Overview

A month before releasing Little Busters! Ecstasy in Japan, Key held special live concerts in Tokyo and Osaka. Those that attended the concerts could purchase a pamphlet and a memorial disc. The memorial disc featured two CDs in LP-sized packaging, the first featuring remixes of Kanon's "Last Regrets", the second featuring a roundtable discussion.

Body

The opening theme songs for Kanon, "Last Regrets" was the song that begun Kanon's legacy of great vocal themes. In contrast to their other openers, "Last Regrets" has a sombre feel, particularly during the introduction. However, Ayana's vocals gradually grow more dominant as the song develops and built towards an uplifting conclusion. While the original was effective, it left quite a bit to be desired in terms of implementation and the remixes featured here generally improve on it. The 2006 Memorial Mix, previously featured in the single for Kanon's anime adaptation, stays particularly close to the original with its prominent instrumentals and new age vibes. However, it is much more polished and balanced.

Of the other remixes, The Girls in Tear mix by MintJam's a2c resembles the rock-tinged theme songs of more recent Key titles, such as Little Busters! It injects some energy into the original, without losing the melancholy focus, and features a great electric guitar solo at the climax. Keiichi Sugiyama's remix injects some fresh synthpop colours into the theme and also captures the individuality of the arranger. Previously featured on the compilation album Regret, the Xmas mix will be a fun or annoying novelty depending on one's tastes, while the Orbit remix is just as long and impressive as his remixes of Air's theme.

But most enjoyable of all is the acoustic version by Lia, previously featured on the Recollections album. This rendition is vastly superior to the original, despite technically taking a reductive approach. Lia draws so much emotional out of the melody compared to the original singer, while the piano backing is elaborate and beautiful. The B-side of the disc features sixty minutes of roundtable discussion from the performers of the concert, which will be a fascinating reference for those who speak Japanese.

Summary

This album was an exclusive available to those who attended the concerts. Whether new or reprised, the remixes featured here certainly enhanced the original abd Lia's performance is especially good. That said, Key missed an opportunity by solely focusing on one song. It's better to save your money to purchase the Recollections instead.