When you don’t know Japanese yet and have a slight fear of heights as well as enclosed spaces, so you can’t even go into planes.
Dang that’s an awesome thing. I hope somebody here goes and shares the experience. I can only begin to imagine hearing all of the brilliantly written music in person. They already sound great but, boy it’s gotta be a different beast to hear it in person.
Well, where to start now with the music I loved.
It all started…
when I was born…into this world (Ya get ya get I mean it’s a, yeah everyone got this joke)
I think I’ll start from oldest to newest in the VNs (the ones I played. Sorry Kanon, need to get to you, as well as and place my top 4. I chose 4 to start off with because Air doesn’t have a huge amount of music that I loved. I also refrain from using opening themes to the game, minus one. They’re so great. Nonetheless, the reasons why they were important for me, starting with Air:
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4 Natsukage. I love Misuzu’s childish antics and this piece doesn’t honestly capture it in the way you’d think but, there’s just something about it. The tone, the slow buildup, the same sound throughout most of it after it built up. It’s a great theme for a great character.
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3 Niji. Po. Kano reminded me a lot of Kotomi and, truthfully Kotomi was a cool gal so I kinda liked Kano right off the bat. This theme is really fantasy like and sounds like it deserves to be in a fantasy video game. Wait it is, sort of. Never mind, you get my point I hope. The mysterious nature of it all and it reminds me of when you stumble upon a magical NPC.
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2 Farewell Song. I personally also have to say I love all the EDs as well, they do a fantastic job with them but, this is the only one that can reach the top four. Be it the lower amount of music in Air or not, it’s a catchy song and it’s the lyrics that does it for me ultimately. It’s very moving when you look up the lyrics and listen to it.
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1 My number one goes to Hane. The true, main route in Air…oh boy, that ruined me. I mean it, I cried about 4 separate times and this song was the main culprit. I cannot recall how many times it was played, or where it was even but I always remember and equate to when Misuzu is on the beach and she calls out to her “mama”. It makes me tear up just thinking about it.
The next is Clannad:
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5 That’s Like The Wind. I’m a huge Kyou fan and I can sit and talk about her for months. This song captures her extremely well to me. Real upbeat tune and it doesn’t ever really fluctuate with that. I love when songs go up and down, moves around but, they did a great job with Kyou’s theme in this regard. I can see her getting to a monstrous kicking combo every time I hear it.
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4 Existence. There are few songs, pieces as well, than can give me goosebumps and Existence gives me goosebumps. It tugs at you in a way that is indescribable unless you’ve experienced it for yourself. It’s sad and makes you believe there’s no hope but somehow is still great to listen to.
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3 Country Train. This would be number 1 in most games. I can’t even say much about it. It’s a nice, upbeat tune you know, it SOUNDS like a train but that’s not the reason I love it so much no, the reason is Ushio asking about her mom. Everyone who has played Clannad, whether or not you love this track, you can’t help but feel something at that scene. There’s a handful of those in Key visual novels and they’re great.
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2 Shining in the Sky. Clannad makes me cry, alright? It just makes me cry and I loved it for that. I feel like I must like crying at this point because this track makes me cry, almost every time. It’s so simple and so effective, and then just once it reaches the top oh my goodness. There’s nothing else like it, period. It gets to that top and it’s like “There seems to be some rain in my room somehow”.
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1 TOE. This wasn’t even a track I truly cared for but the sentimental value held up. I hear Kotomi utter “Father. Mother. Welcome home.” and it’s over. I do actually love the piece as well, the way it flows almost over time, across many continents, searching for it’s true destination. Especially the end of it. It feels like the song set out what it was supposed to do in life, accomplished that and faded away into the night.
Planetarian doesn’t have many tracks so I’ll just put that:
- 1 Gentle Jena. It just couldn’t be something else, could it? It’s the song you think of when you hear Planetarian or when you read. Plus all the buildup in the game/anime leading to it and then you get this song sort of as a reward and it’s the greatest reward you could ask for. Just as the name states, it’s so gentle and almost comforting. No, not almost it IS comforting. I can’t say I’ve ever said a song made me feel comforted but this one does. It makes you feel like you aren’t a little grain of sand but something more than that.
Little Busters:
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5 Faraway. No words. I have no words other than “Was my life happy?” “That I wasn’t happy…how could I say that, when I had great friends like you!”
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4 Only One Magic World. Speaking of very fantasy-esque tracks, this is another one that reminds me of that. It’s such a touching and sad song but there’s hope in there, somehow there’s some speck of hope. I love when it pauses and returns with such a beautiful little melody and sets forth it’s path right to your heart.
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3 Ring Ring Ring!. Wow. All of the Little Busters themes, perfection. I mean it too they’re all fitting in their own way but, Rin’s takes the cake rather easily for me. Again, the buildup is big for me as I’ve stated several times before and then when it hits there you really think to yourself “Yeah, this is Rin!”. It takes time to warm to it, much like Rin and when you have warmed up to her, just like the song, it gets really going and you start to smile a bunch.
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2 Little Melody. This was a hard choice because this means I had to leave out a song or two that I loved but, Little Melody, as it states, is a little melody and I fell in love with it’s simplicity. The amount of feelings I have just from listening to it is remarkable and this is one of those sentimental pieces for me. It’s beautiful, truly beautiful.
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1 Song For Friends. There can’t be another number one, there cannot. It’s also my favorite song in any of the VNs I’ve listed here, pretty safe to say that as well. It is so lovely and so sweet but it’s also about such sadness and moving on almost. Whether you’re down in the dumps or in a great mood, this song works for all occasions. It’s, perfect.
Special mention would be Clear Weather After The Rain. I hate leaving it out but, when I look back at the Little Busters soundtrack, it’s amazing. There’s no other words I have.
Thanks for anyone who reads. I stayed up way too late and was thinking “Hey, I wanted to talk about music at least once here soon” so I decided to now. I mean, it’s 6 AM but, meh, I’m happy to talk about this. Plus I’m 5x more emotional at night. (Don’t do the math. That makes me like a 1504/100 on the emotional scale)