Kill Me Baby OP/ED Single – Kill Me no Baby! / Futari no Kimochi no Honto no Himitsu Ki Ban – Review
| Album Title: | Futari no Kimochi no Honto no Himitsu / Yasuna to Sonya (CV: Chinatsu Akasaki, Mutsumi Tamura) Ki Ban |
|---|---|
| Anime Title: | Kill Me Baby |
| Artist: | Mutsumi Tamura, Chinatsu Akasaki |
| Catalog Number: | PCCG-1231 |
| Release Type: | OP/ED Single |
| Release Date: | January 18, 2012 |
| Purchase at: | CDJapan |
| Track Title | Artist | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 01. Kill Me no Baby! | Tamura Mutsumi & Akasaki Chinatsu | 2:36 |
| 02. Futari no Kimochi no Honto no Himitsu | Tamura Mutsumi & Akasaki Chinatsu | 2:56 |
| 03. Kill Me no Baby! (Karaoke) | Tamura Mutsumi & Akasaki Chinatsu | 2:36 |
| 04. Futari no Kimochi no Honto no Himitsu (Karaoke) | Tamura Mutsumi & Akasaki Chinatsu | 2:59 |
| 05. Kill Me no Baby! No Sarani Uzai Yatsu | Tamura Mutsumi & Akasaki Chinatsu | 4:18 |
| 06. Futari no Kimochi no Honto no Himitsu (Kossetsu Hen) | Tamura Mutsumi & Akasaki Chinatsu | 2:42 |
| 07. Omoi Tsuitemita (CM Fuu Short Conte) | Tamura Mutsumi & Akasaki Chinatsu | 0:32 |
Review: It takes a special person to be able to enjoy Kill Me Baby’s opening theme.
Between the cheesy Russian accordion, the enthusiastic screams of “KILL ME BABY!” and the random interjections of “wasa wasas,” “camo camos,” and the nonchalant-to-exasperated “Naa-mins,” this song exemplifies what campy OP/ED themes ought to be. Here, borderline chaos is the order of the day; its antics are at the brink of being grating, the instrumental portion during the singing parts is carelessly scatterbrained, and the lyrics make the inmates of your local asylum seem logical. Big emphasis on the “borderline” bit, mind you, for the hyperactive obnoxiousness that should have the effect of chiseling away at your sanity carries with it a campy earworm; subsequent listens become funnier, slowly but surely. Whether that’s a sign of actual endearment or impending madness is a task left to each individual listener to find out for themselves, assuming they’re willing to take such a risk.
For those who cannot tolerate such insanity, the song clocks in at a thankfully brief 2:36. That might be two and a half minutes too long, but when compared to the full-sized version of most opening themes, a short track length in this instance can be considered an act of mercy. Those who will undoubtedly enjoy this sort of camp can take comfort in the 4:18 version that features such delightful enhancements as sonorous melodic warping effects and pleasant repetitions of the enthusiastic outbursts and screeches that we’ve come to love so much. The gimmicky sound mixing practically guarantees that if you somehow managed to survive the first incarnation with a firm hold on your sanity, this one will doom you to a tenure at the mental ward for sure.
“Futari no Kimochi no Honto no Himitsu” is hardly better. Like the OP, this song is also ear-wormy, though it achieves it through a static electronica beat that hardly ever deviates from the opening measures and quickly grows stale. There’s little to praise here; the rhythm is only slightly more elegant than the consistent thud that you’d get out of a jackhammer and the singing is steady, but incapable of drawing out any emotion beyond disdain. Still, these elements do form a strange, catchy mixture, which almost manages to redeem itself during the bridge as it puts together a melody that comes off as an ephemeral glimmer of hope. Nevertheless, it’s all for naught. The addictive effect this song has soon subsides, allowing reality (and sanity) to return and revealing the half-hearted effort put into this album. I suspect the goal of this abomination is not to excel in any obvious way but to wallow amusingly in its own inadequacy. If that’s the case, then it has certainly succeeded in doing just that.
Rating: Bad
Kill Me Baby OP – Kill Me no Baby
Kill Me Baby ED – Futari no Kimochi no Honto no Himitsu
I wonder what Akira has to say about this review. 😛
I ain’t gonna disagree. The OP song is like the anime itself. It gets old, quickly.
@Sorrow-kun
Akira and I agreed that it was pretty much crap, and probably done that way on purpose. Memetry may have failed here though since I don’t find myself listening to it too often and it never spawned anything remotely close to “I BUY SAUSAGE”. Heh.
I’ve nothing nice to say about the OP, but the ED is just bizarre and quirky enough in a purposefully shoddily spartan way to get the nod from me. Also, there’s a round in the second chorus. A round! Who does rounds nowadays? Nobody, that’s who.
Wow. This is my first listen and I have to agree. Both of those songs are terrible.
In a review I am working on right now for another series, I was going to write that it has the worst OP song I had ever heard. Now I’m not so sure.
May I introduce you to the Moon Phase OP?
Hey, you leave Nekomimi Mode alone! It’s kawaii~ uguu~
Dimitri from Paris has done much for house music so he gets a pass for this.
