#wakana is too precious for this world

[putschki1969]

Into the World - Kaji Fes. 2023 Day 2

Some more in-depth Kalafina thoughts inspired by several discussions in the reply section of my latest live report about Kaji Fes. 2023 Day 2. "Into the World" was probably the Kalafina cover that left the most lasting impression on me. From what the girls have shared in various interviews, this song represents a beautiful end to an eventful stage of life and a slow transition into uncharted territory. At the time it was written, Kalafina's disbandment and the subsequent start of their solo careers were probably on no one's radar but ironically, it couldn't have been a more perfect match for the whole situation. The final few performances of the song (when everyone involved must have already been aware of what was about to happen) have a particularly strong impact on me and the same can be said about the covers they have done as solo artists/FJ. This is easily my favourite cover because the strong extra vocals add so much texture to the song. It's one of those Kalafina tracks where I mostly prefer the studio version because the girls tend to sound a bit shaky/shouty during live performances so this was overall a bit more polished I think. The harmonies are really good here. Also, I loved seeing Keiko get so emotional towards the end (even though it did result in her getting a teeny, tiny bit shouty again :P)

"Magia" was my second-favourite Kala-cover. It worked wonderfully to put the focus on Hikaru and highlight her prowess as a singer which is unfortunately something that none of the other Kalafina songs of the evening managed to do. I wish they had chosen songs with a stronger emphasis on Hikaru's voice like "ARIA", "One Light", "Mata Kaze ga...", "in every nothing", etc... Also, I did have some issues with Joelle sounding a bit too overpowering during certain parts. There are Kalafina songs where she manages to blend in better but here, her vocals just stand out too much, especially when trying to harmonise with Keiko.

"storia" has never done Hikaru any favours I'm afraid and this performance is no exception. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE "storia" but that's mostly because I am obsessed with the WaKei chorus. Joelle does a good enough job here but as I have mentioned in my report, I am way too hung up on Wakana to ever be able to appreciate another singer stepping in for her during parts that I love.

I honestly don't remember much about "KNGNN" so I guess I will have to wait for the BD release. It's yet another song that doesn't exactly flatter Hikaru though so that's a shame.

As I have never felt a strong connection to "TTB", the performance doesn't really do anything for me.

On a random and more or less unrelated side note, I LOVED this moment of Keiko showing a tiny bit of vulnerability here at the very end of the concert. It's rare to see her in tears on stage.

And let's not forget that precious HiKei moment right after this. Them holding hands. Keiko leaning on Hikaru's shoulder. Keiko smiling brightly but clearly relieved that it's over - "owatta".

[tamersa]

I’m thinking  about W and OOO a lot lately (writing fics rewatching some parts etc) and I like OOO as a series more. Still I wanted to know why so I made this VS battle for my own amusement:

MAIN RIDER: Battle between Eiji And Shotaro: Its hard one, both are interesting, have good plot twists, their characterization so nicely made and they both likable. Yet it is Shotaro win here: so relatable, and his range of emotions is great to! The Thing is Eiji was made to be”dried up” and thats the reason why his mental and emotional behave is like it is. First round winner : W THE ONE NEAR MAIN RIDER (LOL): So now it is Ankh and Philip: This one is bit easier. Ankh has way more screen time and is it written so much better. They do have some similarities: both are mind power of the dynamic duo, have some issues with the previous families, crazy hair style and have doubts about their Rider ( or other half) intelligence. The thing is Eiji takes almost no shit form Ankh when he cross the line too much. The Birb man has to pay for his mistakes and sometime the price is huge. Philip on the other hand has his  tragic background but his mistakes are sugarcoated by his partner and not addressed at all. Because of that with more modest screen time his character is not as fleshed out as it could be. Mor rant on Ankh below hehehe Second round winner: OOO FEMALE CAST: In OOO we have: Hina, Chiyako and Satonaka, while W give us: Akiko, Wakana and Saeko. I like Hina I really do, but they didn't use her gimmick as good as they could. She should have throw more barrels or something! Also bit too passive sometimes? Chiyako is spot of supporting chara, funny warm energetic. Yes, good. Satonaka has her good points too: taking no shit from anyone and treating her work as well, work and not some life mission. But then we go to W side and oh boy, Akiko, my love! She is just the best  Rider lady I even saw! Funny, dorky, has more to do, has the slipper, is actually useful even if not have special powers. Well thats debatable too, that wand made from slippers did work lool. But yes even if she is mostly comic relief, because of her Xtreeme was possible! Also She found that devil's tail. And got that name in her dream. She has guts has flaws also but really. I love her to bits. Wakana is interesting too: spoiled princess who suddenly has responsibilities. And Saeko: the dark lady with twisted desires, helping her hated sister in the end. Undoubtedly this round has one Queen:

Third round winner: W SECONDARY RIDER Terui Ryu vs Date Akira and Gotou Shintaro. Well its two vs one and  it shows. Terui has that tragic background, and his bitterness fades away so he could be true city defender. Yet for me it was done bit clunky. There could be put more emotions and struggle into it. He looks cool in the red leather tho. Also he and Akiko are cute together. On the other hand Date and Gotou dynamic is so pure. Also Date is hilarious as hell! Both him and Ryu use Rider suit for other purpose than defend others at the beginning ( well money and revenge), but Date is somehow nicer since the beginning. And Gotous is cute guy who has his own little expansion ark. So yes, sorry red boy, those housbandos  win this one. Fourth round winner: OOO VILLAINS On one side we have Sonozaki's and X foundation, On the other well Greeeds. It looks like one side  have more villain types so it would  win but... Sonozaki family makes Gaia Memories to make super humans and then let only them to live on this planet because some Earth tears or something. Experiments, no one knows who will live. Ryubee  is just laughing old man wit terror, his older daughter is psycho maniac with bad taste for men, younger one is spoiled and doesn't know whats going on at all. It works somehow but not as smooth at it should. Some things are not explained enough some are over explained. And then suddenly some X foundation. Bit messy. For OOO we have Greeeds : incomplete beings who want to be complete but it is impossible so they will destroy everything  to try it anyway lool. They have  different approach to it and later have Dr Maki as weird hybridish psycho who wanted to end the world while is still beautiful. Sounds as messy as W but it is so much better. It is more consistent, we see the twists and dynamics between Greeeds, and the m Maki. I don't like him as a chara but he is made that way to don't like him: sociopath who killed his sister while still a kid, but have issues with her, creep who talks to a doll on his shoulder. He is both comic relief and terrifying at the same time! What a wonderful blend! Also his and Date dynamics are so hilarious I just couldn't stop laughing. Psychodelic af XDXD So because he is consistent in his doing, is a creep is funny dangerous and interesting even if you want to kick him in the balls. Fifth round winner: OOO PLOT Both have interesting stories, not too complicated on the surface, with some twists, with some plot holes and mistakes. OOO has however less of the plot holes ( most of them are from the past stuff like from 800 years ago), the story is more fluent, so fluent that it is hard to see chara development without going 10 episodes behind for a moment and the realization hits you), also there are none “new villain at the end!” no, we know who will be the  ultimate baddie and want to know how it goes. One of the main twists was Lost Ankh. It was interesting and heart breaking. In W main plot is Philip past, his connection to the Gaia Memories and Sonosakis. Plot twist can be predicted quite early but it is still fun. But because of little screen time for Philip and his actual development some moments feel weaker or bit rushed. Yet Shotaro reaction to those are top notch!Still, Eiji and Ankh dynamic story  flow etc is just better in OOO for me. Sixth round winner: OOO OPENING Music is important too and opening is the most characteristic piece of audio for most series. Here you can be biased and I will be. W is more pleasant to the ear, I like the video for it more too. And I mean both what you see in the series and official one. The vocal is more clean in W opening for me too. What to say more? Seventh round winner: W FAVORITE CHARACTER A war between half-boiled and angry birb. I love them both character wise. Are complicated have their flaws as good sides fleshed out, are interesting... but the birb... ah the birb! His story ark! His struggle,  his ambiguous state towards other up until the end. His mannerism (his bird like movements and way he eats lool, he drinks tea with soup spoon! XD), way of thinking and all the changes. They way he goes from treating Eiji as and accessory to fight to having him precious enough to help him fight Maki at costs own existence/life. And he is so relatable. Not for literal stuff ( I don't think any of you is greeed) but  in general: the feeling of not fitting into a group etc. Shotaro is very relatable to don't get me wrong, but his character development is not as deep as Ankh. Both have great  clothes yes! Eight round winner: OOO

SUIT AND MERCH ASCETICS As for looks of  suits of the Riders and gimmicks it will be short: I like  standard double more over TaToBa OOO, but I don't like Extreeme much but I love TaJaDor. Bike looks better in the W animal robots are cute here and here too. Second rider suit is good enough, but henshin gimmick is more interesting in OOO (the medals and  mixing them) So a draw! ENDING

OOO doesn't have that 49th episode and it shows. But with that we have 2 very different vibes endings and both are so good. OOO is bittersweet but gives hope, W I just... god I'm so happy for Shotaro, this soft man deserved the ending. And somehow Eiji deserved his too: you should talk to your birb more Eiji! And shipping aside W should have proper hug and  not that weird thing at the end. Both give satisfaction both are great and not disappoint! Another draw!! BONUS ROUND: BACKGROUND STORIES I could write about all support cast etc but those are equals and we don't need another draw. So I'll will do one more thing as a bonus: background of the charas. Especially our main Riders. In W we know a lot about Philip and what he did in the past yet some thing are presented in chaotic way, we are not sure about important things ( like if his family was dysfunctional before or after Philip's accident), but about Shotaro? Almost nothing. Just that he was bit deliquentish in high school (we are not even sure if it wasn't middle school lool) and that he was with boss  some time before Begins Night. And thats sad because Shotaro is developed in interesting way and his past should be show more to understand better why he was like that. On the other hand we know what we should about Eiji, what made him as he was, why he is living this way. It wasn't long exposition but good enough to understand his ways. For Ankh its bit more messy (because what we hear and what we see on the screen doesn't add up well) but still it is all understandable. Winner of eleventh round : OOO So in all OOO won but not by that much. W is still very good series and both deserve to be watched (and then cried over, and made 1245643 chapters and one shots and drawings to them GAH)

[chibalein]

“B-Pass” Kalafina Interview (very rough translation)

Hey there~ Kalafina appeared in the most recent issue of “B-Pass” (a music magazine) with a 6-page long special (interview) on their release of “Hyakka Ryouran”. I may upload some better photos soon, I don’t have a scanner though...

Well, they intensively talk about the Intro (use of wind chyme, flute etc) and their personal feelings towards it and the song in general. They also talk about certain lines of the lyrics and the individual melodies of each of the girls (like Keiko starts at first, while Wakana is main in the chorus etc.) Then the B-side songs “Kantan Katan” and “Tombo” are covered, especially the strange title of the former. Wakana says it’s a “quiet and easygoing song that has a big amount of words”, a song that implies “during days where a lot happens, it is important to try to rest a little”. Keiko mentions that Yuki Kajiura imagined riding a train while writing the song and Wakana adds that it is a little bit of a sad melody, but the lyrics are warm. I just scanned the interview for the main content, but apparently Keiko is the lead for this one too? I might be wrong though. Anyway, almost one page is about that song. “Tombo” being a slow and quiet song, on the other hand, apparently made the interviewer feel sad. Wakana says that the lyrics are certainly sad and you can “feel each individual breath” hearing this song. Her image was, rather than loneliness, like sinking comfortably into a sofa. They are only accompanied by Sakurada’s Piano. Keiko says that, since it is released in August, it has some “words of the season” in it. In this, we have the world of 2 protagonists. It is a small world, but it is very precious and they want to protect it and Keiko wanted to sing that in a “polite/thorough” way. That’s why she focused on “how much that small world should resound boutifully” (I have my troubles translating this correctly). The lyrics are “easy to unterstand and the feelings of those persons are delicately written”. Hikaru compares the song with an old 8mm/16mm silent movie, where you only see those 2 and hear the noise of the projector. Rather than about the feelings of those 2, she sings about the mood (?). In the end, those two end up being “depressed”, according to Wakana (?).

Those three songs have each their world with three different types of sadness, and this became a single stuffed with songs that each may let you “cuddle with/move closer to (your) feelings”.

Again, no guarantee for the translation, I did not read everything thoroughly, but it does give us a nice impression of Kalafina’s new songs and I am very excited for those :)

[norihisahyuga-archived]

Two Dates

Hidari Shotaro/Philip/Hino Eiji/Ankh, Hidari Shotaro/Ankh, Philip/Hino Eiji Kamen Rider W/OOO 2500~ words. Sfw.

Philip suggests they need to change up their usual partner configuration for dating. Shotaro is not enthused about taking a grouchy bird out on a date. Like so many times before, Philip is right. This is stupidly fluffy, self-indulgent OT4 cuteness for my favorite partner combos.

In the seven or so months they had attempted at making this relationship work, they had never split off into pairs like this. Philip had chided him about not realizing they needed to do this, to fully work out that the four of them were compatible enough to make this work out.

Shotaro feels stupid for not realizing it himself, but he gets along well enough with Eiji and Philip and Ankh get along beautifully, so he never really stopped to think that they needed to switch their usual partners up a bit to make sure there were no obstacles in their path they had not become aware of yet. And even knowing that, he’s dragging his feet on this more than any person has any right to. In his defense, Ankh loves to insult him and calls him “half-boiled” even more than Philip.

For approximately the sixth time this morning, he whines pitifully and thumps his forehead down on his desk, earning a sigh from where Philip sits on their bed, reading one of his many books. Though Eiji and Ankh were supposed to have come by this morning, it’s closing in on noon and there has been no word from either of them as to why they happen to be late. Shotaro hopes nothing has happened to them at the same time he hopes something inconvenient but not dangerous to their health has come up so they have to call this whole thing off.

“For someone who was very insistent about giving this arrangement a chance, you seem very upset at the idea of spending alone time with Ankh.” Philip’s tone is dry, and he doesn’t raise his eyes from the book in front of him. “If Eiji can get along with him, then you should be fine.”

