CD review: Watashi no Koi wa Hotchkiss – Hanauta Yui

Yes, I am really going to review this. As the new year approaches, so do the soon-to-be-broken New Year’s resolutions and I am reminded of the fact that I have yet to accomplish everything I set out to do with this blog. One of my main goals was to review every K-ON! CD out there, old releases as well as new. I finished the first season’s batch of CDs earlier this year, but never really got started on season 2 – so here I am, easing back into things with a short review of the shortest of all K-ON! CDs: Watashi no Koi wa Hotchkiss – Hanauta Yui.

Delivered in a clear slimline jewel case, this single was given away as the prize in a mail in contest in 2011 and was not sold in stores. Finding it on online auctions isn’t particularly hard, but unused copies will cost a tad more than one may usually want to pay for a CD – you’ll have to really want it. Personally, being the crazy completist that I am, I didn’t have too many misgivings about parting with a few thousand yen to acquire it – even with the rather limited runtime.

The CD features exactly one track: Watashi no Koi wa Hotchkiss: #1 “Kou san!” version. The song, of course, is the one first heard in the episode “School Festival!” and subsequently on the first season’s insert song album. The version heard here, as the track title indicates, is the one heard in the very first scene of the season 2 episode “Seniors!”, with Yui playing solo guitar while humming the melody.

Totaling 1 minute and 8 seconds – that is both the song and the CD – it’s pretty much the same as in the actual episode, but with a slightly different ending and with Yui’s voice more prominent in the mix. Hotchkiss is one of my favorite songs from the first season, so hearing it again – however briefly – is welcome, if expensive in this form.

Is it worth buying for the sake of the content? Probably not. Is it worth buying for collection purposes? Hell, I’m certainly not the person to say no to that.

New CD box set announced

Okay, I always kind of figured there’d probably be some sort of “best of K-ON!” album or something released at the end of the franchise’s run, but I never expected they’d release a 12 disc box set containing a whopping 258 tracks, which is what the official site announced today.

“K-ON! MUSIC HISTORY'S BOX” will be released on March 20^th, featuring the OST and opening/ending/insert songs from both TV seasons as well as the movie, plus character songs as well as – for the first time on CD – the versions from the “K-ON! Ho-kago Live!!” PSP/PS3 game.

Not included in the release are tracks from the Band Score CDs, the Radion! shows, or any of the instrumentals. Nevertheless, it seems this box set will cover the basics and then some, and at the relatively tolerable price tag of 19,800 yen it sounds like quite a good deal for any fan who has yet to break their wallet collecting every K-ON! CD in existence like a sucker (unlike me, who will of course happily throw money at this release regardless).

Thanks ultimatemegax for the heads-up.

CD review: Radion! Special!

The last two CD releases of K-On!’s first season that I’ll review, and the last ones released aside from the second Band Score volume which came out between them, are ones that aren’t particularly music oriented. Released in February and March of 2010, respectively, the two “Radion! Special” volumes feature more chatter than music, as one might expect from a seiyuu web radio show.

The cover designs feature chibified versions of the HTT five handling their instruments against a pattern background which carries over to the labels on the discs themselves. Volume 1 has a red and orange theme, and volume 2 has a blue and green variation.

The cover insert for the first volume is an 8 page booklet, and the volume 2 equivalent ups the page count to 12. Oddly, Ayana Taketatsu is credited as a “guest” rather than a regular cast member like the other four.

Truthfully, there’s little reason to get these two CD’s (especially if you don’t know Japanese) unless you’re either a die hard completist or a major seiyuu otaku. Listening to the five cast members goofing around for roughly an hour per CD is fun and all, but 2940 yen (about $37 US) for each volume is probably a bit much for that kind of content as far as your average fan is concerned.

There is, however, some content that might make it worthwhile even if you’re not particularly interested in hearing the voice cast play “name that tune”. Volume 1 contains the “Yui Mio Ritsu Tsumugi Azusa mix” of “Let’s Go”, the song from the character singles, but this time with all five HTT girls taking turns doing the lead vocals.

Volume 2 contains something that, in my opinion, is a little bit more interesting: Live in-studio performances of “Fuwa Fuwa Time” and “Watashi no Koi wa Hotchkiss”, with the seiyuu doing the actual playing. It’s basically the same versions as performed during the “Let’s Go!” live event, but done in studio this time. The live event has since been released on CD, possibly making these versions redundant in some people’s eyes, but hey – if you’re a completist, having an “alternate take” to listen to every once in a while for variety might be a nice bonus.

