A Brief Review - Fairy Tail

Yet another long-winded shounen series..... No seriously though, parts of Fairy Tail made it worth it.  Unfortunately, the anime just recently went on hiatus, so fans have to wait for any sort of conclusion for a while yet.

Story - Fairy Tail's plot follows a young celestial spirit mage named Lucy who joins the magic guild Fairy Tail.  All across Fiore, wizards are part of magic guilds, which is where ordinary citizens can put up ads for mages to get work.  The magic systems in this world are pretty well-done, diversifying from Lucy's Celestial Spirit summons to Grey's Ice-Make magic, from Natsu's dragon slaying magic to Erza's magical equipment.  The series does suffer from filler plots, far too much fanservice, and stupid comedy found in Happy the Little Blue Cat, but the good stuff kept me coming back for more.  

Animation - Definitely a plus for the series.  Most of the time, the animation is done quite well, especially the magic.  Character designs are fairly good as well.  

Music - BGM definitely comes to the forefront a few times, particularly in showdowns between Natsu and whoever the current baddie is.  The opening and ending themes tended to be more hit-and-miss with me, but the consistent chibi themed animation in the endings was well done for sure.  I was sad when they took out the mysterious wheel spinning in each of the first few endings, whether the song was cute and happy or more introspective and melancholy.  

Overall, I give this series a 4/5.  I look forward to watching more when the series resumes. 

Top 10 Video Game Soundtracks 2013

I had been contemplating doing this for a while, but with the release of Pokemon X and Y tomorrow I wanted to get it out before I get immersed in that game.  This list contains my picks for top video game soundtracks out of all the games whose music I am familiar with.  Before we do the top ten, I have four runner-ups that deserve some attention:

 The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64/Gamecube/3DS) - Sadly, this soundtrack did not make it into my top 10, but I had to include it for two reasons.  First, this game paved major groundwork into the role of music in a video game.  Link has to learn songs on his ocarina throughout the game, and these songs do different things ranging from calling your horse to warping to specific locations.  Second, pure nostalgia.  The music in this game is part of what made it so memorable. 

Chrono Cross (PS) - I fell in love with this soundtrack before I even played the game, it's THAT good.  However, only a few tracks make it onto my playlists which is why it did not make the final cut.  When playing the game, the music grabs your attention from the first moment.  Background tracks for villages like Termina and Arni are particularly memorable. 

Eternal Arcadia/Skies of Arcadia Legends (Dreamcast/Gamecube) - I really wish this had made the cut, but alas.  If you're a fan of swashbuckling themes, this soundtrack is for you. 

Pokemon Black/White 2 (DS) - I was shocked when I realized how good this game's music was, especially considering how Black/White was such a letdown.  The themes are many and varied and bring out the best in the Pokemon world.

All righty, on to the final list!

10) 

Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn (Wii) - The music in this game is almost better than the game itself.  While the only real singable tune is the iconic Fire Emblem theme, the ambiance created from the tracks in this game is really quite something.  The music never seemed boring or annoying, even if the tracks are more for mood than anything else. 

9) 

Final Fantasy XIII (PS3) - Many fans were disappointed when longtime Final Fantasy composer left after composing the soundtrack to IX, and the music in later games just never seemed up to snuff.  That changed with this soundtrack by Masashi Hamauzu.  The overall soundtrack finally came back to life.  There was even a new twist on the Chocobo theme, this time putting it to lyrics along with a techno background.


8) 

Golden Sun (GBA) - Composer Motoi Sakuraba certainly makes his rounds.  The music for this game is colorful, memorable, AND singable.  Imagine that.

7)  

Eternal Sonata (360/PS3) - Another one by Motoi Sakuraba.  And seriously, this game includes music by Chopin.  Of COURSE it would make the list.

6)  

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Gamecube/Wii) -   Zelda games have a history now of having excellent music.  (See Ocarina of Time above)  Instead of playing tunes on your ocarina, in THIS game you get to howl melodies to the moon in wolf form.  The rest of the soundtrack is just as excellent.

5)   

Pokemon Fire Red/Leaf Green (GBA) - Ah yes.  The remake of two iconic games for the Gameboy Color.  The soundtrack got a facelift in the new versions as well, and all the original charm is left in tact.  Catchy, singable tunes in this one. 

4) 

Fire Emblem (GBA) - While an official soundtrack was never released, this game features some of the most memorable music from the series.  The game even featured a music room from the main menu where you could listen to different tracks from the game.  Heroic themes?  Check.  Music box nostalgia?   Check.  Epic battle themes?  Check.  Seriously, what's not to like?

3)  

Final Fantasy IX (PS) - This was the last FF game Nobuo Uematsu wrote music for, although he did contribute to title tracks from later games.  And man, he went out in style with this soundtrack.  Creepy villains get creepy music.  Silly characters get silly music.  Heroes get heroic music.  Battles get upbeat action music.  Towns get different stuff.  Heck, some of the themes in this game remind me of early organ music.  The main theme for the game, "Melodies of Life", is quite heartwarming and fits the game quite well.

2)  

Tales of Symphonia (Gamecube/PS2/PS3) - Yet another one by Motoi Sakuraba!  This time he collaborated with Shinji Tamura to create a masterpiece.  The music in this game is likeable even if you haven't played it, just like Chrono Cross.

1)   

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Wii) - Ok, there is reason this soundtrack is #1 on my list.  The music is just breathtaking.  This is the first Zelda game to feature a fully orchestrated soundtrack, and the colors represented are astounding.  Ranging from mysterious to heroic and back again, this soundtrack has it all.  Fun tidbit: in order to create the main theme for this game, the composers took the Princess Zelda theme and reversed it.  Crafty, I say.

