Search - Megumi Hayashibara :: Center Color

Anime singer Megumi Hayashibara displays some of her impress

Brian Camp | Bronx, NY | 11/11/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This CD has 14 songs by Megumi Hayashibara, along with a Region 2 DVD containing two of her music videos. This popular Japanese singer is best known in the West for anime theme songs and Japanese-language voice acting (e.g. Faye Valentine in "Cowboy Bebop" and Rei Ayanami in "Neon Genesis Evangelion"). Most of the cuts on this CD are from anime shows, including three from "Shrine of the Morning Mist," three from "Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi," one from "Love Hina," and four derived from "Shaman King" that you're simply not likely to hear in the English dub currently running on TV in the U.S. In addition, Megumi's rendition of "Cream Puff Shuffle," the theme from the Japanese version of "Powerpuff Girls," is included.



If you're a fan of Megumi there's a lot of good stuff here. Several songs are quite pretty and sung in a soft, gentle manner with simple accompaniment behind her. Others are a lot faster and more in a rock vein, but catchy and engaging. In others, though, she resorts to that high-pitched, child-like inflection that is heard only too often in J-pop. Typical of this is the first one, "Koibumi," which has a J-pop rhythm and a lot of rapping in both English and Japanese, but is not a terribly interesting song. (It actually comes off much better in the video on the accompanying DVD.)



The tracks I would cite as highlights in the "soft and sweet" category are:

#6: the closing theme from "Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi"

#10: "Asa madaki yoru watarri" (a song from "Asagiri no Miko" or "Shrine of the Morning Mist")

#11: "Daikirai" - with beautiful violin riffs

#13: "Northern Lights - Ballad Version" - a slower version of the "Shaman King" opening theme



There are three fast ones that have good melodies and pulsing rhythms and remind me of the songs Megumi did for the "Slayers" series (in which she played Lina Inverse):

#3: "Brave Heart" (remix of first "Shaman King" opening)

#9: "Faint Love" ("Shrine of the Morning Mist" opening theme)

#12: "Northern Lights" (second "Shaman King" opening song)



Let's add #14, a Bonus Track offering Megumi's rendition of the theme song from "Neon Genesis Evangelion," a much softer version than we hear in the actual opening of the show (which Megumi did not sing.)



That's eight exceptional cuts on a CD of 14. Not a bad average at all. The other tracks are slight, but not painful to listen to either.



The supplemental DVD contains two videos lasting a combined total of ten minutes. One is for "Koibumi," the first cut on the CD, and it features a traditional Japanese setting with characters in period costume, including a swordsman practicing his craft. This struck me as odd given the frequent use of English phrases and rapping in the song, but it's a delightful piece anyway and features Megumi looking very cute twirling a pink parasol and adorned in a colorful costume that's part modern and part traditional. The second video is for "Makenaide, Makenaide," which is not on the CD but was released as a separate CD single. It's easily the most beautiful song in the entire package, a pop song with a lovely melody written to allow Megumi's voice to soar in a way it never quite does in any of the songs on the actual CD. The video is pretty also, with Megumi seen in solitude in a succession of urban and rural settings.

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