All in all, if you’re building a K-On! CD collection but aren’t necessarily looking to acquire each and every CD that was released, I’d say these two are prime candidates for skipping. If you’re a big fan of the voice talent involved, however, and don’t mind the price tag, I suppose there’s little reason not to expand your collection with these two items.

CD review: “Band Yarou Yo!! PART 2” Band Score CD/DVD

Of course, just one band score release is not enough for a franchise like K-On! – even though that first volume contained every song from the first anime season, and more – so a second book focusing primarily on songs from the character singles saw a release before not too long.

CD review: “K-On! Character Image Song Series” part 3: Ui & Nodoka

Five character singles each featuring one of the five main characters clearly wasn’t enough. The third and final wave of the character image song series (for the first season, anyway) came about in October of 2009, and featured the “major” supporting cast members; Ui and Nodoka (Sawako didn’t get a character single, but then, the “Maddy Candy” single pretty much served that purpose).

CD review: “K-On! Character Image Song Series” part 2: Ritsu, Tsumugi & Azusa

The second batch of K-On! character singles were released in late August of 2009. The first wave had seen the release of Yui and Mio’s singles, and this second wave upped the simultaneous CD release count to three, with the Ritsu, Tsumugi and Azusa singles all coming out at once.

If you read the first part of this particular review series, you may remember that I’m not particularly fond of anime character image songs in general (if you missed it, you can read my pretentious ramblings here) but came to the conclusion that the first two K-On! character singles had several strong points. The question is, would this continue with these next three outings?

Movie Band Score release announced

Well, how’s this for timing – the same day I was going to post my review of the first K-On! Band Score release, TBS goes and announces the last one. The first season had two of these, the second season had four – and now there will be one for the K-On! movie as well.

Release date is set for February 29^th, and the score book will contain the following songs (Warning, movie spoilers!):

CD review: “Band Yarou Yo!!” Band Score CD

There’s been a lot of K-On! CD releases over the last couple of years. There’s been a lot of songs on those CD’s. There’s been a lot of fans wanting to play those songs. So, releasing a series of band score books with those songs in them is an obvious choice for merchandising.

But as it turns out, each one of those band score books also comes with a CD attached – or in the case of the first volume, two CDs – which means they are also attractive for an obsessive completist collector of K-On! CDs like myself.

CD review: “K-On! Character Image Song Series” part 1: Yui & Mio

Is it bad if I say I’ve never really cared much for character image songs in general? Granted, they’re obviously going to be a little bit harder to get into than the songs that are actually in the anime, which you get to hear on a regular basis and get stuck in your head before they’re even released on CD… but aside from that, character singles often appear to me to be blatant cash grabs with little to no artistic merit, half-assed productions of uninspired songs relegated to image song status because they just aren’t good enough to be featured in the actual show.

Okay, let’s be honest – they’re pretty much always blatant cash grabs. There’s little reason to create a buttload of extra music not meant for inclusion in the anime itself, and releasing it as a series of CD singles, other than wanting to wring some more money out of the hardcore fans who are still willing to buy more after the many opening/ending/insert song and OST albums and singles.

These things are generally merchandise first, and entertainment (or “art”, if you want to pretend we’re being important here) second. However – that doesn’t necessarily mean they can’t ever be good. At best, character songs can provide an insight into their respective characters that goes beyond what the anime itself is able to relate through the actual storytelling. At worst, they can be fluff pieces so generic and clichéd that it doesn’t matter who’s singing or what anime they’re tied to.

In the specific case of K-On!, the character song series is a mixed bag. There certainly are a lot of them – seven for the first season alone – but one good thing they all have in common is that they certainly don’t skimp on the production or musicianship. Whatever one might think of the songs, they’re all slickly and professionally produced and sound terrific. Many of the songs are composed by Tom-H@ck, composer of “Cagayake!GIRLS” and the other anime opening themes, so you know right away there’s going to be a lot of perky, frantic, fast paced tracks that walk the thin line between catchy and obnoxious, with songs landing on both sides of the fence.

I’ll be looking at all the singles in good time, but for now I’m going to concentrate on the first two: The Yui and Mio ones, which were released all the way back in June 2009.

“Ho-kago Tea Time in MOVIE” album track list revealed

The official K-On! website has revealed the content of the upcoming movie insert song album. Note that this list, obviously, gives away which Ho-kago Tea Time songs are heard in the movie – so consider this your SPOILER warning!

