This was my favorite cover, because I love cats! Notice that SID has been keeping with a "watercolor painted" cover theme for the past few singles. Very distinguished.
With this being my first holiday season in retail, I had no idea what to expect. I now understand why people in retail hate the holidays. The spirit of giving has been replaced by droves of iPhone-wielding robot overlords who misunderstand the purpose of all manner of coupons, spit out obscenities, and do other types of… well… not nice things. It’s rather discouraging. My light at the end of the tunnel has been this little spurt of awesome j-rock we’ve gotten recently. That’s what’s been getting me through the long hours, broken toes, and cold weather.
Today’s little nugget of j-rock awesomeness is SID’s Ranbu no Melody. SID’s been riding the wave of quality singles since Uso dropped last April.
Ranbu no Melody served as the 13th opening theme for the bland and tasteless anime, Bleach. The song is actually exciting and provides a great contrast to the otherwise dull and listless experience one will have while watching an episode of Bleach. I do feel that such a great song being used for such an outdated-please-end-it-already anime is a bit of a waste. I mean, it’s misleading. This epic song is going to pull you in, then the show will start and by the end of the episode all you’ll be able to say is “Bleach taught me that you can be a superhero and a pervert at the same time. Also you can hop dimensions and give six-page monologues and then do like two cool things with a sword. Sure it sucks, but at least the theme song is fun. Right?”
One of Bleach's many enthralling moments, which is not only crucial to the nonexistent plot, but also gives insight about the immense maturity and wisdom of the viewing audience. Remember, children. If you watch an animated woman unbutton her shirt, your IQ will increase tenfold.
The opening sequence does a fantastic job of showcasing all 25897498759375890830859038957438908420849037859304583502830 Bleach characters and at the same time reminding me of exactly why I stopped watching the show in the first place. I think I can live my life without knowing Rangiku’s bra size, or whatever information Bleach fans find to be crucial. Surely the plot isn’t important to them, since we all know that Aizen is the most frustrating anime villain since InuYasha’s main antagonist and part-time bus driver, Naraku.
True story.
Now that I’ve covered why Ranbu no Melody by no means deserves to be in a tired and rootless series like Bleach, (although I will say that the 2-3 minutes of action in every episode completely captures the mood of this song perfectly) I do believe I should explain just what makes this song so great. This song is like an upbeat version of Rain. The melodies of the two songs are in no way comparable, but their pattern of building and exploding relentlessly is very similar. Mao is one of those vocalists that can put a lot of emotion into his voice and bring it out when appropriate. I like him for the same reason that I like Gara from the band MERRY, in that they both have relatively high voices for j-rock, but they exude soulfulness. SID is a ridiculously awesome band, and I’m so pleased with how far they have come so quickly. I am, however, disappointed that this single only charted at #5.
The b-side, Danrou is a fun throwback to SID’s earlier days when their work had a distinct jazz flair. I said it about D in my last review, and I’ll say it again here with SID. I am so happy that this band is changing directions and trying new things, but at the same time it’s nice to see them occasionally bringing back their old style and reminding us fans why we loved them in the first place. I love how cozy and fluffy this song is; two terms I tend to shy away from when reviewing music. This is the kind of song that makes me want to shimmy over to Starbucks and/or Panera Bread and drink expensive lattes because I’m just that self-important. My gosh, I love embellishing.
In Conclusion: This single was phenomenal in all respects. It is debatable to me whether or not this single or Rain was SID’s best achievement this year. Either way, I can’t wait to see what they come up with next!
~Alisa~
Next time, I’m taking on T.M. Revolution’s Save the One, Save the All! Yes, it’s another theme from that mutated abomination known by the common man as “Bleach….”
Sakurayume 
…Wait… Wait, wait, wait… JAZZ?
Maybe I should check this single out.
(ITC: Someone totally missing the point of the entire post.)
I hear you, retail around the holidays is hell with a capital H-E-L-L.
Ranbu no Melody was a good song from the group and Mao does a great job with vocals and the rest do a great job with their instruments.
I prefer the manga to the anime since its slightly more merciful but still cruel since even though the Aizen arc is over, there’s going to be another one >o<'.
Bleach is immensely frustrating, but I’ve only continued to read it because it’s been part of my routine for the last two or three years. I think Tite Kubo does a great job with characters’ back stories, but he’s been sacrificing good character development for long-winded expositions on characters megalomania and convoluted explanations for why so-and-so’s ultimate move… ultimately failed. And he is god-awful at pacing.
The anime is horrid, but the manga hasn’t been doing much to keep the standards up either. =\