Kalafina 8th Anniversary Special products The Live Album "Kalafina LIVE TOUR 2014" at Tokyo Kokusai Forum Hall A ~ unboxing

Now that I'm back from Japan and seem to be recovering from the cold that I caught in Tokyo, I figured it's time I get around to doing the unboxing for this item. :) I don't think it'll be a very long post and will probably have more photos then text.... probably.... since I can be terribly verbose. :P

This was released on the 20th Jan and I picked up three copies in Japan because I was trying to get different tokutens.  So yes, I will be trying to sell two of the three copies but I'll write out those details in another post. :)

Anyway, without too much ado, let's have the photos. :)

    

I think I didn't have enough light in the room when I shot this so the photos are a bit grainy.  But I think you'll get the idea. :)  The purple doesn't show up as well in these photos but the main color theme used is purple with something that looks like a dull gold / yellow for the graphics and an off-white color for the text.

Like their Kalafina 5th Anniversary LIVE SELECTION 2009-2012 two disc album release in 2013, a photo of the girls does not show up on the cover.  So I think, it's likely that if we have another "live" CD collection release in the future, they will probably not be featured on the jacket cover art too.

    

The above are just sample photos from the insert booklet. I counted 32 pages for the insert booklet, including the cover and back pages.  You'll get a mix of photos and lyrics pages. Some of the photos are quite nice.  I particularly like their individual photos in this booklet.

Finally, this is the postcard tokuten that you'll get if you purchase it through places like CDJapan, HMV and even Animate and Tower Records etc.  This doesn't seem to be a major push for Kalafina because they only have this Limited Pressing CD release and they didn't have more than one version of the postcard tokutens.

As I write this post, I'm listening to the CD on my computer speakers.  They are okay speakers but I much prefer to play them on my nicer quality headphones which I have unfortunately left in the the office. :(  So I can't get to them till we go back to work after the Chinese New Year break.

I had this release in my possession on the very day that I checked in to my hotel on the 22nd Jan but I had no way of listening to it then. :(  In an effort to bring as little as possible so that I could bring back more concert goods from the lives that I was attending, I left my Discman and my Nintendo 3DS home.  YES, I left my 3DS at home. :'(  Small sacrifice for more Kalafina swag. :P  Okay, I'm being dramatic here. :D  Well, I had to travel light because I didn't want to check in any luggage on the flight into Japan because I had to make sure I move through customs and immigration as quickly as possible so that I wouldn't be late for the first 8th Anniversary live on the 22nd. :)

But that also meant, that aside from stealing listens at Tower Record CD preview stations :P , this is my first real listen of the CD. :) :)

So far, I'm LOVING it!! :)  Happily they sang acoustic versions of seventh heaven and snow falling at this live and there is also now a live version of Tsuioku too. :)  I hope that one day that I will have the luck to be at a live where they sing Tsuioku, now that would be awesome because I really like this song. :)

The only thing that's missing is the raw emotion of being at a live but that is virtually impossible to recreate from a CD / BD / DVD no matter how good the performers are.  That's something that you can only really obtain by experiencing the live at the location itself.  It's really why I keep trying to go to both their's and Kajiura Yuki's lives.

I must say, from what I can tell from my less than ideal set-up right now, they really have come a long way since their early lives.  You just have to compare this release with their first live collection CD to hear the difference.  Now I just have to rip flacs to my external HD so that I can bring this to work and listen to them with my nicer headphones. :)  My external music player is out of space. :(  I'm going to have to think about upgrading to one of the Sony HD players or maybe a Cowon or something similar sooner or later.  So many things that I need to save for.  Someday, I could like to get a turntable too so that I can play all those Kalafina LPs. :P

Okay, I think I'll go to sleep soon.  But before that, I do urge fans to buy this CD album if you can afford it. :)

I get my copies from CDJapan and here is the direct link to their product page for those who wish to get it from them too.

Kalafina 8th Anniversary Special products The Live Album "Kalafina LIVE TOUR 2014" at Tokyo Kokusai Forum Hall A

Tomorrow, if I have time, I'll do the Kajiura Yuki SAO ost unboxing and write up a post with details on the two copies of this CD that I wish to sell.  It'll be a good price, especially if you're Singaporean. :)

For now... good night. :)