I dunno if it’s just me, but MURAMASA seem to have slightly toned down the ska beats on SWINGING, clamping down on the number of horns and focusing on heavier electric guitars. Compared to the c/w songs, the song is merely passable; the chorus wears thin after about 5 listens. But it’s saying something that I’d still rank SWINGING amongst the Top 3 anime themes of the spring season; such is the poor quality of the songs on offer.

I absolutely love CHOCOLATE SHAKE. Didn’t know Yumi was singing in English ‘til I saw the lyric sheet but it doesn’t matter, cos it’s one of the catchiest, bounciest pop tunes I’ve heard this year. KimiBoku is awesome too – starting out all ballad-like and charging straight back into horn-infested ska waters. Reminds me why I got into J-ska stuff in the first place. If anyone’s looking out for similar bands to MURAMASA, try getting hold of some GOLLBETTY or Yum!Yum!ORANGE.

Verdict: 9 Otsuus for dance-ability.
First day Oricon debut: No.12

sanagi. POSSIBILITY (Gintama ED9)

Kudos to Sony for using Gintama as an engine for introducing some of their lesser known acts to the general public; the likes of DOES, redballoon and KELUN have gotten more exposure that way. I’ve never heard of POSSIBILITY myself, but the first impression sanagi gave me was that their sound was similar to groups like Aqua Timez, ORANGE RANGE and Flow – a mash of rap and rock that is pretty popular amongst teenagers these days. It’s unfortunate that sanagi is paired up with arguably the best Gintama theme song so far (DOES’s 5th opening Donten), making it appear flat by comparison. It’s alright’s ska influences hint that there is more to POSSIBILITY than just aping the three bands mentioned above.

Verdict: 8 smokin’ Takasugis.
First day Oricon debut: No.15

O2. ORANGE RANGE (Code Geass R2 OP)

Hmm. I started out liking O2, but with each passing episode of Code Geass R2 it’s starting to annoy the pants off me. It doesn’t have much of a tune and the rappers sound like they’re drugged up to their eyeballs. Like everyone else, I wish Flow had been employed again instead – WORD OF THE VOICE is wasted on something like Persona. Oh well, I’m at least thankful that they didn’t use Jinn or Access. Oh, and I’m loving Harujion, though I’m starting to wonder what’s up with the proliferation of reggae/ska-inflected songs this week ^^;

Verdict: 6 Puzzled Gintokis. Still can’t decide whether I love or hate O2.
First day Oricon debut: No.03

Kaze ga Nanika wo Iou to Shiteru. Hayami Saori (Wagaya no Oinari-sama ED)

I think Hayami’s got a lovely, crystal clear vocal but it’s not really being put to good use on Kaze ga etc, a mediocre mid-tempo ballad that sounds like it was written in the mid-90s. The song’s arrangement and melody reminds me of Mieno Hitomi’s Dearest, which served as the I!My!Me! Strawberry Eggs opening theme at the turn of the century. And that was a much better song with a much stronger chorus IMHO. I prefer the c/w song Miracle Way~Tsuyoku Yasashiku Mamorarete~ but then I suppose I would, given that it’s written by lyricist Sonoda Ryoji and Fujita Junpei of Elements Garden, both of whom worked on recent Mizuki Nana releases. So half a good single here, and I’ll be interested to see how Hayami does on the the theme songs for the upcoming Sekirei – the opening will apparently come with a dance

Verdict:5 bored Zuras
First day Oricon debut: No.39

Hen na Kamisama o Shitteru yo. Hanazawa Kana (Kyoran Kazoku Nikki Yuka ED)

I’m pretty bored by the fact that they intend to milk as much out of Kyoran fans as possible by releasing separate singles for each ending. If they had lumped them all together onto one CD I might’ve considered buying it, but 8 singles? Overkill. I wouldn’t pay ¥100 for this single either. The Yuka ending was never one of my favourites, it just sounds…weird. And boring as hell too, though I must commend the fact that all those remixes on each CD actually sound like some effort went into the production process (has bad memories of the crappy remixes on the Negima 1000%SPARKING box set). The spaced-out mix here actually makes the song sound a lot better than the original.

Verdict: 4/10 Okitas for exciteability.
First day Oricon debut: >Top 50

Lucky Tune. Anna (To Love-Ru ED)

Anna is the lead singer of BON-BON BLANCO, a group whose concept is lost on me (maracas and congas a band does not make). I hated them with a passion, and their songs for One Piece (Bon Voyage) and Get Backers (Namida no Hurricane) made me cry…when the blood started flowing out of my ears. Luckily Anna (an American citizen btw) has ditched the latino rubbish in favour of a bland mainstream pop-rock sound for her debut solo single. I’m not really complaining, but I do wonder why Lucky Tune, which is a pretty crappy song by any stretch of the imagination, got the nod for To Love-Ru ahead of the vastly superior Hoshi no Kakera.

Verdict: 5 space alien penguins for blandness.
First day Oricon debut: No.42

The Worst of the Rest
Tochoshatachi. KENN (Druaga ED)

Hoo boy. Another one of those forgettable generic anime songs – one listen to this and I’m already begging for mercy. Obviously no issues with KENN’s singing, but I prefer the stuff he did with The NaB’s for Yu-Gi-Oh!GX. Tochoshatachi and its coupling track KIZUNA sound so gay they should’ve gotten a woman to sing it.
First day Oricon debut: No.45

Baby Romantica. SCRIPT (Junjo Romantica ED)

I was surprised that I didn’t dislike this as much as I thought I would. I think my expectations were dimmed by the fact that I detested the opening theme by PigStar, but Baby Romantica is sufficiently pleasant to warrant a second listen. Not something I’d stick on my car stereo though.
First day Oricon debut: >Top 50

Never looking back~Suki tooru kokoro de~/que sera sera. Rie/TASO (Crystal Blaze OP/ED)

Ska may stand a chance of slipping comfortably into the anisong genre, but R&B certainly does not. I have no idea who the heck chose this pair of dreadfully dull slow jams to represent Crystal Blaze, but they sure need to be shot. Way to go for making people tune out within the first 2 minutes of the show.
First day Oricon debut: >Top 50

still doll. Wakeshima Kanon (Vampire Knight ED)

I’m no visual kei fan and I don’t care that the songs are supposedly written by one of its gods (Mana of Malice Mizer fame), they’re still boring as hell. I kept waiting for some sort of climax on still doll but I was still waiting by the time the song was over.
First day Oricon debut: No.22

Zettai loveXlove Sengen!!. Hirano Aya, Shiraishi Ryoko & Tomatsu Haruka (Zettai Karen Children ED)

For such a bombastically stupid show aimed towards the brainless and er…5-year old kids, the songs are pretty dull aren’t they? The three seiyuu also sing a version of the opening song and although it is a slight improvement on the original (which was recorded by a bunch of 14-year old girls), it still doesn’t stop it from being a bit shite. I can’t decide which of the two tracks I dislike more but the bottom line is that they’re both crap.
First day Oricon debut: No.14

AWAKE~Boku no Subete~. Ono Daisuke & Kamiya Hiroshi (Monochrome Factor ED)

This sounds so much like a Johnny’s song it’s not funny. At best AWAKE would make a half-decent KinKi Kids B-side but nothing more. Good job on masking Kamiya Hiroshi’s bad singing though.
First day Oricon debut: No.25

Work Guy!!. Fukuyama Yoshiki (Kamen no Maid Guy ED)

I respect the guy but hot-blooded, guitar shredding, shouty rock has never been my thing. In fact, listening to Work Guy!! Made me feel like my head was being pounded by rocks.
First day Oricon debut: No.20

Kataomoi Fighter. GO!GO!7188 (Itazura na Kiss ED)

GO!GO!7188’s career has been in terminal decline over the last 4 years and nothing can save them anymore, it seems. Their original material is crap so go check out their covers album Tora no Ana 2 which was released on the same day.
First day Oricon debut: No.13

Gintama icons this week courtesy of 泉源福池.

