Favorite Anime Songs #08 - School Rumble Ni Gakki - Kono Namida ga Aru Kara Tsugi no Ippo to Naru (by Ami Tokito)

The more I think about School Rumble and although this song may not be the one you think of immediately when you hear the words "School Rumble," it is probably the best OP/ED song of the series.  "Kono Namida ga Aru Kara Tsugi no Ippo to Naru" appeared as the first ED song of School Rumble Ni Gakki (School Rumble Second Semester) and is performed by Ami Tokito.  The translation of the song title equates to "because there are these tears, they will become my next step."  From my understanding, the song is about dreams being realized but one has to take that first step.

As for the series itself, I would recommend the first season over the second season.  Since this song appears in School Rumble Ni Gakki, I would say that the duration through which this song is used as the end theme is the better part of Ni Gakki.  I believe that Ni Gakki ended rather weakly with San Gakki (Third Semester) being worse since it's only two OAV episodes.  It's still a fun series to watch as it seems to form those groups of which ship (relationship) to support (i.e. Flag, Riceball, etc.)

"Kono Namida ga Aru Kara Tsugi no Ippo to Naru" English Lyrics

Favorite Gaming Music #38: Catherine - Revolutionary Etude

Admittedly, I haven't played this game, but would love to.  My knowledge of the game is basically through watching other people stream the game and it looks fun as hell.  Being as it came from Atlus, the same company that made Shin Megami Tensei, I'll definitely play the game in the future.  I like my puzzle games.  I have been listening to the soundtrack for this game lately on repeat.  If there's one song that I would pick out it would be "Revolutionary Etude."  The Catherine Sound Disc came in the Deluxe Edition of the game with a pair of boxers worn by the main character, a shirt, and an artbook.  The album was created by Shoji Meguro.  To my knowledge, the album is a remix of classical music.  "Revolutionary Etude" was done by Frédéric Chopin.  Also known as the "Etude of the Bombardment of Warsaw," the song came about during the November Uprising, which was Poland's failed revolution against Russia.  I find that this piece is one of the better ones on the album although all of them are good.  I would also go back to Chopin's original Revolutionary Etude, which is Etude Op. 10, No. 12.

Catherine

Chopin

Favorite Anime Songs #07 - Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann - Sorairo Days (by Shouko Nakagawa)

"Sorairo Days" roughly translates to "sky blue days."  This song was performed by Shouko Nakagawa and was used at the opening theme to the best anime (in my opinion) of 2007 "Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann."  The story of Gurren Lagann is that humanity is forced to live underground by the Spiral King.  Our two main protagonists, Simon and Kamina, form Team Gurren with the goal of achieving the goal of visiting the surface world above which is soon realized with the finding of the Gunmen (mecha) named Lagann.  The overview of the story makes "Sorairo Days" fit the anime appropriately as it gives our protagonists a goal to see the outside world and make it so humanity can do the same.  The song itself is about looking forward towards creating your own future and not looking back to the past.

Without going into further details about the anime itself, it truly is a thrill to watch.  It has its fair share of epic moments.  It is one of the few series that I actually go back to and watch from time to time.  It really is that damn good.  I recommend that you watch it if you haven't done so yet.

Sora Iro Days English Lyrics

Favorite Gaming Music #37: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (NES) - Underwater

When I bought this game, it was basically around the time when I was completely hyped for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in the late 1980s.  It was one of the coolest things going on around that time.  This game plays completely different than pretty much all of the other games in the series.  This game was developed by Ultra Games and was a platformer unlike the arcade style beat 'em ups that you see in the sequels.  Admittedly, I had more fun playing the arcade games with complete strangers at a local Pizza Hut compared to this game, but I had fun with this game nonetheless.  One of the more memorable stages is Stage 2 which was the Hudson Dam and when you have to go through the underwater section of the game.  I grabbed the theme mainly because it is pretty soothing for a section that is supposedly rather tense.  In this section, if memory serves me, you had to disarm eight bombs in 2:20 while swimming through areas of electric seaweed and electric zappers.  It's pretty funny when watching a first timer do it and get to the end of the disarming section only to realize that he/she forgot a bomb.  Although a lot of people hated this section, I found it pretty fun.

