General Information – Kimi no Hitomi ni Koishiteru
General Information – Kitto Ashita ha…
Two singles, two times the trouble. The question is, will well they fare against the last Amagami SS single I reviewed? Let’s find out!
Continuing on my journey in reviewing the ending themes from Amagami SS after previously reviewing Anata Shika Mie nai which sounded sub-par, I expected that the ending themes from Haruka-sepai and Kaoru would sound better. Before jumping into the wacky ending songs, who are the singers of these ending themes?
The first ending theme single, Kimi no Hitomi ni Koishiter, the songs are sung by Itou Shizuka. You might know her performance of Honjitsu, Mankai Watashi iro from Hayate no Gotoku Second Season as Hinagiku. The second ending theme singer Kitto Ashita wa, Kaoru’s ending theme is Satou Rina. You might know her from Index/Railgun, Negima and Nogizaka Haruka. Not to mention, both of these voice actresses voiced characters in Hayate no Gotoku, which is a coincidence really.
So, how good or bad were the songs from these albums? Well, the background music shares a similar style, some of it felt like jazz and others orchestral. As for the songs from these voice actresses, they were pretty good for the most part. Like the previous single I reviewed, there is a character monologue for both of these singles on the second disc that I did not even bother listening to because of reasons stated in the last review.
As for the music, the performances from both of them sounded pretty good. Not so surprising because they have sung a good number of opening and ending themes for other anime. As for the songs, there was a differentiation of style. For instance, Haruka’s ending theme is very cheerful and upbeat and Kaoru’s ending theme is pretty calm. Now to explore each of these songs…
Haruka’s Single
Kimi no Hitomi ni Koishiteru has a j-rock and upbeat feeling that reflects Haruka-sempai’s rather weird personality. There were a few rough edges in her singing like the last part of the song (around 3:00), but nothing that would ruin the enjoyability and listenability. Lastly, the ending was pretty wacky in the end with the guitar playing all over the place. So much that I thought it was Yui playing the guitar on sweets…
The B-Side, Hana felt calmer and was more like j-pop compared to the last song. Unlike the last song, this one is more polished and enjoyable to listen to. As a result, I did not notice any flaws in the song.
Kaoru’s Single
Compared to Haruka’s ending, I liked Kaoru’s ending, Kitto Ashita ha, which was a pretty calm j-pop song. The instrumentals pretty much impressed me in this song, which brought such a good, warm feeling.
The B-Side track, Kaze ni Fukarete shows a different side of Kaoru’s personality (well, the ear biting?). The song has a feeling like Kimi no Hitomi ni Koishiteru, upbeat and happy without the rock feeling. Even though it was not as good as the former, it was still pretty enjoyable to listen to.
Conclusion
In the end, I found these singles a lot more listenable compared to Anata Shika Mie nai. The songs in these singles kind of proved that Konno Hiromi lacks a good deal of singing skills. Even though these songs are not going to rock your socks off like the Angel Beats Original Sound Track, you might find these pretty enjoyable to listen to.
Overall Rating (Both Singles)
8.2/10, Good
Both names actually sound somewhat familiar to me. Off the top of my head, I don’t remember which of Shizuka and Riina’s songs caught my fancy, but I never really had negative impressions of their music. Maybe I’ve been lucky enough to not be exposed to their crap.
Well, OK, I remember in particular that the Hinagiku (heh) ED was pretty solid and that captured Shizuka’s charm rather well. Same goes for her rendition of Cruel Angel’s Thesis :p
I heard the ending theme for Hayate S2 and it was enjoyable… As for the next girls ending theme, hopefully it turns out good or I’ll be complaining again… :/