Er, you might’ve noticed that I’m playing about with rotating header images – I’m not really happy with how some of the turned out (the Aria one in particular) so I’ll be working on it over the next few days.

…don’t expect to hear it on the Minami-ke character album.

Albums
KimiKiss pure rouge Character Song Album

I only watched 1-2 episodes of kimikiss, and still get it mixed up with Myself;Yourself even now – not a huge fan of the genre *shrug* But anyway, prior to this CD’s release I took a look at the seiyuu cast list and facepalmed. Out of the 9 girls, I’d say only two of them were actually proven singers (Tanaka Rie & Nogawa Sakura). The rest range from middling to crap, with the exception of Ikezawa Haruna who doesn’t actually sing much, but I have fond memories of the songs she did for Memories Off way back whenever.

Praise the wonders of good production, for they are able to make even Noto Mamiko, Hirohashi Ryo and Kawasumi Ayako sound great on record! But of course, what really matters is the quality of the material and I’m pleased to report that it was a more pleasant experience than I expected. The best song is definitely Tanaka Rie’s fantastic Kibina Koko Koka – it’s one thing being a bad singer, but it takes real skill to sing so completely off-key like that. Two thumbs-up!! I’m going to make it my ringtone soon. Apart from that, Ikezawa’s many many smile and Kawasumi’s Kaleidoscope are the pick of the bunch. Some of them (Hirohashi, Koshimizu, Mizuhashi) weren’t particularly memorable but I didn’t dislike anything enough to press the skip button, which is a good sign.
Rating:

Minami-ke Biyori

Wait. I didn’t know they were gonna sing in character >_> Which means we don’t get Chihara Minori singing in Minorin mode – we just get her singing in Chiaki mode twice, one with Mizuki Nana’s Toma spouting rubbish at Chiaki in the background and the other with inner Chiaki spouting rubbish at outer Chiaki in the background.

Minami-ke is a series that is close to my heart, so I’m gonna make an attempt to speed review through the album’s 12 tracks. Refer to the chart below (yeah, yeah I drew it up in 3 seconds using Excel) for individual scores for each song – Vocals does NOT refer to how well each seiyuu can sing, but rather how close they sound to their characters (since they are singing in chara mode after all). Song is obviously, how good the song sounds (to me). Both categories scored out of 5.

1. Sato Rina’s own speaking voice is so close to Haruka’s – not really singing in character. The song is cheerful but bland – just like Haruka (and Rina).
2. Well, Inoue Marina certainly sings as annoyingly as Kana no doubt would. The song’s annoying too, which is not a good thing.
3. Woah. That sounds exactly like how I’d expect Chiaki to sound if she were singing ^_^ Pretty amusing song too – love Toma’s cameo too. This is probably the closest you’ll get to a Chihara Minori-Mizuki Nana duet, folks.
4. Eh? That doesn’t sound like Toma, it just sounds like Mizuki Nana >_> But it’s the best song on the album by a long, long way though I fail to see how it fits her character.
5. No, that doesn’t resemble Makoto/Mako-chan either. Morinaga Rika needs to work harder at singing like a manly man. Dreadful song too.
6. KitaEri successfully replicates her squeaky, cutesy Uchida voice on a song. Toyosaki Aki’s not half bad either. Song is quite fun, but repetitive.
7. Oh lordy. Apart from the fact that Kakihara Tetsuya’s singing is hideous, it sounds nothing like what I expected Fujioka to sound like – why must he sing so low? I do actually like the song though.
8. Erm.. what did Riko sound like again >_> Goto Saori’s Keiko is spot on, but that’s cos she only ever produces one type of voice ^^; It’s a half-decent, but not particularly memorable song.
9. The singing is more Ono Daisuke than Hosaka really – I enjoyed Sato Rina’s random lines though. Song is amusingly silly, in a bad 80s enka pop way.
10. Ahhhh. Which is Maki and which is Atsuko again? I always enjoy Takagi Reiko’s singing though (she’s a sentimental fave of mine since voicing Waya in Hikaru no Go). Girl Jundo ↑ is one of the better, upbeat songs.
11. Sensei! Ninomiya-kun! Sensei!! Ninomiya-kuuunnn!!! Thankfully the lyrics had a lot more words than that. The song is horribly cheesy but that was to be expected. I was surprised at Ohara Momoko’s above average singing.
12. The full version of track 3 minus Toma. Inner Chiaki can be quite fun.

So yeah, it was a mixed bag but I’m sure Minami-ke fans will find something to like here. Maybe Hosaka’s Ahaha-ahaha-ahaha? And Kitamura Eri really needs to make an album ASAP – I’d buy five copies of it straight away.
Rating:

GUNSLINGER GIRL-IL TEATRINO- VOCAL ALBUM

What’s worse than 8 different versions of Happy Material? Seven versions of doll, that’s what. Yeah it’s a better song that HM could ever hope to be (maybe), but not when it’s sung seven times on an eleven-track disc. And annoyingly, the arrangements are indentical >_> Add some maracas or something! By the time the one version I had been looking forward to (Enomoto Atsuko’s) rolled around, I was already sick to death of the song. But Acchan’s was still my favourite out of the 5 seiyuu. Mizuno Risa was better than I expected but Shiono Anri’s singing is still as poor as ever and Hanazawa Kana sounded like a singing robot. A cute singing robot. That’s me done with this album, ain’t gonna touch it til the next decade.
Rating:

Singles
forever we can make it!. THYME

It’s been a long 8 months since I reviewed THYME’s debut single. So just as I was wondering if the trio were ever make a follow-up, here they are – they certainly have the right ingredients to make it big with a very radio-friendly pop-rock sound and a talented frontwoman (the band is named after her) at the fore.

Forever we can make it! isn’t the song that will get them there though – the chorus is weaker than a teaspoon of coffee powder diluted with 6 litres of water. Somehow it sounded much better when there were images of Lala’s boobs to accompany the music >_> THE LAST DAY however, is a different proposition. Like Drive from the first single, it’s a very smart, sassy blues-tinged song that promises more to come from the trio – keep an eye on them.
Rating:

Love Jump. Kuribayashi Minami (kure-nai OP)

I have a love-hate relationship with Minami – when she first came to prominence with KGNE, almost everything she put out was pure gold (Precious Memories, Hoshizora no Waltz, Kaze no Yukue) Then I listened to things like Shining☆Days and Dream☆Wing and start rolling my eyes – they’re songs that should never have made it out of the songwriting process, let alone get recorded. But I digress.

