Anime Opening of the Year

Yes, it's been much too long since I bothered with this blog. Real life interferes, as always, as do things like social media (I love google+). So in an attempt to jumpstart things a bit, or at least try a monthly schedule, I offer something I did every year on LJ. Traditionally, the last post of the year was always my selection of the best anime opening song of the year. This year was... difficult.

The eventual choice for best song is surprising, at least to me. If I were simply picking ending songs, it would be Magia, hands down, the ending for the excellent Puella Magi Madoka Magica anime. Kalafina typically do great work, and Magia is one of the best. However, I don't rate endings. This is an opening, though, by a group who I first heard of from the ending single to the Eden of the East movie.

I like School Food Punishment. A lot. It's pretty difficult for me to list a song of theirs I dislike, and the only reason I don't have a stack of their CDs in my collection is because they tend to go out of print, a problem which is pretty common to the jpop industry. They have an interesting sound, with a heavy jazz influence over standard electronic fare, keyboard carrying the day.

Notably, though, the vocals in this song are done by the venerable Maaya Sakamoto. So, one of my favorite vocalists temporarily displaces the already pleasant vocals of one of my favorite bands. Aural heaven. It goes beyond simply being catchy; most anime openings are, by definition, catchy. It's more that Maaya's voice is, in a word, beautiful, and the music is beautiful as well. Not in the sort of ethereal way that Yoko Kanno, Maaya's normal composition partner, tends to be. Beautiful in the way a Miles Davis composition can be; there's a lot going on in the song, and it all fits together perfectly.

Honorable mentions for 2011 include the Madoka Magica opening "Connect" by claris, and "Zannenkei Rinjin-Bu," by pretty much the entire female cast of Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai.

Weekly OP: ~infinity~

It's request time!

That's a good thing, because I haven't seen this particular series before.

Megumi Hayashibara's name is quite familiar to nearly all anime fans, having voiced roles for everyone from Pikachu to Rei Ayanami, and most of the character types in between. She also has a fairly impressive discography, perhaps most notably for Slayers, and the series which is arguably a remake of it, Lost Universe.

Still, the knock I mostly have against Megumi is that a lot of her songs end up sounding the same. And while that's great, from the standpoint of those who like her songs and want more of them--stick with what works, after all--it does wear a bit sometimes.

infinity is a good example of this. It's not a song I tend to listen to a lot, not because it's bad so much as it's just... unremarkable. I'm at pains to describe it, simply because I could simply say "Listen to any Slayers song and you'll know just what it sounds like." But that's obviously not my job.

A quick intro and then the first verse, which starts out very light on instrumentals, then slowly begins to build up. It's the sort of development I rather like, and once you're into the second half, things are in full swing. In fact, it's rather cleverly done, and keeps things from getting too stale.

The chorus is the strongest part of the song, with a good bass riff, some nice backing vocals, and the string portmanteau.

I do like the bridge, but it sounds very much like the bridge from another Hayashibara song, Breeze, which I actually like more than this one (and is from the Slayers series I saw first). It doesn't really last too long, though, which is unfortunate. Instead, we go into the conclusion of the song, which is rather weak, in comparison.

Three of five stars. If this was the only song Megumi did, it would be great, but that there are so many others makes it a bit dull.

Weekly OP: Cross*Heart

Sometimes remakes don't turn out as planned...

Kyoshiro to Towa no Sora was made by the same guys who did Kannazuki no Miko, which was featured last week. It has some of the same things, such as mysterious academies, summoned robots, and damsels in distress. Some of the characters even got recycled. So why did this show suck so much more than its predecessor? And considering its predecessor was only redeemed by its f/f pairings... well. The only reason I bothered with it was the allusion to that pairing repeating itself here, and while it was, it also was not. Largely a waste of time.

At least the opening song was good.

It's definitely not KOTOKO, which means you can abandon the electronic music, techno feel to things. It's sung by CooRie, who have a reputation for a much softer sound.

That's not to say that it's boring. The most striking thing in this opening, to my ear, is the bass line. It's a lot like the basso continuo of a Baroque work, because it (almost) doesn't ever stop. It underpins the whole thing and holds the song together, and without it I don't think it would be nearly as successful.

A quick intro, and we're off. The vocals are light and airy, high without being screechy. Very tender, with a bit of piano thrown in now and then, and some spicato on the strings, which build as we reach the chorus.

The chorus itself is pretty pedestrian, and proceeds naturally from the verses. A bit of an agility in terms of the words, which run together nicely. The strings, actually, are very important to the song as well, dancing up and down and around the main melody, adding a playful element to things.

