:( So sad, especially for Wakana..
In spite of the editing, I do think Wakana conveyed the right feelings.
I feel that the charming qualities of her voice were masked and covered with an old blanket or something
I could actually hear Wakana's fine expressions through the "blanket" though, of course, not as much as a less-enhanced version.
Keiko is fine but nothing interesting. Hikaru's parts would have been nice had she not abruptly forced some of her notes out because I think her texture adds brightness and flair to the emotion of the song well. Wakana just didn't sound like her
I think Keiko was very adequate. Her full, legato-style singing was pleasant. She set the tone for the song and carried the wonder of the world in her voice from the start and throughout, more than the others I gotta say. A "Hikari no Senritsu" Hikaru would have that brighter and lighter tone that would have fit the fantasy feel, the way she did more than Keiko and Wakana in that song. Her voice is heavier and more labored now, so the lightness isn't really there anymore, sadly.
I didn't particularly expect something dramatic but this song is simply 'the arrangement and voices have done their jobs ok and that's it'.
I am not sure there was anything drastic they could have done with the music itself. It is as it was.
On the vocals, that's where they were missing Kajiura's touch (if the goal was to carve out a true Kalafina version, which I'm not sure it was). Kajiura would have had something to express further through the vocal arrangement, probably adding a little counterpoint or echoing voice parts. That may have fit more, though, if they were doing it on their own release as a cover.
It's also fine that they did a close-to-original arrangement, just allowing the difference in the vocal colors, and the use of harmony, to make it a Kalafina take. So it's just about the voice as simply presented with little embellishments. Satoshi Takebe is also invested in Ghibli as it is, and may not favor any drastic changes in their sandbox. I can't say if any of the other covers were wildly different from their originals.
