Yuki Kajiura LIVE vol.#21 - 60 Songs (July 26 - August 24, 2025)

[CloisteredFlame]

I just noticed that during the first MC, after Emiko did the excited introduction, She mentioned "daisuki", maybe saying that she loves Kajiura's music, then she actually blew a kiss to Kajiura when turning back to her standing position. She's just an atypical Japanese lady in terms of outward expressions of feelings and affection.

By the way, Emiko's start to "destination" was chocolate-smooth, and I daresay definitive as a new version of the song. That's the part of her voice where her personality really shines through her full voice. KAORI was excellent in the low notes. Her voice with age and childbirth has really developed that richness in the lower range. I was shocked her voice was that full that low. It sounded like if Keiko sang softer tone.

A good thing is that because Kaori is good with vibrato she can use it strengthen with her lower notes (dropping the larynx too).

 

[CloisteredFlame]

I would like to see Kajiura use the same core/main vocals for her next YKL without repeating any song (i.e., a whole different set of songs), and with creative, new vocal arrangements as she did in this live.

I am REALLY CURIOUS and EXCITED to see how the re-arrangements will enhance, or at the very least refresh, the songs especially with the change in roster (i.e. Emiko).

 

[maha_gnosis]

Continued watching the live:

About Emiko, outside of her solos, she doesnt seem to steal any scenes. So cant really understand what Saber meant. maybe you focused too much automatically to her since she is new and is a „Keiko‘s replacement“?

Cover of Yuuka‘s songs are hit or miss for me.
Her songs are usually perfect suit to her voice. Yuuka‘s voice is kinda soft yet dramatic.

In Destination‘s Unknown Emiko kinda rocks it. which also suits the song.

nostalgia: Kokia is airy, fairy, child like. works differently, but still I prefer Yuuka.

Keiko no Mori: Asca is too strong and powerful. prefer yuuka‘s version. joelle and Lino are good though.

Aikoi: nope. Joelle and LL are good though.

Nowhere: Asca and Juna work well here. A fun duet take of the song.

About Lino Leia, it seems like her voice is now lower and not pitchy anymore?
i enjoy her backing vocals.
i like her in Hachigatsu studio version, but this live version is also great way to sing the song.

lighthouse is totally a win for me, not that pitchy like the studio version.

I‘m looking forward to LL now that I like her voice.

 

[CloisteredFlame]

https://x.com/imoji3/status/1990819508429140024?s=20

いも
@imoji3
·
2h
YKL21の様々な好きえみこ……(この人毎日観てるな…)

Various favorite Emiko of YKL21… (This person watches every day, huh…)

 

[ritarudandoo]

the anime style art makes the crappy dresses look much nicer than they actually are

yes i will continue bitching about the ugly YKL dresses (and staging) because live performance should be about pleasing both the eyes and the ears. YKLs tend to have low rewatch value to me because it's either the staging is bland and/or bad, the dresses being awful, or both. and now there's no Keiko the eyecandy too

 

[CloisteredFlame]

the anime style art makes the crappy dresses look much nicer than they actually are

yes i will continue bitching about the ugly YKL dresses (and staging) because live performance should be about pleasing both the eyes and the ears. YKLs tend to have low rewatch value to me because it's either the staging is bland and/or bad, the dresses being awful, or both. and now there's no Keiko the eyecandy too

OK, so which are the last two YKL lives (and for good measure, Kalafina concerts) you considered to be good in terms of: a. Vocal performances, and b. costuming?

Edit: full disclosure, I've watched YKL#21 three times in full (up to the final bow or at least final roll call - don't watch the credits ).

 

[ritarudandoo]

OK, so which are the last two YKL lives (and for good measure, Kalafina concerts) you considered to be good in terms of: a. Vocal performances, and b. costuming?

Edit: full disclosure, I've watched YKL#21 three times in full (up to the final bow or at least final roll call - don't watch the credits ).

