Yay, yesterday I finally got my package from CDJapan. It contained FictionJunction's latest single Stone Cold, another Kalafina t-shirt (from the temp Kalafina Cafe setup to promote the Magia tour), a limited edition of the Magia single, two posters, a copy of Otona Anime (featuring Mahou Shoujo Madoka again) and finally a t-shirt I bought as a gift for my mum. Yeah... a big shipment but totally worth it. :) I already have the Magia limited edition single but I had decided to get this for Danielle as a gift. I really lucked out that the bonus gift was a poster of Kalafina in their Magia getup. Cool. :) The other poster is of FictionJunction and comes with the purchase of the Stone Cold single. Cool. :)
FJ's Stone Cold is a catchy, kind of j-popish song (at least to me it seems that way) with Kaori and Wakana as the main vocals. Keiko and Yuriko Kaida provide backup. I was slightly disappointed that we didn't hear more of Keiko and Yuriko because Stone Cold is kind of a long song, 6 plus minutes, and it was slightly reppetitive towards the end. Would have been nice if Yuriko or Keiko or both got more prominent counter melodies to break it up a bit. That said, it isn't a bad song at all. Very catchy and different stylistically to recent Kajiura stuff which makes it quite enjoyable.
The B-side song on this single is Hitorigoto. It opens and closes beautifully with Keiko's vocals. Kaori and Wakana are used prominently in the middle of the song. I only heard it once through before dashing off to work, so I'm not sure, but I think Yuriko only sings backup in this again. There is a saxaphone solo in the middle of the song which is rather unsual for kajiura who seems to favour violins, guitars and wood winds... a gentler sound to the brash sax. I'm not sure if I like it as I'm not a big fan of the sax. I will need to listen to this song again to decide if I like it. Unlike Stone Cold, we've only heard a short sample of Hitorigoto, while the full song and PV for Stone Cold has been available for some time... hence, I haven't yet had the opportunity to digest Hitorigoto.
Also, in super exciting news, Itsuko told me a few days ago that the Kalafina "After Eden" Special LIVE 2011 will be held on the 25th Nov at the Tokyo Dome City Hall (the former JCB Hall). Yippee. This was the announce I had been waiting for. Basically, I have begun preparations to try and make it to this Live. So here is hoping a few things will fall in place: 1. I can get tickets to the Live. 2. My and Danielle's leave will be approved. 3. That plane tickets and accomodation will not be a hassle. 4. That Japan be safe to visit. If all goes well, Danielle and I would be at the Kalafina Live on 25th Nov. I am so excited about it. I have been saving up all year for this one trip. Been saving both my leave and money. Please, please, please let it work out well. :)
The other thing I am excited about is the commemorative book I wrote about in the previous post. This will be titled Kalafina Record and comes in 2 versions. A regular edition and a limited edition. The limited edition will be hardcover and comes with a special slipcase and a t-shirt. Unfortunately, they are currently not easy to pre-order at all, since they only ship domestically in Japan. Of course one could use vpost or try cdjapan's special request service but that would add significantly to the cost. I really want this item and since I am not sure if cdjapan or any other online site aside from Sony Magazines Online will offer it, I asked Itsuko to pre-order it for me. So although the book will be published in september, I will only get it in november when I vist japan. But it's totally worth the wait given the huge amount I would be saving. :)
K... am tired of typing on my phone. :) till next time... take care everyone. :)
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