BtB’s "ExtraCareful's-been-out-so-make-do-with-this" Soundtrack Post

I-I-I-t’s not like I-I’m doing this for you or anything. In wake of ExtraCareful's recent lack of soundtrack posts, I've decided to finally pull this out of the drafts section, where it's been rotting for about a year now. Enjoy. Or don't enjoy.

Many of the anime songs I have on my Ipod are from series which I haven’t seen. This song is one of them. From what I’ve heard from MorningLescue, NotMoe, and CrimsonMonarch, the song is about 20 times better than the series it comes from. I apologize if the comparison unintentionally compliments the series.

Hiyoku no Hane (Yosuga no Sora OP)

Eufonius

I have made the mistake of watching a series because I liked the music several times now. NOT doing it for this.

Hiyoku no Hane (HnH) prominently displays the three trademark characteristics of Eufonius; a calm, toned-down melody, excellent instrumentals, and an off-key singer. The introduction and buildup are all very light and airy, with very exposed vocals. Exposed vocals in the beginning are characteristic of many openings, but more so for HnH. For comparison, the level of exposure would be similar to the “vocal solo following guitar solo” section of many songs (excluding Fripside, simply because their instrumentals tend to be inherently loud). Much of this is probably emphasized by the instrumentation for the song. The acoustic guitar and violins are both prominent voices throughout the song, and the bass and drum set are toned down, simply kept for a pulsing beat (there is also an electric guitar, but it only appears in the leitmotif, and lightly at that). This emphasis on acoustic instruments may be one of the reasons it feels more toned down and airy than many other openings (the electric guitar has a tendency to detract from that feeling).

 And now, about that voice…

 Riya’s voice sounds nice, often with a slightly airy quality to it to match the song, although it can be clear when it needs to be (nothing on Horie Yui of course, but it does well, it does well). The only thing that really bothers me is the pitch. I’m not saying that it needs to be 440 hz, but it shouldn’t be so glaring. I realize the difficulties in the song. HnH features a lot of jumps in the notes. Stepwise sequences are easy to pull off, but this song has Riya jumping around major 5ths and 6ths in the leitmotif. The transparency of the song also makes inconsistencies in pitch shine out, and Riya’s lack of vibrato does the same. However, I feel as though they should have at least used editing to fix it up a little (I’m assuming they didn’t). The goal of the song here should be to sound pleasing to the audience, so I don’t think there is anything wrong with editing (unless this is their way of telling fans what to expect at live concerts). Since the song overall is so good, I can’t help but feel that if the voice were just in tune a bit more, this would be an excellent song, not just a very good one.

 In summary, it’s good song with a creative melody (created in part from those jumps that are so hard to hit). With average vocals.

A note of caution though; this isn’t a song you’d want to listen to while exercising. ExtraCareful reports that if this song comes up on shuffle while he’s jogging, it drains him of all his remaining stamina (argh, kryptonite).

Aaaaaand since I'm BtB, I need to somehow factor in a Touhou reference into this. But I'm having a brain fart right now, so make do with a Touhou PV I came across recently.

Since this version doesn't have translations, I'll summarize what I think is going on after reading all the comments on Youtube. The Hakurei Border begins to collapse, and Reimu, being the incredibly lazy diligent shrine maiden that she is, tries to stop it. When she fails, Yukari steps in and repairs it because she's a boss like that, but she disappears right afterwards, leaving behind only the battered remains of her cap. Reimu is under the impression that she died, so she falls into depression. While cleaning out her shrine's storage room, she finds an old booklet containing a resurrection spell, which works under the condition that one must sacrifice something of equal value to that which is being resurrected. She decides that the Hakurei Border and Gensokyo itself had the same worth as Yukari (possibly because Reimu thinks that she exchanged her life to save it), and, not thinking straight due to her depression, tries to complete the spell and sacrifice Gensokyo. Marisa, Alice, and Sakuya intervene to stop her (Master Spark OP), and Reimu eventually comes to terms with the loss of Yukari, and it's a bittersweet happily-ever-after.

...and then the last scene makes you realize exactly how big of a troll Yukari is.

The song used is called Meiro, by Oku Hanako (aka, not Touhou). It fits in pretty well though.