Recently, I found an excellent site that allowed me to find some of the excellent soundtracks to my favorite Anime titles. Interestingly enough, the end result of this was that it caused me to think about just what the right music can do for a good Anime. So, on this topic, I’ll be talking about how use of music can turn a good or great title into an excellent one.
In an earlier blog, I wrote about .hack//SIGN, my downright favorite Anime of all time. Set in a computer game, the show follows the journeys, both physical and mental, of Tsukasa, a “prisoner” of The World. He is trapped, unable to log out, and feels the effects of the world just as a human would. Whereas the virtual reality can only reproduse sight and sound, he feels all five senses, and can also feel pain as a human being. It is an excellent story, and is augmented greatly by the talents of Yuki Kajiura, an excellent music artist. The soundtrack has a wide spectrum of sounds, from the sweet and simple “Fake Wings,” to the earthly “The World,” to the gritty and malevolent “Aura- Evil.” These tracks match their situations quite nicely. For example, when the episode starts off, it usually begins with a survey of the surroundings in The World, and so uses “The World.” In a more active scene, the background changes to the more active “Key of the Twilight” or “In The Land Of Twilight, Under The Moon.” The “trickster” character of Sora, who speaks in riddles and stupidity befitting his character, is accompanied with the playful “Useless Chatter.” Subaru, the “princess” of the game, is accompanied with the aforementioned “Fake Wings,” the track’s title coming from her signature miniature angel wings on her character’s back. And the character of Aura, whom Tsukasa spends most of his time with, has three different versions of the same melody and song: “Aura,” “Aura- Awakening,” and “Aura- Evil,” depending on the mood of the scene.
This has shown how, just like in a movie, an excellent and well-used soundtrack can make an Anime such as .hack//SIGN extroardinary.
As always, feel free to post comments. Until next time.
