It's After Eden in the 2nd thead of Kalafina!
 

Who is カラフィナ?

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f3...-d34ilu4-1.jpg

Bio: Kalafina (カラフィナ) is a Japanese band formed by composer Yuki Kajiura in 2007, mainly to perform theme songs for the anime Kara no Kyōkai. The band debuted in January 2008 with two original members from Yuki Kajiura's FictionJunction project, Wakana Ōtaki and Keiko Kubota (not confirmed until the first Dream Port 2008 concert held on April 29, 2008). In May 2008, two vocalists Maya (who is no longer a part of Kalafina) and Hikaru, who had been chosen from an audition of 30,000 participants held by Sony Music Japan and Yuki Kajiura, were confirmed as the final members of Kalafina.
Credit: Wiki

Members:

Discography:

So let's continue posting about this awesome, amazing, epic trio! :D

Wow someone starts a new thread so fast, I wonder how Ranma think XD
Because we're planning to combine all Yuki Kajiura projects in one thread, including FictionJunction, FJ YUUKA, See Saw, etc.

Anyway, the length of the tracks for After Eden has revealed as well, no more intro this time, but we got another short track that acts like an interlude (something like intermezzo in Red Moon)

Yay new thread! And yay new album! I absolutely love the name of the album, and I'm really excited for all these songs. I feel that their sound for this album is really strong, judging from the singles.

Random question-- What are your guys' top five songs by Kalafina?

1. fairytale
2. oblivious
3. Natsu no Ringo
4. Ongaku
5. Hikari no Senritsu

That wasn't easy :thud

1. ARIA
2. Ongaku
3. storia
4. red moon
5. progressive

Nice first thread!

1. Red Moon
2.Magia
3.Fairytale
4.Oblivious
5.Kagayaku Sora no Shijima ni wa

Very nice first post! :yes

My TOP5:

1. Lacrimosa
2. serenato
3. storia
4. ARIA
5. Magia

But I love all of their songs! :heart

My top five (after a lot of brain-wracking!)

1. Kagayaku Sora wo Shijima ni wa
2. sprinter
3. Magia
4. ARIA
4. Lacrimosa

@mellody: Lol, well someone had to do it. XD We can PM each other about the Yuki thread or talk about it here whichever you prefer. :3

And agree with the rest, that's a very lovely first post CHE.R.RY. :yes

My top five... hmmmm, this is hard lol.

1. Hikari no Senritsu
2. sprinter
3. ARIA
4. storia
5. Yami no Uta

Ugh, this was hard and probably not totally accurate because there's still love come down, Red Moon, Gloria and Hoshi no Utai all of which I love just as much. It's nearly impossible to rank one over the other. >.<

Thanx everyone! :grouphug

& I agree about the top 5...I still am unsure of my choices!
Gah still a good month before after eden's release :o!!!

Hooray for a new thread!!

Top 5....hmmm...

1. magia
2. symphonia (SOOO excited about the longer version that's going to be on the album :heart:)
3. Kimi ga hikaru ni kaete yuku
4. oblivious
5. red moon
....I think? It was really, REALLY hard to narrow it down to 5.

Side note: I just had a fangirl squeal attack when I realized that the US iTunes store is finally, FINALLY carrying Red Moon and the Magia single! :banana1 :banana2 Hopefully, it won't take them long to pick up After Eden!

Kalafina give flawless a new meaning in After Eden covers.

Limited Edition
http://i52.tinypic.com/96jgog.jpg

Regular Edition
http://i56.tinypic.com/35l5efb.jpg

Gorgeous, classy, amazing, better than your faves, etc.

Oh, they're GORGEOUS!!!:blove:inlove:smitten

PERFECTION :heart

Wish there was more variation between the two covers but can't really complain since they certainly are gorgeous. :heart

Beautiful :heart

O-M-G:thud

It's the most beautiful covers of Kalafina discography!! It's totally stunning & it's only MQ!!

Bigger version.

Oh my god, they look so beautiful!

I can always count on Kalafina for amazing covers.

