No surprises that the Haruhi ED, Hare hare yukai, has stormed to the top of the Amazon.co.jp charts (ANN). I’ve already expressed my heresy about the full-length version - too bloated. For the same reason, I was also quite disappointed with the full length version of Jyukai’s Fate/Stay Night ED. In contrast, I’ve been enjoying the Girl’s High ED, incl., very much. For the immediate feature, I am looking forward to the release of the Black Lagoon OP, red fraction, and the Higurashi OP and hope that full length versions will not disappoint.
This has also spurred a couple of random thoughts about how factors other than the singer’s voice and accompaniment style affect whether or I enjoy, or not, anime OP and ED singles - particularly the visuals of the OP or ED sequence in the anime.
The opening strains of the Gundam SEED ED were an indication that yet another fast paced episode was coming, all too soon, to an end. A few of us have also indulged in various OP/ED uranai (fortune-telling) to try and guess plot direction, endings, who dies/survives, who gets together with who etc. However a (fairly recent) ED that has made a deep impression on me was KOTOKO’s Agony for Kannazuki no Miko. I liked how seemingly ill-fitting elements came together successfully - a mostly static visual scenes against KOTOKO’s fast delivery of very romantic lyrics accompanied by dancy techno music. It helped that there were subtle little differences in the Chikane view as a moonlit one versus Himeko’s brightly sunlit view. The full length ED was also sumptuous as it wasn’t merely the same thing in the TV size being recycled but the continuing of the lyrics’ narrative (and paralleling the progression of the visuals) in a way that I strongly felt that KOTOKO had written the song with Chikane and Himeko in mind.
I’m of the view that how a seiyuu looks in real life shouldn’t affect my appreciation of her or his voice work. And my mental image of the voice remains the character rather than the actor. However, for OPs and EDs, the visual sequence is quite important as I see them as a package, working together to transit the viewer in or out of the episode. The OP song for Girl’s High was energetic enough but was spoilt by the extremely boring visual sequence. I was already inclined to like the ED because of its drumwork and Meg Rock’s husky vocals but the little dances, slice of life scenes and the kicking of the nozoki-cam (strikingly similar to what Mangaminx enjoyed) really sealed it for me.
Higurashi’s OP succeeds in all these respects. The song itself is energetic yet chilling and disconcerting. Together with the creepy and mysterious visuals, they reinforced each other and reminds the viewer of the horror that underlies the peaceful village scenes and harem fun that follow in the episde proper.
A factor that doesn’t affect my enjoyment is Engrish. Despite not being able to understand much of MELL’s red fraction. Or Mako’s insert song (Karerin’s concert song) in School Rumble Nigakki. I still like both. And a final thought: Is it just me or are singers (e.g. Mako, hitomi as Primula in SHUFFLE!) and actresses also getting into the seiyuu business?
I have over 30gigs of Anime op/ed and music videos. Collecting since the days f the internet download. The haruhi ending isn’t bad but for some really craze stuff you guys need to see the a remake of the Childs Toy op with Eva characters and live action shots of the Studio Gainax people doing the mackrena.
And then you have something like Shana’s 2nd OP which fucks everthing up.
Usually, I don’t complain about OPs and EDs, but Shana’s 2nd OP creeped the hell out of me.
I am usually allergic to anime closings, the majority I feel they are totally dire and I’m really not sure why. I guess I’m much more of an OP girl. That said, you’ve mentioned two of my favourite endings of recent times in the shape of agony and incl though! I seem to enjoy the short versions of OP’s and ED’s the most myself mainly as I prefer to take them in the context of the anime rather than as an individual song.
What?! No comment on the ‘real life’ Strawberry Panic ED? For shame! :P
Another example of the animation enhancing the enjoyment of the song was probably Super Shooter for the OP of GANTZ. The song by itself was pretty good, but the OP animation just made it “feel” so much better and fast paced. The full version of the song was rather unfullfillinf though.
