Shugo Chara Character Song Album Best!

I've been anticipating this release for awhile, as it fulfills my desire for Amu character songs and (more importantly) a full version of Heartful Song. And it has "Best!" in the title, so surely it's a great release. I'm not really a musical genius or reviewer, but that doesn't stop me from having opinions. In fact, here are some opinions now:

Nijiro Chara Change! - Amu's character song with guest vocals by Ran, Miki, and Su. It's really, really upbeat. The energy and cute factor have all the high energy of the Buono! songs, which is a good thing. There's nothing more sugary sweet than hearing cute vocals saying "Yay yay happy day!" Unfortunately, Kanae (Amu's voice) sounds like she's having a little bit of trouble on the high notes. I don't really think it's her inability to sing as much as it is the difficulty of maintaining the character voice while she does. There's also the problem of the song being a little bit forgettable. It doesn't have a catchy enough melody line for me to be able to distinguish it from the myriad of other peppy Japanese songs. Still, it's a fitting Amu song in terms of energy and lyrics.

Meikyuu Butterfly - Utau's first insert song. This brings back memories. This song has already had its own release, but it couldn't hurt to put it out again, I guess. Admittedly, this is my least favorite of Utau's songs. I think the melody line is a bit weak, but the lyrics are pretty creepy, so at least that makes up for it.

Happy Xmas - Amu's very pleasant insert song from the Christmas episode. When I first heard the song, I was incredibly happy. I had been wanting an Amu song for awhile, and it was so pleasant and innocent. The full version doesn't disappoint. It's a nice quiet song that I'll probably find myself humming at all times of the year. Backup vocals from Miki, Ran, and Su complete the optimistically innocent song.

Ii Koto Ari Sou - A character song for the three charas. Worth it for the bouncy line and hearing the three charas sing about...well, not much. Cute, but forgettable. It's nice that they got their own song, though. The dialogue in the middle where they play around and do nothing is actually pretty cute.

Kimi no Birthday - Another Amu song that's sadly forgettable. Nothing against the upbeat melody or anything, but there's not much to make it stand out. This would probably make a really nice insert song in some birthday episode, possibly involving giving an adorable gift to Tadase or something.

Blue Moon - Utau's song. Already released. I'm a bit disappointed that this never showed up in the anime. It was released during her "dark" phase, and it was surprisingly sweet and honest compared to her other two. I didn't actually like her until she turned "light," but something like this might have changed my mind earlier.

Black Diamond - My prefered of her "dark" songs. I'm disappointed it didn't get more airtime in the series, but you can't win them all, na? This version is the main release. I prefer the indie version, but that doesn't keep it from being a good song.

Saikyou Love Power - And then inexplicably we got back to a ridiculously bouncy Amu (and friends) song. It's a little bit jarring after listening to Black Diamond (who came up with the order for this thing?), but that's hardly a complaint against the song itself. This song is a little more catchy than Amu's previous ones, and it's even a little bit inspiring (good insert song material). There are a couple high notes that sounded a little difficult, but I still prefer this over Nijiro Chara Change!

Heartful Song - I don't know how long I've been waiting for this to come out, but I'm pretty sure it's been a while. And I am not disappointed. This is hands down my favorite Utau song and the song that basically made me actually start liking her. Nana's powerful voice, the sweet melody, the openly honest lyrics. Everything about this song is beautiful.

Yume no Tsubomi - Another Utau song, and another one that I've been waiting for for awhile. This one is sung by "young" Utau, and it's really really really cute. It's not exactly memorable, but it's pretty sweet (especially in the flashback).

In summary, there's really nothing here by Utau that we haven't heard before, but Heartful Song basically steals the show. Amu's songs are cute, but a little forgettable (save for Happy Xmas). Shugo Chara fans will probably be delighted by this release. Now if only we could get character songs for the rest of the cast (I'm gunning for a Nadeshiko-Nagihiko duet), I'd be such a happy bento. After all, who doesn't want to hear Ikuto sing about how terrible his life is?

--Ou-bento