Apart from the oddly disjointed chorus, Love Jump is a fine song that ranks somewhere in between Yell! and Crystal Energy in terms of greatness. Although its suitability for kure-nai is somewhat questionable… But the real highlight is Sakuradokei – OMG damn good! She rarely does ballads like this, and it’s a shame that it just got banished to being just a C/W song – certainly deserves more love.
Rating:
Watch: Love Jump PV

Chosai Kenbo Sengen. MOSAIC.WAV (Kyoran Kazoku Nikki OP)

I’m guessing that for most people, listening to Chosai will be like having twenty thousand steel buckets dropping on their heads one after the other. On the whole, MOSAIC.WAV songs are harder to swallow than a mustard & grapefruit sandwich, but this is their first anime theme that really comes close to their ultra-annoying denpa stuff like Yuri Seijin Naoko-san and Kyuin. All the others (the Sumomo ones, Katamichi Catchball) seemed so tame in comparison. Fortunately I favour them at their whacked out best and this single has that in spades – & of course, Mi~ko’s crazy breakneck talking is just mind-boggling.
Rating:

Triangler. Sakamoto Maaya (Macross F OP)

Before its release, I was pondering if Triangler would be as good as Hemisphere but the answer is clearly no. Part of my dislike of the song has to do with the fact that Maaya’s singing in an unnaturally high voice which grates on my nerves. And sadly, the song also suffers from ‘Weak Chorus Syndrome’, making the ‘comeback’ of the Kanno + Sakamoto partnership merely decent instead of legendary. I’m not so damning in my review now than I would’ve been a few weeks ago, triangler has grown on me a bit more since then. Still, it still ranks as one of the pair’s worst anime theme collaborations ever – no way on earth is this up to the high standards of Purachina, all the Escaflowne songs, Kiseki no Umi or even Gravity.

Kotomichi gives me goosebumps. But it also gives me warts, ear calluses, corns and bunions – Maaya’s super-high singing does stuff like that to me. The song itself is pretty good (it’s written by somebody called Takada Michiko), but I’d like it a lot more if someone like er…I dunno, Ito Yuna? Nakashima Mika? or maybe Hirai Ken were in front of the mic.
Rating:
Watch: Triangler PV

Ameato. w-inds. (Katekyo Hitman Reborn! ED7)

Reborn’s immense popularity might have helped Ameato along a little, but w-inds. are big enough to not need the boost. Besides, it’s probably the most unconventional ‘anime song’ of this week’s bunch of releases, being a slow burning r ‘n’ b song that it is likely to send anisong fans used to high-octane, adrenaline-pumping anime themes to sleep. However, Ameato is also the highest debuting single reviewed in this entry I quite like it myself, though I doubt many others will.
Rating:
Watch: Ameato PV

Unnamed world. Hirano Aya (20-Menso no Musume ED)

I was thinking that Unnamed world sounded pretty pleasant, if rather uninspiring..and awfully familiar. Then I realised that it sounded a lot like MonSTAR, which was written by the same person (Kurosu Katsuhiko). After a few spins, I still prefer MonSTAR though. At least Hirano seems to have settled for a pop-rock sound unlike most of her fellow seiyuu idols. Trouble is, that is that she’ll be a drop in the sea of (way more talented) Japanese female pop/rock singers-songwriters.

Maybe I can’t good-bye… oh boy. Grammatically incorrect title, an intro that sounds like it came straight out of Blur’s Song 2 & then somehow veers off into bizarre grunge-lite territory halfway through. It also comes with Hirano’s self-penned, stangely warbled Engrish lyrics – she sounds like she’s got marbles in her mouth >_> I’m sure it wouldn’t bother me so much if the song was in Swahili, but because it’s in a language I think I understand, it’s pretty off-putting. Why write a song in a language you learnt from Moegaku 5? It’s like me trying to write a song in Japanese; I could certainly attempt to but I probably wouldn’t get beyond lines like バカ！お兄ちゃんのエッチ！助けてください！ or something similar.
Rating:
Watch: Unnamed world PV

Kimi=Hana. pigstar (Junjo Romantica OP)

Oh heavens, just what we need – an emo band singing the theme song for a yaoi anime. Despite trying to look hard, jumping around pounding their instruments, it doesn’t hide the fact that they seem to be making a living singing awfully saccharine, vomit-inducing love songs. And to think that I thought they might sound like Sambomaster based on their looks… Just don’t bother, listening to pigstar will shorten your lifespan by 12 years – you don’t want that, do you?
Rating:

Metamorphose. Asriel (Monochrome Factor OP)

…what is this, a yaoi lovefest? I must confess that I’ve never listened to Asriel despite them being a vaguely familiar name on the doujin circuit. I guess they’re aiming for the gothic metalpop market that the likes of Yousei Teikoku and Ali Project occupy – and they’re pretty good too. I daresay I’d like it more if I hadn’t seen that cover :/ That’s the one that resembles Michael Jackson, aye? (I don’t watch Monochrome Factor).
Rating:

PHOSPHOR. Miyazaki Ui (Kanokon OP)

PHOSPHOR – generic anime theme song #587. What the heck was Okui Masami on when she wrote this >_> It sounds like she took bits of Sora no Kakeru Hashi, Souda Zettai and TRUST, lumped ‘em together, blended them and put the results through a juice strainer. Not pretty.

The fantastic STRATEGY (amusingly written by a guy called MACARONI) sounds like a song that would slide in perfectly on Hirano Aya’s Unnamed world single. The difference between Aya and Ui is that the latter sounds good on record every single time – Miyazaki has a strong, versatile voice that can adapt to all sorts of musical styles unlike Hirano. Aya however trumps Ui in looks, style and level of exposure. Just look at that awful cover -_-
Rating:

Koi no Honoo. Sakakibara Yui (Kanokon ED)

Koi no Honoo – Generic anime theme song #588. None of Yui-nyan’s anime songs so far have matched the quality of her eroge material, and I’m starting to doubt if they ever will. Ugh… next!
Rating:

Process/third bridge. KAORI (12RIVEN ED – PS2)

I really love KAORI as a singer – couldn’t care less about her seiyuu career (she was Hachi in NANA), but Process is a tad on the rubbish side. Luckily, third bridge is an excellent song that balances things out quite nicely.
Rating:

Bokutachi no Yukue. CooRie (D.C.II.SS ED)

As I’ve mentioned before, CooRie always seems to save her best songs for Da Capo and this is no different. The C/W song Simple ni Nare is bloody awful though :/
Rating:

Sakura Amaneku Sekai. yozuca* (D.C.II.SS OP)

I hate yozuca*, but at least she isn’t fat and pretensive like the pigstar singer. But her songs have no redeeming features, I wonder why I even bother to give them a go when I know my hopes of hearing something good are so low.
Rating:

Where are you, Hata Motohiro single?

