The third part of Endless Eight…and it’s still not the final part…

After just about everyone expected “Endless Eight” to end this week, the way part 3 ended today, it’s pretty certain that we will be seeing part 4 next week. “Endless Eight” part 3 that aired today was very similar to part 2 from last week; after the usual summer activities, about halfway through the episode, Kyon and the others find out about the repeating summer. But in the end, as Haruhi is leaving the cafe, Kyon is once again unable to come up with the last fulfilling activity that they need to do before summer vacation ends. And like part 2, this episode again ends with a hopeless Kyon not doing his homework before going to bed while he waits for the cycle to restart.

I was really certain, and hopeful, that this would be the last part of “Endless Eight,” but apparently KyoAni has other ideas. As I stated last week, it would have made more sense for “Endless Eight” to end with 3 parts; in the first part, we don’t know about the endless summer, then in the second part we learn about it, and in the third part it finally gets resolved. I suppose repeating the “Endless Eight” story so many times has it’s good points. With so many repetitions, we get a taste of the boredom and sheer helplessness that Kyon and the others, especially Yuki, must be feeling as we too have to repeat the summer activities again and again along with them. I also think it’s clever how KyoAni comes up with subtle variations for each cycle, such as dressing everyone in different outfits and altering a few scenes, though the order of the activities and dialogue in each cycle seems to be almost the same.

But I also think that repeating “Endless Eight” beyond two parts is starting to frustrate a lot of viewers, especially those who are less patient about seeing the upcoming new episodes after waiting so long for this new season. The variations on the summer activities are tolerable, but by part 3 even a major Haruhi fan like myself is starting to get sick of them, and it was a drag having to sit through the entire explanation of the endless summer again this week XP At least there was a major difference between part 1 and part 2 of “Endless Eight,” but I don’t know what the point was of making today’s part 3 a near exact repeat of last week’s part 2. According to Yuki in the novels, they found out about but failed to stop the endless summer in 8,769 of the cycles, with the frequency of detection increasing each time, so perhaps part 3 is meant to shove this fact into our heads. Though repeating “Endless Eight” so many times may have its merits as far as reflecting the plot of the story, viewers can only take so much repetition. All I can say is that I really hope next week will be the final part of the “Endless Eight” saga. With “Endless Eight” unexpectedly taking up so many of the proposed 14 new episodes for this season, there’s gonna be some major changes with the tentative schedules floating around. My guess is that longer story arcs like The Sigh and The Disappearance will be shorter than expected and/or this season will end at an earlier point in the novels than expected.

Well, let’s hope the end of “Endless Eight” will be next ~_^

Today my domain name and main web site, AnimeYume.com, turns seven years old…

Even though the blog here is only about 2 and a half years old, I’ve been working on my regular anime fan site, Anime Yume, for seven years now. Yup, it was seven years ago today, June 30th, 2002, my sophomore year of high school, back in the day when anime fansubs were just starting to take off, dubbed anime flourished on American T.V., and series such as Tenchi, Slayers, Trigun, Cardcaptor Sakura, Evangelion, and Inuyasha were my big favorites XD I had probably seen less than 15 anime series back when I first started work on AnimeYume.com, and now I’ve seen well over 100! Not only have I developed greatly as an anime fan these past seven years, but obviously Anime Yume has grown to include lots of extensively written pages about anime as well as 6+GB of anime images and media files. Unfortunately things have been kind of tough for me financially lately now that I’ve graduated college and haven’t gotten a job yet. But in spite of this, I’m still planning to keep AnimeYume.com going! =D

As you’ve probably seen, I’ve been doing mostly posts here on the blog but I’m planning to do work on the main site when I have a chance. Regrettably I won’t be going to Anime Expo this year because I have a short term job the same week and I really need the money. But to make up for it, there’s a good chance I’ll be getting a free trip to Japan for a few weeks in mid-July, but more on that when I know for certain =)

Anyway, I’ll be back with more blog posts soon enough, and hopefully updates on the main site before too long. Thanks again to all my visitors, old and new, for supporting AnimeYume.com even after 7 years. Although fan sites like Anime Yume are not as popular as they used to be, I still like having one in addition to a blog ^_^ I hope you guys will continue to enjoy Anime Yume and Mainichi Anime Yume for years to come!

