This post is also available, with some minor edits, on my review blog~
Alright, alright. I wasn't actually going to post more songs this soon, but I had the idea to do the April Fools shitpost and it felt bad to do that without an actual post. So, for real this time:
Same rules as the first post - some of these are very well-known, some less so, but I love all of these songs.
Lots of video embeds, this post is long!
Helck - Help (by Aimi)
If you've never listened to the music from Bang Dream!, I'd suggest going to listen to a little now. Not because I think it's good - Poppin' Party, the relevant band here, aren't exactly my favourites - but because it drives home just how good Aimi's become. Some of the early Bang Dream stuff is pretty awful on vocals, as well as just being a little bland.
None of that here, with a song that feels fun, creative and memorable at once. I've not watched Helck yet, but the moment I heard this song, it went into my planning list and this song went into my playlists.
Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei - Lady Your Eyes (by Youri with the Cash)
Okay, first things first: I wish there was a higher quality recording of this available. With that said, maybe the fact that this is so definitively 80s is what really sells it. Youri Sugimoto's vocals are incredible, and THE CASH (I'm sorry, I love that as a backing band name) pull off something fantastic here - just check out that classic rock solo starting at the 2-minute mark. Meanwhile, the actual OVA here is not really worth watching, but it's fascinating as an adaptation of the original Megami Tensei books, if nothing else.
Charlotte - Bravely You (by Lia)
When I started playing AMQ, this was the first song I learned directly from the quizzes. I almost immediately went and got hold of the song, stuck it on a bunch of playlists, and have listened to it countless times since. Lia's super well known for mostly visual novel adaptations, but Charlotte just happens to be mostly the same musicians as Angel Beats!. This is a great one for visuals too - Charlotte isn't the most visually appealing show, but you wouldn't believe that from the opening (or the ending, for that matter, which is where my profile's banner is from).
Fullmetal Alchemist: Conqueror of Shamballa - Lost Heaven (by L'Arc~en~Ciel)
L'Arc~en~Ciel are huge in Japan. For context, they simultaneously released two albums in 1999 and had both sell over 2 million copies. To compare to some other notable anime artists, T.M. Revolution has had two albums break the 1 million mark, while The Pillows, UVERworld, Ali Project and Do As Infinity have all failed to hit the 1 million mark.
Outside of Japan, they're probably best known for Ready Steady Go, an FMA opening also used as the final song in Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan, but the two used for Shamballa are probably my favourites of theirs. Link is really good too, a fast-paced and optimistic song, but Lost Heaven just hits in a completely different way. It's melancholic while still retaining that undeniably L'Arc~en~Ciel style, incredible rock with Hyde's vocals delivering that tone beautifully.
Dorohedoro - Welcome to Chaos (by (K)NoW_NAME:Ayaka Tachibana)
I mentioned in the first 10 songs that I'm a big fan of KNOW_NAME - there'll be more to come in future posts! - but when I started watching Dorohedoro, I wondered what in the hell I was listening to. The endings are a little calmer, albeit with a style that still feels unique to Dorohedoro, but this opening sets the tone completely. Specifically going with the TV length version here too, because the visuals add so much to the impact of this song. Do they reveal any details about the show? Absolutely not.
Anyway, Ayaka's probably my favourite of the three KNOW_NAME singers, and while she doesn't quite hit the same tones here that I love from songs like Game, the style of the song, in particular the drop of the chorus, stands out so much from anything else that I just had to include this one.
Re:Stage Dream Days - Brilliant Wings (by Stellamaris)
Over in my review of Re:Stage, I commented on hearing one of the songs via AMQ - this was the song in question. There are a couple of other songs in Re:Stage that are pretty damn good too, but Brilliant Wings is still a stand-out amongst them. This is the opening of the show's first episode and, while it's hard to say it really represents the Re:Stage anime well, it's certainly an eye-catching way to kick things off. One question, though: why is it never the main band in an idol show that has the best songs?
Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury - Kimiyo Kedakakuare (by Shiyui)
When G-Witch S1 aired in 2022, everyone was talking about the show - myself included. It was bringing new fans into Gundam, the writer had a background in Utena content, and Yoasobi were providing the opening. I've personally never been too fond of Yoasobi, but the ending immediately caught my interest.
Shiyui has only done a handful of anime tracks - most recently Happiness of the Dead, the Zom 100 ending, which also slaps - but the tonal shifts and dynamics in Kimiyo Kedakakuare make it so much more memorable to me. I'm also notoriously bad at recognising voices amongst the AMQ players in my Discord, but there is no world where I would've thought this and the Zom 100 one were the same singer - she's got a hell of a range between the two, and I'm excited to hear more than the three anisongs she's done so far.
Durarara!! - Complication (by ROOKiEZ is PUNK'D)
Durarara was one of the handful of shows I watched before getting back into anime properly, and I think every opening is pretty good - the worst is probably the Third Arc's opening by FLOW, and even then I think that's one of the better FLOW songs I've heard. With that said, the first season's two openings are by far the best in my eyes, and Complication in particular is a song that I can't stop coming back to - which is funny, because I also can't think of another ROOKiEZ song I particularly care for!
The Durarara openings are all used fantastically, showcasing what is a huge cast with a lot of character, while using gaps in the music to recap plot points relevant to that episode, and there are so many moments that come to mind just listening to this song. With that said, it's the song itself that really pulls me in here: I can't tell you how many hundreds of times I've listened to this. It's a solid rock song with some poignant lyrics, and the delivery of the vocals is incredible.
Edomae Elf - Kien Romance (by Akari Nanawo)
In what is a massive tonal shift from the last song, the Otaku Elf opening is optimistic, happy, and with the bouncy vocals to fit that. Akari Nanawo was someone I first heard from the opening of Happy Sugar Life, which is an incredibly fucked-up show about happiness at any cost - the song is similarly bouncy, but more in an insane rambling kind of way.
I'm not really sure what it is that makes Akari Nanawo's vocals stand out so much to me - there are tons of anisong artists that sound like this that I never want to listen to - but her delivery is fantastic, and it strikes a nice balance on being both playful and relaxing, which makes it a perfect fit for the show.
Your Name. - Zen Zen Zense (by RADWIMPS)
There's something about hearing a RADWIMPS song in a Makoto Shinkai movie that just feels right. It almost feels nostalgic to listen to this song, and I only watched Your Name about 2,5 years ago. That said, it was what got me back into anime - after watching almost nothing for a decade, this was what kicked me into watching nearly 400 shows in the 30 months that have followed.
I could have picked any of the songs from Your Name to be perfectly honest - each has slightly different vibes to them, but this one just feels the most appropriate to the film. It's a love song about a love that endures through time and difficulties without any hesitation, and that joy and optimism shines through in the vocals, the guitar, drums, bass, even the few moments that the backing vocals take over. I think most of the songs on this list fit the shows they're from, but it's hard to think of one that achieves that quite as much as this.
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Whew. Including the songs linked in the write-ups, this is comfortably an hour or two of music to listen to. That also puts me almost halfway through the initial list of songs I had, although I'm sure I'll find more in no time. With that said, it might be a while until the next music post, and we're past the April Fools shitposts, so back to whatever irregular posting habits I normally have. Thanks for reading! ♥
