News (Part 4)

I thought that I could finish all the news in the last post, obviously not. With this I think we're completely up to date again though. Enjoy the last part of the news, I'm sure that there are several interesting items for everyone!


RekiSing

I somehow keep forgetting that this projects exists. Either way, In RekiSing various famous historical characters end up in our time, and for some reason end up working as idols. It is probably best not to ask to many questions. The two that just made a time-slip to the present are Takechi Hanpeita (CV: Hatano Wataru) and Okada Izou (CV: Shimono Hiro). For some reason Sakamoto Ryouma (CV: Ono Daisuke) was already walking around in the present, and he is working as a music producer. He is being supported by his manager Iwasaki Toratarou (CV: Ishida Akira) who is a fan of Ryouma since he was working as an idol himself.

The first CD will go on sale on 2012.09.05 (although it is on pre-sale in a few shops starting yesterday)

Reader Song ~Love Letter 2~

Reader Song ~Love Letter 2~

Company: Voicing
Based on: Song Lyrics
Released: 2011.09.09
Official Site www.voicing.biz/readersong/


Reader Song takes well known western songs, and has popular seiyuu reading the lyrics to you. I specifically mean reading, they do not sing. Instead they slowly read them to acoustic versions of the songs.

The Seiyuu are exactly the same as in the first vol, however they have fairly different songs this time (except for Kishio Daisuke, who gets another Backstreet Boys song xD). The tracklist this time is as follows:

01. I need you / Maurice White (Namikawa Daisuke)
02. Sailing / Rod Steward(Kiuchi Hidenobu)
03. Scarborough fair (Inoue Kazuhiko)
04. Get out of my life / Lady Lily (Sakurai Takahiro)
05. Shape of my heart / Backstreet Boys (Kishio Daisuke)
06. Aloha oe (Hayami Shou)
07. Even the nights are better / Air Supply (Fujiwara Keiji)
08. Don't answer me / The Allan Parson Project (Ishida Akira)
09. You and I / Matt Bianco (Okiayu Ryoutarou)
10. Back at one / Brian McKnight (Tsuda Kenjirou)

Like the first CD, the instrumentals are beautiful. Actually, almost everything is still the same. The good points, and the fact that this still works best with calm songs. Although I think the tracklist this time is a bit better in that aspect.

I especially love the music from track 2. So nice, and it somehow really gives you an idea of a ship of the waves. My personal favourite is "Get out of my life". While the original song is more about being strong enough to overcome a heartbreak, Sakurai brings it so sad and heart-wrenching (especially somewhere halfway through) that it almost made me tear up.

Scaraborough Fair on the other hand was a slight disappointment. Inoue-san his voice is as beautiful as ever, however the constant repeating of the words "parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme" simply doesn't work when the text is spoken. And that while it can be so beautiful when sung.


Conclusion:
This is mostly just more of the same, but that isn't a bad thing. (and to be fair, the two CDs were released at the same time). Another great CD to listen to while you just sit down and relax. And again, the cover image is just so cute!! (>w<)

Reader Song ~Love Letter 1~

Reader Song ~Love Letter 1~

Company: Voicing
Based on: Song Lyrics
Released: 2011.09.09
Official Site www.voicing.biz/readersong/


Reader Song takes well known western songs, and has popular seiyuu reading the lyrics to you. I specifically mean reading, they do not sing. Instead they slowly read them to acoustic versions of the songs.

Both the tracklist and cast can be considered superb. For me personally some of the songs were unexpected, I can think of various songs that are probably more famous, then again I don't know which songs were popular in Japan, and maybe they choose the tracklist based on that. Speaking of the tracklist, here it is:

01. Lost in love/ Air Supply  (Fujiwara Keiji)
02. The One / Backstreet Boys (Kishio Daisuke)
03. Sky high /Jigsaw (Tsuda Kenjirou)
04. Baby I love your way / Peter Frampton (Ishida Akira)
05. Sugar town / Nancy Sinatra (Hayami Shou)
06. A song for you / Leon Russel (Namikawa Daisuke)
07. Smoke gets in your eyes / The Platters (Inoue Kazuhiko)
08. Beautiful dreamer / Stephan Foster (Okiayu Ryoutarou)
09. Londonderry air (Sakurai Takahiro)
10. You are so beautiful / Joe Cocker (Kiuchi Hidenobu)

I put the name of Seiyuu reading the lyrics behind the track titles. Oh, and Londonderry Air is a folk song and it's origins are a bit vague, so no idea who I should list as the artist.

The entire concept works pretty nice. The acoustic versions of the songs are so beautiful I almost wished that they had included them without vocals as well. But I do feel that this works better with calm songs, as that feels more natural. Another thing that I noticed is that while it is very common for lyrics to be repeated in songs, that it often feels unnatural when someone is talking.

It is very interesting  to see how the lyrics were translated. It seems like they were aiming more for the intended meaning than a literal one, as some lyrics have been translated notably differently. To name a good example "I'll be the one" is translated as "boku ga iru yo (I am here)". While the actual words are very different, the meaning can be interpreted as the same. If you see them as "I'll be the one [for you]" and "I'll be here [for you]" they convey a similar meaning.

They probably also tried to make them slightly more suitable as a narrative, and possibly also added a bit of romance. Comparing these translations would undoubtedly make for a very interesting study, but unfortunately I don't have the time to do so (; __ ;)


Conclusion:
This is a very relaxing CD to listen to. Grab a cup of tea or coffee, nestle yourself on the couch or your bed and enjoy. My persona favourites were 'a song for you' 'Londonderry air' and 'You are so beautiful', although that might also have something to do with their seiyuu (cough*Sakurai!*cough). Oh and, the cover image is  so cute (>w<)