#wakana cover album

[putschki1969]

Wakana “Flag” Digital Release

In her latest tweet, Wakana has hinted at a few announcements that would happen tomorrow. One of these announcements is the digital release of her mobile game theme song “Flag”. No official announcement yet but all the info was posted at midnight (JST).

Digital Single: Flag Release date: 2023.03.15 Label: Victor Link: https://www.jvcmusic.co.jp/-/Discography/A026394/VE3WT-10278.html

You can purchase and stream Wakana’s first digital release on various sites (mora, iTunes etc) and streaming platforms (Spotify, YouTube, Apple Music, etc).

Please be sure to ❗SUPPORT WAKANA❗ in any way you can!

• ————— ¤ ♫ ¤ ————— •

BUY it on mora (TUTORIAL here)

BUY it in your local iTunes store at midnight!

• ————— ¤ ♫ ¤ ————— •

Wakana「Flag」（「Wakana Classics 2022 ～Christmas Special～」）

And here is a lovely snippet of a live performance of the acoustic version of “Flag” from her Christmas concert last year. This brings back so many memories! Check out my live report here! I am still convinced that we will be getting a lot of that footage as bonus content on her upcoming album so I am very much looking forward to experience all of it again.

Wakana 3rd Album Title Revealed

The detailed info for the newly released videos on Wakana’s channel also teases the title and release date of Wakana’s new album

Title: 『そのさきへ (Sono Saki e = Beyond this point)』 Release date: 2023/05/31

[imasallstars]

The cover art for THE IDOLM@STER SHINY COLORS “CANVAS” 03 album has been released and the album is set to be released on June 14th 2023. It will feature three new songs by the unit as well as a special drama track.

This album features the unit Houkago Climax Girls consisting of Kaho Komiya (cv. Hiyori Konno), Chiyoko Sonoda (cv. Haruka Shiraishi), Juri Saijo (cv. Mariko Nagai), Rinze Morino (cv. Wakana Maruoka) and Natsuha Arisugawa (cv. Akiho Suzumoto) in their Donshan Matsuri Hayashi outfit

The crossfade of the album is located here

Tracklist:

Tr.01　HANASAKASAISAI 　Lyrics: Shin Furuya　Music&Arrange: Suji Kanayama (Dream Monster) Tr.02　Zenryoku Answer 　Lyrics: Shin Furuya　Music&Arrange: Kentaro Fujii (HANO) Tr.03　Himekuri Mosaic 　Lyrics: Erica Masaki　Music&Arrange: Taiyou Makino Tr.04　Drama “Scene of Joy” Tr.05　HANASAKASAISAI (Off Vocal) Tr.06　Zenryoku Answer (Off Vocal) Tr.07　Himekuri Mosaic (Off Vocal)

[imisoliconditol]

It's been 9 years since the last FictionJunction album (which I sadly never really enjoyed that much) and now FictionJunction is back with their new song, Parade. FictionJunction, the 4 ladies vocal unit under Yuki Kajiura now has Joelle in its line-up since 2018, replacing Wakana since they "parted way", so to speak.

I have to be frank here, the song is really not my cup of tea. It sounds like an old Kajiura composition that she dug up from her storage, or she was trying to get back to her roots/old compositional style. Now, I adore old, pre-KnK Kajiura compositions. The song sounds half-hearted to me, in the sense that it sounds like Kajiura-sensei wanted to bring back her old composition with her more modern sounding arrangement but at the end making the song sounds really awkward with some unusual melody choice. Now I've read her comments/liner notes on each song and I really feel like Kajiura was in her nostalgic phase, digging up old songs she wrote but never got around to record. The new song Kai, which features Aimer on vocal is said to be a song she wrote more than 30 years ago. The album also features 2 Saeko Chiba songs cover, and Mou Kimi no Koto wo Mitakunai also sounds like her old composition even though she didn't say so on her comment.

The verses are mostly sung by Joelle on main vocal, which I really don't have a qualm about. She sounded okay, albeit weirdly restrained on the first verses. Now the reffrain I have a problem with. Kaori sounded somewhat unpleasing to the ears. There are some parts where she sounded kinda chopped, the legato between the notes became somewhat disconnected and it took away the enjoyment I could've felt from the song.

One of the biggest problem I kinda have with the new FictionJunction lineup is Kaori and Joelle have a somewhat similar tone, and the similarity becomes even more noticeable when they sing in Japanese songs. To me, Joelle always sounded better when she sings in English and she somehow retains her technique better when she sings in English too. In this song particularly Joelle and Kaori sounded very similar to the point of being almost undistinguishable. I can tell their voices apart because Joelle is better technique wise, and it's really noticeable when they both are belting but I've seen so many who seem to can't tell them apart. Since they both sounded really similar, the recent FictionJunction just doesn't sound and feel as colorful and pleasing as they used to be when Wakana was still around.

I get that Joelle is a much better vocalist than Wakana, especially in live performances. But to most people what matter the most is their tone, and Wakana has such a nice, lovely tone that even when she changed her singing style to be even less accurate and more "pinched sounding", for most Kajiura fans Wakana simply sounded more pleasing to their ears. And I get that. Even when her technique kinda made me went "omg Wakana why", at the end of the day her voice is still more to my taste than Joelle's.

On the positive side, I particularly adore 3/4 of the bridge, because it's the only time where she successfully brought out her old style - with overlapping melodies, open chorus, and just overall nice, brighter sound. But then the last line was really not it, imho.

With that all being said, maybe in several weeks I'd listen to this song again and would come around to appreciate the song more. As of now, I'm kinda indifferent towards it and it's sadly on the "I'm not adding this to my playlist" (yet).

[you-turn-it-into-light]

Wakana - magic moment (2020) Album Review

My girl releases another album less than a year after her first. What a hardworking woman! First, let’s do some overall thoughts:

I really love the title of this album, it’s a happy title for a mostly happy sounding album

I also love the cover, maybe even more than the ‘Wakana’ Album

Are those shoes the same ones from the Aki no Sakura EP?

I really love the diversity of sound in this album. One of my complaints of the first album was the lack of variety. I love me some ballads (70% of my playlist of all the music I listen to are sad songs) but it felt a bit stale after a while.

My complaints with Wakana’s singing is always going to be the same thing since her vocal delivery has not really changed technically that much. Her vibrato is actually quite nice as opposed to what some people would say as ‘Goat Wakana’ (great criticism I must say), especially at the end of 442, her lower register is gorgeous but has no support (as expected of a soprano) and her higher notes in her chest voice are quite nasally. Her falsetto however is quite grating on the ears (I’ll elaborate later)

Why is Orange on the album? To fill up space, that’s why (I get it, making an album is hard, but why not just leave it out? There’d still be 10 songs) And Wakana wrote the lyrics, I guess?

I’m really interested to see how some songs will be performed live with some overlapping vocals (in 442) and strings being in many of the songs (without a violinist for the upcoming live)

I listened to the album first when I was in a bit of a bad mood so everything seemed super average. I’m feeling a bit better about most of the songs. Also after reading the self-liner notes for the album and listening to the lyrics, I was able to appreciate some of the songs more.

Okay, now for the individual songs:

breathing 

(Lyrics: Wakana | Arrangement/Composition: Yumemi Kujira)

The orchestra sound is so gorgeous. At first it was weird hearing the japanese lyrics though lol. I like how they added different instruments for variety’s sake. The choir in the background was more hit or miss for me. During the first chorus is was really distracting but it was great for the rest of the song. My main problem is not the song itself but Wakana’s delivery of the falsetto; it’s very disconnected and screechy. It’s very hard to listen to and since the same chorus is repeated 4 times? It makes it a bit of a hard song to listen to overall. Wakana needs to develop better placement, breathing techniques and support when hitting notes in her head voice.

