Kalafina Post-Kajiura thread (Upd:「Kalafina Anniversary LIVE 2026」Jan 14-19 2026)

Not to relaunch much speculation, but given the format that has turned out to be the return of Kalafina which seems to be the anniversary maybe some couple of events or OST recording / collab, but not as writing new songs and actively touring. That would give Keiko and Hikaru plenty of time for some Kajiura events for sure. I think they had hopes they could make it work.

And I say this because I think it's fair to say that Keiko is the one that has taken the biggest hit out of the three. If it was intentional, it was a huge risk.
 
Keiko's always been the least keen on a solo career and I can confidently say she was the most passionate about bringing Kajiura's worldview to life on stage out of any of the singers Kajiura has worked with, by far. She stuck by Kajiura even after the initial Kalafina disbandment solely because of the love she had for the music Kajiura created and had tried her best to trademark Kalafina to take ownership away from Spacecraft. Even during her Kalafina days, she always had the belief "I want to continue singing Kajiura-san's music with all my heart" while Hikaru was always the most likely to go solo first, and Wakana struggled with her identity as a vocalist.

She knew of the risks and did it because there was no other option available, even if it meant "betraying" (a strong word here to be honest) Kajiura whom she had admired and respected for decades at this point.
 
Lúa said:
Not to relaunch much speculation, but given the format that has turned out to be the return of Kalafina which seems to be the anniversary maybe some couple of events or OST recording / collab, but not as writing new songs and actively touring. That would give Keiko and Hikaru plenty of time for some Kajiura events for sure. I think they had hopes they could make it work.

And I say this because I think it's fair to say that Keiko is the one that has taken the biggest hit out of the three. If it was intentional, it was a huge risk.
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Like all things in life there were risks all around.

Kalafina were not 100% sure the live would be a complete success, but there was a strong possibility because of the consistent clamoring from fans online.

Kajiura was also taking a risk when she left the comfort of her relationship for a quarter of a century with SpaceCraft Produce (basically her entire career) to go off on her own.
 
Saber said:
Keiko's always been the least keen on a solo career and I can confidently say she was the most passionate about bringing Kajiura's worldview to life on stage out of any of the singers Kajiura has worked with, by far. She stuck by Kajiura even after the initial Kalafina disbandment solely because of the love she had for the music Kajiura created and had tried her best to trademark Kalafina to take ownership away from Spacecraft. Even during her Kalafina days, she always had the belief "I want to continue singing Kajiura-san's music with all my heart" while Hikaru was always the most likely to go solo first, and Wakana struggled with her identity as a vocalist.

She knew of the risks and did it because there was no other option available, even if it meant "betraying" (a strong word here to be honest) Kajiura whom she had admired and respected for decades at this point.
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Actually, from what I've seen/read, I would say Keiko was the one who was the most unsure about her music career, without Kajiura. Hikaru and Wakana were more sure they wanted to be singers from their earlier years, and solo ones at that.

Keiko, has struck me as someone that really thrives in working with and being around with people she admires and enjoys, immersing themselves in their world. Just from when I read about her following her older sister and getting involved in all her activities, it seems to be the case. Of course, it was a great act of devotion to leave SC the way she did, and it showed she was not just committed to the music, but the person, of Kajiura herself.

Keiko also seems to be someone that genuinely LOVES harmony singing more than solo singing (I've seen Kaori also say that she enjoys this as well). Some singers just love singing with others more than singing alone.

Wakana's struggles probably came from the beating she had taken vocally during the relentless schedules, partly an effect of changing her singing style to lead songs the way Kajiura wanted - so she had to rediscover her singing style for her solo career. It wasn't due to any loss of interest in or conflict about singing, since that's was all she ever wanted (and was raised/trained) to do - sing.
 
^ it was reckless of Keiko to make such a move without warning , given how that Kalafina reunion seems to be an annual anniversary. Maybe she had other expectations of full revival and SC let her down. From a fan's POV it seems like she lost way more things than she gained, unless she has better chemistry with Wakana and Hikaru than Kajiura and the FJ ladies somehow.
 
I have to imagine that a new Kalafina album must be in the works, because for Keiko and Hikaru to sever ties with Yuki Kajiura in the disrespectful manner that they did, thus barring them from FictionJunction (so far), all to perform 3 night's worth of Kalafina songs a year doesn't seem worth it at all. There must be more in the works.
 