Favorite Anime Songs #06: Bleach: Memories of Nobody - Sen no Yoru wo Koete (by Aqua Timez)

"Sen no Yoru wo Koete" is performed by Aqua Timez and the ending theme for the first Bleach movie entitled "Bleach: Memories of Nobody," which in my opinion is the best of the Bleach movies.  The song's title roughly translates to "Passing Over the Thousandth Night."  The lyrics of the song depict a person who is in love with someone, but is not sure if the person that that person loves feels the same way.  The love could be one-sided, but the person is fine with it as that love is cannot be changed by anyone else and that the feeling of loving someone is fine in itself.  It goes very well with the theme of Bleach: Memories of Nobody as without spoiling too much of the movie, it features a shinigami named Senna and stuff happens such that Ichigo has to go save her.  I guess you can see where this is going.  For anybody that has followed Bleach, Ichigo is one of main characters where he has accumulated a harem  somewhat without his knowledge.  For some reason, girls like him.  It's not an obvious harem like in other series like Negima, Love Hina, or The World God Only Knows, but a number of girls have taken a liking to Ichigo over the course of the series.  In any event, it's amazing that I picked this song over many of the OP/ED songs from the series itself as although the Bleach series hasn't been great of late, it did have great music.

Sen no Yoru wo Koete English Lyrics

Favorite Gaming Music #36: The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening – Tal Tal Heights

This was a Zelda game that I had been putting off for some time.  I remember the times when my friend would say that this is the best Zelda game he has played.  This game is pretty fun.  This Zelda game in particular takes place on Koholint Island as Link is making his way back to Hyrule following the events of Oracle of Ages/Seasons, according to Hyrule Historia, in the timeline that Link is defeated by Ganondorf in Ocarina of Time.  The purpose of the game is to wake up the Wind Fish so Link can get off the island.  The game itself can go by quickly if you are any bit of a seasoned Zelda player.  About midway through the game, Link approaches Tal Tal Heights and it has one of the better themes in the game.  I could just leave Link idle in Tal Tal Heights all day.

Favorite Anime Songs #05 - Mahou Sensei Negima - Happy Material

This song is so good there are seven full versions of the song, a TV version with all 31 girls, an acoustic version, and it got played in the alternate retelling of the series Negima!?  The basic premise of the anime is a 10-year old boy magician becomes the English teacher of a middle school all-girls academy.  This boy, Negi Springfield, is in charge of 31 girls all older than he is.  As far as the anime goes, I personally found myself liking the first series than the Shaft retelling.  The second series can be great at times, but it's so much different from the canon in the manga.  The first series follows the manga more closely, but the deviates in the final 4+ episodes.  The way to go through this series is through the manga.  It felt awesome for about 300 chapters and is lumbering towards the finish line in the past 50+ chapters towards what many perceive (including myself) as a rushed ending.  (I'll address the flaws possibly next week when the series concludes.)  But as for the anime, the OP theme called "Happy Material" is one of the more catchier OP themes I've heard in recent years.  I stated that there are seven versions of it which features only a part of the class and each version is basically a remix of the original.  I'm bias and leaned towards the More Rock version because Shizuka Ito is in it.  For the sake of this post, I'm posting all seven since I don't hate any of them and are all brilliant in their own right.

