My Boy Friend

Included in the forth volume VHS of the Hoshineku Full House series is this little single.  Published by the Walkers Company Inc.  Vocals again from the talent group known as LISP, which have not appeared again till recently only on another soundtrack done by Nagaoka.  I'm not sure if they are the same people though.  A chorus joins in this time, name MILK, but no details on what the name comprises of.

01	My Boy Friend	4:28
02	そしてすべてが終わり	4:37

Disc length 9:05






My Boy Friend takes the lead as being the fun song with its amazing opener.  Certainly a huge touch of jazz is inserted for this one.  LISP stand out more and each singer can be heard even when singing together.  Despite the girly title, I don't feel it as being singled out for the female audience.  Second song is composed by Hitomi Kuroishi, so it feels a little more conservative in terms of music and pace.  Drums, vocals, and bass guitar are pretty laid back, which give off a romantic love feeling without pushing it too far as such. Both songs are pretty similar to each other, and definitely have a different tone then the singles from vol. 3.   Nagaoka's own composition and arrangement for the first song is certainly stronger then his last in vol. 3, Dancin' Twilight. 


Remember, this is the artists first real gig, at least as a solo artist.  Before this it was a few image albums that seemed to be like he was shadowing or interning as for experience.  I did not expect much difference in song making here, but behold there are some marked improvements.  Specifically in Nagoaka's control of the vocals.  Same vocalists but they feel more matured here and while the three vocalists of LISP sing over each other for most of the songs, each singer has a chance to take a few verses individually.  There is no fear of high notes being struck bad or at all, and no problem with the cute sounds of the synth board overlapping the vocals.  So I'm intrigued by how well Mr. Nagaoka has leveled his instrumentation and vocalists.  I still place Honeymoon as the best song of the four.  There is fortunately enough consistency between all of them.  Both single discs are worth the place in anyone's collection large or small.  

Trust / A confession of TOKIO

Since only the TV version of Trust was available on the original soundtrack of He is My Master, I had to get the full version.  Not only was there just the one song, but another original and the karaoke.  Though I don't think the other song was based off of the TV series.  

01	Trust	4:18
02	A confession of TOKIO	4:34
03	Trust (instrumental)	4:18
04	A confession of TOKIO (instrumental)	4:32

Disc length 17:42

The new song is arranged by Hideyuki "Daichi" Suzuki and composed by Hiroshi Uesugi, though its probably not that important.  Daichi himself, has done a huge number of arrangement on many anime and game titles.  This song was done near the beginning of his massive career and it shows his skill.  A confession of TOKIO,  is probably the more attractive of the two, simply because of the opener.  Rocking base and electric guitars fill the airs, smoothly corresponding with Masami's voice.  Drums are strong and none of the other instruments clutter over each other. 

A tribute to the gals of He is My Master.  

I'm not stereotyping, but TOKIO follows typically in the J-pop genre.  Trust, however, is a bit more difficult to categorize.  Being an opener for anime, the chorus is too childish for popular music.  Pop music itself has been tending to children lately anyway.  Masami composes this piece, and Mr. Nagaoka completes it for her, making it an overall great piece.  Instrumentally, I do like it just as good as the other, and better.  Masami's lyrics works great and effectively with the backing guitars performed by Nagaoka.  

Seikou Nagaoka may not be the best song writer, but what gives him an edge over other J-Pop artists is his improvisations.  After the second verse in the song, when the electric guitar takes the lead, is what makes his arrangement worth listening to.  The drawback is, like I said before, the chorus that is slightly overdone.  Vocals were done just right for TOKIO.  I also think Masami's vocals were more mature in TOKIO, although in Trust, her solo was spectacular.  Thankfully, she doesn't bother hitting such a high note.  

Album:A+                     Package:6   

Both songs are a great asset to anyone's collection.  Masami Okui doesn't have the high-pitched voice that is standard of the anime industry.  That alone should be enough reason to own this.  I'm glad that the karaoke versions were included, as they were both great instrumentally.  Nagaoka especially gets kudos for his performances.  The only thing is that the background chorus' were left in there, though it shouldn't be much in the way of enjoying a vocal-less song.  In terms of package, I don't know why they would waste an entire CD, for it could have fit on a CDS.  