TRal55 said:
I have to imagine that a new Kalafina album must be in the works, because for Keiko and Hikaru to sever ties with Yuki Kajiura in the disrespectful manner that they did, thus barring them from FictionJunction (so far), all to perform 3 night's worth of Kalafina songs a year doesn't seem worth it at all. There must be more in the works.
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Quite possible. Imagine if they debut new songs at the upcoming live.

Surely, Satoshi Takebe would want to begin to put his own stamp on the group’s music the second time around, rather than just doing rearrangements of another composer’s music again and again, even one as prominent as Kajiura.

Having worked with them for over a year he may already want to express his own sound through them.

The only thing is there already a sound associated with the name Kalafina, since both the music and group name came from the same person.

Is there a Takebe world? We shall see.
 
I'm really not familiar with japanese music industry. Only some composers through video games like Nobuo uematsu, yasunori mitsuda, shoji meguro etc. How is famous is satoshi takebe? do he has his own style? I cant remember the scores of his ghibli's films to be honest.
 
george1234 said:
^ it was reckless of Keiko to make such a move without warning , given how that Kalafina reunion seems to be an annual anniversary. Maybe she had other expectations of full revival and SC let her down. From a fan's POV it seems like she lost way more things than she gained, unless she has better chemistry with Wakana and Hikaru than Kajiura and the FJ ladies somehow.
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Maybe Keiko’s comments around the reunion concert, that they did not know what was coming next afterwards, was because the company was already in discussions to be absorbed by another.
 
maha_gnosis said:
I'm really not familiar with japanese music industry. Only some composers through video games like Nobuo uematsu, yasunori mitsuda, shoji meguro etc. How is famous is satoshi takebe? do he has his own style? I cant remember the scores of his ghibli's films to be honest.
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I have never listened to his music, but I am curious.
 
They didn’t even greet Yuki Kajiura HAPPY BIRTHDAY 😂
Yuki Kajiura made an official statement even for Takebe-san that Kajiura is giving them freedom etc.
This was after Hikaru made a livestream about her crying about Kajiura might be angry or that the fans might be so angry.
So that only means Kajiura really gave a chance and tried to reunite Kalafina again. The fact that Kalafina songs are so integral to her YKL # 20 is evidence that she is excited about Kalafina.
However, this only gave a sign to SPACECRAFT that Kalafina music is still in demand to the public.
They insisted that it’s only a one time concert but look at what is happening now? They are having tours as Kalafina. Maybe they have a mindset of “It’s better to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission. “ But no. KEIKO of all people should know how much Kajiura loves them and her music as a composer. But they disregarded that all in the name of Kalafina revival. They agreed to the very company that treated them before like shizzz. To be honest, the Kalafina voice is starting to lose its charm for me since they left Kajiura.

I don’t mean to be rude. But I am going to give my thoughts about their voices. Wakana sounded like a goat and can’t control her vibrato to the point it sounds really bad. Keiko sounded more unstable and tries to sound cutesy. Her vocal techniques are so limited and struggles to do runs. Hikaru sounded like her vocal pipes are destroyed and struggles a lot.
But despite those imperfections, Kajiura can still make them sound relevant and make their voices work. Their last year’s live was amazing and I enjoyed their performance in Bangkok and their YKL tour.
Seeing the girls so disconnected with Yuki Kajiura and not try to make amends just cringes me. I just hope they stop using her music in order for Kalafina to stay relevant. Hahahahaha.
 
CloisteredFlame said:
I have never listened to his music, but I am curious.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satoshi_Takebe

I just noticed that Wakana was mentioned - and her profile linked - in Takebe's Wikipedia profile, which is nice. She's been getting to work as a fellow solo artist with fairly well-known artists, even getting the appelation as a "renowned Japanese artist" in the post. By the way someone should update her Wikipedia with one of her many good solo artist pics rather than the old Kalafina photo shared with Hikaru and Korenaga.
 
Speaking of Takebe, I went looking for some of his songs.

https://youtu.be/ixgmJyfdk6w?si=Q6OaHdNcd4D86urw
'Bouquet No Yukue' by chay.

