*hopefully it's really okay to revive this thread, as this post is going to be long*
General thoughts on the Arena live: it was great! I found myself clapping several times, and it was really enjoyable (I watched it three times...).
When compared to other lives, I would point out that it seemed slightly more disjointed, as not all songs flew well from one to the next. All three girls looked rather tired at the beginning already, and while they performed many songs, in some there was a noticeable, sudden drop in energy. There were also moments in which they didn’t seem focused; by “not focused” I don’t mean light-hearted or relaxed, but distracted, as if not particularly invested in the song. At the same time, I was really happy to see the girls so at ease with each other, and often making eye contact or sharing a few moments.
I also noticed that, contrary to Red Day and Blue Day, the stage/setting/outfits/movements were slightly sloppier, not as tidy as they were back then. While there were more visuals, they weren’t always in synch with the girls. In Blue Day mostly, everything was carefully studied and made it obvious that they had practiced a lot (okay maybe it looked a little artificial) but they were confident about what they were doing, as they had planned everything in detail. This time, while certainly looking more relaxed, and with some songs looking well-reharsed, some others seemed almost lazily just tossed there, and the girls seemed to be improvising more in their movements. Not that it’s necessarily a bad thing, but it does make mistakes stand out more when it's not done carefully.
As for the songs themselves, I first saw Disc 2, so I'll start with that one.
Hanataba: I liked this live version. Nothing stood out, but it was a very good live performance in my opinion, both by the singers - they sounded really good - and by the FBM (only the Kajiurago at the end I think sounded better on Blue Day).
Kimi no Gin no Niwa: they always do this song justice on lives, and it highlights how good the girls are as singers. It was performed splendidly, and I would define it also visually very pretty. If I was forced to complain about something, it would actually be about the musicians (!), not the singers: the accordion and the strings didn’t blend nicely together. My favourite moment, which was utter perfection, was when Keiko was beautifully singing “hana no kaori” with Hikaru’s deep harmony in it.
Hikari Furu: Keiko’s part was so moving!! Great harmonies, especially Hikaru delivered some impressive deep ones! Truly beautiful, and I especially loved how Wakana’s last note gave me such a feeling of hope <3
Mirai: the girls’ voices blended much better than on other live versions of this song. I liked to see them walk around while singing so effortlessly, but I didn’t like how they seemed to be unsure about where to go; they almost bumped into each other a few times, and they didn’t seem to have a clear aim for their wanderings. That aside, Keiko’s Kajiurago was celestial, and the song ended beautifully.
Sprinter: I rather like the acoustic version of this song, but it’s harder to do live compared to the “normal” version, and it showed. Wakana’s high notes began by being fairly bad but she improved as the song went on; Hikaru instead did the opposite, sounding very warm and full of emotions at the beginning but her voice broke more than once in the second part although, in her defence, she still managed to convey emotions surprisingly well (and it might be because she was too overwhelmed by them that she sounded so strained). Seeing Kalafina sing together with the audience was touching, and all three seemed close to tears (yes I shed a few as well, it was beautiful).
Disc 1.
Alleluia: thanks to the WOWOW release, I had already seen it many times, but it brought me to tears nonetheless – it is the closest to perfection Kalafina has ever come. And I say this in spite of the fact that I never particularly liked the song Alleluia itself (I just found it an okay one). This performance, even without considering the acapella part… beyond amazing.
Believe: Managing to make this bland song sound wonderfully moving, much better than the studio version, and performing it flawlessly? Done. Great job Kalafina! Splendid harmonies, especially in the sections right before the chorus; and I truly believed them when they sang “fight your fate” :P
MC#1: I mention this MC because as Keiko talked, there was a sweet piano music playing. Pretty!
Storia: I’ve yet to see a live performance of Storia that I find very good (the closest I think are the FotW live and the Red Moon live), and this one was once again average. Not bad by any means, just not above ‘fine’.
Hoshi no Utai: I’m glad they decided to refresh this older song. The kimonos they wore were very fitting to the mood, and the girls twirled with the music (especially Keiko!). They looked and sounded awesome, and when they made eye contact in some intense moments… wonderful! The flute was great too. Plus that ending in which they took off the kimonos while turning away from the audience! Irresistibly terrific :D
Neverending: I have a personal preference for the soothing feeling of this song (no matter how repetitive it is), and I’m so happy it was performed beautifully. The strings and percussion here were amazing. Hikaru sounded great, a lot better than when they did this song on Red Day, and this was one great performance.
