Kalafina in Singapore - AFA11 Concert - comments

And yes, it's a photo of light-sticks again. =)
No photography allowed. =(

EDIT: I've made some amendments to the original text.  It was full of errors and has some missing bits and pieces.  I think I was simply too tired and wrote it in too much of a rush.  Hopefully this new edit will have none or very few mistakes. :)

Oh man, I'm still so high from the Anime Asia Festival 2011 - Rock Your Soul ~ Super Anisong Concert at the Suntec Convention Centre, Singapore.  I know that I'm so high right now that I'm going to have a hard time sleeping even though I am so tired. :)

Since I won't be able to sleep, I will attempt to write up a detailed report about  the concert tonight.  This report will place particular emphasis on the the Kalafina section of the anisong concert.  They are, after all, the primary reason why I was at the concert in the first place.  The secondary reason was angela, but I think I would not have braved the crowds for just angela alone.  Although, now that I've seen angela live for the first time, I might just brave the crowds the next time just for them alone. :)

Let's cut to the chase now.  The night began well with Ito Kanoko and Shikura Chiyomaru.  Admittedly, I've never heard of them before till AFA11 announced that they were one of the guest artiste at this year's concert.  I've also not watched Stiens; Gate yet so I was not familiar with the songs they sang.  All the songs they sang at the concert were from this anime and I thought they weren't bad. I rather liked them actually.

Next up was Milky Holmes.  I don't know anything about these girls except that there are 4 of them in the promotional poster, however, only 3 of the girls showed up.  I'm not sure what happened to the fourth girl.  I'll admit right off the bat that I totally do not get this genre of music at all.  They are very cute and I know several people really liked them but they are just not my cup of tea.  They sang 2 songs.  I'm not sure where the songs are from but I presume it's from the Tantei Opera Milky Holmes franchise.

Then it was angela who were simply AWESOME!!! I really, really, really like angela's The End of the World from Uchuu no Stellvia and Asu e no Brilliant Road, the theme from that same anime, is my second favourite angela song after The End of the World.  I was really looking forward to this section of the concert and they didn't disappoint.  I really enjoyed it and the crowd really came to live with their rendition of Zankoku na Tenshi no Tears from Evangelion.  It was really awesome.  I don't remember how many songs they sang.  I do remember that Shangri-la was one of them.  They were also the only group to do an encore, coming back again to sing Asu e no Brilliant Road.  When Atsuko announced that they were going to sing a song from their debut album, a song from Uchuu no Stellvia, the crowd screamed in excitement, Atsuko seemed genuinely touched because I think she didn't expect people in SEA to know this anime or songs from this anime since Uchuu no Stellvia is a 2003 anime.  Atsuko also taught us a simple dance involving only hand actions.  It was really fun and the crowd was really whipped up into a frenzy by their rendition of Asu e no Brilliant Road.  angela, in my opinion, did the best when it came to really interacting with the audience.  They are lots of fun to watch live and they were very relaxed and funny, getting the audience involved several times not just in the dance but also the cheer for the viewers watching the Nico Nico Douga live stream, as well as getting everyone to call them Atsuko Sensei and Katsu oniichan.  I would totally spend good money to watch them live again. :)

Up next, it's the main act as far as I'm concern. =P It's Kalafina's turn!!!!!!!  Oh, just an aside, there seemed to be lots and lots of Kalafina fans in the audience today because before the concert began, while eveyone was getting seated, the screen kept playing over and over either this clip below or another video clip that is similar to it:

And every time Kalafina's part came up, people would cheer.  May'n also got cheers later when more of her fans filtered in.  I don't know if it amused anyone else but it amused me.

Anyway, back to the concert.  Kalafina began with Magia the end theme from Mahou Shoujo Madoka.  No surprises there, I was completely expecting them to sing this song since Mahou Shoujo Madoka was one of the biggest anime hits this year.  Admittedly, it was a little bit of a shaky start.  Hikaru came across sounding a little off but I'm not sure how much of it is due to the horrible mixing for Magia.  Hikaru's volume was definitely way too loud and as she already has a tendency to shout a little at the lives in certain songs, it sounded worse, in part, because it was way too loud and it drowned out Keiko who was doing the harmony for her.  Wakana also had a little problem with the line that was always going to be hard for her as that particular forces her to go all the way down to her lowest end of her range.  It's not terrible but I think for fans who are familiar with what she is capable of, it was certainly not the best delivery.  Keiko's bridge, however, was beautifully sung and got her some well deserved cheers from the crowd.

