Marmalade Boy Vol. 3: Marmalade Voice!
3,000 yen (I paid $30)
released 9-21-94
Apollon Records APCM-5040

 
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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