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hikarinosenritsu · 4 months ago

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Kalafina Anniversary Live 2025 Broadcast

For the time being, we'll have to make do with a Bilibili version. Here's a GOOGLE DRIVE link (~1GB) for those who prefer to watch with their own video player. Still hoping we'll get a super HQ version soon, the audio/video quality is currently not the greatest I'm afraid.

Some of it can probably be chalked up to the rather mediocre quality of the recording/broadcast itself so we might never get a much clearer version... Quite a few shaky/blurry visuals throughout the video (bad camera work? They didn't use the sort of old-school camera equipment so maybe that's why?) and the audio is a bit dull (probably the TV broadcast's fault? I feel like those broadcasts never have the best audio). Anyway, this thing turned out so much longer than expected because I translated all the MCs and added some of the comments Keiko shared in her FC-exclusive app. Please enjoy and kudos to you if you make it all the way to the end!!

Quick update: I hated the look of this post (plus, there were so many mistakes) so I did some heavy editing earlier today. Tumblr was being a little bitch though and didn't let me save my edits so it became a huge hassle to fix everything. Forgive me if you saw the post during this period. Big chunks must have looked like a total mess. Some parts were completely missing for a while. Sorry for the inconvenience. It should be fine now.

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1 oblivious: For some reason, this is hitting me so much harder in the feels than back during the live itself, instant tears!! Wakana's and Hikaru's gorgeous "ohhhohhhs", those amazing low notes from Keiko and that absolutely perfect back-and-forth between Wakana and Keiko! I still cannot express with words how much I've missed them. 2 Kizuato: Again, I am treasuring every moment of this so much even though this is not even a song I usually like. I appreciate that so far in this recording, they seem to have balanced out the volume of their vocals compared to the music (that was seriously off-putting during the concert) and there is not too much added background noise (or studio magic) so we can focus on the girls. That might invite even more people to criticise them but personally, I really enjoy this kind of stripped-down and raw version. I'm just soaking up every word and note. After such a long drought, it's a true blessing. 3 Mirai: Quite raw (in a good way) and a real tear jerker for me. Obviously not their best vocal-wise but it has never been so I'm not mad about it. Really liking some of Wakana's high notes here though. [Yodel note: Keiko was so worried during Mirai bc she thought she would for sure be overwhelmed and start crying when she got to see everyone's face. Even though there's a huge smile on her face, her heart was in a state of wonder and turmoil.]

MC#1: W: Everyone, good evening. This is Kalafina. *clapping* Thank you. Welcome to our "Kalafina Anniversary Live 2025" at Tokyo Garden Theater, we are very glad that you've come! *clapping* Thank you! The three of us have been eagerly awaiting this day. From the bottom of our hearts, we've really been looking forward to meeting all of you again. It's so moving to see you all here right in front of us. It's been seven years since we've been apart. The three of have talked about wanting to make up for all the lost time with our music tonight. Do you all feel the same as well? We hope that tonight's Kalafina music will completely fill up the void that's been left during the past seven years. Please enjoy yourselves until the very end. This is Wakana. K: Today, we'd like to sing each song with all our hearts so that it can be a special day. Thank you. This is Keiko. H: It didn't rain, huh? *laughs* Well, can I do the same as always? Can we please get some light on the audience! Let's start from the top! *the girls proceed to wave to everyone in the 3rd/2nd/1st floor balconies (A-I) as well as the arena* Thank you. This is Hikaru. K: Well, please enjoy the songs chosen for this Anniversary only. Next up is "Hikari no Senritsu".

4 Hikari no Senritsu: Honestly one of the most enjoyable performances for me which is quite surprising considering that I'm normally not a big fan. Such beautiful harmonies and I'm really into Hikaru's solo parts. The cello solo takes some getting used to but it's a nice addition. Still prefer the flute though. [Yodel note: This block beginning with HnS is so bright that it is almost blinding. Yet you cannot help but look up and sing] 5 storia: Not too hyped about Hikaru here but this song has always been rough for her in the latter years of their career. My God, not to sound like a broken record but I've missed those WaKei harmonies so much, I can't even put into words what it does to me to hear them together again like this. This is not Wakana's strongest singing either but I don't even care, the chorus is gorgeous. Utterly in love! 6 ring your bell: Still feeling a little mislead by that piano solo. Was fully expecting a tragic ballad after this but we got ryb instead :P Surprisingly, I was very into it and to be honest, I still am. To me, they actually sound a lot better than they usually do during live performances of this song. Especially Wakana's voice doesn't come across as overly grating for which I am very grateful (it's always an issue for me). Needless to say, this is so much better than that awkward YK cover with Lino Leia...[Yodel note: Keiko is utterly in love with this performance 🚩🚩🚩]

