I’ve been listening to a lot of 80s jpop of late and it really holds up and perfectly echoes the era.
It’s super 80s jpop in composition and vocals, but you know what? It’s a perfect image song for Hikaru. Still on Side 1 we get Furimuite My Darling, one of the insert songs from Minako Fujishiro. It might even be my pick from the whole album, it’s pretty damn tremendous. Throw in a key change at the end with a rad guitar solo and there’s a lot to love here. It’s a great pop song in its own right with some fantastic melodramatic minor keys that really bring about Kyosuke’s ongoing pining for Madoka. Back when I first watched through Kimagure Orange Road I was a little disappointed when Night of Summer Side was replaced by this, but years later I have to admit that this might now be my favourite opening. Next we get Orange Mirage, the second opening theme. I say “unusually” because I was expecting a sequential journey of sorts, but after spinning the record a few times it’s a really nice start being a great 80s pop ballad with plenty of pining vocals echoing the kind of melodrama Kimagure Orange Road inspires. Unusually, Kimagure Orange Road Singing Road kicks off with Natsu no Mirage, the first ending for the series.
So let’s take a deep dive into anime history and 80s nostalgia!
While I’m generally not one for greatest hits compilations these days, the thought of having a virtually complete selection of Kimagure Orange Road vocal tracks on a single platter was too tempting, especially considering the cost of purchasing the full series of albums. Kimagure Orange Road Singing Heart is one such release and is notable for containing almost the entire catalogue of vocal tracks featured across the other separate soundtrack releases. With the recent interest in anime music on vinyl, and as a nice reprieve to the huge spike in second hand prices for Kimagure Orange Road’s back catalogue of soundtracks, in 2021 Universal saw fit to resissue a swath of classic releases. It was one of the first anime productions that explored the tsundere archetype as part of a shounen rom com, it is gloriously 80s in every amazing way possible and the music, the focus of today’s review, is incredible. Kimagure Orange Road Singing Heart getting reissued should be a cause for celebration given Kimagure Orange Road has something of a legendary cult status amongst anime fans.
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