揺れる春 (Yureru Haru) 

Lyrics: Wakana |  Arrangement/Composition: Miki Sakurai

I don’t really like this song? The lyrics are quite nice, but it just feels like a plain upbeat song about being happy and reaching for goals and all that fun generic stuff. But what Wakana said in the self liner notes made me feel a bit better about the song:

“The hook’s 駆け出した (run off) and 君の叫び (your scream) are connected, right?”

“The urge to run off and shout. It’s exhilarating, and the canvas that you have now is white so you can draw freely and go with the urge. And the second verse’s 睫毛に触れたのは 昨日の自分の欠片 (What touched my eyelashes was the pieces of yesterday’s me) are about tears. The tears hit my eyelashes and one part stops there. The fragments that came out of itself include those that you pick up yourself (I had a hard time translating that sentence so I used google translate hehe). 

where 

Lyrics/Composition: AlbatoLuce | Arrangement: Akihito Takashi

I LOVE Wakana’s low register in this song and the verses. I also really like the acoustic guitar, it provides a really contrast to the more dance-centric feeling of the song. The first chorus still lacks the appropriate punch, but the key change for the second half of the song makes up for it. Also those ‘wooah’s’ are really awesome. Wakana’s voice during the 3rd verse (after the key change) is just gorgeous. 

442 

Lyrics: Wakana, Airi Okamoto | Arrangement/Composition: Koichi Ikekubo

I really wanted to know the meaning of the title, and apparently it’s the hertz sound of a baby crying for the first time!

“The lyrics are co-authored. First we talked about the subject (of the lyrics), we said “When we plan the song, let’s make the theme the reason why you started singing”. So when looking at the lyrics given to me, words came out from inside of me. In particular, the phrase 愛の声が聴こえた (I heard the voice of love) that Okamoto-san produced for us for the hook. [...] I thought that I was born to listen to the “voice of love”. And so, that singing voice is echoing throughout my whole body. It’s strange to cry with the same sound of when we were born. I wonder why? I thought about it, I was born to do something and I thought that your first cry was a singing voice that expressed it.”

I love the melody and instrumentation of this song, especially the chorus. The chorus holds an incredible amount of weight. Apart from her nasality, Wakana’s singing is quite solid throughout this song. I love Wakana’s ‘ai no’ at the last chorus. So much power! I also really like the violin and am disappointed that there won’t be any in the live... Also I love the last line 響き渡る歌声 (resounding singing voice) and the music stops when Wakana sings ‘singing voice’. I don’t have anything objective to say about it, I just adore that part.

ひらり ひらり (Hirari Hirari) 

Lyrics/Composition: Silence! | Arrangement: Mamoru Kuge

Bland... It might take me a few listens but I don’t know if I’ll like this song. Wakana’s singing during the verses is gorgeous, very clear and the melody of the verses and pre-choruses are lovely, but the chorus is really bland and forgettable. I like what Wakana said about the song though.

“It's a song for people who want to meet but can't meet, whether it’s because you can't meet because you're away or because you don't have the courage.”   

I’m in a long-distance relationship, so this song hits home a little bit. The lyrics are actually quite sad. If the whole song was like the verses I’d like it a lot more but the chorus is so uplifting...

アキノサクラ (Aki no Sakura) (Acoustic ver.)

Lyrics: Kei Saito, Yoshitaka Taira | Composition: Kei Saito | Arrangement: Toshio Uchida

I love the combo of bongos and accordion! There isn’t much to say about this song apart from the new instrumentation and the tempo. I really like the former but not really the latter. I don’t think I like it more than the original, but it’s a very nice song. The vocalisations during the bridge is also a pretty touch, especially when Wakana sings along with the music. and that ‘naite’ at the end was so emotional

myself

Lyrics/Composition: AlbatoLuce | Arrangement: Yoshifumi Ise

When I first heard this song, I thought it was BORING. On the second listen, I really liked it. Wakana’s voice is so gorgeous on this song. I love the melody of the line 壊れぬように抱きしめてた (I embraced it so it wouldn’t break). Her vibrato is a bit shaky with the delivery and her low register is not as clear as other tracks (but maybe that’s because of the mixing). Some of the strings sound synth, especially during the bridge but I’m not very sure. The parts with just the one violin instead of the quartet are my favourite bits of the instrumentation; it sounds really lonely. There’s nothing much else to say about it, a very solid song.

君だけのステージ

Lyrics: Wakana | Composition/Arrangement: Satoshi Takebe

I was disappointed. I really like this song and in my review of the live version I mentioned that her high register suits a song like this. But the way Wakana’s singing in the recorded version sounds different to me. The vowels are shaped in a way that sounds like a sadder song. Maybe this me being picky, but it took away from the happier experience. The nasality in her voice is the worst in this song, it literally sounds like she needs to sneeze and drink some water. Also the added noises (synth bells?) during the pre-chorus is very distracting. My review sounds very negative, but I really like this song and the lyrics are gorgeous. 

Happy Hello Day

Lyrics: Wakana | Composer: Akihiro Kasuga | Arrangement: Shu Kanematsu

At this point, the strings are really nice, even if they’re getting a bit old. But the piano during the verses is very cool... I really like the strings in the chorus and the melody of it too. The message of the song is quite sweet and easily applicable to anyone in every day life. These lyrics in particular:

手を叩き軽やかに Clap your hands lightly, 口笛吹いて whistling. ありふれた幸せで僕らはできてる We are made of ordinary happiness.

君が空を仰いで涙流し You look up at the sky, shedding tears. 息を詰まらせて動けなくなったら If you get short of breath and can't move, 此処に僕が居る I'm here.

These lyrics (for like the first 2 lines) are about a performer and the audience. Creating the atmosphere of a happy and chill live (clapping lightly, still listening to the music) and everyone being the same, even the performer. The second section reflects the way some people view performers and music to be an escape from their life. But it can also be interpreted as just an everyday person being happy to have met someone they like. I love how it’s so interchangeable and up for interpretation. 

magic moment

Lyrics: Wakana | Composer: SIRA | Arrangement: Shu Kanematsu

The strings are gorgeous (why no strings for the live????!!!!) and so are the verses. I particularly love the pre-chorus. The chorus however is quite bland and boring and the changing rhythm is a bit hard to grasp. The lyrics are lovely as well. I mean, I’m biased because Wakana wrote them. But I love these ones:

いつから夢も見ない大人になったの？ Since when did I become an adult that never dreamed? 最後の場所は決めたよ　さあ行こう I've decided on the last place. So, let's go!

The song is actually quite growing on me. I’m sure I’ll keep liking it but the chorus is still weighing it down. 

OVERALL:

I really like this album. An unimpressive first impression followed by a very nice second and third one. I’m impressed with the amount of variety in the songs and her singing is mostly solid. I just wish she would improve on different places and I’ll probably keep complaining about them. I think Wakana is liking the independence when it comes to helping the creation of these songs and I’m very happy for me. 

[ourstarrstarwerstars]

Mod Wes: So I've been listening to Polkadot Stingray a lot recently, and because of that me and Midel finally pinned down Radiant☆Star's subunit genres!