MC#2: K: Thank you. Whenever or wherever we sing ring your bell, it's ?? W: Yes! Until the very end of the song, there's a theme that runs through the entire song, it's like we are holding hands the entire time. It's great! K: Yes, there's a sense of agreement and support. There's a motif of carrying a flag. We often performed this at venues carrying a flag. W: That's right. We got to hold so many lives as Kalafina. We got the chance to put our flag in all these different places. K: As for this evening. There are lots of songs, so many songs that we wanted to sing. We thought a lot about it together. But we mostly agreed on the ones we really wanted to sing. Surprisingly, the next block has a lot of songs from our 4th album "Consolation". W: Yeah, when we had finished coming up with the setlist, we noticed that this section has quite a lot of songs from "Consolation". K: Yes, so we kinda made it into our "Consolation" block. Waka-chan, what kind of album is it? W: Of course. This is our 4th album released in 2013, at this point we had been active for five years after our debut. The album was made with the concept in mind to go back to our roots. K: It reminds us of the progress we have made and it makes us feel like taking on one more challenge. There a lots of songs on the album that bring back those feelings and memories. The first song of the next block was suggested by Hikaru, she wanted to sing it, right? H: Yes. I love the song and the lyrics. It's simple but you can drown so easily in its world and it's been a while since we have performed it so that's why... K: It's a song you really love... H: Yes it is. K: That sentiment applies to all songs I guess. It's always impossible to pick a single song when you are asked about your very favourite song. H: It's just too hard. K: But there are songs we just love. H: There are! K: The next song is Hikaru's pick from the album "Consolation", what could it be? In a special arrangement, just for tonight, Hanataba...

7 Hanataba: The first and only time I'm not turned off by the accordion. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Hikaru in this. No words honestly. Absolute perfection. Especially the verse "kinou no | hanataba wo fumishidaite | bokura ga yuku | kouya de! Wow, wow, wow!! The WaKei parts are also flawless in my opinion. Then Keiko's solo! *chef's kiss* Simply put, an instant favourite and the reason I chose it for this post. 8 Lacrimosa: That seamless transition! Impeccable! Another banger for Hikaru even though she is not even featured all that heavily throughout the song. Not 100% sold on Wakana's peformance during certain parts but overall, I enjoy this a lot!! [Yodel note: They were super determined to sing this because it represents their first proper debut after all the KnK tie-ins. It's so special to all of them and it's a shame that it didn't make it onto their 10th Anniversary setlist. To make up for that, they just had to include it here] 9 Manten: Always quite solid and this is no exception although it's not my favourite. Nothing else to add. 10 to the beginning: This on the other hand quickly became one of my faves and I am usually a big hater when it comes to this song. Okay, maybe not a hater but I'll always skip this no matter what. However, this performance did something to me and I was intrigued from beginning to end. Can't explain what's different but it's weirdly intoxicating. Is it just me or is the tempo slightly too fast though? I noticed it during the concert already and I still feel like something is a little off or maybe it's just me not knowing the song by heart like so many other Kalafina pieces :P By the time we reach the end, it's not as noticeable anymore but during the beginning it feels a bit overly rushed I guess. Maybe that's the reason why I am suddenly into it? XD Okay no, I doubt that...I think it's just the girls being amazing and conveying so much passion [Yodel note: Once again, Keiko is a big fan of the block. She shares some moon/star emojis to emphasise this]

MC#3 K: Thank you. As Kalafina, we got to go on tour in different formations, with a regular band arrangement and a strings arrangement. We love both kinds of compositions but with strings we feel like our harmony gets to shine even more because we are creating every single melody with much more care. It's an opportunity to face each song as if it were a challenge, we are tackling everything with much care. W: That's right. You can hear every sound very well. That applies to the instruments of course but also our voices. It becomes easier to convey those sounds so we love it. Even now, we feel like during those tours our audiences members came to experience that special sound. K: There's more freedom. Everyone has a different interpretation and way listening to the songs. There's a variety of impressions you can have. Hikaru gets a lot of those very emotional parts so you really enjoy with strings arrangements, right? H: That's true. As mentioned just now, there's more freedom. Kalafina songs have a lot of notes but when you perform them with a strings arrangement, many empty spaces are created and you start wondering what to do with them, how to fill them. Maybe cut something off here and there or make that one note a little longer or things like that...there are many challenging parts to it. Everything is very delicate. But this is a lot of fun. I think it's the true charm of acoustic lives that everyone can enjoy the songs from a different side. K: So tonight at Garden Theater, we would like to sing a few songs with a strings arrangement. Please enjoy the melody of strings, piano and vocals. Kimi no Gin no Niwa...

