Review by D.A.R.ia

I ordered this as soon as I saw it (or rather, got it as a 2-month-early b-day present), and it's definitely worth the price! If you like any of Yoko Kanno's other works, you'll love all the music for GITS:SAC, and the little Tachikoma songs and clips on the mem stick are very cute (all are in Japanese). The music itself is quite varied, and is sung in several different languages (depending on the song). There's English, Italian, Russian, Japanese, and...something else I couldn't identify. If you own some or most of the 5 released albums, you probably won't be too interested in this (seeing as all are included). The bonus disk "O.S.T. 4 - Smooth in the Shell" contains about 45 min. worth of music (different songs) in one continuous track, and of course there's the other bonuses on the memory stick. If you can get a hold of one of these sets, you definitely SHOULD!

The title song (first op from "Blood Plus") is excellent! The second track is also upbeat and catchy. The third track "My Answer" is slower, but still good, and of course, who doesn't like singing along to the karaoke track (4)? Unfortunately, the booklet doesn't have the lyrics in Romaji (which would've been really helpful), but if you've got a book on kanji/katakana/hirigana, a good ear, and some patience, you may yet be able to figure out most or all of the words yourself so you can sing along. (I've got most down. ^_^)

If you're buying this, you must have fallen in love with the outro song, and you'll likely fall in love with the others, as well. I bought it not know what the other songs sounded like, but ended up loving all the others but one; Track 5 kind of breaks the flow of the overall album, since it's cutesy, but this is still a definite must-have for Rozen Maiden music fans. In fact, even if you don't like the series, the music's still really good. The songs are beautiful and haunting, and you may just find yourself listening to them all day for *weeks* on end (I know *I* did), and then some. I'm a writer and an artist, and I actually found that more than one of the songs inspired me for new scenes and pictures, and even a dance. On a side note, it has 7 songs, not 8, and the last is a karaoke version of Hikari no Rasenristsu (no background vocals, though). Also, the CD booklet doesn't have the lyrics inside, so unless you or a friend speak Japanese, you'll have to figure out the words by ear, if you want to sing along. DEFINITELY PICK THIS UP!!

I bought this one along with the "Hikari no Rasenritsu" (HnR) outro CD, and have enjoyed it almost as much. I say "almost" mostly because this CD has less tracks (4 instead of the 3 it says; one is karaoke), although the songs are still definitely enjoyable. "Tomei Shelter" (TS) is upbeat with a slightly melancholy feel that comes through here and there. The second track, which I believe is called "Hachimitsu" (might be wrong) is a slow waltz with hauntingly sung lyrics, courtesy of Haruka Shimotsuki's delicate and lovely voice. The third track has a mysterious feel to it, and while, in my opinion, isn't as good overall as the others, still contributes nicely to the CD. The last track, as previously mentioned, is a karaoke version of the first song, and this one has background vocals, unlike HnR. In all honesty, although I enjoyed the CD as a whole, TS didn't seem to fit too well together with the other two songs, and might have been better paired with Track 5 of HnR, and switch these two tracks onto that CD, but since I got them both at the same time, I just made a mix CD out of them both and arranged the songs like I wanted. In fact, I'd suggest getting both together.