As you may know from about a month ago when I reviewed EXIT TRANCE PRESENTS BEST エクスタシー ~Second Season~ I am a big fan of the EXIT TRANCE series. There are many CDs in the series, some of which contain anime related tracks, and others are just J-Trance mixes. For the sake of this blog I decided I would only review the BEST エクスタシー (Best Ecstasy) and the アニメトランス (Anime Trance) series.



Anyway, as much as I hate to admit it, I think that gradually the Anime Trance series has gotten worse over time. 1-4 was excellent, there wasn't a track I disliked. 5 was amazing, but there was maybe 1 or 2 tracks I didn't like (not a problem though) then there was 6. 6 had some good tracks, but I think there were more I didn't care for than there were those that I really liked. Not to mention while I love Toradora (トラどら) and the remixes were great, I think that it was overkill to have more than one song from a small series. Anyway, I'll get on with the review.

Track List

01) Cagayake!GIRLS (K-ON! OP) / Helvetia(DJ Sa9+Hommarju) feat.CAMRY
02) キミシニタモウナカレ (Shangri-la OP) / MK feat.R.Cena
03) Wonder Wind (Hayate no Gotoku Second Season OP1) / Hommarju feat. YURiE
04) 経験値速上々↑↑ (Minami-ke ~Okaeri~ OP) / DJ Sa9 feat. MAKI
05) Spiral (Asura Cryin' OP) / MK feat. YURiE
06) SHUT UP AND EXPLODE (Bounen no Xamdou OP) / B.U.S feat.YUKI
07) RIDEBACK (Rideback OP) / Icon feat. Latte
08) silky heart (Toradora OP2) / MK feat. MAKI
09) Prototype (Mobile Suit Gundam 00 Second Season ED2) / Icon feat. PECO
10) What 'bout my star? (Macross Frontier IN) / B.U.S feat. MAKI + R.Cena
11) 天使のゆびきり (His & Her Circumstance OP) / Dizzi Mystica feat. YAH
12) プリズム (Dennou Coil OP) / Starving trancer feat. R.Cena
13) being (Shakugan no Shana OP2) / DJ Sa9 vs. Judas feat. PECO
14) masterpiece (To Aru Majutsu no Index OP2) / Hommarju feat. Latte
15) 笑顔の理由 (Asu no Yoichi OP) / CAMRY
16) HANAJI (Maria+Holic OP) / Hommarju feat. MAKI
17) ？でわっしょい (Hidamari Sketch × 365 OP) / Ryu* feat. MAKI + Ma15 + CAMRY
18) JAP(Sengoku Basara OP) / Acid=Stone Valley feat. YUKI
19) Don't say "lazy" (K-ON! ED) / Helvetia (DJ Sa9 + Hommarju) feat. Latte
20) ずっとみつめていて (Ryu* Remix) / DJ UTO vs. Starving Trancer feat. 森永真由美

I don't want to launch into attack right away, but with the exception of some nice suprises there, I think that they have tried to cram in as many OPs, EDs and INs from the newest series possible, and I think that K-ON! has gotten the Toradora treatment this time around. There are some suprises in there too, Prism (Dennou Coil OP) and HANAJI (Maria+Holic OP).

Cagayake!Girls does work well as a remix, but I think it drags on a little, they could have cut it down by one chorus. But then I think that with the popularity of K-ON! This and 'Dont Say Lazy' were the intended highlights of the album, so it is to be expected. I'll also cut in quickly with this comment: it is actually well mixed. Not that the others were poorly mixed, but most tracks have really good transitions with each other.

I think that the length of tracks on the album was slightly irritating and made some tracks that could have been really good just a little bit boring. I was let down by Wonder Wind (ハヤテのごとく　OP) because I expected it to be much bouncier, plus it suffered from length problems as well.

I feel I might be being too picky here, but many tracks were either too long (No I wasn't listening to the extended track version), simply not interesting or for some reason had crossed over in genre. SHUT UP AND EXPLODE for example sounded more like electro-house and HANAJI was like a speedcore/Gabber crossover. I'm not going to mince words here; it was horrible. I was really looking forward to a trance mix of it too.

But there are some nice things to say about the album too, prism (dennou coil OP) was a completely unexpected choice but wasn't bad at all, and being (Shakugan no Shana OP2) was a really perfect track, perfect length and sounded really good. You could have slipped it into one of the older albums and it would have fitted perfectly.