I CANT WAIT!! im missing on a lot of kalafina :X
it's time for me to re-discover them

Thanks for the bigger versions! These are my favorite covers from them!

asdfghjkl;

THESE COVERS. Gah, they're just so beautiful and I feel like they catch a really interesting idea for "After Eden". I thought they'd be more...morose haha. Absolutely adore the font as well.

*.* thank U for the bigger covers!
I think my heart'll stop to beat in front of such beauty!

new album next month ? lol I missed everything about them eh :laugh
anyway, beautiful covers!

The covers are GORGEOUS!!!! :heart
I LOVE them so much!

Kalafina's covers never fail to amaze me!

Wow those covers are amazing :love


I'm so hoping this album is gonna be epic!

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i2...erEdenMKII.jpg

Covers in color!

You did a nice job!:clapclap

WOAH, THE COVERS!!! The limited edition is just perfect, that's all.

OMG I was just off of internet for 3 weeks and I come back with these beautiful covers to surprise me. I'm so glad I preordered the LE version. These are probably their best covers to date.

EDIT: These are the designs of the mousepads you get when you preorder the albums from CDJ:



So beautiful.

Also, the preview of Symphonia PV is available at their official site. It seems like the song is going to be a bit different from the TV version. And I really love how all of them look absolutely stunning and beautiful in the preview <3.

^So beautiful!!

And I'm sooooo excited for Symphonia!! :heart:heart

Wonder when we'll get song previews...

^Yeah, even though I promised not to listen to anything until I get the album, I don't think I'll be able to resist :/

So did you guys preorder the album, if so which version? And if it's from CDJ are you happy with the mousepad design you'll be getting? Even though I don't complain about getting the LE version, I'm just a bit jealous of the RE mousepad desing because it's different from the covers. But I'll live I guess.

^ Well, I ordered the limited edition, but from HMV so I won't get the mousepad :(

Aww that sucks :/ But the mousepad is nothing compared to that deluxe photobook and amazing packagin the LE's going to have though. I really wonder what's it going to look like. I seriously can't wait to hold it in my hands.

I didn't care about the mousepad at all but damn, it looks so lovely.

If I had money I would have been preordered the LE most likely at CDJ but I don't. T.T *goes cry in a corner*

Wow those are outrageously gorgeous :heart.

Holy cow, what a mousepad! I'd totally want one~.

I really wonder what Sandpiper is going to sound like. I hope it's a folkish song like Hikari no Senritsu. I hope that there is going to be at least one folkish song on the album because they really do incredible magic with those. I also want songs like Ongaku, love come down and progressive, but I'm honestly open to anything new sounding and I think this album is going to be quite different from their previous ones.

EDIT:

Heare are even bigger versions of the covers + album related twitter pic and one from official site



btw. is it just me or does Keiko look like alan a lot on the type b mousepad pic?

^ I'm falling more and more in love with these covers! They're sooooo gorgeous! :smitten

@Chiharo: :laugh
Keiko always looked a bit like alan to me. I guess it's because of her hair and her facial features.

Both are really, really talented and beautiful women!

^Yeah, I completely agree! Though I mainly think it's because of that hairstyle (alan used to have her hair like that in one of the photoshoots I think), I didn't think they looked alike before though.

http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=NEODAI-956

What is this? OAO

OMg the price!!! & you can only took EMS or Fedex!! :thud

I don't get how this is different from the other versions. Except the price, of course...

ETA: Oh, wait is this the mousepad version?

I seriously have no idea what's that about. But no, it's not the mousepad version, both the regular and limited versions come with them.

A postcard is noted to be the external bonus:
[External Bonus]original post card [c]

And this is interesting too:
[Product Price 3800yen + Domestic Shipping Cost 350yen + Service Fee 1500yen = 5650yen ]
This item is special requested item.

Today Sony announced that in 3 specific Japanese store chains, Kalafina’s third album After Eden will come with a special Puella Magi Madoka Magica postcard where Mami, Madoka and Homura wear the outfits that Wakana Keiko and Hikaru wear on the album cover. It will be additional to the Kalafina postcard that comes with the LE, it will be given with both RE and LE. The offer will be available only in the following 3 stores: Animate, Ani Bro, Toranoana.

http://blog-cdn.oricon.co.jp/_images...oka_SAMPLE.jpg

Source : canta-per-me

^ Aw how cute!

