Yuki Kajiura LIVE #19 Kajifes 2023 - 30th Anniversary Live (Blu-ray releases / Box set announced for May 29, 2024)

[CloisteredFlame]

@ritarudandoo you're evil for that avatar picture.
I actually giggled when she did that in Kiminogin. And it's not that I even hated it, it was just so random when Joelle and Yuriko are just being themselves, Keiko is having muscle memory moments and then Hikaru is doing her theatrics.

Yeah, Hikaru just doesn't stand when she's not singing. She's either acting the lyrics or the character, meaning she continues to participate in performing even when she's silent.

She would have done well on Sound Horizon in my opinion, since it involves a lot of constant storytelling and acting at least.

 

[grunty]

Yea, I know she's like that. Back in the day I used to attribute it to her fairytale practice of singing only backing in that entire song...

 

[CloisteredFlame]

Yea, I know she's like that. Back in the day I used to attribute it to her fairytale practice of singing only backing in that entire song...

Oh yeah. I saw her as having as a "disembodied ghost or echo" vocal role in songs like "Fairytale" you mentioned and also "Lacrimosa" - a highly ethereal production on her voice at low volume to blend with the vocal layering and echo lines or do kajiurago.

She found a way to manage those silent (non-singing) sections for lives without just standing there on stage (as sometimes happens in FJ). Also smart, because the camera will always have a reason to come to her and check out what she's doing even not singing. She was often captured on the main screen in the lives for this, while Wakana and Keiko were singing.

Anyway Kalafina was different in that the 3 ladies were the centerpiece and the lights and camera were always on all 3 of them so just standing still would be much more obvious, while FJ can use lighting to highlight those singing and remove the lighting on silent voices for effect, bringing them back in pnly when they vocalize.

 

[grunty]

I mean... to each their own.

I hated pretty much all the dramatic choreography they were doing in Karafina days. I can't stand watching Magia even now when Hikaru and Keiko are doing their Karafina schtick. XD

This Kiminogin bit is a little different in that I actually believe Hikaru just grew into being this theatrical (and maybe thx to fairytale), lol, and it's just a little funny and at odds with other performers. XD

 

[Trongaaaaa]

Coming back to this epic staccato section. Yeah! KAORI totally filled that middle harmony part matching Joelle+Yuriko and subsuming Keiko a bit. She was operating at her full vocal power with vibrato there and it fit perfectly. She needs more opportunities for this full-powered expression in YK's music so she doesn't end up bringing out those big guns at the wrong times during some solos (like she does at times).

Coming back to that section again, and again,... Keiko's right foot was bumping along with the beat as she gathered a large air for that "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH." She loves this song... XD

She does this very well with Hanae in Mezame, yeah. She seemed to be singing a different melody than Yuri though. They weren't doing unison, if I listened correctly.

I misheard that part, it is indeed that they were singing a different in a different key (I presumed it was a higher counterpart as Yuri dropped into chest voice at the end of that unison). Anyhow, I think the amplification did ephemerally take place when they joined Yuri at "Dona nobis pacem, sanctus, sanctus, gloria..." Amazing.

 

[CloisteredFlame]

I mean... to each their own.

I hated pretty much all the dramatic choreography they were doing in Karafina days. I can't stand watching Magia even now when Hikaru and Keiko are doing their Karafina schtick. XD

This Kiminogin bit is a little different in that I actually believe Hikaru just grew into being this theatrical (and maybe thx to fairytale), lol, and it's just a little funny and at odds with other performers. XD

I can appreciate your point of view. I did notice she was spontaneous with it and didn't have a corresponding action from anyone else, including Keiko. It was like she was a contemporary dance artist accompanying a musical performance.

 

[CloisteredFlame]

Keiko's right foot was bumping along with the beat

Yeah. It's always cool to see the little ways they express their connection to the rhythms or familiar instrumental solos or other memorable sections of the music, especially when they get into it and really engaged.

It's one of the things I believe fans wait for, like, "Ooh! Yuriko is going to do this little dance as she always does", or "When Wakana and Keiko step forward and look at each other I get goosebumps" and so on.

