As of this writing, both sets of polls for the bracket are still open, so vote now! Especially for "Karma" in the 3rd poll!!!! The competition is really starting to heat up now; some of the matches in this bracket are very closely contested.
http://animusictourney.wordpress.com/2013/08/14/bracket-ein-round-1-polls-1-4/http://animusictourney.wordpress.com/2013/08/16/bracket-ein-round-1-polls-5-8/Bracket Ein Round 1 Poll 1"Magia" [ED of "Puella Magi Madoka Magica" (2011)] vs "Hito Toshite Jiku ga Bureteiru" [ED 1 of "Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei" (2007)]
Ahh here comes the Yuki Kajiura superweight entry. In all honesty, as much as I love "Magia", I think the hype has been blown out of all proportions thanks to the popularity of the anime and how well it complements its mood - I think Yuki Kajiura has done better standalone tracks before. I don't know about how others feel about it, but when taken out of context, the chanting at the beginning of "Magia" just sounds weird to me, similarly to how screechy music works effectively in a horror movie but doesn't make for very good independent listening. Having said all that, "Magia" is one very fine song, and the full version is even better than the TV sized one. Personally I'm glad it got matched up against the SZS ED because I can't stand that song, and I really can't see "Magia" not winning this match.
Rating for "Magia" :D
Rating for "Hito Toshite Jiku ga Bureteiru">:(
My pick"Magia".
Bracket Ein Round 1 Poll 2"Waltz" [ED 1 of "Honey and Clover" (2005)] vs "Karma"* [ED 1 of "Phantom ~Requiem for the Phantom~" (2009)]
The presence of "Waltz" in the top half of the seeding is a surprise to me. I think it's a good song, a more mainstream than anime mainstream song, but I didn't feel like it stands out that much, and the anime isn't recent any more, so I'm surprised enough people still remembered it enough to nominate it. As it's quite a mainstream song, I can't really find much to say about it, other than I like the parts played by the synthetic instrument which features quite prominently in the track. "Karma" ... now HERE is an interesting track. The wailing in the beginning made me think it might be composed by Yuki Kajiura, but it doesn't quite sound like her other material. I thought Phantom, being a Bee-Train production, did have Kajiura composing the music for it, but a quick check proved me wrong, which would explain why the similarity to her other work was present but not strongly so. This is probably THE most balanced song in the tournament, and by that I mean the voice is used like one of the instruments as opposed to constantly being the focal point of the song. The vocals, the backing vocals, the string, the harp and everything else are often all woven into one, hauntingly beautiful audio tapestry. I haven't seen the anime, but the ghostly feel of the song certainly matches my impression of the kind of experience the anime is trying to deliver.
Rating for "Waltz" :)
Rating for "Karma" :D
My pick"Karma". I quite like "Waltz" but "Karma" simply blows it out of the water. When I voted for "Karma", it was comfortably ahead, as I expected. I checked again just now and ... WHAT THE FUCK ... IT'S FALLEN BEHIND!!! I've not been this upset since the "Paradise Kiss" lost in round 1! I don't understand how so many people can prefer "Waltz" over "Karma", especially when pretty much every single commentator on the poll were saying "Karma" is far superior. And it is. It really is.
Bracket Ein Round 1 Poll 3"Kuusou Rumba"* [main OP of "Zoku Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei" (2008)] vs "Cutey Honey" [OP of "Cutey Honey" (1973 - 1974)]
I liked the first few notes of "Kuusou Rumba", which sounds like they're taken from latino music, and then the fast and furious drumming and the heavy guitar kicked in, and I immediately got turned off. For the most part, this song was just weird, and not in a way that I can appreciate. But like in that other SZS song, the piano parts did catch my ear. I would have preferred more of that and less of the monotonous "rumba rumba rumba rumba rumba" chanting. If "Cutey Honey" sounds old, that's because it very much is. There have been remakes/sequels etc that also uses this main theme, I believe, and I'm not sure whether this is taken from the original or the later anime. Not only does the production sound old, but so does the melody. There are moments when the minor melody takes on a feel that could only be from Japan of decades past. I'm one of those people who loves to listen to golden oldies, so this suits me just fine, especially since, somewhat ironically, it brings a breath of fresh air into a tourney that has too many recent, similar sounding songs.
Rating for "Kuusou Rumba">:(
Rating for "Cutey Honey" :)
My pick"Cutey Honey". I like the song, but I also don't think it's nearly strong enough to survive for long in the modern age. I'm surprised as it is that it's even made it past the nominations stage. And as expected, it's quite far behind in the votes at the time of writing.
Bracket Ein Round 1 Poll 4"Orange"* [ED 2 of "Toradora" (2008 - 2009)] vs "Lie" [ED 1 of "Full Metal Alchemist: Brothers" (2009 - 2010)]
"Orange" is one of those songs that's easy enough on the ear - it has a decent hook in the chorus, and a somewhat more bland verse - but it's utterly forgettable. Speaking of forgettable, I've forgotten what every single OP/ED from FMA: Brotherhood sounds like other than one song. And no it's not this one, I'm thinking of the first opening. That said, "Lie" a pretty good song. The singer's high vocals reminds me a little of TM Revolution (particularly when he sang the Kenshin ED "Heart of Sword") but without the fast beats and disco sounds. Instead, it has a more laid back instrumentation, with an accoustic guitar part that I'm quite fond of. It may not be a very memorable song, but I am puzzled that, as someone who's seen the anime, I didn't recognise the theme at all.
