It's mostly without backing vocals but I did notice it in Heavenly Blue after Hikaru's first verse (sodistia) while there was no backing during the Kajiurago intro with W+K.
「Kalafina Anniversary LIVE 2025」15th January Tokyo Garden Theater (NO KAJIURA INVOLVEMENT)
- Thread starter Kugayama
- Start date
grunty
I have reached Yuki nirvana
Iunno if it's just the backing vocals. But like oblivious, Hikari no Senritsu, storia, Kyrie (maybe Lacrimosa) definitely seem to have a lot of backing from Kajiura's productions. And if they're not old tracks then they're near perfect replicas, which, while impressive, would still be Kajiura, lol.
Aaaanyhooooooooo, my point was, yes, credit where credit's due - there certainly seems to be more stuff here from Takebe and the instrumentalists than I was expecting from the bootleg. (Granted I'm not familiar with how those songs evolved in lives during Kalafina's original run - I doubt I watched any of their post-Red Moon concerts more than once, if at all.)
I hope everyone who this was for enjoys themselves.
Aaaanyhooooooooo, my point was, yes, credit where credit's due - there certainly seems to be more stuff here from Takebe and the instrumentalists than I was expecting from the bootleg. (Granted I'm not familiar with how those songs evolved in lives during Kalafina's original run - I doubt I watched any of their post-Red Moon concerts more than once, if at all.)
I hope everyone who this was for enjoys themselves.
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CloisteredFlame
Bowl of Yuki-shaped cereal
He's done a solid job under the circumstances. I enjoyed some of the bass guys little riffs here and there, more mobile than the venerable "Junior" for my taste.
There's no escaping that. Some songs had the tracked intros you couldn't escape from because they set the atmosphere for the beginning of the song.
The audience might internally reject or not recognize them otherwise.
CloisteredFlame
Bowl of Yuki-shaped cereal
I think it was definitely an attempt to have their live vocals carry as many of the songs as possible without bringing in the tracked harmonies. I applaud their efforts.
That put more of a demand for Wakana to be on point for the high harmonies and the really high Yuriko parts were just...gone.
I heard Hanae's voice in Oblivious definitely (no escaping that) but didn't pay attention to if Yuriko's was featured.
The "Kimi no ginno giwa" and "Sprinter" acoustic versions were cool, but the cello solo to replace Akagi-san was bad in my opinion. The violin would have been a much better stylistic and musical choice. Maybe Konno didn't want to step on Akagi's feet or on the audience's expectations.
That put more of a demand for Wakana to be on point for the high harmonies and the really high Yuriko parts were just...gone.
I heard Hanae's voice in Oblivious definitely (no escaping that) but didn't pay attention to if Yuriko's was featured.
The "Kimi no ginno giwa" and "Sprinter" acoustic versions were cool, but the cello solo to replace Akagi-san was bad in my opinion. The violin would have been a much better stylistic and musical choice. Maybe Konno didn't want to step on Akagi's feet or on the audience's expectations.
grunty
I have reached Yuki nirvana
I think you would have to take your complaints to Sakurada and Ishikawa on those two tracks, since these appear to be the same arranges that were featured on Winter Acoustic. For the most part anyways.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ftw0fQVQHFI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14iDvxiA6YU
(Was Rie ever on either of those tracks in the originals? lol)
CloisteredFlame
Bowl of Yuki-shaped cereal
CloisteredFlame
Bowl of Yuki-shaped cereal
They actually removed just the Akagi freestyle bridge solo. Not the playback as part of the chorus
CloisteredFlame
Bowl of Yuki-shaped cereal
I get you now.
Flute in Hikari no Senristu is the same as the studio recording (there's a harpsichord overlaying the flute, which is always one octave below how Akagi Rie plays it live). Hyakka Ryouran flute is the same too (side note I love the fluttering notes before Keiko's verse). But it seems like it's just that, even Ongaku didn't have the Kajiura backing track in the beginning.
As for vocals, it's slightly different. Like in to the beginning after the Kajiurago, it's more robotic than the original version. Mirai's backing vocals after "yukeru nara". Same with the Kajiurago after the first chorus. Overall though, its used very sparingly. A lot of the time it'd just be the girls' own voice without any background high harmony, like Hikaru in Lacrimosa and to the beginning, and Wakana in to the beginning and heavenly blue.
As for vocals, it's slightly different. Like in to the beginning after the Kajiurago, it's more robotic than the original version. Mirai's backing vocals after "yukeru nara". Same with the Kajiurago after the first chorus. Overall though, its used very sparingly. A lot of the time it'd just be the girls' own voice without any background high harmony, like Hikaru in Lacrimosa and to the beginning, and Wakana in to the beginning and heavenly blue.
CloisteredFlame
Bowl of Yuki-shaped cereal
It's a case of playing anything live was better than playing back Akagi's bridge solo from the original release like they did in several Kalafina lives.
I guess so, but the cellist was "shredding" on his instrument instead of doing something melodic. I would have taken Konno or clean electric guitar over that cellic nonsense!
I guess so, but the cellist was "shredding" on his instrument instead of doing something melodic. I would have taken Konno or clean electric guitar over that cellic nonsense!
grunty
I have reached Yuki nirvana
but then they use the og studio vocal at the end, lol. Which I had always assumed was Hanae... but maybe it's not?
Edit: Actually they use it at the start, too.
Oh lawd, I forgot about Hikaru's acting in Lacrimosa performances. XD
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CloisteredFlame
Bowl of Yuki-shaped cereal
I just remembered that the function of Yuriko's voice was not just to sing high harmony, but also to mirror Keiko's octave above, often singing the same notes, essentially the "heaven and earth" analogy that often comes to my mind. This gives even more color/reflection.to Keiko's part and fills the frequencies in the listeners' minds. Both in Kalafina and FictionJunction.
Atlas Star
El Cazador de la Yuki
Skipped right to Hikarifuru to see the damage control.
CloisteredFlame
Bowl of Yuki-shaped cereal
Yeah, they shouldn't have done that song, even if it's one of Wakana's favorites. It's an exposed vocal for her and quite high from the get-go!
Even at her best it was a challenge for her to nail those notes. Doing the song just showed starkly how her voice was a shadow of its former state.
george1234
Moderator
I was expecting she would know her weakness after all the drama that has happened and them separating from Kajiura, especially Wakana, and avoid songs that expose it as much as possible. For me, Wakana's hardest songs with Kalafina are Seventh Heaven, Lyrica and Hikari Furu
I can't decide what's better, her performances in Lacrimosa or Hikaru's impression of me in group school projects during 花束
Attachments
There's pros and cons. Pros - she slides much less between notes (you can hear this most in heavenly blue) and her tone has gotten stronger, although she did sound better in magic moment and her Acoustic lives - there was a lot more variation in dynamics there while there's not so much here. Her vocal stamina has really improved, and she doesn't take loud gasps of air anymore.
Cons - her head voice has deteriorated so much that she uses a falsetto that's very weak and breathy. Her tremolo has gotten noticeable worse as well, and I don't like like that they "smoothed" it out on the broadcast. Wakana was 95% on key in the bootleg so this gives her a slightly auto-tuned quality which wasn't there before.
Anyone else notice thay Hikaru gained quite a bit of weight here? She wasn't this, uh, plump, when I saw her live in November last year and she looks to have lost the weight since then.