Forum - View topicLet's Appreciate Good Music in Anime
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Exaar
 Posts: 279 Location: Delaware |
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People talk a lot about animation quality in anime, the visual aspect of it all (as they should, it being a visual medium) and the voice acting, but what about the music? I'm a musical person, and for me an anime's soundtrack can make or break the whole thing. Well, maybe not, but it certainly adds to or takes away from my enjoyment of the series. That said, I would like to take a moment to mention the anime I have watched that have had the best OSTs. (I'm talking here about the actual music composed for the show, not japanese pop songs used for the opening/ending but not written for the show).
Mai HiME/Mai Otome: Yes, I know, I'm a one-trick pony when it comes to this series, and practically every post I've made has either been about or referanced it, but what can I say, I'm in love.  The music aspect of these shows is one of my favorite parts. Kajiura Yuki is the composer, and I love the whole rock-opera feel of most the show's upbeat tracks. Mezame, the main battle/anything exciting happening song from HiME is one of my all-time favorite songs, anime or otherwise, and MATERIALISE, the song from Otome that plays whenever one of the Otome materialises her Robe is up there as well: I love the whole Wagnerian opera meets electronic rock motif that a lot of the music in the Mai series utilizes. I've got both volumes of both the HiME and Otome OSTs, and they have made up the vast majority of my music-listening for the past month or so, and I'm not tired of them yet.
Naruto: Whether you like the series or not, you have to admit, the Naruto OSTs (I think there are four of them at this point) are totally awesome. Composed in large part by Toshiro Masuda, the catchy combo of electric guitar, traditional drums, flute, and whatever that Japanese string instrument is makes the whole thing very unique and very cool. A lot of fast-paced tracks which get your energy flowing, the best include the Main Theme (not the Opening, the Main Theme), Sarutobi, and of course, Beautiful Green Wild Beast. .hack//Sign:This is one of those shows that people either love or hate, and I happen to fall into the love category. But aside from the show itself, the music is astounding. It's one of the things that most stood out about the show when I first watched it, and I now own the OST and my god is it good. A lot of very creepy, haunting melodies and lyrics, but that's the kind of thing I like, so. Not a whole lot of upbeat songs, but it's not the kind of series for that anyway: but the music is so unique, you can recognize a lot of the tracks as being .hack as soon as you hear them. Paranoia Agent:I don't actually own the OST for this one, but the opening theme, Dream Island Obsessional Paradise, is one of my favorite anime songs ever. It was actually written just for the show, so it counts. It's so... weird. And cool. I love weird and cool things. This one is like yodeling in Japanese mixed with techno beats. I love it. Last Exile: I'll round out my top 5 with this great epic from the folks at Gonzo. The instrumental music, which is mostly what I'm talking about, is composed by Dolce Triade (whether that's a person or a group I don't know!) and it's very good in a big-movie symphonic sort of way. Similar to the scores from great hollywood movies, the score to Last Exile captures the feel of the show and enhances it. Listening to it seperatly, as I own the OST, it is still powerful and compelling. Well, those are my top 5 animes as far as music goes. I look forward to seeing what other people enjoy in anime OSTs! |
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Tony K.
 SubscriberModerator  Posts: 11436 Location: Frisco, TX |
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You know there's a Music forum, right? Yeah, let's move a topic about music to the Music forum
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Exaar
Posts: 279 Location: Delaware |
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Oops, sorry. >.> It's stupid to say I didn't know there was a music forum when there's only four forums on the list there, but honestly after the first time I just click right into anime without looking and I... forgot there was a music forum. Oopsie.