Non-anisong Highlights:
Telecastic Fake Show. Ling Tosite Sigure
Now this is the sort of sound VELTPUNCH should be aiming for, not that awful ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION rubbish they produced for Nabari no Ou… as crap as the general Jpop charts are, I love it when bands like Ling Tosite Sigure can still maintain the original sound that made them indie faves and still attain mainstream popularity. Fantastic band.
Together. MONKEY MAJIK
Gay pop music. You’ll either love it or hate it – no in-between.
Watch: Together PV
Hi-Five. Superfly
She’s setting the standard for all aspiring female rock singers. After a breather with the ballad Ai o Komete Hanataba wo, it’s back to the rockier sound of previous hits like Manifest.
Watch: Hi-Five PV

Albums tomorrow.

Special Days. Goto Yuko

…well, that was hideous. I’m used to the fact that Goto sings through her nose most of the time, but this time Special Days sounded like she sang intoxicated, with a clothes peg on her nose and earplugs in her ears. Those…vocal inflections (you know, when she goes ri-iii, ga-aaa etc) make me wanna tear my hair out and er… shove it down her throat. Not only is her singing shit, both the songs are shit too. Maybe that’s because I’m too used to the quality that companies like Starchild or Lantis usually produce (Pony Canyon are the ones behind this).

And after hearing Special Days (as well as Hidamari Gate), you start to wonder why the heck the music producers ever thought of letting any of those 7 seiyuu near a microphone. Or perhaps the sound director is to be blamed for hiring 7 seiyuu who (mostly) can’t sing to save their lives. Have they ever considered the welfare of the people suckered into buying the CDs? Avoid like the bubonic plague.
Rating:

Hidamari Gate. Fukuyama Jun, Shimono Hiro, Yonaga Tsubasa, Horie Kazuma

Argh, my ears. Hidamari Gate is full of squeaky mice! Only Horie doesn’t sound like a 12-year old boy whose voice is yet to break, but it’s too bad that his singing is rubbish. I’d never heard him or Yonaga sing before and on this evidence, I never want to hear either of them exercise their vocal cords ever again. OK, maybe (Yonaga) Wing-kun isn’t that bad, but I still don’t like high girly-boy sing-song voices. Ugh. Oh, and I forgot to mention that Hidamari Gate is an awful song. Almost as bad as Special Days, but at least parts of the verses are a bit tolerable.

In an attempt to counter all that shrill, high-pitched gayness of the first song, Fukuyama decides to sing Midnight Moon about two octaves lower than his usual range and it’s so comically painful I’m at a loss to describe just how I feel about it – I think I need to wipe the blood that’s oozing out of my ears first. But at least Fukuyama isn’t singing through his nose >_>
Rating:

WHEEL OF FORTUNE (Unmei no Wa). Shimamiya Eiko

The phrase ‘Wheel of Fortune’ doesn’t particularly hold fond memories for me: 1) It’s a lame TV gameshow (I watched the one with Pat Sajak when I was a kid) 2) It was also the name of the Saint October opening theme. Thankfully no such traumatic experiences here. WHEEL OF FORTUNE turned out sounding like neither Higurashi no Naku Koro ni nor Naraku no Hana which is a good thing given how I’m almost unable to tell one I’ve song from another these days. I prefer the slow-burning Diorama over WOF though.
Rating:

Always in My Heart. LAST ALLIANCE

I had this sinking feeling when I heard the opening bars of Katahiza no Yogore – man, that sounds like a L’arc~en~Ciel song :/ Thankfully it didn’t quite turn out like that. It’s slightly less melodic and edgier than the majority of LAST ALLIANCE’s back catalogue, but only a little bit. C/W I.O.J.F.K. sees the band back on more familiar ground and that song rocks hard.
Rating:
Watch: Katahiza no Yogore PV

Kaeritakunatta yo. Ikimonogakari

So you’re wondering ‘What does this have to do with anime music?’ Well, the C/W song Nokori Kaze is actually the theme song for the BLEACH The 3rd Phantom DS game, which I suppose more or less qualifies it to get a review here. Of course I’m also a keen fan of the band, who never fail to amaze me with their consistency at churning out pop hit after pop hit, and at regular intervals too – it’s only been two months since the release of their sophomore effort Life Album after all.

Kaeritakunatta yo is yet another pop gem that they’ve conjured up – it’s one of those soaring, string-laden ballads, a bit like Akaneiro no Yakusoku, the single before last. The upbeat Nokori Kaze is however, even better than the lead track. And they can afford to leave such strong tracks languishing as B-sides @_@ it’s a masterpiece on the level of Beethoven when you compare it to most of the crap polluting the top 10 these days.
Rating:
Watch: Kaeritakunatta yo PV

Tears…for truth~true tears Image Song Collection~. Various

This CD almost completely follows the sola template of image song albums – that means, hire professional musicians to write and sing the songs and please don’t let the seiyuu loose on them! So why the heck did they let Takagaki Ayahi sing in her Noe voice T_T I despair when Ayahime chooses to sing in character (her Da Capo character CD was a bit of a disaster too). If she really has to, I wish she’d employ the deeper voice that she used for Venus Versus Virus’s Ruchia character song inner world.

Still, the rest of the album more than makes up for that dreadful Aburamushi song – so quickly whipping through the highlights. eufonius’ Sonomama no Boku de is the one that people will be most familiar with, having been played during that scene in episode 10. And the duo also turned the Noe theme on the OST into Angel on tree, and I thought that worked really well.

Rita is the latest doujin singer-songwriter to crossover from eroge to anime, and harmonia (not to be confused with RYTHEM’s Naruto song of the same name) is so polished I had to dig my ears to make sure I wasn’t hearing things (hint: doujin music often has poor production). Atsumi Saori’s Takarabako is of course, wonderful. Anything by Atsumi-san is wonderful in my eyes (and ears). Ito Masumi’s dreamy new days is the other high point on the album, but really – the 10 songs do a good job of conveying the world of true tears and I’m pretty sure I’m still gonna be listening to them 8 months from now.
Rating:

What I’d really recommend you go check out this week:
Life. ACIDMAN – It’s ACIDMAN. ‘Nuff said. Of course nothing quite matches up to the eternal highs of stuff like Sekitou or Zouka ga Warau for me, but it’s still a solid effort.

I would also like to mention that I don’t think that Special A is even half as interesting or funny as Ouran, and based on the first two episodes I’m almost ready to drop down the toilet hole. It’s partly because I can’t bear listening to Goto Yuko anymore, so Nabatame Hitomi/Akira, give me the strength to persevere…

H20~FOOTPRINTS IN THE SAND~ OST. Fujita Junpei

Congratulations to those who persevered to the end with the abomination that was veH2O~Footprints in the Sand~. It was a show that left me cold by the end of the first 23 minutes, and at that time I wish it had left me blind as well. But thankfully, my hearing was left intact as the one good thing that came out of those wasted minutes was the music. The best parts are mainly made up of sweeping string-laden pieces such as The bridge & Hitoribocchi no Senaka – their arrangements are certainly befitting of the Elements Garden name. Even the ‘comedy’ tunes on the album are somewhat amusing rather than just being plain annoying. I think this has just overtaken true tears’s OST as my favourite anime soundtrack in 2008 so far. GJ, Fujita Junpei.
Rating:

Zoku.Zetsubo Gekiban Senshu. Hasegawa Tomoki

I was quite looking forward to this as I’ve been enjoying the show’s music so far. Things starts off on a good note with the main Zoku theme, which sounds like something you’d hear in a depressing sob-story movie, where at the end the hero returns to his hometown after fighting monsters for 6 years only to discover his entire family has been massacred by zombies. Or something.

