Beelzebub OP Single – Hajimaru no wa, Sayonara – Review

Album Title: Hajimaru no wa, Sayonara
Anime Title: Beelzebub
Artist: ON/OFF
Catalog Number: DFCL-1767
Release Type: OP/ED Single
Release Date: April 27, 2011
Purchase at: CDJapan

Track Title Artist Time
1. Hajimaru no wa, Sayonara ON/OFF 4:18
2. Kimi ga Inakerya ON/OFF 4:32
3. Hajimaru no wa, Sayonara (Instrumental) Daisuke Asakura 4:18
4. Kimi ga Inakerya (Instrumental) Daisuke Asakura 4:29

Review: ON/OFF’s works have generally given me the impression that they hinge wholly on composition and arrangement. Their Vampire Knight and Durarara!! openings worked out for me, though just barely. “Rondo” relies on, (surprise) its rondo structure in the opening stanza to stand out, even though it degenerated into generic pop soon after. “Futatsu no Kodou to Akai Tsumi” and “Butterfly” both had the piano working its magic, where it set a strong punctuated beat in the former and embellished the melody in the latter.

While those aforementioned works are moderately enjoyable, ON/OFF has no such luck this time with ‘Hajimaru no wa, Sayonara.’ This song, composed by T.M.Revolution and access’s Asakura Daisuke, goes very heavy on guitar and synths. Looking at Asakura’s past collaborations, it is clear that nothing short of overwhelming confidence and daredevil delivery can carry his music across, something which is sorely lacking here as the vocals provided by ON/OFF are just too heavy and monotonous.

‘Hajimaru no wa, Sayonara’s’ listening experience is like sitting in on a karaoke session, where the only concern is getting the words and melody out, with a few random crescendos here and there to try to add a bit of flavour. It does not help that the song is very repetitive, and the vocals are so heavy that they bulldoze through everything without letting you hear much of anything else. Add to that too heavy a dose of optimism, and the song gets almost obnoxious by the time it’s done.

The B-side suffers a similar fate. Despite having a rather promising instrumental opening, the effect is soon lost. Besides the usual lack of anything good, ON/OFF does a rather horrible job at handling both the high and low notes. The higher ones sound very tough on them, as they strain to meet the song’s technical demands while the lower ones have some weird twist to them, which adds little musical value.

In a way, ON/OFF came onto the music scene without any ability to bring the composition further, a skill they still have yet to acquire three years into their career. In fact, the whole idea of having two vocalists with voices which can hardly be differentiated from each other makes little sense to me to begin with. I still have yet to find out who they manage to sell their singles to, but to those seeking good music, please do not bother with this one.

Rating: Bad

Beelzebub OP – Hajimaru no wa, Sayonara

Jen

I have been a contributor to Anime Instrumentality since late 2009 (blimey...). Being a lousy musician trained in cello, keyboard and voice, I feel obliged to censure the other amateurs who have the cheek to release their rubbish to the world, and to affirm those who actually deserve their salary. Nothing gives me more joy than listening to good music, though I admit that writing scathing reviews on bad ones comes close.

7 thoughts on “Beelzebub OP Single – Hajimaru no wa, Sayonara – Review

  • June 15, 2011 at 7:45 am
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    I seem to be skipping a number of OP this season.

    This is definitely one of them.

    Reply
  • June 15, 2011 at 1:40 pm
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    Pretty much like the anime – repetitive and dull.

    Reply
  • June 16, 2011 at 12:13 am
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    @ Taka
    The only anime that I watch the OP right now is Ao no Exorcist. Everything else (at least those I’m watching) is all mediocre or, like this, plain bad.

    @ Fumoffu!!
    I can hardly believe I wasted over 3 hours of my life watching the series until it was clear it was clearly going nowhere.

    Reply
  • June 16, 2011 at 8:48 am
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    I watch…hmm Denpa Onna’s OP oftentimes. The singing is volatile but I’ll be damned if I couldn’t get the song out of my head for a few hrs after watching it.

    I also watch the OPs for Gintama (which is awesome), Nichijou, yondemasuyo asazel-san,
    Deadman Wonderland, and Maria+Holic. Though Gintama and the Nichijou are the only ones I’d consider really good.

    Reply
  • June 16, 2011 at 5:33 pm
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    @ Taka
    Oh yes, Yondemasuyo! I am not watching the show but I heard the OP and its pretty cool. I really must keep an eye on Team Nekocan. Their previous collaboration with Amaoto Junca was also pretty good.

    Deadman Wonderland is the only show among those I’m watching, and I tend to skip the OP cause the graphics are a little unpleasant for me…

    Reply
  • June 16, 2011 at 8:36 pm
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    The Deadman wonderland OP is kinda corny but it’s sung by a native english speaker so I can sing it without sounding stupid.

    I forgot 1 more OP. Steins;Gate: SENTAKU E HACKING TO THE GATE!!
    Love it

    Reply
  • February 5, 2013 at 5:51 am
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    I think this song have a positive content and also it is electrifying. I know this story is talk about some Yankee (include the hero Oga Tatsumi) to wake up to reality and find their directions on their life.

    What do you think?

    Reply

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