I keep on hearing that arranged ballad version of "God Knows" from the anime "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya" on youtube and I keep on seeing comments like "dude this is so softcore," "it sounds more like something from FFX," and "that is so not GOD KNOWS," and I'm actually starting to believe them. This version is a ballad, and I know it sounds beautiful and all, but to me (and apparently, others), it doesn't seem to capture the liveliness that the rock version captured.

Am I the only one who is starting to see this? And this may not belong to the forum, but is there an arrangement out there that can suit the essential theme that the rock version "God Knows" portrays?

As far as how arrangements go, is it essential to capture the original feel of what the song portrayed? I always thought it was the arranger's responsibility to do that...

For instance, the composer Masashi Hamauzu made a completely different variation of "Besaid Island" in the FFX Piano Collections, but still managed to let "remnants" of the song stay in the final product. A lot of people say it's sounds great, but isn't the song at all... is accuracy in transcribing important at all in this case? Should there be balance in transcribing and arranging?

So apparently, I'm a little confused. @_@ Someone help.

For those who need to hear that "God Knows," here's a link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3s77hR4Osdw