Before I start, let me just say that this was the first time I have ever been to a J-pop concert. While the bulk of my experiences had been symphonic performances or musicals where I can sit back and let the music wash gently over me, AFA’s concert was akin to being stuck in a washing machine in a spin cycle, amidst hundreds of people waving lightsticks, singing along with the artists, cheering and screaming themselves hoarse. And to make matters worse, my spirit was not even a fraction of theirs, and while my heart did beat a little faster, there was not a moment where I even came close to losing myself.

Still, throughout most of the concert, I was in awe. This was partly due to the volume being high enough to knock the air right out of your chest, but more due to the sheer quality of some of the performances. Itou Kanako started things off and made an immediate impact through her vocal clarity and strength of delivery in ‘Uchuu no Engineer’. While her stamina did not last through the entire performance, Itou Kanako is definitely more than auto-tune and audio editing. It helped that her English is excellent, and she came across as a really sweet and likeable person through all the MC sessions. It was definitely the best opening I can hope for, and she is one person I’ll definitely pay to watch again.

Following Itou Kanako, we had Milky Holmes, whose autographed poster I’m still trying to auction off. While their song offered the classic energetic and bubbly fare, the whole performance fits much better in a grade school setting than among our group of audiences.  To their credit, they did work up the crowd a fair bit, and as seiyuu singers, their singing is half-decent.

Third up is the powerhouse: Angela. Through this group’s sheer amount of experience, they were demonstrably in an different league from Milky Holmes. Their audience engagement is just off the charts; Atsuko led the audience on a dance to accompany hers and Katsu even jumped off the stage to get up close with some of the audience. I really liked the selection of their tracks, from the track that propelled them to stardom, ‘Shangri-la’, to their debut ‘Asu e no Brilliant Road’, and even a surprise reveal in ‘Cruel Angel’s Thesis,’ which drew thunderous cheers from the crowd. While Angela did give up a whole lot of intonation and music quality for such a performance, I can only say that each song was meaningful in its own way and I had never been this happy having my eardrums ripped to shreds.

With Kalafina, the audience went wild. It seems that May’n may just have to give up her spot as the AFA icon in a year or two. Starting with their trump card ‘Magia‘, I stood in absolutely awe over Wakana’s performance. Her voice was stronger, brighter and richer than ever, and while I had complained about that before in their singles because it comes across as being unexpressive, it worked great for a live performance. Also, her aria was just, dare I say it, heavenly.

Keiko would have held her own had the microphone volume been adjusted higher for her, but as it stood, it was really difficult to even hear her solos. Hikaru, for her part, was having one of her better days (i.e. no horrendously off-key notes), but her performance did not come across as confidently as the others’. Still, Kalafina gave the most musically sound performance, and there was an odd sense of satisfaction seeing these girls whom I’ve had my eyes on since their debut finally propel themselves to international fame.

Wrapping up, we have the resident diva of AFA: May’n. Like I mentioned in my most recent review, I am not too fond of most of her releases since her voice is like a rubber band.  My friend takes it a step further, comparing it to a spider web: thin, taut and sticky. I admit that’s an fair description, but I also have to marvel at how May’n is just a natural performer. With the confidence rivaled only by Angela, May’n’s presence absolutely dominated the stage. And while this has been said a thousand times, I have to say again: her songs sound much better live than they do on record. However, the pounding synth and bass, along with May’n's extreme and uncontrolled fluctuations in volume did leave me with a headache less than halfway through.

Overall, the concert has been a whole new experience, and the songs are going to keep replaying in my head for some time to come. While I did not go away with a boatload of adrenaline like everyone else did, and my complete lack of stamina for such events tells me I should hold off my pilgrimage to Animelo for at least a few years, I did enjoy the night thoroughly. Still, my ideal concert remains as one which takes my breath away through the music and the strength of the singer’s vocals, not with speakers that churn your insides around like soup.

As I mentioned in the review, I love the way this piece brings out a dreamlike quality that’s wrapped in a bubble of innocence as though it were trying to shelter and protect the dreamer within its warm embrace. To watch Makoto Yoshimori go about performing this piece, it’s as if the music controls him rather than the other way around. His body sways to and fro, guided along gently by the flowing melodic currents that, though they sometimes bring about disappointment, never lose sight of their child-like idealism. The aura of hope remains with the piece to the very end, and our hearts bid the characters well in their attainment of happiness in spite of their tribulations.

The only question that surfaces as I watch the video is this: has Makoto Yoshimori gotten so prominent as to warrant a piano recital? It’d be interesting to know if any other anime composer outside the Big Three ever conduct such affairs since we never seem to hear about them.

Hat tip goes out to (who else?) Ottocycle.

With the July 4th weekend just hovering around the corner means yet another trip to Anime Expo with all the madness of making the schedule just tight enough so that I can maximize whatever utility there is to be had by interacting with fans, industry, and of course, meeting people who have been nothing more than internet screenames with all the personality and such encapsulated in those virtual identities. Unlike last year, the concerts this time around are actually worth going to. Also unlike last year, there will be a bit of work involved since I’m on assignment for Original Sound Version. Which effectively means that any enthusing over the concerts will be found there once the dust settles. Of course, if anyone else wants to write up a concert report for Anime Instrumentality as a guest post, do let me know!

