HIMEKA – Hatenaki Michi November 27, 2009

Track Listing

1. Hatenaki Michi
2. Sora wo Oshiete Kureru
3. Hatenaki Michi ~Instrumental~
4. Sora wo Oshiete Kureru ~Instrumental~
5. Hatenaki Michi ~Anime Edit~ (Anime Edition Bonus Track)

1. Hatenaki Michi

Unlike HIMEKA’s debut, Hatenaki Michi is actually a ballad instead of an upbeat track.  The first thing I instantly draw myself into is HIMEKA’s vocals.  There continuing to get better and she sounds great.  After a while, the songs get more broader and becomes less of a ballad and more into to a pop/rock track and HIMEKA’s vocals are way better.  It’s definitely not a formulaic anime track and I’m happy about that.  Definitely amazing

2. Sora wa Oshiete Kureru

The B-side is a bit more like “Asu e no Kizuna” in the way that’s it does follow the anime formula, but I found myself drawn to her vocals here because HIMEKA really hits some high notes and she’s not terrible in doing them either.  It’s defintely her most aggrssive song to date and I really liked the power of her voice here.  Defintely another winner.

 

 

While HIMEKA has a tendency to get all emo and really depressed, I really don’t see why she doubts herself so much because this single is definitely another strong single from the Canadian.  Even though she has no ballad this time, both songs are great songs that show off her vocals.  It’s definitely better than “Asu e no Kizuna” IMO.

HIMEKA – Asu e no Kizuna May 26, 2009

Track Listing

1. Asu e no Kizuna
2. Sayonara Solitaire
3. Asu e no Kizuna ~Instrumental~

1. Asu e no Kizuna

HIMEKA starts off her debut single with well, a typical anime opening-like song.  Asu e no Kizuna has the usual formula going on, but the nice thing is that the song features so great strings and piano mixed in with song rock twinges.  Now I’ve heard HIMEKA’s previous performances and thought she was outstanding, here it seems like she was holding back a bit when things got loud.  Oddly she was hitting the high notes a bit too thin, but otherwise this is better than a lot of debuts I’ve heard so I like this song.

2. Sayonara Solitaire

The B-side doesn’t come as a surprise being a cover….Though the cover is from Chiba Saeko who I know well from singing the theme song for “Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro-chan”  So when I hear the linkage to one another, I kind of WTF since Chiba’s vocals in that song were way too cute.  Luckily, HIMEKA does a great job here showcasing more of her vocals and putting it in a ballad was even better.  She still has debut glitches, but that’s nothing to frown upon.  I thought this was better than “Asu e no Kizuna” IMO.

 

 

SONY did themselves very well by giving HIMEKA the contract because she’s a really good singer and her debut showed it well enough.  Asu e no Kizuna is pretty good for an opening and even though it’s her first song, doesn’t mean it’s not terrible, but maybe one day in the future she could come back to it and give a powerful performance.  Sayonara Solitaire though was amazing and as simple as this ballad is, it really came through in the end and was better than Asu e no Kizuna.  I’m hoping for a great 2nd single