CloisteredFlame
HA! I live in her CLOSET!
Ha..ha..HAHAHAHA! How is that even possible. I will resist the urge to poke at the ladies (maybe the post was an attempt to gaslight us into doing that, who knows?). I will just say that Kajiura is more successful/visible with her own projects (FictionJunction, carrying her own name) than ever before, writing multiple songs for one of the biggest anime of all time and a game-changing record breaker - Demon Slayer). Kalafina is sadly, mostly nostalgic in its discography with anime that are over a decade old or so (we can say the same with a lot of classic FJ songs), but Kajiura has moved far past her Kalafina discography; even if they are favorites they are mostly older.
Excuse me, but Emiko did excellent with "black rose", not just fine!
She brought a totally new energy into the FJ universe in YKL21 (different from Kaori, Keiko, Hikaru, who have been the historically energetic/edgy Kajiura girls) - bright and dark at the same time - and her "Destination" was for me a definitive second version with Yuuka's original. She's not really a gentle, sentimental ballad singer (like Joelle, Yuuka, etc.) so those kinds of songs may require a bit more refinement that I hope she develops more over time. It will make her a more complete singer though she's already quite versatile. For comparison, look at Floor Jansen (who I've been watching recently) who has classical, pop, musical theatre, rock, and metal skill. Emiko is more pop, soul, and a tinge of rock - I am waiting for a darker/mysterious symphonic rock-style song for Emiko, something in the vein of Magia and the dark bridge of "Shine in the Cruel Night").Kajiura did not massively push her popularity as an artist, preferring to let her music speak for her, and staying in studios, but we can say she's more of a composer and doesn't like the "I'm an artist, look at me" spotlight. If she was a more forward character like Sawano (I know I mention him from time to time) she would have presented herself more and gotten more notoriety around Kalafina's music.
It's a great sign that she's starting to come back. I am hoping her next album also has that kind of impact. I liked her MC in the NHK x NPR session, where she said that she feels like she's just starting... I like that spirit for her, breaking new gate(s).
I would say Kajiura is now much more intentional about her artistic positioning and collaboration, not just working with vocalists she likes or are in her management company, but she's big enough to be approached by artists who are larger than life to create big events/attraction around their shared music.
Kajiura should be the "bigger" person (even though they are all professionals). Kajiura should bend over backwards and accept the loss of face because she's a successful composer (even though culturally, generation-wise, and pedigree-wise she shouldn't). Kajiura should not perform her music (sorry, Kalafina's music) out of respect for their legacy and their attempt at reinvention (even though she brought the group into existence). Lots of logical gaps in those arguments, I have to say...
Yep. She chose ALL OF THEM, giving many of them the music that exposed them (and remains their defining music), leading to their careers taking off. I keep saying if solo/in group they only got to sing generic J-pop or rock songs, maybe they would still have some exposure, but they would probably just blend into the mass of same-sounding JPop artists (I do still feel Hikaru had potential to be really unique as a solo artist, if she had the right support/collaborators/training early on). Kalafina is a unique group because they sing Kajiura's unique music, and sing harmony in Kajiura-style (look at their harmony work outside of Kajiura, much simpler arrangements).
Anyway, I am ready to keep checking any of those wrong vibes put out on these forums. I won't go to someone-out-there's forum dynasty world to argue this though, since they are severely biased against Kajiura, and wouldn't entertain looking at things from both sides.
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