via Canta-per-me.net

The Kalafina staff Twitter account posted an image of the Regular Edition cover of the group's upcoming book:



Kalafina Record


And it is pretty. I want it even more now...

I also got an artiste alert from CDJapan about another related product:


Kalafina 2012 Calendar


Image from Oh-news.net. Um, interesting poses from Hikaru and Keiko...

It's an expensive time to be a Kalafina fan...

Also, have you checked out the interview on ANN with Iwakami Atsuhiro? He's the producer for Madoka, and the guy most people forget is the fourth member or the Magica Quartet (somehow everyone assumes Kajiura is the fourth member...) It's spoilery, and therefore at least a little insightful. Definitely worth a read-through, at the very least.

In other Madoka news, look what just became available for pre-order:


Mami Figma!

It looks really good. I didn't expect anything else, yet it still manages to impress me. The figure's got a great range of alternate expressions. And look who comes along as an accessory:


I find this both amusing (are they pandering to the crack!shippers?) and slightly unnerving (given, you know, what actually happened between them...)

Done. My attempt at a Madoka AMV, using Kalafina's wonderful song adore.

There's a little bit of pixelation for about a second but I'm tired of publishing again and again and I don't care anymore. I wish I had the skills and the software to make something like those awesome MADs I've been watching but this will have to do for now. I'd like to remake it someday.



(If YouTube removes this again...sigh. I mean, come on, the full track for the song has been there for eight months and Kalafina's label hasn't complained about that)

Anyone going to watch May'n? She'll be back in Singapore in June, as part of her Asian tour. I got to meet her and watch her live at AFA X. While I don't like her enough to be splurging that much to see her again, I was impressed by the show she gave, and I have no doubt that her fans are going to get their money's worth.

It's cool to see SOZO bringing in all these Japanese artists to Singapore this year, even if I'm not a fan of most of them. But I'll keep hoping. Kalafina please, guys?

On a vaguely related note: FictionJunction's new single. Kajiura's really been on fire this year, hasn't she? And it's nice to see her working with the FictionJunction ladies again. Sure, half of them are in Kalafina...but it's a totally different dynamic.

Then there's this piece of music that's just been haunting me:




A piano rearrangement of that orchestral piece in episode 9 of Madoka. It's not quite as epic as the original (I want the soundtrack already) but it's still a very impressive arrangement and performance. I've had this on repeat like crazy.

According to the bio of the minion of that certain witch in episode 9, "people who listen to their music for long enough will lose their soul." I think it got mine....*plays the video again*

I'm not making much progress with the recap for the last two episodes for Madoka, which is lame, but I'm really hoping to get them up pretty soon.

I've also added a chatbox, in a pique of what can only be misplaced optimism. But if anyone wants to say something, feel free.

And now, some news.



It's been confirmed that Kajiura Yuki will be composing the music for ufotable's upcoming anime adaptation of Fate/Zero, a prequel to Type-Moon's Fate/stay night. You'll probably have known this if you're a Madoka fan, but the novel the anime will be based on was penned by no other than the now-legendary Urobuchi Gen.

I'd been hoping that Kajiura would collaborate with ufotable once more, after the visual and aural feast that was Kara no Kyoukai, but for that project to be Fate/Zero? The potential for epicness has just been expanded to ridiculous proprotions. I've been steadily coming down from my post-Madoka high, so I'm very glad to have something new and Kajiura-related to be enthusiastic about. The anime's scheduled to be out in October -- can't wait till then.

It also seems likely that Kalafina or another Kajiura-project will be recording an OP or ED for the anime -- from what I've heard here and there Kajiura's already started recording a song with some vocalists.



Speaking of Kalafina, my favourite trio will be performing at Anime Expo in Los Angeles. No word on whether Kajiura will be coming along though. Come on, ladies, why won't you come to Singapore, we're on the same freaking continent!

Instead, Singapore's getting AKB48, which is great for AKB48 fans and potentially horrifying for everyone else (sorry, I'm just not an idol band fan...) The updates from Anime Festival Asia's page that appear on my Facebook feed do keep catching my attention, however, and it seems that tickets are selling fast. I'll have to remember not to go into town on the days they perform. Or maybe I will, just out of curiosity...

To end off, here's a fanmade piano rearrangement/medley of music from Madoka, shared by Nick Hunter on the Canta-per-me.net forums. It is gorgeous -- if you have any love for the music on Madoka it's well worth the listen. Something to tide us over while waiting for the OST...

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I really haven't been this excited over an anime for a while. Okay, that's actually a lie, I was absolutely crazy about Shiki...Oh, fine. If we discount Shiki, it really has been years since I've been so impressed by an anime series. I normally don't watch more than a few series for each new season, and I'm glad I managed to pick a good one from the get-go.

...I'll admit, the only reasons I picked Madoka in the first place were because Kajiura Yuki was composing its soundtrack and Kalafina was providing the ED. The title of the series alone didn't sound too exciting. And the CMs...Seriously, go watch them, and you'll understand. I'm not really a fan of moe or magical girls, and they seemed eager to emphasize the fact that there was little more to Madoka than both of those things.

As it turns out, there was a very good reason those CMs were gave that impression. And no, not because Madoka was what it was made out to be.

A lot of people called it. They said, with Shinbo, and Urobochi, there was no way this would be any ordinary mahou shoujo anime. I didn't know Urobochi, but I had some familiarity with Shinbo's work. And he certainly didn't seem like the type to be working on something with such a fluffy premise. I wanted to believe it, I really did.

The first two episodes were a visual feast -- that creepy, surrealistic world within the witches' barriers was gorgeously rendered, and Mami's Unlimited Musket Works mode of attack was delightful in its badassery. If you were searching, you could find what might be construed as hints that Madoka would take a darker tone. But the expected tropes of a magical anime still seemed to be firmly in place. I found myself thinking, "Maybe it really will be just another magical girl anime."

It took just 3 episodes to disabuse me of that notion.

Ohboyohboyohboy.

Hit the jump for more.