Yuki Kajiura LIVE vol.#22 ~precious pieces~ 4th July - 9th August 2026

This year we also sent a flower stand to the venue. Thank you @MushiMushi for her great artwork and @yumi for arranging the flowers
 

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I am in my Kodama train back to Tôkyô (and then time to go back to Europe) so lot of time to write my thoughts now. Sorry for my mistakes, english is not my native language (french is)...

General impressions : Great show, singers' voices are wonderful. So seems to me that BR/DVD from fictionjunction are not so edited about it! Kaori and Emiko really have powerful voices, Yuuka so soft, Yuriko and Joëlle so crystal clear voices, Lino Leia seems to have found her perfect peak voice too!
The festival hall is a beautiful stage, the sound is pretty good (even with both music and voices are together). The balance was good too.
Agaki Rie so great to see her able to dance ! Emiko and Lino Leia seems to be very close (often together on stage during MCs on the right side of the scene).
The costumes was great, a mix of the ones for vol.16/vol.17/last costumes of Kalafina red/blue day 2015/last costumes of Consolation tour of Kalafina. For the main colours of the costumes : Joëlle-Yuriko Kaida/White-Light green, Yuuka-Lino Leia-Kaori/White and Black, Emiko/Black


silent moon (アカペラ) The 6 singers on the stage, with only a center white light only, in a half circle, to sing a cappella. Yuuka leads the song. Also, the first verse of the show was for Yuuka...

overture〜Crush All singers leave the scene, the scenery with light effects began (first very dark when the musicians came on the stage, then with a large predominance of red), Rie Akagi is on the top of the stage in a soldier/marching band suit (very cute by the way on her) playing the flute and dancing (and like I previously the audience was so happy to see her this way, she was the most applaused musician during one of the MCs). To be honest, she didn't dance like vol.#19/KajiFes 2023 but she seems to enjoy it so much!

Pandora hearts expanded

everytime you kissed me Song entirely in english with Kaori as the lead. And a perfect lead !

MC1 I can only understand a little bit japanese (I'm learning it but it seems to me easier to speak than to understand). But I understood that after the presentation of the singers that she was talking about Rayearth... That leads to...

レイアースのテーマ Rayearth no teema Great theme but I think the "Madoka Magica" new songs were far better

lighthouse Lino Leia is really a good fit to the song and she really has so much improved from vol.#19. I really like her voice now!

overture〜circus

aikoi Yuuka lead voice (of course) and Joelle/Lino Leia backing voices... OK I said I liked the version with Junna (and I still do it) but this version was way better of course... Yuuka's voices with Lino Leia and Joëlle was so great.

ひとみのちから Hitomi no Chikara A song that fit Yuuka's voice but not my favorite...

暁の車 Akatsuki no Kuruma The a cappella beginning is so wonderful. Yuuka didn't lose her voice at all...

MC2 Presentation of the works for the new Madoka Magica movie. Informations that the cd will be available september 2nd (they give us a flyer for it at the exit of the show, with the picture of Yuki Kajiura on the right of a piano). Then the best part for me began with first the "Madoka segment" and the songs after it... All this part was sooooo goood...

彼方 kanata Emiko/Lino Leia/Yuriko Kaido. Emiko leads the verse, Lino Leia the chorus (with Emiko but Emiko sang a bit softer and lower), Yuriko Kaida backing vocals. Beautiful song, very good fit for Madoka Magica OST. But for me, it was a little weird that it's not a Kalafina song because in fact, it's so a Kalafina song! Or maybe it's because for me songs in Madoka Magica = Kalafina. A version with Kalafina could be interesting too... But this one is really really good!

劇場　魔法少女まどか⭐︎マギカ　ワルプルギスの廻天　M06 Like Kanata, so representative of a Madoka Magica OST!

