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

okay now I kinda want to listen to this OST bcs everyone's opinion varies greatly. george said it's great, wat11 said it's okay, but Kowz said it's "just a little bit better than poop". like on the scale of 1-10, one rated it 9, one rated it 6, and one rated it 3.
 
It has some great tracks, but the bad outnumber the good.

Might as well list the ones I liked: Shadows and fog, Tailing in darkness, Bitter times, Walking in the fog, Room with no window, A fighter, Operations in Action, A girl from the east, Moonlight melody in blue, and Moonlight melody.

10 tracks out of 39.
 
I would give the ost very bad score if I had to consider it as a whole. The few tracks, in my case 7 out of 39, would make me go back to the ost just for those tracks.

I might have written this before but for me the most consistent, wholesome (not necessarily possessing the most ingenious tracks) OST EVER is Shin Kyūseishu Densetsu Hokuto no Ken, tied with Petit Cossette. Then followed by Hanako to Anne maybe.

Most Kajiura osts have the HUGEST range of track quality, from unlistenable to utter garbage poop to utter genius to utter eargasm. I would say this for KnK, Xenosaga, Madlax, El Cazador, Madoka, Noir and Tsubasa in particular.
 
wat11 said:
I would give the ost very bad score if I had to consider it as a whole. The few tracks, in my case 7 out of 39, would make me go back to the ost just for those tracks.

I might have written this before but for me the most consistent, wholesome (not necessarily possessing the most ingenious tracks) OST EVER is Shin Kyūseishu Densetsu Hokuto no Ken, tied with Petit Cossette. Then followed by Hanako to Anne maybe.

Most Kajiura osts have the HUGEST range of track quality, from unlistenable to utter garbage poop to utter genius to utter eargasm. I would say this for KnK, Xenosaga, Madlax, El Cazador, Madoka, Noir and Tsubasa in particular.
Click to expand...

lol okay so then it's only @george1234 who has a different opinion regarding this soundtrack. Regarding Kajiura's soundtracks in general, I actually would place El Cazador de la Bruja as my 1st place. iirc there's only 1 or 2 tracks that I don't like and that soundtrack has some of the most brilliant Kajiura tracks I've ever heard. Next is Petit Cossette. KnK soundtrack may have much sfx tracks but tbh I still consider Shiki's theme (in the garden of sinners) as the best theme of a show/series Kajiura has ever done and every arrangement of that theme is pure eargasm. Madlax OST 1 I don't really like, but I absolutely love Madlax OST 2. I really need to revisit the old Kajiura soundtrack thread and listen to old Kajiura works again bcs I honestly don't really remember Noir except for a few tracks and never listen to the whole Xenosaga soundtrack. Madoka is 50:50 I guess. F/Z and Erased are poop.

I'm actually not that impressed with Hanako to Anne OST because the nature of the show and soundtrack is not really to my liking because I prefer soundtracks with darker tone I guess. The wide variety of instruments and not the typical Kajiura melody is a fresh air, though.
 
I'll actually side with @george1234 here and say this is pretty good. Even though it drips with the scent of contemporary Kajiura (moody, atmospheric, string insturments, etc.), it has its own unique sound in the Kajiura canon. The jazz tracks are very well done-thanks largely in part to the fact she brought in a capable drummer, and even the laidback pieces have ornaments and other stylistic flourishes that brighten them up and set them apart.

A lot of the tracks are forgettable because they're just rearrangements of the same leitmotif, but I'm not going to take issue with that. Thanks to the generous work @grunty does on that music guide, I realize this is something Kajiura has been doing since the earliest days of her career; the only difference now is that those tracks are actually getting officially released.

It's not perfect, and I probably won't re-listen to any of the tracks outside of the jazz pieces and insert songs, but I enjoyed it. Plus, as a reflection of the show it was written for, it does a good job, so I'll give it props there as well.
 
let me express my gratitude to the tracks that I wrote in bold:

Princess Principal is a hugeeeee step from Erased and what I can hear from Zaregoto (I feel the ost will have buried treasure but we'll see about that)

however this ost is still far from "This is it!" moment for me :(
 
It might be worth noting that the standalone OST that I haven't seen on second hand sale except at high prices on Amazon.co.jp is El Cazador de la Bruja.
 
@sora @wat11: Im a sucker for soundtracks so even if a number of tracks arent perfect i will still listen to them when i put the whole ost on playback, and i ll focus on the best ones.
 
