As usual, Chihaya sounds cool and beautiful, but I'm way too bias so my opinion is invalid.
Chihaya's like a diamond compared to every female character in the world. Okay, I'll stop already. I've been annoying people, lately.
But, you know I got a wave of nostalgia (no pun intended) while I was listening to Master Artist 3 since I listened to Master Artist 2 back in 2011 which was a few months after their initial release. And, now after 4.5 years later I'm listening to the next Master Artist series. I remember that feeling when I was introducing myself to Idolm@ster.
There are very few frachises that I like for a long time. Many things I drop or lost interest in. But, Idolm@ster is one of those things I kept. Well, mostly because of Chihaya, but you get the point. Idolm@ster has become a permanent part of me.
I don't like Saihyou's vocals or arrange in comparison to the game version. Mingosu sounds like she's straining at some points, honestly.
but I found Saihyou disappointing. It's a shame because the GAME VERSION was fine but some parts of the M@STER VERSION are really off-putting.
Though I hate to admit, but you guys somewhat have a point. I'm not sure exactly why, but I have 2 unlikely theories.
The first is that since the music arrangement is changed, so the vocals were changed to fit the music.
Another, even less plausible theory is that the song was more of Asami Imai singing rather than "Chihaya" singing. I think Chihaya vocals are cool, elegant (and cute) while Asami Imai's vocals are cool but a little bit harsh? (I don't know if that's the right word). I'm probably totally wrong about that. However, I noticed voice actors in real life don't sound 100% like the character they voice. They sound similar though. So, maybe in this song some parts were sung by Imai rather than "Chihaya". I don't know. Maybe, it's all in my head.
By the way, why do people call her Mingosu? Is that her nickname? Or is it an inside joke?