Credits

I would like to give credit where credit is due. Videos are from YouTube and other sources such as NicoNico while Oricon rankings and other information are translated from the Japanese Wikipedia unless noted.

Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Aice5 -- Be with you

Source: generasia.com


Sometimes a CD cover featuring cute girls is enough for me... Yeah, I’m that bad.

I have never been aware of Aice5 (actually Aice⁵) before, but I soon discovered they were an almost disbanded aidoru group comprised of five anime seiyuus.

Looking at their names, two of them were not strange to me. One was Chiaki Takahashi (たかはし智秋), a sexy aidoru/seiyuu who released a horrid single called “Konya wa Chupa Rico” (今夜はチュパ リコ) under Avex a couple of years ago. The other was Yui Horie (堀江由衣), an almost 40 years old woman with a 12 years old look/face (seriously, I’m afraid of her), who started her career in the anime industry back in the late 90s/early 00s. As for the other three, they are Akemi Kanda (神田朱未), Masumi Asano (浅野真澄) and Madoka Kimura (木村まどか).

Apparently, Aice5 briefly reunited to release a 10th anniversary compilation, “Aice⁵ ALL SONGS COLLECTION”, and a new single, which is called “Be with you”.

“Be with you” may sound like a typical anime song from the 00s with its loud mix of strings and synths, but I truly enjoyed some very particular elements, like the piano in the verses and how melodic the combo of piano with strings actually sounds near the end. The vocals are also a good mix of cute and strong deliveries (that glorious high note in the bridge... I think Chiaki Takahashi took care of it, but I’m not certain), which redeems the song and not makes it a tiring one. In other words, I don’t feel like drowning in a cotton candy pool when listening to it.

To finish, here’s a short version of the “Be with you” music video. Chiaki Takahashi is looking extremely sexy as always, which is probably enough to watch it.


“Be with you” was released as a single in September 2015. Lyrics, music and arrangement were all done by Ryujin Kiyoshi (清竜人).

2 comments:

  1. Hi again, Marcos.

    "Be With You" is quite the peppy song, and yep, you're right about the piano helping to brighten up the melody. I know two of the seiyuu there: Masumi Asano and Yui Horie (I like your comment about her face and age, by the way). Horie really does look like her alter ego of Miss Monochrome...the anime is one of the regular shows on my friend's viewing lineup so I see Monochrome's face more than I do the actual actress.

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  2. Right now, I'm really in love with the piano in the verses. It's interesting how a small detail makes total difference.

    As for Horie, I was not liying when I said she frightens me. Being more accurate, I find her eyes a little bit strange. In my defense, though, I saw some comments on YouTube saying the same, so I'm not alone.

    As for work, I only watched one anime with her, and it was Shaman King back in 2001 and 2002. She also sang a pretty nice character song called "Sono Saki no Justice" for this anime, and, to this day, it's my favorite song from her (I don't know many others, to be honest).

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