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

@Atlas Star: Thanks! I listened to some isolated vocals tracks, and especially for W, the difference between her vocals between lets say symphonia and Ariette's song, is day and night. Also surprised how deep keiko's voice is on "of time" in symphonia.

The animax performance is pretty meh, Wakana sounds almost like in Arriette's and Hikaru is often off, Keiko better but still cant be heard well. and I cant hear most instruments very well too. Are we sure its a live band ?
 
it is the live stream mix that makes them and the band sound so bad 😂 Their in house mix in the venue must sound good.

But God, listening to Wakana in Ongaku on her solo towards her harmonies after that is just painful to watch. She was OFF !!! Like terribly off.
I still want to listen to them but they just have to catch up with vocal trainings and stuff. Now that they are back to being in demand. I miss the magic and harmony Kajiura can make out of these girls.
 
Is it me or Hikaru is laughin
but maybe that's just me being a Keikofag lol
I mean, a bit.

Keiko has a lovely low and deep register, but rarely has to get out of her comfort zone. Her higher range is nice, but doesn't shine as much. hikaru and wakana have to take more risks when singing and it doesn't always pay off. Though I do agree that they need to correct some techniques.
 
It was a 4-hour-plus video. Since there was no timestamp for Kalafina provided, I decided to just go through it and get to the ladies organically as programmed, and also without reading comments! [edit: I was expecting to quickly skim through each performance but got into so many of the performances!]

One of the first highlights for me was the drummer from the Highwaystar lives was on stage - always solid. 🫰

Angela at 4:45 was as epic as usual. She's such a seasoned performer. I enjoyed her narration at the begin leading to her singing.
I came for just Kalafina but stayed to watch the entirety of her performance. [edit: Is it just me or does she bear a resemblance to Mari Endo of SH fame?]

Granrodeo
x Suzuki Konomo at 26:10 The lightness of her voice reminded me a bit of an early Hikaru in terms of flexibility but with more resonance/lift. Want to hear more of her.

bless4 (recent find for me) weren't there to play their popular "Aishiteru" classic; instead it was covered by a collaborative collection of artists, including Granrodeo.

1:14:17 I guess the live vocal group for the VA's of the Sound Euphonium anime, including our beloved Tomoyo Kurosawa! She was the best singer of the group.

2:03:47 Got my wish. Suzuki Konomo again, featuring the dance group Ashnikko for an interesting electronic pop-styled track with choreography(!) and, thereafter, powerfully covered an Angela classic. I'm now a fan of the full version of this lady.

2:29:25 Angela x Fripside - epic duo vocals! Angela is a character (and hype lady)!

2:44:20 "Fly me to the moon cover" by Ms Yoko Takahashi (nice jazzy notes/scats), and of course her inescapable classic song.

:plz:
2:53:46 KALAFINA, FINALLY! This set of songs has been a go-to setlist of sorts it seems.
1. What an interesting pianistic start to "Magia"... somewhat shaky intro from the violin though not live. I would have preferred Konno tracked full-toned.

Hikaru got hyped and kinda yelled the ending of verse one, such that she went more off-pitch, but she gives her usual energetic performance.

Keiko was on point visually and vocally throughout.

2. "Ongaku" instrumentation was kinda light in the start, but the synth keys came in strong with the melody later (I appreciated that color). Wakana struggled a bit with the epic kajiurago solo and the falsetto notes afterwards. 😔 That's always a showcase for her, usually.

3. "heavenly blue" was better because it started low/dark and Hikaru didn't need to go above low-middle voice for most, and she only had to sing lightly in harmony when she did. She and Keiko always do well with those moody 2-part harmonies. 💗This song really had Wakana's voice sounding exposed, though, since it was a continuous lead for her. It wasn't blending as well with the others for my ears.

All in all, a familiar roster of songs and a return to the general anisong concert for them. 💪 I hope they get stronger and recover more vocally for these kinds of raw, live showcases.

------

Speaking generally vocally about ANIMAX MUSIX, I appreciate seeing this wide collection of artists all delivering raw singing with just basic live effects, so what we heard from everyone on stage is what we got - technique, pitch, warts and all. Suzuki Konomo is a revelation for me from this concert, as is the second lady from fripside (that did the duet with angela).
 
