The True Love Story series, which is best known by VGM fans for its contributions from veteran composer Noriyuki Iwadare (Lunar, Grandia), had its start with the un-numbered “True Love Story: Remember My Heart.” This game spawned a sizeable fan following in Japan, and the series has continued to grow and change over the past decade.
The first TLS had a three-part series of vocal collection, with mini-drama monologues and dialogues interrupting these character image themes. Vol.3, “Misaki’s Room,” features six vocals performed by the seiyuu (voice actor) for Misaki, one of the characters in True Love Story. Every song is peppy and upbeat. The slowest song, “Good Night…”, is still a moderate-tempo piece, and the rhythm guitar and percussion section keep this softer song relatively lively.
There’s a side of me that easily tires of “yet another sugary J-pop image album.” Fortunately, that side of me has been dormant for a few months, and I’ve really been able to indulge in the cheesiest of vocal tracks. As a result, I am not at all disenfranchised by albums such as the True Love Story Vocal trilogy. And volume 3 really takes the cake on the cheese, I’ll tell you that much. Misaki is just bursting with bubbly, impossibly-genuine joy. The vocal performances reflect this.
The musical composition is strong. Iwadare himself did not work on this particular album, but his cohorts in the True Love Story series definitely have a good feel for this sort of work.
The only drawback to this album is its length. Seriously, any two of the three vocal collection albums could have fit on one disc, and they could’ve released a two-volume set instead of a three-volume set. Indeed, the True Love Story Box Set (which includes music from TLS 1, 2, and 3) manages to fit all of the songs from this trilogy on two discs. In any case, “Misaki’s Room” is a nicely-tacked-on bonus to the first set of vocal albums created for this prolific series. I hope to hear more vocal albums of this same type, and with the same high-quality instrumental performances, as I continue to delve into this series.
