As usual, when I grow fond of a certain anime, I inevitably end up writing some piece of sheet music for it.  Here is my arrangement of the background music track “Melancholic Sana”, which contains a theme used quite often in the anime.

Sheet Music

Mp3 Recording (Doesn’t match the sheet music note for note)

The anime is of course, “Kodomo no Omocha”, Kodocha for short.

And here is my piano arrangement:

http://www.omohide.com/music/yasashisa.pdf

I will be uploading a full performance of the piece to my youtube account later, but for now, here’s a small, rushed, snippet of the opening:

http://www.omohide.com/music/yasaishisa.mp3

I really like the chord progressions in this one. The entire thing has a very youthful, optimistic tone to it, but those A-flat minor chords popping it add a nice bittersweet quality. A great way to end the film, and a song that really cheers me up whenever I hear it.

(Low quality montage of: The Girl Who Fell from the Sky, Memories of Gondoa, The Forgotten Robot Soldier, The Destruction of Laputa)

The original Laputa had about 30-35 minutes of score for its length of around two hours.  One of the things which stuck most in my mind when I first watched the film was the silence that was so prevalent throughout, including dramatic sequences that in Hollywood films would have exploited with plenty of bombastic music.  When Laputa was brought over for release in America, it was decided that the long stretches of silence might make American viewers uncomfortable.  Many will disagree, but in the end, the result was commissioning Joe Hisaishi to rescore the entire film, bringing the runtime up to about an hour of music.  There is a potential here for an endless debate about altering a classic film in such a way.  Some people will argue that the charm of the original is lost with this fresh symphonic score (which is a lot more sophisticated in composition, echoing Hisaishi’s current style, than the original).  Others will find it to be a welcome update to a dated score.

I’m not going to spend most of this review on this debate, instead I will evaluate this as a fresh Hisaishi composition rather than some sort of infringement upon my purist Ghibli tendencies.  As I always watch Ghibli films with their Japanese track, my experience and enjoyment of the film is not altered by this rerecording.  If there’s one noticeable change that disturbed me in particular, it was “Pazu’s Fanfare”.  In the original, Pazu gets up in the morning and plays his solitary trumpet on the rooftop as the camera pans across the mining town.  In the USA soundtrack, after a bar or two, his lone trumpet is suddenly joined by a phantom, nonexistent lyre for a duet in the corniest Disney tradition.  We can only be thankful the mining town doesn’t suddenly break out into song with Broadway accompaniment.

“The Girl Who Fell From the Sky” is the track that I think most of us were looking forward to the most.  This is the music which backs the opening credits with a lush, beautiful rendition of Hisaishi’s main Laputa theme.  The rerecording was worth it just to get our hands on this track.  Even though Hisaishi’s orchestration skills back in the Laputa days weren’t what they are today, his knack for melody is evident in this theme, which is my favourite Hisaishi melody – bittersweet, moving….just wonderful.  You can imagine how rewarding it is to hear it updated like this.

There is something of a secondary theme in the score which appears throughout the score.  We hear it first as a tinkling piano near the end of “The Legend of Laputa”.   It is a somewhat melancholic melody, very evocative.  It reappears in other tracks, such as “The Forgotten Robot Soldier”.  Despite the film having a heavy load of action and chase sequences, there are some very beautiful images and ideas throughout, such as the mentioned “Forgotten Robot Soldier” that the track represents.  You’ll notice that I’m not mentioning the action cues all too much, and that’s because action music doesn’t really interest me.  It’s these understated and bittersweet moments that really make both the film and the soundtrack shine.

“The Destruction of Laputa”, in the original film, was a piece for solo choir, and this version has been updated to be more dynamic and with a fuller orchestral accompaniment.  I’ve been tepid about direct comparisons so far, but this is one case where I do prefer the new version.  The emotion of the bittersweet theme in its expansive new rendition is just beautiful.  The juxtaposition of this choral piece with the crumbling and destruction of Laputa is also one of the most effective decisions Hisaishi/Miyazaki have ever made, music-wise.  My only complaint is that I still don’t feel like the Laputa theme is explored to its most dramatic orchestral heights in the score, even with this track.  Now, the presence of Kimi o Nosete, the closing song which makes full use of the main theme, could offset that, but it is not present on the U.S. score for whatever reason.