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frentymon
Forums Superstar
 Posts: 2362 Location: San Francisco |
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After hearing many Kajiura Yuki soundtracks, I notice "parallels" in her music. Like certain tracks from her various OSTs have the same basic setup. Mata Aou Ne (Mai-HiME), Calm Days (Madlax) and Believe (Tsubasa Chronicles) are all beautlful, tranquil orchestrations with a powerful synth bass. While all three of these tracks are great, Believe strikes me the most, and is so convincing that you feel like you're sucked right into the world of Tsubasa. I'm a sucker for Kajiura Yuki soundtracks, and Mezame and Ensei are both haunting and beautiful tracks, even though they are in completely opposite styles (even though they're based on the same melody). I haven't heard the .hack//sign soundtrack nor the Mai-Otome, but I'm sure they're great as well.
I personally can't stand the series, but the OSTs really are totally awesome. The modern sounds of the electric guitar are blended in perfectly with the classic-sounding shamisen (or whatever it is).
And I thought I was the only person going nutty over the Last Exile soundtrack. Many of the earlier tracks have a kind of Irish/Scottish feel, and somehow they get the synth bass in there and working. The overturish types, especially Silverna, (love that song), really are very powerful (esp. with Eric Miyashiro as lead trumpet). (And I think Dolce Traide is a group, not a person). I have to say, I love the Prince of Tennis OST. It's not very sophisticated, but all of the synthetic voices fit perfectly with the "mood" of the show. Whenever that "Ryoma is about to win" track plays, I can't help but be dragged into the show. Also, the Kimi ga Nozomu Eien soundtrack was great as well. The numerous sad scenes wouldn't be nearly as sad without the soundtrack. One track especially, Zutto Suki Datta, builds all the way up until it smacks you with a powerful bass note, and it gives you the feeling that the characters have hit rock bottom. |
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Kruszer
 Posts: 7994 Location: Minnesota, USA |
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Anything scored by Yuki Kajiura is guaranteed to be excellent and is rapidly becomming my favorite form of music with it's mix of orchestrated wind and string instruments with techno. This includes .hack//SIGN, Madlax, My Hime, Mai Otome, Noir, Portrait of Petite Cossete, and Tsubasa Chronicle. All have excellent soundtracks.
I few of the series signature pieces I highly enjoy are "Nowhere," "Fall on You," and "I'm Here" from Madlax, "Salva Nos" and "Canta Per Me" from Noir, and "The World" and "In the Land of Twilight Under the Moon" from .hack//SIGN. I could listen to these albums on continous loop all day and never get tired of them. |
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sushifunk373
Posts: 25 |
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hey im new..anyway, not sure who its composed by, but, in neon genesis i love how classical music play during battle scenes, and panic scenes. specially all the versions of fly me to the moon. also if you have seen the end of evangelion, listen to "turning back time" during the extremely phsycodelic part where rei is coming out of the earth. uugh it almost makes me cry!
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b214
 Posts: 142 Location: Connecticut |
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Thank you, i was going to say the same exact thing. neon genesis = Greatest music in anime ever, especially if you get the Evangelion Symphony cd's |
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P€|\||§_|\/|ast@
 Posts: 3498 Location: IN your nightmares |
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And if you like that you can't lose with the Escaflowne Soundrack - "Over the Sky" and I think the 2nd and 3rd ones are pretty good too. It takes the top spot in my list of favorites.
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IchigoK90
 Posts: 1634 Location: Scarborough, Ontario |
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Most of the music in Evangelion is composed by Shiro Sagisu who now works on the Bleach Soundtrack. As for saying his music in Eva is the greatest i've heard alot of better stuff. His music in that series is quite good but theres still alot of anime with good soundtracks out there. Me i've loved the soundtracks from Naruto, BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad, and Bleach. However theres tons more soundtracks that I like such as the soundtrack for Witch Hunter Robin which was mostly composed by Iwasaki Taku as well i'm also a Kajiura Yuki fan. However i'm more of a rock fan than anything else. My favourite themes from the anime i've mentioned include: "Stron And Strike" and "Sarutobi" from Naruto. "Battle Ignition", "Never Meant To Belong" and "Will Of The Heart from Bleach". And i'm too lazy to add the rest. "Believe it!" - IchigoK90 |
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TestamentSaki
 Posts: 1012 |
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Well... I'm a music student, and even though I'm the only one that listens to anime music in my college, there are some soundtracks I love.
