Yuki Kajiura LIVE vol.#16 ~ Sing a Song Tour 2020 ~

grunty said:
Dis. And camera work. But I don't think I liked any of the filmed lives' visuals once my post-vol2-excitement died.
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Yep. So many shots from the camera rail/dolly/track (which imo made no sense to be that many) and very questionable shots and angle throughout. I agreed that the YKL live has mostly bad camera works but this live is probably the worse because the lighting and the set were also not doing it for me. Granted I think the camera work was still better in this than the whichever live elemental tour was but it's still down there. I think placing Kajiura and her piano in the middle of the stage was the biggest stage mistake as it made the utahimes shot not exactly centred and the cameramen had to pan and move too much either to the left or the right, with Keiko and Yuriko suffering more because of it and got less overall shots because the cameramen and editor were probably confused on how to get them in frame without cropping Kajiura out or adding her in.
 
Like imagine a drawn out lotus overture but then instead of lotus, you get Kajiura alone doing a single "salan nan malami", people cheering, Kajiura doing a second "salan nan malami", the drums kick in full force and as utahimes walk in the synth sneaks in as well. Fans who know the track lose their shit. Music/drums drop for one bar. HIT IT. Drum salan nan malamiiya i lannamaiya yan nan malama complete with full dork choreography.

I'm hyping myself up.
 
I've just finished watching the live, now I want more... So, my thoughts about it: overall, I will always love how energetic and passionate Joelle is on live, I think that is something never seen after YKL vol. 2, and I think she is the reason why the other singers are more energetic on stage (just my opinion). I also like how Kajiura-san put Joelle to sing the chorus parts with Yuriko instead of Kaori, it resembles more to the original versions (where its only Yuriko).
The dresses were meeeeh, I only liked Keiko's one.

Beginning - believe it or not, is the first time I've ever listened to this song, I like it. They all have their parts, and I love Yuriko hitting those high notes.
Kioku no mori - one of my favorites from the setlist. Keiko was awesome, and I like the Kaori/Keiko's part before the bridge. I always thought Keiko would fit perfectly in Yuuka's songs, and this is a confirmation of it. Also, having four people singing the song was a totally yes for me.
Distance - I like it, the arrangements were really good, and Kaori taking Wakana's part was a good choice. I was expecting Keiko to do the 'kono mu ne ni' during the bridge, but Joelle did it pretty well.
Field of hope - meeh, it was okay. I really liked Joelle and Keiko's harmonies during the song.
Houseki - also one of my favorites. Keiko was perfect, and I love Korenaga's solo.
Gaika - nothing outstanding. Joelle and Kaori did great, but I wanted Keiko to lead the song, it would have been much intense and darker (?).
Moonlight melody - I don't think they will ever sing bad this song, it will always be a yes for me. Love the addition of the flute, it really changed the melody of the song.
Hitorigoto - Keiko's cute voice is not what I was expecting.. besides that, it was ok.
Yakusoku - It was a good arrangement, Kaori shouted a lot.
Hana no uta - not a fun, can't really give an opinion.
I beg you - Aimer did great, yet I don't get why where Yuriko and Kaori there, doing almost nothing. I was expecting more harmony here. Also, what was that 'I beg you' from the middle of the song...
wonderland - I really loved this song when it came out, and I was expecting this live a lot. It was okay, but I was expecting more. I think the four girl could do backing vocals here, who knows. Joelle did really good.
Haru wa yuku - loved Keiko and Aimer singing together. The best song from Aimer's side.
Eternal blue - I felt bad for Kaori's vocal chords, yet she delivered a lot of energy in the song. It was really nice to listen to it.
Stone cold - I prefer a lot more this arrangement instead of the original, mainly because I don't feel a separation between Joelle and Kaori as I did with Wakana and Kaori. I don't mind Kaori taking over the song, and the arrangement for the Kajiurago's part were really good.
Yume no tsubasa - as with moonlight melody and hitorigoto, this song will never be a bad choice.
Mezame - ever after listening to this song after YKL reprise Vol. 1 I started asking myself why did Wakana lead this song instead of Yuriko Kaida. I really love how Yuriko take over this song.
Zodiacal sign - the thing I love most of this song was Akagi-san dancing durign the performance (please don't hate me). As always, this song was perfect, and I think I've never seen Kajiura-san that energetic. Kajiura and Akagi-san make me love this version the most.
maybe tomorrow - I don't mind Joelle leading this song, but it lacked of every harmony it had before. The other singers were almost doing nothing... I still prefer Keiko at the end.

My favorites where Hoseki, Kioku no mori and Mezame. I liked the setlist, but I will always prefer a setlist full of soundtrack and kajiurago's song, than Japanese songs.
I really loved how energetic they all were during the live, it is something I wasn't seeing from a long time ago.
 
Lol @ Kajiura quickly realizing in Zodiacal Sign that the weird angle she's sitting in just doesn't work for her choreography and standing up.

Enjoyed the Kaori live with FJ accompaniment. Personally I thought she's never sounded better, though they could've of course distributed the parts more evenly.
 
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Well yea the setlist if you except fields of hope and the Aimer songs was more of the same. I guess they re just bored to rehearse unperformed songs at this point, and they chose to nail the ones they perform almost every time lol Really the only reason to buy this if its out on BD is Joelle and Kaori replacing Wakana, just to have the alternative. They really need to refresh the setlist -_-

@Hoseki
Mezame - ever after listening to this song after YKL reprise Vol. 1 I started asking myself why did Wakana lead this song instead of Yuriko Kaida. I really love how Yuriko take over this song.
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I think that was cause wakana was a great at dramatizing the song, both with her voice and her face expression, and that worked really well untill her voice got worse :( Its really nice to see the Yuriko version. Next please the original when Hanae Tomaru is guest with her solo and the girls only doing harmonies.

Im glad they picked the AIMER version of the live, because if it was the Kalafina songs one with Hikaru, it would be even more boring setlist since we have already seen each of these songs performed 40 times each.
 
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I mean, we already got Hanae on her live regular tracks on vol9 bluray.
They could retire them in favor of Banitas and maybe El Melloi stringfests starting next year.

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Was jumping around the live, and regardless of what I think of the setlist, I really have to give props to Joelle.
I'm not even her resident stan here but the range in the stuff she does with her voice solo and in support to others is just A++
 
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Nice camera works.
I actually like the stage set more than in Vol.#15. Gives a better impression of depth and the curtains make it more ethereal.
I love Keiko's dress, more than in Vol.#15. Now this is Keiko from Kalafina.
Aimer's shoes tho... Funny how they will never make a close-up on her face.
Maybe an interrupted sequence with her 3 Fate songs with smooth transitions could have been enjoyable...
Weird to see them bowing without holding hands together. Damn you, Olymp.. ehm, I mean, Covid.

Thoughts on Vol.#16: Should have attended like the previous one, but in the end glad I didn't cuz would have been so disappointed compared to it.
No Yuri, no Hanae, no Asuka, no Remi, no ASCA, no Chiaki.... almost only songs, no surprises and memorable moments (Vol.#15: ASCA going to be guest written in the pamphlet, "starting the case" performed even before the premiere, Keiko's triumphal return, BGMs from incoming OSTs, Chiaki as secret guest, See-Saw live announcement...). Oh! I forgot. Yorke painting. Yay.

I hope that Kajiura is not going to split her lives into BGM / Songs lives on a regular basis from now on. Switching from ballad songs to epic tracks or cute things to creepy stuff [...] is what makes her concerts so original imo. Like, wtf-am-I-attending-right-now moments.

I still enjoyed the concert-stream on his own. Rediscovered "Beginning", moved during "Houseki", "Maybe Tomorrow" and couldn't help but thinking "This is the one and only one, this definitely is our Kajiura" when watching the "Zodiacal Sign" part. Can't guest vocals take part in it?
 
Hmmm I skipped through the live again and Houseki and Haru wa Yuku are still the only 2 songs worth revisiting in their entirety. Keiko is definitely now bff with Aimer, it's so cute how she ran and caught up with Aimer and exited the stage together. Gotta agree with grunty that for what little parts she got throughout the live, Miss Joelle sounded phenomenal. Made me sad that she got the ugliest dress.
 
There's a lot more Kaori in this concert than I care for. She's pushing a lot and her tone sounds very nasal (and not in the pleasant way like old Hikaru and Yuuka). Distance and Gaika were very ear-gating when she did the Wakana parts.

Surprisingly I liked her in Yakusoku. Much more subdued than the previous songs.
 
george1234 said:
Well yea the setlist if you except fields of hope and the Aimer songs was more of the same. I guess they re just bored to rehearse unperformed songs at this point, and they chose to nail the ones they perform almost every time lol Really the only reason to buy this if its out on BD is Joelle and Kaori replacing Wakana, just to have the alternative. They really need to refresh the setlist -_-

@Hoseki


I think that was cause wakana was a great at dramatizing the song, both with her voice and her face expression, and that worked really well untill her voice got worse :( Its really nice to see the Yuriko version. Next please the original when Hanae Tomaru is guest with her solo and the girls only doing harmonies.

