Author

Chris Nguyen

Chris's foray into videogame music began with a futile attempt at recording Final Fantasy VI's soundtrack while playing the game on his SNES before finding out that MIDIs existed. Since then, his interests have branched out into anime soundtracks and he still keeps up with the latest shows from Japan. In addition to contributing to OSV, Chris also writes for Anime Instrumentality where he complains incessantly about J-pop artists who make it their job to sing out of tune.

Anime, Featured

Anime Expo 2010: May’n and Megumi Nakajima Live Concert

07.08.10 | Chris Nguyen | 9 Comments

Note: These images were blatantly ripped from our friends over at Japanator.
If there was any single event that served as the catalyst for getting me to go to Anime Expo this year, the announcement of the May’n/Megumi Nakajima concert was it. Despite not being a hardcore fan of the Macross franchise, I really enjoyed [...]
Anime, Japanese

Anime Expo 2010: MELL Concert Report

Anime Expo 2010: MELL Concert Report 07.06.10 | Chris Nguyen | 2 Comments

If the May’n/Megumi Nakajima concert held earlier that day at Anime Expo 2010 was phenomenal because of its combination of awesome music, wonderful surprises, and an excellent performance by the pair, MELL’s concert was a grand spectacle. Because I had gotten in early enough, being able to see the crew setting up the instruments [...]
Anime, Japanese

Afromania’s Birdy the Mighty Decode Outro: “Let’s Go Together” (Review)

06.30.10 | Chris Nguyen | Comment?

If you ever read the synopsis of Birdy the Mighty Decode, you would think Afromania’s upbeat outro single would be a bit out of place. After all, a story involving an interplanetary police officer, named Birdy, chasing criminals who have a doomsday device and have taken refuge on Earth would require something less suited [...]
Japanese

Magnetic Fields and Oddball Beginnings – The Melancholy of Sokura (Review)

05.29.10 | Chris Nguyen | 2 Comments

Let’s say you’re a big fan of those J-pop anime intro/outros and you have this desire to launch a singing career based off of that niche. And I don’t mean use anime as a career springboard either; all you want to do is sing songs appropriate for anime intros/outros.
Enter Tekumaku Junction, a duo which [...]
Anime, Japanese

Chiaki Kuriyama’s Shifts From Movies to Music With Gundam Unicorn

05.22.10 | Chris Nguyen | 1 Comment

The woman on the cover of Gundam Unicorn’s outro single, titled “Ryuusei no Namida” (“Tears of Falling Stars”), looks familiar doesn’t she? Well, if you’ve seen Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill, vol 1 or the violent live-action movie, Battle Royale you’ll know her as Gogo Yubari in the former and Takako Chigusa in the latter.
Chiaki [...]
Japanese

SAWA’s Figure and Shadow: a Shadow of an Album (Review)

05.08.10 | Chris Nguyen | 1 Comment

I’ll admit I wasn’t really wowed by SAWA’s musical efforts on Square Enix’s Action RPG The World Ends With You. For some reason, it didn’t have the kind of impact that would get me to sit up and take notice. Patrick Gann’s review of their full-length album 333 called SAWA’s music “a sort [...]
Japanese

Motohiro Hata’s Halation Single (Review)

04.18.10 | Chris Nguyen | Comment?

Having not seen the Itazura na Kiss anime, I never got a chance to sample Motohiro Hata’s “Kimi, Meguru, Boku,” and so, lack any level of familiarity with his works. But as I listened to the OP theme, his voice reminded me of another anime series that is very near and dear to my [...]
Anime, Japanese

Stereopony Rides out to New Jersey’s AnimeNEXT Convention

04.17.10 | Chris Nguyen | 3 Comments

Darker than BLACK: Ryuusei no Gemini was a popular anime series revolving around humans who possessed special abilities caused by a field known as the “Hell’s Gate.” In addition to impressing audiences with its visuals, it also featured a very catchy opener titled “Tsukiakari no Michishirube” (“Guidepost of the Moonlight”) performed by the J-pop [...]
Anime, Japanese

Love and Friendship! Girls Be Ambitious from Sora no Woto (Review)

04.04.10 | Chris Nguyen | 2 Comments

As a preface to this review, I have to admit a strong bias in favor of Haruka Tomatsu. Ever since I listened to her performance of “motto☆Hade ni ne!,” which functioned as Kannagi’s opening theme, I was hooked on Tomatsu’s vocals, especially because of the energy that she channels into the innuendo-laden song. [...]
Anime, Japanese

Chatmonchy’s Tour Hits Four US Cities; Albums Released Digitally

03.04.10 | Chris Nguyen | 5 Comments

Chatmonchy is the name of the three-member all-female rock band that is well known among anime fans for their performance of the ending themes for the anime series Bleach with the song “Orange” and Hataraki Man with “Shangri-La.” And for those of you who enjoyed their works and live in North America, there’s an opportunity [...]
Japanese

Following Up: Rythem’s Gyuttoshite Single (Review)

02.28.10 | Chris Nguyen | 1 Comment

It’s no secret that the idea behind anime OP/ED sequences is mostly as a marketing tool with which to introduce new artists or expose established artists to a different audience. But while I have no doubts that it helps the artists, it’s hard for me to find the time to follow up on them [...]
Japanese

Drifting (Tokyo-Style) With the Ajuku Girls (Review)

01.24.10 | Chris Nguyen | 9 Comments

Sometimes, we’ll get something on our tips line that is really hard for us to pass up. That is how we came across the Ajuku Girls. The press statement that they issued was funny enough that we think it speaks for itself and for the girls quite nicely:
Meet the Ajuku Girls, five playful J-Pop [...]