Suzumiya Haruhi no Gensou (The String Concert of Haruhi Suzumiya) was a concert held in Tokyo this past April 29th featuring the Tokyo Philharmonic playing music from the Haruhi TV series. The CD of the concert tracks was just released last week…

The majority of the concert was comprised of the Tokyo Philharmonic playing renditions of the background music used in the show. Instrumental versions of Koi no Mikuru Densetsu and Hare Hare Yukai were also included. In addition, Aya Hirano sang 3 songs in the concert; new versions of Bouken Desho Desho?, God Knows…, and Lost my music, and Minori Chihara sang Yuki, Buin, Madobe nite. All the music and songs were rendered into slower, more classical-like versions of how they originally sound, with an emphasis on string instruments.

I’m sure there are not many anime series that get their music played in a special concert by the Tokyo Philharmonic. You could call it yet another marketing ploy for the cash cow of KyoAni and Kadokawa, but after listening to the tracks, I personally think it’s nice to bring out the more cultured, sophisticated side of anime, especially an immensely popular series like Haruhi, by having its music played in a classical concert by a respectable orchestra.

I enjoyed all the tracks in the concert, but of course I especially liked the 3 songs by Aya Hirano. I’m so used to her upbeat singing with electrical music, it was a treat hearing her sing slower and more emphatically together with a professional orchestra of instruments. While it’s usually the instruments that harmonize with the singer, it sounded more like her singing was the harmony for the instruments, which was really interesting.

After getting my fill of Haruhi Gensou, I decided to post YouTube videos and upload mp3s of some of the tracks here for your listening pleasure. I didn’t upload all the tracks, just the six new renditions of the actual songs…

01 Koi no Mikuru Densetsu
New instrumental rendition of Mikuru’s famous song and probably the first Haruhi song ever heard by fans back during the first airing of season one. Download the mp3 here.

06 Bouken Desho Desho?
New version of the first Haruhi opening performed by Aya Hirano. Download the mp3 here.

10 Lost my music
New version of the “Live Alive” concert song performed by Aya Hirano. Download the mp3 here.

12 Yuki, Buin, Madobe nite
New version of Yuki’s image song performed by Minori Chihara. She may not get as much attention as Aya, but she still does an excellent job. Download the mp3 here.

14 Hare Hare Yukai
New instrumental version of the phenomena that is the first Haruhi ending. It’s hard to imagine a slow, classical rendition of Hare Hare Yukai but here it is =P It really doesn’t start to sound like Hare Hare Yukai until halfway through in my opinion. Download the mp3 here.

15 God Knows…
Probably my most favorite of all the tracks, a new version of God Knows… performed by Aya Hirano. Download the mp3 here.

———-

In conclusion, this concert was certainly a nice addition to the Haruhi franchise. It really was unique hearing a pop idol like Aya Hirano singing in the classical style of these songs, as well as hearing classical versions of music from a popular TV anime. I hope we’ll see more sophisticated anime-related concerts like this in the future =)

The most popular anime series of the spring 2009 season comes to an end, at least for now…

For series like K-ON!, especially ones by KyoAni such as Haruhi, Lucky Star, and the Visual Art’s/Key series, you either like this slice-of-life genre with its moe character archetypes or you don’t. Although Haruhi has the most universal appeal of KyoAni’s series because of its sci-fi elements and witty writing, the target audience for the majority of their series up to now is obviously the male otaku fanbase. But of course, this doesn’t mean that’s the only fanbase. Although I’m probably one of the few young-adult female anime fans who watched K-ON! and thoroughly enjoyed it, this should at least say something about the fact that fans don’t necessary come only from the target audience. The target audience for Pokemon, Naruto, and One Piece is obviously young boys, but we all know their most dedicated fans come from both genders and all ages, especially older fans. So for K-ON!, I like it not because I fantasize about the female characters, but simply because it’s funny, I like cute characters, and I like the warm, light, intimate feeling of this genre of anime. I’ll acknowledge that K-ON! is mostly the “cute girls doing cute things in cute ways” theme that’s typical of anime targeted at the otaku audience, but overlooking this, if you enjoy funny, character-driven slice-of-life shows and if you don’t have a particular aversion to the moe genre, then K-ON! can be a pretty entertaining series for anyone.