Im glad they picked the AIMER version of the live, because if it was the Kalafina songs one with Hikaru, it would be even more boring setlist since we have already seen each of these songs performed 40 times each.
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I might argue that if they picked the Kalafina day, the concert might've been less boring because at least we'd get to hear more voices. This live was Kaori live with guest vocal Aimer, chorus by Keiko Yuriko Joelle. Very one dimensional in terms of voice I'm hearing, so unlike previous FJ lives. It's almost all Kaori. Even the Yuriko Joelle show from vol. 1 reprise was less one dimensional because there were more choral/harmony parts and the songs weren't as boring as this one lol I really think they should ditch all the elemental album songs altogether - other than stone cold they weren't that well received after all.
 
ritarudandoo said:
I might argue that if they picked the Kalafina day, the concert might've been less boring because at least we'd get to hear more voices. This live was Kaori live with guest vocal Aimer, chorus by Keiko Yuriko Joelle. Very one dimensional in terms of voice I'm hearing, so unlike previous FJ lives. It's almost all Kaori. Even the Yuriko Joelle show from vol. 1 reprise was less one dimensional because there were more choral/harmony parts and the songs weren't as boring as this one
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Agreed. Did they have to make Kaori take over ALL the Wakana parts? Joelle got sidelined hard here, and would have made those songs way better to listen to than Kaori pushing. Distance, eternal blue, stone cold AND Gaika? That's four FJ songs that suddenly became Kaori solos.
 
I don’t mind the Kaori spam since she barely had anything to do in the studio live and usually gets stuck singing the same songs in regular lives.

I do think Kajiura needs to consider switching out either the set list or the singers because the energy is just not there anymore.
 
Sora said:
I don’t mind the Kaori spam since she barely had anything to do in the studio live and usually gets stuck singing the same songs in regular lives.

I do think Kajiura needs to consider switching out either the set list or the singers because the energy is just not there anymore.
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I'd say it's more the setlist, though this time there were a fair number of new songs that aren't just the usual FJ repeats (most of them Aimer, sadly). More Kalafina songs would add a lot more 'high energy' songs to the setlist since FJ songs, besides stone cold, aren't "concert hype" songs the same way Kalafina songs like destination unknown, identify, Ongaku, etc. are. The most exciting songs on Kajiura's OST list are probably the Pandora Hearts duo.

Or just do a KnK medley already Kajiura, such a good soundtrack but the number of times it has been performed live can be counted on one finger.

Also just finished the live, Aimer may sing well live but she has absolutely no stage presence.
 
Yeah KnK is super underrepresented in the lives. I’ve never understood why she excludes it, some of those tracks are perfect for a live performance. Mai Otome is another forgotten child. I’d love to hear blue and black rhapsody instead of Mezame for the 80th time.
 
Saber said:
Agreed. Did they have to make Kaori take over ALL the Wakana parts? Joelle got sidelined hard here, and would have made those songs way better to listen to than Kaori pushing. Distance, eternal blue, stone cold AND Gaika? That's four FJ songs that suddenly became Kaori solos
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I mean I know that Joelle wasn't initially well received as the "Wakana replacement", so to speak. But imo this decision of turning all FJ songs, even the Yuuka ones to Kaori solos is ridiculous - or should I say the decision to pick these FJ songs instead of so many other Japanese songs Kajiura has composed for other vocalists. She could do more Saeko Chiba cover and See-Saw, for example. Yuriko would sound lovely singing Hikari. Keiko mained edge and Kioku on live vol.12. Joelle would sound lovely singing See-Saw songs because she has the closest tone to Chiaki. Or just let Joelle do the Wakana parts, especially for Gaika. Kajiura has this over attachment towards elemental album and its songs even though they're /meh. Even the survey/questionnaire for FJC live showed this - as Gaika iirc barely made it to top 20 and stone cold was popular just because it's the only FJ hype song.


My recent posts in this thread can be summed up as "elemental album was a flop" lmao
 
george1234 said:
@yuki.n will watch it too :3
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Yeah, I remember attempting to explain said trick to her long ago. 😉

Anyway, I love this concert! Totally worth waking up early to watch the live broadcast. Can’t help looping it over and over. I know quite a number of those songs appear in just about every setlist, so I get why some people are tired of them, but they hold a special place in my heart.
:love:
 
Well then if there's something I really want on eplus, I know who to pester to try and learn the trix. :stars:
Wish they'd just also use the international eplus... I wonder if they didn't do it because of Aimer...
 
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