Happy Material Lyrics

Happy Material - Original

Happy Material - More Rock Version

Happy Material - More Happy Version

Happy Material - More Beloved

Happy Material - Electric

Happy Material - Early Summer

Happy Material - Now and Oldies

Favorite Gaming Music #35: Final Fantasy VIII - Eyes on Me

To be forthcoming, Final Fantasy VIII is not a favorite Final Fantasy of mine.  In fact, it's in my bottom 5 even below Final Fantasy X-2, which is an entirely different issue altogether.  Two of the things that bugged me about this game is gameplay and story of which both are paramount to me in liking a game.  Although I didn't particularly like either, it did have good music.  Aside from "Liberi Fatali," the other song that comes to my mind is "Eyes on Me" by Faye Wong.  "Eyes on Me" is essentially the theme song of Final Fantasy VIII since it primarily revolves around the relationship between Squall and Rinoa.  The song itself is pretty good given the context in which it is used with the budding romance between our aforementioned heroes.  The music is one of the reasons I will probably play this game again at some point.  It may not be a favorite of mine, but it's not trash.  Part of my motivation would be to make sense of the story again, which went over my head...

Favorite Anime Songs #04 - 5 Centimeters Per Second: a chain of short stories about their distance - One More Time, One More Chance

This movie is probably my favorite of all anime movies I've seen.  The movie, "5 Centimeters Per Second," is about two childhood friends who develop a strong bond and fall in love with each other but as time passes, they drift further away due to circumstances beyond their control.  The movie is split into three parts as it shows the progression of which their drifting away has affected both of them, in particular, the boy, Takaki.  Normally, when one thinks Japanese anime movies, one thinks of Hayao Miyazaki, but I can't imagine any Miyazaki being better than this one.  I have yet to see all of them, but this movie really got to me.  Even though we form bonds with those around us, we do drift further away at "5 centimeters per second."  The ending song for this movie is done by Masayoshi Yamazaki entitled "One More Time, One More Chance."  It's a fitting title with the theme of this movie and with life in general as we always wish to have one more time and one more chance to reconnect with those around us.  It's aptly named and a great choice to put at the end.  I'd say to definitely watch this movie if you can.  Last time I checked, this movie was incredibly expensive to buy, but I would definitely want to get this movie if I can.

English lyrics to "One More Time, One More Chance"

Favorite Gaming Music #34: Castlevania: Symphony of the Night - Vampire Killer (Rock version)

I'll be honest and say that I haven't beaten many Castlevania games.  If anything, they're not until at the very least in the Saturn/Playstation generation.  Just because I've only beaten a handful of these games, it does not mean that I don't recognize Vampire Killer from Castlevania.  If I remember correctly, it's the first stage music in Castlevania.  As iconic as the original theme is, I can't help but jam to the Saturn rock version of the song.  I just myself nodding to it as if in acknowledgement that this version is dope.  If there's one thing about the Saturn version of the game, it's that the Playstation doesn't have the Goth or Rock version of Vampire Killer.  (This is to my knowledge.)  Eventually, I'll try to find some time and grind out some Castlevania games to finish.  Until then, I'll just keep listening to this theme.

Favorite Anime Songs #03 - Hayate no Gotoku!! - Zankoku na Tenshi no Thesis/Cruel Angel's Thesis (by Shizuka Itō)

Shizuka Itō is quite possibly my voice actor at the moment.  It's to the point that I'm looking at what future anime series she's in and watching them based on her alone.  In "Hayate no Gotoku!!," she does the voice of my favorite character in the series, Hinagiku Katsura.  In one particular part of the anime, she gets to sing "Zankoku na Tenshi no Thesis" which is most famously the theme song of "Neon Genesis Evangelion."  Surprisingly, she does a better version than the original and it is clearly my favorite version by far.  It's not like the original version is bad, it's just this version is SOOOOOOOOO much better.  I can't stop listening to this song enough and it is currently my most played songs on iTunes.  It's soooooo good!  So many things came together to make this song, my favorite voice actress and my favorite character from "Hayate no Gotoku!!," I can't praise this enough.

Favorite Gaming Music #33: Mario Kart: Double Dash!! - Rainbow Road

Of all the versions of Mario Kart, this is probably the one I'm the best at.  I've put a lot of time into this game.  It just so happens that when I was listening to the various versions of Rainbow Road that played throughout the years, this happens to be my favorite of them all.  I've had a lot of memories playing this game with friends.  Rainbow Road was always a disaster for them as they were so prone to falling into space.  Despite the stages being so long, I would lap them often.  Is it the best Mario Kart game overall?  It's between this and the SNES version for me, but that doesn't change the fact that this version of Rainbow Road gameplay and music is the best for me.