Like other comedy/slice-of-life anime, the appeal of K-ON! comes strictly from the characters rather than an ongoing plot or storyline, and thus the humor is derived from their personalities and flaws. There’s only eight characters in K-ON!’s all-female cast; the four main girls Yui, Mio, Ritsu, and Tsumugi, then later Azusa becomes the fifth member of the band, and the three supporting characters Ui, Sawako-sensei, and Nodoka. It’s pretty easy to dismiss the K-ON! characters as being cookie-cutter stereotypes of the moe genre. While I agree that they could indeed fall into certain archetypes, I still think they have enough unique personalities quirks and realistic emotions to make them appealing, such as Mio’s fear of gross or scary things, Azusa’s initial frustration with the antics of the other girls, and Ritsu’s jealousy of Mio’s friendship with Nodoka. I think KyoAni has a way with making characters likable even if they are sometimes stereotypical and not particularly well developed.

And speaking of KyoAni, one way they are able to make such popular, appealing characters is by delivering above-average animation in their shows. Although many of us have noticed that KyoAni’s animation style changed around when Clannad After Story first came out, I still think their animation quality is better than the norm. Like KyoAni’s other series, K-ON!’s animation is notably good, with more frames of animation than your average series and few distorted looking scenes. Obviously the cute, moe style character designs are fitting of its genre, and the rest of the animation has a bright, warm, fluffy feel to it, again fitting for the humorous and light theme of the show.

Having a memorable opening and ending helps boost an anime’s appeal too, and K-ON! definitely has this. It’s not every series that gets its opening and ending song among the top 5 on Oricon’s weekly charts. The K-ON! opening and ending may not be the phenomena that the Haruhi ending and Lucky Star opening were, but they’re still among the better ones. The extra music and upgraded animation used in the concerts that the girls perform also helps K-ON!’s appeal, though they’ll constantly be compared to the concert episode in Haruhi.

The 13 episodes of K-ON! are fairly episodic, but with some continuity between them. The girls go through the seasons and the school year, doing their cute, funny things and having their cute, funny slice-of-life adventures, revolving around their light music club. It is a comedy after all, so nothing really dramatic, emotional, or upsetting happens; only humorous, warm, and fun situations abound ^^ Episode 12 is the real ending and, like with most anime final episodes, it’s a little more dramatic and suspenseful than the rest, but it still retains the show’s light, cheerful feel. Episode 13 is an extra episode that fits in earlier in the series.

In conclusion, while I personally don’t think the humor and characters in K-ON! are as unique as similar shows like Lucky Star, Ichigo Mashimaro, and Azumanga Daioh, I would still rate K-ON! as an above average series of its genre even if it’s not the best. If you’re looking for a slice-of-life comedy with great music and animation and with fun, appealing characters, and you don’t mind the obviously moe personalities and designs of the all female cast, K-ON! is a very enjoyable anime =) I hope there will be a second season!

Although “Endless Eight” was originally expected to be only one episode long, it’s now clear that it’s probably going to be three…

In my review of Haruhi S2 episode 2, I was surprised that KyoAni decided to spend that whole episode dealing with just the filler part of “Endless Eight” and saving the real plot for episode 3. Most likely, people who were not familiar with the “Endless Eight” story from the novels experienced major deja vu in the first half of this episode. I’m still not sure whether I’m glad that KyoAni decided to make this story three episodes long, and thus not rush through it and make it follow the novels closely, or whether dragging it on for three episodes is unnecessary. I’ll have to see next week’s episode to say for sure.

Anyway, I enjoyed this episode a little more than the last one, not just because the real plot is finally revealed, but also because I felt the summer activities were handled slightly better and didn’t feel as crammed together as they did in the last episode. And was it just me or did Itsuki seem creepier in this episode than he did in the novels? XD But Kyon’s reactions to him are always amusing anyway. The tension mounting when the truth about the endless summer is revealed, as well as Kyon’s desperate but futile attempt to figure out the missing summer activity that Haruhi desires, were done really well and had enough suspense to make up for the filler feeling of the last one and a half episodes.

I can say with near certainty that the finale of “Endless Eight” will air next week, making it a three part story. Looking at it this way, it would make sense: part 1 is just one of the 15,498 cycles without any knowledge of what’s really going on; in part 2, Kyon and the others learn about the endless summer but fail to stop it in time; and finally, part 3 is the first cycle where they’re aware of what’s going on from the beginning and finally figure out what they need to do.

Another thing I noticed is how the episode titles appear. In “Endless Eight” part 1, the title appears on the left side of the screen.

But in this episode, “Endless Eight” part 2, the title spreads across the top and bottom of the screen.