Just listening to this upbeat song, I immediately thought that Wakana could easily sing it. In fact it almost sounded a bit like her going up to the upper range of the song. Even the image of "chay" looked like a bit Wakana. Very curious. I think this is my favorite from the ones I skimmed through. It would be fun to perform live.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJ1wVrp0wq_z1bH4Ba53jUQ
Forever (Wave Sound Chorus Version)

This is the only track I saw that included harmony vocals, though it was straight-through harmony, and a tribute to the old-school American group Beach Boys. It seems just like one singer recording multiple parts.

~~~

I noticed a lot of his music is piano-driven and he has a lot of just acoustic piano or piano with vocals in his discography, though of course he also works with bands and does orchestral arrangements too. He's also done rock songs among others.

I have to be honest (maybe I'm comparing to Kajiura, actually that's my template if I'm being real) but I wasn't incredibly wowed...

I know I couldn't possibly have seed all his music in this short skim-through session (of course not) but I was still trying to see elements of his creative style that could connect to Kalafina's legacy as a "baroque pop" group (if we are to use that appellation), or be an alternative take on it.

No world music elements I can notice in any of his work I've seen.
Since there isn't multi-vocal music, there are no counterpoint-vocal examples.
Also, I don't get the vibe of him using or writing for vocals as co-instruments with the rest of the orchestration, in terms of what is written for the singer(s) - I mean the notes and progressions.

The reason I bring all this up is the way the voices of Hikaru, Keiko, and Wakana were used in the past as Kalafina. I can imagine it was quite taxing to perform their music live, especially with so many songs and so many live shows and the fact the vocal writing didn't allow for them to have a lot of rest within songs.
 
toshiroukajiura said:
They didn’t even greet Yuki Kajiura HAPPY BIRTHDAY 😂
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Not publicly
toshiroukajiura said:
This was after Hikaru made a livestream about her crying about Kajiura might be angry or that the fans might be so angry.
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I never saw this livestream. I am guessing it was Instagram? Hikaru crying? 😥
toshiroukajiura said:
However, this only gave a sign to SPACECRAFT that Kalafina music is still in demand to the public.
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Yep!
toshiroukajiura said:
They insisted that it’s only a one time concert but look at what is happening now? They are having tours as Kalafina. Maybe they have a mindset of “It’s better to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission. “ But no. KEIKO of all people should know how much Kajiura loves them and her music as a composer. But they disregarded that all in the name of Kalafina revival. They agreed to the very company that treated them before like shizzz. To be honest, the Kalafina voice is starting to lose its charm for me since they left Kajiura.
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I don't think they necessarily need to continue with Kajiura as their composer. There is a valid and true fact that Kajiura resigned from the group, so in a way Kajiura broke the compact of "exclusivity" back then, let's be real. She also felt she needed to take that action for herself at that time.

But a lot has happened since then, and Keiko bridged that break to a great extent by sheer force of will. I will always applaud her for that, though she also did maybe it at the expense of the other ladies, who may have wanted to continue with the surety of Kalafina, even if they also wanted to do go solo.

I am curious if Kajiura would want to write for their voices now (not the group, their "voices"). Yes, they performed the music she already wrote for them in her recent lives (sans Wakana), but their voices have changed (and in some respects, seemingly deteriorated) from when she was writing new music for them. Would she write for just the three voices or just use a lot of Kajiurago (and Yuriko. Joelle, Hanae, etc.) backing tracks to cover a lot of the landscape? Just musing.
toshiroukajiura said:
Wakana sounded like a goat and can’t control her vibrato to the point it sounds really bad. Keiko sounded more unstable and tries to sound cutesy. Her vocal techniques are so limited and struggles to do runs. Hikaru sounded like her vocal pipes are destroyed and struggles a lot.
But despite those imperfections, Kajiura can still make them sound relevant and make their voices work
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I am thinking that Wakna's head voice issues may have been partly technical. Maybe her vocal coach needs to work on that again with her. Yes, she always had a faster vibrato but she could also do it slower, which was the control. It was originally light but still smooth. It isn't right now.

Hikaru's voice is SO LOW!
toshiroukajiura said:
I just hope they stop using her music in order for Kalafina to stay relevant. Hahahahaha.
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This isn't going to happen. SC has the rights too!

Another thing to consider is can we say the ladies can never fully leave SC if they want to keep performing as "Kalafina"? 🤔
The rights to the name "Kalafina" (which Keiko couldn't detach via the legal sytem), and to all the songs, are directly or indirectly accessible only through SC... Kajiura even couldn't do anything about either the name or the songs.
 
Part of me is happy that they are doing lives, even if I cannot go... but another part of me is sad because they ignore Kajiura existence even if she was the backbone of Kalafina back then. If they don't plan to release new songs they will just do easy money with Kajiura previous work, sadly... I know she will gain her royalities, but I believe when she was part of SC she could get more money from Kalafina lives.
 
Like I said, I am happy for their revival and I am excited if they have new songs to release.

I just don’t like them using Kajiura’s music on principle. Knowing that Kajiura has been fighting for Kalafina and weaving their music for future performances,etc. The Kalafina girls knew the plan. They kept it secret and they agreed with SPACECRAFT.
 
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