TRACK LIST
1.) Egao ni Aitai (I Want to See His Smile)-
Hamada Rie
2.) South Wind- Kouda Mariko (Miki)
3.) Rain- Okiayu Ryoutarou (Yuu)
4.) Moment- Kouda Mariko
5.) Suteki na Serenade (Wonderful Serenade)-
Miki version- Kouda Mariko
6.) Friend Ship- Hamada Rie
7.) Saigo no Yakusoku (The Final Promise)-
Kouda Mariko
8.) Egao ni Aitai- Slow Version- Hamada Rie
9.) Kanishii Toki wa Itsumo (Lit: Sad Time
is Always)- Kanemaru Jun'ichi (Ginta)
10.) Taiyou wo Sagashite (Searching For
the Sun)- Hisakawa Aya (Arimi)
11.) Suteki na Serenade- Fujiwara Miho
12.) Egao ni Atai- Miki Version- Kouda Mariko
This is one of my favorite CDs, first off.
I think Marmalade Boy has some of the best vocal songs ever, and this CD
(for the most part) supports that.
"Egao ni Aitai" is the opening song for all 76
episodes of Marmalade Boy. Normally I can't stand the singer (Hamada
Rie), but the instruments seem to go better with her voice than most do,
and the lyrics are good enough that it doesn't matter. "South Wind"
is a very bouncy and peppy song. I don't really like it that much,
but I love Kouda Mariko's voice. "Rain", the next track, is one of
my favorite guy songs ever. The lyrics are really sweet, and did
I mention I love Okiayu Ryoutarou since he does the voice of both my precious
Issei and my darling Yuu. Come to think of it, he sounds kinda like
a Japanese Mark when he sings ::swoons as thinks of Mark singing:: Anyway,
the next track is "Moment", which if you've seen Marmalade Boy at all you
should probably know by heart. What I like about this is that at
the beginning it plays the music box version of the song. And then
in come the instruments, and Kouda Mariko's excellent vocals, and we have
a song that makes me want to dance! ::people cower in fear of Robin's horrible
dance skills:: "Suteki na Serenade" is the first ending song, and it sounds
really nice with Miki singing instead of the original singer. This
is one of those songs you need to see the animation for. It's a very
relaxing song, and the lyrics are very sweet. Then my gag reflex
is instantly triggered by "Friend Ship", a Hamda Rie ballad meant to sound
nautical. This song is why I really can't stand her voice.
It's very juvenille sounding, and I could only stand it when I heard it
in an episode. Next there's "Saigo no Yakusoku", another commonly
used insert song from the series. I like this track best of all of
the tracks on the CD, because I feel it best utilizes Kouda Mariko's talent.
The slow version of "Egao ni Aitai" is tolerable. It's nice to hear
when you're in that kind of sappy, romantic mood, but otherwise Hamada
Rie going "la-la-la" is kinda sickening. Ginta's song, "Kanishii
Toki wa Itsumo" really isn't as bad as most people say it is. I mean,
he's not nearly as good as Okiayu Ryoutarou, but he's better than most
of the Fushigi Yugi seiyuu (which doesn't really say much). Anyway,
backtracking, the song is actually kinda catchy, if you can stomach the
end, with Kanemaru Jun'ichi's voice cracking as he hits a high note.
"Taiyou wo Sagashite", the Arimi song, is very bouncy and fun and happy.
And it has Hisakawa Aya singing it, who is arguably one of the best seiyuu
ever, right up there with Hayashibara Megumi and Inoue Kikuko. Like
Ginta's song, it's very catchy, and gets into your head easily. Then
there's the regular version of "Suteki na Serenade", which has a more breathy
tambre to it. I can't really choose between liking one or the other.
However, with "Egao ni Aitai", the last track, the Miki version is superior
to the real version. Kouda Mariko puts a lot more emotion into her
vocals than Hamda Rie. This is a great CD for any anime fan to add
to their collection, especially if they love seiyuu.
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