There are vocally far more weaker singers than her, but they could work with the material they were given and had more exposure and the ability to attract interest on their own.
Yes, that's true. She is more of a powerhouse vocalist than many in the JPop arena. The power of getting to work with a high-level composer and musicians can never be overstated no matter how good you are as a vocalist.
If you find yourself coming up in a talent management company and/or label with genius or high-quality lyricists, composers, arrangers, musicians, artists, and you get to learn from them and work with them (since you see each other every week) you can pick up a lot and you can get to work on projects you never would have touched otherwise, which will raise your profile and visibility far more than if you worked with average or generic people or material.
Part of the reason I had a thought during the week that the Kalafina girls were LUCKY they were in the same agency with Kajiura and were accessible to her, though they also had unique vocal and personal attributes that moved Kajiura to work with them - and the KnK project that had heavyweight stakeholders involved. Moving on...
I am not a fan of this childlike high-pitched voices what it makes for me difficult to get into Haruka as a singer.
For me, although I can definitely judge a voice purely on its intrinsic qualities and versatility, sometimes the quality of the artist and the musicality of how they use their voices and the quality of songs they sing will override (or at least qualify) purely technical considerations.
The first time I ever heard of or saw Haruka was on YouTube in clips of songs from the TTE3 concert from Sound Horizon, where she often sang in low harmony with the soprano ladies - MIKI, Yuuki, Mari Endo, etc. The innocent quality of her voice juxtaposed with the other voices, and the wonderful compositions and vocal arrangements got me to really appreciate how well she sounded matched with others. Then, when I heard her lead, her voice is actually less child-like than the usual Japanese vocalists. It's definitely nasal in tendency, especially in the higher range, but less so the lower she goes.
The thing I noticed first about her was the straight, piercing quality and dynamic/emotional stability or sameness of her voice, as compared to the more theatrical/dramatic emotional voices of the other classical, pop, and soul-influenced singers. Then Haruka's simplicity, positive and warm personality added to the mix. Having that wide difference in the singers yet they being able to blend together is part of the allure of both Revo and Kajiura's vocal arrangements. If you have two singers who are too similar sometimes it can be expectedly excellent but not as memorable or interesting, even if they sing harmony and have lots of variety in the music.
If I had heard Haruka voice singing a lot of generic JPop songs the first time I was introduced to her, I might have been turned off and disliked her voice, even if I got to hear her SH work later. The first impression may have distracted from the quality of her vocal work.
She also writes and sings songs that make use of her vocal quality - the ethereal, fantasy song. See, as good as Kaori is in the pop context, if she sang the same fantasy songs of Haruka it wouldn't move me as much as when Haruka sings it.
There's a right or impactful way to sing a song and
choosing the right colors and creating an atmosphere/mood is as important (maybe even more so) as having skill, talent, or potential. I follow her on YT and I am never disappointed with her music or performances.
