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Thursday, June 15, 2017

Minori Chihara Kyoukai No Kanta (Beyond the Boundary) Review


Minori Chihara has made a name for herself in Japan as a famous voice actress and singer.  She has been featured in countless anime shows and has become a house hold name in Japan.  Her music career has been very successful as well.  Starting her music career in 2005, she has reached arena level fame in Japan, playing in from of thousands of people regularly.  Her music came on my radar back in 2013 with her song Kyoukai No Kanta, Beyond the Boundary in English, for the anime under the same name.  

Musically, the song is a good combination of soft rock, piano, and soft orchestra. This is a very common music formula in Jpop, and is one I wish American pop  would use more often.  The piano and guitar take turns being the lead instrument and that is very well executed.  Sometimes, when you have more then one lead instrument that is not in a songs solo section, you can have a song that sounds sloppy and all over the place.  This song does is right and as a result gives good variety, musically.  Minori has a pretty high, unique voice.  One thing I have heard people critique her for, is that some times she tries too hard to go in a vocal direction her voice can't go in.  However, in this song she sounds excellent.  Her voice sounds smooth, she hits the right notes, and delivers a very great performance.   

Lyrically, the song is a love song about longing to be with the right person and searching for that someone.  Like I said in the beginning, this song was written for the anime with with same name as the song.  These lyrics capture the mood of that anime perfectly.  The lyrics establish that this anime is about someone who is longing for that perfect relationship and trying very hard to find it.  

Musically, the song is great and well composed.  The piano and guitar taking turns with lead is well executed.  Minori's voice sounds amazing in this song and she carries it perfectly.  The lyrics serve their purpose of establishing the anime they are based on perfectly.  I give Kyoukai No Kanta a 4 out of 5.  

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