Megumi Hayashibara - Over Soul 2001 IMPORT King Records   Buy It Now

Personally, I think that the Shaman King anime sucks. That’s not the point however. The thing is that regardless of what I think of the series, it definitely has a catchy opening theme. That’s’ no surprise though, since they’ve enlisted the aide of the most popular seiyuu ever, Megumi Hayashibara. Megumi, who also voices the character Sara on the series, delivers the goods as only she can.

Over Soul is a typical J-pop theme, complete with Megumi’s melodic and yet occasionally abrasive vocals. The girls got a voice, and she knows how to sue it. Over Soul musically is a combination of electronic music with just the right dash of heavy guitar. As good as the song is, it’s the chorus that really makes the song stand out, as well as the great arpeggio keyboard riffs.

In contrast, Trust You is quite a bit slower and quieter, with Megumi delivering some sweet and innocent sounding lyrics. However, the song is a bit bland and lacks the emotion and soul that Ms. Hayashibara provides in the title track. For Megumi wanna-be’s, the single comes complete with instrumental versions of both songs for karaoke fans.

Over Soul is available with two variant covers, one that features Megumi and the other with Sara. Each version also comes packaged with a limited edition card from the Shaman King collectible card game. Overall, Over Soul isn’t too bad a single, but probably doesn’t have enough substance for Megumi or Shaman King fans.

-mike-