And there you have it!  My favorite video game soundtracks.  What are yours? 

Naruto Shippuden - Bijuu and Jinchuuriki Counting Song

At first, I thought this was a new opening.  Then Naruto started talking and cute singing ensued.  Kudos to his seiyuu for singing, and singing WELL.  The lyrics might be placed oddly, but I don't know Japanese well enough to determine that.  The traditional feel to the song was a great choice though.

A Brief Review - Final Fantasy IX (PS)

I had not thought it possible, but Final Fantasy IX has become my favorite Final Fantasy game.  X had that spot for as long as I've been playing games in the series, but IX topped it, and it is easy to see why.  

Presentation:  This game is beautiful.  It was one of the last games released for the PlayStation, and it really pushes the hardware to its limits.  From the moment you begin the game, the visuals blow you away.  Speaking of which, this game has one of the best openings I have ever seen.  The movies alternate with gameplay graphics, and the transitions are seamless.  Even after the prologue, when you enter a new area, it is introduced with its name in different scripts.  This adds to the characterization of each part of the world.  

Characters and Story:  I'm going to spend more time on the characters here because while the story is great, the characters really sell it.  Zidane makes a fantastic lead, cocky but willing to take advice.  Dagger goes through major character growth.  Vivi rocks the entire game.  Steiner makes me laugh, but he worms his way into your heart too. I think the only character that doesn't quite measure up to the others is Amarant.

Gameplay:  On the whole, quite excellent.  The battle system hasn't changed a whole lot from previous games, but timing seems to be much harder in this game due to not being able to tell the order of who goes after a particular character (enemy-wise).  It changes your strategy, and can be downright annoying, but adds another dimension of difficulty to the game.  The only complaints I have are that there aren't very many side quests, and your party is split up for at least 3/4ths of the game.  However, unlike FFIV, your party stays pretty balanced throughout.

Music:  This game has one of the best soundtracks I have ever heard.  Nobuo Uematsu really outdid himself here, and this was the last FF game he really composed for.  Sometimes the music reminds me of early organ music, but then you have tracks for places like Treno, which sound suspiciously like ragtime.  Then there are two main themes that keep changing in instrumentation and style throughout the game depending on where you are.  Oh, and I haven't even mentioned the evil themes!  The music when you enter the Iifa Tree is particularly creepy:

This game definitely deserves a 5/5 rating.  Go play it!

A Brief Review - Blue Exorcist

I was excited about watching Blue Exorcist as I had heard good things about it.  Long story short - it's not all it's cracked up to be.  

The story follows Rin Okumura, a boy who discovers he is the son of Satan.  For reasons I will not divulge (spoilers!), he decides to become an exorcist, thereby contradicting his own existence.  His twin brother, Yukio, is also an exorcist, and the two meet friends and work through their inner demons (pun intended) together.  The cast of characters is colorful, ranging from shy gardener Shiemi to the rambunctious Suguro (Bon).  My favorites of course are the demons - quirky Mephisto Pheles (if that isn't a dead giveaway, I don't know what is) and Kuro the cat.  Unfortunately, none of the female characters were very interesting in this show - a disappointment to be sure. 

Since the manga is still ongoing, I would love to compare the two, but alas I have not read the manga.  The first couple of episodes of the anime were well done and captured my interest immediately, but the episodes that followed quickly brought my interest down to almost nothing.  The strongest point was in the middle of the series, centered around Amaimon, one of the demon kings.  I now know the end of the anime was actually filler (!) and I think the content really killed the chance for a second season.  

The strongest music in the series is definitely found in both openings by Uverworld and ROOKiEZ is PUNK'D.  The background music added to the atmosphere of the anime, but not enough that I really took note of its presence.  The first ending theme, sung by 2PM, was also noteworthy.  

Overall, I would rate this anime a 3/5.  It's a shame it did not live up to its potential. 

A Brief Review - Riviera: The Promised Land (PSP)

I first played Riviera when it came out on the Nintendo Game Boy Advance.  Although I didn't finish the game in that playthrough, I remember being impressed with the characters, plot, and gameplay (especially this last category - it really pushed the GBA to its limits!).  So when my brother got me the PSP port for Christmas one year, I was understandably excited.

From what I understand, not much has changed in the PSP version - the sprites and graphics are basically the same, just a bit clearer on the PSP due to the backlit screen.  There is added art in a number of scenes, but the biggest change comes in the form of voice acting for the characters.  In the American localization, you can even choose whether you want the characters to speak in English or Japanese!  Rose, the talking cat, was especially hilarious in Japanese.  

The music also gets a bit of an overhaul, updating the instrumentation to be more suitable for the PSP.  Each track creates its own ambience, and the final battle music is one of the best I've heard.  The normal battle music can get annoying after a while (especially during training...), but the soundtrack suits the game very well.  

Overall, even though the port doesn't do much to enhance the original game, I would still give this a 4/5 rating.  The GBA version is harder to find nowadays, so one might as well go for the PSP port. 

Pokemon Johto

So I've been going on a big Pokemon music binge lately (probably because I preordered Pokemon X).  While I never really kept up with the Pokemon anime, this was my favorite opening from the series when I was a kid.  Johto Journeys was Season 3, and corresponded with the Generation 2 Pokemon games - Gold and Silver.  These games introduced about 100 new Pokemon, so the lyrics in the English opening for the season match nicely. "But you still gotta catch 'em all!"