To Aru Kagaku no Railgun – Episode 6

Cuddly death traps.

K-ON! Character Image Song Series

With a peppy opening theme, a fantastic ending as well as fun inserts, K-ON! looks to be strumming all the right strings in the Anison industry. As for the character image songs?

They seem to be doing equally well; in the CD market at least. After all, this is KyoAni + Pony Canyon we’re talking about…

Prayer†

『Prayer†』

「Gundam 00 Voice Actor Single – Takagaki Ayahi come across Feldt Grace」

Lyrics & Music ： KOKIA
Arrangement ： Ura Kiyohide
Vocals ： Takagaki Ayahi

Even though I’m dwelling in such sorrows, why is it that I feel warm?
Is it because I know I’m enveloped by your love?

I promise you, the vow I share with you will continue to live in my heart

Every time I feel your presence beyond the endless skies
The love I found is within the cherished things I lost
No matter how painful it may be, it tells me to move on

I promise you, the vow I share with you will continue to live in my heart

I promise you, the vow I share with you will continue to live in my heart

May my prayers of wishing for happiness reach you…

I promise you…

Japanese Lyrics : 祈り†

Notes
I took a lot of artistic liberty with the translation such as substituting the common term for some words with another, using nouns instead of adjectives etc. Several sentences also feel disconnected when you take them into literal context but I joined a few of them anyway in order to smooth the flow and make them sound more complete.

祈り†

『Inori†』

「Gundam 00 Voice Actor Single – Takagaki Ayahi come across Feldt Grace」

Sakushi ・ Sakkyoku ： KOKIA
Henkyoku ： Ura Kiyohide
Uta ： Takagaki Ayahi

Konna ni kanashii no ni atatakai no wa naze?
Anata no ai ni tsutsumareteiru koto shitteiru kara?

I promise you anata to no yakusoku kono mune ni iki tsudzuketeiru

Hateshinai sora no mukou ni kehai o kanjiru tabi ni
Ushinatta daiji na mono sono naka de mitsuketa ai
Donna tsurakutemo mae ni susumu to

I promise you anata to no yakusoku kono mune ni iki tsudzuketeiru

I promise you anata to no yakusoku kono mune ni iki tsudzuketeiru

Shiawase negau watashi no inori todokimasu you ni…

I promise you…

English Translation : Prayer†

To Aru Kagaku no Railgun – Episode 5

It’s 100% aphrodisiac-free…except for lolipedocons.

Gundam 00 Voice Actor Single – Takagaki Ayahi come across Feldt Grace

To Aru Kagaku no Railgun – Episode 4

If you’re a pure and decent person, that kind of experience would be pretty scary.

Darker than Black 2 – Down the Complicated Road

Just a brief filler post ‘cause if I were to write a proper entry, it’ll end up tl;dr. Anyway, DtB 2 is slowly but surely shaping up to be one of my top favorites of Fall 2009. While the story still paddles around the mid shallow depths, it’s quite clear that it has just taken a deeper dive into more complex territories and that things may only get twisted from there. Furthermore, there are so many unexplained events in between the first and second season. It’s rare to come across a TV series that has a well written original plot nowadays but for DtB, prospects are already looking bright in these few early episodes. Story aside, BONES once again does not disappoint when it comes to delivering healthy doses of gripping animation. From the adrenaline-pumped human-scaled confrontations involving contractors to exploding tumbling train carriages, I like the fact that they do not hold back in showing us what an action-oriented series is supposed to look like. Music-wise, I do miss Kanno Youko but Hellsing’s Ishii Kouji is doing an equally commendable job on the OST. It’s definitely a different feel from Season 1 but the more I listen to his scores, the more I begin to think his take on the BGM is more befitting of the series’ atmosphere than Kanno’s repertoire.

Another plus point for this show? Suou. :)
After only 3 episodes, I already find her more interesting as a protagonist than Hei ever was. While the writers treaded on the conventional path of “girl suddenly sees her world crumble before her eyes”, they took the additional step of making it crueler for Suou by turning her into a contractor, an existence she currently loathes from the bottom of her heart after witnessing her family members and friends being taken away by the same kind of individuals she has become, although whether or not her transformation is a temporary issue remains to be seen. It’ll be interesting to see how her views of contractors will change as time goes by. And whilst touching on the subject of character portrayal, it’s still too early to say this but I think Suou is fast becoming my favorite Hanazawa Kana role. Excellent job on the VA so far!

This trio is LOLAWSM. Mina is ♥. Her remuneration is so…iffy ;3. I love how she goes the extra unneeded mile heh heh heh.