Tracks 4-6 are my favourite group of songs on the CD; all whimsical, nostalgic ballroom pieces. It mostly goes downhill from there on unfortunately, with a bunch of odd, repetitive tunes featuring weird harmonica solos and of course, that dreadful Nonaka Ai song – I can’t quite recall which episode it was from. Ugh. Although the second season has more interesting theme songs, the soundtrack from Season 1 is definitely much better. As if we haven’t gotten enough of Zetsubo-sensei, there will be a image/theme song best of compilation album to be released on 14th of May that features a new track by Ohtsuki Kenji feat. Kimura Kaere called…. 豚のご飯 (Pork Rice). Hooray for insider seiyuu jokes! (豚のご飯 is something Kaere’s seiyuu Kobayashi Yu keeps proclaiming as being her favourite food).
Rating:

ARIA The ORIGINATION PIANO COLLECTION II – DIPARTENZA. Senoo Takeshi & Kubota Mina

Another piano collection…I’ve never been big on arrangements that feature a sole piano. It’s just that I’ve already been spoilt with the original versions that it all feels flat hearing a few dinky keys. That, and I’m more of a guitar person anyway. Just ignore this one and get the original soundtrack if you haven’t already.
Rating:

Makino Yui. Makino Yui

Oh yes, I still think Makino sounds like a leaking helium balloon. But there’s no point being able to sing brilliantly if the songs suck, right? Thankfully, Yui doesn’t suffer from the latter problem, there are plenty of good songs here to get stuck into – it’s a good mix of upbeat tracks and ballads. The non-acoustic version of Yokogao is sublime, Tooku Made Ikou a slice of very enjoyable laidback, breezy pop that sounds perfect for a lazy summer afternoon and Solfege is really soothing.

Despite the fact that the three singles from the album (synchronicity, Spirale & Sketchbook o Motta mama ni) didn’t set my world on fire, they fit in perfectly well here. A case of where the whole is more than the sum of its parts – that makes it two good albums out of two for Makino now. It also debuted in the top 20 of the Oricon daily, which is pretty surprising considering the indifferent chart performances of the aforementioned singles. Good for her, hopefully it sells steadily and ends up higher than Tenkyu no Ongaku’s overall chart position of No.36.
Rating:

YOU&YU. Kobayashi Yu

So here we are, Kobayashi Yu’s debut album. As she promised, it’s a predominantly ‘rock’ affair, with a couple of ballads thrown in for good measure. So how does it stack up against Makino Yui’s fine effort? Yakusoku and Zetsubo ni Saku Hana are the picks of the bunch – both fine pop-rock songs with big, friendly choruses. Then we have Mix Juice de Max Power, which is…. bizarre, to say the least. This is also one of the two Kobayashi-penned lyrics, and amazingly pokes fun at herself in many ways. C’mon, it features gorilla chanting as well as the legendary line そしてナイジェリアで会いましょう (So let’s meet up in Nigeria), and also other random lyrics like ‘Sliding down Mt. Everest, grazed my butt’ and ‘I drank the water of the River Nile and got a stomachache’. What.The.Heck? Someone’s gotta be writing all this for her, I don’t think her brain has the capacity to come up with all that.

Other than those three tracks (and the four already released), there’s not really much to write home about; they mostly fit neatly into two categories – dullard ballads (Ashita no Kimi, Sunao na Kimochi) or plodding mid-paced ‘rockers’ (Akai Chapel, the title track). Average debut, but I’m hopeful that there’ll be better things to come.
Rating:

SAVIA. Kawada Mami

For some reason, I’ve never truly gotten into Kawada’s music despite being a KOTOKO devotee. There was the odd song I liked (IMMORAL, radiance, Hishoku no Sora) but otherwise there’s just something about her that leaves me a bit cold. I think it’s the fact that she sounds way too much like KOTOKO for my liking, and I’m not particularly fond of her ‘rock’ style.

None of the songs from the singles preceding SAVIA particularly impressed me either, I think triangle and Beehive were the only ones I vaguely liked. Out of the new tracks, only TRILL and portamento didn’t make me yawn. I was certainly glad when the 60 minutes of SAVIA were up, and it’s an album I don’t think I’ll be revisiting anytime soon.
Rating:

Lucky Star Character CD Vol. 13 – Kusakabe Misao. Mizuhara Kaori

Whaaat? I thought we were done with all those Lucky Star-themed coaster/frisbee/CD hybrids. But no, here’s another one of them damn things. It’s beyond a joke now. I can’t stand this rubbish anymore. How could anyone possibly justify spending their hard-earned cash on something that’s so awful that I’m already scrambling for the off button by the first instance of Mizuhara shrieking ‘Ariene’. Why subject yourself to such torture? Carving yourself up with a steak knife is a more tolerable method to hasten your path to the afterlife than listening to this CD.
Rating:

LOVE TODAY. Taja (Gundam 00 insert song)

Good grief. I think I just found a contender for ‘Most Snooze-Inducing Gundam Song’ to rival CHEMISTRY’s insomnia-curing Wings of Words. Despite my apathy for Gundam Seed & GSD, those iterations did at least produce some fairly brilliant insert songs like FictionJunction YUUKA’s Akatsuki no Kuruma and the many good Lacus Clyne songs sung by Tanaka Rie. This is however, just awful, and is another one to add to the crappy Gundam 00 song arsenal that already includes other insipid songs like Stephanie’s Friends and The Back Horn’s Wana. The single is saved by Boku ni wa Dekinai, which at least has something resembling a tune.
Rating:

Melty tale storage. Chihara Minori

Eh. I’m not fond of Melty tale storage, a stupidly named song with lyrics that plumb new depths of pointless and hopeless Engrish. Hata Aki must’ve been asleep when she wrote it, and Minorin’s inability to render English words properly probably makes the song sound worse than it actually does. I was wondering what ‘Zetalisation’ meant when I looked at the lyric sheet and realised it was actually ‘The tale is ancient’. And that she was singing ‘So older’ and not そうだ.

The PV is nothing special either – there’s some nice close-ups of Minorin’s face, and her outfit look nice.. but you know that like Paula Abdul, if I’m commenting about the performer’s clothes that there is something seriously wrong with the song. I much prefer the remixed Echo of Melty tale storage, at least the rather weak chorus is obscured by the plethora of beats and squeaks. Not helping the single is the C/W song Sandglass~Kioku no Ryushi~ which starts off promisingly, but ends up being a pretty bland ballad dressed up with nice strings that mask the song’s shortcomings (another shit chorus). I’m sure Minorin’s songwriters can do better than this.
Rating:

Cosmos no Youni. Uehara Rena (ToHeart Another Days ED)

The immediate thought that entered my head when I heard Cosmos no Youni was ‘This sounds like something Suara might do’. So I looked Uehara up and lo & behold, she’s signed to Fix Records, the same label Suara is on. And the song is also written by a bunch of people who’ve worked with Suara before as well. Obviously, if you’re into Suara’s breezy, light pop this will be worth checking out. I myself find it a little dull.
Rating:

Rosario + Vampire Character Song CDs
I’ve actually been pleasantly surprised by how much I’ve enjoyed the image song CDs for Rosary Pants or whatever it should be called. Given how crap the show is, they have no right to be anything but rubbish but they’re actually anything bar rubbish – easily trumps the Lucky Star CDs. I love how they’ve been making one of the two songs on each CD a cover of old Jpop tunes – oh, the nostalgia.

