image to expand, which became the concept for the Virtual Rabbit album.

A "bursting pop number", Hirasawa considered a few different patterns for the intro phrase that plays repeatedly through the song and struggled to choose, ultimately picking the plainest one after getting everyone in the studio to listen to them. The original vocal melody was completely different: after Hirasawa asked engineer Masanori Chinzei for his opinion and was replied with complete silence, he replaced it.

Versions
This version is driven by guitar between each sung segment. From the last stanza of verses onwards, it features toy accordion backing. It starts with a fading in snare roll and ends with the last chorus repeat.
 * Virtual Rabbit, 1991

The drum pattern is changed and a synth line doubles the guitar parts between sung segments. A coda capped by a short "buildup" follows the last chorus repeat.
 * HIRASAWA error ENGINE - Hirasawa Three Acts in Three Hours: Lower, 1994

Titled "Virtual Rabbit 2", arranged in the P-Model style. The live coda, topped off with samples of the Space Shuttle Challenger liftoff countdown and a "flamenco" bit on acoustic guitar (taken from the last live of the Virtual Rabbit Tour) bookends this version. A new phrase is played between the intro and the first appearance of the "guitar" segment, later reappearing as a bridge (with the Challenger sample over it). The guitar melody is played on synth, the "descending" vocal melodies that end certain verses are put through a vocoder.
 * Solar Ray, 2001

Live performance of "Virtual Rabbit 2". More layers of synth are present on the new phrase, Hirasawa plays synth bass through Graviton in the latter halves of verse stanzas, the bridge and the outro.
 * Live Solar Ray, 2001

Variation of "Virtual Rabbit 2". The guitar melody is played on Ice-9, a more acoustic drum pattern is in place, a phasing synth bassline appears throughout the parts where Hirasawa sings.
 * Phonon 2551 Vision, 2008