Kalafina talks about their upcoming album with “Kawaii Girl Japan”
 

http://img200.imageshack.us/img200/9...ina600x333.jpg

For the video, Kalafina talks about their upcoming album “After Eden“,
which will be released on September 21st. Fans should keeps tabs on Kawaii Girl Japan’s YouTube channel,
as they will be updating the page with a new Kalafina video each week to help them promote “After Eden”.

tokyohive

^I really don't like the fact that After Eden is not going to be, I quote "fantastic, surreal and otherworldly", because that's exactly what I love about Kalafina and I'm worried about their new sound they are talking about. Seriously just hearing this made me want to cancel my preorder right away D:

I get the impression what they meant by "real" and "humanly" was that the production would be more organic and their vocals are going to be rawer and sound more true to how they sound live. I love their ethereal sound in the studio but I also love how they sound live with a band so this should be very interesting.

Judging by the titles, the subject matter they touch on in the lyrics should be intriguing as well, wonder what's been on Yuki's mind to have her take the group in this direction?

First of all, thank you for sharing the video with us, Aderianu!

I really do hope that "After Eden" is not going to be too different from Kalafina's other two albums.
Like I said before in this thread, their music makes me feel like walking in a fairytale and I don't want that their music loses this special touch.

But when I look at the covers and the tracklist of the new album I think we don't need to worry too much.


Let's just look forward to the new release optimistically, ne?! :yes

^Yeah I guess you guys are right. And besides, Kagayaku Sora no shijima ni wa, Magia, snow falling and Symphonia are all one of my most favorite songs by them and if the rest of album is not going to be a lot different than these songs then that's fine with me.

it's better not to wait for anything good and get good surprise...

:laugh

That might be true, but I still try to be optimistic about the releases of my favourite bands! :yes

I think the idea of being less otherworldly ties in nicely with their album title, "After Eden". You know, after Eden, then Man becomes...man. Man has flaws and reality to face. So I'm hoping it's kind of like a "transition" sound, where we still have enough of that fairytale sound that it feels sort of transparent, but there's a humanity that gives it more of an emotional pull.

(I am so making up fantasy albums right now.)

^I started to think about it like that too. The title took on a whole new meaning, their Seventh Heaven period was a fantastical paradise where they were above worldly concerns, and now paradise, their Eden has been lost and they must face the world for what it is. It's a longshot since I'm not quite sure how Red Moon fits in this theory but it's fun to think about. :laugh

Anyway, *really* low quality preview time!

Kugatsu: http://www.box.net/shared/js6vtfr4of23sptlk6sb (Credit @ tsubasa from canta-per-me.net)

Hikaru :smitten How do you always manage to make me fall more in love with your voice. The song itself sounds so lovely and melancholy. Sure it'll be absolutely beautiful in HQ.

This song was previewed on Kalafina Club and apparently, Eden was previewed last week but no links for that have shown up.

Well, when they said it will become more "real" and "humanly" I got the impression Kajiura solo works, have you heard Yuki Kajiura 2nd album FICTION II? Compared to her first album, it sounds more organic and real. Kinda hard to describe it, you have to listen and compare.

^ Oh, I didn't know that there is a "FICTION II". I own "FICTION" one and love it. I think, I need to check out the other one too!

I love Kajiura-san's work after all! :heart

Of Kajiura works, I don't listen to anything besides Kalafina and two songs from FJ. But I think that I might give FICTION II a try.

You should try... No, everyone should try FICTION II.

I think it's one of the best album this year, it's just too amazing.

^If you say so, I'm off to DL it right away.