I notice how Joelle dances side-to-side when she's not singing in faster-paced songs, and how Yuriko starts snapping her fingers for some particular songs, or does the simultaneous finger snap with the head side-snap (very rare!) for maybe one particular song, or Keiko rising her hand up and down when doing some harmonies as if climbing levels. Kaori's (to me, funny) way of doing the finger pointing hype to the fans, and of course Hikaru's epic hand/head snap (almost dare) to charge the fans to "come on!" and roar along (no one does that like Hikaru in the FJ family).

All those stage little tendencies are part of what endears me to them, individually.

 

[LianaIlia36]

I watched a lot of the live again today. Man it's good. A few things I noticed too: Korenaga’s facial expressions the beg of zodiacal sign. Lol he was getting into the song. (Is there a word that is for the song played in every concert?) I watched stone cold this time. Not their best. Kaori sounded like she was struggling a little. I kind of wish they would focus on singing instead of dancing sometimes because it causes them to be out of breath or force something.

Senya Ichiya is one of my favs from this live. Just top notch from everyone.

Was it me or did anyone else hear REMI during she can overcome her fear even when she's spinning around, holding the mic out? Or is it one of the other singers that I hear?

Kajiura gets up and dances with them in zodiacal sign! How did I miss this the first time? It's so cute! I want a gif.

And the cellist in red rose will continue to make me laugh. Konno’s solo is not as good as the 10th Kala live, but still so good.

Oh and the Aimer songs order were a little weird. Like have I beg you after Hana no and Asa ga after Kai? After you've been crying (or I was) when the cello came in. Then you get back into amped up mode. Seemed odd to me.

 

[LianaIlia36]

Eri and Joelle are both quite different in delivery for "I talk to the rain". (Particularly compared to the og Tsubasa recording.)

And I'll be grumpy and say I STILL do not like the live arrange with the extended instrumental section.

I also don't care for it. I love Konno. The first time I heard the live of that song in the reprise I went wait... what? What's he doing? This live he also adds a part I think. Or a note. I did like Eri's variation this time.

 

[SurgamIdentidem]

I watched both days over the weekend and I had a blast. Following some of my thoughts.

Day 1:

• I was happy that after the accordion solo, Yuriko was the one to sing the first song, and all solo, even without Kajiura present on stage yet. I felt it was very fitting, not only because she is the singer that has been working with Kajiura for the longest compared to the other Utahimes, but also because she simply doesn’t sing main vocals in all that many songs and is therefore not as often in the spotlight as the other three, even though she always does such a great job with providing these high harmonies which are such a quintessential staple to the Kajiura-chorus sound. Well deserved and a good choice by Kajiura to start with canta per me!
• Don’t have much to say about the The World and in the land of twilight under the moon. Now that we have vol. 1 reprise, those will probably always be the definitive live versions for me. (Man, those recordings are just so clean!) That being said, I don’t really have complaints about the performances here either.
