Review by David Mankins

This album is a brilliant amalgam of musical genres, from 60s Brit-invasion, to marches, to Taiko. I have to admit not often noticing the music in the series, but I'm delighted that I picked up this CD. I recommend it if you liked Yoko Kanno's work on Cowboy Bebop.

It is easy to miss the fact that there are two CDs included in this selection. The music on both CDs is delightful, with an emphasis on the cheerful themes that create an atmosphere that offsets the chilling events of the Higurashi story. For the most part, the horror is only hinted at by the occasional sound of cicadas or a telephone in the background. There are several variations on the piece "You", played in different instrumentations. This is a hauntingly sweet theme, and I admit it is the reason I bought these CDs.

While one tends to remember the near-manic comedy and action from the series, there is also a great deal of melancholy sweetness. The music on this album brings back those moments with poignancy, and is a must for any fan of "Futakoi Alternative".

It's unusual for a soundtrack by Kenji Kawai to be this lackluster. There are few memorable pieces in the background music for the anime (this CD does include TV-length versions of the striking opening and closing songs, however). Sadly, this is a pretty forgettable CD, despite being recognizably Kawai's work. For a more interesting collection of songs, give a listen to the "Image Soundtrack".

This CD contains 9 songs in varying styles. Some of the songs are introduced by the sound of cicadas. My favorite song is probably "you -- Visionen im Spiegel". It's easy to imagine Rena singing this song as she searches for treasure in the landfill. It is a pleasant, bouncy song that underscores the contrast between brutal and cute that is part of the attraction of the TV series. Each song is long enough to establish a mood and create an image. I prefer this CD to the TV soundtrack because the music is much more distinctive here --- it's a shame that none of the themes were used in the TV soundtrack.

This CD contains the full-length version of Red Fraction, an instrumental-only version (which is quite listenable), and a dance remix. "Red Fraction"'s intensity benefits from the longer length it has on this CD. The dance remix is okay, but it softens the driving beat of the original a great deal, which cuts down a bit on the song's impact.

This song has the snappy beat and unique vocals familiar to people who know it as the intro to the second season of the anime series "Honey and Clover". While it is nice to get the song in a longer form, the bridge from the first half of the song to the second half is rather clumsy and detracts a bit from the song. The CD includes her songs "Hadaka no Taiyou" and "Natsu no Hero". The former is a snappy song which fits nicely with "Fugainaiya" --- if you like the one you'll probably like the other. "Natsu no Hero" is slower, and ballad-like, and is less well-suited to Yuki's voice.

Yoko Kanno's music for "Turn-A Gundam" benefits on this CD from the fuller orchestration permitted by the film format and the time a feature film allows for an overture and closing music that explores all the musical themes of the soundtrack. The closing music is an especially nice reprise of the various Turn-A Gundam musical motifs.

This short CD includes music from the "Tachikoma specials" o-make on the "Stand Alone Complex" DVDs, and also includes Tachikoma-related music from the series itself. Like the Tachikoma themselves, the music on this album is often playful and charming. The album opens with modem-tones and the sound of a type-writer keyboard woven into a spritely instrumental song. Kanno is playing a neat trick with this album: the music reflects on one of the central themes of the "Ghost in the Shell" series: what would it mean to be human in an age of cyber-enhancements and artificial intelligence? Listen carefully to the homage paid to "2001: A space odyssey"'s HAL 9000 as one piece briefly quotes the tune of the song "Daisy". This album is great fun, and well worth a listen.

While many of Kajiura's soundtracks sound similar (and the "Mai HiME" soundtracks are easily recognized as Kajiura's work) the pieces on this album are among her best in terms of emotional impact and and they way they succeeded in recalling and underlining both the drama and the comedy of the series. The dramatic works on this album are quite stunning.

With the frenetic on-screen action, it is easy to miss the wonderful background music in "Mahou Shoujotai Alice". This album includes a number of lushly orchestrated pieces that are appropriate for the adventure and action of the series. This CD would sit comfortably on the shelf next to "The Lord of the Rings" soundtracks, and not far from Rimsky Korsakov or Khachaturian. My only complaint is that there's not enough art from the series, but otherwise, it's a wonderful album.

Listening to this music brings back the mood of watching "Honey and Clover". What more could you want? It's almost as good as getting to spend time with Yamada, Morita, Mayama, and Takemoto.

This album is full of small ensemble pieces with recorder and other informal instruments. Each pieces is long enough to explore its theme, but not too long. Many themes reappear in new guises. The music is sweet and playful, a perfect match for the Yotsuba& manga.

While this soundtrack sounds like many other Yuki Kajiura soundtracks, her use of synthesized "sturm und drang" is more restrained, the vocals more haunting, making it (and its companion volume 2), one of Kajiura's best soundtracks. While My HiME had its comic moments (and the music behind those moments is present on this disk), the music is most effective when it is serious. Also present on this disk is the lovely "Fairytale" song sung by Yuko Miyamura (Alyssa Sears).

Not all songs make the transition from 90-second TV-size clip to longer work, but the haunting "Higurashi no naku koro ni" succeeds handsomely. The karaoke version on this CD is also quite listenable on its own.

This short film tells a haunting short story set the the far future when humanity has abandoned the surface of the Earth. As the protagonists look through the archives at images of humanity's existense on the surface, they also reflect on the decline in their own surroundings. One image presents a puzzle, the solution to which changes their view of their world, and perhaps holds hope for the future. Accompanying the feature (and worth the price of the disk itself) is the marvellous short film "Aquatic Language". This film is a pearl of a short-story brought to life --- and it reminds you of the storytelling possibilities inherent in animation.

There is something about the way the orchestra responds to a live audience that gives greater life to Yoko Kanno's magnificent score for "Turn-A Gundam". The concert arrangements of the music give the themes time to develop in ways they couldn't when simply used as incidental music. This album is also graced by a wonderful arrangement of the song "Moon", sung by Origa.

Origa has a truly stunning voice, put to good use in this haunting lullaby which served as the ED music for "Fantastic Children". The song is presented in two versions: one in Japanese, a second in Russian (used during the "Grecia" episodes in the series).