j1m0ne's blog

Either March was a really dry month, or I was just too busy to root out the good stuff.

The best
Harmonia. Shikata Akiko

Shikata was only familiar to me from the Ar Tonelico games, and those tracks left a good impression on me so it’s nice to get another chance to check her out. Her vocal style is certainly unique, most of the time it’s like Shimotsuki Haruka on crack but sometimes she chooses to employ a barely audible whisper. Also rather interesting is the frequent use of Italian throughout the album, though I can’t really tell you if it’s any good since all I know are piano terms. And the songs – epic, weird, ethnic, celtic, medieval, new age…. however you want to describe her mad style, all sung in that crazy vocal of hers. People might know her song from the Umineko na Naku koro ni game, but there’s plenty more examples of her fabulousness throughout the album – Kiseki, Replicare and Amnesia are some of those that just make you think ‘Damn, this woman’s good’. Honestly, I’ll be bloody amazed if I hear a better ‘anison’ album this year, Harmonia is really that good.

The rest
Kono Koe ga Todoitara. eufonius (Canvas3 theme song)

The title track is trademark eufonius stuff, meaning anyone who liked songs like Reflectier and Apocrypha will find it easy to love. Both Kono Koe.. and Hoshi no Pulse are very likeable, with easy-on-the-ear melodies and riya & Kikuchi have never really attempted to mix up their sound but that’s fine by me, they already possess a pretty unique style as far as I’m concerned.

Ga-Rei Character Song Vol.3 – Sakuraba Kazuki & Izuna Noriyuki. Shiraishi Minoru & Takahashi Shinya

I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry when I heard that Shiraishi & Takahashi would be duetting on this CD but honestly, it didn’t turn out all that bad. We know Minorun can sing pretty alright, but Shinya is well… er… in tune, I suppose. Both songs on the single are written by Chihara Minori songwriter Junryu, with Death comes being a fast-paced tune similar to the other songs in the series so far and Standard game a rather bizarre pop tune sung in a ridiculously high key that the two guys sounded like they were busting their nuts singing it. I can’t really recommend the latter song (those gay background vocals!!!) but Death comes is a commendable effort at least.

Kannagi Karaoke Songs CD – Nagiuta. Various

Packaged together with DVD 5, the CD contains all the tracks from the karaoke episode. As a standalone CD the music is pretty awful but I doubt anyone but Kannagi fans will be tuning in anyway. I was mildly annoyed that there were only ‘TV-size’ cuts of each song (except Jin’s), and that meant Nagi’s Hello Daizu no Uta lasted a mere 36 seconds, but it was great to hear proper studio versions of Daitetsu & Akiba’s songs. Takako’s song is still as gay as ever, best track far and away the Shirigeya theme. And waddya know? Hanazawa Kana’s Zange-chan song sounds so much better in the studio.

Heavenly. Shimokawa Mikuni

The CD is worth getting for the DVD, the music less so. I think danie~’s review more or less covers most of what I’d say anyway. Kimi no Coat and Tabi no Tochuu de are personal favourites, and I still like Tegami despite it being a pretty old song. Jury’s still out on that version of 老鼠愛大米 though, and I~jaNAI!? is still totally blah.

Koi. Atari Kosuke (Genji ED)

No secret that I’m an Atari fangirl who will usually eat up anything he releases, but I’m still out on the fence with Koi. Actually, Koi itself is a fine song – a typically epic, slow Atari ballad. It’s the cover of Douwa that is somewhat… bemusing for me. Originally by Malaysian Chinese singer Guang Liang’s song of the same title, and that version is way too ingrained in my mind for me to sit through Atari’s version without bursting out in laughter. It’d probably sound nice if you were hearing it for the first time though.

Marukaite Chikyuu. Namikawa Daisuke (Hetalia ED)

Oh Lord, how Namikawa can sing this with a straight face I have no idea. Marukaite Chikyuu is actually the perfect song for him since it requires deliberately bad vocals, except in this case Namikawa really does sing that badly. But it’s forgiven cos Chibitalia is awesomely cute.

Ai no Sora. Horie Yui (Da Capo if insert song)

Not as strong as other Hocchan songs within the Da Capo universe such as Andante & Soyokaze no Harmony, but Ai no Sora is still a pretty decent song. Not much to say about it really, beyond the fact that it’s pleasant, inoffensive etc etc.

The bad
BREAK. Miyano Mamoru

Amongst the younger group of male seiyuu, Miyano is one of those who obviously has bags of idol potential – he’s good-looking and sings decently enough, though unfortunately he’s already off the market. I’d like to find equally nice things to say about his music but the words aren’t coming now that I’ve given BREAK a good listen. ‘Atrocious boyband crap’ is the first thing that comes to mind about the majority of the album’s tracks – there are a couple of gems hidden in there like the album version of the digital single nocturne, Kuon (the Kotetsu Sangokushi ending theme) and the pop-rock tinged Rain, but everything else pretty much falls in the ‘drab mid-tempo r’n'b ballad’ category.

It’s like listening to an entire album of Tackey & Tsubasa reject songs – I think part of the problem is that I find Miyano’s vocals not entirely suitable for blues stuff, his voice just isn’t as smooth (or sexy) as somebody like Suzuki Tatsuhisa’s. Wish he’d taken the Ono Daisuke route of rock/pop instead. Tellingly, BREAK sold a little more than half the copies that Ono-D’s Kazahana did in its first week – I certainly know which one of them I prefer.

Serendipity. Orikasa Fumiko

Serendipity has a real whimsical, laidback feel to it, more so than Orikasa’s previous albums. I’ve always found her music a tough sell – they’re often dressed up prettily with almost-catchy melodies, but crucially lack substance and depth. It’s pretty much the same story with this album. Here, all the songs are written by Watanabe Takeshi, the composer for Ichigo Mashimaro and Manabi Straight!, with the majority of the lyrics penned by Oririn herself. While there are some nice moments like Kimi no Yume, Boku no Ai and Sensei, they’re the exception rather than the norm and I found myself switching off completely before reaching the end of the album. And so Orikasa’s dry run continues – she’s got a really nice, clear vocal, she’s just got to find songs to fit it.

Total fail
Asu no Yoichi Character Song CDs Vol.3&4 + Radio OP CD by Various
You know there’s something seriously, seriously wrong when you like a Hanazawa Kana CD better than a Tamura Yukari CD. I have no idea what those songwriters were smokin’ when they came up with these songs. Horrible is too good a word to describe them.

KaraAge Inspire Album by Various
On paper this should’ve been absolutely brilliant, since the selection of singers and songwriters are amongst Lantis’ best. That’s unfortunately not the case however – some of them border on the absolute bizarre, most of them are garbage. rino’s carnival-like Montaro no Uta is the worst offender – I know it’s supposed to be some sort of in-anime TV show theme but it’s still a complete waste of time and rino’s talent. Gag. Ceui’s trio of songs aren’t good enough to save such an uninspired album. Gag.

Nostalgia. Nakajima Megumi
Uh-oh. This single came and went without me noticing at all, and though it sold OK-ish on the charts I’m not feeling very optimistic about Megumi’s future prospects right now. Neither Nostalgia nor its c/w track grabbed me at all, with a distinct lack of catchy hooks or melody – both basically meandered, trying hard to sound like a hit single but not quite getting there. Best forgotten.

KoiGoRoMo. Sakakibara Yui (Kemeko DX! game theme)
I really, really hate it when Yui uses her cutesy, nasal voice. This is like Donald Duck on helium – neither looks nor sounds pretty.