I've heard a lot about Mizuki Nana and so eager to listen to her songs when I'm wandering into Seiyuu (Voice acter/actress) and Anisong plane. Many claim that Mizuki Nana is "Queen of anime music" , "Princess of anime music" , "Mistress of anime music" (Or something alike) I'd not oppose her title but might add that we'd not to be confused with (gothic?) Kitade Nana and that "Nana" manga/anime.Also some call her "Ojou" (Closest word might be "Young Miss"/"Senorita") despire not having childish singing voice like some other Seiyuu.
In the other way, many respect her as anime music (anisong) singer than Seiyuu. She has a very few Seiyuu roles too. Though some are rather famous ones like Hyuuga Hinata in Naruto or Fate in less-known Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Series. About her voice , she sing with teenager pop-rock voice that fit her music range quite well.
Even then , in my opinion , Mizuki Nana's songs might be a good quality pop-rock but non of them that I've heard so far would be described as outstanding , surpassing and well her style is not so unique compare to some other Seiyuu (IMO Horie Yui, Orikasa Fumiko and even more amatuer-ish Mamiko Noto etc. have their own "thing")
This time I'm going to talk about her lastest album which, surprisingly, make me more eager to find out about her improvement (or...decline) in her moderate pop-rock.Ultimate Diamond is the name. At the first time I found it taste rather bitter..., as diamond ,it is not so shiny.I tried and tried to dig into each song to make sure that I "don't miss a thing" ...or two and it taste better,but... BUT! not better enough. Some songs are good , rather good , listenable but not to the rate of "Impressive!".I still admire that some song try to drift apart from the same ol' thing...but they really cannot go that far.
Album : Ultimate DiamondArtist : Mizuki Nana
Genre : Pop-Rock , Anime music
(2009)
Now following track by track , Maria and Joker is really old whisky in the new bottle with a bit of entertaining moment and then everything is just half-decoration on plain wall. Etsuraku Camellia , at the begining offers us a bit of japanese traditional music infused with hard rock but it's not that interesting and I ,somehow , think of OnMyo-Za but Mizuki Nana's voice doesn't take it "heavy" enough for this kind of song compared to Kuroneko...only it's intro and outro make it worth listening
Well , I like 'Clear blue sky' uptempo music like Perfect Smile . While Trickster still drive us up with it's steady tempo (well, rather steady) but the whole song offer nothing else more. Mr.Bunny take us back to bright (cute?) side of album with dance-beat driven, but I think this song is repetitive and taking too long of it's repetitiveness.
Chinmoku no Kajitsu has promising intro but everything else seem so powerless. Brand New Tops is...listenable lighter pop-rock with rather melodic hook. Shounen , like taking a break, listenable but nothing in this song move me. Gimmick Game bring us back to upper tempo and dance-beat better than Mr.Bunny if you ask me (Especially if you like "Chihara Minori's style").
Dancing in the Velvet Moon is a typical anisong that would fit any fantasy-theme anime but just like the way it expresses more emotion. A little more laid-back and melodic Ray of Change is another listenable song in this album while Shin Ai push us into more delicate and even more emotional moment with it's beautiful keyboard sound.
Aoki Hikari no kate -ULTIMATE MODE- sounds like rising from previous tracks and with rather pretty hook.Astrogation is another techno/club track that has beautiful choir...bad news...only for a moment and then get drown into plainness. Then end with traditional "ending track" ballad Yume no Tsuzuki...rather sweet if you ask me.
All in All Mizuki Nana'a lastest album is listenable though I really miss simple but true pop-rock like Power Gate (there is a very thin line between "Simple but true" and "Just plain") , inspiring song like Innocent Starter , uplifting song like Eternal Blaze and there is no song that it's melodies as beautiful as Crystal Letter.
And you'll notice that I use "rather" word so much in the review because Ultimate Diamond is not really "Ultimate". Instead all songs promise us something and break it down with it's plainness make me wonder why the music is not just push the through it's limit. So Ultimate Diamond do not have as memorable songs as I mentioned on above paragraph.
Summary
Pros
- Nana is still with her well-carved voice as ever...may be even more than before
- Good quality pop-rock as ever. Especially Hook
Cons
- She has well-carved voice but...sometime too constricted as I think many of her songs here could be sung with more emotional voice.
- This...and the music themselves do not go further into the realm of awesomeness , memorable , sweet , elegance , CUTE , M-MOEEE! or any words you'd should shout out with EXCLAMATION!
- Her style is not so clear and not so unique.
My Favourite Track
- Perfect Smile
- Dancing in the Velvet Moon
- Shin Ai
- Aoki Hikari no kate -ULTIMATE MODE-
Rating : 7/10
[Please be minded that English is not by native language. I wrote in this because I just want to share my opinion worldly. I'll try bilingual next time :P]
