#anyway the theme song and accompanying animation is SO 90s

[officialjanetweiss]

In the Life was a gay and lesbian variety show that first aired in 1992

[maxsmusicmacrology]

Album Analysis: Best of Crush 40

Halfway through the 90s, everything changed. The PlayStation came out in 94, allowing games with 3D graphics and high-fidelity (for the time, that is) audio. Big Red came hopping onto the scene with Super Mario 64 in 96, and Sonic Adventure came onto the scene at the very end of 98. As a latecomer to the 3D party, arriving over 2 years after Mario had such a successful romp, they needed something special. They needed…

Children’s media! I’m of the opinion that there are two main categories that children’s media can fall into: there’s media that is specifically made for children, like Blue’s Clues or Peppa Pig or those licensed Sesame Street games. Then there’s kid-friendly media that, while made for and marketed towards children, can still appeal to adults. This would be most Pixar movies, shows like Phineas and Ferb, and the object of today’s article, the Sonic franchise.

While there’s some pretty huge differences between children’s media and kid-friendly media, one thing they both have in common is the goal of teaching children a moral lesson. With varying degrees of success. This can be something simple like “stealing is bad”, but oftentimes there’s some greater nuance, like how the protagonist of Inside Out learns to value sadness and other “negative” emotions. But when working with hardware that has some intense limitations, like the NES or Sega Genesis, telling a complex story isn’t easy, which is why Save the Princess plots (Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, the opening to Final Fantasy) were so common: it allowed for a moral hero without requiring any deeper discussion. Sonic the Hedgehog went with a bit more of an environmentalist message- saving animals from an evil scientist- which was easy enough to portray in only 16 bits.

Halfway through the 90s, everything changed. The PlayStation came out in 94, allowing games with 3D graphics and high-fidelity (for the time, that is) audio. Big Red came hopping onto the scene with Super Mario 64 in 96, and Sonic Adventure came onto the scene at the very end of 98. As a latecomer to the 3D party, arriving over 2 years after Mario had such a successful romp, they needed something special. They needed…

I’m going to review this album out of order. This is a “Best of” album, so rather than being a picture of the band’s musical vision at any given time, it contains some of their best work from over a decade-long span. What I’m especially interested in is how the music interacts with its respective game and how it evolves with the franchise, so let’s take a look at song #15 first.

Open Your Heart kicks off Sonic Adventure with a bang. It’s the first thing you hear when you boot the game up and it accompanies the final battle. Well, most of it, anyway- part 1 of the battle gets Open Your Heart and part 2 gets generic “tense orchestral music”, which is a flat-out awful decision, but I digress. Tonally, it’s perfect- it starts out tense, preparing you for the fight ahead, and then the guitars kick in to pull you forward. But more importantly… this is why I brought up the moral conflict earlier. The story is simple, so the game leans on the song to deliver its message.

Much of the lyrics are as relevant today as they probably were for most of human history: the quieter intro bit describes various catastrophes, and describes the fear and confusion that follows (much like the one we’ve been living in for the past few months). The song’s chorus is built around a dialectic: Can’t hold on much longer/but I will never let go, but then ends with Open your heart, it’s gonna be alright. Together, these components combine the fear of catastrophe with the innate desire to make things better. It instills the idea that it’s okay to have conflicting feelings about a course of action, then promises that your heart will make the right choice.

Live and Learn is the main theme of the direct sequel, Sonic Adventure 2, and fills the same roles as Open Your Heart. The opening riff plays when the game is launched, the full song plays over the final battle, and it delivers the moral lesson of the game. If Open Your Heart introduces a lesson about conflict, then Live and Learn teaches you what to do when you’ve made the wrong choice. What happens if you trust the wrong people, stay when you should’ve run or run when you should’ve stayed, let something important fall into the wrong hands?

The very title of the song hints at its message- you learn from your mistakes and do better- but to me the line that really hits comes in the second verse. But you can’t save your sorrows/you’ve paid in trade. It recontextualizes all the regret someone feels from a mistake as a sort of currency: it’s not to be saved, kept in your mind and dwelled on- you’ve exchanged it, traded it for valuable life experience. If you focus on the mistake instead of the lesson, you’ll never grow, and it’ll all have been a waste. Not only is it a natural progression from the last song, it’s an absolute banger of a track.

Next up is Sonic Heroes, the intro track to… Sonic Heroes. That won’t be confusing. I don’t have a whole lot to say about this one, it’s not the big moral apex of the game and it’s much more of a title theme than the song the game wants you to walk away from. It’s goofy as hell to listen to, but it always puts a smile on my face.

What I’m Made of is the final battle theme to Sonic Heroes and is, in my opinion, the finale of the Open Your Heart trilogy. Looking at the three songs is a sort of rudimentary 3-act structure: you have the introduction and first conflict, the dark part at the end of act 2, and the triumphant closer. The protagonist takes the lesson they learned through the story and uses it to defeat their opponent. What I have in my two hands is enough to set me free. Use the lessons you’ve learned through hardship to better yourself. The songs form a very nice trilogy when viewed like this that parallels the games quite nicely, and I’m confused as to why they’re all out of order on the album.

That finishes off the Adventure and Heroes saga, and now onto… Shadow the Hedgehog… god. I Am… All of Me is the opening track to the game and also the first song on the album, and it’s so goofy. It tries to be all dark and intimidating because Shadow is the dark and edgy character, who has guns and says “damn” because he has a tragic backstory, and the character isn’t edgy because he’s a cartoon hedgehog and and the song isn’t edgy because it’s a song about a cartoon hedgehog.

That doesn’t mean it’s bad, mind you. I enjoy it, and in a way it’s a perfect fit for the game. It’s like a kid wearing a vampire costume on halloween: they can try to scare you all they want, but the worst they can do is make you smile.

All Hail Shadow is the next Shadow the Hedgehog piece. This one was originally by a group called Magna-Fi, and was covered by Crush 40 for use in later games when the band broke up. Shadow the Hedgehog features multiple paths and multiple endings, and this is the “true hero” ending when the player makes all the heroic choices. This song does a good job painting Shadow as Sonic’s foil: both of them are heroes from this point forward, but while Sonic is more of a classical hero, Shadow is an anti-hero. Somewhere in chaos we all find ourselves/this destruction is the only tale we tell. The game features Shadow trying to recover his memories and find his true self, figure out who he really is, and this is the song that has him rediscover himself as a hero.

Finally, Never Turn Back is the true ending theme for the game, and the last Shadow the Hedgehog song in the album. This is the “moral lesson” song I’ve been on about so much, and it’s a damn good one. It starts with a slow cover that samples I am… All of Me, then it gets a powerful kick that rings in the rest of the song. The message in the song is similar to Live and Learn about not repeating mistakes, but Never Turn Back gives a sense of a much more arduous period in one’s life. If Live and Learn is about recovering from a mistake, Never Turn Back is about recovering from a long series of them. It’s been a long rough road but I’m finally here/Move an inch forward, feels like a year. It’s very much about cutting yourself free of a bad period in your life and how difficult it can be to even stay put, but the positive vibe of the song reminds us to celebrate the small victories. It’s a bit more mature of a message for a game that… at least tried to be more mature.

I haven’t talked a whole lot about how the music interacts with the events of the game partially because this is a music review, but partially because it’s gone perfectly hand and hand with the music so far. There hasn’t been much dissonance between “rock music that gives life advice” and “young-ish hedgehog learning how to live life”. That’s about to change, though, because it’s time for Sonic 06. At the end of Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic declared that he was no one special, “just a guy who loves adventure”. This is when that ceased to be true.

The first three songs we discussed weren’t about Sonic. The singer was a nameless narrator occasionally fighting a nameless opponent. They were relevant to the series, but they could be about anyone. That’s what made them so versatile. His World is the main theme of Sonic 06, and where the other 2 versions of the song existed more to hype up Sonic as a character, the Crush 40 cover was more about the events of the game. As a song, it’s pretty good: it’s a more intense version of the original song, and it’s got a slower but steadier pace to it. But here’s what sets it apart from the other main themes: it’s about Sonic. It’s not a lesson about facing conflict and overcoming adversity wrapped up in an upbeat rock song, it’s about the events of the game and how awesome Sonic is. He isn’t the everyman anymore, he’s an important figure, a chosen one to save the world from this point forward. The music reflects that.

To really drive home this new direction they were going, Sega released two games for the Wii called “Sonic Storybook” games, where Sonic would become the main character of two classic stories: Arabian Nights and the legend of King Arthur. They’re both terrible in… just about every aspect, but the first entry Sonic and the Secret Rings is godawful. The main theme Seven Rings in Hand wasn’t written or originally performed by Crush 40, but for some reason they decided to cover it for their album, so I have to talk about it: it’s trash. It’s a bunch of empty lyrics about nothing with some pretty subpar mixing.