YKLs have better vocals than Kalafina, let's get it out of the way because Hikaru can barely sing since like 2015.

the only YKL with good costumes in recent years in YKL17, but the staging was incredibly bland and ngl I don't remember half of the setlist lmao

YKL19's biggest miss was it not having any new dresses and to me, personally, new dresses are necessary to make it more memorable and to separate it from the other lives. i know we don't get any footage from YKL18 so technically you can say that it's a new set of dresses but the YKL18 dresses are so fucking ugly. the silhouettes are fine, the patterns i hate so much. they gave Joelle a bedsheet, Yuriko a picnic rug/table clothing, Keiko a pillow covering for her arms and that awful skirt made out of leftover fabrics and I don't even remember Kaori's because she wasn't around for like 75% of the concert. I don't watch the day 1 after the first time I watched it because the setlist was meeeeh. day 2 was better in the sense that it has more songs so more options but frankly i also don't care about 50% of the setlist on that one. the staging was okay, nothing special but I liked the stage being in kind of the middle of the arena. plus this one has the advantage/virtue of having so many guests.

YKL20 have good setlist, the red dresses are pretty but they're red without barely any other color so they're also really harsh on the eyes. anyone who worked on stage knows that to balance the harshness of the color red they need to have yellow/orange lighting so it became less harsh and more warm and they did it, but again barely any budget for staging and costuming so the yellow lighting only comes from the lamps and it became boring really fast. had they put more budget for LED screen backdrop or even side lightings with more colors, it wouldn't be as bland as it was. the hanging logo in the middle of the stage was so bad (both the logo being bad and the placement being bad) that the cameramen actively avoided it getting in the shot and resulted in the video having taken from the weirdest angle. like the one time they splurged on having something on stage was for an ugly thing that they had better put the budget somewhere else

I personally don't care about everyone other than Kokia in YKL21. I know Kajiura wants to put more emphasis on the FBM but honestly the cameramen and editors didn't have to slip them in so often on the most random moments. Kajiura's music always have the adult woman feeling to it but frankly FictionJunction the group now just sounds like old aunties singing, so I guess the guests and Leia are kinda necessary to bring a more "youthful" feeling, but again I don't like their voices so I don't bother.

so... basically none. if i have to choose i guess my favorite would be YKL19 day 2 (it's the only one I watched more than once) followed by YKL17. i feel like even if i do a more in depth rating by putting them on a scale for each aspects of vocals/dresses/staging/setlist they would all average the same lmao

to Kalafina:
by far the best vocal performances, stage production, and costuming from any Kajiura related live was Kalafina Arena Live 2016. the production was near immaculate, I may not like the blue encore dresses but it's only Wakana's dress I truly have problems with and boy do I have problems with it. it's awful from head to toe, only beaten by Joelle's dress (it was not even a dress, that's literally curtain with holes for head and limbs) in YKL16. the setlist was fine because it barely had any Hikaru songs in it and the ones it had were the ones she's still able to sing.

Kalafina 10th anniversary live was mostly unlistenable, the behind the scenes showed the dresses before the alterations and they were so much better than the final products. the encore dresses were great though. the staging was so bland it really conveyed the feeling of "well this is the last time so byeeee" kind of feeling.

I completely adore Kalafina 2025 live dresses. they're not without flaws, Wakana's brocade outer brocades was too long on one side for example and I kinda wished Hikaru's pants weren't as wide or the outer part was as long as her pants or the pants were as short as the outer but the dresses follow a good principle of stage costuming. brocades are expensive and sewing in beads is tedious so i could say that the budget for Kalafina dresses for only this live was probably higher than YKL19-21 combined. I find the live to be rewatchable partly to nostalgia, but I liked the more static camerawork with mostly medium close-up and when I can see the whole stage the LED backdrops are pretty and the lighting was well done. the song selection wasn't that great and again, Hikaru can't really sing well anymore (very obvious in the end of sprinter in Hikari no Senritsu somehow) but she didn't get a lot of parts so for most of the time the concert was listenable. Keiko was great as usual and honestly i don't blame the audio mixer for mixing Keiko's harmony somewhat louder than usual. there was a small part in sprinter where they even completely erased Hikaru's voice lmao. other than Wakana's tremolo I was honestly impressed with how even her timbre sounded, she didn't have as much of that weird pitch-corrected sound she used to have in plenty of previous Kalafina live releases, and her -i syllables didn't sound as pinched as they used to. Hikaru again being the weakest point but Kimi no Gin no Niwa blew the YKL19 version out of the water ngl and I loveeee the decision of making Wakana's harmony to become the melody during the final part. Hikarifuru was kinda laughable though.

