Line #125 Music/Kalafina


1	[[quoteright:270:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/81bfba4c637a07201007b0243a3444af_8919.png]]
2	[[caption-width-right:270:Clockwise from top: Wakana, Keiko, Hikaru]]
3
4	->''Yei-hei-heeeee-yei-heeeeeei...yei-hei-heeeee-yei-heeeeeei...''
5	-->--'''[[Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica Magia]]'''
6
7	PowerTrio GirlGroup produced by Music/YukiKajiura. Originally debuted in 2007 as a duo (Wakana and Keiko), Kalafina later expanded into a quartet of sorts, at least until one of the girls departed under mysterious circumstances. Have sung themes for ''Literature/TheGardenOfSinners'', ''Manga/BlackButler'', ''Anime/SoundOfTheSky'', ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'', ''Literature/FateZero'', and a few other works. Their sound is ''very'' heavily associated with Franchise/{{Nasuverse}} and ''Madoka'' works.
8
9	Unfortunately, 2018 was not a good year for the group. On February 2018, Yuki Kajiura left the group after her departure from her agency, Space Craft Produce. On April 2018, Keiko left the group but Wakana and Hikaru remained together to work on musical activities. Later on August 2018, Wakana decided to pursue on her solo career and on November 2018, Hikaru also left her agency. On March 13, 2019, Space Craft Produce shut down the fan club, officially disbanding the group.
10	----
11	!Releases by Kalafina:
12	!!Singles:
13	* "[[Literature/TheGardenOfSinners Oblivious]]" (2008)
14	* "[[Literature/TheGardenOfSinners Sprinter/ARIA]]" (2008)
15	* "[[Literature/TheGardenOfSinners Fairytale]]" (2008)
16	* "[[Manga/BlackButler Lacrimosa]]" (2009)
17	* "Storia" (2009)
18	* "Progressive" (2009)
19	* "[[Anime/SoundOfTheSky Hikari no Senritsu]]" (2010)
20	* "[[Manga/BlackButler Kagayaku Sora no Shijima ni wa]]" (2010)
21	* "[[Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica Magia]]" (2011)
22	* "[[Literature/FateZero To the Beginning]]" (2012)
23	* "moonfesta" (2012)
24	* "[[Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica Hikari Furu]]" (2012)
25	* "[[Literature/TheGardenOfSinners Alleluia]]" (2013)
26	* "[[Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagicaTheMovieRebellion Kimi no Gin no Niwa]]" (2013)
27	* "[[Anime/AldnoahZero heavenly blue]]" (2014)
28	* "[[Anime/FateStayNightUnlimitedBladeWorks believe]]" (2014)
29	* "[[Anime/FateStayNightUnlimitedBladeWorks ring your bell]]" (2015)
30	* "[[Literature/TheHeroicLegendOfArslan one light]]" (2015)
31	* "[[Literature/TheHeroicLegendOfArslan blaze]]" (2016)
32	* "into the world/Märchen" (2017)
33	* "[[Anime/KatsugekiToukenRanbu Hyakka Ryouran]]" (2017)
34
35	!!Albums:
36	* "Re/oblivious" (2008), which is more of a mini-album
37	* "Seventh Heaven" (2009)
38	* "Red Moon" (2010)
39	* "After Eden" (2011)
40	* "Consolation" (2013)
41	* [[GreatestHitsAlbum "THE BEST 'Red' and 'Blue'"]] (2014)
42	* "far on the water" (2015)
43	* [[UnpluggedVersion "Winter Acoustic 'Kalafina with Strings'"]] (2016)
44	* "Kalafina All Time Best 2008-2018" (2018)
45
46	!Associated with the following tropes:
47	* AlbumIntroTrack: "Overture" for ''Seventh Heaven'', "Al Fine" for ''Consolation'' and "into the water" for ''far on the water''.. "Overture" features music from ''Literature/TheGardenOfSinners'' and "Al Fine" features lyrics that describe every other song in ''Consolation's'' tracklist.
48	* BigRockEnding: Virtually every upbeat song gets one of these during their concerts.
49	* BladeOfGrassCut: Used in a few videos:
50	** "Fairytale" has shots of a grandfather clock and ripples in water.
51	** "Hikari no Senritsu" has shots of foliage.
52	** "Magia" focuses on random aspects of the set.
53	** "Symphonia" has more shots of foliage.
54	** "Moonfesta" has even more shots of foliage (among other things).
55	** "ring your bell" has mostly windmills, fields and white flags.
56	** "Märchen" has mostly candles, chairs, lightbulbs and dolls.
57	* BokeAndTsukkomiRoutine: Wakana and Keiko, respectively.
58	** Hikaru sometimes [[DeadpanSnarker joins in]], playing Tsukkomi for ''both'' Wakana and Keiko.
59	* BonusMaterial: The usual. Preordered singles and albums mostly come with postcards, posters, or other similar photographic bonuses. Preordered DVD releases came with mousepads. Some special editions come with extra content on DVD. One single even [[SarcasmMode generously]] provided us with instrumentals of all three tracks.
