Artist: 牧野由依 (Makino Yui)
Album/Single: マキノユイ。 (MAKINO YUI.)
Release Date: March 26, 2008

1. 雨の日の噴水 (Ame no hi no funsui)
Makino begins her second album with a beautiful piano solo, played by herself. Now I’ve heard a bit about her training as a pianist, so it’s a nice treat for her to include this (and I wished she had included another solo in her debut album). She certainly is impressive on the piano though. I love how she easily brings out the melody in any voicing that it happens to appear in. This piece by William Gillock is very sweet and pretty. I love how it finishes with the dissonant chords played loudly. It sounds like birds chirping. Makino is quite good with those full keyboard runs (which can be heard near the middle of the piece). My only complaint is the rhythm troubles she has with the left hand accompaniment. The notes are not always steady and turns out uneven. However, constant 16th note runs are generally hard to control, and she gave a very musical performance, so it’s enjoyable anyway.

2. マーマラード (MARMALADE)
I’m really liking the start of this album. Don’t get me wrong, Makino’s singing hasn’t exactly changed much since her first album, but the song is really cute so it suits her (and her voice) amazingly well. I like the light jazz accompaniment and the addition of the brass instruments (and that saxophone solo). The overall feel of this song is very relaxing and rather enjoyable to listen to. Even though I said Makino’s singing hasn’t improved much, if you listen closely, you can hear a tiny improvement on her tone, and she’s not as breathy as she used to be (though it could still use some work). She also gets some very nice notes along the way too.

3. 三月物語 (Sangatsu monogatari)
Makino tries her hand at some pop-rock next. She sounds really adorable as she sings this, even though I don’t think that was the plan. XD It really sounds like she’s gotten more comfortable singing though. I like the ease in which she sings this song. The song is really pleasant, and she’s even singing out more. Makino does encounter quite a few tuning problems for majority of the song though, mostly on the higher notes. The more phrases sitting around the mid-range are done quite nicely.

4. 横顔 (Yokogao)
I am very glad to hear that her ballads have also improved. This is a moving song with a beautiful piano accompaniment to start off. The light percussion, guitar and string additions are also perfectly balanced. It’s also refreshing to heard that she isn’t as easy overpowered by the accompaniment this time around too. Makino is still using her improved tone and as a result, her musicality is showing some more. She does sound more childish, if that’s even possible. I know she has a naturally light and high pitched voice to begin with, but at moments, she sounds like she got younger or something. I am too pleased with this song to mind much though.

5. スピラーレ (SPIRALE)
Going for a more dreamy feel, Makino presents us with another ballad, but one that is more lighthearted. I appreciate the way she sang her lower notes. They are stronger than anything I’ve heard her do, and they have something that she was missing throughout “Tenkyuu no Ongaku”, flow and resonance. As a result, the verses are very well done. I don’t really like the choruses at much, because the way they’re set up really stretch her vocals (and she was doing so well). The random leaping in the bridge sound a bit out of place, but I do like how the sections transition into one another in general. The song itself is pretty nice, but it’s not that exciting, especially nex to “Yokogao”.

6. ソルフェージュ (SOLFEGE)
I think this next song is quite challenging for Makino vocally. It really pushes her limits with the harmonization and the quick melodic runs. I really like the melody with the compound time they’re using. It creates a very folk-like style. The syncopated rhythms towards the end really bring out the percussion which I thought had an interesting part. I don’t really like the brass solo though (well, I dont’ really like them in the song to begin with). It just felt like they decided to throw in a random jazz part in this very beautiful song. The strings would have been enough. It’s a lovely piece of work though, and I love that Makino decided to challenge herself here.

7. synchronicity
We’ve come to the token Kajiura song on Makino’s album. “synchronicity” was probably the strongest A-side off of this album, and it was probably helped by Kajiura’s dramatic style. It starts off with the typical operatic-styled background vocals, but much like some of Tsubasa Chronicle’s later songs, it featured a heavier dancebeat. I love the melody of this song, and the part just before the chorus was golden (performed well too). I personally do not think Makino’s vocals were well-suited to this song though. It comes off as an aggressive song, so Makino’s adorable, light vocals are somewhat out of place. She does good enough, on the basis of her musicality alone, but there wasn’t enough power from her so she was essentially carried by the song.

