Weekly OP: 明日へのbrilliant road

Well. It had to happen sometime. Finally, a Japanese anime opening song whose title involves actual Japanese.

Stellvia was one of many anime in the "annus mirabalis" of 2003, which saw so many other quality titles as Scrapped Princess, Planetes, Last Exile, and others. It's a lovely series, as the others were, and one I even rewatched a couple years ago, without disappointment. Well, too much; it's hard to remember that 4:3 was the standard aspect ratio for programming back then. How high definition has changed the scene.

Asu e no Brilliant Road is the opening for the series, and as such was also a gamechanger for its group, angela, who have gone on to a number of other anime openings and endings, as well as a general boost in their career. And it is also just about everything you would want in an anime opening.

There are little hints of synthesizer and drum in the vocal intro, before we jump with the full band compliment. They calm down again, though, as the first verse starts. The bass is almost in a call and response, with a bit of bells as well, before jumping into the first chorus.

This is, without, the wheelhouse of the song. atsuko's vocals work perfectly with a string ostinanto, and driving bass and guitar beats. atsuko, the vocal half of angela, has impressive vocal range, and she uses it in the lead in to the bridge. The bridge itself is, surprisingly, dominated by strings. Lovely, lovely touch.

Second verse much the same as the first, of course. The chorus comes again, and I do like how the voice just marches up and down the scale, giving the impression of walking. Into adversity? Of course. And then a second bridge, again dominated by strings. This might be the best part of the song altogether.

The end of the song is almost an afterthought, with another iteration of the chorus. All three parts of the band drive together, and finally fade into a last few, demanding notes of verse... and then an instrumental finale. We're left to drift away, with a few parting words of the drum, fading strings, and a last guitar riff.

This is a very good song. And like all good songs, the more you listen to it, and begin to pick it apart, the better it gets. This was for awhile on the CD I'd mixed together for running, and with good reason; it's quite motivational, though its pace is a bit too fast for using for running cadence. Five of five stars, and what would have been the best opening song of 2003... if it weren't for a little ditty called Dive in the Sky.