Yuki Kajiura to compose for Zaregoto OVA

My Review :)

Disc 1:

let him tell his story: really good start with dark tones but also hopeful piano, exactly how the show is like.

old fashioned fairytale: I expected more than 2x vocals and 3x bridge string. But it has a very fresh touch to it that i love.

pessimistically: disturbing that it has exact same begining as track #1, just usual cello other than that

he shows some interest- some doubts: boring tracks

he shows he is a bit puzzled: that beginning sfx reminds me of madlax ost for some reason. Would be nice if this had some guitar solo as bridge

a kind of friendship: really sweet and reminds of warm friend or family feelings.

he feels empty: truly and...empty track lol

deep in his heart: nice strings, the piano does add something that makes it more interesting, i love how the music gets more intense later and the piano is sweet near the end .Aparenly his heart is less empty than what he feels :D

twisted mind: this track reminds me of K's soundtrack in style. Nice how the percussion thing gets more intense later.

she's a scholar: lovely violin and piano background too. Its nice to see the roles of the 2 instruments to get reversed for a change :)

optimistically: One of my most awaited tracks, gorgeous piano, good strings, cool percussions!! Strings get better on the end part :D

she's a fortuneteller: I love how the sfx is in synch with the flute, which's melody is very sweet. Love the strings and the percussions too!

sudden fear: probably a Fate Zero leftover lol, i like how its building a beat later on, its unusual combo with the cello.

a courtesy of talk: This sounds like something that could be in a movie ost of hers. Liking the piano fast part.

she's a painter: Also a very nice track, reminds of Achilles to Kame / Velveteen rabbit in style but it sure is sweet ^_^

a logical talk: This is the one i said that is from knk in one part of the melody. But its good for what it is :) Nice cello!

a metaphical: I dont get why the logicall is sad and this one is happy hehe :) love how it combines the theme melody with some aetherial sfxs

a momentary exchange: Oh this is so sweet and nature-y I dont think we've had ac.guitar with lead role in an ost since sao's 4th disc. love the watery and airy sfx :dote: this would perfectly match satoyama.

a composition of opposition: Oh its the indian/middle eastern track. Love the citar and the clarinet, the combo with the high tech sfx is really interesting.

first thing a detective does: slower ver of the theme melody, love the violin even more here <3

a presentation of mystery: could be so interesting with some intense percussion but instead its just a boring sfx track with bits of melody :(

reconstruction of a full picture: This is basically the same as the old fashioned but with reverb, slower pace and instruments replaced by sfx, could be a great pandora hearts extended if prolonged.

one more mystery: oh this is the track with copied melody from one of the sao tracks, but seems to have more worked strings.

Disc 2

now he talks again: theme melody again. Somehow this filtered cello remind my of a a bees buzz :XD: its nice how it seems to be a medley of the disc 1 beginning tracks, this way we wont have to listen to the boring sfx ones. Later on part 2 it has lovely cello.

daily life returning to normal: Oh man, their daily life must be very boring if its like that lol

she's the strongest: just so good :love:

she solves by herself: male synched vocals! This should have been medley with "she's the strongest" like it was in the episode. Then it would be the epicest track LOVE these strings <3 Pretty sure she hasnt composed more complex strings since KnK.

she answers to him: logically slow track for vocals to be heard, but boring in standalone listening

she explains for the happy ending: I love the later part just so hopeful :)) she could replace Sato with this kind of synched drums, it sounds better.

he told his story: main melody just like it appeared across the OST, really like how the sfx are replaced by strings near the end

marchen: really nice for the end :D Tip: after watching the episode, if you did, read again the song's lyrics, they made perfect sense!

skipped the OP as i dont care for a ClariS-y song.

Overall, if you except the few sfx-only tracks, this OST is great, and the piano and string were mind-blowing on lots of part, and especially that piano speed was phenomental, we usually get 1 track per OST like that and now got half soundtrack and im sucker for fast piano ! ^_^ and loved the melodies, especially the main theme and she's the strongest and she solves by herself.
 
