Fantastic Children: A Gift from Greecia

A Gift of Intruments

I don't know what it is about anime soundtracks, but they're beginning to appeal to me a great deal more now that they're becoming apart of special edition sets. Not only that, but it's the only other type of music I'm willing to invest money in besides rap. Which is what makes my rating for this soundtrack so surprising, even to me, because all of the tracks found here are instrumentals played out with an odd assortment of instruments (the kind not found in rap, in other words). Yet I couldn't deny the beauty of some of the songs on this album, and therefore felt that it deserved some recognition.

As I said, a majority of the songs on this CD are instrumentals, using most of the time a piano, violin, or cello as the focal point. To add, there are quite a few tracks on this album, twenty-seven in total, and none of them are script tracks, as Geneon (this CD is from Bandai) is known for putting on their anime soundtracks. Very few of the songs are longer than two minutes; in fact, only six of them go beyond that point. But even some of the shorter songs have something worth listening to, especially tracks twenty-six and twenty-seven, the opening and ending themes, respectively, which are the only two tracks with vocals. Other good tracks are "01: Voyage" which is an inspirational orchestral track and a great intro to a good CD, especially when the cello makes its appearance; "03: Children of Befort", the longest track on the CD at nearly eight minutes, is a haunting piece, which has an accompanying piano version later on (track 19), which is also pretty good; "12: Soran and Sess", an upbeat mechanical-sounding song that, for some reason, caught my ear instantly; and the cello version of an earlier track entitled "06: Helga" (the piano version is track 18). Beyond that, though, there are actually few skip-tracks on this CD. If I had to name a couple, though, it would be the second and seventeenth, as very little in these two tracks have any appeal, but that is more of a personal opinion.

In the end, when I finally took the headphones off, I was satisfied with the fact that I bought the special edition of Fantastic Children, because the CD was actually worth the extra money spent. It may not be a masterpiece, but it has a lot of worth when you want something light and easy to listen to, or if you truly enjoy the Fantastic Children anime (which I have yet to watch as of the time of this review). I don't know if I could recommend it as a stand-alone purchase, though, as the vast number of shorter tracks do make it feel a bit cheap at times, which is the reason why I didn't give it five stars. This is a good companion to what is a promising anime. April 17, 2006

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