Shotaro pouts at him. “Easy for you to say, you two always get along with each other, and you would have to be an actual monster not to get along with Eiji.” He doesn’t add that, in fact, Ankh was an actual monster, or at least he had been until his time with Eiji softened him around the edges, but that doesn’t change the fact he had never been anything close to human.

The sound of a pair of bikes pulling up downstairs makes him whine louder and lean back in his chair, staring up at the ceiling and wondering just how badly today could possibly go. Philip has it easy, of course, since Eiji gets along with everyone he meets, a buoyant personality giving him warmth and personality in spades, and Shotaro had been drawn to him almost since the moment they first met. It had been obvious to him that the two of them were meant to meet each other, so perfectly in sync with most of their feelings that spending time with Eiji just comes naturally to him. Ankh is… Different. Bird of flames or not, he’s frosty at best and tends to make most people back away from him with the harsh edges of his personality and the sharpness of his tongue. How Philip has managed to get through that to whoever he happens to be at his core is beyond Shotaro; he had managed it with Philip, but Philip was never as cruel as Ankh could be.

The sound of footsteps approaching their door has both Shotaro and Philip rising at the same time, Philip crossing the room in quick strides while Shotaro hangs back. It’s usually the opposite with them, but Shotaro doesn’t know how Ankh will react to seeing him as Eiji had been the one who conveyed Philip’s wishes to him, and had simply told Shotaro and Philip that Ankh was willing to try. That didn’t have to mean he was happy about it, though.

On the other hand, it’s nice to see Philip being affectionate with their new boyfriends as something as ordinary as affection had come slower to Philip. He hugs Eiji first, brushing a kiss over his lips that makes Eiji beam and bounce on the balls of his feet, and then Ankh, and Shotaro tilts his head a little to watch that, because both Philip and Ankh are striking, all hard lines and sharp contrast, but there’s a lot of beauty in their differences.

“Sorry we’re late,” Eiji says, and Shotaro finally crosses the rest of the room to pull Eiji into his own arms, nuzzling into his windswept hair fondly. “Cous Coussier was extra busy and I didn’t want to leave Chiyoko with too much work to handle just so I could go on a date, y’know? It wouldn’t be fair. And someone was supposed to let me know the time, but he was asleep.”

Ankh makes a tch noise at them and Shotaro raises an eyebrow at him; the sound reminds him so much of Wakana Sonozaki that it’s vaguely startling, and he wonders what Philip thinks of it. “I was taking a much-deserved nap. The heat is insufferable enough as it is.” Ankh doesn’t have to explain it; being a creature made of flames must make summers that much harder on him.

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Shotaro picks his favorite hat off the wall, then holds out a hand. “Shall we?”

“Are we just hanging around the office?” Eiji asks after Shotaro and Philip have gone, and Philip stands back a moment to admire him, dressed in so many soft and breezy layers.

“No. I couldn’t very well demand Shotaro take initiative to take Ankh out and then expect you to stay cooped up in here with me.” Philip picks up the shoulder bag that Akiko had given him, insistent he needed somewhere to store his books on the go, and holds out his hand. “Let’s go.”

The way Eiji’s face lights up makes Philip’s heart swell. “Where are we going?” he asks.

“If I told you, it wouldn’t be a very good surprise, now would it?” He beckons with his fingers and Eiji finally takes him by the hand, giving his hand a squeeze as he allows Philip to lead them both out of the apartment. “Besides, I really want to surprise you if I can.”

Eiji’s big brown eyes only widen further. “What’s the occasion? What did I do to get a surprise?”

“You don’t have to do anything for a surprise,” Philip says. “I just wanted to do it for you.”

He had been debating about what he could do with Eiji that would be special for him, someone who had been all over the world and who had grown up in a life of luxury that had afforded him the ability to want for nothing for most of his life. Philip, too, had grown up more than rich enough, but most of his life was still a questionable blur to him filled in with the gaps he’s gained from reading the book about his own life. Actual memories of his childhood were gone, probably never to be regained no matter what he tried. It wasn’t quite the same for Eiji, even if he too had memories that had haunted him and shaped him into the person he is today.

He knows Futo is still unfamiliar to Eiji, which gave him a few advantages in choosing something.

“I’ve not come here with anyone but Shotaro since we dealt with my family,” he says, leading Eiji toward the front doors of the building. “This structure used to belong to them.”

Eiji blinks up at the building, then looks over at him. “It’s a museum, isn’t it?”

“It is,” Philip agrees. “My father owned it. I used to help him at excavation sites, though I remember precious few of those memories. It’s usually very strange being here.”

Of course, Eiji smiles softly at him, bringing Philip’s hand to his lips. “Why bring me here, then?”

“Because you like to travel, and you appreciate culture,” Philip says. “This place has that.”

Of course, the interior of the museum has changed greatly since the Sonozaki family owned it, and Philip can’t help but feel it’s much brighter now, much cleaner, the darkness swept away. It may be a purely mental sensation of course, given that the museum had seemed shadowy and inherently dark to him because of his associations with it. Maybe just having Eiji next to him is just one of the few ways he will ever be able to feel comfortable in this place again.

It takes Eiji approximately five seconds to start dragging Philip around by the hand, intently examining every single exhibit he can find. “This is all so cool,” he murmurs.

“I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself.” And he is, he genuinely is, and he leans in to press a kiss to Eiji’s cheek in front of the T-Rex exhibit.

Eiji apparently decides that isn’t good enough because he turns his body around, giving Philip’s hand a squeeze before using his free hand to cradle Philip’s cheek and pull him in for a proper kiss. As always, Eiji’s lips are warm and soft and sweeter than they have any right to be, and he kisses with an openness and an affection that spreads warmth first through Philip’s cheeks and then down through the rest of his body. He smiles into the kiss and slides a hand into Eiji’s hair, the strands incredibly soft beneath his fingertips, taking in how eagerly Eiji kisses him, a sharp contrast to how solemn Philip always feels when he walks into this building. When Eiji pulls away, Philip has to stop himself from going with him, trying to capture his lips once again.

“I love it here. I’d love to come here with you more often.” Eiji takes both of Philip’s hands in his, pressing kisses to them. “Mostly, I just love that you brought me here. Thank you, Philip.”

Philip smiles softly, kissing the corner of Eiji’s mouth. “My pleasure.”

Across town, Shotaro was, predictably, having a much more difficult time with Ankh.

“It’s too hot to be out and about like this,” Ankh informs him for perhaps the seventh time since they left the office, stubbornly refusing to remove his leather jacket all the while even though Shotaro had pointed out leather isn’t known for being a cool fabric. “Where are we going?”

Shotaro resists the urge to roll his eyes, telling himself to focus on where Ankh has also refused to release his hand since taking it at the door. “If I told you, it would spoil the surprise.”

Ankh scowls at him but falls back into his regular moody silence, glancing around them as they walk, no doubt trying to take in as many details as he can manage. After all, he isn’t familiar with Futo in the way that Shotaro is, and though Shotaro wonders if Ankh has come to like the city, he doesn’t want to ask. He loves Futo too much to invite someone to insult his city.

What he does know is that Ankh is pleased by the wind in the city, having once told Eiji it would be perfect for flying at night when no one else can see him. Most of the pedestrians are home in bed during the late hours when Ankh takes to the skies to lose himself for just a little while.

“It had better be worth all of this heat,” Ankh finally says, scowling up at him, the wind doing its best to sweep his curls into his eyes. “Why is it so hot here during the summer anyway?”

The question is an interesting one, and Shotaro wants to ask him exactly what he means by that and where he had been prior to now where the summers were not so hot. Even then, though, Ankh does have a point. This summer has been unseasonably hot and even Shotaro feels a little uncomfortable in his button-up and vest despite wearing them every day no matter the heat.

“It’s unusually hot weather, so even I’m not sure why,” he finally responds, and though Ankh doesn’t look pleased by that answer, he nods along as though it at least makes sense to him. “I promise we’re almost there, though. Can you hold out for another ten minutes or so?”

Ankh tilts his head in that strange, not entirely human way of his, and Shotaro makes a note to study birds, to see if they move their heads in such a way. “I suppose I can try.”

In just under ten minutes, they round the street corner and stop in front of the shop Shotaro was aiming for. The ice cream parlor is easily one of his favorite little nooks in the city, and once Ankh takes a minute to read the sign and recognize the ice cream cone emblazoned on the sign, his eyes light up. It’s rare to see him smile without that self-loathing edge to the shape of his mouth.

“Ice cream,” he murmurs, and Shotaro can’t help but laugh a little at his reaction.

“The best in Futo,” he confirms. “Eiji said the heat was bothering you. Ice cream is cold.”

Ankh snorts at him. “Many things are cold. Ice cream is better than just anything cold.”

“I’ll give you that one. Come on inside and get what you want. It’s my treat,” Shotaro says.

The shop owner blinks wide eyes at Shotaro when he walks up to the counter with Ankh, their fingers still twined between their bodies, but Shotaro doesn’t offer up an explanation. Instead, he just patiently explains the differences between the ice cream on the menu to Ankh, figuring he must have just eaten whatever was in the freezer to not know this, then waits for him to order.

“Are you sure about this?” Ankh asks, suspiciously eyeing Shotaro’s wallet when he retrieves it.

“I’m sure. Give me my hand, I need it,” Shotaro says, shaking Ankh off so he can pay for them.

He knows how birds eat, knows that they usually gulp their food down in huge bites rather than picking at little bits and pieces like the expression suggests. But watching Ankh demolish one third of a banana split sundae without stopping making Shotaro’s head ache as if he’s gotten brain freeze just watching. Maybe Ankh doesn’t feel that because he’s a phoenix deep beneath his skin; Shotaro will have to inquire that to Philip, who’s starting to become an expert on them.

When Ankh looks up to see Shotaro studying him, Shotaro sees the small dollop of whipped cream on the end of his nose, no doubt a result of nearly shoving his face into his food. Instead of handing him a napkin, Shotaro stand up and leans forward just enough to piss the whipped cream off of his face, able to feel the slight aura of heat that always wraps around Ankh like a cocoon. This time, Ankh doesn’t scowl at him. He just twitches his nose before returning to his ice cream, but Shotaro still sees the flicker of a smile curl his lips before he takes another bite.

He was being ridiculous, and Philip was right, and it’s well worth the “I told you so” he’s going to get when he returns home. Worth it just to know he put a smile on Ankh’s face.

[mer-birdman]

Well then *cracks knuckles*: Rikuo, Rihan, Nurarihyon, Gyuki, Kiyotsugu, Abe no Yoshihira, Kurotabo, Atotabo, Shoei, Ryuji, Encho, Tsuchigumo annnd... Ariyuki. (Feel free to jump over in my inbox for this meme, if you want)

Boy howdy, you weren’t kidding about it being half the cast, huh? *cracks knuckles in return* Let’s get started.

NURA RIKUO

character: hate them | don’t really care | like them | LOVE them | THEY ARE MY PRECIOUS

ship with: Oh, sweetheart. I have so many ships for my precious son (and you are to blame for at least two ngl). I mostly ship him with Tsurara, Zen, and Itaku (not all at once, though I do fully approve of poly ships because yes), but I’m also down with Yura, Kana (if handled well), Kubinashi (LOOK IT JUST KEEPS POPPING UP IN MY HEAD AND IDK WHY), Shōei (your fault), Tamazuki (DEFINITELY YOUR FAULT not in a bad way I mean), Rinko (because she’s cute and deserves ships and hugs), and probably more if the fanfic writers bring their A game. :3 I am a proud multishipper.

friendship them with: Just about everyone TBH. I can’t make a list, it would take too long and I have homework to do lol.

general opinions: MY PRECIOUS SON. I love him so much and he deserves like a thousand years of happiness. I also maintain that he is a trans boy, both in my beautiful son AU and just as a straight-up headcanon for the main series. I just. Ugh. I love him so much. He is so good.

NURA RIHAN

character: hate them | don’t really care | like them | LOVE them | THEY ARE MY PRECIOUS

ship with: Yamabuki Otome (of course), Wakana (also of course, although I really want to explore their relationship more sometime), and — I mean, it sounds silly, but Kubinashi actually. I don’t really know how to explain it, haha.

friendship them with: Kubinashi, Ao, Kuro, Setsura... the canon folk, mostly. I also see him being really fond of little Tsurara when she first joins, if that counts.

general opinions: I’d really love to see more of him, and I’m super looking forward to writing him in ‘his father’s son’! :D

NURARIHYON

character: hate them | don’t really care | like them | LOVE them | THEY ARE MY PRECIOUS

ship with: Yōhime. That’s it. Sorry, y’all.

friendship them with: Hidemoto, Setsura, Gyūki... the good old pals. I mostly just really like his and Hidemoto’s friendship, tbh. Also Yura, just a bit, because their interactions were very charming and I can definitely see him getting a bit fond of her (well, mostly of messing with her, but you know).

general opinions: On the one hand, I think he’s a really interesting character (and I love that he’s a badass old guy without being the ‘buff old man is the strongest ever’ trope), but on the other I’m really not fond of some of the stuff he does and says, so it’s hard to say. But, like with most characters in this series, I think he’s worth exploring deeper.

GYŪKI

character: hate them | don’t really care | like them | LOVE them | THEY ARE MY PRECIOUS

ship with: I... don’t, actually. I mostly just see him as the like, chill single dad of his clan.

friendship them with: Nurarihyon, of course, and then there’s the memorable scene where he gets drunk and shoves a bottle of sake into Hitotsume’s mouth, so them too probably.

general opinions: Looks like he could kill you, could definitely kill you, but also kind of a dad. Or uncle. I really kinda like him.

KIYOTSUGU

character: hate them | don’t really care | like them | LOVE them | THEY ARE MY PRECIOUS

ship with: Fuguruma Yōbi (just because imagine how much they would have to talk about oh my god), or perhaps someone else not in the story. (And lowkey either Jirō or Kana, but that would have to be an AU bc it definitely doesn’t really mesh in canon).

friendship them with: The Kiyojūji Paranormal Patrol! Also Aotabō, haha. I loved him riding around on the back of Ao’s bike, and I can just imagine that becoming just a *thing* for them as he grows up. Yup, new headcanon: Kiyotsugu and Aotaboō become Bros™.

general opinions: SUCH GREAT CHARACTER GROWTH. I love his character arc, because he starts out just a little casually dislikable and then gradually becomes someone who’s genuinely doing his best to help and someone Rikuo can really rely on and it just makes me so happy.