Favorite Anime Songs #02 - The World God Only Knows/Kami Nomi zo Shiru Sekai - Love Call (by Nao Tōyama)

I only watched through this series over the Christmas break because somebody suggested it.  I can't believe I missed this series initially.  The World God Only Knows follows main character, Keima Katsuragi, an otaku who does not get himself involved in real life and focuses only on playing his dating sim games.  One day, he unknowingly accepts an agreement to capture runaway souls with a demon named Elsie.  To capture these souls, he has to extract them from the hearts of girls.  Using his dating sim knowledge, he uses love as the means of extraction.  I fell in love with this series mostly at the Kanon Nakagawa arc.  The girls are an interesting lot with each having their own reason for the gaps in their hearts.  It got me to read the manga and I'm totally into it.  The reason I liked "Love Call" is that it fit the anime episode nicely.  The song is done by Nao Touyama, who does the voice acting for Kanon Nakagawa, in the series.  It's such a lovely voice and the song itself is very emotional.  With the way the Kanon anime arc ended, it left me all tingly.

Favorite Gaming Music #32: Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty - Can't Say Goodbye to Yesterday

Although it may be the least favorite game to me in the Metal Gear Solid series (it's still a good game regardless), it has the best ending theme possibly.  It's unfortunate that the singer, Carla White, died five years due to cancer.  She does a wonderful rendition of "Can't Say Goodbye to Yesterday" that nobody can possibly match ever.  According to the Metal Gear wiki, it was conducted and played by Felix Farrar Orchestra.  If there's one thing you can never fault the Metal Gear Solid series for, it's the music.  They put a ton of work into the music employing composers such as Harry Gregson-Williams.  In my opinion, if there's any song that stands out from the Metal Gear Solid 2 soundtrack, it has to be this one.

Favorite Anime Songs #01 - Bakemonogatari ED - Kimi no Shiranai Monogatari (by Supercell)

This is quite possibly one of my favorite OP/ED songs of all time in any anime.  The Bakemonogatari episode in which it plays fit the episode perfectly.  The series itself is weird as it centers around Koyomi Araragi and the girls around him.  It is a series that takes some getting used to, but it's personally one of my favorite anime series out there.  I'd say that it's a bit more tame than its successor Nisemonogatari.  Both are worth watching.  As for this song, "Kimi no Shiranai Monogatari" is one of my most played songs on my iPod/iTunes playlist.  That should be some indicator of how much I love it as the number of plays is in the triple digits.

Favorite Gaming Music #31: Mega Man VII - Intro Stage

This game along with Mega Man VIII may be considered the black sheep of the original series as neither game were 8-bit or on the NES.  The Mega Man VII Intro Stage theme gets you so hyped to start playing the game despite its really long opening sequence.  It's about a full two minutes before you get to do anything in the game.  Personally, I liked Mega Man VII a lot more than its predecessor Mega Man VI.  Mega Man VI felt lazy and the robot masters were uninteresting.  It was a step down from Mega Man V.  Mega Man VII felt like a breath of fresh air and a renewal of sorts for the series on the SNES.  Love the intro theme.

Favorite Gaming Music #30: Tales of the Abyss – Opening

I don't know why I had a long hiatus.  There's no real excuse.

Anyway, I love the Tales series.  I love the OP to Tales of the Abyss.  Fortunately, it was reused for the Tales of the Abyss anime series.  The song is actually "Karma" by Bump of Chicken.   I would love to play this game again sometime.  It's such a huge time investment.  It's strange how I managed to play through the game twice despite its length with both playthroughs I've done going over 50+ hours.  The gameplay is great.  Although I wouldn't consider it the best of the Tales series, it isn't a bad game.