Mai-HiME Soundtracks

I got this weeks ago but didn't say whether or not it was any good.
I actually obtained ALL of the Mai-HiME soundtracks, every single one, and not all of them are by Yuki Kajiura - same goes with the .hack//SIGN soundtracks, by the way. The only soundtracks I'm going to talk about, however, are those by Kajiura.

Chronologically, of Kajiura's soundtracks that I have, Noir is first, then .hack//SIGN, and lastly Mai-HiME. All three come in volumes of two, one for each 13 eps. Both Noir and .hack are very solid for the most part but I found there to be big gaps in Mai-HiME's soundtracks with songs that just... didn't fit.

Mai-HiME does sound like Kajiura's work - it has that ancient/new age/European sound that is especially envoked when the female vocals start in. Examples are "Canta Per Me" (Noir), "Key of Twilight" (.hack), and the "Ensei" songs (HiME), usually sung in either English or Latin. The good songs on the soundtrack are VERY very good. But the not-so-good songs on HiME's soundtracks are very very bad. More so than the other two series there are a lot of filler tracks, probably because HiME was not created by Bee Train - while Bee Train's director gives Kajiura free reign to do what she likes with the music for their anime, she probably had tighter restrictions for HiME.

Also, there is a WAY more lighthearted side to HiME, so there are a lot of those goofy, lighthearted sorts of songs that just don't withstand listening to outside of the anime environment. And perhaps the biggest thing that seperates HiME from Noir and .hack is the battle-tournament nature of HiME. While Noir has a MUCH higher body count, the gunfights were poetry and the music reflects this. HiME, however, serialized the fights and the music also reflects this with intense, heavy beat, electric-charged theme songs for the opponents. Also not quite withstanding listening to outside of the anime environment for the most part.

There are a ZILLION songs on these soundtracks, too! While there are 32 tracks between the two volumes of Noir and 39 between two volumes of .hack, there are 58 songs between two HiME albums. Again, much of it is filler.

What makes this set worthwhile, for me anyway, is the "Ensei" series of songs. I haven't seen HiME in over a year so I can't recall what it is the theme for, but there are 7 distinct versions of it between the two albums. "Ensei ~Omou Kokoro~" fits right in with the Noir soundtrack and indeed when I first started collecting anime music last year, I thought it WAS from Noir. Love this song! MMM! Also nifty is the "It's Only the Fairy Tale" instrumental version, without the awkward Engrish singing of the Alyssa Sears character - which can be endearing at times but sometimes you want to mix stuff together in a serious manner and this verison does the trick well, a classical guitar replacing the vocals.

So there you have it. While I still HIGHLY reccomend Noir above all else for soundtracks and .hack follows close behind, I found this set a bit disappointing for the amount of tracks there were, though there are a few jewels to round out any good Kajiura/anime soundtrack collection.

Wolf's Rain OST

Wolf's Rain OST I and II

I've got to say, this music is really good IN the anime but outside of it, I really don't care so much for it.

Yoko Kanno is a phenominally talented composer, having done the scores for "Ghost in the Shell" and "Cowboy Bebop". Some songs in the Wolf's Rain OSTs I really like but for the most part, it's just not my cup of tea musically. Jazz-based with lots of accoustic guitar, there are wonderful songs - I can appreciate the technical beauty and style of all the songs... I just... not for me, thanks. The songs I do like are the accoustic guitar instrumentals - those are just... wow. Like "Hot Dog Wolf".

I think Yoko Kanno writes technically more traditional, more complex music than Yuki Kajiura but she definetly writes the music as a soundtrack/score. Meaning the albums don't stand on their own very well, the overall flow feeling disjointed as is my issue with most soundtracks/scores.

Noir OST

I love this set of soundtracks, really just one split into two volumes on two discs. Yuki Kaijura is brilliant - she's done the soundtracks for .hack//SIGN and Mai-HiME as well as many others.

Several of the tracks stand out as songs that don't SOUND like they came from a soundtrack - always a mark of a good composer if the music can stand alone without having to rely on the imagery remembered from the series/film it was scored for. :) These songs exist because the director at BeeTrain asked her to simply write what she wanted - entire compositions, no holds barred, and that he and the animation team would then later work them in as needed. This is opposed to an artist writing a piece that is exactly a minute and some-odd seconds long to fit a certain scene. The result is that her soundtrack work sounds great as stand-alone music - it also shines through as one of the best element in any anime her work appers in.

Kaijura's work often sounds kind of new-age ish though for Noir there is a French tinge in many of the tracks. A mix of sounds smoothed over with the same flavor makes for a dynamic set - and I'm proud to say I own the actual CD's. :D (got them for $10 at a Sam Goody's that was going out of business.)

Years after watching "Noir" I still find myself listening to the soundtracks as stand-alone music. This is significant for two reasons: 1) I rarely like soundtracks and 2) I'm usually into a soundtrack simply as an extension of the movie/series it was from, not for the merits of the music itself.

Haibane Renmei OST

Three soundtracks worth of music, light and airy, countryside kind of music with both middle-European and Japanese influences, accoustic with harpsichord type strings, guitar, flute, tambourine, harp, violin... very light and relaxing, nice to listen to first thing in the morning when you want some tunes but nothing heavy or too driving.

I haven't listened to all of them all the way through yet but I really like what I have heard so far. :D The three soundtracks are called:
Haibane Renmei Soundtrack: Hanenone
Haibane Renmei: Petitnone ~Out Of Tracks~
Haibane Renmei Image Album ~"Sei naru Shoukei"~ (an image album, of course, being songs inspired by the series but were not IN the series... I think.)

The opening theme is, of course, the best but there's a wonderful song called "Wondering" off the first soundtrack that will bring tears to your eyes (well, it will if the anime moved you at all). It's a beautiful, wistfully sad song with Uillean pipes that would go well with Celtic Christmas music. ;)

Bakuretsu Tenshi OST

Bakuretsu Tenshi (Burst Angel)

I FINALLY got this! I had to track down people on some torrent boards and beg them to seed it - crazy.

It's two discs worth on just one OST. It's got a "good, bad, & the ugly" dirty electric guitar western kind of theme but with a modern beat and some futuristic sound effects for ambience. Definetly has a "ride to the sunset" mood. It's funny because I really didn't recall the music from the episodes all that well at all. Then as I listened to the soundtrack, I found msyelf recognizing most of the 46 tracks. O_O; :D

Good background music, fun to listen to. Nice to have but not as much of a keeper as, say, soundtracks by Yuki Kajiura. ;)