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

CloisteredFlame said:
I especially liked the vocal start with Keiko's voice saying the English lyrics. She was the best choice from the 3 ladies to start, so that was a correct vocal-arranging choice.
Click to expand...
My favourite part of the song. Keiko's voice is really great on this part.
CloisteredFlame said:
I also feel I heard artifacts from the slightly heavy pitch correction on her part, especially noticeable on the riffs/vibrato. I wonder why it was needed since it's in her middle range and should be more comfortable. It was less obvious later on in the song.

I am pretty sure there was "studio magic" for all of them to some degree.
Click to expand...
:( So sad, especially for Wakana...

But I like the original song (it could be great to have the reaction of Cécile Corbel about this version), I like Kalafina, obviously it's a good match... Even with a little "studio magic". I hope they can sing it for their next concerts with a live orchestration... I have always a preference for live versions (also true for Fictionjunction), LP versions are not my favorite versions... For example, my favorite song is Ongaku... But only the live version... I don't like at all the LP version...
 
Last edited:
esteban82 said:
My favourite part of the song. Keiko's voice is really great on this part.

:( So sad, especially for Wakana...

But I like the original song (it could be great to have the reaction of Cécile Corbel about this version), I like Kalafina, obviously it's a good match... Even with a little "studio magic". I hope they can sing it for their next concerts with a live orchestration... I have always a preference for live versions (also true for Fictionjunction), LP versions are not my favorite versions... For example, my favorite song is Ongaku... But only the live version... I don't like at all the LP version...
Click to expand...
I agree. The live versions we watch online are not super-raw. They are obviously matched and equalized after the fact to blend better with the instruments, and the vocals probably partly corrected in worst cases.

I am just pleased there have been several opportunities to hear Kalafina sing/harmonize on stage live live, when invited to anime festivals and TV shows. That's one thing I like about Japanese TV (as compared to Korean, which is often super-edited a lot of the time).
 
Oh dear, when I heard the teaser a while back I thought I'd at the least feel alright about the full version, but I'm actually disappointed now. :(

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 feel that the charming qualities of her voice were masked and covered with an old blanket or something and can't touch me... and the melodies sounded relatively colourless.
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'.

Maybe I'm just not in the mood? Will probably give it another listen some time later...

:cry:
 
esteban82 said:
:( So sad, especially for Wakana..
Click to expand...
In spite of the editing, I do think Wakana conveyed the right feelings.

MushiMushi said:
I feel that the charming qualities of her voice were masked and covered with an old blanket or something
Click to expand...
I could actually hear Wakana's fine expressions through the "blanket" though, of course, not as much as a less-enhanced version.

MushiMushi said:
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
Click to expand...
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.

MushiMushi said:
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'.
Click to expand...
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.
 
The surprise for me was I thought it was clearly a song for Wakana and it suits so well to Keiko. Hikaru sounds maybe "too loud" (sorry for the this confused term, not easy for me to use musical terms in english, not my native language) on her own verse.

About the music arrangement, I think it's good. It is not a song by Kajiura but by Cécile Corbel, with a very very celtic melody (I really like the original song, especially the japanese, french and italian versions). And this version still have the celtic tone but maybe a little less prominent with a little more from asian tonality than the original... In a way, a little more Ghibli music style from others movies of the studio.
 
esteban82 said:
it suits so well to Keiko.
Click to expand...
Keiko could have taken the leads in entire song in my opinion. She has demonstrated to modify her tone in the "Sore wa chisana..." cover from the Parade live. She also displayed greater presence on their most recent live on her channel. So, Keikl could really take different approaches to both verses.
esteban82 said:
And this version still have the celtic tone but maybe a little less prominent with a little more from asian tonality than the original
Click to expand...
Yeah. I feel you on that.

For me, because of the nature of her voice, as long as Keiko doesn't go low-larynx mode, swallowing the vowels, she can be fairly expressive and articulate the lyrics well.
 
Had a very busy week, so I just listened to it and I adored every second. I never could have dreamed hearing the three of them singing what has become a favorite song of mine, and I was on cloud nine basically the entire time. ❤️
 
Wakana starting every line sharp and ending them flat in heavenly blue is somehow so comforting 😂 some things never change. also the audio is so bad but Keiko sounded good (when she's audible) and looked as beautiful as always 💕

that being said it seems that Kalafina full revival or going active outside of their yearly anniversary live is happening
 
also on Arrietty's Song: Keiko sounds phenomenal 💕 Hikaru needs to take singing lessons, her harmony in the final chorus is quite painful to listen to (should've let Keiko sings them and Hikaru sings the second lower melody lines/the harmony from the second chorus), and Wakana was okay I guess. the arrangement is incredibly lovely though.
 