I believe I beat you to the criticism of the full length Hare hare yukai; its translations between two stanzas are non-existent. I remember the opposite case: Air’s Bird’s Poem. When I first heard it as an OP, I thought it could have been a great song, but the movement between sections were jagged as if something bit pieces off of it. When I heard the full version, I recognize that many of the natural development has been cut out from the OP, and since this song is such a complicated piece of music, it is hard for trained ears to miss the fact that important developements were missing from the OP. I think it comes down to these aspects: some OP/ED are composed as 80~90 second short song in the first place and then lengthened, and some are composed as whole piece exceeding 3 minutes and then shortened for OP/ED section. Hare hare is obviously the former case while the Bird’s Poem is of latter case. Of course, if the composer is good enough, he/she can easily lengthen any short theme into piece of epic proportion; Bach’s Passacaglia and Fugue’s main theme is about 20 seconds long, but the whole piece is 15+ minutes of wonderous variations and bliss. Heck, Beethoven’s 5th symphony’s main theme is just 4 notes that takes less than 5 seconds to play, but the whole symphony is about 30 minutes long. I wish there would be more varied attempts at OP/ED music. I also recommend hearing the ending song for ‘Lament of Lamb’ OVA; the anime is bad, but the song is great and I believe it is rather long, lasting for more than 2 minutes and 30seconds. This is a case where the song capture the essence of the manga, considered by some to be best manga ever, much better than the anime itself.
Oh, the son’g name is ‘Destiny’ and the anime series’s Japanese name is ‘Hitsuji no Uta.’ I got to go to Choir practice now. Lafayette Chamber Singer, the choir I belong to, will perform many choral pieces by Lasso, Monteverdi, and Gesualdo, tomorrow night.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlo_Gesualdo
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claudio_Monteverdi
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lassus
>>I’m of the view that how a seiyuu looks in real life shouldn’t affect my appreciation of her or his voice work.
This is why the Strawberry Panic ED creeps me out. You’re trying to tell me there’s people behind these voices!? And they’re all girl lovey in real life? Creepy!
Usually I regard OPs and EDs as songs like any other. The exception being the Paniponi Dash vocals, which I love because they induce uncontrollable giggling in people who’ve seen it.
Consequently my favourite vocals this season are from series I dropped early or never even sampled: Suara - Musou Uta, YoKo - Yume Meikyuu, Teikoku Yosei - Senketsu no Chikai, Hashimoto Miyuki - Screaming.
I even like their B-sides, which in other cases are the only thing that makes the single worthwhile: meg rock - i’ve been here, Kawabe Chieco - Shimauma no Yoru, Aki Misato - before.
With most series the OP doesn’t help to get in the mood, either. Maybe my standards are just too high.
Hung, I heard on the Yuricon Mailing List that the Strawberry Panic ED sequence is playing to fan rumours that Ai Shimizu and Mai Nakahara are ‘very close’ in real life. Hooooom.
If a song has been written for the anime specifically, then it is likely to suck on its own without the animation.
For songs like Jyuohsei’s OP and Ouran’s ED, they are made by the artistes to sell and the anime is just hitching a ride on them. These tend to be much better full-length.
Kannazuki’s OP and ED was the main reason I got hooked on to Kotoko so much. It is a real masterpiece in my opinion. Higurashi’s OP should also be good, hopefully. I’ve Sound is famous for their dedication towards their work.
>>Usually, I don’t complain about OPs and EDs, but Shana’s 2nd OP creeped the hell out of me.
Why?
>>Suara - Musou Uta, YoKo - Yume Meikyuu, Teikoku Yosei - Senketsu no Chikai, Hashimoto Miyuki - Screaming.
I even like their B-sides, which in other cases are the only thing that makes the single worthwhile: meg rock - i’ve been here, Kawabe Chieco - Shimauma no Yoru, Aki Misato - before.
I agree. Yumetsukai and Utamono are great shows, give them a try. B-sides in anime singles nowadays are pretty good, almost making the single’s price worth it :).
…they are made by the artistes to sell and the anime is just hitching a ride on them. These tend to be much better full-length.
Likewise for Mika Nakashima’s Find the Way in GS.
B-sides in anime singles nowadays are pretty good, almost making the single’s price worth it .
Hmm…. I wasn’t too big on Jyukai’s Anata Ita no Mori but I did like SAKURA Difference.