Why Did I Think Sayaka Ohara Retired?
Because Sayaka Ohara didn’t. She did announce that she is getting married/is married, late last year.
The equally-fab-but-less-historied, yet-also-35-year-old Erino Hazuki plays Yamamoto-sensei in Hanamaru Youchien. As you may notice, Hazuki is not a frequently-heard voice in the sort of anime we watch. Her voice is somewhat distinctive, and it is not hard to pick her out if she has any notable roles. I mention this because it makes the handful of main/secondary character roles she plays notable.
The thing is, in Hanamaru Youchien, Hazuki plays an ara-ara onee-san/okaa-san type, Hanako Yamamoto. Yamamoto-sensei is also the type of character you typically find Sayaka Ohara doing.
So if you’ve watched Aria, you might recall the ending of season 3. Now read j1m0ne’s splendid spoiler.
I am sure what I am pointing out is a coincidence. But it makes the mind wonder, doesn’t it?!
Marble
No puns this time! (I think.)
I’ve grown to like Marble’s music, the pop duo Micco and Tatsuya Kikuchi that have re-launched their brand of music since 2007. To be more concise than Wikipedia, the two signed up with Lantis in 2007, and since then they’ve released a line of music that really gets to me.
Before then, the two also have worked for and with different artists, writing music, touring, and releasing stuff. Both can compose, play and write; and in stereotypical musical-duo-form, Kikuchi gets to do the bulk of programming and play. Some names they’ve written for include Nana Kitade, Mai Nakahara, and Ryoko Hirosue, among others. Recently, they’ve written one of the character songs (at least?) for Hatsukoi Limited and provided the OP song and the Christmas episode image song. Their first single from Lantis launched with Hidamari Sketch (2007), as the ED song, and you can hear their latest single in Hidasketch Hoshimitsu (X***?). More (outdated) info can be found at the marblepedia.
Actually, I want to talk about that ED. See here. With lyrics. It’s a bit of a divergence no? I thought the way they sounded since 2007 had a particular method to their madness. It is like dressing up street pop with a lot of glitz, but in a fluffy, diet-soda kind of way. Compared to the songs on their two re-release albums, which was a lot more mainline indie/folk/jazz influenced, the new stuff is just outrageous. And I don’t mean outrageous like Lady Gaga. It’s like Akiba/Dempa with a much smaller dose of the electricity.
Oh right, their new song, “Sakura Sakura Saku ~Ano Hi Kimi wo Matsu Sora to Onaji de~,” is a freaking mouthful. And catchy in that cheapass teenage powered rock music way. Sigh. Perhaps it’s a progression from Hatsukoi Limited? Wait, there is a PV to Hatsukoi Limited? LOL?
It’s like seeing Micco in that outfit for Kuusou Jet reminds me of Elizabeth from Persona 3. Farm their old blog for pics–the two of them post quite a bit, and you can follow their new posts on their ameblo.
In fact it’s probably more amusing than a blog post full of links you can google up in a few minutes. In a nutshell that’s partly how I feel about Marble–they are nothing really extraordinary, but somehow they’re just really enjoyable. It is as if they are in a niche that takes advantage of their competent if humble skill set. It’s like, moe?
It’s so much like moe, that all this poking and researching don’t add much to my appreciation of their works. So weird. I guess it beats writing a post about the lone nipple pointing at the moon…
She Is Otaku, So I Write about It
I really like Halko Momoi’s cover albums, because she knows where it is at. This is notable personally because I feel mildly indifferent to much of her post UNDER17 works. And writing about her just reminds me, damn, U17 was good. Okay, enough of that.
Anyways, this is just a head’s up to you and me, about Himeka’s “first” album. It’s a cover album! If you don’t know her story, she’s just this anison wota from Canada who somehow got a break and got signed in Japan under Aniplex. She’s got like, 4 songs under her belt that could be called hers, but obviously you know she’s just dying to do a duet with Nana Mizuki, on the inside.
You can read about it from Mai’s or from the source. I’ll try to follow up when web retailers start to list this. In a way, Himeka is a tad like Susan Boyle, who has not a whole lot to go on besides her voice and that out-of-the-ordinary appeal, with the unlikely background weaving together an appealing package. To some. I have no doubt this girl knows these songs though. I mean, look at the selection (thus far):
- Yuzurenai Negai - Everyone who can range it does it. Would be a surprise if it wasn’t included!
- VOICES - Not a surprise either!
- Last regrets - I see trouble ahead!
- Sore ga, Ai desho - I always thought this is one of Shimokawa’s best.
- Hitomi no naka ni Meikyu - Another eroge adaptation! YamiBou no less. This is quite telling.
- DREAMS - Gundam X, throwback stuff! Probably chosen by committee? Fits her range I guess.
- BLAZE - From Tsubasa Chronicles. Egh.
- Tamashi no Rufuran - Another popular choice.
Totally not quite related, I just started to go through MOVE’s cover album (aff. link). Wow. Some tracks are really interesting, but there were some less-than-pleasant by-products. So you know, even if it seems like easy money, not every cover album works out. As for Himeka, hopefully we’ll get something more orthodox and less remix-y, because we know the girl can karaoke at least!
Year In Review: N-Squared List
Just like last year, I guess some things have not changed. This could be a reference.
Year In Review: Track List 2009 from #MALKeionbu
One thing I did recently was compile eighteen tracks cherry-picked anime music, and it results in a bunch of files that you can download (at your own peril). It represents a successful and experimental 26 weeks worth of activity for zzeroparticle’s MyAnimeList club, in which the participants discuss anime music. As I write, the club is on its merry way to week 33.
If you know me well enough you’d know music is my favorite niche within the fandom that is related to anime. Some cosplay, others fap to games, I attend Yoko Kanno’s concerts. In fact this may very well be why I am not big on manga: no music! And I go beyond that J-Pop or J-Rock stuff–I care also about anime songs and BGM.
The actual name that #MALKeionbu stands for is “Anime Music Piece of the Week club.” As you can see it isn’t really all that of a name, so the nickname is preferable IMO. It’s also no surprise it coincided with K-ON’s airing. I’ve already talked at some length about K-ON’s appeal from the strength of its source material, so I will not repeat it here. From another perspective, what we do at #MALKeionbu is precisely what Yui and the girls do at their club meets. It’s not serious business.
Still, it is like joining a club. I have to check the club site on a regular basis and listen to the entries when they are posted. I also opt to write and post my opinion each week, but that is optional. It’s another social circle, except these people shares this anisong fetish, and that’s always fun just being able to chat about things nobody pay attention to while watching anime.
Short of turning this into yet another recruit post, I will just tell you about the “best of” collection. Methodologically it is composed of the winning entries we’ve had from weeks 1 to 26. Members then can opt to rank the list, and I compile everyone’s preferences into a finalized track list by trimming it down to less than 80 minutes and arranging the ordering of the tracks. The gang helped put together a liner note file with the track names and credits, plus some notes.
Not bad for 3 weeks’ worth of work. I hope you enjoy it; it might very well be the weirdest set of 18 anisongs that you only know ~30-70% of. And I mean everybody would know 30-70% of it, regardless how unfamiliar or how expert you are with anisong! It’s the oddest thing. If you care to give it a spin, make sure you read the liner notes for some randomness!
