j1m0ne's blog

26 September 2007
Another barrage of Lucky Star image CDs. At least the end is in sight, with only two more to go. Shiraishi Minoru’s ending theme collection is due in two weeks (10th October) but only has four full tracks (Ore no Wasuremono, Shikaida no Uta, Kaorin no Theme and Koi no Minorun Densetsu) with the TV versions of the other 7 songs.

Last week’s reviews’ chart placings:
Singles
01. talkin’ 2 myself. Hamasaki Ayumi (70,325)
13. Bokura Barairo no Hibi. Onitsuka Chihiro (9,109)
34. Koibito/NEWS. navy&ivory

Albums
01. TODAY. Angela Aki (88,658)
11. Shokotan☆Coverx2 – Anison ni Ai o Komete. Nakagawa Shoko (17,836)
23. Fumido 3. Fumido (10,422)

Singles
Lucky Star Character Song Vol. 005-008. Various

Vol.005 – Kobayakawa Yutaka. Hasegawa Shizuka

I knew Hasegawa’s singing ability was uh… below average so I approached this with much caution. Still, it wasn’t enough to prepare me for just how annoying her voice was. To be fair, Minimum Tempo is catchy enough but it’s her singing wrecks it for me. At least both songs are better than the ones on Konata’s CD….
First day Oricon chart placing: No.17
Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Vol.006 – Iwasaki Minami. Chihara Minori

Well, thankfully they didn’t ruin arguably the best singer amongst the Lucky Star girls by giving Minorin subpar material. She actually sounds rather subdued on the two mid-tempo ballads, favouring a simple but effective vocal over the OTT approach adopted by her fellow seiyuu. The rino (of CooRie fame) written Toumei Ribbon is by far and away my favourite song in all the series so far. I’m almost certain that Minorin’s name alone should make Minami the top seller amongst this second batch of Lucky Star CDs; that the songs are great is a bonus.
First day Oricon chart placing: No.16
Rating: ★★★★☆

Vol.007 – Tamura Hiyori. Shimizu Kaori

I’ve never liked Shimizu’s normal singing voice (deep, mature & sounds awful live) but strangely enough I love her in high-pitched, childlike Hiyori mode. It does remind me of how talented she is though, having voiced some of my fave anime characters including the titular roles in Lain & Boogiepop Phantom and Ekuryua in the Seikai no Monshou/Senki series. But this is how I actually envisioned Lucky Star songs to be like; energetic, catchy and a whole lot of fun. Even if the Yuriyuri/Barabara refrain in Default Joshikosei-nyan grates on the nerves.
First day Oricon chart placing: No.19
Rating: ★★★★☆

Vol.008 – Patricia Martin. Sasaki Nozomi

It’s nice to round off this week’s Lucky Star with another solid disc from Sasaki Nozomi’s otaku Patty Martin. I’m not a huge fan of her singing (nasal) but she’s at least in tune and carries both songs well. Could’ve done without Cosplay no Kokoroe but I do love Saidai Seichi Carnival, written by Haruhi composer Kousaki Satoru & Hata Aki’s Akiba-centric lyrics – This place is sanctuary Akihabara made me smile. And these 3 (discounting Yutaka) CDs much makes up for the less-than-satisfactory first batch – let’s hope they keep it up for the next two.
First day Oricon chart placing: No.20
Rating: ★★★☆☆

Zessei Bijin. Zetsubo Shojo-tachi

Zessei Bijin is sung by the same quartet that did the c/w Goin’ ni My Yeah~ on the opening single so that means Nonaka Ai, Inoue Marina, Kobayashi Yu & Shintani Ryoko. The song itself is a fine, catchy foot-tapper but of course, I wish Aipon would just shut up. And things got worse when I discovered that the c/w song Kagerou was sung almost entirely by her, with Tanii Asuka (Kiri) and Sanada Asami (Matoi) relegated to background vocals. Aargh.
First day Oricon chart placing: No.22
Rating: ★★★☆☆

Virgin’s high!/kicks!. MELL

MELL was always my least favourite out of I’ve’s Big 5 (KOTOKO, Kawada Mami, Utatsuki Kaori & Shimamiya Eiko) from the first time I heard songs like Utsukushiku Ikitai, FALL IN LOVE & FLY TO THE TOP. I wasn’t a fan of her big hit RED FRACTION (Black Lagoon OP) either – yes, I like my I’ve songs to have the same cookie-cutter dance pop sound; I don’t like it infused with fuzzy guitars, droning vocals and incomprehensible lyrics. There.
First day Oricon chart placing: No.08
Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Hoshizora no Sakamichi. Shimotsuka Haruka