Captain Tsubasa J: It may not be one of the best series (even though it's my fave), but I like the soundtrack. It gives tension where it needs it and the ballad version of Go Tsubasa! (the happy-go-lucky about-to-win song) is a true work of art. Escaflowne (the movie): Yoko Kanno and Hajime Mizoguchi rule! Very nice ballads and beautiful lyrics. My personal favorite and five-star recommendation: Sora. D.N.Angel: Excellent works. Miyamoto Shunichi's voice may not be as expressive as other singers', but songs as Soshite Hitotsu Ni... and Shooting Stars can make your bad day good. |
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Bruce Lee
 Posts: 715 Location: Seattle, Washington |
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My favorite OSTs right now are probably the first FullMetal Alchemist OST, and the Gankustuou Classical Compilation. Both of these discs are filled with excellent orchestrated tracks.
FMA deffinitely has a military type tone on some of the tracks, with snare-heavy marches, but also has some more light-hearted sounding stuff from Ed and Al as kids. Towards the middle the tension builds in the music, and it becomes much more mysterious and darker. These tracks are the themes for Scar, Ishball and the homunculi. I also like the first opening and ending the best of all the series' themes, and they're included on this disk also. I've listened to FMA OST2, but didn't like it nearly as much as this. Some of the Homunculi's personal themes were more simple and plain, and overall, the songs didn't have that same richness and full sound that the first FMA OST had. The Gankustuou Classical Compilation is also quite excellent. The 2 opening orchestrated pieces are beautifull flowing tracks, with rousing tempo changes, and huge build-ups of tension. They are nothing short of epic. And while I've never given opera much thought, the 3rd and 6th tracks are both quite good. Two piano pieces fit between these tracks for a nice change of pace. They're a bit shorter, and sort of jazzy at points, but the first is sort of bittersweet, while the other is sort of floats between airy and powerfull. The CD finishes off with a forcefull piano and orchestra track that really sets this collection off. I highly recomend this album. Outside of these 2, I like bits and pieces here and there. Most anything slow with a piano will end up on a playlist of mine somewhere - Suzuka, Kare Kano, Wolf's Rain - tracks from these shows are in rotation around the clock. I just purchased the first season box of Big O, and am thinking about picking up the OST for it as well. It sort of reminds me of the Noir OST - not necessarily the sound of it, but the songs that just seem to fit the setting quite well. |
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Arbalest X
Posts: 5 Location: california |
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Samurai X ova's has some really awesome tracks, Kotowari and last war of the wolves being examples, Yuki Kajiura stuff is also great, I talk to the rain from tsubasa chronicles is a awesome track, Akino arai has a couple good songs too.
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thatguyfromoutwhere
Posts: 2 |
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no love for yoko kanno?!?
the scores/soundtracks of cowboy bebop and ghost in the shell: stand alone complex were put together by her. some of the music from samurai champloo is great, but they do sometimes suffer from overproduction (mystlines from ost1 comes to mind). |
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frentymon
Forums Superstar
Posts: 2362 Location: San Francisco |
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Forgot about Ootani Kou. His music is simply amazing, and I like how he utilizes the sound of a string orchestra to the fullest and creates a variety of different styles of music. He also utilizes the synth much like Kajiura Yuki except the synth is more subtle. Also, many of his tracks have this nostalgic old-school RPG soundtrack feel (a good RPG with a good soundtrack that is...). Haibane Renmei and Shakugan no Shana wouldn't be the same without his music.
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Sora_Fanatic
Posts: 1 Location: Rochester,New York |
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Hey! I just joined and saw this. Another two more good anime music are Mr. deja vu and Barairo no Sekai (Rose-Colored World). They're both from the Getbackers.
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