Yuki Kajiura to compose for "FSN Heaven's Feel" movies [standalone OST March 27/2024, UBW/HF concert on 21-22/9/24]

I've given it one listen, and I actually really like it. As someone who didn't enjoy f/z ost, I think this is a noticeable improvement.
 
I watched the movie last night. Compared to her recent works for movie, the ost is way better than SAO, but still worse than that unreleased Chinese movie.

All Kajiurago stuff are really good, but it's also full of mediocre tracks. I like some tracks based on Aimer's ED melody. Some music box tracks sound creepy and nice too..:D. Those from FZ are just splitted into two types: very boring and quite interesting. I should check the full ost soon.

As for the movie... well.. I think the HF world spins around Sakura. Every little thing about her is intentionally shown in the movie. You can see that she relates to Rin some way and she's the real deal of Matou family, not Shinji, from the very first scenes of the movie. (I love the scene when she touched Rin's ribbin when Shiro asked about her hero T^T.)

I also like her first appearance at Emiya's house. Sakura in other routes is a kind of ordinary bubbly girl-next-door, which is contrast to her childhood self we saw from FZ. But in this movie, we can see the Sakura that we know in FZ, and learn that she has been changing bit by bit from being with Shiro.

I also love the interaction between Ilya and Shiro or Saber, as well as when Soken asked Shiro about her. It makes me feel that this route is the most related to FZ.

I think that it's not weird that Saber can't recognize Ilya at first. (IIRC, Saber just saw the young Ilya from afar in FZ.) But Ilya's appearance and dressing style are so similar to her mom.... doesn't Saber feel familiar when seeing her?? LoL.
 
it's better than her work on SAO ordinal scale but it still can't beat her works on Madoka and KnK
 
TBH I thought it started out perfectly lovely but with each strings based track I was dozing off more and more... I'll listen again some time.

"for the butterfly" also sounded better here than in the trailer to me for whatever reason? The piano? If that's the case I'm surprised a piano of all things (and no strings) would make the difference to me, lol. Does the blu-ray have the teaser trailer with 5.1 audio to rip that version? (Edit: seems to be just stereo, poop.)

Also how complete is this soundtrack? After watching the movie, it seems complete.

flower will bloom was lowered down just when it was getting good :(
Well you do get more in "she did not answer".
 
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The movie is entertaining, yet it has a very wrong structure. I knew they wanted to skip a lot since they'd already made 2 routes, but it doesn't work well with a fresh viewer who has no knowledge about this franchise at all, honestly.
I get what you're saying and that this is a different medium from the VN (which I have not read), but weren't the extra routes unlocked after finishing the previous one?

I'm still watching the movie and really the only thing that you absolutely should watch (or refresh your memory of) is the first episode of ufotable's UBW (episode 0 would be nice too). For anyone that still hasn't started with the movie: they only fill in the gaps on that first episode before literally SKIPPING to episode 2 of UBW and diverging from UBW route. You don't even get the summoning.

But I'm only in the middle of the movie.

Edit:
Finished the movie. I thought it was a surefine episode of ufotable's Fate. The only thing I hated was the CGI fest in the city fight and random 2second overanimated dramatic shots (and I already complained about both when the trailers came out).

Episode 0&1 of UBW are absolutely recommended before this movie but other than that I think you're good to go. Some things will not make a big impact if you've not seen all of UBW but I don't think it's necessary as far as this first movie is concerned... Obviously Heaven's Feel will spoil plot points of UBW so if you're thinking about watching UBW at any point, you might as well do it before Heaven's Feel...

PS:
I'd also add that I would like Kajiura to explore "with or against" (and its type of BGM) in the future movies. Really made me think of Prince of Persia Sands of Time trilogy. Mufufu.
 
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Ok, just listened to the soundtrack and I think it's pretty good, but definitely not as interesting as her latest anime involvements prior to this (Kubikiri Cycle, Princess Principal). Easily beats Ordinal Scale though, considering this OST actually contains more than 5 minutes of music or so...

I haven't seen the movie yet, so I can't tell how effective the music is, but she definitely took the atmospheric direction with this one. I'm a bit disappointed though, that there is only such a limited amount of instruments involved here. The fate/zero soundtrack always stood out to me for it's emphasis on the wind section, which is not typical for Kajiuras anime soundtracks as far as I know... But as this is only the first part of a trilogy, she might just be saving it for later in the story I hope.
 
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@grunty i wasn't being sarcastic. we are often at the mercy of the first uploader. i personally never check on anything with regard to quality so..

