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.