• Oh man, Liminality with Yuri Kasahara! She’s still going strong, isn’t she! Great stuff!
• Remi was cool too, although I wasn’t that excited about the SAO tracks. The sing all overtures version of swordland with live horns will probably forever be the definitive live version of that piece for me. Still, the performances of the SAO set were good and very enjoyable nonetheless.
• They performed Hoshikuzu!! Yes!!! The live strings really added so much to this one. And same goes to Hanamori no Oka. This is definitely my favorite performance of both songs to date, simply because of the live strings. Kaori was really good in it hanamori as well.
• Were gonna groove was cool. Not too much else to say about it.
• Obsession with Lino Leia was ok. Not sure if she was the best choice to sing this song, but she did an ok job imo. I’m happy that this song was performed at all.
• Senya ichiya. Hands down the highlight of Day 1 for me! Rito genuinely impressed me here. Absolutely loved every second of this performance. I would even go as far as to say that I like this live version more than the original studio version with Chiaki. Rito put so much power into this performance without sacrificing any control! What a massive improvement compared to her appearance in vol 17, also in terms of stage presence. I hope Kajiura will utilize her more and more from now on! And don't even get me started about the instrumental aspect of this song! Just great, through and through!
• Point zero… Easily the best performance of this song that has ever been released! The singers are putting so much energy into it and Yuri Kasahara makes it so dramatic. Awesome!
• The Fiction-version of Salva Nos has always been one of my favorite Kajiura compositions of all time, and man does this give me goosebumps nonstop! Yuri Kasahara ftw!
• The Aimer set was great as well! While I (still) am not a huge fan of Aimers voice, I think her collaborations with Kajiura have all been really good, so I knew I would enjoy this section. Hana no uta and I beg you were good, but not quite as good as in vol 16. if you ask me. Still, I enjoyed the live strings.
• Oar was really beautiful, as expected, however, the instrumental bridge fell flat for me as Kajiura didn’t really change the intensity in her playing and it therefore lacked this crescendo and emotional culmination effect the studio version has.
• Asa ga kuru on the other hand was awesome and the highlight of the Aimer-set for me. I was also impressed by Keiko’s harmonization skills here. As it was already pointed out here, her voice is so much in sync with Aimer’s vocal style that she disappears like a chameleon. What a pro!
• My Story: Why does my vision get blurry?
• Not too much to say about parallel hearts and stone cold performance wise. Everyone was in high spirits and was having fun, which is infectious!
• Xenosaga II main theme was simply awesome and full of energy with the full FJ lineup including Lino Leia and Rito plus strings and ullean pipes! Easily my favourite live release of this song to date as well!
• Also loved Sokyuu no Fanfare as the last song of day 1. I was already impressed when I heard them singing this song live in Germany, but this performance here including Lino Leia and Rito was even better. Certainly, better than the studio version, no doubt about that!