for Kalafina my favorites are Arena Live 2016 - 2015 live Red Day/2010 Red Moon tour (this one purely because Wakana and Hikaru still sounded great even though I was never a big fan of the red dresses they wore for the live performances and CD jacket. remember what i said about red dresses and yellow lighting? even Kalafina in their infancy days did this better than Kajiura and her crew in 2023 lmao) - Anniversary live 2025.

spacecraft might be a shitty management company, but they do know how to put on a show and manage their budget and resources. YKLs have pretty cheap ticket prices that I honestly think they could get away with increasing the price a little bit more so they have more budget to put on staging and costuming. but i guess most of Kajiura fans are only in for the music and only a few, rare ones are like me who bitches about the production as a whole, but this comes from my experience and profession so i just can't turn a blind eye on it.

i guess i am being too harsh on Hikaru. she still has her moments every now and then (i remember liking her voice in nowhere from YKL20 Asia Tour fancams) but girl go see a vocal teacher...


tldr: I'm a bitch

 

[george1234]

spacecraft might be a shitty management company, but they do know how to put on a show and manage their budget and resources. YKLs have pretty cheap ticket prices that I honestly think they could get away with increasing the price a little bit more so they have more budget to put on staging and costuming. but i guess most of Kajiura fans are only in for the music and only a few, rare ones are like me who bitches about the production as a whole, but this comes from my experience and profession so i just can't turn a blind eye on it.

I remind you that everything before YKL 14 was with spacecraft and everything Kalafina before 2025 was too, so if spacecraft is good for doing good production for the 2025+ kalafina they should ve done so for them n Kajiura before too. Now lets see if the ultra pricy Dinner show has better dresses

And yes im one of those who focus on music most. If i wanted looks i'd look at much younger groups who mostly sing crappy happy-go-lucky cutesy songs. The others day i saw on IG a group who adverised their concert from within an onsen and they seem like AV idols turned singers from their profile

 

[ritarudandoo]

I remind you that everything before YKL 14 was with spacecraft and everything Kalafina before 2025 was too, so if spacecraft is good for doing good production for the 2025+ kalafina they should ve done so for them n Kajiura before too. Now lets see if the ultra pricy Dinner show has better dresses

And yes im one of those who focus on music most. If i wanted looks i'd look at much younger groups who mostly sing crappy happy-go-lucky cutesy songs. The others day i saw on IG a group who adverised their concert from within an onsen and they seem like AV idols turned singers from their profile

I mean Spacecraft could only do with whatever budget they're working with. I feel like Kajiura on her FictionJunction side was never adamant on putting as much budget for costume and staging as to let people focus more on the music even since back when she's still with Spacecraft, whereas Kalafina was treated as a more marketable group so they put more care in how they "package" and market Kalafina and their activities. And I have to point out that some of YKL dresses up to YKL13 did look low budget (YKL8 came to mind) but they're never downright ugly. the dress Wakana wore for that one SAO event was kinda cheap looking though but everyone else's were pretty.

Kajiura might be Kalafina's producer but she never seemed as involved in Kalafina's activities other than writing and producing music for their releases, so I guess Kalafina and SC had more say in their staging and costuming.

 

[george1234]

^ She seems to not be much into fashion herself. She mostly wears plain clothes in her daily life and even her promo pics for magazines interview etc has her wearing mostly the same outfits again and again. So she doesn't care much about what the ladies wear either, i guess.