Vol.4 – Shirayuki Mizore. Kugimiya Rie

I’ve been pretty neutral about Kugimiya’s voice acting skills, neither liking nor disliking her throughout the years. But I must say, for someone whose voice is so naturally nasal I’ve always found her singing surprisingly good. Well, good when you compare it to seiyuu with a similar vocal range like Koyama Kimiko and Kaneda Tomoko. I’ve no idea what sort of character Rie’s doing in Rosario, but she adopts a whispery, seductive voice for her two songs here. The enka-styled Yukidoke no Koigokoro is a little on the boring side, but I really like her cover of Nakamori Akina’s Slow Motion – in fact I think it’s pretty awesome. I’d recommend both Rie-lovers and haters to give this single a go just to hear a different side of her.
Rating:

Vol.5 – Tojo Rubi. Chiba Saeko

OMG, Chiba Saeko $%^$!@)}” (dissolves into a nervous wreck). She could be singing the Tunisian national anthem backwards or the alphabet and I’d still love it anyway. Hearing this CD reminds me how much I miss her singing career T_T I really love the cover of Minamino Yoko’s Hanashi Kaketakatta too, it’s even more awesome than Kugimiya’s cover song. The best single this week by a super long country mile, but I’m knocking off half an Alice for that gay saxophone solo on Tomodachi dayo. I hate saxophones.
Rating:

Vol.6 – The Kapucchu. Mizuki Nana, Fukuen Misato, Koyama Kimiko, Kugimiya Rie & Chiba Saeko

OMG. Can’t stop laughing. They chose to cover Ushirogami Hikaretai’s Toki no Kawa o Koete! I don’t actually care for the song itself but the PV, where Kudo Shizuka & co. looked like they were going to be swept away by the wind any minute has always stuck in my mind. The original track Tsumetai Rosario is also a decent enough song, and the number of able singers amongst the five girls (Mizuki Nana, Chiba & Kugmiya) nicely balances out those that can’t sing (Fukuen Misato, Koyama Kimiko). This is the weakest of the 3 Rosario CDs out today, but still stronger than Volumes 2 and 3. I hope this isn’t the end of the series though, unlike the Lucky Star frisbees I would gladly stomach another 7 CDs of thi… on second thought, maybe not. That would mean listening to messrs Kishio Daisuke, Koyasu Takehito and Seki Tomokazu sing and I’m not sure I’d like that.
Rating:

Mata ne. DREAMS COME TRUE (One Piece Movie 9 Theme)

Seeing the cartoonized Miwa and Masato on the cover is pretty funny, but that’s as good as it gets. Mata ne is a re-cut version of an album track (off their newest album AND I LOVE YOU); although I quite liked the song the first time around, it still doesn’t stand out as potential single material to me. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry when I heard all those cheesy One Piece voices, and I’m not surprised that it’s kind of lagging in the charts. Who’d want to buy this solely for the pleasure of hearing random Luffy and Chopper quotes?
Rating: ★★☆☆☆

D.C.II~Da Capo II~ Character Song Vol.3 – Shirakawa Nana.

Well hello. Upbeat Nanaka songs that I actually find tolerable. Tolerable, mind you. Not likeable. I still, for the upteenth time, don’t think Chihara Minori’s voice fits these kind of cheerful pop songs very well but it’s still probably the best out of the 4 CDs so far.
Rating: ★★★☆☆

D.C.II~Da Capo II~ Character Song Vol.4 – Yukimura Anzu. Okajima Tae

A few weeks ago I was pondering whether ‘Oyajima’ could sing. Well I got my answer, and it wasn’t the one I was hoping for. Actually, she’s technically better than Aoki Sayaka but Oyaji’s voice is just so weak that she can barely muster anything beyond a whisper, which happens to be off-key too often for my liking. That, and she seems to be singing half a beat behind the music. Shame, cos the songs are quite likeable.
Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Marionette. ROLLY & Zetsubo Shojotachi (Zoku.Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei main ED)

Oh dear. It’s the creepy Marionette aka the creepy ‘Teacher’s Pet’ song. Actually, I might’ve enjoyed the song more if the lyrics said anything other than ‘Teacher’s Pet’….. how about Silhouette? No? Erm…. Soaking Wet? Shonen Bat? Omamori doesn’t impress much either, especially not after the highs of Koiji Romanesque and Kuso Rumba.
Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Koisuru Kioku/Negai. Sakakibara Yui/Chata (Yotsunoha OP/ED)

Being an anime opening theme means Koisuru Kioku is very unSakakibara. Negai isn’t very Chata-like either. Both songs are also dreadfully dull, a bit like the anime….. someone wake me up when it’s all over.
Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Kagaribi. KAORI (Ayakashi ED)

The shining light amongst this week’s dismal lot. It’s not groundbreaking & it’s not actually that catchy either, but put next to something like Chata’s Negai, Kagaribi sounds like Nessun Dorma. I like it, and it’s also a few thousand times better than the crappy anime it came from.
Watch: Kagaribi PV
Rating: ★★★☆☆

I also skipped U-Ka Saegusa in db’s Conan ED#29, cos looking at the title (Yukidoke no Ano Kawa no Nagare no you ni) already made my eyes water. Didn’t like HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR’s Flashback/Komorebi no Uta (Jushin Enbu special theme) and Kita Shuhei’s Breakin’ through (Persona~Trinity Soul OP) either.

Albums
true tears Original Soundtrack. Kikuchi Hajime

This was already a contender for best anime soundtrack of 2008 for me from the very first episode. And that’s despite most of the tracks reminding me of something else – SeLecT sounds like a slower version of Nanase Hikaru’s Nemu o Sagashite (from D.C.S.S. OST 2), Ichijin no Kaze reminiscent of a few dozen Kajiura Yuki songs (Irritation Silence etc) & Kagami, Kimi o Utsushite sounds like something that I can’t quite put my finger on – Masuda Toshio maybe? Still, I thought that it’s a sterling effort from Kikuchi, the composing half of eufonius (who did the opening Reflectier). Minor complaint – the ‘aburamushi song’ by riya here is awful, sounding like a nursery rhyme my 6-month old cousin composed. I can only hope the forthcoming insert and image song collection features a better version, preferrably by Noe’s seiyuu Takagaki Ayahi.
Rating: ★★★★☆

Izayoi no Tsuki, Kanaria no Koi. Tamura Yukari

Have I ever mentioned that I find Yukarin’s music exasperating? I’ve never been a big fan of her songs that weren’t anime tie-ups; some might call her chosen style eclectic/experimental or whatever you like, I just think of it bizarre, sub-standard songs that were probably rejected by a half dozen other singers before making their way to Yukarin.

