#damn this thing is turning into a jukebox musical over here XD;

[honmakurara]

6nin Eito, musically speaking

Disclaimer: this is a post based merely upon my own impressions after Gr8est August cons in Osaka, so please take it as it is ;)

I think I'm not the only one who actually wonders how it would/will be hearing 'old' Eito songs sung by 6 people instead of 7. It's different for sure, because of course it's not just a matter of assigning or splitting Subaru's lines here and there. But it's honestly way better than I thought, even if you can hear that they will probably need some other time to adjust fully to the whole thing. Honestly speaking, who wouldn't?

I also wondered whether the front men would leave the 'Subaru spot' empty between Maru and Ryo or would rearrange it... they did. Now it's 3+3, with Ryo standing in the center, right before Ohkura's drums. Also, each of them follows its own pace on music, hence a few flaws here and there that, I'm sure, will disappear little by little with time.

Ryo might have cried his sorrow and frustration during LIFE~me no mae no mukou e they last performed live with Subaru at Kanjam, but he's currently a very interesting newborn leader in training and he's just so. damn. good. and. cool. He's as awkward as always during initial/final speeches, but he's so genuinely and brutally honest with himself, with members and with eighters, that I cannot help being so fond of this side of him, always. His voice is a certainty, anyway. It's strong and clear, very beautiful and very powerful, soft and caring and sexy and hoarse when required. I felt it close to perfection almost. Of all members, so far he might be the only one with zero flaws when singing and playing his guitars (apart from the little cute moment when he was due to sing something -I guess some short Subaru's part-, and he kinda forgot he had to and he was caught off-guard on big screen with the cutest face ever 'oh shit, was it my turn?' XD). Plus, give him a guitar and he won't be able to stay still on stage anymore. He walked around very often when playing, he even went playing behind Ohkura's drums spot when the stage moved forward during band session (Jukebox-like, if you remember) or to the lateral edges of the main stage. I've never seen him smile and having fun around like he's done during this tour, not even last year during JAM. He seemed very dedicated last year, while this year you feel like he wanna embrace every single eighter and tell them they're gonna be okay because they're taking care and rocking the best out of them, for the fans. I'd dare say Ryo is 'ready', and Subaru probably realized this way long before him.

Had he not been suffering with pain for too long already, Yasu would be exactly at Ryo's level now. Mind, I'm not saying he's not, for you can tell there's almost no difference in skills between the two of them. It's just with Yasu being on semi-hiatus these last months, I guess he also had very little time to catch up with music rehearsals. In my opinion his voice isn't as smooth as Subaru's yet, but he's honestly improved a lot during the last years (we got to hear a lot more of both of him and Maru than in the past, in so many songs) and I reckon he could seriously outshine Ryo, with time. He looks like a little hurricane. In Osaka he was finally able to move slightly more than before, it seems, and he showed us that by being a totall badass with his guitar. He didn't refrain from rocking at his hardest, which is so damn good to see and to hear. Also, he's totally not afraid nor scared of singing Subaru's most infamous and high-pitched lines (like in Omoidama, but not only), which is exactly what we do all need to move forward without forgetting anything of the past. What else can I say? He already gave us proof of what it means being strong-willed, but this time, he's being on a totally another level of determination and, gosh. I'm so proud of him. I'm also very glad he chose Watashi Kagami as his solo song for the Gr8est tour. It's so perfect in every possible sense, so beautiful and so moving.