11 Kimi no Gin no Niwa~acoustic version: For me, the song is so much better without the addition of an accordion. Truly a gorgeous acoustic arrangement. I like this more than the one of their Winter Acoustic album. It's beautiful but never overbearing, a perfect accompaniment. That a cappella ending is totally precious. I am honestly baffled how this concert has made me find an appreciation for songs I usually don't particularly like. [Yodel note: They tried to cherish the original while also taking on a new challenge. It was Satoshi Takebe who suggested the a cappella at the end. She tried to sing that part so everyone could enjoy Wakana and Hikaru's vocals even more] 12 sprinter~acoustic version: What a roller-coaster of emotions. This kills me. Have rewatched it so many times. It's not quite as impactful as that Arena Live performance but a close second. Just wonderful. [Yodel note: Keiko loves everything about Hikaru's performance here. They actually worried a lot about whether to sing the studio or acoustic version. Ideally, they would have liked to sing both]

MC#4 K: Thank you. It's great that we got to include with strings arrangements in the setlist. W: Truly! I am glad we added them. K: Everyone was so very focused. W: Thank you to everyone who listened with such a strong focus. K: We really feel it, everyone's excitement that's just as strong as our own excitement. In this space here, the atmosphere created by you is so perfectly transmitted to us. it's something we don't feel during rehearsals. This reminds of what a live concert feels like. We sang while remembering all those special moments from the past. Thank you. [They must have cute something here but I can't remember what it could have been.]Now...are you ready? Balcony? You all right? Arena? Everyone ready? Hyakka Ryouran

13 Hyakka Ryouran: Big fan of the little piano parts but I think I am not a fan of the drums here. Don't remember being off-put by them in the 10th Anniversary performance. Still, I enjoy this a lot more now compared to the actual concert. The music and instruments were way too overwhelming at the venue but they managed to fix it for the broadcast. Much more focus on their vocals which I love of course. I will say though that I feel like their voices don't blend as well here as I would like them to blend. Maybe it's because they had to tweak a few things here and there with the audio so now the individual voices are a bit too isolated...no idea...nothing too bad. Still a very enjoyable performance but not as good as it could be. 14 misterioso: The way Keiko talks about this song makes me really appreciate it more. I think this is the first time I truly focused on a performance without my thoughts drifting away [Yodel note: Keiko LOVES the harmonies here. They were all smiling so much. At one point Keiko straight up breaks into laughter for a moment. It also happened during dress rehearsal. She couldn't help it and it happened again. She was just having so much fun and laughing] 15 One Light: Always a highlight. Honestly so good and exciting. Once again, I really appreciate that they didn't add too much studio magic during the editing process except for making the vocals stand out more and tuning out some of the obnoxious background noise. During my initial live report, I complained a little about the music being overly loud and drowning out the vocals. They must have noticed that issue too and tried to fix it during the editing. These performances sound quite raw for the most part so you can hear their voices very clearly without any added backing tracks. Although this way, you notice more easily when one of them misses their cue or forgets part of their line. I feel like this happened a couple of times but hey, I don't care. 16 Kyrie: Digging this slightly toned down arrangement. Really emphasizes the strings and vocals. Great performance. Not their best but super fun. 17 Ongaku: Again, very interesting to have this laser focus on their voices and the instruments on the stage. You have to realise that this entire section sounded completely different so this is quite refreshing. So happy they kept the part where Keiko takes Wakana's hand to help her up the stairs. Super!Wakana knocked it out of the park. Waaah! They are all having so much fun, I'm getting so addicted. This feeling of euphoria is beyond anything else. [Yodel note: Keiko says that Kyrie and Ongaku have always been one of their staple combos for their climax section, even from the early days on. Later, songs like heavenly blue and One Light gained a similar status so they decided to perform all of them in a row. Of course these are all the songs where their get to shine.] 18 heavenly blue: Hahaha, I don't even remember this small WaKei moment. Keiko asks everyone at the venue if we can still go on with another up-beat song. She's like "Garden!!! Garden!!??? Garden??!!" While she and Hikaru are running across the stage, she shouts , "Wakana!?" as if to ask if she is ready too. Wakana is like, "YES!!!". Everyone can still go on so that's what happens. Admittedly, the intro a bit sounded underwhelming with the toned-down background music. Same applies to most of the song unfortunately. This is usually a favourite of mine and I remember liking it at the concert, although I was a bit overwhelmed by all the noise - I guess it's either underwhelmed or overwhelmed. With the previous songs, I didn't mind the stripped-down version but heavenly blue probably requires a stronger oomph factor and richer music background. The bridge and ending (my favourite parts) sounded great though so I'm happy. On a side note, some people may not be happy with the musician line-up but I personally do not mind the changes. I think they are all doing a decent job. But the removal of a lot of the background music does of course make everything sound a little flat and less vibrant.

