Lately, I have been far too busy and tired to write my planned post on Mahou Shoujo Madoka. :( I actually started writing it but had to stop and just haven't been able to get to it. The third ep has already aired and I have already obtained it but I have not watched it yet because of my planned post. I might just end up writing that planned post after I have watched ep 3 or maybe even ep 4.
Meanwhile, I have been watching the Kara no Kyoukai series of animated movies while on my way to work and even during my lunch break. I must say, they are rather interesting movies. I finished ep 4 on friday and I can't wait to get to the rest.
The first ep was a little creepy for timid old me so I usually will not watch Kara no Kyoukai at night. :) Hence, I have been a little slow in finishing this anime. Of course, this series of movies isn't that recent at all but I've only just returned to watching anime now that I have a different job and am no longer a student so I have been able to schedule some anime watching time here and there.
The biggest reason why I decided to watch this anime is because of Kajiura Yuki and Kalafina. Hahahaha... these days it almost seems like that is the reason for my anime watching choices. :) Kajiura wrote the score for all 7 movies and also wrote the end theme songs which are performed by Kalafina. Now since this is the reason for Kalafina's existence, it would be strange for a fan of the music to not watch the anime, wouldn't it? :)
The music for the Kara no Kyoukai series, both the soundtracks and the end themes, is in my opinion one of Kajiura's best work. The soundtrack is amazing and used beautifully and evocatively at so many moments in what I have seen so far.
Except for Kajiura's music, I am usually not familiar with the soundtracks of any tv series, movie or animation before I watch it. But I am very familiar with almost all of Kajiura's work so it makes the experience of watching any of these series somewhat different and interesting.
At the time that I started watching Kara no Kyoukai, I also started watching Madlax, another series that was scored by Kajiura. Interestingly, while watching Madlax, I caught myself paying quite a bit of attention to the music and on occasion I might even pay slightly more attention to the song over the visuals. It isn't like I completely stopped watching but it is almost like I switched to a more mtv watching mode where I stopped to enjoy the song more or sometimes to wonder or critically try and analyze whether the music worked in a particular section. It wasn't like that with Noir, another Bee Train - Kajiura collaboration and I wonder if it might have been different for me if, like Noir, I watched Madlax without having first heard the music.
With Kara no Kyoukai, I had no such reaction. The story, the visuals, music and audio design seem to work in perfect harmony. The score and the haunting female vocals were design to lead you deeper into the moment and evoke all kinds of emotions in the viewer. While Madlax's music seemed to me to contain signature songs, Kara no Kyoukai's music seemed more like sound design then just simply music. I would have to watch the movies again to be sure but I don't remember there being a very complex sound design for sound effects. Kajiura's evocative score was used in its place instead. It's strange, the music would be in the background and I know I am more interested in the story and visuals, yet at the end of each movie, the music continues to leave a lingering sense of sorrow and longing which is why in my mind, the score for Kara no Kyoukai is to me one of Kajiura's best work to date. I still really like Madlax's music but Kara no Kyoukai's is outstanding in my opinion.
Before I go, I would like to just mention a thought I had about the end theme for the second Kara no Kyoukai movie, "Kimi ga Hikari ni Kaete Iku". At the end of the second movie, I was struck by how appropriate it was that this song was sung by two women. At that point in time, Kalafina was still just Keiko and Wakana. This part maybe a spoiler for some so stop reading NOW if you have not watched the series. Anyway, it seems to me that this song, sang by both Keiko and Wakana was representative of the dual personalities in Shiki the protaganist of the series. It worked very well for me that the two women's voices were so distinctly different and it worked very well that it was Keiko the contralto who started the song and Wakana the soprano who finished it, given the way the second movie ended with the dominant personality choosing to leave. If I remember correctly, there is an acapella version of this song which Wakana sings by herself. I never really cared for this version and tended to skip it a lot in my mp3 player, hence my vague recollection of it. After watching the second Kara no Kyoukai movie, I think the only version I will truly like will be the movie version which opened so powerfully with Keiko's solo and ended so gently with Wakana's solo.
Okay, I really need to go. Have been typing this on my milestone and the battery isn't very happy with me. :) Have a good week y'all and here's hoping I will get around to finishing my closer look at Mahou Shoujo Madoka soon. Cheers. :)
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