60	* BSide: Worth mentioning because virtually every B-Side is excluded from an album unless it's got a connection to some sort of other property. "Serenato" is the ''only'' B-Side unrelated to ''Literature/TheGardenOfSinners'' or ''Literature/FateZero'' that made it onto an album, namely ''Seventh Heaven''.
61	* CoordinatedClothes: The members normally help plan their own outfits, so the dresses are usually similar in color and style but with subtle differences.
62	* CoverVersion:
63	** They covered See-Saw's [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEED "Anna ni Issho Datta no ni"]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyV0Vb1F1Fc live]] in 2010. Kajiura herself wrote special English lyrics for the bridge.
64	** The next year they [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIxfVeYkONo covered]] Fiction Junction YUUKA's [[Anime/{{Madlax}} "Nowhere"]] at the same event.
65	** In January's [=LisAni=] 2013 they performed a cover of Music/{{ClariS}}' [[Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica "Connect"]], which was also specifically rearranged by Kajiura.
66	* CuteLittleFangs: Hikaru.
67	* ElegantGothicLolita: Evoked now and again by various costumes, although recently their outfits have been in different styles.
68	* EpicInstrumentalOpener: Used in their concerts. One of the most common ones leads into "Oblivious" and features a recording of Wakana singing one of the ''Literature/TheGardenOfSinners'' themes.
69	* EpilepticFlashingLights: ''Adore'' live.
70	* FashionableAsymmetry: A reoccurring aspect of Kalafina's wardrobe, whether it be in sleeves or the cut/hem of their skirts.
71	* GiantPoofySleeves: The dresses of ''Hikari Furu''.
72	* GirlGroup: To the extent that the normal audience at any given Kalafina concert (in Japan, that is) seems mainly made up of men.
73	* GrayRainOfDepression: Evoked in the music video for "Kagayaku Sora no Shijima ni wa", in which rain suddenly starts pouring down.
74	* GreatestHitsAlbum: THE BEST "Red" and "Blue", which are two seperate albums.
75	* GroupPictureEnding: Used in their first DVD release, "Red Moon".
76	* HellBentForLeather: ''Magia's'' [[https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/kalafina/images/8/86/Kalafina%2BMagia.png/revision/latest?cb=20150405190806 costumes.]]
77	* IdiosyncraticCoverArt: Virtually all of their releases, Regular or Special Edition, sports a picture of the three members in a certain setting. However, this is subverted by ''Oblivious'' (Wakana [[http://jpopcdcovers.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/kalafina-obliviousre.jpg veiled]] or [[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/9b/Kalafina_wiki_oblivious_cover300px.jpg bare-headed]]), ''re/oblivious'' ([[http://solarblade.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/reoblivious.jpg?w=300&h=296 text only]]), ''Sprinter/ARIA'' ([[http://cfs8.tistory.com/image/13/tistory/2008/07/28/22/03/488dc3bd3b309 with]] [[http://jpopcdcovers.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/2.jpg Maya]]), ''Lacrimosa'' ([[https://images.app.goo.gl/59Yr3kDxdPEpR8Yz7 Wakana]] or [[http://jpopcdcovers.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/a1289.jpg Keiko]]), and ''Kalafina 5th Anniversary LIVE SELECTION 2009-2012'' ([[http://i1212.photobucket.com/albums/cc460/kimsenter/kpopspy6/Kalafina-Kalafina5thAnniversaryLIVESELECTION2009-2012.jpg text only]]).
78	* InactionVideo: In the video for "Seventh Heaven", the members, all wearing huge headdresses and shown only in headshots, smilingly lipsynch the song, while in the background, a somewhat odd fairytale featuring animal protagonists is told via [[PuppetShows puppet show.]]
79	** In "Hikari Furu", the members literally ''stand in place'' for the entire video while the camera pans across and around them.
80	* IncrediblyLongNote: Hikaru gets one at the end of "Magia".
81	** Hikaru gets another one in one live of "destination unknown" where she holds the final note for ''14 seconds''.
82	* LongHairIsFeminine: Wakana even ''grew'' her hair long to match the other two.
83	** Averted after Hikaru cut her hair short in 2014 and has kept it short ever since.
84	* LoveNostalgiaSong: The best example is probably "Kiichigo no shigemi ni". It begins with the protagonist wishing for an endless joyful summer and "just a bit of love", but the final verse proves that it's all been a reminiscence:
85	--> ''The frozen forest still''
86	--> ''dreams of summer's light''
87	--> ''Within the brilliant wind''
88	--> ''we're smiling even now''
89	* LyricalColdOpen: "Sprinter" is perhaps the most famous, but "Eden" and a few other songs also apply.
90	* LyricalDissonance: "Hikari no Senritsu". For all the bouncy sound, the song is really about [[Anime/SoundOfTheSky "the sound of the sky"]], loneliness, hope, and the wait for a better tomorrow.
