Weekly OP: Now Loading... SKY!!

There are few things I love quite so much as an anime OP with a disco beat. I suspect that's why Moonlight Densetsu, even after so many years, still rates with my favorite opening songs of all time. Though perhaps the fact that I liked the show so much helped, too. In any case, many of the better anime songs have a definite disco influence, and it's difficult to fail to be catchy under such conditions. It was, in fact, one of the things that immediately caught my ear when this show aired.

Then again, it has extraterrestrial catgirls in tight outfits. That helps a lot too, believe you me. Plus, trigger discipline!

This is one of a number of songs by the group sphere, which is comprised of the voice actresses Haruka Tomatsu, Minako Kotobuki, Ayahi Takagaki, and Aki Toyosaki. It's far from the first rodeo for them; they've been together almost two years, and have done the opening songs for a number of anime in which they also starred, hence the link. I'm somewhat hit or miss on them, as I am on most of the Japanese supergroups, so to speak; they sing okay together, but on the whole I do prefer songs where each singer can express herself without distraction. A notable exception to this is Moon Revenge, by the Peach Hips group.

On to the song, perhaps? A lot of the visuals in the series are beach-related, as it takes place on an island. And it does have a bit of a party atmosphere. Very bouncy, and if you look at the lyrics, very... not dark? Some anime openings can be surprisingly dark, but this is a fairly optimistic little ditty, with a bit of an avionic bent to it; the singer is quite happy about comparing her love to the feeling of taking off, and her determination to cheer her love up, even when feeling down.

There are some neat little vocal parts in this; I love how they cry out "Mou!" and there's also a little almost-rap portion, as well. Actually, it's just two lines sung in a quick, staccato rhythm, but it's still striking, adding a bit of urgency to the song, which manages to strike a nice balance between slow ballad, and superpaced techno. And to be fair, when they do sing in unison, it's fairly well, with a somewhat pleasing harmony. Not a perfect one, mind; there isn't, I think, enough of a spread between their registers to really, well, register.

Instrumentally, it's nothing too remarkable. I would complain that the bridge is a bit long, perhaps. And the guitar solo is very... twangy. Not bad, but nothing to impress me with the fingering, either. There's a good bit of synth brass in this, and at times it sounds almost like they were going to a ska feel to it, but mostly it lends a jazzy feel, to balance out the disco beat.

This, as it happens, gets five of five stars from me, and is a contender for best anime opening of the year... which will be decided next week, in fact. I promise to put no more thought into it than I have in previous years.