Apart from the two Nanoha-related singles (Hoshizora no Spica & Beautiful Amulet), not a lot else is memorable. In fact, most of it is unlistenable – Non-Stopping Train (a hideous attempt at Utada Hikaru) and Sand Mark (rock music, apparently) are two of the worst offenders. I think Jogen no Tsuki is the only song that I really like. Otherwise I felt an irepressive urge to strangle a cat with every passing second of every song. And that is why I prefer Horie Yui to Yukarin – as bland as Hocchan’s music is, it at least doesn’t make me want to bash my stereo to pieces with a sledgehammer.

Oh, and despite Izayoi….’s deceptively encouraging Top 5 debut in today’s daily Oricon album charts, bear in mind that it’s a desperately poor week for albums, with only BoA likely to hit the 50k mark.
Rating: ★★☆☆☆

mighty roller coaster. meg rock

The gap between the release of mighty roller coaster and the first single from it (Peach Girl’s OP theme Baby Low Tension)? Three verrrry loooongg years. Frankly, I don’t think it was worth the wait…. but what the heck, I wasn’t waiting anyway. It just sort of came along and I just sort of gave it a go….. it wasn’t a very pleasant experience. At least I don’t have to wonder any more about who was the talented one in Melocure, the late Okazaki Ritsuko obviously had a better songwriting hand. porcupine is the only song that sticks in my mind after the 40 tortuous minutes I spent with this CD, and that’s only cos of the title. This turned out more like a Crappy Carousel than a Mighty Roller Coaster, but I’m sure someone out there will find a lot to like about it.
Rating: ★★☆☆☆

I refuse to listen to Fukui Yukari.

If it wasn’t bad enough, the mainstream Jpop releases were pretty awful too. There were a couple of releases that didn’t make me want to scream/cry/pull my hair out though.

Ai o Komete Hanataba o. Superfly

After the excellent collaboration with Australian band Jet (the down and dirty i spy i spy) comes Ai o Komete Hanataba o, a string-laden catchy pop tune that serves as the theme song for the Ito Misaki-starring dorama Edison no Haha. I love it – certainly there’s more melody life in the song’s chorus than the rest of the crap I’ve been listening to so far. There’s also a half-decent cover of Fleetwood Mac’s Rhiannon, which would be infinitely better if vocalist Ochi Shiho didn’t sound like she was swallowing/slurring all her words. Regardless, this is a fantastic single and its mild chart success (debuted at No.13) will serve as a nice birthday present for Ochi, who turned 24 on Feb. 25. I will be following their career with great interest….
Watch: Ai o Komete Hanataba o live on Bokura no Ongaku
Rating: ★★★★☆

Namidairo. YUI

Despite being one of the most unoriginal singers in Japan (Avril Lavigne?) and also one of the sulkiest ones around (Does she ever smile??), at least she sings with a bit of passion. Namidairo starts off all Wonderwall but quickly turns into another one of her typical pop-rock songs, which I’m sure her fans will lap up – I thought it was OK but not great. On a brighter note – Laugh away, a song slated for her next album and currently being used in a Glico ad is pretty awesome, especially the full version.
Watch: Namidairo PV
Rating: ★★★☆☆

As a note, the chatmonchy single Hira Hira Hiraku Himitsu no Tobira is utter rubbish. ;_; I really do like them otherwise.

I aim to do a quick round-up of what I dub the ‘Lantis & Starchild Release Day’, which, if anyone follows the anisong release schedule will realise happens at least once every month. For this month it’s the 23rd January – a large percentage of the winter season’s theme songs are getting released on the day, which also makes me think that anime record companies are bonkers. Who the hell has that much money to spend on all those CDs anyway? Why not spread out the release schedule to maximise sales? The mind boggles. But that’s not what I’m gonna continue prattling about. Onwards!

23 January Highlights

Wasurenaide. Suara (KimiKiss ED2)

After the disappointment of the Blue Drop single, Suara starts anew with Wasurenaide, the new ending theme for KimiKiss. And thankfully it’s a major improvement – I really, really like it! Much more Snow*’s awful Negaiboshi anyway. Suara (Indonesian/Malay for voice if anyone doesn’t know it yet) lives up to her name – an emotional vocal that makes a seemingly ordinary piano/ string-laden ballad that extra bit more special. Too bad KimiKiss is too weak a tie-in to give Wasurenaide a bigger push.
First Day Oricon Chart Placing: Outside top 50
Rating: ★★★★☆

Kokoro no Tsubasa. Satou Rina, Inoue Marina & Chihara Minori (Minami-ke: Okawari OP)

A 180° turn from the cheerful Minami-ke opening theme Keikenchi Joshochu – I think most people hate Kokoro no Tsubasa, which is a bit unfortunate. I guess the biggest problem is that the song doesn’t fit the feel of the Minami-ke world, which is supposed to be all bright sunshine and blue skies, bakayaros and Fujiokas. Kokoro no Tsubasa is a bit… less sunshiney and reminds me a lot of avex songs; Hikaru no Go’s theme songs for example (dream, shela etc).

Throwing all thoughts of Minami-ke out of my mind, I find that I do quite like the song – it suits Minorin’s personal musical style pretty well. Huge departure for Rina though, whose own music is…..how should I describe it? Ethereal, dream-like, slow etc? I never quite imagined her trying out dance songs but she pulls it off alright IMHO. The new radio opening HAPPY MY LIFE is a complete failure though. It even manages to suck more than the first one did, which is quite some feat.
First Day Oricon Chart Placing: No.25
Rating: ★★★☆☆

Kuso Rumba. Ohtsuki Kenji & Zetsubo Shojo-tachi (Zoku.SZBS OP/ED1)

The title always makes me laugh – I keep thinking ‘Shit Rumba’ instead of ‘Daydream/Imaginary Rumba’ (糞 [くそ] instead of 空想 [くうそう]). Anyway, Kuso Rumba is probably Ohtsuki’s best out of his three ventures into animesong-land – the ‘Rumba Rumba Rumba’ refrain is already permanently lodged in my brain. The girls also come to the fore this time, counterbalancing Ohtsuki’s menacing growl with their sweet vocals – Miyukichi in Mataro mode brings a smile to my face. Adding to the package is Koiji Romanesque, a long overdue opportunity for the ‘other’ girls (Goto Yuko, Matsuki Miyu, Sanada Asami, Tanii Asuka) to shine. Sanada’s really the only one out of them with strong vocal credentials, but the fact that it’s such a fantastic song means singing ability matters nought.
First Day Oricon Chart Placing: No.12
Rating: ★★★★★

FIGHT OR FLIGHT. Kobayashi Yu (Dragonaut ED2)

