Title: いちご１００％ (Strawberry 100%) Opening Theme
Original Creator: 河下水希 (Mizuki Kawashita)
Vocals: 水樹奈々 (Nana Mizuki), 豊口めぐみ (Megumi Toyoguchi), 小林沙苗 (Sanae Kobayashi), 能登麻美子 (Mamiko Noto), and 橋本みゆき (Miyuki Hashimoto)
Release Date: 1/26/05
Catalog No.: LACM-4178
Rating: 4/4

The cover says that the intro and ending are from the original anime DVD, but that's a misnomer. The songs are from the animation shown last year at some anime festival. I vaguely remember something a couple of weeks ago about a DVD that readers of Shonen Jump could receive, but as of now, I don't believe a DVD has been produced.

The intro song is an instant favorite. It's a *very* high-tempo and danceable tune, and dare I say, almost like J-Pop. It features the 4 voice actresses from the drama CDs and the animation, although each person's contribution varies.

The two primary singers are Nana and Megumi (mostly Nana though), probably because they're the best singers out of the group. Despite how much I like Mamiko, I admit she has absolutely no chance of keeping with Nana in singing. In terms of vocal power, Nana blows Mamiko out of the water. The staff probably thought the same as I can't hear Mamiko's voice in the song, so I guess she's been relegated to the background. It's a little unfair as Aya is the primary heroine in the story, but I can't imagine her singing something this energetic. It's a sacrifice for the greater good.

Megumi continues to impress me with her vocal skills and surprisingly, is a very good complement to Nana. I've never heard Sanae sing before, so I can't really comment. She may sing during the chorus or together with Nana in the second half of the song, but it's hard to tell because Nana really steals the show.

The only downside is that the lyrics don't really make sense.

The ending song is sung by another singer, I believe she did the intro or the ending to Girls Bravo and Phi-nal Approach. It's upbeat, but noticeably slower than the intro. It's nice to listen to, but is definitely more bland (I'm still in awe of the first song).

I hope that this series can keep up with all this wonderful music from the drama CDs and now the single.

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