91	** "Hokage", even with its incredibly string heavy and sad-sounding composition and Wakana's tragic sounding voice as lead, Yuki Kajiura has commented that the song is actually very uplifting and happy.
92	* MinisculeRocking: "Overture", "Intermezzo", "Kotonoha", "Al Fine", "dolce" and "into the water". Worth nothing that all five of these pieces have lyrics and are virtually full songs in themselves.
93	* MiseryBuildsCharacter: According to an interview, Wakana considers performing before an audience to be the greatest trial of her life, and once seriously considered leaving the group because of how uncomfortable she is during concerts.
94	* MoodDissonance: Watch Keiko smile as she sings minor-key songs with lyrics full of angst.
95	** The lyrics of "Sprinter" are about yearning, loneliness, and the decision to follow a different road for one's one good. And, while singing arguably the most emotional part, lyrics that translate to "I want to see you/ You're my dearest/ I want to see you/ I love you so", the members likes to grin and point at random members of the audience.
96	* NonAppearingTitle: Somewhat subverted. Some English titles appear in Japanese in the songs lyrics, examples include "akai tsuki" in red moon" and some songs don't include the title at all.
97	* OjouRinglets: Wakana sports this at times. Keiko also has her hair like this occasionally.
98	* OneWordTitle: Most of their non-Japanese titles including "oblivious", "Kyrie" and "storia"
99	* OneWomanWail: Wakana in "Signal". Ironically enough, she was apparently supposed to sound [[MoodDissonance sexy]].
100	** There's also one in "Oblivious", sung in the recording by professional soprano Hanae Tomaru, but by Wakana and Hikaru during lives.
101	* RearrangeTheSong: "Magia [quattro]", i.e. the original "Magia" with the addition of copious amounts of string instruments.
102	* RecycledLyrics: This being Music/YukiKajiura, there are suspiciously similar phrases in quite a few songs. The most obvious is probably "Yume no Daichi", which apparently got its title from a line in "Hoshi no Utai".
103	** Add their song "Alleluia", theme of [[Literature/TheGardenOfSinners "Mirai Fukuin"]], to the list. The word was used all the way back in the lyrics of "Red Moon".
104	* RooftopConcert: In 2011 Sony ''rented a building'', decorated it lavishly with pictures of Kalafina, opened a ''cafe'' in said building, and culminated this "Kalafina Week in Shibuya" with a short rooftop concert by the group itself.
105	* SelfBackingVocalist: Keiko harmonizes with herself in several songs.
106	* SequelSong: "Hikari Furu" could be considered this to "Seventh Heaven". Both songs feature a somewhat New Age arrangement, a slow tempo, a dramatic build-up, and a lot of [[VocalTagTeam vocal switches.]]
107	** "blaze" is considered this to "One Light", both being released a barely a year apart, being from the same [[Literature/TheHeroicLegendofArslan anime]] and both being harmony heavy and upbeat songs about pushing through.
108	* SingerNamedrop: Unintentionally done every time Hikaru sings...well, "hikaru".
109	* SingingVoiceDissonance: Keiko by a mile.
110	* SofterAndSlowerCover: The acoustic version of "Sprinter" as released in their fifth anniversary live album.
111	* TheOner: The video for "Hikari Furu", all done in a single take to reportedly "capture the song's emotions" more fittingly.
112	* TheSomethingSong: "Yami no Uta", or "The Song of Darkness".
113	* TitleTrack: ''Seventh Heaven'', ''Red Moon'',''Consolation'' and ''far on the water'' all have one, while ''After Eden'' does not.
114	* UnpluggedVersion: They've done a few concerts with their songs completely rearranged (by their band's keyboardist, for some reason) to fit with piano, acoustic guitar, strings, and percussion.
115	** Their ''Winter Acoustic 'Kalafina with Strings''' Album includes multiple songs from their acoustic lives, such as "sprinter", "fairytale", "dolce", "Alleluia", "ring your bell" and "Kimi no Gin no Niwa".
116	* VocalTagTeam: This is basically the entire concept of Kalafina. Even songs dominated by one singer, such as "ARIA", "Tetotetometome", and "Sorairo no Isu" also feature one or more of the others singing some major part.
117	* WithLyrics: Several songs.
118	** "Seventh Heaven" is a vocal version of [[Literature/TheGardenOfSinners Shiki's theme]].
119	** "Storia" is a Japanese version of the [[ConstructedLanguage Kajiurago]] theme for the show ''Rekishi Hiwa Historia''.
120	** Same goes for "Snow Falling", known as an official cover of "Snow is Falling" from ''The Garden of Sinners''.
121	** "Hikari Furu" and "Mirai" are vocal (and in the latter's case, Japanese) versions of "Sagitta Luminus" and "Credens Justitiam" from the Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica soundtrack.
122	** "Märchen" is a Japanese Cover of Zaregoto's Main Theme.

Context Music / Kalafina