Anyway, the plan is to hit up Friday and Saturday. Specifics? Well, here’s the plan given the schedule I have on hand:

Friday:

Not much in the morning though I might go to half of Eri Kitamura’s panel before making a hasty exit to beeline towards what is the must-see event of the day.

Megumi Nakajima/May’n Concert
Is anyone really surprised I’m looking forward to this? Though I might not have liked some of Macross Frontier’s pop music, most of that falls under May’n's performances; I’m perfectly happy listening to Megumi Nakajima’s stuff since she puts a solid effort in all of her songs. Somehow, I don’t think we’ll see any of her non-Macross Frontier material, but who knows, we could be in for a pleasant surprise there. It’d be cool is something like “Jellyfish” from Kobato pops up. So yeah, mostly going for Nakajima, but if May’n's as good a live performer as rumor says she is, it’ll exceed my expectations by a huge amount!

Maybe after that, I’ll hit up the Rightstuf/Nozomi panel? I guess it’d be interesting to see if they have anything down the pipeline since I’ve stopped paying attention to their releases since the ARIA franchise finished. No Danny Choo though. Not even for the Black Rock Shooter OVA and I’m not sure Chinka is in the cards for me.

Yui Horie
You can’t really go for that long without having heard her voice work or vocal performances. Anyhow, a lot of this is nostalgia since one of the earliest series I remember watching is Love Hina. Plus, her recent work has been solid, even if I can’t claim to have been awed by her singing like I once was. Maybe that has something to do with the composers/lyricists who write her songs.

MELL Concert
No, I wasn’t all that fond of “Red Fraction” or of I’ve Sound in general, but hey, if she’s here, might as well make the most of it. And if she sings “Proof,” that’ll be enough to make me a happy person. That should about do it for my Friday.

Saturday:

Megumi Nakajima Panel
Why not, right? I’ve already gone to the concert. Might as well grab more tidbits. Guess that means I’ll miss out on the Toradora! panel, but that’s not a total wash since seeing Yui Horie makes up for that.

That’s really about the only thing that demands my attention at this point. If any of you have suggestions for how to fill up Friday or Saturday, do let me know. Probably a lot of that time that I don’t spend wandering the convention hall will be spent in putting faces to names as I meet up with people I’ve only conversed with through online platforms, so that’ll be pleasant since there are quite a few people I’d like to meet in person. (Anyone else I’m forgetting? A meetup might be in the cards as long as people tell me when/where.)

The information is a bit old by now, but if anyone has been following Hiroaki Yura’s blogging activities, you may have noticed that he’s made a post regarding the recording of the soundtrack to the Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya movie which is currently looking towards a February release date in Japanese theaters. Satoru Kousaki will still be the composer as usual and I’ll be looking forward to seeing how his minimalist style interacts with the orchestral work that Eminence puts out. Somehow, my gut feeling tells me that they won’t be using the entirety of the Eminence ensemble. Maybe something on a smaller scale unless they’re flying Kousaki out to Australia to do the recording. Still, a fully orchestrated movie score is something to look forward to at any rate.

As a note, the minimalist piece heard in the one-minute trailer for the movie is apparently Erik Satie’s Gymnopédies N°1. My pretensions to having a hefty amount of knowledge about classical music took a beating that day. (Thanks Smankh! :p)

Speaking of Eminence and Australia, those of you out in Perth have the Destiny: Promised Legacy concert event to look forward to if you’re planning to attend the Perth Anime Convention (or PAniC) on January 23. The concert is going to play a few of the songs used in the Project Promise album using around 7 of its musicians. Tickets can be purchased here. Also, if you’re not that big on Makoto Shinkai and are more of a game music fan, Yasunori Mitsuda will be making an appearance, so that’ll make your trip worth your while.

More information here.

We’ve affiliated ourselves with the Nihon Review as their main provider for soundtrack reviews (and they’ll be contributing soundtrack reviews from time to time as well). To help them out, we’ll be linking to their reviews from time to time. Do take a look at what they’ve put out because their reviews come highly recommended and are definitely worth reading. Also, their staff blog makes for good complementary reading to the reviews so that you get a chance to pick at their minds. If you’ve the time, do join their forums and say hi.

And if you’ve even more time, you can apply to write for them. They’re running a staff contest right now with the objective being to add a few more writers to their review crew. If you’re looking for a fun experience and an avenue to strengthen your writing chops, do apply! They have spots open for blog writers too.

Finally, I’ll be contributing a bit to Original Sound Version in the area of J-music that isn’t VGM. It’s nothing time-intensive and will not detract from my focus here, but it’ll be fun helping out their blog team which I’ve worked with a bit over at Eminence. They’ve done an excellent job at keeping their pulse close to the VGM scene, and since I’m on break from Eminence at the moment, it’ll give me something to do in the meantime.

And that’s it. We should have a few reviews coming down the pipeline as well as a resumption of the Decades Reminiscing thing that I’ve been doing.