General thoughts about Day1:

• I have to say, the Day 1 setlist was chef’s kiss and might just be my favorite YKL setlist ever. This is no skip, 100% enjoyment!
• Loved the ullean pipes and the lady playing them!
• Yuri Kasahara was amazing and all the songs she was featured in slapped hard! Especially Point zero and salva nos! So epic!

Day 2:

• After the nice accordion solo and the wonderful Kibo no hikari, we get some Madoka bgm’s right off the bat, which of course grabbed me by the balls immediately. What a great way to start this concert of epic proportions!
• This of then culminates with Magia [quattro]! Hikaru replaces Kaori in the FJ lineup. In terms of the quality of the performance, I find it hard to rank it in comparison to the many released Kalafina performances of this song, but I can definitely say, that I had a blast. I have been craving for new performances of Kalafina songs for a long time, and Magia was always high up on my list, as it was the song that introduced me to Kalafina and Kajiura in general. I’m so happy we got the full version now after we got teased at that international NHK event. Honestly, I think the vocal harmonies worked better than ever. Wakana’s voice was never important for this song anyway and the addition of Yuriko’s high harmonies really elevated it further. Great!
• Storia is also really good. I still would’ve preferred to hear Wakana’s voice instead of Joelle’s, but that’s about the only complaint I have about it.
• Kimi no gin no niwa was the biggest surprise for me in this Kalafina section, as I’m confident in saying that this is now my favorite live version of this song. I think Joelle did an amazing job singing Wakana’s lines and I would go as far as to say that her voice actually fits the song better than Wakana’s. Also, the addition of Yuriko again added a lot to this song, especially in the “shizuka ni yorisotte…” parts of the song. Also, I really liked the fact that we have some actual piano accompaniment on top of the glockenspiel-like keyboard sound, of which I’ve never been a fan of. This performance might even top the studio version for me, honestly!
• To the beginning had no surprises for me in store. Joelle did well, but I still would’ve preferred Wakana. Yuriko added her touch. A fun performance overall. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
• Next up was umi to shinju with Junna, and I have to say that I was again positively surprised. Judging by how it sounds on the Blu-ray (which has been subjected to studio magic, I’m aware) I actually quite enjoyed Junnas vocals. Also props to the editor here for paying attention to that cool little strings segment during the chorus, which has always been my favorite arrangement-detail of this song. It’s certainly just a small detail, but it really showed, that they were actually paying attention to what’s happening in the music when they edited this, which has not always been the case (Looking at you, THE BEST blue and red!)
• Taiyo no koro was good as well, although I found that the cello was a bit to low in the mix. Also liked Yuriko’s & Joelle’s harmonies at the beginning and end.
• Time to sail was a treat! Joyful and epic at the same time, a rare combination for Kajiura. I hope this will get performed often in the future.
• LORD main theme: Joelle slayed.
• Eri Ito’s section was another highlight of this live. Not only did she sound amazing, but she was also clearly having fun the whole time. All three songs of her set were perfect to me, and ring your song almost successfully mobilized some of my eye-fluids…
• Koto no hoka yawarakai was one of my most anticipated songs, as it is easily my favorite track off of Parade. And I was not disappointed! What struck me the most about this version is, that the bass-line is completely different from the album, and, dare I say it, much better actually! A minor gripe that I have here however: The strings are again a bit too low in the mix for my liking. Actually, I find that the mix on day 2 is generally not quite as good as on day 1 unfortunately. Either way, I hope that this song will be performed a lot in the future and we’ll get some other versions of it too. The audience seems to share my enthusiasm about the song judging by the applause at the end.
• ASCA then sings Yako Toryo. I was never a big fan of this song, and this live version will not change this either, but it was still enjoyable.
• Hibari and Kimi ga mita yume no monogatari are among my absolute favorite post-Kalafina songs composition-wise, so needless to say, I was excited. However, I found that ASCA’s live singing was unfortunately not really able to do these songs justice. I mean it was not bad, but still, I wasn’t fully satisfied either. Nevertheless, I greatly enjoyed the songs for all of the other (instrumental) sounds and harmonies they have to offer aside from ASCA’s voice.
• Next up was Asuka (Yuuki Aira). Man, I forgot how beautiful of a song everlasting song was. Got completely swept up in it!
• Sekai no hate was quite beautiful too. I actually kind of like Asuka’s voice here. Hot take, I know.
• Yasashii yoake is probably my favorite See-Saw song of all time, so I already knew I would at least enjoy it, but wow, Joelle destroyed this one! Easily my new favorite live version of this song!!
