音時雨 ～Regentropfen～

Rainy soul, I wrote this phrase into my blog subtitle a few days ago. I just suddenly realized this word fits myself perfectly… and thus, I remembered the song by GARNET CROW.

Rainy Soul.

It happened recently when I paid more attention to this song, since I began my super crazy listening to GC's music. The album which "Rainy Soul" belongs to was released in last year, but at that time, I only loved "ON THE WAY" like mad… (gosh, I'm a bit off topic…).

I love rainy days, I like to stay alone, and my soul is always calm and quiet. I like to imagine being in a weekend afternoon, with the soft sound of raindrops falling down to the ground; there is the scent of grass outside, gentle breeze blows into the room where I am; people in other houses turn on the light in turn, the sky turns darker and darker. The world is in an endless serenity, with me being its very centre…

Way too fantastic, no? ^^;

Not only my imagination, the aura of the song fits my soul. I believe it very much. The melody, the lyrics, the calm tempo, the intense vocal, the rich arrangement… plus, GARNET CROW is one of Japanese artists I knew when I just entered into the Jpop world!

-The music-
I like the darkish and depressing ambience of the song. Piano and bass introduce a soft tempo by drums. Yuri's voice is just as low as that in other typical GC songs. Yet, in the middle, her voice is getting more intense, and so is the tempo. In the second phrase, what I like best is the sound of piano hovering over Yuri's vocal (when she sings "warabe uta kasukani"). In the climax part, from the lyrics, I think the real conception of the song is coming out, and soon, this song ends in the same darkish and depressing ambience, just like the beginning.

-The Words-
I spent some time on understanding the lyrics, and I love it. Azuki Nana tends to use some "special" words in her lyrics – in this lyrics, she made "ningen (human)" as "hito (person)", "Mirai (future)" as "Shiawase (happiness)", "hankyou (echo)" as "naru (echo)", and so on. Although some words have basically the same meaning under the two different ways of reading them, some do not. This feature makes them unique and thus gives GC the reputation out of those mediocre Jpop artists.

I'm so glad that I found the song fits my soul that well.

I tried to translate the lyrics… using my careless translation power again :D

* Parts in parentheses have the literal meaning, which is according to what I mentioned about Azuki Nana's unique way of writing.

月夜に響き出した 狂った旋律のピアノ
The crazy melody of piano rushes out of the moonlit night,
眠りを誘う
Enticing me in sleep.
意味もなく 不安にさせる
With no meaning yet making me anxious,
冷たい視線はもう私を見てない
Your cold eyes are on me anymore.

Rainy Soul
Rainy Soul
明日の気持ちなんて
Don't think about how you feel tomorrow,
人間は約束など出来ぬもの
This is human, which not be able to make promise.

Rainy Soul
Rainy Soul
時に君がみせる
Sometimes, I am attracted by your life,
孤独にさえすがる生き方魅せられた
Which is depending on even loneliness.

物音ひとつない午後 童歌 微かに
In a silent afternoon, I hear a folksong echoing slightly,
“トオリャンセ…” さぁ、さぁ…
"Tohryanse…" come on, come on…

Rainy Soul
Rainy Soul
あなたが生きてるならば
If you are there,
私まだ未来を祈れる
I can still pray for the happiness (future).

Rainy Soul
Rainy Soul
何も欲しがらぬ その瞳で
Your eyes are telling you need nothing,
何を恐れているというのか…
Yet I know you fear something…
教えて…
Tell me…

誰も知らない 誰も見えない戦場をゆくのね
You're going to the battlefield that is not known by anyone, and cannot been seen by anyone,
そして人知れず勝利願う
And you pray for your victory that no one can realize.
君の世間が
Your world
また反響しだした
Is reflecting your soul again.

Rainy Soul
Rainy Soul
魅き合う時もあるでしょう
I believe it exists when we're attracted by each other,
人はただ人であると知るなら
If we know people are just people.

