Posted by Kawada Mami, member of I’ve Sound, is an artist who probably needs no introduction among anime fan circles, having produced singles for several highly popular and prolific series such as Shakugan no Shana, Hayate no Gotoku!, and of course, Toaru Majutsu no Index. Looking at that list, it seems like in the roughly five years since the release of her first single, SEED, she’s become J.C.Staff’s go-to-girl for songs for their higher budgeted and advertised, multi-seasonal shows. Being a rather big Mami fan myself, enjoying every song she’s put out for Shana and Index, I immediately went to listen to the single of No buts!, released last week (11/3) the first chance I got. As usual with Kawada Mami singles, there’s not much to dislike between the TV-Sized version of the song and the Full version, as the beat is more or less consistent throughout the entire song with only a small break in the middle of the song, so if you liked the cut version, you should have no problem getting right into the full version. That’s just speaking of audio, though. While I like the song itself, I felt that the visuals which go along with it in this music video don’t match well with the audio, as the fast singing and high tempo contrast sharply with the slow and melodic movements of Kawada, along with the dark setting she’s been placed in. The OP animations for Index II included fast movements and transitions that blended perfectly with the audio, so my image of this before viewing it was that Kawada would be in some fast moving scenes, but I have to say I’m disappointed with the choice of choreography here.
As far as comparisons to past Index OPs go, I still haven’t decided whether I like this as much as PSI-missing, but I’m leaning towards liking PSI-missing more due to the smoother melody, as No buts! doesn’t let up the entire way through. I’m pretty sure I like Masterpiece more than this though, which is odd, since I like PSI-missing more than Masterpiece. I suppose Masterpiece’s wild beats came off as more appealing to me than No buts! non-stop high tempo, but when comparing the different styles they each have their own charms. Either way, they’re all great singles and I’d say that Index has some of the best OPs in the industry today, but of course those are just my tastes.
Also, concerning the lyrics, I translated them myself and took liberties in the editing process, so if anyone notices that words don’t match up exactly with what’s being said, be aware that it’s because of my editing. With that said, the sentences still maintain their general meaning and make more sense in English this way.
*For a quick comparison of PSI-missing and No buts!, here’s the former.
「PSI-missing」
For me, the INDEX songs were ‘okay’, but they were also very catchy. So over time they would begin to sound better and better to me and [No Buts!] is no different. It was ‘okay’ but after repeated listening it became ‘good’!
My opinion may change later on, but for now my favorite is [Masterpiece], the lyrics just flows better for me. As for my favorite Kawada Mami song, it has to be [Joint] from Shana 2nd.
Masterpiece was the best Mami Kawada song from the Index series without a doubt.
I think Hishoku no Sora from Shakugan no Shana S1 OP was her best anime OP song used of all time.
Yes, Masterpiece is actually just that for me at the very least….A masterpiece. No Buts! beats really grow on you and is a lot of fun to listen to.
To me the best OPs and EDs outside of Bleach and Naruto were from Shana. Song after song from the various seasons were great. Blaze, Triangle, and Sociometry (among others) were all great tunes. Full Metal Alchemist reboot was another series that put out alot of good songs as well.
Am I the only one who likes no buts more than Masterpiece? it is a hard choice though… they are great anime songs for sure 😀
I didn’t like the song at first but it kinda grew on me. Now I think it’s pretty exciting.
What kind of headphones are those? Been looking for a good pair.
HAHAHA!! i feel you man!! winter is the time fo the BIG RIGS….i believe those are a pair of Dr DRE’s “Beats” brand phones with the logo removed..*not sure though* fo my money Senheisers are Da SHIT!! if u got the bread fo them, but they ugly as hell…..LOVE the chick in this song..she looks sooo mean
They are Dr Dre range. I just bought one couple of weeks ago. I m loving this song.
I think the MAD makers over at niconico love this song, because I’ve seen it used in so many things it would make your head spin. I could throw you a link from my channel, but that would be self-plugging in someone else’s blog.
Hah, I just found a good one, and it’s perfect for this blog. A MAD of, well…pretty much the whole season.
http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm12603305
Someone else can do a not-nico link if they must.
Hmmm I actually like Satanic which was also included in this single. The title is…well it speaks for itself.
the site should really try getting an advertisements from wholesaler of dvds of anime show.
luv the site so much that i get my anime infos here everytime i open my internet.
hopefully this can continue for another decade.
forgot to add if possible can we get a download link for this song so i can add it on my collection. ofcourse legit!
Well, it wouldn’t be legit if I put up a free download link. :p
Anyway, I’ll see what I can do, although it depends entirely on whether Divine wants to upload a DL link (since he’s the only one encoding this stuff for now). Generally, he doesn’t put up download links for PVs though, and I’m the first one besides him to do a PV post, so I don’t know if I can just break the trend either.
I believe those headphones are Beats by Dre SOLO, they got rid of the tags due to copy right
Yeah, they’re definitely Dr. Dre headphones.
Song was great, Video sucked! That’s not what I envisioned for this kind of kinetic soundtrack. Stylish – YES, but it looked like a commercial for those damn headphones, which is obviously the point = PRODUCT PLACEMENT.
Mami Kawada’s probably my favourite artist for anime themes. I’d say that Joint (Shana S2 OP) tops the others, but Hishoku no Sora, Masterpiece, PSI-Missing, Get My Way, and now this, are all some of my favourite themes as well.
Kawada Mami is a common name when it comes to J.C. Staff openings, but I believe this is the first time I’ve seen her in a PV. The whole black suit and long black nails with a black background scare me, like meeting an angry Catwoman at midnight in a dark dead end alley. Doesn’t seem very Index-ly. I prefer PSI-missing for Index.
NO BUTTS
Don’t forget that Kawada Mami has done a couple of anime EDs in her time before being enlisted by J.C. Staff, e.g. Onegai Sensei, Onegai Twins, BALDR Force, and OP to Starship Operators. Great stuff.
God I hate underbites.
hishoku no sora was definitely the best mami song :0
Now I hear the full version of this song and checking some other blogs, there is a part where there is a pun with “one way street” making reference to Accelerator (Ippoutsuko, One way street).
Personally I am a big Kotoko/Mami Kawada fan, but the PV videos really annoy the hell out of me at times…