Originally, I was going to do a small Kajiura Yuki item that I picked up while I was in Japan but decided to do this instead. If all goes well, Fedex tracking says that I will receive the Kimi no Gin no Niwa singles tomorrow. I would like to do that unboxing tomorrow night if I don't have any OT and if I am not too tired. But before I do that, I should do the Alleluia single first. The reason why this unboxing comes more than a month after its release is because I only just picked it up from Manami. In order to save on shipping, I had it shipped to her and she held it safely for me till I was able to pick it up from her. :) Thanks!! :)
I will keep this as simple as possible because it's midnight and I would like to try and head to bed as soon as possible. For some reason, I've been quite tired at work... maybe I'm just not used to being back to my usual routine. :(
Anyway... here goes.... this is the unboxing of the Alleluia single, which contains the ending theme song for the Kara no Kyoukai: Mirai Fukuin anime movie.
First up, photos of the free postcard one gets with the First Press release of this single. It's pretty nice, isn't it? I really like Kara no Kyoukai and Shiki is very cool!! :)
Here are photos of the Regular Edition.
This is a pretty simple release actually. No photos of Kalafina at all. This kind of minimalism is really kind of "Kara no Kyoukai" in my opinion. The packaging for Kalafina's early singles for the this series of anime movies were all relatively simple, if I remember correctly.
Next up photos of the Limited Anime Edition. This one comes with a KnK booklet which is pretty cool. And has an outer cardboard case to hold everything together. It also comes with an illustrated sticker... also quite KnK in my opinion since several of the early KnK related Kalafina releases came with illustrated KnK stickers too.
As I was writing this post I was listening to Alleluia on loop. :) I really, really like this song. Of course, I think it is undeniable that the fact that there is A LOT of Keiko in this song is probably one of the reasons why I like this song so much. Seriously, while Keiko gets stanzas and lines and sometimes half a song... it's not often that she gets practically an entire song when she sings for Kalafina. It's more common for her to be in the background doing harmony for either a Hikaru and/or Wakana centric song than for her to have a song centered around her. So when songs like these come along, those of us who love Keiko's vocals best can't help but really like the song. :) So yes, I am bias to some extent. :)
I can see this song splitting the Kalafina and KnK fans. Just like there are fans like me who love Keiko best, there will be fans who will love Hikaru or Wakana best and their bias will go the other way. It's not a criticism of anyone... it's just human.
The other thing about this song is that it really does have an "After Eden" album feel about it and not a very Kara no Kyoukai feel. In my opinion, Keiko seems to relish these kinds of songs and maybe the rare opportunity to take centre-stage and take it for so long too. She really does seem to sing these song with the kind of arms-stretched-wide-open sense of freedom and joy. I really like the way Keiko sings these kinds of songs. Like Symphonia and Mune no Yukue, Keiko sings this song with so much heart and passion that it always moves me.
I think it's appropriate too for Keiko to sing Alleluia as though it's a celebration. The word "alleluia" or "hallelujah" actually means something like "praise Yahweh" and for those who may not know this, Yahweh is the name of the Christian God. Although, the sub title of this anime movie is "Mirai Fukuin" which translates into "future gospel" and the word "gospel" is another word closely related to Christianity, I doubt if this song is being sung in praise of the Christian God. KnK isn't that kind of anime but it does have spiritual elements which maybe why this word was chosen. Kajiura Yuki also spent a great deal of her childhood in Germany and it shows in her music and hence, her choice of using the word "Alleluia" to express joy, thanksgiving and triumph is not entirely inconceivable. Given that Keiko sang Symphonia and Mune no Yukue with that kind of arms-stretched-open, faces-lifted-to-the-bright-sky kind of joy so well and so passionately, it was no wonder that Kajiura Yuki made Keiko the lead in this song.
That said, this song doesn't have the ethereal and mysterious feel that a lot of the Kalafina KnK songs have. Funnily enough, it is Dolce, the coupling song on this single that sounds like a more typical KnK song. The decision to depart so much from the harmonious and other worldly feel of previous KnK songs is bound to split fans. I can't say for sure why they did this and if it works in the context of Kara no Kyoukai: Mirai Fukuin. I haven't seen the film and until it comes out on home video, I won't be able to offer my understanding of why they chose Alleluia or offer an opinion of whether it was effectively used.
BTW, the KnK booklet that comes with the Anime Edition of this release has a two page piece written by Nasu Kinoko. I only noticed it after I finished taking the photos. In it he talks about the song "Alleluia" and also about Kalafina and perhaps Kajiura Yuki. I haven't read it yet. What he wrote may shed more light onto why the song Alleluia was chose as Mirai Fukuin's end theme. My Japanese is still not fantastic and I don't think I'll attempt a proper translation of it. Also, it's almost 1:30 am and I wrote way more than I intended to write... so I'm off to bed now... tomorrow I will try and do the unboxing of the Kimi no Gin no Niwa singles which I am suppose to receive by tomorrow afternoon. This time I ordered all the versions. :P I am becoming a crazy fan. :D
Also... the two singles contain different addition tracks. In total there are 4 tracks from the Christmas Premium live from last year which makes getting both the RE and the Anime LE worth considering.
This is the track list:
Regular Edition (SECL-1390)
1. Alleluia
2. dolce
3. seventh heaven 〜2012 Christmas LIVE ver.
4. snow falling 〜2012 Christmas LIVE ver.
Limited Edition (SECL-1391)
1. Alleluia
2. dolce
3. fairytale 〜2012 Christmas LIVE ver.
4. 君が光に変えて行く 〜2012 Christmas LIVE ver.
As usual, the same line from me... if you can afford these singles, please purchase them in support of the industry and the artists and musicians who make the music that you enjoy. Here are the links to CDJapan's product page if you need them.
Regular Edition (SECL-1390)
Limited Edition (SECL-1391)
Okay... time for bed... good night. :)
ps. will proof read tomorrow.. please excuse any terrible grammar mistakes, spelling mistakes and maybe even large gaps in logic. :)
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