 

[CloisteredFlame]

YKLs have better vocals than Kalafina, let's get it out of the way because Hikaru can barely sing since like 2015.

I would say YKL always had better vocals, period, since they were Kalafina minus Hikaru plus Yuriko, Hanae, Eri, etc.

the only YKL with good costumes in recent years in YKL17, but the staging was incredibly bland and ngl I don't remember half of the setlist lmao

17 being the one with Hikaru as the secret guest singing "Sprinter", right?

the silhouettes are fine, the patterns i hate so much. they gave Joelle a bedsheet, Yuriko a picnic rug/table clothing, Keiko a pillow covering for her arms and that awful skirt made out of leftover fabrics and I don't even remember Kaori's because she wasn't around for like 75% of the concert.

Your descriptions: bedsheet, picnic rug, pillow!

I don't watch the day 1 after the first time I watched it because the setlist was meeeeh. day 2 was better in the sense that it has more songs so more options but frankly i also don't care about 50% of the setlist on that one. the staging was okay, nothing special but I liked the stage being in kind of the middle of the arena. plus this one has the advantage/virtue of having so many guests.

KajiFes was well put together and far more elaborate than Kajiura's usual setup. Fitting for a special anniversary.

YKL20 have good setlist, the red dresses are pretty but they're red without barely any other color so they're also really harsh on the eyes. anyone who worked on stage knows that to balance the harshness of the color red they need to have yellow/orange lighting so it became less harsh and more warm and they did it,

I was going to ask for a comparison with Kalafina's Red Moon attire when I read this, but you spoke about thata later.

Kajiura's music always have the adult woman feeling to it but frankly FictionJunction the group now just sounds like old aunties singing, so I guess the guests and Leia are kinda necessary to bring a more "youthful" feeling, but again I don't like their voices so I don't bother.

What do you mean "old aunties"? I think you mean "mature hotties". So did this old auntie era include when Keiko was there, and when did it start exactly, in your view?

so... basically none. if i have to choose i guess my favorite would be YKL19 day 2 (it's the only one I watched more than once) followed by YKL17. i feel like even if i do a more in depth rating by putting them on a scale for each aspects of vocals/dresses/staging/setlist they would all average the same lmao

Savage!

to Kalafina:
by far the best vocal performances, stage production, and costuming from any Kajiura related live was Kalafina Arena Live 2016.

Arena Live 2016 had the fabric-designed art background, costumes, and mic stands right? Or an I mixing my lives up?

the staging was so bland it really conveyed the feeling of "well this is the last time so byeeee" kind of feeling.

Byeee! But the flags were nice, and they unfurled, and it was at the Budokan.

I find the live to be rewatchable partly to nostalgia, but I liked the more static camerawork with mostly medium close-up and when I can see the whole stage the LED backdrops are pretty and the lighting was well done. the song selection wasn't that great and again, Hikaru can't really sing well anymore (very obvious in the end of sprinter in Hikari no Senritsu somehow) but she didn't get a lot of parts so for most of the time the concert was listenable. Keiko was great as usual and honestly i don't blame the audio mixer for mixing Keiko's harmony somewhat louder than usual. there was a small part in sprinter where they even completely erased Hikaru's voice lmao. other than Wakana's tremolo I was honestly impressed with how even her timbre sounded, she didn't have as much of that weird pitch-corrected sound she used to have in plenty of previous Kalafina live releases, and her -i syllables didn't sound as pinched as they used to. Hikaru again being the weakest point but Kimi no Gin no Niwa blew the YKL19 version out of the water ngl and I loveeee the decision of making Wakana's harmony to become the melody during the final part. Hikarifuru was kinda laughable though.

Interesting points all around. Hikaru must have felt really bad knowing she was probably being judged continually. What we hear is the edited version but the live vocals must have been even worse at those struggling sections.

spacecraft might be a shitty management company, but they do know how to put on a show and manage their budget and resources. YKLs have pretty cheap ticket prices that I honestly think they could get away with increasing the price a little bit more so they have more budget to put on staging and costuming. but i guess most of Kajiura fans are only in for the music and only a few, rare ones are like me who bitches about the production as a whole, but this comes from my experience and profession so i just can't turn a blind eye on it.