I mentioned before that the bass line doesn't stop. Well, it does, once. That's in a second sort of vocal bridge, which leads to the last two verses. It's somewhat of an interesting passage, because it's almost a capella, with just a bit of instrumental flourish, before jumping back into things.

On closer examination, though, there isn't too much going on in this piece. It's very light and fluffy, and to be fair, it's only after a few listenings that I began to like it. It's about as light a song as I'm willing to put up with in an opening, without getting boring, with an ending that sort of abruptly fades away.

Three of five stars. Which is more than I can say for the anime.

Weekly OP: re-subliminity

Rampant lesbianism needs no excuse.

2004 was another good year for anime. Not as good as the annus miribilis of 2003, but still darn good, and this series, Kannazuki no Miko, came out toward its end. Coincidentially, about the same time a little show called Lyrical Nanoha came out. One is still busting out cash, and the other is not, which speaks a good bit to Kannazuki no Miko's quality. It's not really a good show, with an awful mismash of shoujo-ai themes and giant robots. Though the shoujo-ai was really, really good, and so this show still has a place in my heart.

The song has a bigger one, though, which is why I picked it out. Re-subliminity is by KOTOKO, that venerable veteran of I've Sound who's done a number of series, though perhaps she's most recognized for the opening for Onegai Teacher. At the least, that's where I recognize her from first. This, though, is KOTOKO at her very best.

The intro is deceptively simple. A little synthesizer, than a few piano chords, repeated again and again, with a bit of a hint of more synthesizer. Then, at thirty seconds, you get the bass beat. Still in the introduction, rumbling of something about to happen, and then a forty-five seconds, you have the full instrumental, giving you the underpinnings of the song.

And then you get the singing, at a minute twelve seconds. And ah, what singing.

KOTOKO has two modes of singing: low and sultry, and ultra high-pitched. This is low and sultry, and it fits. Very high paced, though. This is not a song I would be comfortable karaokeing. Especially the chorus, which races along. Fitting, for a somewhat mecha-based series. Not a lot of chord variation, but with a somewhat techno-ish song, that shouldn't much of a surprise.

The bridge is fairly unremarkable, in comparison. Just more of the same driving dance beat. Which isn't really a bad thing; a guitar solo would be highly out of place in this song, and in fact there's almost nothing in here that couldn't come out of a beat box. This is fairly typical of I've Sound, and does lead to an interesting feel.

If there is a knock on the song, it's that while innovative, it does tend to repeat that, over and over again. The song doesn't develop, really, and so it has to be filed in the category of anime openings which simply recapitulate the TV-sized version. Still, since that version is patently awesome, I approve.

Five of five stars, and what would have been the best opening of 2004, if not for a little thing called Innocent Starter.

I have to try this drunken blogging thing sometime...

Pajamas Media » Drunkblogging Obama’s Libya Speech

Suckers

Funny, how we become what we most despise.

"Rights Are Curtailed for Terror Suspects" - ProfessorBainbridge.com

Weekly OP: Groovin' Magic

ah ah-ah ah, ah ah-ah ah

Fifteen years after the original Gunbuster came Diebuster, which is technically a sequel, but in my opinion exists enough on its own to be taken apart from it. Besides, aside from one memorable scene (which still makes me tear up just to think about), the latter makes little reference to the former.

The choice of ROUND Table (as always, featuring Nino) was perhaps an odd one. They don't have too much to their credit, and arguably, given the distinct disco feel to most of their songs, they're even more retro than Noriko Sakai would be. I like the overall effect, but then, I like disco. It's hard to be a jpop aficionado if you don't.

This is immediately a more complex song than Active Heart. In fact, it's one of the more complex opening songs you'll find, with three or four different lines all competing for attention. In some ways it might actually be considered distracting, but things settle down for the first verse.

The chorus is a repeat of the introduction, and perhaps the strength of the song overall, as short as it is. There isn't a lot of sadness to this song, not at all. It stays happy and perky throughout.

Vocals? Pretty good, with the words somewhat sandwiched, register-wise, between the disco drum and bass beat, and the portmanteau (but not quite) of the strings. A slight syncopation to the chords, just enough to keep one guessing, and the strings come in more toward the ends of the verses.

I adore the bridge. It's disco at its best, with the strings dancing up and down the range. Very dance worthy, really. Almost, shall we say, groovy? But no, that's a different song, and a different review. In any event, the use of the wah-wah pedal is really evident here, and to good use. The song nearly veers off into funk territory, but then swings back to disco, and a hauntingly quiet, still repeated chorus before we launch into the coda.

All in all, I love this song. The backbeat gives you almost no breaks, and so you're left bopping your head for the full 4 minute 24 second length. Five of five stars, for one of the best songs of 2004.