Numquam vincar OK, no cover of Kalafina on the show but does this one count? I was so happy to hear it, it's my favourite OST (music theme I mean) of Madoka Magica... I didn't expect to hear it live! The band is so good. And the violin part, so wonderful... A great job by Hitoshi Konno... The guitar solo too...

black rose A really great version, similar to the one from the bluray vol 21, Emiko owns this song so much. The instrumentation of the beginning of the song was a little different and I really like this little difference. Emiko still danced a lot on it, played with Lino Leia but maybe she was a little quieter than the vol.21 last performance. But clearly the audience was hers during the song.

from the edge Kaori is really pretty good on the lead! of course it's not Lisa but in a way, I prefer it (but maybe it's also because I really like Kaori).

MC3

stone cold The song I was waiting the most. My second favourite song of Yuki Kajiura (with Ongaku), my favourite from FictionJunction. It's was so great. It's s Kaori's song (with a really good Emiko too). Always the best. The first floor of the audience (first floor "japanese version") was almost entirely standing up, the second one -where I was- A quarter of the audience I guess. I couldn't see the third floor...

zodiacal sign with no stop between this song and Stone Cold so the public stayed standing up (and doing the "hand dance"... I'm not very good with it myself but I tried...

Encore

Parade Live version is so great, Joelle's voice was really good.

引き出しで発光している Hikidashide hakkoshiteiru A song with Kaori as lead that I really liked...

MC4 Very long MC this time!!! With Yuuka back on stage for the last song...

angel gate Great song but not my favorite. Maybe Parade was a better song as the last one but I guess Yuuka as to be on stage for the last song. Nowhere could be so good as last song too! Too bad I couldn't hear it!

The thanking/ending/salutations part was very funny because the first one to do it was Joëlle whom said "Thank you very much" (in english). And then, as a Joke, when Yuriko Kaida did it a similar way (trying to fit Joëlle's voice). The audience really like it so after it every singers said "Thank you very much". Even Rie Akagi (without a microphone but the audience understood it). And Yuki Kajiura herself said it as the last words of the show.

(oups, sorry I have posted it on the wrong thread, thanks to move it on the right thread)
 
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esteban82 said:
But for me, it was a little weird that it's not a Kalafina song because in fact, it's so a Kalafina song! Or maybe it's because for me songs in Madoka Magica = Kalafina. A version with Kalafina could be interesting too... But this one is really really good!
Click to expand...
For me Madoka Magica equals Kajiura music and as long as she does it with care it will sound good no matter who the singer is. Also Emiko = Keiko and Lino Leia = Wakana as in similarity of voices. Yuriko was an unofficial Kalafina member as she did background vocals for like half of their songs. If Rito was still in the team you'd have the Hikaru sound-like voice too.
 
CloisteredFlame said:
I am not wishing she changes her personality, but I wish Kajiura had a more deliberately present personal branding at least for her own shows (smiling towards the camera with that her lovely grin, sharper costuming, etc).

I always like Kajiura's songs that are directly composed or alternated as solo vocals with just her on the keyboard - for example with Eri, Aimer, Joelle, etc.

Maybe an album of these kinds of acoustic collaborations released as "FICTION Duets". 🤔 Each song will be a true showcase of singers she admires at their brightest vocally, only interacting with Kajiura on the keyboard.

Acoustic songs tend to be a more precise expression of vocal skill and emotional color because of a slower pace and not needing to sing over a louder instrumental foundation of the full band.
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I seem to be getting the sharper costuming I asked for! Yippee!

Still waiting for more of those solo voice with accompaniment especially for Joelle, Yuriko, and Kaori (still love her "Fake Wings" from YKL2).

esteban82 said:
Great show, singers' voices are wonderful. So seems to me that BR/DVD from fictionjunction are not so edited about it! Kaori and Emiko really have powerful voices, Yuuka so soft, Yuriko and Joëlle so crystal clear voices, Lino Leia seems to have found her perfect peak voice too!
Click to expand...
This is really nice to hear. It's good to know that for FictionJunction there's really little reason to correct anything, because of how good they sound live, just with the basic live effects (reverb, EQ, etc.)

