
Tracks:
1. MARIA&JOKER
2. Etsuraku Camellia
3. PERFECT SMILE
4. Trickster
5. Mr.Bunny!
6. Chinmoku no Kajitsu
7. Brand New Tops
8. Shounen
9. Gimmick Game
10. Dancing in the velvet moon
11. ray of change
12. Shin Ai
13. Aoki Hikari no Hate -ULTIMATE MODE-
14. Astrogation
15. Yume no Tsuzuki
ULTIMATE DIAMOND is Nana Mizuki’s 7th album, and it was originally supposed to be released on May 20th, 2009, but got pushed back to June 3rd, 2009, due to lyricist Ryouji Sonoda’s arrest. It reached #1 on the Oricon Weekly Charts and has sold 92,277 copies.
Opening up Nana Mizuki’s 7th album is MARIA&JOKER, which sounds like it was taken right out of a James Bond film. That being said, this song has a prominent use of brass and other big band elements. As well as some strings to give it a little more volume. While the verses in this song are nice, with Mizuki sounding seductive, the transition between the verses and chorus is sloppy and makes the song flop terribly. The song sounds silly sometimes too, with the random gunshot noises and random talking parts from Mizuki. Not exactly what I would’ve picked for an opening, but it’s okay.
Track 2 is by far my
favourite off the album. Etsuraku Camellia is such a kick in the ass that it’s not even funny. Mizuki ditches all the glitz and pop for a more hard rock sound. I’ve said before that her voice is more suited for more aggressive songs, and this is the perfect example, as her voice sounds AMAZING among the loud guitar riffs.
For fans of Nana Mizuki, and those that have listened to the album, you can probably tell that this album is all over the place in terms of song placement. PERFECT SMILE is just the first in a ver long string of bad placement. Who puts a happy track after something loud and aggressive? Nana would! Anyways, despite the bad placement PERFECT SMILE is a nice and light-hearted pop song with lots of piano and lighthearted vocals from Mizuki.
Though Trickster was released back in October, I still love this song to death. Another example of why her voice is good with rock songs… even if the drums sound horrid. Oh yeah, the drums, they still suck, but otherwise the song is awesome.
I cringed at the first though of Mr.Bunny!. Not only does the title sound bad, but it’s a big hint that this song is cutesy. Luckily, Mizuki doesn’t go overboard with the cuteness, and executes this song in a nice and upbeat fashion. I get a 90s vibe from this track since it uses a lot of 90s synth and instruments. In the end, this song is pretty catchy and I’m glad she didn’t use her uber-seiyuu voice for this track, since that would just ruin it.
Chinmoku no Kajitsu sounds more like something that would be on GREAT ACTIVITY, if you ask me. That being said, it sounds like your typical Nana Mizuki anime song, but I still really like it. The flowing strings in this song are gorgeous and Nana sounds really strong when she’s in her element, which is anime music of course. if I had to make a comparison of an older song, this would definitely sound like Justice to Believe.
I was definitely thrown off by the beginning of Brand New Tops since it begins with a ballad-like piano sound, but quickly turns into an upbeat pop-rock track. I don’t really like this song as much as the others since Mizuki’s voice gets on my nerves at some points during the song since she’s constantly at a yell during most of the song. But I’m glad she’s adding more variety on the album by throwing in a combination of pop and rock.
Compared to everything before it, Shounen is a more laidback track. Though it’s laidback, it features constant guitar riffs, as well as a few pop elements, like twinkling synth during the chorus, which is definitely the best part of the song since Mizuki sounds strong and gets a little help from the back up to make it sound even more epic. There’s even a little sax after the chorus.
We kick things into high gear with Gimmick Game, the first known track on the album. Mizuki combines a eurotrance song with loud guitar riffs and makes it into an extremely catchy and infectious song. I really like this song and it’s probably my second favourite if I had to choose.
Dancing in the velvet moon follows a similar style as the latter. Boy is this song old, originally on the STARCAMP EP single back in February of 2008! This song has an eleg
ant, yet aggressive feel and fits perfectly onto the album.
ray of change is a damn good pop song. The verses are really catchy with Nana singing at a somewhat faster speed and then finally bringing in the chorus with an uplifting message. Though it sounds a little too typical for a Japanese pop song, Mizuki definitely makes this song her own and takes this album in a new direction.
Shin Ai sticks out like a sore thumb on this album. The last single to be released on this album, Mizuki definitely shocked me with this song, because after rock-ish singles she comes in with her typical anime song, which is exactly what it is! This is probably my least favourite A-side of the era.
Another typical anime sounding song is the ULTIMATE MODE version of Aoki Hikari no Hate, which was originally used as character song for one of her roles in an anime. This sounds a lot like Shin Ai but more upbeat and with electric guitar thrown in.
Astrogation comes in to save the day! Though this song is almost a year and a half old, it still sounds so new to me and is a welcome addition to the album. I think the lyrics are kind of cheesy and Engrishy though. XD “Ready go, to star heaven” and “shining now and galaxy.” It’s okay, the epicness of this song makes up for those minor flaws.
The only ballad and our last song on the album is Yume no Tsuzuki. At first, I liked this song, but now I think it’s boring and could’ve been left off the album completely. Mizuki fails to catch my attention in this sleepy ballad. Astrogation would’ve ended the album just fine.
Wow. Nana Mizuki definitely stepped it up with ULTIMATE DIAMOND, as it has a lot better material. Not only is the instrumentation a lot better, Mizuki’s vocals were at tip-top shape for almost every song on the album. Songs like Astrogation, Etsuraku Camellia, and Gimmick Game, show Nana Mizuki at her best and show that she isn’t a force to be reckoned with. She’s shown that she’s not just some seiyuu that’s been in every anime under the sun, she shows that she CAN sing and can do much more then just voice act. In terms of material, this album blows GREAT ACTIVITY out of the water, and really makes it sound mediocre. Nana Mizuki has impressed me extremely, and I can’t wait for what she has in store next.
Overall Grade:





