Best MASTER ARTIST 3 CD Poll

[Scotty]

So all the CDs have come out. Enough time has passed for us to give each CD a good and thorough listen. Now it's time to vote.

Ideally, it would be nice to vote and leave your reasoning as to why you voted for whoever you voted. Maybe you just have an undying love for the idol no matter what, maybe your views of a certain idol have changed after giving their CD a listen, or maybe you just blindly clicked on a choice and you're winging it. Doesn't matter, talk about it here, and find out if others liked a certain album for the same reason as you.

My vote, surprisingly, went to Yukiho. Yeah.
I think this is the album that finally made me get past whatever grudge I had for having 'lost' Yukiho's previous VA. Most of that had to do with her old VA finally speaking out on what happened recently, sure, but this CD really and truly surprised me. Not so much her image song for OFA, but her covers of Agape and Snowdome were such solid picks. This new version of Kosmos, Cosmos, while not my favorite, is something I do appreciate for the fact that it doesn't shy away from trying to be different than before with the added techno. The whole track list is just great, through and through. There's not a single song on the CD I can't reasonably skip when giving it a listen, unlike the majority of the rest. Good job, Yukiho. You're not such a shy little crybaby after all.



*Users can change their votes after initial voting, in case of change of heart in the future. Poll results are shown to anyone. Poll does not expire. 1 vote per user*

[Virgofall]

I agree, Yukiho had the best overall CD this time. I think it definitely helps that... I'm not sure how to word it exactly. Perhaps that Asakura's settled in/found her own voice for Yukiho when compared to MA2?

(Far as my usual idol-bias goes, Takane > Ritsuko > Iori. I've complained about Zenryoku Idol enough, dislike or don't care about most of the songs on Ritsuko's, and Takane's as a whole just isn't as good compared to Yukiho's. Song bias plays a large factor for me, probably moreso than idol bias)

[mariokirby]

I think most of the songs were good.

And, that's where my bias comes in (points to signature).  So, I pick Chihaya.

I always loved Chihaya's singing and it's still amazing.  Her voice has a great combination of cool, elegant, strong, and cute.

Unfortunately, there was one song in her album I have mixed feelings about, which is Saihyou.  For some reason, I felt the game version was better than the album version, but I don't know exactly why.  But, I made some speculations in a previous post.

http://forum.project-imas.com/index.php/topic,2212.msg62125.html#msg62125

Overall, Chihaya's album was great.  The Master Artist 3 series was definitely a nostalgia trip for me since I got into Idolm@ster a little bit after Master Artist 2 was released.

[Kimiko]

I voted for Chihaya, because her CD was the only one where I liked every song.
Saihyo was really nice, even through the game version was better, I still love the m@ster version, because it is really beautiful.
Katoe Uta was sung in such a soft and nive voice, I could actually imagine Chihaya singing it to some children to teach them about numbers.
Koibito ga santa clause was the first cover of that song which I liked, Asami Imais Voice really fits that song well.
Shizuka na Yoru was the best song overall on that CD, I really was eager to hear it and it didn't turn me down!.
and there ist only my note, a song which isn't my thing at all, no matter which idol sings it, but Chihayas version was good.
so all in one, chihaya had the most songs I liked and could feel

[Maka]

Voting for Hibiki. Her MA3 vaulted her up a few tiers in my mental ranking tbh.

Pon de Beach is so cute and happy. Honestly, the first time I heard it, my initial thought was "please let me see this live!". It made a really good transition from in-game to M@STER version as well. I'm glad that Hibiki finally got an image song as amazing as she is... Next Life is ok but it's not my kind of music, and Trial Dance is... eh. Meanwhile Pon is so joyful and energetic.
I was also really glad that Hibiki got shiny smile for this album. Shiny smile is honestly one of the "representative" songs of im@s for me, and Hibiki did a great job.
Kazaraguma... Dang. I love when Hibiki gets to flex her vocal prowess with slower songs, which she hasn't done since Nada Sousou on MA2. Listening to the preview, I was like "oh my god Hibiki is a great singer???"
Buzzstyle is the only really forgettable song on the album. I can appreciate her voice but the song doesn't really do it for me.

