la divina tragedia ~Makyoku~ – Jimang
I think I’ve stretched myself out too thin covering anime and music, so I’m going back to just writing music reviews for anime OP/EDs. Someone asked me a while back to try a negative review, since so far I’ve only focused on reviewing things I liked. Well in trying to think of a song I hated, the Umineko ED theme immediately popped into my head. In contrast to the beautiful OP track, the ED track is terribly disappointing.
Track List:
- la divina tragedia ~Makyoku~
- Sosei den
Song Review:
La divina tragedia ~Makyoku~ is a grating song. It opens abruptly with bland guitar riffs and Jimang’s vocals only makes things worse. His voice is all over the place. He goes high, low, and everywhere in between, sounding unpleasant whichever octave he chooses to roam. The song sounds like something sung at a karaoke bar (loud, obnoxious, off-key). When Jimang goes high he sounds like he’s in pain or fighting constipation (“Oh desire!”). The vocals seem to have a flow completely separate and out-of-sync with the music.
The choir in the background throughout the song was the only bright spot. Their vocals preserved the haunting feeling that is prevalent in Umineko. Besides that, I got a goofy Phantom of the Opera feel from this song, like it’s part of a horror parody or something.
Sosei den is a marginal improvement over the title track. There’s a tribal feel to the song due to consistent beat throughout. Jimang seems to speak the lyrics more than singing them. He’s more consistent with his voice this time around, although it seems like he’s trying to sound like a monster or beast when singing. I find myself wishing he wouldn’t drag out notes because it’s grinding to my ears.
I feel the song is at the best near the end, with the choir solos. It’s relatively bearable, at least minus the vocal work. Overall Sosei den is slightly less repetitive than La divina tragedia, but still not worth the listen.
Anime ED Review:
The anime ending sequence is fairly bland, with a rolling sequence of haunting scenes from various places on the island. I did notice that the song starts with some landscapes lit by sunshine before entering the drab mansion. At that point, all the scenes become darker and more sinister. It’s reminiscent of how Umineko goes from a “family vacation” to something of a more menacing nature as it progresses.
Conclusion:
A combination of irritating vocals and uninspired music make Umineko’s ED more than forgettable. You want to forget ever hearing it. While the show’s OP creates a ghostly atmosphere through its unique vocals, the ED achieves the same end by scaring away listeners with ghastly singing.
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Yeah, I really couldn’t put up with what passed for “music” in Umineko’s ED. It’s just really dissonant in a way that it never provided for an enjoyable listening experience. I’m content to rate it pretty low like you have.
zzeroparticle´s last blog…Vampire Knight ED – Still Doll – Review
The first few seconds of the ED is what I don’t look forward to. Right when I hear it I know the episode is over and I become disappointed because I want to see more!
At 0:40, his laugh. HAHA
Sigh. The Umineko OP is pretentious and hackneyed. The ED, in contrast, is FABULOUS. It’s actually an image song for Kinzo, and it fits perfectly.
But I guess everyone would prefer sugary female vocals.
Yes, I admire Jimang and his totally gar singing.
The ED needs getting used to, but it’s a nice ear worm. I didn’t like the vocals at first, but once I knew it was Jimang singing it as Kinzo Ushiromiya (as seen in the [gg] subs), it made sense to me and actually sounded not bad. But tastes and shit, inorite?
nekosasu´s last blog…Fall ‘09 Belated First Impressions Part 3 (end)
I quite like la divina tragedia, particularly Jimang’s hoarse voice. And as for Soseiten, I might like it even better than la divina tragedia. I find the background chorus in Soseiten very catchy.
@zzeroparticle: Yeah, the song was too inconsistent, vocally and melodically, to enjoy. Dissonant is a great way to describe it.
@Reltair: I forgot to mention the laugh. If I remember correctly, I thought he sounded like a cheesy villain.
@urusai: I will admit that I’m partial to female vocals, although not so much sugary ones.
@Silvering: I’m not really sure I’d find Jimang’s singing gar.
@nekosasu: I don’t believe that screencap you provided is right. It might be gg making stuff up again. I’ve gotten conflicting sources about the song being “sung” by Kinzo.
@Matteas: The chorus in Sosei ten was initially catchy, but Jimang’s vocals had a detrimental effect.
I listened to the song several times in writing this review, and while it got a bit more bearable each time I listened to it, I never warmed up to the song.
wow, i didnt know so many people hate the song, its pretty nice to me at least
Initially I wasn’t a big fan of the ED either but I’ve found it’s grown on me with each episode. Yea, it’s rather grating to listen to and I would not call it “nice music”, but it’s positively diabolical, and just seems to fit.
I will agree though that it’s a little visually bland; the first few seconds with the flipping chessboard are brilliant and suit perfectly, but the rest of the set shots lack the same diablerie the song has.
The ED had potential; I mean it’s frickin Jimang but well yes, my main grip is with the overall ‘dissonant’ – certain parts felt like it didn’t ‘flow’.
Of the OP, I doubt ’sugary’ is the word to describe it though.
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