So it would make sense in the final part next episode for the title to appear on the right side of the screen, thus “closing the loop” of the endless summers =) Not sure if KyoAni was trying to go somewhere with this but just thought I’d point it out.

Looking forward to the conclusion of “Endless Eight” next week =D

Kemono no Souja Erin (Beast Harpist Erin) first began airing on NHK in January of this year and is scheduled for a 50 episode run. The series is based on novels by Seirei no Moribito creator Nahoko Uehashi, with animation by Production I.G. Personally, after seeing only 17 out of 50 episodes so far, I think KnSE is one of the best quality TV anime I’ve seen in recent years, both in storytelling quality, and the animation aesthetics are not too shabby either. Unfortunately, I also feel it’s one of the most underrated series of the year since, when compared to just about all other current anime, hardly anyone is talking about it or watching it…

My guess as to why KnSE is so underrated is precisely because it’s unique; you won’t find any blatant fan-pandering or cliche anime situations or archetypes in this show. Even the character and scenery designs are pretty humble and not meant to be flashy and otaku-pleasing. There’s no hyperbolic humor, fan service, unnatural angst, or anything else that interrupts the flow of this beautiful show. It’s one of the few recent anime where I feel the creators’ intention was more to tell a good story than to appeal to anime fans. I feel that KnSE would be grouped better along with Ghibli movies than with your average TV anime.

Another thing that might deter some fans from watching it is the fact that the first few episodes are pretty light and may give the impression that the show is for kids. The show starts while the protagonist herself, Erin, is still a child and she and the other village children have fairly innocent adventures in these early episodes. But, if one pays close attention, there are subtle hints about the darker themes of the show even in the first few episodes, though nothing major happens until a little later on.

Although the first few episodes are just as well constructed as the rest of the episodes, I can see why some fans would blow the show off as something that’s more for Japanese children/family viewing than for actual anime fans. But there is way more to KnSE than it first appears to be. As the series progresses, Erin grows up and her fate takes her to different places where she discovers the dark aspects of life and learns more about the world, creatures, and people around here; the true horrific ideals of the village she grew up in, the cruel exploitation of other creatures by people, and the tension mounting between the kingdoms of the Queen and Grand Duke. And amidst all these themes, the series takes its time and gives ample focus to Erin’s personal development as she matures, goes through different stages in her life, learns specific things about the world, and meets different people. There’s much death, sadness, and injustice in the show as well as beauty, cuteness, and warmth. All in all, so far everything has been handled brilliantly in this anime with nothing out-of-place or rushed.

But even if KnSE is not aimed at the anime otaku audience, anyone who can appreciate a well made and excellent animated story, even if it’s not fraught with the anime cliches and archetypes that we desire, should definitely give this show a try. Despite being 50 episodes long, the series does not take long to show its true colors: episodes 5 and 6 start to reveal some of the deeper and darker themes, and episode 7 is the first major, unexpected turning point. So, if you’re tired of all the typical anime nowadays that’s filled with cliches and stereotypes, definitely give Kemono no Souja Erin a try, at least past the first few episodes. (it’s currently being subbed by Static Subs). This show is proof that there’s still some creative, quality TV anime being produced in this consumerist age =)

Ever since all anime switched from cel animation to digital animation back in the early 2000s, there has been some debate among fans about whether story/character quality has decreased even though animation techniques have increased…

Although I became an anime fan around when cel animation was starting to phase out, I still saw many cel anime series during my early years as a fan; Cardcaptor Sakura, Evangelion, Utena, Tenchi, Slayers, Rayearth, Cowboy Bebop, Trigun, Fushigi Yuugi, and Record of Lodoss War just to name a few. Many fans feel that the storytelling quality of “classics” like these and other cel series is not being conveyed in the digital anime of today. While I understand why people feel this way, I think it all comes down to personal preference in the end. I also don’t agree that all or even most cel anime is superior to all or most digital anime, and vice versa; both have their share of good and bad shows, but it could seem like digital anime has more bad shows simply because the quantity of digital anime is higher (and is obviously always on the rise).

