Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt - The Original Soundtrack

As I was discussing on Twitter just last night, I can't remember a more hotly anticipated anime soundtrack than Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt's.  Well, it's now here, so can it live up to all of that anticipation?

In a word - yes.  Sometimes a much-hyped track can prove to be disappointing when it's removed from the context of the show and (more importantly) strung out from a brief snippet within an anime into a full-length track, and I've lost track of the number of times my eyebrow has raised into a "that's it?" position when checking out an eagerly anticipated tune in full for the first time.

Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt's OST manages to avoid this with aplomb on two counts.  Firstly, it doesn't overly elongate tunes that work best as short pieces, such as the show's opening theme where thirty seconds is quite enough thanks, or tracks such as Pantscada or Juice that don't overstay their overly sexual and pornographic welcomes.

Where the real magic happens is with the show's most beloved tunes - Fly Away is probably the single most anticipated anime insert song of the decade, and it doesn't disappoint, leveraging everything that made it drop your jaw within its animated setting and blending it with other elements to perfection; it isn't overly repetitive, yet its unfamiliar elements slot in to the autotune'd, electronic aesthetic excellently.  D City Rock on the other hand is a track we're already familiar with, and it does its job slightly less well without that awesome MTV-style music video to back it up but it's still far from a poor track.

As the soundtrack progresses the awesome tracks really just stack up and up, whether it's the slightly chiptunes-inspired Cherryboy Riot, the unhinged Technodildo (yes, there is a track called Technodildo of course) or other fan favourites in Theme for Scanty and Kneesocks and Corset Theme, the former of which seems to differ slightly from it's TV counterpart thanks to a slightly less "harsh" countenance.

To be honest, virtually every track could be name-checked under the "awesome" banner or close to it, as it's effectively impossible to pick any genuine duds out of an album filled with so much energy and confidence; so much so that I'm not even going to try.  There are occasional tracks here that could (with a little tweaking) probably sneak into an early Prodigy or Orbital album, and this is a good thing indeed which affirms not just the quality of the content but also how successfully it integrates into the western "tone" of the anime itself - perhaps the main reason why this album has been so hotly anticipated from the moment the series began broadcasting.

The soundtrack as a whole also demonstrates the ability to change things up whenever required, with tracks such as CHOCOLAT (Stocking's "love theme" in the series) or the simply gorgeous end credit song Fallen Angel adding a smoother, less frenetic side to proceedings and again proving that these tracks are equally proficient in their full-length formats as the TV sized versions we were previously treated to.

This is the point where I should probably just stop gushing and come right out and say it - this is the best anime soundtrack of the year, period.  Sure, it's very different from your average OST and its content certainly won't be for everyone, but anyone who sat up and found themselves drooling ever-so slightly at the music utilised by the series simply have to pick this up and give it a listen - you won't be disappointed in the slightest.

Hanamaru Kindergarten - Best Album - Childhood Memories

Anyone who has seen my review of Hanamaru Kindergarten over at UK Anime will know that I wasn't hugely enamoured of the series in itself - However, I couldn't help but be drawn in by the wide-ranging and varied ending credits employed by GAINAX, all of which had a unique visual aesthetic that was matched by a staggering array of musical panache, including some tracks that left me gasping and scrabbling at my screen in the hope of being able to hear these tracks in their entirety sooner rather than later. Thankfully that dream has been realised, courtesy of this two-CD "Childhood Memories" album, the first disc of which gives all of those ending themes the loving platform they deserve.


Okay, before we get to the "serious" stuff, let me just say this - Do not listen to track fourteen, a rendition of the show's Panda Neko song, unless you want said cutesy refrain from becoming irretriveably stuck in your head, possibly forever. It isn't pretty to see a grown man wandering around the office at work singing "Pa-pa, pa-pa, panda neko"... at least, so I was told in my formal warning debriefing...