8. つきのしじま -ultimate mix- (Tsuki no shijima)
I think this is the first time I’ve heard Makino play a large part in the chorus (the vocals I mean) of the song. The song itself is a ballad (and by Kajiura again), but the fact that she set the tone immediately with her own vocals instead of some of the usual FictionJunction members really helped a lot. In fact, she creates a rather angelic vocal sound to work from, and it does just that. Her musicality is better than what was featured in “synchronicity”, adding in some nice dynamic contrasts too. I would like to hear her improve on her phrasing for this song because it would have been prettier. She falls in the trap of coming off with an accent at the ends of the ascending phrases in the chorus, so it sounds kind of amusing, but she does the following descending lines very nicely.

9. 遠くまで行こう (Tooku made ikou)
Move aside “MARMALADE”! This song definitely took the spotlight for the best cute song off of this album. “MARMALADE” was actually cuter but in a more sickening way, while “Tooku made ikou” is much more tasteful. It even has the key brass instruments involved, so you’re not missing much. I would say the former has the better singing, but in the same way, this song is very much suited to Makino’s vocal capacity, making it very enjoyable to tune into.

10. スケッチブックを持ったまま -引き語り- (SKETCHBOOK wo motta mama -hikigatari-)
I always like the “hikigatari” versions of Makino’s song (the “AMRITA” one is also very nice). Essentially that means that it’s Makino accompanied solely by the piano. I’m quite impressed with her because she arranged this herself, and it’s very strong. It serves the song very well even though it’s more or less a mix of broken and solid chords. It’s a very typical pop song accompaniment, but I do like the moving solid chords that she uses in the chorus. She could have fixed up the rhythm troubles right when the verses start. She has a moment when she stalls there. It sounds like she’s trying to use rubato there, but she can’t decide whether to sing it faster or slower, so she comes in late once, and rushes the other. As for her singing, it was okay. Again, I really like her musicality, and her tone has definitely improved. There is more power to her singing overall, but the tuning needs to be tweaked a bit. Some of those higher notes a very strained and fall a bit flat. Otherwise, there was solid effort in this song.

11. DESTINY
Makino tries for another dramatic ballad, but not as clean as “Yokogao”. It makes me think that she recorded this sometime closer to her first album. Her light, airy tone is back and there’s a certain dullness in her performance that I haven’t heard for this entire album so far. The newly developed lower register is no longer present. Most of the high notes are completely wild and uncontrolled as well. I’m really rather disappointed in this song because it fails to excite any sort of emotion from me. In comparison to the rest of the material off of this album, it’s a major step down.

12. 私について (Watashi ni tsuite)
Though not identical, this song is much too similar to “DESTINY” start off. The two are also quite similar in sound and musical direction. This one is a little more laidback though. The real difference though, Makino’s performance. She really performs here, and I love the way she delivers those verses. The chorus was a bit shaky, especially since they were littered with all those high notes that she basically misses almost every time. It’s kind of strange to hear her do so well with the verses and then majorly cringe at the choruses. In any case, the song is decent, and the overall product is miles better than “DESTINY”, so I would have preferred an 11 track album instead.

Overall –
Favourite Track: Ame no hi no funsui, Tsuki no shijima -ultimate mix-
Makino’s second album was such an improvement, I can’t begin to say how relieved I am. I could barely make it through her debut and yet I was listening to this more or less comfortably. The aspect I appreciate the most was her improvement in tone and major improvement in musicality. It really seemed like she learned how to express herself better vocally and it translated well this time around. Many of the songs were much more interesting than anything from her first album, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was the better performance value that kept my attention. It was also nice to get a taste of the trained pianist too. Many times, those skills are overlooked, so it was definitely a treat that she chose to feature herself that way.

Artist: 牧野由依 (Makino Yui)
Album/Single: 天球の音楽 (Tenkyuu no Ongaku)
Release Date: December 6, 2006

1. オムニ　マグニ (OMNI MAGNI)
The credits show this as a work of Kanno Yoko, but I don’t think you needed that to realize it was her. It has the unique Kanno sound to it, and Makino singing in another unfamiliar (or even made up, I’m not sure) language. It’s a very cute yet haunting piece of work. I believe the accompaniment was done with the synthesizer. It has a very light chiming sound to it to back up Makino’s equally light vocals. I don’t really like the way Makino sings this though. She does have a typical cute seiyuu voice, but she also happens to be out of tune, and she can’t handle the ornamentations. Her voice in the background vocals are perfect for this song though.

