This Week in Japan…#3
Last week saw a flurry of releases in time for the yuletide season, and it’s much quieter this week with only a handful of releases. Mostly anime related as well. Oh, and sucks to the 3,957 people who bought copies of Scoop!. What the hell were they doing wasting their ￥1500. Congrats to Yukarin for making no.6 with 17,134 copies of Princess Rose sold, though it falls short of Douwa Meikyuu’s 19,432 (no.13, and 33,319 copies in total sold so far) it’s her highest charting single yet. The competition wasn’t great though, the no.1 single by Tegomass only sold some 88,160 copies (compared to Kanjani8’s 264,183 the week before).
27 December 2006
Singles
Tooi yume. Kawasumi Ayako
Saber’s character single. The song itself is rather slow and dull (a bit like Fate-Stay really), but the NUMBER201 Remix is quite interesting; a few beats and squeaks make it a much better song.
Minna Genki. Minagawa Junko & Hirohashi Ryo
Another theme song from their long-running radio program Junko to Ryo no Ashita e Strike!. I was a little apprehensive of another radio theme after last week’s Scoop!, but thankfully this one’s much better. The song itself is typical cheery, cheesy radio fare but MinaJun is a pretty good singer and Ryo’s not too bad either. The show itself (which runs on JOQR) was originally slated to have a short run (about a season or so), but its popularity is such that it’s still on the airwaves some 3 1/2 years later.
Last Regrets/Kaze ni Tadoritsuku Basho. Ayana
I never liked either song when I first heard them, and 7 years on that opinion hasn’t changed. At least they’re better than the original Kanon anime’s OP (Fujiwara Miho’s florescence).
Tamago to niwatori/Guardian Angel. Splash Candy
Shinkokyuu (Binbou Shimai Monogatari OP) was the first Splash Candy song I liked, I’ve generally never quite gotten into their brand of guitar-pop. I remember Motokare ni aitai in particular made me want to bang my head against a brick wall. Anyway, on to this single. I do actually quite like both songs, Guardian Angel especially is a cheerful tune which nicely lights up my (currently) very dreary, windy and wet winter day.
Albums
Single Collection. SOUL’d OUT
I remember when I first heard of them, around the time Flyte Tyme was released (early 2003). I just burst into laughter everytime I heard the song was so damn cheesy; bad Engrish, lame beats and ’80s style music. I’m not a huge fan of rap/hip-hop, and even less so when every other word is in badly enunciated English. Stick to Rip Slyme, their beats and rapping are tighter.
Gift Character Mini Album. Various
I was a bit sad that Sakakibara Yui wasn’t involved in the anime (she was Kirino in the PS2 game). But this set of songs are pretty good, with a who’s who of anime/game songwriters involved, including Hata Aki, Kodama Saori, BABY FAZE (one of Suara’s lyricists), Hashimoto Yukari and Takumi Masanori. I’m also fast becoming a Kawaragi Shiho (Meg in Rozen Maiden) fan, her track Rin to, Rin to is a very nice ballad. The other songs by Shimizu Ai, Koshimizu Ami, Shintani Ryoko and Miyazaki Ui are pretty good as well.
Winter Garden Sound Complete. instant cytron
Hadn’t a clue who instant cytron were, but it seems they’ve been around for quite a while. Hearing this soundtrack has piqued my interest, their style reminds me of bands like advantage Lucy, roly poly rag bear and Melting Holidays. Laid-back, very calming and pleasant pop. The vocal tracks they wrote (and performed by Sato Hiromi, Sawashiro Miyuki & Sanada Asami) are great songs too, I was pleasantly surprised when I heard them in the anime…. they’re certainly not your typical anime songs. Oh, and Winter Garden itself put a big grin on my face - seeing Dejiko/Puchiko 10 years in the future is just…. squeeee. They’re so much cuter now.
Leftovers from last week
Death Note OST. Taniuchi Hideki & Hirano Yoshihisa
I had been interested to see how the two composers would come up with a cohesive soundtrack given their vast difference in styles. It works well within the show itself, though you can obviously tell which are Taniuchi (rock, guitars) compositions and which are Hirano’s (dramatic orchestral pieces). The soundtrack itself is split in two parts (with 18 Taniuchi tracks followed by 10 Hirano songs) which is a good idea methinks, as it doesn’t disrupt the flow of the album. Though track 27 (Light Lights up Light) sounds like it was pulled out of the Strawberry Panic OST rejects box. Yikes. Anyhow, I really enjoyed this; it’s got a much darker feel to it than most anime soundtracks and it’ll be going on the iPod for extended listening.
Inukami Character Vocal Album - Paradiso. Various
I’ve never watched Inukami, and I only wanted to hear the Horie Yui songs… they’re OK, my favourites are those that Kikuya Tomoki, Kawai Eiji and Kumano Kiyomi had a hand in. Hayami Sho and Nakamura Toshihiro’s songs are pretty good, but Fukuyama Jun’s squawking is unbearable. Ugh.
Nana 7to8 Soundtracks. Hasegawa Tomoki
This is more or a less an extension of the first Nana OST, these 10 tracks are mostly re-arrangements and alternate versions. They’re not bad, but not particularly exciting either.
Bakumatsu Kikansetsu OST. Fukusawa Hideyuki
I had no idea the OST was out, such was the volume of releases last week @_@. Anyway, I already love the music from watching the show and hearing the whole thing is great. An epic, very traditional orchestral soundtrack.
Ginban Kaleidoscope OST. Kameyama Koichiro
Was midly amused to see this finally get a release something like 1 1/2 years after it airing. The series itself wasn’t too great, and the English in the show was mortifying but I did get some cheap laughs out of it. I didn’t remember much of the music and listening to the soundtrack now reminds me why. Bland and uninteresting, like most anime soundtracks really.
There’s some stuff I couldn’t get hold of; like Kawaguchi Kyogo’s new single, and stuff that came out last week but I still haven’t seen floating around (manzo’s Genshiken OP, Pumpkin Scissors) or missed completely (Haruhi Radio Digest 3, Super Robot Wars OST, Galaxy Angerune). Oh well, I’ve got plenty of music to listen to still….. back to Football Manager now.