Best songs for each NeoRoma character?
A simple question borne out of idle curiosity: What do you feel is the best image song for each neoromance character? You don't have to do every franchise or every character within a given franchise; I myself did just the two Angeliques, being Haruka- and Corda-ignorant.
Angelique original first:
Julious: 95% of Julious's songs are made up of French and OOC sluttiness. I pick "Byakuya", it being the sluttiest, albeit a bit low on the French content.
Clavis: For him being an early favorite of mine, I don't actually recall many Clavis songs - or, rather, I recall them, but they're not standouts to me. "Home Green Home" is nicely, (kinda) subtly character-appropriate but a bit treacly. Not having heard the original, I might go with the remix of "Kokoro no Hyouga o Koete", which near the end has a kickin' rhythm but, for that reason, isn't very Clavisy.
Luva: I really love "Eien no Silkroad". It's a love song, yes, but it's not exclusively so; by feel, it's mainly Luva the storyteller conjuring up an image of his desert homeland. I like the songs that aren't just "I love you, babe" and focus on other aspects of the characters. (Also, it's odd, but for me, Luva's songs either cluster toward "great" or "horrible", with little in between.)
Lumiale: I actually have heard plenty of Lumi songs, but I'm not going to go with a vocal. I'm going to go instead with "Suiren" ("Water Lily"), a sweet and delicate harp instrumental he plays. ("Gekkouyoku" ("Moonbathing") also has a sideways etherealness about it that's beautiful and disturbing at the same time.)
Oscar: I just love that they had the audacity to title a song "All Night? All Right!". Really, there's no way it's not going to be the quintessential Oscar song. (That said, "Glamorous Venus" isn't bad, either, or his "Force of Passion" duet with Arios, or "Zutto Hanasanai", if only they'd gotten rid of the stupid duet-with-himself effect in the second verse. I don't like Oscar, but he has some good songs.)
Olivie: "21st Century Gold Rush", hands down. The song, like the singer, is total crack. I don't even need to get into the video.
Randy: "Kimi no Tame ni Koko ni Iru" is really strong, but I pick "Evergreen". Such a happy, hopeful song with a bright and natural acoustic guitar accompaniment - Randy at his best. (We will not speak of that group song where he raps "you look hot".)
Marcel: I dunno. A lot of his early songs are really bad. His one from the Twin Collection, whatever it's called, is pleasant, but "pleasant" isn't enough for a "best".
Zephel: Another blank. The best part of "Lovesick" is the video where he's building a fembot girlfriend with see-through Tinkerbell clothing. The best part of "Da-Da-Dynamic Diamond" is where he shouts "SANKYUU~~!" to his screaming audience at the end. Neither is bad, but I dunno. ("Lovesick" has a pretty good chorus, though.)
Arios: "Tempest" is perhaps the big favorite Arios song, with good reason, and "Stay" is perhaps iconic due to the music video. My personal favorite, though, is the happily overdramatic "Face Faith of Love". I'm told this gives me horrible taste in music. I don't care.
Charlie: "Furarete Ee Yan" is fun and refreshing, but I have to give this to the uber-smooth standby of "Commitment". It sounds suited to a rich guy, if that makes any sense, yet has that playful Charlie edge. (But, Lord, is "Oputomisuto wa Kiseki o Okosu" an atrocity, or what?)
Ernst: Ernst is a reserved character with a big voice, and I'm glad his songs are written to express it. "Answer", "Ii Jigen yori" - both great (with a slight edge to the romantic "Answer", though Ernst's voice is better showcased in fast-paced songs).
Victor: "Michi naki Michi" is a good straight-out rock song that uses the seiyuu's gravelly, rough voice well. I like the slight fatherly-advice thing the duet "Yume no Arika" has going, though, given the character's age, and the song has more variety to its structure. It's a toss-up.
Timka: "Shinin' Star" has a satisfying, nimble structure in places and a strong grandiosity to it in others. The Twin Collection tracks were good, weren't they?
Mel: Yeah, that insidious "KISU! KISU! KISU!" song.
Sei-lan: I was going to draw a blank, but then I ran across "Secret Dream" on my hard drive. It's such a drama queen song.
Leonard: I utterly can't stand Mr. I'm So Great of the Sephiroth Cosplayers Association, but he's not in much, so I can safely ignore him most of the time. That said, "Jiyuu ga Subete" is a tour de force.
