Luminous Arc: Brilliant World – Kaori Oda

	Album Title: Luminous Arc: Brilliant World – Kaori Oda
	Record Label: Marvelous Entertainment
	Catalog No.: MJCD-23033
	Release Date: March 21, 2007
	Purchase: Buy at CDJapan

Overview

In a relatively unbusy year for Procyon Studio, it managed to put out albums for Armodyne and Luminous Arc. The vocal theme for the latter game, “Brilliant World”, had its own single release featuring composition by Kazume Mitome and arrangement by Yasunori Mitsuda and Shota Kageyama, who is no longer with Procyon Studio. In addition, Kaori Oda, a relative newcomer to the scene of video game music, provided the vocals. However, Kaori Oda quickly rose to recognition, mainly with her vocal performances in Wild Arms XF and her inclusion in the Revo’s Sound Horizon troupe. How does Procyon Studio fare in this single, and is Kaori Oda really all that good? You’ll just have to read on to find out.

Body

The “Brilliant World” single is relatively short. It features only four pieces, of which two are karaoke versions — “Brilliant World,” arranged by Yasunori Mitsuda and Shota Kageyama, is the main vocal theme of the game while “Wish On,” arranged by Shota Kageyama, was mainly used to promote the game.

“Brilliant World” is the more upbeat vocal performance of the two. The progression of the piece is rather strange. It shifts from fast paced dance beats to softer acoustic guitar accompaniments. Over top these sections, violin and piano, in both acoustic and electric form, are the prominent instruments. As this piece is much longer than the game version, you’ll also hear a piano solo with some electric guitar undertones. In the end, the compositional and arrangement of this piece is beautiful.

Kaori Oda shows that she has a very powerful voice in “Brilliant World”. She is the glue to the rest of the piece as I’m sure another vocalist wouldn’t have nearly done as well as job. There is also a karaoke version of this track on the single, which is just the instrumental section without the vocals. Interestingly enough, the chorus of the song still provides the back-up vocals, but Kaori Oda is absent.

The second piece, “Wish On”, is a ballad. Having a very J-pop sound, it does sound a bit clichéd, however it still is a great listen. The combination of the drum pad, the focus on piano, and the accent provided by the strings helps to create a dreamy atmosphere. The solo sections with the acoustic guitar helps to contrast the dreamy feeling heard in the song with a much more down-to-earth feeling. Towards the end, as the song climaxes, some voice layering can be heard, further reinforcing that ethereal feel.

As with the former performance, Kaori Oda does a fantastic job in portraying the emotion heard within the music itself in “Wish on”. The karaoke version is just the instrumental section without vocals.

Summary

On the whole, “Brilliant World” and “Wish On” constitute a fantastic single. Despite the repetition of the featured song, it’s a fun-filled ride. In the end, I think both Shota Kageyama and Yasunori Mitsuda did a great job arranging the music. In addition, Kaori Oda offered a stellar performance. I’m sure we’ll be seeing her even more in future VGM releases as her voice is quite powerful. This single offers a full version of “Brilliant World”, as well as a performance not on the Luminous Arc soundtrack. It’s pretty cheap so you might want to pick it up if you are interested.

Posted on August 1, 2012 by Don Kotowski. Last modified on August 1, 2012.

About the Author

Don Kotowski Currently residing in Philadelphia. I spend my days working in vaccine characterization and dedicate some of my spare time in the evening to the vast world of video game music, both reviewing soundtracks as well as maintaining relationships with composers overseas in Europe and in Japan.

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