esteban82 said:
silent moon (アカペラ) The 6 singers on the stage, with only a center white light only, in a half circle, to sing a cappella. Yuuka leads the song. Also, the first verse of the show was for Yuuka...
Click to expand...
In a semicircle? Wow, that's not a shape I've ever seen on the stage at Kajiura's FJ lives. That's like a proper acappella group. I want to hear it!

esteban82 said:
Rie Akagi is on the top of the stage in a soldier/marching band suit (very cute by the way on her) playing the flute and dancing
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This would be nice.

esteban82 said:
彼方 kanata Emiko/Lino Leia/Yuriko Kaido. Emiko leads the verse, Lino Leia the chorus (with Emiko but Emiko sang a bit softer and lower), Yuriko Kaida backing vocals. Beautiful song, very good fit for Madoka Magica OST. But for me, it was a little weird that it's not a Kalafina song because in fact, it's so a Kalafina song! Or maybe it's because for me songs in Madoka Magica = Kalafina. A version with Kalafina could be interesting too... But this one is really really good!
Click to expand...
Interesting. From what you're saying if the song sounds Kalafina-esque, and like a song that firs within the Madoka universe, then its a testament to Kajiura. I am curious to hear the full thing.

esteban82 said:
black rose A really great version, similar to the one from the bluray vol 21, Emiko owns this song so much. The instrumentation of the beggining of the song was a little different and I really like this little difference. Emiko still danced a lot on it, played with Lino Leia but maybe she was a little quieter than the vol.21 last performance. But clearly the audience was her during the song.
Click to expand...
Nice! Love me some "black rose".

esteban82 said:
from the edge Kaori is really pretty good on the lead! of course it's not Lisa but in a way, I prefer it (but maybe it's also because I really like Kaori).
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I am looking forward to hearing this again from Kaori. LiSA's still the gold standard, not just because she's original singer, but because of how she embodies her songs physically and vocally.

The good thing is Kajiura showing that covering her own songs (even those created with a major star like LiSA) doesn't require the original artist. It would just be difficult to do "Shine in the Cruel Night" without her since that's a major song, structurally, and I believe can only be done full justice by LiSA's voice (almost as if Kajiura wrote it like a complete encapsulation of her entire voice and all its possible expressions).

esteban82 said:
angel gate Great song but not my favorite. Maybe Parade was a better song as the last one but I guess Yuuka as to be on stage for the last song. Nowhere could be so good as last song too! Too bad I couldn't hear it!
Click to expand...
I think it just has sentimental memories from (was it?) YKL4.
 
CloisteredFlame said:
In a semicircle? Wow, that's not a shape I've ever seen on the stage at Kajiura's FJ lives. That's like a proper acappella group. I want to hear it!
Click to expand...
Really intimate, few lights, no effect. And it was quite a big opposition with the overture just after it

CloisteredFlame said:
Interesting. From what you're saying if the song sounds Kalafina-esque, and like a song that firs within the Madoka universe, then its a testament to Kajiura. I am curious to hear the full thing.
Click to expand...
It sounds "kajiura-esque" but like "kajiura-esque for a kalafina-esque song". But George1234 is right with similarities of voices and the fact that Yuriko Kaida's voice is already a backing voice for Kalafina...

grunty said:
Kaori sang everytime you kissed me?
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I really like her voice in English. Not the first time she sang it (vol. 9)

CloisteredFlame said:
I am looking forward to hearing this again from Kaori. LiSA's still the gold standard, not just because she's original singer, but because of how she embodies her songs physically and vocally.
Click to expand...
Not at this point with Kaori (physically at least) but the song really fit her voice I thought

CloisteredFlame said:
I think it just has sentimental memories from (was it?) YKL4.
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You're maybe right, I forget about YKL4 part 2 when I heard it. To be honest I have better memories of Kalafina live than fictionjunction, especially the 2008 and 2009 lives... I guess I should rewatch DVD and BR of these shows...

By the way, I was really pleased because I could find in a Bookoff close to Tokyo the limited edition of Vol.21 BR ! Second hand but seems pretty brand new for me!
 
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