• Next up: Kimi ga ita Monogatari. I know people will rip my head off for saying this, but I never understood the hype about this song. I don’t have anything negative to say about the performance, but the song just leaves me cold…
• Next up was Kokia’s section. Oh lord!! This was all that I wanted and more! Rainbow was beautiful and Kaze yo fuke was chef’s kiss perfect! Another highlight for sure!
• Lotus with Hanae was good, but I have to say that I much prefer the vol. 9 performance by Hanae. I feel like she didn’t really go all out here, but was rather on 100% control, 10% energy mode. Which in any case is way better than the other way around of course, but still, it feels a little bit underwhelming. It was still enjoyable though.
• Loved inverse operation! I especially appreciated the added vocal lines before the flute part. Kind of wish, they were also in the original recording as it is exactly at that part where the song tends to drift a bit into the “boring” territory before the good stuff hit in the second half of the track.
• Mezame… another one of those beloved classics that I just never really got into I’m afraid… But it was certainly not bad.
• Yuuyami no uta was nice. Good performance by Keiko, with Kaori singing the lower harmonies for once. Enjoyed it. Too bad the song itself is rather mediocre for Kajiura-standards.
• Oh yes! Kouya Ruten sung by Rito. I absolutely love this version. Better than the original. Also, I love what rito is doing with her voice at “Are wa tsuki no yume ka”. Man, I’m really turning into a Rito fanboy at this rate…
• Aaand all the good vibes go down the drain with this Junna performance of Silly-go-round. Ok, this is maybe a bit harsh, but I really do not appreciate Junna’s singing here, especially in the chorus. The fact that Silly-go-round is also one of my least favorite FJ Yuuka songs on top of that does not help this case either. The lowlight of Kaji Fes 2023 for me, by far. I don’t even want to know how this sounded live, without the “studio magic”… ugh…
• This is then followed by el cazador del amor, which in turn most definitely is one of my favorite FJ Yuuka tracks, so having Lino Leia on vocals did concern me a little. I did find that she struggled a bit in the first half of the song, but she improved quite a bit in the second half. I assume that some of the notes in the first parts were simply a bit too low for her and as soon as she could tap into the higher registers in the second half, she felt more comfortable. At the end, this was better than I expected. Didn’t top Yuuka though, that’s for sure.
• Nowhere with ASCA was unfortunately another rocky road. While I think, she generally wasn’t as bad as Junna before, it really wasn’t very good either. This does not surprise me, as I was quite unimpressed with her vocals already when I heard her in Germany. As soon as she has a hype-song on her hands (and all of the songs she performed there were high intensity tracks, just like nowhere) she goes unapologetically all hype-mode without regard to the quality of her singing. At least that’s what it sounds like. The worst part for me here however is the amount of shouting she does during the instrumental parts. I mean, I get that you want to hype up the audience, but could you please do so without completely disregarding the performances of the instrumentalists by shouting all over it? Yeah, didn’t appreciate this at all. Still better than silly-go-round though overall.
• Loved the fooling around by the girls during zodiacal sign, they even dragged Rie Akagi and Kajiura herself into it! Keiko almost cracked up at one point! Not the best performance of zodiacal sign but still really good. I laughed a couple of times. Very entertaining to say the least!
• While I’m of course happy, that they brought Hikaru back to the stage to once again perform a Kalafina song, I really do not understand, why it had to be into the world. First, it is by far my least favorite RHH ending, second, Hikaru does not sing any main parts apart from the first half of the first verse and third, this is one of those songs that rely on Wakana’s voice the most and neither Joelle nor Kaori were able to fill that gap in a satisfying way, in my opinion. Even Yuriko’s added harmonies couldn’t amend this defect for me. Maybe Lino Leia would’ve fit better here, but still, this song unfortunately falls flat for me. It wasn’t technically bad in any way, it simply didn’t really work. What a shame…
• Red rose is awesome! To be honest, I never was too fond of the studio version of this song, but it just works so well live! Eri is having a great time too with her oversized fan and the instrumentalist have one last chance to show off. Thoroughly enjoyed this one!
• And then they ended the very long evening with Parade. Sigh… Yeah, still my least favorite post-Kalafina Kajiura song. Apparently, it’s Kajiura’s personal new favorite song though… Well, too bad for me that our preferences do not align here I guess. Performance was good, but I just don’t care about the song, I’m sorry. A bit of an anti-climactic ending song for an otherwise very successful evening.
• The applause at the end needs also to be mentioned. While, the applause in Gemany was very similar in intensity as it is here, so much cheering coming from a mainly Japanese audience is not a given at all, and you can see that Kajiura does not take it for granted either. Seeing this made me happy for sure.

