Hello and welcome to the fifth edition of FAnime Friday! My but the week just seems to fly by doesn’t it? Why it only seems like yesterday that I was discussing Angelic Layer, and yet here we are about to move on to a new topic of interest! Simply amazing.

And now for this week’s topic: Original Soundtracks.

Original Soundtracks, most commonly referred to as OSTs and sometimes called “Official” Soundtrack, is the musical soundtrack that is sold for any movie, play, or television series. In this case, and in most cases, OST refers to the soundtrack sold for an anime series. Every series releases at least one OST that will contain the background music as well the opening and closing theme songs. The theme songs can be either the full length versions or the shortened versions used on television, sometimes even both!

On top of that, many series will also offer up additional albums that will contain image songs. These are the individual “theme” songs for different characters. Sometimes you will hear these songs in the series when a specific character makes a grand entrance, but more often than not you will not hear them in the show. These songs are performed by the character’s seiyuu (Japanese voice actor) and are meant to give the listener a deeper look into the workings of a character that one would not get from the series or manga alone. In essence these are songs about the character sung by the character. They can be tense and somber or comedic and any other variation imaginable.

Now personally I cannot abide a series that does not have a decent soundtrack. For me any suspenseful, tension ridden, or happy scene is completely nullified and reduced to cinders if the music playing in the background is of poor quality or just plain cheesy. Truly, nothing kills the mood faster than a particularly awful or poorly timed auditory attack.

Even if you are not an anime fan you can still listen to and appreciate the quality of the soundtracks of the series. This brings me to the point of this issue. Below is a list of anime shows that I have found to have the best soundtracks. Even if you’ve never seen the anime, don’t plan on ever seeing it, or perhaps maybe even didn’t like it, I would recommend browsing these titles regardless and adding the series’ albums to your collection. You won’t regret it.

• Naruto
• Naruto Shippuuden
• Bleach
• Samurai 7
• Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040
• Hagane no Renkinjutsushi (Fullmetal Alchemist)
• Kidou Senshi Gundam SEED (Gundam Seed)
• Shin Kidou Senki Gundam W (Gundam Wing)
• Tenkuu no Escalfowne (Vision of Escaflowne)
• Gravitation
• Samurai Deeper Kyo
• s-CRY-ed
• Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
• Ghost in the Shell: SAC 2nd GIG

For a limited time I’ve added a few of my favorite songs from a few of the recommended albums above. Feel free to download and sample these tunes though it should go without saying that you are not allowed to direct link to any of these. Remember, by law you are supposed to delete these from your hard drive after 24 hours. If you enjoyed the music please support the artists and purchase the albums!

• Reckless Fire- s-CRY-ed opening theme (full)
• Destiny Awaits – Bleach
• Number One – Bleach
• Heroes Come Back – Naruto Shippuuden opening theme (full)
• Epistle – Escaflowne
• Chain – Escaflowne
• Meteor – Gundam Seed
• Reason – Gundam Seed opening theme

Bear in mind that these will only be up for a short period of time so get them while they’re hot! I would upload more, maybe even all of the Naruto OST and the Bleach ones I have but alas, this dial-up user doesn’t have the patience to sit here for that long to upload them! Perhaps you can look forward to more musical treats and goodies in future editions? Got some ideas? Feel free to suggest them!

Now, a question or two for my readers. When watching an anime series is the musical soundtrack important to you? What are some of the series that you think have the best soundtracks?

Past issues of FAnime Friday:

• Issue #4, June 29, 2007: It’s Angelic Layer!!
• Issue #3, June 15, 2007: Toushirou Hitsugaya
• Issue #2, June 8, 2007: Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo
• Issue #1, June 1, 2007: Introducing FAnime Fridays!

Read the rest of the FAnime Friday issues on the FAnime Friday page! ^_^