2. ウンディーネ (UNDINE)
The beginning of this song is absolutely beautiful. The dreamy quality of this song is calming to listen to. I love the shots of the harp throughout. Very nice touch. Actually, the song itself is quite strong. I can’t get past Makino’s vocals though. The song is light and gentle, so I don’t know if she’s trying to portray that with her vocals too. Unfortunately, since she already has a light voice, it just comes off unsupported and airy. She has two nice notes at the beginning of the chorus where she sings out more. Now if she could sing like that for the whole song, it’d be so much better. On the brighter side, her tuning is quite good despite the poor quality of her tone. The vocal performance was pretty good for Makino though, so I guess it could have been much worse.

3. 幸せのため息 (Shiawase no tameiki)
Where “UNDINE” had a well supported lower range, that’s what this song is lacking. Ideally, Makino could have sung well in that lower range the way she did in the previous track, but she didn’t. She’s very light again, and then she gets a bit squeaky when it comes to the higher notes. The song reminds me of one of the cuter bossa nova influenced songs from Sakamoto Maaya. A plus for her, she composed it herself and musically, it turned out quite well. It’s a very cute track, but I can’t really hear Makino’s part, and therefore, I can’t hear the melody. I’m actually quite amazed by how she’s managing to be drowned out by the light accompaniment.

4. もどかしい世界の上で (Modokashii sekai no ue de)
Getting into some more typical pop stuff with the piano and guitar and supporting strings. I did like the piano introduction, and the accompaniment was still strong even after all the instruments came in. Sometimes things become too loud when a full band comes in, so I’m glad that wasn’t the case. Makino’s singing is much improved from “Shiawase no tameiki”. I mean, you’ll likely hear me comment on the lightness of her voice in every song here, but she seems to have opened up her sound a bit more than any other song so far, so they’re much more tolerable. She even manages to get in some decent passages. It’s a very catchy song. The melody wasn’t that interesting, but the accompaniment really did the trick.

5. シンフォニー (SYMPHONY)
Makino has some nice calming songs on this album, but I’m starting to get tired of the light pop with a touch of symphonic stylings. In this case, the song is named “Symphony” so I suppose it was to be expected, but there’s nothing particularly special about the song. When you think about it, it is simply your typical pop song. I won’t say it isn’t a nice song (because it really is). Maybe if it was placed elsewhere, I might have taken a bit more notice of it. Her singing doesn’t help matters once again. She’s light and toneless, and I think she even hit some rough notes that stuck out badly.

6. ユーフォリア (EUPHORIA)
I spoke too soon perhaps. “EUPHORIA” is even more dull and so I retract my comments about “SYMPHONY” and apply them here. “EUPHORIA” shows us nothing that we haven’t encountered in this album. The same melodic techniques are used here that can be found in another song. The accompaniment is generic and repetitive, so it does nothing to help the song in terms of interest. Oh wow, there are strings yet again, but nothing worth your interest (well, the interlude was nice but that’s it). Any guesses on what I think about her singing here? The song would have been worth some praise if she didn’t have better songs like this that were already featured.

7. ジャスミン (JASMINE)
The first thing that stood out about this song was Makino’s singing, but in a good way. She’s still lacking some major support and she’s still very breathy, but she’s singing so much better than I’ve heard her in this entire album. See what singing out just a little can do for you? She may not have changed much (from her point of view), but the sound is completely different already. The song is absolutely captivating too. I love the pentatonic (or heptatonic, I’m not going to figure it out) based chorus. It creates a beautiful melody line and stands out really well. The little breaks in the accompaniment are nice added touches, though I do love the flowing accompaniment to begin with. The transitions could have been just a bit better, but it was a solid song and the best so far.

8. 夏休みの宿題 (Natsu yasumi no shukudai)
Getting into something more fast-paced and upbeat (finally), Makino presents us a song with a lot of energy. I really like the brass instruments featured here, and the bass does a lot of work. I usually love bass lines, and while it’s not bad, I think the emphasis on it outside of the verses is a little distracting. With the singing and everything involved, this song honestly reminds me of an Otsuka Ai song. Makino’s vocals are still light, but I do like the spunk to the song. If she was more energetic herself, I may have liked it more.

9. 髪とヘアピンと私 (Kami to HAIRPIN to Watashi)
This song gets back to the piano + vocal opening, but eventually there are other sounds throughout that enhance it. I really like the instrumental and synthesizer additions. Unfortunately, Makino’s singing doesn’t do this lovely ballad justice. She just flies right under the radar the way she’s singing that I don’t really notice that there’s a melody. She really needs to sing out more. Her light singing is also affecting her musicality and portrayal of the song, coming off incredibly unemotional.