ABE NO YOSHIHIRA

character: hate them | don’t really care | like them | LOVE them | THEY ARE MY PRECIOUS

ship with: Nobody, haha. It’s a little hard to ship characters I don’t know a ton about, tbh.

friendship them with: Same as above. Maybe Rikuo, in an AU, since they can kind of lowkey relate about stuff.

general opinions: Don’t really think about him much tbh, but he’d be interesting to write more about. Or, you know, read about. If anyone else has some story ideas. *cough cough*.

KUROTABŌ

character: hate them | don’t really care | like them | LOVE them | THEY ARE MY PRECIOUS

ship with: Aotabō, a bit, and just a little bit Rihan too. (And maaaaaaybe Natsumi, if she’s grown up and not being cute and gay with Saori as I tend to imagine her being).

friendship them with: Same as above, mostly. Kubinashi and Kejōrō too. He’s not exactly a super friendshippy guy, tbh.

general opinions: I actually used to like him a lot more than I do now (what can I say, I have a thing for cool dudes with long pretty hair), but I still think he’s an interesting character. It would be cool to know more of what it was like for him settling into the Nura clan after he left the Hyaku Monogatari.

AOTABŌ

character: hate them | don’t really care | like them | LOVE them | THEY ARE MY PRECIOUS

ship with: Kurotabō, a bit. Otherwise, not much.

friendship them with: Same as above, plus Kiyotsugu and Tsurara.

general opinions: Not my favorite character, but pretty cool. (Sorry, I’m getting tired, so the answers are getting a bit lame... :P)

SHŌEI

character: hate them | don’t really care | like them | LOVE them | THEY ARE MY PRECIOUS

ship with: Honestly? Rikuo & Tsurara together, as a poly triad. (I’m a bit of a sucker for the tol-smol-smoll relationship dynamic, and let’s be real no matter how grown up his night form gets Rikuo is still a smol).

friendship them with: Same as above, but with Zen as well (of course), and actually I kinda see him getting along well with some of the Tōno yōkai for some reason (mostly Awashima and Amezō).

general opinions: I am so fond of him. I really want to know more about his childhood, and his human mother, and just what it was like for him growing up and stuff. Does he hang out in the human world and have human friends? Does he bump his head on doorframes all the time? I have so many questions for my precious tol son.

KEIKAIN RYŪJI

character: hate them | don’t really care | like them | LOVE them | THEY ARE MY PRECIOUS

ship with: Mamiru. Nobody else. Just Mamiru.

friendship them with: Mamiru, Akifusa, maybe Itaku in some weird AU world where he’s willing to be friends with yōkai lol.

general opinions: Jerk with a heart of — well, not gold, but something close. Silver? Anyways, he’s another character who’d be really interesting to write a character study for.

ENCHO

character: hate them | don’t really care | like them | LOVE them | THEY ARE MY PRECIOUS

ship with: ? Nobody, really... 

friendship them with: Hard to say. He doesn’t really seem like a friendship guy. Maybe Ariyuki? But like... nah.

general opinions: Creepy mofo, tbh. Super neat design and all, but still creepy.

TSUCHIGUMO

character: hate them | don’t really care | like them | LOVE them | THEY ARE MY PRECIOUS

ship with: Nobody, haha.

friendship them with: Yura, Rikuo, and maybe the Kyōto yōkai, just a bit. (And Itaku, because goddamit I have this one screencap saved whee Yura imagines him riding on Tsuchigumo’s head bc Awashima said they’re competing and I just CAN’T). 

general opinions: I... don’t have any reason why, but I’m super fond of him somehow???

ABE NO ARIYUKI

character: hate them | don’t really care | like them | LOVE them | THEY ARE MY PRECIOUS

ship with: ??? Nope.

friendship them with: Encho, just a bit. And maybe Hiruko, because their interaction is funny and I would not be surprised if it’s something that’s been occurring for like a good century or two by now.

general opinions: Looks like a cinnamon roll but could and would definitely kill you. Not really a character I’m fond of, but I kinda like him nonetheless and would like to see more written about him (and the other Abe/Gokadoin folks as well).

Thanks for asking! This was a doozy >_

put a character in my ask

[putschki1969]

Uta-Net Lyric Essay Part 2 & 3

In commemoration of the release of her 3rd original studio album “Sono Saki e”, Wakana has been invited to write three lyric essays for the song column of “Uta-Net”. Part 1 (featuring Butterfly Dream) has already been translated HERE. Part 2 (featuring KEMONO) and Part 3 (featuring Sono Saki e) are now available as well. There are also audio recordings provided so be sure to check them out!

DOWNLOAD AUDIO Uta-Net Lyric Essay Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Part 2 Hello everyone, this is Wakana. This time, I would like to share the second part of my lyrics essay. I am writing this essay just as the seasons change, we are quickly transitioning from spring to early summer. Already, I'm starting to remember the stifling heat that I had completely forgotten about during the cold months. I also notice that the days are getting longer. Little by little, the day of the album release has come closer, the people around me are getting more and more hectic. Up until now, my days have been filled with many aspects of the album production, I've been challenging myself and facing each song with great care. Now I can finally share my thoughts and feelings with the world. It's an important opportunity for me to talk more deeply about all the thoughts I put into the album in various interviews, radio appearances, and other media coverage. It's actually quite hard for me to put all these thoughts and ideas into words so I can properly convey them to others. Also, the more I talk about it, the more things come to mind, my thoughts and interpretations are constantly changing. When I spend my days doing nothing but talk about one topic, my mind tends to overflow and I become overwhelmed with countless emotions. At times like that, I really want to be close to my plants. I have many plants at home. I know that spending time with them is the best way for me to ground myself. It's been getting a lot warmer recently so I repotted my Artemisia on a bright and sunny day. My plant baby has already doubled in size ever since I bought it last year. When I took it out of the small golden pot I had been using, I realised that the roots had been growing way too tightly. After apologising profusely for the delay in repotting, I removed the old soil with a shovel and put my plant into fresh, soft soil. Then I gave it plenty of water and let it soak in the gentle afternoon sun. When I saw the glistening leaves swaying gently in the wind, I felt a sudden clearness in my head. My plants may not be able to talk but they live life to the fullest, they reach for the sun at all times. Their appearance is so pure and beautiful, I truly love the honesty of plants. When I am interacting with my plants, it's the perfect opportunity to face myself. For me, it's precious "alone time", a chance to cleanse my mind, organise my thoughts and regain myself. Everyone feels the need to be alone at times, everyone should have the chance to recover one's true self . But maybe that "alone time" is still shared with something. After all, living in this world means coexisting with other beings. The lyrics of "KEMONO" contain a strong will. Don't be afraid to be alone, don't be afraid to be left alone. As long as we have something that is important to us, dreams that we want to pursue, we are always free. We are just like plants who continue facing the sun with a dignified appearance. With that in mind, I feel at ease every day to be alone and rediscover myself. All right, I will finish the second part of my essay here. Until next time. Wakana

●～●～●～●～●～●～●～●～●～●～●～●～●～●～●～●～●～●

Part 3 Hello everyone, this is Wakana. Today I will share my third lyric essay. It is the final part of the series. Now that the album has been released, I would like to talk about the thoughts I put into it. It was last spring that we decided to produce this album. Back in 2020 I felt very lonely and anxious just like everyone else, I was also lamenting the fact that I could not share my music with you. However, in a world where it felt like I was suddenly rendered useless, it was music that made me want to get back on my feet again. Singing felt healing to me but it also brought a lot of pain, during these days I once again realised how much I loved music. In 2021, I was fortunate enough to be able to hold a lot of live performances while keeping all of my thoughts from 2020 in mind. I was truly grateful for all those great opportunities, it felt like I could finally make up for all the times that I wasn't able to meet you. During the period between my previous album release and my 3rd album, I experienced various things and tried to refine my voice to find the best possible styles for myself. Even when everything got tougher than I had expected, I always found solace in my music. I wanted to put all of those thoughts and feelings into my next album. When we finally decided to start the production, I felt a quiet but strong determination to take on new challenges. At the first meeting for this album, my producer Satoshi Takebe-san suggested that we should use a brightly shining light as main concept for the album. A dramatic and sparkling ray of light that provides glimpses into a brighter future when you are feeling down. Maybe people are always dreaming of such moments, hiding their sorrow and pain in their hearts, but looking straight ahead, continuing onwards and aiming for the light that lies ahead. I want us all to see that light together. I want to walk forward together with all the feelings and thoughts of this world within our hearts. This is the core message I wanted to convey. Everything I put into this album is filled with such sentiments, it's about a light that leads to the future. Even when we are down on our knees, in tears and overwhelmed with this world full of sorrow, we refuse to give up and continue living here. We live proudly without being ashamed of who we are. We can do this because we know that we are never alone. "Sono Saki e" is a song that bears such feelings. If my music can illuminate someone's heart, even just a little, I want to aim for such a future. Thank you for joining me on this three-part lyric essay journey. I hope to see you again somewhere. Wakana

[putschki1969]

2018/12/29 Blog post by Wakana 『ふむふむ！』 

『fumu-fumu! 』 Every year, I buy "Omikuji seals" and put them on my New Year's cards but this year I started my preparations quite late so no matter where I searched for them, I couldn’t find them anywhere... I buy them at the convenience store every year but this time I wasn’t able to find anything. I was checking a variety of convenience stores and stationery shops and I kept asking, "do you happen to have any Omikuji seals?” it almost felt like I was hunting after a ghost. Some of the places had never sold them but in most cases I was simply told, “sorry, they are completely sold out!” Eh? Are they really THiS popular?? Omikuji seals!??? I had no idea! I never had any problems getting them in the previous years but I guess I will have to buy them super early next year.  Luckily I was able to find a single sheet so I did my best to stick those seals on my cards with as much care as possible (but there just weren’t enough...) I already sent out my cards with the seals attached to them so unfortunately, I can’t show you any pictures of the final result ... I will definitely take a picture next year. Hello, this is Wakana (0 ¯ ▽ ¯ 0) / (sorry for the long introduction) Was I able to surprise you a little with my news from the other day? My solo debut single, "Toki wo Koeru Yoru ni" is scheduled to be released on February 6, 2019! February 6 ... (I know the date is quite hard to remember so I got a little mnemonic aid for you) Let’s try to memorise it by saying「FuMu…(・－・ )」 Fu = 2 Mu = 6 ... fumu...fumu....fumu...fumu... While repeating this over and over again, please look forward to the release! But please be careful your “fumu” doesn’t turn into “mufu”! Recently the sun has been hanging low in the sky so the sunshine is flooding my entire house, making the rooms shine ever so brightly; my plants seem to be very comfortable basking in the sun. On the left side of the picture you can see my Benjamin Lovely which I nicknamed “Love-chan”. She instantly charmed me when I came across her at the location I visited for my fan cub magazine feature. She is doing very well these days. Some of my babies stop growing during winter but others continue to grow. The sprouts you see in these pictures have recently come out, this plant is growing every day. It’s my Schefflera which I have nicknamed “Chef”. Chef is growing so much, it’s insane! Compared to when Chef came into my house for the first time 1 ½ years ago he has become HUGE. He has far exceeded the size I was told he would become. He is currently 2 metres high and has a width of about 1,5 metres. All my plants are growing towards my windows where the sun is shining through, once again that makes me realise how amazing, straightforward and smart plants are. Some of them have grown so big that they are almost covering my sofa at the window. When I am sitting there it pretty much feels like I am ♪ In the Jungle ♪ So whenever I feel a craving for the jungle, I will just take a seat on my sofa. Seeing my plants so alive and well is an amazing thing. ~fumufumu~ (← casually inserting my release date again) It’s now towards the end of the month that it is slowly starting to get a lot colder. Everyone, please take care of yourself and be sure to stay healthy. For those who had their final work day of the year today, you did a great job! For those who still have to work, please do your best but don’t overdo it! For all the students who are on their break right now, please enjoy yourselves! Those who have to study hard this winter, please don’t forget to eat and sleep regularly  (^ ^) Well then, until next time ~ ☆ (* '▽' *) / ~fumufumu~ *** Wakana ***

[putschki1969]

Livedoor News Interview ~ Translation

Original article: http://news.livedoor.com/article/detail/15354813/

Note: Here’s my English translation of Wakana’s long interview with Livedoor News. Enjoy! Once again she is being super honest and carefree. This interview addresses a lot of the same topics that were already mentioned in the SPICE talk but still, there is a lot of fun and interesting stuff to be found here. As always keep in mind that my Japanese is by no means perfect, take everything with a grain of salt. If you share my translation (or parts of it) LINK TO THIS POST and CREDIT me!

For each and every one of us there are new places to discover, new steps to take... In advance of her upcoming solo tour, Wakana reveals her thoughts

Wakana who has been well-loved for many years as member of Kalafina will hold her first solo tour 『Wakana Live Tour 2018～Toki wo Koete～』 starting on September 24. For our shoot she wore her private clothes, a very feminine outfit, she faced the camera smiling, “truth is, it’s been 10 years since I have had a proper simile on my face for a photoshoot!” On stage she is known for her beautifully resounding and overwhelming singing voice but her character is actually very cheerful and friendly. Throughout the interview she made all the staff members laugh with her funny facial expressions while she was talking energetically. 

I was worried about doing a solo tour…but I felt relieved by hearing the fans’ opinions

―― You are taking up the challenge of your first live tour which will span four cities all across the country (Tokyo, Fukuoka, Nagoya, Osaka). How did you feel when the tour was first decided?

I was very happy to be able to continue singing and I was looking forward to meeting lots of people again.

―― Please tell us about the background of this tour! Was it your wish to do this tour or was it your way of complying to the wishes and demands of the fans?