While Sonic and the Black Knight isn’t much better, it at least has a killer main theme. Knight of the Wind as a song is pretty badass, but it suffers the same issues as His World. There’s no more important meaning, it’s just about Sonic being a knight and saving people. It has a few familiar “never give up” themes, but it doesn’t do anything as well as Open Your Heart or Live and Learn. It falls into the Sonic Heroes mold where it’s fun to listen to and less fun to really take apart and analyze. The ending theme (which strangely precedes Knight of the Wind) Live Life samples Knight of the Wind, but that’s pretty much the coolest thing it does. It’s slow and pensive, making a sense of faux-thoughtfulness to cover mostly shallow lyrics.

With Me (Massive Power Mix) is the last Sonic and the Black Knight theme here, and was originally written by Crush 40 and performed by singers from the band “All Ends”. The album features a version performed by the band itself, and the song is unique in that it’s sung from the POV of the game’s villain. As a result, it features a look into a character who walked a “dark path”, weighed down by the mistakes they made. Don’t blame [me] for what I have become. It’s an ideological clash against the values in the other songs, arguing that anyone can be tempted to become evil. It’s deeper than anything in the game, but it’s shockingly good considering its source material.

That does it for the main series themes, but there’s a few others on here- a couple tracks for the racing games, an oddly placed cover of Fire Woman, and a too-slow ballad-sounding original song called Is It You. However, I think I’ve gone on long enough, and I’ve discussed everything I wanted to: how the songs showcased on this album elevate the messages given in the games.

Ultimately, all these songs are mirrors of the game they’re in, for better or worse. For that, I have to applaud the band’s versatility- even if most of the songs are the same genre, they cover a wide range of moods and messages depending on what the game demands. They can write a kick-ass guide to getting over failure or a fun little romp to introduce a game. Even divorced from their source material, many of the songs stand well on their own, and there’s a very good reason why fans of the franchise want Crush 40 to return for future installments.

Videos cited:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJYxYzxFyZw Peppa Pig - Caddicarus (warning: weird shit)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JWYDUYqhlc&list=PL5F29F0909BF08B56&index=15 - Best of Crush 40 Playlist

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voI-9TdS0Jw - Seven Rings in Hand (Crush 40 Ver)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HrOjyltyEM - With Me (Massive Power Mix)

[popwasabi]

Top 5: Jazz, Taiko Drums, and Hurdy Gurdies. My Favorite TV Intros.

It was not long ago when most streaming sites began offering a “skip intro” option for TV show content. Hell, it seemed some intros to the Netflix, Hulu and Prime content began intentionally making their original openers short and sweet so that viewers could get all the info they needed as quickly as possible.

These were welcome changes for most binge watchers who sometimes watch entire seasons of their favorite shows within a day’s time not wanting to waste time on seeing the same names on the opening credits over and over again.

(Yes, God damn it! I’m a slave to the stream!!)

Though this has been convenient for myself more than a few times I for one enjoy the artistic quality of a good TV show opener. It’s part music video, part amalgamation of everything stylistically and tonally you need to know about a series and a truly great opener can hook a fan to a show for life.

There are many shows, no matter how many times I watch them, I’ll never skip the intro too because they sum up everything I love about the series in a single 30 second to minute and a half long video and hey some of those songs really do “slap” as the kids say.

So, let’s talk a little bit about some of my favorite intros and why I love them so much in this week’s top 5.

Note: This isn’t just a discussion of the music used but the opening credits and imagery used to accompany it.

5. Cowboy Bebop

There’s a long list of truly great anime openers out there from the Karaoke-friendly J-pop tunes of “Neon Genesis Evangelion’s” “Cruel Angel’s Thesis” to the classic 80s vibes of Akira Toriyama’s “Dragon Ball” and “Dragon Ball Z.” But only one anime is going to make the cut for this list and that’s “Tank!” from the 90s classic “Cowboy Bebop.” It’s truly unique in the anime landscape as its one of the few that features Jazz and an opening that doesn’t overly rely on the tropes of more traditional anime drawing its influence instead from 60s and 70s spy movies and aesthetics. Fans of “Archer” will likely notice similar motifs in that shows own opening and Bebop’s “Tank!” is all about exuding this “cool” vibe of its show’s primary characters the fun and often dangerous missions they get involved in. It’s a hip, unique take that stands out distinctly in its genre and a truly un-skippable tune during a binge watch.

 4. Star Trek: The Next Generation

I think the first time I truly fell in love with a TV opener was watching the show I gained my namesake from.

Yes, I’m named after Wesley Crusher.

I know, I know.

Anyways, there’s something special about this intro and it’s not just its nostalgia or classic Star Trek vibes but the hopeful adventurousness of the music’s tone. “Star Trek” has always been about an optimist’s view of the future, a world where people of multiple creeds, backgrounds, races, species in this case come together not to fight but to explore the furthest reaches of the cosmos.

The music always got me in the mood to watch Captain Picard, Data, and Riker to go do there thing whether it was as banal as negotiating a dispute in the neutral zone, fun and often weird times on the holodeck, or taking on the dreaded borg. The music accompanied by the venerable Patrick Stewart’s brilliant voiceover and the sprawling, albeit dated, graphics of space helped make TNG iconic and I’ll never consider skipping it on a binge watch.

 3. Penny Dreadful

Though it’s later seasons never held up nearly as well as its first I became instantly hooked on Showtime’s “Penny Dreadful” largely because of Abel Korseniowski’s brilliant score, particularly the intro he wrote for the show.

Korseniowski’s use of classical and gothic tunes helped bring viewers back to horror’s more Victorian roots in the best of ways with an opener that felt touching, somber, emotional and chilling all at once. The images splashing across the screen of various classic monsters, arachnids, and ghouls as the haunting soundtrack played immediately drew me into the story in the same way the young Dr. Frankenstein in the show could not look away from the horrors uncovered in the narrative. It perfectly captures the ghoulish, dramatic charm of the show and though its later storylines don’t hold up as well it’s another intro that is undeniably un-skippable.

 2. Battlestar Galactica (2004-2009)

Bear McCreary is probably my favorite composer of all-time and his work on the Battlestar Galactica reboot is a big reason why.

Though he wasn’t the initial composer on the two-episode mini-series in 2003, the themes, motifs and tones he took from Richard Gibbs work he quickly made his own and created a unique outlier in the science fiction music landscape that has defined his style ever since. The opener is a big reason why his work resonates so much with me because it captures much of the these unique tones and styles not just of the music but of the series’ story itself.

It begins slow like the opening crawl to a great mythical odydessy and tale of survival as we see the last days of civilization play out across the screen. As spaceships begin to caravan across the screen we get a sense of the desperation of the story’s heroes and the stakes they are up against and as it begins to close that’s when the percussion goes into full gear. The use of taiko drums in the soundtrack is brilliant and none more so than this opener as its speeds through frenetically the events of the episode giving us only passing glimpses of the action that is about to take place. It might feel like a spoiler for the narrative but it gave each episode that extra jolt before stepping back into the story and I enjoyed it every single time.

 1. Black Sails

I knew I was going to love “Black Sails” the minute the opening credits began.

The scratchy, aggravating yet hypnotic tunes of the hurdy gurdy playing over the creepy, blackness of the ocean gave the series an immediate dark and unique tone I wasn’t immediately expecting when I began watching the series. I had heard bits and pieces about the show’s plot; a sort of prequel to “Treasure Island” and an edgier take on the prototypical Pirate story is all I knew about it going in but the opener lets you know pretty much immediately this isn’t your typical tale of swashbuckling buccaneers. Like a twisted sea shanty mixed together with a pirate themed rock bank, “Black Sails” intro is dare I say a banger that has you howling along to the righteous vocals of music in the most epic of ways.

But the music truly captures the tone and theme of the story in more subtle ways as well. Like an itch you can’t scratch the music tell it’s viewer and listener of a rage lingering deep beneath the surface of the waves of its main characters, one that’s barely being contained as the music hits these powerful offbeat notes between the electric guitar play and the offkey piano drops. As the series progresses you begin to understand more who and what it’s describing it makes the series that much more memorable.

It didn’t surprise me in the least that Bear McCreary was the man behind the brilliance of this piece and it makes each episodes’ opening a must watch.

 So, what are your favorite intros? What music paired with a unique and captivating opening title crawl captured your imagination and emotions the most? Let’s hear it!

Me in my car to any of these songs. All the time...

[paulisweeabootrash]

Pokémon 2.B.A. Master

I stumbled across a piece of weeb trash media I had heard of, but neither attempted nor expected to find.  And it’s a bit different.  Today, my friends, we are not doing an anime or manga, or even another novel.  We’re doing a tie-in music album, a American blatant cash-grab based on a Japanese franchise.  Oh no.  Oh yes.