Let’s talk about Kimi o Nosete for a moment.  Without a doubt, this is one of my favourite songs from any Ghibli film.  It is so remarkably moving, tear-jerking, uplifting, and the lyrics are wonderful as well.  The song wouldn’t be complete, however, without the vocals of Azumi Inoue.  In her prime (AKA around the time of this recording), not only did she possess a crystal-clear, pure voice, but her own skills as a singer add so much to the song, which cannot be said for a lot of contemporary-style singers.  Just listen to the myriad of anime songs out there these days, would anyone notice if the generic pop singers were switched?  But the shape of her phrases, the passion of her chorus, her whispered variations on repeated lyrics (“chikyuu wa mawaru...”)….these are the marks of an artist.

If you are a Hisaishi fan, I couldn’t imagine why you would pass on this soundtrack.  We can argue about its use in the film all we want, but at the end of the day, you have about an hour of new Hisaishi material featuring one of his greatest melodies.  There’s really no reason to pass on this one.  I have to wonder, though, what the Japanese Hisaishi fans’ reactions to this rerecording have been.  Has it become a popular import?  Are they grateful for this new material?  Or is it a source of dissatisfaction, to see old classics tampered with for American rerelease?  Whatever the case, the soundtrack alone gets a definite recommendation from me.

I don’t really know what the words “Night of the Summer Side” means or what the intent of the lyricist was, nor do I care all that much for the background artists who start randomly interjecting with English lyrics.

“Orange Mystery” was the second OP for the series.  It’s fairly good as well.  However when they start pumping out phrases like “oh baby, baby, tell me that you need me” I start to turn it off.  Not really a fan of those kind of lyrics, which I guess bother me more since they’re in English and I understand them fully.

Of course, neither can compare with Kanishimi yo Konnichiwa, pleasant, bittersweet, meaningful, relevant to the story, a perfect compliment to the series it starts.  And naturally, it helps to be associated with an anime as great as Maison Ikkoku.

Er, okay, that was a bit overdramatic, but it’s a bit hard to not get emotional when you watch over 500 musicians come together under the baton of Hisaishi Joe to perform the beautiful and evocative pieces of music from the greatest animated films of all time.  Hisaishi’s music won’t always satisfy listeners who are constantly searching for musical innovation or complexity, but they will satisfy by a mile anyone who is searching for music with sincerity and heart.  Beyond that, I can’t think of any other composer who can so effectively bring to music the nostalgia, wistfulness and childlike wonder we all retain within us even as we grow older.

The concert (well, the abridged video of it that I watched) begins appropriately with the music from Nausicaa.  It isn’t one of my favourite Ghibli films, but the haunting main theme suits it very well it’s beauty is accentuated by the followup from the Ritsuyukai choir.  Then comes the “Requiem” including that very memorable section where the children’s choir sings a melody, mouthing “la la la”…the familiar simple phrase, but quite a moving effect when combined with the orchestra.

The next score featured is one of my absolute favourites from Hisaishi and in my opinion, his most accomplished work.  That is Princess Mononoke, of course.  Here the pieces I am so familiar with are rearranged to include the choir.  It is a treat, as always, to hear the wonderful melody for Ashitaka rendered by the full orchestra.  Unfortunately, like many pieces in the concert, it is an abridged version.  The majestic orchestral swell is as powerful as ever, however, the unquestionably powerful effect of a Japanese-influenced melody brought to life through the orchestra.  The title song was also played, sung by the soprano, Masako Hayashi, who appears on stage between the children’s orchestra.  Her voice was crisp and clear, but the wonderful surprise came when the full choir joined in and brought the song to heights unattained in the original recordings.   This section of the concert was certainly my favourite.

The abridged renderings of the scores for Kiki, Porco Rosso, and Ponyo were all very good.  Ponyo definitely got a lot of “screen time” at this concert.  It does have some very beautiful moments, including what is, in my opinion, another absolute highlight of the show, and that is the rendering of “Rondo of the Sunflower House”.  I believe this song is from the image album and not the actual score…..regardless, it is in my opinion the best song associated with Ponyo, even surpassing the opening theme, “Umo no Okaasan”.  It has a simple and charming melody, but even better, is sung by Hisaishi Mai, the daughter of the composer.  If you’re afraid that this is a case of family preference trumping talent, you do not have to worry.  The gods of music ensured that Hisaishi’s daughter was given a remarkable talent for voice.  Her voice is as pure and beautiful as is her singing.  I consider her to be the best singer at this event.  (And I can certainly see the resemblance).