But first off, when it comes to a choice between the actual cel and digital animation (leaving story/character quality aside), for me personally I would choose digital animation. I just prefer higher quality animation that’s crisper, flows and blends with the scenery better, doesn’t have as many noticeable blemishes, and is basically just prettier, cleaner, and more detailed to my eyes. However, I would prefer digital animation over the amazing computer animation of studios like Pixar, just out of my personal preference for 2D animation. But I’ll always look at story, characters, and design over animation type. If the story, characters, and design are to my liking, I usually don’t care what type of animation is used. Even though I prefer digital animation, I will most certainly acknowledge the many classic cel series that are superior to much of the digital moe/harem/fantasy wish-fulfillment crap being churned out nowadays. And even though I prefer the old classic, 2D Disney movies over the new CG ones, I will still note that some of the CG movies are better than some of the old movies.

I think an important factor to take into account is, once digital animation became the norm, the actual number of anime shows being produced in a given year also greatly increased. Therefore, with so much more anime being made in recent years than in the cel animation days, in addition to all the new animation studios popping up, the ease of creating anime on a large scale with advanced technology, and the growing population of anime fans desiring specific genres of shows, there’s bound to be a lot more below average anime than in the old and less technologically advanced days, when anime and other media forms were more niche and less commodified. I don’t think the decrease in story/character quality lies so much with the transition from cel to digital as with anime becoming more popular as a medium and easier to create and market. The reason we’re seeing more cliche, fan-pandering, low-quality series in digital animation is simply because there’s much more digital anime in existence now, and being made all the time, so naturally it will be easier to find bad ones.

I have indeed noticed all the cliche, fanservic-y, harem, moe and other stereotypical low-quality shows coming out in recent years and sometimes I have wondered if anime really has been degrading. But I still choose to watch mediocre anime sometimes just because I’m an animation fan and that’s the entertainment I prefer. But when gems like Full Metal Alchemist, Death Note, Eureka 7, Ouran, Haruhi, Eden of the East, Kannagi, Code Geass, Kemono no Souja Erin, Mushishi, and other great digitally animated shows come out, I know that my love for anime and animation will not cease as long as there are still some creative, quality-acknowledging minds working in the anime and manga industry. It’s simply a little harder nowadays to find the good anime because it’s more of a quantity over quality system going on now with the vast number of digital series being mass produced. Because of this, you gotta put more effort into digging for the gems…but they’re still being made! =)

Although it was one of the shortest anime TV series to air recently, I feel it’s definitely one of the best…

The story/plot of Eden of the East (a.k.a. Higashi no Eden) is one that’s not only creative, but it also makes a worthwhile commentary about the current political and economic status of Japan, or any other modernized, capitalistic country for that matter. Right from the first few episodes, the mention of terrorists, NEETs, missile attacks, and even 9/11 shows that Eden wants its viewers to relate to its story on a current, real-world level. While the show has its share of violence, explosions, and destruction, these things are not particularly glorified - there’s a lot of cover-ups and mysteries in the story, which add to its suspense and realism. Although the series does have scenes of slightly exaggerated humor amidst the characters at times, it’s not really enough to take away from the dramatic feel of the show.

Despite having only 11 episodes, I felt that the series had excellent pacing and did a good job with revealing answers to its subplots neither too quickly nor too slowly: at the beginning, we don’t know what’s going on, but soon enough we start to learn about the Selecao game, and a little while later, we learn about Mr. Outside. After that, we learn about the Eden of the East web site, the origin of the missile attacks, and finally, Akira’s past. I’m usually not good at following anime with complicated plots involving politics and a lot of details and mysteries, but because Eden didn’t bombard me with too much information in any one episode, I was able to do pretty well =) I also really enjoyed the whole Selecao, Mr. Outside, and amazingly advanced cellphones plot; very unique and interesting. Of course, using the cellphone and being able to have any request you make granted quickly is kinda hard to believe =P But I suppose it could be possible.

The characters in Eden of the East add to the show’s appeal too. In general they’re fairly likable, sympathetic, and realistic. Although Saki is a pretty bland, static, and typical “normal girl who gets caught up in an abnormal situation” character, Akira on the other hand, is not your typical bad-ass, angsty, emo, and/or “dark” male character; on the contrary, he’s cheerful yet emotionally-stable. The rest of the cast also tend to stay away from expected anime archetypes and are more or less realistic rather than anime-ish. While I can’t see any of the Eden characters becoming fan favorites, they work perfectly well with the feel of the show.