@Aftershok
haters gotta hate
@Kaikyaku
There’s something to be said for Akikan’s ending theme being pretty bad. Ooh! Ooh! What about that One Piece Rap?
The OP of Kill Me Baby reminds me of a less melodic Kemeko Deluxe OP http://youtu.be/WWEMj4uiNzQ
Also I hate the ever loving piss out of it and it not the least bit earwormy to me.
I actually kind of like the ED. That could just be the dancing though. It’s nothing special but its mostly melodicish depending on what you think of the singing. I like the lyrics though and think they fit Yasuna and Sonya’s friendship well.
@Taka
Knowing what I know about the anime (and I don’t know a whole lot and can’t be arsed to find out), I’d say that’s probably on the mark. OP also captures that silly dynamic pretty well as I imagine Yasuna’s personality to be the kind that causes dojikko-ness to spread into a cancer.
I liked the OP, the frenetic pace and the random wassa wassa and stuff was funny. Not for long term listening but as an OP to a comedy, its suitable, in the vein of Ika Musume’s 1st season OP
@Anon
Another song that wasn’t really all that enjoyable, though this one is more comedic because of how random it seems. But yeah, this one will definitely have a short shelf-life.
I haven’t listened to itself, but from the looks of it, this might be the worst opening song in the winter season. It makes me wonder how someone could make something so chaotic like this…
Either way, I’m going to save my sanity and won’t listen to it… Ever.
@Chikorita157
Just watch the girls do that live-action dancing. On mute, of course.
I may have to play devil’s advocate here. The OP did have some interesting points as a musical piece. Recently I have been a fan of the odd-metered polyrhythmic stuff, and I should say the way this song’s eccentricity was crafted into the arrangement was quite intriguing. I’m referring mostly to the drum beats (I especially liked the odd-metered fill thing at 0:52) and the bass lines as far as the polyrhythmic stuff goes, which reminds me of Cromartie High for some reason. The main riff (I might get staked for saying it’s Jewish Hora) can go either way for some, but nonetheless invigorating for people who are into those eccentric stuff. And this song sounds waaayy more exciting and original than, let’s say, generic Lantis electronic crap they call moe music. Maybe try listening to some of those Milky Holmes, then some other Lantis-produced moe song, like I dunno… the ED from Saki or something. You can’t even tell the difference between the two.
But then of course it would take someone with a very weird taste in music to enjoy these stuff. So not totally hating you for ripping the hell out of this single.
And yeah, the ED sounds way too monotonic. I’m liking it at the moment, but I could easily find it out of my iPod in a month or two.
I initially thought that the funny rhythms in the OP were just cleverly complicated hemiola, but, you’re right, there are definitely eighth note groupings in that section that do not add up to a net common time come the regularly-grouped 4/4 (I don’t even know what to call that section; the chorus? the verse?). I would try to figure out what exactly is going on there, but I don’t have the motivation at the moment. Good catch.
@roy
If nothing else, I can agree that it’s far more enjoyable than listening to the next moe pop song they seem to be throwing around these days. I mean, at least it’s distinct, for good or for ill!
(Also, Saki’s “waii waii~” is kinda ear-wormy. Maybe.)
Given that the 4:18 version of the song is subtitled “Even More Annoying Version” I think they knew what they were going for, at least…
@caitlyn
Ha! Thanks for that informational tidbit! That does make their efforts purposeful and deliberate. Good to know!
I can’t stand the Opening, but I sort of like the ED, it’s probably the dancing though, and the fact it’s not so chaotic and annoying.
As for the Moon Phase Op, it’s bad, but it doesn’t hurt my ears, and I find it slightly endearing in it’s sheer failing at a song.
@Fumoffu!!
I’m not sure how anyone could dislike the Moon Phase OP either! It’s endearing in all of its Akiba-kei goodness and I could listen to that with a silly grin on my face.
A very accurate review, as you probably couldn’t get more fair than that!
I definitely fall into the nut case bin with it as, before I knew it, I’ve been listening to the OP track for the fifth time a row. It’s not a “good” song, but not what I would call “bad”. It’s the definition of a novelty song; offbeat for the sake of it, and if it gets stuck in your head.. it has done its damage!
Not sure if this is true, as I heard from a friend, but was this really at the top of the singles chart? 😮
As for the ending song.. It didn’t get stuck in my head.
@matty
Dear god! I hope that its position on the singles chart is because hipsters elevated it there ironically! If it was due to people’s music tastes, I’m not sure I’d have much faith in the world anymore.
And yeah, as bad as it is, I just can’t hate on it. This is one of those tracks that deserves a wink and knowing nod. I have better things to rage on about and this track is quaint in comparison.
Mmmm, some people have no sense of humor I see, or a life.
And one more thing, what did you people expected, fuckin’ Mozart?
@FUA
Read the review. We do see it as a joke, albeit, not a very funny one. Judging these kinds of tracks, we’re more expecting Monty Python-levels of quality :<
I love the opening but the ending is bleuh!