FICTION II is nice. You can find everytime you kissed me from Pandora Hearts :love

Been meaning to get into more of Kajiura's works but have been really bad about it. D:

Fiction II is definitely on top of my download list. I was thinking of trying Dream Field, Circus and Everlasting Songs, a little bit of everything from her collabs. :P

If you want to try more Kajiura's work I advice you to DL the Pandora Hearts OSTs. The musics are so wonderful! I don't know if you already saw the anime, but it's one of my best anime OST!

Everlasting Songs :heart
It's a must listen album for Kajiura fans, for real.

Pandora Hearts OST is one of the best, agreed.
Kara no Kyoukai OST is amazing too, you can try the Garden of sinners -Gekijouban "Kara no Kyoukai" Ongakushuu- album, one of her most flawless works.

After Eden samples: http://www.sonymusic.co.jp/Music/Arc...ina/index.html

Tell me what you think guys as I don't want to listen to anything before I receive the album.

It definitely has a different sound than Red Moon, not as folksy, and there's less ballads than I thought there'd be. I'm excited to hear sandpiper, destination unknown, and magnolia.

Are there songs like Natsu no Ringo, Hikari no Senritsu or storia?

The only song that kinda has a folk vibe is Eden, and from the preview it sounds like it's only during certain parts of the song. A few people on canta per me say that sandpiper is similar to Natsu no Ringo, but I don't hear it. Overall, the album sounds pretty upbeat. The only dark sounding songs are Magia and magnolia.

^I see, thanks. It's kind of weird Kajiura titled the album After Eden if the album has only 2 darker sounding songs. I really expected it to be more dark because of the title, but I don't mind it this way though.

Yay! I'm trying not to form opinions of the songs before I hear them the whole way through. I'm so excited for this album!

Ah, I'm going to try and resist previews of the songs as well! And I agree, Chiharo. I thought there would be more dark-sounding songs as well. Maybe Kajiura sees the move out from Eden as a good thing, perhaps because it's a move towards being human?

I'm way too excited for this.

second Kawaii girl Japan video

I haven't heard the preview as well, and I heard that only Magia and magnolia that sounds dark, overall it's a bright album, that's what they (canta per me members) said.

EDITED:
Ok, I'm tempted (lol) and I just heard all the preview, it's a semi-bright album imo, and it's bright with their style, I have high expectation for this album, especially because the arrangements of the songs.

My opinion track by track, with spoilers of course. (It's just judging from the previews though)


For Chiharo, I think you will love this album, this is not disappointing at all.

I think I understand what does they mean by more 'real' and 'humanly' usually they have lots of song that using trance or techno beat or any autotune sounds like... oblivious, love come down, Kizuato, serenato, ongaku, sprinter, fantasia, Kyrie, progressive, and so on. In this album, we (will) can hear most of the songs that accompanied by the band. So, this is awesome I think.

As for the title, After Eden could means something that... The musical piece before this album release has the atmosphere of heavenly, ethereal, godlike, and not humanly at all. Now, in this album, like I said, it features most of the songs that accompanied by the band (more humanly and real). So maybe it's After the Eden-ly music. That's only my opinion :laugh

Oh, the samples are already out?!
I'm not going to listen to them (I want to wait for the album!), but the reviews sound very good!
I can't wait to hear the new songs! :heart

After Eden has leaked! It's up in asian downloads section!

OMGGGGG can't wait to heart it!!

I've just finished listening to "After Eden" and I'm in love. :smitten
The album is definitely different from "Red Moon" and "Seventh Heaven", but I love it just the same.

My five favourite songs are:

1. sandpiper (I love the oriental feeling in this song)
2. Eden (Just beautiful! :heart)
3. Magia (I'll never get tired of this song)
4. 九月
5. neverending


What do you think of the new album? And what are your favourite songs?

^I couldn't agree more with you on your first two sentences! I've read a few negative reviews and thought that the album would be bad, but boy was I wrong! I'm soo in love with the album and here's my review of the songs:

(btw. I wanted to wait until I receive my copy of the album to listen to it but I just couldn't ;_; )

01. Eden

I can already say that this is something I want MORE from Kalafina. It's surely one of the best songs on the album. It's so refreshing and I love the happy atmosphere it brings. I also loved the kajiurago parts a lot. I even got goosebumps when I first heard this. Another Kalafina masterpiece!