When it comes to aesthetic worth, Eden excels. Production I.G. definitely gave Eden some high-budget animation, as little to no animation short-cuts or distorted character designs are noticeable. Everything looks very lush and backgrounds are quite detailed. There were obviously a lot of computer graphics used in the animation of the missiles, cars, cellphones, etc., but it all blended together well with the regular animation. As for the music, it’s good as well. The opening song is sung by the English rock band Oasis and the animation features a lot of English words and stylized imagery, adding to the universal, modernized feel of the show. The ending song is also catchy and features very stylized animation.

As for the ending of the series - the TV series at least since the story will continue in subsequent movies - I felt it was pretty good, though I can’t really make a proper judgment until the story finishes in the movies. Making Akira the “King of Japan” sounds kind of far-fetched even for the Selecao game, but I suppose this will be explained in full during the movies. And yes, I agree that it’s similar to the end of Code Geass but not enough to be called a total rip-off, since Akira and Lelouch’s personalities, situations, and the worlds they live in are quite different.

Of course, I had a few questions after I finished the series. If anybody wants to help me out with them, that would be great. I apologize in advance if they’ve already been answered in the episodes; I have trouble remembering details =P First, exactly who was Akira back when he organized the NEETs and everything? How was he able to get them together and have the power to (secretly?) send them to Dubai? Akira erased his memories (how?) but wouldn’t someone in Japan or wherever (did he have family or friends?) remember him and seek him out?

Anyway, in summary, Eden of the East is without a doubt a good-quality series with a unique, unpredictable story and great animation. It’s anime like this that remind me why I love anime so much despite a lot of it being cliche and blatantly fan-pandering. While it’s annoying that we have to wait over 6 months for the movies to completely wrap up the story, I’m looking forward to it =)

I just finished watching the new Haruhi episode via live stream and, I’m sure most of us will agree, it ended quite contrary to what was expected…

Before I get to the actual ending of the episode, I’ll first review the rest of it. KyoAni did a great job with including all of the summer vacation activities that the SOS Brigade participated in from the novels (if you recall, we saw Mikuru’s frog costume hanging in the club room in some episodes of season 1 ^^) A few little minor scenes were left out, such as Haruhi and Yuki riding with Kyon on his bike and Haruhi and Mikuru falling asleep during the star-gazing scene, but nothing major. Although some of the activities were a little rushed, if I recall correctly, I don’t think any of them were left out. Oh, and the new opening is a lot of fun too =)

I was thoroughly enjoying the episode until the ending. It was expected that “Endless Eight” would only be one episode but it’s possible now that it’s either going to be two episodes, or else it’s been significantly changed from the novels. For those of us who have read the light novels, or who are at least familiar with the story, know why the ending was kind of shocking…

The episode was practically the same as the “Endless Eight” story from the novels except for the ending. Originally Haruhi, not wanting summer to end, makes the last two weeks of vacation repeat endlessly (15,498 times to be exact). Yuki was the only one aware of this from the beginning until the other SOS Brigade members finally realize it. With each repetition, there were some variations among the activities they did, but it was pretty much the same each time. Kyon was able to stop the cycle by suggesting the one fulfilling event they need - doing summer homework together.

But as we can see in the episode, Kyon seems to have done his summer homework himself and nothing about the repeating days is brought up.

———

My speculations about the unexpected turn of events in this episode; on the bright side, maybe Kyon didn’t finish all of his homework, and KyoAni might have simply decided to make the “Endless Eight” story expand beyond one episode. Next episode might be “Endless Eight part 2,” though I don’t see how there would be enough material left in the story to fill another whole episode (and wouldn’t they have taken their time with all the summer activities in this episode if that was the case?) Another thought is that they might just throw the last part of “Endless Eight” in at the beginning of the next story, “The Sigh.” Either way, this would change everyone’s idea of what the episode numbers and scheduling of Haruhi S2 would be. The worst scenario would be that KyoAni has decided to completely change “Endless Eight,” leaving it with the ending we saw in this episode, and just moving on to “The Sigh” next week. I’m gonna try to be hopeful but if they really did decide to turn “Endless Eight” into a blatant filler episode and completely ignore the original, and interesting, underlying plot that was in the novels, I’m going to be very mad >_< I can't see any reason why they would do this so we'll just have to wait and see. Perhaps they just wanted to get us riled up so we'll be all the more excited next week. ::sigh:: Will they ever let us Haruhi fans relax? XD

UPDATE: A new and more plausible speculation: the next episode will be a near repeat of this episode but with variations on the summer activities. Since this episode ended with Kyon doing his homework himself and thus not doing what was necessary to end the cycle, it would naturally be repeated again. Pretty clever of KyoAni to do it this way =P Of course, fans who are not familiar with the novels will probably be very confused until they get to the conclusion of the story. To get the real feel of it, we should watch this episode 15,498 times XD

