Virtual Star Embryology, the second soundtrack for the Revolutionary Girl Utena television show, is quite an interesting album. In some ways it is even rather unique when compared to the other anime soundtracks I have heard. This is primarily due to the way in which the tracks on the album are arranged. The arrangement essentially splits the album into three different "stages" based on style and/or mood. The first stage kicks off with "Virtual Star Embryology," a rockin' tune featuring hard electric guitar and a strong solo vocal performance, which is also the second ending theme from the TV show. The ending, in particular, includes some incredible electric guitar solos.

We then segue into six different tracks that all share the same general style: guitar-driven rock music with choral vocals. These tracks are the "battle themes" that play during the various sword duels that Utena gets involved in during the show. Because of the general similarity in style, when listened to at one time the first track plus the choral tracks end up feeling like a short rock opera in seven parts. The overall effect is quite odd, but kind of cool none the less. And, no, I don't know what the names of the tracks mean. It is likely that they don't mean anything in particular.

The transition to the next stage comes with the TV edit of the theme song, "A Round-Dance Revolution," a super cool dance-pop song that is unfortunately quite short in this version; it ends just when you start to really get into it. The full version, available on the first Revolutionary Girl Utena soundtrack, is excellent and almost worth the price of the album on its own. The next few tracks consist of background music, all of which are fairly calm in tempo. This is the more contemplative and peaceful section of the soundtrack, and a number of the tracks here are quite interesting musically. The use of xylophone in "Momentarily Distillation" gives the track a unique sound, and "The Panorama is in Full Bloom" is quite funny with its "oom-pah" tuba (what other anime uses a tuba?). Another interesting track is "Premonition in the Eyes" because of how it uses the musical themes from "Round Dance Revolution" but takes them in a noticeably different direction, sounding more like a smooth jazz number than anything else.

This second stage of the album continues all the way to track twenty one, and is the largest part of the album. One thing I should note is that the music here is mostly orchestral in nature, which allows many different types of instruments to be used. The last three tracks in this stage, "Comforting Nostalgia," "Nemuro Memorial Hall," and "Eternal Secret" make the most use of the full orchestra, and thus possess a musical fullness that the earlier tracks do not match. All of the tracks in this stage of the album are of excellent musical quality and transition well from one track to the next.

Things begin to change with the track "Confession Elevator Room - Imaginary Bad Bug" (I don't name the songs, people; I just report them). From here on until the end we have the third stage, consisting of all the tracks that are dark and foreboding. "Confession" itself is rather disturbing, using plucked violins to mimic the sound of falling water and male vocals in a mantra that sounds like the most depressing Gregorian chant ever heard. Halfway through, though, the track turns into the kind of music you would expect on an Enya album. Quite odd, that. The strange, disturbing sounds continue until "The Dance of Death," which is more of a conflict theme due to its dramatic tension. This tension continues through the next two tracks as well, and The "Revelation of Absolute Destiny with Universal Gravitation" re-introduces the choir from the rock opera in the first stage. The track Truth brings us to the end of the regular music on the album, with a TV-sized version of first ending theme, which is just as excellent as the opening theme, and also ends way too soon. Ah, well, you'll just have to buy the other soundtrack. The album ends with a karaoke version of Virtual Star Embryology, which will only interest karaoke fans. You know who you are.

The booklet included with the album is quite good, as well. Numerous pictures from the TV show are used, and Japanese (romanized, of course) and English lyrics for all of the vocal songs are included. Rounding out the package are short articles from the composer of the non-rock opera pieces, the vocalist from the track Virtual Star Embryology, and the shows' chief illustrator. The graphic design of the booklet, with heavy use of silver, is quite attractive in its own right.

Overall, Virtual Star Embryology is a surprisingly excellent album. If I'm not in the mood for a rock opera, I will just start at "Round Dance Revolution" and go from there until the unsettling music starts. Honestly, I can understand including those last few tracks from a completeness perspective, but is anyone really going to listen to them? They are just too bizarre for me, and I imagine that most people will find them difficult to listen to. Still, there is so much good stuff here that I can overlook a few tracks I don't like. Overall, this is a great album that Utena fans will thoroughly enjoy, and can also be enjoyed by non-Utena fans due to the excellent quality of the music.