I'm also a music- and energy-first music lover, but I can appreciate the impact of a solid production.

Sawano usually does much better, which can give a perception of a higher quality in his lives to a casual, mainstream audience, compared to Kajiura's. I can agree with that.

i guess i am being too harsh on Hikaru. she still has her moments every now and then (i remember liking her voice in nowhere from YKL20 Asia Tour fancams) but girl go see a vocal teacher...

I think Hikaru has gone beyond just getting a vocal coach. The damage is too severe and longlasting. She needs a specialist in voice reconstruction, and she needs to relearn aspects of how she sings.

tldr: I'm a bitch

Naughty you.

 

[CloisteredFlame]

Keiko was great as usual and honestly i don't blame the audio mixer for mixing Keiko's harmony somewhat louder than usual.

Yeah Keiko was really good but also too aggressive at a few points, especially when compared to earlier lives (Kalafina 10th was my first, as I've often stated).

The end of "Lirica" is always a case in point. Didn't achieve the required vocal impact at the very end (overexcited).

 

[CloisteredFlame]

I mean Spacecraft could only do with whatever budget they're working with. I feel like Kajiura on her FictionJunction side was never adamant on putting as much budget for costume and staging as to let people focus more on the music even since back when she's still with Spacecraft, whereas Kalafina was treated as a more marketable group so they put more care in how they "package" and market Kalafina and their activities. And I have to point out that some of YKL dresses up to YKL13 did look low budget (YKL8 came to mind) but they're never downright ugly. the dress Wakana wore for that one SAO event was kinda cheap looking though but everyone else's were pretty.

Kajiura might be Kalafina's producer but she never seemed as involved in Kalafina's activities other than writing and producing music for their releases, so I guess Kalafina and SC had more say in their staging and costuming.

Do you think Kajiura had input into the ladies' dresses for YKL?

Did she perhaps say, "make sure they don't look prettier than me?"

 

[CloisteredFlame]

I remind you that everything before YKL 14 was with spacecraft and everything Kalafina before 2025 was too, so if spacecraft is good for doing good production for the 2025+ kalafina they should ve done so for them n Kajiura before too.

Marketing/budget.

I'm sure that Kajiura was involved with all budgeting decisions for her own show. Also if the ticketing prices were not as high as Kalafina's, there was less money to go around.

Note Kalafina often used almost the full set of musicians and manipulator-san as Kajiura did (sometimes a larger strings section), so more people to pay.

And yes im one of those who focus on music most. If i wanted looks i'd look at much younger groups who mostly sing crappy happy-go-lucky cutesy songs.

 

[ritarudandoo]

Do you think Kajiura had input into the ladies' dresses for YKL?

Did she perhaps say, "make sure they don't look prettier than me?"

I feel like Kajiura definitely barely has any input on how the dresses look as she mostly wears shirt with frills and long pants, but I honestly believe that the FictionJunction ladies barely get any say in what dresses they would get. The costuming department probably only take the measurements and I suspect they don't even get fitting session because some of the measurements weren't taken correctly so certain parts of their dresses don't sit right on their bodies. Yuriko's dress from YKL16 had those weird rectangles for her neck and shoulder and they weren't even positioned correctly, they didn't sit correctly on her shoulder and were drooping. The little black accent for Keiko's dress wasn't measured properly because one half has more fabrics that it ended up hanging and they had to stitch it on the back. Keiko's corset top from YKL18/19 was too small and honestly Leia's dress from live 17 didn't fit her correctly. The upper part of her dress was too low to the point of if it was not being held by the corset her boobs would fall out. They didn't even have enough materials for the plastic balloon diaper from YKL21 because the diaper skirt was placed too low yet didn't even cover the lower part so her pants were still showing. If I were Joelle I would lash out being handed that curtain in YKL16. Joelle's bedsheet dress from YKL18/19 has this weird little overhang in front of her right side that honestly serves no purpose. Kaori got the ugliest live vol. 17 dress because the dress has two shoulders (the black one and the off shoulders white one - yes the white one is off shoulders but in fashion terms it is a shoulder part of the dress) and honestly double shoulders is a fashion crime. The white shoulder thingy wasn't even necessary as it wasn't part of the base white dress my god i keep on ranting about the dresses lmao

