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

Whoa. A Takagaki Ayahi featured CD actually made me listen in awe instead of zonking my brain to LaLa Land. What a pleasant surprise ^^. For starters, I was never fond of her singing, regardless of the fact that she graduated from a music college and has hobbies comprising musicals and performing opera. I often found her past vocal performances as boring as a pigeon’s, devoid of any believable expressions until you watch her attempt at popping her eyes out from their sockets during Sphere’s PVs. Songs after songs, hardly one of them has ever made me replay more than twice…… Okay I admit, I like “Inspired – Ein”, but that’s the only one…or so I used to think until “come across Feldt Grace” strutted along.

Inori† (Prayer)
Slow and serene, hauntingly beautiful in both lyrics and music. As icing, Takagaki does a commendable feat of drawing out the full emotions of the song, drenching the words with a complex mixture of pain and yearning, gratitude and determination. Ah yes, I did say I find her singing as stagnant as pond water but that only holds true when she’s doing modern pop. When the field is drawn towards her more comfortable zone of classics however, it’s like a whole different ball game. Here the melody takes advantage of her classically trained voice, stretching her pitch to the higher registers where her vocals really shine imho. I never imagined I would brand anything Takagaki song-related a masterpiece but I felt Inori† deserved it, if also for fact that KOKIA did an equally outstanding job on the lyrics and music composition.

Justice
Another track which has KOKIA’s signatures all over it and it also makes good use of Takagaki’s higher registers. The tempo is slightly faster, and the melody is darker and more aggressive. The verses feel heavy with emotions whereas the chorus veers into a faster rhythm beating with urgency. Not as noteworthy as Inori† was for me but nonetheless, it’s still a feat well done.

What else can I say? It’s excellent overall. Whether you’re an Ayahime fan or a loyal Gundam follower, this is one album I would recommend trying out. Maybe it’ll change some people’s opinions about Takagaki. It sure did for me and it made me wish she would continue pursuing this line of music genre instead of all those over-caffeinated pop-py stuff. I suppose the success of this album also has a lot to do with KOKIA being involved (Yeah, a fan here ^^). Depending on an artiste’s style, teaming up with the right composer is an importance that is second to none. In Takagaki’s case, being called to collaborate with KOKIA was a very VERY smart decision.

During a chat interview on A&G REQUEST Digista, Takagaki revealed the whole album recording experience had been one of the most emotional journeys for her, citing the reason that she’s a huge fan of KOKIA but also more importantly, it had a lot to do with her sentimental connection to Feldt throughout the course of Gundam 00’s two-season run. One of the fondest memories she ever had was during the pre-recording stages, where she recalled the method KOKIA used to teach her in interpreting and performing the songs – Takagaki was made to read out one line then sing the next in an alternate pattern and whilst she was doing so, she became so overwhelmed with emotions that she ended up crying (Well, that’s not uncommon but we can’t blame her. It was a truly special occasion for her after all). I guess I have to remember this release isn’t exactly a character image song album but more like a “From Takagaki Ayahi to Feldt Grace” kind of compilation.

If you get the chance, do listen to it. I usually won’t suggest any CD that has Takagaki Ayahi in the main vocalist line-up but this changed my mind and made me contemplate again about her being a worthy contender in the world of seiyuu-singers if given the right genre. Also, though I don’t fancy her singing in general, that doesn’t mean I dislike her as a seiyuu ;). Some of her acting roles were quite memorable for me – Feldt Grace of course, Ein (Phantom ~Requiem for the Phantom~) and Isurugi Noe (true tears). Not to mention that Ayahime can be one heck of an interesting person who seems to lack common sense experience in doing most tasks (Watch her Nikujaga Cooking Challenge: Part 1 and Part 2), and has a tendency to spout some of the most random and incomprehensible things you’ll ever hear (Takagaki’s 10 charm points about herself – involuntarily self-proclaimed). She’s a really good sport though. Gotta love that petite bundle of LAWLkewtness. :3

Feel free to share your thoughts if you’ve listened to this album!