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Wakana starting every line sharp and ending them flat in heavenly blue is somehow so comforting
Comforting and familiar, right?
also the audio is so bad but Keiko sounded good (when she's audible) and looked as beautiful as always
I watched through many of the songs and other artists had the same sound team and better performances, so I'm not so sure we can blame the audio, this time.
Other bands may be able to play Kajiura’s music but it is Yuki Kajiura that makes them sound like Kalafina.
🙇‍♂️ That's a fact. They sound more like Kalafina when using her meticulous sound design for their performances; it's not just a matter of musicians (no matter how good) playing the instrumentals of the music. KONNO's FULL VIOLIN TONE/SOLO is not there. It would be foolhardy to come to this kind of show and not bring some of your strongest supporting elements a la Kajiura's "design". It's not just their voices a cappella that creates the high expectation of Kalafina 's signature sound (especially with the past/recent vocal challenges).

That's the point here - the full scope of the signature sound is Kajiura-designed. Takebe definitely had the chops to introduce his own rich elements many of which were interesting enough, but that was in a safe Kalafina-only space of the anniversary lives, where things are more controlled.

I wasn't also impressed with the improvised guitar solos for Magia. No one is saying play exactly what Korenaga did note-for-note (even though his original hooks and riffs are iconic and expected from fans as part of the build-up to Keiko's solo) . You have to do something different to stand out (I personally think the guitarist from Highwaystar is capable of creating something fun and different). I do think the audio muted the high guitar frequencies not allowing the solos to shine properly, from the start.
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.
To be honest, I mostly listened without watching. I felt too bad about them being this far from their best on a stage with all the other top-tier performers.
I only watched the Kalafina section, but it has to be unedited... right? hue
You gotta watch other performances. See my earlier comment for some timestamps to you jump straight to listening and come to your own conclusion about the audio.
It's quite bizarre considering how Kalafina sounds and then how almost everyone else sounds...
Yep. We can't use the sound guys as an excuse here.
But God, listening to Wakana in Ongaku on her solo towards her harmonies after that is just painful to watch. She was OFF !!! Like terribly off.
It was painful and I was imagining how she would feel about it. She had to hit a lot of high pitches after the solo (and had a really weak, and almost inaudible) falsetto.
it is the live stream mix that makes them and the band sound so bad 😂 Their in house mix in the venue must sound good.
You are completely right. I agree that the band sometimes sounded bad or badly mixed. The guitars and bass were not sufficiently lifted in the mix. Drums were strong, synths were strong at some point. Like you said, the in-house mix if released would be much better.

Please watch many of the other artists' really good vocal performances. I believe everyone had more-or-less the same audio, it's just that this time our Kala ladies were really exposed in terms of their vocal instabilities/weaknesses in the company they found themselves. Maintaining a steady airflow and sound was often difficult depending on the register, range, and speed of the music.
 
I also want to emphasize that when Kajiura created the parts of Kalafina, it’s not always like “ Ok Wakana you will always be lead because you have a high voice, Hikaru you will be in the middle, and Keiko always sing bass parts. “
There is no such thing as a lead singer in Kalafina. Kajiura finds the specific voice and frequency that matches each phrase of the song. And she does this with the instrumentals as well. Again, I am not speaking as a Kajiura-stan only, also as a musician who works as a composer also.

I have to admit, and you may disagree with me of course, but most of the time, I can only appreciate the sound of recent Kalafina singers IF THERE IS STUDIO MAGIC INVOLVED. We have to admit, how they sound like was so different was different when they were under Kajiura’s guidance. Their solo works brought other types of vocal styles from the Kalafina girls. I am not bashing them. I just know that they can do better.

Kalafina is all about Kajiura-design. But looking forward to new music that they will release soon. But despite all the dramas and arguments from Spacecraft and what we see and hear from today we just know one thing, they all still go back to how Kajiura directed them, that it is Kajiura’s music that made them stand out.

May they continue to bring good vocals even without that studio magic.
 
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