BL!SS: a happy mix between genki and indie rock. They fall in line more with Printemps and CYaRon's style, being a smile subunit with a pink color theme, but we decided that since Kiku is a guitarist and plays acoustic/electric, and in my head a lot of Wakana's solos are quite soft but she still has a jumpy energy about her, and Sakura's always into trying new things, having a more untraditional indie rock vibe fit them almost perfectly. Honestly Polkadot Stingray's song Ichidaiji is a great example, though they can also do harder songs like I☆ris's Re:Call and more upbeat/hardcore things like Nijimi Anazawa's character song lol

Royal Dahlia: Look no further than GARNiDELiA. Songs like Kyouki Ranbu, Gokuraku Joudo, and Tougen Renka are perfect examples of Royal Dahlia's music. A lot of EDM but with mixes of pop and traditional themed instruments, capitalizing on their mature/charming looks but completely opposite personalities. In addition, during long music breaks RD puts on 'plays,' since Mei is an actress; their first "album's" story would be about a princess (played by Mei) falling in love with a knight (played by Harura), but after finding out the knight is a woman the mother (played by Mimi) disapproves. In the end, the princess runs away with the knight while the mother only worries if her daughter will be okay and if the knight would ever lie to her again.

CandyPOP: A rap group, through and through, since Hiroko and Ayane are in it. Ayane's voice/rap style inspiration is REOL, so a lot of her songs end up falling in line with what me n Midel thought CandyPOP would sound like. Isshin Furan is a great example, with Yuyu on vocals and Aya/Hiro rapping; sometimes they do 'rap battles' with each other. Ayane and Hiroko also have different rapstyles, where Ayane is pretty fast with words and raps in mostly Japanese, while Hiroko is a little slower but incorporates more English into her verses and lyrics. All three of them sing in the choruses, but mostly the vocals are left to Yuyu haha

As a full unit, R☆ has a lot of different styles open to them, since each girl's individual styles and the special 2/2/2/3 styles are pretty varied as well ^^ For example, Marvel!Us has a very jazzy/broadway theme and feel to their music, which ends up bleeding into the R☆ third years' music, and one of the 2/2/2/3 units, TopHat, consisting of Harura and Kiku has an acoustic song because they both play the guitar ^^ (for reference it's CHICO with Honeyworks' song Tokyo Summer Session, covered by Kobasolo and Mirai; Harura sings the lower parts and Kiku sings the higher parts ^^)

Because we haven't actually tried to compose any original songs for R☆ ourself, we just kind of end up imagining what songs would sound good for them and go from there, but maybe one day it would be cool to actually make a song for them ^^ Thanks for letting me take up some space on the feed, hope you enjoyed this little blurb about R☆'s subunits!

[narashikari]

Why Kari Shouldn’t Make Playlists

Once again, I’ve been struck by the sincerely terrifying rollercoaster that is my toku playlist. Seriously, I have no idea why I subject myself to this every time

For example, my Kamen Rider playlist has a total of 42 tracks- soon to be 43 as I’m thinking of downloading a certain song down below. The playlist is as follows:

1) B. A. T. T. L. E.Game, the battle theme from the HeiGen movie. Starts up as Takeru opens a can of whoopass on the movie’s big bad

2) Spinning Wheel, the shared image song of the three Drive Riders dedicated to Kiriko

3) The Heisei Generations Final medley

Five Build tracks:

4) Build Up, Build Genius’s theme

5)Burning My Soul, Cross-Z Magma’s theme

6) Everlasting Sky, from Be the One (and imo RyuSen’s shared theme)

7) Ready Go!, Build RabbitRabbit/TankTank’s theme, and

8) The Law of Victory, the four Riders’s shared theme

Three OOO tracks

9) The OOO Full Combo Medley

10) Reverse:Rebirth, Kamen Rider Birth’s team song, and the duet version by Date and Gotou

11) Time Judged All, TaJaDor Combo’s (my favorite) theme and Eiji and Ankh’s shared image song

12-21) All the theme songs from W to Zi-O

22) A fanmade version of the HeiGen Final medley with W, Drive and Wizard’s themes thrown in

A few insert themes:

23) Hard-Boiled, aka that song that plays whenever Shoutaro and Philip do something awesome (like showing up in OOO, Den-O Let’s Go All Riders, telling Eiji and Shoutaro that they’ll with the mooks in Movie War Megamax, kicking ass right before they became CycloneJokerXtreme)

24) The audio from a clip of Shoutaro and Philip covering Finger on the Trigger (to be replaced by the album version when it comes out)

25) Xtreme Dreams, CycloneJokerXtreme’s theme song

26-27) The OOO and Fourze transformation BGMs

28) Free Your Heat, HeatMetal’s theme

29) Finger on the Trigger, the original version of LunaTrigger’s theme

30) Cyclone Effect, the acoustic version of CycloneJoker’s theme which plays over the scene of Philip’s death

31) A music box version of Be the One

32) The Heisei Generations Forever medley

More inserts:

33) Build’s main theme

34) Shoutaro, the eponymous character’s main theme aka that song that plays over “AAAAAH! PHILIP!” (GLOMPS HIS RESURRECTED AIBOU)

35) Joker, the main theme for Kamen Rider Joker

36) Xtreme, the main theme for CycloneJokerXtreme aka that song that played when they had that trippy mind-body joining thing the first time it happened

Movie themes

37) Samurai Strong Style, from Movie War Megamax

38) W, from W Forever: A to Z Gaia Memories of Fate, ironically sung by the movie’s villain

39) A music box version of W-B-X ~Double Boiled Extreme~

40) Nobody’s Perfect, by the Chief himself

41) Naturally, by Sonozaki Wakana (has a clip of her doing the radio show at the beginning and one of her final conversation with Philip at the end and yes I did the dance shut up)

42) Saite, aka Bloom, aka the song that plays over Fourze’s finale battle

43) And the song I’m thinking of adding, Hikari, which played over the credits of Heisei Generations including SHIN!!! BEING GIVEN GIFTS!!! FOR HIS BABY!!!

[science-doyourstuff]

Tagged in a meme by @seventhdoctor, let's do this!

Relationship status: In a relationship for 9 1/2 years. We both broke as fuck though, so marriage is off the table for the forseeable future.

Favorite color: Red! The deeper the better.

Top Three ships: I'm not a shippy person per se - I enjoy it, but have plenty of fun without it - but here are the three ships I'm most into:

1. Miles Edgeworth and Phoenix Wright: They just have such great chemistry! I adore mutual pining and mutual "saving each-other from tragedy". I also love ships where they both have reason to think the other wouldn't return their feelings, when they do. I also adore ships that adopt a kid. Checks all my boxes.

2. Abraham Burden and Liam Ferohn-Gau: The drug I've been hitting lately. A secret agent and a rebel leader who hunt eachother in a timeloop that cycles eternally. Abraham is so desperately in love with Liam that he fails to kill him at every quantum opportunity. Liam is such a stupid mother fucker that he inevitably murder-suicides the both of them to lock them together in a time loop instead of moving forward alone - permanently fucking over the entire quantum universe. Ahh, drink in that sweet, sweet nectar of suffering.

3. Yukari and Sora Wakanae: From an old-ass manga. Two trans parents who have been married for 20 years raising their genderqueer child. The kind of relationship I aspire to have - old as fuck, but still going strong. I would die for them.

Lipstick or Chapstick: Lipstick. Worth the dysphoria to make my lips look like I drink blood daily.