02. sandpiper

When the song started playing, all I thought was THAT INTRO IS DAMN AMAZING. I turned the volume all the way up on my headphones and enjoyed it so much. The rest of the song is completely beautiful and doesn't fail me after that amazing intro. Another masterpiece.

03. Magia

Since everyone knows this song I won't write anything else besides that it's an obvious masterpiece.

04. Kugatsu

I love the piano and the mysterious sound of the song! It kind of sounds like intermezzo and Haru wa Kogane no Yume no Naka a bit, but it's not very similar. I loved this one and I can't wait to listen to it again!

05. in your eyes

Wow, while this sounded a bit strange and off for Kalafina, I still liked the song very much. It will take time for this song to completely grow on me for sure, but I don't think that will be a problem.

06. destination unknown

I didn't think this was very special at first but I'm sure it will grow. I really loved the desperate sound and the overall atmosphere of the song, however. Kind of sounds like Magia but not that catchy at all.

07. neverending

Hikari no Senritsu ~soft version~. That's what I thought when I heard the song. All I can say is that I love it.

08. Koto no ha

Even though it's simple, I really like this song-like interlude.

09. magnolia

Honestly I expected something more catchy if it's a love come down/fantasia type song but I guess that this is just more different than those. I really liked the music though and I can see this growing on me.

10. Kagayaku Sora no Shijima ni wa

My favorite song from the album and a masterpiece.

11. Mune no Yukue

I LOVE this song! One of the best new tracks from the album! The chorus is so great and it makes me happy. It reminds me of Eden a bit because of the happy atmosphere.

12. snow falling

The most beautiful song on the album.

13. symphonia

I LOVE the new version and I can say this is as well one of the best new songs, and a masterpiece for sure.

Overall I was just a bit disappointed there were no songs with a strong folk genre, but I can live with that I guess. Other than that I like it a lot. I'm surprised with all the negativity that people at cpm.net present about the album. I think that every time you hear an album that you won't like most songs. That's because they naturally have to grow on you with a few more listens. I don't know but I'm digging this album completely.

^so excited to hear a good review! I can't wait for this album!

So I listened to the full album and...
I'm so happy that this album meet my expectation, even though not 100%.

Basically people at cpme.net complains that, most of the songs in this album sounds like FJ or FJ YUUKA songs, like I said before, maybe they prefer the heavenly sounds of Kalafina, rather than the organic or humanly music in this album.

But, I still enjoy the album a lot :heart

I just listened to the album & I gotta say I like it more than Red Moon a bit (which disappoints me still to this day because it has a such a beautiful concept, covers, etc.). Here are my thoughts:

1. Eden
As soon as this song started I instantly thought 'Uh oh...I hope this isn't what the other songs are gonna sound like.' I'm really not feeling this song at all :no. It's probably my least favorite track.

2. sandpiper
& Now we're back! I was so relieved upon hearing this song! This is the kind of track I find to be ideal from my beloved Kalafina. It's so epic & powerful with a haunting beauty! I love it :yes.

3. Magia
I've always liked this song, but sometimes I get a little tired of listening to it after awhile. It's a little too long for me honestly, but over all it's a really catchy song.

4. Kugatsu
My lord...what a beautiful song :eek! I was completely blown away with this track....it gave me chills. I think it's my favorite :heart.

5. in your eyes
Kind of an odd track...it almost doesn't sound like Kalafina. Over all though I liked it.

6. Destination Unknown
Awesome! I loved it!

7. neverending
I love the 'la la la's' in this song so much :heart. This was another very catchy track :yes.

8. Koto no wa
It sounded very pretty in the beginning but over all, I just thought this was a really odd track. I had a hard time comprehending the melody :shakehead. Actually this song was a little creepy in a way...

9. magnolia
I loved the intro to this song...totally not what I was expecting. I thought it would be a soft ballad or something, but instead it was an upbeat almost dance-like track like love come down. I have mixed feelings about this one...there's some really badass parts, & other parts are just meh. Not only that...it felt like it was missing something, but I can't quite put my finger on it. The verses seem a little empty I guess :shrug.