News: K-On! movie opens, new Ho-kago Tea Time album announced

"Arigatou"

The day is finally here, and the K-On! movie is now showing in Japanese movie theatres. For all of us K-On! fans not living in Japan, however,  the wait continues for an as-of-yet-unknown amount of time… In all likelihood, the earliest we get to see it for ourselves will be when it is eventually released on DVD and Blu-Ray, whenever that will be.

 

But there’s more! With the release of the movie, a new album with insert songs from the film has been announced. Coming out on January 18^th is “Ho-kago Tea Time in MOVIE”, in the form of both a regular and a Limited Edition with two CDs. Price tag is set at 2,500 yen plus tax.

I’ll say this right now; I’m not going to review this album when it comes out. Eventually, yes, but not for a while yet. In fact, I will not even listen to it. Not until I have seen the movie. For one thing, because hearing any new songs performed in the movie beforehand would be a huge spoiler. But it would also spoil the experience of listening to the album. Thinking back to the release of the insert song album of the second season of the TV anime, it was such a fantastic experience to hear it for the first time, and it would have been significantly less so had I not watched the anime first. Because of the anime and how the album tied into it, it had emotional resonance it wouldn’t have been able to achieve as a stand-alone musical experience. Now – I don’t expect quite the same thing from the movie album, but still… I feel that you’re not really supposed to listen to these things outside of the context (hence why it’s being released a month and a half after the movie and wasn’t announced prior to its release).

So, yeah. That’s why the album (and probably the other movie related CD releases as well) will have to wait, as far as I am concerned.

That’s my rant for today. Now, those who can, enjoy the movie. While for me, and the majority of the people reading this, the wait is still on…

CD review: “K-On!! Live Event – Come with Me!!” Live CD

With the first K-On! live event having been as big a success as it was, it was only a matter of time until the second anime season had a follow-up show arranged in its honor. “Come with Me!!” took place in Saitama Super Arena on February 20^th this year, and was in pretty much every way bigger and better than “Let’s go!”.

The spectacular and long show was released as a 2 disc Blu-Ray (and a 2 disc DVD) set in August, and this month saw a 3 disc CD version released alongside a 2 disc CD version of its predecessor. The live album has been released both in a regular and a Limited Edition, and I’ll be checking out the latter version.

CD review: “K-On! Live Event – Let’s Go!” Live CD

After the first season of the K-On! TV anime had finished airing, and a crapload of music CD tie-ins had been released, the cast featured in a grand live event of music and fun in Yokohama Arena on December 30^th, 2009. Six months later, the show in its entirety was released on DVD and Blu-Ray, and found enough success for the Blu-Ray edition to obtain a rank of #1 in the Japanese Blu-Ray music charts in its week of release.

Flash forward to November 2011, and that show has finally also been released in the form of a 2 CD live album. I’ll be having a look at the Limited Edition, which comes in a slightly more elaborate package than your regular CD album.

CD review: Ho-kago Tea Time (mini album)

Shortly after the first season of K-On! ended, and several Light Music Club / Ho-kago Tea Time CD singles had met considerable success in the music charts, it was finally time for a full album release… well, sort of. A self-titled Ho-kago Tea Time album was released, and a 2 CD album at that – containing all of four songs. Specifically, all four of the “canon” songs – that is, the ones that actually exist within the story as opposed to the opening and ending theme songs, B-sides, character singles, etc. – from the first season.

A limited number of songs didn’t hinder the album’s success, though, and upon release it found its way to the very top of the Japanese album charts – a first ever for a fictional anime band. That was two years ago, but the album is still readily available for purchase for new fans – like, say, anyone who might have become acquainted with K-On! through this year’s US release of the series.

Don't worry, the real thing doesn't look like a photo taken with a crappy iPad camera

The album comes in a clear jewel case, with a largely pink and white cover design. The first pressing – which I don’t have – also came with a white slipcover that fit over the whole thing with a heart-shaped hole cut out in the front, exposing the faces of the characters on the cover.

The album actually comes with a few physical extras. Inside a sort of cardboard envelope – which is not physically attached to the CD case, but rather comes bundled with it – are paper foldouts with the sheet music for all four songs from the album.

Inside the CD case, in addition to the actual CD booklet, is a nice glossy picture of the four senpai (you may recognize the picture from the Fuwa Fuwa Time CD single cover) and a promotion for the (long since over-and-done-with) mail-in contest where they gave away the Fuwa Fuwa Time (Chorus Husky Yui version) CD.

The album itself, as I mentioned before, consists of the four songs HTT actually perform during the first season of the anime. Personally, I like to think of these particular songs as the “classic” K-On! songs, if there is such a thing. The first disc, labeled “StudioMix”, contains not the exact versions heard on the show but cleaner, professional studio recording arrangements.