Mune no Yukue: while this live was better than the one during the After Eden tour, Keiko didn’t sound as good or as controlled as she did in the previous songs Alleluia, Hoshi no Utai or Neverending. It was however performed with a lot of positive emotion, and I enjoyed it very much. I’m still waiting for the day in which Wakana and Keiko will learn to pronounce “river”, or at least as acceptably as Hikaru does. Leaving the snarky comments aside, Wakana and Keiko harmonised heavenly together. Oh and Korenaga exchanging a smile with Hikaru was just adorable!
Ring Your Bell: I absolutely loved Wakana’s wonderful high notes at the end, but for the rest, I didn’t enjoy the acoustic version that much – mainly because, contrary to the original version of the song, the singers' voices contrasted and scratched instead of blending together. I don’t know the reason for it, because they usually harmonized well in this song during lives, but it was as if all three were slightly off key at the beginning, and when the music started, it was far too loud together with their voices. The Kajiurago part was a relief, as it was much better, and from there something seemed to click and they went back to sounding awesome. Overall, it was pleasing, but not the best performance of this song.
MC#2: They already seemed rather tired… and the contrast between Wakana and Keiko’s overexcited tone and Hikaru’s more collected one was rather amusing ;) in all the next MCs, they looked more and more exhausted, something that I don't recall from their other concerts :/
Natsu no Asa: Lovely. Nothing else to say. I loved the flute in it, I loved the visuals in the background, and I loved how the girls sounded. Lovely performance.
Tsuioku: I don’t recall them ever performing this song in a major live concert, but they sure managed to make the experience memorable. Their voices and the determination in the music were beautiful together, and I liked how Wakana and Hikaru more or less mirrored each other’s movements during the song (and the background visuals during the instrumentals! Perfectly coordinated!). The Kajiurago part was utter perfection; Keiko sounded a bit weak in her solo part, especially when considering the energy she displayed in the rest of the song, but the part right after that, with Wakana and Hikaru moving around her, really delivered a sense of urgency and even anxiety. And I loved how it ended, with all three so close to each other and that hand movement in front of their faces.
Red Moon: the song itself is probably among my favourites, but this performance wasn’t very good in my opinion. Wakana’s extension in dress was lovely, but it became a little pointless as it just stayed there for the entire performance (and since there were water, waves, and stones assembling in the visuals, I don’t see why they didn’t make her projected dress at least sway with the wind a little more…). All three girls remained rigid during the delivery of their lines; Red Moon is an epic kind of song, one that has much more urgency and emotion than Tsuioku – instead they made it look like the opposite. Given that I love this song, seeing it be so unemotionally delivered made me think of the 2014 FJ performance of “In the land of twilight, under the moon” compared to the one from 2008: same complete and utter lack of energy. Even the FBM seemed not to be particularly invested in the song; Hikaru had no real fierceness in the chorus and even less in her solo part, while Wakana sounded inconsistently weak throughout the entire delivery. Keiko was instead great in the chorus but when it was time for her solo during the Kajiurago finale, she lacked vocal strength as well (although admittedly that might be the editing’s fault). I much preferred the live versions on Blue Day, After Eden live and even on the Consolation live (where they remained still as well but at least delivered their lines with energy!).
Magia: I liked them moving around more here, and they all sounded very good. Even though Hikaru played the past of the “lost one” very well, conveying that same kind of feeling in her warm vocals as she acted scared and looked around as if she was lost, I don’t see the reason for it, as Magia is such a fierce and aggressive song, not one of a person lost in the woods. I did like the scene during the instrumentals, and Keiko’s arms around Hikaru’s neck gave it an air of frightful mystery. In the bridge, I think that Hikaru looking tormented, as she was on the ground, while Keiko was singing, was extremely intense, and Wakana watching as if she was either a judge or a bystander was also very good (although some camera shots were better in the WOWOW broadcast). The last chorus gave the old Magia feeling back, with the lines now delivered with strong fierceness again. I am not really into the song, but it was a fantastic performance.
To The Beginning: as much as I’m fond of this song because of Fate/Zero, this seemed a rather lazy performance. The girls, while keeping the tempo perfectly, wandered around aimlessly, as if they had not even bothered rehearsing. Even the musicians seemed to lack energy, no matter how much the crowd was cheering. There weren’t any large mistakes in the performance, and it wasn’t necessarily bad (Mezamashi was way worse), but it seemed as if they weren’t really into it and were merely doing it for the public, not because they cared about the song. Which in turn didn’t make me be very invested in it.
Blaze: I don’t know how much editing went into this (considering the abysmally awful mess they made on Mezamashi) and I don’t really care, but I can tell that Hikaru is – thankfully – much more controlled this time and she hits the notes right. Editing or no, this live version was very good from an objective point of view. I will still keep insisting that, while admittedly catchy, it’s a rather generic song.
