This is a new series dedicated to theme songs, scores, and any type of music featured in film and television that I love, that gets stuck in my head, or that has special significance.
When it comes to music, I have a very hard time editing myself. So this edition has A LOT of clips. I’ll try to be more concise in the future.
In this edition, I’ll be looking at themes and music featured in some of my favourite anime series and films.
The Adventures of Hutch The Honeybee (Jose Miel) / Candy, Candy
If you ever mention the titles Jose Miel and Candy, Candy to anyone born or raised in South America in the late 70s/early 80s, the reaction will always be a combination of horror, sadness, and despair. These two anime shows traumatized a whole generation whose eyes still well up with tears just by thinking about either show. Here are the theme songs for Hutch (Japanese) and Candy, Candy (Spanish). The second clip is particularly misleading. It might sound happy, but the show was all about tragedy.
Saint Seiya (Caballeros del Zodiaco)
I was deeply devoted to this show as a child. I had the photo album and all. Saint Seiya was the alternative at the time when Dragon Ball Z was the show to watch. The Spanish edit of the opening credits (the credits we got in South America) where different from the original. And the theme song was a Spanish translation of the theme song from the French opening credits.
This song is a horrifying abomination of epic proportions, but man, we sang along with pride!
Akira
Every time I watch this movie, I feel like I understand it, to later realize that I most likely don’t. That being said, I love it. And with its beautiful gamelan instrumentation, the soundtrack is simply perfect. Kaneda’s Theme was stuck in my head for weeks after I first saw it. Doll’s Polyphony is both beautiful and haunting, and Battle Against Clowns is primal and scary.
Ghost in The Shell
This is one of my favourite anime movies. I was surprised to find out that the theme song, Making of Cyborg, is a spiritual wedding song. Makes sense, right?
The Animatrix
In Koji Morimoto’s Beyond, when Yoko talks on the phone, Death in Vegas’ Hands Around My Throat plays in the background only for a few seconds. That was enough for me to become completely obsessed with this song, and it eventually became one of the theme songs to my life at the time. Here’s the official music video:
Serial Experiments Lain
The first time I saw this show was a bit of an accident. I stumbled upon this scene at a dance club with this haunting piece of music that got stuck in my head. I became obsessed; I got the soundtracks in hopes of finding it; I searched online for the title. But I was never lucky, so I gave up. But today, by looking for a clip of that dance club scene, I finally found it. It’s called 2nd Layer Cyberia Club from the Lain Bootleg album. My search is finally over.
I’m also including the opening and closing themes out of pure love. Oh, how I love these songs! The opening theme is Boa’s Duvet and the closing theme is Nakaido Reiichi’s Tooi Sakebi .
Paranoia Agent
This is one strange anime. I didn’t love it, I didn’t hate it, but I was fascinated by the opening and closing themes. The head on shots of characters laughing combined with the up-tempo song make of this opening sequence the creepiest I’ve ever seen. And the closing theme is like a beautiful lullaby for psychos.
Cowboy Bebop
In the early days of this blog, I published two posts about Cowboy Bebop, where I stated that I loved 50% of the show and didn’t care much about the other 50%, which made a few hardcore fans want to virtually chop my head off. But the one thing I adored from the very beginning, aside from Spike, is the soundtrack.
There’s not a single song that I don’t like from this soundtrack and it must be in my IPod at all times. Here’s the opening sequence theme, one of my favourite scenes from the whole series (accompanied by another song that got stuck in my head due to it being used in the Cowboy Bebop adverts on TV), and my favourite song from the soundtrack.
Excel Saga
There are not enough words for me to describe how much I HATE Excel Saga. But the end sequence kills me, because the little creature singing the song looks a lot like my cat. Though it is a dog. A dog? Seriously? Does that look like a dog? I always thought it was a cat that sounded weird. You’ll see what I mean. But anyway, it’s adorable, heartbreaking, and oddly hilarious. I couldn’t find a decent clip with English subs, so I’ll include the lyrics after the video.
I knew, ever since that day
The reason you had approached me
Tender and soft
That my body is to your taste
To your hunger-stricken eyes
How does my body seem?
If you are to eat me, do it in one blow
So that the meat does not get hard
Ergo Proxy
This is my favourite anime of all time. It is complex, dark, and beautiful. Aside from some ego–boosting comments I’ve got in relation to this show, one of the gifts this show has given me is introducing me to Monoral, my favourite Japanese rock group, who were responsible for Ergo Proxy’s theme song, Kiri. I’m also including my two favourite songs from the soundtrack, composed by Yoshihiro Ike.
When I first saw Ergo Proxy, I was surprised to hear Paranoid Android as its end credits song. I had a hard time listening to Radiohead for many years. For some reason, their music put me in a deep state of depression, particularly this song. I was never able to figure out why, but thankfully I am no longer negatively affected by their music.
And that’s all for this edition. Hope you enjoyed it.