My first impression of Hoshizora no Sakamichi – Well, that’s an effing rubbish song by Shimotsukin’s standards. Turns out she didn’t write either song on the single which explains the bog-standard bishojo-game stylings.
First day Oricon chart placing: Outside top 50
Rating: ★★☆☆☆

LOVE & TRUTH. YUI

LOVE & TRUTH is the themesong for the Sawajiri Erika starring movie Closed Note, and is quite a departure from the norm for YUI. Don’t think she’s done too many mournful ballads (if any). Neither L&T nor JAM particularly grabbed my attention during the first listen but they did grow on me after a while. And while I disliked the original My Generation, the acoustic version is ♥♥♥♥.
Watch: LOVE & TRUTH PV
First day Oricon chart placing: No.01
Rating: ★★★☆☆

Albums
Variety. Tokyo Jihen

Unlike the two previous TJ albums, Variety features compositions from the other (lesser) members Ukigumo, Izawa Ichiyo & Kameda Seiji and none from Shiina Ringo herself. And the irony of the name – Variety is nowhere near as varied as either Adult or Kyoiku; it’s a bunch of half-baked ideas & mostly bland rock that is nowhere near the quality that Shiina is capable of. Fire Ukigumo!!! I’ve never been more bored listening to a TJ or SR release. Only Shiseikatsu and Kingyo no Hako stand out amongst the mediocrity, and someone must be having a laugh with that ludicrous version of Mirrorball – it sounds like the work of a deaf person. So please, either bring back Shiina compositions for the next album or even better still, get rid of Tokyo Jihen – their sell-by-date is fast approaching.
First day Oricon chart placing: No.02
Rating: ★★☆☆☆

LOVE PiECE. Otsuka Ai

I’d been keeping my fingers crossed hoping that LOVE PiECE would turn out better than the singles preceding it, but I guess I was only ever going to be disappointed. There’s 6 tracks that were previously on singles, half of which I disliked (Yumekui, Renai Shashin, Frienger). So what of the remaining 5 tracks? Katori Senkou is the obligatory annoying pop song that has the solitary purpose of annoying the pants off you (like Ponpon & Ramen 3pun Cooking). Mackerel’s canned food was previously used in the Tokyo Friends movie and sounds rather out of place on LOVE PiECE unsurprisingly, given that it’s more than a year old.

People have been raving about Kumuriuta but I just don’t hear the appeal myself – it’s boring, tuneless, emotionless. Same thing goes for Hoshi no Tango. Mirai Taxi is the only new song I really like – it’s fun & catchy, both elements which are sorely lacking for the most part of this album. Somebody needs to lock Ai in a room & play her Daisukidayo, Planetarium and Kingyo Hanabi on repeat to remind her that she can write a decent ballad if she puts her mind to it. Hopefully Ai can produce the goods with her next single, the fabled Pocket due early November.
First day Oricon chart placing: No.01
Rating: ★★☆☆☆

princess. Sakakibara Yui (released 21st September)

One of the late releases from last week (Friday, instead of the usual Wednesday), I was hoping princess would leak early but I was to be disappointed; Not that it really mattered since I was already familiar with most of the songs on it. Yui-nyan has the distinction of being one of the few seiyuu who don’t bother to use a pseudonym when voice acting in eroge. And she’s done loads of them. Eroge, that is. God knows if Sakakibara Yui is even her real name….

The album kicks off with the self-penned title track, which sounds like some BoA cast-off. I hate it. The PV’s somewhat hot though, I can’t think of any other seiyuu who could shed that many clothes, shake their hips and not look like fat/flat retards. The rest of the songs are picked from her large catalogue of game themes including Trust in me from ExE, Eternal Destiny from Yoake Mae yori Ruriiro na and Happy Day from Happiness! Re:Lucks. Surprisingly, SINCLAIR & core (from Alicematic) are included here too; about a year late ^^; They should’ve been on her last album…. still great songs though. No sign of songs like Yasashisa ni Kaeru kara, Faraway, HappyLeap or Pastel Days though. Fans familiar with Yuinyan’s style will lap this up but others should give her a try too, especially anyone who likes Hashimoto Miyuki, KOTOKO or cute moe voices in general.
Watch: princess PV Alicematic demo feat SINCLAIR
First week Oricon chart placing: No. 88 (1,978 copies sold)
Rating: ★★★★☆