Pokémon 2.B.A. Master (1999)

As a young weeblet, I was a regular watcher of the first two arcs of Pokémon (Kanto and Johto).  It was in both weekday and weekend timeslots, and never seemed to be broadcast in any sensible order, but I nonetheless watched it frequently and enjoyed it no matter how many times WB decided to rerun episodes I’d already seen.  At some point, this CD came out, and I remember seeing ads for it when it was new.  There were even televised music videos for a few of the songs, broadcast as a segment called “Pikachu’s Jukebox”. I never saw a copy of the album in person, and never expected to. Maybe it was one of those that you had to order by calling some number?  I don't remember (or, frankly, care enough to look it up).  Anyway, I recently encountered this in the small music section of a used book store, and I figured "why not?"  And the obvious answer is "most of the contents".

The cover, in addition to using proud and unironic Comic Sans for the subtitle "2.B.A. Master", boasts that the album contains both "Music From The Hit TV Series" and "10 Brand New Songs!"  The former refers obviously to the main theme of the show and every child's favorite mnemonic device, the PokéRap (or “PokéRAP” as it’s spelled for some reason?), but I'm not sure what the third song from the show is.  And again, I don’t care enough to look it up.  The important thing is, John Loeffler wrote all of them, and apparently an absurd number of other Pokémon-related songs.  The "Brand New Songs!" here are mostly new to me, and they’re... a doozy.  Except for the songs from the show, plus “Double Trouble” and maybe “Misty’s Song” if I want to be very generous, I am tempted to suggest you could get a similar musical experience in a shorter time by putting on an episode of Pokémon, playing a mix of Milli Vanilli and Boyz II Men songs over it, and banging your head against a wall.

1. Pokémon Theme

We begin with the extended version of the classic theme, this is a sure dose of nostalgia for anyone who watched the show.  It sounds, considering the release date, a little outdated — I get kind of a "Beat It" vibe, not from the melody, but from the instrumentation, combining 80s-gated drums and searing electric guitar.  But the theme, already one of the few TV themes out there I find enjoyable and not instantly forgettable, extends to a full length surprisingly well, avoiding getting boring or devolving into complete idiocy with lyrics.  I actually like this song as a song, and you can’t convince me otherwise.

2. 2B A Master

The instrumentation in this track is absurdly 90s, and again kind of Michael Jackson-y, but is interesting and varied, especially in the sudden attention-grabbing rhythmic change accompanying the line "the greatest master of Pokémon".  It shows better restraint in its use of things like record scratch noises and basslines running parallel to vocal lines that I find get really old really quickly.  I actually, on the whole, enjoy this song and think the music could have been the basis for something great.  “Could have” being the keyword.  Lest you think I'm going to give a rosy, loving review of this album, no, it quickly gets bad.  Some of the lyrics feel like such forced attempts to get Pokémon references in that I am embarrassed on behalf of the people stuck singing and rapping them, 20 years later.  It’s a waste of what could’ve been a fun funky song.  (Incidentally, why is the title of the song punctuated differently from the title of the album?)

3. Viridian City

The slide downhill continues.  What the hell is this song?  The lyrics are only marginally less stupid than the previous track, the music sounds like a keyboard "dance" preset, and it has a weird rapped/spoken "echoing" of sung lines it’s incredibly hard to imagine anyone ever liked.  Ugh.

4. What Kind of Pokémon Are You?

Third time's the charm, I guess?  After the previous two tracks tried and failed to force Pokémon-related lyrics that just don't work, this one at least manages to fire off a series of type-related puns.  The music, however, turns back towards gratingly boring (and for some reason, the bridge comes thisclose to ripping off "Eye of the Tiger"?).  Actually, no, hahaha, the lyrics remain very stupid, I think I'm just getting "ground down by a Marowak" by how bad the preceding tracks were.

5. My Best Friends

The parts move in unison too closely for my tastes, the lyrics are bland, the vocal arrangement makes it sound downright inappropriately dramatic, and what’s up with the bridge that veers off into doo-wop?  The main thing this song has going for it is the vaguely pleasant piano part in the verses, which really appeals to me (it sounds familiar, although I can’t place what specifically it reminds me of).  The melody of the chorus sounds even more familiar — so familiar in fact I'm starting to wonder if it's a copyright-violation-skirting ripoff of something famous. But otherwise, this is a solid “meh”, sounding like a boy band song that would only briefly have made the charts.

6. Everything Changes

And now we're back to impressions of Michael Jackson.  This one's instrumentation and mood and even bits of the melody are so him that I could almost believe you if you told me this was an outtake that didn't make it onto Bad. (Although the singer sounds less like Jackson the longer the song goes on.) The lyrics, although vaguely applicable to everything, are a welcome change from the previous few tracks by not feeling like Pokémon has been painfully shoehorned in... up until the part where a clip from the show plays during a break between choruses.  Ugh.  Could you really not come up with a better way to make this into a distinctly Pokémon song?

7. The Time Has Come (Pikachu's Goodbye)

Yuck.  The sentimental ballad (I want to call it a “power ballad”, but I’m unsure what exactly counts as one), as a general rule, is a fire hose full of melodrama best used for comedy.  I don't understand how songs like this have ever been taken seriously.  I would expect to hear this as the ending theme to a movie that tries to be a tragedy but can’t quite pull it off.

8. Pokémon (Dance Mix)

I assumed from the title that this was a remix of the theme song, but instead, it's just sort of a filler track...  It makes almost no impression on me at all, although I do enjoy the intro’s use of "backward-sounding" and morphing synths.  Otherwise, this is another track that sounds like it uses keyboard preset backgrounds.

9. Double Trouble (Team Rocket)

Okay, look, I can’t rate this one fairly.  The longest-running fandom-related internal conflict of my life has been whether I'd rather be James or have James as mai hasubando, and I love Team Rocket in general as comedy relief villains.  I used to enthusiastically perform their ridiculous introductory speech with a friend from band camp (I am even more of a geek than you thought).  This song actually bothers to be more specific in terms of its Pokémon subject matter, meaning this is finally a song about Pokémon rather than just a generic pop song with Pokémon flavor, and it uniquely is performed by voice actors from the show, namely those who played Jesse, James, Meowth, and Giovanni.  It really grates on me when the VAs talk over the singers, but unlike some of the other songs, it feels like it builds up and goes somewhere.  We have at least broken free from the boringness of the last few tracks, with almost industrial percussion and chromatic and sometimes dissonant bass and synth lines that really make it a solid villain song, even though it has a hokey “rap written by people who haven’t actually listened to any rap” feel.  And James’s absolutely ludicrous laugh will absolutely alienate who isn’t already a fan of the character, and most people who are, too.

10. Together Forever

The “disappointing imitation of Michael Jackson” theme returns, this time mostly in the voice.  It especially pops out at me with the pronunciation of "friend" as "fraynnnndah!".  Unfortunately, rather than trying to imitate Jackson’s songwriting again, this song seems to want to rip off Stock Aitken Waterman.  And it succeeds at that, too well, as it somehow manages to outcompete a song those writers wrote for Rick Astley to be the worst song with this title.  Also returning here: the use of clips from the show to clumsily force an otherwise generic song to be Pokémon-related.  Hooray.

11. Misty's Song

Huh.  Now this one is interesting.  Buried deep in the album, we get something from a character POV that doesn’t just set trivia or quotes from the show to music.  Yvette Laboy does a believable job filling in as the singing counterpart for Rachel Lillis's speaking voice for Misty, and I just don't find it nearly as ridiculous as the other ballads on the album, for some reason. It even portrays a tsundere as insecure rather than just an obnoxious walking trope!  Sure, it's not great, but it's not bad either, especially after the other attempted ballads on here.  Until you remember that it's a 14-year-old singing a love song to a 10-year-old, which... ick.  It could've been sweet if put in the mouth of another character with a more age-appropriate relationship. Anyone want to rerecord this as “Kaname's Song” or something?

12. PokéRAP

Oh, educational rap.  Why?  It’s just unbearably cheesy and doesn’t seem to have had much thought put into it, as a general rule.  And this song is no exception.  Sure, I guess it has value as a mnemonic exercise (and it does a decent job of that, as anyone who still has large chunks of it memorized can tell you), but no value as music.  It often doesn’t even come close to rhyming where you’d expect it to, and it's obvious that Loeffler et al weren't sure what to do with a few of the names at all — Grimer and Chansey have egregious pauses after them, for example, and Omastar is stretched across space enough for two or three names for no good reason.  It is broken into convenient-sized stanzas that are only somewhat awkwardly forced into the established meter, but that meter has a too-regular feel, bouncing like a musical Superball, that even I, someone with no particular knowledge of nor interest in rap, recognize as being cheesier than Vanilla Ice.  It also hasn’t aged well.  The sung parts have absolutely no dynamic range and stay at MAXIMUM DRAMA LEVEL at all times.  Over the past 20 years, the lyrics have also become obsolete due to the many additional generations of Pokémon media and consequently much longer list of Pokémon to memorize.  Those topics have been covered in excruciating detail by Brian David Gilbert, who is much cleverer than I am, and yes, I do highly recommend sitting through that entire half-hour video.  All I can really add to that is, it's considerably less annoying than certain other mnemonic songs I was exposed to growing up. A bad song, unless you’re viewing it through sheer unfiltered silliness?  Yes.  A surprisingly catchy song that was a good marketing move?  Also yes.  And 20+ years later, I still can't avoid laughing at the way he says "Wartortle".