Kalafina then went straight into their next song without a break.  The next song was Oblivious and I could hear people sing along with the opening "oh oh-o-oh .... " till Wakana's verse came in.  By this time, the mixer I think realised that Hikaru was way too loud in Magia and dipped her volume to better match Keiko and Wakana because she was harmonizing much better in this song.  They really sang this song very well and the crowd was really into it as people were singing along to bits and pieces in particular the "oh oh-o-oh" parts.

After Oblivious, they broke for a short MC section when they greeted everyone with the usual "Hello Singapore!!!" and then they introduced themselves.  Each introduction was greeted with frenzied cheering of course.  I THINK Keiko yelled out "I miss you Singapore" before she introduced herself.  That got her a huge cheer.  In retrospect, I think people cheered, in part because any time anyone mentioned Singapore, it was always greeted with frenzied cheering and also in part, because she said it in such a cute fashion and a little bit unexpectedly too since I dont think people expected her to miss us just yet.  =) Hikaru is, I believe, the designated representative for the group when they travel to a non-Japanese speaking country because after she introduced herself, she went on to say the usual pleasantries in English.  It's still distinctly Japanese accented but it was really rather good for someone who's first language isn't English.

The next song was 輝く空の静寂には (Kagayaku Sora no Shijima Niwa).  And once again... beautifully sang by all the girls.  And once again people were attempting to sing along.  Keiko was fantastic in this song, her solo kajiuran portion was awesome and beautifully and powerfully sung.  I can't say if this song was perfectly sung but I will say, absolutely nothing about their performance made me go "huh?"  Wakana and Hikaru were really, really awesome too in this song.

After which it was directly into the next song Lacrimosa, like Kagayaku, both were end theme songs from the Kuroshitsuji anime.  Lacrimosa was season 1's end theme and Kagayaku was season 2's end theme.  There is really not much to say about this performance except that it was amazing.  The harmony was spot on.  I've heard them sing it at other lives before and this performance is certain one of the best ever.

Now it's time for MC 2. Keiko was kind of cute in this section when she tried to translate her Japanese sentence into English.  She said something like this was Kalafina's first time in Singapore in Japanese, then she attempted to translate it into English by saying something like "first time Shingapo-ru?".  It was kind of cute the way she said it. :)  She promptly apologized for her inability to speak in English which got her a ton of cheers of support. :)

Then Keiko proceeded to talk about eating chicken rice.  I think the organizers must have taken all the artistes to eat chicken rice because practically everyone mentioned chicken rice, not just at this Live but also at some of the stage events I attended.  It seems they all really liked it too, Kalafina included. :) Wakana talked about the black sweet sauce that comes as a condiment with chicken rice and she seemed to really like that.  Then I think it was Hikaru who said something about them not having yet eaten Singapore sweets and asked the crowd to recommend some.  And it was kind of funny here because I think people didn't know what to recommend since I think the understanding of what "sweets" are is somewhat different and I think folks were probably thinking... eh... white rabbit candy, tic-tac... and no one knew how to answer that question properly since there aren't any Singapore sweets/candy that come to mind easily, if at all.  Then someone yelled out dessert I think because the question changed into dessert and not sweets and that really got the crowd going as everyone tried their best to recommend them something.  However, all the girls could hear was a chorus of sound.  I hear people yell out "chendol", "ice-kachang" etc.  And it was kind of funny because the trio were really bewildered and Keiko jumped a few times and laughed before putting an end to it by sweetly saying what I think is almost certainly "後で教えて" which means "tell us later" in Japanese.

The next song was Sprinter.  A song I really like but am never sure if they can pull off successfully live since originally this was written for 4 people.  Keiko has the heaviest burden of the three in this song and much as I love Keiko, even I must admit that she sometimes finds it hard to pull it off flawlessly at the lives.  This time though, she was great and she was, as far as I can tell, pretty awesome throughout the song.  Good Job Keiko!!!! The harmony was once again amazing.  They were ALL great in this song.

Then it was the surprise song of the evening.  Ongaku!!!!  I didn't expect that.  I thought it would be more Kara no Kyoukai.  I really like this song in the lives even when they don't sing it perfectly because it really gets you going and has a strong regular beat which people can shake their light sticks to easily.  Everyone was really into the song and jumping up and down.  I really think they sang this song pretty well because nothing bugged me but, to tell you the truth, I would not be able to tell you if they sang it perfectly because I was too busy jumping up and down, going "oy oy" with my light-stick and cheering.  :)  Wakana's solo though was pretty damn good and got her a ton of cheers at the end.  Awesome song and awesomely sung by all the girls in Kalafina!!!!

