Overall thought :
1. lotus : is no justice to Hanae's version. The violin improvisation is awesome, though. The vocal is not so much.
2. E.G.O. : is no justice to Eri's version. It is Kaori who sang "amari kesolti toria" or something? It's blah for me.
3. I Swear : I swear that I swear is the my favorite track of the whole live. Really love Keiko's vocal in this one.
Really close to Clara Kennedy's vocal. Her "yeheheheeee" is even more alluring.
4. jubilee : Yuriko's part...
5. March : Kaori did a much better job than Emily in this one. Emily sang it like she's dying in FICTION II. When Keiko came to harmonise made this song even nicer. Although the engrish is horribly horrible. I can't even almost recognize a single word.
6. blue clouds :
7. sis puella magica! : Yuriko...
I can't say I really love Kaori's harmony, though
8. my long forgotten cloistered sleep : Yuriko's lalala in the end made me sure that this song will sound better if it's a duet between Yuriko and Keiko. Although Wakana did quite a good job here. The violin and flute improvisation is
9. forest : painful, only the bridge sounds good.
10. credens justitiam : Like what I've said, I don't really like Eri's voice (except for E.G.O and I talk to the rain), so I like it. A lot, actually.
11. eternal blue : sounds better than live vol.9
12. Toki no Mukou : nice. The blah for eternal blue and Toki no Mukou is how the other singers drown Keiko's voice in her part (the bridge).
13. Hanamori no Oka :they've performed it too much already, so I don't really care about this one. This song is one of those "nice, but you can't hear it too much" for me.
14. Kara no Kyoukai medley : Awesomely awesome. Finally, Wakana made me go
15. heigen : The lack of Hanae's vocal is somewhat disturbing, and Wakana's voice, albeit closest to Hanae's vocal is still lacking for me.
16. the Image Theme of Xenosaga II : Sorry, Wakana. Although I love you so much in Kara no Kyoukai medley, your voice in this one is painful. The other 3 girls did a great job.
17. I reach for the sun : Keiko sounds as good as she is in FJ live best CD.
Wakana, sadly is not. The kajiuran bridge is nice.
18. maybe tomorrow : Keiko is
I don't even know how to describe how much I love Keiko's voice in this one. No words can describe her voice in this one. Although I love Kaori's part too, the way Keiko sang the last stanza is just...
19. stone cold : Kaori is better than live vol.9, Wakana is better in live vol.9 than this one.
20. zodiacal sign : Really nice. If Kala has Ongaku that they always perform in almost every concert, FJ has zodiacal sign. Thankfully, I love this song even if they've performed it too much already (unlike Hanamori no Oka)
21. Parallel Hearts : No matter how many times they've performed this song, I think that they never successfully nailed it as good as the CD version. The most blah.
22. sweet song : Kaori in this one is really good, but I don't really like this song. I don't really like it in the original version, and still don't really like it even after I hear the FJ version, so...
THIS IS THE LIVE THAT THEY REALLY NEED TO RELEASE THE DVD. OR LIVE CD. OR STREAMED. Lots of newly performed songs, nice vocal even before studio magic, like what George have said.
Utahime's performance (sorted by ranking)
1. Yuriko and Keiko. Yuriko sounds really awesome throughout the concert, but she didn't get a lot of time to shine. Keiko, on the other hand, is just love love love love love love. All my favorite English songs have Keiko as the main vocal. I don't really understand why people keep saying that Keiko's English is blah. It is when she's talking, but when she's singing, her English is the clearest one. I can tell what she's singing in I reach for the sun and cynical world in live best CD without looking at the lyrics
(unlike Kaori in everytime you kissed me), and her English in I Swear and maybe tomorrow is really nice and clear. Not to mention Keiko did an awesome job for harmony throughout the concert.
2. Kaori did a good job, but most of the songs with her as lead vocal doesn't appeal me that much. E.G.O is sadly blah.
3. Wakana, sorry
forest is just too painful to hear. Your voice in Kara no Kyoukai medley is
, though.
Favorite songs : 1. I Swear, 2. maybe tomorrow, 3. Kara no Kyoukai medley, 4. credens justitiam
Least favorable : 1. Parallel Hearts, 2. forest, 3. lotus, 4. E.G.O. (to remember that lotus and E.G.O are my favorites from FICTION II, aside from I Swear is a bit sad.)
I love "I Swear" more now.
Both Clara and Keiko's version are awesome.