This wasn’t as much about what the fans wanted, it was first and foremost about myself, about my desire to sing. By chance I got offered the opportunity to do a live tour and I thought, “as long as I get to sing I am definitely up for it!” On the other hand I was also feeling anxious because I didn’t know how the fans would react. But there were so many nice and gentle people who were very happy to find out about it. I felt truly relieved hearing those voices.

―― Fukuoka is your hometown. This will be your very first triumphal return live all by yourself and not as part of Kalafina, right? Will your family and friends come to see you?

My close family lives in the Kanto area but lots of my other relatives and friends are planning to come, I hope they are looking forward to the concert.

―― Does it feel special to perform in your hometown as part of your tour?

I can’t help but being biased *laughs*. Once I started to live in Tokyo, I realised how much my hometown meant to me, I really started to appreciate it more. This feeling is strengthened even more because I get to do work like that and come back every once in a while to sing my music. I hope to convey my gratitude with my singing.  

―― You mean you want to repay all the favours to the place that made you the person that you are?

Yes. It is the place where I decided I wanted to become a singer. Fukuoka with all its beautiful mountains and the sea awakened this wish of singing within my heart. I am very happy about that.

―― Is there a particular place you always visit when you return to Fukuoka?

“Daichi no Udon”! *laughs* I always eat their burdock tempura udon. With wakame. And an egg.

―― That’s very specific *laughs*

I always stay somewhere near a restaurant so there’s no need to ask for the way *laughs* Anyways, whenever I go back home I am more into udon than ramen.

One day I suddenly noticed that I hadn’t sung for quite some time

―― On August 11 when you held your 『Kalafina “Wakana”・Ryu Masaki Symphony Concert with the Roma Italia Orchestra』 you mentioned that you hadn’t taken such a long break from singing in the past ten years.

It took a while to get my engine starting again, it wasn’t until the setlist had been decided that I finally started to sing again, until then I had taken a complete break from singing in my daily life. There was Kalafina’s 10th Anniversary Live in January and then I got to take part in two events in March but after that I didn’t have any chance to sing so I just ended up not singing for five months. In my ten years as part of Kalafina we were doing lives almost every month but these days such opportunities don’t arise very often. Once I had detached myself from singing, I started to focus on other things. I just did what I felt like doing and I listened to all the music that I didn’t get the chance to listen to before.

―― What was it that you felt like doing?

I bought a camera. Until then I had been taking pictures with my phone but owning your own camera is much more exciting. This way I am now able to properly immortalise all the moments in my life that are special to me. I feel like if you improve on certain things in life people will use their time in a better and much more efficient way. Up until recently it was always like, “there is so much I would like to do but I don’t have time so I will just do it some time in the future” and now that I have time it’s like, “I am doing this. Oh, let’s also do that. Or I will just do it tomorrow since I have time to spare”. I have also been really obsessed with my house.

―― Have you become a fan of interior design?

Yes! I really love plants! My green family continues to grow. My plan to make my house into a forest is steadily progressing *laughs* I had been into this kind of thing before but now I really got the chance to become deeply absorbed in it.

―― You just mentioned that you started using your own camera. Recently you have been uploading lots of sky pictures to your blog, were these taken with your new camera?

That’s right. Ever since I bought it back in July. I am also carrying it with me today. I just really love the sky so I can’t help but take lots of pictures of it.

―― What exactly made you decide to buy this particular camera?

Eh? I guess you could call it a spur of the moment thing? *laughs* The actress in the camera commercial was so cute, I immediately fell in love, “ahh, so cute! I want it! I am gonna buy it now!” So that’s the reason behind my purchase *laughs*

―― And the timing was perfect, right?

I have always had this dream of taking my own pictures and creating a special photo album for fan club members. For this tour I actually used my pictures for some of the merchandise so my dream is steadily coming true.

―― What did you make?

I created a t-shirt with one of my sky pictures printed on the front. While I was doing all these things I always wanted to do many of my dreams started unfolding. I thought it would be nice to realise some of them while I was taking a break from singing. You see, ít wasn’t really my intention to take a break from singing. But then I thought, “it’s been such a long time, I want to meet up with as many people as possible.” So I contacted everyone, all these people that I had made promises to but I was never able to meet and all my close friends that I try to see on a regular basis…and that’s how I ended up having loads of fun each and every day *laughs* It was so much fun that I actually wondered ,”can I spend the rest of my life just meeting up with people every day?” *laughs* And then at some point I suddenly realised, “eh? Now that you mention it, I really haven’t been singing at all for the longest time…”

For myself and my own life I should seek out all the things I love

―― When your solo live tour was announced you commented, “I have searched for various ways to sing my music. I have now found my way.” I wonder, what is “your way”?

Ah! *wry smile* That article was written after my short press conference. Prior to that I was informed that we would announce the tour that day so I was told to say this and that about the tour. Then when one of the reporters asked me, “have you found your way?” I thought this would be the perfect timing to say this and that *laughs* So I replied jokingly, “yes, I have found my way. Can you guess what it is?” Somehow a big deal was made out of this particular remark.

―― So that’s how it was…*laughs*

I think I will just continue to search for the things that I want to do., I feel like there are no limits to what I can do among this wide range of music. I thought I should continue searching for music I would be able to sing. But not just music, I should also seek out all the things that I love just for myself and my own life.

―― If you were to decide on a particular genre, you would just limit yourself, right?

Exactly. It would be a shame. But of course I also really love the music that I have done up till now as part of Kalafina with the other two members; because my love for that music is so strong I wanna continue conveying the happiness I feel when singing those songs. On top of that I have realised one thing in these past ten years, I should be exploring more personal aspects when it comes to music.

――So first and foremost it’s all about wanting to convey your songs in all kinds of ways?

Yes. I want to sing as much as possible.

Each person interprets lyrics differently. It’s what I felt when I wrote my first lyrics

―― What’s behind your tour title “Toki wo Koete /Transcending Time”?

It’s about me taking a new step, a step that’s “transcending time” and going beyond the past 10 years. During my concert in August the final song I performed was called “Toki wo Koeru Yoru ni”, I wrote the lyrics to this song, it was my first time ever writing lyrics so that’s also part of my reasoning for naming my tour like that. Time continues to pass by, all the things I have acquired in the past, all the things I will gain in the future, I want to feel and experience them one by one and I want the audience to feel them too, that’s why I thought the title was fitting.

―― How was it to write the lyrics for “Toki wo Koeru Yoru ni”?

I am still learning. It was my first time so I didn’t really know what I was doing. To think that in junior high school everyone was calling me a “poet” *laughs*. My friends and I would always exchange letters during class, we could never wait until the next break. Despite what it may have looked like, I was actually writing poems, it’s quite embarrassing to be honest *laughs*. My friends from that time still call me that.

―― So among your friends you are just known as “Wakana The Poet”? *laughs*

That’s right. Even back in elementary school it was like that, for example, one day there was heavy snowfall and my friends and I thought it was absolutely fascinating so I suggested. “hey, let’s all come up with a haiku while looking at the snow!!” It would be fun after all *laughs* It was so enthralling, I wanted everyone to think hard about it.

―― Did you make people laugh with your poem?

I came up with a super serious poem and everyone seemed to like it *laughs* So yeah, ever since then that image has stuck with me.

―― Did you write your lyrics while thinking back on that time?

It was completely different back then *laughs* The song had already been written so it was really hard to find lyrics that would fit.

―― Writing lyrics in accordance with musical notes is very hard it seems.

It is. I had no idea how to do it so I ended up having to teach myself. There is no such thing as a perfect result, I am still far from being happy with the final result. I have a lot to learn and there are so many parts within myself that I would like to change.

―― Were you influenced by Kajiura Yuki’s lyrics?

I didn’t even get the chance to be influenced by her lyrics. I simply didn’t have enough space to work with, “I can only fit two words into this part!” Some words of my favourite novelists were spinning around in my head so I let myself be inspired by that, I tried my very best and thought hard on it but then…I realised I just didn’t have the necessary vocabulary…

―― Speaking of which, whose works are you reading frequently?

I REALLY love Miyuki Miyabe and Keigo Higashino too much. I really like historical fantasies and psycho thrillers. And when I feel like reading some hardboiled fiction, I will read something by Go Osaka, his “Mozu” works in particular. I am really into the antihero-type police officers *laughs*

―― You could try incorporating the world views of these novels into your lyrics?

I have tried reading about three books for reference this time around but it didn’t help at all. The novels were really intriguing though! *laughs*

―― *laughs* So I am guessing these lyrics are your honest feelings. What kind of feelings did you put into this song?

I had a pretty clear vision of what I wanted to say but everyone has their own interpretation. People tend to see things their own way and I have realised that the songs I have listened to in the past might not have the meaning that I thought they would have had. Kajiura-san has shared some of her thoughts regarding the songs we have been singing for ten years but she has never been very precise. She always told us that everyone was free to think whatever they wanted.

―― So is it okay to sing the songs from a singer’s perspective with your own interpretation?

Of course as singers we have different perspectives too, we are listeners after all. Sometimes Kajiura-san would tell me, “truth is, I actually wrote it with this and that in mind” and then I was all like, “eh, THIS is supposed to be a love song!? I wouldn’t have guessed!” The next time I would always try to sing the song keeping Kajiura-san’s thoughts in mind. That’s why I think it’s best not to provide a proper answer for the meaning behind “Toki wo Koeru Yoru ni”. Whatever you feel while listening to it, it’s totally fine.

Kajiura-san’s music has its own life so I want to convey that

―― I think for this tour you were quite worried to sing Kalafina songs all by yourself?

Of course. I worried a lot about how everyone would feel about it. Back in August when I walked up on stage I felt like I was hearing all these voices from the audience, I was imagining all the questions from fans like, “why are you up there alone? Why is she singing these songs by herself?” It was my first time standing on stage all by myself in front of so many people. That’s probably why I felt this way. Thankfully though, I received a warm applause and I gladly accepted it.

――If you are singing songs that were made for three people all by yourself, I am sure some of the arrangements must have been changed?

Yes. As Kalafina the three of us would often sing at the same time in order to create harmony. That’s what Kajiura-san had in mind when Kalafina was first formed. We would each sing the main melody so I need to cover all three main parts, it feels like I am singing non-stop. It is difficult but I think I have figured out a way to do it so the songs sound fluid for the listener.

―― So you are also singing Keiko’s and Hikaru’s parts?

Yes, that’s what I did for my concert in August. I wanted to do the songs proper justice so I also had a supporting chorus consisting of four people. It has made me realise that Yuki Kajiura’s music brings great joy to the singer no matter which melody you are singing. And I have never sung all melodies before so it was a lot of fun. However, we have been saying this again and again, “Kalafina’s unique chorus work only exists because the three of us are singing together” and I believe that to be true. It’s something that’s ingrained within myself due to working together for the past ten years. And because it is such an integral part of me I would like to continue singing this music even if I am doing it all by myself.

―― Perhaps by singing Kalafina’s songs alone you will discover new things?

I have not yet reached that stage but yes, I might discover something in the future. For each and every one of us there are new places to discover, new steps to take, that’s just part of life. Right now I guess I am taking this route. We are each walking on separate routes and we are walking with determination. All I am thinking about is to face forward. I have received lots of messages from fans saying, “I don’t think I can follow a one-person-Kalafina”. I would like to write a letter to all of those people, telling them it’s fine *laughs*. It takes courage to say that, I respect that. But Kajiura-san’s music has its own life. It is such wonderful music so I just want to continue singing it.

I would like to take on a new challenge by just being myself, completely natural

―― The visuals for your tour seem very natural?

Kalafina’s lives were always connected to our albums or we would wear the outfits of our newest song or the production would be influenced by one of our anime tie ins. But this time around it was all about “myself”. I made sure to incorporate things that I like and while I was consulting with all kinds of people asking them what kind of stuff would be nice for my tour I slowly came up with a concept.

―― Your outfit today is lovely.

Thank you so much! I tried my very best choosing a nice outfit *laughs* I am wearing a white lace dress on the promotional flyer. So I thought for today I would wear something similar. As part of Kalafina I didn’t really do many photoshoots where I was able to wear this kind of floral pattern so I thought it was a good idea. Flashy colours are also welcome! *laughs*

―― I guess this is also a new challenge?

Yes but I am embracing this challenge! The visuals for this tour are very soft. For the first time ever in a photoshoot I was told it’s okay to laugh, “don’t you wanna try smiling a bit?”

――So smiling during your photoshoot was a new and fresh experience?

Yes, it was. It felt very natural and I thought it would be okay to smile. The fans may be surprised though. If you look at the pictures long enough some people might be able to recognise it. Gradually it will make sense. “eh, what’s that? It’s so different, I can’t tell…oh! *shock* Is that? Is that…a SMILE???!!!”  It might be like that for some people. *laughs* But being “natural”, being “true to myself” is very important to me. Of course there have been all kinds of pictures in the past, they were conveying a cool image for sure but in none of them I was able to be myself.

―― Even during our Kalafina interviews I always got the impression that you smiled a lot *laughs*

Indeed! I have been laughing a lot ever since my days in elementary school when I was suggesting haikus and other stuff. And I really want to make people smile as well *laughs* When I meet my friends after having not been able to see them for a long time we always end up talking about these childhood stories, we will laugh so much that we start crying. That’s a lot of fun, right? Even though 20 years have passed it is still a lot of fun. That makes me very happy.

―― Would you like to include lots of fun stuff in your MCs as well?

If it’s possible then I would definitely like to try it *laughs* But I don’t think I can. If I am talking to someone it’s fine. For example, I am confident that I can have a very funny conversation with my taxi driver *laughs* But MCs aren’t conversations, it’s pretty much a one-way street and there is always this time lag where you wait for a reaction. This time around I will try to do normal and proper MCs, after all I don’t want to scare off people who are coming to see me for the first time. There might be some people who don’t know about Kalafina so I want to do a live that makes sense for them as well. That’s what I want to do. I don’t want any member of my audience to feel left out or lonely.

―― So you want every time to feel like it is the first time?  