Francis: Francis's songs are legendarily bad, supposedly. I have one, "Utakata no Opera", and it just seems like they picked something completely out of the guy's range, though his voice is obviously untrained. Still not as bad as "Oputimisuto wa Blah Blah Blah".
Heuye: That "I WILL TRYYYY!" song is happy and sunny and has good momentum, yes, but does Heuye have much of an original personality to express? He's like a carbon copy of Randy 1.0 (as opposed to Oscar's Cabana Boy Knight-in-Training Randy) with a Brotherhood of the Wolf motif tacked on. Honestly, you could give the song to early-Ange Randy, and it'd fit perfectly.
(Oh, yeah, I'm making friends today.)
My Neo Ange library is limited, but:
Rayne: Haven't heard many of his - insane, I know; have you seen the tracklist for Platinum Harmony? It plays like his greatest hits album. I heard "Crazy Beat", though, and I recalled it being pretty good.
Nyx: It's a duet, but "Home Sweetest Home" really shows the best side of Nyx, master of Hidamari, the kind of person who cares about creating memories and a warm and welcoming home where friends gather.
Hyuga: As discussed previously on this group, "Shikon no Kadou" is perfect. It's just like Hyuga would sing it, all earnest, staid, and awkward, and yet actually succeeding in being dramatic.
The Aube Hunters 4 as a group: "Silent Destiny" is just awesome aggro music. It survives even the Engrish rap and hair metal they put on the full-length version's bridge. It's worth the price of the CD single, even with the massive suckiness that is "Eternal Green".
Mathias: Is there any song better than "Black Lament"/"Lament of Ebony"? I mean, in the world? (All right, I'm overstating, but it is awesome.)
Rene: "Lament of Ebony" commands most of the attention, but "I Pray" is a nice, airy, earnest track.
Roche: Roche's seiyuu isn't a bad singer, but his voice isn't strong enough to own his songs. His theme music on the BGM soundtrack is actually far better than the character deserves.
J.D., Jet, Bernard, Erenfried: Nada. I've heard "Sweets no Mahou", before I knew the character proper. It made my teeth rot. Maybe I'd feel differently now. Erenfried's single, I haven't heard properly, but the snippet I heard sounded all crazy Broadway chorus-girl craziness, which is exactly how an Erenfried tune should be.
Geez, I've been in this fandom for so long that I've listened to all this? Holy Hannah.
Angelique original first:
Julious: 95% of Julious's songs are made up of French and OOC sluttiness. I pick "Byakuya", it being the sluttiest, albeit a bit low on the French content.
Clavis: For him being an early favorite of mine, I don't actually recall many Clavis songs - or, rather, I recall them, but they're not standouts to me. "Home Green Home" is nicely, (kinda) subtly character-appropriate but a bit treacly. Not having heard the original, I might go with the remix of "Kokoro no Hyouga o Koete", which near the end has a kickin' rhythm but, for that reason, isn't very Clavisy.
Luva: I really love "Eien no Silkroad". It's a love song, yes, but it's not exclusively so; by feel, it's mainly Luva the storyteller conjuring up an image of his desert homeland. I like the songs that aren't just "I love you, babe" and focus on other aspects of the characters. (Also, it's odd, but for me, Luva's songs either cluster toward "great" or "horrible", with little in between.)
Lumiale: I actually have heard plenty of Lumi songs, but I'm not going to go with a vocal. I'm going to go instead with "Suiren" ("Water Lily"), a sweet and delicate harp instrumental he plays. ("Gekkouyoku" ("Moonbathing") also has a sideways etherealness about it that's beautiful and disturbing at the same time.)
Oscar: I just love that they had the audacity to title a song "All Night? All Right!". Really, there's no way it's not going to be the quintessential Oscar song. (That said, "Glamorous Venus" isn't bad, either, or his "Force of Passion" duet with Arios, or "Zutto Hanasanai", if only they'd gotten rid of the stupid duet-with-himself effect in the second verse. I don't like Oscar, but he has some good songs.)
Olivie: "21st Century Gold Rush", hands down. The song, like the singer, is total crack. I don't even need to get into the video.
Randy: "Kimi no Tame ni Koko ni Iru" is really strong, but I pick "Evergreen". Such a happy, hopeful song with a bright and natural acoustic guitar accompaniment - Randy at his best. (We will not speak of that group song where he raps "you look hot".)
Marcel: I dunno. A lot of his early songs are really bad. His one from the Twin Collection, whatever it's called, is pleasant, but "pleasant" isn't enough for a "best".
