May'n has her new release this week, the single graphite/diamond tied in as the opening song for Azur Lane. This is another case where the best part of the song, in this case the awesome synth and drum breakdown right after the part used in the anime stops, isn't in the OP version. Other than that, this is some pretty boilerplate "modern action anime opening" music, and while it's a decent listen in the context of the anime or if it shows up on one of those online anime radio stations I love so much, it and its slightly better B-side aren't songs I imagine returning to very much on their own outside those contexts.
Amazarashi continues to impress with their latest single Mirai ni Narenakatta Ano Yoru ni. It's been 2 years since the last Amazarashi album, 2017's Chihou Toshi no Memento Mori, featuring the massive hit Sora ni Utaeba from Boku no Hero Academia 2. They have dropped some singles after that to keep fans busy in the meantime, including this one which really turned out well. I love the guitar solo, I love the really pretty pianos and synths floating in the background, and Akita Hiromu's vocals continue to impress. I wouldn't say this surpasses the greatest tracks in their catalog, namely the song that got me hooked on their music, Kisetsu wa Tsugitsugi Shindeiku, but it's still pretty damn good.
Now onto the best track of the week, Co Shu Nie's awesome new track, Bullet. This song is the ED for the third season of Psycho Pass (which I haven't seen yet as of this writing, watching it after the movies) and if the show itself is as good as this ED, I've got high hopes. Co Shu Nie has been on fire lately. They've gained newfound attention after getting signed under a major label and finding their brand of meticulously crafted, powerful math-rock tied to popular TV anime Tokyo Ghoul re and Yakusoku no Neverland. What the switch to Sony Music also entails for the band is their long-awaited upcoming first full-length LP, Pure, coming out next month. I'm ecstatic for this, to say the least. I fell in love with them through Tokyo Ghoul and quickly learned that they've never made a bad track, with several great indie mini-albums under their belt already. Back to Bullet, this song is great. There's these really cool distorted guitars at the beginning, lovely strings accentuating the song, and Nakamura Miku kills it on vocals, as she usually does. The whispering she does after the instrumental break made me ascend to another REALM on first listen. Great job, Co Shu Nie, and the album should be great. Can't wait to cover it.
That about wraps it up for this week. I know there was more that i didn't cover this week, but from here on out I'm going to be a lot more organized about what releases are out each week to save myself headaches going forward. I'll drop down a list below of what I'll be covering for the rest of the year, which is likely to change as I find even more interesting things to cover. The first one I rushed to get done before the end of Wednesday, but I won't be doing that with these next installments, as you can tell by this one being out on a Thursday in my timezone. I may not have time to finish writeups by the end of Wednesdays, particularly as I start covering full albums which will need a bit more time to sit with me and have enough thoughts on them to put to digital paper. In any case, I do want to do these more often, especially with an exciting December ahead of me. I'm gonna be talking about HELLO PROJECT for the first time ever on this blog, that should be interesting. See ya soon.
Sneak peek at what I'm reviewing next.