13. You Can Do It (If You Really Try)

The album could've gone out on that upbeat note, but no, they had to go for another overblown ballad, this time trying far too hard to be inspirational.  The plus side is, it's not yet another generic 80s/90s pop song.  The minus side is, it sounds like something that would be playing on the PA in a church thrift store.  Or a fake ad on an episode of SNL.  I do not feel empowered by this level of unironic encouragement.  I just feel like my eyes are rolling so hard they'll fall out.  Its only saving grace is that it’s somehow not the most irritating inspirational ballad from the late 90s that was used in connection with a geek-magnet TV show.

Overall... Although I want to describe the music as being "generic" — and it is full of the tiredest parts of 80s and 90s music, wandering from orchestra hits to record scratch noises to cutesy synthesizer "dings" to what seem to be several different singers' bad Michael Jackson impressions — some of it is actually interesting!  See, no matter what impression you got from what I said above, I don’t categorically hate this style of music.  I made multiple comparisons to songs from Thriller and Bad because I think most of the songs on those albums are examples of how to do this genre very well.  But 2.B.A. Master doesn’t just lag because I’m comparing it to widely-beloved albums.  Writing this review actually sent me introspecting for quite a while about what music I enjoy and why.  And I realized, many of the cheesiest and most flawed aspects of this album are also present on less-acclaimed albums I enjoy very much, like the niche The Golden Age of Wireless by Thomas Dolby and the virtually-unknown Playgrounds ‘n’ Glass by Urban Blight.  But, while Dolby’s music often has the same cheesy synthesizer voices and lack of dynamics or has weirdly melodramatic moments, it’s also often clearly experimenting with particular effects and techniques, and his lyrics have evocative images or stories that make the songs really engaging.  And, while Urban Blight’s lyrics are often cliche-ridden or downright idiotic, the 80s/90s pop music instrumentation and style elements are varied and used with... for lack of a better term, more discretion, I guess?, which makes me feel like their songs are building to something musically.  Well, except the song “Favorite Flavor”, which is just garbage.

The point is, while neither of those examples is a great album (at least not to my taste, which I freely admit colors this), they are both still good.  Unfortunately, while some songs on 2.B.A. Master approach goodness, they are the exception, not the rule.  Most of the music is simple and predictable and seem to use the more grating tropes of the time like orchestra hits and record-scratch noises just because they can, and most of the lyrics are less "song about Pokémon" and more "attempts at being vaguely inspirational with Pokémon references forced in uncomfortably".  Some of the songs are enjoyable in a "this was an earnest attempt” and/or guilty pleasure sort of way (and I unironically like the B-52s, so believe me, I know "this was an earnest attempt” and/or guilty pleasure music), but there’s very little on here I’d actually call good.  The best track here musically, “2B A Master”, is wasted on blah lyrics, and the one that most accomplishes the goal of being a song about Pokémon, “Double Trouble”, suffers greatly from its speaking-over-the-singers vocal performance.  All I can say is, I’m glad I got this album used.

-----

W/A/S Scores: 3/0/7

Weeb: The lyrics require some prior specific knowledge of the Pokémon anime to not be completely baffling, but Pokémon is probably the most well-known and well-entrenched Japanese franchise on this side of the Pacific, and other than that, it’s decidedly American, or at least decidedly within the musical cultures of Western Europe and the Anglosphere.

Ass: No.

Shit: AAAAAAAAH.  Okay, okay, no, seriously, there are a few good points, but it’s at best average-quality 90s pop with a veneer of Pokémon over the top.

-----

Oh Weird: While writing this and hunting down appropriate links, I was surprised to see how many uploads of, and even covers of, songs from this album there are on Youtube.  I assumed this album was a more or less forgotten piece of bad 90s media, but apparently it’s one with a significant fanbase.

Oh Cool: Maddie Blaustein, the original English-language voice actress for Meowth was also a comic editor and writer for both Marvel and DC and the Creative Director for the Weekly World News. Oh, and she was intersex and, according to one of the sources cited by the Wikipedia article, bi.

Oh No: Educational rap is still a thing, and there are resources to make your own.

[dweemeister]

My alternative 90th Academy Awards

So here’s another annual tradition... my alternative Oscars ceremony. This is what this Sunday’s Oscars would look like if I – and I alone – stuffed the ballots and decided on all of the nominations and winners. Non-English language films are accompanied by their nation of origin (in FIFA three-letter code).

90th Academy Awards – March 4, 2018 Dolby Theatre – Hollywood, Los Angeles, California Host: Jimmy Kimmel Broadcaster: ABC

Best Picture: LADY BIRD

The Breadwinner, Anthony Leo, Tomm Moore, Andrew Rosen, and Paul Young (Cartoon Saloon/GKIDS)

Call Me by Your Name, Peter Spears, Luca Guadagnino, Emilie Georges, Rodrigo Teixeira, Marco Morabito, James Ivory, and Howard Rosenman (Sony Pictures Classics)

Coco, Darla K. Anderson (Pixar/Walt Disney)

Dunkirk, Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan (Warner Bros.)

Faces Places (FRA), Rosalie Varda (Le Pacte/Cohen Media Group)

The Florida Project, Sean Baker, Chris Bergoch, Kevin Chinoy, Andrew Duncan, Alex Saks, Francesca Silvestri, and Shih-Ching Tsou (A24)

Lady Bird, Scott Rudin, Eli Bush, and Evelyn O’Neil (A24)

Phantom Thread, Paul Thomas Anderson, Megan Ellison, JoAnne Sellar, and Daniel Lupi, (Focus/Universal)

The Post, Steven Spielberg, Kristie Macosko Krieger, and Amy Pascal (20th Century Fox)

The Shape of Water, Guillermo del Toro and J. Miles Dale (Fox Searchlight Pictures)

Out of the running in real life are Darkest Hour, Three Billboards, and Get Out. And taking the maximum of ten spots, in their place enter The Breadwinner, Coco, Faces Places, The Florida Project. That’s two animated movies, a documentary, and a neglected critical darling... come at me? I was lukewarm over Darkest Hour, pissed off over Three Billboards, and I honestly don’t think Get Out is as effective a horror movie or a commentary on racial relations that it wants to be.

Lady Bird would be my winner, with Phantom Thread your runner-up and either Faces Places or The Shape of Water as your third spot. For Lady Bird, it would be harder to find a movie with as much empathy as it this calendar year. Maybe not the most technically gifted filmmaking of the nominees, but it accomplishes its conceit with an open ear and an open heart. Bravo.

I noticed that I don’t have time to write on all the Best Picture nominees anymore, like in years past. I only got to Dunkirk and The Post  – both of which are on the outside looking in.

Best Director

Guillermo del Toro, The Shape of Water

Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird

Christopher Nolan, Dunkirk

Dee Rees, Mudbound

Agnès Varda and JR, Faces Places

CONTROVERSY. Dee Rees nominated in Director, but Mudbound isn’t nominated for Picture! In all honesty, I couldn’t find the excuse to nudge Mudbound out for any of the nominees I placed above. But to focus on the positive, del Toro is going to make it three Mexican Best Director winners in the last four years... that is exhilarating. Nolan is my close second choice here, and falters a bit because I didn’t personally enjoy the structure of Dunkirk all that much.

Best Actor

Timothée Chalamet, Call Me by Your Name

Daniel Day-Lewis, Phantom Thread

Daniel Kaluuya, Get Out

Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour

Andy Serkis, War for the Planet of the Apes                               

No CMBYN fans, there will not be any justice for you on my blog either. Because the best performance of the year by an actor of a leading role was done in motion capture... it was Andy Serkis as Caesar in War for the Planet of the Apes. It’s been high time to honor Serkis in what is his best work – aside from his performances as Gollum – to date.

Best Actress

Ahn Seo-hyun, Okja

Sally Hawkins, The Shape of Water

Frances McDormand, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Saoirse Ronan, Lady Bird

Meryl Streep, The Post

The quieter performances aren’t going to win at this year’s Oscars. McDormand’s flashier performance in Three Billboards will overshadow Hawkins’ nuanced, silent performance in SoW. That’s wrong to me, as I think Hawkins does so much physically that is so taxing for any actor that would dare take a role like that. South Korean child actress Ahn Seo-hyun just sneaks in for Okja.

