Single of the Week: "Lilium" by Kumiko Noma (Elfen Lied OST)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!! It's that time again for trick-or-treating and telling ghost stories, so in commemoration for this scary holiday, I'd like to recommend my favorite horror series, Ellfen Lied. An intense thriller that walks a fine line between crazy and insanity. It's very gory. Very violent. I think you get the gist.

Single of the Week: "Main Theme" by Kenji Kawai (Higurashi no Naku Koro ni OST)

Thanks to Mrs Blunder of Project Otaku, I got the idea to feature this creepy anime song as the single of this week. Kenji Kawai is one of my favorite anime composers and I believe this song perfectly captures his grasp for the eerie. And Higurashi has plenty of that.

Single of the Week: "Kuchizuke" by Buck-Tick (Shiki OP1)

Sorry for the inactivity these past two weeks. Midterms are always pretty time consuming. Now that my work has lightened up, I can find the free time to dedicate to my blog and catch up on the tons of anime I have yet to watch this season. But with Halloween right around the corner, I really wanted to suggest a horror anime just to get into the spirit of things. Here is one of my personal horror favorites . . . Shiki. Oh but wait, this is a "sotw" post. Well, the song is not bad either.

Single of the Week: "Complication" by ROOKiEZ is PUNK'D (Durarara!! OP2)

ROOKiEZ is PUNK'D is a Japanese band I am more familiar with, due to their collaborations in Ao no Exorcist and Bleach. Their music is the kind of music you would generally find in my ipod. Out of the two openings of Drrr!!, "Complication" is my favorite. After all, the anime can be quite complicated. Starting with the name. It is quite a mouthful, but fun to say.

Single of the Week: "V.I.P" by SID (Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic OP)

I thought "V.I.P" by SID, was a really good song choice for Magi - an adventure series about a young magician named, Aladdin. Yes, we've all heard that story before. But I doubt we've ever heard of an anime adaptation before. Anyway, the first season premiered around the same time last year. I was never particularly fond of the anime, but for some reason, I am oddly excited for its second season, which is due to air this coming October.

Single of the Week: "Tabi no Tochuu" by Kiyoura Natsumi (Spice and Wolf OP)

Like Serial Experiments Lain and Last Exile, this is an opening I came across coincidentally. I have yet to see the anime Spice and Wolf, although, I hear great things about it. Most notably, I hear about the world-building aspect behind the series, which leads it to be frequently compared to Maoyuu Maou Yuusha, a recently airing anime with a similar story and foundation, and an anime I actually did see. However, my main reason for featuring this song on my blog, this week, is thanks to The Anime Music Tourney(your vote counts!), for reinforcing my appreciation on the opening theme to a somber looking anime. What do you think? Should I watch Spice and Wolf?

Single of the Week: "Crowds" by WHITE ASH (Gatchaman Crowds OP)

As hinted last week, Gatchaman Crowds hosts this week's "Single of the Week" with "Crowds" by WHITE ASH. Unlike Eccentric Family, I had a harder time choosing between the opening and ending theme of this anime because I find both songs are equally good - the ending being your slower moving song. But between the two, more work seems to have been put into the opening theme. Especially in the art department. The opening is just a lot more vibrant and colorful compared. But I really can't deny the appeal of those lead vocals.

Single of the Week: "Que Sera, Sera" by Fhana (Uchouten Kazoku ED)

Uchouten Kazoku or The Eccentric Family is one of my favorite animated shows this season, along with Gatchaman Crowds, Servant x Service, and Silver Spoon. Eccentric Family gives us a more ambiguous approach as it attempts to tackle various themes along the lines of identity. And I think it does so in a more constructive way than say, its season rival Gatchaman Crowds. Although, my weekly favorite bounces a lot between the two. Last week, my favorite, that's right you guessed it!, was Eccentric Family. And I just needed something to commemorate last week's episode, so lets talk about its ending! - which interestingly helped me understand the nature of the series a lot more, after writing this post.

Single of the Week: "Shiki No Uta" by MINMI (Samurai Champloo ED)

Reminder: "Single of the Week" is an array of periodicals here at CB Nonsense where I choose an anime song of my choice, every week, and offer you a brief overview about the song, the artist, and maybe even a bit of insight on the anime as a whole. I love music, and here is a peak at my varied playlist.