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Impression from what i've sampled anyway: this is a soundtrack where the good tracks are really good and the empty tracks are totally empty. Maybe i should watch the show now that it's finished to get a better appreciation for the "empty" tracks.
 
ritardando said:
Impression from what i've sampled anyway: this is a soundtrack where the good tracks are really good and the empty tracks are totally empty. Maybe i should watch the show now that it's finished to get a better appreciation for the "empty" tracks.
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This is a perfect summary and that is a perfect and encouraged idea. The show counterpart in every dialogue track except for "daily life" was heavily deep and/or shock-factor moments. Upon watching the show, the fortuneteller's tracks are personally my most memorable outside of "optimistically" and everything from the last two episodes BUT that's just me and I don't want to spoil the moods of other events.

Also can I get a link/onion. I'm not well versed in these sites.
 
Liana_Ilia said:
Yes, please an onion! I want to listen... but I won't be able to until Sat. *sigh*
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Hayden Kurosaki said:
This is a perfect summary and that is a perfect and encouraged idea. The show counterpart in every dialogue track except for "daily life" was heavily deep and/or shock-factor moments. Upon watching the show, the fortuneteller's tracks are personally my most memorable outside of "optimistically" and everything from the last two episodes BUT that's just me and I don't want to spoil the moods of other events.

Also can I get a link/onion. I'm not well versed in these sites.
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PM'd you both with the link. Hopefully it works.
 
Anyways, my review: I hope it's still in print when I'm placing my next order on Amazon.

This is Kajiura's best release since Kara no Kyoukai to me. Not since then (or maybe even since ship of fools on Tsubasa) has an opening made me this excited for Kajiura. Thankfully what followed didn't disappoint either. I didn't find any of the tracks boring (he feels empty is super touching to me). The soundscape alone is giving me this wonderful tingly sensation. This glitchy static atmosphere that's not actually noise is just wonderful and a veeeeeery welcomed (by moi) change to that deep bubbly rumbling with occasional high chirping that she's been using as her backgrounds for a good while now. Love.

I better mentally prepare myself for the next 10 years being boring again though...
 
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Only have listened to few a tracks so far, but so far it's really good. This was definetely the thing I needed to get myself back into Kajiura, as I've been a bit disillusioned recently tbh
I really like that main piano motif, it's definetely the most original Kajiura melody I've heard in a while. Like grunty said, I also quite like the static sfx, it creates a really nice and unique atmosphere.
Gonna go to bed now though (it's 1 am here) but I'll listen to the rest tomorrow and give my updated thoughts then!
 
TBH to me she solves is one of the weakest tracks on the album. It would probably be cool if it didn't have the strings sections. Maybe. Most of the "lush" strings in the "she" tracks of CD2 are somewhat tedious (since they are constantly oscilating around the same chords, if not the same exact lines) and combined with the tracklengths somewhat tiresome to me. That is not to say there's not some unusual Kajiura stuff there, like the pizzicato in she puts a question to him - which is also my favorite of the second disc's "she" tracks along with she explains, for the happy ending but I guess that one is more of a transition back to the original theme rather than a continuation of the heaviness that were the previous 4 tracks...
 
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I have read the novel series up to volume 2(currently on 3) with the anime covering volume 1 and let me put some insights why I think Kajiura nailed the atmospheric themes on this OVAs. Little bit of spoiler but this is not the main plot anyway :ohoho:
The first volume sets only in an island, with them living only in mansion. Meaning the BGM doesn't need grandiose and overdramatic tones that Kajiura is fond of. We have old-fashioned fairy tale, but AFAIK they only use this track for openings which is fine. Now the sudden shift of tone can be heard most in disc 2 which I believe the tracks are mostly used for the 8th episode, introducing Jun Aikawa(5 tracks dedicated to her) and since they are outside now, the tracks are kinda "open" and "playful" (middle-east-like tracks galore but I'm not complaining :sohappy:) backing up their talks. Dunno why but she is the strongest reminds me of Haktan Gelen Serbeti by Christopher Tin.