Best Supporting Actor

Willem Dafoe, The Florida Project

Woody Harrelson, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Richard Jenkins, The Shape of Water

Bob Odenkirk, The Post

Christopher Plummer, All the Money in the World

My least favorite acting category this year. So I’ll toss it to Dafoe for The Florida Project... who, on Sunday, is probably going to lose to a flashier performance in Sam Rockwell for Three Billboards (who shouldn’t have been nominated). Plummer and Odenkirk are in a close battle for second.

Best Supporting Actress

Mary J. Blige, Mudbound

Tiffany Haddish, Girls Trip

Allison Janney, I, Tonya

Lesley Manville, Phantom Thread

Laurie Metcalf, Lady Bird

This is Manville v. Metcalf for me. And for playing the deeply layered, deeply conflicted, tough-love mother in Lady Bird, this has to be Metcalf for me. It is ta transcendent supporting actress performance. And yes, I snuck Tiffany Haddish in here... because why not?

Best Adapted Screenplay

James Ivory, Call Me by Your Name

Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, The Disaster Artist

Scott Frank, James Mangold, and Michael Green, Logan

Dee Rees and Virgil Williams, Mudbound

Aaron Sorkin, Molly’s Game

If I ran the Oscars, the 89-year-old James Ivory wouldn’t have won an Oscar by now either. I hate to type that, but timing is a funny thing! Fate and time are funny things, aren’t they? This category isn’t close. Dee Rees makes history as the first nominated black woman in this category!

Best Original Screenplay

Paul Thomas Anderson, Phantom Thread

Sean Baker and Chris Bergoch, The Florida Project

Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird

Liz Hannah and Josh Singer, The Post

Jordan Peele, Get Out

I’ve already commented how much I think Get Out is more flawed a movie than most believe. This comes down to Anderson and Gerwig for me... and my Best Picture winner, I think, is blessed with the screenplay of the year for capturing a time, a place, and its characters at a certain point in their lives so wonderfully.

Best Animated Feature

The Breadwinner (Cartoon Saloon/GKIDS)

Coco (Pixar/Walt Disney)

The Girl Without Hands, France (Shellac/GKIDS)

Loving Vincent (Next Film/Good Deed Entertainment)

Mary and the Witch’s Flower, Japan (Studio Ponoc/GKIDS)

SHOCKER. For me, I was considering a tie in this category (which has happened six times in Academy Awards history... so I guess I have to save it for once every fifteen ceremonies or something) between Breadwinner (write-up) and Coco (write-up). This would be Cartoon Saloon’s first win in my alternate universe... in that same alternative universe for 2009, The Secret of Kells would’ve lost to Up; for 2014, Song of the Sea would’ve lost to eventual Best Picture winner The Tale of the Princess Kaguya.

Coco fans, don’t despair though. Keep reading... because your movie isn’t going home empty-handed.

I totally disrespected Ferdinand and Boss Baby didn’t I?

Best Documentary Feature

Abacus: Small Enough to Jail (Kartemquin Films/Public Broadcasting Service)

Faces Places, France (Le Pacte/Cohen Media Group)

Jane (National Geographic)

LA92 (National Geographic)

Last Men in Aleppo (Aleppo Media Center/Larm Film/Grasshopper Film)

I don’t think this would be Agnès Varda’s first Oscar in my alternative universe? I’ll get to doing the 1960s someday. :P

Best Foreign Language Film

Faces Places, France

The Insult, Lebanon

Loveless, Russia

Mary and the Witch’s Flower, Japan

The Square, Sweden

Best Cinematography

Roger Deakins, Blade Runner 2049

Janusz Kaminski, The Post

Rachel Morrison, Mudbound

Jonathan Ricquebourg, The Death of Louis XIV (FRA)

Hoyte Van Hoytema, Dunkirk

Morrison makes history by being the first female nominee in this category and as its first winner. Sorry Roger Deakins! You probably would’ve won earlier in my alternative universe anyways.

Best Film Editing

Michael Kahn, The Post

Paul Machliss and Jonathan Amos, Baby Driver

Gregory Plotkin, Get Out

Lee Smith, Dunkirk

Sidney Wolinsky, The Shape of Water

Best Original Musical*

M.M. Keeravani, Baahubali 2: The Conclusion

Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Coco

Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, The Greatest Showman

*NOTE: Best Original Musical – known previously as several other names – exists in the Academy’s rulebooks, but requires activation from the music branch given that there are enough eligible films. To qualify, a film must have no fewer than five original songs. This category was last activated when Prince won for Purple Rain (1984).

You know, this might change some day if I sit down and watch Baahubali 2. I’ve listened to the soundtrack, but I haven’t seen the songs in context. Sorry Indian cinema fans! Coco fans must be getting mighty mad at me for now... but Coco’s musical score – outside of two original songs (“Remember Me” and “Proud Corazón”) and one non-original song (“La Llorana”) – isn’t the best out of context. The Greatest Showman – I think Pasek and Paul are far better lyricists than they are composers (and yes, that’s a problem) – has songs that do very well in and out of context, and takes the win in this category.

Best Original Score

Alexandre Desplat, The Shape of Water

Alexandre Desplat, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets

Michael Giacchino, War for the Planet of the Apes

John Williams, The Post

John Williams, Star Wars: The Last Jedi

It really comes down to Valerian, Apes, and Jedi. And in this titanic battle over science fiction and space opera, it is Desplat for the much-maligned Valerian taking the Oscar home. The score combines seamlessly enormous orchestral and electronic elements to a degree that I haven’t heard from Desplat yet. It barely edges Williams for The Last Jedi... which benefits from some of Williams’ best action scoring in years and a repackaging of older themes in ways showing off the dexterity of the maestro. Giacchino is third, with Desplat for SoW in fourth, and The Post in fifth. Jonny Greenwood for Phantom Thread is the first man out.

Best Original Song

“Mighty River”, music by Raphael Saadiq; lyrics by Mary J. Blige, Saadiq, and Taura Stinson, Mudbound

“A Million Dreams”, music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, The Greatest Showman

“Mystery of Love”, music and lyrics by Sufjan Stevens, Call Me by Your Name

“Remember Me (Recuérdame)”, music and lyrics by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, Coco

“This Is Me”, music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, The Greatest Showman

Also proudly the winner of the 2017 Movie Odyssey Award for Best Original Song (some of you know what that means), “Remember Me (Recuérdame)” has everything you want – interesting musicality (even though I still think that descending line, which begins with “For ever if I’m far away / I hold you in my heart” sounds far more like something Randy Newman would compose than something distinctly Mexican) meaningful lyrics, layers of meaning within the movie it comes from, and a life of its own when separated from that movie.

Showstopper “This Is Me” comes a distant second, with the others in a scrum for crumbs. I really like “A Million Dreams”, though. My sister will take me to task over how much I enjoyed The Greatest Showman’s soundtrack (which I enjoyed despite finding it musically uninteresting).

Best Costume Design

Jacqueline Durran, Beauty and the Beast

Jen Wasson, The Beguiled

Nina Avramovic, The Death of Louis XIV

Mark Bridges, Phantom Thread

Luis Sequeira, The Shape of Water

Best Makeup & Hairstyling

Kazuhiro Tsuji, David Malinowski, and Lucy Sibbick, Darkest Hour

John Blake and Camille Friend, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

Neal Scanlan and Peter King, Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Thi Thanh Tu Nguyen and Félix Puget, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets

Arjen Tuiten, Wonder

Best Production Design

Dennis Gassner and Alessandra Querzola, Blade Runner 2049

Jim Clay and Rebecca Alleway, Murder on the Orient Express

Paul Denham Austerberry, Shane Vieau, and Jeff Melvin, The Shape of Water

Hugues Tissandier, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets

Aline Bonetto and Dominic Hyman, Wonder Woman

Best Sound Editing

Mark Mangini and Theo Green, Blade Runner 2049

Richard King and Alex Gibson, Dunkirk

Al Nelson and Steve Slanec, Kong: Skull Island

Matthew Wood and Ren Klyce, Star Wars: The Last Jedi

James Mather, Wonder Woman

Best Sound Mixing

Julian Slater, Tim Cavagin, and Mary H. Ellis, Baby Driver

Ron Bartlett, Doug Hemphill, and Mac Ruth, Blade Runner 2049

Mark Weingarten, Gregg Landaker, and Gary A. Rizzo, Dunkirk

Christian Cooke, Brad Zoern, and Glen Gauthier, The Shape of Water

David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce, and Stuart Wilson, Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Best Visual Effects

John Nelson, Gerd Nefzer, Paul Lambert, and Richard R. Hoover, Blade Runner 2049

Scott Fisher and Andrew Jackson, Dunkirk

Ben Morris, Mike Mulholland, Neal Scanlan, and Chris Corbould, Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Scott Stokdyk and Jérome Lionard, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets

Joe Letteri, Daniel Barrett, Dan Lemmon, and Joel Whist, War for the Planet of the Apes

Best Documentary Short

Edith+Eddie (Kartemquin Films)

Heaven Is a Traffic Jam on the 405 (Frank Stiefel)

Heroine(e) (Requisite Media/Netflix)

Knife Skills (Thomas Lennon Films)

Traffic Stop (Q-Ball Productions/HBO Films)

My omnibus review of this year’s nominees can be read here.

