A Few Days with CD Album

Ever since I cooled off on audio gear, I switched to buying CDs.

Buying CDs is actually pretty nice too—you focus on the music itself instead of using earbuds to listen to the same few crappy songs on repeat.

I picked up a bunch of CDs recently, so here are some quick thoughts.

恋は夢見る妄烈ガール! Original Sound Track

Generally game OSTs come in two types: the kind released as a matter of routine, and the kind made specifically to give back to the fans. Obviously this CD is in the routine category. Fan-appreciation OSTs pack all sorts of fun stuff into the booklet—background on each track, interviews with the composer, that kind of thing.

Honestly, the music in this game is pretty close in style to that “少女 Activities” game from before—same parent company, same composer, and I suspect some of it was just copy-pasted…

The game’s OP, 《妄烈ハニー》 sung by 夢乃ゆき, is at least listenable, though the arrangement still has that… severe sense of separation.

Endorfin. - Horizon Note

I bought this album on a whim, because I discovered this circle’s spring 2017 new song… Raindrop Caffé Latte… Raindrop Caffé Latte is really good, so when I bought the 2017 edition I also picked up the 2016 one while I was at it. The 2017 one is still in transit though, no idea when it’ll arrive…

The 2016 tracks sound pretty average—standard Japanese doujin style, not as catchy as the 2017 stuff. Not bad quality by any means, though. Personally I’d recommend 《桜色プリズム》.

Actually, what I find more interesting is the circle’s vocalist: 藍月なくる. The name looks familiar—I’m pretty sure I’ve seen it in some R18 doujin voice work somewhere. Looked it up and yep, it’s her… Guess life is tough and she has to record some adult audio to make ends meet, while her real dream is still to sing.

https://soundcloud.com/endorfin31/horizon-note-xfd

http://music.163.com/#/album?id=34678527

WHITE MEMORIES - アストラエアの白き永遠Finale オリジナルサウンドトラック

This is the OST for アストラエアの白き永遠 Finale. Honestly, compared to the previous game’s OST, this fandisc OST is clearly scaled down. The previous OST was 3 CDs and even included an interview with 新田恵海—though of course she’s no longer in this game.

The OST includes several exclusive rearranged songs for the game, plus newly added BGM. Quality is unquestionable. It also has 雪のエルフィンリート sung by Ceui, and White Eternity sung by 鈴湯…

After listening to it, I felt…

新田恵海 got completely outclassed!

Ceui and 鈴湯 are a tier above 新田恵海 in singing ability. And for 雪のエルフィンリート specifically, Ceui’s voice is clearly a better fit. According to the liner notes in the album cover, Ceui’s version of 雪のエルフィンリート was made exclusively for the PSV version. From that you can infer that the PSV version of アストラエアの白き永遠 completely removed 新田恵海’s character and all her content, including the game’s initial insert song she sang under the name 雪雪—probably replaced with Ceui’s version.

新田恵海 is still active though, just not as much anymore. And S Company has brought in 樱川みぐ as their new push. Looks like 新田恵海 is on the way out.

Ceui - 雪のエルフィンリート -White Eternity- ver.

鈴湯 - White Eternity -special feat.鈴湯-

こいのす☆イチャコライズ ボーカルアルバム

This is the insert song album for こいのす☆イチャコライズ.

Honestly, I’ve said this before—that game is mediocre, even bad. But the music is really good.

This album is probably worth more than the game itself.

The singers are all newcomers, and they’re not much to look at, but hey, they’re young. At least they’ve got that youthful milk.

こいのす☆イチャコライズ - 塩出美彩希

咲桜百花 - Growing up

Amenity’s Life オリジナルサウンドトラック

OST for the game about fucking a phone, from real estate company HOOKSOFT.