MC#5 K: Thank you, Garden! W: Thank you! K: Did you all remember the hand gesture? [referring to that finger thingy they all do, especially during Ongaku but it has pretty much extended to many other songs as well] Anyone who did it for the first time? This was the hardest setlist. Because it's our anniversary live, we can take on that challenge. We did a total of six songs in a row. Now it's finally, finally time to introduce our musicians. Sorry for waiting [Musician Introduction]. It's not just the musicians we have to thank. Without all the staff members putting so much effort into this concert, it wouldn't have been possible so let's have a big round of applause for them. [Here's another cut I think] Next up is our last song. *sounds of disappointment from the audience/people scream they want to restart the night* I want to do the whole live over again too. There were so many songs we wanted to sing today and even more songs that just didn't make it onto the setlist even though we wanted to sing them too. We really want to sing them for you. The last song, we also sang it for our 10th Anniversary Live. Back then, for the first time ever, we had a poll to let our fans decide which songs they wanted to hear. There was one song which received the most love from everyone, we want to sing that today today. Alleluia.

19 Alleluia: LOVED it. A lot more than usual actually. [Yodel note: Keiko says that her performance of this song has been growing steadily throughout the years as if she was chasing a longing to let it grow even more. However, this time, despite the song being about moving forward, she returned to her roots and sang it in a very innocent manner, with a beginner's heart so to speak. She wonders if it comes across and hopes people will accept this interpretation] En1 Magia: Another very interesting intro without all the overbearing background music. Appreciate the bridge much more than I did during the live. Good stuff, no complaints. Can you tell I'm getting tired? Already way past 1am (not a night person at all) but I wanna get this done before I head to bed XD En2 Hikari Furu: I did not appreciate Wakana's shakiness during the concert but hearing it again in the broadcast, I don't mind it too much anymore. Obviously not amazing but I can still enjoy the song and she gets better as the song progresses. Waaaahhhh! The climax is so much more beautiful now that you can actually hear it. At the venue, their vocals were pretty much drowned out by the music.

MC#6: K: Thank you for the encore. We ended up arriving all the way at the encore. W: Time went by way too fast. I'm having mixed feelings right now. K: Yes, definitely mixed feelings! I understand. W: Already feeling sad and lonely. K: But there's still a little bit more time left! The songs Magia and Hikari Furu opened new paths for us and brought us on a new journey. Thanks to the work "Puella Magi Madoka Magica", we got to meet so many new people and visit so many new places. It's not just the works, it's all of you who came along with us to so many places. I felt very happy today singing each and every song. [Another cut I think]We want to create music with everyone again! having this thought in mind we would like to sing the final song. into the world...

En3 into the world: What a perfect ending. Nothing to add really except that I can't help but tear up a little.

MC#7 K: One more introduction for our band members![Musician introduction] H: Can you hear us? [Everyone gets ready for the final group bow] W: Thank - HK: *look shocked* *Keiko falls to her knees laughing like crazy* *Wakana is flabbergasted* [They screwed up the final greeting and weren't in sync. Also Keiko might have missed her cue because she didn't say anything. Anyways, it's meant to start with "Kyou wa=Today" but Wakana started with "Arigatou=Thank you". After discussing everything in detail, they give it another try] WKH: Thank you so much for today!!! W: Please another big round of applause for the musicians! [Another cut] K: Please continue to listen to a lot of Kalafina from now on! Each and every song was created together with all of you so this is something that will never change. Please show this music a lot of love! Thank you!

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