“From My Library” articles showcase any music related purchases I’ve made over the years and the stories behind them. With this first article, I travel back to 2005 while visiting some cousins in California…
I guess most people know of Tamaki Nami from Gundam Seed. I’d mention something about her Greeting album but that’s an article for another time. I was linked to her Realize and Believe PVs from friends who watched the series and totally dug them. It even got me watching the series, though, I didn’t follow through with Destiny. Oddly enough, I enjoyed Nami’s contribution to it and was listening to this album for the entire summer of 2005. At the start of said summer, my sister and I attended a cousin’s graduation at UC Berkeley. Yay California!
While sightseeing in San Francisco, we made a stop in Nihonmachi (Japan Town) and found a music store. I still have the map that I got from one of the stores. I remember walking in and having that kid-in-a-candy-store kind of feeling. Back home, we didn’t really have a Japanese music store back then, though, now, we have Broadcast at Pacific Mall and their Taiwanese version albums and not that much of a selection outside of the popular stuff. Anyway, I looked all over for the Make Progress CD that just released but couldn’t find it on the racks. I asked the man behind the counter if they had any and he thought for a second and told me to hold on as he went to the back. He came out after a few seconds holding a box and opened it and told me a new shipment of stuff just came in. At the top of the pile of stuff in the box was the Make Progress CD+DVD and all its shimmering glory. I remember getting giddy. I maybe did a little happy dance.
But anyway, this whole album makes me do a happy dance. That’s my favourite aspect to this album – it’s full of high-energy songs from start to finish. “You” is the only ballady song on the album. I know it’s not an actual genre of music but I like to think that Tamaki Nami’s music is textbook “action anime” music, chilling with Shoko-tan and momo-i who cover other sections of the anime field. The only difference is that Nami doesn’t do voice-acting.
After taking a re-listen to the album, I’d have to say that I can’t say ONE track is my favourite since, although they’re pretty similar sounding, they all do different things for me. Though, for the happiness they radiate, Daybreak, Daitan Ni Ikimashouu, Fortune, DreamerS, and Distance are great. -Fly Away-, Reason, and Heroine are the “action anime” tracks which are just so energetic. Though, special mentions go to Future Step for the glitchy percussion and heavy bass. I didn’t notice at the time and just notice while looking for translated lyrics but apparently Nami wrote DreamerS and You. It also appears that, after a quick skim-thru, all of her songs are about love, determination, or both. Though I’m not usually one to comment on lyrics, I might just have a sit down with this album and the translations one day.
Considering that the album is already 4 years old, it’s held up pretty well for me. I don’t listen to it much anymore but I’ve had it in my iTunes library for a while. A few songs pop up every now and a while. The memories and emotions they bring back just make me smile all-around.
