Ikimono-gakari’s Lost Single: Flowers Are Cherry Blossoms; You’re Beautiful (Review)

If you’re into Naruto or Bleach, you may be familiar with Ikimono-gakari. They’re your typical alternative rock act from Japan, but many of their singles have been featured in anime and even games, including the Naruto: Shippuden anime series and the Bleach: The 3rd Phantom DS game.

Unfortunately nothing from their 8th single titled “Hana wa Sakura Kimi wa Utsukushi” (or “Flowers Are Cherry Blossoms; You’re Beautiful”) received this kind of attention, but for those who are curious, perhaps we’ll turn you on to something new from the group.

Hit the jump for our brief review of the “Hana wa Sakura Kimi wa Utshukshi” single and a look at some of Ikimono-gakari’s other (and more nerdier) works.

When I first started researching Ikimono-gakari, I found this music video from their latest single, “Kimagure Romantikku.” Maybe too happy for some tastes, but you have to love the 8-bit graphics and sounds. You’ll also realize pretty quickly that the band members are pretty out there with some of the most ridiculous dance moves I’ve ever seen. I guess this “nerdiness” adds to the overall cuteness factor of vocalist Kiyoe Yoshioka, wouldn’t you say?

Anyway, “Kimagure Romantikku” was released last December, but you’ll have to look back to January 2008 to find Ikimono-gakiri’s “Hana wa Sakura Kimi wa Utsukushi” single. There are only two tracks on the disc, so it’s totally manageable for those of you like me with short attention spans.

“Hana wa Sakura Kimi wa Utsukushi” is considerably less upbeat than their most recent adventure, sporting some descending piano arpeggios and Yoshioka’s voice calling out into the distance. The song quickly turns into your typical Japanese alternative rock track, but Yoshioka manages to keep things fresh during the chorus sections by doing some interesting rhythmic stuff with her voice.

Of course, it’s just like me to prefer the non-title track on the disc, which is “Last After School.” It’s much more sweet, but not so much so as to make you cringe. Acoustic guitars back more of Yoshioka’s rhythmic magic, and the addition of toy percussion and soft sidestick hits instead of heavy snares give the piece a playful and airy vibe. And they even threw in an organ to top it all off… I’m sold!

The bottom line is that there’s nothing groundbreaking here, but if you’re interested, you can still pick up a copy of the single for about $10 over at CDJapan or Play Asia. Pretty steep for two tracks, but there you have it!

Are you familiar with Ikimono-gakiri? Do you follow the countless opening and ending theme songs for Naruto and other anime series?