I Just Started Watching "Kaoru Hana wa Rin to Saku" and...

 You know, I loved watching "Ao no Hako" so much that I watched half the first season in less than a week. And now a new romance is airing in Japan that has a girl that is the most absolute precious girl I've ever seen in anime. She NEEDS to be protected. "Kaoru Hana wa Rin to Saku" may be the romance of the year. A tough guy at a boys' public school meets a very sweet girl from the neighbouring girls' private school, and a romance is blossoming. They are complete opposites and from schools that hate each other. I am in love with this series already. It's only 13 episodes, but since it's still early in its release on Netflix (in Japan only, as it will be released all at once in September elsewhere), it'll take a few weeks to watch it. I'll be there every week to watch every new episode!

It's so refreshing to find a series currently airing that catches my attention so strongly. "Ao no Hako" did that last year. Now I have my guilty pleasure romance fix for the summer. This show is so wholesome!

"Heartache" - #Compass 2.0: Sentou Setsuri Kaiseki System ED by Uchida Yuuma

Series: #Compass 2.0: Sentou Setsuri Kaiseki System (Spring 2025)

Title: "Heartache"

Artist: Uchida Yuuma

After watching the opening, I wasn't sure what this was about. Looking at the visuals of the ending, there are scenes in Tokyo, the train, performance on stage, and then a computer with a character going into an online game. I'm assuming, without looking at the anime's description, that this is about some kind of game. Anyway, the visuals are very bright and colourful, and we see a variety of hero-like characters.

As for the music, Uchida Yuuma has a very good voice. He sounds very good in this song. It's very upbeat, fairly quick, and has a very good pop sound to it. You often don't get very energetic ending themes in anime, but this one is. There's enough going on with the music that makes it sound unique and recognisable, which is an added bonus. This was a surprise. Watch and listen in the video here: 

The verdict? Good song, good singer, very upbeat and listenable. Would I listen to it more? Absolutely! I could easily listen to this several times.

Overall: 4.5

Do I want to see this based on what I saw? It actually made more sense than the opening, so it does look interesting. I could possibly see this as a maybe watch if I have time.

Patterns in Anime Theme Songs

 I've been busy going through every anime title season by season on MyAnimeList, and I'm nowhere near finished. I've done the 60s, 70s, and am now up to 1987. The 80s is where I'm getting to titles I've watched, includings ones I'd completely forgotten about. Keep in mind I haven't watched any of the openings or endings yet, I'm just listing them. But I've noticed a pattern.

There are a lot of children's choirs that sang theme songs from the 60s to the mid to late 70s. Catchier pop/rock music didn't really start coming until the 80s. Horie Mitsuko has been doing theme songs from the 60s up until today. She's still doing it! As I'm going through the 80s, I'm noticing artists I recognise and have even listened to while I lived in Japan. THE ALFEE's first theme songs were in 1987. I remember watching them on TV 10 to 20 years ago.

As I go into the 90s, I'll be happy to see a lot of music and artists I know well. Rock and pop are more common, and there are some great songs in the 90s, as well as the mid to late 80s. I feel that anime music peaked from the mid 90s to early 2010s. Ones I've heard lately are either rather bland or stand out. A lot today sound the same as others, and there are certain artists that are guilty of this. They're so generic. The music up to the early 2010s was unique and stood out from others. Maybe it's just that there are certain artists I don't care for recently? These are usually groups that have an alternative rock sound or singers with incredibly nasal voices. However, I think that recent music has some of the weirdest sounding theme songs.

It's going to be interesting going through all the music season by season, year by year. I'll be rating them and reviewing them, then ranking them at the end of each season and each year. Probably each decade, too. I'd like to do an average for each year, as well. I'm very curious to see how my opinion of each year's music changes. I'll be doing two different groups of reviews. First, I'll be reviewing the current season's music. At the same time, I'll be going all the way back to the 60s and move forward season by season. This way, we'll get both the old and the new at the same time, giving a larger variety.

"Hakudou" - #Compass 2.0: Sentou Setsuri Kaiseki System OP by Mizuki Nana

Series: #Compass 2.0: Sentou Setsuri Kaiseki System (Spring 2025)

Title: "Hakudou"

Artist: Mizuki Nana

Bright colours, interesting designs, and absolutely no idea what's going on. That's how I would describe the visuals of "Hakudou" by Mizuki Nana. It's not clear what this anime is about, but we're here for the music, right?