Rainy Soul
Rainy Soul
傷ついた時だけでも
Even only when you're hurt,
愛が必要だと思うなら
If you believe you need love,
存在して
I am there (It exists).
HUMAN LOST
HUMAN LOST

Ohhh, double post today! ^^;

Continue to where I stopped in last post, I am going to talk about the ORB series now. (I said I was going to play Dragon Nest, but I did not. Instead, I changed my blog template. I was thinking on changing its theme colour as well, but, since I was lazy to modify all colour codes, I modified the hue of the picture I chose for the new template, and got my new blue template! XDD)

ORBITAL MANEUVER, I have never tried this series before. I only saw information that was linked by amazon.co.jp in its related items. This series has the motif about stories of people who leave their hometown and fly to the outer space, sounds like a SF – according to the official webpage. No matter what the story is, ohhh, look at the staff! Hiroyuki Ooshima featuring the three doujin singers again!!! Im my own imagination, I did not get too much sense of his music, but I loved his "Why, or Why not" sung by Rekka Katakiri. His music gives me a unique feeling, which has much of electronic instruments yet not too similar to the flooding abuse (?) of them by some other composers. Thank God, I got this series in last month finally!

-Haruka Shimotsuki: geotaxis-


-Chata: anemotaxis-


-Rekka Katakiri: phototaxis-
↑Nice covers! Just look like the cover for a SF novel <3

In the first track of the first album, the introduction is very splendid, like a symphony. The electronic instruments used in this song give it such a perfect ambience of the vast universe. It was the first time I hear Haruka sing a full English song (so was the case of Chata). Ohhh, how fantastic her voice is!! I have never loved Haruka's voice that much! There is a specific power in all songs in this series, and I can specifically feel the intensity from the first Haruka song, "geotaxis". However, I love her second song, "Silver Lining", the most. Yet I cannot tell more of my feeling of the song. I like its ambience, calm with a bit of loneliness; also like its medium rhythm and catchy melody. I especially love the background hovering piano!The lyrics, oh yes, I have to say all the lyrics sound like extracts from a SF novel as well! Sweet! I think I have got some writing ideas…!!! I may use "geotaxis" as the opening theme song, and use "Silver Lining" as the ending theme song. Now, her third track, "カナタ/Kanata/The Other Side", can be used as an insert song (must stop my reverie immediately, lol)!! Here, Haruka finally sounds like Haruka. LOL!! This is a gentle song; it is nice but a bit too close to an average doujin song.

Volume two, featuring Chata, gives me less sense comparing with Haruka's. Chata's voice does fit the melody, but I failed to feel much enough. Maybe I have been over-impressed by Haruka's performance… orz… Volume three, featuring Rekka Katakiri, did not give me much of impression either. However, I paid extra attention to this album, because the second track of this album is called "Chisato", hey, I am using this name for my own writing story! Should I thus use this song as her theme song? :P

In all, except the two Haruka songs I extremely love, I do love the whole ORB series. I am picky on music I listen to, and this is true that I do not like some other works by bermei.inazawa or Hiroyuki Ooshima (Hiroyuki's new work featuring Noriko Mitose did not fell into my favored range, I personally think Noriko's voice does not fit his composing melody, -__-|| ), but the two series, ACI and ORB, are really awesome. Being a doujin music lover, you cannot miss it!!

-bonus image-
My addiction to the two Haruka songs mentioned above~ =w=

Image got from my last.fm page :3

Recently, I am addicted to two series of doujin music works: "Ancient Colours Infinity" and "ORBITAL MANEUVER", featured by composers Hiroyuki Ooshima and bermei.inazawa, lyricist interface, and the most famous three doujin singers, Haruka Shimotsuki, Chata, and Rekka Katakiri.

The first series, "Ancient Colours Infinity", is focusing on using elements giving people the feeling of the distant past, the time we do not know yet. Songs in this series are mostly sung in ancient Japanese, which fits the sense of "ancient" very well. Each CD cover is mainly based on one single colour: green, blue and red. Oh, that's the ancient colours! XDD

I remember I have ever tried some pieces from Haruka's album, and said, "oh, no, that's not my favoured type." Yet now, I love it so much… orz. I think my taste got changed a lot during these years since I began to listen to tons of Japanese pop/doujin music. :P

