Kalafina's Moonfesta LE w/blu-ray - unboxing

おまたせしました. =)  I ended up watching telly with my mum for most of the day after she returned from a medical check-up.  I have been away in Japan for about a week and so busy at work, we've not had much time to watch telly together so I thought today, it would be nice to hangout with her for about half the day.


Alrighty, let's cut to the chase. :)  Here are the unboxing photos for Kalafina's latest single, Moonfesta.


 

This is a pretty standard release.  The packaging is all pretty standard stuff.  I do like the cover though as I find this to be one of Kalafina's brighter and less mysterious covers.  It's kind of pretty and more graphical then their usual covers.

The free postcard that is sent out with all First Press releases from CDJapan is the same regardless of which version you get.

Once again the LE blu-ray version has the Hikaru solo photo in the insert.  I must admit that I'm a little bit disappointed by that.  While I really do like Hikaru loads and loads but, of the three, Keiko is still my favourite and I would have liked the insert to be Keiko or even Wakana since the to the beginning single already featured Hikaru in the insert.

We've all heard Moonfesta by now so I won't dwell too much on the song.  The Minna no Uta song and the accompanying stop-motion animation has received a fare bit of air play on NHK so most Kajiura Yuki and Kalafina fans should have heard the song by now.

The song that is of greater interest with this release is the b-side single Yane no Mukou ni.  Kalafina sang this song for the first time at the "to the beginning" Live at the NHK Hall on the 16th July and I was part of the privilege group who heard this song for the first time.

I love Yane no Mukou ni... I loved it at the Live and after listening to the CD, I still really love it.  The song opens beautifully with a piano intro before the violin kicks in followed by Hikaru's lovely solo and then a ton of awesome Kalafina harmony.  Keiko's fans will be pleased that she gets a solo bit. :)  She sings the second stanza.  All the girls get bit and pieces throughout the song that highlight their strengths and the harmony is really beautifully written and wonderfully performed.  Yes, structurally this may not be too different from what Kajiura Yuki has written in the past but structure is merely a skeleton and the way Kajiura has dressed this song is quite simply beautiful.

My first reaction when I heard it at the live was just how stirring the song was.  I really am not sure what the lyrics mean at all.  My Japanese is really not that strong and I read better than I speak and listen so I really didn't have a clue what they were singing about at the Live but I didn't need to understand to feel emotionally moved by the song.

This single is probably Kalafina's brightest single to date.  Moonfesta is a happy song that feels like a European folk song that is sung and danced to at festivals.  I don't really have the time to work through the lyrics for Yane no Mukou ni so I still don't understand what it means but the song is very moving and the best word to use, in my opinion, is still stirring.  I can't help but feel emotionally move in a very positive way in this song.  It makes me feel like running in the sun with my hands wide open.  I really, really like Yane no Mukou ni and at this point in time, I actually prefer it to Moonfesta.  I am just so happy that I got to hear it live.  The song sounds even more epic live.  I was almost moved to tears listening to it at the live and I've never heard the song before that.

As usual, if you can afford it please buy their CDs not just to support Kajiura Yuki and Kalafina but also the music and entertainment industry.

The CDJapan links to the different versions are below.  You are free to use them if you wish.

Limited Edition with Blu-ray
Limited Edition with DVD
Regular Edition

p.s. if anyone has the rip of the 10th July BayFm Kalafina Club... could you please send me a link or something.... I forgot to download it before I left for Japan. :( :(  Thanks.

p.p.s I have also finished taking photos of the to the beginning live T-shirt and pamphlet and several Kalafina / Kajiura Yuki related items and also finished taking the photos for the Mahou Shoujo Madoka Key Animation Note vols. 3 and 4 as well as the Nanoha PSP game.... lots and lots to write about... including AFA Malaysia... yikes... need more days off. :)  Will try and get them all up in slowly over the next few weeks... fingers crossed that work doesn't kill me first. :)