Chu-Bra Character Singles
20 Mar 2010 2 Comments
in Anime, Music Tags: amahara, Anime, Chihara, Chu-Bra, haruka, Hayama, hikasa yoko, jinguuji, kiyono, kotobuki, minako, Minori, Nayu, panties, sayuri, shiraishi, yahagi, yako
I would be lying if I said that I downloaded all of these tracks since I love the songs of this series. If there’s anything that made me touch this stuff, it would be Hikasa Youko. Although I may get away with just listening to her single and scrapping the rest, for fairness sake, i’ll go through all 4 of them. Hopefully, I get to stumble into really good ones.
Like my disclaimer on the Umineko Chara singles, I do not know any terminology about music. As such, I can only describe what I felt as I listened to them. And no, I have no clue as to what the lyrics meant so let’s see how close my emotional interpretation is with the lyrics :p
Hiyama Nayu
VA: Minori Chihara
1) We Can Do It!
A lively song that has a really catchy intro but Minori’s voice as Nayu is too sweet for this piece. Just listening to her sing makes my teeth hurt (X_X) Then again, I might have been used to hearing Minori’s non-childish voice on some of her songs. Well, this song has been playing quite a number of times now so i’m getting the hang of it but it’s still not enough to put this in my mp3 player…I think. But going back to the personification of Minori’s character, I guess her voice fits well as to what the message conveys (If you’ve been following the anime and just by reading the title, you’ll get what this song means) it’s just that, the song may have been different if she didn’t use Nayu’s voice.
2) Shy Girls – Hayama Nayu Version-
*Facepalm* This made it clear what the problem with Nayu’s voice is. It’s as if someone plugged Minori’s nostrils and she sang using a child’s voice. Jesus!
Jinguuji Yako
VA: Kotobuki Minako
1) Girl Mode Japan
If I were assuming that it was Kotobuki singing rather than Yako then this song would’ve made sense but sadly, this is Yako’s character single and I just can’t imagine that midget going all rocker and singing such fast-paced and upbeat song. Then again, I couldn’t think of any other theme that fits her so I digress. As for Kotobuki’s performance, I have to say that this is the first time I first heard her sing such a fast-paced and upbeat song and it fits quite well though there are some parts where she felt out of breath and her pitch is quite high but I guess those things can be overcome by honing her singing and getting involved in songs like this.
2) Shy Girls -Jinguuji Yako-
Her version felt better than Nayu’s cutesy adaptation of the song. This definitely fleshed out that rocker feel that I have been having ever since I heard ‘Girl Mode Japan’ and I really think that this fits as a nice opening intro for the anime rather than its ending. If I could hear Kotobuki Minako beat it up a notch in this version then I don’t mind having this in my playlist.
Shiraishi Haruka
VA: Yahagi Sayuri
1) Hane wo Hirogete
I think this song’s title translates to ‘Open your Wings’. This is the first time I heard Yahagi Sayuri sing and though I am not fond of lullabies like this, I find her in-chara with Haruka especially after prolonged listening where it felt that the song reflects Haruka’s experiences with Nayu. As how she started extremely shy and conscious of her figure at the start of the series until Nayu brought her to light. Needless to say, this kinda reflects Haruka’s yuri feelings for Nayu. It’s a grateful song on how she changed just by encountering Nayu and how she ‘fell in love’ with her and she seems to dedicate this song to her dear friend.
2) Shy Girls -Shiraishi Haruka-
Listening to her version of Shy Girls reminded me of Miku’s “Sono Ichibyuo Suroumoushon” (That One Second of Slow Motion). The mix of Haruka’s gentleness and courage reflects the inner strength of this piece and it somewhat became attached to me. Gentle yet powerful, these adjectives definitely describe this song.
Amahara Kiyono
VA: Hikasa Youko
1) Watashi Dake wo Mite
Again, correct me if i’m wrong but the song translates to ‘See me as I am’ which fits if we’re talking about Kiyono here since she does want to be noticed. While I do admit that such slow paced songs doesn’t stick with me, I do love the portrayal that Pikasha did since this song is dedicated to Kiyono’s conviction. Listening to it, it’s really a piece that Amahara Kiyono would sing as she empowers the lyrics with her firm resolution and will to be noticed especially by her special someone.
2) Shy Girls -Amahara Kiyono-
Honestly, I was expecting strength in the intro of this version since Kiyono is quite the fighter but I was surprised to be greeted by such laid-back vocals. It’s like Kiyono was tending her nails as she sang the song! How AWSM IS THAT?! Don’t be deceived by the beat of the drums and try to listen to Pikasha’s singing. Whether it was her intention to act chillax most of the parts of the song or not, I kinda liked how she delivered it. It’s quite the character Kiyono would put up if she were asked to sing such an upbeat song.
Mar 26, 2010 @ 02:15:35
Great review on the character song albums! I mostly felt the same way about the tracks in general, so here goes my own very brief comments (with an inclination towards the performances rather than the interpretations):
Hayama Nayu’s “We can do it!”
