Posted by
Admittedly, I’ve always preferred female vocals over male ones, but it’s even better when it comes from an all-female rock band. Unconsciously, I tend to associate the ability to play an instrument with musical talent. Anyway, all-female rock bands aren’t something I recall seeing a lot of, with ZONE being one of the more popular ones off the top of my head. I don’t tend to follow “mainstream” Japanese music much nowadays with the constant influx of music from anime OP/ED singles though (some of which may be mainstream), so I’m far from being the most knowledgeable person in this area.
In any case, I’m really starting to like Stereopony‘s music, which has already been featured in Bleach as the 17th ending theme prior to Gundam 00. For those following Bleach, “Hitohira no Hanabira” 「ヒトヒラのハナビラ」 was their first single and did fairly well on the Oricon Weekly Charts, peaking at 25th. For those unfamiliar with the song, please see the video below for the TV size version:
With their second single, “Namida no Mukou” 「泪のムコウ」 (Beyond the Tears), Stereopony seems to be really establishing themselves now that their music has been featured in yet another mainstream anime. While I doubt they were thinking anything remotely close to anime when they wrote their music, it’s not a bad way for a new group to get noticed by any means. (Hey, it worked on me.) Formed only last year, the Okinawa-based band is comprised of three members — Aimi (lead guitar/lead vocals), Nohana (bass guitar), and Shiho (drums) — and has an average age of 18 years old. Despite the fair bit of eye candy in the second Gundam 00 S2 opening sequence (below), it was this song that caught my attention more. In fact, I think I like “Namida no Mukou” more than “Ash Like Snow” from season one already. As for the PV itself, it’s pretty simple but inline with most rock band PVs in Japan. I think it showcases the girls well, which is all I really wanted to see anyway.
What do you think about Stereopony’s music, their “Namida no Mukou” PV, and the new Gundam 00 OP? Let me know!
-divine
…is really starting to feel old with all these new young artists.
i think the new song rocks, but still find OP1 better..
I think they are great!
Skilled all female rock bands are almost never seen.
The lead singer has a very pretty face as well.
It’s weird though, i kind of like Hitohira no Hanabira a bit more sometimes, but at other times i prefer Namida no Mukou, like right now Namida no Mukou is winning.
But i think they feel kind of separated, it almost feels like the Gundam opening is a different artist, maybe it’s because it seems to have higher pitched vocals.
Who knows.
omg so goood :p
the new Gundam OO OP song is a nice catchy song that does the job (getting my attention) it’s also a song that I’ll probably put on reply for a long time.
I also like Namida no Mukou more then Hitohira no Hanabira.
Geez, you need to check out Shonen Knife approximately right now.
I’m enjoying Stereopony right now, and am probably going to follow them from release to release as long as they are around. I myself do prefer female vocals as well, and another all-female band that I am enjoying is Chatmonchy.
Nathan:
Judging from the way you started your comment, I want to say “sound the elitism alarm”, but I’ll try to respond in a more productive way.
As stated above, I don’t tend to follow mainstream Japanese music nowadays, and even less so before (i.e. I didn’t at all). In fact, I don’t even recall much western 80s music because I was just a kid then. I purposely pointed out that I’m not the most knowledgeable person in this area, so if you have something to share with me and everyone else, feel free to. I just ask that you don’t do it in such an insinuating manner like the existence of Shounen Knife is supposed to be common knowledge or something.
“Hmm, you should check out Shounen Knife. They’re an all-female band that’s been around for a while.”
comes off drastically different than,
“Geez, you need to check out Shonen Knife approximately right now.”
Man Ash Like Snow was the best opening of a Gundam Series period.
i like this op. I think it fits nicely with whats happening in gundam00 atm.
To be honest, I really love this song! Another interesting point is that Shiho has the exact same birthday date as me, hehe. 😛
Anyway, I found the pv pretty interesting ’cause it had a mix of grunge and pop-art (which I absolutely love!). Apart from that, I thought it was better than most J-rock music videos.
As for the Gundam opening – AWESOME! When it first came out, I kept watching the OP until I fell asleep… Ho ho ho.
Oh, and hi Divine! =)
ya ash like snow was badass when it first came out
same with Friends ED
Haha, I am somewhat like you, Divine. I became aware of Stereopony after watching the last Bleach ED. “Namida no Mukou” is good, but I would not say it is better than “Ash Like Snow.”
As for the new Gundam 00 OP, the only complain I have is that when 00 was attacking Louise’s suit, they immediately switch to the scene of Saji and Louise (the pace has gone from fast to slow). I think that cut a lot of momentum that was built from the attack of 00, and when they finally show Seravee and the others, it didn’t feel exciting. I also didn’t like the scene of 00 charging head-on against Mr. Bushido’s Masurao because this is how the first OP of season 2 ended. So it wasn’t very creative of them to duplicate that scene just because Mr. Bushido got a new suit.