-霜月はるか：泰東ノ翠霞 - Haruka Shimotsuki: Taitou no Suika/Emerald of the Great East-

My favourite album from this series. From the first song "泰東ノ翠霞/Taitou no Suika/Emerald of the Great East (my careless translating, applicable to all translation below!)", You can feel typical bermei.inazawa-styled noise. The background noise and the percussion are such a well-done. This song really sounds like the very music used in a ritual, a mystic ceremony to praying for the eternal peace. Track 2, "さよなら/Sayonara/Farewell" is my favourite song. I love its medium tempo introduced by a rather slow solo. This song has even more elements from traditional Japanese ballad. In the middle of it, percussions make out a calm yet intense rhythm. Haruka's multi-layered chorus is another point that attracts me. Ohh, also, do not forget to notice her whisper-like chanting in the late part!!! Track 3, "森羅/Shinra/The Universe" is another of my favourites among the whole series. This song has a fast tempo, and a more complicated arrangement as well as chorus, which indicate the intriguing true nature of the universe. I love it also because its melody is so catchy!! Track 4 and 5 are remixed versions of track 1 and 2, and they are also very nice, in which track 4 is more rich in arrangement comparing with track 1, whereas track 5 is simpler and cleaner than the original version.

One-sentence summary: Haruka does not sound like Haruka… lol

-茶太：蒼昊ノ恋歌 - Chata: Soukou no Renka/Love Song of the Endless Indigo-

To be honest, I am not a bit fan of Chata – I more care on the melody itself than how the singer's voice is, and the melodies from most of Chata's songs do not attract me – they sound just average (I am serious!). However, songs from this album all have beautiful melodies, and thus I love it! Except the typical bermei.inazawa-noise, many Chinese traditional instruments are used in this album. Then, look at the cover of this album again, hey, does not this album have a perfect ambience of the ancient South China (maybe Soshu according to the jacket)? I have never thought Chata could sing that amazingly in Track 1, "古街/Furumachi/Old Town"!! Hmm, here, Chata does not sound like that Chata either! LOL Comparing with track 1, track 2 "蒼昊ノ恋歌/Soukou no Renka/Love Song of the Endless Indigo" is much calmer, like a serenade and might be perfect if listen during the night. Track 3, "いささめの花/Isasame no Hana/A Small Flower", is my favourite of this album. The melody is like the flowing water, and Chata's sweet voice fits it so well. Track 4 and 5 have more noise but they sound similar in terms of the ambience for me…

One-sentence summary: My favorite Chata album is this!

-片霧烈火：饗旺ノ烈火 - Rekka Katakiri: Kyouou no Rekka/Mighty Blaze-

Rekka Katakiri, since the time I knew her she gave me a feeling of craziness and darkness; she is the queen of the darkest abyss, the owner of the most powerful voice (for me, though she HAS peaceful and calm songs… ^^;). The last volume from the ACI series is featured by such a sense of darkness. I cannot say how good the melody is, but I do love the album! Here, the melody is not that important for me anymore – I love the final assembly of the noise, arrangement, metal-like background effects, and the intense voice. I lost the feeling of each single song; I recommend listen to this album without any break. Songs in this album have to be listened constantly to achieve the most ancient feeling of the unknown force – yes, it is "force", not "power", which fits the feeling of the crimson CD jacked, which was rather scary for me, orz. If I say Haruka's album is like a developed ancient civilization, and Chata's album is like a not-that-ancient town, Rekka's album is describing the most original universe, in which everything was in chaos. Track 1, "饗旺ノ烈火/Kyouou no Rekka/Mighty Blaze", is the first sign of life in the world, which is rather calm but full of energy. Track 2, "纏/Matoi/Entangling", is the vast chaos before any civilization; track 3, "贈火/Zouka/The Fire has been Controlled", described the very beginning of civilization (I guess!). The world was tending to have rules and well-organized, in which the melody is much calmer. Ahhhh, by the way, the two remix versions are much crazier!! Enjoy! :P

One-sentence summary: anyone who can sing songs in this album must be a singing god of chaos! ;)

Writing a review is exhausting! I will talk more about the other series, which is "ORBITAL MANEUVER" later… flees away to play "Dragon Nest" now!!! XDD