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Chariot of Dawn

More gloating over loot procuring during the 2005-04 Tokyo trip and also preparing info relevant to my forthcoming Mai HiME post on Nao Yuuki.

Got the Akatsuki no Kuruma (Chariot of Dawn, sometimes translated as Wheel of Dawn, definitely not Car of Dawn) single, by FictionJunction YUUKA (YUUKA is Yuuka Nanri, Nao's voice actress) with all lyrics, music and arrangement by she of the Noir OST, the mighty Yuki Kajiura. Price JPY 1,000 (SGD 15). It's is my favourite song from the Gundam SEED OST. It's essentially a sad song but has got tremendous pace and was the perfect musical accompaniment to Ep 40 when the Archangel fled the Earth Military's invasion of Orb. A scan of the lyrics can be seen here and a superb translation can be viewed at a Sg site, Waxin' Lyrical.

See-Saw's Anna ni Isshodattanoni (Even Though We Were Together So Much, 1st ED) and Tatsuya Iishi's River (2nd ED) lost out to Akatsuki no Kurama for first place although I liked both. The opening strains of the former was added to the tension of the cliffhangers in the early episodes and the latter is a performance by a male vocalist that I actually (and quite rarely) enjoyed. But the secret weapon that Akatsuki no Kuruma wielded to conquer No.1 in my ranking was its poster girl, Cagalli Yula Athha (above, in her Orb military uniform), who was my favourite character in Gundam SEED. Passionate, reckless, intelligent, she's been undercover spy, rebel advisor and guerilla fighter, chief military tactician of the Orb armed forces, heir to the heir of Orb, teenager, sister, lover, Gundam pilot and overall kick-ass character. And she's got the most varied wardrobe in the entire cast to boot!

Related posts:

1. Sing till the dawn
2. Gundam SEED Destiny 11
3. Act of Luna(maria)cy