HONEYMOON, FOR THE MOON / DANCIN' TWILIGHT

 As I delve deeper into the giant music library of Seikou Nagaoka, I come across this lonely single.  Sitting on the hands of someone who clearly has no reason to hold on to it, I grab it off his hands.  As far as I can tell, this is Seikou's first venture as a solo artist.  He is the sound producer here, yet wasn't for his works on the Kabuto soundtrack, which happened a year later.  Judging by the cover, I assumed that these songs would be cutesy.  Being afraid so that I deafened my ears for what was held on this 8cm disc. 

01	HONEYMOON, FOR THE MOON	4:09
02	DANCIN' TWILIGHT	4:41

Disc length 8:50

First second playing, was a delightful percussion ringing through my mind.  Soon those annoying high pitched tones join the drum line, though are not that disturbing.  Synthesizers can be easily picked up, yet still the sound quality of the snazzy brass is quite enduring.  Lisp's vocals are actually do not screech, giving a smooth listening overall.  Each of the vocalists get their turn for their solo.  I am extremely satisfied with this song.  I can highly recommend collecting this single just for this one.  He does not perform so well with songs, but does an amazing job keeping the overall tone together.

 

Noburo Ishiguro has written the lyrics for these lovely songs.  Looking into the name, I see he's the creator of the anime for this series.  Not just holding that title, according to animenewsnetwork, he is basically the entire staff.  From director, writer, animator, design, along with few other members of course. 

 

Second song does not fare so well.  It's entirely a new beast, in its own regard.  Vocal performances are much more deep and relaxing.  Dancin' Twilight is a sweet ballad, and at times can be even better than the other song.  Although Honeymoon was composed by Kazunori Seki, Mr. Nagaoka can always transform someone else's writing for the better.  However, he seems to fall short for his original music sheets, but short by a spectacle. 

 

Seikou shows no signs of holding back in starting his career.  I still feel that his style has not changed compared to his recent releases.  That can be good thing, as well as bad. 

There was no bother to include karaoke versions.  It would have been a great addition.  The price of "NOT FOR RESALE" would indicate that this is a bonus.  Be happy just to have the songs. I hope to find out if there is more work that Nagaoka has done for this anime, Hoshi Neko Fullhouse.  Which at animenewsnetwork, credits the series composer to someone else.  So, most likely Nagaoka has done a few songs. 
Album:A-
 Singles don't really deserve a package grade from me.  Their price isn't all that demanding, although compared to the digital releases of full albums today, it is. 

Fire Emblem: Thracia 776-Blow'in in the Wind Single

Very rarely do video games have CD soundtracks, and even fewer do have songs, and even far fewer CD singles.  I find no use for CDS's.  For franchises, singers, animations, etc, that barely make any songs, is where they are needed.  This is one of those rare cases. I don't like to have media divided in so many different formats.  

Koh Ohtani helps arrange these unique songs, with our veteran composer, Yuka Tsujiyoko.  Ohtani adds his jazzy style, yet Tsujiyoko manages to keep the songs magically entrancing.  Blow'in in the Wind(odd how they spelled Blowing) fits nicely into the Fire Emblem series.  I understand that these were used for the BS satelite game.  Which was taken in place with the Akaneia saga.  Funny, how these songs made out two years after the fact. I like the middle of the song with the jazzy sounds and synth piano. 

Wind rocks, with a nice rock guitar.  I'm glad that the lyrics are done by our beloved composer.  It works wonderfully with the vocalist, Juliana Schano.  Nothing annoying about her voice thankfully.  She is pictured on the back.  She sings every note perfectly.  Even the high notes, which is where people tend to mess up.

For this CDS, it is necessary to have it.  If you are looking for karaoke versions.  I like the cover art, done by Miyumi Hirota.  It's the only place you can see it, as far as I can tell.  Problem is, that only the one song has karaoke.  You can find both songs on the games original soundtracks. So the only thing of value is the karaoke and the images. Both songs, beautifully arranged, all thanks to Yuka. Good luck finding this, and you will be paying a hefty price.