Yuki Kajiura to compose for "Princess Principal" [6-part movies , part #3 on April 7, 2023]

you'd never let me down, espionage trap. I loved this piece when radio started then now we can hear some Remi :love:
And wth I almost love the pieces in Disc 1 except for like 2-3 tracks(the fate/zero one) and even the ambient tracks are listenable to me.
Currently on Disc 2...
 
So ItW/Marchen and Hyakka singles have shown interesting instrumentation, and now this OST as well. Interested to see how things are going with Kajiura now, seems like she might've gotten at least a bit over the last few years of inspirational block.
 
My Review:

shaldows and fog: Just perfect. (a tiny part of the sax was out of "voices slitently sing" lol but so short that i dont mind)

tailing in darkness: had a huge part unused, would be nice if there was more piano there

scars of the past: Ι like the airy feeling in this bgm.

go and get it: bummer that the e.guitar is put to background compared to the PV ver.

espionage trap: also perfect track <3 i think Keiko would be more fit as chorus to this one than Remi :)

under suspension: So strong noir feeling in this :) (same for "on a day so calm")

bitter times: missed the fast guitar bgms so much <3 and the melody is very sweet and kinda melancholic too <3

tensions are rising: pandora hearts style huhu

a royal girl : her best ball room song since the one from Rebellion

walking in the fog: This track too has noir vibes <3 (soldats 2 anyone). Love that cello.

battle of shadows: the chanting style here is similar to the "shadows and fog" i love the strings transition just before the chorus kicks in. very cool guitar too, the end chorus & guitar is love <3.

orchestrion: I think in the anime they used that in the ball episode and in the rest just as eyecatch. Very lovely. I love the string harmonies near the end.

I skip "A page of my story" for later since they arent by Kajiura.

room with no window: The awesome violin track!! <3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3 Funn how they only played the sfx part in the anime. That Sound Director is a LOSER lol. She hasnt made such complex violin melody since Magia Quattro.

Everyone has something to hide: my other most anticpated track. Its the hokuto no ken thief one but its so touching, especially the piano <3

titteringly: cute musicbox :) Perfect for an alarm clock sound haha

school girl life: This is Mai Otome style. Also very lovely <3 The little pause really add flavour.

The creeping fate: This played only in the princess kids episode. Very touching like "everyone...to hide"
the details in this track show how much attention Kajiura put in this soundtrack.

something is out there: love the metalophone sound that appears across the soundtrack. Makes the musics mysterioys yet still very melodic even if they are sfx.

have to get over: So this was just percussion ? Oh well. Still very pumping. and much better than SAO's close combat or Agmen clientum (lol)

London Wall: The usual evil guy Kajiura bgm style haha

moonlight melody piano: so sweet :)

fighter girl from the east: other very anticipate one. love how she connected traditional japanese with jazz and strings without any sudden keychanges. Its a little chaotic near the end though haha :)

tiny flower guarden : very nice combo of guitar and that sound metalophone :)

a noble man : also an awesome cello bgm that also kinda reminds of noir.

why should we be apart?: Usual style of Kajiura sad bgm. But still touching ^_^
But even that seems to be very carefully made by the last 10-sec piano notes.

I love how in this OST the theme melody isnt some track that always gets in your face but its this metalophone melody and an other small one.

tragedy and fate proves this.

in the fog: very sure they never played this one in the anime haha. So badass. The most "fresh" track of all so far.

operation in action: probably the last jazzy bgm in the ost. <3 <3 love the piano. Just perfect overall.

Hopeless: I like that this one has deep melody, something very rare for Kajiura piano tracks.

give your hands to me: Also a usual style Kajiura track. Very nice for finale bgm.

acting behind the scenes: Wow I love this sound at the beginning. The strings are also very creepy /cool. Percussion kicks in.

moonlight melody in blue: Oh so there's a violin ver too. So nice that its SOLO. it makes the bgm so touching :love:

a girl from the east: Also a track i was waiting for. It becomes really cute after the middle. Its more interesting after the bridge. :D

uncanny: Just skip it haha.

shall we dance: Title is self-explanatory. Its vals music :) Very nice as well! Esp the lattter part where there is harmony between the violins.

her true story: "All ended happily" kind of music

and now to the songs:

mo hitotsu mawashite: Chise kicks in kinda unexpedictly. But rest of song is love. Its indeed Yuriko behind.
the lyrics melody is more complex than the melody of the anime ver. Yuriko chorus. Love how they have guitar there too, very rare for Kajiura.

moonlight melody: Poop-chan comes in. Dorothy comes in, she sings so much better. There is accordion from bridge and on. They added some sort of chorus or maybe its just filter. Hm not sure if i like this chorus part. Its too sweet, will get diabetes. (it even has Lalala), i'd prefer if Dorothy took it solo.

Ι love the arrangement on both songs.

Overall for me its her Best anime OST since Elcazador for sure!!! :love: I wonder what changes and she came back to her old style. Maybe the fact that she stopped the YK lives ? Or was it just the directors ? Or the Label ? Because the Ordinal Scale ost was a uter fail. First ost in long time where i enjoy every single track. Btw there is so much attention to detail in most of the tracks in this.

Guess we will see with Zaregoto OST what is really happening. That too has some very promising bgms but i really doubt it will reach this.
 
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george1234 said:
moonlight melody: Poop-chan comes in. Dorothy comes in, she sings so much better.
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It's in the form of a .. not exactly dialogue, but cooperation, between mother and daughter. In that sense, the childish voice (remembering the lullaby) actually fits in quite well. Too lazy to transcribe now, plus it's late o'clock. I understand both songs without issues so I could write down the kanji myself, but let's hope I can grab them from somewhere else.

