Milky Way – Tan! Tan! Taan!

Tan! Tan! Taan! was Milky Way’s 2nd single. It was released October 29th, 2008. It sold 16, 667 copies in it’s first week and reached #8 on the charts. Tan! Tan! Taan! was used as the seventh opening theme for the anime “Kirarin☆Revolution”, while Gamusharara was used as the eleventh ending theme.

Tracklist

1. Tan! Tan! Taan!
2. Gamusharara
3. Tan! Tan! Taan! (Instrumental)

Compared with their debut single, Tan! Tan! Taan! is a lot safer in the genre area than “Anataboshi”. Honestly, the song didn’t attract my attention until after a lot of listens, I felt it was a little too generic and poppy for me, but it’s actually a very good song with a strong instrumental. It opens with the same sparkly noise as the last single did and than with some very light-hearted, anime sounding instrumentals, which I quite enjoyed. The vocals are still pretty good, and there’s more Egg action this time, though I must say, Sayaka’s vocal performance is EVEN WORSE than Kusumi’s. That’s very hard to do. You’ll eventually fall in love with the simpleness of this song, along with it’s fresh instrumental and fitting vocals.

Opening with some thumping sounds, Gamusharara is comparable with “Sansan GOGO” except this song is a lot more jazzier and overall stranger. I can’t put a specific genre to it, though it has a pretty snazzy instrumental and the girl’s repeating of “Sharara” is pretty fun to hear. Overall vocals are easier on the ears than the first track(I really like Yuu’s vocals) though the song is missing something to make it truly satisfying.

“Tan! Tan! Taan!” proved to be a really sweet and fresh pop track coming out from H!P these days. I don’t quite understand the huge drop in sales as I found this single overall better than the first but it must have been because of the recent H!P Elder Club graduation announcement, Kusumi’s drop in popularity and the dwindling interest in the Kirarin anime. Don’t let the numbers fool you though, you’re very likely to enjoy this single.

♦Single Rating♦

Milky Way – Anataboshi

Anataboshi was Milky Way’s 1st single. It was released April 30th, 2008. It sold 27,285 copies in it’s first week,  49, 492 overall and reached #3 on the charts. “Anataboshi” was used as the sixth opening theme for the anime “Kirarin☆Revolution”, while “Sansan GOGO” was used as the tenth ending theme.

Tracklist

1. Anataboshi
2. Sansan GOGO
3. Anataboshi (Instrumental)

Many people will either really like Anataboshi or really hate it. It pretty much depends on your opinion towards the instrumental. The very first seconds you can hear the marching sounding, bag pipe heavy upbeat sparkly sound. At first, I found it very deafening and annoying, but I grew to love it simply because it’s so unique and sounds great with the girls vocals. Throughout the verse and afterward, we get the addition of tambourines to the mix, making it even more unique/annoying, your choice. As for the vocals, it’s also a split decision. You have Kusumi Koharu, which just by reading her name you know she has some horrid vocals. The two other girls(Kikkawa Yuu and Kitahara Sayaka) have very solid voices that even out Kusumi’s, even though her’s aren’t as annoying as they usually are. You’ll find yourself very drawn to the verses and the chorus is just a ton of fun as the music picks up and the girls sing nonstop. A very strong debut a-side.

Usually with these H!P anime related singles, they tend to have above average b-sides, luckily, Sansan GOGO fits into this category. It’s a more toned down song with some pop rock sounds and nice rifts during the verses. It was also nice to hear the girl’s singing voice in a more slower pace, you get to really listen to their singing skill. The chorus is really repetitive and quite good. It’s not as good as the a-side but it’s a reasonable a-side.

This was a surprising single for me. Kusumi, H!P’s most popular soloist at the time, two Eggs and an eccentric a-side. Thos sales numbers don’t lie and I’m very impressed by it. It doesn’t totally sound like anime music cause of it’s unique sound, just be sure to give the a-side a chance before tossing it aside.

♣Single Rating♣