Best Kajiura work of the year

[KP-X]

Ok, so we all know this year we had many works done by Kajiura, be them soundtracks or Kalafina/FJ:

- Madoka
- KnK Ongakushuu
- RHH 2
- Fiction II
- stone cold
- After Eden
- Eternal Blue
- F/Z
- And I will even mention Gatherway for the fanatics ;X

So, what was your:
- Favorite songs of each work
- Favorite Kalafina and FJ song
- Favorite work overall
- Your general thoughts about this year as far as Kajiura's music is concerned.

 

[george1234]

IMO the knk collection was basically what was released in the previous years so I don't count it as this year´work. Gatherway was defitely a nice refresh of the original song but nothing beyond that. Rekishi HIwa historia had the uniqueness of the first KAORI kajiurago as well as some songs reminding me the Tsubasa era so I really enjoyed it.

Madoka has some really catchy tunes From which I can tell apart Salvae terrace magica! Pugna cum maga, Decretum, Venari strigas! Insertus, Numquam vincar, Surgam identidem, nix welpurgis, and symposium maga rum. The rest of the tracks were good for the scenes and good to hear but didn't stand out for me,

As for Fiction 2 I was disappointeid since I was expecting more new song in the album and/or all of the old ones rearranged, also the new ones weren't good enough if you except I swear which stand out since yuki isn't used to making these kinds of ballads.

stone cold was really fresh for a Fictionjunction song and it's pv was quite hi-tech and the girls were pretty on it :so happy: hitorigoto was no deferent from nohara arrrangement wise so it didn't stand out for me,

After Eden had some nice melodies (destination unknown, mine no yukue) but for the rest of the new songs of the album I was expecting much more, so I can say I was disappointed. the pv for symphonic however was quite enjoyable and reminded me of old JVC pVs

As for eternal blue I waiting for the full version to say my opinion on it.

Fate/zero defitely stand out for me OSTs wise not only fora this year but as one of the best Yuki soundtrack works so I can't wait for the first volume of the soundtrack.

Kalafina's beat song of the year for me are adore and Magia.

OST wise this year was one of the best of yuki in the recent years and I hope she continues the awesome work, but I think she needs to be more creative for the Jpop songs
Waiting for the other members opinion

 

[Nick Hunter]

- Favorite songs of each work

Madoka
- Credens Justitiam
- Decretum
- Symposium Magarum
honorable mention: Sis Puella Magica

KnK Ongakushuu (not QUITE new, but oh well )
- Paradigm
- When the Fairytale Ends
- Everything, not Nothing
honorable mention: Thanatos

RHH 2
- Jubilee
- The Outbreak
- Break Down the Door
honorable mention: A Fruitless Love

Fiction II
- The Image Theme of Xenosaga II
- E.G.O.
- March
honorable mention: My Long Forgotten Cloistered Sleep

After Eden
- Magia
- Destination Unknown
- Symphonia
honorable mention: Eden

Fate/Zero
- Hero Summoning theme
- Hanae Tomaru track (Archer/Berserker and Kiritsugu/El Melloi battles)
- Irisviel's bird track
honorable mention: the main theme (mostly featured in the trailer so far)

- Favorite Kalafina and FJ song

Kalafina: Magia
FJ: a tie between Stone Cold and Eternal Blue... would be, but Stone Cold wins solely through the full version's availability. We'll probably be nominating Eternal Blue for 2012 if a new FJ album is released...

- Favorite work overall

a tie between Madoka and RHH2. RHH2 remains a true Tsubasa successor in terms of being PACKED with gems, but Madoka's OST, while interlaced with purely BGM tracks like Cor Destructum and Umbra Nigra, features a dozen or more pieces that beat even RHH2's masterpieces in my toplist.

- Your general thoughts about this year as far as Kajiura's music is concerned.

Yuki's new collaboration with Shinbo and Yuki's new solo album - two of my big Yuki-related dreams have come true this year. And the former resulted in a project that pulled me in as a spectator like no other anime has done for quite a while. RHH2 was something I didn't even dream about, since I thought they'd continue recycling the first OST for future seasons. FJ released a single that takes a succesful step away from the Parallel Hearts formula, while at the same time developing it with Eternal Blue. Kalafina released a song that cemented itself in my top-5 (and sounds original even by Yuki standards) and an album that manages to be beautiful yet feel different from both Seventh Heaven and Red Moon (seriously, Yuki should be giving master classes for Russian pop producers ). And Fate/Zero gave us another grand-feeling music collection that makes its series feel like a great heroic epic rather than a postapocalyptic beat-em-up... oh wait, but this time, luckily, it IS a great heroic epic rather than a postapocalyptic beat-em-up! Also, there's a lot of Eri Itoh this year.

