New album is out! My initial thoughts:
1. Butterfly Dream - Good song, though Wakana's falsetto is a little grating. Ending lasts too long for my liking.
2. Rapa Nui - Best track in the album. Great Celtic vibes, some of the melody reminds me of 442, but that's not a bad thing. Excellent track, it reminds me a lot of Kalafina's Celtic tracks.
3. Shirushi - great ballad, meh instrumentation. Acoustic version is better, I preferred her delivery there too (it was softer).
4. Kibo - sounds like a generic Japanese karaoke song from the 90s. Not a fan.
5. Kara - Tsubasa 2.0, I guess. Tsubasa is better though.
6. KEMONO - the most interesting track in the album, mainly because it's not Wakana's style at all. Very Persona 5-esque, with a mix of Vocaloid-inspired vocals. Not sure if I like it, but I don't hate it, I'll probably like this with more listens or a live version.
7. Asu wo Yume Mite Utau - great ballad, meh instrumentation. Acoustic version is better, I preferred her delivery there too (it was softer). Literally the same comment as Shirushi. The full version also doesn't have nearly enough variation to amke it worth listening to over the acoustic version.
8. Flag - great track, like others have said before, it's a very FJ song, which isn't a bad thing. Love the instrumentation here and the chrous, especially.
9. Sono Saki he - for a title track, I'm underwhelmed. The melody is very reminiscent of several of her other songs (and Colours of the Wind from Pocahontas, please tell me I'm not the only one), and the instrumentation is bland here too.
10. Ato Hitotsu - ehh. Forgettable ballad. It's no different from her live version too.
Overall, worse than magic moment, but the standout tracks (Rapa Nui, Flag) put it above her debut album.