Kitano Kii - Kokoro

This album makes my brain hurt! On the one hand, it is cheezy as hell. A lot of the songs have the musical prowess of the "Sailor Moon OST" tracks: there's a lot of badly done synth, a lot of oonts-oonts-oonts bass, a lot of lame electric guitar trying to be hardcore, and a lot of chimes. But because of the musical similarities to 90s anime music, I also find myself helplessly in love with some of the tracks. "Tokumei Kibou" and "Brave 4 You" are the best/worst in this respect, because they sound so nostalgic, even though I've never heard them before. But I could listen to them forever and just think about high school. (Not my favorite occupation, but these songs do a lot to ease the memories - damn them!) Although most songs can't endear themselves to me as well as these two, almost all the others have some element to them that makes 16 year-old Erin want to like them. Sadly, grown-up Erin can't quite do it. Nostalgic or not, these songs are crap. Crap that stirs up some happy memories, but crap nonetheless. They're like gobstoppers: I loved them when I was a kid, but now that I'm a grown-up I can recognize that, while they may have made me happy once, they taste like chalk and I will never voluntarily eat one ever again. Try at your own risk.