 

[george1234]

You need to work in Cruella de Vil's fashion firm :3 (1996 movie)

 

[ritarudandoo]

I would say YKL always had better vocals, period, since they were Kalafina minus Hikaru plus Yuriko, Hanae, Eri, etc.

17 being the one with Hikaru as the secret guest singing "Sprinter", right?

Your descriptions: bedsheet, picnic rug, pillow!

KajiFes was well put together and far more elaborate than Kajiura's usual setup. Fitting for a special anniversary.

I was going to ask for a comparison with Kalafina's Red Moon attire when I read this, but you spoke about thata later.

What do you mean "old aunties"? I think you mean "mature hotties". So did this old auntie era include when Keiko was there, and when did it start exactly, in your view?

Savage!

Arena Live 2016 had the fabric-designed art background, costumes, and mic stands right? Or an I mixing my lives up?

Byeee! But the flags were nice, and they unfurled, and it was at the Budokan.

Interesting points all around. Hikaru must have felt really bad knowing she was probably being judged continually. What we hear is the edited version but the live vocals must have been even worse at those struggling sections.

I'm also a music- and energy-first music lover, but I can appreciate the impact of a solid production.

Sawano usually does much better, which can give a perception of a higher quality in his lives to a casual, mainstream audience, compared to Kajiura's. I can agree with that.

I think Hikaru has gone beyond just getting a vocal coach. The damage is too severe and longlasting. She needs a specialist in voice reconstruction, and she needs to relearn aspects of how she sings.

Naughty you.

Arena Live 2016 was the one they started with Alleluia acapella and them being in oversized Kimono. Fabric designed art background and standing mic was 9+one 2017. I didn't include that one because I hateeeeee the tutu-like skirts and the setlist was not my favorite but the second set of dresses were really good. The encore dresses were how you do stage costuming with all black dresses. The weird off shoulder thingy they kept on giving Wakana was a fashion crime but that thing aside Instead of stitching in some random shiny fabrics, the dresses had shiny beads and/or sequins and the Kalafina ladies get shiny head accessories, but of course that's more costuming budget. Plus the staging had a lot more color with that fabric art background and it was really bright that the black dresses actually provided a nice contrast. YKL21 didn't have anything on the background and it was mostly just a fairly dark background (though I wasn't sure about the background because I've only watched the live once lmao).

 

[CloisteredFlame]

I feel like Kajiura definitely barely has any input on how the dresses look as she mostly wears shirt with frills and long pants, but I honestly believe that the FictionJunction ladies barely get any say in what dresses they would get. The costuming department probably only take the measurements and I suspect they don't even get fitting session because some of the measurements weren't taken correctly so certain parts of their dresses don't sit right on their bodies. Yuriko's dress from YKL16 had those weird rectangles for her neck and shoulder and they weren't even positioned correctly, they didn't sit correctly on her shoulder and were drooping. The little black accent for Keiko's dress wasn't measured properly because one half has more fabrics that it ended up hanging and they had to stitch it on the back. Keiko's corset top from YKL18/19 was too small and honestly Leia's dress from live 17 didn't fit her correctly. The upper part of her dress was too low to the point of if it was not being held by the corset her boobs would fall out. They didn't even have enough materials for the plastic balloon diaper from YKL21 because the diaper skirt was placed too low yet didn't even cover the lower part so her pants were still showing. If I were Joelle I would lash out being handed that curtain in YKL16. Joelle's bedsheet dress from YKL18/19 has this weird little overhang in front of her right side that honestly serves no purpose. Kaori got the ugliest live vol. 17 dress because the dress has two shoulders (the black one and the off shoulders white one - yes the white one is off shoulders but in fashion terms it is a shoulder part of the dress) and honestly double shoulders is a fashion crime. The white shoulder thingy wasn't even necessary as it wasn't part of the base white dress my god i keep on ranting about the dresses lmao

Obsessed I tell ya!