10. ユメノツバサ (YUME NO TSUBASA)
I wasn’t a big fan of KAORI’s English version of this song “tsubasa”, so I’m glad that a Japanese version was recorded. However, KAORI has since then recorded her own Japanese version, and that’s how it should be done. I really love this song, but Makino’s poor singing really gets in the way of my enjoyment of this song. I think vocally, she’s not up to the challenge. I do like that she’s trying to sing out a bit more, even though she’s struggling with control on the higher notes. She clearly needs to learn to sing with more flow. In return though, she sounds much more involved with the music, and she’s demonstrating a lot more emotion. Maybe it has something to do with singing in character, but being serious, it was a good attempt.

11. 永遠の想い (Towa no omoi)
Next we’re back to a very cute song, with very cute vocals – no wait, that’s Makino’s light, airy tone again. This is more of an easy listening song, but I’m having a hard time enjoying it. I’m not really fond of her singing (of course I’m not), even though I’m liking the feel of the song. I just feel like there’s something missing from it. Makino performs with some degree of musicality, though not always evident. It definitely has some very nice moments, but doesn’t keep my interest as a whole.

12. CESTREE
This song has such a horrible start to it. Makino’s vocals are lighter and more airy than usual to the point that it affects her otherwise decent tuning. She goes flat, she goes sharp, all while repeating “Cestree” and some other Latin lyrics. The song itself is quite unique, and I like the combination of the instruments, but I honestly can do without 6 minutes of hearing Makino sing this way.

13. 雨降花 -Album Version- (Ame furibana)
After “CESTREE”, I’m pratically embracing the return of this light pop. Even Makino’s still unsupported vocals are welcome, as long as she’s not doing what she did in “CESTREE”. That doesn’t mean this song is some work of art though. It’s quite dull and being the second last track of this album, it’s treading on my patience. The programmed beat sounds like something cheesy from the 90s. The jazzy guitar solo was nice, but it’ll take a lot more than a mellow solo to capture my attention, and Makino’s singing just doesn’t cut it, especially when she decided to suddenly go wild towards the end.

14. アムリタ (AMURITA)
Makino’s debut single is surprisingly one of the better songs off of this album, despite the fact that I don’t care very much for the studio version. If you ever come across her acoustic piano version, it’s much nicer, and less frantic. In any case, I could have used this song about 7 tracks ago. The melody is quite nice, and very powerful. I really like the structure of this song actually, and the way the melody moves from one section to the next. Makino’s singing is too light during the verses, causing her to completely forfeit all the low notes. The choruses are much better, even though she sounds whiny as expected. She does show a good degree of emotion however, which I really appreciate. I love the piano part to this song so I’m glad that a piano + vocal version came to light. The programming used for this song was way too messy and not well thoughout. There are what I call, “explosive” sounds throughout and they really take away from the song. Despite all that, it’s one of the songs that I am still willing to listen to.

Overall –
Favourite Track: JASMINE, YUME NO TSUBASA
Makino’s debut album was hard to get through. Her singing is simply unbearable for the most part. I realize the quality of her voice is high pitched naturally, but it doesn’t mean she has to sing with no support. Her technique isn’t the greatest, but her tuning is one of her best qualities (as long as she doesn’t get too out of control). I would definitely like to hear her improve on her tone, technique and flow. Her album musically wasn’t bad. I enjoyed most of the songs, though I can’t say they all worked well being on the same album. She’ll definitely have to work on her singing, but she did give a good album all other aspects considered.

Artist: Various
Album/Single: Tsubasa Chronicles Best Vocal Collection
Release Date: December 20, 2006

1. BLAZE / キンヤ (KINYA)
There has always been something about this song that I never particularly liked, and I’ve never been to put my finger on it. I think it might be that KINYA opted to go for more of a pop sound than a rock sound, despite the obvious call to the rock side of this song. It doesn’t have enough kick to it to keep my interest for the entire song. The melody is just alright. It’s not bad, but also not good (although leaning towards the awkward side). I also can’t help but feel that KINYA sounds less-than-inspired when performing this song, so it’s pretty dull to listen to.