Best Live Action Short

DeKalb Elementary (Reed Van Dyk)

The Eleven O’Clock (FINCH)

My Nephew Emmett (Kevin Wilson, Jr.)

The Silent Child (Slick Films)

Watu Wote: All of Us, Germany/Kenya (Ginger Ink Films/Hamburg Media School)

My omnibus review of this year’s nominees can be read here.

Best Animated Short

Dear Basketball (Glen Keane Productions)

In a Heartbeat (Ringling College of Art and Design)

Lou (Pixar/Walt Disney)

Revolting Rhymes (Magic Light Pictures/Triggerfish Animation Studios/BBC)

World of Tomorrow Episode Two: The Burden of Other People’s Thoughts (Bitter Films)

My omnibus review of this year’s nominees can be read here. I took out Negative Space and Garden Party for my winner In a Heartbeat and World of Tomorrow Episode Two. If you haven’t seen In a Heartbeat yet... first, where the hell have you been? Under a rock? Here’s the link.

Academy Honorary Awards: Agnès Varda, Charles Burnett, Donald Sutherland, and Owen Roizman

Special Achievement Academy Award: Alejandro González Iñárritu, Flesh and Sand

MULTIPLE NOMINEES (22) Nine: The Shape of Water Seven: Dunkirk; The Post Six: Phantom Thread Five: Blade Runner 2049; Lady Bird; Mudbound; Star Wars: The Last Jedi Four: Call Me by Your Name; Coco; Faces Places; Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets Three: The Florida Project; Get Out; The Greatest Showman; War for the Planet of the Apes Two: Baby Driver; The Breadwinner; Darkest Hour; The Death of Louis XIV; Mary and the Witch’s Flower; Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri; Wonder Woman

WINNERS 4 wins: The Shape of Water 3 wins: Lady Bird 2 wins: Dunkirk; Faces Places; Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets; War for the Planet of the Apes 1 win: The Breadwinner; Call Me by Your Name; Coco; DeKalb Elementary; The Florida Project; The Greatest Showman; In a Heartbeat; Knife Skills; Mudbound; Phantom Thread

16 winners from 25 categories. 45 feature-length films and 15 short films were represented.

Questions? Comments? Personal attacks? Fire away!

[recentanimenews]

The One Aspect Of Digimon: The Movie That Will Never Be Outdone

  When it comes to awarding the best movie soundtrack of all time, I must divide it into two categories: The best soundtrack for a live action film and the best one for an animated film. Obviously, the winner on the live action side is Batman Forever, which featured Seel's "Kiss from a Rose," U2's "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me," and Method Man's "The Riddler." That's right, we're blessed to live in a unverse where a prominent member of Wu-Tang Clan did a song about a spandex-wearing Jim Carrey villain. It'd be like if Tyler, The Creator did a song about collecting Infinity Stones.

  And on the animated side, beating out Phil Collins' crooning on the Tarzan soundtrack is the album Music from the Motion Picture Digimon: The Movie. The edited collection of Digimon Adventure, Digimon Adventure: Children's War Game, Digimon Adventure 02: Digimon Hurricane Landing!!/Transcendent Evolution!! The Golden Digimentals is not only a ridiculously fun movie with beautiful, expert direction by Mamoru Hosoda (also famous for directing Summer Wars and One Piece: Baron Omatsuri and the Secret Island), but its accompanying soundtrack is a wonder to behold. 

    It opens with the "Digi Rap," by MC Pea Pod and the writer of the original English theme of Digimon, the late Paul Gordon. This song is a little goofy and hails from a time period where, in a desperate scramble to figure out how to market anime to an American audience, producers decided that hip hop was the obvious answer. But I dig it. If by some chance I'm watching a dub of Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna and out of nowhere the Digimon Adventure theme suddenly features a Pitbull verse, I won't complain. "Real booty on a digital girl/From Miami to the Digital World, dale'." I'm just spitballing here. 

  But then, in the next spot, we hit "All Star," a song that might as well replace the National Anthem. Hold your hand over your heart and show some respect to Smash Mouth. Really, is there a song that's invaded the pop culture consciousness of the world like "All Star"? I could have been in a coma for the last thirty years, Rip Van Winkle style, and as soon as "SOMEBODY ONCE TOLD ME..." flares up, I'd immediately know how to sing along. 

    Next we have the king of high school movie montages, "The Rockafeller Skank" by Fatboy Slim. Those of you who didn't get to experience the late 90s/early 00s might not know this, but this song was inescapable. It was in the trailers for Office Space and Osmosis Jones, an episode of Friends, American Pie, and it even got a choreographed prom dance in She's All That. So it showing up in the soundtrack for Digimon: The Movie isn't even a creative choice. Fatboy Slim was gonna be on that soundtrack whether anyone made the decision to put him on it or not.

   Fourth on the soundtrack is Len's "Kids in America," which doesn't have the absolute 2020 meme power that something like "All Star" still possesses, but considering that the movie is about kids being rad and doing cool stuff, might be the most appropriate song for the album itself. 

  Paul Gordon's "Hey Digimon" is also on it, the song that shows up in Digimon Adventure whenever you know it's about to get real. Other movies and shows might go for some metal or heavy electronic music whenever a monster or main character is about to beat the crap out their enemy, but Digimon remained a true revolutionary and opted for, like, beach-ey Jack Johnson music. Man, this album is the best. Digimon is the best.

    "One Week" by the Barenaked Ladies doesn't really need an introduction as we all know it, all can sing the first few lines, and then just kinda mumble when Ed Robertson starts talking about Aquaman and Chalet Swiss. 

  Next is "The Impression That I Get" from The Mighty Mighty Bosstones and "All My Best Friends Are Metalheads" from Less Than Jake, with the former appearing in the movie Chasing Amy and the latter popping up in a Tony Hawk's Pro Skater game. Both of those honors were like winning a Nobel Peace Prize in the late 90s.

  Summercamp's "Nowhere Near" and Showoff's "Spill" aren't as well recognized as the songs that come before them on the album, but just manage to strengthen the album's appeal as half legitimate collection of incredible music and half time capsule for people that consider 1999 to be the height of human civilization.

    The rest of the album is great and has a lot of songs written specifically for Digimon, but I think my favorite one that shows up in the "hidden tracks" section after the roller coaster through rampant obvious nostalgia shows up is "Let's Kick It Up," which you may remember from the scene where Omnimon does its "Supreme Cannon" attack and everyone in the audience and around the world cheers because cinema will never improve from there.

  Anyway, the Digimon: The Movie soundtrack is incredible, and if you get the chance, listen to it before you file in to see Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna and cry for two hours.

  What's your favorite song on this album? Let me know in the comments!

  ---------------

  Daniel Dockery is a Senior Staff Writer for Crunchyroll. Follow him on Twitter!

  Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features!

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com

[crystalnet]

My TOP 5 Anime

Oh dear god. I was half way through this and my browser crashed. I don't know why I'm having to relearn that you should never EVER write from scratch in Tumblr's text editor but so be it. My mistake. Fuck. That really hurts... Anyway~

So yeah this will be the first in a series of Top 5 lists in the coming weeks including top consoles, games, music and possibly films and/or anime OPs. This is a really big deal and I just hope that I can pay the respect and due diligence that some of my favorite media of all time deserve. None of these are hidden gems, so I won't be alerting anyone to something they've never heard of necessarily, I'm simply taking pen in hand to pay homage to some of my all-time favorites.

1. Case Closed/Detective Conan

Until recently, during anytime in the past couple years, I would have told you NGE was far and away my favorite anime, hands down. But these, days I tend to especially value sheer watchability, and while this may sound a bit utilitarian, I think there's really something to be said for shows that feature self-contained episodes, that function individually outside of an extended arc, not beholden to the strained narrative structure that so many long-form TV shows suffer from. Indeed, this show perfects the 22-minute who-dun-it. And while they are just that: simple, contained who-dun-its, they are some of the most consistently enjoyable one's this Poirot fan has ever seen. After 130 episodes and tons of solid movies, this show just doesn't seem to get stale. Featuring my hands-down favorite English voice-acting cast this side of NGE and DBZ, the presentation is rounded out by way of pleasant and under-stated animation circa anime's visual peak in the mid-90s. 