Last Song: Ever Fallen in Love by Pete Yorn. I was shocked to learn that this cover was made just for Shrek 2 and it's a shame it never got an album release elsewhere, because it rules and it's not on Spotify. :(

Last Movie: Unfortunately I think it was Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. I am on a quest to find the greatest of children's media. My quest... continues.

Tagging: If you want to do this, go ahead and say I tagged you!

[takahiro-okubo]

Wakana

Wakana Covers ~Anime Classics~

Album

Rec&Mix(M1,M2,M7,M8,M9) Rec(M3,M4,M5,M6,M10)

[chibalein]

Kalafina Live Report @ Zama - Acoustic Tour 2017 (Part 2/2)

Long text and grammatical mistakes ahead~

The 5 musicians entered the stage and tested their instruments shortly, when Sakurada started to play a short solo and Kalafina entered the stage in their white dresses (no costume change this time, FYI), took a bow to the audience and sang their first song.

I don’t know why I was so surprised to hear “storia”. Maybe because this song is so overplayed in their concerts I subconsciously hoped for it not to appear, but here we were. The stage was illuminated in blue and white and during the instrumental part in green. They did their usual routine and it was no different from any other performance of this song – and it wasn’t their best either, but still nice. Here, I again noticed something weird with the acoustics. Wakana was pretty quiet and appeared to have some troubles with either her voice or the microphone. In their singing there was a strange high-pitched tone mixed into it, like when you try to sing high with a sore throat. Very strange, but this somehow disappeared after the second or third song. They immediately continued with “Kimi no gin no niwa”, truly a song I wanted to hear live once. The stage was white and pink and Hikaru sang really good. Wakana again a bit quiet for my taste, while the others were on “normal” volume. During the chorus, the stage became a warm orange and Hikaru again had her expressions on point.

During MC #1 they greeted the audience and told us how they were looking forward to this day, the start of their Acoustic Tour 2017. Keiko thanked us for coming and Hikaru greeted us by looking and waving at us, really cute. Hikaru made us laugh a lot during the MCs, more on that later. Wondering how the tour will unfold, she said that it is exciting for them as well, while Keiko continued how during the Spring Tour they sang many songs that had the image of spring or flowers in it (did they? lol). This time it will be more about the seasons or colors… not sure whether I got this right.

This lead us to “Sapphire”. It’s not that of a surprising choice for an acoustic concert, but still, how often did they perform this by now? I was super happy as I like it a lot and it was a very sad performance. The stage was deep blue, with a dominant Cello, especially Wakana was feeling it. But even she appeared to have a little trouble with the high notes. Still, awesome awesome performance.

As I thought, Kalafina did not reactivate “Sandpiper” only for the Commemoration Lives, so here was it again and I couldn’t be happier! The performance itself didn’t differ much from the Nikko Live, but still it is sooo cool. Awesome beginning, dominant Cello – other than that nothing happened on stage and without the stunning surrounding of trees and Shrine buildings it was kind of boring. Hikaru was great however, and at the end they changed positioned with Hikaru being in the middle now.

Well, she had to be for “Magia”. The stage became deep red with the girls illuminated in pink. This song becomes sadder in acoustic, but the chorus gained huge drama and power again with a green-white light. I’d like to point out the short moment before they start to sing the chorus. There is a short short instrumental part in the album version too, but here they paused for a second and then Sakurada hits every deep key he has with power. It’s hard to describe but had a cool effect on the song and the whole atmosphere. If you happen to meet me for the Budokan Live in January, ask me about it and I try my best to mimic it xD Hikaru was very fierce and powerful, sometimes shouty with short “negai”s. They skipped the instrumental part before Keiko’s turn and the “yeah yeah yeah”s. At the very end, a single spotlight focused on Hikaru while the song subsided.

Next was “Blaze”, another song I wanted to hear badly. The stage became blue and white and changed to green from time to time, with Keiko again in the middle. This is another song that becomes super sad and emotional if you take out the drums and guitars. During all the chorus’s (orange stage), Keiko and Hikaru extremely emphasized some lines and their last syllables, like “moetsukite”, “nando datte”, “sekasarete”, “sakende” etc. This had a very powerful effect on me, so very different than the normal version and I liked it a lot. During the kajiurago bridge Hikaru went away for a second, only to go between Keiko and Wakana for her part again. Hikaru was so powerful and sad at the same time, with her movements and expressions on point.

In MC #2, Wakana asked for whom it was the first acoustic concert and that they have been doing those since 2012. Even now they are surprised when they re-arrange the songs into acoustic versions, how very different the tone of the song becomes and that it is very hard work to achieve those new feeling they want to convey. Even their voices change every time, but this makes it so exciting and new. She continued to tell us how Kalafina has so many songs that haven’t been turned into an acoustic version yet and for this tour/concert they chose a song that was never performed in acoustic before.

So here I was, listening to the world-wide premiere of the acoustic version of “Oblivious”! Now that I think of it, I have a very lucky hand in terms of Kala-premieres. “Hyakka Ryouran”, “Tombo”, “Hyakka Ryouran acoustic”, “oblivious acoustic”, “Kantankatan”… :D Anyway, green light illuminated the stage and Wakana started right into her vocal part (actual text, not the aaaah thing) without the Kajiurago part at the beginning. The song was much slower than usual, with short instrumental parts. Both Wakana and Keiko sang very frail and emotional during their duet, while it was funny to look at Hikaru literally doing nothing. Then during the final part, Hikaru actually sang the aaaah thing, very beautiful, subtle and quiet. The strings did an awesome job here, but sometimes they were too loud for me. Wakana’s final “utatte” went without instruments, only later for them to end the song in a blue stage. What a great version! It would be so great if they did this version in January too (no one can tell me that their debut song won’t come up there).

Continuing with “Seventh Heaven”, the stage was again set up in deep blue and here I saw that the diamond-shaped construction actually had plus-shaped neon tubes inside and they started to shine for the first time here in blue. So, when this song was introduced I almost yelled “YEEEEES” out of joy. “Seventh Heaven” became one of my favorite songs and I wanted to see this live SO SO BADLY!!! OMG, Keiko is so beautiful with her part, I love this so much. I can say that, along with “Kantankatan”, this was by far my favorite performance of the night. Everything after “konna ni akarui sekai he” was just mind-blowingly awesome and I tried to absorb every single moment into my mind and body. Yes, this perfect and cheesy it was. It certainly wasn’t their best performance of that song, but still really cool with slightly different tone than the band version. Later the stage became blue-white, slowly turning into white towards the end.

So, as this wasn’t awesome enough, Kalafina continued without any announcement with “Kantankatan”. OH MY FUCKING GOD KANTANKATAN KANTANKATAN THEY DID IT THEY HEARD MY PRAYERS THEY READ MY TUMBLR POSTS I COULDN’T EVEN SO AWESOME AAAAAAAAAH!!! It’s sounds a lot different without the guitar and percussions, but awesome awesome awesome. With only the violins it becomes more dramatic and stronger and less “melancholic” as in the studio version and believe me, it’s even better live (I didn’t even know this was possible). Hikaru sang in a sadder voice, while Wakana almost sounded… happier? xD It changed between powerful drama and sadness the whole time. Keiko’s small part was great, though slightly different than usual (sometimes higher, sometimes deeper). The strings were very dominant here, probably because they had to cover for all the instruments of the songs. The stage was pink and red and at the end deep blue. AWESOME PERFORMANCE!!! DO IT IN JANUARY PLEASE!!!