2. tsubasa / FictionJunction KAORI
Getting into one of the more recognizable songs of the actual series, we’re graced with a very “Kajiura Yuki” sound. The song is sung completely in English by KAORI, but her English isn’t that impressive, however, her singing is quite the opposite. She’s a little monotone, which is expected since she’s singing in a language she’s unfamiliar with, but she still carries through quite nicely. I really like the uplifting sound of the chorus, especially that first line. KAORI honestly sounds like she was made for Kajiura’s compositions because her interpretation and performance work well in this song. I wouldn’t say this is the best song I’ve heard, and certainly not by Kajiura Yuki, but it’s not bad either.

3. ループ (LOOP) / 坂本真綾 (Sakamoto Maaya)
Here we have no stranger to the anime world. This is yet another creation by the ever famous seiyuu-turned-singer, Sakamoto Maaya, and she delivers yet again. This would be the first song she released post-Kanno Yoko era, and she definitely managed to hit some success with it. h-wonder doesn’t necessarily create compositions that are as intricate as Kanno, but he certainly knows how to play to the artists strengths. I was quite surprised by his versatility, because I recognized his name from working with Koda Kumi, so I was very impressed by how he was able to adapt to Sakamoto’s style quite easily and create a song that suits her perfectly (and the strings add a nice touch too). Sakamoto is right there with him too, with great interpretation. I like how she carries through phrases fully, and not only that, she creates a nice full and strong sound here.

4. つきのしじま (tsuki no shijima) / 牧野由依 as サクラ (Makino Yui as SAKURA)
There’s something about Kajiura Yuki and adding in the choir to open a lot of Makino Yui’s callborations. It provides a huge contrast to Makino’s light, high pitched voice. For a relatively young artist, she’s alright (and it’s safe to say that she does improve massively later on). I’m not quite that impressed with her singing here, because it’s very light and slightly uncontrolled. The flow of this song isn’t as good as it probably could have been, with a lot of abrupt moments occurring throughout, especially with the starting and stopping of the programming. I find that most of the song is lost through Makino’s interpretation though. There’s a great line (the third one) in the chorus that I think Makino could have definitely done much better in terms of singing with emotion, but it came out a little bit mechanical. It sounded like she had the right idea, but didn’t quite commit to what she wanted to do and came up a bit short.

5. 風の街へ (kaze no machi e) / FictionJunction KEIKO
What can I say about this song? Everything about it is just absolutely stunning. KEIKO has a different timbre to her voice than the usual (Japanese) artists that Kajiura tends to work with, but what a wonderful vocalist she is. Her ense of the music is amazing, and I love the way she makes use of dynamics and how she phrases throughout this song. She definitely is a mixture of grace and power. The composition is top notch, and not without the usual chorus Kajiura likes to include, but it’s not out of place. It actually meshes in quite well with the rest of the song. The programming is simple and gives off a pure atmosphere. This against the strings just adds the final touch, with solos and countermelodies by the cello and violin. To top it all off, Kajiura incorporates a strong piano base to hold the song together. Nothing short of perfection.

6. 斬光 (Zankou) / 稲田徹 as 黒鋼 (Ineda Tooru as Kurogane)
Is it wrong that I totally thought of some random Street Fighter background music when I first heard the opening? XD Ineda is by no means the greatest vocalist, but he seems to have better control over his singing. He does struggle with some of those held notes, falling out of tune whenever he gets them, but he sounds pretty decent elsewhere. There’s something about the melody of this song that catches my attention. I find the programming terribly cheesy, but many parts of this song remind me of a regular Jpop song, which is good. In any case, if you’re a Tsubasa fan, and you’ve always wondered how Kurogane would sound if he sang, you can be rest assured that he’s not completely hopeless.

7. キズナ (KIZUNA) / 入野自由 as 小狼 (Irino Miyu as Syaoran)
Again, this isn’t as cheesy as it could be, so it sounds like a regular Jpop song, especially one that comes straight from a boyband (e.g. V6). Irino is probably the one that did the best singing job with his song out of the rest of the feature seiyuu. He has decent control, and a fair bit of power despite his higher register. I like the dramatic strings during the non-vocal parts of this song. The electric guitar also gives the song more of an edge, helping to carry it through. Amazingly, I think this tops Ineda’s “Zankou”.

8. IT’S / キンヤ (KINYA)
Finally, we’re back to a better sounding KINYA. This song moves much faster, but it has a lot more character to it than “BLAZE” did. I like the little variations (although slight) that KINYA decided to include in this song. He doesn’t sound as one-dimensional as he had in BLAZE, so it helps make the song much more interesting. I find this song has a better balance in style, not a rock song attempting to sound overly pop. Everything about this song fits together well, so it flows much better. There’s a great upbeat melody that keeps you pumped all the way through. KINYA also sounds more comfortable singing this song, so I feel more willing to listen to this all the way through.