Meanwhile, the show's bouncy opening theme only appears in its TV size variant (translation: buy the single, otaku!), while all of the show's incidental music is thrown almost without regard onto CD two, almost hiding the fact that there's also some pretty good stuff in there as it is, with orchestral stuff jammed against cutesy stuff sandwiched between twee but oddly subversive electronica.

Back to CD one however, and things kick off with a pretty bouncy and run-of-the-mill effort almost entirely ruined by the cutesy kindergarten out of key singing of the main trio of female characters. It's to be expected, but thank goodness they chose to ruin this track and not one of the better offerings. From here, track two couldn't be more different, with its operatic start and piano solo... that leads to more kindergarten wailings before we break into a more soft-rock oriented effort which for some reason I can picture Miku Hatsune singing. To be honest, I seem to remember this particular tune working better (and being more humorous) when matched with its visuals. Still, it's pretty fun to hear Hiiragi building up this rock opera wannabe, monologues and all, before it loses its way entirely.

After that shock to the system, Kusa no Yubiwa Hana no Kanmuri brings us back down to earth for track three with a lilting acoustic guitar offering which is so relaxing to listen to it could almost be criminal, while the voice of Yamamoto's voice actor backs it up perfectly. Put simply, it works. Track four changes the pace again, with Anzu's cutesy voice suiting the saccharine electro-pop of Hatsudou!! Love Beam☆ (even though it sounds like a drunken karaoke offering) - It's fun though, and that's what counts in this song's favour, as does the false ending which I'm oddly enamoured of.

Track five, Ano ne Kiite ne, starts out as the stuff of nursery rhymes before hitting a more dreamy electro-pop note, before track six goes into pop/rock overdrive with Heart no Housoku for a slice of hyperactive fun which both works and doesn't for me in equal measure. We then get to chill out with a little jazz duet courtesy of Tsuchida and Satsuki which works surprisingly well, before moving on to Nadeshiko Romance, a track which owes more than a slight nod to Kraftwerk in its composition to match its pop sensibilities. I like things that remind me of Kraftwerk though, so I guess that's me sold on this track.

That leads me in nicely to what is easily my stand-out track on this album - Kokutou Drop, a track sung by Yamamoto and Mayumi's voice actresses that is a perfect piece of shoegazing, guitar-drive pop that frankly blows me away with its craft and beauty, while being all the more effective for being exactly the kind of track I wouldn't normally expect to hear on an anime soundtrack at all, especially not for a series like this one. If I had a cigarette lighter handy, I'd be holding it up in the air and swaying gently sometime around now...

Continuing the guitar-driven goodness is Boku no Wasuremono, track ten on the album which serves to remind me somewhat of Dubstar (bonus points if you've heard of them) with its slow, precise yet captivating mix of guitar, bass and drums. Bonus points for Hino Satoshi's singing on this track, which also has a place in my heart for going together well with the episode that came before it in the series itself. It's another beautiful offering which I could happily listen to again and again.

We then return to the electronica for the far more upbeat eleventh track, Yes, We Can!!, an ode to President Obama. Probably. Okay, maybe not, but it still works for me with its simple but madcap beats that jump all over the place without ever sounding any worse for doing so. This proves to be only a brief respite before we return to the guitars... and also to Anzu's off-key voice, which manages to ruin Sekai de Ichiban, saved only slightly by the fact that it's a duet with the Sakura's voice actress who doesn't try to deliberately ruin everything. This is followed up by the even better and oddly motivational Yasashii Hidamari, which blends violins and guitars to good effect in a song which doesn't stand out in any particular way yet still works wonderfully in its own right.

Overall, Childhood Memories is one of the more unique anime soundtracks I've listened to in some time simply on account of the eclectic selection of material contained within, yet despite this quantity of varies works the quality never really suffers - Yes, some of the tracks become little more than joke material on account of being sung by supposed little kids, but there's still plenty of genuinely high quality content in here. Dare I say it's enough to make this a must-listen album, even if you haven't watched Hanamaru Kindergarten and have absolutely no interest in it? Yes, I do dare say that, and I honestly mean it - This is a quality effort.

