GaryMuffuginOak's Blog

Anime Relations: Cowboy Bebop, Fullmetal Alchemist, Elfen Lied, Fate/stay night, Mushishi, Pokemon, Darker than Black: Kuro no Keiyakusha, Shiki, Mirai Nikki (TV), Tasogare Otome x Amnesia, White Album 2, Death Parade

Soundtracks prove very important in Anime because they help set the overall atmosphere right down to the emotion in every scene the producers want us to experience. This lists my top 10 favorite anime soundtracks. I may have let some good soundtracks fly right over my head- or straight through my ears, so take it easy. One soundtrack for each anime. Criticism of my choices and writing is welcome.

• Tears After Cloudy Weather - Pokemon
  
  
  
  If anyone spent their childhood watching the Pokemon Anime, they will remember the episodes where Butterfree was released to have a family and Ash let Pikachu go to stay with his kind. And if they remember those episodes, they will remember the emotions that came with it.
  
  
• Kishi Ou No Hikori - Fate/Stay Night
  
  
  
  Fate/Stay Night is regarded as a terrible adaption of the Visual Novel and inferior to Ufotable's Unlimited Blade Works. However, despite the use of CGI dragons to censor H-Scenes and watching Shirou get killed on multiple occasions, there is this track. We hear it when Shirou first accidentally summons Saber and we'll keep hearing it whenever both characters are on screen, as if serving as theme music for both of them.
  
  
• Kotowari - Mushishi
  
  
  
  This one is weird as I have not watched Mushishi, but I stumbled across this track on the internet. Even though this song is only a minute, the use of piano, bells and wind chimes create a surreal and soothing feel to this piece.
  
  
• Requiem - Tasogare Otome X Amnesia
  
  
  
  With lovely vocals and piano, this OST acts as the theme music for the dramatic and sad moments of Tasogare Otome X Amnesia. The song reflects Yuuko's tragic backstory and the mysterious, ghostly atmosphere of the show when it's not being comedic.
  
  
• White Album - White Album 2
  
  
  
  The feels... This song suits the sad ending of the show, despite being introduced earlier on as a song the main characters perform. This is originally from the White Album anime.
  
  
  
  
  Too bad the ending was a frustratingly sad open ended end. Why can't they just adapt the whole VN and pick one route to be canon? Ugh.
  
  
  
  
• Epitaph - Shiki
  
  
  
  This song and its variations (Day and Night with a single female singer, Requiem with lower male vocals) serve well to represent Shiki. The eerie choir and bells fits the strange atmosphere of a vampire ridden town whose residents are dying left and right- thus the death related title "Epitaph". However this song has a strong tragic feel, enhanced by the violin, to reflects the central themes of Shiki- tragedy and a lack of right and wrong.
  
  
• Lilium - Elfen Lied
  
  
  
  Technically Lilium is an opening not a soundtrack, but there are variations such as the music box and the violin version. But the original opening is better, so I'll make an exception here. Lilium, just like Epitaph, contains eerie (Latin) vocals with a sad tone and conveys the theme of Elfen Lied- the cruel treatment of others different than humans and the tragic conflict between humans and the Diclonius. You could probably swap Lilium with Epitaph and both would work perfectly!
  
  
• Track 8 - Mirai Nikki
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  This is a big spoiler for Mirai Nikki, so if you have not seen it, don't click on the spoiler!
  
  This song has a faster rhythm compared to the other songs, but that's also one of the things that makes it special. It fits the scene it accompanies, which is both tense and tragic at the same time. This song may sound good alone, but it is made even better by the emotions evoked during the scene, as they will remain in our memories through this song.
  
  
  
  
  Too bad Minene came back to life.
  
  
  
  
• Space Lion - Cowboy Bebop
  
  
  
  I have nothing to say but leave this piece of dialogue from the episode this soundtrack played in.
  
  Kid: A star just fell from the sky.
  Laughing Bull: That is not an ordinary star, my son. That star is the tear of a warrior.
  Kid: What warrior is it?
  Laughing Bull: A lost soul who has finished his battles somewhere on this planet. A pitiful soul who could not find his way to the lofty realm where the great spirit awaits us all.
  
  
• Brothers - Fullmetal Alchemist (2003)
  
  
  
  Gotta hand it to the composer for creating such a fitting piece of music for the Elric Brothers. This song has Russian vocals, but there is a violin and piano version you can also hear in the anime. There is even an English version of the vocals on Youtube! Essentially, the singing is dialogue between brothers Ed and Alphonse, one asking for forgiveness for what he did to the other, and they later join together to sing a chorus directed at their deceased mother. The song perfectly reflects the Elric Brothers' past and it makes for a sad yet sweet song.
  
  
• Yin No Piano - Darker Than Black
  
  
  
  Yoko Kanno strikes again! We are given 2 emotional episodes covering the silent character Yin and Yoko Kanno surpassed what was required, composing a beautiful piano piece that could pass as Debussy.
  
  
• Moonlit Night - Death Parade
  
  
  
  Death Parade's soundtrack is fitting for the overall atmosphere of the show, however isn't particularly outstanding. This piece compensates for all of that. There is one significant scene we hear this piece in the entirety of Death Parade. Accompanying beautiful animation and well placed flashbacks to create the best scene in the whole of Death Parade and is a prime example a perfectly fitting OST. It's almost as if this song was tailored specifically for this scene, as the changes during the scene are reflected in this song. This song, along with it's scene, is the reason why Death Parade's Moonlit Night is my favorite anime soundtrack.