sarasara
I eat sleep and breathe Yuki
Wow, I'm very late to the party on this. Glad all that drama, amusing as it was, is (hopefully) now behind us. 
As for my thoughts on the actual single, well...
Hyakka Ryouran- I said it back when I first heard the sample and I'll say it again now, this literally sounds just like Parallel Hearts. The first time I listened to the full version, I was kinda zoning out and not paying full attention to the song and I swear I almost thought I was listening to PH for a good few seconds...The choruses are just eerily similar.
That aside though, after a few listens I agree that Keiko's first verse is the best part of the song by far. The rest of the song is good, but I really do feel like it's not anything special, which is a shame. I guess it's just that strong FJ vibe that this song gives off. Granted, we haven't had a single FJ anything in years now, but that bland anisong FJ (Wakana) feel is seriously overpowering here, at least to me.
As for the rest, I really liked Hikaru's part before the second verse with the Kajiurago counter-melody underlying it. I think all the girls sung decently in this one as well, Wakana being the weakest linkas usual but not being outright bad IMO
Decent song overall.
Kantan Katan- When I first heard the instrumental intro to this song, I was so excited because that intro was one of the prettiest things Kajiura has composed in YEARS. It gave me such a nostalgic, bittersweet, longing feeling, almost akin to something from the KnK or Shin Sekai Yori OST.
But then Wakana opened her mouth and I was like...oh...
I mean, the song wasn't bad, but that intro just raised my expectations wayyy too high and I couldn't help but be disappointed by the actual song, which really isn't a bad song at all; in fact, it's quite serviceable, albeit fairly standard Kajiura fare. (Thankfully the instrumental was all around great)
I am definetely getting a Neverending vibe from this one, and like Neverending, I think this is just one of those songs that I could play on repeat in the background while I'm working without it ever getting old.
I agree with the common sentiment that Hikaru doesn't sound all that great in her verses here though... pity :/
In her later verses Wakana also sounded pretty off, kinda pitchy and not exactly polished, but it wasn't terrible.
Despite my griping though, I really did enjoy this song, but once the shiny exciting 'new' factor of it has worn off, I don't think I'd ever go out of my way to listen to it.
Tonbo- zzzzzzzZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
I'm really getting sick of these samey piano ballads. I thought Kalafina b-sides were one of the sole opportunities where Kajiura didn't have to be restrained to composing an anisong that would eventually have to be shortened to 1:30, and could instead really channel her creativity to compose amazing, unique, and unorthodox songs (Lirica, Utsukushisa, Serenato, Tsuioku) not these boring formulaic 90% Wakana piano ballads that I always find bland and uninteresting (Haru wo Matsu, Mahiru, Kiichigo no Shigemini, Haru wa Kogane (
), Hokage (
), Sapphire,etc.)
Lapis is still the only one I actually enjoy and go out of my way to listen to . Gloria is also ok. I love Yane no Mukou ni, but I don't think that really counts as a piano ballad. The rest can go die.
At least this one is really short, making it relatively inoffensive (and even more so forgettable) but I'm just getting frustrated at the fact that these keep getting made, and each new one is even more forgettable and plain than the one before it. (At least Haru wo Matsu's melody was a tad more interesting than this)
Hikaru's voice is also really straining and harsh in this one too, ugh. Keiko's 'you ni' at the end also sounds really weird to me, but that may be just me.
It's not that I don't like piano ballads, in fact, Kajiura has been proven to use slow piano AMAZINGLY and effectively in the past.
M23 of KnK 3 is probably her best example of using piano and vocals efficiently to create a moving emotional piece that doesn't have to rely on predictable chord progressions and the like to draw emotion and a response from the listener. Kajiura KNOWS how to do this right, why can't she anymore gahhhhhhhhdgjadgagladakh
Granted, M23 is a OST track and not a conventional song, which lends it to more creative liberties when composing, but that shouldn't be an excuse as Kajiura has broken many of the basic conventions of songwriting in the past with songs like Utsukushisa, Sandpipier, almost everything on the Red Moon album, and Lirica, which was one of the reasons I loved her so much before, but if every new Kala single is gonna have one of these piano ballads every time, I just...
I could rant a lot more about this if I wanted to, but I think I should just stop myself here and say that this song sucked, but
Overall:...the single was serviceable.
I think I prefer the into the world/Marchen single over this because there was a larger sense of variety between the songs there and after going back to that single and listening to it, I find myself enjoying it quite a bit more.