Zephel: Another blank. The best part of "Lovesick" is the video where he's building a fembot girlfriend with see-through Tinkerbell clothing. The best part of "Da-Da-Dynamic Diamond" is where he shouts "SANKYUU~~!" to his screaming audience at the end. Neither is bad, but I dunno. ("Lovesick" has a pretty good chorus, though.)
Arios: "Tempest" is perhaps the big favorite Arios song, with good reason, and "Stay" is perhaps iconic due to the music video. My personal favorite, though, is the happily overdramatic "Face Faith of Love". I'm told this gives me horrible taste in music. I don't care.
Charlie: "Furarete Ee Yan" is fun and refreshing, but I have to give this to the uber-smooth standby of "Commitment". It sounds suited to a rich guy, if that makes any sense, yet has that playful Charlie edge. (But, Lord, is "Oputomisuto wa Kiseki o Okosu" an atrocity, or what?)
Ernst: Ernst is a reserved character with a big voice, and I'm glad his songs are written to express it. "Answer", "Ii Jigen yori" - both great (with a slight edge to the romantic "Answer", though Ernst's voice is better showcased in fast-paced songs).
Victor: "Michi naki Michi" is a good straight-out rock song that uses the seiyuu's gravelly, rough voice well. I like the slight fatherly-advice thing the duet "Yume no Arika" has going, though, given the character's age, and the song has more variety to its structure. It's a toss-up.
Timka: "Shinin' Star" has a satisfying, nimble structure in places and a strong grandiosity to it in others. The Twin Collection tracks were good, weren't they?
Mel: Yeah, that insidious "KISU! KISU! KISU!" song.
Sei-lan: I was going to draw a blank, but then I ran across "Secret Dream" on my hard drive. It's such a drama queen song.
Leonard: I utterly can't stand Mr. I'm So Great of the Sephiroth Cosplayers Association, but he's not in much, so I can safely ignore him most of the time. That said, "Jiyuu ga Subete" is a tour de force.
Francis: Francis's songs are legendarily bad, supposedly. I have one, "Utakata no Opera", and it just seems like they picked something completely out of the guy's range, though his voice is obviously untrained. Still not as bad as "Oputimisuto wa Blah Blah Blah".
Heuye: That "I WILL TRYYYY!" song is happy and sunny and has good momentum, yes, but does Heuye have much of an original personality to express? He's like a carbon copy of Randy 1.0 (as opposed to Oscar's Cabana Boy Knight-in-Training Randy) with a Brotherhood of the Wolf motif tacked on. Honestly, you could give the song to early-Ange Randy, and it'd fit perfectly.
(Oh, yeah, I'm making friends today.)
My Neo Ange library is limited, but:
Rayne: Haven't heard many of his - insane, I know; have you seen the tracklist for Platinum Harmony? It plays like his greatest hits album. I heard "Crazy Beat", though, and I recalled it being pretty good.
Nyx: It's a duet, but "Home Sweetest Home" really shows the best side of Nyx, master of Hidamari, the kind of person who cares about creating memories and a warm and welcoming home where friends gather.
Hyuga: As discussed previously on this group, "Shikon no Kadou" is perfect. It's just like Hyuga would sing it, all earnest, staid, and awkward, and yet actually succeeding in being dramatic.
The Aube Hunters 4 as a group: "Silent Destiny" is just awesome aggro music. It survives even the Engrish rap and hair metal they put on the full-length version's bridge. It's worth the price of the CD single, even with the massive suckiness that is "Eternal Green".
Mathias: Is there any song better than "Black Lament"/"Lament of Ebony"? I mean, in the world? (All right, I'm overstating, but it is awesome.)
Rene: "Lament of Ebony" commands most of the attention, but "I Pray" is a nice, airy, earnest track.
Roche: Roche's seiyuu isn't a bad singer, but his voice isn't strong enough to own his songs. His theme music on the BGM soundtrack is actually far better than the character deserves.
J.D., Jet, Bernard, Erenfried: Nada. I've heard "Sweets no Mahou", before I knew the character proper. It made my teeth rot. Maybe I'd feel differently now. Erenfried's single, I haven't heard properly, but the snippet I heard sounded all crazy Broadway chorus-girl craziness, which is exactly how an Erenfried tune should be.
Geez, I've been in this fandom for so long that I've listened to all this? Holy Hannah.