Darker than BLACK: Ryuusei no Gemini - Original Soundtrack

Compared to the joys of Yoko Kanno on the soundtrack for the original series of Darker than BLACK (which featured at least a couple of stand-out tracks on an OST which never really grabbed me to be honest), Ryuusei no Gemini was always going to struggle to make quite the same impact shorn of her not inconsiderable influence. However, regardless of this there were a few occasions where I found myself enjoying the background music to this new series, which left me at least somewhat anticipating the release of its soundtrack.

Of course, it probably goes without saying that Ryuusei no Gemini's official soundtrack features TV sized versions of both the show's opening and closing themes - I'm not a huge fan of either track to be honest (although I realise I'm probably in something of a minority on that front), but of course if you do love those tracks you probably already have their respective singles anyway.

That leaves the rest of the album free to showcase the rest of the soundtrack, and to be honest it's actually a bit of a curiosity - The snippets of music you'll recognise from the series are all present and correct, but they're occasionally encased in what can only be described as different tunes entirely. This makes for a rather odd listening experience that almost descends into a game of "guess the tune", as some seemingly random dance number churns along for a minute or two before transforming into one of the hefty beats that you'll remember from the series.

To be honest this isn't a bad thing to my ear at all - I'm all for some thumping dance music at times and this soundtrack delivers in an oddly satisfying way at times while also making room for some slower electronic numbers where required (with track nine a particular favourite of mine). If pounding bass isn't your thing however, there are still some other more guitar-centric tracks on offer here, although again I have to admit they don't do much for me personally but they seem polished enough. The good old piano also gets an outing for the haunting (and rather excellent) track eleven to round things off from the point of view of creating a more eclectic soundtrack.

Some odd compositions aside then, I actually found myself enjoying most of the Darker than BLACK: Ryuusei no Gemini OST, with its heavy beats and electronic musings fitting the series pretty well in my opinion. It's certainly not a classic soundtrack that will be enjoyed and talked about for many years to come; rather, it's a solid effort that's certainly worth enjoying in the moment while the series itself is still fresh in your mind. Is this the kind of soundtrack you'll come back to and enjoy again in a year or two however? Probably not, truth be told.

Macross Frontier ~Itsuwari No Utahime~ ED and insert songs album - CM Ranka

Having lavished plenty of attention on Sherly Nome (aka May'n) and her insert album for the Macross Frontier movie Itsuwari No Utahime, it would be wrong of me not to do likewise to Megumi Nakajima's turn as Ranka Lee in her own CM Ranka ED and insert song album - Not least because Ranka is far more awesome than Sheryl. Fact.

Anyhow, compared to the magnificence of Universal Bunny, CM Ranka immediately looks a little on the light side, with only one track of any decent length with the rest of the mini-album made up of the insert songs referred to already. Still, it's better than nothing, right?


Of course it is, especially given that the full-length track in question is Sou da yo. I've never been too hot on Ranka/Megumi Nakajima doing ballads and slower songs, but this really is quite beautiful, with a very obvious Yoko Kanno feel to it that keeps the track moving without ever losing its pace or underlying emotion. It's exactly the kind of track you might expect to hear at the end of an anime movie, so it certainly seems to fit its purpose.

From here, we jump into a series of short but sweet little efforts - Starlight Nattou is a rather sparse and childish little track (deliberately so, I'm sure) that doesn't particularly do much for me. Dynam Chougoukin on the other hand is a wonderful example of what you can do with just ninety seconds musically - It's upbeat, it's fun, it's funky, and to be quite honest this track should be the opening or ending theme of an anime produced by SHAFT... You just know they'd love to use this tune on Natsu no Arashi or Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei.

