Being an anime fan for some years, I have also come to love many of the opening/closing themes and insert songs from a wide variety of shows. However, due to the prohibitively expensive cost of CDs (even singles) from Japan, I generally prefer to find "Complete Best" albums with most, if not all of the series' songs included. I will make exceptions for individual singles if I genuinely like the song and cannot otherwise find it in a compilation.
"Ash Like Snow" is just such a song. The driving hook provides it with great energy, while the vocalist, Tommy, gives a performance that imbues emotion into her voice without straying into the slightly whiny, sing-songy style that too many female Japanese singers are prone to.
The B-side track, "goodbye and good luck" (piano arrange version) has a decidedly mellower sound. It's written and performed in English, which Tommy handles fairly well, though her accent can somtimes muddle a syllable or two. Overall, I found that it tends to contrast and complement the main track. The third track is an instrumental of "Ash Like Snow."
The package's artwork features images of Tommy on the front and back: astride a futuristic motorcycle on front, and a close-up of her face with an orange "Haro" pressed to her cheek on back. Inside are the lyrics to both songs as well as images of the band from the music video for "Ash Like Snow."
The copy I received also featured an external card with a sticker showing an image of the four main Gundams from the first season of 00, as well as a bonus collectable "Meister ID" card inside.
Overall, this is one of my favorite opening themes from an anime. I would highly recommend it to fans of Gundam 00 or J-rock/pop in general. I took off one star for the price. As I said, CDs from Japan are expensive, so they are not for the casual buyer. If you shop around, you can usually find a good deal through one Amazon seller or another (like I did), but still...
I did find this one to be worth the money, though.
Very good correspondence with the seller. I love the song "Ash Like Snow" by the brilliant green. I'm so happy that I finally got a hard copy of this song.
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