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A collection of theme songs from NisiOisiN’s Monogatari series that includes Bakemonogatari and Owarimonogatari titled Utamonogatari - Monogatari Series Theme Song Collection was released on Jan. 6. The album has reached the top spot on the Oricon weekly ranking for the week of Jan. 18.
The popularity of anime-related music has risen in recent years, and it’s common for songs that tie into anime to reach No. 1 on rankings. However, it’s rare for an album named after an anime title to reach No. 1 on the weekly overall ranking. So this accomplishment makes evident the series’ high popularity.
Two versions of Utamonogatari are on sale: a regular edition and a limited edition (includes a Blu-ray). Each edition comes with two discs, and the songs included are the opening and ending theme songs to the TV anime from 2009 onward. Featured are the songs “Staple Stable” sung by Chiwa Saito as character Hitagi Senjougahara, “Renai Circulation” by Kana Hanazawa, “Naisho no Hanashi” by ClariS, and “Ai wo Utae” by Luna Haruna. The album is chock-full with 23 songs total.
The CD jacket was drawn just for the occasion by character designer Akio Watanabe. Also, the limited edition is wonderfully rounded out with commentary on the opening themes by Meg Rock, Satoru Kosaki, and Mito. Excluding the opening to Onimonogatari, “White Lies,” the non-credit opening and endings are included as well.
On Jan. 8 the first movie in the series, Kizumonogatari I: Tekketsu-hen (Kizumonogatari Part I: Blood & Iron), was released and became a huge hit bringing in over 320 million yen in box office revenue and mobilizing 240,000 moviegoers over its first four days. App development is also underway, and the official app Koyomimonogatari is available now. On the app you can see 12 new short anime, which is gaining it attention. Moreover, a master version of Bakemonogatari is broadcasting now, so there’s no end to the excitement in sight. Expect more big developments to come.
Picture: © NisiOisiN / Kodansha Ltd., Aniplex Inc., Shaft Inc.
Source: animeanime