Kaitaku Juuki on the other hand is the kind of military sing-along that I suppose was inevitable, although talking of Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei I did find myself wanting to sing the lyrics to that particular series' drawing song to it. Kaminari... pikari! Then there's Daruma Seminar, which feels more like a football chant with added Casio keyboard effects and a girl with a great voice to sex it up - God knows where that one will fit into the movie.

No Ranka Lee album is complete without Ninjin Loves you yeah!, and of course this track is present here in what sounds like an identical form to that found on the original Macross Frontier OSTs unless I'm missing something. Is it wrong that I know all of the lyrics to this song?

Family Mart Cosmos is, of course, a cheesy advertisement offering which plays up Megumi Nakajima's sexy yet innocent voice to the full - Not the kind of thing you'll be listening to on repeat (unless there's something rather wrong with you), but again I imagine it does the job which it is intended for in terms of the film.

Last but certainly not least for this mini-album Koi no Dogfight (Chotto dake) - Another fantastic and upbeat effort that could easily claim a place as the opening theme to any anime series it put its mind to. Okay, maybe the vocoder use was a little gratuitous (while also making me think of Toradora's Pre-Parade, in a good way) but I can live with that, and I'm expecting... nay, hoping... that this appears as a full track at some point, as it's clearly be crafted with more than a place as an insert song in mind given the way it fades out.

Overall, I have to hold my hands up and say that this is no Universal Bunny as its track listing and track lengths suggest, but it's still a must for Macross Frontier and Ranka Lee fans - The three new stand-out tracks (no matter how short) are worth plenty in my book in their own right.

Macross Frontier ~Itsuwari No Utahime~ insert album - Universal Bunny

I know, I don't very often cover soundtracks and the like on the hallowed pages of this 'blog (more because of lack of time than lack of listening to them), but come on, how can I simply ignore the existence of a new Macross Frontier mini-album to support the release of the new movie Itsuwari No Utahime. The answer, of course, is that I can't.


Thus, we come to Universal Bunny (not the kind of title a manly man would want to ask for at his local record store), an album featuring no less than eight tracks as sung by Sherly Nome (or May'n, if we're talking living, breathing artists). Indeed, it is Universal Bunny itself that makes up the title track of the album, wasting no time in dragging you into a swirling electronic and orchestral soundscape that pulls you towards the high tempo pop/rock that the track encompasses. There's little doubt that this track will at the very least get your foot tapping within thirty seconds, and May'n's voice works as well as ever for this kind of powerful track. A top-notch way to kick off the album, that's for sure, although I somehow find the restart after the "false" ending to the track rather unsatisfying - The way the song seemed to close was perfect to my ears, why extend things further?

That takes us on to Pink Monsoon, a song that has already done the rounds as a single as well as featuring on some of the trailers for the movie. I have a bit of a curious relationship with this track - It caught my ear immediately when I first heard a snippet of it within trailers, then didn't really like the full song when the single was released. Now I've changed my mind - Pink Monsoon is a fantastic slice of pop that could easily sneak into the US charts if you changed the name Sheryl Nome to Britney Spears and somehow managed to convince people that all the lyrics are English, honest. As a song it works wonderfull, and in a subtly more mature way than anything I can remember from the Macross Frontier TV series soundtracks.

With the big hitters arguably out the way, the album shows no sign of letting up with Gira Gira Summer, an anthemic little number which I admire just for its quirky opening (which reminds me of Slayers oddly) if nothing else. Couple that with a chorus that makes you want to jump up and down with glow sticks, and I guess you can tick off another box in the "awesome J-pop" box. That it manages to do this for five full minutes and actually get better and better as the song goes on is testament to the solid writing and production values of the track.

Next up we enter more rock-oriented territory with Izorado. There's quite a lot to like about this track in isolation, yet somehow when you put it all together (song, arrangement and vocals) it doesn't really work for me. This is probably one of those tracks that will work a whole lot better within the confines of the movie itself than as a stand-alone track to listen to just for the Hell of it.