Yes, I would like that. Not just while performing, in my daily life as well, when I am meeting people, when I am talking to people. I think that’s very important. You are destined to meet the people in your life. I want to meet them with a smile on my face and I want to say goodbye with a smile, I think that makes life so much better.

[putschki1969]

2021/08/19 Blog post by Wakana ありがとう大阪！〜サメが好きなんだねぇ〜

Thank you Osaka！〜I really love sharks〜

❗This is Fan Club EXCLUSIVE content❗ ❗PERSONAL USE ONLY❗ Do ❗NOT SHARE❗ on other sites ❗ Join her FAN CLUB! Check out my detailed TUTORIAL ❗

There are new goods for every live performance. I am always thinking about fun items that everyone will enjoy so during staff meetings I suggest various goods and discuss the benefits with the staff members. Inevitably, the number of goods which I and the staff members bring home increases steadily. By the way, one of the staff members who is in charge of the goods at my agency has a cute little son. One day this cute boy asked him: "Daddy, you really love sharks don’t you?" What could daddy possibly have answered? *laughs*

Hello, this is Wakana (0￣ ▽ ￣0) /

When I heard this story, I wondered if everyone who buys my goods has has a similar experience! ?? 😹 [Note: Indeed I did!!] Every time a work colleague, a family member, a partner or even a stranger sees your shark or gyoza goods, I guess they will end up saying something like, "oh, you really like sharks (gyoza), don’t you?"（´-`）.｡oO Everyone, I'm really sorry for all the goods that make people ask all those difficult questions 😂 But still, I would like to continue making these goods 🤣🤣

Well now! The other day, on August 15th, I held my first performance of "Wakana Anime Classic 2021" in Osaka! I was very much looking forward to performing at Izumi Hall, which opened in April 1990 and celebrated its 30th anniversary last year. The warmth of the wood feels very welcoming, the acoustics are majestic, the reverberation time is between 1.8 and 2 seconds,     which is regarded as the best time for classical chamber music. [Note: Apparently the Hall was modeled after the “Grosser Musikvereinssaal (Musikverein Main Hall) in Vienna”, home of the Vienna Philharmonic. Neat!]

There was only one performance in Osaka so I gave my all and tried to sqeeze as much into the concert as possible. I felt very heated so that may have come across in the music 😅 I wonder if everyone else felt the heat as well 😅 The musicians were cool and calm but still full of passion, as expected from them (please teach me!) I expected a somewhat wild and rough performance but I was taken aback by the delicately spun sound of each and every note (* ´Д ｀ *). The music only existed on that day, so I wanted to treasure that experience, really see it all, hear it all and then move on. Live performances are truly a fascinating thing.

All the kind expressions in the audience gave me a lot of energy, the powerful applause gave me courage. thank you very much!!! I think some people couldn’t come to the concert due to the record heavy rain that hit western Japan last week. But I'm sure we'll meet again someday soon! Let's all look forward to that day ♪ \\\\ ٩ ('ω') و ////

The next performance will be on September 4th! at Kioi Hall, Tokyo! Oh, I can’t tell you how happy I am to talk about “a next performance” (* ^^ *) Last year's and this year’s "Wakana Anime Classic", "Wakana Spring Live ~ magic moment ~" and the FC events were all one-day performances. Of course, that’s makes them even more special and unique (* ^^ *) But  still, I am so grateful that this time, we can have three performances in two places. I am very happy to be able to meet so many of you! Also, on September 4th, there will be live streaming option!!! ･: * +. \ ((° ω °)) /.:+ If you have difficulty getting to the venue, let’s meet online ♪

And on the 21st (Sat), the day after tomorrow, there will be an online talk event limited to those who purchased the LE of my Blu-ray "Wakana Spring Live ~ magic moment ~ 2021"!!! I am planning to tell some fun stories, behind-the-scenes anecdotes, etc. Once again, Bunta Nagamatsu-kun will join me \( ˆoˆ )/ Please look forward to it~!!!

By the way, at the beginning of this post I talked about goods first, is it okay to talk some more about them? Time time I designed a "Gyozame-chan shirt", during my video I wore the shirt but I think it was difficult to get a good feel for the different sizes. 😅 We are also introducing a new size, XL, so I asked my amazing musicians to do some modeling for me!!! 😂😂😂 Sorry I am asking this of the three of you! But really, it’s perfect because everyone is so tall! Yuki-san in particular is very tall! I made Shin-san try on M so unfortunately the shirt couldn’t be closed, his shoulders are just too wide. 😂 Muroya-san felt very at home in the shirt so it naturally looks very good on him. I hope you now have a good idea about what it looks like in real, especially concering the sleeves and leThe shirt is available until August 22nd (Sun) ♪

And then there is the "clear pouch" which hasn't been properly shown in my video! This is what the real thing looks like~ (° ▽ °) The mobile battery that was sold last year fits perfectly ♪ With the battery inside the pouch there is a pattern within the pattern, too many layers of pattern ... How many gyoza and sharks are there (and hippos)? It's small and very cute! Everyone, let’s to wear a Gyozame-chan shirt. And let's use this pouch so everyone will point out "oh, you must really like sharks (gyoza)"!

https://spacecraft-shop.jp/wakana

Last but not least, here’s a picture of today’s lunch! (random, I know).  One of my staples, “tofu nattto”, tofu sprinkled with natto, sesame kelp, soy sauce and green onions! Millet rice and minestrone, which I made this morning! It was delicious ~ ♪ What should I make tonight? ♪

Well, until next time〜☆( *'▽'*)/

*** Wakana ***

[putschki1969]

2022/10/17 Blog post by Wakana  クリスマスコンサートだよ！〜月下美人も咲きました！〜

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It’s a Christmas Concert！〜My Queen of the Night Bloomed Again！〜

Last night, my Queen of the Night bloomed〜＼(^o^)／This is how she looked during the day. Just about to burst into blooming. This time, 3 blossoms came out at the same time✨🌼🌼🌼✨ I'm super happy about that because it's been a long time since my plant has bloomed 🥰Surprisingly, the scent was pretty strong yesterday 😳I wonder why? It felt more overwhelming than usual, the scent spread throughout the entire house😳 I wonder if it's because three buds started blooming at the same time 🤔 But that’s something that has happened before so I am not sure why the scent was this strong...🤔Maybe I just forgot about the strong smell🥺 The mystery deepens... 

Hello, this is Wakana (0￣▽￣0)／ 

Maybe it's because I didn't water my baby enough during the hot summer months? 😳Somehow the nutrients might have been successfully preserved in the flowers? I have no idea (´ε｀ ) I will post pictures of the blossoms on Instagram, so please check them out🧚💕 

Well, the other day, we finally got to announce my "Wakana Classics 2022 ~Christmas Special~"!! ️\\\\٩( 'ω' )و //// This is gonna be my third time ending the year with a concert at Kioi Hall🥰✨I am so grateful that I have been able to hold this sort of concert for three years in a row ever since 2020. Back then during, the world had changed completely and it made me almost desperate to share my music with you. However, there were many moments when I despaired at how little I could do, I was confronted with so many of my weaknesses and inadequacies. Those days were filled with a lot of self-reflection and I felt like I was a huge burden to everyone...(TдT)←To be honest, I still feel this way...Even so, everyone came to see and provided warm support, I was truly grateful. It once again made me realise that live concert can only exist with the help of many people coming together. In that way, I feel Kioi Hall is filled with lots of precious memories.

Now this year will be my third time at the venue, my concert will be held on December 25th, Christmas Day! ️🦌🎅✨I'm sorry for picking such a festive date, hopefully I am not interfering too much with your schedule for this once-in-a-year special occasion😂😂I would be more than happy to spend such a wonderful day with you, so please be sure to come!! This time, we are also offering a special ticket 🥰It includes a present 🎁 and some as-of-yet unspecified fun after-live-activitiy. I'm so excited! (((o(*ﾟ▽ﾟ*)o)))♡ What should we do!? Would you like to have a gyoza after-party with me?! *laughs* No, I'm sorry, I’m just kidding. We can’t really do that😂😂 But that’s pretty much what I would like to do, I just want to create even more wonderful memories with everyone😍💕 

Last but not least, here are some off-shots from the concert visual shoot 📸Look at me laughing in the second one... 

Until next time~☆(*'▽'*)/ 

＊＊＊Wakana＊＊＊

[putschki1969]

2022/09/06 Blog post by Wakana 雨の中ありがとうございました！〜楽しい大阪滞在記〜

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Thank you for coming despite the rain! 〜An Enjoyable Stay in Osaka〜

I got some pears a little while ago! (°▽°) There’s someone who always sends them to the agency, they are super delicious every year (*^^*) Thank you! One of them is this big(°▽°) Crazy, right?? It’s quite heavy too! But funnily enough, I can easily eat a whole fruit in one sitting 🙄← I can’t help it, I end up eating too much. This makes me feel like autumn is close…🎑 [Note: YAY, we got our pear pics just as expected. Wakana is quite vague about the generous donor but I wanna believe that these pears are from Hikaru]

Hello, this is Wakana (0￣▽￣0)／

It's going to be a little cooler from now on~. I'm super happy that because lately the air has been fresher and more comfortable in the evening😚♪

Well, last week I held my Billboard Live in OSAKA! I felt a strong urge to rattle the glittery curtain at the back of the stage. And this is what the venue looked like in the midst of preparation ♪ I was happy to see everyone being able to relax while attending both of my performances that day. I am truly grateful that we were all able to gather in this amazing venue, spend precious moments together, and share our love for music. I think it's nothing short of a miracle to be able to stand on stage together and perform with such talented musicians. I want everyone's faces to be engraved into my memories. I hope you can all treasure these memories forever in your hearts to look back on them fondly.I wanna come back to Osaka soon to see all of you again! Thank you very much for coming!! (*'▽'*)

And here we have the delicious Billboard meal I had after my performances (´ω｀) This time they had a buffet so I was greedy and put a ton of stuff on my plate! ! \\\\٩( 'ω' )و //// It was delicious〜〜〜〜❤️ I wonder what everyone else got to eat and drink? I got a glass of beer for myself. Even though I don’t usually drink it😂 I thought it was the most delicious drink in the world! It's amazing... wheat beer... 🥺🥺✨

Since my Osaka performances started pretty late in the day, we decided to stay overnight and return the next day. The next day, I wanted to use the opportunity and do some sightseeing! I was so excited that I asked all the members in the audience to tell me their recommendations. It was quite sunny the following day in Osaka even though there had been a big thunderstorm on the day of the event! 🌞 (Why is the weather like that...??!!) However, heavy rain was predicted for my shinkansen route and there was a high possibility of delays so we decided to take an early train home. Unfortunately that meant that I didn’t get a chance to check out any of your recommended places😭😭*sobs* There were a lot of people who took the trouble to send me a lot of recommendations on my social media, some of you even included a bunch of photos. I'm really sorry that I didn’t get to go to any of these places...😢 But next time!

By the way, I was thinking of going to this exhibition here [It Went Extinct For Some Reason] Sounds like a lot of fun! ? ! ? ? They apparently have a large collection of fossils and specimen...! Seems like it was a limited summer exhibtion ←So I am too late. I randomly found this little flyer in the taxi on my way to the train station and immediately thought, "This must be a message from God!" It’s very disappointing that I missed this, I really wanted to go😢 Oh well, I will continue to live my life dreaming of the day when I can eventually come back to Osaka! !

Well, next up is my Billboard Live YOKOHAMA this Friday, September 9th! I'm looking forward to seeing everyone in Yokohama! ! Please be patient a little while longer! (((o(*ﾟ▽ﾟ*)o))) 

Until next time☆(*'▽'*)/

＊＊＊Wakana＊＊＊

[putschki1969]

「KEIKO First Live K001 ～I'm home～ 」First Impression

1.Be Yourself: Live instruments sound so much better here than in the studio version but Keiko is quite shouty and out-of-tune during some parts (mostly the chorus). Maybe not the best start but hey, I still enjoyed it. 2. 始まりは | Hajimari wa (Beginning): Better than the studio version imo but overall pretty similar. 3. Ray: Definitely better than the studio version. A lot more ooomph if you ask me. By now KEIKO is really into it and not as shouty as she was for “Be Yourself”. Unfortuantely they kept those weird electronic sounds from the studio version in the live back-up track. I had hoped they would get rid of those.

MC:She greets everyone at the venue and watching at home. She hopes we will all have a great time. Next up is a song that hasn’t been revealed yet.

4. 溜め息の消える街 |Tameiki no Kieru Machi (A Town Where Sighs Disappear): New song for the album. I like it but it’s not my favourite. From what I can make out, the lyrics are lovely though. Love the rainy vibe

MC:Keiko loves how the following song opens up wide sceneries. She has always liked that about songs so after consulting with all kinds of people, she decided to pick this song for herself even though it’s quite different from all her other songs. It’s actually the oldest song among all her pieces.

5. 茜 | Akane (Madder Red): A very traditional sound with some Chinese elements I think. Kinda like Wakana’s Kinmokusei but not quite as good imo. But still, I am blown away, such a beautiful ballad. Fits Keiko’s voice perfectly. LOVE IT (just a few tiny little off-key moments but nothing too bad)

MC: Self Introduction. 10 years of Kalafina and vocalist at YK’s lives. Some promotion for YK’s upcoming live. For the next section she wants to cover some songs that she has sung during YK lives in the past.

6. 宝石 | Houseki (Jewel): The musicians don’t do a good job here, the drums in particular sound quite out of place and borderline grating to my ears. Or is it just me? Keiko is providing lovely and solid vocals but imo they aren’t quite on par with the FJ performances I have seen in the past. 7. 風の街へ | Kaze no Machi he (Towards the Town of Wind): This one on the other hand is absolutely FLAWLESS imo, KEIKO hits every note and I just love how she chooses to sing her lines. It’s different from her old style so I don’t think you can compare it to those FJ performances from the past. But it does remind me of the more recent performance I saw during the YK live in Taiwan. The musicians also sound much more balanced here.

MC: Keiko talks about the venue being in Shibuya which is a very important place for her. She would come here weekly during her time in school since she took voice training lessons here. At one point she heard a song by Yutaka Ozaki at Shibuya Scramble Square and immediately fell in love. During her time in Kalafina she would always name him as the artist that has influenced her most. So of course she has to cover one of his songs for this live.

