I’ll hold off any thorough opinions of the first episode until I watch episode 1 subbed, but I will say I’m split. As much potential as there is and as much as I want this to be good, I can’t help but feel underwhelmed by the first episode.
EDIT: Updated the screencaps using a much better raw.
Something I can comment on is that it will be a treat getting to hear the two ends of Mizuki Nana’s voice spectrum. I’ve written here a number of times how I think that many don’t realize she has a lot of range with her voice, but most of the time it’s showcased in crappy series or in less popular series. I wasn’t blown away by her performance in the first episode primarily because it’s her usual cutesy voice that you get in Tales of Symphonia or Memories Off 2nd. However, the very few lines she had using her deeper voice, akin to Darker Than Black and too a lesser extent Minami-ke, were great. I’ve always thought roles where she used that voice have been some of her better roles (Minami-ke was fairly impressive), so I’m looking forward to hearing more.
Also, it’s great to see her taking a leading role among a cast that includes household names like Chiba Saeko, Seki Tomokazu, Inoue Kikuko, Koyasu Takehito, Kishio Daisuke, and Kugimiya Rie. Mizuki Nana is already tops in terms of her singing career, but whether or not Rosario + Vampire becomes a breakout show for her voice acting talent s (similar to Nonaka Ai in Manabi Straight) remains to be seen. The pieces are in the right place though.
As for COSMIC LOVE, I’m not that impressed with it at all. I’ve probably been spoiled with GREAT ACTIVITY and all of Mizuki Nana’s singles dating back to 2005, but the song was lackluster for me. It’s a combination of me not really liking the musical melody and the use of her higher voice (slightly higher) that’s keeping me from liking it more, but we’ll see when I’m not listening to it in the episodes. I’ll wait until the actual single/EP comes out in Febraury before giving a more solid opinion. There is still Dancing in the velvet moon (the ED song) to look forward to, as well as the other 2 tracks on the disc.
COSMIC LOVE’s fine but there’s something missing, and that made the song look somewhat inferior to Mizuki Nana’s other songs
I guess I’ll also wait for the full version
@Koji Oe: Alive & Kicking is my favorite album of her’s, so I pick Innocent Starter.
Yeah, Nana Mizuki and Yukarin both have different styles of music which I like. I just got into Yamato Nadeshiko. Though, it is hard to find their stuff.
So, I have to ask, which is better? Innocent Starter or Eternal Blaze? I personally like Innocent Starter more.
@53rg10: That’s not great to hear.
But I always end up watching anyways unless it becomes horrible beyond belief. I’ll give it a few episodes (subbed) though before I decide where I go with it.
@Koji Oe: I’m a fan of most seiyuu in general. I started paying more attention to the two of them a couple years ago, though I was a fan of Yukarin before I even knew who she was because of Yamato Nadeshiko (I used to be obsessed with Horie Yui around 2000). Seiyuu-wise, I like them equally, but I pay more attention to Nana because Yukarin is much more established in what she can do. Musically, I find myself listening to Nana much much more.
@j1m0ne: I agree about the chorus, and that’s probably what lets me down. Not much punch there, and you’d think a chorus for any song would have that. I hear what you mean about Violetta, but I was never a big fan of that song, so maybe that’s why I’m not too big with Cosmic Love so far. I’ll wait until the EP is out though before I give a full opinion, it might grow on me more by then.
Actually I didn’t find the TV size of COSMIC LOVE too bad compared to the short snippet I heard of it on the promo. It somewhat reminds me of Violetta, especially the verses. Too bad the chorus is a little on the weak side; it kinda spoils the whole song really.
Oh, and episode 1 was as boring as I expected it to be. Sigh.
I’m guessing you’re a big Nana Mizuki fan? I’m personally a Yukari Tamura fan. Strange because I really like Fate but not her voice actor and I really don’t like Nanoha but I like voice actor.
~POSSIBLE SPOILERS?~
Well, I read a few chapters before the anime aired, and because of it, I was turned down a bit. It seems it’s just your average school life romance story where all the hot chicks gather around the average guy for no apparent reason. But the setting it’s still a bit appealing because of the mythical creatures stuff, not to mention Mizuki Nana’s leading role.
I’ll be giving it a try later tonight, along with that H20 anime.