Back in the day, I used to collect everything Pokemon, including the English music CDs that were released in 1999 through 2001. Recently, I grew nostalgic for these old songs and, realizing that it’s hard to come across the CDs nowadays, I decided to upload the 6 English Pokemon CDs that I have for your listening/nostalgic pleasure XD

In terms of music and CDs, Pokemon is definitely unlike any other anime released in the U.S. Nearly 100 original, full-size songs were composed for the Pokemon TV show and movies and released on about 10 CDs during the height of Pokemon’s popularity in the U.S., between 1999 and 2001. Though this pales in comparison to the number of Pokemon songs and CDs released in Japan, it’s still a record-breaker for an anime series in America, even amongst other American cartoons.

And now for what you really want, the CDs themselves. Let nostalgia abound with these old Pokemon tunes XD Each CD is compressed into a zip file and the songs are in 320kbps mp3 format…

Track Listing
01) Pokemon Theme
02) 2B A Master
03) Viridian City
04) What Kind of Pokemon are You?
05) My Best Friends
06) Everything Changes
07) The Time Has Come (Pikachu’s Goodbye)
08) Pokemon (Dance Mix)
09) Double Trouble
10) Together Forever
11) Misty’s Song
12) PokeRAP
13) You Can Do It (If You Really Try)

The very first English Pokemon CD, and I’m sure most fans will agree, the best. I believe this CD even topped certain music charts when it was released. It includes the full-version of the English Pokemon theme song used in the Kanto episodes, the full-version of the PokeRap, full-versions of the 6 songs used in the Pikachu’s Jukebox segment, and 5 songs that were heard at some point in the episodes or were exclusive to this CD.

Download the Pokemon 2.B.A. Master songs here.

—–

Track Listing
01) Pokemon Theme (movie version) [Billy Crawford]
02) Don’t Say You Love Me [M2M]
03) It Was You [Ashley Ballard with So Plush]
04) We’re A Miracle [Christina Aguilera]
05) Soda Pop [Britney Spears]
06) Somewhere Someday [N’SYNC]
07) Get Happy [B*Witched]
08) (Hey You) Free Up Your Mind [Emma Bunton]
09) Fly With Me [98°]
10) Lullaby [Mandah]
11) Vacation [Vitamin C]
12) Makin’ My Way (Any Way That I Can) [Billie]
13) Catch Me If You Can [Angela Via]
14) (Have Some) Fun With The Funk [Aaron Carter]
15) If Only Tears Could Bring You Back [Midnight Sons]
16) Brother My Brother [Blessid Union Of Souls]

An issue that fans have with this CD is that it included songs that have nothing to do with Pokemon; songs by current pop singers and bands, most likely for the promotion of these artists rather than for the Pokemon movie itself. Only about 5 of these songs actually appeared in the movie, and only about 3 could really be called Pokemon-related. But while most of these songs are forgettable, some of them are good.

Download the Pokemon First Movie Soundtrack here.

—–

Track Listing
01) The Power of One [Donna Summer]
02) Dreams [Alysha Antonino]
03) They Don’t Understand [Dream Street]
04) Wonderland [Angela Via]
05) With All Your Heart [plus ONE]
06) The Extra Mile [Laura Pausini]
07) Flying Without Wings [Westlife]
08) Pokemon World (movie version) [Youngstown and Nobody’s Angel]
09) Blah, Blah, Blah [Devotion 2 Music]
10) Polkaman [”Weird” Al Yankovic]
11) The Chosen One [The B-52s]
12) One Heart [O-Town]
13) One [Denisse Lara]
14) Comin’ to the Rescue [O-Town]
15) Dance of the Bellossum (from Pikachu’s Rescue Adventure Score)
16) The Legend Comes to Life (from The Power of One Score)

Perhaps fans’ complaints about the first movie soundtrack were taken into account, since this second movie soundtrack includes a lot more songs centered around Pokemon or the “power of one” theme of the movie. We even get something that rarely occurs for any American cartoon series; inclusion of instrumental-only tracks on the CD. “The Legend Comes to Life” score is beautiful and very much based on the original Japanese melody. But though the theme of this CD is more focused, the majority of songs are still pretty mediocre. Some are good, but in my opinion Donna Summer’s powerful song blows the others away XD

Download the Pokemon 2000 soundtrack here.