@george1234 yes those two adjectives are the ones I was thinking as well. I do NOT like Yuri's part in this at all. not one bit. what a cacophony.

open the curtains: I like the beginning. It's nothing special but sfx is sort of going on top of the strings though, which is weird.

the flower will bloom : what a cacophony. I really wanted Kajiura to write opera but perhaps not eh. it is unfortunate because this track had potential.

scar of the war: nice slow rendering of the world is tumbling down and fate/zero theme. nothing I would go back to frequently.

she is the Saber: do you think Yuriko is also singing at the end? I know some people will lynch me but this may be my favorite track in this ost despite the veeery underdeveloped chorus section. the beginning is very atmospheric, then appropriate cello and then same melody with strings. I thought it was nice.

song of a tiny flower: I like the beginning a lot. but can't tolerate the repetitive strings here.

lancer and assassin: wow that beginning is very good. very xenosaga-like chorus. the moment Remi kicks in the song is ruined for me. it's just horrible. I can tolerate Tokyo Konsei here but not Remi gosh it's just very bad.

into the battle: I like it especially the beginning.

she did not answer: ok it's horrible. Yuri's parts are just chaotic. BUT! the very obscure synth behind the strings in the beginning right after Yuri's section is an interesting addition.

and the rest is either sfx or boring strings. eh it's pretty bad. It's no match for Princess principal and Kubiriki. I have been listening to Fate/zero osts lately and I think I have been rather harsh on them, there are very good orchestral pieces. The use of brass and epic strings/chorus was a hallmark of Fate/zero but it's absent here...
 
I have been listening to Fate/zero osts lately and I think I have been rather harsh on them, there are very good orchestral pieces. The use of brass and epic strings/chorus was a hallmark of Fate/zero but it's absent here...
Noooooooo. Plz2notconvert to a Zero OST fan. I did give it another chance too with the release of the standalone OST and I still thought it was boring af. 回収命令 >>>>>>> anything on Zero.

Also Re:absence of "epicness", to be fair, Heaven's Feel feels much "smaller" than Zero so far. There's no "grand" figures like Zero's Rider and no Ionioi hetairoi. Plenty of shady individuals instead. It's a fitting soundtrack IMHO, much like Zero was (boring).
 
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I'm kinda lazy to give this ost a try because i still think that Zero is Kajiura's worst soundtrack. Boring strings galore with almost no variety. It gave the similar feeling to listening to Kalafina's red moon more than twice in a row. Tiring and loud. Even I can stand SAO osts better than Zero.

and longing >>>>>>>>>>> to the beginning tbh
 
@grunty eh no. i'm not a fan but i still think there are some worthy pieces. i will always stay on the orchestral side of things :)

yeah i have no idea about shows so it's good that you said that because i didn't know. shady ost for shady characters.
 
It's not Kajiura's return to form, and there's nothing really new, but I'm not really disappointed since I was already expecting this kind of music. It's also the first movie out of three, and shit still hasn't hit the fan. I'm expecting better music in the next two movies. Plus, Kajiura's whole "I'll focus more on each individual composition, and stop composing out of habit" should have a positive effect on everything she composes from now on. Hopefully... plis, hue.

Anyways~ As usual I'm too lazy for a full review so I'll just share my poopy opinions on a few tracks.
-And she came to me, Calm and quiet days, Calm days passing by: nice dose of cozyness.
-The flower will bloom: Muh Kasahara<3. Still love how the beginning makes you think it's going to be something, idk, mellow, and then suddenly goes all dark. I luv it and wish it was longer. This track also makes me crave a dark, bloody, edgy soundtrack by Kajiura.

She is the Saber: kinda unusual drumming (for Kajiura anyway) halfway through the track. The actual theme is nice, but it's too short. Yuriko deserves more!
-She decides, he decides: Nothing special, but I always like Kajiura's piano/beats/sfx tracks. I guess it's that "running around the city, investigating n poop" feel they give.
-Her sorrow, his anger: It's the PV1 theme sans Remi. Still sounds quite pretty even without Remi's sweet voice.
-Song of a tiny flower: Hana no uta instrumental version. It's pretty straightforward, but I do like that both keyboard and strings have some variations of the theme, instead of just repeating it twice.
-Lance and assassin: Bretty good buildup before the battle theme. Remi's part is pretty standard, and the drumming lacks oomph, but I like the sort of mystical Arabian sound it has (... is it Arabaian style? hue). Something I quite enjoy is that every section gets more intense. Hope they perform this live.
-Interception: strings, but I dig the dark feel the whole track has. I love it when it goes full evil halfway through, with choir and strings.
-What are you gonna do?: Nothing special, but I do like me some sad, dark and depressing.
-Into the battle: bretty good 'prelude to battle' type of song. Doesn't sound very usual Kajiura, at least from what I can remember, hue.
-She did not answer: It adds a bit of new vocals, but I still want more Kasahara.
-With or against: Not melodic at all, but I love the mix of instruments and sounds. Probably the most "experimental" track in the soundtrack.
-For the butterfly: Mmm my sweet Remi vocals from PV1.

Extra: I really like Sakura and Shiro's leitmotifs. I hope they get more development in the next movies.
 
I've listened to this ost for the past few days, and I still enjoy it. It's certainly more of the same, but considering this is a practically a sequel to Zero, I didn't expect Kajiura to deviate too much from the sound she established for that series. The film scoring let Kajiura put in some good work on this ost, as just about every track manages to grow or change in some way, be it through the introduction of a new instrument, an increase in intensity, or even a change in the mood. That alone puts this soundtrack above most of her recent dark "action" type soundtracks. Not bad at all imo.

I also really liked Remi here. All of her previous work with Kajiura has been pretty mediocre, and she usually ends up sounding like off brand Eri or Hanae. This time, she sounded really unique, and her voice added a warm and grounded feeling that really captures the more intimate drama of this story. She did really well in Lancer and Assassin as well. It's probably her first action track where I didn't wish Hanae or Eri was singing instead.
 
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