#Kalafina ~ 9+one at Tokyo International Forum Hall A - bluray unboxing

Well, looks like I'll be getting pretty busy again.  So I think I should get this simple unboxing out of the way.  I had to wait a while to do this even though I was pretty excited about getting this on the day it was released in Japan. :)  However, I forgot that my TV is busted and I can't play the BD in my room.  So I had to wait till I had the opportunity to play it on the telly in the living room.

Ahhhhhhh... the first song is one of my favourite songs to hear at a live.  The first time I heard Samidare ga Sugita Koro ni live was at the 8th Anniversary Live at Tsutaya O-East.  I managed to get tickets for both days of the live and this song was really memorable.  I LOVED IT to bits.  Everyone was singing "la la la" with them in a small hall.  The atmosphere then was electric and really unforgettable for me.

#ヒグチアイ #HiguchiAi - #百六十度 Hyaku Rokujuu Dou ~ unboxing + comments

Sometime this year, someone introduced Higuchi Ai to me and gave me one of her albums as a gift.  I really liked the album and her music and wanted to write about her for some time.  But lots of things happened in my life this year and I've only really just gotten back into blogging again.  So before work ramps up again and before I'm ready to do the new Kalafina and Kajiura Yuki unboxings, I thought that I would write about her first.

Since this isn't about Kajiura Yuki or Kalafina, I've written it for Okonomikaki's which is a collaborative blog by a few friends and I.  I hope that you'll go over to the blog and check out the post and check out Higuchi Ai's music as well.  You might like it. :)  Here's the link to the unboxing post which also talks a little about the music on her third album and also gives a  little introduction to the singer-songwriter herself. CLICK ME.

#梶浦由記 #Kalafina Kubikiri Cycle: Aoiro Savant to Zaregotozukai Sound Collection announce

Also, I want to mention quite quickly a recently announced Kajiura Yuki release. Kajiura has been scoring the various episodes of this OVA for a few months now.  I think that the OVA has been fully released, hence the release of this Sound Collection.

I actually know very little about this anime but I did check out a bit of it when it was first release and rather enjoyed the bits of music I heard then.

Some of us may remember that the already released track Kalafina track Marchen is actually one of the theme songs for this anime.  That song was released on the into the world / marchen double A-side release some time back. (for the unboxing post, CLICK ME)

#Kalafina ~ so I finally bought a turntable :)

The first vinyl record that I ever bought in my life was also Kalafina's first vinyl record release.  If I remember correctly, it should be ring your bell.  Since then, I have faithfully bought every vinyl release, including the far on the water album release on vinyl as well.  But I never had the means to play it.

So finally, I took the plunge and bought a turntable approximately two weeks ago.  It's an entry level player and according to the reviews, does a pretty good job for the price.  I can't afford to go into the high-end stuff. It would be pointless of me to do so as well since my amplifier is 20 years old and my speakers are also 20 year old bookshelf speakers.  The equipment is good enough of course but the contacts need cleaning and the RCA cables probably need to be replaced etc.  If I got a high-end player, I would need to buy new equipment as well.  I don't really need another expensive hobby and I really rather save the money for trips to Kalafina's and Kajiura Yuki's lives.

The player I got was the Audio Technica AT LP604d USB.  Here are some unboxing photos.

#Kalafina ~ into the world / メルヒェン - comments

This is a relatively long commentary about Kalafina's 20th single release and will include related thoughts.  It has taken a little longer than I had hoped but I think this release is worth taking the time to mull over and worth taking the time to write a lengthy post about. Yup!  I like it that much.

It's likely that I will start writing this post on Thursday night and end up only finishing and publishing on Friday or Saturday night or maybe even later then that, who knows?  But that's okay, I don't intend to win any prizes for speed. :)  What I hope to do, is to try and put my thoughts clearly into words and share my feelings about a single which I completely adore right now.  Now, let's get started! :).

