This is part 2 of a series of posts devoted to the concert goods that I purchased at the Kajiura Yuki Live Vol.9 Day 1 concert.
Today's post is devoted to the concert pamphlet. As is often the case with recent Kajiura Yuki / FictionJunction and Kalafina Lives, these concert pamphlets do not qualify as pamphlets in the strictest sense. This time we have another very nice release to add to a fan's collection but because it is a rather nice release, the price tag on this collectible also reflects the quality of this release.
This concert pamphlet serves as the pamphet for all 3 days of the
Yuki Kajiura Live Vol.9 3 Days Special and amazing + one day series of concerts that began on the weekend of the 31st Aug and ended it's run last night on the 9th Sept. And yes, that is quite a mouthful for the title of this series of concerts but I kind of like it. It is charmingly Japanese. :)
This is another hardcover release and has the same dimensions as the
Yuki Kajiura Live vol8 Spring 2012 concert pamphlet. (here is the link to my review of that release -
click me) The pamphlet has 64 pages of a mix of text and photos. The photos are a mix of b&w and colour. I didn't count the number of photos but it feels like there are more photos in this release when compared to the Spring 2012 release, although the Spring 2012 release has more pages than Vol.9 Live release.
The Vol.9 Live pamphlet has a nice white dust jacket which is slightly glossy and smooth. It's good quality paper and the graphics are printed in matte silver. The dust jacket has little die-cut windows which reveal the design of the hardcover underneath. It's really very nice.
The hard board of the hardcover of this book is wrapped with what I think is canvas and it has a nice fine texture to it. The three graphical birds in the centre have an additional glossy surface applied to them. Graphics is printed in what I think I would describe as really matte gold. The binding is the standard hardcover book binding
This particular release has more photos of FictionJunction as a group. In the Spring 2012 release, the photos of FJ were all individual photos and the only time they appeared as a group was in the photos of them when there were performing on stage. In this release, they are several 2 page spreads taken from photos specifically shot in a a photo shoot. The photos of FJ, both the 2 page spreads and the individual photos are all very nice and should please any fan.
Kajiura Yuki writes the foreword in this release, just like she did in the Spring 2012. In the foreword for the Spring 2012 pamphlet, her name was printed in regular font at the end of the foreword. In this release, her signature is printed above her name and she also signs off Kajiura Yuki and family. I thought this was kind of nice as it gave the foreword a personal touch of sorts.
Kajiura Yuki's interview is quite nice and lengthy in the Vol.9 release. She gets 9 pages. Her interview in the Spring 2012 release in comparison was only 5 pages long. The utahimes, starting with Kaori and followed by Keiko, Wakana and Yuriko Kaida get a single head shot to accompany 3 pages of interview each. There are also color photos of each of Kajiura Yuki and each of the utahimes both at the studio shoot as well as when they are on stage. The Front Band members are also interviewed and introduced in a two page spread, just like the Spring 2012 release.
In the Spring 2012 release, the guest stars were also interviewed and they received a few pages each but in vol.9 Live release, they are only introduced briefly in a two page spread.
Here are the photos of several sample pages from the pamphlet.
I really believe that Kajiura Yuki loves books. It's really evident in these hardcover releases and even more so in this Vol.9 release. This is the first time I've noticed that Kajiura Yuki used this logo on any of the concert pamphlet releases.
Usually we'll get this logo and it'll either have FictionJunction or Yuki Kajiura printed underneath it....
... but, this logo of a tree on a book and the text "YUKI's BOOKS" is new. I like it!!!! I love books. I have so many, my mum is constantly begging me to stop buying. I grew up reading and almost always carry a book in my bag no matter where I go. I love the smell of books and paper and I really, really like what Kajiura Yuki has been doing with her concert pamphlets. These aren't your typical concert pamphlets. A lot of thought went into its design and a lot of love went into the binding of these pamphlets. Very old school stuff. I loved the Spring 2012 release with it's felt fabric binding. I love this Vol.9 Live release just as much.
Kajiura Yuki seems to love these traditional art forms. She utilises a lot of old Europe in her work. It's not just evident in her European (amongst other regions) world music influences, it's not just evident in Kalafina's image, it's also evident in the design of these lovely concert pamphlet releases, it's also evident in her new logo and it's also evident in the art that is used for these pamphets.
In my opinion, these concert pamphlets are worth every penny. They aren't as cheap as your usual concert pamphlet releases but the amount of thought, love and tradition then went into these releases make them worth every penny. I obviously love them since I actually devoted so much time tallking about them. :) Here's hoping that Kajiura Yuki will continue to produce concert pamphlets that are of as high a quality as her music. :) Keep them coming Kajiura-san!!!! While you will probably never read this... as always, thanks for the music and thanks for these lovely concert pamphets. :)
If I get back early enough tomorrow and if I'm not too tired, I will try and do part 3 of this series. This time, I hope to do a little post on Kajiura Yuki candy. :)
Now it's time for me to go to bed... will need it because tomorrow, I will need to concentrate very hard at work... tomorrow I roto hair. :) Oyasumi. :)
p.s. there will probably be spelling and grammatical errors which I'm always blind to one first few readings... will read through it again later today and fix as many of these errors as possible... for now tho' it's bed time... good night. :)
