The Kagerou Project is made up of a pair of albums named Mekakucity Records and Mekakucity Days by the artist Shizen no Teki P, or Jin. There are 22 songs between the 2 albums, which all tell the story of a group of friends known as the Mekakushi Dan (Blindfold Gang) over their summer break. Included with these songs are 4 voice recordings, in which one of the characters provided an intro and outro for each album. The songs are in Japanese, and are produced with a program known as a Vocaloid (IA and Hatsune Miku), which uses pre recorded and synthetic singing and instruments. Despite this, the songs sound very natural and emotional, and there are human covers in both Japanese and English available online.

The albums offer a wide variety of songs, that all have their own unique feel. Most of the songs are there to establish the characters and their backstory, such as a cheerful love song (Yuukei Yesterday) for one girl, a retelling of a friend’s tragic death (Kagerou Days) for another boy, or a bittersweet song about remembering people who’ve already gone (Gunjou Rain). However, there are also songs that serve to develop the plot of the series, such as Lost Time Memory, in which the main character meets the rest of the cast.
Many instruments are used throughout the albums, from piano to ticking clocks, but the most common is a combo of drums and electric guitar. All of them are used to very well to deliver both somber and energetic songs. While the exciting and happy songs outnumber the more reserved and melancholy ones, there is a distinct sense of sadness throughout even the most cheerful ones. This is used to great effect by Jin to deliver the central message of the project: one of moving on from loss, but still remembering it. And that is why I think this series is so great: it’s a collection of great songs, but it’s also an engaging and compelling story told in an interesting, unusual format.
If the Kagerou Project interests you, but you’re not a big music fan, there are other ways to check it out! You could read the novelization or manga online, or you could watch the upcoming anime, starting in March 2014! However you prefer to do it, I hope you enjoy this amazing series.