みのりんｷﾀ━━━━━━━━━━(ﾟ∀ﾟ)━━━━━━━━━━ !!!!!
Ok, so it’s only one day after the album was released… not that bad. But the last 24 hrs having been quite the excruciating wait for the CD to arrive, avoiding any kind of preview of the CD to preserve its new feeling. I was quite estatic when I came home to find that it arrived in a rather large box — it came with a poster! o/ Anyway, onto the review~
The Silver Limited Edition consisted of an attractive silver case, with a dreamy Minorin on the front. The CD was incased in a 3-fold silver case. The folding case unwraveled a sort of pull out vertical photo of her, quite attractive really. Despite the booklet having less pictures than I would have preferred (she needs to show off her charm, y’know), it was pretty standard, with lyrics and such. It would have been nice to have Minorin talk a bit and write her thoughts on the release, thanking the fans, that usual garb. There was a small “Very Special Thanks: ALL FANS” at the end credits, though. The whole package was very, very silvery, hence “Silver Limited Edition”. It also doubles as a compact mirror, lol. Other than that, I recieved a large poster, which made me a little giddy. I may frame it later on, since my room is a bit empty. CD photos courtesty of Lantis, since my camera is currently on low battery. Oh, there is also an article I stumbled upon that talks about the Contact release setup at a local Gamers in Japan, which has quite a few photos (wow, it even had the outfit she wore in the PV! *seamstress passion runs amuck*).
Getting to the songs, I was very satisfied with the array of styles the album contained. Let’s go over them, shall we?
1) Contact – A very energetic, trancy song. Somehow it reminds me of one of KOTOKO’s songs, suppuration -core-, except not as heave metal. Lyrics remind me so much of Nagato, lol. The only problem with song is that it makes the next song sound so sudden, since the two are gapless.
2) Shijin no Tabi – Practically everyone’s favorite track on this album. It proudly shows off Minorin’s vocal poweress, and the PV is oh so deep. Spectacular use of violins.
3) Futari no Reflection – Yay, a happy trance song! Most of the songs sounds serious and emotional, but this one has a joyful melody. I actually like it when she sings happy songs.
4) Jyunpaku Sanctuary – Where have we heard this before… ah yes, her restart 1st single, used in the Kiddy Grade 2 pilot DVD. Very nice song, looking towards seeing the full PV when it comes out in December~! This 15-sec CM will have to do for now…
5) Dears ~Yuruyakana Kiseki~ – A nice slow, long song, not that there’s anything wrong with this song. One of my favorites on the album, actually.
6) Cynthia – I’m not sure why they named the song the way they did… I suppose it may have referred to the Greek goddess of the moon. Nice chill beat song with some cute synth sounds. A bit DDR-sounding actually, lol
7) sleeping terror – A sad sounding song, but she works well with the melody. A bit haunting…
8) too late? not late… – Kind of an Engrish-sounding title, but the song is pretty good. Sweet guitar riffs. I’m sorry for using the song in this article’s poor pun of a title.
9) Natsu wo Wasuretara – Ara? A non-trance song(ish)! This one is actually my second favorite song in the album (next to Shijin no Tabi). I love the summertime sound it gives, and especially love how the guitar sounds. If only a PV could be made for this song — just imagine it, Minorin at the beach (or, dare I say it, in a swimsuit *gets shot’d*) The song recieve merits, just because it something completely different from the rest of the album. Man, I need to make an acoustic of this…
10) mezzo forte – Points for using music lingo in a title, at the same time appropriate for the song. Mezzo forte means moderately-loud, abbreviated in sheet music as mf. Nothing particularly special about this song other than that.
11) Kimi ga Kureta Ano hi – My favorite Minorin song up until I heard this album, but I still love it nevertheless. The violin just sweeps you, along with her vocals. I also particularly love the lyrics. Of course, crying Minorin in the PV!
12) truth gift – A lovely send off song to end the album. A bit slow, but aren’t farewells better that way? Calm and serene… I love it.
I’ve probably put this album on repeat 5+ times right after recieving the package today, so my day has been pretty blissfull. It’s also great to know that the album reached the Top 20 albums on ORICON at #12 on the first day (currently at #11). Minorin herself was very, very happy about the release. She was totally greatful and surprised when went on her computer today to find all of the comments on her blog and fan letters sent that day. Quite the joyous day for Minorin and all her fans around the world.
That’s not all that has happened on release day. Minorin’s website recieved a makeover to fit the new album’s image. It also announced the dates/times/locations of her 1st official tour in Feb. 2008. There will be performances in Osaka on the 9th, Nagoya on the 10th, and Tokyo on the 23rd (banner links to details). The Limited Edition Contact albums also had a flyer with exclusive pre-sale ticket info for the concerts (I assume that’s what the code was for). I really hope I can go to the one in Tokyo, since that lands on one of my breaks from school. I’ll pray for it. Of course, it’s a lottery…