I have not listened to any of the solos of Only My Note bc I flat out don't care about it

[Nayre]

It was a pretty tough decision for me between Hibiki and Yayoi.  Both of their EX songs were the only ones I was perfectly pleased with in how
they came out in terms of arrangement, vocals, quality.  They both got the desired solos that I've been waiting for.  And I enjoyed all their solos.

So... going more into detail with Yayoi's, I was pleasantly surprised with her album, even more with the fact that I was not a big fan of her voice to
begin with.  I went into hers with low expectations, yet I was able to enjoy all her songs to the fullest!  Listening to Pla-Sonic Love was like having a
sugar rush while diving into an ocean of fluffy stuffed cute... things; bliss. XD  Chikataku enveloped me in warm, tender feels, remiscent of Mayako
Nigo's performance at SSA last year.  I'm really glad Yayoi got this solo, her character especially makes this song all the more so precious.  I teared up
at both of her covers, not only were they beautifully arranged, but they also had a lot of heart, and injected with a bit of Yayoi moeness... made quite
the powerful combination indeed.  After those 3 straight emotional songs in a row(lol), my spirits were immediately lifted with Good-Byes(I only listen to Yayoi's m@ster solo for this one XD), as I cheer along with the background.  I had so much fun with her album.  I remember before the MA3 series, like for the longest time, I had Yayoi at just shy of my "love tier" with the only thing holding her back was her singing voice.  This was just enough to give that little push I needed to finally get her up there.  Lastly, gawd I can't get enough of that cover art(those colors, that outfit, that pose). <3  Definitely one of the best ones of the set. XDD

So with all that said, there's a highly likely chance I would've voted for Yayoi's as the best MA3 if it weren't for one main particular song on Hibiki's album.  A song I've been wishing for a m@ster ever since I became a Hibiki fan, that song being shiny smile.  I cannot fully express in words how happy I was when it finally happened.  I was like, my idol... finally getting her own solo m@ster... of her only personal song... after all these years, finally.  I mean like, I was already crying from joy when I found about the duet m@ster with Haruka the year before, how much more from this, it was like a dream come true. T.T  Then about a month or 2 later, I found out Nu performed it live at 9th... Well then, *ahem* on to the other songs of the album.  I'll have to echo most of what Maka said here.  I was really thrilled seeing Hibiki getting a unique song like Pon De Beach that drew inspiration from her Okinawan roots while still highlighting her energetic and outgoing personality.  And the m@ster ver. couldn't have come out any more perfect.  Kazaguruma reminded a lot of Nada Sousou, and it's always nice to have more of these ballads for her.(can always count on her to nail these types of songs XD) I was also not much of a fan of Buzzstyle, and I like Good-Byes a lot more than Kimi Channel, though she did perform them both well.

So in short, I had enjoyed Yayoi's the most overall and she would have won me over if only Hibiki had gotten another solo song other than shiny smile.

Also, one of my fav things from the MA3 albums were the Only My Note solos waiting at the end of each one.  I thought it was the perfect way to end each CD on a good note(lol pun not intended).

Special mention to Yukiho's Snowdome.  Out of all the covers from this series, I've listened to this one the most admittedly.  It's a really warm and comforting song that cheered me up quite a few occasions.  Lol one of those was today actually when I was driving home.  While this song was playing, and as I turned the corner, this big rainbow appeared on the sky in front me, and I hadn't seen one in a long while.  It was one of those rare perfect moments haha, felt great. XD

[Yukibro]

I'm gonna go down the obvious route here and go with Yukiho as my favorite in the end, though it's not AS clear-cut as I would have figured. Or to put it another way, I think my appreciation of her tracks was more than I expected, given that I usually go into these albums blind as far as covers go. Ano Hi no Namida was great, of course, but the actual production of the track (including that instrumental and that little breath at the end) really made it work out even better. Kosmos is actually my least favorite of the album tracks, but it's still a solid second behind the Neo Acoustic version. And while both of her covers are solid, Snowdome is another that sticks out to me with further excellent instrumentals and... just listening to it, really. I listened to it constantly on a vacation drive in July, so it's an odd winter and summer song for me. And while I may have wished for Kimi Channel or 99 Nights at first, Shizuka na Yoru was amazing to hear.