The scripts meanwhile are always sharply funny, even hilarious sometimes, and at other times suitably spooky and dark when needed. The Conan/Jimmy dialectic is weirdly engaging, and Richard's severe alcoholism gives the series an at times madcap but slightly dark undercurrent that matches the grizzly nature of much of the murders. Even side characters like Inspector Mcguire and the Phantom Thief Kidd fill out the cast and keep things interesting. Oh and did I mention the music? Because it's incredible. One of the best soundtracks in an anime outside of something by Hirasawa, Hisaishi or early Kajiura. And beyond the jazzy soundtracking and super-creepy sound-design, the third opening is hands-down the best one I've ever heard/seen. With a keen eye for details one truth prevails and its that this song fucking rocks my world.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPi9lvDe6LY

2. NGE

It almost seems like I shouldn't even try to sing the praises of this widely accepted classic. That it's praises have so long been writ in stone that there is no point in trying to encapsulate what it does so well. But I will try anyway, and when I apporach this show, beyond the depth of the characters themselves, I am struck by their excellent visual designs, which are whistful and graceful, and I'm struck by how they seem to be at odds with the apocalyptic nature of the show. Indeed, much of this show is very bleak. Shinji's familiar relations are bleak. His emotional state is bleak. Tokyo 3's hope for survival is bleak and the planet's fate seems the bleakest and yet: There are moments of ephemeral satisfaction and even happiness to be had when you least expect it, in the form of evenings at Misato's, where the cheap beer is always flowing,  intrusive room-mates are abound, and hot, cheap meals are to be had, along with the company of a grumpy penguin. 

Indeed, Shinji finds a version of domestic stability in the apartment of Misato, and these moments of fleeting bliss are the heart and center of the show. If NGE teaches you anything, it's that if you ever find yourself in a similar situation, to cherish it and hold on to it for as long as possible because pretty soon the Fifth Child will show up, steal your heart, steal away to Terminal Dogma and attempt to trigger the Third Impact. We are blessed to have in a medium such as anime characters as uncomfortably human as Shinji, Asuka and Misato are. On script they leap off the page, and in the show proper, they are vibrant. There's some archetypical aspect to this show that makes it feel like it is adapted from some ancient national mythos in the way it depicts such universal themes, and yet it is also clearly a product of the 1990s, distinctly modern and yet transcendent of its context. We react to Shinji's realistic and lovingly portrayed emotional insecurity and self-doubt in the same way that readers have reacted to Homer's incredibly vulnerable portrayals of Achille's angst and hubris or Priam's desperation and humility for the sake of a slain prince for centuries. This is Humanity recognizing itself in an inanimate object, in this case an anime, and coming away from the experience feeling as though there was something substantial gleaned. Something deep and true. If these characters's relevance also end up lasting nearly 3,000 years as well,  I  really couldn't be surprised. So yeah, this one is legendary. 'Nuff said. Oh and also something about the buzzing of cicadas. That’s super important. 

3. Paranoia Agent

Oh Mr. Satoshi Kon. I feel for you a kinship that I imagine people may similarly feel for any fiercly individual creators like Isao, Hayao and Hideaki upon coming to know your animations. Indeed, I believe if animation can hope to do anything well specifically, it is in capturing human emotion, and the cerebral depth which actual humans possess in what are essentially simplistic, representative line-drawings, and Kon has that in spades. On a sheer visual level, Kon's work is the most immaculate I can imagine, with Paprika being comparable to Spirited Away on a technical level, and this show hints at the visual level he would be working on, while sporting an even stronger script in my mind. If NGE hinted at the psychological and emotional depths which could be found and expressed so effectively in anime, this show goes all the way in to the true deep-end. At the heart of it, is an actually somewhat straight-forward mystery, but things are obfuscated by unstable mental states and unreliable victims, all depicted wonderfully in the serene, nuanced style of Kons, which is wonderfully at odds with the subtly dark feeling of the show. As twisted as things get though, the show always come back to a very human place, and with everything punctuated by Hirasawa's fresh-as-hell OST, we have ourselves a serious keeper. 

I just can't over-state how much this guy's visual style does it for me. The color-palette especially just really pops and makes my eyes go all googly in the same way they do when I think of shots of Shinji looking plaintive infront of a solid blue sky's backdrop. The script itself might be the true gem though, despite all the visual excellence. This show has lots to say about things including identity, perception, and media, and functions in some ways as a treatise on memes-- not in an internet-y way but more of in the sense that things and ideas can spread and develop and take on a life of their own despite the intentions of their creator. It's really fascinating stuff, with a fractal-esque structure all organized around a certain grinning Little Slugger. It's fascinating to see all these initially loose-seeming ends get tied up so nicely despite how off-the-rails it sometimes gets all with in its relative short run of episodes. It's one to watch over and over, as getting to the center of this labyrinth is a joyful excercise indeed.

4. .Hack//SIGN

  Alright this is where I better brace myself to get written off by people who weren't turned off already by the inclusion of a detective shonen. The pessimistic take is that this is a long, boring show that takes a promising premise (to some) of being trapped in an MMO (about a decade before SAO) and features almost no action, existing mostly to accompany a string of largely repetitive Bandai-Namco action RPGS on the PS2 which themselves exist in order that some people might be suckered into buying all four volumes, procedurally-generated dungeons and all at approx. $200 US. The optimistic take though, is that this is one of the most atmospheric animes of all time thanks largely to an early OST from Yuki Kajiura before she got formulaic.

The show also sports excellent character designs which I think were very influential for other digitally drawn fantasy shows going forward. But where those shows become generic looking, this one has a pretty unique style, even if yes, scenes are largely consisting of conversations, plotting, waxing philosophical, and everything besides actual action. But the music! I don't know how Kajiura goes on to make so many lackluster OSTs later on (all that money) but here she shines brilliantly. The strings! The angelic vocal harmonies! I can't deny that this shows inclusion is largely due to the soundtrack. But beyond that, there are some interesting ideas to be found, including the central concept of a massively successful VR MMO game based on a fragmentary German epic poem in which people can become trapped in the game while in a coma-like state in real life, or the concept of sexual freedom of identity while on the net. For millenial kids who might be given to enjoying cyber-punk, I think this show is largely excellent, if yes a bit dry perhaps. But the overall atmosphere and feeling of the show is largely successful and  I think it excellently captures the actual feeling of playing a good MMO. Critics like Digibro will trash this show save for the soundtrack,  but I think the fact that this show fully encapsulates what it feels like to actually log into a game like Final Fantasy XI Online when your a kid makes an invaluable document of early 2000′s MMO culture. Limitless possibilities, mysteries abound, and `the absolving of the flesh and prior identity. A faint hint of danger and the unpaved crossroads. Those wide-open horizons are as fresh to me when I watch this show as they were when I was first getting my hands dirty exploring fantasy worlds online as a lad, and that's why there's no question about its placement on my list. 

And seriously, listen to this song and tell me that this isn’t from a top 5 anime.

 https://soundcloud.com/alexandr-valhala/01-yasashii-yoake-tv-size?in=alexandr-valhala/sets/hacksign-ost

5. FLCL

This one is a bit tricky. It's well-loved sure, and it's not too hard to tell why. It's off-the-walls sense of humour, playful animation and the fucking Pillows speak for themselves. But beyond that there's something deeper. And that deeper thing is simultaneously what makes me question if I should put it on this list at all while also being the thing that seals the deal. And that's the sheer attitude and feeling of this show. Which, yes is largely due to the Pillows. Again, I am no saint when it comes to ranking shows high based largely on the OST, but it's way more than that. It's a right-place, right-time kind of thing for sure, because if I hadn't seen this in its original US airing in the 6ths grade, it never would have hit me right. But at the time, it hit me harder than most shows. And even if it isn't something I can re-watch in the same was I can NGE or Paranoia Agent, its youthful energy and style are undeniable, and perfectly enshrined in its modest 6-episode run. Somethine about Naota is so damn relatable at that age. Because of this show I dreamt of growing up in a sleepy Japanese town, thinking about my professional baseball playing brother in the states, stressing about a lump on my head that might be a portal to an alien dimension, vespa-riding nymphomaniacs, and a dish-washing robot, among other things. In its short run time, this show packs a crazy amount of feels and light-hearted concepts. It takes slice-of-life and runs it through a mad-cap surrealist sci-fi cartoon filter. So while it's not something I can really sit through now-a-days, I will always be grateful for the way it made me feel so revved up and psyched when I was a kid. It gave me a new perspective in a weird way, at a time when I needed that, so thanks FLCL.

ok that’s that, shout-out to my 6-10 slots which I don’t feel like deciding the order of or writing about! Up next, consoles, games, OPs or albums?!

[recentanimenews]

Every Ending Theme in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Ranked!