Maru is the one who, together with Yasu, was assigned to sing most of Subaru's vocal parts with very high tones. Unlike Yasu, though, it sems like he's a bit 'afraid' of the task/legacy he's been given. He's a pro at bass and we saw it once again this year; he's also very good at singing, as usual. I've always been persuaded that Maru probably has the most versatile of voices among Eito, he's capable of doing perfectly with different tones and music styles even though we probably don't notice it enough. However, whenever he sang during Gr8est, I felt like Subaru's absence hit him more than 'expected'. I think he might just need to gain a little more confidence in himself and refine his vocal extension just slightly here and there, because for sure he's already got all the vocal skills required to be a very good Subaru's offspring. I just hope he can let himself go very naturally and very freely, just like he does when doing gags XD

I cannot speak for Sapporo, Nagoya and the venues that are due to come, but in Osaka, Ohkura's voice was not okay. I don't know the reason why exactly, but it seems he's been having longtime problems with his throat for a few months already, and knowing him... well, tbh I cannot help but worry a bit. I really hope everything's okay with him, especially because he tends to worry about others (read: Yasu & members) and pretend everything's okay with himself even when it's not. He couldn't manage to sing most of his highest tones, which to me is a pity because I totally love his crystal clear and melodic voice (I honestly fell for his voice first, long ago...) and, well, I have to say TORN and BJ are not the same without him being at his best ç_ç (I am also very very very much in love with the lines he sings in BJ). I'm not blaming him in any way, though... I'm just so proud. And this does not mean he offered a lazy or poor performance, quite the contrary. Despite the sore throat, he never missed a line and even resolved in lowering the key enough for him to sing every single word till the very end. I could really feel he wanted to miss no word and no sentence at all. He put his everything in everything he sang, he was energetic and very genki, smiling all the time, clenching fists when the meaning of some song was too deep to let go, spreading his long arms as if to embrace the whole dome during Omoidama and so on. So, what he lacked in voice, he put it as strength on stage, and when drumming. Just like Ryo, I've never seen him drum this strongly and powerfully before, not even last year during JAM. You could totally hear the sound of his drums stand over the instruments of every other member, and I was almost bewildered at what I was hearing. You could tell I'm biased saying this and I won't say I am not, but a friend of mine who attended the con and is totally NOT Ohkura biased told me the very same thing when we re-united after the con. We had totally different seatings also, yet we shared the very same impression about Ohkura's drumming. Which is just... freakingly impressive. I swear. He was the only one who performed sleeveless during band session and that's for the best, because when hitting his sticks on drums he looked like he was, I don't know, going to build the new Kanjani8 out of his determination only, almost. Which is so good, but hopefully, he's not alone in this. His speeches were also very long and pretty impressive. He's the youngest, but it's as if he's walked longer and faster in order to keep up with his bandmates, hence gaining some personal and professional maturity I'm very very very very proud of.

Yoko and Hina are some other good certainty. They've never stood out for their musical ability, but no one ever questioned  Shingo's at his keyboard either, luckily. One of Hina's arm was raised up to cheer on Eighters more often than not, just like he did last year and at Metrock. Yoko was slightly nervous when he performed with his trumpet, as if it was his first time, but vocally speaking he showed no tremor at all, even if maybe he'll need some time in order not to be so shy when singing alone. Honestly, I do really love Yoko's voice, and I'd love to hear him even more and being more confident about himself in the future. He took up his trumpet just for Eito's sake after all, and he would have never done nor made it in any other group but this, because they love each other. Bless Eito always. I think that Yokohina got to sing together some Subaru part... I cannot remember when or how exactly (maybe I am wrong?) but it was very cute to hear.

If Metrock and JAM showed us how much Kanjani8 have improved as a band, Gr8est does confirm us that musically speaking they're good at it and pretty balanced even with six members, even with re-arrangement of so many songs having been done in such a tight schedule and harsh conditions. Given these premises, I look forward to see what the future will bring us with their next works; 'Koko ni' as their first new single as 'new group' already proves they're capable of handling a lot. I have faith they can manage even more. Hearing them when performing live is a blessing and it seriously makes you think that no matter the hardships, they can overcome everything and we can, as well; this is basically unchanged from before and I'm so happy that, among the setlist, LIFE is there. The first song of their 'band way' back in 2010, the last one they performed together with Subaru, the one whose lyrics talk so much about Eito's story, the very same one that will always be their own song, more than any other one. Oh no, it's not over yet ♥