1. Curry nochi Rice

Out of the four songs on the album, this is the one that got the least exposure in the anime. It’s easy to miss the fact it was even there – it’s only heard very briefly, and only the last few seconds of it, during their stage performance in episode 8 “Freshmen Reception!”. To be completely honest, this is one of my least favorite K-On! tunes, so I don’t particularly mind the fact that it wasn’t given a lot of time.

2. Watashi no Koi wa Hotchkiss

This, on the other hand, is one of my two favorite songs from the first season. Also known as “My Love is a Stapler”, this sweet tune was first heard during that same performance in “Freshman Reception!”, but was more the main focus as far as songs go. For the Studio Mix, Yui sings the first verse and Mio the second.

3. Fudepen ~Ballpen~

My other favorite song from the first season, due in large part to the very catchy chorus – and, I suppose, the very memorable scene in episode 12 “Light Music!” during which it was first heard. That does beg the question, though – Mio did the vocals in that scene, so why is Yui the one singing on the album? It sounds good, don’t get me wrong – but I do miss Mio’s voice here.

4. Fuwa Fuwa Time

Now, this version of “Fuwa Fuwa Time” is not the same as the one on the previously released single. The most obvious difference is that Yui is doing lead vocals on this version whereas Mio did them on the single, but the song has also been somewhat re-arranged to add a second guitar since the band now has one more member in Azusa.

The second disc, labeled “LiveMix”, contains the same four songs, but mixed to sound like live performances – in fact, these are the versions heard in the actual episodes with the main difference being that they are full length versions rather than the shortened ones actually heard in the anime.

“Curry nochi Rice” and “Watashi no Koi wa Hotchkiss” are from their performance in episode 8 “Freshman Reception!”, meaning the latter track has Yui forgetting the lyrics at the beginning of the first verse and Mio filling in for her. Otherwise, Yui is singing solo throughout both tracks.

“Fudepen ~Ballpen~” and “Fuwa Fuwa Time” are from the performance in episode 12 “Light Music!”, with Mio doing the vocals on “Fudepen” and Yui doing lead vocals on “Fuwa Fuwa Time”.

All in all, the two discs combined have a running time of roughly half an hour. Maybe not a terribly impressive duration, but for a K-On! fan who collects K-On! related music I can’t imagine it not being worth what it would take to get a hold of this album.

News: Live album track listings announced

In addition to announcing the CD releases for “K-On! The Movie”, TBS’ official K-On! website has today published new details on the upcoming live albums, including track listings. It is noted that while all the songs performed at each event are included on their respective CD release, not all of the talking between the songs are, and the audio mixing and editing may differ from that of the previously released DVD/Blu-Ray versions.

News: K-On! The Movie CD singles and soundtrack announced

Broadcaster TBS’ official K-On! website has announced today the dates for the K-On! movie related music releases. The film’s opening song “Unmei♪wa♪Endless!” will be released as a CD single on December 7^th. The CD will also include the song “Ichiban Ippai” as well as instrumental versions of both songs. The two songs are composed by Tom-H@ck (also responsible for the opening songs from the TV anime), with lyrics by Shoko Omori.

Released on the same date is the ending theme song single “Singing!”, composed by Hiroyuki Maezawa (composer of the TV anime ending songs, and a number of other related tracks including “Fuwa Fuwa Time”) with lyrics by Shoko Omori. Also included is the song “Ohayou, Mataashita” and instrumental versions.

Scheduled for release on December 21^st is the “K-On! The Movie Original Soundtrack” album with music by Hajime Hyakkoku, composer of the TV anime original soundtracks. No track listing has been released so far.

The singles will sell for 1260 yen apiece, and the OST price tag is set for 3150 yen.

CD review: “Fuwa Fuwa Time” Chorus Husky Yui version

In my review of the “Fuwa Fuwa Time” CD single, I mentioned that another version of it exists on disc. This is it; the “Chorus Husky Yui” version. The disc contains only one track; “Fuwa Fuwa Time” as played by the Light Music Club in episode #6 “School Festival!”. Meaning that unlike the regular version, which sounds like a normal professional studio recording, this one has been mixed to sound like a live performance in the school auditorium (the main difference from the actual episode being that this is a full length four minute version) – and, like the title suggests, includes Yui’s husky-voiced background vocals which makes the track pretty funny. Pretty much a novelty CD, in other words.

The disc comes in a clear transparent jewel case, with a four page cover inlay. The included lyrics are printed in the same style as in the regular “Fuwa Fuwa Time” single, yet not completely identical.

