Infinite Stratos ED Single – SUPER STREAM – Review
| Album Title: | SUPER STREAM |
|---|---|
| Anime Title: | IS: Infinite Stratos |
| Artists: | Hikasa Youko & Yukana & Shimoda Asami & Hanazawa Kana & Inoue Marina |
| Catalog Number: | LACM-4780 |
| Release Type: | ED Single |
| Release Date: | February 16, 2011 |
| Purchase at: | CDJapan |
| Track Title | Artist | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 01. SUPER∞STREAM | Hikasa Youko & Yukana & Shimoda Asami & Hanazawa Kana & Inoue Marina | 3:52 |
| 02. Best Partner | Hikasa Youko | 4:13 |
| 03. SUPER∞STREAM 〜INFINIT FUTURE Revised MIX〜 | Hikasa Youko & Yukana & Shimoda Asami & Hanazawa Kana & Inoue Marina | 4:10 |
Review: One very simple way of describing the music of IS: Infinite Stratos, unfortunately, is “forgettable”. After watching the first few episodes, I just feel that the OP and ED are generic and rather unimaginative. Despite this, I never skipped them, because over time I began to find them catchy. So what implored me to write a review here (especially when my own blog needs some serious updating 😉 )? I have no idea.
“Super Stream” is catchy enough for an ending theme. I call the anime-esque singing style of several voice actors doing the chorus together loud and proud “sing yelling”. You know what I mean. There’s nothing wrong with it per se, it’s an aesthetic of its own that’s common in ED’s from the Galaxy Angel franchise to Needless’s. With the great seiyuu cast it has, it’s not surprising at all for Infinite Stratos to leverage its voice actors’ talents. Inoue Marina, Hanazawa Kana, and Yukana (to an extent) are well established for their singing talents and I was really impressed with Hikasa Youko’s voice in K-ON‘s songs. In the anime, the ED animation and song are modified every time a new girl is integrated into the cast, with the newest girl taking a lead role in the song. This means that there are really around 5 versions of this song, plus the version on the single. The single release features everyone, but unlike the final ED version (since Laura is the last girl, Inoue Marina sang the lead in ED 5), all the girls “share” the lines. I wish they released them all, since I really liked version 4 (more Hanazawa Kana 😉 ).
It’s fun listening to the song and telling people’s voices apart. If you’re a voice actor fan like me, this song is like candy. Inoue Marina and Hikasa Youko’s voices are lower and give the chorus good balance. The beat and melody do a good job of keeping the song lively and bubbly, but the generic nature of the song really does catch up to it. I know ED sequences are not usually the most incredible works of animation, but the Infinite Stratos ending sequence just seemed lazy.
“Best Partner” is a decent B-side that showcases Hikasa Youko’s voice. It’s fine, and I liked the rock instrumental backing in the track. The lyrics are really cheeky, but what else do I expect from the B-side of an anime single?
Track three is some kind of club rework of the “Super Stream” that seems ubiquitous in many anime singles for some reason. The beat is really weak and it’s overwhelmed by an uncreative synthesizer backing. What they did to the singing was also not very interesting at all. Generic, uninspired, and overall terrible, I find track 3 worth ignoring.
Rating: Decent
Note: This is ED version 5, slightly different from the single release. In the single, Inoue Marina splits lyrics with the other seiyuu.
I always hear the first lines as “Brush up, beauty”
Good review. Mind giving the Haibane Renmei OST a shot at reviewing?
LOLZ @ “sing yelling”. I termed it “kiddy scream”
Like you, I entertain myself by trying to tell the voices apart as well. And as you pointed out, it helps that most of these girls can sing decently.
I quite expected it to be average considering how meh Infinite Stratos is… At least it maintain little appeal compared to the horrible Rio OP/ED.
Plus the order of the girls running changes depending on what happened in the episode. I didn’t notice the voices changing though, but that’s probably because I usually skip through the ED.
You’re right about this taking a bit of time to really warm up to the listener mostly because there’s really no hook that would throw me completely on board. Now, Saki’s wai wai ED. That’s a good example of a catchy seiyuu collab song that, while generic, still manages to grab your attention along with the cuteness from the animation sequence as well as the mahjong terms they throw at you.