or many science fiction fans, early encounters with anime usually occurred either on Saturday mornings or late weekday afternoons, watching classic 1960s TV cartoons like Astro Boy, Gigantor or Speed Racer. Although the various shows featured relatively simplistic drawings and unpretentious plots, they still fired the imaginations of millions of youngsters, leading to increasingly sophisticated series over the ensuing years and the growth of an entire SF subculture of Japanese animation enthusiasts.
The Best of Anime CD includes 16 selections from some of the most famous productions in "Japanimation" history. Themes from the aforementioned pioneering programs are included, along with songs from other well-known shows like Sailor Moon and Urusei Yatsura. Additional cuts are culled from full-length creations such as Megazone 23, Windaria, Gunbuster, Record of Lodoss War, Silent Mobius, Cat Girl Nuku Nuku and Oh My Goddess. Most of the numbers are performed in Japanese, but four compositions that received extensive American television exposure have English lyrics.
The CD includes a 12-page booklet presenting short synopses of each series, and every disc also contains one of two miniature animation cels inserted between the liner notes and jewel box. The cels allow either Speed Racer or New Cutey Honey to serve as cover art for the package.
Where's Lynn Minmei?
With literally thousands of animated productions to choose from over the past three decades, it would be nearly impossible for this single-disc collection to truly offer The Best of Anime. Nevertheless, this album provides enough variety to ensure a decent, if not necessarily comprehensive, assortment of cartoon melodies.
For fans primarily familiar with Robotech or other similarly Anglicized works, it's fascinating to hear much of this music rendered in Japanese. In most cases Western influences are readily apparent, such as the pop-rock harmonies heard on "Full Moon Light" from the teen-horror series Devil Hunter Yohko or the heavy-metal chords of "Just Beyond the Time" from the SF comedy New Dominion Tank Police. Subtle indigenous sounds also appear, which beautifully exhibit the power and emotion of the series' native tongue. Such elements are especially evident on tunes like "Lum's Love Song" from Urusei Yatsura
While the liner notes provide appropriately fascinating anime facts, they would have been even better if they had included at least a few stills from the featured productions. Some of the song choices are also questionable, like the use of "Voices" from Macross Plus rather than one of the lilting tunes performed by animated singing idol Lynn Minmei in the original Macross saga. However, even with these shortcomings, The Best of Anime provides casual fans with a compact yet informative collection of Japanese animation soundtrack highlights.