#Kalafina ~ into the world / メルヒェン - unboxing

I'm listening to the single on loop as I write this unboxing post and I must say, I quite like this single. :)  It has many things that I like about Kalafina in the songs.  But first, let's do the unboxing and then I'll write a few of my thoughts  (postpone till another day) about the single. :)

#KajiuraYuki #梶浦由記 ~ Fate/Zero 3 CD soundtrack release announced

source

For those of us who are also Kajiura Yuki fans.  This has just been announced.  The OST for Fate/Zero is slated for a 20th Sept 2017 release.  This is a 3 CD release which will contain 56 tracks. It will not only include the OST tracks from the 25 episode Fate/Zero anime series, it will also include new tracks.

If I'm not wrong, this announce was made about an hour to two ago at the ufotable stage event at Anime Japan.  They also announced the release of a standard edition BD boxset of all 25 episodes of the anime series and the dates for the "Heaven's Feel" roadshow.

#KajiuraYuki #梶浦由記 ~ Sword Art Online Ordinal Scale OST - unboxing / comments

I'm going to do a quick unboxing and writeup of this album just to keep my momentum going.  It looks like I might be getting very busy again but I really don't want to disappear from my blog for so many weeks. So maybe quick unboxings will help me keep at it. :)

Hence, here we go.  Photos. :)

#Kalafina ~ meeting Kalafina in Singapore !!!

source: Kalafina LINE blog

(I'm in there but I'm not telling you which one. :P )

This has got to be one of the most memorable moments in my life. :)  It probably rivals the first time I met them at Anime Festival Asia in Singapore when they signed the poster in front of me.  And the time I met them at AFA Malaysia twice, once when they handed me the autographed poster and once when they signed the CD.

Maybe this moment even surpasses all those moments, hahaha!!!  Having a photo taken with Kalafina, a vocal unit that I've been a HUGE fan of since 2009, is like a dream come true for any fan.  I never expected that my impulsive decision to see them live in Japan in Dec 2010 would lead me down this path.  Hahaha.... I loved the "Kagayaku Sora no Shijima niwa" live at the then Lemon CC Hall.  I loved it so much that I became a confirmed fan and have not looked back since. :P

#Kalafina ~ Singapore fans

screen cap: Kalafina Arena Live 2017 BD
Soon fans in Singapore can see Kalafina live too!! :)

Hello! Kalafina fans from Singapore. Please do contact me if you can. :)

I was suppose to do this at the beginning of the week, Sunday night to be precise, but a lot of things conspired to make it hard for me to write a blog post about it.  I did write a tweet and FB about it though. :P

Well, the Anisong Fantasy Live is going to happen this Saturday and a couple of us are thinking of doing something.  So if you wish to get involved, you still can.  Please do contact me either on Twitter, on FB or comment below.

I will get back to you ASAP.

#Kalafina ~ Arena Live 2016 BD - unboxing

It's really been a while since I last blogged.  Been very busy and there were some issues in the office that I had to deal with which were a little emotionally draining.  Office politics really suck. :( But it's cool. I stood my ground and it's mostly resolved for now.   And to make things even better, Kalafina's latest BD release arrived at my doorstep today. :)

I know there are three copies in that photo above.  I could pretend that I am a crazy rabid fan but, hahahahaha, I'm not that crazy. :P  The other copies belong to two other friends.  We shared shipping on this so it'll save us some money. :)

Kalafina ~ Winter Acoustic "Kalafina with Strings" - unboxing / comments

#Kalafina 's Winter Acoustics "Kalafina with Strings" arrived in the mail today!!!!! :)  And it's LOVELY!!!!!  I know what I'll be looping on my player on my way to work tomorrow.

I can't even concentrate on writing this post because I keep stopping to really listen to the album as it plays.  Yup......  I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!! LOVE IT LOVE LOVE IT!!!!!

Hahahaha... this album really showcases their harmony and Kajiura Yuki's abilities at Chorus Arrangement.  A lot of it is VERY pretty and Kajiura Yuki knows just how to arrange it so that each song brings out the best of each of the vocalists in Kalafina.  In my opinion, if you love Kalafina's harmony, it's hard not to at the very least like this album.

First though, all the photos of the unboxing of this album.