Then it was another break for another MC where they thanked the audience and announced that the last song would be Hikari no Senritsu.  Ongaku really got everyone high so it was a little sad to hear that Kalafina had reached the final song in their set.  Perhaps sensing the disappointment that the set was too short for the fans, Hikaru said something in English I didn't quite understand but I think it meant coming back to Singapore and maybe she meant other parts of South East Asia too?  Because she said something about returning to "all of here" or "all of there" or something and I didn't get it at all and neither did my friend.  But it doesn't matter, the meaning is the same it means that they would like to return.  YAY for us fans. :) 

I must say that I really like Hikari no Senritsu.  It was one of the songs which introduced Kalafina to me which in turn made me return to listening to and  tracking down all of Kajiura Yuki's work and back to watching anime... but that is another story. :)

What I really want to say though is that I never understood previously why Hikari no Senritsu is the song Kalafina uses so often to close or be part of the set they sing at the Lives that aren't their own.  But today I really understood why.  Everyone around me was moving along with the rhythm and cheering and some tried to sing along... I tried to too. =P  The harmonizing was spot on and they sang this song really, really, really beautifully which helped them leave the hall on a high.  It was really beautifully performed and left everyone feeling super high and wishing there was more.

Loud cheers and applause from everyone.  Kalafina then proceeded to exit the stage, saying their goodbyes and thank yous amidst lots of cheers.  Then Keiko used a line she seems to really enjoy using lately.  As she walked toward the backstage she called out, "I'll be back Singapore!!!!!!!" which got her tons of cheers.  The crowd tried to call an encore but the MC for the Live put a quick stop to it by announcing that May'n's section of the concert would begin soon and I think people knew it would be fruitless to try harder for an encore. :(

This was a GREAT LIVE!!!!!!  I think it really is one of the best Kalafina lives I've ever heard.  Almost nothing went wrong except that the mix for Magia and that the bass was way too heavy throughout the Live, often threatening to drown out their vocals.  Kalafina themselves though, were GREAT.  They really sang awesomely well and I was really high.

The crowd was really great too.  Everyone was really high and cheered practically every sentence they said which I think took the trio by surprised because I think initially, if I saw it correctly, they looked a little surprised when the crowd cheered every time they finished a sentence,.

I am now sooooo excited for the Live on the 25th. I can't wait to see them again.  My friend who likes Kaori from FictionJunction best said that after the concert, he now likes Keiko second best.  He likes the whole package it seems... not just that Keiko sings well but that she dances the most and seems the most lively of the 3.  I, personally, really like Keiko at the Lives, she really seems, to me, to enjoy them the most.  Hikaru and Wakana obviously enjoy them A LOT too but Keiko seems like she almost lives for the high of performing at a Live.  It may not actually be so, I wouldn't know that, but it certainly does come across that way to me.  Hence, that's why I like watching Keiko at the lives.

But to be fair, I really don't know how energetic Wakana was at this Live because, sadly, she was blocked from my view most of the time. =( I had a GREAT view of Keiko because my seat was right smack in the middle and there was almost always a parting of the heads in front of me, that I almost always had a clear view of Keiko.  I had a clear view of Hikaru lots of times too but Wakana was often obsured by the taller people infront of me on my right. =(  Luckily for me, Keiko is my favourite and it really was cool that when she pointed directly at the crowd in one of the songs, maybe Ongaku,  it seemed like she was pointing directly at me... kind of cool. =)

Next up, May'n.  Unfortunately for me, I was already extremely tired by now and May'n is okay but her music isn't really my cup of tea.  I was also really starting to crash a bit by this time and I wasn't able to enjoy her portion of the concert as much as others.

And I suppose since I'm primarily a Kalafina fan, the night pretty much ended psychologically for me when Kalafina exited the stage. =P

K.. that's it... I originally wanted to write this tomorrow night as it's like 4+ AM now and I need to work tomorrow!!!  But I really wanted to write it down while it's fresh in my mind so that I could recall as many details as possible.  If I wait till tomorrow,  I would have forgotten most of it. I also attended the AnoHana stage event in the afternoon and the only bit of info I managed to retain was that Okada Mari really liked chicken rice too.  I had to throw out all that info to store the Kalafina info. =D

edit: 15th Nov. 2011 - I've gone through it once through to try and work out the grammatical errors etc.  I'm sure it isn't perfect.  But unfortunately, today was not the best of days at work and I only returned at 11pm or so and ate my dinner at about 1115pm so I'm really tired and I don't feel like going through it again for mistakes.  =P  Also, I would like to write up a short, non-related AFA before I sleep but I may not be able to manage it.  If I can't write that short Kalafina related post, it'll have to wait till I write the other AFA related posts which I hope to write tomorrow or the day after.

Wish me luck at work later today. :)