With no pause it went on with “Lacrimosa”. The stage was set in red and white, later green, red and orange during the chorus. It was a good performance, Hikaru sang the kajiurago parts almost alone. Other than a lot of color changes, nothing really special happened here.

In MC #3, Hikaru talked about the newly performed “Kantankatan” (yaaay) and “Lacrimosa”, particularly about the LA-CRI-MO-SA part and how they have to breath specially for that lines. Apparently she or all of them couldn’t get it right during rehearsals, but here it just went fine. She continued to tell us how the next song is performed rather rarely in acoustic concerts, that it has been a while. Sometimes you have many belongings, but you just can’t take everything with you, so you have to choose which things to leave behind. For that you need a strong determination and the song is about those things left behind.

Such a nice introduction for “Hanataba”. Another song I wanted to see live. The violins covered for the accordion, which in my opinion sounds MUCH better. Hikaru sang very beautifully but Keiko took the crown here with her solo part, very powerful yet more frail than in other versions. At the end the lights were red, orange and pink, with the last kajiurago lines super pretty.

“Manten” was “Manten”, good but not superior and very much the same as in Nikko. The stage was blue with spotlights shining white from behind. The girls didn’t move at all and we had a change of dark and bright the whole time. During the instrumental part, Wakana and Hikaru looked at the audience while Keiko turned around and raised both arms, then singing her part in a deep cool way.

And here it was, just like I predicted, “Hyakka Ryouran”. This performance was very similar to Nikko but somehow more emotional, the stage became deep deep red in the beginning. During the chorus it was blue with an red-orange background. And this damn kajiurago bridge again. After the chorus we had a small pause, with the light suddenly becoming gloomy deep blue. Only Wakana was illuminated by a single spotlight and she started to sing her lines very slowly. It was again such a sad, sad way of her delivering and when it ended, another pause of silence, only for Hikaru again to EXPLODE with her following part, just together with the stage that became deep red again. The song gained speed and power once more, only to lose it again with Keiko’s part, then to become faster again. I prefer this version over the Nikko live, because it had much more fierceness and they played a lot more with illuminations (this time, this effect was cooler inside rather than outside, as the contrast of dark and bright was more impressive). At the end, the stage became again completely red.

You could see the girls were already becoming a bit exhausted when they entered MC #4. Keiko stressed how dramatic this block was and she was quite out of breath. She talked about the images or landscapes of certain lyrics, like in “Hyakka Ryouran” they sing about a red rainbow (akai niji) etc. I didn’t really get how they transited to the following part, but suddenly Keiko said towards Wakana “Well, Wakana is green, right?”, referring to how many plants she has in her home and how she is kind of obsessed with them. Wakana told us, that she deeply cares about them and even gives them names (she said some examples but these are just not translatable xD). The following was definitely the funniest moment of the whole concert. Keiko asked Wakana to do what she always does when she comes home and Hikaru, on the left side, to pretend to be one of Wakana’s plants, with Keiko retreating to the back. So Wakana “comes home”, opens the door, greets Plant-karu, while Hikaru was standing like 4 meters away from her, facing Wakana and… you know, being a plant XD She had her arms raised a bit over her head, and Wakana was like “Ah, how are you feeling today? Oh here’s some dirt *wipes dirt away*… you look a bit dry, don’t you? Do you want some water?” She was talking so cutely, like you talk to a little puppy. And Hikaru waved her arms in response to Wakana’s questions, just like a puppy wagging its tail, asking for some water. You know, plant movements. This was truly hilarious and everybody laughed and clapped afterwards. They definitely rehearsed this sketch lol But I am so thankful to be at least half-fluent in Japanese, otherwise I would have missed so many great jokes XD

After this rather long talk, Wakana went to the middle position and proceeded to introduce the next song. It contains the word “hikari” (light) a lot – there are times when it becomes so bright that you can’t see anything anymore, so bright that you can’t even lift your head. But there are people who support and help you, who take your hand. The next song has this kind of image and that was of course “Hikari furu”. Again, I wanted to hear and see this song live so so badly for such a long time and now this dream finally came true. The girls were being illuminated only from behind and above with big white spotlights. Although Wakana was again a bit quiet sometimes in my opinion, she delivered an almost flawless performance (small trouble with the high notes). Their harmony was amazing and the “shizuka na inori ni hitomi wo tozashite” part was mind-blowing and great. Towards the end the stage became brighter and brighter, full of light :)

Afterwards, Keiko went to the middle again and the girls started with “Hikari no senritsu”, but different than usual. Instead of the instrumental beginning, the girls started right with the chorus in acapella. Then the band began to play and the song went on as normal. The girls seemed to have a lot of fun singing a bright and happy song for a change. But due to its acoustic nature, “Hikari no senritsu” became much more dramatic and sad than I think they intended to and this was quite an interesting contradiction to witness. During the long middle instrumental part, Kalafina went to the sides to turn the attention to the musicians, while first Sakurada and then the Strings played “solos”. Still on the side they continued to sing on an orange illuminated stage. At the end another short piano solo and spotlights only on the girls.

Next was “Into the World”, no surprise for me though. On a dark-blue stage Kalafina delivered a beautiful performance, though nothing too special and very similar to Nikko or the 9+ONE tour.

In MC #5 we were asked whether we were able to see landscapes “full of light” and Keiko proceeded to introduce the musicians. I have no idea what she said next, so fast forward to the introduction of the last block with two titles from the “Fate” anime series. Keiko did not have to announce them, I immediately knew which ones she was talking about.

As I predicted, “believe” came next. The diamonds in the background shined in bright green while the stage was green and purple. Very similar to the 9+ONE performance in Tokyo, this song was quite emotional and a muuuuch better version than the normal one. The strings had a break here, but there was quite the body movement on stage, as they tried to sing very powerfully. Lights changed to blue and white and especially Wakana was feeling the feels of this song, while Hikaru and Keiko tended to sing more loudly and emphasized.

Continuing with “Ring your bell”, this was probably the least interesting performance for me. I’m certainly not a fan of this song and I don’t really like the acoustic version either. The stage went from blue-grey-purple to bright purple and yellow and they were only accompanied by the piano until after the first chorus. It was a nice and good performance but overall not impressive. Wakana’s super high “bell”s at the end were very strange and loud. Spotlights started to shine through the whole hall.

After that, everyone left the stage, while the audience clapped for them to return. They did, except the Strings, took a bow and MC #6 was a short introduction for the next song. “Were our many harmonies able to reach you?” they asked and now, they did not want to convey their harmony as a group but as individual singers. 

Yeah, yeah, “Tombo”, of course. This was the third time I’ve seen this song being performed by now and God help me it will also come up at the Christmas Live and Budokan Live. The stage and the whole venue was illuminated in golden stripes (looked a lot like a simple tiger pattern, very cool). Keiko sounded way too happy than this is supposed to be lol Wakana was the best here. Nice emotional performance, but not their best one.