9. dream scape / FictionJunction KAORI
I’m not sure what it is about this FictionJunction project, but I just simply don’t like the work that came from these two. This one though, is a much better turn out than “tsubasa”. As I suspected, KAORI singing in her native tongue allows her to phrase better and more naturally, so she definitely brings in a beauty factor to this performance. Even though I don’t particularly like this song all that much, I definitely like KAORI’s interpretation here. I feel she added character to the song, made it her own, and prevented it from being just any other Kajiura Yuki song.

10. ring your song / 梶浦由紀 feat. 伊東恵里 (Kajiura Yuki feat. Itou Eri)
I absolutely adore this main theme from Future Soundscape IV. The piano provides a strong accompaniment next to the majestic melody played by strings. Itou adds a bit more finesse to the song itself by providing it with her beautiful vocals. She sings with a very lovely and lilting voice. She doesn’t always hit her notes immediately, causing her to swoop into the right notes, and I find that kind of distracting at times, but when she’s on, she’s on. I love the quality of her voice and tone. Simply gorgeous.

11. smile / 浪川大輔 as ファイ(Namikawa Daisuke as FAI)
It hurts me to have to sit through this after such a lovely performance. I’m sorry Fai, but as cute of a character you are, your voice actor should stick to only acting you out. Namikawa can barely hold his own through this song. He obviously is not made for singing, evident by the lifeless, toneless performance here (though I am slightly impressed that he managed to hit the descending line in the chorus fairly accurately). The composition of the song isn’t very impressive either. It’s too cheesy for my liking, and believe me, I can handle quite a bit of cheese. It has a nice guitar solo but that’s about it.

12. you are my love / 梶浦由紀 feat. 伊東恵里 (Kajiura Yuki feat. Itou Eri)
My first impression is that Itou doesn’t capture my attention as easily as she had done with “ring my song”. For some reason, she’s singing a bit differently here, with a much lighter and unsupported tone. I’m also noticing that she’s singing in a breathier tone as well. She still manages to hit some beautiful notes, but she doesn’t carry through as well as she did previously. A big difference here is that she is only supported by the guitar, and it’s pretty scarce in the entire song run, drawing more focus to Itou’s singing. It’s a good song as a whole, and very cryptic, but I can’t help but feel that it could have been done much better.

13. 旅の途中で希望の歌を歌おう (tabi no tochuu de kibou no uta wo utaou) / 牧野由依 as モコナ (Kikuchi Mika as MOKONA)
I haven’t particularly liked any of the songs sung in character so far, and unfortunately, not even the cuteness of this little thing could change my opinion. I actually like the melody quite a bit, and this song is insanely cute to match MOKONA’s character personality, but there’s really nothing special about it, nor does it set itself apart from any other image character songs. I also don’t really like the slower moments of the song because I find them to be out of place, but the little jazzy instrumental interlude and drum solo really stand out. Kikuchi does a nice job portraying MOKONA here, but otherwise, I can’t say much about the song.

14. 風待ちジェット (Kazemachi JET) / 坂本真綾 (Sakamoto Maaya)
I understand the idea of finishing off this album with the 2nd closing theme, but it feels more like an album opener than closer. This song really pushed Sakamoto’s singing a bit more than what she usually does. I love those lines during the chorus. I think Sakamoto nailed them, and her singing for the verses was actually better than the chorus. I felt she did a nice job overall and gave the song a unique character to it, even though the song itself was unique to begin with. Her singing wasn’t always on though, and you can hear her struggling with the higher notes of the song. She lacks some flow in her vocal performance that she had with “LOOP”. What caught my attention the most though, was the programming and instruemntation. I liked how each instrument served an important to the song, and I definitely like the feel that the violin solos gave. My favourite part of the song was right as the end when Sakamoto finished with only the staccato piano accompaniment, immediately after all the big fanfare of the other instruments stopped. It was a very nice contrast.

Overall -
Favourite Track: Kaze no machi e
This album certainly gave me mixed feelings. I don’t think I could sit through it in full again, only because there were too many songs I didn’t like as much as I had hoped (especially those character image songs). Some of the seiyuu did surprise me by how good they turned out (while others equally surprised me by how badly they turned out). Looking past that, it’s a nice collection of opening and ending themes, and insert songs. Some of these songs are simply divine, and many others are very strong and quite enjoyable to listen to.