Congrats to Takahashi and Kajiura for the music in this anime cause I think they really made the anime enjoyable for me. Surely it's not the best plot wise(and adding to the fact that they advertise it as steampunk and spy series but then it's really not, like minimally used) but I really enjoy the all the cast which is mainly the point of the story i guess? So if ever it would get season 2, they really need to get into business with the story progression, no more character flashbacks :XD: Oh, gorgeous art background :love:

The Best:
Before I go down to the main themes which I really love, Chise's theme: a fighter-girl from east, a girl from the east, and もひとつまわして took the top spots in this whole OST for me. One is the badass battle track we heard from her backstory during the train fight and another track during her meetings with her superior. And yeah, I guess I really missed Kajiura's Japanese-style tracks so they are high on my list. Finally mo hitotsu mawashite, or I would like to call it the better Kantan katan. When I first heard Chise's character song, 閃光刀歌(Takahashi's composition), her voice didn't leave a good impression on me so I was a bit skeptical on how she would handle the song. Turns out it would be the song I enjoyed so much. Some would say that her vocal style here is a bit monotonic? or no emotions but I think it fits the song, kind of like a composed and dignified warrior singing after all the hardships. If Hyakka Ryouran is a warsong that plays during battles, this is the epilogue. So here's your onion, Chise :hero:

shadows and fog and espionage trap are the tracks with layers and layers of sounds which of course I'll definitely love. Adding to the fact that we have a bit of Jazz and some Remi chorus making these tracks lovely.

battle of the shadows and operations in action. Battle themes of Kajiura in the show so of course a plus for me. First one is your typical Kajiura while the latter is the spy-themed track. Both :love:

bitter times NOIR anyone? room with no window is refreshing to her soundtracks.

Lastly, moonlight melody ～Piano ver., moonlight melody in blue and moonlight melody. I was a bit dissapointed with them a little bit but they are still one of the best in the whole OST. I thought they would add the special ending song cause it was a memorable piece from the series but they didn't. I also haven't heard the 2nd track from the anime. Now for the Kimi no Gin n- I mean moonlight melody, I like and a bit of ok on some part. Their solos are very nice! But, beato drowning dorothy's voice is urgh. I would have enjoyed it better if we have at least one Dorothy's solo on refrain and give beato the lalala part to balance their portion and it would have been amazing. Yuriko is love though.

The Good:

school girl life, on a day so calm, tiny flower garden and titteringly are the lighthearted tracks on the series. They are good Kajiura happy tracks for me.

orchestrion really served a very beautiful bgm on episode 2. I think this is a requested ost since they have orchestrion on the scene :XD:shall we dance is good too!

The OK-ish/Average:
tailing in darkness, under suspicion, walking in the fog and in the fog are mostly half-music and half sfx. I'm surprised they are listenable even though their purpose is to give suspense atmosphere to the series.

go and get it! would have been on good category for me if it wasn't being repetitive.

a noble man a cello track! But not memorable to me.

It wouldn't be Kajiura if there's no stringfes like a royal girl, the creeping fate(Thanks for the Hokage instrumental Kajiura-san!) and everyone has something to hide. I know the latter is HnK clone but it really puts a deep impression to me in Ange and Charlotte's flashback. I think these are the strings that I considered. The rest are zzz...

piano track like tragedy and silence is ok since the series doesn't need too much heavy and complex piano part imo

The zzzzzz:
The rest are bunch of Fate/Madoka and especially Bokudake remains even if the main theme is there.

Overall, I'm glad the themes are not in your face in most of its variations like george said. A good 8/10. Now we wait for Zaregoto!
 
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I would give 8/10 for this OST.
Why? Because this OST is a huge step up from boku dake which is very bad and soulless.

This huge step up shows her effort in making OST.

My favorites are moonlight melody, shadow and fog, espionage trap, room with no window, orchestrion, chise's theme.

The rest are enjoyable but not that special for me.
 
Thanks kowz :)

I like only 2 tracks plus the insert song. Both could be a kalafina song where Keiko can sing, but instead i believe it will be hikaru/wakana
 
Yeah... I was wowed until everyone has something to hide, it was nice at first, original, and then HnY almost exactly. I know she did this with TTB and the SAO song. Still... I haven't listened to all yet, but my fave so far is: battle of the shadows. This gave me chills, yes this did kind of combine Madoka and Fate, but I am okay with this. And Remi's part! Wow. I wish the sound director would use more of the songs. I will write a review of the ones I like, probably tomorrow. I also like Remi in the first song, which was kind of hard to hear in the show.
 
CreditsPP2.jpg

I thought, this might be helpful for the discography entry. :V:

So it seems they hired an expert drummer as well as a different bass player for the jazzy tracks.
 
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^
wow thanks for the scans!
I hope Kajiura will follow this trend of using different musicians again and not for specific tracks bcs honestly FBM playing has now become so dull
 
and a Vibraphone player ( i dont think she has ever used that one before in non-synch form )

this instrument should be the one heard at the beginning of "shadows and fog" and many others.

thanks so much Surgam! Does the booklet have any liner notes or message from Yuki ?

Well if you people dont like this ost you wont like the Zaregoto one either because it has even more poop-ish tracks with the good ones not surpassing 6-7, at least from what i heard from the anime.
 
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It indeed has a 5 page long interview with Yuki! I can upload it if someone is willing to translate it. That person would have my gratitude.
 
Unfortunately I don't have a working scanner around, so these are just pictures. :spotlight:

PpPart1.jpg
PpPart2.jpg
PpPart3.jpg
PpPart4.jpg
PpPart5.jpg

I hope they are good enough for translation...
 
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