j1m0ne’s blog

I’ve spent the best part of 3 hours listening to nearly a dozen versions of 1000%SPARKING and A-LY-YA! on my iPod and I think I won’t be too bothered if I never hear some of them again…..unlike the original Negima’s Happy Material which had the singing line-ups according to their student number, these have them (roughly) in their own little groups - the cheerleaders, the Walking Club etc. I don’t know why, but for the most part the versions of 1000% SPARKING are almost always better than A-LY-YA!.

I’ll start off with the first OP/ED single.

1000% SPARKING/A-LY-YA! (Satou Rina, Kanda Akemi, Nonaka Ai, Kobayashi Yu)

The original and most familiar one; it’s no surprise they’ve retained the use of 1000% SPARKING for most of the anime’s run - it’s the most powerful one by far. Satou Rina’s singing has improved greatly over the last few years, Kanda Akemi is ok on record but a pain to listen to live, I’ve never liked Aipon’s singing and probably never will, and Yu-tan sounds OK on 1000% SPARKING but a little weak on A-LY-YA!. Their voices all go together very well though. The Parapara mix is predictably shite.
Rating:8

CD1 (Hazuki, Horie Yui, Minagawa Junko)

They had to put two of the best singers together… well, Iinchou and Makie are room-mates (in Negima!? anyway) so it makes sense. Minagawa and Horie pull off both 1000% SPARKING and A-LY-YA! effortlessly which makes Hazuki’s less than stellar vocals a little less noticeable. Again, A-LY-YA! is rather weak compared to the OP song. Orchestral mix is appalling.
Rating:8

CD2 (Kuwatani Natsuko, Ishige Sawa, Noto Mamiko)

A-LY-YA! is awful. I’m already used to Noto Mamiko’s lack of singing ability, but I’m surprised to hear Kuwatani’s rather lifeless vocal on A-LY-YA! and Ishige struggling on both tunes. Nacchan does do a pretty good job on 1000% SPARKING!, which would be much better if it didn’t have that I’m a dreaming girl, but I hope your happiness forever line. Disco mix is amusingly, very undisco. More r’n'b really, but it’s not that bad.
Rating:4

CD3 (Shiraishi Ryoko, Koyama Kimiko, Kanou Mari)

Despite my dislike for the Narutaki twins, I quite like this CD. Definitely a case of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. Neither twin is a particularly good singer (Koyama Kimiko, the Kugimiya Rie-soundalike is slightly better), but Shiraishi Ryoko manages to hold things together. Their version of 1000% SPARKING! is one of my favourites, the quotes bits are very nicely done. A-LY-YA shows up the twins’ bad vocals though. Latin mix? No, it doesn’t sound much like that, but it’s not bad (if you compare it to the others ).
Rating:7

CD4 (Kimura Madoka, Yamakawa Kotomi, Asakura Azumi, Bandou Ai)

Like the characters they play in the show, their version of the songs are a little bland and don’t particularly stand out. So much so in fact, I can’t even tell which voice belongs to whom. The vocals are alright, nothing special but not terrible either.
Rating:6

CD5 (Ito Shizuka, Deguchi Mami, Omae Akane)

I’d like to give this a 10 because Shizuka-sama is on it, but there’s a little problem - she can’t really sing that well. Neither can her cheerleading sidekicks, and their little cheers on A-LY-YA! grate on my nerves. The reggae version is hilariously bad.
Rating:5

CD6 (Watanabe Akeno, Kadowaki Mai, Matsuoka Yuki)

Oh Lord. You get the feeling that these three, all relatively experienced seiyuu should actually improve in their singing after years of practice. Unfortunately this isn’t the case and I find this rather painful to listen to. Kadowaki hasn’t ever pretended to be able to sing properly, so not much change here… same for Matsuoka Yuki, I’ve never been able to stomach her squeaky voice very well. Akenon actually sounds good at times but her vocals are very shaky. The quote bits in the OP are actually quite good, shame about the singing. What’s with all these shit remixes? Big band remix - crap.
Rating:4

CD7 (Sakuma Miho, Kobayashi Misa, Shimura Yumi, Aizawa Mai & Inokuchi Yuka)

There’s so many people on this single I can hardly make out who’s who (except for Sakuma Miho who sings exactly the same way Mana talks). It’s a decent CD but I get a little feeling of too many cooks spoil the broth here. I do like the bit where Chizu-nee explains to Natsumi what ‘A-LY-YA!’ means though. The Piano mix is not too bad.
Rating:6

CD8 (Shiratori Yuri, Sasagawa Ayana, Takamoto Megumi & Inoue Naomi)

I’m quite surprised by this. Both the OP and ED are quite fun, the vocals aren’t too bad and even the Eurobeat mix is tolerable if a little cheesy. Of the four seiyuu, Shiratori Yuri was the only one I’d heard of prior to Negima but the other three do a pretty good job on this.
Rating:7

CD9 (Mahora Gakuen Chuutobu 3-A + Negi Springfield)
Well, at least having everyone singing at the same time covers up those with the inability to sing. Having the chorus repeat everytime with each set of quotes was extremely tiresome. 15 minutes!!! I don’t know which was worse, this or the Shusseki Bangou song. I think I’m done with 1000% SPARKING, I can’t bear listening to it ever again.
Rating:5

CD10 (OVA songs)
I never liked the songs when I heard them in the OVA, so hearing the full versions on record is distinctly underwhelming. Doesn’t help that some of the seiyuu can barely hold a tune - in order of singing ability (highest to lowest) 1.Satou Rina 2.Kanda Akemi 3.Nonaka Ai 4.Noto Mamiko
Rating:5

Posted on January 25th, 2007 under anime music, negima • RSS 2.0 feed • Leave a response, or trackback