The score for Howl’s Moving Castle…..well done, but I don’t have much to say here because I’ve never been a big fan of the film itself and thus am not too familiar with the score.  The Spirited Away segment followed, and while I don’t understand the omission of the closing theme, “Itsumo Nando Demo” or any pieces from the score, there were other songs which were sung by a pop singer, Ayaka Hirahara.  The song itself was quite nice, but I’m afraid I simply don’t like her somewhat pop-oriented style of singing.  There just seems to be too much emphasis on stylizing the melodies instead of simply singing them and letting the beauty of the composition itself carry the performance.  I’m not sure how to write out my thoughts on this clearly, but perhaps some of you understand what I mean.  I find “purity” more impressive than “style” in this sort of singing.  That said, if you can get beyond that kind of singing, she has a nice voice and it was a good performance.

Next was the Totoro section, beginning with the sublime “Path of the Wind”.  Unfortunately this was cut short and does not last long at all, which was a heavy disappointment.  The concert organizers went all-out and arranged some beautiful visuals to accompany this piece, including bathing the ceiling in green forest-like imagery.  The music is cut short by the introduction of “Sanpo”, the iconic title music from Totoro.  This is a curious arrangement which brings in various members of the choirs as well as soloists at different points.  I didn’t think that the first half was very strong, but as the orchestra swelled and it grew to a grander scale, Hisaishi convinced me that this rearrangement was a good idea.

The show closes with the other iconic theme from Totoro, and a heavy applause from the audience.  But not only that, Miyazaki himself comes up from the audience with flowers for his long-time collabarator.  Here you can see the adoration and respect that the Japanese audience have for Miyazaki. Young, old, male, female, a grin breaks out on everyone’s face.  As he walks through the aisles, the people on either side have amusingly shocked reactions, their mouths open at the presence of Miyazaki near them, there is a loud visible “oooh” from the crowd, and the applause grows even louder.  This man truly is a legend.

Actually, the concert is not over.  There were two encores.  Unfortunately neither of them were presented in their entirety on the video that I have.  I was able to view the final half of “Ashitaka to San”, and it is an absolutely beautiful rearrangement which includes the heavenly children’s choir singing the melody.

One of the things I like most about this concert is watching Hisaishi conduct.  He is a no-nonsense conductor.  He does with a very steady hand movements and never makes overtly dramatic poses.  Furthermore, he is all smiles throughout the concert, and comes off as a genuinely nice and friendly person.

I am still on a search to a find recording of this concert, but until then, boy am I glad that I became aware of it’s existence.

Honey and Clover represents absolute perfection when it comes to the use of music. Okay, maybe I’m being too excessive, but it really is a shining example of music, both vocal and score, done right. Before Honey and Clover, I paid very little attention to vocal music of any kind or language (I mostly listened to classical music, film scores, or similar), but Honey and Clover really showed me how powerful vocal music can be when used properly (although I am referring more towards the opening and ending songs – insert songs just don’t do it for me).

Anyways, as I said, both the score and songs in this series are top notch. Although many people go on and on about the insert songs, personally I think the opening and ending songs are far more important to defining the story. Dramatic and Waltz are Honey and Clover, period. Everything about the series is manifested in these two songs, and you cannot help but connect the two immediately. Of course, some people will say this about any anime series, but I don’t usually find that OP and ED songs affect me in any real way. Honey and Clover is the only series which held my attention from the very beginning of the OP, through the episode, until the final note of the ED. Everything is so seamless that these songs feel like a part of the series itself, not just bookends. And no matter how much I heard them over and over, they never became repetitive in that context, because they just became a necessary part of the show.

I’ll delve into the instrumental background score later, but first let’s go through the vocal music:

Dramatic

I think this is a song which really has to grow on the listener. The first time I saw it, in the original episode, I thought it was mildly interested, but by the final episode it had become such an important of Honey and Clover that I can’t imagine it being replaced by anything else. A lot of people complain about the singer’s slightly mousy voice, but it never really bothered me. In fact, the way that the singer puts so much effort into delivering the vocals (almost screaming, technically) gives the song a very nice touch. There’s also something rather unique which I enjoy about this OP, and that is the way that the vocals give way in the end for the strings to come to the forefront. As if reinforcing the lyrics and general theme of the sing, the strings follow the vocals to close the song, soaring up to the high registers and providing a burst of hope and optimism. It’s a nice change to the typical formula, where after the vocals end, the song simply fades away or concludes, here, the instrumental actually forms the climax of sorts, and the vocals build to it.

The opening song never changed in the first season, but the visuals did. At first, it was a changing series of clay-like animations of food. It was certainly unique and a great representation of the art themes in the series, but it was also very satisfying when the OP changed to a more general collage of various images (including real-life shots). That’s because the visuals finally could really soar along with the audio – plus, the ferris wheel and cycling imagery were reinforced.