General thoughts about Day2:

• Day 2 was definitely less consistent than day 1. It was full of awesome highlights, but it also had a couple of less impressive moments, especially during the last third. This is a bit unfortunate, as up to track 31 (silly-go-round) I had only very minor complaints and the concert was (not unlike day 1) going almost perfectly. From there on it was an up and down ride. And it’s certainly not because everyone was tired and there wasn’t enough energy or something like that, on the contrary! But there simply were some questionable decisions made towards the end, both regarding song choice as well as singer choice. (And Parade, but this is just my own subjective problem, I guess..)
• I’m still surprised they performed Kalafina songs almost right at the beginning with Hikaru as the first guest. I probably would’ve spared her up for last. Judging by the cheers, Hikaru was clearly the most anticipated guest, and I of course as well understand why.
• I’m not sure if it’s just my imagination, but I had the impression that Hikaru’s singing has improved since she sang in Kalafina. She was very good throughout all of her songs albeit sometimes unintentionally comedic with her “acting”…
• Rito has officially impressed me.
• Lina Leia has yet to impress me, but I think she was doing ok here.
• ASCA and Junna were ok during their own songs. Otherwise, not so much…

I'm so glad this was released. Looks like everyone was having fun, and in the end, that's what matters the most.

 

[KONIcchi]

Would it be rude to say Joelle was the best of the singers here? Song fits her like a glove.

Someone also uploaded Aimer's full set on bili too.
I didn't like I beg you - it felt like she was rushing/being loose more than usual. vol16 was better IMHO. lighting still feels off like in vol16.

I always thought Joelle is a better singer than the other 3

 

[Trongaaaaa]

I always thought Joelle is a better singer than the other 3

Not so sure how I would judge the singing levels, especially when taking the qualities of the mic or the choices of the intended key that each of them was assigned for into account, but to me, and up until now, Yuriko and Joelle are the most tenable, professional, and stable vocalists among the 4 girls (guest vocalists are not mentioned here, but we can perhaps rank them in another post). I cannot understate or overstate either of them when it comes to techniques or consistency. While it is true that Yuriko may have an upper-hand for having more concreted singing experiences and being with Kajiura for quite some times even before Joelle's first debut (in 2006 if I was right), a few of Joelle's singing elements in the group are incomparable.

 

[ritarudandoo]

@ritarudandoo you're evil for that avatar picture.
I actually giggled when she did that in Kiminogin. And it's not that I even hated it, it was just so random when Joelle and Yuriko are just being themselves, Keiko is having muscle memory moments and then Hikaru is doing her theatrics.

listen when i saw her doing that i immediately went "omg i need to make it my profile picture!" lmaoo

about Eri and Joelle in i talk to the rain: Yes, their delivery are quite different, but as I've said before: I really enjoyed and loved Eri's tone in this live. I think her voice aged really gracefully. Also agree about that long ass instrumental being unnecessary. It takes away from the song instead of giving it more.

 

[CloisteredFlame]

I watched both days over the weekend and I had a blast. Following some of my thoughts.

Day 1:


Day 2:


I'm so glad this was released. Looks like everyone was having fun, and in the end, that's what matters the most.

Nice review and quite fair.

A fellow fan of rito here! I am liking how she approaches the songs with seriousness and style (in her own little way), and the little vocal flourishes she adds. Also the fact that her low notes are full and she's much more confident. I am looking forward to her future singing when she's more vocally mature, like our main ladies.

Kajiura gives her more serious/"mature" songs (slow-to-mid-tempo) to lead and not the playful ones, which she instead gives to LINO LEIA, who has not impressed me much (though her short lead in "SnK" was acceptable).

I've come to accept that Joelle won't be able to capture all fans in singing Wakana's previous leads, but I'm glad she's increasingly getting her props for being a skilled singer and valuable addition to FictionJunction.

 

[CloisteredFlame]

Not so sure how I would judge the singing levels, especially when taking the qualities of the mic or the choices of the intended key that each of them was assigned for into account, but to me, and up until now, Yuriko and Joelle are the most tenable, professional, and stable vocalists among the 4 girls (guest vocalists are not mentioned here, but we can perhaps rank them in another post). I cannot understate or overstate either of them when it comes to techniques or consistency. While it is true that Yuriko may have an upper-hand for having more concreted singing experiences and being with Kajiura for quite some times even before Joelle's first debut (in 2006 if I was right), a few of Joelle's singing elements in the group are incomparable.

I'm with you.

Joelle's superpower is her onset - how she launches the first note on the breath then moves forward. She is quite consistent with this for most songs. It just gives a clarity and unforced energy to her singing from the start (without needing to resort to tension). She also has such a masterful use of using her dynamic swells up and down within notes even with vibrato.

Yuriko has the consistency and reliability as you said, and is also masterful at dynamics in the upper head voice range, which is higher than Joelle's by some semitones (though she's close) and Yuriko has more facility with using the mask resonance in those higher ranges, giving her that distinctive cut through the mix (without using weight to belt up there like Kaori). She's really more of a refined vocalist than a consistent lead like Wakana or a stamina belter like Kaori, so that's probably why she's mostly supporting and doesn't take leads as much in the types of songs YK writes. Her voice may not be suited to extensive singing of leads in multiple concurrent songs like Kaori's, though.

Joelle and Yuriko are more refined, surgical singers is what I would say. Not always 100% perfect but it's the way they approach their parts.