I just really don't want to hear another dry and uninspired piano ballad taking up a precious b-side slot again, pls Kajiura pretty pls I wanna believe in you again
(I completely understand where so many of the so-called '"""""Kajiura haters''''''''''' on this forum are coming from now, despite being here not nearly as long as any of them, as well as quite a bit younger xD)
As for my thoughts on the actual single, well...
Hyakka Ryouran- I said it back when I first heard the sample and I'll say it again now, this literally sounds just like Parallel Hearts. The first time I listened to the full version, I was kinda zoning out and not paying full attention to the song and I swear I almost thought I was listening to PH for a good few seconds...The choruses are just eerily similar.
That aside though, after a few listens I agree that Keiko's first verse is the best part of the song by far. The rest of the song is good, but I really do feel like it's not anything special, which is a shame. I guess it's just that strong FJ vibe that this song gives off. Granted, we haven't had a single FJ anything in years now, but that bland anisong FJ (Wakana) feel is seriously overpowering here, at least to me.
As for the rest, I really liked Hikaru's part before the second verse with the Kajiurago counter-melody underlying it. I think all the girls sung decently in this one as well, Wakana being the weakest link
Decent song overall.
Kantan Katan- When I first heard the instrumental intro to this song, I was so excited because that intro was one of the prettiest things Kajiura has composed in YEARS. It gave me such a nostalgic, bittersweet, longing feeling, almost akin to something from the KnK or Shin Sekai Yori OST.
But then Wakana opened her mouth and I was like...oh...
I mean, the song wasn't bad, but that intro just raised my expectations wayyy too high and I couldn't help but be disappointed by the actual song, which really isn't a bad song at all; in fact, it's quite serviceable, albeit fairly standard Kajiura fare. (Thankfully the instrumental was all around great)
I am definetely getting a Neverending vibe from this one, and like Neverending, I think this is just one of those songs that I could play on repeat in the background while I'm working without it ever getting old.
I agree with the common sentiment that Hikaru doesn't sound all that great in her verses here though... pity :/
In her later verses Wakana also sounded pretty off, kinda pitchy and not exactly polished, but it wasn't terrible.
Despite my griping though, I really did enjoy this song, but once the shiny exciting 'new' factor of it has worn off, I don't think I'd ever go out of my way to listen to it.
Tonbo- zzzzzzzZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
I'm really getting sick of these samey piano ballads. I thought Kalafina b-sides were one of the sole opportunities where Kajiura didn't have to be restrained to composing an anisong that would eventually have to be shortened to 1:30, and could instead really channel her creativity to compose amazing, unique, and unorthodox songs (Lirica, Utsukushisa, Serenato, Tsuioku) not these boring formulaic 90% Wakana piano ballads that I always find bland and uninteresting (Haru wo Matsu, Mahiru, Kiichigo no Shigemini, Haru wa Kogane (
), Hokage (), Sapphire,etc.)At least this one is really short, making it relatively inoffensive (and even more so forgettable) but I'm just getting frustrated at the fact that these keep getting made, and each new one is even more forgettable and plain than the one before it. (At least Haru wo Matsu's melody was a tad more interesting than this)
Hikaru's voice is also really straining and harsh in this one too, ugh. Keiko's 'you ni' at the end also sounds really weird to me, but that may be just me.
It's not that I don't like piano ballads, in fact, Kajiura has been proven to use slow piano AMAZINGLY and effectively in the past.
M23 of KnK 3 is probably her best example of using piano and vocals efficiently to create a moving emotional piece that doesn't have to rely on predictable chord progressions and the like to draw emotion and a response from the listener. Kajiura KNOWS how to do this right, why can't she anymore gahhhhhhhhdgjadgagladakh
Granted, M23 is a OST track and not a conventional song, which lends it to more creative liberties when composing, but that shouldn't be an excuse as Kajiura has broken many of the basic conventions of songwriting in the past with songs like Utsukushisa, Sandpipier, almost everything on the Red Moon album, and Lirica, which was one of the reasons I loved her so much before, but if every new Kala single is gonna have one of these piano ballads every time, I just...
I could rant a lot more about this if I wanted to, but I think I should just stop myself here and say that this song sucked, but
Overall:...the single was serviceable.
I think I prefer the into the world/Marchen single over this because there was a larger sense of variety between the songs there and after going back to that single and listening to it, I find myself enjoying it quite a bit more.
I just really don't want to hear another dry and uninspired piano ballad taking up a precious b-side slot again, pls Kajiura pretty pls I wanna believe in you again
(I completely understand where so many of the so-called '"""""Kajiura haters''''''''''' on this forum are coming from now, despite being here not nearly as long as any of them, as well as quite a bit younger xD)
Last edited by a moderator:
Sapphire is ok though, the rest are just uninspired and lame