The backside of the cover is clear, so that you’re looking straight at the actual CD. The disc itself is facing down inside the cover, leaving the label – which is almost identical to the regular “Fuwa Fuwa Time” CD, but with the text “Chorus Husky Yui” added on the right side – visible through the backside of the jewel case.

It probably goes without saying that this novelty version of the Light Music Club’s signature song is by no means a must-have for most fans. What makes it frustrating for completists, though, is the fact that it was never made available for purchase – instead, a total of 10,000 copies were given away as prizes in a mail-in contest in 2009. So with a finite amount of copies in existence, it’s not going to be the easiest K-On! CD to come by. It’s definitely out there – as evidenced by the fact that I managed to get my grubby hands on it – but don’t expect to find tons of it going for reasonable prices on eBay or anything.

Live Album details

The official TBS website of K-On! has revealed a few details about the previously announced CD release of the “Let’s Go!” and “Come With Me!!” live events. Each show, previously released on DVD and Blu-Ray, will be getting a multiple-disc set containing the full set list. Each album will be available in a regular and a limited edition, and both are set for release on November 16^th.

CD review: “Maddy Candy” single

While the CD single for Sawako’s High School band Death Devil was among the last CD releases to come out of K-On!’s first season, the title track “Maddy Candy” was actually the anime’s first insert song.

Well, kind of. You only ever hear a fragment of the song in the series itself – specifically in episode 4 “Training Camp!”, when Mio plays it back from an old cassette tape (including of course the guitar solo that Yui imitates).

The B-side “Hell The World” isn’t heard in the anime per se, but Sawako’s trademark yell opens the track. Both songs are composed and arranged by K-On!’s music producer Shigeo Komori, with words by KANATA. The usual instrumental versions are also included.

Is the music any good? Honestly, I’m not qualified to give an informed opinion. This isn't the type of music I’d normally listen to, although I don’t find it too hard on the ears either. Still, I have a feeling that the type of music aficionado who would think “Death Devil” is an awesome name for a band rather than an over-the-top parody band name would probably not be too impressed.



Ah, that adorable K-On! charm...

The CD comes in a standard jewel case, one of those old-fashioned ones that don’t have a clear spine. The disc features a rather unique design involving a skull and a scythe, and the cover inlay consists of two four-page foldouts – one containing the credits (all in English) and one containing the song lyrics.

No, that is not a black & white photo.

Death Devil’s “Maddy Candy” is probably the least interesting K-On! CD for most fans, except of course for those whose taste in music happen to be closer to this kind of style. For the rest of us, this single is of interest primarily for completion purposes, or for some, I’m sure; not at all.

CD review: “Fuwa Fuwa Time” single

The first song written and performed by the Light Music Club, “Fuwa Fuwa Time” has become more or less the signature song of the band and to some extent the K-On! anime itself. With lyrics “by Mio”, taken directly from Kakifly’s manga (and expanded upon for the anime) and the music composition credited in the anime to Tsumugi Kotobuki (but really by Hiroyuki Maezawa, composer of “Don’t Say “Lazy””) the song can be considered the classic K-On! song.

This CD single includes a full-length version of the song, based on the performance in episode 6 “School Festival!” with Mio (Yoko Hikasa) doing lead vocals, but with a more polished sound and with Yui (Aki Toyosaki)’s background vocals done straight rather than with the husky voice (a full length version of the “Husky voiced Yui” mix exists, but that CD was never commercially released and can be a little tricky to come by).

The single’s B-side track is “Tsubasa wo Kudasai”. Not the short instrumental version played in the first anime episode (Remember that? Well, no, if you’ve only seen Bandai’s US version, you wouldn’t… Okay, okay, moving on!) but a full three minute version in an original K-On!-style “rock” arrangement with all four club members taking turns doing the vocals.

Following that is the usual instrumental mix of both songs, followed by four additional instrumental versions of “Fuwa Fuwa Time”, each one subtracting one of the main four instruments.

The CD single comes in a standard clear jewel case. The regular kind, not the thinner ones often used for singles.

The cover insert is a simple four-page booklet, with the song lyrics and the credits found inside. The lyrics are done in a hand written style. One may wonder whose hand writing this is supposed to be.

The CD itself is blank and shiny like CD’s tend to be, with no artwork aside from the cutesy “hand writing” style titles.

There isn’t a whole lot more to say about this, I guess. The CD doesn’t come with a whole lot of bells and whistles, but the content is what’s important here. It’s “Fuwa Fuwa Time”. That in itself should be enough information for any K-On! fan to decide if this CD is worth getting or not.