Waltz

While it’s hard to make this decision with Dramatic being such a strong contender, Waltz in my opinion is the song which is most strongly identified with the series. In fact, I would say that the relationship between the song and the anime represents the strongest use of vocal music in an anime I have ever seen. There is such a dreamlike and expressive quality to this song, both the music and lyrics. “sore wa waltz, no you dane, fushigi sa….”. And what is not to like about the charming and optimistic (I need to buy a thesaurus, eh?) musical accompaniment? H&C viewers will fondly remember the way the sudden appearance of those opening chords of Waltz at the end of each episode, signifying the end of another chapter of this story. This allowed the song to really become an inseparable aspect of the show. Those fans will also remember the phenomenal ending. Many people complained about how Waltz was replaced with Mistake for the second half of the show, but in my opinion it only strengthened that wonderful effect in the final episode when that nostalgic song returned once more and we reflected on everything that has changed – and so the wheel turns.

Mistake

It’s hard to objectively discuss this song without comparing it to Waltz, and without noting the fact that it took the place of Waltz. Indeed, many people hate it for that very reason. My opinion? Musically, I think it is an enjoyable and fitting piece of music. The lyrics though, simply don’t do anything for me. They’re kind of superficial, the sort of trivial stuff that was the reason I never had much interest in vocal music in the first place. It’s kind of a shame because I think the actual music here has great potential, especially in the middle portions where there is a very distinct, almost ethereal quality. And I think the opening is wonderful, meandering along lazily, a slight hint of the seventh chord.

Split

Like with Mistake the trouble here is trying to objectively evaluate the song without referencing Waltz. They are somewhat similar, but Split is a bit more sober, without the overt enthusiasm of Waltz. An overall theme of H&C, 2nd season, was the idea of coming to a crossroads in life, where you would have to say goodbye to things you know and approach the unfamiliar. A bittersweet feeling is expressed in this song too, and the gently “walking” rhythms make me think of moving forwards without wanting to stop for regret – well, I might be stretching a bit here. It isn’t Waltz (darn, I did it again), but I think it is very fitting.

And now, the instrumental music of Honey and Clover:

Honey and Clover is a slice-of-life comedy/drama. Obviously, you will not find any grand symphonic themes. But there are some wonderfully nostalgic and introspective pieces of music which play throughout the series and truly do add to it’s atmosphere in tangible ways. Many series simply use stock music – the same old wandering piano themes. While Honey and Clover also has plenty of piano music, it never feels as standard or dull as what I typically hear. The best and most representative piece of score is the Waltz Piano Version, which for some crazy reason never appeared on the OST, though you can find a version I uploaded right here on my blog. This piano version played many times throughout the series, and it simply has a fantastic, bittersweet but hopeful tone. It is, of course, based on the Waltz ending song which also gives it an added weight.

Mawaridasu Sharin is a very simple piece, and a great example of how Honey and Clover uses score so well. Composing for film or media isn’t like composing art music. When you compose art music you are trying to engage your listener with the music alone, and it needs to be meaningful and sophisticated enough to do so by itself. With film or anime, you need to compose music that will reflect and heighten the audience’s reaction to what is on screen. So many anime composers completely ruin emotional scenes by padding them with arpeggiated piano phrases with overtly sugary melodies on top, most of which sound similar. Here, instead, Yuzo Hayashi uses a very simple soundscape – soft pads which envelope a soft piano which slowly descends the scale one note at a time. Simple, yet effective in producing some of the most memorable scenes in the anime.

Yotsuba no Clover gives us a lovely melody, one of the “themes” of Honey and Clover in my opinion. It is such a sweet and idealistic melody, carried by a cello over a piano accompaniment. It makes me wish I knew a cellist so we could reproduce this fine music. Yamanai Ame plays during several of the more sympathetic moments – again, a simple piece musically, used in an effective way to underscore scenes and bring out the emotions when needed when being overtly sugary or sentimental.

Yawarakana Jikan…..is it even necessary for me to write about this piece? This piece embodies the yearning of all the characters so well. Note the use of the major seventh chord – which also plays a role defining “Waltz” and “Fuganaiya”.

I think I’ve rambled on long enough, haven’t I?

Just like the series itself, the music of Honey and Clover hits all the right notes when it needs to and never lets itself wallow in excess melodrama.

Sometimes I wonder if I will ever enjoy an anime as much as Honey and Clover.