Kalafina ~ blaze - FULL MV on VEVO (amend)

OH!!! Joy joy joy!! The full MV for #Kalafina 's "blaze" can now be found on their official VEVO channel which means..... yup!! It's legally online and available for international fans.  We don't need to jump through hoops for this one. :)

Maybe they really have been listening to international fans voicing their hopes that they would make more promotional material available to us so we can help them spread the joy!! :D

So here I am helping them spread the joy.  Although, this isn't my favourite Kalafina song, it is still a nice song and it is their newest song and it showcases their harmony BEAUTIFULLY.  Please enjoy!! :)



Amend: Looks like I have to temper my joy a little.  Someone just left a comment saying that this video isn't available in the US. :(  I really think Japan needs to learn a little bit from the way the Koreans are marketing their music and dramas etc to the world.  :(

Kalafina - blaze (Arslan Senki S2 ED) - unboxing

Here it is, the unboxing of #Kalafina 's "blaze". :)

It's been a while since I've done one of these so I kept forgetting to shoot certain photos.  Ah well, this is a pretty simple release, so there's enough here to give you a very good idea of what all of it looks like. :)

First up, photos.

Regular Edition

Kalafina ~ blaze (Arslan Senki S2 ED) - unboxing tease

YAY! #Kalafina 's blaze CDs and LP has reached me. :) :) :)

I've shot all the photos and aim to write my unboxing post tomorrow night, probably after 10pm Singapore time. :)

It's late now and I have a full day of work tomorrow which requires my full attention.  So I can't sleep too late.  So I'll just leave you with two teaser photos and also say that once again, I really like the b-side song. :)

Check in tomorrow... or rather later today... since it's already past 1:45am in Singapore. :P

Good night!! :)

Kalafina ~ blaze (Aslan Senki S2 ED) - jacket cover art

Oh silly me!! Of course the cover art for Kalafina's blaze has been released. It's in the artwork on their webpage. I wasn't thinking when I wrote up the previous post. :P I like the covers. They look cool!! :) Here you go....

Regular Edition

Kalafina ~ blaze (Arslan Senki S2 ED) - tokuten & other info

source

Kalafina has released information on the postcard tokutens that they will be giving out with pre-orders of "blaze" and they look very cool to me.  It's a similar image to the one for "One Light" but I'm not complaining because I like this new badass image more. :P

I like the one above the most.  That's the one from Animate. Generally speaking, I tend to like the Animate ones the most. :)

I wanted to link an embedded image from the LINE blog but their script is clashing with blogspot.  So I can't do that anymore.  So I guess I'll do it the old fashion way and grab the images from their blog and credit them with a link back.

Kajiura Yuki ~ animate.tv interview about SAO's music

【ニュース】ライブはなによりの「ご褒美」──梶浦由記の思い描くアニメ『ソードアート・オンライン』音楽のセカイ #sao_anime https://t.co/okAxfz6BYU pic.twitter.com/Az0w0C4w3V

— アニメイトTV公式 (@animate_tv) March 18, 2016

This interview popped up on twitter with amazingly good timing. LOL
It's been a pretty light end to the work day today and I've spent it mostly listening to Kajiura Yuki's music.  I think I am really working up quite a huge anticipation for the Yuki Kajiura vol.13 Sword Art Online live in Osaka next Sunday. :)  I really can't wait for it now.... I will still miss Keiko dearly.... but with less intensity than when I first read the news that she will have to give the Vol.13 lives a miss. :)

It's in Japanese of course.  And will take me a while to get through.  :P

cheers

Ieiri Leo ~ Bokutachi no Mirai - new single announce

Ieiri Leo (家入レオ) announced today that she'll be releasing another single in on 11th May.  :) Unlike most of her past announces, the cover art and a short version MV was not released with this announce.  They did release an image though, the one above and it seems to be quite different from her past image.  She's looking less rocker and more feminine.

Kalafina x Tanimura Shinji ~ Alcira no Hoshi - unboxing

アルシラの星 is Kalafina's newest song and is a collaboration with Tanimura Shinji ( 谷村新司) who is a veteran singer-songwriter.  They collaborated with spectacular success on an episode of Music Fair in 2015.  Well, at least I thought they sounded great together. :)

This is a very simple release.  There are two versions, the RE and the LE.  The RE just comes with one CD and the LE comes with a CD+DVD which contains the music video.