Amalee, also known as “LeeandLie”, is a professional singer who makes english adaptations to anime and video game songs. I discovered her by searching through youtube one day after listening to a few covers; namely I wanted to see if anyone did consistently good covers besides having only one or two good ones.
I was surprised completely by the quality of her work; sound of production, voice, and how closely the adaptation fit without altering the core of the song (she even capitalizes words in her follow-along lyrics to show words or phrases she takes directly from the Japanese song itself). I found myself listening to her more and more while I was working on various things or just browsing the internet, so I thought I would spread the love around!
Top 5 Tuesday
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| AmaLee, the voice behind these amazing English covers |
For these selections, I picked it mainly on my favorites. Some of these are because I have watched the anime and have fallen in love with particular songs and love how she does the covers, while for others I have never actually watched nor heard of the anime but love how it sounds when she does it.
The following are my absolute favorite out of the selection she has to offer at present (she uploads weekly however)
#5 – Saga of Tanya the Evil | Jingo Jungle
Youjo Senki was an anime that caught me completely off guard because of the premise of the entire thing. Someone reincarnated and given a dependency upon a power that calls upon the name of God, basically to force them to believe in the divine. The entire thing is pretty crazy with how you have a mind of a grown man inside the body of a little girl… with absolute cruelty and merciless calculation.
Jingo Jungle was an automatic favorite, mostly because of the nature of the song. While it seemed amazing and perfect, I just liked the vibe. LeeandLie’s cover allows me to actually understand what they are saying in a way that ties into the music, and it really does fit so well with the series.
It should also be noted that this is the FIRST song by LeeandLie I ever listened to.
#4 – Kill la Kill | Gomen ne liko ja Irarenai
I really love Studio Trigger that was founded by former members of the legendary studio “Gainax” (makers of Neon Genesis Evangelion, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, Furi Kuri, etc.). Kill la Kill started off wacky and a bit slow, but quickly evolved into an anime that dominated that season and held an amazing reference to life if you looked close enough.
I was excited when I found this cover simply because Kill la Kill is one of the ONLY anime where I have liked both the opening and ending songs; usually it is just one or the other. She did this amazingly well, keeping the catchiness of the song as well as the meaning in translation.
Check out my Anime Review for Kill la Kill
#3 – Neon Genesis Evangelion | Cruel Angel’s Thesis
Neon Genesis Evangelion is a classic, many know of it even if they have not seen it. Though, the most recent ones “2.22 You Can (NOT) Advance” and “3.33 You Can (NOT) Redo” have been amazing in rewriting the story and redefining the characters (i.e., changing Asuka’s last name to “Shikinami” instead of “Soryu”).
This legendary opening is risky to do, especially since people absolutely adore the Japanese version AND within the otaku community there is already an accepted English translation for “A Cruel Angel’s Thesis”. LeeandLie went with her own lyrics in her own style, and it worked out amazingly well for her.
#2 – Soul Eater | PAPERMOON
To be perfectly honest, I do not think about it often, but Soul Eater is probably one of my favorite anime. It has an excellent story, compelling characters (favorite is probably “Death the Kid”), and amazing build up. The only thing I can list as a negative is the entire series is the very end of the anime… which is honestly fine once you get past it and realize plot armor exists everywhere.
This cover is really amazing in my opinion. She uses the actual English words that they say in the Japanese version and they make sense regardless of how they were originally phrased. Not only that, but the second verse really made me fall in love.
“A spell was cast, sweeter than the crimson jam. Taste it and you get one wish, so wish for anything you’d like“.
Really feeling that part.
#1 – Noragami Aragato | Hey Kids!
To be honest, I have never heard of this anime nor have I watched it. However, I absolutely loved this song when it came up in LeeandLie’s song playlist. The way the music goes, the chorus and bridge, and the way she talks throughout of it.
I cannot tell you how many times I have said, “ARE YOU READY TO RESPECT THE HERO?!!” and just have my friends cracking up laughing. This is definitely the catchiest chorus out of everything, and the official version on the actual anime is very lame in comparison (which I went and watched to compare it to).
Definitely made me want more of her stuff, and this is probably the song that opened up me to more liberation when creating covers since this is her work stuff to me and it also happens to be one she did not translate 1:1 as far as how the song is presented.
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