D's Namonaki Mori no Yumegatari

[ShanethVarosa 1209]

I'll get the ball rolling real quick on this one.

Unfortunately I haven't gotten the chance to really dive into this EP in the way I would normally with a D release. When I downloaded it I had one foot out the door so I quickly synced it to my iPad and played it through my boyfriend's car's speakers so I didn't get the full effect as if I were to listen to it alone.

What I gathered from the first few tracks which is all I really LISTENED to is that Namonaki Mori no Yumegatari and Canis Lupus are two of the greatest songs in their catalog. Totally spectacular tracks... And the intro I wish was longer. It was a great mood setter, but has huge potential to be a great full length.

Shirarezaru Kodomotcahi, Zou to Hito to Ari to..., and Like a Black Cat -Mujitsu no Tsumi- are all tracks I really need to listen to better. I remember feeling favorably towards them, but still need to get better acquainted.

Then we have Sankaku wo Yane... and Haru no Utage which hit me really hard from just a brief listen in two totally opposite ways. I could not freaking STAND Sankaku, but totally ADORED Haru no Utage. Even my boyfriend liked Haru no Utage, said it reminded him of The Legend of Zelda, one of his favorite video games.

So there you have it. Out of 5, definitely a 4.5 or higher. Really a magnificent piece.

[Jigsaw9 6783]

I've been quite out-of-the-loop concerning D (I still haven't listened to their past 2 albums xD) but I got interested in trying this mini album. Here are my thoughts on the individual tracks.

Hikari no niwa: nice intro, nothing too special but sets a good atmosphere.

Namonaki mori no yumegatari: cool intro! The electronic drums in the beginning surprised me a bit but it was a nice addition. Some cool melodies and synths in here too! Overall a good track.

Canis lupus: sets a good mood right at the start. The tempo is switched back a notch compared to the previous song. It has its moments but not interesting enough to hold my attention throughout.

Shirarezaru kodomotachi: once again, a track with some nice parts and a good atmosphere but kinda flows by me; not too memorable. Liked the previous one better.

Sankaku oyane to aware na koguma: interesting folksy melody in the beginning, though overall a bit too much synth for my taste. It wouldn't be a bad track actually but suffers from 'bland chorus' syndrome.

Like a Black Cat ～mujitsu no tsumi～: now this is more like it! Powerful guitars, nice melodies, all in all a good song, nothing more to say. My favorite next to the title track.

Haru no utage: boring ballad, completely went by me. The guitar solo is okay, I guess?

Zou to hito to ari to...: a short and intense number with some quite interesting bits and pieces. Good closing track (I kinda wish it was longer though).

Overall this mini album was a mixed bag for me. It had its shining moments but also some truly boring ones. Though I guess there wasn't really any song that actually annoyed me (ok, maybe the ballad xD), so that's nice. The cool bits and the bland bits kinda evened each other out. All in all, it was okay but not too memorable. I'd give it a 6/10.

[Augie1995 325]

I'm just going to give a summary review. This mini turned out to be a really great release by them. Their last 2 singles were "eh" I can only remember one song from them and that's Solitude from Danzai no Gunner. This mini brought out exactly the feelings I had when I fell in love with D. The title track is really something, brings out this fairytale atmosphere but the background music and the guitar's voices gives an ominous feeling that makes it dark (As portrayed by the PV). Canis Lupus 三角お屋根と哀れな小熊, and Like a Black Cat were their more powerful songs (Doesn't mean better, just means they gave more "OOMF" xD), 春の宴 is not one of my favorite ballads (Solitude is ), but it still is a pretty good ballad, the guitar solo is dreamy, and that ending is something that I could listen to all night long. 象と人と蟻と... is a pretty short song that I wish would be longer because that had an awesome pace that I absolutely loved. The first minute was a bit varied and I don't got stuck to it too much but after the chorus that fast singing got me all happy and dancing xD

Onto the favorite: 知られざる子供達 is absolutely, hands-down, my favorite off of this mini. Such a calm opening followed by Asagi's luscious vocals. It follows like all D songs and then comes the chorus that just makes me feel so warm and is amazing. The ending could not be better with that guitar melody~

All in all, this was a hell of a great release after those 2 singles. I have to honestly give this mini a 10/10. Hopefully I'm not the only one to think this mini was exceptional enough to get a 10.