FIGHT OR FLIGHT is certainly an improvement on Fukui Yukari’s first ending theme (Rain of Love) for Dragonaut, a show that I’m not sure whether I should be taking seriously anymore. I wonder if Kobayashi has any intentions of pursuing a music career in the long-term, or if she’ll just be limited to doing stuff for Konami. I’m pleased though, that she’s getting to try out different styles – Yu-tan’s certainly got the vocal chops to tackle anything. The first two tracks on the single are typical HAL pop-rock compositions, and Massara na Tenshi is an acoustic song, not something I think she’s done much of. And she pulls them all off equally well – I certainly enjoyed the single a lot more than I thought I would. Is it just me, or does Kobayashi resemble a certain Hamasaki Ayumi on the cover?
First Day Oricon Chart Placing: Outside top 50
Rating: ★★★★☆

Kasanaru Kage. HEARTS GROW (Gintama OP4)

It’s always the shonen shows that get the best songs for opening/endings, thanks to the fact that Sony are sponsors for most of them (Bleach, Naruto, FMA, Gintama too). That said, most of these songs have bugger all to do with the show in question and that is the reason why nobody outside of gaijin otaku even thinks of something like L’arc~en~Ciel’s READY STEADY GO as a great anime song – it’s just a normal Jpop tune that happens to be tied-in to some big-name anime. Anyway, HEARTS GROW are another one of those bands Sony are hoping to get some exposure for via an anime tie-up (they also did one for…. Naruto I think). I actually really like them – much more than I do ppl like Captain Straydum (ugh) or GaGaGaSP (eww). Gintama songs have been consistently good all the way through and Kasanaru Kage continues the trend nicely. Maybe lacks the impact of redballoon or KELUN, but still packs a pretty mean punch.
First Day Oricon Chart Placing: No.19
Rating: ★★★★☆

Spirale. Makino Yui (ARIA The ORIGINATION OP)

Right, let’s get it over with. Spirale is the worst ARIA opening theme ever. Yeah, I even like SONOROUS more than this one, I’m afraid. To be fair, the bar was already set pretty high with the fantastic Euforia and the even more brilliant Undine. Spirale gets stuck in a rut fast, with a chorus that goes flat when it should be peaking, and verses that are apt to make Suara’s BLUE sound like Beethoven’s Ode to Joy. And to my chagrin I can’t skip the song when I’m watching the show because, as ARIA fans will know, the song blends into the episode (no opening animation). I’m in despair! Yokogao is more likeable, and less sleep-inducing and saves this single from…. well, my Recycle Bin I suppose.
First Day Oricon Chart Placing: No.20
Rating: ★★★☆☆

Kin no Nami Sen no Nami. Arai Akino (ARIA The ORIGINATION ED)

I was caught in two minds when Arai was announced as the singer for the ED of the new ARIA; on the one hand I was happy cos I her music’s great and I’ve missed her as she hasn’t done anything at all since Zegapain. On the other hand I was disappointed that the trend of Makino OP, RT feat.Nino ED was broken. Kin no Nami Sen no Nami is well worthy of the ARIA title but wait…. Torikago no Yume is an even better song! Why it isn’t the ending theme instead I’ll never know.
First Day Oricon Chart Placing: No.21
Rating: ★★★★☆

oblivious. Kalafina (Kara no Kyokai theme)

I may be a Kajiura fan at heart, but I can’t say I get terribly excited by the stuff she puts out these days. Kalafina is more of the same old same old, and it might as well be Oda Kaori, Nanri Yuuka or Ishikawa Chiaki at the mic cos it makes nary a difference. No change in the instrumentation and overall structure of the song. So obviously I’m bewildered that this is selling well. Must be the Kara no Kyokai license…
First Day Oricon Chart Placing: No.08
Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Reflectia. eufonius (true tears OP)

Reflectia was the single I was most looking forward to when I scoured the release calendar a few months back – I love eufonius, and I had really high hopes for Reflectia even without hearing the song. And it’s oh so lovely; one of my fave eufonius songs by far. I think the fact that I’m still watching true tears has something to do with the opening theme – a great song to go with great animation. This is probably not a very appropriate place to mention it, but I love Isurugi Noe’s boots. I wonder why she’s allowed to get away with wearing them whilst everyone else wears regulation shoes….
First Day Oricon Chart Placing: No.22
Rating: ★★★★☆

Tatta 1tsu no Koi. KOKIA (Gunslinger Girl -Il Teatrino OP)

You just wonder why good songs are wasted on a show as… awful as this. KOKIA’s career hasn’t nosedived to the point of needing anime tie-ins to sell a few records has it? FYI: Former Jpop stars that have resorted to anime tie-ins in a desperate attempt to revive their career include Kiroro, Aikawa Nanase and now, the brilliant green. HAHAHA. Kiroro and Aikawa are more or less dead and buried now, but I sure hope KOKIA doesn’t go the same way – the stuff she’s been doing lately has been pretty good. I think Tatta 1tsu no Koi is one of the only positive changes from the first Gunslinger GIrl.
First Day Oricon Chart Placing: No.33
Rating: ★★★★☆

Sakura Emi Kimi ni Omou. Chihara Minori (D.C.II Insert Songs)

I’m getting this feeling of deja vu with this….. reminds me of the Manabi Straight song. And that’s probably not a good thing cos I hated it. I can’t even remember what it was called, that’s how much I think of it. I’m not really into Minorin singing upbeat, happy happy songs – it just ends up sounding rather forced.
First Day Oricon Chart Placing: No.31
Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Hisamazuku made 5byo dake!. Hashimoto Miyuki (Kimiaru OP)

Oh dear. We’re back to crappy Hashimoto mode with Hisamazuku…., which tends to happen when she lets someone else write her songs. Sha-la-la is so much better, and a good example of why I despair at the fact that Miyukichi doesn’t release more of her self-written stuff as the A-side. This also gets my vote for most crappy cover design of the week – taking the main promo image for the show and pasting against a purple background is just plain laziness. And damn ugly too.
First Day Oricon Chart Placing: No.48
Rating: ★★★☆☆

No, no ALI PROJECT or JAM PROJECT or Squid-Algae-Monster-Whatever-Project. It’s a pass on the Haruhi CD too, I don’t really feel like breaking my already fragile eardrums.
————————————————————————————————–
In future I’m gonna list out stuff I’ve bought or pre-ordered, just to show off how good/bad my tastes in music are, or how crazy I am cos I keep buying stuff I’ve not heard a single second of, therefore I have no idea if they’re actually any good in the first place ^^;

Stuff on order for January:
(2008-01-16) Suteki Tantei Labyrinth Character Song Vol.2 – Koga Rakuta. Inoue Marina
(2008-01-30) Anime on Bossa. Iwao Junko
(2008-01-30) Sweet. Takahashi Mikako

On hold: (2008-01-23) Amaoto. Ono Daisuke
(2008-01-23) FIGHT OR FLIGHT. Kobayashi Yu

Stuff released in February that I’m planning to order:
(2008-02-06) Starcamp EP. Mizuki Nana
(2008-02-20) Moment. Kubota Mina [composer for Kaleido Star & Kannazuki no Miko]
(2008-02-27) Izayoi no Tsuki, Kanaria no Koi (title not confirmed). Tamura Yukari

The next Lantis/Starchild bumper release day is 6th February. Releases that day include the Minami-ke: Okawari ED Sono Koe ga Kikitakute, Shigofumi ED Chain, Rosario + Vampire OP/ED, KimiAru ED and true tears ED. Stay tuned.