Arrangement-wise, we've heard...
- ominous rockers (Magia, Destination Unkown),
- equally ominous techno (Magnolia, Agmen Clientum, the Fate/Zero track first playing when Assassin got his hindquarters handed to him painfully),
- downright ominous and tragic opera (Surgam Identidem, Symposium Magarum, The Outbreak)
- light elating pieces (March, Eden, Neverending),
- a bit of gospel-like chanting (Mune no Yukue),
- a bit of odd but fresh Arabian-Hawaian mix (In Your Eyes)
- thoughtful acoustic ballads (I Swear, Hitorigoto, Kugatsu)
- sad ballads (Sis Puella Magica, Decretum, A Fruitless Love, Sandpiper)
- ethereal vocal chants (Heigen)
- monumental tracks (Credens Justitiam, Sagita Luminis, Jubilee, a lot of F/Z songs)
- percussion-heavy arrangements (Gradus Prohibitus, Agmen Clientum and Caster's theme)
- ethnic flavours (Salvae Terrae Magicae and a lot of RHH2 songs)
and a lot of things I don't mention, but you can easily list them yourselves.

Overall? Like I said several times already: IMHO it's one of the best years in Yuki's career.
My only complaints:
Taikan theme and YK LIVE Vol 7 DVD

Kalafina's beat song of the year for me are adore and Magia.

Adore is last year's song, isn't it?

 

[ninetales]

First of all, thanks for such a nice questionnaire!

- Favorite songs of each work

Madoka:
Puella In Somnio
Pugna Cum Maga
Venari Strigas
Incertus
Numquam Vincar
Confessio
Nux Walpurgis
Symposium Magarum
Pergo Pugnare

RHH 2:
Until you find a light
I am a small boat on a river
You can go your own way
Looking back to the past
A fruitless love
A tiny light
Symphonia TV-size

KnK Collection:
Rain Goes Up
Spiral
Everything, Not Nothing
Into the Light
Snow is Falling

Fiction II:
In This Winter
MLFCS
E.G.O.
Heigen

Stone Cold:
Stone Cold

After Eden:
Eden
In Your Eyes
D.U.
Neverending
Kotonoha
Magnolia
Mune no Yukue

Can't quite say for Fate/Zero yet.

- Favorite Kalafina and FJ song

Kala:
D.U./Magnolia (because of the solos)
Kotonoha

FJ:
Stone Cold

- Favorite work overall

Hmm. For OSTs, the KnK Collection. While I love RHH 2, I think that KnK is the best OST Kajiura-sensei's ever written, and I never get tired of listening to Spiral or Everything, Not Nothing.

For vocal albums, After Eden. I do like Fiction II almost as much, but After Eden's got many more Kore-chan solos, and I also think it has more of a fresh feeling overall.

If I were to choose between the two, though, the KnK Collection is definitely my favorite.

- Your general thoughts about this year as far as Kajiura's music is concerned.

I think it's been a pretty good year. The KnK Collection has become my second-favorite OST (El Cazador being first), I love most of RHH 2, and I was very impressed with After Eden and most of Stone Cold. The Madoka OST I'm wasn't as happy with, but it has its standout songs, which more than makes up for its lack of originality in some places. And while I can't judge Fate/Zero yet, what I heard so far seemed promising.

Even so, I have to admit that I couldn't get through Gatherway when I tried listening to it...the arrangement and performances are good, but I find the song really boring.

So cheers for good work, Kajiura-sensei~

 

[KP-X]

Yeah, I know KnK's CD wasn't really new, but since the songs were arranged as medleys and there were slight rearrangements (as well as two new songs), I decided to count it as well (since you could say the same for Fiction II).

Favorite songs:

Madoka:
Nux Walpurgis
Salve, Terrae Magicae
Decretum
Incertus
Numquam Vincar

RHH 2:
Jubilee
I am a small boat on a river
The outbreak
You can go on your way
Town of vigor
The breath of the era
A Fruitless love

KnK Collection:
Thanatos
If I cry
Paradox
Spiral
When the Fairy Tale Ends
Everything, Not Nothing
Into the Light
Snow is falling

Fiction II:
The Image Theme of Xenosaga II
My Long Forgotten Cloistered Sleep
I Swear
Sweet Song
Everytime you kissed Me
Heigen

Stone Cold:
Uh...guess it's Stone Cold

After Eden:
Eden
Sandpiper
Magia
Neverending
Destination Unknown
snow falling
Symphonia

Fate/Zero:
Servant's Summoning Theme
Main Theme
Rider's Theme
That battle theme with Hanae and eletric guitar
The Summoning Theme but instrumental only
Tokyo Konsei song that plays when Rider interrupts Saber's and Lancer's (boring) fight
Tokyo Konsei song from Rider's amazing and epic NP

Favorite Kalafina song:
snow falling

FJ:
Gatherway, but it could have been Eternal Blue if we already had the full version...

Favorite work:
Tie between KnK Ongakushuu and RHH 2 (now let me explain myself before people scream at me: fangiiiiiirl! lol)
I really liked how some medleys turned out to be. Many songs that I did not really care that much became favorites just by how smooth the medleys sounded (and, as far as we're talking about the medleys, if I cry is the best one). Some small songs really worked well when together with others, so my experience as a listened was a better one in that way. Plus, I love how the sound is cleaner and technically better and some "rearrangements" were really nice, even if they were but few (M12+13 gained a major boost in the medley).
As for RHH2, I like how it is very well crafted and has a wide variety of songs. I feel in love with many of them at first listening.