Listening to their recent live just makes me understand more the role of Kajiura behind the scenes. Other bands may be able to play Kajiura’s music but it is Yuki Kajiura that makes them sound like Kalafina. I see them more now as pop idols than as the usual Kalafina ( of course it is not a bad thing ). But it also makes me more convinced that Joelle is such a good addition to Fictionjunction ( and Emiko and Lino Leia ). The difference in their recent vocal qualities are just so far ( with Wakana ).

Happy to see their revival and I hope everything will go well with them. May they continue to sing Kajiura’s music with love.


And may they become a secret guest in Yuki Kajiura’s Live soon. I just know that it will happen before Kajiura’s retirement.
 
what does that even mean lmfao. the songs are the same, the melodies don't change, technically the arrangements are the same (well for most of the time. this Animax performance has 2 guitarists and one of them is Susumu Nishikawa who used to work with Kajiura). Kalafina and even FictionJunction (with Kajiura on stage) has had performances in the past where FBM didn't play, did those occasions make those performances less "Kajiura?" it still really doesn't make sense to me as to when the Kajiura music stops being Kajiura music and when it doesn't. "Kajiura's role behind the scenes" meanwhile almost all Kalafina activities in the past were done without Kajiura directly supervising them.

also it still doesn't sit right to me how entitled Kajiura fans and Kajiura herself are towards Kalafina considering Kalafina is pretty much the only project Kajiura gave up on in late 2017/early 2018. in her own words she said she chose to stop being the producer of Kalafina and she left Kalafina's future to the 3 members of Kalafina. while the way Hikaru and Keiko didn't say anything about Kalafina's reunion in 2024 to Kajiura until the news broke out didn't exactly sit right with me, the way Kajiura herself felt entitled to Kalafina and made a statement that practically threw the Kalafina ladies under the bus was even worse to me considering at that point she's no longer their producer and she practically backtracked on what she said about Kalafina's future back in 2018. she had remedied those statements by saying that Kalafina are free to sing their songs but still some Kajiura fans are still adamant on hating Kalafina, which imo none of the Kalafina ladies deserve, as they're practically the collateral of Kajiura and Mori's feud against Spacecraft.

anyway sorry for reheating old drama but i need to lash out.

that being said, losing Wakana and Hikaru were never a big problem for Kajiura and her music. the biggest loss was always losing Keiko. but maybe that's just me being a Keikofag lol
 
Last edited:
I don’t know if you can hear it or not but I am not saying it as a Kajiura stan. I am saying that as a professional musician. And not. They didn’t arrange it the way Kajiura intended it to. Kajiura arranged the instrumentals based on their roles and frequencies. Same as how their vocals properly line up with the role being played by the manipulator.
So I have to correct you. We are not entitled Kajiura stans. You obviously don’t know Kajiura’s role in the way you react. She is an arranger and producer too. She directs how the sound goes! Understand?

And we never spoke ill of the others. But you have to understand that a standard was set ( atleast for me ) so I can enjoy Kajiura or Kalafina music, and that is Yuki Kajiura’s arrangement and direction, which includes how the band should sound, what extra instruments and back up vocals should come out in the backing tracks from the manipulator ( Ohira’s role ) and how to properly place the instruments.
 
And they are not collateral damage. They have ALL THE FREEDOM in the world to do whatever they want, to join or not to join. But that doesn’t mean that the staff and manager of Yuki Kajiura will continue to understand why the Kalafina girls kept their secret a revival. The Kalafina girls accepted that set up.

We are wishing them well. Let us not try to make Kalafina victims. They made a decision and what we have today are RESULTS of those decisions.
 
mmm glorious Atsuko. What a shot too:

animax osaka angela atsuko katsu.jpg

BTW was this really an unedited livestream?
 
I think these are the worse performances they've ever done of each song. Unless I´m forgetting some kek.
Kinda felt bad for Wakana during her Ongaku solo. She went to the upper stage, all eyes on her, and then just failed the whole thing.

grunty said:
BTW was this really an unedited livestream?
Click to expand...
I only watched the Kalafina section, but it has to be unedited... right? hue
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top