Thursday, July 29th - 2:12 am
Update
- takaj
CD Review: Shin
Kaguya Shima Densetsu - Part 1
I'll admit it. It took me about 15 minutes to put the CD on because I was
staring at the CD booklet. When I finally did, I almost fell out of my
chair.
Harmony. Two-part harmony. In a MYU!
For non-myu fans, this may seem weird. The myu has an alarming lack of
harmonizing in the songs. With about a half-dozen exceptions, if you're
singing the same words, you're singing the same notes. The myu is changing.
This CD has a very distinct, new sound to it. The new songs are very much so
new. For the most part, they're not like anything I've heard in the
myu before. And I love it.
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Just call her Mercury Reiko-san |
Overture ~ Shin Kaguya Shima Densetsu
I really like this overture. It's very short, compared to past myu
overtures. It's almost a wave of music, coming in slowly, swelling,
crashing, and then fading away again. It fits the island theme of this
musical perfectly.
Chikyuu Iro wa Salad Time
Usagi, Ami, Rei, Makoto, Minako, Haruka, Michiru, Setsuna, and Hotaru
Ok! Who here has seen those 60's beach party movies? If you have, ready your
best poolside dance moves, Chikyuu Iro wa Salad Time is here! Very
reminiscent of Tsuki Iro no Syndicate, this is a summer vacation
celebration song. Ever since Nao's overpowering voice left, there has been a
serious lack of balance in the group songs, leaving them sounding very
immature and high. Thankfully, with the new Haruka and Setsuna, this problem
seems solved. Despite being fluff, the song has a nice, full sound to it.
God bless you, Akiko Nakayama.
...I'm still not sure why Earth's color is Salad Time, though.
Onna Kaizoku no Sakusen (2004 Summer Version)
Loof Merrow, Selkie, Cairn, Serpen, and Kraken
The most interesting thing about this song is how they changed half of the
Loof Merrow solos to duets with Selkie. And I love it. Maki Aizawa (Loof
Merrow) has a gorgeous voice. She and Ado Endou (Selkie) sound wonderful
together. This is a distinctly different Loof Merrow from Ono Hikari's
portrayal. Judging from the rearrangement and the lyrics, this musical
focuses more on the pirate clan, rather than just Loof Merrow. This song
covers why the pirate clan is going after the senshi and the ginzuishou.
Suisei Coatl no Hibou (2004 Summer Version)
Dark Plasman, Dark Menorah, and Dark Mirror
Okay, first complaint of the review. This song originally followed the
overture of Kaguya Shima Densetsu. So, what do they do with the new version
- include the entire original overture!! Grr.
Who remembers the original Dark Plasman? Deep, deep opera quality voice?
Forget him. Erase him from your memory. Now you can listen to the new guy.
It's not that I dislike the new Dark Plasman. Yuji Hirota has a great voice.
Unfortunately, he strikes me as more Jean
Valjean than Dark Plasman. I've gotten used to him now, but...man I miss
Atsushi Kashimura. This is your standard we-are-evil-this-is-our-plan song.
Ankoku no Menorah ~ Yume wo Kaimasu Shima no Tabi (2004 Summer
Version)
Dark Menorah, Usagi, Ami, Rei, Makoto, Minako, ChibiUsa, Haruka, Michiru,
Setsuna, Hotaru, and Mamoru
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The real Moon
Twilight Flash. |
I was right!
It was a typo. However, the typo is actually on the CD booklet, too. At any
rate, Dark Menorah bugs me. Why, why, why didn't they give this part to Miki
Kawasaki (Dark Mirror)?! Mai Shibada does not have a strong enough voice to
pull this part off - especially not when going up against the memory of
Kanako Yamamoto's gorgeous voice. The first part of this song is basically
Menorah telling us her plan to capture the senshi. The second part of this
song isn't very new to me. Marina covered it in the her first Fan Kansha
(Appreciation) Event. As I predicted, they did change the lyrics to
eliminate almost all jewel references, leaving everyone just singing about
where to go on vacation. Marina Kuroki (Usagi), Manami Wakayama (Ami) and
Yuu "Ashton Kutcher" Shirota (Mamoru) all get solos in this song. It makes
sense considering that Manami has been there longer than any senshi but
Marina, and the rumors flying about this being Yuu's final musical. However,
it is nice to see that Marina is actually getting solos in almost every song
that she's in. You'd think she was the main character or something.
I wonder if Setsuna will flash the audience at the end of this song like
in Kaguya Kaiteiban....
Moonlight Justice
Moon, Tuxedo Kamen, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, and Saturn
"Moon Twilight!" Wow. I love this song. Major solos from Marina and Yuu.
Wonderful English from Marina and wonderful Engrish from Yuu. And...and...
Outer senshi harmonizing!
This is definitely a battle song. It starts off sounding exactly like the
background music for the fight on the ship in the original musical. Which
fits perfectly because it always felt like a song should have gone there. I
cannot wait to see this performed.
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Tuxedo La
Smoking...Submerge? |
Arashi no naka no Zenshousen (2004 Summer Version)
Dark Plasman and Loof Merrow
The battle standoff song between Plasman and Loof Merrow. Although I still
miss my old Plasman, the new one is very good at controlling his voice and
the subtle nuances in it. A powerful song showcasing the emotion in the
singers' voices. There's really not much else to say about this song; it's
almost identical to the original.
Natsukashii no wa Naze? (2004 Summer Version)
Mikku and Fukku
Alert the presses - the kittens aren't annoying anymore.
This is the kitten introduction song. We're down one kitten this time, but I
like these two more than the original three. Their voices aren't as grating
in that way only a child's voice can be. One of them has a very good
voice, but I don't know which one's which. For those who don't know, the
kittens are the children of Dark Menorah (or Leah Ruby, Bilhah Emerald, and
Zilpah Sapphire in the original). The were turned into kittens by Dark
Plasman, and are basically his blackmail material against her.
Toraware no Arutuka
Loof Merrow, Selkie, Cairn, Serpen, and Kraken
In case you were wondering what a party in a can sounds like...wonder no
more. With a distinctive island sound (that I am told sounds like the
Amazons from Xena?), this is more or less a pirate victory song. I
originally thought that this was "Captured" Arutuka, but I now realize that
it's more like "Capturing". They're happy because they captured the senshi
on the island. I'm happy because there's so much freakin' harmonizing in
this song, it's insane.
Their plan...she is working. Break out the castanets. Lai la la lai turaaaaa!
Review continues later this week!
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