MC #7 was again long and hilarious, with Hikaru as our main narrator. Keiko started with calling the Strings guys back, but she sounded very emotional, as if she was crying for a short moment. Hikaru took over, telling us she will talk for a while now as the next part needs to be prepared (no idea what they needed to prepare though). So, it was the first day of the tour and wondered “what shall we do now?”. She thoroughly introduced the pamphlet for this tour. They used different styles and backgrounds for the shooting, this time doing more solo than group photos. At first there is a group picture with orange light and smoke (ok, someone needs to confirm this for me, because I didn’t really know which photos she was talking about and I was super busy panicky writing down everything she said). Hikaru was like “Keiko is great in this shot, Wakana looks strong but beautiful and Hikaru is like meh”. The next pictures are gloomy and glowing (kira kira), with the girls conveying a soft/gentle (yawaraka) image. Then pictures follow where the background is white with a round dark fringe (like in the postcard set). There is apparently a “rare” shot where Keiko is posing while lifting her skirt a bit. “Wakana has a pretty pose, but Hikaru was just lame” (her words - In my opinion she has got the best shots of all, from what I could see), but her modesty made everyone laugh. Another shot with a lot of light, where Keiko is showing her back to the viewer: “Very pretty, but what is Hikaru doing? I am just kneeling weirdly...”. Following extended solo interviews with each girl about their feelings towards the tour, they also feature a big profile portrait (but you can only see the silhouette of the head). Apparently, Keiko’s picture is especially cool and Hikaru asked us to definitely buy the pamphlet to look at them. Wakana was very elegant, while “Hikaru is only standing around”. Also, the pamphlet contains photos from last year‘s acoustic tour, where they wore completely different dresses (especially the big puffy “princess like wedding dresses”). The funny part was that even Hikaru couldn’t recall the order of the photos in pamphlet, so she had a fan from the first row show her the whole thing page after page. At the end, there is a comment from Kajiura Yuki. Hikaru was very lively and funny, so I don’t really know how she still manages to maintain this shy and introvert image of hers, because she really owned the MCs.

Keiko continued to tell us how they met the many employees of Harmony Hall and how they signed a lot of autographs for them. As this tour begins, they wanted to convey the warmth of all those new acquaintances and feelings towards them with their last song of the night, “Yasashii Uta”. No surprise, I thought. The stage was illuminated in orange and yellow, with an overall great but normal performance with awesome harmonies. Especially that very last line by Wakana was extremely well sung and beautiful and marked a great end of the concert.

Again, Kalafina introduced the musicians afterwards and they bowed before everyone. After the musicians left, the girls went to the right side first, where Wakana thanked everyone. At the left side, Hikaru told us that she didn’t intend to sing “Magia” that fierce and strong the way she did, but she just got thrilled by everyone’s energy. In the middle, Keiko wants to enjoy and make many more harmonies with everyone and with this words and a lot of waving they left.

I need to digress for a second. When I went to the restaurant after the goods sale, a grown-up japanese dude approached my way - in a full and complete Santa Clause costume. No really, at the beginning of November. He ran towards Harmony Hall, but never did it occur to me that he might be attending the Kalafina concert. But there he was, sitting in the Arena, maybe third or fourth row, right in the middle, applausing Kalafina. If the girls noticed this blatant cry for attention, they professionally ignored the poor jerk.

♦ Some final thoughts: I really enjoyed this concert. It truly differs in most aspects from their normal full-band concerts and though I missed some energetic and fun songs, I am more than happy to have been able to see them live like this. Kalafina blessed me with many many songs I have been craving to see live. Many more to go though. And at least they spared me having to hear “Mirai” again.*cough*

♦ I still wish they had been more action on stage. Of course, with all the sadness  there isn’t much room for a big show, but still there was room for more movement, more involvement of light, videos etc. Towards the end I actually got really tired listening to those slow songs. (#needless nitpicking)

♦ Also, I was wondering which song(s) will be replaced in the following concerts, as you know Kalafina usually changes at least one song of each setlist of a tour. Usually it’s the song in the middle and/or end, so that would be “Lacrimosa” and/or “Yasashii Uta”, although I kinda feel like “Yasashii Uta” is a fixed part of the setlist. Just being curios.

Thank you for reading my long report, I hope you enjoyed it ! Any comments or questions are welcome as always. My next and probably final Kalafina Live report will be about the Christmas Premium Live in Osaka in December :) But the next concert I’ll attend will be MUSE next week! YAAAY!!!

P.S.: the flower seen here is called “golden-rayed lily” (ヤマユリ yamayuri), which grows only in Japan and is the symbol flower of Kanagawa prefecture! The upcoming bookmarks follow the same pattern, which I think is a very sweet idea.

[betta-chan]

My review of Kalafina 9+ONE Live

Finally I have been able to watch the Live and I can express my opinions now ùù I really enjoyed this Live DVD, I found the girls very expressive, very into the atmosphere, expecially Wakana that impressed me, she was really majestic!! Like Keiko and Hikaru had little moments of imperfection, but for the three of them I think it was due to the mixing and the volume of mics!! It was really unbalanched for the major part of the songs, infact Keiko tended to shout in various points! Also Hikaru was so low in some verses! About the outfits I'm in love both with the tulle dresses both with the black set, but the second is really a mess!! All these fabrics were redundant and Hikaru outfit with pants (with the skirt over) it's really a fail from my point of way! Regarding the stage I really loved it, the idea to project the titles of their songs and the covers of singles/album was amazing and the Magia PV wow!! The shots were well done; I also loved the decoration of the stage in the last part of the live! It was a perfect combo with the light of the rings!! Of course the shipping moments, expecially during TTB and Ongaku, were the perfect complement!! Sooo about the setlist: Samidare --> It's one of my favourite Kala ballad and the idea to open the concert with the final "la la la" of this song, was amazing and very emotional!! I hope that they will perform it again!! The girls were really into the atmosphere! I found them so happy!! Misterioso--> It's not their best performance of this song, my fav live of Misterioso remains the "The Best Red Day" version (that lovely dresses çWç) and in this live both Keiko's both Hikaru's mics were so low compared to Wakana's! Lacrimosa --> I won't ever be tired of this song!! It's the mark of their style, it's the song that I always suggest to my friends that want to listen them, for the first time, because it's full of the gothic, tragic soul that I love with all my heart!! And in this live was wow for me! Ashita no Keshiki --> I was waiting for this live performance, since I missed it from the Red Moon era and I was so happy to listen it again yaaaaaaaaaaaaaay They were all fantastic!! Awwww Wacchan you was so sweet! Hikari no Senritsu --> Another classic of their repertoire, but please Kore-chan forgive me your parts instead of Rie-san's flute changed totally the atmosphere of the song!! I don't understand why they didn't left the recorded sound! Apart this the girls looked again so so happy to sing it and they were just adorable greating the audience! Mirai --> Again the mic's problem, because Keiko was so low in her solo part of the kajiurago and it was a shame, because it's lovely! But so pretty in general! Oblivious --> Yessssssssssss fantastic!! Hicchan's falsetto was the loveee!! She was incredible; I'm so happy to see how she went comfortable with it!! Keechan and Wacchan were amazing too in their parts, expecially in the part "yoru wo asa wo hiru wo hoshi wo yume wo natsu wo fuyu wo toki wo kaze wo mizu wo tsuchi wo sora wo" Storia --> Not their best performance of this song, I remain faithful to the "Red Moon Live" version ùù Gogatsu no Mahou --> I'm totally in love with it!! Wow they were incredible!! And finally the mics were well balanced!! It's my favourite song of "Far on the water" album and I was satisfied by this performance!! Consolation --> Finally after a long time it came again wiiiiii!! Hikaru was so powerful and contributed to the great performance! I loved it! To the beginning --> The final WaaHii moment was to adorable for this world!! They were so so cuteeee; anyway another good song, but not comparable to the "Type Moon Live"! Haru wo Matsu --> OMG the sweetenest!! I love so much when Keiko sing this type of ballads, I'm happy to see how she can sing in a way that is not typical of her vocal register! She was so expressive!! Believe piano version --> I'm in love with this!! Believe sounds completely different, from the regular version!! They were able again to put all their emotions on it, fantastic! Marchen --> I was anxiously waiting for this live performance and I really liked it!! Apart the weird dance, they were totally into it!! Finally the mic sounded regular like they should be from the beginning XD Magia --> The new PV was perfect!! It contributed to the creation of a new atmosphere!! I was so happy to see again the usual ballet before the last stanza of the song! Kyrie --> Wow again a very very good live version and the mic stands was a surprise!! The last "Kyrie eleison" was amazing!! Heavenly Blue --> I like this song, it's not one of their masterpiece, but I enjoy listening it and the kajiurago part is so beautiful in my opinion! In this live they sung it very well!! One Light --> Yesssss girls you rocked!! It felt all their energies and I loved how Wacchan looked involved in the performance! It was a surprise! Into the world --> Totally the perfection!! I loved it at the first heard and again in this live! Ongaku --> The overture should be the rule for all lives, because is great!! Anyway Ongaku is the song that HAS to be in a Kalafina Live; infact in Paris I was sad to not seeing it, but I'm sure that I'll listen next year in Japan!! It's clear that both the girls both the audience love it, I love it too!! The only thing for what I was sorry is this: the absence of Wacchan's vibrato in her "basho ee" like in other lives, but they looked a little bit tired, after all it was the end of the live! Again lovely shipping moments *WWW* Blaze --> Fantastic like One Light!! Hikaru was impressive here!! It's her song, she was so fierce!! Yume no Daichi --> Last, but not the last, comes another of my favourite ballads!! They performed it very well!! They looked again so happy!! I love how they're able to involve the audience, with a smile or a waving!! I love them so muuch çWWç I can't wait for seeing them again next year!! I didn't expect that before leaving the stage, Hicchan talked in this such lovely way and Keechan that went away before them, since she was about to cry, was just to adorableee! Wacchan eyes looked also wet!

