Mai-Hime music (Upd: anime Blu-ray box on 25/2/2026, and 6-CD box on 18/3/2026)

  • Thread starter Thread starter il0vesunfl0wers
  • Start date Start date
Thank you sooo much for sharing all of these! :)

Regarding typos, I've always found 召還 a bit strange and I believe it should have been 召喚 all along unless it's a very weird/intentional wordplay. As with 侵食 being the correct one too.

Sorry I can't take my supposedly-legit copy of OST1 out to check right now but if I ever do in the future I'll come back to this...
I've seen at least 3 different people's scans of their OST1 and I think all of those have 召還 written.
 
MushiMushi said:
Regarding typos, I've always found 召還 a bit strange and I believe it should have been 召喚 all along unless it's a very weird/intentional wordplay.
Click to expand...
Ain't it fascinating? Like, it would be one thing for it to be different in one spot but not only is it different between different releases and interviews, it's also seemingly different between printings of the My-HiME OST1, lol. I could not believe my eyes when I looked at what I own and then olden scans.
 
In my country some words used to be written differently when i was younger, and i see them different now on product labels etc (eg ξύδι > ξίδι (both mean vinegar)) . Languages evolve or simplify as time goes by. It might be a case like that.
 
grunty said:
Also, I have almost no American influences within me, so I can't create what you'd call American pop or American rock at all.
Click to expand...
Interesting. So her

grunty said:
Actually, while I was working on the music for the "My-HiME" series, I was also in charge of the music for the "Xenosaga" series (Note: an RPG series for PlayStation 2 released by Namco (now Bandai Namco Games)), and I was asked to write a full orchestral score for it. At the time, I didn't have the skills, so I studied hard and became able to write orchestral scores.
So, while I was thinking, "Wow, strings are fun!", I got the offer to work on "My-Otome," and I was happy to use the large strings (laughs).
Click to expand...
So we can "blame" Xenosaga for Kajiura's love for lots of strings?

grunty said:
Tomaru-san is a high soprano, and her singing voice is lyrical, almost like a fairy's, yet it has a solid sound pressure from top to bottom, her vibrato is incredibly stable, and she has a very strong ability to control the space around her voice.
It sounds thin, but it's not thin at all, so the texture suits battle songs like "Awakening," (「目覚め」)
Click to expand...
I like her (relatively recent) description of Hanae's voice - lyrical, fairy, solid, stable vibrato, control.

grunty said:
Particularly the bit about "MATERIALISE". The acknowledgement that it's not a track that she maybe could/would create today due to how (paraphrasing) unconventional & crass it was. A bittersweet reality check about (maybe exaggeration on my part) how we all lose a certain spark/naivete, when we learn more about everything & ourselves...
Click to expand...
Yeah, she talked about some things clashing in the arrangement that would seemingly not allow the song to fully shine. She was boldly trying stuff and it worked for her at the time. Cringing at your old work is expected but I am sure she can re-do some of that for live or re-release.
 
I often compose music during meetings.
People who are familiar with the work are usually the most enthusiastic, and I often get ideas while listening to them.
This song, "Himeboshi," (「媛星」) was also created during a meeting.
However, with staff I'm usually familiar with, I'd just write the notes on paper right in front of them, but since this was my first time meeting the staff, I was a bit embarrassed.
I'd say, "Excuse me for a moment," and quickly scribble it down in the bathroom (laughs).
Click to expand...


This is so funny n cute haha 😁


CloisteredFlame said:
So we can "blame" Xenosaga for Kajiura's love for lots of strings?
Click to expand...
I believe she always loved strings since she used to go to opera with her dad back in Germany. But until Xenosaga she didnt have chance or the budget to use alot of them. After Xenosaga she also used orchestra style arrangement on Hokuto no Ken and those were before KnK which solidified strings in her works as compared to solo violin that she used alot on most of the pre knk works. But in my opinion solo violin delivers the melody in a much more emotional way compared to strings which might be more cool but are bland in comparison (examples of solo violon tracks i love: "grandpa's violin" "cyber- slum" from .hack, "fall on you" and "madlax" from madlax, "i talk to the rain" and "dreamers" from tsubasa, "chase" from xenosaga "Yamiyo e no Prologue" and "taisetsu na hito" from mai otome ) i should also point to that "Erased" trailer bgm https://www.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Dg8tTxuO1oIY that had touchy solo violin n how it turned boring in the actual soundtrack when same melody was performed with strings.
 
Last edited:
george1234 said:
I believe she always loved strings since she used to go to opera with her dad back in Germany. But until Xenosaga she didnt have chance or the budget to use alot of them. After Xenosaga she also used orchestra style arrangement on Hokuto no Ken and those were before KnK which solidified strings in her words as compared to solo violin that she used alot on most of the pre knk works. But in my opinion solo violin delivers the melody in a much more emotional way compared to strings which might be more cool but are bland in comparison (examples of solo violon tracks i love: "grandpa's violin" from .hack, "fall on you" and "madlax" from madlax, "i talk to the rain" and "dreamers" from tsubasa, "chase" from xenosaga "Yamiyo e no Prologue" and "taisetsu na hito" from mai otome )
Click to expand...
She loved strings since she was young definitely, because of her exposure to opera! She said in the interview text that she had to learn orchestral composition for Xenosaga since she hadn't done it before.
 
So i looked for the character and Voice actor Kajiura talks about that her relative loved, the character was Reito Kanzaki n the VA is Toshihiko Seki
Apparently she also did Rau and Rey from Gundam Seed/ Destiny (the mask blonde dudes) and more recently Muzan from KnY so Kajiura had more chances to write music for characters he voiced, if she was asked to.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top