Another routine-tier OST, though the game’s OP is actually pretty good. There are also a bunch of remixes that are obviously just filler…

Actually, I only recently found out that 萌花ちょこ is the same person as singer miru. I had no idea for so long…

FROZEN QUALIA - 花束

New release from FROZEN QUALIA. Pretty standard—no surprises, no complaints. Also, this time the vocals aren’t just 夢乃ゆき—there’s also… 藍月なくる and a few others I don’t recognize.

Actually I still prefer FROZEN QUALIA’s earlier track ロードムービー.

https://soundcloud.com/frozen-qualia/frozen-qualia-m3-2017

初恋サンカイメ オリジナルサウンドトラック

Yet another “routine” OST—or rather, the laziest OST possible, especially since I actually thought this game was decent.

Why do I say lazy? The game’s OP is nice, but the lyrics felt really weird when I listened, and when I checked the lyric booklet, they were even more fucking baffling.

Because the lyrics have basically nothing to do with the game—just random love song lyrics with the game’s title 《初恋サンカイメ》 slapped on…

Tell me that’s not lazy. Just grabbed some random song, didn’t they?

喜多村英梨 -Revolution 【re:i】

New album from the chief! I’m actually a fan of hers, from watching anime.

I personally really like her musical style—dark, rock, intense, strong rhythm. Fits exactly what I want from music.

But this new album is a bit baffling. Only the lead track has the style I’ve always liked; the rest feels like filler.

Though maybe I just set my expectations too high.

http://music.163.com/#/album?id=35297685

ZYTOKINE -46 ChordeR

I’ve never played the Touhou series or gotten into anything from it, though I have listened to doujin albums—but only casually.

This album is probably the first Touhou doujin work I’ve bought?

Honestly, after listening, the arrangements are fucking amazing. The lyrics are good too, and the rhythm is strong. Especially ARTIFICIAL NIGHT GLIDER and NEXT ONE - Rock ReArrange—those two are scary good.

I tried to find the original songs, but… they’re completely different, okay?

I’m not sure if something rearranged beyond recognition still counts as a doujin arrangement…

Anyway, I’m not a Touhou fan, but that doesn’t seem to stop me from enjoying this album.

http://music.163.com/#/album?id=35150668

ワガママハイスペック サウンドトラック＆ボーカルアルバム

An OST I went through hell to get—originally a venue goods set exclusive, then they said it’d get a standalone release, and I waited half a year.

After getting it, it feels worth every penny. This isn’t a “routine” OST either—there’s lots of interesting stuff inside, with brief impressions of each track. Not detailed, but the music and arrangements themselves are high quality, and many BGM tracks even have stereo effects.

The biggest highlight is the heroines’ cover versions of the ED.

後藤麻衣 - 放課後アメージンッKiss 本多真梨子 - 放課後アメージンッKiss

With these two tracks alone I feel this album was worth it, especially since the game itself is high quality and the music is great too.

空色ナイフ - SIRENS

An impulse buy—I saw 松本文紀 was involved and just bought it…

After listening, I sort of regretted it…

The album definitely has 松本文紀’s signature “air” feel, similar to the arrangement style of “空気力学少年少女の詩”—very high-pitched.

But the melodies aren’t strong enough, and the vocalist isn’t はな but めらみぽっぷ, who I’m not familiar with. Some songs use really twisted vocal runs that made me cringe.

But after listening more, I actually think it’s not bad. There are a few great tracks too, like 《空色》 and 《LIVEWELL》.

If you can accept the style of all the EDs in サクラノ詩, this album shouldn’t be a problem for you.

http://music.163.com/#/album?id=34678545

彼女と俺の恋愛日常 キャラクターソング＆サウンドアルバム

This album’s release definitely feels “routine,” but it includes many exclusive theme songs for the game.

This seems to be a signature of the company parasol—their previous games were like this too, so buying this album at least won’t be a loss.

Each character has their own ED, but the best one is the Grand ED: Ceui - my lovely day.

The game itself is pretty slapdash and not great, but the songs are done properly, so at least it does right by the players.