I thought Macross F music was impossible to sound bad in the EXIT TRANCE series, but What 'bout My Star? Was just...disappointing I think. Really, it is not nice to have to say, but I think that there were many tracks that I really didn't like. being was good, Prism was nice, Hidamari Sketch OP (？でわっしょい) was upbeat and nice, Dont Say Lazy was...pretty bad really. The final track ずっとみつめていて (Ryu* Remix) (I'm sorry, I don't know where this is from either). Was just Okay, I thought with DJ Uto himself involved, it may have been outstanding, but it was just listenable and not much more.

Overall, I'm disappointed. It really wasn't a very good album at all and I think the genre crossovers were a very bad idea. I sincerely hope this isn't the destiny of EXIT TRANCE. I'm not saying 'Don't buy this' but instead, take great caution before doing so.

Favorite track: being (Shakugan no Shana OP2)

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I don't want to write a review about it because I don't feel it really fits in here, but Perfume have released their new album: ⊿ (Triangle) and it is not bad at all, there are some great tracks on there!

In other EXIT TRANCE news, if you're quick to buy the ウマウマできるトランスを作ってみた COMPLETE BEST box set, you'll get a figure of the mascot character of the series! Sorry I couldn't find a bigger picture:

A few days ago, EXIT TRANCE PRESENTS CODE SPEED アニメトランス BEST エクスタシー Second Season was released by EXIT TUNES under the QUAKE HOLDINGS label. I've always loved EXIT TRANCE and I especially love the エクスタシー (Ecstasy) series they do, which are OPs, EDs and other music from Eroge/Bishoujo Games.



Tracklist

1. 深愛 (White Album)
2. 夢想歌 (Utawaremono)
3. YOU (Shuffle)
4. Hello (ToHeart2)
5. SHINING STARS BLESS☆ (Nanatsuiro Drops)
6. 前奏曲(プレリュード)-We are not alone- (Crescent Love)
7. マジカルちょーだいっ (Magical Canan)
8. 大好きだよ(Into Your Heart) (ToHeart - Remember my Memories)
9. プラスチックスマイル (Canvas2)
10. Fly (Comic Party Revolution)
11. トモシビ (ToHeart2)
12. amulet (Hani Hani: Operation Sanctuary)
13. 舞い落ちる雪のように (White Album)
14. AGAIN (Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru)
15. 素直になれない (Tsuyokiss: Cool x Sweet)
16. ぽぽたん畑でつかまえて (Popotan)
17. 跪くまで5秒だけ! (They are my noble masters)
18. LOVE POWER (Otome wa boku ni koi shiteru)
19. 片翼のイカロス (H2O - Footprints in the Sand)
20. きらめく涙は星に (Fate/Stay Night)

ToHeart and Otome wa boku ni koi shiteru sure got alot of attention this time around, but they were both great and both were very good in the last album, so I'm not complaining. I'm glad to see Nanatsuiro Drops get some attention as I'm currently watching it right now and absolutely love it. I can't say that I feel a bit ripped off in the sense that YOU, 片翼のイカロス and きらめく涙は星に were all on other EXIT TRANCE albums, and are virtually remixed the same too. But they're still welcome as far as I'm concerned, seeing as EXIT TRANCE アニメ 4 and 5 were some of my favorite CDs released under EXIT TUNES.

The whole thing was a joy listen to the whole way through, on the first BEST エクスタシー CD, things got a little dry and uninteresting for a phase around tracks 13-17 but picked up toward the end. Here however, there was none of that, and kept interest throughout.

The typical EXIT TRANCE familiar faces are there too; MAKI, MK, Icon, Ma15, DJ Sa9, Acid=Stone Valley, Starving Trancer, B.U.S etc. and of course Ryu* giving parts of the album a bouncy J-core feel. If you've ever listened to any EXIT TRANCE album, you're bound to notice at least one of these names.

One thing I've noticed with the EXIT TRANCE series is that albums with alot of diversity (Like アニメ 4) tend to be poorly mixed, but albums with not as much variety in sound are very well mixed, but I think that cannot be helped. However, I think that エクスタシー Second Season has done a really good job of keeping the album interesting and being well mixed too. However I am not a DJ so I can't really say much.

Overall, the album is more of a solid, interesting listen than the previous CD, but lacks the number of memorable tracks. Next, lookout for my review of EXIT TRANCE PRESENTS SPEED アニメトランス BEST THE MOVIE. The first in the series of EXIT TRANCE CDs dedicated to themes from Anime MOVIES. Then look out for EXIT TRANCE PRESENTS SPEED アニメトランス 7, the 7th installment of the anime series. Due on the 1st of July.

Favorite tracks (Excluding the repeated 3): SHINING STARS BLESS☆, マジカルちょーだいっ, 大好きだよ(Into Your Heart)

Buy the album here