I believe their intention was always to go solo without disbanding Kalafina entirely. Maybe not Keiko at the time, but having a separate solo career while still being in a group is very common. It's the smarter decision too as you have an existing fanbase to already and group activities allow the artist to take more risks when solo. Even if their solo career doesn't work out, the group would still be financially viable and provide consistent work (which is exactly what the FJ vocalists are doing - all their solo activities combined isn't enough to match FJ's consistency of work).
Wakana expressed even before After Eden that she had received many requests for Kalafina's Wakana specifically. Recording for After Eden made her question if she even deserved to be in Kalafina since that was a very difficult album for her, and I've always wondered what Wakana could have been if she had left Kalafina back then. Maybe she would have preserved her goddess-like voice and be as vocally strong as Whitney Houston, who she had idolised since childhood.
Good point on the solo side-career stuff. Some of my other top groups are doing that in different ways.
1.
WagakkiBand recently went on a open-ended hiatus after 10 years so they can focus more on their solo work (though many, including me, were speculating that it's a soft disbandment without officially announcing it). They were already fairly known before the group to different degrees (online and otherwise) and some of them already had their own groups, but WaggakiBand required a lot of commitment over their other activities because of the volume of recordings and lives, and to maintain a consistent brand image.
2.
Perfume's Nocchi recently recorded a solo with Ringo Shina who had reportedly been chasing her for over a decade! It was loved by many who had often wondered that the Perfume ladies were not doing solo work when they were known to be fairly good singers individually (at least a-chan and Nocchi).
3.
Band-Maid ladies are doing collabs and media recognition/sponsorships outside of the group (modelling, guitar companies, etc.).
4. All the singers with Sawano have their own solo careers, groups, and performances and music activities. They are like collaborators.
Keiko and Wakana and Hikaru's true popular debut was with Kalafina and you're right that they could have used the halo effect of the group (and the MASSIVE promotion and face recognition they got with the public) to do alternative, solo work. I suspect their original contracts did not allow that, or the volume of work they had to do for Kalafina. So I would point that to their agency/negotiation ability and not Kajiura, who had once said that they needed to improve as singers individually because Kalafina allowed them to cover each others' areas of weaknesses.
Wakana had the greatest chance/interest to go solo first (and get company support) so I wonder if she attempted to suggest that (more money for everyone), or if it was thought that she couldn't be the only one to do alternative stuff and the others just be stuck with Kalafina. FictionJunction was also another entire thing happening quite frequently, so they were all always busy.
We can only speculate about what could have happened if Wakana had left Kalafina earlier. In terms of solo career success, she would still need the strong support of the company like SC has given her. Did she have that kind of pull at the time, even if some fans were asking for it? Kalafina was still going strong and Wakana had probably not developed sufficient momentum (including mentally) to leave altogether.
I have looked at her earlier videos because of this
hullabaloo about her voice, and my conclusion is that the technique issues for her when singing a powerful lead voice was already there almost from the beginning. I am always looking at the neck of the singers and the outline of the veins that are being strained when they sing. Wakana was already engaging some of the bigger ones (I can't recall the name right now) that is a no-no for singing. A way to test is how a singer sings softly. If they are unintentionally breathy when singing quietly, then they have limited breath control/support (they haven't mastered it) and when attempting to sing more powerfully they will either use too much breath and tension and not use their body to support leading to all the neck strain.
My conclusion on Wakana and Hikaru's voices is that they are actually
light mezzo sopranos, meaning that their voices are naturally light/lightly supported. Similar to Yuuka Nanri. Doesn't mean they can't go harder, but their default to sing with ease and at a lower volume.
Kajiura required them to
sing more powerfully for the purposes of her music, which started from the recording studio (which is always more controlled) and of course escalated in the live setting (more emotions, louder noise threshold, having to also engage the audience).
I noticed during an MC that both Kajiura and Yuuka talked about her asking (demanding?) that Yuuka sing with more power/passion during recordings, even though she's a softer/lighter voice. She managed it in her own way and possibly found a way to resist going to extremes. I think Wakana and Hikaru were forced (or unable to develop themselves to avoid) going to the extreme to achieve the emotional impact of the energetic singing. I really think her training in vocals also had an impact on this.
I may sound like a broken record, but I am
always comparing the singers who were more highly trained with those that weren't among the FJ-related singers, mainly in terms of how long they've sang and their VOCAL QUALITY. Training gives you access to using more of your body to control and ration your breath so you can generate more power with less breath and avoid tension. It also teaches you to use more of your resonance to produce the cut/piercing effect to listener, without having to force your chest voice for more power or use tension.
Having a less-strenuous schedule also helps the preservation of the voice - there's no doubt about that - but it's not the only factor.
The JUMP OUT poster is what I'm comparing this to (think of movie posters like the Avengers).
