Actually this single was released in August and I received it that very week itself. Normally, I would not wait so long to unbox a Kalafina single. I usually do it almost immediately but I am SUPER late this time. :(
I was in the middle of a major crunch at work in August and was working very long hours including weekends for days on end. In some ways, the work was exciting but in some ways it was exhausting both physically and emotionally so I think I still have mixed feelings about it right now. Haha! :)
Although crunch has ended a few weeks ago, it's taken me that long to recover. Basically, I just didn't want to do ANYTHING at all and that included blogging. Yes, even a much delayed Kalafina single couldn't move me. Funnily enough, it wasn't music that made me finally move my butt to get back to blogging. :P It was actually Japanese dramas that did it. I decided that I was just going to watch dramas and no tutorials because my brain just didn't want to work. And one of the dramas I watched was Code Blue Season 3. OMG!!! I forgot how much I liked Toda Erika till I watched her again in Code Blue. I completely loved her performance and her character, Hiyama sensei. That set me on another one of my obsessive quests and this time it was to watch everything she had ever done. Well, for starters I re-watched SPEC, Liar Game and Shotenin Michiru no Mi no Uebanashi. And it filled me with a HUGE desire to write about them. BUT BUT BUT, I can't because I need to do my Kalafina Hyakka Ryouran unboxing first. :P
It may seem kind of pointless to do it now but then, I don't remember ever missing a single Kalafina unboxing since I started doing them and I don't feel like starting now. :P I suppose it's fitting then that the first post I write after being absent for so long is the unboxing of a Kalafina single since I have remained a devoted fan for some eight years. :)
So now that I have gotten my usually rambling intros out of the way, let's cut to the chase. At this point in time I have already looped Hyakka Ryouran again for a day and I have the single playing on loop as I write. I'm still not sure how much I will write beyond giving you the usual photos of all the versions. I normally don't have too much planned when I write these up. Sometimes they really end up being simple unboxings because I always have other things I also would like to get to. But sometimes I will write a short or rambling commentary. So we'll see. :)
Photos!!!
Regular Version
As usual, I have taken photos of the CDs with the shrink wrap on and off. I've also included a photo of the application leaflets they always include in their releases. Since they are the same in all the versions, I won't repeat this photo again.
And once again, as usual, Keiko's solo photo is exclusive to the Regular Edition.
Limited Edition + DVD
And as usual, we have Wakana's solo photo in the LE+DVD edition.
Limited Edition + BD
And in the LE+BD edition we have Hikaru's solo photo.
So no massive changes in this release in terms of what physical items you'll receive. It's pretty standard. The color scheme as you can tell is very "PASSIONATE" to say the least. It's red and black mostly.
Some people may not like it as much because there is a sort of hazy filter through all the solo photos. Hikaru's the only one that looks directly at the camera and with a somewhat challenging glare too, quite cool. Keiko and Wakana show their lovely profiles and look quite mysterious.
Anime Edition
Analog LP record Edition
And here we have the analog version of this release. I LOVE the analog releases because it's BIG. The photos and illustrations just look so much nicer for some reason.
Sooooooo.... I guess I will write a short something about the music itself after all. :)
It's a little hard to recall my first impressions of the single in detail because it's been more than two months since I received it. BUT I do remember looping it incessantly for a while and I think I also commented on that on Twitter. :)
So, do I like this release? Yes, I do. Very much indeed. Is it a HUGE departure from Kalafina's usual style? Is it very different type of music that Kajiura Yuki wrote for them? No. It isn't. BUT that said, it's still a lovely release because Kajiura really has a way of bringing out the best in Kalafina and over the years, I think they have developed an understanding of how to bring out the best in songs that Kajiura writes for them too. I won't go into a lengthy explanation of why I think that a little change but not too much change is not a bad thing. I already did it with a very long post on their previous release into the water / marchen. You are welcome to read it here (CLICK ME).
I LOVED the title song Hyakka Ryouran when I first heard it. But I will also be the first to admit that I'm a self confessed Keiko fan. I like voices that are lower in general. That the song opens strongly with Keiko and has many bits of Keiko in it was not lost on me at all. Haha! So yes, if you are a Kalafina fan who is partial to Keiko, it's likely that you will at the very least enjoy Hyakka Ryouran because hearing her so clearly in an anime theme song is not a given.
I really love the way Keiko sings certain some of the "syllables". She often emphasizes the last sound in a phrase or sentence which gives it a bit of a dramatic accent. Well, maybe not everyone will like it. But I like it loads. :)
Also, I really like the instrumentation, the many layers and the genre mash up that is typical Kajiura. Hyakka Ryouran opens with a more traditional Japanese sounding prelude but will it stay that way? Oh no no no... that won't remain for long, :) We soon transition to a mix of classical (yes, those violins) and that very strong and bassy rock sound and of course Akagi Rie's flute will feature somewhere in there. One thing I really do enjoy about the Kalafina releases are the instrumental versions as well. You really can hear all the complexities of Kajiura's music.
The harmony is really nice too as usual. The harmony is nice in all the songs in this release actually.
Also Remi is credited in the chorus in this song. I think she's in the ethereal sounding section starting at 2:00 and also under the three main vocalist a little bit after that. Really does fill out the harmony. It's a little unusual too because usually it's Yuriko Kaida.
We get two B-side songs in this release. They are Kantankatan and Tonbo. They are both lovely songs. Much slower than the title track. Kantankatan favours Wakana. Lots of opportunity for her to show off her lovely soulful soprano. Keiko shadows her noticeably in various sections of the song. Hikaru's there in support too but less obvious than Keiko in certain bits. Keiko and Hikaru also get lovely solo sections in Kantankatan.
The bit I like the best is at approximately 2:18. I really like the harmony here and the rhythmic sound of the lyrics. I think Kajiura used the repetitive sound of "kantankatan" quite nicely here. Immediately after that, there is a violin solo which is really lovely. At approximately 04:18, Kajiura does the same again, using the repetitive sound of "kantankatan" to mesh really nicely with the music. The rhythmic sound of those repeated sounds make them sound almost like part of the percussion. Nicely done.
Lastly we have Tonbo. It seems like with each recent release, there's always a song that's a good candidate for one of their acoustic / strings live. And Tonbo is one of them. The accompaniment is kept deliberately simple. This time it's Sakurada Hirotaka on piano and that's it. It's a lovely song and the three vocalists sound enchanting in it. Hikaru opens this one. Looks like they all take turns to open a song in this release. :) Unlike in their previous release where there was Haru wo Matsu which had NO harmony, and although there isn't as much three part harmony as is commonly found in their songs, there are potions with harmony in Tonbo. And where there's harmony it's really exquisite. I particularly like the section at 01:18 which seems to be a Wakana + Keiko section. If Hikaru is in there, she's probably mixed quite a bit under because I can't hear her right now. I'm not on my headphones so I'm not sure, maybe she is and I just can't hear her because I'm just using decent computer speakers right now.
Alright... I think I'm pretty much done for now. As usual, I wrote way more than I intended and I would like to get to a few other things on the blog, as well as a few other things outside of the cyber world before I head to bed.
So I will leave you with what I have thus far written, in my usual rambling streams of consciousness style and with minimal proof-reading. :P
Enjoy. :)
p.s. This post will be cross shared on another blog my friends and I are slowly working on. I will explain more in a post or two after this. For now, if you have time and interest, you an check it out.... Okonomikaki's at https://okonomikaki.blogspot.sg/ :)
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