—–

Track Listing
01) Pokemon Johto
02) Pikachu (I Choose You)
03) All We Wanna Do
04) The Game
05) He Drives Me Crazy
06) You and Me and Pokemon
07) Biggest Part of My Life
08) Do Ya Really Wanna Play
09) Song of Jigglypuff
10) Two Perfect Girls
11) Never Too Far from Home
12) Pokerap GS
13) Pokemon Johto [karaoke]
14) Pikachu (I Choose You) [karaoke]
15) All We Wanna Do [karaoke]
16) You and Me and Pokemon [karaoke]
17) Song of Jigglypuff [karaoke]
18) Two Perfect Girls [karaoke]
19) Pokerap GS [karaoke]

The largest of all the U.S. Pokemon CDs, this one includes the full-version of the Pokemon Johto theme song, the GS PokeRap, full-versions of the 5 songs from the Pokemon Karaokemon segment, and a few other extra songs. And, amazingly similar to the Japanese CDs, karaoke versions of 7 songs! This has got to be one of the few English TV show CDs that includes karaoke versions of songs. Though this is common in Japan, it’s quite rare in the U.S. As a whole, I think the songs on 2.B.A. Master are better, but these ones are still fun.

Download the Totally Pokemon songs here.

—–

Track Listing
01) Pokemon Johto (movie version)
02) To Know the Unknown
03) Pikachu (I Choose You)
04) All We Wanna Do
05) He Drives Me Crazy
06) You and Me and Pokemon
07) Song of Jigglypuff
08) Pokemon GS
09) Two Perfect Girls
10) Pokemon Johto
11) Biggest Part of My Life
12) Medley from Spell Of the Unown
13) Pikachu (I Choose You) [karaoke]
14) Song Of Jigglypuff [karaoke]
15) You and Me and Pokemon [karaoke]

This CD is one of the first signs of Pokemon’s decline in the U.S.; not only was it the last English Pokemon movie CD, it included only 3 new tracks. The rest were all recycled from the Totally Pokemon CD. But it was nice to get another instrumental track, and “To Know the Unknown” is one of my favorites of the English songs.

Download the Pokemon 3 soundtrack here. Just note, the file only includes the tracks exclusive to this CD - 01, 02, and 12. The rest I’ve already uploaded in the Totally Pokemon file above.

—–

Track Listing
01) Pokemon Christmas Bash
02) I’m Giving Santa a Pikachu for Christmas
03) Winter is the Coolest Time of Year
04) Nobody Don’t Like Christmas
05) I Keep My Home in My Heart
06) The Christmas Song
07) Under the Mistletoe
08) Must Be Santa
09) The Night Before Christmas
10) Christmas Medley
11) I’m Giving Santa a Pikachu for Christmas [karaoke]
12) Christmas Medley [karaoke]

After the disappointment of the third movie soundtrack, I was glad that this last English Pokemon CD goes out with a bang. What makes this CD so great? It’s the most like a Japanese anime CD in the fact that all the songs are sung by the actual voice actors of the characters! (two karaoke tracks were even thrown in as well =D) Yes, the talented and much-loved 4Kids Pokemon voice actors perform all the songs on this CD. The only other previous English Pokemon songs to be sung by the voice actors themselves were “Double Trouble” and “Two Perfect Girls.” Although this CD was not promoted very much, I think it was great to finally have the actual characters sing the songs. But unfortunately, being the last English Pokemon CD, this is the only time we’ll ever see something like this with a U.S. anime CD.

Download the Pokemon Christmas Bash songs here.

———-

Besides these 6 CDs, there were a handful of other English Pokemon CDs released during the time, but I believe these were the best and most popular ones. Pokemon was definitely unlike any other anime released in the U.S.; Sailor Moon, Digimon, DragonBall Z, and Yu-Gi-Oh! maybe had one or two CDs each, but I don’t even think there was any American-made cartoon show that received so much musical promotion in just a few years like Pokemon did. Unfortunately, since 2002 and beyond, Pokemon’s popularity in America has never been what it used to be in those first 3 years. But there’s no doubt that it was a major help in opening up the door for anime’s subsequent popularity in the U.S.

Well, I hope you enjoy the nostalgia of these songs from nearly a decade ago ^^ Let me know if you experience any problems with the files.