Riuva : Research Institute for Unicultural Visual Arts

One of my fans, Saturnine, pleaded with me to share some of the better songs I have heard in my long history of viewing anime. Before we do that, let me just share the results of the survey I conducted with regards to how anime is the most important channel through which Jpop grows worldwide, and the project paper handed up.

It can be viewed through this link here. It was a group effort but I removed the names for anonymity’s sake, since I can’t have people knowing my real name Theodore Joseph Hanninger can I.

Now that is done, we shall move onto the real content of this post, which is intended to be a regular feature. Sort of like a radio deejay who picks a couple of songs (or more commonly, is pressured to pick songs based on the sponsors) and talks about them, I’ll do just that except it’s all in text. Do note that all the songs selected are deeply reflective of my taste in music i.e. male singers with middle-range voices singing melodic rock and pop. No, I don’t like moe-mongering songs like Horie Yui’s Hauhau or whatever and I have no interest in Hatsune Miku.

I don’t claim to have an elite taste in music, unlike many other snobs who think they can’t listen to pop because it’s mainstream or whatever. Artistes are not important, their appearance and visual style is of no concern and their relative merits are judged on their song alone. Whether it is sophisticated, technically advanced, alternative or whatever also doesn’t mean anything. The only factor is are how good it sounds, which is in turn affected by the anime it is associated with.

I prefer singles over albums, because singles in general sound better than songs in albums, where the good ones are diluted by the crap.

Also, all the songs are by Japanese artistes obviously. If you have Last.FM, you’ll be able to get the profile information of these artistes anyway so I shan’t bother with them. I might have mentioned some of these songs in previous posts, but because this is a new feature, let’s just pretend I never said anything in the past.

Start by Depapepe
First off, a refreshing instrumental pop guitar duet. Depapepe are an awesome duo who play the semi-acoustic guitar, and all their songs are instrumental of course. Start is probably the best song they have.

Sunday  by the Baby Stars
The first ending of the manly food science show, Yakitate! Japan. Baby-stars is very pop. Their other songs are quite crappy but Sunday is an excellent tune with a catchy chorus.

Gin Iro no Sora by Redballoon
Probably the top 5 anime openings in the history of the genre, it works even better if you watch the actual anime OP. It’s the Gintama OP of course. You know the song is excellent when the ultra-Gar Gintoki makes a mention of redballoon in the actual show.

Kumori nochi Hare by Siam Shade
Siam Shade were a J-rock band which broke up a while ago, I really liked when in the late 90s. They had a huge range of songs, including loud rock, ,metal, rap, jazz, piano, ballads etc. Most famous for 1/3 no Junjou na Kanjou (ED6 of Rurouni Kenshin), their best song is probably Kumori nochi Hare (Sunshine after the Clouds), ending song of a certain Japanese drama featuring then-sexy Fukada Kyoko as the Okami of a ryokan.

Canvas by Coolon
The final ED of Eureka Seven, it’s a pseudo-sentimental pop rap-verse, melodic chorus song. Kokanaden, one of the writers for Riuva, has it on his handphone as a ringtone and when it sounds off during our otaku meetings, the whole group will start singing along. Of course the call NEVER gets picked up and it’s quite funny.

XTC by Psychic Lover
The first OP of Witchblade, the GONZO disaster show. Once again, it’s a fast-paced rock song with a melodic chorus and the only saving grace of the horrid waste of funds.

Clown by Jam Project
An insert song for Rescue Wings. A slow ballad with powerful emotional qualities.

0:00 AM by Acid
The OP for Tokyo Majin Gakuen Kenpuchou, Gozen Reiji (0:00 AM) is fast-paced rock song by rather visual kei-ish Acid. All of Acid’s other songs, include Hanafubuki, Prayer and Growing up are fucking awesome, despite the band on the whole looking like drag queen pretty boys.

Taiyou no Mannaka e by Bivattchee
3rd OP of Eureka Seven, TnMe has manlier and louder vocals than the rest of the songs featured today. I once used it as an alarm clock ringtone. Bivattchee recently released a new album which had quite a few good songs as well, but nothing beats the two in the TnMe single, the other one being Kimi ga Waratta Kisetsu.
 
Zero by Back-on
I thought Back-on was shit, but turns out their latest single, Flower, is really good despite me not watching the Eyeshield 21 anime of which Flower is an ending for. Zero is one of the included tracks and probably the best of the 3, though all are good.

Note that all the downloadable samples will be removed after 24 hours. Do support the artiste if you like them.