Awesome Music / Akuma no Riddle

aka: Riddle Story Of Devil

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• "Sosho Innocence" ("Wounded Innocence") by Maaya Uchida, the OP theme of the anime, is a hard-out rock song.
• "Paradox", Tokaku Azuma's character song, is a fast-paced piece about someone who lives without care for much save the kill. Or, so they think. The paradox is a potential within them that drives them to do irrational things in the name of something called love, despite being taught solely of a world where life and death are all that matter.
• "Kino, Kyo, Ashita" ("Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow"), Haru Ichinose's character song is a sweet guitar song about looking forward to a better future and living on despite a horrible past. The full version also has some notes that sound kind of out-of-tune, like stereotypical mind-control music to symbolize Haru's Queen Bee ability.
• "concentration", Otoya Takechi's character song, begins with a guitar part that reminds one of a spider crawling in its net, followed by wicked electric guitar and lyrics explaining that, if everything ages and dies eventually, she might as well give you her attention while you are still young and fresh.
• "Across the Fate", Kouko Kaminaga's character song, begins with a mildly upbeat tempo mimicking the steps her character takes. It has a somber set of lyrics, describing herself as someone who was left behind and thus hoping that, some day, if there is truly a God, they will bring her judgment for her sins.
• "Dotte Koto Nai Sympathy" ("I don't need your Sympathy"), Haruki Sagae's character song, is an intense rock track, complete with just the right amount of English to give her pleas for freedom an extra kick. Fumiko Uchihara's rough, strong singing voice and distinctive pronunciations lend a desperate, emotional tone to the song.
• "Poison Me", the character song for Kirigaya Hitsugi and Namatame Chitaru, the Romeo and Juliet-expies, is a bombastic love song straight out of a musical that perfectly symbolizes their relationship. Unfortunately, the drama sort of falls apart when it's revealed that they were Only Mostly Dead.
• "Suzukaze" ("Cool Breeze") is Suzu Shuto's character song, a sweet, sad ballad about her lost love. It's much less hardcore than most of the other character songs, but it's perfect for Suzu.
• "Mayonaka no Tobo" ("Escape at Midnight"), Banba Mahiru/Shinya's character song. The dubstep parts perfectly symbolize Mahiru's insanity while the background music gives a strong Afrad-of-the-Dark feel.
• "Tenshi no Smile" ("The Smile of an Angel"), Isuke Inukai's character song, starts with a rapid beat that warps into a semi-hard instrumental sequence before dropping lower and allowing her arrogant voice to show through in a dialogue to a "half-asser." This song is a bit more abstract in lyrics since there are not that many clear feelings of love or desire, save for her want to "get rich quick", though she does mention there is someone she wants to see smile as well.
• "Inochi no Karakuri" ("Mechanism of Life"), Sumireko Hanabusa's image song. Absolutely wicked shredding on a guitar throughout most of the song, with church bells and a pounding drum that practically smack you in the face with how determined Sumireko is to win the assassination game.
• "Survival", Nio Hashiri's image song sounds sort of funny, like a stage performance, while Nio tells us that she has been all alone for her whole life and had to seize everything she wanted by her own power. In keeping with her whole dark magic-theme, the music also takes on avantgarde or gothic tones toward the end. And the last shot of the ED, with police sirens and a shot of empty shoes on top of a skyscraper, has some really chilling implications.
• QUEEN, the final ending song in the series, excluding the OVA, includes the voices of all the girls. Its somber tone rises to a faster pace, similar to how the lyrics eventually describe turning away from one's past and running towards the finish line. It is a poignant look at all the Class as a whole, though it might have been better fitting had the anime produced more nuance as the manga did later.
• Last Party, the ending of the OVA episode, features swimsuits and fanservice. The song itself is fast paced and very cleverly stitched together with motifs and lyrics from all the girl's individual endings, and Shiena even gets a line or two solo, so you can actually hear how she sounds.

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