I got these last month and took these photos last month as well but I've not had the time to do a proper unboxing post. While I usually end up abandoning quite a few of my planned unboxing posts on the figures that I sometimes ship in, I don't like missing an unboxing post when it comes to Kajiura Yuki, FictionJunction or Kalafina. Yeah... I like them that much. :)Okie dokie, let's cut to the chase. I purchased a copy of the Limited Edition (Blu-ray) and the Anime Limited Edition. It's been my usual practice to buy one the LE and the Anime LE copies only. This time, as usual, I did not purchase the Regular Edition. This time, because SME also released the LE (Blu-ray), I decided not to pick up the LE (DVD). The photo shows two copies of each but my pockets don't run that deep and I'm not nuts enough to keep one copy mint and open one other copy. The other two copies belong to Danielle and Jessie. I just shipped their copies in with mine. :)
Unboxing
As these are first press releases, we also got the first press freebies. They are usually not the most important thing to me but if I was going to pre-order, then it's nice to get some extra free stuff. This time, we have credit card size calendars. The ones with Kalafina came with the order of the LE single and the ones with the Fate/Zero picture comes with the order of the Anime LE. The calender month starts from April of 2012 (the month that the singles were released) till March of 2013.
These calendar cards are quite nice and while they aren't very fancy, I actually like them better than the mousepads they gave out with the After Eden album and the After Eden Live Special Blu-ray release. While mousepads are nice and all, because mousepads need to be made from a certain texture, the photos that are printed on them tend to be a bit soft and I if I had to chose, I prefer sharper photos.
The LE (Blu-ray) release is pretty standard for a two disc release. This version comes with a mid-shot of Hikaru. I'm thinking that Wakana and Keiko's are in the RE and the LE(DVD) but I don't know which one is in which. I would have preferred to get Keiko's mid-shot of course since I like her best but my pockets don't run that deep and I'm not as obsessed a fan that I must have her mid-shot so I'm not going to purchase the RE and/or the LE(DVD) just to get it. :)
The Anime LE has a nicer packaging. It's not the standard two disc packing. It unfolds to reveal both discs. The cardboard at the top of the packaging is doubled up so that it can hold the lyrics insert. At full stretch, the back of the packaging also reveals a nice picture of Saber, Archer and Rider. I kind of wish the lyrics page used a different picture from the CD packaging because the lyrics page uses the same picture which is kind of a bummer.
Music Videos
Both the LE (blu-ray) and the Anime LE comes with PVs on the discs. The PV on the LE (blu-ray) is the music video for "to the beginning". It's not very different from most of Kalafina's music videos as in the girls mostly stand there, pose and look very cool and beautiful. The setting is rather nice and there are a few strangely coloured lights all around but it's mostly blue. The white balance seems to be set on the key light on the girls because they seldom have too much blue spill on their faces from all the blue light in their surroundings. This time, the girls try and look more dangerously femme fatale then their previous PVs and they do kind of look quite "killer" to me. Not an award winning PV but not a terrible one either. For some reason even though I have worked in this industry for a some time and even worked on set on one music video in the States, I have never been an MTV fan and rarely care about MTVs. So while it's not exactly an earth shattering PV, it works for me because I really just want to see them sing the song and look cool. Heh heh... I'm so easily satisfied sometimes. :)
The Anime LE's PV is essentially the "to the beginning" PV intercut with scenes from the Fate/Zero anime. I was a little surprised to tell you the truth. I thought it would be like the sort of edit ufotable did for Sprinter and Oblivous in Kara no Kyoukai. I didn't expect to see any Kalafina in the PV at all and I didn't expect it to be the full length song. It's all right. Nothing spectacular but it does its job.
I'm glad I chose the LE(blu-ray) over the LE(dvd). Now that I do own a PS3, it doesn't make sense for me to buy the dvd editions if the price difference isn't that big. The visuals and color in the blu-ray are crisper and there is a great deal more detail in the dark areas, something that is inevitably lost in the compression required for dvds. What I do wish they did was include something else in the blu-ray because blu-rays can hold so much data, it seems a littel wastful to just put one PV on it.
The Music
Since I got the CDs till now, I've listened to "to the beginning" the title song as well as the B-side song "manten" numerous times. I must say that initially, I didn't really know what to think of "to the beginning". While I really liked it that Keiko opened the song since it's actually somewhat unsual for her to open an anime OP/EP/insert song, I wasn't sure how I would feel about the song on the whole. At that point in time, I had only listened to the preview and I remembered thinking that it may take a few listens before I knew exactly what I felt about the song.
When I first heard ripped opened the plastic wrap and played the CD, I must say that the song that I took to more quickly was actually "manten". "manten" is the song version of "Let the Stars Fall Down", one of the pieces used in the soundtrack in Fate/Zero S1. It really was very dramatic and darker than "to the beginning" which was something I was more used to when it comes to Kalafina.
Also, "manten" is more soundtrack-like in tone and structure and I am a visual person. And when I listen to music, I often imagine what kind of visuals I would use to match which part of the music. Maybe that's why I love Kajiura's music so much, she some how manages to write music which makes me think visually. I don't just listen to Kajiura's music, I imagine and visualize her music and I do it unconciously all the time.
Now that I've heard "to the beginning"'s full version, not just the preview version or the anime cut, I'm really rather liking it. The part I like best, aside from Keiko's opening is the section that starts at about 2:15 with one line from Hikaru, then Keiko and then Wakana. The song seems to change in tone at this point and then again at approximate 2:39 with Keiko's line "kanashimi dake kese wa shinai" and then again with Wakana's "kotowari sae kono te de" before reverting to the same tone in the beginning. I really liked it that the song shifted gear so many times and yet some how made it work for me.
I'm no expert when it comes to music. It's not my industry and in some ways I'm glad that I don't work in the music industry nor do I play any instrument that well. So really, I can't say if technically what Kajiura is doing is jarring or if she should do something else to make it smoother etc, etc. All I can say is that once again this single is a big WIN for me. While it did take me a little few listens to fully digest the title track, I have ended up really quite liking it. After listening to both songs a lot, I have shifted my original position and now like "to the beginning" more than I like "manten" and I actually played "to the beginning" on loop for about half an hour on the train the other day.
I really enjoyed this single and once again Thanks for the music Kajiura Yuki and Kalafina. :)
If you wish to get these singles, I got them from CDJapan, here is the link to the LE(blu-ray) and the Anime LE. Please do buy their CDs if you can afford it. Both the music industry and the film/tv industry does depend on you buying the mechanising. So while I understand not having enough money etc and I would be the last person to be judgemental about stuff like that, that said, if you can afford it and if you like the music, please do buy it.
Wow... I actually managed to finish writing two post in one night. :) But it's almost 4am in Singapore right now... time to go catch some shut eye. Good night all. :) Will check thru for glaring mistakes tomorrow and may edit this post a bit .... depending... good night for now. :)
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