Astro Boy [English Language Version] - Rockwell, Donald
Gigantor [English Language Version] - Raskin, Gene
Speed Racer [English Language Version] - Fernandez, Peter
Lum's Love Song [From Urusei Yatsura] - Ito, Akira
Sentimental over the Shoulder [From Megazone 23] - Miura, Tokuko
Beautiful Planet [From Windaria] - Arai, Akino
Active Heart [From Gunbuster] - Mori, Hiromi
Adesso E Fortuna [From Record of Lodoss War] - Niii, Akino
Full Moon Light [From Devil Hunter Yohko] - Iwazato, Yuuho
Sailing [From Silent M?bius] - Nakamura, Hideo
Happy Birthday to Me [From Cat Girl Nuku Nuku] - Matsuba, Miho
Just Beyond the Time [From New Dominion Tank Police] - Nomura, Yoshio
My Heart I Can't Say, Your Heart I Want to Know [From Oh My Goddess] - Hasegawa, Sora
Cutey Honey [From New Cutey Honey] - Nakida, Keiko
Voices [From Macross Plus] - Kaku, Wakako
Sailor Moon Theme [English Language Version] - Heyward, Andy
Before the obsession with Pokémon (or the Iron Chef, for that matter) and post-Ultraman fever (the first time around), North America was swept up in Japan's envelope-pushing superhero-fashioned cartoons, which eventua... more »lly became known as both Japanimation and anime. Now hip mainstream Japanimation has made an indelible mark upon the pop culture of post-boomers, Gen X'ers, and beyond. In tribute to the now-classic animations and their music, Rhino has assembled The Best of Anime, a collection of theme songs from shows dating back to the earliest fare ("Gigantor," "Astro Boy") and reaching decades ahead to include "Cutey Honey" and the theme from Sailor Moon. Irrepressibly linked to highly stylized animation, these songs (largely sung in Japanese) affect the mod Technicolor ambiance of their respective vehicles, making for hokey hilarity and high-spirited enjoyment. --Paige La Grone« less
Before the obsession with Pokémon (or the Iron Chef, for that matter) and post-Ultraman fever (the first time around), North America was swept up in Japan's envelope-pushing superhero-fashioned cartoons, which eventually became known as both Japanimation and anime. Now hip mainstream Japanimation has made an indelible mark upon the pop culture of post-boomers, Gen X'ers, and beyond. In tribute to the now-classic animations and their music, Rhino has assembled The Best of Anime, a collection of theme songs from shows dating back to the earliest fare ("Gigantor," "Astro Boy") and reaching decades ahead to include "Cutey Honey" and the theme from Sailor Moon. Irrepressibly linked to highly stylized animation, these songs (largely sung in Japanese) affect the mod Technicolor ambiance of their respective vehicles, making for hokey hilarity and high-spirited enjoyment. --Paige La Grone
nogana_naishi | Calgary, Alberta Canada | 04/29/2001
(4 out of 5 stars)
"I admit, at first glance of the four "English Language Version" tracks, I shrugged this CD off, but at a closer look, this collection of songs from various anime shows and movies is really quite good. So here's a review on a per-track basis:1-3, and 16. Who cares? Honestly, why even include these songs in the first place?4. Lum no Love Song: A very upbeat and funny (if you understand Japanese) song from Urusei Yatsura. Not much to say about it. Suki yo, suki yo, suki yo....5. Senakagoshi ni Sentimental: A nice song from Megazone 23. Very serious sounding compared to the previous track. Personally, I didn't find anything spectacular about it.6. Utsukushii Hoshi: A beautiful, slow song from Windaria. Probably one of the best tracks on the CD.7. Active Heart: Ah, now this is a classic-- The upbeat opening theme of Gunbuster, one of the best mecha anime ever made.8. Adesso E Fortuna: The beautiful, mysterious opening theme from Record of Lodoss War. Another one of the best songs on the CD. Whether you love or hate this series, it is generally agreed that this song is a classic.9. Full Moon Light: I may be a little biased, since this is one of the songs that got me hooked on the genre, but this Devil Hunter Yohko theme is just great!10. Sailing: This theme from Silent Möbius is very enjoyable to listen to over and over again. Mysterious lyrics, music and an excellent singer make this another excellent track.11. Watashi ni Happy Birthday: Ah! A Megumi Hayashibara song. She's even invaded this CD. ;) This opening theme from Nuku Nuku is very upbeat and J-Poppy, like most Megumi songs.12. Just Toki wo Koete: The theme from Dominion Tank Police has a much different feel from any of the other tracks on this CD, but that's not a bad thing. It's not my favorite track, but it's not bad, either.13. My Heart iidasenai Your Heart tashikametai: Another classic. Of course, everyone knows it's the opening theme to "Oh My Goddess!" Another one of the best tracks on the CD.14. Cutey Honey: Eh. It's okay, but it's nothing great.15. Voices: The opening theme from Macross Plus is the absolute best track on the CD, being indisputably beautiful.Overall, this CD is a must-have. There are many amazing tracks on it, and while there are some that should have never been on the CD in the first place, they can be skipped over."
