Kimi ga Iru Kara or My Hands?

[Shiro]

When I heard that Leona Lewis was doing the theme song for XIII, I cringed. When I finished the game, I covered my ears during the ending sequence. Out of curiosity, I downloaded the Japanese theme song Kimi ga Iru Kara, and the Japanese counterpart for Serah's theme, Eternal Love. Both disappointed me. I got 3 minutes into Kimi ga Iru Kara and pressed stop. Now I'm all for theme songs being sung in Japanese, but the style did not appeal to me and when I listened to My Hands again, I actually found myself singing along! And I'd take Serah's english theme over Eternal Love any day. Which versions did you prefer?

[Unknown Entity]

When I heard Leona Lewis' song "My Hands" was going to be in Final Fantasy XIII, I cringed too. She's an amazing singer, but Pop and RnB just isn't really my thing. I honestly thought it was going to be terrible. But actually, it worked very well with the ending.

Kimi ga Iru Kara isn't bad either, but half of me is glad it wasn't in the English version of FFXIII.

So I like both, but I voted "My Hands".

[Freya]

I didn't listen to the original, but I didn't like "My Hands". It didn't fit the situation at all, it wasn't as emotional as it probably should've been.
So I'd vote for none of them, though I think that the original's better. (Has to be - as it was written for the game and probably fits the cutscene better than Leona Lewis.)
I'll listen to Kimi ga Iru Kara one day, maybe then I'll be a fan of "My Hands"...

And seriously, this thread makes me wanna see the end of FFXIII again. >_<"

[Dodie16]

Yeah, I was none too pleased when I heard that Leona Lewis' song was going to be in the game. However, when the scene came up where it played, I honestly didn't notice it too much. Too wrapped up in what was going on, I suppose. I'll have to play the game ending again to hear with the scene better one of these days.

I have the original on my iPod, and I like it okay enough, but I suppose I'll have to give it up to Miss Lewis, because it's a pretty good song on it's own. ^^

[Angel of Iniquity]

Eh, I thought it was horribly out of place lol
Since FF8, there has been a vocal song in the Major FF titles, but an american singer really just ticked my nerves, showing that they may actually are trying to hard to please us westerners.

[Unknown Entity]

Eh, I thought it was horribly out of place lol
Since FF8, there has been a vocal song in the Major FF titles, but an american singer really just ticked my nerves, showing that they may actually are trying to hard to please us westerners.

Leona Lewis isn't an American singer. She comes from the same part of London, England where I'm from.

[Angel of Iniquity]

Leona Lewis isn't an American singer. She comes from the same part of London, England where I'm from.

o.o
I meant with the style of song, I knew she was English.
THe song sounded American in culture lol

[Shiro]

Did Leona Lewis create My Hands specifically for FFXIII or was it a song already made that was just chosen by Square?

[Dodie16]

Did Leona Lewis create My Hands specifically for FFXIII or was it a song already made that was just chosen by Square?

The latter. "My Hands" is off Leona Lewis' album titled Echo. Apparently, there was a lack of staff to come up with an original song for the international release of the game, so that's why SE decided to approach Miss Lewis and asked to use her song.

[chinonozu]

Now I'm all for theme songs being sung in Japanese, but the style did not appeal to me and when I listened to My Hands again, I actually found myself singing along!

No shit sherlock, she's singing in english. Don't tell me you were going to sing along if My Hands were in Japanese.

[Shiro]

No shit sherlock, she's singing in english. Don't tell me you were going to sing along if My Hands were in Japanese.

What I meant by that statement was I liked the song enough to sing along. I am also able to sing along to quite a few Japanese songs, once I know the lyrics

The latter. "My Hands" is off Leona Lewis' album titled Echo. Apparently, there was a lack of staff to come up with an original song for the international release of the game, so that's why SE decided to approach Miss Lewis and asked to use her song.

That's kinda lame. It really wouldn't have been that hard for them to convert Kimi ga Iru Kara to English, they did it with Melodies of Life and 1000 Words just fine. I know the reason Square gave for not making an English version was because the lyrics were apparently too difficult to convert into English. I find that a poor excuse because the English versions of Melodies of Life and 1000 Words have vastly different lyrics in English compared to the translated Japanese, but that didn't stop them. I think they just wanted a more 'commercial' song.

[Angel of Iniquity]

That's kinda lame. It really wouldn't have been that hard for them to convert Kimi ga Iru Kara to English, they did it with Melodies of Life and 1000 Words just fine. I know the reason Square gave for not making an English version was because the lyrics were apparently too difficult to convert into English. I find that a poor excuse because the English versions of Melodies of Life and 1000 Words have vastly different lyrics in English compared to the translated Japanese, but that didn't stop them. I think they just wanted a more 'commercial' song.

Same with Kiss me good-bye.
And I 1,000,000% agree about the commercial thingy.

[Shiro]

I always forget about Kiss Me Goodbye for some reason Lol

[scorptatious]

I personally preferred "My Hands" personally. It certainly wasn't as good as "Melodies of Life", but I still thought it was a pretty good song to end FFXIII. Although I can't help but wonder what "Kimi ga Iru Kara" would've been like if it was translated to english.

[Glorious Raven]

I don't really care for either of the songs, to be quite honest. Though, if I had to make a choice, I'd give a slight edge to "My Hands." A very slight edge.

[Merlin]

Well I'll be the oddball and say I love the song My Hands. I guess because I can relate to the lyrics, so it brings the emotional connection. If you listen to the lyrics, it does fit the situation to a T. They emotionally bonded with Fang and Vanille along their journey together. It will be a struggle, but they still keep the thoughts of the two they lost in their hearts and minds as they move forward with their lives, wishing they could have them back but knowing they never can. On the other hand, I thought her original album was much better than the second.

Now as for Kimi ga Iru Kara, it just sounds like a typical anime ending to me. It doesn't really scream epic ending like previous entries... it screams credit roll and that's about it.

One thing I disliked about the music overall was the repetitive use of the same tracks... they just kept remixing the same track in every other song. It got old by the end of the game.