[sai 868]

I decided to wait a little bit with my review, so that the initial fan-attack would be over and I would be able to give an objective opinion on this new release by D (who have been my favourite artist ever since mid-2010). Needless to say, waiting two weeks with a review didn't really matter in this case. This mini-album was great from start to finish.

名もなき森の夢語り, is what I'd like to call: 7th Rose part 2. Whatever they wanted to do with 7th Rose they did again on this mini-album, the only advantage of this mini-album being that it didn't have any previously released songs that wouldn't go with the theme (like how Day by Day totally didn't match 7th Rose). The monk chants are actually placed correctly (unlike in their previous two singles) and do not sound cheesy as they'd usually do. The mix between lighter and darker sections also match with the way the entire CD was designed (I have my own copy, so that's what I am basing this on), which is pretty cool. They dramatically lowered the amount of synths, which gives both Ruiza and HIDE-ZOU an opportunity to shine. Also, let's not forget that Tsunehito plays as well as ever and this is the first time in a long while that we can actually hear on record how much of a beast HIROKI is on the drums.

The composing on this mini-album was diverse, which is probably because ASAGI didn't completely do it by himself (along with maybe one song by Tsunehito), but shared half of the tracks with Ruiza and Tsunehito, who once again showed they are just as competent at composing as ever. Oddly enough, this was also the case on 7th Rose, where Ruiza and Tsunehito both got two songs out of them all as well. This needs to happen more often, thank you very much.

I can't actually tell you what my favourite tracks are, since this mini-album is better heard as a whole (another similarity it has with 7th Rose). The songs flow nicely into eachother and the slower songs keep it interesting with small details like flutes, harps and acoustic sections.

All in all, I loved this mini-album and it most certainly is my favourite release this year so far (along with A's ELEMENTA ALCHEMICA). I'm giving this a 8.5/10 and hope this will be a theme that D will stick with in the future.

[The Libertine 2]

A good and pleasant listening with some whimsical melodies and instrumentals, but nothing too memorable or ground-breaking. Better and more creative than their latest material at least!

[Rosà 37]

Idk why i didn't do my review about this mini yet...

Hikari no niwa - really nice intro, soft, gives a really good mood to listening to the other songs. Unfortunately so short. It could have 30 seconds more 9/10

Namonaki mori no yumegatari - D tends to do great title songs (it was by Dying Message, Danzai No Gunner, now this one) and it isn't exception of them. Nice main motive, I felt like I was somewhere in Wonderland. What i find also great are riffs. It makes song more climatic. I could even agree with sai that it's like 7th Rose 2.0. 10/10

Canis lupus - not too much to say about it. I think it's quiet boring. Especially chorus. It doesn't fit to the rest. Have to admit it's solid, but it's also nothing what I'll remember for long time. But, the pianos here are great 5/10

Shirarezaru kodomotachi - nice ballad with soft guitars, maybe pianos (i'm not sure here). Deep voice of Asagi ist growing on me, when i listen this song more and more. Well constructed, I like idea of the song. Nothing to say that it's bad. 10/10

Sankaku oyane to aware na koguma - propably the best single from the album. Folky intro which i really enjoy. Untypical for them, but suits idea of the album (Forest, Woods...). It reminds me folky inspirations of korpiklaani. Growling also great. Not chaotic, powerful, but really soft at the same time. No disharmonies Great ^^ 10/10

Like a Black Cat ～mujitsu no tsumi～ - don't know what to think. It's obviosly solid. But nothing so memorable. Kind of Versailles catchy style. Maybe i should go into this song more. But right now... kind of 7/10

Haru no utage - sad and depressing. Beautiful, but too sad to listen to it more than once or twice. Anyway, I see no disadvantages of the song so 10/10

Zou to hito to ari to... - agree. Too short, great to close. Intensive, nice idea. Hope they'll do something like this on next albums/singles! 10/10

Summary: For me masterpiece. Dying massege was bland, danzai no gunner too, now we have nice suprise! Kind of annoying that there's many releases only for japan... Great job, guys! Make your music more international!