j1m0ne’s blog

I liked kure-nai. Liked, not loved. There were many flaws with the show - I regret that it was only 12 episodes long which meant lack of development for side characters like Ginko and Yuno, there were more plot holes than a piece of Swiss cheese and it had a final episode that bordered on the ridiculous.

Thankfully I never read the novels and I really don’t care if they screwed up the adaptation since I was only in it (watching the anime) to be entertained, and entertained I certainly was. kure-nai provided me with 23 of the most enjoyable minutes of my life (episode 6), Murasaki remains one of the few anime characters under the age of 10 that I find tolerable (and loveable), and the music was fantastic too. Indeed, the soundtrack was something I was much looking forward to, even more so than I was for the Macross F OST.

I must admit I was perhaps a little too hasty in dismissing Muramatsu Ken’s score for Sketchbook as ‘muzak’, since I now think it makes for perfectly acceptable iPod listening on a lazy day. But Sketchbook’s music is no match for kure-nai, the moment I heard that piece when Benika was telling Murasaki to look at the garden for the (not so) final time, I knew the soundtrack was going to something special. Muramatsu’s deep involvement with the series (he does the narration for the episode previews) results in a cohesive soundtrack that captures kure-nai’s at times dark, at times bright and often rather twisted world perfectly. He also provides short liner notes in the sleeve, outlining the thoughts and emotions behind each track.

I was surprised to learn that the soundtrack would be a 2-disc affair, I certainly don’t recall hearing some of these tracks…or maybe I was sidetracked by Murasaki’s engaging dialogue in the show. As expected, the fourty tracks are piano-heavy affairs with heavy lashings of violin on the side, so it’s probably fair to say that if you’re the sort of person who’s into all-out rocking battle themes that this is definitely not the soundtrack for you.

And in case you’re wondering, there is not a single vocal track on this so nope - the song from episode 6 does not feature, neither do the opening or ending themes. Maybe they’re saving them (and Yuno/Shinkuro’s dreadful duet) for a separate vocal album?

Melancholy is the overwhelming tone on the soundtrack’s first disc, appropriately titled emotional side. Each track evokes seems to evoke feelings of gloomy skies, with the occasional happy track like that one ray of sunshine poking through a cloud. It’s hard to pick favourites, but Inori no Tsuzukeru (the first BGM you hear in the series), Futatsu no Kokoro and Ie ni Kaerou are personal highlights. Mugen no Umi ni Iku is probably the only track I’d skip, it sounds an awful lot like some of Sahashi Toshihiko’s stuff from Simoun (who in turn has cribbed off other composers). Come to think of it, a lot of the tracks here sound like Hisaishi Joe, or a kazillion other composers whose names I can’t quite recall.

Disc 2 is the happier swingin’ side, featuring tracks from the more light-hearted parts of kure-nai such as the Murasaki-running-around-school bits. That idea of a ’swing’ sound greatly appeals to the dorlis fan in me (who incidentally, had a mini-album out the same day as this), but half the tracks seemed oddly more appropriate for the emotional side than on this disc. Describing it as swingin’ is completely misleading when most of the tracks are just as slow, if not slower than those on the first disc. There is a piano version of the song from the musical, which although lovely, does not compensate for the lack of off-key singing about some vile woman called Jennifer. There’s also a full version of the quaint sanshin song used in the next episode previews plus alternate versions of tracks on disc 1, but the upbeat… well, swing, if that’s what you must call it, tracks are the pick of the bunch.

Overall I was pleased with how the soundtrack turned out, and the full versions of songs are definitely as good as the snippets heard in the anime. Too early to say if I prefer the kure-nai soundtrack over Nyan Furo; but given my predisposition for weepy, sappy tunes, I wouldn’t bet against it. At that point I’d probably be the only one waving a Murasaki flag against the legions of Rankas, but so be it. I’ll be the one to fight the Kuhouinsmasses.

Posted on July 2nd, 2008 under anime music • RSS 2.0 feed • Leave a response, or trackback