Miscellaneous / PV

AZU – Jikan yo Tomare feat. SEAMO PV (Itazura na Kiss ED2)

 

While Itazura na Kiss isn’t one of the series being covered on this site, I’ve been following it ever since it started airing back in April. Back then, I got a bit overambitious when I started blogging and tried to cover every series that I was watching and Omni wasn’t. When I had eight series under my wing, I stopped myself though, which just so happened to be on a Friday—the day that Itazura na Kiss airs. So for those wondering, this is the reason why continued coverage of this series, BLASSREITER, and Kamen no Maid Guy never saw the light of day back in spring.

In any case, being a romance comedy, I kind of figured Itazura na Kiss would be my kind of show back then and having Mizuki Nana starring in a series never hurts either. What surprised me though is that the series is relatively popular amongst current generation anime fans (which doesn’t include me since I’m kind of old school), despite the 1990’s style character designs. Anyway, I had to put this series on hold while I was on vacation in Japan and am still catching up when I can, but the second ending theme grew on me almost instantly when I heard it. Now before people start jumping on my case that this isn’t new anymore, I’ll make it clear now that I’m already aware of that fact. However, I only came across this PV somewhat recently when I was checking what came out during the past summer season, so I thought I’d share my findings for those who don’t actively look for anime-related PVs.

More after the jump…

CODE GEASS / PV

FLOW – WORLD END PV (CODE GEASS R2 OP2)

 

Some of you may recall how I was saying that FLOW should’ve been brought back to perform an opening song for CODE GEASS several months back. In addition, you may recall how I felt that their “WORD OF THE VOICE” song used in PERSONA -trinity soul- may have suited CODE GEASS just as well, as some MAD videos have shown us. Well lo and behold, as I’m sure everyone’s aware of by now, FLOW was brought back for the second opening with this song, “WORLD END”, and ALI PROJECT was similarly brought back for the ending theme, “Waga Routashi Aku no Hana” 「わが﨟たし悪の華」. Given how the series is going now (i.e. with the last 40+ episodes feeling kind of hogwash in light of the recent turn of events), I’m starting to find WORLD END’s lyrics a lot more befitting. The PV also does a good job portraying this too, with a barren desert being the most prominent image throughout. Personally, I wasn’t a huge fan of this song much when I first heard it back in episode thirteen, but as with most anime songs, it grew on me over time thanks to the inevitable association of it to the series.

Macross / PV

Sakamoto Maaya – Triangular PV (Macross Frontier OP1)

 

For those familiar with Macross Plus, you’re probably aware that the ever-so-talented composer, Kanno Youko, has always been one of the reasons why its music has been so memorable. For a longtime Macross fan such as myself, I was extremely happy when I heard that she would be doing the music for Macross Frontier as well. Reading this, you might be wondering what any of it has to do with Sakamoto Maaya, who performs the first opening song to the series. Well, this actually dates back to Maaya’s debut as a seiyuu back in 1996, when she starred as Kanzaki Hitomi in Tenkuu no Escalfowne, better known in English as The Vision of Escaflowne, which led to her working together with Youko on “Yakusoku wa Iranai” 「約束はいらない」 (No Need for Promises), the opening theme for the series. After working together with Youko to release numerous singles and albums featuring songs for series such as Record of Lodoss War (TV series), Cardcaptor Sakura, RahXephon, and Wolf’s Rain, the two parted ways on Maaya’s fifth single release, Loop, the first ending theme to Tsubasa Chronicle. It’s been three years since then, and the two have reunited to work on Macross Frontier with this song—Triangular.

More after the jump…