Once the news about the composer had been announced before the shows airing, one thought was in my mind regarding the music in AGE, and that was how tough it was going to be for Kei Yoshikawa to make this OST live up to the level of music that the Gundam series had been at for the last 10 years now. I don't think it has to be stated how tough if an act it was going to be to follow after Turn A, SeeD/Destiny, 00, Unicorn and IGLOO OST's had been among the best of the best in the music and audio department. So now that I had a listen to it, how well did Yoshikawa-san manage to do?
Well, if I rate it on it's own, it a good OST. It's certainly not on the same level as anything that we had in the last decade from Gundam, but that is honestly an unfair comparison. It's nothing extraordinary, however I would have to put it among the better Gundam OST's I had heard, easily an 8 or 9 in my list of the best Gundam OST's.
Of course, just because the OST as a whole doesn't live up to what I had gotten used to, doesn't mean there isn't anything memorable. On the contrary, from the get go we end up with the main theme for the series,
Gundam AGE ~ The hundred year old tale, is quite easily the most recognizable track and one of the few tracks I would dare to call timeless in the same vain as
The Wings of a Boy that Killed Adolescence and
Burning Finger theme. It manages to grasp and shows just how grand the concept of the show really is, highlights the heroic nature of the journey that is about to be taken, and doesn't feel like it over stretches the 4 minute mark. Fantastic track all in all.
The rest of the OST, I felt was decent all around except for the themes that were derived from the main track (7, 9, 12 and 27) which I liked (in fact, I love anything that has to do with the main theme of AGE). The X-rounder theme was also very nice (if short) and the 2nd track was also very good (if short as well ... seriously, WTH). Desil's track (22.
The Devil Boy) was also a good theme, since it I thought managed to capture both his playful nature as a young boy as well as the creepy vibe associated with him.
I liked 16 (
Slums ... I think) for the same reason as Desil's, since I thought it was a very creepy track. For battle themes, I personally loved 26 (
Assault) and 28 (White Wolf, which I'm actually thinking might be my favorite theme after the first one lol
and I don't really like wolf that much)
The OST also came with a booklet, which I wasn't aware off and was thus quite pleased when I found out. Shame it doesn't seem to be translated but eh what can you do.
I should also mention that the booklet comes with a commentary on each track and what the composer tries to convey through it, which I thought was really amazing and shows how much thought was placed into the making of the music in this series.
Pretty much what I might call a typical good OST.
Pictures:
In other news, the release date for the 2nd OST had been out for a while now, as well as it's
cover. I plan to get it along with the first Limited BD and the other related music for the first generation (The OP, ED and Memorial Days) once it's released.