The very best of anime songs ^_^ fun to listen to
10/15/1999
(4 out of 5 stars)
"This cd has a mixture of songs from all sorts of animes. There are English translated versions and original Japanese versions, also. Old anime, new anime, fast songs, slows songs...it's a great cd and you'll find at least a few songs you like, if not all of them!"
Good stuff not necessarily the best though
Jim Parshall | Seattle, WA USA | 05/31/2000
(4 out of 5 stars)
"This album is pretty good. It is NOT, however, the Best of Anime. It is a decent set of Anime songs and is worthy of owning though.The noteworthy songs on this album are as follows:"Beautiful Planet" from Windaria which is a haunting and beautiful song. This is one of the most tear jerking Anime movies ever and this song encompasses the emotion one feels while watching the movie. Note that you would need to see the Japanese version to really get the depth of the story as the Americanized version really really changed the plot and well, everything."Active Heart" from Gunbuster super, upbeat, inspirational is all I can say about this one. Gunbuster was one of the first Anime shows I ever saw and I still remember it. Wow! Besides, this comes from Kohei Tanaka who also wrote the music from Sakura Wars, one of my favorite soundtracks of all time. ^_^"My Heart I Can't Say, Your Heart I Want To Know" from Oh! My Goddess. Properly titled "My Heart Iidasenai, Your Heart Tashikametai" and sung by Inoue Kikuko, Touma Yumi, Hisakawa Aya, this is one of my favorites too. These three women have beautiful voices. Very beautiful voices which befits them as they are supposed to be goddesses. Great song. Great Show!"Cutey Honey" from Cutey Honey is good. It is fun, but after a few listenings it gets, well, boring. Still it is a high point. Just don't over do it :)"Sailor Moon Theme" from Sailor Moon is NOT the best song from that series either. Try "The Power of Love" or "Only a Memory Away" if you want that. This is still fitting to be here though as it is one of the better Anime themes. At least the English translation did not screw it up too bad. Have fun and enjoy this CD.Jim"
This is OK.
Usagi-Chan | 01/01/2000
(3 out of 5 stars)
"This is an OK CD except that the songs on here aren't the BEST from all of the series. The author usually selected the theme song or the best known song from the series, where isn't always the best. It's always an hit for an anime fan, but if you are a fan of just ONE of the series, get the serie's own CD instead."
Misleading title, but a must-buy for any anime fan
madnessmark | Maple Grove, MN | 05/30/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"True, I don't consider all these songs the best of anime, but it's worth buying. I'll start off by bashing the bad ones. The worst songs on the disc are the English language songs obivously. The opening songs to Astro Boy (sounds like a Disney song), Gignator (sounds like something straight out of an American 50's cartoon), Speed Racer and Sailor Moon (opening for the edited movies) are all fabricated songs of anime. Even more, the people at Rhino had the nerve to put Speed Racer on the cover. Thank goodness it's only an animation cel that you can take out, but your stuck with the picture of the cast from Speed Racer on the back.However, the rest of the disc is purely great anime songs all in Japanese. Track 5: Sentimental Over The Shoulder is one of the best songs on the disc featuring uplifting guitars! Some more memorable titles in here is the calm and cool opening to Record of Lodoss War, "Adesso E Fortuna". The theme to Devil Hunter Yohko, "Full Moon Light", is another calm and cool song with a slightly higher tempo. "Sailing" from Silent Mobius was a rather nostalgic song that has 80's style guitar and a solid beat. "Happy Birthday To Me" from Cat Girl Nuku Nuku starts out slow and then goes into 80's overdrive. But it was an ok song. "Just Beyong Time" from New Dominion Tank Police featured some nice heavy metal guitar and is a pretty good rock song. The rest are pretty decent with an exception of "Voices" from Macross Plus. This is the best song on the disc! If there is one reason to buy this disc, it would be for that song. On a side note, the price is a steal.... So overall, great disc, worth every buck, buy it now!"