Thanks Divine for you link. I like the bleach ending the song goes well wit the ending im not so sure about the gundam 00 but i get how the pv connects with the gundam 00 outline.
Again that divine.
The lead singer has really pretty eyes. That is about all I can really say…
And of coarse she is hot also… 😛
Still prefer the 1st OP. Didn’t like the 2nd OP song when I first listened to it, but the opening credits animation made it sound a bit better.
That Bleach ED song however…nice.
Namida no Mukou is kind of like the opposite of Ash Like Snow to me. Whereas Ash Like Snow was a rock song that was horribly mixed but had a great opening video, Namida no Mukou is a rock song that is nice to listen to on regular occassions, but has a medicore and rather cliche opening video.
They are cute, i give them that. the song is also nice. If they keep it up, they’ll have a successful future ahead of them.
I’m still not used to this song as a Gundam OP >_<
They have a lot of spunk in them, and the lead singer is very pretty
The song is fun to listen to, and thats really all I feel at the moment
She is a good singer but this song is just generic.
I prefer Gundam themes like those on Gundam Seed and Gundam Wing.
The all-time favorite for me is Daybreak’s Bell, and this one takes second place.
Honestly, i’m tired of UVERworld already. They sung for Blood+, Bleach, Gundam, D.Gray-man and other popular shounen shows. 2009 is the year of change: in with the new, out with the old. Ash Like Snow sounded cruddy at the end, but the animation was better.
Show Spoiler ▼
Rankings:
1. Daybreak’s Bell
2. Namida no Mukou
3. Hakanaku mo Towa no Kanashi
4. Ash Like Snow
@Michael
Then you should be all the more tired of L’arc~en~Ciel LOL! Yet Daybreak’s Bell is your favorite G00 OP (not that that I disagree…in fact, I so agree).
I like this intro considering that this season is having a lot more development with the main characters as well as the love lives but I still prefer Hakanaku mo Towa no Kanashi and Daybreak’s Bell more
yep, the song pretty blah, but they got chops “singing chorus+ drumming= hard”. and its TRUE, not so sure bout the japan scene but “all female” rock bands are a ridiculously scarce commodity. and i dont know why thats the case..especially being that it’s soooo FU$KING HOTTTTTT!!!!!
I for one am happy that they did not resort to the usual mainstream pop.
Stereopony still falls into what i would call mainstream rock.
The vocals are OK, but I am irritated by the lack of attention to guitars in the song.
I would, of course, pretty much prefer something like OP by galneryus or X Japan(of course the latter ones would not be possible)
It’s a pretty decent song, but it sounds a little generic and is probably the weakest out of the four OPs we had for Gundam 00. The previous 3 OPs had more style and character to them.
Ash Like Snow is still the best.
But an all-female band with actual talent!?!?!? They’re going on my radar now.
Not that good. Better than the first OP but the second and third were much better. The only good part of the OP was the eyecandy at the beginning.
I like the new opening and I find it very good. In fact both openings of the new season/second half are better than the first two openings used in my opinion.
The only difference is I can tolerate listening to the whole cut of the the first two songs and the fourth. The whole song for the first opening of the second season grates on my nerves too bad because the singing just loses something to me after a bit.
The all girl rock bands are something that are more common these days. Off the top of my head (not all of them have anime related songs):
Zone (disbanded)
Whiteberry (disbanded)
Maria (same management as Zone; includes Zone’s bassist, Maiko)
Oreskaband
Chatmonchy
Scandal
Stereopony
Shonen Knife
The last 4 were all together on a “Girl’s Talk” kind of episode of Music Japan. The first two had their songs covered in Kyou no Go no Ni as ED themes. Shonen Knife, of course, is the oldest of that list (they made a push into the US back in the 90s, even).
It does seem to be more of a recent phenomenon, though.
I was actually quite disappointed with this OP actually. The previous OP themes are much better as they tend to convey a more Gundam-like and realistic feel. Daybreak’s Bell conveys the beginning of the process for peace. Ash Like Snow tells us how the Gundams have indeed changed the world, albeit in an unexpected and undesired manner, and their wish to grow stronger.Hakanaku mo Towa no Kanashi kind of conveys the inner conflicts faced by the Gundam pilots and their tendency to refer back to the past. But the new OP just gives a very glitzy-ditzy impression, as if the troubles they face can just magically disappear. Again just an opinion, no offence meant.
i’m a gundam fan so by nature, i’d come by this band’s 2nd song first. reagardless, i cant say i like it immediately after hearing but it grew quite quickly on me. what’s more, the song tied in very well to the gundam theme and imagery of the series, amking a very gd op indeed.
9/10
i think it would be a better ending song
not op material in my book.
hpm….I like the 00 op