Rating for "Orange" :|
Rating for "Lie" :)
My pick"Lie".
Bracket Ein Round 1 Poll 5"Ride on a Shooting Star" [ED of "FLCL" (2000)] vs "Fate" [OP of "Break Blade" (2010 - 2011)]
"Ride on a Shooting Star starts with a quirky guitar riff which I'm not crazy about. But combined with the first few lines of the verse, it helps creates an odd, tilted tension which the remainder of the verse releases. Alas, the chorus section is far less interesting, and since this was the ED theme for FLCL, and was therefore played more than any other Pillows song in the anime, it might serve to explain why I wasn't that impressed by the Pillows' musical contribution to the anime. In some ways, "Break Blade" was rather epic despite the story that went no where and the abundance of terrible characters. The OP was kind of fitting in that regard. The style of the song invokes the image of a fantasy world - which "Break Blade" had, despite being a mecha anime - and the powerful instrumentation adds a war theme to the piece (especially the bit at the end of the song after the main vocals had finished) ... which is precisely the aspect that of "Break Blade" that was epic.
Rating for "Ride on a Shooting Star" :|
Rating for "Fate" :)
My pick"Fate".
Bracket Ein Round 1 Poll 6"*~Asterisk"* [OP 1 of "Bleach" (2004 - 2012)] vs "Naisho no Hanashi"* [ED of "Nisemonogatari" (2012)]
As far as I know, the only song I am familiar with from "Bleach" is the first ED "Life is a Boat", which, incidentally, really surprised me when I found out it was from "Bleach" - who'd imagine a song as calm and as smooth as that is from a shounen fighting show, right? Anyway, as for "*~Asterisk", it just sounds like a typical jrock anime song to me, but with some rapping. Did I mention I don't like rap? I tend to find ClariS songs mediocre and forgettable. I remember doing an anime OP quiz, and completely failing to get the OreImo OP (completely failing because my reaction was more like "nope, don't know this one" rather than "GAAAH WHERE HAVE I HEARD THIS SONG BEFORE?!?") ... and I was actually watching my way through the series at the time! Anyway, the long winded pointed I was trying to get at is that "Naisho no Hanashi" by ClariS is no exception.
Rating for "*~Asterisk" :|
Rating for "Naisho no Hanashi" :|
My pick"Naisho no Hanashi". I don't care for either song, but "Naisho no Hanashi" edges it due to lack of rap.
Bracket Ein Round 1 Poll 7"Bloody Stream" [OP 2 of "JoJo's Bizarre Adventure" (2012 - 2013)] vs "Carrying You" [ED of "Laputa: Castle in the Sky" (1986)]
Back in the 70s and 80s, bombastic anime themes were quite common, for example: "Triton of the Sea", "Macross", "Fist of the North Star" and pretty much all the super robot shows from that era. The anison landscape has changed much since, and bombastic anime themes seems quite a rare breed nowadays. "Bloody Stream" is one of these rare beasts (rather fitting, considering the show it's from), albeit an evolved, modernised one. While retaining the spirit of those old themes, it actually sounds nothing like them - it's full of brass fanfare, and the vocal style is very much in line with modern music, and the melody, though minor, is lacking that very Japanese feel of the old . I only saw a couple of episodes of JoJo, but it was enough to give me an idea what it was like. Although "Bloody Stream" is quite over-the-top, it's still a bit tame compared to what the show was like ("HE'S SUCKING MY BLOOD THROUGH HIS HAIR!!") While JoJo's minor melodies are lacking that traditional Japanese feel, "Carrying You" does have a bit of that mojo when it's in the minor key. "Carrying You" represents the first entry from a Ghibli film. I sure hope the ED to spirited away is somewhere in the tournament too. The song is unusual in its heavy use of what sounds like tubular bells, especially in the beginning which has a march kind of feel to it. The smooth soprano vocals are stunning, and when it soars to its high point, it reminds me of the theme for "Fate/Stay/Night" (the VN version, not that flat sounding cover they did for the anime), which is not a bad thing at all.
Rating for "Bloody Stream" :)
Rating for "Carrying Youi" :D
My pick"Carrying You". I really REALLY hope this song wins, but given very recent popularity of JoJo, I wasn't hoping for much. But at the moment the songs are actually neck and neck, so it's well in with a chance.
Bracket Ein Round 1 Poll 8"Days" [OP 1 of "Eureka 7" (2005 - 2006)] vs "JAP" [OP of "Sengoku Basara" (2009)]
The "Eureka 7" soundtrack is one of my favourites, but I didn't like that many of the OP/EDs from the show. "Days" is alright I suppose. It does invoke a feeling of flying through the sky that's very befitting of the series, but I find it hard to get excited about this song in general. "JAP", on the other hand, does perk me up a bit. It features the unmistakable vocals of that guy from TM Revolution, but ANN tells me he did this with another band of his, Abingdon Boys School. His work with Abingdon Boys School seems to be a lot heavier than his work with TM Revolution, and that heaviness really kicks in half way through the song, at which point I switched off. Did I mention I don't like heavy music in general? If it wasn't for the heavy parts, "JAP" would have been a clear winner for me.
Rating for "DAYS" :|
Rating for "JAP" :|
My pick"JAP". Voting for the Abingdon Boys School song because I work in Abingdon. Only joking. Well, not the working in Abingdon part - I really do work there, but that's not why I voted for the song. The well worked chorus in "JAP" is what really swung it in its favour.
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