- I’ll give credit to Minorin for being able to sing in-chara well at least although whenever she sings in-chara, I’ve only ever heard two types of voices from her – her natural voice (like the one she uses to sing her mainstream materials and Teresa’s ED in SnQ); and the high pitch voice (like the one she used in this song). Nayu’s image track may be the energetic and cheery kind, but I really appreciate that it doesn’t tread into the domain of being overly sugary. My ears seriously won’t be able to take it if they made Minorin sing happy bubblegum with that kind of voice. It’d be slaughter by audio diabetes @_@. I still need to listen to Paradise Lost immediately after Hayama Nayu’s chara single as a way to detox myself.
Jinguuji Yako’s “Girl Mode Japan”
- I can’t help but imagine Kotobuki Minako is the one who’s singing this song instead of Yako. I don’t know… Maybe it has something to do with the way Kotobuki sings…or to be more precise, the tone of her voice. She sounds almost the same in nearly all of her songs, whether she’s performing in Sphere, as Mugi or Yako… Granted, she is a good singer though and this track made me wish she should try out more rock tunes in the near future.
Shiraishi Haruka’s “Hane wo Hirogete”
- Eh, well. I’ve never been a fan of Yahagi Sayuri’s singing to be honest. She is talented in acting and is quickly establishing herself among the rising young greats but she has some ways to go in the music department. As for Haruka’s image song, she doesn’t sound in-chara as far as her singing is concerned imho. To be honest, I found her sounding more like “Shiratori Kuu” (from Kyoushirou to Towa no Sora) than Haruka thanks to that light and airy voice. But you’re absolutely right when it comes to interpretation. The way she performed the song did reflect the relationship and experiences shared between her and Nayu well. It’s more of the conveyance rather than the tone of her voice, and the former is what counts in the end.
Amahara Kiyono’s “Watashi Dake wo Mite”
- The song title is “Look at only me”.
A couple of months back, I actually imagined them giving Kiyono a really alluring theme to project her assertiveness when it comes to her views of lingerie but a mellow piece which highlights her more laidback, feminine side works really well too (I’m just a little bummed we didn’t get a chance to hear Pikasha sing a sexy song. Well, not for this series anyway). As expected, Pikasha did Kiyono and her theme justice with a well-controlled performance in terms of vocals and expressions. As long as she avoids her habit of strangling that last note, she can slay any song. I did wish for the melody to have more range to showcase Pikasha’s vocal skills though but yeah, since this is a character song, it would be better if they get the personality right rather than the variety in the music itself.
Shy Girls
I’m so, so, SO relieved the recording staff made the girls sing “Shy Girls” instead of the hideously peppy “Choose Bright!!” Anyway, I’m going to be extremely biased as usual by saying that Hikasa’s version is hands down, the best among the four. Somehow, I found Chihara, Kotobuki and Yahagi’s versions somewhat rigid, especially the way they ran through the lyrics. And I don’t mean to be nasty but Yahagi’s vocals sounded a bit weak at times where the music overwhelmed it and it’s as though her presence shrunk and nearly disappeared during those moments. It almost seemed like the three of them felt a tad uncomfortable in performing the song compared to Hikasa whose vocals sounded natural and flowed well with the words and melody. This was kind of obvious during the first few verses of the song, in particular during the line “Hazukashigaranaide ii”. I was constantly switching between each version after every verse, chorus and so on to make a comparison and it’s quite noticeable Hikasa’s performance had more dynamics and expressions infused into her singing.
Overall, Kiyono’s album was the only one worthwhile to listen to on a regular basis but yeah, the others’ aren’t too bad. Kotobuki was arguably my second favorite singer among the four if it weren’t for Minorin using that high pitch voice of hers.
PS. Have you listened to Seikon no Qwaser’s Character Song Mini Album? Hana’s theme is really…interesting. I mean really interesting music-wise and couple that with Pikasha’s singing… Exotic. And easily my favorite without me being biased this time (Btw, the title of her song means “receipt” and in the context of the song, she’s singing it as “I’ll receive it. I’ll receive it.” ;3). Oh and Minorin shines with a bit of her power vocals in this album compared to her Hayama Nayu’s one.
Mar 26, 2010 @ 06:01:23
this is quite a nice view of things. being unable to understand what they are singing, i was able to cover the emotion but not the performance. i have to thank you for this
well, it was kinda biased but pikasha’s version really delivered properly. after re-listening to the tracks, I did find the flaws that you pointed out and you do have a point save for Minori’s performance since I really can’t stand that sugary level that you seem to be tolerant with >_<
actually i have the draft ready but since we have something to rush in a few hours, it’ll be postponed for awhile. but honestly, the whole album is surprisingly good. if anything, i’m now in-love with ayumi fujimura’s singing! and pikasha’s…. XD
as for minori’s piece, you may be surprised of what it did to me X_X