I think for anyone who has listened to a lot of music over the years, there are just some songs that don't necessarily have to be classics but still immediately make an impression right through the heart. For me, it's been songs such as Yellow Magic Orchestra's "Rydeen" and Hiromi Iwasaki's（岩崎宏美） cover of "Sumire Iro no Namida"（すみれ色の涙）.
And then there is this one. I heard "Ame no Musique"(The Music of Rain) a few months ago at the house of my friend who is probably one of the big experts on anime and computer games this side of the country. Now, I've been a casual fan of bossa nova for many years, and kayo kyoku/J-Pop has often welcomed the Brazilian genre with open arms. But there was something about this song that just clicked with me as the warm melody pumped out of my buddy's very fine speakers and raised some goosebumps....always a good sign when it comes to music.
I was surprised to find out when my friend told me that this was a song from a computer game called "Symphonic Rain" which was released all the way back in 2004. I researched a bit on this game, and with some bemusement, discovered that "Ame no Musique" was the theme song for one of the nastier characters, Falsita Fawcett. Too bad, I thought, and I've yet to the hear the themes for the other characters, but I knew that this was going to be one of my personal favourites. There was something about the melody and Ritsuko Okazaki's（岡崎律子） tender delivery which did it for me. For all of her fans, it's no surprise to note that she was the one behind the lyrics and the music.
It was sad to hear, then, that Okazaki had passed away far too young at the age of 44, less than a couple of months after the release of the game. However, her 7th and final album, "For Ritz" was released posthumously in December 2004. Okazaki's version of "Ame no Musique" is on that album and is the version above. The album, which had her covering all of the character songs from "Symphonic Rain", peaked at No. 37 on Oricon.
The original version for the game was sung by the voice actress behind Falsita, Masumi Asano（浅野真澄）. This version is also very nice, but I think Okazaki's self-cover will always be the one closest to my heart.
(Sept. 7 2014: I may have mistakenly switched singers with their performances. But in any case, I think both are very nice versions.)