8. I LOVE YOU (Yutaka Ozaki Cover): This made me cr even though I have never heard this song before. You can tell KEIKO feels strongly about his music.

MC: Introduction of musicians & reading some comments Bass.目黒郁也 Ikuya Meguro (she loves his solo in Kaze no Machi he) Key.ミトカツユキ Katsuyuki Mito (he sings a bit in Hajimari wa) Gt.和田建一郎 Kenichiro Wada (Hajimari wa, Tameiki no Kieru Machi) Dr.北村望 Nozomu Kitamura (she met him at the PrincessPrincipal live)

Everyone is going crazy about Kacchan (the pianist) in the comments. She shows off her haribo gummies and M&Ms in the clear bottle. Lots of fans are having dinner while watching the live which Keiko finds super cool. She had steamed buns for breakfast. I love that she is wearing her super old boots that she used to wear back in her Kalafina-days (during live-house encores in particular). She chose an outfit in which she feels relaxed. Keiko wanted some up-beat songs for her live so the following two were chosen quite quickly.

9. エンドロール (End roll) : So the bracketed lyrics are backing vocals provided by herself. No guest vocal unfortunately. Either way, a really good song that gets everyone hyped just as promised in the tweets. Reminds me of a song but I don’t know which one. I guess this is Keiko’s “Ongaku”, maybe it even reminds me of that? 10. Change the World’s Colour: Her deep voice is back!!! Combined with a super high vibrato voice during the bridge (just wow - that singing style is gorgeous, reminds me of her singing in Sans Toi M’amie). Btw, for a second there I thought she was gonna sing “Mata Kaze ga Tsuyoku Natta”

MC: She talks about her countdown tweets where she wrote down some lyrics of the previous two songs and was teasing everyone with some hints. Keiko probably wouldn’t have chosen those two songs if it hand’t been for this live stream concert. She thanks everyone for waiting so long for her return. She is super grateful to be able to hold this live.

11. 命の花 | Inochi no Hana (Flower of Life): Stunning! As gorgeous as the studio version but much more impactful.

ENCORE: Album Release =>  December 2; It was planned for autumn but it ended up being winter. She apologises for letting us wait. Her excitement when she mentions that YK has written a song for her album and Kore-chan has provided the guitar playing is so freaking cute. She is the most precious human-being on this planet.

12. 七色のフィナーレ | Nanairo no Finale (Finale of Seven Colours): my first thought was that it sounded kinda futuristic XD Also, you can definitely tell it’s a YK song but it really fits Keiko’s solo style. Love it, a super catchy tune, the chorus in particular. And those lalalas!!! *is dead* 13.& 14 Double Encore Synchronicity & Nohara  (Venue ONLY): Wish I had been there T_T

»——————⋆◦★◦⋆——————«

Can’t wait to rewatch the archived version. My faves (in no particular order) were probably Ray, Akane, Kaze no Machi he, I LOVE YOU, End Roll, Change the World's Color, Inochi no Hana and Nanairo no Finale.

You CAN STILL BUY tickets so be sure to SUPPORT KEIKO! It’s totally worth the money. The live lasted about 1 1/2 hours, pretty short but an okay length for a first solo live I would say. The audio and video quality are great and now that the live is archived till September 13 you won’t have to deal with any streaming issues. Find my TUTORIAL here. Keiko sounded fine for the most part but occassionally she was a bit out-of-tune. She is really straining her voice with this new singing style. It’s a bit of a hit and miss I feel. But I think she will eventually figure out how to sing her songs in the best way possible. Wakana did the same thing.

Now I am gonna try to order the live goods. Will let you know whether it works or not. EDIT: Okay, I couldn’t do it since the payment needs to take place on delivery...Stupid methods from the dark ages...Need to find another way to get my hands on the goods.

»——————⋆◦★◦⋆——————«

Based on her past experiences, an original album which expresses a "new KEIKO" with various sounds will be released on December 2nd!! A special song written for KEIKO by Yuki Kajiura - a legend within the world of anisong - will be included in this album. It’s titled "七色のフィナーレ | Finale of Seven Colours" and the lyrics are written by KEIKO!! Release date： 2020/12/2  Title：to be decided 【CD Contents】 ・命の花 ・Be Yourself ・Ray ・始まりは ・七色のフィナーレ and others (a total of 10 songs)

https://avex.jp/keiko-singer/news/detail.php?id=1085854

»——————⋆◦★◦⋆——————« 

Hikaru’s reaction tweet after watching KEIKO’s live stream concert.

I had a great time filled with lots of fun and happiness. Looking forward to the album!

[putschki1969]

ネイルしながら歌う動画  Doing my Nails while Singing Video

Wakana is doing SO MUCH for her fan club members these days! This time she is showing us how she does her nails. But since nail stuff by itself too boring to just watch, she decided to spice things up by singing a few songs in between (a 20-minute video full of awesomeness!!). Here’s a tiny sneak peek of her singing “Edelweiß” from “The Sound of Music”

❗Please support Wakana❗

❗Join her Fan Club❗

❗Read my TUTORIAL here❗

All you need is a proxy service like TENSO and a credit card. PLEASE consider joining! Wakana is providing so much awesome content. It’s totally worth the annual membership fee of 4.000 yen! I want to motivate people to join Wakana’s fan club so I will not share the content publicly. However, I really don’t like withholding content so I will resort to the following plan 〈(•ˇ‿ˇ•)-→

👉LIKE and REBLOG my posts about Wakana’s fan club content

👉Leave a REPLY explaining why you currently cannot join the fan club / If you have already done this, just say you would like to receive a link

👉I will send you a Google Drive link via direct message

👉DO NOT SHARE the link or its content anywhere

Here’s a list of the songs she is singing 〈(•ˇ‿ˇ•)-→

涙そうそう (Nada Sōsō ) by Rimi Natsukawa

初恋 (Hatsukoi) by Kōzō Murashita

Edelweiß (from the movie “Sound of Music”)

君がいるだけ (Kimi ga Iru dake) by Kome Kome Club

卒業写真 (Sotsugyō Shashin) by Yumi Arai

アイノカタチ (Ai no Katachi) feat. HIDE (GReeeeN) by MISIA

Wakana is too precious for this world. It improves my mood so much to just watch her having this much fun with singing and doing her nails. Also, she is so freaking good at this gel-nail-thingy. This kinda makes me want to try it too.  It’s amazing how she manages to sing and paint her nails at the same time (although she admits it’s super hard).

If you want a specific part of the video translated, please let me know!

[putschki1969]

Wakana Winter Special Live Matataki Osaka Live Report

So, I thought I would use the opportunity to write a quick report on my Shinkansen ride back to Tokyo.

Venue: This was my first time attending a concert at a live house so this was a pretty new experience for me. Everything is so small and intimate. Thank God they had seats prepared. For a long time I was worried this would be an all-standing live (which I absolutely would have hated). Umeda Quattro was a pain in the ass to find though. It’s hidden quite well on the 10th floor of a pretty inconspicuous building. And if you have ever been to Umeda, you know it’s a pretty spacious station. The elevator is out of service in the morning so we had to take the stairs to line up for the goods. I am so happy that her Osaka lives were completely sold out, Wakana deserves all of her concerts to be sold out! I really hope the Tokyo venue won’t be too empty, it would make me really sad, especially since it’s her birthday. Btw, I really love how it pays off to be a fan club member these days! I remember back in the Kalafina days being a fan club member never made a difference when it came to your seats. But I have always gotten a good seat with my Botanical Land application. So as always I suggest you get yourself a membership if you are planning to attend any Wakana lives in the future.

Acoustics: The acoustics naturally weren’t the best but I thought they were decent enough. During the Day performance I had a seat in the very first row right in front of Wakana. The sound was well balanced in that area. During the Evening performance I was in the third row all the way on the right side so the sound wasn’t too great there (it wasn’t balanced at all and since the speaker was right next to me, everything was a little too loud for my taste but it was bearable). I thought Wakana’s microphone had just the right volume to suit the instruments. She wasn’t overshadowed by the drums or anything.

Stage production and musicians: There wasn’t any special production, just the musicians behind Wakana. As far as I am concerned they all did a good job, especially the girl on percussion, she was really into it. I didn’t think they could make all her songs work with just piano, percussion and guitar but they managed to make everything sound great. Enjoyed all the arrangements!! Wakana was wearing a gorgeous flowy red dress that was giving off major Christmas vibes. She just wore her own pair of boots, the one we have seen her wear all the time recently. For the encore she put on her Aki no Sakura outfit. Couldn’t help but look at her pretty ankles, I have never seen them this up-close *feels like a perv saying this* There were obviously no cameras so there is zero chance of this being released in case anyone was wondering. I always get so many questions regarding releases :P

Vocals: Personally I thought Wakana was flawless during the very slow ballads but I didn’t enjoy her singing all that much during the high-tempo Kalafina songs (I never really did). Then there are songs like Kinmokusei and Yakusoku no Yoake where I know she is purposefully using a higher pitch but at times she is treading a fine line between sounding lovely and screechy. But overall, she delivered a strong performance despite doing so many songs in one day. I was expecting her voice to get a little weak during the Evening performance but for the most part, she did well. You can tell she has really worked on her stamina.

MCs: Wakana was much more nervous during the day performance. She kept screwing up and saying the wrong thing in the wrong order XD It was utterly adorable. She was constantly holding her water bottle/towel. It happened at night as well but she was much more confident there. During the first MC of the Day performance Wakana noticed me in the first row and pointed out that someone was wearing one of her outfits. Imagine my happiness!! I was over the moon! To have her say this in front of all these people. Waaaaaahhh!!! Senpai noticed me XD At the end of the Evening performance during the final greeting Wakana started crying because she was overwhelmed with feelings. They were happy tears because she was reflecting on all the things that had happened that year. It was a good and productive year for her after all, she can be proud. She tried squeezing her nose to stop crying but it didn’t work. Precious baby *sobs*

Day vs. Evening: In total three songs were different at the Evening performance. She sang Hard Rain instead of Boku no Kokoro no Tokei, snow falling instead of Yasashii Uta and she added a double encore to sing Ato Hitotsu. I am expecting the Tokyo lives to follow a similar - if not the same - pattern. Overall the evening audience was a bit more engaged. Louder clapping, proper singing along and a standing ovation at the end.

Thoughts on various songs: Not gonna go into detail regarding every single song. Eve was most definitely one of the highlights! I originally said that lyrics would seem overbearing with this sort of song but the way they arranged it made it work. Such a gorgeous song!! And Wakana’s vocals are simply outstanding. I remember her saying in an Instagram post that she was struggling while rehearsing this song since the notes were so high. At the time I read that post I was a little confused because she doesn’t actually sing that high in the short studio version. Now it makes sense because this full version with Japanese lyrics has super high parts and oh my God, Wakana sounds amazing. She is using a fuller voice which suits the song much better. Cannot wait to hear this two more times!! *so excited* I really hope this song is re-released soon!! I need to have this on CD!!! Orange was really good but nothing to write home about. I always enjoy Boku no Kokoro no Tokei and this time was no exception, I was a little bummed to have it replaced with Hard Rain during the night performance but hey, at least this way we got more songs. And she did a good job with that too. I actually liked this performance more than the one from the Voice tour. Her singing was nicer and she improvised a bit towards the end. I already mentioned Kinmokusei earlier, I absolutely love this song and generally enjoyed the performance but occasionally Wakana is getting to a range that doesn’t sound pleasant to my ears anymore. I know she is going for a pentatonic sound and maybe I am just not used to that but some notes were just too high for my liking. But it didn’t take away from the performance, it’s one of my favourite songs from her album so I am super happy she decided to sing it. As expected, I liked Yuuyake much more once I saw it performed live but it’s still not among my favourites.

Ahhhh!! The Christmas section! I was hoping she would sing a few Christmas pieces and YAY, she actually did!!! A staff member brought out a small chair and a lyrics stand for Wakana (since all the songs were in English she struggled quite a bit so I am guessing she had some notes to help her with the pronunciation). That Silent Night performance was utterly gorgeous! It started with the pianist using a fancy organ setting. Wakana started slowly by using a very warm and ethereal singing style - almost operatic I would say. I literally broke into tears, it was so unbelievably beautiful!! Wakana needs to release a Christmas cover album RIGHT NOW!!! After the first epic verse the other band members joined in and the song became a bit lighter and joyful, towards the end it was almost a pop-like arrangement, not sure how to explain it. Quite fascinating as a whole, I genuinely enjoyed the different styles used in the song. I didn’t know the second Christmas song at all and Wakana’s Engrish made it very hard to decipher the lyrics. But thankfully I understood the word “eskimos” so I just looked for a Christmas song that had “eskimos” in the lyrics XD Turns out there is only one, The Christmas Song. Not sure why Wakana decided to sing this. Maybe it’s very popular in Japan? No idea! Anyways, it was okay. She sounded lovely. Don’t really care for the song though, there are MUCH better Christmas songs out there that would have suited her better but I am sure she had her reasons. All I Want for Christmas is You on the other hand was PERFECT for Wakana. Such a pleasant surprise. You could tell that she had sung that song many times before, she felt much more comfortable with the English lyrics. And she slayed!! It’s no easy feat to cover a Mariah Carey song but she did it quite brilliantly. This is not a song I usually enjoy but Wakana made me like it!!

