Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon / Soundtrack

Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon – OST 2

I always have very mixed feelings when it comes to writing about the Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon Soundtracks. On the one hand, Katou Tatsuya never fails to deliver magnificent music with enormous variety, but on the other, it’s always so hard to pick and choose between tracks to write about and I always feel like I’m leaving out something important. As always, this particular OST is frequently reminiscent of RPG music, though compared to the previous one, there’s far more stately music to represent the focus on Great Britain and its role in the story.

*Beware, spoilers ahead!

Bakemonogatari / Monogatari Series / Soundtrack

Bakemonogatari – Complete Music Works Songs & Soundtracks Disc 1

This time around, I’ll be focusing on a soundtrack by Kousaki Satoru, a member of MONACA – a specialised music outsourcing studio notable for working on things such as the recently concluded Haiyore! Nyaruko-san and the brilliant soundtrack to Nier. As for Kousaki himself, his notable works include Haruhi (all three series), Kannagi and of course, the entire Monogatari series to date.

Warning: Potential spoilers. Probably.

Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica / Soundtrack

Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica – OST II

So once again I return to Kajiura Yuki and her typically unique soundtrack for Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica. Since there’s no real point in me repeating what I had to say in my last post, I’ll instead suggest that if you haven’t already read it, you go back and do so. That way I can skip straight over introductions (and recommendations at the end) and focus entirely on the meat of the soundtrack – the music itself.

Important note: There will be spoilers. If you haven’t watched Madoka and plan to do so in the future do not read this post!

Soundtrack

Noein – OST Vol. 1

Under the pseudonym ‘Nanase Hikaru,’ Itou Masumi has written music for a large variety of works, most notably the VN Muv-Luv Alternative, Infinite Stratos, Phantom: Requiem for the Phantom and CANAAN. Unlike many of the composers I’ve spoken about so far, Nanase’s style is primarily orchestral in nature with strong influences derived from classical and baroque music. Much of the OST is very cinematic and thematic in nature, traits (particularly the latter) not always found in anime soundtracks.

Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica / Soundtrack

Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica – OST I

Kajiura Yuki has long been one of my favourite soundtrack composers, both in the anime and video game industry. With series like .hack//SIGN, Mai-Otome, Pandora Hearts, and of course, Fate/Zero under her belt, it’s always fair to expect great things. For Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica she brings us a typically unique soundtrack filled with unintelligible lyrics, folk influences and Latin titles!

Important note: There will be spoilers. If you haven’t watched Madoka and plan to do so in the future do not read this post!

FAIRY TAIL / Soundtrack

FAIRY TAIL – OST Vol. 1

How do you one-up awesome Celtic folk music? Why, with epic rock arrangements of course! Takanashi Yasuharu, notable for his work on Terra e…, Shiki and Naruto: Shippuuden brings us this gem of a soundtrack, rife with music to really get your blood pumping! With this soundtrack review, we move from something extremely diverse to something far more constricted. This is not a bad thing of course, quite the opposite in fact – while diversity is awesome, confining the music to a single branch of styles results in a more cohesive feel to the soundtrack as a whole.

Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon / Soundtrack

Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon – OST

Over the past couple of years, Katou Tatsuya has very rapidly risen to be one of my all-time favourite soundtrack composers. While not yet as prolific as the likes of Kajiura Yuki or Kanno Yoko (neither of whom had any involvement with the soundtrack, in case I give that mistaken impression), I will not be remotely surprised to see him rank up there in the near future. Soundtracks of note are Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou, Hyakka Ryouran Samurai Girls, the recently concluded Mirai Nikki, and currently airing Medaka Box.

Note: Possible Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon spoilers after the jump!

Rinne no Lagrange / Soundtrack

Rinne no Lagrange – OST

Rinne no Lagrange OST

Written by Suzuki Saeko in collaboration with music production duo TOMISIRO, the Rinne no Lagrange OST is easily one of my favourites from the Winter line-up. Neither of the two artists have worked on much that I’m familiar with – most of their work seems to be confined to the Keroro Gunsou franchise which – in my opinion – makes the quality of the LagRin OST even more impressive to behold. While not as diverse in genre as some anime soundtracks, there’s still an impressive range of styles, though on the whole, the soundtrack comes across mostly as electronic interspaced with more comedic instrumental tracks.

Rinne no Lagrange OST