Kawada Mami's Initiative was used as opening theme for the eroge Koi to Senkyo to Chocolate by sprite. Nami Maisaki's piece of my heart was then used as the ending theme. Both songs were released on October 29, 2010.
Initiative
Lyrics and Vocals: Mami Kawada
Composition and Arrangement: Tomoyuki Nakazawa
Composition and Arrangement: Tomoyuki Nakazawa
Initiative starts off with repetitive keyboard tunes and drum beats, making the song intro catchy and somewhat memorable. The song composition by Nakazawa being light, mid-tempo, and devoid of heavy synths made the song reminiscent of Mami's SEED era or just old school I've, in general.
Yes, it does sound a bit generic, but then again, mid-tempo songs almost always end up that way. It may sound dull, uninteresting, and like every other song I've has produced. Looking on the positive side, don't we all just love old school stuff? Those types of songs that probably got you into I've Sound being resurrected at present is not that bad, isn't it?
Initiative sounds like a song Mami would come up with in the earlier days of her career, reminiscent of her debut song Kaze to Kimi wo Daite. This song may well be I've's way of going back to its techno/trance roots, and that they haven't strayed far away from it yet. Those roots that charmed the most fans.
The vocals were, of course, light too, and teeming with the signature Mamibrato. It also shows how untarnished her voice still is when it comes to evoking ballad-y and emotional feelings. Soft and gentle.
Overall, the song is just mildly energetic yet cheerful, and dance-able too, perhaps. Pop-ish in vocal style yet ballad-ish in aura. Mami may not be at her best with pop songs, but Initiative definitely shows she can strive well at that genre, as well.
Old school, positive, refreshing. Such going-back-to-its-roots theme was well appreciated and gained Initiative the spot for I've Sound's top song for the year 2010, as based on an official poll.
Rating: 8.5/10
piece of my heart
Vocals: Nami MaisakiLyrics: Mami Kawada
Composition: Tomoyuki Nakazawa
Arrangement: Tomoyuki Nakazawa, Yui Isshiki
The ED theme should always be a ballad, right? piece of my heart is indeed a ballad and is Nami Maisaki's I've solo debut song. A debut song should be striking enough and memorable as it is an artist's very first opportunity to fish for fans. If it fails to do so, it may be a bad omen.
As Nami's solo debut, it was her awaited chance to shine as an individual artist, apart from her group Larval Stage Planning. And good for her because it was a great debut.
The song has much lighter song composition compared to Initiative, making the vocals stand out more. This can be a good or a bad thing though. On the good part, this can be Nami's chance to show off her capabilities. In contrast, this can reveal vocal flaws.
A gamble, as it may seem, but it was worth the risk. piece of my heart showcases Nami's strong vocals, almost at par with her senior KOTOKO but still not quite. Strong yet still able to evoke an emotional feeling with such a ballad song.
However, she sounds rather strained singing those high notes in high pitch. It seems she's better off singing in a lower vocal range with her powerful voice, a vocal style more suited to her. Her singing style and ending a verse with a breathe make it seem like Nami Maisaki is imitating Mami. Not to mention that the lyrics were written by Mami herself for the first time.
Overall, piece of my heart definitely put the spotlight on Nami's solo career, a promising future career at that even. The song certainly makes for a perfect debut. Personally, I love Nami the most out of the Larval Stage Planning vocalists.
This song just made a fairly inexperienced artist as Nami Maisaki one to watch out for. Strong, striking, pierce-through song.
Rating: 8.8/10
for me, INITIATIVE is her meh song, if only because it's too generic for I've standards O: but I have to agree that Nami's piece of my heart is a very good debut song for her :D
ReplyDeleteI see, I got your point and I kind of agree. Anyway, thanks for the feedback! :)
ReplyDeleteAs much as I think that INITIATIVE is inferior to Annabel's Signal Graph, I'm still disappointed they didn't use INITIATIVE even once in the KoiChoco anime. Imagine, three of my obsessions (Mami, Madoka and Clannad) could have been in the same anime! (The male lead's VA is also the VA of Tomoya Okazaki, plus there was the Madoka cosplay in episode 6). If only they used INITIATIVE even as an insert song. Guess Annabel's more mainstream and popular than Mami?
ReplyDeleteWith that said, yes INITIATIVE is quite good (at least by eroge standards), but it's rather bland (at least compared to her anime songs). I like the song, but no one can deny that it is inferior to many of Mami's other songs. At least it's better than most of KOTOKO's worse stuff. Piece of my heart was surprisingly good, considering that fact the LSP is rather meh for me (although I liked Kimi Nazo Watashi de Jump).