Now we go to the characters. I want to point out that the novel is told First POV, that's why I think the current naming tracks of Kajiura is perfect here and contains many of his main themes(particularly what he was thinking) in the CD. In defense of the "empty" feeling of some tracks/themes, it is justifiable. The main protag is described as "empty shell", a passive observer according to him(Don't worry, he's badass in the second volume). I kinda like the noises Kajiura put on his theme btw, it shows how his mind is....."twisted" and "pessimistic". The painter, fortuneteller and scholar has themes too! Too bad they won't be in the next volume for different kinds of reason heh.

(+) Updated synths(Thank God bec. we don't have that in Pripri ost)
(+) Not repetitive for me with the help of the above reason
(+) Beautiful noises which reminded me of KnK(particularly 5)
(-) The main theme is ok-ish for me
(-) Strings are kinda tiring to hear on some tracks. Only a little bit.

As a whole, I like it better than Princess Principal in terms of how it was utilized in the OVAs(GJ Sound Director) and has mysterious vibes which I really love :shy:

Oh btw, I am wondering why they mentioned Planet of the Apes in the previous article posted by Kugayama? Are they saying that Heaven's Feel beat the movie in the Japan in terms of ticket sales?
 
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^ Haha wondering the same thing, but i dont think its a surprise for a popular movie franchise to do that, even the mediocre Sao Ordinal Scale had lots of income.

@ grunty: Im in love with the upbeat part on "she solves it herself" personal opinion though :love:

Have to point out this one has a the best male character theme in long time :D
 
tbh when I said "empty" tracks I don't necessarily mean the "he" tracks, and not particularly only "he feels empty" tho tbh I do find that track to be really empty lmao. The soundtrack is definitely the freshest Kajiura soundtrack in awhile - in the sense that for this soundtrack she doesn't rely on strings to carry the melody for most of the tracks, unlike almost all her works after KnK. tons of cello tracks which I think fit the tone of the anime (from what I know anyway). also idk if this makes sense but the sfx seem to carry some sort of melody throughout the soundtrack, not just some random sfxs put together to "make" one track. I also really welcome the piano tracks which happens to be plentiful but for once I don't find them to be boring. there's also the variety of instrumentals she used to carry the main melody of the tracks, not only her usual strings galore. another good thing is some of the strings-driven tracks actually sounded really good because of the not-typical Kajiura melody (she is the strongest). some of the melody, especially the strings do sound like typical Kajiura but since it's not that many I'm completely alright with it (she solves by herself - other than the strings section in around 1:30 the track is imo among the best. I really love the piano *was it piano*, the strings and the e.guitar combination sounded so good together) and @george1234 where's the male synched vocals in this track?

the tracks I liked: let him tell his story, optimistically, he shows some interest, (the e.guitar is sure fineeee), twisted mind, she's a scholar, she is a fortuneteller, she is a painter (despite how standar Kajiura this actually sounds), a metaphysical track (which might be my 2nd fav after let him tell his story), a momentary exchange, a composition of opposition, a presentation of mystery (a seemingly empty track that I actually thought was empty but is not), old-fashioned fairytale (which sounds more put-together than marchen), now he talks again, she is the strongest, she solves by herself, she answers to him (everything is really good, even the strings), she explains for the happy ending (again the guitar on the background is fineee), and he told his story. that's like 85% of the soundtrack. when Kajiura uses strings the melodies sound so much like her works after KnK. some of the strings sounded really good, some other sounded typical.

the negative thing is idk if this makes any sense but the soundtrack (for me) is not something that I'd visit often. as fresh as the soundtrack is for Kajiura the soundtrack sounds really somber and is in one "feeling" throughout the whole tracks. the soundtrack may fit the zaregoto really well (from the plot that I know) since it's basically one movie cut into some 30mins OVA.
 
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