I was going to do a Muse song this week, but as I was scrolling through the list, I found another include. Muse will have to be next week.
Song of the Week: Let It Out (cover by Miku-tan)
Yes, it’s another cover. But this one is a twist. Listen to the start of the original version (it’s mostly in Japanese, but the first few lines are in English). The vocalists have remarkably similar voices, and the song was not originally translated into English. The fact that such a faithful translation was done, and performed by an artist practically designed for it, is incredible.
Let It Out is the second song to be used for the ending credits of the anime Full Metal Alchemist. According to various internet ranking sites, FMA is either near the top or the actual top rated anime, and I certainly agree. The eccentricities of Japanese anime culture (overreactions as normal, a bit too much cleavage) and odd setting (magical superpowers that manifest as the pseudoscience of alchemy) are balanced well by a classic story (the main characters work tirelessly to find what they lost as children, as they come to terms with what they cannot change and what they must change) and the relative normalcy of it all (refugees, European-inspired military state, family drama). It’s on the short list of Anime I Would Get My Mom To Watch (which may have to be a Friday post).
Back to the song (but don’t forget the anime). If you just hear the song by itself, the tone is mixed. The words are a bit up and down, and the music is fairly cheerful. For the true context, you need some of the TV show (told you not to forget). Here’s the last clip, from the end of a recap-flashback episode to bring a new character up to speed. Other shows might have just strung a bunch of clips together with some connecting dialogue and taken an early lunch, but this episode reinforces the show’s central theme: hope in the face of overwhelming odds and futility. The main characters nearly lost their hope as children, and they take every opportunity to foster hope in the people they meet. Around them, their enemies destroy hope almost exclusively, sometimes more than they destroy lives. The enemies that live for their own hope eventually turn to the side of the righteous. Hope is everything, and in those three minutes, with that song behind it, everything becomes clear to this new character, and to us.
I’ll save more about the anime for the AIWGMMTW post, but I hope you’re ready for the Feels Canoe to cross the River of Emotions. Lieutenant Hughes will be your river guide.
That's Pretty NEET 