Single of the Week: "Borderland" by Mami Kawada (Jormungand OP1)

Jormungand's opening became one of my favorite anime openings of Spring 2012. Back when I was dropping series left and right, Borderland is what kept me coming back to this series. And it's not that Jormungand was a bad series. On the contrary, it turned out to be a pretty great series. But that's the thing. It turned out to be a pretty great series. At the start of a new season, you sort of have to take your chances, depending of your time schedule, about which series you will dedicate your time to. Some people like to decide from the first episode whether they will drop a series or not and others, like me, prefer to follow the famous "three episode rule." But even then, Jormungand was not the most exciting anime at the time, and its premise didn't exactly have me looking forward to every episode, every week. But its opening did. And it was well worth the wait. Because, if nothing else, it gave me an excuse to watch this opening again and again.

Single of the Week: "Toki wo Kizamu Uta" by Lia (Clannad: After Story OP)

Notably known for her opening and ending themes for various Key visual novels, one of Lia's most prominent songs has to be "Toki wo Kizamu Uta." Otherwise known as Clannad: After Story's opening theme, an anime favorite of mine.

Single of the Week: "Cloud Age Symphony" by Shuntaro Okino (Last Exile OP1)

"Cloud Age Symphony" is a hypnotic, techno song featured as the opening to the anime Last Exile, a pretty well rated anime that I have yet to see, unfortunately. But, just like the opening to Serial Experiments Lain, this opening generally reflects the nature of the series itself. Or so I'd like to think.

Single of the Week: "Catch You Catch Me" by Gumi (Cardcaptor Sakura OP1)

I have been a long-time Cardcaptor Sakura fan and this opening reinforces the reason why I generally prefer to watch subbed vs. dubbed anime. Because let's face it! The 90's were not an ideal time for English dubbed anime, which faced a lot of script editing in order to make the shows more "Americanized"(starting with the OP song), not to mention they were mainly targeted at children, so a lot of material considered inappropriate for children would be replaced and censored out. It takes just one look at an episode to realize the major difference in storytelling between the English dub and the Japanese dub, starting with "Catch You Catch Me" by Gumi.

Single of the Week: "God Only Knows" by Oratorio (The World God Only Knows OP1)

I really like this opening due to its vector graphics and for its precise depiction of the series. The story is about a boy who is considered a god in the 2D world, who later ends up using that power in the real 3D world. And just like your typical harem show, the introduction starts off by emphasizing the roles of its lead females. However, the transition from real world to fantasy world becomes a lot more evident about halfway when it decides to throw in a load of vector animation - precisely depicting its electronic theme.

Single of the Week: "Sakura Kiss" by Chieko Kawabe (Ouran High School Host Club OP)

"Only those with excellent social standing and those from filthy rich families are lucky enough to spend their time here at the elite private school, Ouran Academy. The Ouran Host Club is where the school's handsomest boys with too much time on their hands entertain young ladies who also have way too much time on their hands. Just think of it as Ouran Academy's elegant playground for the super rich and beautiful."

                                                                                  - Ouran High School Host Club in a nutshell.

Single of the Week: "Duvet" by Boa (Serial Experiments Lain OP)

One of the few anime exceptions with an English opening would be Serial Experiments Lain with "Duvet." The song is sung by Boa, a British indie rock band from London, and it was a recurring competitor in Anime Instrumentality's Anime Music Tourney, in case you haven't heard of it.

Single of the Week: "Core Pride" by UVERworld (Ao no Exorcist OP1)

UVERworld made their debut with the single "D-tecnoLife," back in 2005, which was the second opening theme for the anime Bleach, and that is how I first heard of them. Since then, they have opened for numerous anime series including Blood+ and D. Gray-man. But it wasn't until Ao no Exorcist that I began to fully appreciate their music.

Single of the Week: "Super Driver" by Aya Hirano (The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya OP2)

For starters, I would like to apologize about my late entry, but I've been contemplating about this post for a while now and whether I should continue with this project or not, but in honor of Haruhi's unpredictable nature, what the heck!

Single of the Week: "My Dearest" by Supercell (Guilty Crown OP1)

As most of you frequent visitors to my blog may have noticed, every week, I present to you a "Single of the Week." That may consist of either an anime OP/ED, an insert song from an anime series, or a song unrelated to anime, but not too far off from the fandom itself. This week, this single has inspired me to flesh out a post about a particular anime, offering you a bit of insight behind its OP song and maybe even the anime as a whole. Besides, every week I go through numerous amounts of anime songs, carefully analyzing which song would best fit the present week's "feeling" and "drive," and every week I find myself appreciating anime all over again - through the means of music. Let's just say, I really enjoy doing this. I just don't know why I haven't written a post about it sooner. If this goes well, I may make this a weekly thing. For now, I am just experimenting.

12 Days of Anime Day 09: Gurren Lagann

♪ On the 9th day of anime, Ulquiorra gave to me . . . 9 gurren laganns
                                                                                           . . . 8 S&Ms
                                                                                      . . . 7 dragon balls
                                                                                         . . . 6 funny deaths