Destination Unknown: I’ve never seen Kalafina perform this song badly, and this time is no exception. Amazing. I am not sure why Keiko decided to sit down during her solo part (since both Sato and Korenaga stared at her in wonder, I imagine it wasn’t planned), but she looked at ease doing so therefore I have to nothing to complain about ;). The FBM were absolutely outstanding by the way – the energy was back! The camera took odd and messy angles from between the public, but it only added frenzy to the song. And Hikaru! She held the last note with such a stable tone for an exceptional 16 seconds!!! (on Blue Day it was already 14 seconds!)
Identify: with all the other upbeat songs being performed together with this (Magia-To The Beginning-Blaze-Destination Unknown-Signal-Ongaku), I would have avoided adding Identify to the setlist, but it was a very good performance, not much to say.
Signal: a good performance, but again, it was as if they had suddenly lost some energy. They sang really well, even though Wakana’s usually perfect wails were a bit imprecise and faltering towards the end of the song.
Ongaku: I noticed the lights being awesome in this one, and it was great that they sang with the audience! Keiko held out the long notes wonderfully, the instrumentals were amazing, and Konno <3. I’m also glad that after Signal’s drop in energy and faltering notes, Wakana was back to delivering perfection once again in her high part.
Into The World: very, very good. The only thing I truly dislike about this new song is the ending when they sing the title – it just sounds unfittingly boring. For the rest, it’s a very pretty song; I liked that they didn’t move around because, contrary to Red Moon, here it suited the melody and they put their hearts into it, making any kind of dance/movement unnecessary. Some moments of their harmonies brought me to tears, and on the bridge, Wakana sounded truly like an angel.
Overture ~ In Your Eyes: I really liked the overture, as it seemed like the musicians were genuinely enjoying themselves and the public clapped them, cheering them as they deserved. Korenaga jumping up and down like a dork was just endearing.
The first part of the song, with Kalafina entering through the public, lacked energy, as did all the choruses, and I didn’t like them running instead of walking, but I did like them touching the people’s hands as they went through. The voices of all three seemed to be very much strained in all the lines they delivered, but I don’t know if it’s caused by the editing; they improved a lot as the song went on though (take the last “in your eyes” chorus compared to the first one). I liked that they had Junior and Korenaga so close to them as they sang, and Junior clapping as Keiko and Hikaru sang together was adorable. Keiko holding the note and letting her finger wander over all the Arena levels was a nice touch ;)
One Light: energy again! The performance was very good, and I thought the Kajiurago sounded particularly great – and even if Hikaru had to run across the stage a little to reach the others for the usual three-arm meeting, it was still very enjoyable.
Hikari no Senritsu: I’ve never heard Hikaru sound so good in her solo parts, not even in the studio recording (perhaps Red Day is the only exception), and she sounded great on the high harmonies as well. Noticeable how she remained completely in tune while singing and walking backwards at the same time. Wakana sounded great again and Keiko was wonderful. I didn’t like Rie Akagi’s flute solo (on Red Day it was much better), but the girls were amazing, especially in being able to flawlessly sing this slower, more controlled song that requires precision and concentration, after all those faster ones.
Symphonia: as flawless a performance as the one on Blue Day, with all three displaying remarkable control and precision, but unfortunately I find this song really bland and dislike it as conclusion :(
I should really stop blabbering so much... but I just need to say a word on the outfits of this live.
It’s true that in a concert the music should matter more, and it does, but what the singers are wearing is part of the visuals, and therefore I will point out that they didn’t do a particularly good job in that department this time.
The kimonos, while admittedly a bit bulky, were beautiful and gave them a solemn look that in my opinion worked oddly well with the songs they performed in them. The white dresses that followed kept the tradition of being similar yet different between the three girls, but they were undeniably a bit plain and rather generic.
And the last change of clothes for the encore – that was simply horrible. It wasn’t enough to spoil the performance, thankfully (although Hikaru Furu in those was a an eyesore), but it was just… wrong, and for all three girls. I thought they were leaving the gothic Lolita style to go with the “simple and elegant”, but this outfit was neither. The transparencies in Keiko’s dress were close to being indecent, and it’s even odder when compared with the fact that neither Wakana nor Hikaru had any transparencies. Wakana’s dress hem was cut weirdly and it wasn’t flattering for her form at all. I didn’t mind Hikaru wearing trousers instead of a dress (it's not the first time and with the high heels, she still looks elegant enough), but it was in stark contrast to Keiko’s attire that was almost flaunting her underwear. The decorations in the hair of all three were giving that ripped, neglected and actually careless look that doesn't suit them at all (did Wakana add blonde locks to her ponytail…?). And don’t get me started on Wakana’s childish earrings – ugh.
Overall, however, I’m happy with the musicians and the girls – I loved this Kalafina concert, and I feel so privileged to have been able to watch it :D