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure has always been deeply tied to music, with many characters and Stand names being derived from various musicians, song titles, and bands, so it comes as no surprise that the ending and opening songs of JoJo’s need to be meticulously chosen and crafted to match the themes of the JoJo chapters they’re attached to. Danni already did a great job ranking the opening themes, and you can read about that over here  if you like, but today we’ll be looking at the various ending themes and trying to come up with the answer as to which one is the absolute best! Before we get into the individual songs and where they stand in the ranking, I wanted to discuss how I'm going to take a look at each one. I'll be ranking them based on suitability to their JoJo series, overall listenability, and their ability to evoke specific ideas and themes from the show itself.  

      Before we get started, I figured it’s only fair to give an honorable mention to the following songs: "Great Days UNITS" version, along with the "Akuyaku◇Concerto ~Oingo & Boingo~" and "Akuyaku◇Concerto ~Hol Horse & Boingo~" songs. "Great Days UNITS" was an amazing way to end the Diamond is Unbreakable part of the series, but since it is also the opening theme for the latter half of the series as well, it really doesn’t fit into a listing of only ending songs. The two Akuyaku Concerto songs are amazing and definitely worth a listen, but they’re really specifically dependent on those 3 episodes of Stardust Crusaders and don’t have much, if any, bearing on the rest of the series at all. While I love these, it didn’t seem fair to include them in the regular ranking, as they’d just be in the bottom anyway, so I wanted to give them a little attention here and then move on to the real list!  

5) "Walk Like an Egyptian" by The Bangles

Coming in last on the list is The Bangles’s “Walk Like an Egyptian”.  The catchy 1986 pop tune has been a hit on pop and now throwback radio stations since it came out, and the song was highly popular when it came out, hitting the top spots of the Hot 100 in the US, as well as putting out high rankings on UK and US singles charts when released. The album it came from, Different Light, had another hit in “Manic Monday”, which helped secure the band a number 2 spot on the Billboard 200.

The song itself seems to fit into the overall idea of the first half of Stardust Crusaders, in which Jotaro and company are literally trying to reach Egypt, but doesn’t have quite as much of a connection to the themes or mood of the episodes aside from that, as some other songs do. While this choice was a fun one for the series, it doesn’t seem to have as strong of a connection as later ending songs do, and doesn’t quite evoke a sense of excitement in hearing it play as an episode ends, and doesn’t have as clean of a lead in as other songs do either. Although it’s a great bop to nod your head to, there isn’t much else here to it, and the song itself floats a bit more on its popularity and notoriety as a popular song than it does on any other type of connection to JoJo or Hirohiko Araki, although you could possibly argue that the “Walk like an Egyptian” dance in the music video occasionally makes people pose like a JoJo character!  

4) "Freek'n You" by Jodeci

Number four on the list is Golden Wind’s choice of “Freek’n You” by Jodeci. This choice caused quite an uproar amongst Western fans when it was revealed, as many had initially believed Coolio’s “Gangsta’s Paradise” would have been a more fitting choice. Frankly, the content of “Gangsta’s Paradise” doesn’t fit with the series at all, being a somewhat sombre rap ballad about the danger and darkness of living in a proverbial gangsta’s paradise. Instead, the Golden Wind anime features a particularly sensual version of Italian mafia aesthetics, particularly in the Bucciarati group, making the smash hit R&B song a much better selection.

Part 5 breaks from the JoJo norm in a few ways, featuring characters that are less physically threatening, as well as more unique and odd Stand powers, such as Pesci’s deceptively dangerous Fisher Man. I've mentioned before a few reasons why Jodeci and JoJo are a great match, and the R&B group are just as unique and important to music as JoJo is to anime and manga. With that said, you might ask why it seems to be so low on my list, but with only five songs to choose from, it’s less a judgement of quality and more about which seems to match with its particular series best; in that case, Jodeci’s song is a good fit, but a few others really edge it out of my top spots.

  3) "I Want You" by Savage Garden

    The final three slots of my list are pretty close, with each one edging the other out by just a little bit! Third place goes to Savage Garden’s “I Want You”, the 1996 pop-hit that finds a perfect home as a compliment to the 90s aesthetics of Diamond is Unbreakable. Like the other songs in my top three, I felt that this one really meshed with the designs and ideas of Part 4, and it seems that Araki agrees! On his website, Araki wrote that he felt that the song’s unique style and touch of progressive music styles really meshed with his ideas for Part 4.

  I have to say that Araki is 100% right here, as the slow, rhythmic start to the song gives way to a rising change that mixes somewhat soothing beats into a more energetic song is a great fit for Diamond is Unbreakable, which tends to move between small, close comedy scenes and dramatic murder mystery. “I Want You” loses out a bit to the last two songs on my list, mostly due to their overarching thematics to the stories they’re attached to, but this one certainly deserves to be in the top 3 spot due to how fitting it seems to be for Josuke and the gang.

  2) "Last Train Home" by the Pat Metheny Group

    In another world, this choice might have been my controversial top spot, but “Last Train Home” by the Pat Metheny Group certainly takes an easy silver here as our number 2 ending song. While “Walk Like an Egyptian” is a somewhat fun and upbeat song, “Last Train Home” kicks off the second half of Stadust Crusaders with a melancholic jazz melody. For us, this song takes the cake over quite a few others due to the way the song’s melodic theme matches the grim realization of Part 3’s impending end, and is one of the best endings to mix the audio with important visual cues, such as certain characters being positioned in certain ways (across the river, facing away, number of tickets, etc.) foreshadowing the tragic fact that not everyone will make it back alive after facing DIO.

Perhaps even more interesting is the fact that Araki considered the album As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls by Pat Metheny and Lyle Mays to be particularly important to developing Steel Ball Run, Part 7 of the JoJo series, giving this song an even stronger link to the JoJo universe than it might originally seem. The Jazz fusion themes of the song help give it a particularly unique sound and style, making it individually memorable for a song that didn’t have much radio play compared to some of the other selections. Ironically, it shares something in common with my number 1 selection, in the sense that the song is about 5 times longer on its own than it is during the ending sequence of the show.

1) "Roundabout" by Yes

It’s pretty obvious what my last choice is, so without further ado, the number 1 ending song in JoJo is: “Roundabout” by Yes! It likely doesn’t come as much of a surprise that it ended up here, but I'll talk through my selection process. First of all, it’s the only song to accompany two parts of the JoJo series, both Phantom Blood and Battle Tendency, but Araki considered the song one of the influential pieces for his writing process during the beginnings of the manga, and it's a song Araki requested be used in the anime itself. The sound director, Yoshikazu Iwakami, was the one who noticed that the song fit so well with the closing scenes of episode 6, and worked to make it blend into the ending of each episode following it. As numerous memes have since made use of, the classic guitar lead in of the song giving way to the ‘to be continued’ arrow and then the ending sequence became one of the hallmarks of the first parts of the JoJo’s anime.

But I knew why the song would probably get to #1 and why it fits so well, so instead, let's talk about the song itself and what it has in common with JoJo’s. Many of the songs chosen after it were chosen for the fitting musical period and style of the era that the story takes place in, but “Roundabout” ironically doesn’t fit this mold; Part 1 is far too archaic for the song to have existed, and Part 2 is too early for the song as well, with Yes publishing the song in 1972. The link is established more by Araki’s stated influence of the song on his work, and the progressive rock stylings of Yes, that lends to the way JoJo operates as a whole. Progressive rock (or “prog rock") is a style of music that isn’t focused on progressive politics, but “progressing” music by being highly experimental, drawing upon various types of other musical styles, unusual instrument choices, song lengths, and almost any other experimental type of idea that could influence the songs.

Groups like The Beatles, Yes, Pink Floyd, the Grateful Dead, and the Beach Boys were all highly influential prog rock bands, mixing technology and art theories into music which had, to that point, been somewhat simplistic and unchanging. When compared to Araki’s work on JoJo, it is easy to see the connection between progressive rock music and Araki’s unique, flowing art style and aesthetics, the combination of various types of pop-culture into a single title, and even his focus on using musically themed names in his work. While it doesn’t share the innate, timely connection to its parts like other songs, there’s no JoJo song that fits better, and better expresses the concepts of JoJo’s, than “Roundabout!”

And there you have it! As I keep watching Part 5 (and the hopeful continuation into Parts 6, 7, and 8), we’ll see if any new ending songs come out to challenge our list. Maybe in a few years, we can revist this list and see if any song was capable of dethroning “Roundabout!” Until then, I’ll keep rocking that JoJo ending playlist and enjoying the vast and different musical styles that Araki and Lucky Land have graced us with in-between waiting for new JoJo episodes!

  Do you agree with my list? What’s your favorite JoJo ending song? Let us know in the comments!

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Nicole is a features and a social video script writer for Crunchyroll. Known for punching dudes in Yakuza games on her Twitch channel while professing her love for Majima. She also has a blog, Figuratively Speaking. Follow her on Twitter: @ellyberries

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