 

[Trongaaaaa]

She is quite consistent with this for most songs. It just gives a clarity and unforced energy to her singing from the start

We can all second this. This is part of the reason why she paired and complemented Yuriko very well in several songs without overwhelming her voice (ex: Key of the twilight, Salva Nos,...) Her unswerving note and energy makes the dual part seems effortless and well-balance without needing to raise or belt just to match the dynamic tension.

She also has such a masterful use of using her dynamic swells up and down within notes even with vibrato.

Again, part of the reason to the duet, vibratos sometimes differentiate singers, and so Yuriko often stood out with her distinctive and prolonged vibratos, especially at the end of a verse; however, Joelle is totally capable of facilitating that factor, considering they are all classically-trained singers.

She's really more of a refined vocalist than a consistent lead like Wakana or a stamina belter like Kaori, so that's probably why she's mostly supporting and doesn't take leads as much in the types of songs YK writes.

I have been thinking about this for quite some times, Yuki should compose more song that centralizing Yuriko as the exclusive singer to accentuate her power. Just like Canta Per Me, Yuriko can really show off her powers, perhaps she can duet with Joelle, but I do demand for more Yuriko-only singles. Only songs that were originally designed for classical singers like "Mezame & Himeboshi (Tomaru Hanae); Materialise, Liminality,... (Kasahara);..." could somewhat fall and lay right underneath her domain.

 

[genesiƨ]

One thing I wonder about Yuriko is why she rarely shows off her classical singing techniques at YKL as lead singer. I listened to Materialise for the live vol#5 and was very impressed.

 

[grunty]

Love Yuriko and want Kajiura to put her in the lead as much as the next person here but that hypervibrato and squeezed out screeches of vol5 MATERIALISE are not something I'm that interested in. Also let us not forget it's been 14 years since vol5...

(To be fair, I am not sure all of that was Yuriko. Either way I'm not that interested in hearing more of vol5 MATERIALISE vocals.)

I'm talking out of my ass here but in all honesty I wouldn't even be surprised if that last run in MATERIALISE that scratches a high C was the reason why we didn't get MATERIALISE with Yuri in Kaji Fes 2023. It's been 20 years since that was recorded...

 

[Trongaaaaa]

Love Yuriko and want Kajiura to put her in the lead as much as the next person here but that hypervibrato and squeezed out screeches of vol5 MATERIALISE are not something I'm that interested in. Also let us not forget it's been 14 years since vol5...

(To be fair, I am not sure all of that was Yuriko. Either way I'm not that interested in hearing more of vol5 MATERIALISE vocals.)

I'm talking out of my ass here but in all honesty I wouldn't even be surprised if that last run in MATERIALISE that scratches a high C was the reason why we didn't get MATERIALISE with Yuri in Kaji Fes 2023. It's been 20 years since that was recorded...

Interesting. I do acknowledge the fact that MATERIALISE was not a good choice for the contemporary run, especially with its complex nature and beyond the ability for some singers for now, since most of them decided to go with a smooth or less-active songs then it used to be in previous live.

The intricate and multi-layer harmonies in the song itself was fun to decipher (and I know grunty doesn't fancy hearing the vocal thing in this live, so I will just highlight my fav):
Starting with Yuriko (I'm in love with this part, pure talent and nature vibratos)
Wakana joins at the second "kami ta sorte mi a mi a iya....", by now, Yuriko has lower her range and backs up for Wakana (less audible vibratos)

Tbh, I reckon Yuriko can still put up a good show, knowing that the only aging thing here is her voice.
With Yuri Kasahara, ahhh... I cannot give a proper comment, but her impressive and profound pitches and vibratos can easily consume the combination of Yuriko and Joelle, perhaps only Kaori and Keiko will accompany Kasahara, should there be a future MATERIALISE (chances are low).

 

[genesiƨ]

hypervibrato and squeezed out screeches of vol5 MATERIALISE are not something I'm that interested in

I don't like it either. But it showcased her singing technique which impressed me. I really want to have the chance to see her sing sand dream in YKL.