BERTEMU

BERTEMU

— by Eugene Moon

1. Give a Reason 4:27

2. Touch Yourself 5:09

3. Hanarete Itemo(Though We're Drifting Apart) 4:16

4. Zankoku na Tenshi no Teeze (Cruel Angel's Thesis) 4:17

5. MIDNIGHT BLUE 5:32

6. Matsuri Uta (Festival Song) 4:24

7. Shakunetsu no Koi (Scorching Love) 3:59

8. -Life- 4:06

9. FLY ME TO THE MOON [AYANAMI Version] 4:33

10. Shining Girl 4:14

11. Nostalgic Lover 4:28

12. TOO LATE [NEW Version] 4:34

13. Going History 4:34

14. Cherish Christmas 5:31

Hayashibara Megumi has been quite prolific in her career as a seiyuu. Providing the voices for anime characters like Ranma-chan, Christina McKenzie (GUNDAM 0080), Nuku Nuku, Ayanami Rei, and Lina Inverse, she has developed quite a following. But her popularity is not limited to the field of voice acting. Megumi has put out several CDs as well in which she sings a variety of songs, both original songs and several from popular anime. BERTEMU is the most recent of these.
BERTEMU is a pretty good listen. Unlike the disc of image music from the game SAKURA TAISEN, the majority of the tracks on BERTEMU are enjoyable the first time. With the SAKURA TAISEN disc, there were a couple of tracks that required multiple listens before I grew to appreciate them.
The first two tracks on BERTEMU come from the popular anime SLAYERS. "Give a reason," the first track, was used as an opening for SLAYERS NEXT. The second track, "Touch Yourself," found use as the opening song on SLAYERS ROYAL, a game for the Sega Saturn. The fourth and ninth tracks are Megumi's renditions of the opening and closing themes from EVANGELION, Gainax's popular TV series.
The rest of the CD contains songs of various styles: from the ethereal "Matsuri uta" to the upbeat "Going History." Though BERTEMU has a wide range of material, most of the tracks have a J-pop feel. But for those not averse to that style of music, this disc contains a good mix. BERTEMU managed to remain this reviewer's choice of listening music for several weeks on end.
A couple of tracks on this disc deserve special mention for their resemblance to material on other CDs. "Shakunetsu no koi," the seventh track, sounds like it could be a song sung by Gloria Estefan. The eighth track, "-Life-," evokes memories of "Yume no Balloon" from the RANMA 1/2 HOT SONG CONTEST OVA disc with its lighthearted feel.
BERTEMU seems to be one of those rare CDs that, instead of containing one or two tracks you cannot live without, contains only one or two tracks you do not particularly care for. BERTEMU won't appeal to everyone, but every anime fan should at least give this disc a listen. Who knows? Maybe you'll get hooked, too.