This took a lot longer than I would’ve liked, and I imagine everyone forgot about that little “More details at 11:00!” message I left in my last post, so here’s the context:

But I’ve been dabbling in some beautiful music recently (I’ll document that in the next post!), and it’s so frustrating to amble back here, see a raving and entirely serious post about how Hello! Project is epic greatness, questioning, “Why have more people not fallen for these talented girls’ charms?!”

Looking back at it now: Wow, what a glaring grammatical mistake. How did I miss that? Eh, I was tired. Our topic today is I’ve Sound! The discussion at hand…

Anime Music & How to Do It Better Than Hello! Project

Everyone got that? Okay, take notes; there’ll be a test.

First, a note to UFA. The proper way to go about doing songs for anime is to get in and get out. Do you know why I’ve never heard a single person talk about Kirarin Revolution besides Kusumi Koharu’s releases for it? Or Robby & Kerobby? Maybe because the latter is more directed towards young children, but I’ve seen series like the former go over excellently in the English-speaking anime world, and this one, from what I can see, is a total flop. No, the reason is because you’ve put your mark all over it, and for people unacquainted with Morning Musume, it is extremely off-putting. Honestly, even I don’t want to watch it because I’ll hear Koharu and not Kirari. I mean, I know we gaijin are so far away that we don’t really matter to you, but your complete lack of sense in the anime department makes me want to tear my hair out. So, here are some people you should pay attention to!

I’ve Sound, or I’ve, is “a Japanese techno/trance music production group based in Sapporo, Hokkaido.” Thanks, Wikipedia! I can take it from here. As you can read in more depth there, they began by doing songs for various visual novels (I’ll sum it up: romantic and frequently erotic games played by people that can be likened to 2D-digging wota). Their name, for this reason, traces back to aibu, the word for “caress.” They gained a significant following and finally released their first compilation album because of this. They would go on to release many more, and I’d really like to get them, but, um, anyone want to donate some money for all the lovely articles I give to you? …No? Shucks. Okay.

Making up I’ve are several girls, though the “official” (KOTOKO, Shimamiya Eiko, Kawada Mami, etc.) and not “sometimes” (Lia, Ayana, etc.) I’ve girls could probably only put together one Morning Musume. I believe all of them except for perhaps Utatsuki Kaori, their most recent member, actively contribute to the production of their music, giving them each a well-defined image; of the two I know the most about — I’m still a little new! —, KOTOKO seems to favor a more rock edge to her personal sound, while Shimamiya Eiko, in both music and lyrics, is very in-tune to nature and obscure, foreign cultures. KOTOKO is definitely the most popular, most likely due to her overflowing discography, appearances at conventions, and even American-released albums. They have a whole stack of her first album at Suncoast, with romanized track names on the back and everything! I bought one!! Still, she is probably my least favorite of the girls, as I’ve never been able to get into her voice. I’m all over Mami and her scary teeth. See, there are definitely idol-like things to love in them!

I’ve is known for their brand of what they call “low trance,” and if you think Perfume is heaven to listen to, try them on for size. They seem to be exclusively funded by features in anime and games, and yet, unlike Hello! Project’s often weak, mindless contributions to the anime world, they have never once dumbed their music down to fit in. Of course, their audiences right now are very different, but if UFA would just look back to Tanpopo’s Last Kiss for Orphen, I wonder if it would make them realize that anime can be, and largely is, more than just for children.

These three were my favorites when I was watching anime on a regular basis and would hear some of their songs in the ones I followed. They’re very much fan-favorites, as well, so they’re all good examples. PVs used where possible, but in other cases, I’ve opted for the game versions because they’re longer than an anime’s standard OP sequence.

1. Lia, Tori no Uta

I assume it’s pretty much impossible to have watched this series or be into I’ve without thinking this song is the shit. Like, if you proposed that kind of idea around a bunch of otaku, you’d be beaten to death with their life-sized Kamio Misuzu pillow. (She’s the main heroine. I… Okay, I know I shouldn’t be making otaku jokes when they’re going to fly over a lot of people’s heads. I’ll stop.) I fell in love with this song at first listen and played it and played it and played it, and, as you can see, now I’m disillusioned. But the main idea of that sentence is that it was the most beautiful song I’d ever heard featured in an anime at that point, and, in a way, it still is. This piece is a good indication of the level of quality you can expect to find in songs produced by I’ve; not to say that they’re all perfect, but songs they make for anime/games are usually some of their most top-notch work. As I mentioned above, Lia isn’t one of their usuals, but she’s gained a huge following since this anime, and I definitely think that they owe a lot of their exposure to her.

2. Ayana, Last regrets

I have the weirdest love affair with this song. I consider Ayana to have one of the weaker voices of the artists I’ve has worked with, and yet whenever I hear one of her songs or watch her perform, she captivates me. Of course, I don’t think a “weak voice” is too terrible when it comes to the I’ve girls, as they’re all crazy talented. She has a lot of stage presence, and it helps that I consider her to be very beautiful, another sign of my subconscious fighting back to its idol instincts. XD But moreover, the music is simply brilliant, and there’s no version of it in video format that can really show off what an amazing piece it is. This trailer for the 2006 remake by Kyoto Animation is the closest I think it’s ever come to highlighting the most epic part of the song, but I may be biased, because I got really attached to the story itself, and the visuals combined with the music from the original game are always enough to bring me to tears. I think this is something that I’ve is perfect at doing: creating a song, putting themselves and their personal trademarks into it, and then putting just enough of the product they’re making it for to really make it a part of that story. Personally, I saw this the most in Futari wa NS, with the dynamic between Koharu and Mai’s characters, but none of Hello! Project’s other anime pieces strike me that way.

3. Shimamiya Eiko, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni

This song isn’t as “Eiko” as her other works, but that’s to be expected, as it was made with the game-turned-anime of the same name in mind. The PV, which was far more atmospheric and well-made than I was expecting, definitely reflects the story (OMG SPOILERS!!!! — oh, wait, you’re not going to watch this, anyway), but it’s still able to function as its own separate entity. People raved about the song, and when the anime started to go completely downhill, this was the only thing that saved it from being a total mockery. Like I said, I almost feel bad comparing Hello! Project to things like this because they’re such completely different beasts, but scrolling up to look at my other two examples, I feel like they could do that so easily. No, they couldn’t contribute to 18+ games, but they could find other anime with the romantic sort of plot you would see in any adaptation of those games. Matsuura Aya would have such a field day with a song like Tori no Uta, it gives me chills to imagine, but instead, they give her a delayed single that, most likely, no one will care to buy even when it is finally released? They could be doing so much better than they are.

Get in, get out, get gone. Do not hang around to supervise. Do not have your idols, who, in the case of doing OP and ED songs, are essentially singers, voice act. There are professionals for that, and they’re ten times more believable than Kusumi Koharu screeching as a way of showing any kind of exaggerated emotion. Don’t make units for the sake of reflecting the anime, don’t overrun it with all your little talents, just stop. Let it breathe and let it grow. It’s not yours, you didn’t write it, and you’re really not helping. At all. I’m not really an anime person anymore, but even I know when you’re hurting the poor things, and honestly, you might be hurting yourselves in the process.