Now we get to Kalafina’s section which was surprisingly my least favourite. I will be honest, I didn’t like her Kalafina song choice here at all. The fact that she decided to stick with the original fast arrangements didn’t help either. I wonder why she didn’t go with a slow acoustic arrangement...that would have helped her a lot....Wakana has always had a hard time with these songs, you could tell she was straining her voice even back then during Kalafina days when she had Keiko and Hikaru singing alongside her. All by herself the songs got so much harder. Wakana admitted that these songs were super hard for her but she wanted to perform them for the fans. Seeing everyone’s happy face was worth the struggle according to her. As always the cheers were super loud for the Kalafina songs. Eden was okay, I know the song means a lot to Wakana and she really did her best but meh, she was out of breath a lot. Into the world was definitely my favourite in this section. I actually thought she was gonna sing Natsu no Ringo because the intro sounded just like it but no, it was just a fancy intro that transitioned nicely to the more familiar sound of into the world. She sounded solid during all parts and it’s just such a perfect fit for the journey she is now taking. It was quite moving to have her sing it. Her final “into the world” was amazing!!! Didn’t like ring your bell at all!! Probably my least favourite performance of the live. I never liked her singing style in this song and except for the final “ring your bell and raise your song” I found her singing quite screechy (mostly during the chorus). And for some reason she didn’t sing the bridge which is hands down my favourite part of the song (where she typically uses a more fitting and lovely singing style). Such a shame. (;_;)

Wakana is so much better with her own mid/high-tempo songs. Tsubasa and Kimi Dake no Stage were lots of fun!! Everyone was clapping along! Nothing out of the usual, pretty similar to her Voice performances I would say. But the best was without a doubt Koi wa Itsumo!!! Still cannot believe how much I love this song, it’s so freaking good!! Just wish she would have sung the “baby, baby” parts but since some parts are overlapping with her other lines she obviously couldn’t do it XD At the end she was asking us to sing along to the “haha koi wa haha itsumo haha sekai wo kaeru no” part and eventually we were singing all by ourselves. It was really nice. I am happy the audience participated. Usually it’s hard to get Japanese audiences to engage in something unexpected like that. During the Evening performance everyone had already figured it out so they were much more involved. She ended the main part of her live with Yakusoku no Yoake. Once again we got the gorgeous organ setting and Wakana sang a slightly slowed down version of the intro. It was so much better than the studio version or the performances from the Voice tour. Reminded me a lot of the first verse of Silent Night. The rest of the song was good but a little too high pitched at times.

As for the encore, OMG, Wakana’s solo versions of both Yasashii Uta [Day] as well as snow falling [Night] were PERFECT!! Utterly flawless!!! I am so grateful she sang these two songs, I was really hoping and praying for snow falling!!! Don’t even know what else to say about it. I personally didn’t mind the absence of Keiko and Hikaru, Wakana managed well on her own. Aki no Sakura was slowed down a tiny bit for the live I think...liked it much more like this. Generally it was a very good performance that made me appreciate the song a lot more. Ahhhh, so happy we got Ato Hitotsu as double encore during the Evening performance. It wasn’t as moving as her Voice performance but still super lovely.

Okay, that’s it for me. I had a blast. Not regretting going for all four Wakana lives. Cannot wait for tomorrow.

[putschki1969]

Wakana SPICE Interview TRANSLATION

Source: https://spice.eplus.jp/articles/261442

Notes: Finally, here’s my translation of Wakana’s SPICE interview. This took forever. *sobs* But it was worth it. It’s a really nice and candid interview, I adore it. Wakana is so precious talking about love and I really like how she is so honest about her struggles when it comes to meeting the expectations of fans. Takeshi Kato is a great interviewer and it’s obvious that both Wakana as well as Hikaru feel very comfortable wiith him. Please keep in mind that my Japanese is by no means perfect, neither is my English. I still tried my best though. Credit me if you use this translation or parts of it elsewhere!!

Wakana talks about Love ~ Enclosed in her first EP is「her real self which she wants to convey」

Wakana has released her first EP 「Aki no Sakura EP」 on November 20. This work is all about showcasing her clear singing voice which has been dubbed “Botanical Voice” as well as depicting a more familiar and real sense of femininity. Wakana is in the midst of preparing for her 『Wakana Winter Special Live 2019 ～Matataki～』which will take place in Osaka and Tokyo starting from December 8. She has taken the time to sit down with me and talk about “LOVE” and all the secret stories behind this release. 

―― Today I would like to hear everything you have got to say about your release「Aki no Sakura EP」. Does it feel like you have been very busy with work lately?

Yes! All I have been doing is make music, in fact, I am working on something new as we speak. I would like to go into more detail ... but all I can say is that it’s amazing *laughs*. So yeah, I will be busy working until the end of the year..

―― Your title song is promoted as “Autumn Sakura Song” where one is thinking about a love that started in the cherry blossom season while strolling around in autumn surrounded by fallen leaves. I think this is a very rare approach. How did you come up with this motif?

When I first got to choose this song I thought that the recurring melody of the 「咲いて咲いて咲い | saite saite saite | blooming blooming blooming」 part was very catchy,  it’s something that stays with you, something you won’t easily forget.  This song already came with lyrics and I didn’t change anything about this particular section - 「秋の桜がもう咲いて咲いて咲いて | aki no sakura ga mou saite saite saite | the Autumn cherry blossoms are already blooming」. The title was also “Aki no Sakura” from the get-go but the world-view presented in the song was quite different in the beginning so I put some finishing touches to the lyrics in order to create a more real atmosphere that would suit me better. 

―― I see, you added bits of your own world-view to it?.

Yes, I was actually talking about this yesterday but the song description “thinking about a love that started in the cherry blossom season while strolling around in autumn surrounded by fallen leaves” kinda suggests that it was a short love that only lasted a few months, doesn’t it? But I will tell you something, that’s not really the case *laughs*. 

――It really does sound like that though *laughs*..

If you read the lyrics carefully, there is a section that says, 「落ち葉を鳴らして笑いあったね | ochiba wo narashite warai atta ne | Among the rustling of the fallen leaves we shared laughter」which implies that those two lovers spent at least one autumn together already, so they have been together for more than a year!

―― They started dating in Spring but their love didn’t end in Autumn.

Yes Yes Yes! Just yesterday I was recording a comment all by myself and I caught myself saying, “it’s about a love that started in Spring and ended in Autumn”. I immediately backpedaled and scolded myself because that’s absolutely not what the song is about. I really had to think hard about how to put it into words *laughs*. 

――People tend to interpret it as a brief summer love, I guess.

When you listen to Aki no Sakura, I think there are many people who immediately think of a contained space where just Autumn Cherry Blossom exist. But I want people to listen closely to the lyrics of the song to get to the truth. I personally believe that the lyrical main character of the song has held their loved one dear to their heart for a very long time. When you see dead leaves flying in the Autumn wind people might be reminded of the cherry blossom season, you are just looking at the scenery and all of a sudden that certain Spring comes to mind and everything else that’s buried within your heart. I think this song is not so much about remembering a specific time or moment,  it’s more about a very memorable person and all the associations you have with them.

―― I personally didn’t see it as a summer fling, I thought it was about a moment or situation that reminds you of a love from a long time ago.

There is definitely a sense of suddenly being overcome with memories, I think many people will see it like that as well.

―― Memories... they do have a habit of hitting us all of a sudden. And to our surrounding it all seems so insignificant. That comes across well in the chorus. In that sense, I think it is quite the sad song. For me it was very refreshing to hear you sing a song like that - a song about someone who is so clearly recalling a past love. 

It certainly was refreshing. As we established earlier, the memories of our main character are being triggered by autumn leaves and cherry blossoms but really, it can be anything that triggers your memories, in my case I associate most things with certain odors and scents. And of course music! Listening to a song that I used to listen to a lot back in the days will bring back all sorts of memories for me. Truly, all these triggers appear in real life.

―― Naturally music is a big trigger for you.

Yes, it’s music. When I listen to “Top of the World” by The Carpenters for example, I am immediately thrown back to my junior high school days. It used to be broadcast on campus in the morning time. On my way to school it would gradually get louder until I reached the school gates where the teachers would stand to greet us. Listening to it reminds me of my mornings in junior high school.

―― Now what about the other songs on the EP,  "Koi wa Itsumo" and  "Orange"? “Orange” was written by you, right? Earlier we talked about your worries regarding the impressions and world-views of the title song, how about the other songs?  It seems like each song has a very different impression? There is lots of variety.

That also applies to the first song “eve”, I really wanted to have lots of different atmospheres in this EP, different from anything I had ever done before. “Koi wa Itsumo” is probably where I outdid myself *laughs*. I want you to not believe your ears when you hear it. I personally think the lyrics are very clear-cut. There is a sense of cuteness and embarrassment, I thought a lot about how to sing those lyrics. Eventually I settled on trying to sing them in a happy manner. I wanted to create a pure and honest atmosphere so I tried to convey a thrilling sense of excitement with my voice.

――You are singing words you have never sung before such as 「独り占めしたいんです | hitori jime shitaindesu | I would like to have you all to myself」or 「困らせたい | komara setai | I want to bother you」.

That’s right. But this is actually all me. I am that sort of person. It's embarrassing to admit but I  wanted to have these parts included in the song. One by one I want to tackle things that people don’t expect of me, I would like to break away from images like, “oh, that doesn’t feel like Wakana” or “this doesn’t sound like Wakana”.  First and foremost I wanted to increase the number of songs that could be enjoyed by everyone so this is why I dared to take it a step further and hit the gas pedal hard.

―― Now please tell us about “Orange”.

"Orange" already came with lyrics. But it was quite difficult to make it into something of my own based on the images that were being conveyed... I have a few friends around the same age as me who I meet regularly about once a month. Recently, we often end up talking about all the hardships, worries and rewarding aspects of work. 

―― Yes, in your age group responsibilities certainly increase.

I personally often felt like I couldn’t really relate to many of the thoughts, troubles and feelings everyone else experienced. All of them are very self-assured, everything about them feels real. I wanted to try and put that into words because I respect that and find it very interesting.  

―― Well, I guess since you are an artist your work and life-style are quite different from that of others with normal 9-to-5 jobs.  

Actually, all of them are working in the industry, they are video creators, photographers, directors and such...One thing they all have in common though, they had something they wanted to do when they were young but for whatever reason it never happened, their dream never became reality. I listened to all their stories and this sense of regret is shared by everyone. And yet, they all power through, they are still living their lives, working hard, doing their best. That is why I wanted to write lyrics dedicated to the people like that - who work so very hard every day even though they are not living their dreams. But I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it, I guess it’s just meant as encouragement or something.

―― By which you mean what exactly?.

Well, at the end of every day you are still the same you and nothing else, no matter how often you go to sleep and wake up again, yesterday’s mistakes and failures will not go away, today’s amount of work won’t change even if you sleep for an entire day, looking at yourself in the mirror, don’t you always see someone who is tired of getting up every morning? It’s all these things I wanted to convey in my song but without making it too sad. 

―― I see.

That’s why the “anata/you” that appears in the final part of “Orange” is supposed to be oneself. You are reborn every day when you go to bed and wake up again. There were times when all you did was being motionless among the waves and scream. If possible you want to return to that moment to embrace yourself in order to provide comfort. But now all of that is in the past, it’s overcome, there is joy to be found at work, I see it when I watch my friends, they all seem to love their job.「あなたの笑顔に会いたい | anata no eigao ni aitai | I want to meet your smile」is about getting up in the morning and seeing your smiling face in the mirror. It's a song that’s meant to make you smile, it shouldn’t make you sad.

―― Now your fifth song “Yuuyake”, you recorded it all in one go, right?

I went into the recording booth together with Ikekubo-san, the guitarist. we did a few takes and eventually decided we would make it slower than it was originally intended. I discussed this with Minnie P., the composer of the song, I told her I wanted to do it a little more slowly. I felt like my voice came out best at a slower tempo, Ikekubo-san and I gave it a few tries before we finally figured out the perfect tempo, it was a lot of fun.

―― I have noticed this before, especially in your live performances, there is a strong sense of realness, everything seems very natural and raw. I thought it was very interesting to see this sort of approach from you.

Well, there is an already existing world-view when it comes to Kalafina, I treasure that a lot, it is very important to me, I do not plan to ever destroy it but right now I am trying to discover new things for myself, I am pursuing the potential of my voice and I think that’s very important.

―― Based on what you just said I think people will want to listen to your songs.  But the main theme for two of your songs, “Koi wa Itsumo” and “Aki no Sakura”, is undoubtedly love, right? 

Yes, that’s right. 

―― I think compared to your Kalafina days the number of life-sized casual songs has increased immensely ever since you became a solo-artist. What exactly does “love” mean to you? I would like to talk about that a little bit.

Well, I think love is “selfishness”. When you fall in love, one is usually hiding in the shadows, thinking “oh, he is so cool and good-looking!” “I wish he would notice me!” or “Oh, I want us to hold hands!!” *laughs*. Or when you are going to a live of your favourite artist, hoping, “please look at me, please smile at me!” All of that is selfishness...you have a lot of demands when you love someone.

――Yes, there is certainly some truth in that. Please smile at me!!! *laughs*

However, love is also about understanding each other and finding a compromise. Compromise is about indulging someone to please them even though you feel like doing something entirely different. 

―― You mentioned that this time the lyrics very much represent your own thoughts and parts of yourself? So what about Wakana's love life? I am not asking about who you are going out with but I would like to know about your philosophy of love.

I wonder if I can even talk about it, I have never done it before. It's very embarrassing *laughs*.

―― Now is a good time to start! *laughs*

Well, I guess I can manage to talk about love to the same extent that I have written about it in my lyrics *laughs*. What I told you before is my personal opinion. Perhaps there are people who only think about love and affection when they fall in love. But in my case, when I fall for someone, I feel a strong sense of greed, I want the person I like to notice me, to turn around and look at me, to pay attention to me.

―― That’s quite understandable.

But even if our feelings turn to true love, even if we love each other very much, there will still be greed within me. I think love should be regarded and treated the same way as a relationship with your good friend. But as a lover I can’t help it, I am apt to become selfish. For example, I end up telling my lover things I would never say to a friend. There are certain things I would never say to my friends because I don’t want my friends to dislike me. I guess when it comes to love, I just stop faking it. Typically I read the air and act accordingly but with my partner I don’t read the air at all.

―― Can you give me an example? The things your friends might not tolerate ...?

Sorry. Well...Imagine your friends want to go and eat Yakitori today, I would never say "meh..I don’t wanna eat Yakitori today”.... Instead I would say, “YAY, let’s go and eat Yakitori!” *laughs*. Maybe I would give it a try and silently suggest,  “anyone feel like Yakiniku instead?"