 

[CloisteredFlame]

Sawano usually does much better, which can give a perception of a higher quality in his lives to a casual, mainstream audience, compared to Kajiura's. I can agree with that.

Yes, I'm quoting myself. My point thinking again is that Sawano's lives always have this modern, cutting edge in the costumes. A sort of hip, city look, but not poppy. It's the aesthetic he has for himself and the band too, so it feels cohesive.

The costuming department probably only take the measurements and I suspect they don't even get fitting session because some of the measurements weren't taken correctly so certain parts of their dresses don't sit right on their bodies.

I am curious about who/what are the costuming department. It isn't Spacecraft team since they weren't there since 2018 for KajiFes, and following your analysis, noting since Kalafina also had curious designs, I wonder who it is. Kajiura's family member?

The ==FJ ladies dress very differently for their own shows so I wonder how they feel wearing all the different, somewhat eccentric designs.

Arena Live 2016 was the one they started with Alleluia acapella and them being in oversized Kimono. Fabric designed art background and standing mic was 9+one 2017.

Oh yeah! Got it!

Yeah, that Alleluia "kimono" design was something else. Really epic. That live was also the one with the most thespian "Magia" performance of all time, not the best, just the most elaborately choreographed and acted, in a live setting anyways.

Speaking of which, the early Kalafina looks were always connected to the anime and the costuming in the MVs, right? So it seemed overall more cohesive with the alternative European fantasy looks of the stories (anime) they were singing about, flowing with the music performed as well. When they started doing non-anime music they began to wear different styles and the visual (at least costuming) cohesion faded away or went out the window.

I have to say I really agree with you about the importance of strong visual identity (flyers, posters, stage costumes, production, etc.) as critical to the art of presentation and branding - what you want the audience to feel about you as an artist.

It is as important as a strong musical/vocal identity (note that Keiko took some time to get hers though her costuming was mostly solid, while Wakana and Hikaru had the vocal identity clear straight from the solo get-go). Look at the acts below (they came to mind while typing) and note they also have a VERY strong musical/vocal identity to go along with the visual.

Sawano - modern, clubby, chic aesthetic
WagakkiBand - ancient meets modern, colorful, atmospheric, dramatic
LiSA - edgy, punk rock/pop rock/pop but still cute (not dark)
Perfume - pop/digital, futuristic, dance
ReoNA - similar to Sawano
Revo (SH/LH) - very particular to the fantasy storytelling or anime/game the music is looking at - essentially character-based costuming.

FictionJunction? - I think my favorite (most memorable) attire for them was the Princess Principal live. At least Joelle and Keiko's shoulder-less looks were lovely (Keiko was more stunning than ever in that) and looked like actual dresses, while Yuriko and Kaori were (sadly) more subdued. I also like Elemental one with the corsets (and again Keiko, and that time Kaori, being shoulder-less).

 

[grunty]

I don't know why you have to complicate things with your elaborate ponderings when every live has a credit roll... lol. Effort for me to check every live but ykl17, ykl20, ykl21 have the same person for "Costume Design & Styling". Edit: I looked at ykl11 YUUKA 2days special and it's the same person there for "Styling & Wardrobe". Aaand the same person again for "Styling" in ykl4 and ykl2 too (no Costume/Wardrobe credit). Kajiura's been consistent with YKL stylings (and the same person) from the start it seems. ;) Dunno about Kalafina. Kalafina had someone else for Consolation and 9+one at the very least ('cause they are on youtube lol).

Anyhow, you have fun discussing this.