In my dark and depressing pre-20 anime per week days, I would usually scoff at those who listened to anime and game OSTs - why listen to some pew pew soundtrack when you could be listening to... oh, Puff Daddy or DMX or uhh Ayumi Hamasaki. Y'know - cool people music. Ah, those were the days. Since then my music collection has slowly been overtaken by an abundance of [nipponsei], and I've even uploaded some Youtube videos of me playing those same songs I used to scoff at. Times have changed, and I've really started to appreciate the amount of talent that goes into this kind of composing. Still, I believe there's a difference between the music that goes into the likes of K-ON and that of Gundam, specifically it how well it translates to classical orchestra music. Which is why I was thoroughly surprised with Suzumiya Haruhi no Gensou, the concert by the Tokyo Philharmonic on April 29 that was just released on CD. The music from Haruhi was largely... teenybopper and/or rock, both of which I wouldn't imagine translating well into classical. Surprisingly enough, the adaptation is quite good! Some tracks remind me of Hisaishi's work in Totoro, others sound like it could've come out of some classic Disney movie. Well, the instrumental tracks, at least. Several tracks have Hirano Aya and Chihara Minori blaring away, and while some of you will probably love these alternate versions, their inability to hit or hold the right notes is a bit hard on my ears. Check out orchestral Mikurun-run and a Hiranofied God Knows!
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