Re: Japan | 日本 | WV70: NF closed, winner sent!
Super-late green room update ahoy! Making a post for my entry after the semis are already over... it feels like I'm pushing for some new record of lateness here
So! I may as well discuss the NF results, amongst some other things. First, though, a quick note - I'll be having a new NF going up soon! I've sent a lot of melancholy stuff recently, so I thought I'd switch it up - get ready for an upbeat selection! It's a little different to my usual stuff, but hopefully you'll find something there to like.
First things first, though - I should probably get the current edition's notes out of the way before delving too much into next edition
Before anything else, let me just say: thank so all so much for the qualification! I adore Sis Puella Magica, but the LL ratings, predictions, draw etc. didn't leave me very confident... and yet you pushed me through to the final anyway! Much love.
Anyways,
NF results.
So this is probably the most convincing NF win I've had so far! 5/9 of you agreed that
Sis Puella Magica should win, and the rest of you at least had it somewhere in the top four. Glad to see the lovely sounds of Yuki Kajiura pulling people together. Let me just say, I feel like you guys had fantastic taste this time around as an average - the overall rankings here are pretty much exactly how I'd rank these songs myself, except that my top two tend to swap back and forth depending on mood, and I occasionally get really, really into Hikaru Nara. Hot results though. I'm proud of you all.
Anyway, no idea whether this lovely Kajiura composition is going to work out in the final, but seeing as it's taken me there in the first place I have to thank you all for selecting a good song! Given my record, I can quite happily write off WV70 as a success already. I'd always expected this one to do well in the NF, and was a little surprised to see it sitting in 5th on the scoreboard at first... but
damn that comeback was strong. Anyways, here's the winner you voted for!
Moving down the list, we have
Toki wo Kizamu Uta in second - which was quite a strong contender, all things considered. A couple of tens from my fellow fans of :emotional: big ballads and a healthy glob of sevens put this in a rather nice spot, which I was happy to see, since this is a song I've known and loved longer than anything else on this list. It may not have won the NF, but it's not quite dead in the water... I've still got an itch to send this at some point, whether internally or through another NF! So to those who had it high up, look forward to that; to those who had it last... I'm sorry xshifty
Third place went to
ambiguous, which is about what I expected for this great little rock ballad. It's a genre I very much enjoy, and if I had to rank the rock ballads in my library, this'd definitely be in the upper parts.
Hikaru Nara was in a close fourth, which again was no real surprise. This one's a huge grower for me when I'm in the right mood - if I feel like a little bit of uplifting pop, there are few songs I'd rather listen to. I'd have been curious to see where this got me in WV if it had won, as I think it appeals to a rather different (and broader) crowd than my usual stuff. Perhaps I'll test that question in the future
Down in fifth, we had
database, and to be honest... I really had quite a good laugh looking at the results for this. I put this one in thinking it'd be divisive, appealing to a small niche and turning away others... and not only was I right, I underestimated it! I still find it pretty hilarious that 8/9 of you put it either first or last. Along those lines, [MENTION=14505]Lupus[/MENTION] described it as 'one song I never ever ever want you to send EVER EVER EVER', while [MENTION=15013]Ringdalen[/MENTION] called it 'the type of song I could see myself giving 12 points in a final
'. I think it'll be a while until my NF results have me chuckling this much again...
Finally, our poor last place was
unravel, which drew nowhere near as much hate as database, but also lacked any big supporters. As much as I like the song, I've got no real complaints about where it's ended - it's very much a hard song to like, and I still find it a little weird after having it in my playlists for ages. Will still be willing to chuck the alternative stuff into future NFs though!
I feel like I should probably take a moment here to congratulate our resident clairvoyant [MENTION=9461]nekoisneko[/MENTION], who managed to quite neatly predict the top three finishers: 'tbh I have a feeling between Garnidelia or Yuki Kajiura or Lia will be your next entry.' Here's your prize!
Next up, it's time for a little info on our entry! The artist is the esteemed
Yuki Kajiura, a well-known name behind a wide range of soundtracks for anime, games, movies, documentaries and more, as well as a number of albums. She also acts as the main composer for several artists and bands, including WV veterans Kalafina (WV46
Hikarifuru; WV65
Magia) - so if she sounds familiar to anybody, that may be why! She's one of my favourite Japanese composers, and I've been hoping to send something of hers since I first joined in WV63. This probably won't be the last you see of her, but it's a start!
Let me also give a brief mention to the vocalist here,
Eri Itou. Generally she's not credited as an artist on the song for whatever reason, and is more of an unspecified supporting artist who provides vocals for Kajiura - but seeing how lovely she makes the song, I couldn't go without naming her!
Moving onto the specific song itself - Sis Puella Magica is part of the soundtrack for, and arguably the best known track from, the hugely acclaimed anime series
Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica. Now, I know I usually recommend the franchise that my entries come from regardless, but this is a super-double-extra recommendation: do go and give the show a watch! While on the surface it's another 'magical girl' anime in the vein of Sailor Moon etc., it takes things very differently in terms of the plot, direction and so on. It always managed to keep me interested throughout, the production values are fantastic (leading to some really beautiful and interesting art in places), and of course the music. Kajiura's soundtrack for the show - which includes both my current entry, as well as Kanto's
Magia from WV65 - reflect the tone of the show quite well, so if you liked either one of those, you might like to check out the anime!
I've seen somewhere around 500 different anime series at this point, and Madoka Magica still holds the position of being my #1 favourite on that list... so if you're going to check out anything I recommend, make it this one! It's only twelve 25-minute episodes as well, so it's not the biggest time investment.
Back to the song for a little bit, let me mention why there are no lyric translation this time, and why I tentatively classed it as an 'instrumental' a while back - the singers aren't actually singing a real language of any sort, and there's no particular meaning to the lyrics. It's an artificial language made up by Kajiura herself, named 'Kajiurago' (which is pretty much just 'Kajiuran'.
She's admitted that there's no real meaning to it, saying that she writes the 'lyrics' based on whatever sounds good with the melody, and that she wants listeners to take their own meaning from the sound of the music rather than relying on the lyrics.
Anyway, that's about it from me for now - thanks again so much for getting me through to the final, and look forward to a new NF going up in a day or two!
