You know, as much as I love both Nino and Makino Yui’s work on Aria, I’m glad they tapped Arai Akino for the ED this time around, because she sounds absolutely incredible. What a great song.
By the way, has anyone else noticed that Ai sounds a bit older in her replies to Akari at the end of each episode? I wonder if that’s intentional…
I was a big fan of Round Table’s works for the EDs but Arai Akino is definitely doing a great job the for the ED for this season. It’s already grown on me.
I dunno if Ai sounding older is suppose to be intentional or not…I actually thought Akari, Alice, and Aika sounded kind of weird in the first episode too. It has been a long time since the last season, so maybe the seiyu just aren’t preforming exactly like they did before? :P
Yeah, I noticed some weirdness in the voices in the first episode as well. It didn’t last too long, though. And I was probably listening for it, as a friend who watched the episode before I did made a similar observation and piqued my curiosity.
With Ai, however, the difference seems more pronounced… it’s almost as if Mizuhashi Kaori is consciously modifying the sound of her voice. Every time I hear it, I think, “this is what an older Ai might sound like.”
Or perhaps they just recorded her lines for the first few episodes in the same session, and she had a cold. I dunno.
I like the animation/coloring of the ED more than the actual singing - I think it could be done better - esp voice clarity - I would know because of three years of chorus
Yeah - I agree - Ai does sound… err… older -? - Deeper is a better word - at the end. I highly doubt it was intentional - but - who knows…
Well, yeah, Ai sounded older. Which isn’t surprising, seeing how approximately 4 Man-Home years have passed since the first season (Two cycles of seasons, since 1 Aqua year is 2 Man-Home years).
1. I think Ai sounding older is a deliberate move.
2. For some reason, Aria OP/ED song both got much ‘artsier’: using more complicated harmonic and melodic development. Being a classically trained musician, I appreciate it but was fearing that it would not receive as good an welcome as previous songs, since the songs are much more complex, but I’m glad to know that many people are enjoying it. Now, if they would bring out another Athena song and Monteverdi style overture, I would not know how to contain my joy. Please take a look at following link and listen carefully of the festival music in the final episode of Aria the Animation.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXq5H0pX6JI
3. I do believe a classically trained coloratura mezzo-soprano probably would have sung those songs better, but then, in order to take advantage of the coloratura’s ability, they could have made the song even more complicated. I know I will like that, but I really doubt if that would go well with majority of anime viewers.
Following is a better link for Monteverdi’s music. Please note that Monteverdi and Gabrielli are the most famous and influential musician to have been named as music master of St. Mark Cathedral in Venice.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxBT1pfVAKQ
Akino Arai is a much more … accomplished musician after all. It’s no surprise she blows Yui Makino away (IMO). I think this is a good compromise without going all opera on the viewers.
This is my favorite of all the EDs I’ve heard, though Round Table put up some pretty good stuff. Loved what they did with the animation as well. Maybe because Arai’s voice seems to match with the mood of Neo Venezia better for me. Calming and smooth, almost ethereal. Oh well, it just sounds better, and I don’t have to justify it. :P
It does seem like Makino hasn’t been getting better with the OPs though. “Spirare” wasn’t as good as “Euforia” which wasn’t as good as “Undine” vocal-wise, though I did like how there seemed to be some experimentation with rhythms and such with “Spirare”. :/
The thing I like about Makino Yui’s voice is its “raw” quality… it has that amateur “seiyuu trying to sing” edge to it, but she works it to her advantage. The first time I listened to the full version of Spirare, however, I thought to myself, “she sounds a little off.” Then, I listened to the B-Side and thought, “ugh… she sounds way off.”
I was racking my brain, trying to figure out what happened, and then it dawned on me: she was trying to emulate the sound of a more experienced vocalist, and she wasn’t quite pulling it off. If she’s looking to mature as a vocalist, she has my support, but I’ll miss the old Makino Yui all the same.