―― So you fight back a little. 

I fight back a tiny bit. But it still ends up with “let’s go have Yakitori!!” *laughs*

―― And how is it with your partner?.

"No, don’t you want Yakiniku? We will go have Yakiniku!" *laughs* I will just send the restaurant information and be done with it. I kinda like to get into little competitive fights about stuff like that. “This place is better” “No, the other place has way better chicken!” 

―― What kind of man do you find appealing?

I sometimes think about this question but it’s very difficult for me to find an answer. I have favourite actors of course but I only know their TV persona. When it comes to my favourite artists it’s pretty much the same, all I am aware of is their singing voice and stage presence.... But I want to get to know all the personal aspects of that person's life, I want to meet the real human being behind the facade, I want to explore all of that. I wonder if by doing that you gradually fall in love. Well, anyways, I'd like someone in whose presence I can just be myself. Of course I would tolerate and accept everything about him. But in turn I want him to accept everything about me, all my faults and everything ...Ahh,  I'm terribly selfish, let’s stop here *laughs*.

―― You want to show your true self to the person you love.

I agree. When I was younger I spent a lot of time putting on a facade but these days I just wanna be myself, if I have a shitty day I wanna be able to say that I have a shitty day, I don’t want to have to pretend that I am doing fine.

―― Somehow I feel like there is so much realness and humanity in this interview and your new songs.

I'm glad to hear that!

―― I am also curious about your singing style. As a member of Kalafina you were in charge of the soprano parts but now as a solo artist you are pretty much singing all parts, right? I feel like the quality of your voice has changed a bit. Is it because you are trying to find a singing style that’s suitable for you as a solo singer?

Yes, that's right.

―― I always wondered whether you did it on purpose by training or whether it happened naturally.

My previously released album 『Wakana』 was my first proper release as a solo artist, I decided to use the title “Wakana” because for me that album was sort of like my business card, a proper representation of myself so to speak. But truth is, I wanna go through various changes in the future. This year, I got so many opportunities to express myself in various songs and I held lots of live performances.

―― I feel like you have put a lot of thought into being more expressive at your live performances..

Yeah, when I go back and watch all of my live recordings I think it’s crazy how much my singing has changed. I have opened this door of change intentionally, those changes will always correlate with whatever music I am currently creating. I want everyone to look forward to further changes.

―― So there is really a lot of purpose and intention behind your actions.

Yes, I just wanted to convey something more real, I wanted to show everyone the real me. I think what my audience is looking for is probably some sort of insight, a deeper understanding of who I am. I think it would be very rude if I didn’t meet those expectations. Speaking of changes, in my song “Orange” I used a lot of heavy breaths while singing it, initially I was very reluctant to sing it that way but I thought I would give it a try.

―― Why exactly were you reluctant?

Because I was never really required to sing like that. However, once I had realised that I could probably do it, my desire to give it a try became stronger.

―― Right now Takebe-san is your live producer but I feel like you would like to try and produce your lives yourself eventually, do you have the wish to do these things?

I do!

―― I think you are currently working on creating more freedom for yourself so you can do the things you want.

That's right. I want to create a wider scope of action for me. But I think one has to be careful when doing such a thing, after all, I do not want to betray my fans. It was never my intention to disappoint all the people who have certain expectations of me so I tried my best to respond to their wishes. But I am still uncertain how to best meet those expectations and at the same time I don’t want to neglect the things I personally want to do...it’s very difficult and I am constantly thinking about how to do things, how to find a balance. I feel like it will always be like that....

―― I guess that’s something all artists struggle with?

Yes, I think that many popular artists deal with these sorts of anxieties. If a fan listens to a good song of an artist they will immediately have a certain expectation and look forward to the next song. Since I am a singer myself I sometimes struggle listening to the music of other artists because there is a sense of envy. Of course there are also people who may not be able to listen to a new song by their favourite artist right away. The shock would be too great. It will just be "WOW, that's amazing!!!"

―― That you are thinking this way is proof that you are an artist. 

I guess. Right now I am a huge fan of Official HIGE DANdism! When I realised I was hooked, I listened to all of their albums. I am currently in a state where I would be totally shocked and blown away if a new song came out. I would be all over it, “aaaahhh, it’s so amazing!!”

―― So this does happen to you sometimes too, even if the genre is different?

Especially if the genre is different, I think it’s easier for me that way. This way I learn to appreciate and be grateful for the listeners’ expectations. Even if I am in a state of shock, I am trying to listen to the song properly. I am learning a lot this way.

―― By the way, you will be holding a one-man live on December 8  @Umeda Club Quattro (Osaka) and on December 10 @My Navi BLITZ Akasaka (Tokyo).

That's right. I have never held a proper live twice a day with a day and evening performance. It’s very intriguing. I am quite excited and a little nervous.

―― All the worries that come with deciding on the setlist and such?

Yes. I decided to name my live “Matataki | Blink”, I chose this title because I want us all to enjoy this special moment together. Those moments in time, those worldviews which are presented in my releases and lives are completely different so I want everyone to enjoy those blinks of time individually. Rather than focusing on expressing the worldviews of my EP, I want to find an expression that’s unique to a live and that can be enjoyed by everyone. I think it’s a different way of enjoyment. 

―― Live performances are not about creating a perfect reproduction of the studio version, it’s about pursuing the unique and fun aspects of a live.

Yes, I see it that way. I want to hold a live that everyone can enjoy, where people can find happiness. I really want to treasure this live, after all, it’s almost been half a year since my last proper concert. 

―― I am very curious how you will present yourself. I'm really looking forward to it.

It’s said that the twinkling of stars, the light we see right now when we look up is actually millions of years old. I am a romantic at heart so things like that mean a lot to me. Even if the brightness is not visible right now, surely one day it will shine among all the stars. This moment right now. Having said all of this, I hope you enjoy this EP.

―― Now let’s talk about next year. Since this is probably our last time talking this year. What kind of year is 2020 going to be for you?

Next year in 2020 we will have the Tokyo Olympics so I think it will be a very lively year. I want to create memorable music without being rushed, I wanna take my time and of course I want to always keep my listeners in mind. My personal challenge will be to balance selfishness and love. However, instead of demanding the other party to just listen because I took up this challenge, I would like to take the other party’s feelings into account.❇ Staying true to myself I want to face all the struggles that come with making music, I want to create new songs with care. I also want to continue doing lives.

Interview: Takeshi Kato; Photo: Saori Shikiji

❇) The interview is quite ambiguous when it comes to Wakana and the topic of love. It kinda sounds like she could currently have a partner but in this case she could also be referring to the love and selfishness among artists and fans...

[putschki1969]

Wakana is expressing herself as an artist with a declaration of blooming anew

This album should really be titled “Wakana’s declaration of coming into full bloom”  Her first album “Wakana” is a great reflection of her character, of her identity. During her time in Kalafina, Wakana was part of a vocal trio that worked under producer Yuki Kajiura, she did impressive work by conveying the worldviews presented in the songs written for them. Her current work is quite different from that. Wakana had songs written for her by composers whose works she had always been interested in, who she had admired and wanted to work with for a very long time. She wrote most of the lyrics herself and there was a lot of variety to each recording. Wakana’s very own lyrics and a commitment to slow and mid tempo songs make this album unique. With regard to the lyrics, Wakana emphasises that the worldviews presented in her lyrics got inspired by the melodies. Therefore her singing goes very well together with the melodies, it feels quite expressive and there is a strong sense of empathy. Yes, Wakana is coming into full bloom as a solo artist!

■ I listened to your 1st solo album, I was quite surprised by the variety among the tracks.

Wakana: I agree with you. I recorded one piece at a time so I only got a proper feeling for the album once it was completely finished. When I listened to the final result I thought, “wow, there is so much variety!”

■ I was also surprised to find not a single up-tempo song on your album

Wakana: Yes, I thought it was pretty much a requirement for every album but since I have never really been very good at singing up-tempo songs I wanted to stuff my album full of songs I actually enjoyed singing, songs that I am good at singing with my current skills. That’s how I came up with this selection. As a result I got the chance to write a lot of my own lyrics.

■ Even so, I am sure there were some songs that were quite challenging for you? Quite a number of songs took me by surprise. 

Wakana: I am happy you got that impression. However, I think I was able to embrace each and every song quite easily so I didn’t see it as challenge. Thanks to that, the album has quite a wide range. *laughs*

■ Above all, I was particularly surprised by the third song, “Ruriiro no Sora”. It has a strong “city-pop” vibe.

Wakana: Yes, “Ruriiro no Sora” really does give off nostalgic vibes. it is something completely new and refreshing for me, I think for many listeners the song will invoke a very strong sense of longing.

■ Did you have a particular vision in your mind, along the lines of, “I want to create a specific kind of work”?

Wakana: I never really felt like that. It was only ever about wanting to create an album where I can convey my voice properly. Also, up until recently I never thought I would get the chance to write my own lyrics so I seer this album as a precious gift, a gift to myself for which I am very grateful.

■ That's right. It was quite the surprise to see you credited as lyricist for most songs of the album

Wakana: Because it was my first time writing lyrics I think I was able to do so many songs straightaway without thinking too much about it *laughs* In the future, when the words spell out of me, I will have a lot more doubts I think .... I feel like I will probably have a lot of slumps where I will not know what to do,  I will be troubled by things like “I don’t think these lyrics flow” or “oh no, I am falling into a pattern”. If you think about it like that, this was probably the most fun I will ever have writing lyrics *laughs*

■ Because you started on a clean slate, no images, no colours, no fixed ideas. No matter the topic, you were able to write pretty much anything.

Wakana: That's right. The canvas in my mind is completely white right now. In the future I would like to continue writing without putting any limits to my imagination.

■ Even so, it’s hard to imagine you wrote so many songs at once. I expected you to write maybe one or two songs but in fact, you are doing the lyrics for most of the songs recorded for this album.

Wakana: That's right. I only just started writing lyrics and yet there are so many songs written by me *laughs* The first song I wrote was for my single which was previously released. I had no idea what I was doing and I felt a lot of pressure and tension *laughs*.

■ When you are writing lyrics, the melodies have a very strong influence on you.

Wakana: For the time being I am writing all my lyrics based on what I feel when I hear the melody, I am writing about what appeals to me within the music. This is the only way I know so far. Whenever I am listening to a new song, the melody always hits me strongest. I am the type of person that will focus on the lyrics only after fully taking in the melody.  So, when I wrote all of my lyrics it wasn’t so much about what I felt, it was about what the music conveyed. I became aware of that while working on my first few songs.

■ So you wrote the lyrics being inspired by the sceneries and stories displayed within the melody?

Wakana: Exactly. The music invited me, inspired me, guided me.

■ There is something that all songs have in common, the main character of every song is always alone and isolated *laughs*

Wakana: Is that so? Are they really all alone? *thinks back on all the lyrics she has written up till now* You are right, there are in fact a lot of songs with a lonely protagonist. *laughs*  But there are two people in “Nagareboshi”!  

■ But even in “Nagareboshi”, it feels like a very small isolated world of just those two.

Wakana: That’s true. Even if it is not so much about myself I guess I am writing a lot about people’s loneliness. There are not many songs with a “you” and “me” but I think that’s because I am basing my lyrics on my own memories and thoughts regarding the future.

■ It’s a song about reflection, once you have looked back on your life carefully you are able to look ahead and walk forward again with strength.   I would like to return to what I said earlier, about being able to write “pretty much anything no matter the topic”.  As a result it’s this theme of reflection and looking ahead that somehow connects the diverse tracks on your album.

Wakana: Looking at it from an objective point of view I really think I was able to do anything I wanted. But when it comes to my singing I am still trying to figure out what I can do. I don’t know what I am capable of, how far I can go. That’s why I have tried various types of songs. I always want to try new things. Even if I wonder, "is this something that suits me ..?.", I will give it a try. I try to embrace that now. I used to give up quickly if I didn’t feel comfortable with a song, if I didn’t think it suited me *laughs* For example, in this album there is a song where I sing at a very low range, that was quite the challenge for me.

■ You are using that low voice in “Kioku no Hito”.

Wakana: That's right. I am going very low at times and during the high sections I am hitting very high notes. There is a wide voice range in this song. There is a strong sense of relief in this song so I wanted to sing it as smoothly as possible. But really, it is quite difficult if you try to sing like that... *laughs* The demo tape of this song highlighted the sections where I was supposed to sing gently and the parts where I needed to put a lot of strength into my voice. I was supposed to use singing styles I had never used before, it was a lot of fun to use to this new sort of voice.

■ Do you feel like you opened a new door for yourself?

Wakana: I do. It feels like it was knocked open *laughs*. Using a whispering voice for recording was pretty much a new experience for me.

■ How was the actual recording experience for you?

Wakana :At all times I felt like I was singing for someone. Once again I was made aware of how important that feeling is. Even though there were lots of different songs I realised that through me singing them they became my own music, I was able to create my own worldviews.  

■ Is there anything you tried to keep in mind while you recorded the album?

Wakana: I always thought about how it would be to sing them live. That’s what has always gone through my mind when I recorded songs. Whenever I record I do it on the premise of imagining myself singing in front of an audience. While I recorded this album I thought about the ways I could perform these songs live, how I could interact with the audience at a concert. In that sense, the songs will only be fully completed through my live performances, it’s that kind of album. After all lives are as important to me as ever. It is my greatest pleasure to sing in front of everyone. I would like to keep singing in front of my audience so I wanna do my best to keep going. I want to keep singing for all of you!

■ I think your capabilities and capacity for adaptation are quite noticeable in each song.

Wakana: Thank you very much. After all, while facing each and every song, while singing them all by myself, genuine feelings were born out of me. I had some difficulties with each song but the biggest challenge was to make those songs my own. A big part of that is the singing style of course but for the most part I sang and wrote the lyrics while keeping the entire backstory to each song in mind.

■ Last but not least, please tell us what thoughts went into the making of this album!

Wakana: No matter how many hardships I will face from now on, I will forever remember this album and treasure it within my heart. There will only ever be one FIRST album. I am determined to sing these songs for a lifetime so I hope many people will listen to them.