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MUSIC CDS

MARMALADE BOY VOLUME 4
IKUTSU MONO DEAI WO KASANE NAGARA
~ ROMANTIC ALBUM ~

Apollon APCM-5056
¥ 3,000
November 21, 1994

—by Roderick "Agitator" Lee

[Part I. Mukashi - Chuugaku no Tokimeki (Past - Junior High Excitement)]
1.    Umarete Hajimete no Love Letter (Miki kara Ginta he)  2:35
   Love Letter Born for the First Time (From Miki to Ginta)
2.    Egao ni Aitai [TV size/Hamada Rie]  1:32
   I Want To See His Smiling Face
3.    3 kagetsu no Kagayaki (Arimi no Omoide)  1:54
   Three Months of Radiance (Arimi's Memory)
4.    Taiyou wo Sagashite [instrumental]  4:11
   Searching for the Sun
5.    Toshokan nite (Meiko, Deai no Hi)  2:31
   At The Library (Meiko, Day's Rendezvous)
6.    Saigo no Yakusoku [instrumental]  5:03
   Final Promise

[Part II. Ima - Renai Shinkoukei (Present - The Progressing Shape of Love)]
7.    Egao ni Aitai (Chu-Chu-La Scat Version)  4:19
8.    Yuu to Date no Hi ni.. [Atashi, Chou Shiawase!]  3:50
   On the Day of the Date with Yuu (I, Ultra Happy!)
9.    Kyou no Owarini [instrumental]  3:58
   Today's End
10.    Ginta, Otoko toshite..[Suzuki-san he no Kimochi ga Konnani Ookikunatte..]   3:23
   Ginta, as a Man [Feelings for Suzuki-san Becoming Stronger]
11.    Kanashii Tokiha Itsumo [instrumental]  4:15
   Always Sad Times
12.    Miwa-kun Ganbaru [Akizuki Meiko ni Kakannaru Attack!]  2:53
   Go Miwa-kun [Bold Attack on Akizuki Meiko!]
13.    Ryoko no Omoi [Jibun ni Shoujikini Ikiyouto..]  4:01
   Ryoko's Thought [To Live Honestly With Myself]
14.    Suteki na Serenade [TV size/Fujiwara Miho]  1:36
   Splendid Serenade

[Part III. Korekara - Sorezore no Jounetsu wo Muneni (Future - Each Passion in my Heart)]
15.    Moment [Piano hensoukyokuban] Piano Reprise Version  5:15
16.    Kei no Monologue, Sunaoni Narenai Bakkarini..  2:50
   Kei's Monologue, Because I Cannot be Gentle
17.    ...for You [Kei kara Miki he no Piano Solo]  5:08
   Piano Solo From Kei to Miki
18.    Anju, Ima mo Kawaranu Omoi  3:11
   Anju, Feelings Change Again Today
19.    Rain [instrumental]  4:26
20.    Suzu no Hitorigoto, Koi no Sekai tte Yokuwakaranai!  3:56
   Suzu's Soliloquy, I Don't Understand the World of Love!
21.    Ikutsumono Deai wo Kasanenagara, Miki Ending Narraration  3:07
   For The Many Encounters One After Another
22.    Karebairo no Crescendo [TV size/Mizushima Yasuhiro]  1:31
   Crescendo of Fall Color

Cast
Koshikawa MikiKouda Mariko
Matsuura You*Okiayu Ryutarou
Suou GintaKanemaru Junichi
Akizuki MeikoYamazaki Wakana
Suzuki ArimiHisakawa Aya
Miwa SatoshiOhta Shinichirou
Tsuchiya KeiIshida Akira
Sakuma SuzuTange Sakura
Kitaharu AnjuInoue Kikuko
Momoi RyokoUrawa Megumi
Namura Sin-ichiFuruya Tohru


*English transliteration fan convention has been to romanize this as "Yuu" to avoid confusion with the personal pronoun, but in Japan, all Marmalade Boy merchandise romanizes as "You"