10. Kagayaku Sora no Shijima ni wa
I've never been able to get into this song for some reason...it's weird cuz I usually love this kind of song from Kalafina. I guess I kind of find it to be on the boring side :/

11. Mune no Yukue
Ugh I really didn't like this song :no. I think it might be worse than Eden actually...

12. snow falling
Ah so soothing & beautiful....It sounds like a nice song for winter or Christmas time. It has a happy yet sorrowful melody. I loved it fully.

13. symphonia
A very nice way to the end album :yes. This was a very surprising track for me...it had a lot of unexpected twists & turns, which was nice because I thought it was shaping up to be just a happy & hopeful-sounding song judging from the beginning. I found it to be very dramatic & emotional :yes.

Wow, all I can say is...thank you so much Kalafina for gracing us with such beautiful music. This album was so wonderful! Sure, there were a few tracks I didn't care for (Eden, Kagayaku Sora no Shijima ni wa, Mune no Yukue), but over all I loved the other tracks soo much. This album was so much better than I was expecting it to be! I'm not disappointed at all!

My faves:

1. sandpiper
2. magnolia
3. Magia
4. Kagayaku
5. symphonia
6. Kugatsu

The music at the beginning of Koto no wa reminds me of something from the Pirates of the Caribbean soundtrack :laugh

Yeah, I understand how After Eden is really different from Red Moon and Seventh Heaven, but I like what they did in AE too. But still, if they won't release their more "heavenly" songs anymore I'd be sad. Really sad.

o! so there was clearly a shift in style for After Eden?? no wonder I felt something was different. While some songs were really heavenly, there was definitely a tinge of rawness in the instruments. Cant say that I am WOW-ed by that aspect but still, its a really beautiful album :) (p.s. Eden blew me away actually hehe)

i finally put all 3 albums into my iTunes >.<

I listened to the album & i think it is weak. Kajiura composed simple pop songs for the new songs. None of them is a masterpiece according to me. This is my least favourite album of kaladina. Red moon stays my favourite one.

Just hope to see beautiful scans of the booklet now!

Magia still my most favorite from this album. I like 'in your eyes' and 'Destination Unknown'

symphonia PV!!

I really, really want to hear this song live!!

^ The PV made me like the song even more! It was so pretty :luv2.

& God...Wakana's voice is just so beautiful...it gives me chills.

edit: Haha Wakana did a lot of the talking in that little commentary video :). It's cute how she brushes her teeth before she goes on stage x3!

http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r...mkwqj42621.jpghttp://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r...g85am42743.jpg

(pics from Yahoo auctions Japan)

The LE is really thick. I'm so glad I ordered it.

EDIT: Kalafina ranked #1 on the oricon charts! http://www.oricon.co.jp/rank/ja/d/2011-09-20/

Very close for #1 - three artists separated by less than 1,000: (you're going to be happy about this)

Omg yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Kalafina debuted at #1 for After Eden, this is truly a new achievement, even for Kajiura herself. However, it's just daily sales, still hoping for them to get #1 in Weekly chart!

EDITED:
After re-listening to symphonia (the one in After Eden) again several times, I find that the TV Version is much better, even though it's just slightly different. Anyone notice the electric guitar during the chorus? I think it makes the song less epic or lost it's epicness a bit. IMHO.

The mousepad is tiny. It's like half the size of a regular mousepad.

I just got into this band today and I'm under a deeeep spell. This is ****ing wonderful!!! I hope they will keep their #1 on Oricon for this week!

^yep. I was kind of surprised.

Anyway, my scanner didn't work so I just took the pics of the LE if anyone's interested.

http://s143.photobucket.com/albums/r...n%20LE%20pics/

^ :luv2

Soo pretty! I need to buy this album :(.

I know, she must be very happy. Kajiura and the the group are really amazing.

Here are the scans of the album, I couldn't scan the pamphlet because it would break.

http://s143.photobucket.com/albums/r...%20LE%20scans/