NHK ni Youkoso OST Review

It seems that Victor, the same company that produced Haruhi CDs, is also putting out the NHK ni Youkoso music and this time, there is an official soundtrack. The band Pearl Kyoudai (Pearl Brothers) composed the music for the series and it was interesting to hear the BGM with lyrics. I think what the band did was record the songs normally and then created off vocal versions for use in the show. There were also some nice original songs on the album including “Dark Side ni Tsuitekite”, a song which could have made a better ending song than “Akachan Ningen” IMO. Numbers after the jump.

Dark Side ni Youkoso! [VICL-62040]

1. Ashita wa Tabun Overture (0:33) – not rated
2. Ikasuze! Positive Thinking (3:16) – 3.5/5
3. Sekai wa Boku wo Naguri ni Kuru (3:13) – 3.5/5
4. Kimi ni Kuzure e ho e (3:11) – 4/5
5. Kyou wa Yuuhi Yarou (1:47) – 3.5/5
6. Natsu no Nichi ni Youkoso! (3:58) – 4/5
7. Jumbo Camera ni Donto Koi! (0:29) – not rated
8. Ashita wa Tabun Daijoubu (2:46) – 4.5/5
9. Shuraba ni Youkoso! (4:48) – 5/5
10. Mushiburo to Nou to Tanin (2:04) – 3/5
11. Dark Side ni Tsuitekite (4:08) – 4.5/5
12. Youkoso! Hitori Bocchi (5:24) – 5/5
13. Inbou wa Yoake ni Warau (3:12) – 3/5
14. Yoru wa Fuwari Kaze wa Hirari (3:14) – 4.5/5
15. Daijoubu Call (1:01) – not rated

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Favorites: #9, #11, #12, #14

Misaki’s song “Dark Side ni Tsuitekite” sounds a little like a love song from the early 1960’s (at least it does to me), while “Shuraba ni Youkoso!” brings to mind a lounge band singing blues in some bar. “Ashita wa Tabun Daijoubu” is in three forms: a 30-second preview version “overture”, the full-length song with harmonica and peppy piano playing, and a ringtone [in-line text ad] version which pleasantly surprised me. Finally, “Yoru wa Fuwari” fits with those long and lazy summer days.

However, not everything on this album was great. “Inbou wa Yoake” had good piano playing but didn’t seem that cohesive with the instruments and “inbou character” laughter. “Sekai wa Boku” had rocking guitars but just felt average.

One more thing: after looking at the lyrics for “Youkoso! Hitori Bocchi” (heard in episode 1), the chorus goes “nuck nuck nuck” then “luck luck luck” in the background. It was the off vocal that was fooling me into thinking it was only “luck luck luck”.

Related posts based on tags:

• NHK ni Youkoso 11-14: The Off Meeting (3)
• NHK ni Youkoso 09-10: Satou has Misaki on his mind (0)
• NHK ni Youkoso 07-08: Satou Fails to Deceive His Mother (1)
• NHK ni Youkoso 06: Satou Returns to Class (1)
• NHK ni Youkoso 05: Satou Comes Clean (0)