it's not like she's gonna have them perform Handel's version of Hallelujah
I can briefly imagine a much,
much slower version of the chorus in a minor scale with symphonic metal instrumentals and soaring strings.
And a halftime feel with sweeping strings and Kajiurago chants at the "for the Lord omnipotent reigneth" section, then returning to the metal for the rest of the piece/song...
About the atheist part i think she is very careful to never insult / use shinto or buddhist stuff, but christianism has a special place in japanese society cause as you can see in most anime catholic church is portrayed as evil (like FSN with Kotomine or To Aru Majutsu no Index / Railgun) cause IRL japanese rulers at some point said no to catholic apostoles who went there to convert people and at some point the religion was also banned, but i think not anymore, there are actually around 1-3 million japanese christians.
Japanese are wary of any non-Buddhist/Confucian belief systems coming in, especially when it's outwardly or boldly displayed or belligerent. Maybe because there's no way to directly square it with their highly detailed cultural context (and also historically wary of foreign influence and losing their culture/norms). I think the Catholic/Orthodox churches have that strong hierarchical structure and have been portrayed as evil or corrupt in a lot of Western (US) media (including horror movies) which fascinates and influences Japanese creatives pulling compelling ideas for their storylines.
Even for songs by FJ-Yuuka, Emiko broke this paradigm...look at 'Destination', it was insane! I would never have guessed that a version of Destination with Emiko on vocals would be so good. It didn't fall short of the original in any way.
So true. Emiko's
commanding vocal and physical performance, and the stronger background vocals (Kaori especially) able to give matching vocal energy and loudness to Emiko's lead elevated it to make it true Emiko version. I just watched the YKL#4 with Yuuka and of course Hikaru (mainly) and Yuriko's vocal fit the comparatively gentler vocal style of Yuuka.
Now I'm curious about Joelle taking the lead on a version of this song (supported by Kaori or LL), and even Kaori (with Emiko doing low harmony to her). Of course, Yuriko stays doing the high harmony parts.
With each performance, I see Kajiura unafraid to present Emiko as someone who can replace Keiko perfectly and deliver even more. I'm loving this current phase of FJ!
Yeah, what I am seeing is the rise and showcase of the
FJ utility vocalists (Kaori being the first historically, now we have Joelle, and Emiko being a new anomaly because of the strength of her solo lead 'IQ'), as opposed to the specialty/single-focus vocalists (Yuriko, Keiko, Wakana, etc.). I should it's also a case of a stronger fluidity in the arrangements for vocals.
YKL#21 seemed to be a place of pushing everyone to be able to handle different parts in the chorus and harmony lines (especially the low harmonies) that, in earlier lives, they might have just defaulted to Keiko mostly, and Kaori a few times. I mean we had Joelle doing extended low harmonies, same with LL; Kaori really settling into her low range (fuller than prior to her childbirth); new and unexpected arrangements for several existing songs. It wasn't just a case of plugging Emiko as a straight swap for all Keiko parts and ending it there.
By the rearrangements of YKL#21 Kajiura seems to be slightly blending the "
megumi" and "
human" vocal archetypes/designations of her singers as she has historically has the "megumis" on our left of the stage and "human" on our right of the stage and assigned vocal parts to support that perception.
Joelle is a good example of one of her singers having an ability to straddle both designations at least to an extent.