Funny thing about vocal collection CDs—they do not have any instrumental tracks on them. For fans of the popular shoujo romance TV series, MARMALADE BOY, this means a voyage into the possibly unfamiliar waters of the image CD collections. Not counting the MARMALADE BOY BEST ALBUM, which was released after the end of the series, there are eight original MARMALADE BOY CDs, only three of which are vocal collections (and this reviewer has covered MARMALADE FACE in an earlier issue), thereby leaving five image CDs.
  IKUTSU MONO DEAI WO KASANE NAGARAROMANTIC ALBUM is the fourth MARMALADE BOY disc, released between the first and second vocal collections (MARMALADE VOICE and MARMALADE FACE). Therefore, it serves as an effective transition disc between the first and second "seasons" of the show. As image albums go, this is a very good mix; that is, it is not overly dominated by drama tracks. In fact, half of the disc's twenty-two tracks are musical pieces, of which seven are instrumentals. Meanwhile, the drama tracks consist of both new and TV scenarios. For example, the third track, "3 kagetsu no Kagayaki (Arimi no Omoide)" [Three Months of Radiance (Arimi's Memory)], is taken straight from the flashback sequence when Arimi is telling Miki of her three months with Yuu.
  The disc is laid out in three parts, representing past, present, and future (and they are even titled as such). Readers should beware, as early series spoilers follow.
  Part I, Mukashi (Past) consists of six image tracks depicting events that precede the series. The opening track is "Umarete Hajimete no Love Letter (Miki kara Ginta he)" [Love Letter Born for the First Time (from Miki to Ginta)], which, as the name implies, relates the events leading up to the love letter that Miki snuck into Ginta's bag two years ago. As the track opens, a soft instrumental of the series OP, "Egao ni Aitai" [I Want To See His Smiling Face], plays in the background. Thus, appropriately, the second track is a TV size version of "Egao ni Aitai." (Apparently, there is some unwritten rule that all MARMALADE BOY discs include the series OP.) Similarly thoughtful choreography follows. The aforementioned third track of Arimi's flashback leads into an instrumental version of her theme song, "Taiyou wo Sagashite" [Searching for the Sun] (of which vocal version by Hisakawa Aya is available on MARMALADE VOICE). Then, it is Meiko's turn as "Toshokan nite (Meiko, Deai no Hi)" [At The Library (Meiko, Day of Rendezvous)] recalls her clandestine liaisons with Namura-sensei. And like Arimi's drama track leading into her song, so does Meiko's image track lead into an instrumental of "Saigo no Yakusoku" (Final Promise).
  Part II, Ima (Present) is an eight track section dealing with the relationships as they have now progressed about a third of the way into the series. Thus, Namura has left town, opening the door for Miwa Satoshi to approach Meiko while Miki and Yuu have gotten together, forcing Ginta to come to terms with his rising feelings for Arimi. The drama tracks star Miki, Ginta, Satoshi, and Momoi Ryoko. As before, the instrumentals tie in closely with the preceding track. Miki's "Yuu to Date no Hi ni... (Atashi, Chou Shiawase!)" [On the Day of the Date with Yuu (I, Ultra Happy!)] precedes the aptly titled instrumental of "Kyou no Owarini" [Today's End], of which a vocal version by Kouda Mariko appears on a later vocal disc (MARMALADE SUMMER). By the same token, Ginta's drama track in which he acts out his new attraction to Arimi serves as a prelude to the instrumental of the Kanemaru Junichi seiyuu track, "Kanashii Tokiha Itsumo" [Always Sad Times]. This section closes out with a TV size vocal of "Suteki na Serenade" [Splendid Serenade]. What better way to close out the present than with the first "season" ED?
  Of course, it is Part III, Korekara (Future) that is the highlight of this disc and the reason why most people would buy it. The star of this section is Tsuchiya Kei, who plays an instrumental role in three of the eight tracks. Astute fans will therefore know that the star track of this section and of the entire disc is "...for You," the wonderful piano instrumental that Kei dedicates to Miki as a Christmas present. Even without the accompanying video imagery of Kei and Miki, this is a beautiful piece: a multiple movement composition, with each repetition varying in intensity, mood, and tempo. To serve as an appetizer, Part III opens with a piano version of "Moment," also played by Kei, which is an admirable piano rendition of the popular insert song. And sandwiched in between is the drama track, "Kei no Monologue, Sunaoni Narenai Bakkarini" (Kei's Monologue, Because I Cannot be Gentle). Rounding out the disc are drama tracks by Anju and Suzu, a "summary" drama by Miki, which is also eponymous with the disc itself, and a TV size of "Karebairo no Crescendo" (Crescendo of Fall Color), the second ED, which fittingly closes out the disc.
  The disc also comes with a healthy sized fourteen page songbook (sixteen counting the front and back cover images), all in color. The arrangement is well planned, and the drama tracks are the right mix of recall and new material to capture the mood. Seiyuu fans will appreciate the diversity of characters (Since Ryoko has her own track, the only noticeable omissions are Tsutomu and the four parents.). Those fans who are buying this just to get "...for You" may find themselves pleasantly surprised.

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