As far as Azumin's concerned, I think the issue was that she hasn't had much of a chance to be consistent on an album. Her earlier recordings (MA2 somewhat included) were as mixed as the other seiyuus starting out, I'm sure, and some in-game renditions or solo recordings weren't really sticking to one style. I wouldn't say MA3 is a redemption for her more than it's a well thought-out selection of tracks that are also benefited by Azumin's experience with the series by this point. So I guess I would say it's about time people noticed her. :p

To not make this so biased, here's a couple of other notes:

- I think even with all my playthroughs of Yukiho's album, the most played song overall is Pon De Beach. Like Maka said, this really is an image song that fits Hibiki more than her previous ones, and it's so damn addicting. It really helped to have a song this great in the first album set to make a good impression. I also liked Haruka and Makoto's image songs too, but Pon is special.

- I should probably tackle that second album set more in-depth sometime. I think being busy and anticipation for the third album set distracted me.

- The Futamis have really been growing on me. Asapon's a load of fun to listen to, and their cover tracks were great (especially Okuru Kotoba, though YATTA! is amazing for even being a thing).

[Naryoril]

Like Yukibro my vote is going to Yukiho. I have a hard time to decide between Yukiho and Azusa though, mostly because of the covers on Azusas album, especially Kuon no Kawa. But what ultimately tips the scale to Yukiho is the same reason as others have said: i like all the songs on her CD, it's the only CD where all the songs ended up on my playlist. While none of the songs stand out to me like Kuon no Kawa, Saihyou or Futatsu no Tsuki, they are all good songs.

I have to admit though that i don't have all CDs (i don't have the twins, Yayoi, Iori and Ritsuko's)

[Okayu]

I picked Chihaya, but before that I'll mention some other idols I liked and why.

To be honest I'm still having trouble adjusting to most of the master versions of the new MA3 songs. Be it listening to the in game versions over and over or some other reason they just seem off to me.

I really liked Haruka's cover songs. I knew Ice Candy would fit her as soon as I heard the original, but the Macross cover was also nice and relaxing.

I found Destiny to be a slightly odd choice for Takane, as prior this song was mostly known for it's Vocaloid Azusa cover. It's pretty neat looking back on fan videos and seeing how many of those songs have been covered since.

I really liked Yukiho's cover of Agape, but to be honest I had gotten used to her voice a lot earlier than the others here. I used to listen to Namassuka Special 5 a lot and I enjoyed her cover songs there as well.

Ami's Okuru Kotaba was an interesting take as someone who listened to the original beforehand. And Ritsuko's take on Diamonds is just as nice as I thought it'd be.

However Chihaya's album is the one I liked every song from.

While Saihyou's vocals changed from the in game version in this case I got used to them after a few listenings (unlike how some songs changed like Pon de Beach where Hibiki sounds cooler in the original and cuter in the master). The meaning of this song really gets to me, to the point I've actually listened to it less than other Chihaya songs (which I've listened to so many times I can't count and know the lyrics to Aoi Tori by heart at this point).

Fate of the World is a nice take on the song (although since it's audio we don't get a Mingosu Kick this time).

The counting song is relaxing and it's enjoyable to hear the various languages.

Koibito wa Santa Claus is a surprise favorite. When I heard the original version I didn't really like it, but when I heard the preview of Chihaya's version I knew it was going to be great. Now whenever this one comes on I like doing some calls to the chorus as it's a pretty energetic song.

Shizuka na yoru is as great as expected, so there's not much else to say about it.

Same with Only My Note.