[putschki1969]

『Wakana 5th Anniversary “Prologue” ～Premium Online Live～』 Commentary

An exclusive streaming event was held for fan club members to celebrate Wakana’s 5th anniversary as a solo artist. She was joined by Hirotaka Sakurada on piano. Instagram post by Wakana | Tweet by Wakana

‖Event details “Wakana 5th Anniversary “Prologue” ~Premium Online Live~” Date: February 6, 2024 Time: 18:30~ Starring: Wakana, Hirotaka Sakurada (Piano)

Live Commentary Ohhhh, what a lovely throwback to see Wakana in her 1st album dress. She looks beautiful😍

1.揺れる春 (Yureru Haru): Surprised by how much I like Wakana's high notes here. Usually I am not a huge fan. Very solid performance. 2.翼 (Tsubasa): Saku-chan's piano arrangement is lovely and Wakana is slaying as she always does with this song. MC: Pleasantly surprised to see her taking a longer break to talk to us. I feared this would be a somewhat rushed event with just a couple songs being performed. She is even reading through some of the comments. 3.愛の花 (Ai no Hana): *sobs* So happy to hear this again. It's one of my all-time favourites. Wa's voice was a bit shaky but she knocked it out of the park at the end. The oooh part killed me. Goosebumps all over. 4.アキノサクラ (Aki no Sakura): Hearing it live always makes me appreciate the song a bit more. Very nice! MC 5.オレンジ (Orange): The bridge was absolutely perfect. MC: Yay, we are gettng a Kalafina cover, honestly did not expect that. Wakana says she has a lot of fond memories of the recording when the three of them and Saku-chan all got together at the studio to record their parts. 6. 春を待つ (Haru wo Matsu): Waahhhh, this was even better than her performance from the "magic moment" live 7.標 (Shirushi): Always beautiful, especially in such an intimate setting. Her vocals are flawless here. MC: Now I need to get back to work so I can't continue watching. Will have to get back to this later. Thank God we are getting an archived version.TBC~ 8.金木犀 (Kinmokusei): First "Ai no Hana" and now "Kinmokusei"! Two of my faves. Unfortunately, this performance is a bit too shaky for me T_T Probably the weakest of this event, at least in my opinion. 9.Flag: Awwww, it's not a Wakana live without her screwing up some lyrics XD She handles it well though. She always sounds so epic at the end of this song. MC 10.magic moment: Never been a big fan of the song but this is a precious performance. The way she just couldn't figure out that final line and had to give it two tries. Poor baby!! She's so embarrassed. MC 11.そのさきへ (Sono Saki e): I kinda wish she had performed Toki wo Koeru Yoru ni (時を越える夜に) instead of this but oh well.

『Wakana 5th Anniversary Live』 Announced!

To commemorate the 5th Anniversary of Wakana's solo debut, a special band live will be held for the first time in 3 years! Once again, Wakana will be joined by Satoshi Takebe to deliver a unique live performance together with other musicians. Please look forward to it!

Title: “Wakana 5th Anniversary Live (tentative)” Date: May 12, 2024 Venue: I'M A SHOW (capacity: 398 seats) Starring: Wakana, Satoshi Takebe (Music Director/Piano), etc.

[imasallstars]

The cover art for THE IDOLM@STER SHINY COLORS PANOR@MA WING 04 album has been released and the album is set to be released on July 13th 2022. It will feature two new songs by the unit, a drama track, as well as their version of Niji no Yukue

This album features the unit “Houkago Climax Girls”, consisting of Kaho Komiya (cv. Hiyori Konno), Chiyoko Sonoda (cv. Haruka Shiraishi), Juri Saijo (cv. Mariko Nagai), Rinze Morino (cv. Wakana Maruoka) and Natsuha Arisugawa (cv. Akiho Suzumoto) in their C.Cats Uniform outfit.

The crossfade of the album is located here

Tracklist:

Tr.01　One Pitch Leads To You 　Lyrics: Shin Furuya 　Music: Joey Takeda, Hiroki Sagawa (Relic Lyric, inc.)　Arrange: Ryosuke Saito (Relic Lyric, inc.) Tr.02　Cat Squad 　Lyrics: Shin Furuya 　Music: Yuki Kokubo, YUU for YOU 　Arrange: YUU for YOU Tr.03　Niji no Yukue (HoKura Ver.) Tr.04　Drama “PLAY CATch!” Tr.05　This Pitch Leads To You (Off Vocal) Tr.06　Cat Squad (Off Vocal)

[wakanayamazaki]

ΔKTR New album “LALA"＋ Limited Edition Cassette Tape

https://fuzzoscope.bandcamp.com/

 Cover Illustration by Wakana Yamazaki ( Typography design by fuzzoscope/Jared)

[seventh-zephyr]

For the Kalafina Song Meme ♫ Hoshi no Utai / 星の謡 ♫

♫ What was your first impression of it? …okay, I have a confession to make: I literally just heard this song for the first time last night. So I get to lump in my expectations along with my first impressions here. yaay… (please forgive me >.

Anyways, long before I heard this song, I listened to Yami no Uta and I thought, “Whoa, this is super cool and dark! I wonder what Hoshi no Utai is like?” For Hoshi no Utai, I expected something like a sequel to Yami no Uta, except slower and a bit more hopeful (in my mind, it was like Gloria and Kugatsu had a child and Yami no Uta was the godmother… weird, I know xD -i realize that kugatsu came out after hoshi no utai, and i do not care-) When I first listened to Hoshi no Utai though, my expectations were completely blown out of the water (maybe minus the Yami no Uta sequel part). I was a bit disappointed, but when the song ended, I realized “…hey, I actually like this song. It’s pretty good!”