Being Mizuki Nana, I would expect her usual great vocals. It doesn't disappoint. She sounds great, as she is a veteran of anime music (and a seiyuu, as well). She has a strong voice throughout. The song itself is somewhat unusual sounding. It's not your standard pop song. There's even a bit of rapping. Instrumentally, you can hear some strong bass. It's very prominent. There's some electronic music, but it sounds like a band. I really enjoy the music in this one. Check out the video:

So, what is my verdict? I like Mizuki Nana. She has catchy music, and this is no exception. This song has an unusual sound to it, so it's unique. I'd listen to it a few times, I think.

Overall: 4.0

Now, the question is, does it make me want to see the series? Not really. While the music is good, what I see in the video doesn't interest me much.

Let's do something crazy with anime music

 It's been a while since I've posted anything. I realised that I don't really want to do anime reviews. I did it 20-25 years ago and always had trouble keeping on doing it. I'm actually doing episode by episode reviews on MyAnimeList as I watch, so I don't think there's any point to posting in two places. However, I have a plan. And it's a crazy one.

One of the most memorable parts of anime is the music. In particular, the opening and ending themes. What I'm going to be doing is going through every opening and ending for the current season, reviewing and rating them. Each one will have a review on here, and I will be compiling lists that will be in a few categories: year (with season subsections), anime, and artist. The yearly one will be ordered by rating. The anime and artist lists will be ordered by year. So, I will start with the openings for spring 2025, while also starting with the very earliest years of anime (the 60s) and try to eventually catch up. The early years will be quick, as there aren't nearly as many titles back then as there are every season these days.

I will be reviewing everything, even if I haven't watched the anime. In fact, some of these may make me add the titles to my list of anime to watch. It's more than 500 titles at the moment, but will keep growing. Again, I review what I watch episode by episode on MyAnimeList. Add me as a friend if you want to keep up with what I'm watching.

At the end of each season, I'm going to compile a list of my top 50 openings and endings of the season, and post them in order from my favourite to least favourite. At the end of each year, I'll also be doing the same, but for a yearly ranking. But should I do rankings for each decade? I'm not sure.

The ratings will be as follows:

• 5 - I can listen to this multiple times without getting tired of it. I love it.
• 4 - I can listen to this a few times, and enjoy it quite a bit.
• 3 - I can listen to this once or twice, then I don't really need to listen to it, but I still like it.
• 2 - I can listen to it once, but I'm not fond of it.
• 1 - I really don't want to listen to it. It's not very good at all. I'd prefer to skip it.

I will also be doing half ratings if it doesn't completely fit one of these ratings.

So, I will be starting as soon as possible. I'll be going through the titles in alphabetic order, and will be including TV series, movies, OVA, ONA, and specials. So, let's get on it!

I Think I Have Too Much Going On

 It's become clear to me that I just can't seem to write reviews. I remember why I stopped running an anime review site all those years ago. I simply didn't enjoy writing the reviews. I'm trying to think of what I can do, and this is what I've come up with.

I will write reviews (brief) on MyAnimeList. As I watch an episode, I'll enter my thoughts about each episode, and once done, I'll write fairly brief reviews.

On this blog, I want to focus on the music of anime. Why? Because I can't really review the openings and endings on MyAnimeList. I'd like to create full lists of the songs for all series I watch, including those listed by anime title, artist, and year. For the year, I want to include a rating out of 5, so I can compile lists of my favourite songs of each year. Why? Just because I like rankings.

Let's see what I can do. I'll just watch anime when I want without worrying about having to write reviews. I think that's better. I found that I was delaying watching because I wasn't in the mood to write a review. Now, I'll just watch as much as I want without worrying about the reviews. I'll get more done, I think.

Let's Get to Work! New Reviews, New Pages

 I just had a very busy two weeks and managed to watch only two episodes of anime. I'm behind on Ao no Hako and Ranma 1/2, but I plan to work on getting caught up over the rest of the month. But there are some other things I have in mind going forward.

I've mentioned this before, but episode by episode reviews will only happen with current series and select series that are within a couple years old (and possibly some very select older series). I do have two new series I plan on starting in January while they're airing.

Second, I'm going to be adding pages for music sorted in a few different ways: year, series, and artist. I will also be adding ratings to them so that in the year listing, I can sort them by rating. I will go back to the openings and endings I have already reviewed and add ratings to the posts.

Next, I really need to get the reviews of completed series up. In the progress page, you'll see what I've finished and what's coming up. I will be finishing another two series very shortly (Tenchi Muyou Ryo-ohki 1 and Planetes). 

So, I'm going to be busy for the next while getting everything up to speed here. Expect a new background for the blog, too. Something simple.