Friday, March 5th
-1:35 am
Update
- Dr. XadiumMiko-san,
Miko-san sing me a song...
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Me
sing you long time |
My latest offering from
kitagawakeiko.com.
Thanks to Ten, who pointed me to Kitagawa-san's new image song,
Sakura Fubuki. (I won't link to it, because I want Kitagawa-san to
get some cash for her hard work.)
Note: I am now going to proceed to heap praise on this song. It is NOT
because I am a Kitagawa-fan-- I am, believe it or not, going solely
on the merits of what I hear.
Initial Reaction
Upon first listening to this, I was momentarily stunned... after all, this
is Hino Rei's image song, yet it was so...
so very... "upbeat". If any of you out there are fans of Dragonball
Z I suppose a suitable analogy that you could use to accurately gauge my
reaction would be seeing Piccolo-san suddenly getting up and dancing a jig.
In a pink frock.
A more Measured Reaction
This song, to my mind, despite its seemingly out-of-character upbeatness (I
was expecting something slow and serious), is a good fit for Kitagawa-san's
voice, since it seems to rely on the lower-upper middle registers a
bit more-- which in turn means she doesn't have to "reach" for notes. (Note
my profound use of the technical jargon!)
Compare this to Usagi's image song, where at (an admittedly few) points,
Miyuu-san is really pushing to try and make the highs (and to compound the
problem, the sound is abruptly faded just as she's reaching-but hasn't quite
made it- to the end of a high note). That being said, I do think Usagi's
single more fits her persona, however--but more on that admittedly minor,
non-technical gripe later.
Solid State Salsa Sound
Sakura Fubuki features what I would call a latin / salsa-esque beat
in addition with all the standard synth and electropop sounds that one would
normally expect an image song. Overall, it blends together to create a
solid sound mix.
Indeed, as someone who has listened to TONS of J-Pop songs (not just anime
related), I would venture to say this song is high enough quality to be a
mainstream pop song in its own right. At the very least, for PGSM purposes,
I would expect something like this out of "idol" Aino Minako's
character. (C'est La Vie is catchy, but it sounds too much like
something thrown together with a metronome and some synths) This song has a
very balanced, layered-- professional feel to it.
But does "Sakura Fubuki" fit "Rei"?
BEFORE I read the lyrics, which was so kindly translated by "Poor Japanese" on Genvid's PGSM Forum, this was the
reaction I had written for this review, solely based on the BGM, beat and
vocal inflections (I did pick up a few words, but not enough to make sense
out of the song):
"However, all the good things aside, I can't help but think this would be
an ideal image song for Kitagawa Keiko and not Hino Rei... it
fits more with the "jolly" persona that Kitagawa-san is described as having,
and not the stolid, almost ethereal presence of miko Hino
Rei."
AFTER reading the translated lyrics, however, I am forced to somewhat revise
my position given the *meaning* of the song. (Yes, I need to learn Japanese.
I am suitably ashamed. Thank you.)
In this song, Rei sings of sensing the ethereal, lamenting her own weakness
and wishing to go forward and become stronger, yet not become a full adult.
It is a "deeper", more profoundly introspective theme that I would indeed
associate with the persona of Hino Rei. In that light, the song
becomes perfectly suited for its purpose as a somewhat upbeat, cheery insert
song for a dorama.
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"Do not focus on the finger pointing the way to the moon... or you will miss all the heavenly GWARy" |
Still, however, to my mind the song still presents a mixed message-- it's
simply too
cheery to generate the proper angst level needed to
effectively convey the theme. It does have "mellow" moments that aspire
towards subtly soft sadness, but then the guitars and the chorus engage, and
the moments are lost. What results is a song that gives one a superficial
glimpse into Rei's psyche without being as "impressive" (or should I say
"grave") as it could / should be. It cannot
evoke the proper mental
state.
Final thoughts
Technically, the song is more or less "perfect"-- I've listened to it on
repeat for the duration of this whole update and it hasn't grated on me
yet-- the sound isn't overpowering, and the tempo and scale are well-suited
to the vocalist. It's a perfect vocal vehicle for Kitagawa-san.
Still, I think that even with the meaningful lyrics, the song misses the
essence of the character it tries to represent. For the next "Rei" image
song, I think if traditional instruments like the Koto and flute were
be used in combination with a slower, down tempo (perhaps spoken-word?) vocal
mix, an image song that perfectly encapsulates the esoteric, mystical
nature of Hino Rei could be created. Kitagawa-san's voice is deep
enough to make such a thing effective, I think.
It would be a nice experiment ^_^
Well, that's it for my totally subjective, non-professional opinion of
Sakura Fubuki. Thanks for reading!
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