♫ How do you feel about it now? Apparently, a lot changes in a day, because this is now one of my favorite album exclusive Kalafina songs alongside Yami no Uta, Gogatsu no Mahou, and Mata Kaze ga Tsuyoku Natta. It’s a really good song and I love it so much!

♫ Rate the song on a scale from 1 to 10 (with 10 being the best rate)! 8

♫ Describe the song in one sentence! Flute-ness and percussion madness literally about stars xD

♫ How does it make you feel? It makes me feel like I should get the courage to go out, explore whatever, have adventures, and not worry about the consequences. If I had to put it in a single word, I guess I would say empowered?

♫ What do you like most about this song? I can’t decide between the opening with the flute and the parts of the verses with the harmonies where Wakana first comes in

♫ What’s your least favourite part about it? Definitely Hikaru’s solo lines that are a bit before the song ends, where she’s like trailing down the notes, it just sounds really weird to me.

♫ Best version of the song? Seeing as I haven’t heard any live versions yet because no one seems to have them that I’ve been able to find, it would have to be the studio version.

♫ Favourite lines in the lyrics? yume no daichi ni tatte / Standing in the land of dreamskimi no hitomi ni atte / meeting your eyesbokura wa nani wo ubai / what are we stealing?nani wo sagashi ni yuku n darou / what are we searching for? (thanks canta-per-me for translation for this bit -and the rest of the song and all the other songs while we’re at it-)

♫ Thoughts on the musical arrangement and the use of instruments? I think the flute combined with all the percussion makes a nice contrast of sorts, so I like it.

♫ Wakana, Keiko or Hikaru? Whose vocals are most impressive in this song? mmmm this is a really hard pick between Hikaru and Keiko, but I’d have to go with Keiko because her harmonies make this song a million times better.

♫ Share something creative related to this song (picture, gif, video, artwork, poem, anecdote, headcanon, interpretation etc…knock yourself out!) If this song had a music video, I think it’d be similar to sprinter and to the beginning combined, with to the beginning’s outdoor shots being used for the chorus, parts of verses, and that part that Hikaru sings at the end that I don’t really like, and sprinter’s solo member shots being used for, well, the solo member shots, the beginning of the song, parts of verses, and any part in need of random object focus (like at the beginning of Marchen, except in random parts here). For cosumes, maybe a combination of their red outfits from the Red Moon album cover and Kagayaku Sora no Shijima ni wa’s costumes, I don’t know. Something like that. xD

Tag: #kalafina song memeRules: Be honest but please try to be respectful when answering those questions.

[you-turn-it-into-light]

Thoughts on 'Aki no Sakura' EP

Visuals:

I'm not a huge fan of the regular version cover, I like the limited edition a lot more. The filters and colour correction of the shots are really nice and creates a neat atmosphere. Wakana's outfit is... interesting. I wouldn't say that it's my thing, but it looks very comfortable and certainly fits the mood of the music video. Speaking of which...

Why that ratio? My guess is it's supposed to convey a sense of nostalgia, which it most certainly does. The PV itself is quite plain but it fits the song quite well. There are some beautiful shots of Wakana herself, but some shots longer for way too long.

Audio:

eve: I LOVE the orchestra sound. I was kinda hoping there'd be lyrics, but I still really like it as a short intro song, even though it doesn't really fit the tone of the rest of the EP. Wakana's singing isn't the best here, it's a bit honky and the falsetto is too breathy imo.

アキノサクラ (Aki no Sakura): I really like this song! At first I thought it was a bit boring, but it's really growing on me. The verses are my favourite, I really like the lyrics as well. The composition is very chill and uplifting as well, it's really a lovely piece. I really like Wakana's singing here for the most part, there are moments where her vibrato is a bit distracting, but the low notes are quite gorgeous. I love that Wakana going solo has enabled her to go beyond her usual range when she was singing Kalafina, her low notes are quite nice.

恋はいつも (Koi wa Itsumo): What a pleasant surprise! This song is so poppy and fun, Wakana's little 'baby baby' in the chorus is so cute. I particularly like the 'koi wa... itsumo' parts. Wakana's voice isn't super suited to these types of songs, but it's certainly better than other artists (Aimer's poppy songs really grind my gears, her voice is wayyyyy too tragic to sing those types of songs) Anyway, I didnt think I'd like this, but it's kinda stuck with me after a single listen.

オレンジ (Orange): I REALLY like this song. I had similar thoughts to this as Aki no Sakura at first, but I'm really liking the melody after a while. The second verse/bridge is gorgeous, it's very different from the rest of the song but it's a very welcome addition. The harmonica I'm not super sure about though... I might just have to get used to it. If there's anything I don't like about the song is the beginning instruments in the first chorus is very distracting, there's one that keeps going to the left and right side of audio (if you're wearing headphones).

夕焼け (Yuuyake): Very nice simple ballad. The acoustic guitar is gorgeous with Wakana's voice and once the strings come in it becomes even more gorgeous. I adore Wakana's singing during the first chorus, that breathing really creates a calming atmosphere. I might have to listen to it a few times to get over the 'simple ballad' phase of my opinion, but I like it right now.

Overall:

Wakana's first EP is a delight. I think I might like it more than the album. I think I say this every time but I'm so far of how far she's come. I don't have any songs that I dislike and I at least like all of them. I think Wakana has really started to create her own path from Kalafina and as much as I miss them, I can't help but be super happy for her.

[seasonreaper]

Kalafina Week 27 Challenge: Week 9 - Favourite and Second Favourite Song in Kalafina Winter Acoustic

Can I just put Yasashii Uta twice? I love Yasashii Uta so much. I remember first listening through the album, thinking ‘yeah this is pretty great’ but then Yasashii Uta came on. I instantly just stopped what I was doing and focussed entirely on it, and it was goddamn beautiful. All three girls sound amazing here and get their time to shine and the instrumentation is relatively simple but gorgeous. It actually hit me so hard I teared up, and that practically never happens with recorded songs. I think Yasashii Uta is only the third song that’s ever managed to do that for me, so it’s pretty special.

As for a second slot, I’ll have to go with Yasashii Uta Jingle Bells I think. The jazzy arrangement really changed my opinion on it, and the fact that the regular Jingle Bells you hear on the radio all the time I really don’t like at all. For me to pick this version of it and listen to it often really shows how much I adore it and how much changing things up a bit can drastically improve a song. I’m still impressed with the girls’ English pronunciation as well, as with all the songs on this album actually. So yeah, I’m picking it partially because it took a song I don’t care for at all and made it amazing, and partially because it’s just really good. 

I also have to give mention to Morobito Kozorite and Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas in regards to the Christmas covers as both are great, although I enjoy pretty much all of them. They really did a great job with the covers. As for the self-covers, Sprinter and Alleluia (sans that one part of Wakana being super shrill) are probably the standouts here, although once again I enjoy them all. I just wish they’d changed Kimi no Gin no Niwa up a little bit more, it sounds too similar to the original and doesn’t have the uniqueness of the accordion that helps make it so great in the first place. It’s a lovely version of it and all, but I was hoping for a bit more.

Honestly though I love pretty much all of this album. It’s lovely. But yes, Yasashii Uta is love.