Nice arrangement in mo hitotsu mawashite BTW. Haven't listened to the other songs yet.
 
george1234 said:
shaldows and fog: Just perfect. (a tiny part of the sax was out of "voices slitently sing" lol but so short that i dont mind)
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The first part of This track chorus' is really similar to "into the water". Interesting
 
hmm very pleased overall!!
george1234 said:
My Review:
Overall for me its her Best anime OST since Elcazador for sure!!! :love: I wonder what changes and she came back to her old style. Maybe the fact that she stopped the YK lives ? Or was it just the directors ? Or the Label ? Because the Ordinal Scale ost was a uter fail. First ost in long time where i enjoy every single track. Btw there is so much attention to detail in most of the tracks in this.

Guess we will see with Zaregoto OST what is really happening. That too has some very promising bgms but i really doubt it will reach this.
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AND NOT SAO ??? :) personally for me it's hard to say. there's KnK, Pandora Hearts, Madoka.
 
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@wat11:

Pandora Hearts: Disc one was awesome but Disc 2 had many flaws. Half of it was rearrangements of "everytime you kissed me" which i really dislike because it was stealing melody from Yuuka's blessing (which i loved) in a very obvious way, The Kasahara tracks are really not that well done either.

Kara no Kyokai has some of the best tracks in her career but there were also skippable tracks (mainly SFX)
.
Madoka had awesome tracks yes, and thanks to the to the series popularity some were loved by fans, but for example i didnt like some of the opera ones from the TV series (the Kasahara ones).

The fact that i was defending SAO for not being garbage doesnt mean that i consider it one of her best. Yes, OST 1 and the Yuuki arc OST were superb, but the rest had alot of tracks that i considered uninspired or sfx that i always skip. Also remember that all SFXs from Disc / OST one were quite boring.

F/Z was similar case with Knk above but it was lacking instruments variety. Its was all around strings.

So, for TV anime (not movie anime) yes for me this is her best "Overall" since el cazador, but not the best with every single track compared. This is the first since el cazador that i didnt skip any track with the exception on "uncanny".

It has inspired tracks with attention to detail. It doesnt overdo it with stealing melodies from previous works, it uses wide variety of instruments, and it manages to make even SFX enjoyable.
 
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my review:

1. shadows and fog: who the hell is the vocal here? very well done!

2. go and get it: would have been much nicer without the e.guitar :S

3. espionage trap: yes!!! the strings feel strange at first but then I thought it brilliant. This is one of the reasons why Kajiura was very special (to me at least): combining different orchestral, ethnic and electronica/synth elements :)

4. walking in the fog: nice atmosphere, not just the usual cello.

5. battle of the shadows: ahah I'm a total sucker for this kind of Kajiura track!! I like the e.guitar here.

6. room with no window: oh wow!! this took me by surprise for sure! great violin atmospheric track. and has a very middle eastern/Greek flavor to it eh @george1234 ?

7. everyone has something to hide: just the piano and beginning strings would have been fine but I can't excuse HnK steal. It's really too much. in fact can someone engineer this and crop out the HnK strings part and upload it pretty plz? :)

8. the creeping fate: hmm not a big fan actually. @george1234 personally I find that "detail" in lamentation from Xenosaga II, not quite here.

9. have to get it over: add some strings to it and it becomes a nice Kenji Kawai track haha. nice beats.

10. a fighter - girl from east: ooo yes!! may be my favorite track here. the beats + flute in second half ahhhh so good.

11. operations in action: ties with a fighter - girl from east. superb. the closure, strings, flute, drums, piano very well composed. yes yes yes!!!

12. hopeless: hmm I actually quite like this, the background soothing synth helps add layer.

13. acting behind the scenes: yea I like the beginning but then the rest is meh for me.

14. a girl from east: nice enough but not quite special.

15. Mo hitoshu mawashite & moonlight melody & The other side of the Wall: all very nice, but would prefer instrumental plz :)) or have Kalafina sing it. xD

yes I guess the tracks that I like are excellent to my ears but overall as an OST it won't be the most memorable. For this to happen, I need to feel for most tracks like I do for the ones here in bold and I don't. most favourite: a fighter -girl from east and operations in action. (tied)

do a game ost Kajiura! please:)
 
wat11 said:
6. room with no window: oh wow!! this took me by surprise for sure! great violin atmospheric track. and has a very middle eastern/Greek flavor to it eh @george1234 ?
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Yes it does have middle eastern touch but i wouldnt say greek since afaik we dont use violin in greek music much, at least not in the ones most tourists have in mind. We got cretain lira (1, 2) instead which you can compare it to maybe
 
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yes that's what I meant! not exactly the choice of the instrument but the melody just made me think of that..
 
wat11 said:
7. everyone has something to hide: just the piano and beginning strings would have been fine but I can't excuse HnK steal. It's really too much. in fact can someone engineer this and crop out the HnK strings part and upload it pretty plz? :)
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:whip:
 
wat11 said:
15. Mo hitoshu mawashite & moonlight melody & The other side of the Wall: all very nice, but would prefer instrumental plz :)) or have Kalafina sing it. xD
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with this being a Lantis release, i think its safer to say that FJ will do the covering when Kajiura decides to break the hiatus. I want Kaori and Wakana on this. And Kajiura herself on moonlight :dote:
 
I realized fighter girl from the east sounds like the warp whistle from super mario bros. 3
 
I was going to write a pseudo review, but most tracks aren't even worth it. Worse than Madoka and Fate/Zero, better than Ordinal scale and Erased, but then again it's not hard to be better than poop, hue.
 
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