My general thoughts regarding this year for Kajiura:
I was slightly disappointed with Madoka. While some songs were catchy and others well straight to my top favorites of all time (Kajiura), when I think about the project as a whole, it does seem to lack something. I was also disappointed with Kala's After Eden. Most of the songs were a bit repetitive and while I really liked some, I still believe improvement was necessary. F/Z...hum, mixed feelings. While I like the epic feeling that Tokyo Konsei gives to the soundtrack (and mind you, most of my favorite songs by Kajiura are performed by them), I think that other songs needed improvement. THat cello song, among others, are too similar with other songs and don't really add that much to the atmosphere of the series. Plus, the actual usage has been a bit of a trainwreck sometimes but that doesn't concern Kajiura.

So, I believe it was a nice year overall, but I'm personally craving for improvements.

Edit:
Ninetales, good to know you liked the topic And also, good taste regarding KnK

 

[Alphard Sokaina]

Favorite songs of each work:
Madoka
- Pugma cum maga

KnK Ongakushuu
- If I cry

RHH 2 was not impressive for me

Fiction II
- lotus
- march
- IMLFCS

After Eden
- Kugatsu
- Sandpiper
- Magnolia
- destination unknown

F/Z is the best work of this year

Favorite Kalafina song
- Kugatsu

Favorite FJ song
- Gatherway
Stone cold - no
Eternal blue - no

General thoughts: Madoka and RHH2 OSTs were rather disappointing. FJ's songs, except for Gatherway, were nothing worth to me. Kalafina was ok. KnK Collection was great, despite I listen to only one song. Can't wait for F/Z OST. Tokyo Konsei + Hanae Tomaru + Ito Eri + Yuri Kasahara can't be bad

 

[grunty]

BLOOD-C OST pwns both Madoka and Fate/zero soundtracks as far as I'm concerned so I don't have a problem picking my favorite Kajiura this year. =P

 

[Nick Hunter]

But you have to choose among Yuki's works in this thread, not Naoki Satou's ones. And there's RHH2 as well.

 

[ninetales]

@grunty: Well, I could say the same thing about Kajiura-sensei compared to Shikata, so I guess we're basically on the same track

 

[Nick Hunter]

Tokyo Konsei + Hanae Tomaru + Ito Eri + Yuri Kasahara can't be bad

+1000

 

[grunty]

Re:

@grunty: Well, I could say the same thing about Kajiura-sensei compared to Shikata, so I guess we're basically on the same track

Good for you~

 

[Kazado]

Hey, Kara no Kyoukai Ongakushuu is not a work from 2011 (fortunately), except the music for the epilogue.

Now, I'm going to be sensible and egoist: 2011 has been a bad year for Yuki's music.
Now, I'm going to be money-seeker: 2011 has been a great year for Yuki's career.
Now I'm going to be fan:

• Gatherway: Awesome remake. That's all.
• Fiction II: this was 2006-2011 but... lotus, E.G.O., L.A, the image theme of XII, my long... @_@
• RHH OST2: a will to go, a forced march, until you find a light, jubilee and chaotic.
• Madoka: Salve, terrae magicae, Venari strigas and the powerfull first seconds of Nux Walpurgis.
• stone cold: something new for FJ, I liked it! As well as Hitorigoto, a good listenable song.
• Eternal Blue: repetitive structure, this song is new?
• After Eden: Magia, Kugatsu and destination unknown/in your eyes?
• Fate/Zero: battle music Hanae Tomaru x Tokyo Konsei (emphasize TK's part), Rider's theme, the summoning music and the first music played (because it fitted perfectly with the scene).

 

[KP-X]

^I have already mentioned WHY I considered KnK a "work from 2011", so please read beforehand.

 

[Nick Hunter]

Now, I'm going to be money-seeker: 2011 has been a great year for Yuki's career.

and an even greater year for SME.

 

[LianaIlia36]

Hmm that is a hard one. I will pick 5 favorites from this year, although there are songs from all works that I love.

FJ: eternal blue and stone cold
Soundtrack: RHH 2 & Fate/Zero
Kalafina: After Eden

I would do each song but I think that would take forever. heh This has been a great year for new Kajiura.

 

[Kazado]

Re:

^I have already mentioned WHY I considered KnK a "work from 2011", so please read beforehand.

I skipped your post, sorry Disagree with your view about KnK but agree with Fiction II.

Now, I'm going to be money-seeker: 2011 has been a great year for Yuki's career.

and an even greater year for SME.

Yes, SME is releasing a lot of things with Yuki now, more than her true label, JVC, lol

 

[Nick Hunter]

Her collabs with Sony even date back before Noir and don't top there (even during the Bee Train years, there were Blood: the Last Vampire and Petite Cossette), so in a way, BOTH might be her true labels.

 

[murrue02]

~alele

I love Rekishii Hiwa Historia this year. It would be my favorite Kajiura release.