From one extreme to the other, Aenai Toki takes us into the world of the ballad - A world which I rarely find enjoying spending my time in personally, to be honest. It's a solid enough track, but it doesn't make me want to cry my eyes out (maybe when I see the movie that'll change) or start swaying from side to side holding a cigarette lighter, so it's a forgettable song to me and my cold, dead heart.

Eien Ni comes next, swinging back towards a pop/rock arrangement that starts well before losing its way a little bit and entering a rather generic phase that didn't hold much interest for me. Again, there are elements to like, but they don't quite combine to become a Macross Frontier classic.

That is, unlike Obelisk - If one song does everything within its power to channel the Macross Frontier TV show's soundtracks, this song is it. From the mix of the orchestral, guitar and pop beats through to the lyrics and the flow of the tune, this could be lifted straight from the original series, and that alone is enough to make it a work of brilliance.

Last but certainly not least we have the "Universal version" of Tenshi ni Nacchatta (previously found in a more bare bones and shorter version on the Pink Monsoon single), which to be honest feels like it should probably have been recorded for Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex in places to me on account of some of the electronica burbling away in the background - Not that this is a bad thing. Aside from that this is a slow but steady track that is actually enhanced by its generally simplicity rather than stunted by it, which also makes it a perfect way to close off the album. Now, all I have to do is sit and wait for what might be a million years until I can watch Macross Frontier ~Itsuwari No Utahime~ for myself.

Toradora! - Original soundtrack

Ever since Toradora! started airing, I've been waiting impatiently for its soundtrack to become available. It wasn't just the show's opening theme and its brilliantly catchy ability to bore its way into your head at any time of the night or day (and I've had the opening theme single for quite a while now anyhow) that had me sold, there were also several pieces of incidental music within the series itself that I was rather keen to get my hands on.


So, the Toradora! OST is now here, and I couldn't wait to give it a listen. Except, I soon discovered that it's a member of a rather common phenomenon with many soundtracks - It only really sounds good in the context of the episodes and their visuals. Shorn of the actual content of the anime, the tracks on this OST are fun and bouncy in their own way much of the time, but they simply don't work out of context. Even the tracks I was looking forward to owning unfettered by dialogue suddenly sounded flat and uninteresting.

Perhaps on a second listen in a different frame of mind I'll feel a little differently about it, but at the moment I'm going to have to put this one down as a "nice to have for completeness, but I won't be listening to it very much all" acquisition. Yet despite this, the opening theme still continues to hijack my brain and blare out its goodness day after day after day...

True Tears - Original soundtrack

Given how much I've enjoyed True Tears thus far, it probably isn't much a of a surprise to anyone to see me jumping on the chance to grab the show's soundtrack at the first available opportunity.

In all honesty, outside of its place as incidental music within the series, a role in which it excels, this soundtrack from Kikuchi Hajime is largely a quite melancholy affair - certainly not something you'd want to listen to in an attempt to cheer yourself up (aside from the Noe-inspired tracks anyway), although anyone who has seen much of the show will probably already have figured that out. Without the benefit of the beautiful animation and powerful emotional scenes it normally accompanies, most of the tracks here are shorn of much of their impact, leaving most of the tracks on show as pretty vignettes without much real backbone.

One thing that has surprised me during the run of this anime so far is just how much both the beginning and ending title tracks have grown on me - Naturally, both of them appear here, although sadly only in their shortened 'TV' form rather than in their full glory, so you'll have to fish out the two singles to really get the most out of them. In particular, the track which accompanies the show's closing credits, Aira Yuki's Sekai no Namida, is probably one of (if not the) best track of this season's shows for me, although it did take a while to ingrain itself in my brain.

In all then, I can't see myself revisiting this soundtrack very often at all - It's no classic, but it does satiate the True Tears completist in me.